Hey there mother, So this may be a short letter since you didn’t write and ask me the questions you wanted.

Anyway this last week has been a really quite amazing one. I think it marks the week that will really change my life forever. We are in full mode of zone conference and they are so good. We have finally got the hang of things and we are all doing and giving great presentations. After our first one went not so good, we sat down and changed everything so that we all could present better. President gave us some great tips on how we can do out part better and everyone loves it. We have everyone laughing, crying, angry, and almost dying, ha just kidding, but really I am quite impressed with how well we teach it. Elder Walker and I are in charge of teaching the missionaries how to have lessons where you teach the people and not the lessons so much. So what we do is teach them the doctrine, and then we recorded a lesson of us teaching a family in our area. We just did everything wrong in that lesson and it is pretty funny. Then we show them a Jeffrey R. Holland video, and then we have them do a practice. We just mainly have them focus on listening to the Spirit more and focusing on having a true love of Christ. When we develop that love, we are able to help the investigators so much more. We talk a little about the atonement of Jesus Christ and how because of that, how Jesus knows who we are and how to help us. I then taught how we are not too different. We have all sinned in a similar way, but we know how we can become happy. We always say it is the gospel that makes us happy and that it is the church that makes us even happier. I firmly believe though that it is the atonement of Jesus Christ. When we repent of our sins we can feel a peaceful feeling come back into our lives, and there are no secrets. Secrets truly do not make friends and they keep us from progressing here on this earth. Going to church just gives us the opportunity to partake of the sacrament and be forgiven of our sins through the atonement of Jesus Christ. A lot of the time we focus on the other things that give the people happiness but that is what it is. People don’t feel worthy to be in the church that is why they don’t come. So helping people come unto Christ and realizing what He truly has done for them, we can really help them. I have a firm testimony of this mom. I have felt His atoning sacrifice a lot these past 2 years in the mission, and especially this last week. To close the zone conference President gives a presentation on 'will a man rob God?' It was an amazing presentation and impossible to sit through there if someone is impure of the heart, and unclean in the hands. He started by putting up the scripture from Doctrine and Covenants section 4 and he talked about how we are to serve with all our heart might mind and strength. Then he says if we do that we will appear without guilt before God in the last days. Then he put up the scripture in malachais. Then he said, "how is it that missionaries can rob God?" So he began to teach us how it is so, he went through each of those 4 categories, and explained in detail. At the end he explained his function as a mission president and what he is there for. Then he told us how he was set apart by Elder Christofferson as a judge in Israel. He then called every missionary to repentance and ended the meeting and went outside in a room and waited for missionaries to come and talk to him. I will not disclose how many are going to go and talk to him, but it is a good majority. It is amazing. People are going in there and coming out with just such a light on their faces. I went and talked to him about some things as well and we were talking and he told me something that was really neat. It is too personal to share though but all I can say is that I felt like a 50 pound weight that was on my back was just removed. The atonement is so amazing and we should all constantly apply it to our lives. We must pray day and night for forgiveness from our Lord. We must use it always and strive to be worthy to one day return to our Master, and give Him our account and have Him tell us, “well done thou good and faithful servant, thou may enter into My kingdom and partake of thy blessings.” That is what I desire so much.

Anyway other than that we have not had time for our own area, and we are missing it so much. We have been so busy, from the moment we wake up, we shower and then we leave the house by 7 to get to the church at 8. Then we start the conference at about 9 am and finish around 3 pm. We then go and do the things we need to do to prepare for the next day, go to the next church that night to prepare it, and then we get home around 10. Once home we go and do the work we need to do for the rest of the mission, make calls, and usually go to bed by about 11. It is exhausting, but we are halfway through it. We only have this week left. After this week of conference though I will be visiting my last areas to say good bye one last time, and then it will be time to start preparing the house for Eric to come. I am so excited for him to come down here and be with us for a couple days. Then after that I will be home once again. So weird. Well, I sure do love you mom. I hope you are having a good time and doing well in everything. Promise to have some better stories for you next week. With love, Elder Shipley

Well, that is kind of close to saying, "did you have a good week" in Spanish. The correct way to say it would be "Como le fue su semana"? But anyway I did have a great week. I am glad that you guys enjoyed yourselves in California. You only have one more time going there alone and then I will be there as well with you guys.

Yeah that experience was one that I will never forget, I loved it so much, and I learned so much from him mom. I am so thankful to have had that experience with elder Amado and it is something I will cherish forever. I had another really neat experience this past week also where we went on divisions again and there was this one man in the area for where I went to visit that needed a lot of help, he was a great guy. A year ago his son died and he had a very tragic experience. His son was murdered. I cannot even imagine the type of suffering he is going through. Anyways we were talking with him a little bit, and then he just broke down, he told us, "elders, I just want to know one thing, I want God to reveal to me if my son is ok or not". It was quiet for quite some time and then I just told him, "Ronnie, I know for a fact that your son is ok. I know for a fact that your son is receiving the exact same lessons that we are teaching you right now. I know that your son is being taken care of by some of God´s finest and that everything is going to be alright. Your son wants you to know that everything will be fine and that he wants you to make the covenants with God, so that you can help him make the covenants as well in the temple". It was a really touching experience and we all felt the spirit so strongly there. I am so happy that we were able to help him.

These past couple weeks I have been putting very little thought into that and I just have no idea what it is I am going to do. I have been reading my patriarchal blessing over and over again but nothing.  I have prayed a lot though but I think I am not getting any revelation because now is not the time. Ha, duh… but one day I will know and it will be a good day.

Does my room still look the same or have you changed anything a little bit? (Your room is still a shrine!) I can’t even remember how my room was back then. That was so long ago, but I know that once I get back I will remember how things were.

That would be great to send Hermana Guinac something in the mail, she loves receiving the simple things in life, she is a lot like you, and maybe that is why I love her so much like you mom.  Anything you send her would be great for her.

How much weight have you lost by the way? I have gained some weight, and so I am going to start working on going back down now. Yes I got the picture of Max, they look good. I have not decided if I want to sell alarms, or if I want to go and be a counselor at EFY. I think I would like to do that because I have always wanted to do that since I was a kid.

The hermana who was in that picture with me is called Hermana Mendez, she finished her mission and she is from Honduras, she was one of the hardest working hermanas' here in the mission. We are good friends, but she has now gone home.

So Mother’s day, ha, the long awaited last call of my mission. We are going to Skype on Sunday and we will be doing so at 6 in the afternoon Guatemala time. Yes, I can Skype with everyone so set it all up. There is apparently a way that you can do a 3 way, so figure that out and then explain it to me so that we can do all that on Sunday. I will probably give it a test run on Tuesday or Wednesday so we can figure it out if it works from here in the office.

That is pretty funny about the elder in the temple. Things around here are still going normal. I love the mission so much and I am learning so much. We are always out working hard and doing the work so that is what keeps me happy. We have 2 new secretaries that do most of the work for us now so we barely go into the office anymore. We are just out and teaching doctrine.

That is so true mom what you mentioned about the plan of happiness, this gospel of Jesus Christ does just that. It teaches us the really important things in this life. It takes away the temporary things that the “world” would have us think are important and makes us open our eyes and see what is it that God wants of me. What am I doing to make God's church better, God's children better, and etc? What is it that I am doing that will help me return to be with my family and with God once again? I love that question, what am I doing? It makes us reflect and look at ourselves so that we can really see what is it that we must do. I hope I get to meet this Andre guy.

Recently my allergies are acting up a little bit here but not as bad as they do there in Arizona. The weather is perfect here always, the food isn’t that is why I get sick, but everything else is perfect. I am really starting to realize that, how fast the time really does go. It is not worth it being mad, or upset, it just makes the “journey” not fun. We really must take advantage of every moment, and to be happy always. We can do it; we just have to choose to do so. I love you so much mom and I miss you a ton. I miss everyone a ton, but I still have 3 and a half more months of hard duty and work to do here. Les amo mucho

Elder Shipley

Missionaries teach and are taught!

Hey there mom,

How are you doing?

I hope all is going well for you, I sure do miss you a lot but everything here is going great. 

Elder Amado was excellent. I loved every single moment I was with him and he even did something really neat at the conference but I will mention that a little later. 

I will go ahead and explain about all that right now. So, Monday we went to Zacapa where we had one conference and then we were in Jalapa on Tuesday for the next conference that was outside the capital. We were able to stay in hotels the whole time which was pretty cool, they were really nice. Anyway, we were able to listen to his instruction 3 times, and every time I listened to him, I felt like it was my first time. It was just so great. He had such a way of teaching that was just so wonderful and spectacular. I was deeply impressed. He had his principles he wanted to teach, but every single time he always started with questions and he would answer our questions but he would just keep answering our questions with questions of his own too so that we would ask him the right questions he was looking for. I have been using that in my lessons now and I can see such a strong difference in my teaching skills as well. It was just so cool. Anyway, I also thought this was pretty interesting, he said that for after this life, we have to have our priorities. We need to get married as quickly as possible, and then have kids as quickly as possible, then go to school as quickly as possible, work as much as possible and most importantly to have time for ourselves. Then he said, we need to do all of that at the same time, and have confidence in the Lord that He will help us do it. It was just so neat.

It was pretty funny too though because when we were driving to Jalapa, at night time we got pretty lost and we were trying to find our way. We were lost for about 2 hours. We finally humbled ourselves and said a prayer, and found some people to ask and then we were on our way. So I told Elder Amado about that story and he just patted me on the back and told me I am so happy for you Elder Shipley. So I kind of just shrugged it off. Then we had our conference on Thursday, and he mentioned how he told this to the Area president and other counselor, and told the kids in the CCM and other authorities. Then he told the missionaries there at that conference how impacted he was by that story. He said how impressed he was that someone can humble themselves so much, repent and then ask God, "we are lost, and where do you want us to go". He said, what a perfect example of the Atonement working in someone’s life. I was a little choked up when he said that, but it was just really neat. 

By the way, he let me play on his Ipad a little bit which is just way awesome. He called me the technology wiz; I was helping him all the time figure out his ipad and his laptop. The coolest thing he told me though mom was that he just felt really good around me and was impressed by me a lot of times. He says, "I was really well put together". I am not bragging, but I was just really humbled by what he said. 

Another story that was really cool was we had to go to the area office to give Elder Amado his notebook that he left in Jalapa. When we walked in, you could just feel the Spirit so strongly from those men. The 3 of the area presidency were there, each in their offices and were all so focused on what they were doing. We walked in and Elder Amado greeted us and sat us down for a moment and we talked with him. He was asking how we thought the conference was going and we just told him it was great. Then he sent us on our way, but it was such a neat experience. Everyone there was just so happy to be working, but I don’t doubt that it was the Spirit that makes them happy. Elder Amado told us that after his mission, he has only been mad 3 times in his whole life. He says he gets frustrated at times, and gets sad, but he has never been full on angry. I found that really neat and something I would like to do after my mission, just never lose my temper and keep the Spirit with me.

Anyway, yes President Stay has given me plenty talks about the car and driving safely. I try really hard to take care of it, because I know it is not mine, and I know that it is pretty dangerous to drive here in Guatemala.

 Yes, we shower here in the white house with warm water. All the elders have the opportunity to get hot water if they would like to. They just need to buy the heater things for the shower and put them in and they can just as easily shower with hot water. 

So I got a letter from Crystal, and she says she is incredibly happy with you about how you teach the kids and her little brother. She says that her brother loves the gospel and is enjoying every moment of it. So good for you mom. She said she really enjoyed the time where apparently you had them wearing little mustaches for an object lesson.

When are Zerbe's moving to Northern California? That is so crazy, but I am sure that they will enjoy it there. What is taking them out there though?

Max Schram got married, ha that is so crazy; send me a picture of the couple. You never answered my question about the Spiegel guy from IRHS, What happened with him? Is Brother Thompson doing alright? I hope so, that is so scary. Does Jon have any prospects coming up at least or any plans on what might be looking good for him?  I only hear from Elder Covington, and Elder McGee. Who is Rasussem? Are you talking about Elder Rassmussen from my mission? He gets home in July, which is really soon. He is entering into his last change. My plane tickets are in the process of being bought now, and so we should have them next week, or the week after. It is funny because I watch our secretary as he sends out the forms to the parents. Yes we will be able to Skype for mother’s day; I can’t wait to see you guys. Are you able to play full on tennis yet? I found some tennis courts here so we going to play probably next week. Ha, it has been an honor to be my mom, are you dying on me. Ha ha.

Anyways, here is the last and final story in which I will conclude. So just yesterday we were on divisions with a companionship. I went with an elder whose name is Elder Sanchez. He is a great elder. We just had a blast and we worked super hard. He was having some hard times, so we went there to help out a little bit. Anyway, we were there and we had some great lessons that day but we ended on one that was just fantastic. So he was telling me that we were going to this last house, but that we were going to teach the Plan of Salvation to them because they just lost their sister in law a week before, who died while giving birth to her baby. So we get there and the family is there, and they were super optimistic about the whole thing and were quite positive, but still we could see that they lacked that happiness in their lives. Anyway there just so happened to be another person there that wasn’t a member of the church, and was a sister in law to them. So we started the lesson, by singing a hymn, and then saying the prayer. We then moved on but before we started the lesson, I felt really inspired to ask, "are there any questions before we begin what we have planned"? The lady who was not a member asked us, "what happens when someone just doesn’t have faith anymore?" So we took it from there and this is how the lesson went. I asked her then, what the faith was to her. She said it is a belief in something. I said, alright, in what, and she said, well in anything, you can have faith in anything. Then I asked her, ok so do you have faith that if I push this control right here that the TV will turn on. She said yes, and I said well how you know. And she said well because that is what happens, and I said well it must have taken a lot of faith for the first time when you turned it on. She said well, maybe, that is true. And we went through a series of questions like that. Then we turned it towards the spiritual aspect. We went around that for like 10 minutes and then we started talking about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I was explaining to her about the great and immense love that God has for all of us. We explained what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane and how it was so painful the things that Jesus had to suffer for each and every single one of us. Then we talked about the trials and the cruel things the guards did to Him, and then we talked about the cross and how He suffered once again, but the worst part was when God left Him alone, and Jesus said, why hast THOU left me alone? Then we explained to her that it happened so that Jesus could understand completely how it feels to be alone so that never again would we be left lonely. Never again would we as humans suffer that pain of having absolutely no one. Then I asked her, after waiting for like 20 seconds, “Sister, do you believe that is where it all ended. Right there on the cross.” She said, well according to the church that I go to, yes. That is where it ended. That is where it was finished. I then testified to her that it didn’t end there. That was the worst part of the whole story of Jesus and for it to end there, then it would be an unhappy ending. I told her, and we all got really emotional, I testified to her that it didn’t end there. It continued. 3 days later, our Lord and God, Jesus Christ rose. I testified that He lives, that He is still alive today, and that He is as real today as He was then. That He is with her in every moment and that she can feel Him if she would just accept Him.  Jesus Christ lives. Thanks to Jesus Christ we can live. Thanks to Jesus Christ we will see the much loved ones who have passed beyond the veil. Then this is where it got really interesting. I said, "thanks to Jesus Christ, you will see you daughter again". She stopped me immediately. She said, "what did you say about my daughter". Then realizing that I made a huge mistake, I said, I am sorry, I meant your sister in law. She said, "no, you don’t understand Elder Shipley. What you said just answered all my prayers that I have been having. She continued, my daughter died 7 months ago, and ever since that day my faith in God has vanished. I didn’t think that God was talking to me and I didn’t think I would ever see my baby girl again. But the moment that you said those words, I felt so powerfully that what you just said didn’t come from you, but came straight from God". Mom as she was explaining all of that, I got the most chills I have ever gotten in my whole life. I was seeing God work through me right then at that moment touching that lady's life, changing her to come unto Him and changing her for all time and eternity. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I told her then, “sister, I have had many very beautiful experiences in my mission to where God has allowed me to see many things, miracles, evidences of His reality, and touching moments to feel his love. This is one of those moments.” It was so neat mom, I know that God lives, and I know that Jesus is the Christ. There is no doubt about it; I left her with a couple scriptures from the Book of Mormon where she could read more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ from Alma 34. I love moments like these mom and it helps me remember that God needs me here. I still have a great and marvelous work to do here, and it is not over yet. I love you all and I miss you dearly but you still gotta wait, ha. Alright then, I will talk to you all next week.

Love Always,

Elder Shipley

A little disjointed BUT he does READ and answer my preguntas!!

Hey there mom how are you doing?,

I am doing great. That is really cool that you are up in Phoenix at Louise's. How is she doing? (I need to explain this to Terry!)

We did have the baptism last week and it went really well. It was this little girl and she was so happy. It was just a beautiful service and the family was so happy. Other than that our investigators are all doing really well. My companion is doing well too. He is trying to make a pretty big decision right now. When he started his mission he started in June and he went to Peru. Due to passport problems he had to come back to Guatemala and so that is why he is here. Now he was sent to our mission so he has the option to go home in July or in May. His brother is leaving for his mission in May too so he is trying to see what he is going to do.

 What happened to aunt Bertie? Is she alright. I hope she will be better.  That is really good that the reception was really nice. I still think that is so weird that Amber got married. That is fun, how are Becky and the girls doing in the church. Are they still enjoying it? Make sure that they are still doing the family home evenings, and even try to take Becky to the temple so that she can get started doing the baptisms for the dead. They say that the quicker that you get someone to the temple and get them paying tithing and doing Family History work, the more active we can keep recent converts. That is what the study on the church has shown.

I am really happy for you mom. Take note on your weight as you go on and keep up the good work. I know you can do it. Stay motivated and always remember what you want to become and what the Lord has in mind for you to become.

Wow that is so sad to hear about that family you mentioned. I really hope that all goes well. Yeah, I can´t say that I have the days counted down but I do know that when April 7th hits, that I will be starting a tradition that the missionaries do here and that is to read the doctrine and covenants backwards. That is scary to me. I cannot believe how fast it is passing by, but I still have a lot of time left. President does tell me though that as an assistant time will go incredibly fast.

Ha, so you guys like the ipad. How is it? I haven’t even seen it yet, or had a chance to play with it. What is Hunger Games about. I heard another friend of mine went to go and see it too and they told me it was great.

You were beat by two 79 year old's. What happened to you mom?  Ha. You need to get back into the program.

 I am glad you enjoyed my letter. I don’t mean to tell you what you need to do or how you need to do it, but I just want to help you so that you can be the best mom ever. I always invite everyone that I see to tell me how I can improve in many things. Every time I talk to president after we have just had a meeting or a conference, I ask him what it is that I can do better so I can become really good at what I do.

The senior missionaries are from Utah. They are called the Jensen’s. Yes, we are still traveling around with them and we are having a blast doing so. Last week we actually went really far and I was able to drive out and back. We went to an area called Taxsico and then we came back through Escuintla. Then coming back from there I was able to go on divisions with Elder Erickson. We came back to the area of Trebol and worked here for a couple days. It was so much fun, we worked incredibly hard and we found a lot of really good people, and put 2 dates for baptisms. We are really excited for them. So one is for our investigator Drei, we put a date with her for the 14th of April. She is doing really great. We have a lot of hope for her to progress along and get things going with her, but we need her to pray and to read like always. It really is the only thing that she needs to do. We are going to teach her tonight the lesson about Joseph Smith and get her to really feel the spirit on that lesson. Also we put the baptism date with another girl named Astrid. She is way cool and is really excited to get baptized and all, but she wants so badly that a missionary can come from another area to come do her baptism but we will see what president says. He has made a rule where it is not possible so we really don’t think it will happen. Anyways with her we are really trying hard to get her some good friends in the church so she can have that support. Something that I am really focusing on a lot is making sure that they feel the spirit in our lessons that we give to them. So that they can without a doubt, stay active in the church. Elder Jensen was telling us, that no matter what, even if the person has no friends and if they have no calling or anything, Elder Jensen says that they will stay in the church forever if they felt the spirit and have a strong burning testimony that the church really is the true church of God, and that the Book of Mormon is scripture. He said that if people have those 2 testimonies, then everything else just falls into place.

So are you excited for conference because it will be my last one away from home? Next one I will be sitting with you guys. Maybe next year we can go with Becky and the girls as well to the conference. How neat would that be for them?

I miss daisy so much. How is she doing, what is she doing right now. Take a video and put it on the blog so I can see my only faithful girlfriend. I’m sure she misses me since I'm not there to give her love and all. Do you think she will recognize me when I get home?

Yeah I loved that talk too from Jeffery R. Holland, he is great and every time delivers a talk so powerful. I have one that is for missionaries and you will love it and feel the power that I have felt from it too. That is a really cool thing you told me about the talk that one guy gave you. Just recently an elder in Brazil was hit by a bus. I haven’t heard anything since then but I hear that he had around 21 months. I think how hard that must be to be so close to finishing and then being forced home. I am trying to be really careful in all I do so that I can come home in time and honorably. Anyways I sure do miss you and I love you so much. I have really been missing you a lot mom. Ha and believe me everyone here in Guatemala knows that too.

Anyways to close, I had the chance to go to Mixco. I had a blast, and I worked really hard with the kid I went with. Something that made me really sad to see was to see this one family that I love so much from there has fallen deeply.  They are having a baby and you would think that everything is going great over there but apparently I was told that they were passing through some difficulties. It is so sad how Satan can take a family that is literally one of the strongest families that I knew, and he can just destroy them. I have heard that there are rumors going around the ward and that they are just being attacked by things people are saying about them. They were really depressed when I got there and they were really just not the same ol happy family that I knew. I was really sad to see them that way, and so we visited with them a little bit and just expressed my love I had for them and gave them some ideas that may help them. It really is just so sad to see that though. I love my family that I have, I love all of you guys, and it makes me sad to see how Satan has destroyed us as well. I know that is definitely something that God doesn’t want for us and so I want to work better on being more united and doing that which is right. Alrighty then, I love you all and I will talk to you later.


Love Always
Elder Shipley

Hey there mother,

Wow I can not believe that it taken me so long to discover writing in Microsoft word. Ha, now my emails will be for the most part correct in spelling and all that.

Dad told me that they white washed the area. I am sure there was something passing with those missionaries that made them like that. People always need help in those kinds of things and sometimes there is a person in the mission who can just lift them up in the time that they need. For me I really feel like the Family Reyes, and Borris and Nora and other members have really helped me in my mission keeping me on the right path.

I want to teach you a principle that we have learned here in the mission. I think it is something that maybe can help a lot. It is what we are having all the missionaries do here in the mission and we are seeing a huge improvement. We are having all the missionaries focus on what it is that they themselves can do better to help the companionship. We are seeing that a lot of time the missionaries in their companionship's blame all their problems on their companions, when in actuality the problem is coming from the same person. So when the elders are doing their companionship inventory, they are talking about what problems they themselves have and how they are going to do better. Then the only time that someone is allowed to step in and give counsel to another person, or talks about the other person, is when the person invites the person to say something about them that they can do better. For example, if I was to talk to my companion about our companionship and what we could do better, I would say it like this.  "Elder Castro, I really feel strongly that we are doing great. We have the spirit when we teach and we really get along great. I feel like I am lacking a little bit on our morning routine, which in turn is making us lack on having our studies. I was hoping you could help me have our studies so that we can have the spirit more in our companionship". That way Elder Castro would not feel attacked at all, but he would get the hint that we need to have our studies. I never once said the word YOU. President Stay tells us that Satan is the person that says you, and that Jesus is the one who says me. Satan says you need to change this, and Jesus says, be like me, and do as I do. I feel like it is a universal principle and something that not only missionaries should apply but all people. It would stop the gossip that happens in the world and saying things to people that is offensive. We need to be there for people when they want us, but if we are always calling out their problems, they will soon stop asking for advice. The only time we are allowed to give advice, which really is criticized is when something like this happens. "Elder Castro, I feel like there are things I can do better on, but I need you to help me know what those things are. Do you think you can give me some advice as to what I can do so that we can be better Servants of the Lord"? But yeah something I learned and I thought it was really neat.

Garrett told me he is not coming home early. He says he doesn’t want to do that to cheat his mission. Ha plus he told me he wants me at his homecoming. I think that would be great to have some of those basic classes. Get them as online classes though so that I can work a lot. I really want to focus on working a lot and getting a good base of money so that I can plan on moving out and living responsibly and alone. But yes, just like Pima English, and math. I am not exactly sure what it is that I need so just the basics. I think I might end up going to U of U, in Salt Lake. I have not thought about it too much. We will see when I get home. I will research it then. Just sign me up for the online classes though. That way it will not be so stressful.

I can not wait for General Conference. Can you believe that it is my last one? That just blows my mind. I feel like it is only my second one.

Ha, I noticed that I have gained quite a bit of weight too, so I need to start my diet again and working out like a mad man. I am starting up President's work out again. So we will see how it goes. I think I will be pretty strong afterwards. Of course I will still be able to take Eric down. I will always be able to. What are the Hunger Games about? Are they good? I will have quite a bit of movies to go see when I get home.

That is really neat that you are going to Amber's wedding reception. I can not believe that she is getting married. Everyone will be married when I get home. But yes take lots of pics and send them all to me.

My companion is great. I love that kid and we are truly learning a lot together. The president has us on divisions practically the whole time. So it is sad, I barely get to see him but we have a good time when we are together. I am learning so much from every missionary that I go with though. It is a blast. I really do miss elder Chaves though, he was a great guy. Anyway, I saw elder Call on Monday, he is a great guy. Really funny and incredibly nice. I was trying to sell him a Snickers bar in the office. It was funny.

We are having a baptism tomorrow. It should be pretty sweet. I am really excited for it. It is a little girl who is being baptized and she is super excited for it. By baptizing her we will be completing the family. I have given out all of your testimonies. The people here loved it.

So, my week went a little bit like this. We did quite a bit. I was able to go on divisions with my buddy from my group Elder Woodfield. He is amazing. We worked so hard and we just had so much fun. He is a new zone leader right now and he will do a great job. It is so cool because his mother is in the MoTab and he is so happy to see her soon. She was there in Phoenix too. He is also the missionary that trained Elder Hayes. After those divisions we came back to the area where we worked pretty hard. Then we left on divisions once again with some other zone leaders. Elder Martinez is who I went with. We also had this new couple come into the mission now and so I have been helping them out a lot. I love them. They are Elder and Sister Jensen. They are so nice and funny. Anyways, we are doing house inspections with them, and so on Friday I showed them around in zone Florida. I was in that zone so it was pretty cool to see some of the houses that I know there. We ended up eating dinner at Mamalindas. It was so good. I love eating over there with her. So it is funny because Elder Jensen is always giving me this advice on what I should do for when I start looking for a wife and etc and the things I should look out for and all that stuff. It is so funny. I am learning some good tips though. Sister Jensen is happy that I always get the door for her, she said that I will be a great boyfriend and husband if I keep that up. So yeah, these next couple weeks we will be passing in that, doing inspections but also doing a lot of work in our area. We are finding some great families and we are having a lot of hopes for them all. Well, I need to get going. Back to work now. I love you all and I miss you dearly. We are not to far from the last call of the mission. Ha, now we are full of a lot of lasts again. These next couple 5 months will fly by. It is all a part of enjoying the journey though. Ha, hope you caught that. Well I will talk to you next Saturday.

Love Always
Elder Daniel W. Shipley

Hello there mother. how are you doing? I miss you dearly, but I sure am going to miss a lot of really good people that I am getting to know every day. I love these people so much, they are great and so nice. We currently have a superb bishop. He is amazing at the love he has for the people and the concern that he puts into all the work he does. He saw us the other day and gave us a ride, and his taxi that he drives around is full of church stuff and mainly the programs, he says it is so he can learn how to do the things correctly. He reminds me a lot of Bishop Cook and Bishop Allen.

We were talking to a man last night and we were actually talking about all finishing strong and doing all the things that we need to do to have no regrets. I told him, and for future missionaries this can maybe be a help, I was really focused in the beginning of my mission on just like getting mail and receiving emails and etc, but now I have realized that that is not the important thing.  (yes I did receive the package too. Thank you so much. We have been having a blast together playing the phase 10 card game you sent us. I need to take a pic.) We have been so busy that I don´t even notice the oportunities to take them, but don´t worry I will try to be  better. I know you want to have all the pictures you can have, and as do I.

Heidy and Cesar are doing great. We just went with them recently and did another family home evening. It was a blast and they are really excited and animated still. We are teaching Cesar a lot about the priesthood calling he just received and are working with him on that.

What is the pickle ball? Do you play on a tennis court or on a ping pong table? That is so cool you guys went to the UofA game. I can not wait to go to those games again. Mainly the football games. I miss those games a lot.

Well, even though your email was short and sweet, it was still good, thanks for writing me.

Anyway we had an excellent week. We finished the Zone conferences with Zona Florida on Tuesday. That is my old zone. We had the new missionary training meetings trying to find out what we can do better our training programs and etc. and then we did divisions with Zone Guatemala, which is where I just was. I went with an elder named Elder Burpo.

2 experiences that were really cool this past week were one - we have this investigator from the family Juarez. She is super cool, and has a super weird name so I can not remember her name right now. We have been teaching her for like a week and a half now, and we took her over to the house of a member and we taught her there. Wow, what a difference in the lesson. We were talking about the power of the Book of Mormon and everyone was pitching in. It was way sweet. She was asking all of us how we all came to know of the truth of the Book of Mormon and it was just a really really spiritual lesson we had with them. We then told her to go and pray and to ask if these things are true. The only thing is that she is kind of a little dificult in the head and doesn´t want to admit these things are true. But we are hoping to baptize her next tuesday when all the new missionaries come into the mission so that their first day in the field they can see a baptism to help get them motivated. Plus can you imagine the spirit that would be there with 20 missionaries in a baptisimal service, and I would imagine that President Stay would attend too. So we will see. The second experience that I had was we got to go to the temple this past Saturday. So we were planning on going in the morning but a couple things happened as to where we couldn't go. (By the way, I gave my brown suit away to a member that needed it more than I did. He was just called to the bishopric, and the stake president told him he needed to buy a suit, but he didn´t have the money to do so, so I gave him mine.) So we went to the temple in the afternoon and as we pull up I see this guy named Hermano Sergio. He is from the San Fransisco ward. and he informed me that the whole ward just pulled up. So I was super excited but really hoping to see the family Reyes and also Mamalinda. I went up and sure enough there they were. They were all so happy to see me too. So we went into the temple and I was able to do a session with the mom of the family Reyes and it was so neat. It was a really special experience for me that they could be there. Also the mom later told me that in the morning she was praying for the day and she said that she was praying for a miracle or something really good to happen at the temple. She said after her prayer, her daughter said, maybe we will see Elder Shipley there, and the mom said, well that would be cool but I don´t think so. And sure enough there we were. I know that the Lord really does use us to be the people to help others and help answer their prayers. It is the little things that indicate to us always that He is there and that He looks out after us. I love my Savior so much mom.  He loves us so much and I am so happy for all that. I love you guys and miss you a lot. I will talk to you later. Hope you have a great week.

Love Elder Shipley

ps. give me a report on nanny. How is she doing?

hey there mother.
That is great that they finally put the date. 

I'm so glad that you guys are having so much fun there. That sounds like a really neat experience to go see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I would like to do that too. Yes I am planning on going to the general conference. If I talk to a couple friends I am pretty sure we can stay in one of their houses. That would be really neat huh. Then you can meet the Elder Erickson in real life. ha.

I'm starting to kind of get a hang of things here. We are currently in zone conference season. It is nuts, we have 9 conferences to go to.  We did 4 last week, 4 next week, and 1 the week after. Our car is currently being used by a senior companionship but we are driving with President Stay and Sister Stay. Let's just say she is really good at cooking. She wants the recipe to the brownies with Reese's in the middle.

It is so awesome mom. I am learning so much from him. He lets us ask anything we want. Literally anything that we have in mind. I would really like to do a temple session with him because he was a temple worker in the Salt Lake Temple. We are having so much fun. Sister Stay always makes us breakfast for the car ride too, we have an amazing lunch from caterers at the conferences and then President usually buys us a dinner to eat too.  We are being taken care of well here. Although I feel like I am getting pretty fat though. I need to lay off the sweets and start working out more. I am learning a lot from my companion too. Elder Chaves, he is a great guy.

Anyways a little bit about our area. So remember what Brother Banner said about him being scared out of his mind. ha I think that is kind of funny because I have seen a lot worse and my area doesn't really scare me to much. We are in good hands and the Lord really does protect us. I am happy for that reason too, but that doesn't mean I just walk around, I'm aware at all times.

We have 2 investigators, that were supposed to be baptized last Sunday but they weren't able to be baptized due to some meetings of the ward, so we postponed the baptism till this coming Saturday. One name is Heidy, she is a 30 year old single mom with a child. She really does love the church. We were teaching her about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and about baptism and all the stuff that relates to it and she was really having a spiritual experience. It was so neat and cool to see in her face the love that Christ really does have for her. Another investigator is Cesar.  We also have a new investigator. He came into church yesterday and was just like, "so what do I need to do to be baptized". ha. It was so neat. We just sat him down and taught him everything and he really loves the church. We then set an appointment that night and we went to go visit him and all we did was kind of introduce what we do and who we are and then we invited him to be baptized. He said yes, that when he knows these things are true he would love to do it. So we are going to start working on him a lot.

Mom I know without a doubt that as we are faithful and obedient to the work of the Lord, He truly does bless us. President Stay told us this morning in our meeting with him, that miracles like this happen all over the world. If only the missionaries would understand that principle and be obedient, we would baptize a lot more. Which reminds me of the scripture that is in 3 Nephi 8:1. Go check it out.
Well I love you all and miss you a ton. I will talk to you next week.

Love Elder Shipley

PS - I was just recently handed my "Baggy Paper" and it requires a little bit of information. So I just need the following.

If you guys are planning on coming to Guatemala to pick me up, I think you are not, I would not recommend it either, it is a bad time of season.
The airport that I would be coming back to - Tucson Arizona, right?
The ward is still called Catalina Ward
Bishop Cook - I need his full address and Phone Number
President Polley -  his full Address and Phone number.

Thanks mom

Hey there,

I am really glad to hear that you had a great week and that everything went well for you guys.

Sounds like Stake Conference was good.

Here is a little bit about my week. So this past week we ended up doing divisions and it went super well. I went with a kid named Elder Ajanel and I went to his area in Santa Catarina Pinula. I can't believe I forgot my camera because I got to meet some really cool people and we had a great time. We found a lot of new people over there and we were able to really have some success. Elder Ajanel is one of our district leaders and so we had to train him last week and then this week that is coming we will be training the other leader this week. Anyways before i tell you about the 2 cool stories of the week, Yesterday in church they talked about eternal marriage. It was interesting. Ha, me and my comp both since we only have a little bit of time left, we were talking practically the whole entire day about marriage. How we cannot wait to get home and find that one girl who is the right one and then settle down. Haha, not... I am going to want to date around when I get home and get to know different types of girls. But it sure is weird how my vision on that has changed a little bit. Before I could not see my self settling down, and I thought I would of waited until I had about 25 years. but now I think I will be married by the time I have 23 years. Crazy.

Anyways last week before we started divisions we had on Tuesday our meeting with the President of the Stake and also with President Stay. IT went pretty well and we received a lot of assignments to get on. Right now the stake is really focusing on getting the stake converted into a mission stake. That being said, they have given us the responsibility to get all the youth motivated and ready to go for their missions. So we are working with them and getting them to go to their Mission Prep classes, and also getting them to work with us. However by doing that we are seeing that it is in turn bringing us a whole new set of investigators into our lives and it is getting the wards all really excited too, so that they are helping us as well. I really hope it works out well and we can maybe get a couple of baptisms out of it. The area where I am at is a really hard one and we are having a difficult time finding people who want to listen. The people where I live are pretty much a pretty rich type of people and they are not really accepting. They all work during the day and at night they are just exhausted. It can be really frustrating at times, but I think that is why God put us there so that we can help make this area better and get things moving. The good news is that we got the attendance up a little bit so they are now going to build a church within our area. They just bought the land for the church, they are just waiting to see that the numbers stay stable so that we can support a church on our own. Anyways after the meeting we had our zone had interviews with President Stay. I had  great time talking to him just about everything and opening my mind and thoughts to him. And also I shamefully lost again in arm wrestling to him. It was sad. But yeah so here is what happened during the divisions.

So we found this guy named Luis and he is a way nice guy. I kid you not he looks just like Mick Jagger. They could be identical. I wish I had my camera to take a picture of the guy. Anyway we were contacting this one street and we knocked his door and he opened it and was just like, "ahhhh... the Mormons... you've come back". and I was just like, "well what is that supposed to mean"?  He says, "well they used to visit me always at my door but I never let you guys in, I don't believe in what you all preach".  I asked him, "well what do we preach"? And he says, "well, you all preach that whoever drinks coffee goes to hell". I was just like, "wow that is a really bold statement, who told you that"?  He says, "well my brother is a Mormon and he doesn't drink, smoke, and doesn't do anything with coffee or tea".  I asked him, "well hermano luis, what do you think of your brother, would you say he is a pretty healthy guy, or is he unhealthy"?  And he responded that he was healthy. and I asked him, "what else do you notice about your brother would you say he is a pretty different type of guy or is he just like everyone else in the world". Then luis tells us, "alright come in, I feel like you guys have something I want to hear".  We entered in his house. and we just talked a little bit more about his brother and the church, and I asked him, "Luis, put aside all the things the church says, and what anyone has ever taught you, do you personally think that Coffee/drugs/alcohol or anything that is of the sort, do you honestly believe that it is good for your health". And he responded. "well to be honest, no". Then I told him, "well then we need to help you out then, we will come back tomorrow to teach you and read this thing and tell us if you have any questions tomorrow". So we then left, we went back the next night and he was a completely different guy. We walk in and we just sat there for like 5 mins. He then started the conversation by saying, "I'm miserable, I need help, I'm weak and I know that satan has control over my body. I need your help and I want to make my life good. I want a family like my brother and I want to have the blessings that he has. Please, can you guys help me"? Then we just started from there. we were asking him questions, what exactly it was he was doing. he said he was drinking, but nothing else. not coffee or tea or drugs. We continued, I told him every problem has a seed. and the seeds always grow to be a big tree, or in other words a big problem. I said a tree has a lot of branches, mini problems, but it is the main frame, or the seed that is providing it life that we need to take out. So we started asking him why he drank. At first he said it was for his work. He loved being at work drunk so he didn't have to talk to the people. But we found out it was a more serious problem than that. He was drinking simply because he hated himself. He hated his life and he just wanted to forget everything he has ever done. In that moment when we discovered that, 2 things popped in my head. One, the Photo of Jesus Christ I always carry in my scriptures, and Alma 7 verses 11 - 13. I took out the picture and set it on the table, and asked him, what do you think when you see that picture. He said, I feel like he is mad at me. He hates me and he doesn't want anything to do with me. I told him. Lets read this scripture and then you will see the Jesus Christ that I know when I look at that Picture.

11 And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
 12 And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.
 13 Now the Spirit knoweth all things; nevertheless the Son of God suffereth according to the flesh that he might take upon him the sins of his people, that he might blot out their transgressions according to the power of his deliverance; and now behold, this is the testimony which is in me.

We read that and then he just sat there and was like... "wow". I told him, that I knew that Jesus loved him, I knew that He has a plan for him and that we didn't just knock his door by any chance but that God himself really did send us to teach him. I promised him that if he stopped drinking beer, from that moment and forever that Jesus himself would accept him and forget his sins, blot them out as it says and remember them no more. I told him anytime he ever felt like drinking, to think first of Jesus Christ. Then to think of his lovely Wife who was in the other room and didn't want to listen to us. Think of his kids that he had and the things he had to do to support them. Think of his grand kids and the example he is for them. and Etc. I told him that if he really believed that he could change, we would make it possible for him. He then in that moment promised that he would never drink again. IT was an amazing lesson mom and the spirit was just so strong there. I love that feeling and listening to the promptings of the spirit and letting it touch the hearts of the people who need it in their lives.

I know without a doubt that Jesus Lives mom. He is the Savior of this world. There is no other one and He is the only begotten of the Father. He loves us all and wants us to come home. He wants us to make it back, but we need to do our part. We need to put on the shoes, get out the door and walk. We need to keep the commandments and do all we need to do, all we have been taught to do so that we can make it back to the Celestial Kingdom. I love you all and I hope you all have a great week. Sorry I didn't share the other story. I just figured that it is a little personal for the person in whom it involves. I will tell you about it when I get home. only 7 more months. yikes. haha


with love
Elder Daniel W. Shipley
official i know.

My letter to Daniel had included this poem from our stake conference - we all have habits or trials, I LOVED the lesson the Spirit taught through Elder Shipley to Luis I hope he can share this w/ him.

I asked God to take away my habit.

God said, No.  It is not for me to take away, but for you to give it up.

I asked God to make my handicapped child whole. 
 
God said, No. 
His spirit is whole, his body is only temporary

I asked God to grant me patience. 

God said, No. 
Patience is a byproduct of tribulations; it isn't granted, it is learned.

I asked God to give me happiness. 
 
God said, No. 
I give you blessings; Happiness is up to you.

I asked God to spare me pain. 
 
God said, No. 
Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow. 
 
God said, No. 
You must grow on your own! But I will prune you to make you fruitful.

I asked God for all things that I might enjoy life. 
 
God said, No. 
I will give you life, so that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as He loves me. 

God said...Ahhhh, finally you have the idea. 
 

hey there my mother,
How are you doing right now. I hope all is going well and that you guys are all taking good care of each other. I sure do miss you guys. it is cool here to see all the people get together for Christmas and be happy and all but sometimes it makes me think of you guys and how i cant be there for Christmas, but its alright, next year we´ll be together.  We will probably be in Guatemala this time next year. If you can make the plane ride, haha but really start making plans for that trip so we can come here for some good deals.

Church for us was amazing by the way. Don't mean to bust your bubble but I'm pretty sure it was better than yours haha, only because it was the Quetzaltenango Temple Dedication, and it was with Elder Uchtdorf and Elder Anderson. I didnt know that Elder Anderson could speak Spanish perfectly. Elder Uchtdorf couldn't but it was really impressive to see Elder Anderson speaking in Spanish. They both gave really powerful talks and good inspiration, and The prayer that Elder Uchtdorf gave was just so beautiful. I can't wait to go to that temple, of course we can't go now but when we come back we can make a run up there to go see it. They say it is just beautiful. anyways here is a little bit about my week.

So not to much has happened here because I was incredibly busy in other areas, and I think traveling to much, mixed in with a lot of candy, made me pretty sick. You think I would of learned from the last time with the hot cheteos, haha still haven't touched those bad boys yet, haha, but anyways here is kind of a brief decription.

Monday last week we went to Cuilapa for pday and we just played pool and then went and ate and did internet nothing to special. Tuesday I had to go to Jalpatagua, which is about an hour from my area. over there I had to do 2 interviews that day and they went really good. Then Wednesday we had to go to Barberena which is about an hour and a half from Jalpatagua for a district leader meeting we had with the Zone leaders where we talked about the upcoming things and ideas we have and how were to going to complete the goals we have and etc. I returned that night to Jalpatagua with the elder from there to do another interview for them. Then Thursday we went to Cuilapa again to do 3 interviews for them in their area. Friday we went to Cuilapa again to go to the baptisims of Cuilapa, It was 3 people, then I came back with one of the zls to my area and we did an interview in my area. Saturday we went to Barberena again to end divisions and finally me and my comp were together again, and we had the baptisims in our area with Jalapatagua and they all went really good. Sunday we had to go to Cuilapa again for the dedication and then today we went to Don Justo. Haha, crazy week huh, literally traveling every single day. Saturday I think I was just really exhausted and worn out because we had our english class that night and I went to the bathroom and threw up. Which wasn't fun but I felt better after that. I just felt really weak and tired. But I'm better now.

Alright so that is how busy I was. But mom let me tell you, I love doing this work. I honestly think that if anyone was to do what we do, they would be dead from being so tired. The Lord really does bless us with the strength to it all and more. He is amazing in how He blesses us.  I've really tried to apply the advice that Elder Clarke gave us. When we are with someone, all of our attention needs to be on that person. If we are in a room with someone, we need to only think in that moment, make eye contact and listen with our hearts to what these people are telling us. These interviews went really well for that reason. I have been told I'm pretty good at making eye contact with the people here. It's not that I try to do it though, it is just a habit now. Anyways, all of the peole who were interviewed were just so happy for the decision they made and were really nice and I really think that is the coolest part, seeing how these people have gone through so many struggles with the adversary and now they are trying to keep the commandments of God and just making their lives right with God.  It is great. It makes love a lot more easier when they are like that. But if anyone wants to say that this work is easy, tell them to come talk to me, it is not easy trying to get someone prepared for baptisim. The church doesn't ask us to change a lot as members, but for anyone else, they are literally Changing Everything. That is something we as memebers need to realize more, we need to help the recent converts more and Help them know that there is someone here to help them, and that they have a shoulder to lean on and someone to ask questions to if they need them. anyways the baptisim we had was just a little child who needed to get baptized, I didn't get a picture but I'll try to see if the other elder has one.

About our investigators really quickly.  Satan sure is hard at work with them and he wins at times but when we come we make it very clear who is right. The Spirit testifies to them everytime we go there. So we are now making it a habit, anyone who has a date for baptisim we are visiting them at least every single day, once or twice a day. That way they are feeling the Spirit more and satan is having less of an affect with these people. Oscar is doing great, he is just having a lot of doubts from some anti Mormon book he has, so I just took it. Ha, I just took his book and told him, you don't need this. I told him, who is the person who puts doubts in your mind, and he said satan, and I said, "what is this book doing to you". He said, "well, it's putting doubts in my mind", and I said, "well then, we should get rid of satan then shouldn"t we". Ha, he was a little hesitant at first but I just took it. But yeah, it was kind of funny.

Anyways, Everyting is going great here, Mom I just can't even explain to you how cool the Dedication was yesterday. It was so beautiful. Those men are truly inspired men of God and they have such a love for our Savior. They know just like I know for a Fact that He exist. I know Jesus Christ loves us, and I know for a Fact that this is the true church. Jesus is the person who leads this church and He uses his servant President Thomas S. Monson. I love this work mom and I love the blessings it brings us. The comfort the gospel gives us and all the things we can learn from this great Gospel we have. Literally there is no other Gospel that can compare, but it is because we have the Complete gospel for todays times.

Well I sure do love you guys and miss you a lot. This sunday I'll be turning 16 months in the mission. Crazy huh?  Alright talk to you later.

love Elder Shipley

ps. happy bday eric.

ps the pic of me hanging and 2 other guys is me erickson and doran.