Transfer 16, Week 5: The Sealing of a Testimony by Sweat

Hey Everyone,  

        I can't tell you how hard it is to be writing this email at the moment.  I doubt that I am spiritually prepared to do this, but that doesn't remove the need to complete this task. It is with a heavy heart that I have to announce once more that this letter will be the final weekly update that you will recieve from me as a missionary. Yes, after almost 23 months of service, and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I am to return home on this upcoming Saturday, April 11th 2020.

         That being said recently my mind has been reflecting on these last 23 months, and what I could say to my "Followers", (Friends, Family, and many others) of the journey I've been on. Plus add to the fact that General Conference has been this week, and the focus on the Restoration of the Church started 200 years ago. It has caused me to focus my studies, and reflect on that as well.
         Throughout the Church's cannon of Scripture, there are several accounts of people Sealing up their testimonies to God. Abinadi,  in Mosiah 17,  and Joseph Smith, in our day, are both good examples of Sealing their testimonies by their blood. Others like Moroni Sealed his testimony with the plates, after witnessing his whole nation be massacred. And now, I have the responsibility to Seal the Testimony of my mission at the end as I prepare to return home.
         Throughout my mission, I have witnessed far too many Miracles to name, whether in my own life, or the lives of those I've served around. The light of Christ has blossomed in abundance, and his love is shown forth through the effort of His children as they serve in their respective callings, and ministered to their fellow neighbor. My Soul has grown and the desire to continue to serve Him for the rest of my life only becomes stronger by the day.
         Through the time spent reflecting upon the words and deeds of those whose aim it was to strengthen me, I feel that I have come to know my Savior better, whether through the time spent studying, or that of learning through His divinely appointed servants. I have come to know that Christ lives, and understand His atonement on a much more powerful level than I had ever imagined previously. And, to add to all of that, through following the example of those before me, and taking on commitments laid out by prophets time and time again, The love of God and the relationship I have with Him is something I will always hold dear. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
         Now to all of you who want to stay in contact with me after April 11th. I have thought about it a lot, and this is what I've decided. To stay in contact with me, I provide you with 3 options:
      
1. Email through the email, j.sherwood1820@gmail.com
2. phone or text at (385) 225-6511 (this may be subject to change)
3.  through my mission Facebook profile. (I will merge my old one into my mission account soon)

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve with and around each one of you, and I thank you for that. So from Billings Montana for the final time. I must say adieu. 

With love,
Elder Sherwood

One final picture of the Final Trio:

Transfer 16, Week 4: Troubling Times Though Safety in Faith

Hey Everyone, 

        How are y'all doing today? How are you holding up during this pandemic? I hope everything is still going well even in these Troubling times. Things are always changing here, and we never know what's going to happen at this point. Haha. 

        To start, this week in the beginning was pretty normal. Life has slowly been getting more difficult to do missionary work, and stay busy. But we're still doing our best. I know that there's always a way to find ideas and ways to do missionary work. All that matters is where your heart is right? 

        The biggest news that I can honestly think of to tell other than that I'm doing well, and something that happened Friday night, is that as of Saturday we are now in a state wide Stay at home quarantine mandated by the Governor. We are now only allowed to leave our apartment for exercise and essential tasks like grocery stores, and laundry. This is supposed to last until April 10th. Yeah???

        Now to Friday. This takes a story. So we are in our apartment finishing up our night, when a random lady barges into our apartment and locks herself in our bedroom. We hear yelling outside, and are worried until we see that our landlord is out there. We exit the building, and wait in a safe place while the Police arrived and took care of it. Apparently that lady felt the need to try to steal our landlord's car, but when she was stumped, she ran and hid in our place?? Wow, weird! Nobody was hurt in the process though, so that's good. 

        Well, I think that wraps up my week. I hope y'all are safe and healthy. Keep your heads up and look forward to Conference this next Saturday/Sunday. Hooray!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Transfer 16, Week 3: Covid-19 Changes and Missionary Work

Hey Everyone, 

       How are you all doing today? If you aren't fully quarantined, how's the weather? We seem to be getting a weird mix right now around the end of march. Weird, huh?

       Anyway, how is everything on your end? I know life for missionaries is just getting crazier by the day.  For we've progressed over the last week from having no church meetings to being in an almost full quarantine. We're still super grateful that our members are willing to step up their game and extending an infinitely larger number of invitations now that we are restricted from most of the ways we would find. 

        As of now, we aren't quite confined to our apartments, but we also aren't allowed to go in anyone's home for any reason. No tracting, no moving. All we have is to either walk around town trying to catch people outside, or working through online tools. It is getting more increasingly difficult to work, not going to lie. But it is all good. That's just the time we live in at the moment. 

        We've had some cool experiences though, for example, we have a few members that are trying to get their friends to agree to do online lessons with us. That would be sweet. Plus, we have the privilege of housing Elder Coffey for an undetermined amount of time. So that puts a fun twist in things, all while also trying to figure out all of our Going home Crap. 

        Which brings me to an important announcement that came out last week, that I believe I omitted from the email only because we didn't have any details yet. But now I can formally announce it. Due to the Covid-19 situation, I am going to be returning home earlier than expected. My release date has been changed and moved to Apr. 11th  instead of May 23rd. It will be very sad to go early, but I know that God is mindful of what is happening, and is there to assist us in our trials.
        So, this week in the Book of Mormon, it was the Allegory of the Olive tree. There is so much that we can learn about Christ, and his work by the analogy that the prophets used. It is super cool. We learned so much, and I know that you can too as you put forth the effort needed to learn about Christ. And I also know that the Holy Ghost will help you in this time of struggle and desperation.

        Well, I think that wraps up this week. Hopefully next week will add a fun spark to the whole adventure. Stay safe and healthy. I'll talk to y'all next week.

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Transfer 16, Week 2: Corona Virus Problems, and New Adventures

Hey Everyone, 

        How's it going for you all with all that is going around? I hope that all of you are staying safe from this pandemic that's going around. This week has been crazy for so many reasons. Many of which you are all aware of, as well as, I am on kind of a time crunch today, as it is currently 4:30 pm as I'm writing this. 

        So, where to start. This week is super crazy. We've been working a lot to cope with all of changes that are going on. From Church being canceled, to the possible quarentines, times are getting rougher and rougher. But even with the craziness, the work of the Lord is moving on, and we just need to do all we can to adjust and keep moving forward. 

        Not too much happened the rest of the week. We've been working to find new people to get to teach. Hopefully we can see fruits from that this upcoming week. 

        This is for everyone, but... During this time of turmoil, it becomes all the more important that we rely on Christ, and do all we can to help one another. Ministering, and Come follow Me are huge, and the world can use all the help we would be able to give. 

         On a new note, moving forward with all of the Corona Virus changes, and being one of the reasons why I am writing so late,  part of the change, as of an hour ago, we are now at least temporarily in a trio with a missionary who came back early from Mongolia. Super cool. We're excited to be able to work with him. 

         Well, any other updates, I will let you know as we move forward. Keep the Faith, and stay strong. Heavenly Father will continue to bless us as we trust Him. Stay happy and safe. 

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

P.S.  Elder Sherwood called back Monday night to let us know that in accordance to the updated missionary service guidelines sent out on Monday, he will be coming home next transfer, on April 11, rather than on May 23rd.

Pictures ... Sorry, Not going to give them titles, because of time.

Transfer 16, Week 1: Into the Big City, Up on the Hill

Hey Everyone, 

        How are we all this week? Has the weather been weird, or staying rather pleasant for all of you? I hope that everything is pretty dandy back where you are, for things are pretty great here as well. 

        Speaking of that, most of you are probably wondering what my transfer news was from last week. Well, as the subject of this week's email would suggest, I have been transferred to Billings. Up in the Heights to be exact. My new area is called Alkali Creek, just on the edge of the rim. Super cool.  With this transfer also comes the opportunity to do a couple things. One of which is the temple. Serving in Billings, we are given the opportunity to go to the Temple every Tuesday, and I'm excited about that. As well as the usual new companion stuff. That's always fun too.

        Also with that, there is an announcement that needs to be made, This transfer is only going to be 5 weeks long. Then next transfer is going to be  7 weeks long. No idea why though. ???

        So, my new companion's name is Elder Peterson. He is from Arizona. (I forgot where.) He comes from a family of 7 kids, is 20 years old, and has really red hair. It's going to be a blast serving with him. 

        Being in Billings has been pretty great so far, we've been really busy getting to know people, and introducing me to the area. There has also been lot of unexpected service, and opportunities, it's been great. I'm excited to get down to work in Billings. 

        Well, I believe that this wraps all the fun stuff up for the week. Stay happy y'all, and I'll talk to you next week .

New address is: 

1448 Bench Blvd, Billings, MT 59105

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

Monday video chats are the BEST!!

Transfer 15, Week 6: A Pinewood Lego Party

Hello Everyone, 

         How are we all this week? The sun still shines bright, and life is good. Is it warm where you are? Or is it still pretty cold for late winter there? Haha. 

         This week has been very slow for us actually. With Inga now a member, it's all focused back to the streets all day long which is harder than you would expect. I've been expecting it, but not this fast. Oooff!

         Anyway, something fun and exciting that happened this week was the community Pinewood Derby on Friday. My Missionaries won occassionally, but not overall. Haha. It was a very fun and well attended event. There being many nonmembers from the community there as well. Super cool!

         But that pretty much finishes it off for the week. Transfers and transfer news should be comming today, so hopefully I can let everyone know when it comes, but if not. You'll hear about it next week.  Enjoy the Spring!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

"The Missionaries" car

We were featured in the newspaper.

My car and award.

Transfer 15, Week 5: The Best Sound I've Ever Heard

Hey Everyone, 

        How are we all doing today? It's been a great and pretty warm week for the end of February.  Just for a disclousure, this week's email may be short, for the week didn't have much happen, but hey I actually got pictures for this week's so that's good. 

        Literally to sum up the week, we spent it either getting ready for Inga's Baptism, or advertising for the ward pinewood derby this upcoming Friday. It was super exciting. 

        Inga got Baptized on Saturday which was awesome. We are so excited for her, and the journey she is taking. Super cool. 

        Well, like I said that pretty much sums up my week. I apologize again for the short report, but hey, life is good. Stay safe, and have fun!

Love, 

Elder Sherwood

Pictures:

Inga and her "church" dog with Elder Painter and Elder Sherwood.

Elder Sherwood and Elder Painter.

Those are some awesome icicles.