Transfer 1: Week 1: The First Seven Days

Wow, has it already been almost a week since my last email. Crazy how quickly time flies by when your on a mission. Well. Better get started.

        To start, I'm a little upset with the fact that I am actually writting this email now for the second time because I lost my first draft. Agh.😲

         It has been a pretty crazy week. It all started with us leaving the mtc last Tuesday. There were 13 of us going to Montana in our little travel group. It was good. From the moment we left the MTC, there were two feeling most of us expressed. Sadness to leave, because we enjoyed the mtc. There was also a feeling of us breaking free from a prison, because we had gotten out into the real world. 

        Our trip to Montana had several points to it. First, we rode a bus to the front runner station, where we boarded the train, and traveled all the way to the north temple stop. We were then to transfer to the trax, and ride that all the way to the airport, where we rode a plane for a good hour to Billings. 

          Funny story about the whole expedition, we were told by our bus driver that at the switch between north temple and the trax, we are going to have to get up a double flight of stairs. There was an elevator, but he said that it would take way too long for all of us to take the elevator since there were 13 people, and almost 30 suitcases( including carry ons) to get up the stairs. Luckily there was an escalator he said, but when we got to that point, there was an escalator, but it wasn't working, so you can picture 13 missionaries struggling to get up s few flights of stairs, several times, with 50 lb suitcases. Not all that fun. 😥

      After we got onto the plane, we talked, and the fact that this was my first flight came up, and I kept getting mixed "help" from the other missionaries. Sister Lopez Perez, who was sitting next to me was trying to calm down what the other missionaries were trying to do, syke me up scare me a little. The flight itself was alright. Take off was a little bit rough, and it took a minute for the pilot to stabilize. We could tell he was a younger pilot. The plane ride wasn't bad until we started to descend. I ended up losing the Wendy's we had for lunch.

      For the first couple days, we spent them at the mission home. We learned a lot here, from President Wadsworth. We went to the temple, spent time in the stake center learning mission specific rules,  and went to golden corral for dinner. It was a great first few days. 

      It was then where we also received our assignments on where we are serving. Some of the missionaries were going to Wyoming. While others were sent places like Bozeman, Butte, Helena, Missoula, and Great Falls. I was assigned to go to Great Falls. The two wards I am over are the Fairfield and Sunriver wards. The towns include Fairfield, Sunriver, Vaughn, Simms, and a few others I can't remember. Overall we cover about 1000 people. Yeah, there isn't a whole lot for us to do out here. Most of the people are lds, or Lutheran. It is a great area. 

       My company's name is Elder Ritchie. He is only 18. He is from Lubbock Texas, and has been out for about 11 months. It's kind of crazy that my trainer is younger than me, but it's cool. 

      These last few days have been pretty great. We spent a lot of time  either trying to set up appointments with the couple people who we are working with, one of which is on date for baptism, but it may need to be pushed back, because of his smoking addiction. And another is so golden and ready, but his father won't approve of him being baptised. 😢. Other than that, we just work with strengthening the members of the area. 

      This past weekend was stake conference. It was a great time we got to spend the night at the zone leaders apartment. We also had the honor to meet a general authority. Elder Steven A Snow of the seventy. It was really cool to learn a little more about some church history. Afterwards we got ice cream with the Wadsworths. We wanted to get coldstone's, but it was too crowded, so we got McDonald's instead.😭. 

         Today we are headed to go to our zone conference in Missoula. I think It will be a great time. So excited.

        Now to answer a few questions. 1. Sister Rushton loves to play jokes, and when we had dinner at her house, she took a picture of us, and sent it to our(elder ritchie and me) moms, and told them we ate dog. That is false. There was no dog eaten by the missionaries here. 2. Yes, my preparation day in the field is Monday.

     There isn't a whole lot to do here. But I know that there is a reason for us being here. The Lord needs us to help build up his church in Fairfield, and we will do our best to make that happen. It is marvelous, and I'm super excited to see how much I can do to help out. After I learn everybody's names, and don't feel like I'm just tagging along.

Now, my address for this transfer, for any type of postage is: 

309 1st Ave

Fairfield, MT 59436

Love,

Elder Sherwood

Now for pictures:

Elder Sherwood with President and Sister Wadsworth

New Arrivals to the Montana Billings Mission on  6-13-2018

MTC district with Brother Arslanian the day before we left

My friend Jordan from BYU-I

My new missionary Facebook profile picture

Elder Ritchie and I on first preparation day

Dinner at Sister Rushton's house (member in Vaughn)

A New Chapter Begins

Well, The MTC experience is almost over. In only a few short hours, we, Elder Allen and I, will get on the bus headed toward the Salt Lake international airport. It's hard to believe that it has already been 3 weeks since I arrived. I am going to miss it here, but I also know that it will be awesome out in the field.  For sake of time, and I mean, I have under an hour to write today, I will just be sending one giant email, Sorry Amy.
    This past week has been pretty crazy for me. It felt like all we ever did was teach. All day long, it was teaching experience, after teaching experience, but I guess that's what it's going to be like in the field, so no complaints. It was a long week of many exciting people and learning.

     One of the greatest parts of the week was the Tuesday night devotional. We had the privilege to hear from a general authority. Guess Who... Elder Gong. It was an amazing feeling from the get go. We had no idea we going to get to hear from one of the quorum of the twelve. You could feel the spirit spike really hard as soon as he came into the room. It was the most outstanding experience of my entire stay here at the MTC. We learned a lot about names, and what and how we should think because we are wearing Christ's name on our chests. 

     This week I was so happy when the new district came in on Wednesday. All their bright and shiny faces really made my day a whole lot happier. We got to meet them Wednesday night like normal, and found out a little bit more about them. I was so happy to hear that 6 new elders were going to come into our little branch/Zone. Priesthood has been so lonely the past few weeks with only 4 people in class, including branch presidency. There were also 6 additional sisters that came into our zone this week. Making our Zone have almost 30 missionaries in it. That was so awesome. But I can't imagine what it will be like in August. There are about 1100 missionaries here now. President Webb says that by August, there will be more like 2700 missionaries going through the MTC. That is crazy. I have no idea where they would fit all those people. 

      I still feel like I am dying on the inside, because my cough just won't go away. We went to the Health Center, and got me some drugs last Tuesday, so I have been on them for about a week, and most of the symptoms are gone, but the cough still lingers. Ugh. 

     By the way, Thank you all for the package. I absolutely loved it. Between the letters from you and the snacks, and most importantly the music. I have loved having these here to work with. I will treasure them always, and will reply personally as soon as I can. I have loved having the letters and prayers from all of you. The music has already played a crucial role in helping me feel the spirit at all times here this past week. I love music, and the ability it has to enlarge the chance for the spirit to enter into our lives. You never know how much you miss good music, until you have to play efy music for 2 weeks straight to study with.

     I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well, Including the chickens :( . I heard a lot about The Harr's booth at pony express days. I hope it went well. I know that you have put a lot of work into young living. It looks like a well set up event, and great time for you. 

     There has been something on my mind all week, that I feel that you all need to hear. This past week we watched a film by Elder Bednar about called "Recognizing The Spirit" in it he spoke on our need to listen to the spirit. But most of the time people just wait around for a miracleous spiritual prompting to do anything. We most likely won't understand that the spirit is prompting us in the moment. But we just need to act on any feelings we have. That is the only way the spirit will speak to us. We will not get them if we just sit. To quote Elder Bednar, "If your wondering whether or not the spirit is speaking to you, Quite worrying about it. Just get to work." This really impressed me with a combination of another talk we listen to a while ago by Bednar entitled "Character of Christ". (neither of which these talks can be found outside the MTC) In which Bednar challenges the missionaries to search for the book of Mormon from cover to cover, searching for a principle they want to learn more about. So in turn I want to extend that invitation to all of you. ***** Think of a question that you have. Write it down, Then read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover, highlighting EVERY instance of the principle pertaining to the question you have. AND keep a journal of what you learned in each session of reading, and I promise you, that you will find and learn more about that principle than you have ever before. I urge you to involve the spirit by praying for guidance before and after each time time you read, and God will reveal what you need to know. I know, because I have felt this as I have begun to do this asking how I can increase my faith in Christ.***** It is amazing what you will learn when you earnestly study for an answer. I also encourage this for anyone who needs any sort of direction in their lives. It will help a lot.

I love you all,

Elder Sherwood

p.s. Just so you know, I have a plan on doing that challenge That I mentioned in the email my self, pretty often, and I will probably be sending hopefully a Full Book of Mormon and Journal home about every 2-3 months. I'll let you know when, but I may need help getting a new journal for each time through the BOM. Thanks

  And now for more pictures:

Elder Allen, Me, Sister Clark (my cousin) and her companion

Our zone

Another Week Gone

Hello Everyone, 

    Another week has come and gone. It is amazing how fast the time is flying.  I feel like only yesterday, I arrived, and now we welcomed our new district,  and I only have 1 week left till I leave. 

     It has been a pretty rough week for me,  though.  Meeting the new district was great,  and classes are so inspiring and helpful,  it is absolutely astounding  how much I am learning here. One of the best parts I love about this place is the strength of the spirit.  I wish I didn't have to leave next week,  because I will really miss it here.  

     This week,  we worked a lot on teaching skills, and helping the investigator feel comfortable.  Skills like talking about them,  to really get to know them,  making them feel comfortable, and validating their faith and other personal stories. It has really helped our investigators open up, and through this, our lessons have improved greatly.

     These last few days, starting with Saturday, have been exceedingly challenging, I have been hit by a cold, which has made it hard to focus in class. It started with a small cough, and grew to a mix of major allergies, coughing, and headaches. It wasn't pretty at all, but I know I can get through it, because the lord needs me in Montana next week. 

      Our newest TRC, is really funny, he talks a lot about his family, and is not shy at all about telling us what he wants from us. It has made it really easy to know how to help him, and we are excited to see where it takes him, and us. 

      I had the biggest  shock this past Wednesday, the Sister Training Leaders, Sisters Collins and Parkinson, and the Zone Leaders, Elder Allen and I went to meet the new district. We started off with some get to know you questions and the game 2 truths and a lie. When we got to one of the new sisters, she said that she had a cousin here. We were all curious who was her cousin that was here. It was Me. Her name was Sister Clark. the daughter of Lorin.   We were all awestruck and it was the most crazy thing we had heard all week. The best part about the whole thing, was that I was the only one who had absolutely no idea that she was my cousin until she mentioned it. There were in total 8 sisters and 2 elders that came to to the mtc in our zone this week. So yeah, we have more than 2 elders in the zone. 

       Friday night was one of the best times of the week. We got to watch the Be One celebration. It was an amazing show, and I loved how it gave a lot in insights for what the people have gone through all this time. I loved to learn a little about their culture, and was sad to see how much they struggled over the past century. I loved the gospel choir, and Alex Boyay, sorry for the spelling. It was a great night of music, laughter, and appreciation for our brothers and sisters in the world. 

      I know that the mission  is just getting started for me, but I am happy and excited to meet all those lovely people in the Montana Billings area. I know the Lord has prepared them for me, and I for them. And I am excited to go out and serve him with all my heart, might, mind, and strength. The Lord is hastening his work in our day, and we need to be ready to respond to the call. We all have the power to really help those who have even the smallest glimpse of faith. All we have to do is act, and we will touch the lives of others. I love and miss you all, but The lord needs the valiant to stay strong, and that is what I intend to do, for he is my God, and I love him more than anything else on earth. 

Note: This will be my last P-Day in the mtc, So I don't know when the next time I will be able to write will be. That being said, anything that is sent through the mail, needs to be delivered by Monday the 11th, or plan on sending it to my mission home address which is:

Elder Jacob Taylor Sherwood

Montana Billings Mission

1848 Rimrock Rd

Billings MT 59102

United States 

All my love, 

Elder Sherwood

Now for a few pictures:

My Companion and I

Our district in front of Moses

Selfie Time!

Sister Missionaries are crazy!

A birthday wish

The Adventure Begins

hey Everyone,

     How is everyone? This past week has been  very wild and busy week for me. I had no clue how quickly they were going to put us to work. from the moment I entered the doors, I was hurried along to drop my luggage off, and quickly sent off to my first class. I had absolutely no idea what was going on at this point. I was shown who my companion is, Elder Allen, and we started class. these first few days felt like they were force feeding me as much knowledge as they could about the MTC, which didn't help with everything else that was going on, but we got through them.

      I met the rest of my district and zone that night. they are really great elders and sisters. we, Elder Allen and I, were in the same room as Elder Hellyer, and Elder Collins who were the Zone Leaders at the time. The other district in our zone is really loud and funny, they pride themselves in being the loudest zone in the MTC. but I don't think that we will be much longer, since my district is pretty quiet compared to theirs. but it is great. They all have such a strong feeling of brotherhood and friendship that I want to build. As far as the numbers in my district, there are 6 sisters, and 2 elders. Yep, Elder Allen and I are the only elders in the district.

      We day two was not any easier than the first. we had classes starting at 8am, and we didn't really have a break until 9pm. We learned a lot about our purpose and how we can begin to full fill that purpose. We even started teaching our first PI, potential investigator, aka, our teacher role playing an investigator from their mission, her name is Loren, and it was a challenging  experience to  help her understand to recognize the spirit at first. but I think we did really well. Using technology can be a great help when teaching. It really can open the eyes of those we are teaching to really begin to feel the spirit. It is amazing to see it all happen. Latter that night, we met with the branch presidency and their wives. That was a great experience of both learning, and excitement as we met our leaders. Elder Allen and I were assigned to be both district and Zone Leaders. That seemed like a lot of responsibility, but I can't wait to get started. 

     The time passes really slowly each day, but quite quickly each week. In what felt like no time at all, It was Sunday and we had our first meeting. For Sundays at the mtc, our first meeting started at 7am, which doesn't seem to bad, compared to when we get up. Everyone said that sundays are the worst day of the week, but I felt different. I thought sundays were by far the most relaxed and easy going day of the week. We had our three hour block, a few other meetings, a walk, and a great devotional about learning who Christ is. Do we really know who Christ is, or do we just think we know. All in all a great day. 

     The other district left these past two days. Some on monday, and the rest today. I am sad to see them go, but  know that they will do great things for the lord. So We, my district is all alone in the zone till tomorrow when the new district comes in, which consists of 2 elders and 8 sisters. I doubt the pattern will stop until school is out for the high schools. But until then, we will manage. 

     I hope everyone is doing really well. I do miss all of you very much, but I know that the Lord needs me here, and that I am helping to learn and bring forth the gospel to this earth. I enjoy it here, and I can't wait to go to Montana, and help the amazing people of that area. the work of the lord is glorious, and we will begin to see the love of Christ in our lives, as we understand what he wants us to do. I love all of you and I hope to here from you all soon.​​

    As far as sending me any snail mail or packages, here is my post box information. And let me know if you can see these photos

Elder Jacob Taylor Sherwood

JUN12 MT-BIL

2005 N 900 E Unit 135

Provo UT 84602

Our district

District D, the night before they left

Entering the Missionary Training Center

Jacob's Mission Call

Getting ready to open his mission call.

Montana Billings Mission!!

We meant well

To my children:

I'm sorry.  We have failed you.

We knew better than our parents did.  They we so old-fashioned.  They saw the world as black and white - like their TVs when they were young.  They couldn't relate to a technicolor reality the way we could.  Our world was in full color since the day we were born.  We were smarter than them.  They couldn't program a VCR, we created Netflix.  They invented swivel adaptors for their extra long telephone cords to keep them from getting tangled, allowing them to travel a full eight and a half feet outside their kitchen while still remaining on their phone.  We invented smart phones, and email, and texting, so that we could remain connected at all times and in all places, whether it was during dinner at a restaurant, taking a dump in the bathroom, in the middle of Church on Sunday or even while flying at thirty-thousand feet over South Dakota.  Talk about progress!

Although our parents scolded and punished us when we did something wrong, we were more loving with you.  We didn't raise our voices and tell you that you were wrong.  We instead praised your self-expression and unique perspective.  When we did something bad at school, our cruel, old-fashioned parents would give us a serious ear-chewing when we got home.  But if any teacher of yours dared to suggest you had done something wrong, we called for that teacher's removal.  If they gave you a bad grade for sub-standard work, we demanded that they change their standards to be more "fair".  If you sat on the bench in your sporting events because you weren't as good as the others, we were outraged at the coaches and demanded that they give you more playing time.  How dare they suggest one child was better at something than another?!  That's racism, or favoritism, or something-ism, isn't it?!  Above all else, we wanted you to know that you were important.  So we gave you trophies for participating.  We made your teachers grade with purple or blue pens because red markings suggested that your mistakes were wrong.  We compassionately silenced the voices of the majority so that those who were in a minority, would never have to feel like they were in a minority.

Because we loved you.

We sought to give you every advantage we never had.  Our parents were so backward, they would save for years before buying something expensive.  We had to do without so many things that we wanted because our horrible parents "didn't have it in the budget".  We swore that that that wouldn't happen to you.  We gave you everything you wanted, right when you wanted it.  After all, why wait?  You don't have to be able to afford to pay the whole price of something - as long as you can afford the payments.

Because we loved you, we sacrificed our time with you to climb higher up our corporate ladders.  We became a "two-income" family to better afford all the payments.  Our parents would never have done that for us.  Sure, we weren't there when you got home from school, but you knew that what we were doing was for your benefit.  Besides, the school and the TV were doing such a good job of raising you, you didn't really miss out on anything by our being absent.

And with all our efforts to teach you how important you are, you learned.

You learned that truth doesn't matter.  Character doesn't matter.  Results don't matter.

Only winning matters.

...And no matter the character of your results, the truth is you are a winner.

You learned that you deserve to have what you want, and somebody else should give it to you.

You learned that if it can't be said in a 15 second sound bite, it can't possibly be worth listening to.

You learned to value career over care-giving, ease over effort, entertainment over enlightenment, fantasy over faith, handouts over hard work, popularity over principle, security over self-sufficiency, and success without sacrifice.

Wealth is obscene, pornography is not.  You vigorously defend the "rights" of those who exploit women for profit.  You call it art.  You condemn those who speak in favor of chastity and family values.  You call it bigotry.

Morality is obsolete.  Gender is an opinion.  You install urinals in your Ladies' rooms, and sanitary napkin baskets in your Men's rooms.  You celebrate "choice", unless someone chooses to believe in Christ or adhere to the time-tested values of the past.  You worship at the altar of tolerance, while calling intolerant any who pray at the feet of God.

Yes, we failed you because we loved you, and you are now reaping the bitter harvest that we have sown.  The world of reason and prosperity that our parents left to us is lost, and it will not come again in your lifetime.  But maybe, just maybe your grandchildren's grandchildren will revolt against the despotism you and I have ignorantly placed upon them, cast off the shackles of the failed philosophies of the past, embrace principles of liberty and responsibility and rise up to be smarter than their parents.

Just like we did.