WELCOME HOME!!

 

Going Home !!

Good evening Friends and Family!

Today has been an incredibly busy day driving to North Carolina to pick up all the missionaries. Right now I am in the mission home borrowing Sis. Weeds computer to check in with ya'll. I guess there is little need to write a lot in this email because I will see ya'll tomorrow.

Love ya'll,

-Elder Shill

Week 105

Hello Friends and Family!

This has been quite a busy week. We went on 3 exchanges, and I was out of town on all three. Yesterday was my first full proselyting day in Portsmouth. Luckily, since we are in a trio we were able to keep Elder Gibbons here to man the area. My second exchange was in the Greenville 2nd ward, which was my second area on my mission. It was so much fun visiting old friends and seeing how the work has progressed there. I'm grateful for all the hard working missionaries that have helped take care of that area.

As for the work it Portsmouth, it is going well. Between less-actives and investigators, there were several people that came to church yesterday. We have been doing lots of trackting to find more people to teach. The whole mission has moved away from tracking because of how seemingly unproductive it is. I happen to really enjoy it and it has produced many fruits in Portsmouth.

Love yall,

-Elder Shill

Week 104

Hello Friends and Family,

This week has been pretty good and super busy. I finished my last round of Zone Conferences, which is a little weird. I'm grateful that I was able to be apart of all the various training's. I needed the extra instruction. We also went on several exchanges. I think in total we only spent 2 full days in Portsmouth. Even though we were not in our area we had some great lessons and the work is still rolling forward. 

 

We had another incredible lesson yesterday with some investigators we haven't seen in a while. The whole lesson was centered on The Book of Mormon being the Keystone of our religion. Recently we have been reading Preach My Gospel as a mission and we had been reading about the Book of Mormon in our personal studies that morning. I was quite grateful for the reminder before we walked into that lesson.

I went back and visited New Bern again. Its a little surreal being in an old area and seeing my name on old teaching records. It has helped me understand how real the people are in our area book. They are much more than a name on a page. 

I know that this church is true. I am grateful for the chance that I have to be apart of this marvelous work. I know that the Book of Mormon is the Word of God. Most importantly, I know that Jesus is the Christ.

Love yall

-Elder Shill

Week 103

Hello Friends and Family!

This has been an incredible week! First and foremost Thank you to everyone who sent me a package and birthday wishes. I really appreciate it. This has been one of the best birthdays I have had.

This week was transfers. Starting on Monday we picked up all the departing missionaries and then dropped them off at the airport on Tuesday. Right before we left to go to the airport we were quietly eating breakfast at the hotel. Then all of a sudden all of the missionaries burst into song and sang happy birthday.  They hotel front desk then ran around the corner and dropped off a copious amount of succors and 2 icecream cones. Later that night after we had picked up the new missionaries some members came by and delivered an ice cream cake with a small gift. There were also some cool experiences we had that night. 

There is a ton of work happening in this area. The members are doing such a great job inviting people to church. It has been really neat seeing the members see so much success. We also did a little trackting this week. We were able to find 2 families that we are going to start working with. They look like they might be fairly solid families too. 

We also have been over eating. I don't know how, but we have successfully brought home food every night this week. We made a tres leche, tortillas, ate adobo and brisket, Sis. Weed's Roast, and a plethera of other foods. 

Also, we carved some pretty cool pumpkins.

Thank you so much for your love and support,

-Elder Shill

 

A couple of pictures :)

Week 98

Hey Mom, my week has been pretty good. We have been super busy on exchanges. I actually got to visit Downtown Newport News, which is where I started my mission. It was fun seeing some familiar faces. I also was able to be with Elder Vranes on that exchange. On a different exchange I was with Elder Davis in Sandbridge. Needless to say, it has been a pretty nostalgic week.