I love to see the temple :)‏

Hello! 

This week I am emailing you from our Relief Society Presidents house.  Yesterday she came up to us at church ad said, "Sisters, I need your help tomorrow.  I need a couple copies of the Book of Mormon and a Restoration DVD.  I have the JW's coming over.  Can you be at my house at 9:30?"  She let us bring our washing and do our emails while we wait for them to show up :)  It should be interesting.  

 

Last Monday we were supposed to go to the zoo with our Elders and the Sister Training Leaders.  I told the Sister Training Leaders that they needed to be at our train station by 2 in order to have time to go.  At 3:40 they were just leaving their area to drive down.  I told them to just stay up there because it wasn't worth the drive because it wouldn't give us enough time for the zoo anyway.  They were sad.  We ended up just going over to Aeronny's house with the Elders and playing soccer at the park by their house.  It was awesome.  Our goals were the Elder's shoes.  The goals were about a meter wide and our field was really small.  Elder Eti, Elder Cook and I were on one team and Sister Tomaki, Elder Maughan, and Elder Tiuera made up the other team.  About halfway through Elder Eti said, "Okay Islanders vs Americans now!"  We all just laughed.  We didn't switch up the teams because we knew we would get smashed.  I was glad that we made a could-have-been-sour p-day into one where we had heaps of fun.  

 

This week we went and saw the Ingrams.  Sister Ingram was raised in the church but with being so far away from family and having her husband work away for 28 days and be home for only 9 days it makes getting to church and things hard for her.  She has 3 kids and one on the way.  We went and visited them a few weeks ago and have seen them every week since.  Her daughter is named Bree.  She is about to turn 8 and wants to be baptized.  Her mum said she doesn't want to have her be baptized right when she turns 8 because she doesn't think she's been raised with it well enough to make the decision.  We have started teaching their family the missionary lessons.  We were really excited because the Plan of Salvation lesson was planned for the week dad was supposed to be home.  We walked in and Wayne, the dad, was laying on the couch with his leg in a brace from his hip to his ankle.  I knew straight away what he had done.  He had taken a funny jump while playing basketball during his day off at the mines and tore this patella tendon which is the tendon that holds your kneecap in place.  He showed me some awesome pictures that Sister Tomaki shuddered at.  He will be home for the next 6 weeks at least with his leg in that brace.  He went straight in for surgery and came out with about 20 staples down the front of his knee.  We talked about the Plan of Salvation that night and the Spirit was so strong.  For their commitment we invited them to write down the next thing they need to do in order to get to the Celestial Kingdom.  I encourage all of you to do this.  For Sister Tomaki and I we joked that our next step is to finish our missions so we can get married.  We have taught this lesson to a lot of families in the ward where boys need the priesthood, someone needs a patriarchal blessing to help them know what their next step is, people preparing for missions, little ones preparing for baptism, and the list goes on and on.  For each of us the next step in order to achieve the big step are the little answers we already know and love; to come to church, read our scriptures, and say our prayers.  So write down your next needed ordinance and the things that you need to do to help you get there.  It's a great activity to make sure everyone is on the right path back home. :) 

 

Lastly Friday night was the best night I've had in a really really long time.  I haven't been in the temple since I think last August or so when I was training Sister Kennar.  Sister Tomaki and I about a month ago found a family name on my Grandpa Shelton's side to take to the temple to be baptized for.  Well Friday night was our ward temple night so we got to go with Jordan and Sione (Sister Mutu's daughter and son-in-law).  On Thursday Sister Tomaki was asking me heaps of questions about baptisms for the dead and then it clicked in my head that she had never done baptisms for the dead before!  The closest temple to Vanuatu is Fiji.  The first time she had been to a temple was when she was at the MTC in New Zealand and went through for her endowment.  With realizations like this I always seem to send a chastisement home...haha brace yourselves.  We are sooo blessed to live so close to a temple that we could walk if we really needed to.  Josh and Dad I know could ride their bikes there with ease.  With it being summer break I hope you have all gone at least once a week.  Sister Tomaki said that in order to get married in the temple she will have to get a degree and job first so that they can save and save and save to fly to Fiji to be sealed.  What an incredible blessing we have to be able to just go sit at the temple grounds when we are having a bad day.  You never really notice how nice you have it until it is gone or you hear others experiences.  I biggest excuse is that we are too busy.  Sister Dench the other day at church said, "BUSY: Being Under Satan's Yoke."  How true that is.  Sophie always said a quote to me that said, "If you are too busy to read your scriptures and pray [and I'll add go to the temple], then you are busier then God ever intended you to be."  Let us be the temple-attending people that President Monson says we are.  I haven't done baptisms for the dead for nearly 2 years now and I can't explain how close I felt to heaven as I was baptized for my ancestor Mrs. Ann Britton.

They are just waiting for us to get into gear.  Grandma Shelton always told us that the more people we help by doing their work in the temple the more people we have pleading for Heavenly Father to let us in to heaven when we pass on.  I don't know about you but I definitely feel like I will need their help to get there in the end.  The temple is a beautiful place.  I wouldn't trade my recommend for anything in this world.  I cherish my temple recommend.  I hope you all have a great week and make that time to go serve the Lord in His holy house.  I love you all can't wait to hear about how the first swim practices and meets go.  Train hard Ben and David.  I'm pretty sure you will both be better than me by the time I get home.  Ben  will have to teach me how to sprint and David will have to teach me the strokes :)  Love you all! 

Much love, 

Sister Shayne

If you are with me on this reading then in the next day or so you should be finished with the first 7 books in the Book of Mormon!.   How exciting :) 

 

2 Nephi

27:7,9,15-17 Compare this to the story of the Book of Mormon translations got to Professor Charles Anton in Joseph Smith History 1:64-65

28:2 The Book of Mormon is of great worth unto us

28:21-22 Don't give in to Satan

29:6-9 Touchdown! Book of Mormon for the win! 

ALL OF CHAPTER 31 This is the Gospel of Jesus Christ 

32:3 Feast upon the words of Christ

33:3 Every missionary has felt this.  

33:10-15  Nephi will see us at the judgement bar!  What will we have to say about the words that Nephi has written for us?  

 

Jacob

2:18-19 Seek God's will first. Then if your intent for other desires is righteous then you will be rich. 

4:4 Why the plates were written.

5:22 God has put your where you are for a reason.  Even if you feel like you have been put int he worst spot possible He has a greater purpose behind it.

5:41 This is how God feels about us when we let the world affect us.

5:61-62 October 2012? 

7:9-11 Heck ya another touchdown! Read your scriptures :) 

 

Enos

1:27 I want to be able to say this and hear Heavenly Father tell that to me.  

 

 I saw Sister Hadlock at a Stake Relief Society thing on Saturday.  We had to get a picture because I don't think I'll see her again before she leaves in August.  A bunch of the sisters are going home a transfer early for school.  Sister Wyatt, Sister Ensign and I are the only 3 I know that are staying til September.   

Went tracting the other night.  I couldn't find my bug stray.  Said a prayer I wouldn't get eaten alive.  My prayer wasn't answered.  I counted 15 bites in all.  Sleeping is really impossible.  It takes so much self control to not itch.  I have awesome cream to put on it that Sister Lindsay gave me last time I got attacked in Alexander Heights when I was serving with Sister Terry.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I also burnt my hand while I was curling my hair for church on Sunday.  I was reaching for another piece of hair as I let the hair that was in the curling iron out.  The bare iron brushed against my hand.  I ran it under cool water and then applied cream.   I turned out way worse than it originally felt.

 

This is my cute companion.  I love this sister!