December 28th, 2015-Cinnamon Rolls & Chili

This week has been so fantastic! We went to a Half Mission Christmas Conference on Wednesday and all of the sister's that I came out with were there. It was so much fun to see them all again! Thursday and Friday we ate more Mexican food than I thought possible and it was so fun being able to see you all again!!! I will miss your beautiful faces and the count down is on for mothers day!

By the way to answer your question there aren't any missionaries on Mackinac Island. It's such a bummer I know. Oh! It finally got cold here! When we went running this morning it was 14 degrees outside. Talk about cold!

Anyways... The reason for my...topic.  On Saturday night we went over to one of the family's in the ward for dinner.  And apparently here in Bay City they have a contest every time a new missionary comes in, to see how many HUGE cinnamon rolls and bowls of chili that they can eat. WORST COMBO EVER. It was so weird. But I managed to eat 2 cinnamon rolls and 1 bowl of chili. The record was like 7 cinnamon rolls and 3 bowls of chili!!! Needless to say, we had a ton of fun laughing at one another try and eat as much as possible. But while we were there we met this guy named Christopher who S. Veihweg door knocked into 6 MONTHS AGO. Coincidence? I think not! We're all super excited to see how things work out with him. In other news, we got a call from the AP's a little while ago and we had the most Investigators at church out of the whole mission. We were so shocked and are determined to keep progressing and getting better along with our investigators each day!!

Love you all and have a fantastic week!

December 21st, 2015- Bay City Michigan

Hola! So first off, apparently I am going to become fluent in Spanish and English because everyone here speaks both languages. Who woulda thought?! We even learned how to make tamales! This week has been so good! On Tuesday our district all said our goodbyes and then Wednesday morning we all got up to see each other leave. Then Wednesday we flew to Michigan! But we didn't just fly. We rode a bus to the train, and then train to traxx, to airport to airport to bus and then FINALLY the mission home. I think it ended up being like 13 hours but so fun at the same time. Then on Thursday I got to come to my first area!! I'll be here for at least 3 months so super exciting. Right now I'm in Bay area and my address is....

Sister Sydney Sheppard
1893 Central Villa Ct.
Essexville, MI 48732

Letters/Packages are always appreciated:) Anyways... My comp right now is Sister Viehweg! She's from Idaho and is absolutely fantastic. Also My OTHER comp is Sister Chatman. We're a trio:):) She'll only be with us until the 30th and then she goes home:( It's been so much fun having them both here though! Every night since I've gotten here we've been fed by the members. It's so fun! I've only been here for 6 days and I feel like I already know majority of the branch pretty well! We've also been teaching this little 8 year old boy Alajwuan and his older sister Brandy who is 15. They have such an incredibly hard life. It's so heartbreaking! But it has been so much fun watching how their lives and attitudes towards life has changed as they have been being taught more and more about the gospel. Time is seriously flying here! I am so glad that I made the decision to come on a mission! I can't even imagine what I would be doing right now if I hadn't. I love you all and I know the gospel is true! Have a FANTASTIC week!
 Love ya! Sister Sheppard

First Area-Bay City Michigan

December 16th, 2015-Michigan Airport

Pictures from the MTC

Sister Rogers and Elder Anderson on the left,  Elder Traughber on the right

Our wonderful district! Elder Anderson, Elder Traughber, Elder Brandner, Elder Brown, Me, Sister Rogers, Sister Jackson, Sister Palmer:)

December 14th, 2015-Provo MTC

Hi Mom!

This week has been so great! Its amazing how fast the time seems to fly here. On Tuesday we started teaching our first REAL investigator and she is so excited to learn more about the church! It was Great! We only got to meet with her three time since we leave on Wednesday for Michigan. When we told her that we weren't going to be teaching her anymore she started crying. At the very end of our last lesson with her we asked her to pray and by the end of it Sister Rogers and I were both in tears! In was so sad but an amazing experience at the same time. So far we've taught 15 lessons and even we can see the difference from the first lesson to now. We've learned so much it's crazy. My mind is seriously on overload but it's great. I can't even explain how excited I am to be leaving for Michigan this WEDNESDAY!!! Sorry if this email seems really scattered, It kinda seems like I've lived in the MTC my whole life! Which is so fun because everyone is so nice and says HI SISTERS all the time. My goal this past week was to learn and remember as many names as I possibly could and so now everyone in my district gets mad cause they think that I know everyone. It's so fun! For our Sunday Devo this week the BYU Men's Chorus came and it was SO POWERFUL. Music is such an incredible way to feel the spirit and I think that I had kind of forgotten that since we don't usually hear music here with exception of our own wonderful singing. Haha. Anyways... Oh we learned the coolest thing the other day. If when you read he scripture you stop after each verse, you can find a blessing or an invitation in each one! even, And my father dwelt in a tent. Cool right?!

Ok funny story. We( Sis Rogers and I) were walking down the stairs to our residence yesterday and she was saying how we should try to go the the bookstore later, and I said. Sister Rogers. Do or do not. There is no try. And she said, who said that? President Hinckley? HAHAHHA It was way funnier in the moment.  I hope you all had a great week and I love you all!!!!

Sister Rogers and Sister Sheppard

Provo MTC-Michigan Missionaries

December 7th 2015- Provo MTC

Hi!!!

Oh my Goodness I love the MTC so much! It has been so much fun. The days feel like weeks and the weeks feel like years. It's really weird. But my companion is amazing!! You'll have to ask the Terry's to show you a picture of her cause the girl that they told me to look for ended up being my companion. Weird I know. For some reason I cannot figure out how to send any more pictures. Her name is Sister Rogers and she is absolutely amazing! We get along fantastically and are so alike that everyone keeps commenting about it. She's the one on right of me. On the left in that picture I just sent is Sister Palmer and on Sister Rogers right is Sister Jackson! I love them all so much and it's been really fun. So fun fact about our district, we have just about every leadership role right now. We can't decide if it's because President thinks we're awesome, or because we need to mature a little! The two elders in the picture are our ZL's (Elder Troughber and Elder Anderson) and then the other two Sisters are the STL's, Sister Rogers and I are known affectionately as the AZL's (assistant zone leaders) because we get everyone where they need to be on time. Our DL is Elder Brown who coincidentally isn't in the picture since he was off meeting his new companion. And as I'm sure you've noticed since I talk about them a ton, we are all extremely close. They are like my little family here and it's great. 

Anyways... We started teaching our first investigator the day after we got here and now we are up to 4 investigators. It's so fun! The first time we taught we were so nervous since we thought it was going to be an actual investigator but just cracked up when we knocked on the door and or teacher answered. Why we didn't put that together I'm not exactly sure. It's amazing how much I have been able to learn in such a short amount of time. Every time we teach another lesson we can feel ourselves growing spiritual and becoming better missionaries. Oh! if you want to read a scripture about how absolutely draining the MTC is 1 Nephi 1:7. Haha if that doesn't tell you how tired we are, then I don't know what will! But it's great! We've learned so much. I think that the one thing that has really stuck with me is how much Christ is the center of everything. Since yesterday was fast Sunday, we fasted as a district that we would be able to find Christ in everything we do. It's just fantastic how many things we have noticed just since starting our fast. This morning we got to go to the Temple and it was such a blessing just to be able to sit and feel the spirit. I LOVE THE TEMPLE. Sister Jackson was also a temple worker before coming to the MTC and so it was really fun to be able to talk to her about the experiences we both had. 

Oh and before I forget, we leave for Michigan on the 16th so next Wednesday! We should get there about 5:30 East Coast time. So expect ta call from me at some point during that day! 

I have plenty more to tell you but I'm running out of time so I'll let you know more next week! 

Love you all so much! 

Sister Sheppard

This is our zone! About half of them let today s it will be fun to see who to new sisters are on Wednesday.

This is my absolutely wonderful district! We're missing two of the elders so I'll send a picture with all of us in it next Monday:)