Week 22 - (12/22/2014) - Merry Christmas Everyone

Elder McSheehy sounds great again this week! He was able to email me a little bit more this week.  We are sooooooo excited to be able to Skype with him on Christmas Day!  Here is a quote from his email and a few pictures for the week.

"Christmas is so close!  WOW!  We are going to enjoy our first Christmas in the mission field.  It feels different as a missionary but I guess that's a good thing!  So here is a cool miracle that happened this week.  Last Monday we had our dinner appointment cancel on us because of the snow.   (yes this is a miracle I promise)  So we

received a text from one of our investigators that we haven't yet gotten our head in the door with at his house.  So he asks us if we have any plans.  We tell him not yet due to our dinner just being canceled.  So he invited us over for dinner.  WoW - how did he know our dinner appointment just got canceled?  HaHa So not only that but he invited us over again for Friday.  That wasn't a problem because we didn't have a dinner set with a member yet.  It was just going to be Elder Fordham and I.  So we go over there and talk a bit about the church with him.  We then find out Sunday that there was a mix up with the Sister Missionary's dinner calender.  We were all supposed to have dinner at the exact time.  wow  I think Heavenly Father is trying to tell us something!"






Once again Elder McSheehy wanted to thank everyone for all of your love and support.  He loves getting letters from family and friends.

"Merry Christmas Everyone"

Week 21 - (12/15/2014) - "I am Loving missionary work more and more everyday!"

 

Elder McSheehy is once again doing GREAT!! He told me in his email this week - "I am Loving missionary work more and more everyday!"

He is very excited to be getting a car this week. It should be ready by Wednesday or Thursday. They will still be biking and walking quite a bit but this way they won't have to ask for rides everywhere.  Watch out Reno, Elder McSheehy will be learning how to drive in the snow.  His companion Elder Fordham is from Wisconsin so I think he will be a good teacher.

Elder McSheehy reports they are teaching more and more each week and really enjoying the people of Reno. 

As you can see, Noah is still enjoying the special effects on his camera.  Their are 2 other missionaries that live in the same apartment complex.  Together the 4 of them appear to have a lot of fun as they work.

Elder McSheehy has officially started his 3rd transfer in Reno.  Which means he starts another planner book.  Look how he decorated the front page.  I do think he loves his little sister a little bit.









Elder McSheehy is so thankful for all of the love and support from friends and family back home.  He wants to thank everyone for all the letters, packages, cards, love, thoughts and prayers.  He does feel very supported and loved.

Week 20 - (12/08/2014) - It's Snowing

Elder McSheehy is doing wonderful this week!  Him and his companion, Elder Fordham, report working really hard to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to others.

Bike followup.  Elder McSheehy's bike is okay, Elder Fordham's bike is okay, and they had  their first successful ride on them this week after making repairs. 

  As you can see, Elder McSheehy found his old friend again this week.  This has got to be the neatest cat alive.  It appears that he enjoys climbing all over Noah.

Here is a clip from Elder Fordham's weekly email - "I have horrible karma. So you all have been made aware of how joyously snow-free it's been here...well...Tuesday it started snowing as we were leaving our apartment after eating dinner.  We got a ride over to the area we were seeing people that night, but after that we were on foot. The snow was fairly wet, but for the first hour, hour and a half it was fine. Then as the night rolled on it started to rain and the snow started to melt. By the end of the night, one of us (not the one from Florida) had slipped multiple times and fallen twice, both of us were soaked, and neither of us were warm. On a positive note, we made several mini snowmen on people's trashcans." HaHaHa - my favorite part "not the one from Florida"  Elder Fordham seems like so much fun!  

Week 19 - (12/01/2014) - He is the Gift

This week Elder McSheehy was very brief in his emails.  He said their Thanksgiving dinner went well at the Calkin's home.  They had lots of "yummy food."

Noah did ask that I put this video on his blog.  He mentioned posting it on his FB page as well.  He said "It's just really awesome Mom.  You need to watch it.  You will love it."  He was right.  I loved it.  What a beautiful message of the importance of a Christ centered Christmas.

Elder McSheehy said - "I love being a missionary mom.  There is nothing better then being able to focus my full attention to serving others.  When we serve others, we are serving God."  "It is an honor to be a missionary and be able to teach people about our Savior Jesus Christ."

Week 18 - (11/24/2014) - Happy Thanksgiving

  

Hello from Elder McSheehy for the week.  He is doing GREAT!!  "Missionary life is the best."

Temperature remain cold for Elder McSheehy. Here is a picture of the first snow flakes for the season.  His companion Elder Fordham is from Wisconsin so I don't think he is as excited about seeing snow.    

They had zone conference this past week.  "It was really awesome."  Sadly they did not get their iPad yet.  They are supposed to receive them some time before the beginning of next year. Needless to say Noah is very excited to get an iPad.

Here is a piece of Elder Fordham's email this week - "Here is a kinda funny story.  I think about two weeks ago Elder McSheehy and I were walking, doing our regular thing, when we walled past these two ladies cleaning out a garage.  We stopped to talk to them.  One of them was on the phone (she lived there) and her friend started talking to us.  She was nice and said they couldn't talk then because they wanted to get the garage done before it got dark, but to come back later.  So we came back a couple of days later.  We knocked on the door and the lady that was on the phone previously opened the door.  We had a pleasant conversation.  At first she was kinda confused as to why we were there.  It turns out that the friend doesn't live there and set her friend up as a joke for us to come back."  Noah said "She was a really nice lady and we talked for a while.  She didn't have anything for us to help her with so we went about our business."
This week they biked out the farthest they have gone to find a referral and deliver a letter from our Missionary President to someone.  Unable to find these homes, they headed back on their lengthy journey back home.  Elder Fordham says "Elder McSheehy then realizes that his front tire was getting low.  Out here they have these things called goatheads.  If you don't know what it is, put plainly, a goathead is the bane of every biker.  They are small balls of thorns from one of the many bushy plants here.  So that ended our biking.  We walked an hour and a half back to the apartment so we could catch a ride to a dinner appointment.  On the bright side, we ran into a less active member that we would have missed on bikes and got to answer some of his questions.
This Thursday is Thanksgiving and they have been invited to a families home.  It is this families first time making a Thanksgiving dinner and there will be lots of family around.  I look forward to hearing about this adventure.

Week 17 - (11/17/2014) - It's Getting Chilly Over There

Elder McSheehy says Hello to everyone this week.  He is LOVING the missionary life.  He is really enjoying this training opportunity with Elder Fordham.  Is seems like they are both learning a lot from each other.  As you can see Elder McSheehy has not changed a bit. He still enjoys his lights, lasers, and special effects photography.

The weather is getting colder staying in the low 30's but no snow yet.

They have been improving on the number of lessons being taught each week.  "Last Sunday we has a lesson where our investigator invited two of his friends over.  We were a little nervous about the lesson just because of how things had been going with this person lately, but it turned out to be a really good discussion."

Elder Fordham is "a great cook".  Together they have decided to start doing a weekly theme for meals. This week we are having Italian food.  Next week they are doing French.  I am hoping Elder McSheehy will send home some yummy recipes.  On one of the videos he sent home, he mentioned that the following week they would be eating food from Latin America.  It was so funny, Noah looked into the camera and whispered "I have no idea what people in Latin America eat.  This should be interesting."  

The weather is getting colder.  The temperatures have gone down to the 30's this week.  Looks like Elder McSheehy is prepared and staying warm.

They do not have a car this 6 weeks.  They are the only set of missionaries that are on full time biking.  They were kind enough to allow the Sister Missionaries to have the car while it was so cold out.

Week 16 - (11/10/14) - "Hey Prophecy Men"

Once again, Elder McSheehy is doing GREAT!! He is really enjoying his new companion Elder Fordham.  Here are a few pictures he sent me for the week.  These two crazy looking guys are also serving in the Reno area.  Noah seems to really enjoy their company as well.  They are serving the people that speak Spanish in the local area.

 So her is one of the better pictures I got of Elder Fordham.  He actually added me to his email list that he sends home each week.  He has given me a little more detail on their adventures that I will share with you.  "Funny moment of the week.  Elder McSheehy and I were riding down the street on our bikes to visit an investigator when we passed a group of kids.  According to Elder McSheehy, these kids really like the missionaries and will periodically tag along (follow us) when we visit people.  Here's the funny part (at least to missionaries).  So as we past the kids one of them shouts out, "Hey prophecy men" and waved."  

Noah was telling me they have been teaching one gentleman for quite a while now and he as decided that he has gotten his questions answered and would now like to be baptized.  He is so excited for this man.  He will keep me posted on his progress.

Elder McSheehy's creation this week.  Kinda neat huh?  He said it was made out of an index card.

.     Her are a few of the other missionaries serving in the same area.  The interesting things they do on their down time.  

Week 15 - (11/03/14) - Meet Elder Fordham

Hello Everyone from Elder McSheehy!!

So this week was pretty exciting for Elder McSheehy.  He received numerous cards and treats from so many people for Halloween.  He appreciates your love and support so much.  Here is one of the pictures he sent me of a Halloween card sent from the youth group in FWB.  He was telling me how much he missed his friends back home and loved hearing from them.

So as you can see, this Florida boy is getting a little cold out west.  I laughed so hard - he was wearing his PJs under his suit pants - hahaha  He said in general he stays pretty warm but out biking in the cool wind gets pretty cool.

Elder McSheehy was very excited to be training a new missionary coming into Reno last week.  Here is a video of him meeting his new companion for the next 6-12 weeks.  The first missionary you see meeting his companion is Elder Fisher - this was Noah's companion while he was in the MTC.  After him you will see Noah meeting Elder Fordham for the first time.  They do seem very excited.  The sweet lady you see taking pictures of each pair is the "Mission Mom" - wife of the Mission President.

Here is a bit of Elder Fordham's email for the week - "We were walking down the street on our way to an investigator's (people looking into the church) home.  When out of nowhere, this truck swings around the corner in front of us, we keep walking, and this lady gets out of the truck calling out, "Hey are you Mormons?  Do you have a Book of Mormon with you?  (Side note.  While this is happening Elder McSheehy is on the phone with an investigator we haven't been able to get in contact with for a few weeks.)  I give her a Book of Mormon and she starts talking about how she's engaged to a Mormon and wants to learn more about the church.  Down side to the story, she does not live in our area so another group of missionaries will be teaching her."

Elder McSheehy's emails are very brief at this point.  He talks about being so busy and helping so many people.  Noah said "Mom, I LOVE being a missionary.  I don't want to ever leave."  He is so happy and enjoys serving these wonderful people in Reno.