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| My new convert Jennifer |
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| Elder Wylie, Jennifer and Elder Schneider |
Red Lodge Montana
Sept 21, 2015
Ipad Returned by an honest awesome citizen
To
the Fam,
So I just got my iPad back so I have a lot to catch up on.
The first thing is the baptism that happened on sept 2 of course. That was so
awesome, I've never done it before so it was an experience to remember. But I
was so nervous when I did it. I didn't dunk her all the way the first time so I
had to do it again.. But she still loved it, which is what matters. She
described it as "rejuvenating". She had a lot of support and she
enjoyed it very much. Then the next day on Sunday I got to confirm her too, and
I was even more nervous for that! I had to do it front of the whole ward! But I
tell you what, that was even more awesome than the Baptism. I could just feel
the Holy Ghost descend upon her. I have never before been able to perform such
an amazing ordinance. There is real power in the priesthood. I was able to talk
to her a few days later and see how she was doing. She said she noticed and
immediate difference after she received the Holy Ghost and that she still had
that same feeling. That really strengthened my testimony and put a smile on my
face.
As well as that, as you all know I'm training. My companion
Elder Wylie is an awesome guy. Let me just explain to you his personality. He
was painfully shy when I first met him. But, he's coming out of his shell. He
is actually so full of personality and humor. He keeps surprising me with
hidden talents and skills. He can beat box and play the drums. He's also very
smart and a deep thinker. But my favorite part about him is his desire to work
and follow the rules. It’s like a breath of fresh air. Elder Wylie and I are on
the same page and we are loving it. We often have no clue what we’re doing but
we just learn as we go and enjoy it. Me and him get along very well. It’s
weird because I’m having to be out going and be the confident one that has to
approach people and be the example. But I’m surprising myself actually. I’m
doing a better job at taking the lead already and I can’t wait to see how much
more improvement I have to make. And I also love seeing my companion blossom.
He kind of knows the doctrine well already but he just needs to be able to
teach it, and its coming, slowly but surely. He's very good at being organized
and working smart. And this helps me a lot, because I can get sloppy sometimes.
He makes sure we work smart and that we do things right, not just fast. So I'm
learning a lot from him too.
One miracle I had this week was a blessing I had the
opportunity to give. We were out contacting some less active people and we come
up to this lady's house. She lets us in and is happy to see us and all. So we
talk with her for a bit and then we notice that she was doing homework or
writing something. So we ask her what she was doing and she says that she was
writing a paper for some college homework. But she said that she had gotten a
bad concussion a few months ago and wasn’t able to focus very well so it’s been
hard for her to do any schooling and writing and stuff like that. So the
thought pops in my head, priesthood blessing? I ask her if she’s gotten one to
help and she said she had and it helped, but she would like another one. Me and
my companion are like heck yeah we will give you a blessing! We take out the
oil and go through it all. So we give her a blessing and leave her with a
pamphlet. We came back about a week later. We ask her how she was doing and she
said she was doing great. She said the blessing helped her finish her homework
and it was as if she had never gotten a concussion. And we were like wow,
that’s amazing. The priesthood power is real. That was the first time I have
really seen the priesthood heal someone. So I have no doubts in its
capabilities.
I’m starting my tenth week in the field here and its getting
pretty crazy. I don't really see a whole lot of success with the people we are
teaching but we are having success with ourselves. I get the feeling that it
might stay this way. There is so much religion out here it seems as if there is
no room for the LDS religion. But I just have to keep being patient and realize
that there is nothing I can do when people are not open. If they want to
listen, great, if not, oh well. We try our best and that’s what matters. But I
want to know about you all more! Keep me updated! Tell me what’s going on in
your lives! I hope you all are doing well, I love you all. Until next week,
peace out! And I’m sending pictures in a bit
-Elder Schneider
September 21, 2015
Pics for the week
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| Shout out to Pops aka Barry |
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| and this is Bear |
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| Montana doorbell humor |
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| And.... another gorgeous sunset |
Sept. 14, 2015
Lost Ipad
About the lost Ipad: I know, how could I? The one cool thing
I get on my mission and I lose it! But it taught me to be a little more
responsible. And I get made fun of by all of the other elders too so I’ve been
humbled. So I guess I have quite a bit to catch you all up on. These past two
weeks have probably had the most happen than any other time on my mission thus
far. For one, I had my first baptism. And two, I’m training. So you can imagine
how much stuff I had to do. But it was so awesome. I’m learning that the Lord
qualifies the called and doesn’t call the qualified. Because I know for a fact
that I wasn’t qualified to train, but I was called, and He is turning me into
what He has called me to be. If the Lord only called the qualified there would
be very few people on this earth with the Priesthood and there would be very
few callings made.
That’s not how He does things, He trusts us and then gives
us an assignment and lets us grow and learn. He will help us along the way of
course, but He will definitely test us and try us. He knows our capacity’s as
individuals and knows just how much stuff to throw at us at once. But the thing
that seems to always touch me is the blessings. I don’t think you will find one
place in the scriptures where the Lord gives us a commandment and then doesn’t
promise blessings in return. He will, without a doubt, bless us for everything
we do right. And sometimes I may say, "Well I invited Johnny to church and
he told me to get lost, that wasn’t a blessing". But wait, maybe it was.
Maybe He was just giving me an opportunity to grow and learn. And if Johnny’s
immediate answer was, I want to get baptized, that probably would have done me
much less good than the rejection. Do we look at trials as punishment or as
opportunity? Do we look at work as stress or as things we can achieve? And I
hope we all look at the more opportunistic answer of the two. It’s all in the
way we look at things. If our hearts are hard we will be sluggish to recognize
the Lords blessings, but if we are continually keeping a fresh hope of goodness
and a positive outlook we find less to gripe about. It’s funny how often it
occurs to me that the Lord really does bless me with more than I can
comprehend. If you ever pity yourself, stop it. Because if you trying your best
to handle whatever life throws at you, you are doing what you should be doing.
We should never say, I didn’t ask for this, or why does this always happen to
me? Just say, I know the Lord is teaching me something, what is it? Do you guys
ever pray about trials you are having and thank Heavenly Father? I know I don’t
do it very often and I should do it more. Because trials are like math
equations, we don’t know the answer, but the Lord does. He can give us the
solution to solve that equation. And if you just ask for the solution to the
problem He will give it to you. We will probably have to try a few different
formulas and so forth but we just have to start. And in the end, you’ve learned
something new to take with you for the rest of your life, along with the
blessings He has promised you. So honestly, why fear tribulation? It’s not
easy, but it’s not scary either. Like D&C 58:3-4 says, after much
tribulation you will be crowned with much glory.
We cannot comprehend with our natural minds the things God
has in store for us. And do you think He will just give it all to us in heaven?
No, I think we will have to work for things in heaven just as we do here on
Earth. We will have to learn just as we do here. But I’m glad it’s like that.
I’m glad we have the opportunity to keep growing and to keep learning.
Knowledge is becoming very valuable to me as I’m out here. I see how much
knowledge does for me. I used to hate studying things but now I just love
soaking in all of the scripture and books we have to read. It’s like having a
shelf full of friends. Each story teaches me something as well as triggers
emotion. I hope you all are reading and learning daily, especially from the
scriptures. And if you’re not, you better start. Because if knowledge is the
only thing we can take into the next life that would be a real bummer if all
you knew was the basics to life. How about you learn something new? We should
always be exercising our minds and trying to absorb as many things as possible
(only good things of course). Try challenging yourself to memorize things.
Memorize a quote you like word for word and you see that you not only feel a
sense of accomplishment but you will also have one more thing for you to keep.
Our stake up here has made a list of 7 simple things. they are: 1-Read the
scriptures daily as an individual, 2-Read the scriptures daily as a family,
3-Pray daily as an individual, 4-Pray daily as a family, 5-Attend the temple
once a month, 6-Hold family home evening once a week, 7-Attend church once a
week as a family. Those seven simple things will make a dramatic difference in
your life. I hope that you all are striving to do those things. We have a
family that’s blended in our ward and we taught them last night. The mother has
been really stressed lately with how crazy the kids are and how the father is
always getting upset and so forth. So one of the members asked her, are you
doing the seven simple things? And she said, some of them. Well, she needs to
do all of them. If she sits down with her family every morning to read and pray
it will make a difference. Maybe the kids will be still be rowdy but she will
have peace in her heart. And I know that to be true. You just have to start and
make a commitment with yourselves to continue to do these 7 simple things. That
doesn’t mean life will be easy but it will become more manageable. So accept
that challenge ok? Thanks. I just want to say I miss you all so much and I love
you dearly. I’m keeping you in my prayers every day, Keep being awesome. Love
you.
-Elder Schneider
August 31, 2015
Transfer One Complete
Dear Family,
Well this week was great! Lots of stuff to tell you about, I
don't even know where to start! I guess I'll just mention my miracle of the
week.
My miracle of the week is about a family we've been seeing.
This family just showed up to church one day to see how it was. They didn't
really know why they decided to come that one day but I'm sure glad say did. So
we talked to them and set up an appointment to teach them. They invite us over
for dinner and feed us a great meal and they have great hospitality. So then we
teach them right? The lesson we gave them was super spiritual and I know they
learned something new. And in the lesson they mentioned how ever since they
came to church their family has been happier. They felt as though something was
missing in the family and the church could be the answer. So then we asked them
to be baptized and they gave a hesitant yes. Because they felt as though they
weren't ready but then we explained to them that we set a date in the future
for them to work towards and they felt a little better about that. So the
spirit was super strong and it was so awesome to hear. They missed the last two
Sunday's but they are still keeping in touch with us and want to learn more,
I'm super excited about them. We aren't supposed to add up the number of
baptisms we get, but if they follow through that would make 5 people on date
for baptism. So I'm pumped about that!
These last few weeks have been kind of difficult because our
ward wasn't doing that great to help out the missionaries. So I had things to
fix. I was kind of feeling overwhelmed. So I've just been praying real hard to
be patient and to just do all that I can do to best solve these situations. And
this week has been a real blessing for me. I've finally started to see some
changes in the ward. I don't know if it’s from our efforts as missionaries or
if it’s just the Lord answering my prayers, (probably both) but the ward has
seemed to pick up a bit. And I have to give a ton of thanks to my ward mission
leader. He is so good. He is super helpful and always on the same page as us
and has that same desire to push the work forward like us. He just gets stuff
done. And he's also just a cool guy so I like being around him. But these
changes are giving me a lot of hope.
I am starting to look more outside the box of a traditional
missionary so that I can try something new instead of trying the same old
things. My teaching skills are improving and I’m learning more from the
scriptures daily. Being with this companion has shown me the missionary I want
to be. I know that I want to be obedient and hard working. I can't stand to
waste good time, haha that probably doesn't sound like me, but it's true. I
have this constant feeling like there is so much to do and so many people to
teach and so many rules to follow. But I like it like that. Staying busy helps
me a lot. When I'm busy I can just get lost in the work and not worry about the
world. And there are blessing that come from working hard and staying busy. It
seems like when we do what we are supposed to do we just have blessing come to
us. I'm still working on my ability to do missionary work by the spirit, because
that really is a hard thing to do. It seems like sometimes I get no answer so I
just have to go with the best decision I can think of. The power of the spirit
is real though. I have seen it work in me and I have asked some inspired
questions that really just hit people. So I know it's in me I just have to keep
working at it. Another hard part of teaching is being able to answer people's
questions. I can’t answer a lot of the questions still but at least I can
answer some. I will get there.
But I’ve also got some news for you guys! So we got transfer
calls on Sunday and guess what? I’m staying in Belgrade! But, I’m training a
new missionary! Yeah I’m only half way done with my training and I’m going to
be training another missionary! I was kind of nervous at first but I feel
pretty honored that the Lord trusts me enough to be a trainer this early. And
it will also be nice to be in charge so I can make sure we follow the rules and
work hard! This is going to be an adventure! So I’m still in shock about it a
bit, but I’ll settle down pretty soon. I don't even get to know who he is until
I see him, so that will be interesting. Anyways, that’s my cool news for you
guys. I hope you all are doing good and that things are working out for you
guys. I love you and miss you all.
-Elder Schneider
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