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