February 15, 2016

Transfers!

Hey everybody! We got transfer news this week. Elder Peterson is getting transferred to Stevensville Montana and I'm getting a new companion named Elder Palmer. I'm gonna be the senior companion again. I almost want to be the junior companion at this point so I can learn from him lol. I thought at this point in my mission I would have had things down and I would just be getting baptisms like crazy because I started well with a baptism and trained early on. But I still know so little! I was only trained for 6 weeks so I've been just figuring things out since then. I look at some of the Elders around me that came out with me or are younger than me and I'm like, how do you have this whole missionary thing down?? But that's the way I am, I make it harder than it is. 

We did some really good work this week. We taught a bunch of random lessons but the people we have a hard time consistently teaching is the ones that we are focusing on! The people who are actually interested are the hardest to keep teaching. Satan works so hard on these people. We had a lesson with an awesome potential earlier this week. Man there was so many things that were getting in the way. He got 7 phone calls in our lesson and then the next day we were supposed to go on a church tour and he got a toothache that kept him home. The opposition is relentless! But we just have to fight back at is as well. For every bad thing that happens to them I believe that we should be able to provide a good spiritual thing. That's why we keep daily contact with our investigators and less actives. There is too much wickedness and temptation to not teach them as much as we can! It’s a real struggle.

We had one of our eternal investigators walk up to us and say, I want to be baptized. This sounds cool right? Well we're not so sure if she’s serious or she just wants the attention of going through the whole process again. We had dropped her because she didn't want to commit to anything and now when she tells us this we don't know how to feel. So we decided if she’s serious shell make the changes necessary, because there isn't anything we can do more for her. She knows what we believe and believes its true she just doesn't want to commit. So we will see if she’s serious or not!

My random adventure of the week was that I tazed my leg. Haha yeah we went to a members house and they were showing us their cool new flashlight that has a built in stun gun built in. And the dad was like, I’ll do it if you do it. So we somehow got talked into tazing our leg. We just did it for a second but it still gave you a pretty good zap! I never would have thought that I would have done that on my mission. Although we probably should have had a little more dignity than to do that and play around but I guess we fell into peer pressure. Sorry, I’ll be better.

But to keep it on the more spiritual note, I love this gospel. Man I don't always get it fully but I know it’s true. There is no way I could deny it. I just need to express it to others better now. I'm learning more and more who I want to be. And that's a truly converted disciple of Jesus Christ. I'm always pondering in my mind of how I can teach better and bring more power with my words. It just takes time and understanding, which I sometimes feel like I don't have at all. But I always am comforted to know what I'm doing is spreading a true message. It will all turn out alright right? Ok good. That’s all I can do is hope!

I love you all! Keep being awesome. Just be you. 

      -Elder Schneider

I got all of your stuff, I loved it, Thanks!

February 1, 2016

Adventures

 

Hello,

It seems like there is always something new and different happening here. So much randomness for a small town. But I'm loving it here. This week was much better compared to the last couple of weeks. We did more to talk to everybody and stay focused. We had to tell ourselves to do that because we were missing so many teaching opportunities. So we had a lot more lessons and we found more people.

The people here are so frustrating! I feel like a babysitter for our investigators. It seems like they are always up and down with how they are feeling so we always unsure with where at are at. And I guess I shouldn't say that they are annoying, I should say that Satan is annoying. One minute they are ready for baptism and to read the Book of Mormon and the next they are anti. I'm like, how do they change so fast? Satan is good at his job, but God is better. We are going to have to step up our game with the way Satan is playing!

We had the opportunity to give two blessing this week. They were both on the same day so Elder Peterson was spiritually exhausted, or at least that's what he told me. But I love giving blessings, it's the coolest. There is always that close connection to God when you're taking part in a blessing. And the people who receive the blessing seem to have more of a connection with you too.

We helped another family move this week too. I swear I will have moved about 100 people by the end of my mission! But I don't mind it at all. Service is my favorite thing to do. And the people here are humble so they actually let you help them unlike some places. Our neighbor is a sweet Indian lady from Malaysia who is super nice and funny. One day she knocked on our door and was like, here are some egg rolls I just made. And so we had some yummy egg rolls. It was super funny to me to eat a random egg roll, Elder Wylie would have thought it was funny too. But that's just how it is here. The people actually serve and then let others serve them!

Elder Peterson and I gave talks this Sunday. That was my first talk I've given as a missionary. We talked on missionary work, fitting huh? But it went well. I felt like we did a good job. It always feels good to give a talk anyways. And right after that we taught the gospel principles class. It was like a super spiritual Sunday for us.

Elder Peterson turned 19 this week. We had some cake at a members house and hung out for a bit to celebrate. It's weird that I'm only 18. Sometimes I feel older than that and sometimes I feel like I'm 16 still. But I think it's sweet that we get to come out so early to get ahead on life. People are always surprised when I tell them I'm 18, they usually think I'm 12.

But to actually talk about the work here, it's going good. We are finding success when we stay focused and be obedient. Which is sometimes hard to do. We have a few people who are so close to baptism! We just need to keep the spirit with them as much as possible. The members here are awesome at doing missionary work. The give us referrals and come teaching with us quite often. It's every missionaries dream to have a good Ward. If we could keep improving our teaching and finding then we could have plenty of people convert here. Everyone in this town has a connection with someone else. We just have to get it going!

That's most of what I have to write about this week. I'm sending pictures in another email. Love you guys!

     -Elder Schneider

 

Some pics with the local wildlife

January 25, 2016

A Strange Week.

Hey Everybody,

So, this week flew by! It had some goods and bads. But overall it’s always good to be out here. We had so much random stuff happen this week! I guess maybe it was just to change things up? 

So we did a ton of service this week. We helped a less active guy shingle his house. I learned to shingle a roof, I was pumped! We did his whole roof. Just us two and him, proud of me Dad? Haha it was awesome though. I took some before and after pictures. And we were like, Brad (the less active guy), you better come to church! And he did, which was good because we would have killed him if he didn't. Along with that, we helped an active couple move. And that only took like 2 hours but it was worth mentioning. Sometimes I wish I could just do service all day every day! 

We also had another new experience this week. So last week we tracted into this old guy who invited us to his bible study class that he does in his house. He said it was non-denominational so we didn't need to worry about bashing or anything like that. He was like, we would love to have you there! So we thought about it a bit and decided to go. I guess we thought we could learn something there or maybe sneak in some true doctrine that would convert these preachers from other religions. So we show up, and walk in. The room was plumb full of pastors and preachers! There was probably 9 of them in his tiny living room. He had a fold out table with some chairs around it. They were like, Gentlemen welcome! Pull up a chair and take out your bible! So of course we sat down and got comfy and what not. And they're like, were in Mark chapter somethin. So we go there and just start reading the Bible. And I was like hey, this is kind of good! Because they were just reading through and explaining the story line and talking about Christ. So I had no complaints for like the first half hour. But then after we finished reading and discussing the story line then they asked, so what are we learning here? And that's when it got not so fun anymore. They all started going off the traditional Christian beliefs. By grace we are saved!! And some of the guys made some comments that were directed towards our church but just without saying the name of the church. They were like, Some religions believe that they can work or earn their way into heaven, which you can’t do! And me and Elder Peterson knew they were talking about the LDS church. But we didn't say anything we just threw in our two cents here and there. So we suffered through that for a bit and then they closed with a prayer. And as we were leaving they were all like, thanks for coming it was a pleasure to meet you, please come again! And we were like, huh yeah sure. But they were all genuine good guys. They truly believed in Christ and cared for me and my companion they just didn't like the church we go to. And after we got home we discussed what they were saying and we said all the things we wish we could've said there and vented for a bit. But I was glad I went. I learned how true the gospel is from it. So I guess I did learn something from it! The gospel is true!

We also had some experiences with one of our more strange investigators. We have this investigator that has been taught forever and doesn't progress. She has some really strange ideas and has some really strange stories that she claims to be true. And she’s a person with really good intentions but kind of misses the whole point of what we are doing! Shas like, I love god and want to serve him and I know your message is true. But she doesn't change a thing. She kind of misses the whole process of repentance and changing your life to live his gospel! So she thinks she knows God perfectly and that she has perfect faith. And the reason why I'm telling you this is because we just started teaching her boyfriend. And he is the nicest and coolest guy ever. He’s so humble and laid back. But when we teach him she messes it all up! She'll start going off on how she can heal people and stuff like that and it freaks him out. He’s like, honey, I don't like when you talk like that. And we just want to say, look into our eyes Mike and ignore her, she’s crazy. But we can't do that of course. So it’s really making it hard to be able to teach him the truth and bring the spirit when his girlfriend is freaking him out with stuff that is weird and not doctrinal. So it’s a real struggle we have right now! We are praying that what she tells him doesn't mess up what we are teaching him. He’s so prime and we don't want to lose him! But his girlfriend actually came to church though. And that really caught us off guard because she normally doesn't keep commitments and we were kind of scared that she would say something sketchy in church! But she didn't, it all went well and we are hoping that she keeps coming so that maybe the spirit will change her mind on some things. 

Those are the two major things that happened this week that I wanted to tell you all. Besides that it was another ordinary week. Almost everything we set up fell through but the Lord provided ways for us to stay busy and do good things. We gave two blessings which always give us a spiritual boost when we need it. There is almost always something we can do! And I'm thankful he is watching out for me and taking care of us. I know this Gospel is true. I know God lives. I know that Christ is our savior and that it is ONLY through him and living his gospel that we can receive a fullness of joy. It’s all complete and beautiful. I love the Gospel! I love you guys and wish you luck until next week!

          -Elder Schneider

Roof Before

Roof after

January 18, 2016

Hey Guys! 

Another week, like always. Still weird here.

Some pretty good things happened this week, also some not good things. Just my overall attitude of this week was good. I’m really trying to be more consecrated as a Missionary. I’m trying to get rid of all of the things that would hold me back. Our president really stressed this when I came out. It’s just like consecrated oil. We are set apart to do one thing. Serve the Lord. Nothing else. Not to chill with members for two hours or waste time. And that requires a lot of sacrifice. I have to put my pride aside and forget about myself to do what the Lord wants me to do. So that’s what I’ve been trying to do. But it’s not easy. I see how much I need to work on and it sucks. But I know that that attitude will help a lot. 

We did some pretty awesome things this week. So our teaching pool is shrinking by the day. Our people just keep dropping us. And I think it’s a lack of effort on our part to keep them on track. We sometimes talk to our investigators only once a week. And the adversary can do a lot in a week. So we’ve been trying to find more people and to get more members involved in finding them. So we did a ton of finding this week. But it was good to see the result that came from it. We found a couple new people and are still finding more. We are really working hard to get the members to do their missionary work. If we can get them to reach out to their family and friends then we could have so many more people to teach. We just need to inspire our members. Our Bishop and Ward Mission Leader are a huge help in all of this. They love the idea of members doing missionary work. So we have made some pretty sweet plans to talk to the ward about missionary work. We are speaking the Sunday after next on Missionary work and then the fast Sunday of February we are doing a ward fast for missionary work. We are just gonna bring the house down with the spirit to get them to invite their friends!

We also had a zone training this week. That was great. We talked about a few specific things. We are trying to bring back more obedience and involvement with members, which was perfect because that was already on my mind. We also talked about repentance and how we can more fully use the atonement. It was awesome; I felt the spirit so strong. I also want to improve my teaching as well. And learning about the atonement will really help me with that. 

The town is still weird and it still smells. But I love this ward. Oh man, they are great. In the midst of weirdos you create some freakin cool people. And the youth in this town are crazy! I always hear about Mormon kids that I know smoking and sleeping around, it’s ridiculous. Maybe it’s like that everywhere and I’m just used to Mormonville Snowflake. I’m just glad I had amazing friends growing up that were good examples to me. I think there are some people here that I will have to visit after my mission for sure. Sister Maddock is the bomb. I think she will have to approve of my future wife, when I get there. And the stories of half of these members are amazing. So like half of our ward is converts right? So they all have the most spiritual stories of how they found the gospel. Some of these people were homeless, on drugs, teen pregnancies, you name it. But its soooo cool to see how they've become such righteous people. I feel so spoiled when I listen to their stories. I’m like, I never had anything close to that... So I need to be more thankful more often. Anyways, that’s all!

But I’m thankful for you all! Thanks for being the best. I love you all.

   -Elder Schneider

Pics of my zone

Pics of my district

January 11, 2016

Thermop (it's how they say it here)

 

Family and friends!

Well, let me tell you, this is a change! It's like a whole new world over here. I don't even know how to describe Thermopolis. The hardest part of all of this was leaving Belgrade. That was comparable to leaving home. I knew the place so well and I loved the people there. And I had also grown pretty close to the elders I was with. So it was a bunch of mixed emotions. But by the time I got to Billings and I was on my way to Wyoming I was over it. But now I'm here and it's way too weird here. So the town is 3009 people. It's a great community and there is a lot of Christianity here. It's just different though. Haha the whole town smells like a fart because of the hot spring that's here. But I got used to it. I haven't even seen the hot spring yet but I will eventually. But the town is organized pretty well. It's all square and it's named by numbers so you always know where you are. I should learn the town pretty soon.

The Ward is so weird. It's full of fruity people. But I tell you what, there is work to do here! Everybody is a fruit so it just works so well. Everyone and anyone is welcome. It's really nice to see. We have both hicks and classy people. It's pretty cool to see every body come together. Our Ward seems to have a pretty good missionary mindset from what I've seen so far.  We've gotten some pretty good referrals already. We will see where that goes. And the Ward really takes care of us. We have a lady from our Ward that does all of our laundry for us.  No joke, it's almost too much. I really like our bishop too. He's a great guy. He's got a lot of energy and he cares a lot. He's just down to earth. The only bad thing about this Ward is the number of inactives. We have over 500 members and only 150 show up. So I did some math with these numbers. So theoretically if I get all of the less actives to church then I would have brought 1 tenth of the town back to church. Kind of like my tithing for this area. Well, tithing if it was in people. So that's all I have to do, bring 300 people back to the church, easy right? I wish. We will never have a shortage of work to do. We have months of work to do even if we just did less actives. Wow! And the less actives here are different. So most of the less actives in Belgrade quit coming to church because of a social concern or a doctrinal concern. Not here, the people here don't come because they are lazy. We will straight up ask people why they don't come to church and they just shrug their shoulders and say, I don't know. They don't even give an excuse! It's ridiculous! So we are going to have to spoon feed these people until they can start good habits of basic acts of faith like reading and praying. The active members are sometimes kind of mysterious too. I feel like it's Snowflake drama but times 10. We are always hearing about who did this and who did that. And because we are missionaries everyone just tells us all that they are going through, which is both good and bad. Sometimes I wish I could unhear things but at the same time I kind of need to know so I can help them. It's just too much sometimes. There are too many crazy people here, members or nonmembers!

My companion is also a new experience as well. I don't really know how to describe him. But I'm truly learning so much. I'm thankful to be in this area and to be with the companion that I'm with because I know there is a reason I'm here. I know that as I just accept what I get and make the most of it then I will find the most happiness possible for my situations. I'm really leaning on the lord right now. He's the only one who feels this with me right now so I'm making him work pretty hard to help me.

I'd like to end with my testimony. I don't normally end with my testimony but I'm going to start doing it now because I've been told that some of the most important missionary work I will do is for the people at home and on the other side of the veil. We had a great lesson in church that we taught and my Ward mission leader told us that there were people on the other side whose lives were touched. I never looked at it that way but I knew it was true as soon as he said it. So we never know whose prayers we are answering or who we are touching, even when we feel like we are failing. But I know this is Christ’s gospel on the earth and that this is his church led by him and a living prophet. I know the Book of Mormon is true and is the word of God. I know that God lives and loves us enough to give us this opportunity to come here to learn and overcome death both spiritually and physically. He does it through his son, our Savior, who we must follow so that we can return to live with Heavenly Father. If you ever doubt that you are loved, just stop and look around you. Everything that we have is an expression of God’s love for us. He gave us this earth and our bodies for cryin out loud! We just have to make the best of it :) I love you all! Keep me updated!

-Elder Schneider

Me and Elder Peterson tracting together for the first time

A cute bunny at a members house

Me and Elder Peterson at McDonalds

Some deer in the neighborhood. I took that from the car, super cool.

Me getting a hair cut from a crispy guy named Max

Me and Elder Potter in a car wash with a light show