13 de junio 2011

Hi there! (points to anyone who imagined that in Dug's voice)

This week has absolutely flown by. It has been so fast, seriously. I'm fairly sure that yesterday was last Monday, but yesterday was actually Sunday, so yes, a full week has indeed passed by. But yeah, we've been rather busy this week, and by busy I mean we've been contacting like crazy. We had actually run out of investigators (progressing or otherwise), so we had to do quite a bit of contacting to find more people to teach. Well, we found people alright. We found 6 families this week and 21 new investigators, so that was pretty good. Some of them are already progressing very well towards actually coming unto Christ, and some aren't quite as far along, but that's why we're here! To help people come unto Christ. I get the impression that a lot of people still think that the reason I'm out here is just to baptize people, and that isn't it at all. Yes, I am here to baptize people, but that's because baptism is the door to the path to eternal life. We're here to start them on the path and make sure that they have the foundations necessary to remain on that path for this life and after death, too. Sure, it's nice to have a baptism, but it's even nicer to see that person want to follow Christ, and not just for a moment in thier baptism, but for the rest of their lives. We baptize people so that they can have the opportunity to return to live with our Heavenly Father again, and to receive eternal life. Not everyone has the chance to live in God's presence again, but that's why we're out here, to give people that opportunity. Only through baptism by the correct authority do we have the ability to live in God's presence again, and so we're also here to baptize people, knowing that it's a prerequisite for eternal life. So that's our purpose here; to invite people to come unto Christ by helping them understand and receive the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, which is; faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, reception of the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and enduring to the end (that was almost difficult to write in English). It's only an invitation, but we hope and pray with everything that we've got that someone will accept our invitation.

Just wondering, who wrote the little bit of Spanish in the beginning of the letter to me this week? Whoever did, good job for correct conjugations and everything! [It was Madre - with the help of Google Translate.]

I am absolutely loving it out here. Some of you might think that I'm just saying that so that you won't worry about me, but I honestly, 100% am telling the truth when I say that I am loving it here and wouldn't leave here right now for anything. I have a job to do here. Countless people are depending on me to help them see what they've been missing in their lives, to save them from themselves and the world, and to help them remember the blessings that they've received from our Heavenly Father. I have a sacred calling matched only by a handful in the world. I am here saying and doing what the Lord would say and do, because I have been called by God and set apart by those with the authority and priesthood of God to be a representative of Jesus Christ, the Creator of the World, our Savior and Redeemer. My calling is more important to me than anything else right now, and I wouldn't dare think of coming home. What if I did come home now? How many people wouldn't receive the Gospel because I went home? How many people would have been able to be sealed as a family in the temple if I hadn't gone home? How many people could I have helped save from possibly dying because of addictions or leading dangerous lifestyles? The importance of my work here, the Lord's work, is just too great to even toy with the idea of going home.

The investigators that we have now are doing pretty well. We have some getting ready for baptism in the upcoming weeks, including one this week (a 16 year old mom of a 2 year old actually) and a few in the next week. We even found out that some of the people that I thought were members at church were actually investigators that just attended a lot, and now we have lessons with them lined up, so they might be able to get baptized this week (provided they're married)! That'd be really cool, but we'll see how things work out.

I'm getting along with Elder Larrea very well. I'd send you a photo, but I haven't got a photo of us, so you'll have to wait till next week. Sorry! But yeah, we're doing well together. He teaches very well, which I kinda would expect from someone that only has 2 months left. I've also found that I like having more responsibility. More responsibility makes me work harder and makes me more confident, too, which almost sounds backwards, but it's true. Elder Buckland commented that I seemed more confident, and that it was even apparent in my Spanish, so that's cool. Oh, also, there have been questions about how my Spanish is coming, and if we look at the recent surveys taken, it's coming along fantastically. Elder Larrea was kinda showing off my Spanish to investigators for the first couple of days that we were together, and it still comes up in lessons that I've only been on my mission for 4 months but I can speak Spanish rather well. I can basically understand everything, but of course there are still some times when I am mostly completely lost. Almost everyone says that my Spanish is awesome though, so it must be pretty good. I can only really talk fluently during lessons (chuzo, I had to think how to spell lessons because lecciónes is just more natural), but that's probably because I'm rather full of the Spirit at that time, so that helps. But yeah, I'm definitely getting there.

Oh, cool happening, we contacted a SWAT-esque police officer one day. We didn't really mean to, we just noticed that there were rather a lot of these officers standing around, so Elder Larrea asked what happened, then the officer asked who we were. We said that we were missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (okay, we actually said, "Somos misionarios de la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días," but that's just a technicality), and he asked, "¿Cúal es su misión?" I actually almost laughed when he said that, because here's this SWAT guy with his semi-auto rifle (Ruger Mini-14...not that I noticed or anything), Ray Ban sunglasses, and his green barret asking a couple of missionaries "What is your mission?" It just struck me as funny. But anyway, we actually started talking to him for a couple of minutes, and he was actually really interested in us. He found it very interesting that we don't receive any money for our service, and that we actually pay to have the opportunity to spread the Gospel. We left him with a pamphlet and unfortunately didn't get to get his name or address or anything because he got called to go somewhere else, but it was still pretty cool. Also, we still don't know what was going on that caused this gathering of police officers, but that's okay!

Well, time to wrap up. OH. POUCH CAME. FINALLY. A month without pouch is a rather long time. It might have even been a little longer than a month, but either way, I was way happy to get pouch. So, like I said last week, this week I'll be sending out a letter package, and hopefully I'll have the time to write a few letters (there are rather a few to write). Thank you all for writting to me! I absolutely love hearing from you and hearing about what's going on in your lives. Keep up the good work!

Oh, family! Good job with doing all that you're doing! You're doing a great job. Jeffrey, a word of advice: finding a job is in of itself a full-time job. Just a little to think about. Mom, especially to you, congratulations! I am so proud of all that you're doing to lose weight and to finish your education. You are doing and exemplary job at being amazing. Also, Grandma sent me photos of Mother's Day, and I can see the difference already! Good job! Keep up the good work!

I love you all, and I hope that you all keep well and in good spirits. Keep praying and reading the scriptures every day (that's not just to my family or Latter-day Saints, either), and you will be blessed. It's a promise that we have from God, and He doesn't break His promises. I love you, and keep on keeping on! Cuidense!

Love,
Elder Schomburg