I just got done with a game of Monopoly in which I lost fairly quickly. It turns out that Missionary Monopoly is a lot faster than any other Monopoly that I've played, and I believe because of that I lost so quickly. Or maybe I'm just not very good. One of the two.
So, life has been fairly good for me lately. Busy, but good. Being a district leader is definitely a lot of responsibility, but it brings a lot of blessings as well. My first baptismal interview went rather well I thought. She had to have a brief interview with the President in addition to mine, but she is good to go for baptism...just as soon as she decides that she wants to do it this year and not after the 6th of January. The interview was very good though. It took a bit, but I was trying to be thorough. It was a very spiritual experience for me though, mainly because I had almost no idea what to do and had to completely rely on the Spirit to guide me. I was way nervous going into the interview, but I came out of it full of confidence. I just had to trust in the Lord and He guided me through the whole thing. I have two more to do tomorrow, but they should be easier because they're a lot younger (15 and 11). Also, there are a ton of things you have to keep in order and a ton of things that end up bugging you (such as when your missionaries don't call at night or when they're 45 minutes late to a zone conference). Also, one of the missionaries in my district used to be my companion; I wonder if you recall Elder Ferneluis? Well, I'm also learning patience and how to be more loving. But all is well, and so far there haven't been any problems.
Elder Sotomayor and I are getting along well. It's a bit difficult to form a really close relationship with him because he has an accent that is extremely difficult for me to understand and so I can't understand him a lot, but I'm doing my best. There is certainly something more to learn from this. We're trying to find investigators, and I'm sure that as we keep trying we'll find the chosen ones. I sure hope so.
I really wish that I could watch the Schomburg Family Trio belting it out on youtube, but I can't. Oh well, I shall see it someday. I'm very glad that the ward Christmas party was a good one and successful. That is always a wonderful thing.
Yay Christmas preparations!! That's so exciting! I'm also very excited for Christmas this year, and I think it's because I'm focusing more on the reason for the season. I was writing some Christmas letters today and in them I of course shared some testimony about the Saviour Jesus Christ. It is so wonderful to be celebrating the birth of our Saviour, Redeemer, and the Son of God. He saved us! He redeemed us! He created all that we see! He was born! That's so amazing! I am incredibly grateful for all that He has done for me, and I will never be able to express my gratitude towards Him. He has done so much for me...He has given me the life that I have now and everything that is in it. I love Him so much, and I plan on doing my absolute best here and throughout life to show Him that love.
Okay, to answer the question about the Christmas phone call: I'll write and say for sure what I'll be doing next Monday, but right now it looks like I'll be calling Saturday the 24th instead of the 25th (the 25th being Sunday and all). That's my plan for right this second, but I will finalize it with the time and everything next Monday in my email. And if I do end up calling on Sunday, I'll let you all know. It can only be 40 minutes, just so you know, and I can only talk to family. I'd love to talk to all of you, but that would be against the rules, and I like to be obedient. I love you all though! President Ghent has approved the use of Skype for talking with families, but I kinda thought that maybe I wouldn't go that route. I don't want to get too trunky after the call. Also, attending church on Christmas is absolutely crucial! Well, only if you plan on remembering the Saviour on the day celebrating His birth. I know that it will be a meeting unlike any other. After all, how many times does Christmas fall on the holiest day of the week? Not many, so make the most of it by being obedient and going to church! It will be amazing: trust me on it.
Yay for helping out the needy! Yay for service! Yay for magnifying the Christmas spirit! Even just preparing to do so, as my family is doing, is getting them all excited. Just think of how happy you'll be once you're actually able to bring to pass your plans! I'm so happy and proud of you all. Keep on building that Christmas spirit and you will be blessed like crazy.
So the apartment that we currently live in is rather small and in need of some renovation, and the Geldmachers (the mission...money people persons [their calling is actually very fitting: in German, Geldmacher means money maker]) asked us to find a new apartment, so we'll be doing so hopefully shortly. We have an appointment at 5:30 with a person who just recently put some apartments on the market, so we'll see how that goes.
The membership here is mas รณ menos [more or less]. They recently got a new branch presidency and attendance fluctuates between 50 and 100. The members are all really good and there are quite a few young men that can accompany us...now to just get them motivated to do so! I like the branch a lot though. I'm definitely happy to be here in Riobamba.
I got a package the other day! It was so good to get pouch! Pouch seems to have slowed down quite a bit in the past months, so anything I get now is absolutely relished. And thank you to my most beloved photographer [Jen Duval at duvaldigital.com - she's the best] for sending me such a wonderful package! When I told the missionaries here who the package was from, they all just kinda looked at me weird. I guess missionaries don't receive packages from their family photographers very often. I am appreciative of whatever anyone wants to send my way. And I'd love to send more pictures to all of you (speaking of photography and such), but my camera is very much out of service, so unless I find a way to get a new camera, the pictures will be few and far between. [Elder Schomburg will be getting anew camera for Christmas.] I love you all!
Well, I guess that's about all that I have for today. Nothing really spiritually uplifting I know, but sometimes you just need to take time to respond to stuff that's happening. I hope everyone is doing splendiforically today and continue to do so throughout the rest of the year ('cause it's almost over!). I love you!
Love,
Elder Schomburg
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