New Year, New Determination

Hellllloooooo family, friends, and soon-to-be friends!

I'm in Quito! I'm pretty sure I say that every other week. I'm here because we had to come early for the zone leader's counsel. There were no more tickets for Tuesday and the counsel is Wednesday, and the interprovincial buses aren't running today, so it was either yesterday or we weren't going to be a part of this counsel, and that was not an option (seeing as I'll have to give my farewell testimony (º.º) ). So here I am, saludándolos from Quito! Oh, side note: I want to ask forgiveness beforehand for my language. I will be speaking in Spanglish for some time when I get back and you'll probably not understand me for some time, but at some other time we'll be on the same page. Thank you for understanding. :D

Work is pretty normal. We're finding people here and there and most of them don't really have true intent but like to listen no más. Sometimes it's frustrating but one just has to keep going. There are more people that will listen and will act on what they learn, and I just have to find them. And so the work goes on!

I'm glad that everyone in my family is finally feeling better! Huzzah!

As you can tell, I don't really have a lot to say today. After 23 months in the mission there isn't really anything new. I'm glad that I have to be in the house at 4 today because Ecuador goes kind of crazy for New Year's. There are the año viejos from last year to be burnt and there are a whole bunch of guys that go out dressed as women, stopping traffic and unwary passers-by in order to collect some money (they're called viudas, or widows). Also, as in every part of the world, there is excessive drinking and general rowdiness, so it'll be nice to be in the house.

I hope that everyone had a most excellent Christmas and that everyone has an incredible New Year as well. Let us leave behind all that would not please our Heavenly Father and let us begin the new year with new determination to follow in the footsteps of Christ. I testify that the path which Christ walked is the path that brings the most happiness and most blessings, both in this life and in the eternities. I love you all! Have a wonderful New Year!!

Love,
Elder Schomburg

The Spirit of Christmas

Ho ho ho!! Merry Christmas!!

It's so good to be writing to you! I am especially happy today, and I hope that all of you are also especially happy! Why am I so happy? Because it's Christmastime!! Christ was born! Why wouldn't I be happy?? Also I just got done having a zone lunch (pizza!!) in which we were all thouroughly stuffed and had a good time talking with each other and such, so there isn't really anything to complain about. Furthermore, I was able to carry out my sneaky plan of buying my companion a Christmas gift without him knowing, so he shall wake up tomorrow to have a brand new watch under the Christmas tree....dangit! I forgot to take photos of the Christmas tree as I promised, but the next week there will be photos of I and my companion all Christmased-out and such. :D Yay Christmas! It's such a happy time of year!!

This week has been good in terms of the work. We've found a lot of new people and are finding some that seem to be fairly prepared to receive this message. Others aren't so very prepared, but we'll at least plant those seeds and trust that Heavenly Father will nourish them. I'm very glad to be with my companion. He's a lot like Elder Valdiviezo, so the constant energy can sometimes wear me out, but I'm doing well with him. He makes me work and works with me, so that's very good. We did have a very off day this Saturday. I made a lasagna for a sister in the ward, our mamita for Saturdays (who is also the sister of Bishop Villota from Santa Ana), and that was a tiresome task. It was the first time that I had ever made lasagna without a recipe and it was hard. The end result wasn't the tastiest lasagna I've ever had (oh Madre, how makest thou thine lasagnas to be so flavourful?), but it wasn't bad. I learned a lot from that experience though and believe that a second attempt would result in a much tastier lasagna. However, that lasagna just sat in our stomachs, and it was an exceptionally hot day. Also, everyone in the world and their brothers were out drinking and with their huge 5000 watt speakers turned to max volume in the streets playing dirty reggaeton music (I don't think anyone will ever understand just what type of atmosphere I'm talking about unless you come here to Esmeraldas), and Elder Paredes had two evil blisters on his foot and a cramped calf muscle, so...not a lot got done. But we picked ourselves up Sunday and got 5 lessons in the day, which is fairly good.

It's going to be tough to work through the very last minute, but it will be done. I shall work and when I go, Satan will say , "Thank goodness that guy FINALLY went home!" And then I'll keep working in the Lord's work when I'll get home, and Satan will say, "Dagnabit, does this guy ever stop??" And he'll throw me all kinds of tests, but I'll just turn myself over to the Lord and let Him take care of those tests, and I shall not stop nor fall. Yeah!! That's what will happen!

I'd like to share with you a passage of scripture that has really caught my attention in this Christmas season. It's one that should be well known, but I want to share it with you in case you've forgotten why we celebrate Christmas.

4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judæa, unto the city of David, which is called ^aBethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

5 To be taxed with Mary his ^aespoused wife, being great with child.

6 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

7 And she brought forth her ^afirstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the ^binn.

8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the ^aglory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you ^agood tidings of great ^bjoy, which shall be to all people.

11 For unto you is ^aborn this day in the city of David a ^bSaviour, which is Christ the ^cLord.

12 And this shall be a ^asign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

14 ^aGlory to God in the highest, and on earth ^bpeace, good will toward men. (Lucas 2:4-14)

How simple was the Saviour's birth! He was not born in the splendour of the kingly courts that He deserved, nor could His parents provide Him with luxuries in His life. He was born in a manger in a stable to a young mother and her young carpenter husband. He lead a humble life and was never truly appreciated for who He was during His life, and even nowdays is not honoured enough as the Saviour who He is. 2012 years ago our Lord, Saviour, Redeemer, and King was born. From that babe grew a Man, the Man who would save all of mankind from sin, a task that only the Son of God could undertake and accomplish. And now in this Christmas season we have an even greater opportunity to remember that occurance. He is our Saviour! Let us honour Him as such! Let us remember that without Him, there is no hope for mankind. 

I'd like to share a quote from our beloved prophet Thomas S. Monson that my Madre shared with me:

"This joyful season brings to all of us a measure of happiness that corresponds to the degree to which we have turned our minds, feelings, and actions to the Savior, whose birth we celebrate." I bear witness that in this season we can feel greater happiness as we turn our minds, feelings, and actions to the Saviour. Let us all remember that Babe who became the Man that would save us all."

I love you all so very much! I hope that you all know that by now. If not, I will work harder to show my love for each and every one of you. I am grateful to have you all in my life. I'm sure I say that every post, but it's because it's true. Have a very merry Christmas and let the Spirit of the Lord be present in all of your celebrations! Until next week!

Love,
Elder Schomburg

Beginning of forgiveness...

Helllloooooooo!!!

I am finally in Esmeraldas again! Yay! Well, I have been since Thursday night, but right now I'm going on a record for most consecutive time spent in Esmeraldas for Elder Schomburg. Also, I have a companion!! His name is Elder Paredes, and he's from Lima, Perú. He has 14 months in the mission and this is his first change as a zone leader, so I get to train him in the zone leader-ness. He has a very good reputation for being a very spiritual missionary, and I can tell that he is sent from Heavenly Father to help me be diligent up till the very last minute. This is going to be a wonderful change. Dare I say that this will be the best change yet? I do. I do dare.

Lately I have been struggling a lot with being able to forgive Elder Rosales for all of the lies that he told me. I still can't believe that he would tell me all of those lies, even when he had been caught red-handed, but he did. Luckily for me these past two Sundays have been based on forgiveness, and I'm learning a lot. I received some inspiration yesterday as to what I need to do to start the forgiveness process. I need to tell Elder Rosales how I feel. I haven't told him yet because I've just been angry towards him and just could not stand to see him, let alone talk with him. Now I know that in order to start to forgive him, I need to tell him exactly how I feel, but with as much love as I can. That will be rather difficult though, and not for the obvious reason. You see, he has been sent home. I was planning on writing him a letter and sending it to whatever sector he would go (for a bit it looked like he would stay in the mission), but now that he has gone, I have to wait until I end my mission to perhaps locate him on facebook or email him or something. It might take a little while, but I will find a way to forgive him. I do know that I need to pray more, and it looks like praying will be my only saving grace until I can talk with him.

Christmas dinner with President Ghent was rather wonderful. I was able to see some of my good friends that I've made here in the mission and spend time with them. I was even able to see Elder Fernelius, who is actually one of my best friends (it's weird how someone can become a best friend after he's spent such a long time driving you up a wall). I was also really able to feel the "Christmas Spirit". It was such a good feeling that it made me want to do something for my companion for Christmas, whomever that would be. I'm still not sure what I'll be doing for my companion, but I feel like I will just try to make that Christmas Eve and Christmas Day spiritual and focused on the Saviour. I plan on reading the story of Christ's birth from Lucas 2, which I absolutely love. And I will probably do what I can to decorate festively. I did make a Christmas tree today! I made it out of a cardboard box, and Elder Paredes was impressed with how it turned out (pictures will be sent, fo' sho'). Yay Christmas Spirit! This will be an excellent Christmas.

Speaking of Christmas; family! I shall be calling on the 25th of December! Prepare yerselves! I'm not sure of the hour yet, but I will let you know this coming Christmas Eve afternoon (or, in simpler terms, the afternoon of the 24th I shall inform ye). I shall call for 40 minutes, ni más ni menos! A merry time shall be had indeed!

My colon problems seem to have disappeared! (Madre, it was collonitis that I had.) Yay! I had been given some antibiotics I believe and some pills to do an intestinal cleaning, so I should be good to go (but I agree, a thourough check-up is in order upon my States-side arrival). I'm going to try to take better care of myself from now on out. I think it might be easier in the States, but I'll give it a go while I'm still here. It's never too late to start...well, that's not necessarily true with health issues, but meh, I'll start anyway.

Well, I believe that for now that is all that I have to say. I always have extra time after writing...interesting. I love you all and am grateful for each and every one of you. Let us embrace the reason for the season in this time of year, that reason being our Lord Jesus Christ's birth. Let us all be more Christlike and try to leave all worldliness behind. Let us outstretch our arms and hands to those who need us most. Let us be filled with joy because of what Christ's birth means for each and every one of us! Let us rejoice! Have a wonderful week! Oh, and thank you in advance for the packages! (I've only received one (from my immediate family) thus far, but I have faith that more will arrive in the coming days!) I love you!

Love,
Elder Schomburg

And... MORE lessons to learn...

Hello from Quito!

Why on earth would I be in Quito? Is it medically related? What's going on?? Well, it's not medically related at all; in fact, I'm doing very well and am not on medication anymore (I had coleloniatis ..or something like that [basically an infection in the colon]). I was in Quito last week from Monday till Thursday morning and arrived in my sector Thursday at 5 PM. I was able to work in my sector for that day and Friday, and then things got funky again, but not with my health.

We went on divisions with some elders from another sector that needed help, so Elder Christensen came to my sector and Elder Rosales went with Elder Rivas (Elder Christensen's companion). Elder Christensen and I worked and had a good day, and all was fairly well when we went to bed (Elder Rivas hadn't called me that night, but I figured it was because he didn't have any credit on his cell phone, and credit was coming the next day). At about 12:30 AM I received a call from the assistants saying that they had received a call from Elder Rivas but that when they answered, Elder Rivas' phone hung up and they couldn't get ahold of him again. They told me that I should call them in the morning to make sure that all was well, which I agreed to and went back to bed. Five or ten minutes later the assistants called me again and said that after praying about the situation they felt that something was very wrong and that I needed to go to Elder Rivas' house immediately (at about 12:45 AM). I woke Elder Christensen and we went over to their house. We didn't have to keys, so we had to get some members and the entire apartment complex involved to get into the house, and when we did we found out that they weren't at home. After wondering where they might be and why they weren't answering their phone (we had been calling since I woke up the second time), we decided we would go to another missionary's house to see if they had gone there. As we were leaving Elder Rivas' apartment, Elder Rosales and Elder Rivas came walking in the house, very surprised to see us and dressed in street clothing with no name tags. When we asked where they had gone, they said they had gone to some little town to see the beach and while there had been robbed of their cell phone and had had to find out how to get home. Upon informing the assistants, they told us that all four of us had to come to Quito, and Elder Rosales and Elder Rivas had to pack up all of their belongings and bring them. After getting to Quito (we left Saturday morning at 6:15 after not having slept that night) and after they had interviews with President Ghent, we found out that they had completely lied to us. They had gone to a beach/resort area called Atacames and had met up with the sister missionaries that were there. They had given the cell phone to a taxi driver because they didn't have any money to pay him when they got back to Esmeraldas. And the worst part is that when Elder Rosales told me the story that first night, he told me that he had no reason to lie and that he was very terrified from the "robbing" that had happened. If I felt betrayed with the incident with the phone, this occasion doesn't have words to describe what I felt. President still hasn't made a decision about what will happen with them, but they will most likely be sent home. So that's why I'm in Quito and I will be here until Thursday morning because we have Christmas dinner with President this Wednesday. Needless to say, we haven't been doing much in our sector, so I don't have anything to report about the actual work. Next week I will. :)

This has all been a good experience for me though. I have learned who I don't want to be, the importance of honesty, and more things that I want my future wife to have. I will do my best to be as honest as I can in all moments. I want to associate myself with the Father of truth, our Heavenly Father, and not the father of lies, Satan. I want people to be able to trust me in all moments and to know of a certainty that I am a representative of Jesus Christ. That is my goal and my wish, and I hope to attain it.

Hey, Jeffrey, just a tip: get all of your mission paperwork done as soon as possible. You do not want to delay anything, because delaying something might delay when you get out on your mission, which allows Satan to work more with you and tempt you to not go out or to do something that would make you unworthy to serve. Get everything done as soon as possible, and then you can rest tranquilamente. And good job going out with the Elders and teaching in Church! Keep on it!

I was very surprised to hear that people have sent me packages. I have yet to receive any, but I wasn't actually expecting any, seeing as I will be going home a month after Christmas. If anyone has yet to send packages and was thinking of doing so, it might be better to just send those things to my home, just so that they don't arrive after I leave. I really do appreciate the thought though. You all are so wonderful. :)

I don't have much more to say for now. Thank you for all of your prayers and your support. I am incredibly grateful for all that you have done for me throughout my mission. I love you all and wish you a wonderful week. Bye!

Love,

Elder Schomburg

More lessons to learn

Hello family and friends and even those whom I don't yet know!

This day finds me a bit under the weather, truth be told. I have a cold right now, and I also may or may not have something out of whack with my gallbladder, but I'll be going to a doctor in Quito [today] to get things checked out. Have no fears! I am well enough, and I don't know for sure if it's a gallbladder problem, but that's the current prognosis from the mission nurse after several phone calls.

I keep learning things about marriage from my companion, so I guess the little problems that we have are serving for my good. I have found that when one of the companions (or spouses) has a goal, it is best if there is support from the other half, especially when that goal is for the companionship and will help to achieve a cause in which the two are united. For example, if one has a goal of baptizing 15 people before the end of his mission, the other should help in the achieving of that goal, especially because that goal helps both fulfill their missionary purpose. But when one does less than his part, much less helping the other reach a goal, nothing gets done. It's a rather frustrating situation, but I do know now that if my eternal companion or any other companion has a worthy goal, I will do what I can to help him or her reach that goal.

The Christmas Devotional was very good. I have come to really love President Uchtdorf's talks. He always speaks so clearly and always makes me see something that I hadn't really thought of before. I especially like how he said that we can be good receivers of gifts. That's something that I was learning a bit from a missionary (Elder Bramall, my great-grandson) here. I can show more gratitude for the gifts [spiritual and temporal] that I receive and truly show the love that I have for that person and my appreciation for whatever it is that they give me. I really loved that talk. But, as frequently happens in this time of the year (especially in relation to the nearing end of my mission), the devotional kind of made me a bit trunky. I miss a lot of things from the States, and hearing all of the Christmas memories that the First Presidency had made me want to make my own memories with my own family. But that time will come soon enough. There's still time to do good here, and I will do better to do that good.

I must leave now, for my bus is going to depart. [He was on a bus to Quito at 6:00 this morning as it's a 6 1/2 hour trip.] I love you all! Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Elder Schomburg

P.S. The picture of the Catholic priest is of a Father that I find looks a lot like Robin Williams. It just amused me, more than anything. :D