¡Hola!

Hip Hip Hooray!  We finally heard from Elder Schomburg!  No need for me to say any more, better to hear from him:

Well hello there! Hmmm...my enter key doesn't seem to want to work. That's the pits. Oh well. I´m sorry that you didn't get my email. I had sent one the day that I got here, but the internet was doing all kinds of weird things, being horribly slow, and just generally terrible, so I guess the message didn't send. Man. Now I have to fit two emails into one in 24 minutes! Gah! Okay, here goes.

Getting here to Peru wasn't bad at all. I spent a long time on the flights dozing, never really sleeping though. Once we got to the CCM, I found that someone had decided to sleep in my bed that night, so I had to find a bed in a different room. That's okay, it was a little adventure. I didn't actually meet my companion until bed time on Thursday night. His name is Elder Barrera, he's from Chile, and he is a wonderfuly patient elder, and he has two hearing aids. That, coupled with him being Chilean, gives him a very interesting and difficult accent. It's very difficult for me to understand him, but I'm much better now than I was the first day.

The first day, Thursday, was pretty good. It was mostly just us North Americans together figuring out what to do and such, so that was kinda nice. We got to play a little bit on the futbol field that night, and Elder Cochrane, one of the elders that was in my district in Provo, tripped on the ball and broke his wrist, so he had to fly home on Friday. I felt really bad for him, and I didn't even get to say goodbye to him. Sigh. Oh well. Oh, also, Elder Johnson, Elder Cochrane's companion, who was supposed to come here with us, didn't get his visa, so he'll be coming in two weeks. So I'm the only one here from my district. Luckily, I'm still doing okay.

The food is my biggest struggle. It tastes fine for the most part, but it's very different, and my body is now figuring that out. I have to be careful about how much of the juice (jugo) I drink, which has been none for the past two days. Every meal involves meat and rice and some kind of starchy vegetable, like yuca or peruvian potatoes. It doesn't taste bad at all, but it's the same every single day. It's all good though.

P days are going to be Wednesdays, and I would give you an address to write to me, but it turns out that it's really long, and I forgot it. Here, let's see. / will represent a new line. Elder Andrew Schomburg / CCM Lima / Uv. Campo Blanco #159 / La Madina, Lima-12 / Peru.  Okay, try that. I won't get mail for about 8 days after you send it, and that includes Dear Elders. We don't know why Dear Elders are so slow, but they are. That's just a little heads up.

Hmm...oh, okay. So, Thursday was good, but Friday was probably the hardest day of my life. Completely new environement, everyone speaking a language that, it turns out, I didn't learn at all, and I was kinda feeling alone and very frustrated with myself. I was frustrated that I couldn't understand anyone, and frustrated that I couldn't say anything at all. Things just got worse and worse until about 3ish, when I almost had a slight meltdown. I just had to remind myself that Heavenly Father didn't call me to fail, and that helped me a lot. I just buckled down and got to work.

I'm learning a lot now. I can actually understand a lot of what's being said if it's not being said too quickly, and sometimes I can even respond! It's insane! I've learned more in one day here than I did all three weeks at Provo. Provo seemed to be the place to learn how to teach the gospel, and here is where you learn the language. That's okay with me though. This is the best environment possible to learn the language. I still wish that I could learn it faster, but I am learning  more and more every day. It's very nice. I can't hardly believe that a whole week has gone by since I got here, and I've been on my mission for a full 4 weeks now. It's amazing how fast the time is passing by now. In two weeks I'll be getting a new companion, and there will be new North Americans that are going to look to me for help. I just hope that I'll be at the point that I can help them.

Today was P-day, so we got to go shopping and go to the temple. The Lima Temple is pretty amazing. It's very gorgeous, but it doesn't seem to be run quite as smoothly as other temples in the states. It was an amazing experience though, and it felt so good to go there and recharge. After that we went to the Peruvian equivalent of Wal-Mart, and I forgot its name haha. Anyway, I got some candy and Gatorade there, because I need to keep hydrated here, and I needed something other than rice and meat to eat. Then I got back and played futbol for awhile. About the only thing anyone ever does for actividad fisica is futbol, so I've been playing a lot of that. I really like playing it, and today I scored my first and second goals! I'm only the second North American to score since I've been here haha, and one of them was a header. It was pretty awesome.

I really love it here. The people are all so friendly and all are super patient. It's really funny to watch the Latins try to pronounce my name, because they just can't do it. They stand there, look at my name, and say "cho...chom...chombur." My name gets a lot of attention.

I love all of you guys.

Oh, I've been told to tell you to not send me any packages here. Customs and such cost a ton, and it could cost me $50 to pick up a package. So please send my packages to my mission address, which Michelle will be getting in a couple of days. Sorry, I can only send a couple of letters a week. Keep writing me though! I can't wait to hear from all of you guys! I love you so much.

Ciao!

For those who have already sent packages (since his birthday is next week) we will try to figure out how to get him some money to pick them up when they arrive if at all possible.  Please e-mail me and let me know if you've sent him something so we can figure that out.  It's all a learning experience - some lessons are more costly than others.

Thank you for supporting our Elder!

Through A Grandma's Eyes

Well, we might not have an update from Andrew himself today, but we do have something just as sweet and touching.  This is part of an e-mail sent to me earlier this week from my mom - Elder Schomburg's maternal grandmother:

"This has always been a favorite of mine.  I never could quite figure what I saw in that little face, but it has taken 17+ years for someone to tell me what it was and Andrew said it himself.  This is a quote from the letter I received yesterday from Andrew. 

"I know I'm growing, too, because my branch president and one of my teachers have both commented on how excellent my example is to the other elders and how I am the 'Walking definition of quiet dignity.'  That really meant a lot to me when they told me that."

I don't think anyone else had the same feeling about the picture, but I've always had it. I guess it's just through a Grandma's eyes."

Peru MTC Address

Okee doke... I've done the legwork and here are the results!

ELDER ANDREW MICHAEL SCHOMBURG
PERU MTC
CENTRO DE CAPACITACION MISIONAL
MELGAREJO 159 LA MOLINA
LIMA 12
PERU

The nice lady at the Missionary Department said that the address should be in all capital letters.  She didn't know why, just that it should be.  He can receive letters and packages at that address.  He will be there from Feb. 16 - approx. March 29.

You can also send letters or care packages via the dearelder.com web-site.  The current pouch deadline is in 2 days 8 hours, so you can still send a letter through dearelder for him to receive shortly after his arrival.  This note is on the dearelder site concerning pouch letters:

*ATTENTION PARENTS/FRIENDS OF MISSIONARIES IN THE PERU MTC: As requested by the mail room in the Peru MTC, please only write to North American Elders at this location for their first three weeks. Due to the delay in pouch mail delivery, letters sent to Elders in the second half of their Peru MTC stay WILL NOT MAKE IT TO THEM. Once they hit week 3, please send your messages directly to their mission. Letters that arrive after an Elder's departure will not be forwarded.

Andrew's birthday is on March 2 and he will be at the Peru MTC then.  I'll be sending his birthday package tomorrow, I guess!

If you have any questions, please let me know.  Thanks again for all of your support!

Lisa aka (by Andrew) Mi Madre

Last week in the States!! Woo!!!

From the sounds and feel of this letter, the adrenalin has worn off and the reality of work and study are settling in.  That will soon change again though, as he steps onto the airplane bound for the Lima Peru MTC.  It doesn't appear that we got an address update with this letter, but I will start doing some research and see if I can't track it down.  With his birthday only 19 days away, I sure would like to know where to send his greetings!

Thanks for your continued support - happy reading!

Hello there!

This is the last email that I'll be writing stateside for the next couple of years. How exciting is that?? It's pretty much blowing my mind right now. I cannot wait to get to Peru and into warmer weather. It's not as bad here in Provo as it is in Monument, but it's still cold enough. I will be loving the warm weather. Plus, the Peru MTC should be a bit nicer than here, seeing as it's newer and probably smaller. Also, word on the street is that they have a professional caterer there, so you know the food will be great. I'm really excited, if you can't tell already.

Also, I may have said that I was rooting for the Broncos to win the Super Bowl, and I honestly don't know if it was a joke on my part or if I was just being a space cadet, but anyway, I am glad that the Packers won. Booyah!! Much better than those dirty Steelers winning.

Elder Gulbranson isn't going to Peru with me. In my district, Elder Johnson and Elder Cochrane will be going to the Peru MTC. Elder Gulbranson is assigned to serve in Tampico, Mexico, along with Elder Stevenson and Elder Carr. I'm the only one that will be going to Ecuador, and I'm pretty sure I'm the only one in the entire MTC going to Ecuador. I seriously have not met anyone else who's going to Ecuador yet. That's okay though. All the more people for me to meet!

Well, the MTC is finally getting tough. Spanish is much more difficult to learn than I thought it'd be, but I don't think it's any more difficult than German. I just don't know how to study for Spanish, or really for anything. I'm getting better with that though. Hermano Harper, one of my teachers (he actually got back from his mission to Barcelona, Spain about 6 months ago), says that I speak Spanish very well though. He was very surprised to learn that I didn't take any Spanish in high school. I guess that's a good thing. I can't wait to learn more Spanish. Once I understand it more, I have a feeling that I will absolutely fall in love with it, and you can bet that I'll be learning the paso doble when I get back, just so I can reenact Buzz Lightyear's most epic dancing.

The days are starting to go by much faster now. I'm very glad for that, because the first week felt like a month. Things have calmed down now, so really it's just study, study, study day in and day out. It's definitely turning out to be the hardest thing to do yet, but I am so glad that I have the opportunity to do it.

If I haven't written you yet, or if I haven't replied to any of your letters yet, do not be dismayed! I do not mean to ignore you on purpose. I can only write letters on P-days, which are Fridays (I don't know when they'll be once I'm in Peru), and if you don't write me, I'm kind of terrible and don't remember to write you. Sorry. I'm just rather busy here. But I do appreciate all the letters that you all have been sending to me. The letters have made me one of the more "hated" in the district haha. Everyone who gets letters gets joshed around by those who don't get letters that day, but it's all in good fun. Also, I can take it, so keep sending letters!!

I really don't know if I have anything else to report for this week. Things all just seem the same every day pretty much. Things are going well, I'm staying well fed, I still have a cold, and I'm always learning something new. I guess the most important thing that I learned this week was to teach people instead of teaching lessons. Elder Gulbranson and I are starting to get better at that, but it takes work.

Well, I think that's about it for now. I'm sure I'll have more to say when I get to Peru!! Woo!! Only 5 more days!

Ciao!

Answered Prayers

Hello all!

As I mentioned before, sometimes I hear from Elder Schomburg through letters to Michelle, so I have another experience that he passed along for me to share.

"Oh! So, this random elder that came into our classroom's building on martes, Elder Prince, had this diary of a hermana's that's in our zone that he was writing in. He's not in our zone, and he was actually supposed to leave for Benin that day but his flight was cancelled. Anyway, he asked us to drop the diary off with the hermana, and we said yes. Well, the hermana, Hermana Wright, was writing in Elder Prince's journal, and she gave it to Elder Carr to give to Elder Prince. Well, we were fairly certain we wouldn't see him again, but she still gave it to us. [Sounds like the Elder Prince and Sister/Hermana Wright had exchanged journals]  So Elder Carr and the other Elders got a bit too curious and wanted to see what was inside, but I snatched it away and carried it around for the rest of the day so no one would look at it. I knew odds of seeing Elder Prince again were very slim, so I said a little prayer asking Heavenly Father to help me get in touch with him again. I didn't see him at all the rest of the day. The next day, miercoles, Elder Gulbranson and I were studying something, and out of the blue Elder Prince and his companion show up! I didn't have the journal with me because I'd locked it up in my room, but we were able to meet up at lunch and I gave it to him then. So that just goes to show you that prayers really are answered. It was very incredible."

What a wonderful experience for Andrew to have.  How blessed we are to have the fullness of the Gospel in our lives and to understand that Heavenly Father hears and answers even the smallest of prayers.

Night all!

And the First Week is Down!

Every day is a learning experience!  Apparently, P-Day is on Friday as opposed to Saturday like I thought.  Soooo, we got an earlier update than expected.  I'm always tickled to see his name in my inbox.  Enjoy!

Hello!!

Well, the first week was crazy, but things are starting to calm down and I'm getting much more acclimated to things out here. There's never a free moment, but that's most okay. We just keep working (well, trying to work...sometimes the elders revert to "boy-mode," but I try my best to not do so). So many things happen in one day that it would take me at least an hour to write it all down, and right now I have about 24 minutes...dang!

Our district is super close, and that is really cool. We're all kinda like brothers out here, which is really good because we need all the support we can get. Missionary work is not easy, even when you're just in the MTC. Also, we definitely don't get enough sleep for how much we do in a day. I guess this is how it'll be for the next two years though, so I'll just have to get over that.

Oh, we got to do some practice lessons with people in the Teaching Resource Center. The people in there act like investigators, or just like people that you randomly meet on the street, so you get a chance to do contacts in the language you're learning, and then you get to actually teach them. Elder Gulbranson and I have done two lessons so far, and it turns out that we're pretty much the bomb at teaching. Our first lesson we taught we were a bit shaky in the beginning, but we eventually got in sync and the lesson went super well. I even invited the investigator to be baptized on the first lesson! He didn't accept, which is fine, but it got me into the habit. I've decided I want to invite to be baptized on every first lesson, as long as the Spirit says it's okay to do so. I don't see any reason why I shouldn't. If they don't understand that we'd like them to get baptized, or if they do want to get baptized and we don't ask, then it's wasting the Lord's time, and that's just silly. So I'm going to invite to be baptized at least every 1st lesson. I loved getting to get some feedback from the investigators on how we were doing teaching. Our "investigator" last night actually stopped us every now and then while we were teaching to tell us that we were doing good, or maybe so that we could try doing something a better way. He was really impressed with how we taught though and with how we were able to make him feel comfortable and like someone really loved him. It was an excellent experience for Elder Gulbranson and me.

The Provo temple is beautiful. We got to go there today, and everything in there is just gorgeous. It's a very big temple, too. I had no idea it was so big, because it doesn't look that big from the outside, but it's a good 2 or three times bigger than the Denver temple on the inside. It was an awesome experience for me, especially because I got to be there with all of my companions.

Sundays are pretty awesome. The other elders in my district think they're boring and such, but I love all the lessons we learn on Sundays. I love every meeting we have, on any day, actually. I always learn something, and it's a good lesson, too. President Shelley, our district president, has us take notes on every meeting, and it really helps to learn things. Also, Hermanos Chavez and Harper are excellent teachers. The others kinda make fun of Hermano Chavez because he has such a heavy accent that you can't understand him a lot, but if you take time to listen to his lessons, he has some great ones. Also, I like him because he complimented me on my blue and black stripped tie, and that was pretty awesome. So yeah, my teachers, all of them, are awesome.

I don't really know what else to put. We're starting OH SNAP HOW COULD I FORGET THIS. I am officially leaving for Peru on febrar 16 at 11:01 AM. I won't get into Peru until 11:55 PM local time, which is slightly ridiculous, but oh well. That's going to be one long day, but I'm so excited for it. Elders Johnson and Cochrane are going to the Peru MTC the same day, but they have an earlier flight to Atlanta. I meet back up with them at Atlanta, and we fly down to Lima together, so that will be good. I am so darn excited to go to Peru. I'll let you know as soon as I have my address down there, but I don't yet.

Thank you for all your letters and packages! They are very much appreciated! I will admit that when I got the beef jerkey I ate the whole bag in one night, but it was awesome. Please keep writing me! I love getting letters; it makes me feel very loved. :) Also, using dearelder.com is a great way to contact me. I think it's free while I'm in the MTC, and if you send it before noon I'll get it the same day. I love you all! I'll try to make my next letter a bit more exciting, though no promises that it will be. Also, I can only write letters and emails on Fridays (P-Day), so if you don't hear from me for awhile, it's not cause I don't love you, it's just cause I'm so busy! Anyway, love you all! Bonus nachos!

Love, Elder Schomburg

Missionary Mail

Funny thing how missionary mail works... you never know when you're going to hear from your Elder or through whom!  I got a message from Andrew's good friend this week (who had received a letter from him) asking me to relay some further exciting information from the MTC.

Andrew asked that I post on his blog that he is the senior companion in his companionship of two.  "What does that mean?" you may ask.  And I have to honestly say, "I don't know!" :)  I know that in the mission field, the senior companion is typically the missionary who has been out the longest and the one who gets to train the new companion, but since they all arrived at the MTC at the same time, I don't know what it means.  Hopefully I'll have an answer to that question when he e-mails again.

The other piece of information he asked me to share is a link to a really cool mail service that makes getting letters and care packages to the missionaries sooooo much easier!  I used it today and it was just lickety-split!  (Not to be confused with Lickety Split Frosting which accompanies the wonderfully amazing Wacky Cake)

Anyway, the link is http://www.dearelder.com/  Once you get there, you can choose to write a letter to be hand delivered or to purchase a care package to be hand delivered.  The letters are free to write and send, but the care packages do cost money.  As long as you write and send the letter before noon MST, Andrew will get it that day.  It's not e-mail, they actually print out the letter, stuff it in an envelope, address it for you, and deliver it to the MTC.  They will also offer pouch service after he's in the field.

There seems to be a bit of a friendly competition at the MTC to see how many letters and packages each Elder can get.  I know Andrew would love to take the lead. :)  Once he's in the mission field in Ecuador, mail from "home" will become even more important.

So, that's it for now.  I'm being forced into learning how do to this blog thing and missionary mom thing all at the same time - and you're all along for the ride!

Buckle up!