Ecuadorians love fútbol

Hello my happy family and friends!

I am doing rather well today. I got a bit of pouch, which is always wonderful (thank you Grandma!). I also got the invitation to Jeffrey's graduation party. I'm sorry to inform you that I don't think I'll be able to attend, but I hope you'll accept my sincerest apologies for my absence. ;) The picture of Jeffrey with the tank made me laugh a bit. Mostly because of the look on his face, but also because that photo was just so...Jeffrey. Thanks for the invite!

Well, we're still plugging along. We still don't really have any investigators, and things are getting a bit more difficult because the other missionaries don't seem to have the desire to work. They go out and work a little bit, but when things aren't improving they don't show the initiative to fix those things. It's frustrating especially because it doesn't matter how many times we tell them what's going on or how to fix things, they won't do it. And now we're out of ideas of how to help them. The assistants told us to not lose hope and to just trust in God, which is definitely all that we can do now. Things will get better at some point though, I know it.

The less actives are slowly reactivating, which is very good. The difficult part is getting them to stay active though. Activating someone doesn't just mean that they start coming to Church again. It means that they start preparing to go to the temple to be sealed to their families. It means that they gain a conversion. It means that they come back and lose all desire to fall away again. And then they have to act constantly on those desires. It's difficult but it is well worth all of the effort. It's incredible to see someone come back to the fold and really start living the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Also, our "abuela" is doing just fine. We actually just ran into her and she was going to the doctor for some rehabilitation, and in her hand was a copy of the Book of Mormon. :) She's awesome like that. It makes me so happy to see someone truly converted, to have lived Romans 6:6. It's incredible.

Congratulations to Jeffrey on starting to fill out his mission papers! That's basically the coolest thing since...well, I dunno exactly, but it's darn awesome. Keep going! You can do it!

Cultural info time! Ecuadorians love fútbol. They don't love so much when their team loses to Argentina. The eliminations are going on for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, and Saturday Ecuador lost to Argentina 4-0. It was almost as bad as hearing that the Broncos lost to the Raiders. But we'll get 'em next time!

Well, that's all for now. I hope that all is well with everyone and that everyone is still doing all that is possible to come unto Christ. I love you all very much. ¡Chao!

Love,
Elder Schomburg

Looks like the Angel Moroni to me!

A Wonderful Book Review

Hello!!!

GOOOOO JEFFREY!!! WOOOOO!!! You graduated and are now free from high school forever more!! Yeah!!!!! Good job! I'm very proud and happy for you.

I'm glad to hear that Jeffrey's graduation party went well and that a fun time was had by all. I would have loved to have been there, but...I'm a couple thousand miles away. Next time! (Rather, I really hope that Jeffrey doesn't graduate from high school again, though that'd be a story, now wouldn't it?)

This week was fairly good. We still haven't found many people that are willing to listen, but we did manage to baptize our "abuela" Hilda Salazar. It was a wonderful baptismal service, and her daughter was able to fly out from Utah to see her baptism. Hilda was so very excited and happy to be able to be baptized. I definitely teared up a couple of times. I would love to include photos, but the computer doesn't want to read my memory card, so next week a photo will be included.

This week has been the same as last week in terms of teaching people. We try and try to find people, but when we set up a date to go back to see them, they're almost never there, and if something comes up and we have to set up a different date because we can't make the first one, they're still not at the second appointment. It's a tad frustrating. It'd be nice to be able to find someone new and be able to teach them, but that doesn't seem to be happening. We're going to be working with the less-active members a bit more to reactivate them and then see if they have any references. A few of the less actives with whom we've been working say that they have some people that they're working with. Now to just see if they'll let us work with them.

The attached photo is of my greatest eating "fail" for a very long time. I don't know how well you can see it, but my tie and part of my shirt are covered with syrup. Here's the story: I was eating a very lovely breakfast of pancakes and vanilla syrup. My desk was a bit crowded (I was reading some letters from awhile ago), so my plate wasn't completely on the desk. I had been doing my absolute best to not move any of the pancakes to the part that was off of the desk, but I was cutting one that got away from me and, yep, to the part off of the desk. The result was a horribly effective catapult of a whole pancake onto my tie, which promptly rolled onto my pants and onto the floor. I had to completely change, and both my companion and I laughed for a good 5 minutes. So let this experience be a lesson to all!




I have a book review to give! It's just about my favorite book in the whole world, and it's been the most helpful book to me ever. It's the Book of Mormon. Many, many people have read it before and have feelings similar to mine. It's held for good and evil in every part of the world. Many, lacking information, believe it to be written by Joseph Smith and is nothing more than one man's thoughts on religion. Many criticize it for not having correct grammar, and many say that there is no possible way that it is scripture because "the bible says there can't be any more scripture" (side note: it says that for the first time in Deuteronomy, which would mean that everything after that book in the Bible is false). I give my fervent testimony that this book, the Book of Mormon, is truly inspired of God and proves that God loves all of His children in all parts of the world. The Book of Mormon was written by ancient prophets of the Americas and "contains the fullness of the everlasting gospel". It contains the history of the people who inhabited the Americas from 600 BC to approximately 421 AD, and it's purpose is to prove to people everywhere that Jesus is the Christ. I know that Jesus is the Christ because of this book. This book has helped me more in my life than anything else. I know of its divinity not because I have read and studied it several times. I know of its divinity not because someone told me that it was inspired of God. I know because I asked God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, if the Book of Mormon was true. He responded to my prayer, and I know with my whole soul that this book is inspired of Him. It does not try to replace the Bible; it complements the Bible. The Bible testifies of the Book of Mormon (Ezekiel 37:15-20), and the Book of Mormon testifies of the Bible. Without the other, neither of these books would be able to truly be the word of God (1 Corinthians 15:1). I would urge everyone to find a copy (missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints give them out for free) and put it to the test. Read a little bit and then ask God if it's true or not. And if you don't receive an answer the first time, read a bit more and ask again. Do so until you receive an answer, because it's impossible that you don't receive an answer. I promise that whosoever does this will not only find a good book, but will find the fullness of the everlasting Gospel.

I hope that you all have a wonderful week and that you are all happy, healthy, and busy! I love you!! Have a wonderful, marvellous week!

Love,
Elder Schomburg

Still in Santa Ana!

Hello everyone!

This salutation comes from...Santa Ana, Quito! No transfer for me, nor for my companion, so unless more funky shenanigans happen like what happened at the end of the Riobamba tour, I'll be here until July 1. I guess the Lord has more for me to learn here. I'll just try to plug along as best as I can and hope that that's what the Lord wants of me. 

Wow, my little brother is all growin' up and stuff and is going to be graduating this week. That's crazy. Congratulations Jeffrey!! I knew you could do it. And congratulations for graduating from Seminary! That's awesome, and you're certainly more prepared than I was for your mission. Just don't decide to get all lazy and stop the preparing. You should prepare for your mission right up till the day that you leave, because if you don't keep preparing, you'll lose all that knowledge that you've gained. Remember to read the Scriptures daily (that's italicized, bolded, and underlined, so it's really super dupe hyper immensely important) and to say your prayers daily. Endure to the...well, beginning, in this case...!!! I know that you have huge potential. Don't be afraid to unlock it. 

Mmmmm, rootbeer floats......if someone finds out how to send one of those over here without completely destroying the package in the shipping process, you should test out that method with me. 

Well, the man who randomly showed up at Church last week didn't show up for his lesson nor for Church this week, and we don't have any way to get in contact with him. Hopefully one day he'll be able to come back and truly begin the repentance process. But Hilda Salazar did come to Church!! She's so amazing. She's basically my "mission grandma" because she's 74 and always feeds us when we go over (twice she gave us candy corn, which doesn't exist in Ecuador, but luckily she has offspring in Utah that love her enough to send her candy corn, which she shared with us!!). She's such a sweet lady. She has a baptismal date for this Saturday, but she has to have an interview with one of President Ghent's counselors first. We'll be praying that she passes her interview and doesn't have to postpone her baptism for a later date. 

I think that you (meaning my parents) will be very glad to learn that I have learned obedience fairly well (I'm known in the mission for demonstrating exact obedience), so at least one of the attributes that I need/ed to learn has been learned. Now I just have to work with my patience, and I do believe that will take the rest of my life to develop. It'd be better if it came sooner than later, but patience never, ever works that way. With time and practice it will come. 

Well, that's about all that I have to say for today. I hope all is well with all at home. I love you guys very much, and I wish the very best for you! 

Love, 
Elder Schomburg

Crocodile's Prey

Hello to all!!

So, I am basically super-duper grateful for mothers, especially por la mía [for mine]. She is wonderful and amazing and incredible and every wonderful word that one could think of to describe a mother. Thank you for being mi madre, Madre!

In case you hadn't guessed, I got to hear from my wonderful family yesterday! My madre sounds healthier and happier than ever, as well as does mi Padre, Jeffrey's voice is almost as deep as mine I think, which really throws me for a loop, Elizabeth is growing up, something that is strictly forbidden, and so is Robby! Madness!! But it was soo good and reinvigorating to be able to hear to them. Also, in lieu of the photo which I recently received in the most recent email, ZZ Top wrote "Sharp Dressed Man" while in the spirit of revelation, having seen Jeffrey and Robby in their suits and ties (bow-tie=class).

This is the photo to which he referred.

So I had planned on writing something really spiritual about the Atonement, but then my Madre wrote to me and got me all to thinking (not to mention she stole my topic, so surely I can't write about that now, can I?). I really liked something that she said about fighting emotions. This is something that I've been doing my absolute best to do throughout my mission, but turns out that I'm the "crocodile's prey". She explained...well, Imma just copy down what she said, for she said it so well!


"The more you fight the feelings (which are natural and normal), the bigger they will be and the more likely you will be to get distracted from your purpose and your mission.  That is what Satan wants... he wants you to fight and fight and fight until you feel that you have to give up.  Then he wins. I call that the "crocodile death roll."  :)  A crocodile will grab its prey by the neck and try to drag it under the water.  When the prey begins to fight, the crocodile starts rolling over and over and over in the water in the attempt to drown its victim.  It continues to roll until the prey dies.  The only thing that will save the victim is for it to stop fighting and float to the top.  The crocodile isn't interested in prey that isn't fighting (usually) and they will just leave it alone.  The only way to stop the struggle is to allow the Savior to take it from you.  Just let go of the fight and float to the top where He will rescue you."

So, Imma own up to it. I miss a lot of people right now, and I'm a tad frustrated with the way the work is going right now. I miss Michelle a ton, I miss all of my family members like I'm getting paid to do so, and I'm really, really tired of hearing the phrase, "I'm busy right now" (the most uttered phrase while contacting and the #1 reason that we don't get in the door). BUT. This is a new week, is it not? Do I not have the wonderful opportunity to commit myself to the Lord again and to gain even more strength from Him this week? He knows that I need the strength, and as long as I'm trying to keep my covenants He will bless me with that strength. And it's all thanks to the wonderful Atonement which the Lord Jesus Christ carried out. If it weren't for His sacrifice, He would not have obtained the knowledge necessary to provide God's children with the strength to overcome the world. But He, the Saviour Jesus Christ, has conquered the world, and we can trust that He will give us strength to overcome the world as well.

As is stated in the third Article of Faith, "We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel." That last part is importantísimo. If one is not obedient, the Lord has no promise with us to help us, and His Atonement only works for those people who accept Him as their Saviour through obedience to His Gospel. How grateful am I that I can receive strength in the most challenging of my times because I am trying my hardest to be obedient! And we all have the same promise, if we are obedient.

Hey, something super spiritual! Yay!

Well, I think that's all I have for today. We didn't play futbol today because Elder Vega and I decided to clean the house and then be lazy (yay for rest!), but all is well! I shall get my working-out in during the week. Okay, well, I shall be off now. I love all of you very much, and I'm grateful for all that you do for me. If it can be spared, more pouch would be wonderful. I love you!

Love,
Elder Schomburg

The Refiner's fire

Hello all y'all!

I'm doing okay right now. A bit...down, or algo similar, because we currently have no investigators. Well, we have one investigator, but her baptismal date fell through because she wasn't able to attend church yesterday. But apart from her we have no one. So the logical thing would be to look for those people, ¿no cierto? Well, we've been contacting for a few days now, and we haven't had one lesson. No one wants to open the door, no one wants to listen. It's a tad depressing, but I shall keep swimming, for I know that there's someone out there who needs this message, so we just have to endure. It's tough, but the mission can't always be smiles and sunshine. I've gotta be refined here too, and that only happens with a lot of fire. So here we go, another week and another chance to learn.

Ah yes, the all-important Mother's Day phone call! So, I shall be calling this Sunday at...roughly...4 PM my time. I believe that'll be about 2 PM your time, and you should be out of church by then. If that time doesn't work, you should write me back and I'll be checking my email to see at what time will be best. I should be free at about 2:30 PM my time, so anytime after that will work well. But didn't I just talk to you guys the other day? It seems to me that these 6ish months have absolutely flown by. Snaps.

This Saturday we had a Talent Show in the stake, and us missionaries did a skit about when Nephi and his brothers go to Jerusalem to get the brass plates. However, this version had a little twist on it. In Spanish, "plates" is "planchas"; "planchas" also means "irons", as in the irons used to iron clothing...I think that was overly obvious, but oh well. The whole time we tried to make things funny, but the audience never knew that we were going to get the planchas-irons; they thought we were getting planchas-plates. So at the end we revealed that Sariah needed the planchas-irons to iron the clothes, and the audience got a kick out of it. It was really fun, and in the second picture is what we looked like.

And the other picture is a salad, as one can see, and it means that I'm trying to eat healthy now, and healthy is tasty.

Changes aren't for another 2 weeks, which basically means that they're tomorrow with the way time goes by.

So...I don't really have a lot more to say this week. Prayers would be very welcome, and any letters that anyone feels inclined to send will also be welcomed. I love you all very much, and I miss you too. I hope all are doing well and that you are feeling the presence of the Lord more in your life. Have a wonderful week!

Love,
Elder Schomburg

¿Qué tal mis queridos?

Knowing a second language comes in handy when you need to come up with a creative salutation.
I am doing rather well today. Today started out trying to be a bad day, but I decided that I didn't want it to be a bad day, and so far it hasn't been a bad day, and now I'm doing rather well. This week was an okay week. It wasn't particularly successful or anything, but we do have a progressing family right now who are very interested in the Gospel and everything, so that's good. What made this week good was that I tried my best and I accepted that what I did was what God wanted me to do, and I'm a bit happier with this attitude. I'm still working on becoming better, but I've found more strength trusting in that if I do what I can it will be what God wants of me. [His English is certainly starting to suffer! haha]

Yesterday we had our stake conference, but it was different than any other stake conference that I've had because the talks were given by Elder Nash from the Seventy, Sister Cook from the Primary Presidency, and Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Richard G. Scott of the Quorom of the Twelve. It was via satellite of course, but it was still wonderful to be able to hear from them and receive revelation directed directly at us in Ecuador. What really stuck out to me was from Elder Scott's talk in which he talked about the sacredness of women and how they truly are daughters of God and what that means to all of us. It really helped me to realize even more that women have a divine role here on earth, and that even though we are all equals and in our families the woman is neither in front of the man nor the man in front of the woman, we need to respect women as the daughters of God that they truly are. It was a really good talk.

Hey, so I have a question for my immediate family members; are you holding Family Home Evenings? If not, now would be a wonderful time to start. I know how hard it can be to see anyone from the family for any amount of time these days, and we all seem to be much too busy. Family Home Evening can be that time in which you set apart to strengthen the family, to have fun, and to be taught from on high. It doesn't have to be Monday night; it can be any night of the week. But it really is super incredibly important that you can start having Family Home Evenings now and prepare yourselves for whatever comes your way.

Uhhh...I had more to say, dangit! Sometimes the train of my thought derails and goes straight off the cliff. Okay, I guess I'll explain the picture a bit. Those are the socks of a missionary after 15 months in the mission, and those are a "good" pair of the originals that I brought from home. See guys?? I am working!! Yeah!! Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, Wigwam socks (not pictured) are the best missionary socks ever. EVER.

Oh hey, the train had just taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque. [Bugs Bunny reference] I've found that the hardest thing for me these last couple of months will be fighting trunkiness. It hit me the other day that I only have 9 months left in the mission. That's not much time at all. I basically have to turn the corner and then I'll be on the home stretch. Snap. Satan is working at me hard. I've been missing friends and family a bit more recently, and the days really are flying by. I just need to stay focused and keep trying to find people to teach and I'll be good, but man! Is it hard. Grr.

Talking about enduring to the end, you keep going Jeffrey! The end's in sight, but it's not there yet. You're in the last 20 feet, so give it one more good surge and take the gold! Yeah!!

Well, I think that's about all that I have for today. I love all of you! Don't forget to keep me updated on stuff, and that's not directed only at my family (hint hint hint). I hope you are all healthy and strong and that you're doing your absolute best to follow Christ. I love you! Have a fantastical week.

Love,
Elder Schomburg

Sunshiny day

Hello my lovelies!

And how is everyone doing on this wonderful day? I am doing well. Elder Vega and I made tacos today, and I got nice and full from them, so that makes me happy. I do so love Mexican food. Also, I'm starting to really take a liking to hot sauce, especially Olé passion fruit hot sauce, which is a hot sauce made right here in Ecuador! Yay! It's darn tasty, especially on tacos.

This week seemed to pass by kind of slowly in the first couple of days, but then it flew by, and before I knew it, it was today, and today is basically over too. I just don't know what's happening to the time. There doesn't seem to be enough of it, and what there is is gone in the blink of an eye. I'm down to single digit months until I come home! Snaps!! 9 months and I'll be back in the grand ol' United States, and I'll have no idea what to do with myself. Haha but I'll deal with that when I get to it. There's still a few days before I get there.

I really don't know if I have much to say this week. We're trying to find people to teach and we're having a bit of luck, but we definitely need to find more people. I'm still trying my best to be a good missionary, but it's taking me a bit to realize that I'll never be a perfect missionary. That part doesn't want to sink down into my head, but I'm trying to accept it. I think, after receiving a bit of advice from my wonderful madre, that I'll be trying to focus less on what I'm not doing and what I haven't developed yet to seeing how far I've come and being grateful for all of the refining that Heavenly Father has done with me. He certainly has done quite a job on me. Just think; a bit more than three years ago and I wasn't even sure if God existed. A bit more than two years ago and I didn't really have any desires to serve a mission, and I didn't really know who Christ was/is. And now I'm a champion for Christ. I am His faithful warrior, and I am doing my best to bring others to the true knowledge of who He is and what their relationship is with Him. I'm doing my best to be a good person, when I used to not even really care who I was. I'd say that God has certainly worked a miracle in my life.

So, I don't really feel like writing anything too terribly spiritual today. Además, I don't have a bunch of time. Two things that have been on my mind lately; having my own family and Mustangs. I really, really, really want both, but more so my own family, and especially a daughter. I don't know why I've been having cravings to have my own family and a daughter, but I have, and I thought I'd share that. And none of you are surprised at all that I want a Mustang, and I know why I want one; I'm a gearhead and a pure-blood American, and there isn't a car more American and more gearhead-y than the Mustang. So, yep.

Well, I'll be going for now. Oh, check out my new glasses! They have Transitions lenses, which are handy and pretty chevere. Well, I love all of you very much and am very grateful for your support. Have a wonderful and fabtabulous week, and don't forget to write! Oh, and madre, if you send a package in the future (near or far), could you please include my apron that Dad bought me? It's tricky to make guacamole and not get avocado all over the front of your pants without an apron. Thanks! I love you!

Love,
Elder Schomburg