Hello everyone.
Well this week was good but bad. Don't freak out or anything it's nothing drastic. The week was only bad number wise. We didn't have very stellar numbers at all. But oh well it's not entirely our fault. We had a zone conference this week so that took out a whole day. But numbers don't matter as long as you're trying your hardest. But I'll say what we did this week first before I explain about zone conference. Monday, p-day, was normal. we did our normal stuff then we went down to Scranton and played basketball, which was really fun by the way. Then after that we went to the Whitney's for dinner. I've talked about them before but I'll give an abbreviated version of who they are. He's been investigating for over a year but he's waiting for his wife to hop on board. Then after that we had our Bible study at the Methodist church in town. Tuesday- We went and helped a couple stack some wood and had a lesson. Then we had our Book of Mormon study. Then we went back down to Scranton for Zone Conference the next day. (We're in the northernmost part of the mission and the place where we had the Zone Conference was about 2 1/2 hrs away from our place so we drove down to Scranton the night before so we didn't have to wake up at 4 in the morning to get there in time.) Wednesday was Zone Conference. Elder Ellis from the 70 came. It was an excellent meeting. When we all went up and met him I told him where I was from and he said that they had just moved to Centerville and that they live on Pages lane or right by it. They have a daughter that goes to Viewmont. I believe they said she was a senior but I don't remember exactly. It was a great meeting. Elder Ellis talked about how with God we can do anything and a whole bunch of other stuff. He spoke for over an hour and a half! It was really really long but it was also an excellent lesson. His wife spoke before him and she spoke on having faith and how the mission should be a fun experience and that if it's not then we need to fix something because you're serving the Lord and that brings joy. They were both excellent talks. I don't remember much else about them but I have multiple pages of notes from the both of them. I have about 1 1/2 pages from her and around 2 from him. It was excellent. I love Zone Conferences. You actually get to see other missionaries. The closest missionaries to us are about 45-60 minutes away so as you can imagine we don't have much interaction with other missionaries. Thursday we had our district meeting and went on exchanges and helped set up tables for the branch social Friday night. On Friday we went and saw the Carvins and asked them how they were doing. (They hadn't come to church two weeks in a row.) They were doing fine. The first week they missed church they were stranded with car problems and the second time Judy had a horrible headache and her lungs were really tight so they went to the doctor and he gave her a steroid for her lungs. Then later that night we had our branch fall social. That was really fun. It's really fun to go and socialize with the members and see them all and be able to talk about things other than church, because when you see them all in the same place it's at church so they talk about churchy things. Go figure. Saturday we did our weekly planning and then later that night we went and saw the Whitney's again. Yesterday (Sunday)- We didn't go to the Susq. church meetings. We went to the Montrose meetings. We went there with Derrick and Judy Carvin and we also gave talks. The talks were kind of dumped on us last minute because the Tunkhannock Elders were originally asked to do it but they heard we were going there too and asked if we could give the talks to save them some miles and time. They told us this on Friday so we only had an hour on Saturday during study time and close to an hour on Sunday to prepare a 10 minute talk. It wasn't a lot of time but the talk went really well. They asked us to talk about how the light comes into people's lives when they accept and live the gospel better. I gave the how it happens and Elder Erb gave stories about times when he's seen it happen because I don't have very many stories about that because I've only been out for 4 months (my time flies when you look back. I've been out for 4 months! It's gone by fast.) so I didn't have very many stories. But the talk went really well. I really like the Montrose branch. They're all really friendly and it's kind of cool to have a change of faces and scenery. There's nothing wrong with Susquehanna but it was cool to see new stuff. Yup that pretty sums up my week.
The weather is pretty much the same as it has been. We go out with our coats every once in a while. Most of the time just a suit jacket suffices. We also have a car so unless we're out walking around we don't usually use our big coats. It hasn't snowed yet which everyone up here says is way unusual. But you guys are lucky we don't have snow yet. I just want the snow to hold up until after Thanksgiving so we can have our turkey bowl. Yes we get to play football. Our thanksgiving day is pretty much our day. We just have to have our studies and then we can do what we want, as long as it's within mission rules. We're going to a family names the Halls for dinner and that's about all our plans except we're going to a turkey bowl in Wilkes Barre, (South of Scranton by a little bit.)
Hooray for BYU sports!!! Yay for football whomping on New Mexico! Why the sudden change these past couple weeks? Did Bronco taking back over the defensive coordinator position really do that much or did something else happen? I'm glad to hear that BYU basketball is really good this year. I love the seasons when you beat everyone by a lot.
Dang the new Harry Potter movie! It's too bad I can't watch it. There is only one plus to not being able to watch it out here. When I get back I can watch them both right in a row and not have to wait for the next one to come out.
Dad- You're lucky your camera didn't get destroyed and your luck the repair is that cheap and you don't have to buy a whole new camera. Maybe you should make sure it's zipped up before you go flinging it up on your shoulder. I'm glad your work has slowed back down to normal and you're back to a normal stress level. Too bad a mission doesn't go back to a normal stress level. I don't stress out very much if at all because that's not how I am but this life style is just stressful in and of itself. It's hard work but it's worth it.
Mom- Good luck passing out your Book of Mormon. Make sure you carry one with you everywhere so if you feel prompted to give it to someone you can just give it out before you have time to back out of it. There's a rule that I learned out here. It actually comes from how to talk to women but since we can't chase women out here the Elder that told us it applied to missionary work. It's called the 3 second rule. How it works is when you see a person you need to be talking to them within 3 seconds or else you'll psych your self out of it. Or if you can't be talking to them be on your way over to talk to them. My point in telling this is as soon as you feel the spirit prompt you just go and do it before you back out of it. Just have one with you always so you can't say, "Oh it's out in the car" or "I don't want to go get it so I'll give it to them later" just go and do it. Don't have the attitude that I'll try. If you have that attitude you're leaving yourself a way out. Have the attitude that you ARE going to give that Book of Mormon out or die trying. But make sure when you give it out you follow the spirit. Also it'll be a lot easier if you try to bring up religious things. Don't be afraid to talk about them. Just do it in a non imposing non interrogating way. Just do it as part of your daily routine because unless you steer the conversation to religion it wont go there unless the person is really really really searching and still they might not bring it up. Make it easy for the person to approach you about it or talk about it.
Well that's my 2 cents that I've learned on my mission. Well it's actually more than two cents because it's kind of long so maybe it's like a nickel or a dime, maybe if we're lucky a quarter. I hope it helps.
Jordan- email as usual
Austin- Are you still alive?
Natasha- Where the Red Fern Grows is a super cool movie. I liked it a lot. You should read the book when you're good enough at reading. It's a super good book. It's got a lot more detail than the movie and it's really cool. I'm glad you like Mrs. Hanni. That's too bad that her mom is going down hill.
Shaylee- Are you excited for Thanksgiving? What are you going to dress up as? How is school for you?
Well I love all of you. I'm so thankful that I chose to come out on a mission. These short 4 months have been the best experience of my life. I've learned sooooooo much. It being thanksgiving week I figure I should be thankful for everything. Thank you everyone for all your love and support. Thank you for everything you do. I'm thankful for my family and the gospel and for Christ and how through the Atonement we can be saved and return to live with Him again. I'm thankful for the Book of Mormon. I know it's true and that it was written for us in this day. I can't possibly name everything else I'm thankful for so I wont try because it'd be too long and I don't have enough time anyway.
I love you all again and I'll see you when I'm done.
Love,
Elder Schouten
Well this week was good but bad. Don't freak out or anything it's nothing drastic. The week was only bad number wise. We didn't have very stellar numbers at all. But oh well it's not entirely our fault. We had a zone conference this week so that took out a whole day. But numbers don't matter as long as you're trying your hardest. But I'll say what we did this week first before I explain about zone conference. Monday, p-day, was normal. we did our normal stuff then we went down to Scranton and played basketball, which was really fun by the way. Then after that we went to the Whitney's for dinner. I've talked about them before but I'll give an abbreviated version of who they are. He's been investigating for over a year but he's waiting for his wife to hop on board. Then after that we had our Bible study at the Methodist church in town. Tuesday- We went and helped a couple stack some wood and had a lesson. Then we had our Book of Mormon study. Then we went back down to Scranton for Zone Conference the next day. (We're in the northernmost part of the mission and the place where we had the Zone Conference was about 2 1/2 hrs away from our place so we drove down to Scranton the night before so we didn't have to wake up at 4 in the morning to get there in time.) Wednesday was Zone Conference. Elder Ellis from the 70 came. It was an excellent meeting. When we all went up and met him I told him where I was from and he said that they had just moved to Centerville and that they live on Pages lane or right by it. They have a daughter that goes to Viewmont. I believe they said she was a senior but I don't remember exactly. It was a great meeting. Elder Ellis talked about how with God we can do anything and a whole bunch of other stuff. He spoke for over an hour and a half! It was really really long but it was also an excellent lesson. His wife spoke before him and she spoke on having faith and how the mission should be a fun experience and that if it's not then we need to fix something because you're serving the Lord and that brings joy. They were both excellent talks. I don't remember much else about them but I have multiple pages of notes from the both of them. I have about 1 1/2 pages from her and around 2 from him. It was excellent. I love Zone Conferences. You actually get to see other missionaries. The closest missionaries to us are about 45-60 minutes away so as you can imagine we don't have much interaction with other missionaries. Thursday we had our district meeting and went on exchanges and helped set up tables for the branch social Friday night. On Friday we went and saw the Carvins and asked them how they were doing. (They hadn't come to church two weeks in a row.) They were doing fine. The first week they missed church they were stranded with car problems and the second time Judy had a horrible headache and her lungs were really tight so they went to the doctor and he gave her a steroid for her lungs. Then later that night we had our branch fall social. That was really fun. It's really fun to go and socialize with the members and see them all and be able to talk about things other than church, because when you see them all in the same place it's at church so they talk about churchy things. Go figure. Saturday we did our weekly planning and then later that night we went and saw the Whitney's again. Yesterday (Sunday)- We didn't go to the Susq. church meetings. We went to the Montrose meetings. We went there with Derrick and Judy Carvin and we also gave talks. The talks were kind of dumped on us last minute because the Tunkhannock Elders were originally asked to do it but they heard we were going there too and asked if we could give the talks to save them some miles and time. They told us this on Friday so we only had an hour on Saturday during study time and close to an hour on Sunday to prepare a 10 minute talk. It wasn't a lot of time but the talk went really well. They asked us to talk about how the light comes into people's lives when they accept and live the gospel better. I gave the how it happens and Elder Erb gave stories about times when he's seen it happen because I don't have very many stories about that because I've only been out for 4 months (my time flies when you look back. I've been out for 4 months! It's gone by fast.) so I didn't have very many stories. But the talk went really well. I really like the Montrose branch. They're all really friendly and it's kind of cool to have a change of faces and scenery. There's nothing wrong with Susquehanna but it was cool to see new stuff. Yup that pretty sums up my week.
The weather is pretty much the same as it has been. We go out with our coats every once in a while. Most of the time just a suit jacket suffices. We also have a car so unless we're out walking around we don't usually use our big coats. It hasn't snowed yet which everyone up here says is way unusual. But you guys are lucky we don't have snow yet. I just want the snow to hold up until after Thanksgiving so we can have our turkey bowl. Yes we get to play football. Our thanksgiving day is pretty much our day. We just have to have our studies and then we can do what we want, as long as it's within mission rules. We're going to a family names the Halls for dinner and that's about all our plans except we're going to a turkey bowl in Wilkes Barre, (South of Scranton by a little bit.)
Hooray for BYU sports!!! Yay for football whomping on New Mexico! Why the sudden change these past couple weeks? Did Bronco taking back over the defensive coordinator position really do that much or did something else happen? I'm glad to hear that BYU basketball is really good this year. I love the seasons when you beat everyone by a lot.
Dang the new Harry Potter movie! It's too bad I can't watch it. There is only one plus to not being able to watch it out here. When I get back I can watch them both right in a row and not have to wait for the next one to come out.
Dad- You're lucky your camera didn't get destroyed and your luck the repair is that cheap and you don't have to buy a whole new camera. Maybe you should make sure it's zipped up before you go flinging it up on your shoulder. I'm glad your work has slowed back down to normal and you're back to a normal stress level. Too bad a mission doesn't go back to a normal stress level. I don't stress out very much if at all because that's not how I am but this life style is just stressful in and of itself. It's hard work but it's worth it.
Mom- Good luck passing out your Book of Mormon. Make sure you carry one with you everywhere so if you feel prompted to give it to someone you can just give it out before you have time to back out of it. There's a rule that I learned out here. It actually comes from how to talk to women but since we can't chase women out here the Elder that told us it applied to missionary work. It's called the 3 second rule. How it works is when you see a person you need to be talking to them within 3 seconds or else you'll psych your self out of it. Or if you can't be talking to them be on your way over to talk to them. My point in telling this is as soon as you feel the spirit prompt you just go and do it before you back out of it. Just have one with you always so you can't say, "Oh it's out in the car" or "I don't want to go get it so I'll give it to them later" just go and do it. Don't have the attitude that I'll try. If you have that attitude you're leaving yourself a way out. Have the attitude that you ARE going to give that Book of Mormon out or die trying. But make sure when you give it out you follow the spirit. Also it'll be a lot easier if you try to bring up religious things. Don't be afraid to talk about them. Just do it in a non imposing non interrogating way. Just do it as part of your daily routine because unless you steer the conversation to religion it wont go there unless the person is really really really searching and still they might not bring it up. Make it easy for the person to approach you about it or talk about it.
Well that's my 2 cents that I've learned on my mission. Well it's actually more than two cents because it's kind of long so maybe it's like a nickel or a dime, maybe if we're lucky a quarter. I hope it helps.
Jordan- email as usual
Austin- Are you still alive?
Natasha- Where the Red Fern Grows is a super cool movie. I liked it a lot. You should read the book when you're good enough at reading. It's a super good book. It's got a lot more detail than the movie and it's really cool. I'm glad you like Mrs. Hanni. That's too bad that her mom is going down hill.
Shaylee- Are you excited for Thanksgiving? What are you going to dress up as? How is school for you?
Well I love all of you. I'm so thankful that I chose to come out on a mission. These short 4 months have been the best experience of my life. I've learned sooooooo much. It being thanksgiving week I figure I should be thankful for everything. Thank you everyone for all your love and support. Thank you for everything you do. I'm thankful for my family and the gospel and for Christ and how through the Atonement we can be saved and return to live with Him again. I'm thankful for the Book of Mormon. I know it's true and that it was written for us in this day. I can't possibly name everything else I'm thankful for so I wont try because it'd be too long and I don't have enough time anyway.
I love you all again and I'll see you when I'm done.
Love,
Elder Schouten
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.