Well, we had another baptism this week!!!!!!!!!!!!! It kind of came out of nowhere. We've been teaching this family on and off for 5 months (my comp. was teaching them before I got here with his other comp.) and we weren't making a lot of success. the family is a young couple with two little kids, and the husband has been a less active member for 15 years and the wife wasn't a member. We've been teaching the wife and trying to reactivate the husband too. The whole process was super super slow. We had kind of given up on them because we weren't making progress with them and we were having more success with other people, but the other investigators dropped us and we went back to this family. Me and my comp. just decided that we'd more or less give her the baptisimal interview and go from there. She passed every question in the interview just fine, and we just helped see that she really knew that it was true. the problem was she felt like she really didn't have that much of a desire to get baptized. she reads all these stories of people in the BoM that have this huge desire to be baptized and she didn't have that desire. We just told her that our desire is based on our obedience and what we choose to make our desires. We read the Gen. Conf. talk by Elder Oaks from this April about desire with her and that helped a lot. We met with them everyday this week and she got baptized this saturday. It was an awesome baptism. the only problem was the rain. when it rains in paraguay, nobody leaves the house. the only people at the baptism were us, the woman that got baptized and her husband, the branch pres. and his wife and a couple of teenages from the branch. But the spirit was so strong! When she bore her testimony and she was crying and everything.... oh, it was such an awesome experience.
Well, other than the baptism, this week was pretty hard. We have one other family that might be really good investigators, but other than that, we don't have anyone. We've got to work A LOT harder in finding people. We're pretty much stuck right now. But we'll work harder and become better and find more people to teach.
Also, I guess i'm super glad that i'm not at byu this year to watch them get murdered. I thought that it would be a really good year for the football team, but as of right now, it's looking like it will be another lousy year. I hope they improve.
Mom- thanks for sending the pictures again. The package might be coming, I'm not really sure. I talked with my zone leader when we did splits, and he said that he had a package that took about 4 months to get here, so we'll see if it actually gets here or not, but letters are a lot faster. I got a letter from Matt's mom, and it only took about 2-3 weeks to get here.
Dad- have you been offically hired by centerpoint to build their sets or are you just doing this as service. Either way is super cool, but i'd like to know if you're an actually employee or just a voulnteer.
Austin- wow, it sounds like you were acutally busy. Just wait for the mission.... there's more sleep, but more work. so i think it about works out even. but it's really nice that you get a break now to realax a little.... AND READ PREACH MY GOSPEL and go on some dates. You don't have excuses anymore. I want an update next week about how goes your dating life and your reading of PMG
Natasha- ¿Comó estás? ¿Te gusta la escula? ¿Comó está tu clase de español? Tú debes poder leer esta cuando tú termines tu clase de español.... To translate it says, how are you, do you like school? how is you spanish class? you should be able to read this when you finish your spanish class. i'm glad you had a super awesome week
Shaylee- How's your mouth? I want a letter from you. i haven't heard from you for weeks. for all i know, you could be dead. I hope you're alive.
John- sounds like your week was kind of like my week. I know we had a baptism but it was a super up and down week with a couple of pretty long, lousy days that were super hard. But you should always remember the Successful Missionary part of PMG. my mission pres. put a huge poster up in every apartment in the mission of this, so we can always read it and remember that numbers don't always equal success. Our desires to work and our obedience determines our success.
Well, I've got to run. I know that God and Christ live. They love us more than we understand. Jesus Christ really is our Savior. We met a man yesterday that said Christ isn't our Savior. It was the most strange thing I've ever heard. I haven't met anyone before him that didn't believe that chirst it the Savior. Some people don't really believe in Chirst, or understand what "savior" means, but he was the first person that flat out said Christ isn't our Savior. It was weired, but mostly it was sad that he doesn't have that comfort in his life. Hopefully we can change that and help him come to know of his Savior. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. HIs prayer changed the world. I'm so greatful that i have to opprotunity to be changed by his prayer and that i have the chance to share what I know with others. This chruch is true. Obedience is the only way to happiness. But we shouldn't be obedient just to be obedient. We should be obedient because we love God and want to live with him again. I know families are eternal. I love you all.
Love, Elder Jordan Schouten
The first picture is the baptism this saturday: Johanna and her husband Jorge, with me and my comp. before the baptism
The second picture is the other baptism: Bernardino and his wife and kid, and me and my comp before the baptism
The 3rd picture is at the temple in Asuncion. I don't know if i already sent this picture, but if i did, oh well.
Well, other than the baptism, this week was pretty hard. We have one other family that might be really good investigators, but other than that, we don't have anyone. We've got to work A LOT harder in finding people. We're pretty much stuck right now. But we'll work harder and become better and find more people to teach.
Also, I guess i'm super glad that i'm not at byu this year to watch them get murdered. I thought that it would be a really good year for the football team, but as of right now, it's looking like it will be another lousy year. I hope they improve.
Mom- thanks for sending the pictures again. The package might be coming, I'm not really sure. I talked with my zone leader when we did splits, and he said that he had a package that took about 4 months to get here, so we'll see if it actually gets here or not, but letters are a lot faster. I got a letter from Matt's mom, and it only took about 2-3 weeks to get here.
Dad- have you been offically hired by centerpoint to build their sets or are you just doing this as service. Either way is super cool, but i'd like to know if you're an actually employee or just a voulnteer.
Austin- wow, it sounds like you were acutally busy. Just wait for the mission.... there's more sleep, but more work. so i think it about works out even. but it's really nice that you get a break now to realax a little.... AND READ PREACH MY GOSPEL and go on some dates. You don't have excuses anymore. I want an update next week about how goes your dating life and your reading of PMG
Natasha- ¿Comó estás? ¿Te gusta la escula? ¿Comó está tu clase de español? Tú debes poder leer esta cuando tú termines tu clase de español.... To translate it says, how are you, do you like school? how is you spanish class? you should be able to read this when you finish your spanish class. i'm glad you had a super awesome week
Shaylee- How's your mouth? I want a letter from you. i haven't heard from you for weeks. for all i know, you could be dead. I hope you're alive.
John- sounds like your week was kind of like my week. I know we had a baptism but it was a super up and down week with a couple of pretty long, lousy days that were super hard. But you should always remember the Successful Missionary part of PMG. my mission pres. put a huge poster up in every apartment in the mission of this, so we can always read it and remember that numbers don't always equal success. Our desires to work and our obedience determines our success.
Well, I've got to run. I know that God and Christ live. They love us more than we understand. Jesus Christ really is our Savior. We met a man yesterday that said Christ isn't our Savior. It was the most strange thing I've ever heard. I haven't met anyone before him that didn't believe that chirst it the Savior. Some people don't really believe in Chirst, or understand what "savior" means, but he was the first person that flat out said Christ isn't our Savior. It was weired, but mostly it was sad that he doesn't have that comfort in his life. Hopefully we can change that and help him come to know of his Savior. Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. HIs prayer changed the world. I'm so greatful that i have to opprotunity to be changed by his prayer and that i have the chance to share what I know with others. This chruch is true. Obedience is the only way to happiness. But we shouldn't be obedient just to be obedient. We should be obedient because we love God and want to live with him again. I know families are eternal. I love you all.
Love, Elder Jordan Schouten
The first picture is the baptism this saturday: Johanna and her husband Jorge, with me and my comp. before the baptism
The second picture is the other baptism: Bernardino and his wife and kid, and me and my comp before the baptism
The 3rd picture is at the temple in Asuncion. I don't know if i already sent this picture, but if i did, oh well.
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