So I have a couple things before I forget. First is there anything that you've found that I can do about my retainer being broken? I don't want to have to go through having to wear a retainer 24/7 again. That wasn't fun. Finally, the church is letting a few missions use facebook for proselyting. My mission is one of them and I've been allowed to use facebook and one of the things is it says "Ask them not to use your Facebook page for communications about home, family, or other items that will detract from your sacred work and calling." So ya I will be using facebook to proselyte. It told you to let you know. Also dad I got on my old facebook to change some of the settings. I didn't know the password so I changed it. I'll send you what I changed it too. The instructions said to change the settings so that people searching for me wont confuse the two. So ya I'll keep you updated on the whole thing. I don't think it's against the rules to have family members as friends but I'm not sure. We'll see. Anyway I've blabbed enought about that. Maybe I think that because I've spent an incredibly long time typing that so ya. I'm done with that.
Jordan- That thing about your baptism is pretty cool. People from India are hard to understand huh? I guess their accent in Pennsylvania is different than in Paraguay because I can understand them. So I'm glad you had a fun time with Indians. If they offer you pani puri (pan-ee purr-ee) let your companion have some and then think of an excuse to get out of there. It's disgusting. That way you'll see your companions funny face as that disgusting thing sits in his mouth. ICK! I still shudder about that. I'm also glad that Sergio got baptized and your story about the font is pretty cool. Ether 12 is full of stories about miracles that happened to people after they had faith. It's great. If you get some time you should read it.
Well this week was a tale of two halves. The beginning of the week started out just like the past three weeks were. pbbbbth. (That's the tongue spitting noise. I never understood that. I never understood how some one got the tongue spitting noise out of that.) Our week wasn't going as well as it should've and we both felt bad. So Wednesday night Elder Morgan and I had a good talk about how we can improve. We realized that we both haven't been pushing each other as much as we should and that we both aren't giving 100%. So we talked about that and set goals and made plans to fix it. After that the week turned around. Instead of only teaching 10 or 11 lessons a week (which is pitiful by the way) we taught 14. Thursday-Sunday were much much better. The funny thing is that we didn't change that much. All we did is change our hearts and made a resolve to talk to everyone we come across which we've kind of slacked on. With that little bit of change we saw an incredible difference. Thursday evening right after our planning session we met a guy named Shafar. He's a really cool guy and to sum up about a 30-60 minute conversation into a few sentences we asked him if he knew which way is right and how to know and he said he didn't. So we told him that he could know. We also asked him what he would do if he knew that there was a prophet, a modern day Moses or Noah, leading the world today. He replied by saying "If I knew that I would probably give up everything bad that I do and follow him." GOLDEN ANSWER. He's an awesome guy. He lives in our apartment complex right below us but we don't have an exact address so we'll have to catch him to set up a time to see him. Friday we had interviews with President Schaefermeyer. He is such a smart man. He know so much and he really helped me see how I can improve and how I can really understand the doctrine of Christ (or our missionary purpose Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.) It was a lot of help. He is a smart man and has definitely been called of God.
Later that night we had an appointment with Alanna (the 8 yr old, Natasha-I'm still working on getting a picture). That was a good appointment. Saturday we had a really good meeting with a guy named Steve. He was basically bearing testimony all over the place about how meeting with us and following the things we've asked him to do has brought him happiness and has made him happy. It was awesome to see. He says he's cut down drastically on smoking and drinking since he was taught the word of wisdom. It was awesome to hear how the gospel has changed him. It was great.
Mom- I'm glad to hear your modesty thing worked out for the better. Crazy how often time the greatest blessings come after the challenges huh. Keep up the good work and have fun with all you do. You do a great job.
Dad- 3-4 of snow? That's what we had. But we didn't go running in it. Elder Morgan doesn't like the cold at all. I also don't like getting wet very much so running+snow+cold+a companion that doesn't like cold weather and has hardly ever seen snow+6:30am= Elder Schouten and his companion working out in the apartment that morning.
Austin- You're a great kid. Remember to have fun. As President Hinckley said "Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured." You should read D&C 18. The whole thing is great but verses 10-13 are really good. Jesus Christ loved us SO much that he died for us just so we would have the chance to repent and turn to Him. It wasn't even a guarantee that we WOULD end up back with him. Just so that we could have the ability to return to Him. He loves us so much. As Jordan said Keep your chin up and have fun. If you have more stress than Jordan does then your volcano is about to explode. Jordan was always stressed. Just know that what you'll remember from high school is not how many friends you had or how popular you were but if you enjoyed yourself and if you were yourself. Just be yourself. You want to know why my dorkiness exploded out of me around my senior year in high school? It was because I was being myself. I gained more self confidence in my self and didn't worry so much about what others thought. Just find some friends who you can be yourself around and hang out with them. Don't worry about being accepted by the "cool" kids. I speak from experience. I did that way too much and when I realized it didnt' matter that much I was TONS happier. (It also help that I did some repentance during that time of my life.) When we are good with God it wont matter what others think of us. It will matter what God thinks of us.
Natasha- I'm glad you had a fun week. Your pictures sound pretty cool. I would like to see them. I'm still working on getting a picture and sending it to you.
Shaylee- Cotton candy and 6 full size candy bars? Where did you go trick or treating? I don't remember ever getting more than one full size candy bar if any at all. I really enjoyed your email. I thought it was funny. I definitely could hear you saying it.
I love you all and will see you soon. Thank you for all the love and support you give. It makes a big difference.
The church is true, God lives and wants the best for us. If we follow Him we'll be happy. That's what matters, following God. I'm so grateful for the gospel and how it's helped my life. I'm a completely different person than I was 15 months ago. God can do miracles to us if we only let Him.
Love,
Elder John Schouten
Jordan- That thing about your baptism is pretty cool. People from India are hard to understand huh? I guess their accent in Pennsylvania is different than in Paraguay because I can understand them. So I'm glad you had a fun time with Indians. If they offer you pani puri (pan-ee purr-ee) let your companion have some and then think of an excuse to get out of there. It's disgusting. That way you'll see your companions funny face as that disgusting thing sits in his mouth. ICK! I still shudder about that. I'm also glad that Sergio got baptized and your story about the font is pretty cool. Ether 12 is full of stories about miracles that happened to people after they had faith. It's great. If you get some time you should read it.
Well this week was a tale of two halves. The beginning of the week started out just like the past three weeks were. pbbbbth. (That's the tongue spitting noise. I never understood that. I never understood how some one got the tongue spitting noise out of that.) Our week wasn't going as well as it should've and we both felt bad. So Wednesday night Elder Morgan and I had a good talk about how we can improve. We realized that we both haven't been pushing each other as much as we should and that we both aren't giving 100%. So we talked about that and set goals and made plans to fix it. After that the week turned around. Instead of only teaching 10 or 11 lessons a week (which is pitiful by the way) we taught 14. Thursday-Sunday were much much better. The funny thing is that we didn't change that much. All we did is change our hearts and made a resolve to talk to everyone we come across which we've kind of slacked on. With that little bit of change we saw an incredible difference. Thursday evening right after our planning session we met a guy named Shafar. He's a really cool guy and to sum up about a 30-60 minute conversation into a few sentences we asked him if he knew which way is right and how to know and he said he didn't. So we told him that he could know. We also asked him what he would do if he knew that there was a prophet, a modern day Moses or Noah, leading the world today. He replied by saying "If I knew that I would probably give up everything bad that I do and follow him." GOLDEN ANSWER. He's an awesome guy. He lives in our apartment complex right below us but we don't have an exact address so we'll have to catch him to set up a time to see him. Friday we had interviews with President Schaefermeyer. He is such a smart man. He know so much and he really helped me see how I can improve and how I can really understand the doctrine of Christ (or our missionary purpose Our purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end.) It was a lot of help. He is a smart man and has definitely been called of God.
Later that night we had an appointment with Alanna (the 8 yr old, Natasha-I'm still working on getting a picture). That was a good appointment. Saturday we had a really good meeting with a guy named Steve. He was basically bearing testimony all over the place about how meeting with us and following the things we've asked him to do has brought him happiness and has made him happy. It was awesome to see. He says he's cut down drastically on smoking and drinking since he was taught the word of wisdom. It was awesome to hear how the gospel has changed him. It was great.
Mom- I'm glad to hear your modesty thing worked out for the better. Crazy how often time the greatest blessings come after the challenges huh. Keep up the good work and have fun with all you do. You do a great job.
Dad- 3-4 of snow? That's what we had. But we didn't go running in it. Elder Morgan doesn't like the cold at all. I also don't like getting wet very much so running+snow+cold+a companion that doesn't like cold weather and has hardly ever seen snow+6:30am= Elder Schouten and his companion working out in the apartment that morning.
Austin- You're a great kid. Remember to have fun. As President Hinckley said "Life is meant to be enjoyed, not just endured." You should read D&C 18. The whole thing is great but verses 10-13 are really good. Jesus Christ loved us SO much that he died for us just so we would have the chance to repent and turn to Him. It wasn't even a guarantee that we WOULD end up back with him. Just so that we could have the ability to return to Him. He loves us so much. As Jordan said Keep your chin up and have fun. If you have more stress than Jordan does then your volcano is about to explode. Jordan was always stressed. Just know that what you'll remember from high school is not how many friends you had or how popular you were but if you enjoyed yourself and if you were yourself. Just be yourself. You want to know why my dorkiness exploded out of me around my senior year in high school? It was because I was being myself. I gained more self confidence in my self and didn't worry so much about what others thought. Just find some friends who you can be yourself around and hang out with them. Don't worry about being accepted by the "cool" kids. I speak from experience. I did that way too much and when I realized it didnt' matter that much I was TONS happier. (It also help that I did some repentance during that time of my life.) When we are good with God it wont matter what others think of us. It will matter what God thinks of us.
Natasha- I'm glad you had a fun week. Your pictures sound pretty cool. I would like to see them. I'm still working on getting a picture and sending it to you.
Shaylee- Cotton candy and 6 full size candy bars? Where did you go trick or treating? I don't remember ever getting more than one full size candy bar if any at all. I really enjoyed your email. I thought it was funny. I definitely could hear you saying it.
I love you all and will see you soon. Thank you for all the love and support you give. It makes a big difference.
The church is true, God lives and wants the best for us. If we follow Him we'll be happy. That's what matters, following God. I'm so grateful for the gospel and how it's helped my life. I'm a completely different person than I was 15 months ago. God can do miracles to us if we only let Him.
Love,
Elder John Schouten
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.