Jordan: 8/13/2012

From: Jordan Schouten [mailto:jordan.schouten@myldsmail.net]
Sent: Monday, August 13, 2012 9:20 AM
To: Mike Schouten; schouten.julie; stringbeanjohn@gmail.com
Subject: my letter 8/13/2012

 

Well, this week was CRAZY! We had transfers this week. I wasn´t expecting what actually happened. On Monday night, the zone leaders told us that my comp was leaving and that i was going to train again. I wasn´t expecting that at all. So, I´m training again. My comp´s name is Elder Smith. He´s from Fort Worth Texas. He´s 19 yrs. old. He speaks really good spanish for someone straight out of the MTC. He understands about 60-70% of what people say, which is 60-70% more of what i understood my first week. I didn´t understand a single word. So, he´s really good. I like him a lot. We get along a lot better than i did with my last comp. But my comp is SUPER green. He doesn´t know much about missionary work. He told me that before the miss.,  he didn´t even know that he had to get up at 6:30 every morning. And he´s never read anything in PMG. So, Austin, like i´ve been saying for a year now, STUDY PMG AND READ THE MISSIONARY HANDBOOK. You should know what you´re getting into before you start your mission. My comp is lucky that i´m obedient, because if i wasn´t, i could tell him a bunch of stuff that´s not true. Like if i didn´t want to wake up on time, i could just tell him that we wake up at 7, instead of 6:30, and he´d have no idea, because he never read PMG or the missionary handbook before the mission. But, i like him a lot and he´s really willing to learn and he has no fear, even though his spanish isn´t perfect. So, I’m excited.

Yesterday in church was kinda rough. We were expecting 6 or 7 people, and only 2 came. 2 of our invest with baptismal dates for the 18th of August didn´t come, so now, their date is the 25th. So, that was frustrating. But, last night was great. We have an invest name richard, who basically is a member already. He comes to church every week, without fail and he reads the BoM everyday and obeys all the commandments. But he just has always had a doubt about baptism. But last night at 8:30 we went to his house to talk with him and i just asked him "what are you thinking about baptism?" he said, " i think i´m ready." That surprised me a ton, then i said "so, will you be baptized the 25 of August?" and he said "yeah, i´m ready"  So, that was awesome! WE´ve been working with him for a while now, and he´s finally ready to go.

THe rest of the week was weird because of transfers. I have to travel all the way to asuncion to get my comp because he´s new and president always has a meeting with new miss. and their trainers. So, it´s 6.5 hours to asuncion and 6.5 back, and on the way back, our bus broke down, so 6.5 became 7. So, the week was just super weird, but it was good. I´m excited for this transfer.

Dad- I can´t see much of the roof in the picture you sent, but it looks good. About sending a USB with the talks.. don´t bother. THe little radio thing i bought busted. It was garbage (that´s why it was being sold in Paraguay. It got messed up in the factory, so, instead of sending it to the U.S or Europe, they sent it to Paraguay. So, don´t bother with the USB. But thanks for the thought). Also, about housing with Kyle. i´d love to live with him again, but I wrote him forever ago, but he never answered back. So, if you could talk with his parents and ask them to email him and ask him, that´s be great. Also, i want to live with Matt, if he´s not married by the time i start in BYU again. For some reason, i think he´ll be engaged in about 1 or 2 months after his mission, but if not, i´d like to live with him.

Mom- sounds like you had a pretty crazy week. But crazy is good. Every week in the mission is CRAZY but, if it´s not crazy, it´s because we´re not working and if we don´t work, nothing gets done. The story about Austin´s singing group thing was pretty cool. That´s something i´ve learned in my mission. God is a God of Miracles. If we have faith, He will always come through, if it´s for a good cause that He wants to happen.

John- i´m glad your homecoming went well. Sounds like you´re not doing much right now. When do you start at BYU-i again? Are you living with anyone that you actually know? are you dating? You should be. Get married.

Ausitn- your singing story was pretty cool. I´m glad everything turned out alright. It´s amazing what we can do if we have faith in the Lord. Also, read the first paragraph of this letter again. STUDY PMG AND THE MISSIONARY HANDBOOK. it will help you SOOOOO much. Have a good summer.

Tasha- i´m glad you liked hiking. I think i´m going to hike a lot when i get home. After walking 9-10 hours everyday for 2 years, i´ve come to like walking and i think i´ll keep doing it when i get home. (after i take a really really really long nap.)

Shaylee- when do you start school again? are you excited? what grade are you going into? Who´s your teacher?

I know this is the only true church in the entire world. I know that Christ leads and directs the church through a living propeht, Thomas S. Monson. I know that the Priesthood has been restored. It is the authority of God and is the only way to recive exaltation. I love the Gospel. It is the only thing in life that brings true happiness and peace. I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. He really did see God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He translated the Book of Mormon by the power of God. The BoM has changed my life. I know without a doubt that it´s true. I love reading it everyday. It is so amazing. I know more than anything that Christ is our Savior. He died and suffered for us, so that we don´t have to suffer. All he asks is that we humble ourselves and repent everyday of our lives. If we do that, i know that he´ll bless us and we´ll live with Him again. I love being a missionary. It brings so many blessings. It´s a sacrife. It´s the hardest thing i´ve ever done. But, it´s worth every pain and trail. I´ve recieved so much more than I´ve given. God blesses and watches over His missionaries. I love this church. I

 

Love you all.
Love,

Elder Jordan Schouten