Jordan: 4/15/2013

From: Jordan Schouten
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 9:24 AM
To: Mike Schouten; schouten.julie; John Schouten
Subject: my letter 4/15/2013

 

Well, the biggest news of this week is that i got transferred. I got sent to a new area for my last change. I´m no longer a zone leader (i´m pretty happy about that to be honest). I´m in Coronel Oviedo. It´s in the center of Paraguay, about 2 or 3 hours away from Asuncion. I really wasn´t too surprised that i got transfered. I´d been in my last area for 6 months, so i was pretty sure i´d be leaving. I really like my area. I don´t like Asuncion very much. Being in other parts of the country is way better.

 

My new comp´s name is Elder Arredondo. He´s from Mexico. He has about 7 months in the mission. We´ve had a few problems in the 5 days that we´ve been together. He´s not disobedient, but he´s not 100% obedient either. I´ve had to call him out a few times to get him to shape up, but, he´s different from all of my other companions. All of my other companions have always said "yeah, you´re right, i need to work harder and be more obedient. I´ll do better." But my current comp says, "hey, i´m not being disobedient. I´m gonna work and i´m gonna baptize. I´m not the worst missionary in the mission. 2 or 3 minutes aren´t important." So, that´s been really hard for me. I´m trying to love him and be patient but, it´s a struggle. But, we´ll see what happens. I´m just going to do my best personally and i know that everything will turn out alright. I´m going to do everything i can to be 100% obedient and i know the Lord will recognize that and He´ll bless me for it.

 

As for our invest. here, we have a family that is ready to get baptized, they just need to get married. The have to get their identification cards though, before they can get married. The have no proof that they´re citizens of paraguay with them right now, so today they´re going to Asuncion to get their cards. I have no idea how long it will take for them to get their cards so they can get married. But they´re really cool. The have 2 daughters that got confirmed yesterday in church. 

 

We have another lady named Magdalena and her kid, Oscar. She´s about 50 and Oscar´s 18. Magdalena is super receptive to the Spirit and she wants to get baptized. Oscar pretty much is willing to do whatever his mom does. The only thing that we have to do is make going to church a priority. They didn´t come to church yesterday because they were going to have some family members come from out of town so they couldn´t come. But, Magdalena already wants to get baptized. She came to a baptism that the other missionaries in our ward had on saturday and she loved it and wants to get baptized. It´s just a little question of time.

 

Other than that, we don´t have a ton of very good invest. We have some people that we´ve taught 1 or 2 times, but they haven´t really gone anywhere. So, this week we´re going to be looking for people to teach like crazy.

 

This area is a little different than my other areas because it´s the first place that i´ve been that a lot of people don´t know how to speak spanish very well. EVERYONE in this area speaks Guarani as a 1st language and spanish as a 2nd language. So, that´s kind of a challenge. They are some people that we´ve met that don´t speak any spanish. It´s kind of rough. I feel like NO ONE understands what i´m saying because i´m not speaking Guarani. But, we´ve got a few cool members that are pretty willing to help us out that speak Guarani so, that helps a lot.

 

Mom- sounds like your week was pretty crazy. Moving grandma and grandpa out of their house sounds like it´s quite the project. Hopefully you can get everything done and everything will turn out alright. i´m glad your relief society lesson went well. it´s so true. The gospel is the only thing that helps get through rough times. I don´t know how i´d get through hard times with the knowledge of the plan of salvation and the BoM. They´re the things that help me more than anything to get through rough times. I´ve been reading the BoM like crazy these last few days because it´s been really rough with my new comp. And it´s the only thing that really helps me get through.

 

Dad- how´s life? Hopefully, everything is going well.

 

John- are you excited to start school again? I´m not... But i´m sure you are. Have fun and study hard and date someone. 

 

Austin- how are things? Are you excited to finish high school? I´m sure you are. I was.

 

Tasha- your letter was pretty funny. I´m not sure why, but it was. Keep having fun and enjoying life.

 

Shaylee- i´m glad that the blessing helped you to be able to sing. That´s a really cool story. I hope you like the new neighboors. 

 

Well, i know the church is true. I know that the Lord has placed me here in this new area because there is something that He wants me to learn in these last weeks of my mission. I´m not quite sure what it is yet, but something. Maybe it´s patience, maybe it´s charity, or maybe it´s how to help a disobedient person become obedient. I´m not really sure. But, i know it´s what the Lord wants. I´m going to keep working until the end. I know that Christ is my Savior and He knows me and He´s knows how i feel and He´s willing to help me. I know Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. I know the Church was restored through him.  I know the BoM is the word of God. I know that as i read it and apply it´s teachings in my life, i´ll get closer to God and i´ll be happy, regardless of my circunstances, like my companion or my area, or anything. I know that we have a living Prophet in Thomas S. MOnson. I know he holds all the priesthood keys. I know this is the true church of Jesus Christ. 

Love you all, 

Elder Jordan Schouten