james letter 4-9-12

I got my new backpack this week. I think it came on Thursday. It is way nice, and makes things a lot easier. The water rolls right off of it, and I know this because it has already rained on us. Imagine that. I've gotten lots of compliments on it too. Thanks a lot for getting it to me.

My week out here has been trying, but good. We had several great lessons with people, and we were also able to find a new investigator. The new investigator we met with is a 17 year old boy, and the lesson with him went great. He was out of town this week with family, and wasn't able to come to CHurch, but he said he will this week, and we hope to be able to set a date with him soon.

We were also able to meet with an investigator that we havn't seen in a while. Two of them actually. One of them is a 16 year old black kid. He came to CHurch with us after we picked him up, and gave him some Church clothes. We had a lesson with him afterward, and were able to set a date with him to be baptized on April 28.

The other investigator we were able to meet with is the one that almost dropped us. We stopped by and taught him about the Plan of Salvation. The Spirit was strong. He likes the idea of being with his little girl forever. We are hoping that they will come to Church this week, so she can go to primary.

One of our investigators has been out of town for a couple weeks. She gets back this week, and we hope to meet with her again. Before she left she mentioned that she had a concern with tithing. She still has a date set for May 5th, and we hope to be able to help her to prepare, so that she can still make that date.

THe last investigator we met with this week is dating a member in the ward. We taught him the last of the lessons, and worked on a program for his baptism on April 21. He is excited to be baptized.

My allergies have started up. I have been sneezing a lot, my eyes have started itching, my nose is running, and the Allegra OTC is not working. Whats new, right? I'm not sure what to do about it, because I don't have enough money to buy anything else, so I guess I'll just have to deal with it. I'll carry tissues in my pocket or something.

I got the package from mom on Monday. Thanks a lot for all of the treats, especially the pretzel M&Ms. Those are by far my favorite. And the Girl Scout cookies too.

Thats all.

Love

Elder Schultz

james letter 4-16-12

So, I'm probably the worst person at writing letters home to my family. I've been thinking about what kind of things I write, and about how boring they always seem to be, so I've decided to try and do a better job, let me know how I do.

First I need to wish dad a happy birthday. I remembered after time on the computer ran out that last week was his birthday. Sorry its a week late, but I hope its at least better than nothing. I hope that your birhtday was a good one.

Thats exciting news about Alic, it sounds like that will be a great mission to serve in, and that it will be a lot of fun for him. I know exactly what he means by it just felt right. Thats exactly how I felt when I opened my call. It was where I needed to go.

Thats cool that the missionaries could be there to give a Book of Mormon to Mike's sister. I hope that she will be able to read it and gain an answer, maybe she will be the extra nudge for Mike to be able to join the Church. You never know why certain things happen the way they do, but one thing is for certain He is in control.

I do agree that dad is a great teacher, I think I learned a lot of my teaching/speaking skills from him. Its a good thing too, because if I didn't have any prior experience the work out here would be a lot harder. Going out with the missionaries helped a lot too. Dad, make sure that Alic goes out with the missionaries, and tell him to write me a letter. He told me on one of the Christmas chain links that he would. He's a bit overdue I'd say.

This week was definetly not the best. The weather was fantastic, but everyone seemed to be gone. I guess they were taking advantage of the weather. I would do the same, but unfortunatly for us, we don't get a break like everyone else. It makes it hard sometimes, when everyone but you is gone.

We did have a great lesson with one of our investigators though. He was the only one we were able to meet with, but we did see him twice. He came to Church again, and he loved it. He commented that he wished that everyone could be as nice as we were to him. The members did a fantastic job of making sure that he felt welcome. He is planning on being baptized on April 28. Elder Davidson will be baptizing him, and I will be confirming him. I'm really nervous about that part, but I'm sure it will be fine.

Our other solid investigator was sick this week, and we also had to push his date back one week. His girlfirend will be at a track meet in Eugene all day on the 21st, and it is important that she's there. So instead of being baptized on the 21st, he will also be baptized on the 28th. It will be a double service.

Oh, I got a letter from Cathy this week, and she told me that Julia was close to being engaged, but is going to wait, and putting in her mission papers. That is way cool. How come no one told me? Do you guys even know? If you don't, then I probably just ruined the surprise, so ignore that last comment.

So the members that we live with, the Simmons. They are a super nice elderly couple. They missed Church yesterday, which was unusual for them, and I got up today, and Sister Simmons told me that Brother Simmons almost died yesterday. They had to call an ambulance, and rush him to the hospital. Apparently his blood sugar had dropped to 36, which I'm no expert, but that is way too low. They were able to fix it, and he is slowly mending today, with another doctor appointment scheduled for this afternoon. It was a close call. I would be so sad if he died. He is an awesome person, and I hope that you will have the opportunity to meet him.

So in Sacrament Meeting yesterday they talked about accountability/agency. I had a couple great thoughts come through my mind, and so I would like to ask you a few questions.

Do you think before you act?

Do you recognize the power, and blessing of our agency?

What does God want us to do?

What have you done with your name?

What kind of difference are you making in the world?

What does God think about you?

What does it mean to repent?

Are you ready to be judged?

Have you done all you can to follow Christ?

I'm almost out of time, so I'll have to write the rest of my comments next week. Think about these questions for family home evening, and let me know what you think next week.

Love you

Elder Schultz

james letter 4-2-12

Lets see, this week was not the best. It was spring break, and there was almost nobody home. We had several lessons fall through, and my companion hates it here in Hillsboro. That about sums up what this week has been like.

I'm sorry that I didn't write you last week. I thought that dad shared with you, and I really only have time to write one letter, so I figured that was good. Sorry for my presumption, I will do better.

Conference really was great wasn't it? I have a lot of really great notes, from thoughts that came into my mind as I watched. I was amazed at the Spirit that I was able to feel, and what I was able to learn as I really payed attention. One of the things that really stuck out to me was in Elder Neil L Anderson's talk. "How does Christ see me?" That is a question that is very profound. You can look at the outward actions that you do, that would make it seem that you are a good member, but the outward performances are not the only thing by which He will judge us. We know from scripture that the Lord looketh upon the heart. How is our heart? Do we really believe in and love the Savior, or are we just going through the motions? As we live our lives we should be focused on the why, more that the what, we are doing. I know that as we do that that we will be able to increase our faith and testimony, and become the person He wants us to be.

I'm looking forward to your package, its been a while since I've gotten one from anybody. Julia hasn't written me in a long time, and neither has anyone else. I have one person writing me consistantly, and she's not even family.

Exciting news, we are now allowed to go out without our jackets on, so if it's nice weather, we can go out it just a white shirt. It makes it nice when riding a bike.

That's about all for now. I'll close by sharing the missionary version of "Thats Amore"

"Who's that guy on a bike in a white shirt and tie?-Its a mormon

Got a book in his hand, that shows God has a plan.-Its a mormon.

Love,

Elder Schultz