James letter 12-31-12

As for the numbers, this week was not as impressive as last week, but I feel that we accomplished a lot, and I don't feel bad about the lack of numbers. Monday and Tuesday were days spent in the company of a couple of the families in our ward. We were able to share in their Christmas traditions, and celebrate the birth of our Savior. Both families were great, and I am very thankful that they would open their homes to us as we are away from ours. Calling home on Tuesday was a special experience. I was so happy to be able to talk to you guys, especially Emily and Eric, who I haven't seen in a very long time.

 

Wednesday we were able to start teaching. We met with the Williams in the morning, and were able to talk to them about the scriptures, and the blessings that come from study and prayer. We were also able to meet with Josh. We met him a couple weeks ago while tracting, and he was interested in learning more. We went over the Restoration, and he asked a lot of questions. He asked about the Word of Wisdom, and we talked about that with him as well. He told us that he always had backaches, and once he stopped drinking coffee, the backaches went away. I thought it funny how he had seen the blessings of abstainance already. He said he started drinking coffee again, but would try to cut back. We also had a lesson with Dirk. We went over the Restoration again, and really focused on the prophets, and the priesthood. He told us that he hadn't prayed about the Book of Mormon yet, but that he would do so this week. He has kept all of his commitments so far, so I am sure that he will keep this one. He will be baptized soon.

Thursday we had all of our set lessons cancel. We did have a cool experience though. We were walking to see some potentials, and we met a man, who was using a flashlight to look for something on the ground. We asked if we could help. He first said no, but we helped anyway, he was looking for his glasses. Elder Lott asked him if he had prayed. He said no. I said a prayer quietly to myself, and immedietly after I found his glasses. He was very thankful, and we were able to walk with him for a while, and teach him about God. He doesn't have a faith in God, and thinks that because of the way the world is that God makes a lot of mistakes, and gets too much credit. It was a lesson on agency. Our chouces affect others, and God, no matter how bad our choices are, will not stop us from making the choice. It was a concept he did not understand, nor want to, but one that I appreciate.

Friday we found T Graham again. He is a homeless person that has come to Church before, and we've talked with a couple times. We found him, and talked with him again, and after telling him that we were speaking in the Branch on Sunday he agreed to come to Church. He did, and stayed for all three hours. We also met with G Smith that night. He has just been released from prison, and he found God in there, and was taking a bible study class from the missionaries there as well. He felt the most comfortable with us, and sees how it can help him change his life. I am looking forward to meeting with him, and I am sure that he will also be baptized. He is still on parole, and may have to wait, but it will happen. Unfortunatly he wasn't at Church.

Saturday we met with Ken and Angela. Ken is getting baptized on January 12 at 6pm. We went over the baptismal interview with him, and made sure that he didn't have any questions about what we have taught. He didn't. Our only concern with him is his reading and prayer. He will do both every week, but not every day. We talked about the importance of daily study and prayer. He wasn't at Church this week though. We also had dinner with Sam Roberts that night. He is a recent convert, and he is really intelligent. His understanding is amazing. We had a very good conversation with him about prayer. He is working on family history, and he already has over 50 names to take to the temple. He is going there for baptisms for the dead on January 18.

Sunday all of our lessons cancelled again. We were able to have a lot of nonmembers at Church though, besides people we are currently teaching there were two others that came with friends in the Branch, and one that came in the Ward. It was a really good day at Church as well. The 5th Sunday discussion was about same-gender attraction. We went over the Church's new website mormonsandgays.org. It was an interesting discussion. There was a member from the Branch who is openly gay, but an active member who spoke. He used to be fully practising, he had a partner, but the missonaries found him seven years ago, and he quite living that lifestyle. He still has those feelings, but he no longer acts on them. He has a temple reccomend now, and helps others to change as well.

 

Thats about all for this week. I have been a little less  motivated this week than I should be. I talked with Elder Lott about it last night, and he is going to help me work harder. He is such an example to me in his desire to work. I love serving with him. He is a great missonary. I am looking froward to see how transfers go next Monday, hopefully we will be with each other for one more.  

Love Elder Schultz

James letter 12-24-12

This last week was the busiest week of my mission. We taught 26 total lessons, and were able to do a lot of good. We were greatly blessed in our work this week.

Monday started out on a bit of a bad note. We had one of our lessons cancel on us, but we were able to reschedule for later on in the week. We were able to go downtown though, and teach Bianca, and Manoa. We taught them the Gospel, and she was able to explain repentance perfectly to us. We asked her about baptism, and she said that she had already been baptized, but as a child, and she felt that since baptism is a promise with God, one should be able to make the promise, and as a child you aren't aware of anything. She said she wasn't ready for it now, but that she has been thinking about it a lot. Manoa is out of town for the next two weeks, but we hope that we will be able to meet with her. She didn't come to Church on Sunday.

Tuesday we had a great District Meeting, we talked about baptism. In our role-play I used 3 Nephi 11 to show the need for the preisthood, and baptism by immersion. There is nothing so simple and straightforward as the Saviors own declaration that this is the way. After lunch we were able to teach Dirk. We taught the Gospel, and he really liked it. He had gotten on mormon.org, and loved it, he asked lots of questions. He was willing to read a chapter from the Book of Mormon. At the end of the lesson we asked if we could bring someone else, and he agreed to that as well. We have an appointment set up for Wednesday evening. We did some tracting, and then rushed over to the Visitor's Center to meet a referral from the sisters there. His name is B J. He has been taught all of the lessons, and been going to the VC for since last year. They tried referring him before, but something happened and they lost contact. He is really sensative to the Spirit, and he wants it more in his life. He wants to be baptized. We got his information, shared a quick lesson with the sisters, and then had to leave for another appointment. He called in the middle of the lesson, and left a message asking to meet. We called back with no answer, we tried to meet him, but he didn't show up. We haven't been able to get ahold of him since. We finished the evening teaching David and Melissa how to liken scriptures to themselves.

Wednesday we tried to have an appointment with Brandon. We did some tracting, were able to set up a couple return appointments, and then we taught the Myers family. It was a great lesson, we taught them the Plan of Salvation, and we had really good participation in the lesson. They are still commited to baptism on the 12th of January, but they didn't come to Church again this week, so we are going to have to push that back. I'm not sure why they didn't come, they had transportaion and everything. That night we were able to have another lesson with Ted. He is still struggling on who/what God is. He read the entire book of Alma, but he still hasn't been praying. It will be slow moving with him, unless he starts to pray. We also met with Clancy that night, and were able to talk about repentance. He has a very good understanding, and he knows he needs to. He knows it feels good, and he is going to start now.

Thursday we met with E M, and her children, we talked about the true meaning of Christmas, and about prayer. Something cool that was said was: If you look at the word Christmas, and then you seperate it into Christ, and mas. You have the spanish word for more, and Christ. If you were to conjugate the sentence The meaning of Christmas would be, More Christ. I liked that. We also met with the L that night, and taught them the Gospel as well. The son has been reading, and they have all been praying. They came to Church again this week.

Friday we spent most of our time downtown trying to find people that President N asked us to stop by. We were able to meet with one of them, she was an active member, but she is alone, and needed the company for a little bit. We met with Bishop S that night, and were able to talk with him about the work in the ward. He was impressed on how busy we had been, and on how clean our apartment was. The note that was left by the A said that it was the cleanest they have seen that apartment in the year and a half they have been apartment inspectors. We also met with Howard that night, and he opened up a lot. He talked with us about some of his life experiences, and hobbies that he has. It was probably the best lesson I've had with him. He came to Church this week as well.

Saturday I was on exchange in the Summerlake ward. It was neat to be back in Tigard. We had a slow day, with mostly tracting. Elder Lott and Elder Palmer though taught a lot. They met with Jeff and Sarah, Ken McMichael, Ronnie, and they taught a few people on the street in downtown. I really enjoyed the exchange, it was fun to spend time with Elder Ackerman, and see how I could improve.

Sunday we got another referral at Church in Market Street. He was being taught by the Columbia zone leaders, and moved into our area. He also wants to be baptized. We have a lesson with him this Friday at 7. He is on parole as well, and he was just released from prison for theft, so he may not be able to be baptized for a while, but he is fine with waiting as long as it takes. We met with David and Melissa again, and gave David a blessing. We read with them Alma 24, and talked about burying our weapons of war. We also met with Nathan Vega in Market. He is a less active member, and he has a friend Chris, that is semi mentally handicapped, but Nathan has been reading to them. We are going to meet with them Saturday at the Church building. We also saw Jeff and Sarah again. Jeff is trying to quit smoking marijuana, and is going through withdrawls. He said he can't quit if she doesn't. We focused our lesson more on her, and we talked with her about burying her weapons of war as well. We talked about doing it now, not waiting for our enemies to come, but do it before you risk sinning again. She started to cry, and felt that she couldn't do it. We shared Ether 12:27, and talked about how God gave her this weakness so she could turn to Him, and be made strong. We told her how much we loved her, and we gave both of them blessings. Him to overcome the sick feelings, and to be able to quit, and her for comfort, and strength to quit. I promised her that if she would pray everyday, that God could take away her desire to smoke. It was a powerful lesson. I found out last week that she liked Swedish fish, so I took the bag of them as a present for her, and gave it to her, she loved it, and I was glad that it could help cheer her up. Thanks for sending those, they helped a lot.

 

Its been fun opening a present every morning. I had the strongest desire to open them all at once, and then not tell you that I did that, but I have held out strong, and done one a day. I have really enjoyed the music and the lights, the ties were great, and the food appreciated. Thanks for everything you guys do. I'll talk to you tomorrow. You better have questions for me, because I'm not a talker. I would like to sype, but that is against mission rules, sorry dad.

I am excited for Christmas, and the chance to spend with members celebrating the birth of Christ. This is a special holiday, and I'm glad to spend it as a servant to Him. Christmas to me is a message of hope.

Love Elder Schultz

James letter 12-17-12

This week was great. Its weird to think that it is already week 4 of this transfer. Time is going by so fast, it seems like we hardly have time to do anything sometimes because we are so busy. Monday put us off to a great start. We ended our P-day a little early so we could meet with a part member family in the Raleigh Hills ward. The lesson went great. They have three young daughters, two of them qualify for baptism, one as a convert, and one as a child of record. The boyfriend is also not a member. We taught about the restoration, and did it simply so that the children could understand. We repeated the pattern of prophets and apostasy several times to help them understand that God works by patterns, and then when the time came for the restoration we asked them what the next step in the pattern was, and they told us what would happen next. When we talked about the Book of Mormon the boyfriend bore his testimony on how it can help you in your life, and he isn't even a member yet. We were able to set a baptismal date with them for January 12. They didn't make it to Church yesterday though, which was disappointing. We are meeting with them again today. 
Tuesday we were able to meet with the new senior couple, and pass on to them a few of the people that we have a hard time working with. They were able to get appoinments set with a couple of them. It is great to have someone that can help us teach some of the single sisters that we couldn't see by ourselves. The branch has welcomed them right away, and they are making a nice addition to the small branch family. Also that night we were able to teach the L family. They are starting to come back to Church, and it was a great time to be able to get to know them and share with them a message about prayer and scripture study. They were really fun, and we are going to start meeting with them as well. 
Wednesday we were able to see D. He is progressing well. At first he wouldn't read more than a couple pages from the pamphlet, but during the lessons he asked a ton of good questions. As we met with him he told us that he had gone on mormon.org, and it had been able to answer more of his questions. He really liked the website, and when we left we were able to leave him with a Book of Mormon, and a chapter to read. It was a big step for him, and I am excited to see what happens next.  That night we were also able to meet with a disillusioned member. He is disabled, and feels discriminated against. He wants to come back to Church, but not it Raleigh Hills, he is not a fan of the bishop. He told us that he got permission to go to West Hills ward, but that the bishop won't call him back, or give him home teachers. He hasn't been able to get any answers about this from anyone, so he asked us to help. I'm not sure what to do. If he is on the records then he should be visited, and then assigned home teachers, which he says hasn't happened. We were also able to see Ted on Wednesday. We asked him if he believed in God. He isn't sure. He has had a lot of experiences with psychodellic drugs, and "seeing spirits", and doesn't know what real with those experiences anymore. We talked to him about faith, prayer, and scriptures. He hasn't been reading, but we were able to show him how that is the only way to get a testimony of the Book of Mormon is to read it. We went over Moroni's promise, and Alma 32, talking about planting the word in our heart, and Reading, pondering, and then prayer. he understood that he has to do his part to find out. We also met with C. We read through a section in the D&C where he was in his personal reading, and helped to apply it to his life. He is so close, but isn't taking the final step necassary. 
Thursday we had a great day of tracting. In two hours we were able to teach three lessons, and we have one appointment set for this week, and one solid potential to follow up with. The first one was a woman named T. She had a rabbit, and the first little bit we just talked with her about her rabbit, and then were able to share our message. She hasn't had great experiences with churches before, but said that she always starts thinking about it more this time of year. The second was a man named Josh. He has a lot of Mormon friends, and has studied other religions, but doesn't know much about ours. He was open to learning, and accepted a Book of Mormon. We have an appoinment set for this Wednesday. That night we were able to meet with J, we are trying to get him to understand the importance of finding out for himself. He has come a long way, but is not moving very fast. I do believe that he will be baptized though, even if it is a little later on. 
Friday we had a lesson with R. He fed us lunch, and we talked with him about the Word of Wisdom. He has had struggles with that, but he is making good steps. He has come to Church the last two weeks, and he came to the branch FHE, and Christmas Party, as well as the stake choir concert.  We were also able to meet with D and M. She has been sick, and we gave her a blessing. We were able to find out that D isn't sure about what we are teaching, and that we need a bigger focus on prayer for him. She hasn't been doing much to motivate or help him, and we need to help her as well, but she is harder to understand. Wish us luck in resolving her concerns.
Saturday was a very special day. I was able to go back and see S G get baptized into the Rock Creek ward. It was so neat to be able to see them again, and to be there for her as she finally made that step. She is so much happier now, and her husband is too. Both of them have a different aura about them. They were so happy that I was able to make it. I have grown so close to them, and I look forward to coming back in a year to go through the temple with them. We saw K that day, he is doing great, and is excited about his parole ending, because that means he can get baptized. We saw M and B too, the first time that we have met with them since I have been there. B is solid. As we were talking with them she mentioned how she didn't think any of this was good or true at first, and she said " now I believe it, I believe Joseph Smith, and I believe the Book of Mormon." I pointed out the her that from what she just said she had a testimony. She said she didn't, but now we know where she is, and we can help her discover what she knows. We also met with J and S. J is really coming a long way. He is praying regularly, and he has started to read on his own. We are still working on getting both of them to CHurch, but their foundation is slowly being built.
Sunday was great. It was a little slower, and gave us a chance to breath. We were able to go to the stake choir concert, and support our ward and the branch. We sat with S and his parents, who are not members, and R was able to make it as well. As I was leaving I saw the bishops daughter from the Fanno Creek ward, and was able to say hi. She was excited to see me, and said they missed me a lot. I have a lot of great memories from their. It was a great place to be during Christmas last year. After the concert we met with a less active family in Raleigh Hills. They "aren't doing the LDS thing anymore". We got to kow them, and without being forceful taught them about prayer, and invited them to do so as a family. The wife and kids were much more receptive than the husband. 
THis week looks to be just as good. I am so thankful for the blessings that we have had in the work here. We have plenty of people to teach, and we are both getting along great. Elder Lott is such a sincere individual, he loves the people,and the work, and I am sure that as soon as he realizes that he doesn't have to worry about how elequent or smart he is to teach that he will do great things. He has taught me a lot about being humble. 
Love Elder Schultz 

James letter 12-10-12

This was a busy week. We hardly had any time to catch our breath. We had the car this week, and we were able to put it to good use. Monday we started out with two other lessons. We taught AD, the guy that lent me his phone when Elder Lott was lost. He wasn't interested in immediate visits, and lessons, but I have a feeling that we will see him again. Just before we met with him, he got the job that he had been looking for. He said it was because he talked to me, I believe that. He helped a servant of the Lord, and the Lord helped him. Right after talking with AD we were able to teach an elderly gentleman who wondered what we were doing. He was going to see the Book of Mormon play, and wondered if thats what we did. We taught him some basics, and invited him to come and see. He declined, but accepted a pass along card.

Tuesday we were able to teach two less active members, one in each ward. Ronnie, in Market Street was very honest with us about his trials, we went over the plan of salvation. We also met with him on Thursday, and talked about prayer. We asked him what he wanted us to teach him, and he told us that for the next lesson he wanted to go over the Word of Wisdom. He came to church on Sunday, and signed up to feed us lunch on Friday. That night we were also able to meet with Howard. He is complacent with his life, and how things are going, and I'm not sure what to do to help him. There are several scriptures on avoiding idleness, but I'm not sure if that approach would be benificial for him. We will continue to pray about it. That night we were also able to talk with a man who had just experienced a death in the family. We told him he would see his grandmother again, and were able to bear our testimonies of family, and God's plan. He was a firm Catholic, but he respected us, and recognized that we were doing good, and about God's work.

Wednesday was very busy. We had lessons with an old, almost deaf man, who is the father of a member in the world, and also we taught her husband, and his friend. We taught an agnostic man, also a partmember family, who loves and respects the Church, but doesn't believe in God, because he believes in science. In my mind science is how God works, and proves that He's there more that that He's not. He was nice, but not interested. We had a lesson with David. He is doing well. He wants to be baptized, but can't until he and his girlfriend are married, or one of them moves out. Due to finances the latter can't happen. They are planning a wedding in June, so their family can attend, and he wants to get baptized right after. It is sad to see them wait that long, but I think that maybe thats how it needs to happen. We will continue teaching them, and increase their testimonies, and they will be ready when it happens. We also met with Clancy, and lessactive member. We talked with him about his time in the Army, and about prayer. He said that he knows prayers work, and that while he was in Iraq he, and others who weren't religous could feel something watching over them. He teared up in the lesson. He is very close to coming back.

Thusday we met with Dirk. We tracted into him last week, and were able to set up an appointment. We taught the plan of salvation. He asked lots of questions, and wehn we invited him to pray at the end of the lesson, he did. That night we tried to have a lesson in downtown with a referral that we had gotten. The lesson had been set up by the member, but it didn't go through.

Friday went by fast. We didn't get out of zone conference until 5:00, and then were late to dinner, because we had to drop off another companionship at their house. That evening we were able to meet with a less active family. They moved in in June, and havn't come, they were really neat, and their kids love us. We taught them about faith. The kids were excited to come to church, but we didn't see them on Sunday.

Saturday we were able to contact a referral we had received Friday. He said that he didn't want us over, and he just wanted a bible. We didn't have one with us, and he told us not to worry about it, he thought we would mail it. After that we were able to meet with a less active member, Savannah. She told us that sometimes she just gets sick of church. She knows she feels better, and her week goes better when she goes, but she doesn't want to go. We were also able to meet with Ken. He has a date for January 12, and he is ready and excited for that day. He said he "knows the Book of Mormon is true as much as he knows the Bible is true." We were also able to meet with Jeff and Sarah. They are a partmember couple, and they have been praying together everyday, and said that they noticed a big difference. She prayed about finding a job, and then she got one, and they said it has brought them closer together. They were able to make it to Church Sunday, a though they came a little late. Also as we were walking to an appointment we saw a parade os Santas. There were probably 100 of them, and they were all going into either Marys Club, or another of the various bars on Broadway St. Marys Club is an adult dancer club, and Elder Lott and I thought it not a good idea for Santa to set such a bad example for kids. A lot of the Santas had megaphones, and were yelling at each other. One of them riding a bicycle almost ran us over. It was ridiculous. Also that day we saw a VW van decorated with bronze monkeys on the top. It was blaring music, and the driver had a monkey puppet on his hand, and was singing along with the music. It was wierd.

Sunday we were able to meet with our newly called branch mission leader, and talk about the work. We were also able to meet with a lessactive member named Nathan. Nathan sees and talks to spirits, and doesn't like coming to Church, because there are always so many of them. The place they live in isn't a very good place, and it wasn't very conducive to the Spirit. We are going to try and teach them at the Church building.

 

I have been thinking this week about the gift of Christ to each of us, and what we could give back to Christ that he doesn't already have, and the one thing that I came up with is yourself. You are the only thing that Christ doesn't have, and can't get. You have been given the ability to choose, and because that won't be taken away he can't make you follow Him, or obey His commandments. You have to give your will to Him. You have to come to Him. You have to follow Him. He can't make you do it, you have to do it yourself. So this year let us give the only gift we can to Christ. Let us give ourselves. Let us turn our will over to His, and become a servant and a disciple. As we do so we will find the true meaning of Christmas, and we will truly follow Christs example by saying "Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.

 

Love

Elder Schultz

James letter 12-4-12

Well we sure did hit the ground running this week. Lots of things were able to happen, and we had a very successful week.

Monday started us off on a good note. We were able to have dinner with the Raleigh Hills bishop, and to meet with a part member family in the branch named Jeff and Sarah. Sarah is the member. We were able to talk with him about prayer. He related to us an experience that he had where he had lost something, and searched everywhere for it with no success, and then he prayed. After he prayed he was able to find it it the first place he looked. We were able to show him that by that experience that he knows prayer is real, and that it works. This was a big step for him.

Tuesday we had our first district meeting. We talked about the importance of sacrament meeting. Elder Rowley said it well. "If someone made you a Thanksgiving feast would you deny it? No. You would partake gladly. Heavenly Father prepares a spiritual Thanksgiving feast every Sunday at Church. By not going to Church you are rejecting his personally made spiritual feast." That night we were able to have dinner with another member of the bishopric and we talked with them about changes of heart that led us to where were are today, and how, through the Spirit change is possible for everyone. I shared with them my personal conversion story, and bore my testimony that God is real, and He loves us. Later that night we were able to meet with a less active member, we also discussed prayer with him. We read through Enos 1. He "knows" all of the answers, but they haven't gotten into his heart. We were also met with the managers of our apartment complex, who are also members. They urged us to clean our apartment. It was pretty bad when I got here, but it looks much better now. We spent our Pday this week cleaning.

Wednesday we spent the morning tracting. We were able to get into someones home, and to share with them a little about the Book of MOrmon, and the restoration. We left him with a pamphlet, and we have his phone number, and are going to give him a call this week. That evening we met with an investigator in RH named Ted. We taught him aboout the Plan of Salvation. He liked it a lot. He was able to make it to church on Sunday, and he enjoyed that as well. After our lesson with Ted we met with another less active member named Clancy. He knows he needs to come back, but he is struggling to overcome his now habits. We were able to teach him what we had learned from a talk by Neal A Maxwell. The talk was entitled Lessons from Laman and Lemuel. It talked about how the problem with them was that they didn't understand the dealing of the Lord. We talked about the importance of reading, studying the scriptures to help us understand.

Thursday we had a lesson with a interesting man named Stephen. He is a classic Oregon hippie. He doesn't like the government, authority, or violence. It was hard to teach him about the priesthood, because of that. The lesson went ok, but it could have gone better. He called us later that week, and told us he was going to be busy, and we didn't need to stop by anymore. That night we met with a recent convert/part member family. We are teaching the husband now, and hoping to unite that family in the Gospel. We went over the Gospel of JEsus Christ, and the member we had with us in the lesson extended a soft baptismal commitment, which was accepted. From what I've heard he has come a long way, and I hope that we will be able to help him through the rest of the way.

Friday we spent most of the way in downtown. WE didn't have the car this week, so we biked. It was beautiful weather all day. We were able to teach a lesson on the street to a woman named mary. She was very nice, and we are going to try and set up an appoinment this week to meet with her. We were also able to meet with two less active members from the branch. The first member is planning to invite two of her friends to meet with us. It is neat to see her doing missionary work. For the second lesson we were able to have a recent convert join us as an active member. HE was baptized a month ago, and I was amazed at his understanding. He has already read the Book of Mormon, and is to section 60 in D&C. He remembers what he has read and learned, and is able to explain them simply.  He recieved the aaronic priesthood on Sunday. That night we met with brother Keine, our WML.

Saturday was an interesting day. We startted the day with service with the ward. We were helping to remove leaves from some of the older sisters in the ward. There were a lot of people that came. I was amazed at the amount of people the came. After that we had a lesson with a less active family, we taught them the Gospel, and were able to help them see how different pieces of it have helped them in their lives. We also took a part member family to the visitors center. THe nonmember has a baptismal date for January 12, and he was very excited about it. He and his wife both lived the visitors center, and the sisters did a great job of showing him the importance of baptism, and the temple.  That evening things got a little interesting. We were going out making some visits, and we took a turn down a dead end. Elder Lott stopped to put on his gloves, and I rode down to the end and turned around. He turned as well and we left. I rode down to the next street,and then realized that he was not behind me. I imediatly stopped, and waited. He didn't come. I was worried that something had happened to him, but I didn't want to leave in case he had just rode past, and was coming back. I decided that since he had the phone, I would use someone elses, and call him. I was outside of the Safeway in our area for about 30 minutes trying to get someone to let me use their phone. Finally someone did. After I found out where he was, and told him I would meet him there I thanked the man. I told him to have a good Christmas, and he didn't think he would because he was broke. I told him things would work out for him, and I knew they would because he had helped me, and I had full confidence that God would now help him. He told me he needed a job, and I told him about the employment center. As I left he told me that he would call. He did on Sunday and we set up an appointment for Monday afternoon. We met with him then, and he had gotten a job. He knew that it was because he talked to me. We taught him about our church, and invited him to attend sacrament on sunday. He told us that he would call again. It turns our that the reason we got separated in the first place was as I turned right Elder Lott saw another biker going the opposite direction, and he thought is was me. He was surprised at how fast I got over there, and he hurried to catch up with me. He was surprised also when he was having a hard time keeping up, and the biker wasn't looking back. He stopped and eventually called the district leader, the zone leaders, the assistants, and then you. No one answered of course. He finally decided to go home, and stay with members in the complex, and that was were he was when I got back with him. It was an interesting way to find someone to teach, and I hope it never happens again.

Sunday was great. I enjoyed my time in the nenw wards. The members are very friendly, and welcoming. Ted, and David came to church in RH, as well as Jocylyn in the branch.

I am finding that this is going to be a tough companionship, not because we don't get along, because we get along great, but because he is so fresh out, and sometimes it seems like he doesn't know anything. Its hard to teach someone how to be a missionary, especially when you aren't entirely sure "how" you do it. I know what I do, but teaching that to someone else is difficult. I am looking forward to this as a growing experience.

Love

Edler Schultz