James Letter 10-7-13, This is the final one.

This has been a pretty good week. It started off about the same as normal, on Tuesday we had two appointments cancel, but as we tracted we knocked into a young man named Joshua, who accepted a Book of Mormon, and accepted a return appointment. We saw him again on Friday, and were able to teach him a brief message about the restoration, and then set up an appointment to teach him and the rest of his family on Monday night. It was pretty awesome. That night we met with Jeremy W, who is a less-active member that asked us to come by and teach him. We had a good visit with him, and then we went to see Mindy Jo. Our visit with her was a little strange. Branndin D, the one who wanted to be baptized so bad, wasn't there. We visited for a while, mostly just getting to know her and her husband. The home felt like a much better place than it had previously. We were also there Wednesday night, and while there she mentioned her daughters birthday party that was scheduled for Friday, and how she didn't have any money for it. Her daughter wanted pizza and cake. Earlier that day a member had given us two pizza, so we were able to give those to her, and also we had a member make a cake for her as well. She was very grateful for the help. We still haven't taught Branndin.

Our lesson with Joey fell through, and we haven't been able to set anything up. I am a little worried that her fiance talked her out of it. She knows its true, and wants to do it, but she may have gotten dissuaded by him. Thursday we had more lessons fall through, but we were able to have a good lesson with Don D. We taught him about repentance through the story of the people of Ammon. We saw Dirk M, and his wife with their new baby. They were excited to see us, and in a week or so we should be able to start teaching them.

Conference this weekend was especially meaningful to me. I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to do when I get home. Whether or not I want to listen to my old music, and things like that. I have been worried that if I go back to some of that stuff that I will fall right back into bad habits. I don't want to go there, so the answer of what to do seems simple, but its never that way. Anyway, as I watched Conference, there were about three themes for me; repentance, to love and trust God, and to live it even when its hard. It was confirming the answer that I already knew, but it provided specific thoughts and impressions to help me to apply those things. I have a lot of notes that have nothing to do with what the speaker was talking about. I just wrote what the Spirit told me. It was neat.

Thats all that I can think of to say. Its strange to think that this is the last email that I am going to write as a missionary. Its been an incredible experience. See you next week!

Love Elder Schultz

James Letter 9-30-13

This week was a little depressing with the seeming lack of appointments, and the torrential amounts of rain. We still taught quite a few lessons, but it just seemed different. I do have a couple of really awesome things to report though, on Thursday we had a lesson with Joey, and we taught her the Plan of Salvation. She asked a bunch of good questions, and we were able to help her understand. She readily accepted everything once she understood. We asked her if she would be willing to be baptized, and not only did she say yes, but she asked what she would need to do before it happened. Right now, her only hold up is that she is not married. They have plans to marry, but were waiting on her divorce to finalize, that's now done, and now they are talking about a date. Once we get a date for marriage, we can set a date for baptism.

Friday night we met with the Smiths, and had another great lesson with them. We taught the Restoration, which is always a little tough for kids, we repeated a lot, and kept it simple. To illustrate the apostasy, and the need for restoration we played the restoration game. The kids and the parents loved it. We had great participation in the lesson.

Saturday night I had a cool experience. I won't go into detail, because it is pretty special, but the basis of it is I have a stronger testimony. It was an experience where I poured out my soul in prayer, and He poured out His Spirit upon me. Sunday as I fasted, I felt especially close to the Spirit. That day, we went out with brother Blanchard, to see Mindy Jo. Apparently she has someone living in her home that wants to be baptized. As we met with her, she told us the background information, and you could feel the darkness come into the room. He thinks that he is possessed, and that the demon that is with him is trying to kill Mindy. He wants to be baptized as soon as possible so that he can get it out of his life. I'm not sure whether he is really possessed or not, but the three of us agreed when we left that there is definitely a darkness in the home. The only ray of light is the children there, whenever they came into the room, the whole place lightened up. Hopefully we can help to bring the Spirit into the home. I have a strange feeling about the situation though...We are going to talk with our bishop tonight, because apparently there is some background information that may be helpful in dealing with the situation. We will seek his guidance and counsel about how to proceed.

Have you gotten any word on what my topic is?

Homemade pizza sounds good. 

Thats all I have for this week, love you.

Elder Schultz

James letter 9-23-13

This week has been awesome. We have had a bunch of success, even with lots of disappointments. Our week started like normal, with nothing really to report on until our lesson Tuesday with sister Kaufman(although I did smother a mouse in a glue-trap on Monday). The lesson with sister Kaufman was good, we talked about scripture study and prayer. Two things that are so little that we seem to overlook, but no matter how small, they make the biggest difference sometimes. That night I went with Jerri B to see Dirk M and his wife. We talked with them for a while, and I was able to share with her about missionary service, and our purpose as missionaries. She accepted the invitation to take the lessons, but she wants to wait until after she has the baby on the 28th. Understandable I think. Brother B also taught her a little about eternal families. She is eager to learn, and I can see her progressing well.

Wednesday we helped Dirk out with some yardwork, mostly pulling weeds, but I did get on his roof and clean out his gutters. That night, we had our first lesson with Joey, and it was awesome! She is so ready to hear the gospel. She talked about how when she came to church for the first time she felt like she needed to be there. She is really anxious to learn, and when we talked to her at church on Sunday she had read in the Book of Mormon already. Our lessons that night was just her, and her boyfriend Daniel, who is a less active member, but this week we hope to be able to involve the rest of her six kids.

Thursday was depressing. We spent the whole day in Lafayette, and all of our plans went through, so we turned to the ward list to start visiting everybody. We went through every member in Lafayette, and didn't talk to anyone. We had our dinner at 5, and from that point on it was a little better, but it was a hard day.

Friday we had a temple trip, and it was amazing. I love the new video. I learned so much from being in there. It was a great time to relax, and ponder. Elder Sykosky hasn't been through the temple, due to his trial mission, and so he waited in the car with our member for three hours. He has a lot of strange circumstances regarding his mission.

Saturday we started the day with service, pulling out blackberries from the Elementary school, then we had our district meeting. As part of that we talked about using our strengths to share the gospel, and we watched the video of Elder Kane, who is in our district. I don't know if you have seen it or not, but it is worth looking up I think. If you search for McMinnville Farmers Market, and look for mormon missionary beatboxing you should be able to find it. We had a stake BBQ that night, and he performed for us there. I have never heard so many noises coming out of someones face at once. Its crazy.

Sunday we reviewed our ward goals for September, we didn't reach a lot of the goals, but we have improved a lot. It is really cool to see. Sacrament was awesome, I got to speak, which I love doing. We had two youth speakers, a rest hymn, and my companion go before me, and I was left with 20-25 minutes. I was super happy. I spoke about redemption. I can't share all of it, because I don't write things down, but the just of it I can share.

I asked everyone to picture themselves in chains, sitting alone in a damp dark cell. There is no way for you to escape. You feel hopeless. Then someone comes to you, and sets you free, inviting you to follow him, and come into the light beyond the open door. What do you do? Do you follow him, or do you put the chains back on. In regards to redemption that is exactly how it is in a spiritual sense. We are all in spiritual bondage due to our fallen state. Because of Christ and the Atonement, everyone on earth is set free from this spiritual bondage, which includes all of the effects of the fall. Everyone is resurrected, and everyone is brought back into the presence of the Father to be judged. The second part of Christ's redemption for us is our individual sins. He asks us to redeem ourselves by following Him. If we do so, we are set free. If we do not, then we are in essence putting the chains back on. When you think of it like that the choice is easy, but often times we don't make the correct choice. I talked about how the Gospel is how we redeem ourselves, and how missionary work is how we redeem others. I also talked to those who think that the are "too far gone", by reminding them of Alma the Younger, Saul, and the Anti-Nephi-Lehis, all of whom were "too far gone", but were still able to repent, and be forgiven. I got lots of compliments on it. I am excited to speak again in a month.

Sunday night we met with the Smith family, a part member family of nine. We were able to teach them, and they are going to continue meeting with us. They are way fun. We were going to have a lesson with Summer, but her grandparents, both active members, kind of talked her out of it it seems. She is willing when we talk to her, but not when they do. They told her that if she's not ready to be baptized that she can't meet with us. That is false, and hopefully we will be able to remedy the situation.

As for what to take out of my room, I have no idea. I'm not sure if I remember what even there. I do only have three weeks left, so if you can wait that long I can look through, and we can do it then.

Elder Sykosky is such an awesome companion, he is keeping me on the right track; working hard, and being obedient. I am grateful to be able to end my mission on such a good note.

Love Elder Schultz

HEY WHAT UP ITS KANE!!!! I just gave your son a wet willie ...or tried to anyway 

James letter 9-16-13

This week has been a good one, my companion does a really good job with following the Spirit, even when he is not sure what it is saying. He recognizes the prompting, and just needs to learn to understand the voice.

Last Monday the people from the strengths quest came and talked about our strengths. I was able to see just how each of the strengths applied, and saw aspects of them in my life. It was a really neat experience to sit down and talk about them. My strengths were: Strategic, Adaptability, Significance, Maximizer, Learner. I look for all of the possibilities, and make plans to acheive the best. I can adapt to unforseen changes, and like the freedom to do things my way. I want to be seen as significant to others, so I do significant things. I want to make the best out of every situation, and surround myself with the best. I love to learn new things, and then teach them to others. These strengths fit perfectly into my chosen path of the military. Elder Sykosky was a little disappointed that he hadn't taken the test, but we went through the desription cards, and picked out a few that seem to fit him. It will be interesting to see if we are right.

Wednesday morning we were stopping by all of the former investigators in the area, and trying to find new people to teach. We didn't have much luck, but later that night we had seen everyone in our plans, and still had time left over, and Elder Sykosky suggested that we go see one of them again. We did so, and were able to talk with her, and she invited us back. We don't have a set appoinment right now, but it seems very promising. We wouldn't have found her if the people we had planned to see had been home, or my companion didn't listen to the Spirit.

Friday our zone meeting was powerful. We talked about fears and faith again. We seperated and prayed, and came up with a list of things that we are afraid of, that was an experience in and of itself. I wanted to try and justify my fears so that I didn't have to face them. We wrote them down, and then went out and buried them. Again it was strange how I didn't want to let them go. I dropped my list into the hole, and it was done. I haven't thought much about what I was afraid of since then, but I feel that I am doing things right. Elder Sykosky mentioned how that was something that he needed to do again, because he is afraid of what is going to happen. He is much more confident, despite his lack of knowledge and experience. I have seen a lot of growth in him.

Sunday was full of good experiences as well. Summer, our first promising investigator in a while came to church. We had a couple members bring non member friends. One of the questions that stood out to me in sister Wilkens talk was: what are you willing to sacrifice for eternity. The neat experience of the day was our conversation with Maggie. She talked about what sent her down the rabbit hole of sin, and we were able to testify of the atonement, and invite her to read from the Book of Mormon everyday. She is trying hard, but keeps feeling like she is not good enough, and she doesn't know whats right. We told her what our job is, and how we can help her understand, but she has to do it herself. She was willing to try it out, but she thinks that she is too far gone. As I bore testimony of the Atonement I felt a power behind my words that I haven't felt very much it seems. Its the power that comes when you are doing missionary work the right way; loving the people, and desiring their salvation. My greatest hope right now is to help her see through His eyes, because if she can see that way, her life will change forever.

I hit my two year mark on Saturday, it's strange to think that its been that long since I've seen you guys. It has been a long, hard road for me, but it has gone by so fast, and I've learned so much. I wouldn't trade this experience for anything.

 

I'm speaking in church mext week on Redemption, and I've learned a lot this last week as I've studied that topic. What do they want me to talk on for my homecoming, that way I can start thinking about it.

Love Elder Schultz

James's letter 9-2-13

This last week was a good one. I feel that Elder Barrow and I came closer together, and we helped each other learn what we needed to. Monday started off pretty typical, after our dinner we had a lesson with Maggie, we focused a lot on the Atonement, which has been a trend with our lessons thus far. Whenever we leave that home there is always a great spirit there, and we know that we have done good. That night as I laid in bed I was thinking about lots of things, and a thought popped into my mind that I got up and wrote down. It is this: my mission hasn't changed me, it's uncovered me. I am now who I was supposed to be all along.-I think that is true. We are each born as a son or daughter of God, and are divine. All we have to really do is become who we are supposed to be all along. I enjoy the little revelations and thoughts that He gives me.

Tuesday we had our first lesson with sister Kaufman, who our bishop invited to take the lessons. We taught her the Plan of Salvation, which was a little rough again, but much better. We also had splits that night, and I went with brother Hansford, and started teaching him and his family the lessons. I taught the restoration, and was able to ask lots of questions to keep the kids involved, they had a great time with it, and the Spirit was there very strongly. It was probably the best lesson that I've taught in this area. That night we started an exchange with Elders Holland, and Horton. Elder Barrow got to practice his spanish with Holland for a day, and I got the spend all day Wednesday in Dayton covering the YSA ward. It was a lot of fun, Elder Horton is a really good missionary.

Thursday  we taught the Larsens in our ward the Restoration as well, and that went pretty well, during part of the lesson we talked about the Atonement, and on fast sunday sister larsen got up and bore her testimony about the missionaries, and how inspired they are, and how valuable their teaching is. It was a great sign of trust, and helped build the wards confidence in us.  We also had our coordination, and we had everyone practice teaching the restoration. During his exchange with Elder Holland, Barrow learned a few things that Elder Corbridge taught us in our mission tour about teaching the Atonement in every principle, and so he wanted to just teach them how to do that. I couldn't dissuade him. It went well, but it was like trying to give them meat before milk. They need to know the material before they can get in deep with it.

Friday I was on exchange with Elder Burton. We had on ok district meeting. He taught us about "the prayer approach". To me it is more of a business technique than preaching the Gospel. That has pretty much been how is has been all transfer. In Portland our District Meetings were very spiritual, and everyone participated, and helped teach, and instruct each other on following the spirit, and how to do the work. Here it has been Elder Burton lecturing us, and then teaching us sales techniques, and specific approaches to use. Instead of here are some skills, follow the Spirit, it is here is the approach, use it. I'm not a fan. Our exchange was good though, we taught the Agho family the restoration, and they invited us to dinner tonight, they also came to church on Sunday. We did a little bit of service, and were able to do some tracting, and get a few potentials. Elder Burton thought they should be counted as new, but the one we didn't have a specific return appointment, and the other we didn't teach. I didn't feel they were solid enough to be considered new, so I didn't count them. I will count them if we are able to start teaching, not if we talk to them, and they tell us we can come back.

Saturday we saw Erick O, and were able to catch him at the perfect time. He was pretty upset, and was about to start drinking. We helped him calm down, and we gave him a blessing. By the end of our visit he was in tears. When we left he gave us each a transformer from his collection. It was pretty special. WE spent a lot of the day saying goodbye to some of the people that Elder Barrow had come to love in his time here, as he was told he was getting transferred. I was a little surprised that I was asked to train for my last six weeks. In Portland if you trained, it was for the whole 12 weeks, so I didn't expect it. I am excited to get that opportunity. It was a lesson to me about how God hears, and answers our prayers, even about the little things.

I think it was Tuesday that Elder Barrow and I got in an argument again, that ended in both of us praying together, and me reading my patriarchal blessing searching for what to do. Again I was guided and instructed by the Lord. I have been receiving more and more revelation to prepare me for my life at home, and it has been incredible.  

I have been thinking a lot about what to do when I return home so that I am not a burden on you with the lack of money coming in, and I think that I am going to pursue the course that I talked about in my last phone call. I am going to come home, enlist in the Guard, contract in ROTC, and then get a second job as well. That way I can have enough money to pay for my own bills, and be prepared more for the future. I am going to take a strengths assessment test too, that President recommended, so I will let you know how that goes next time hopefully.
Love Elder Schultz

James' letter 8-26-2013

Well, I have a lot of good things to report on this week, and a few not so good things. We will start off with the good first. Monday night we met with Maggie W, and taught her the Plan of Salvation, she had had questions about the kingdoms, and so we were able to walk her through it. We hit a lot on the Atonement, and how much God loves us. She is in a delicate spot right now, and needed that assurance. Her parents were a great help with the lesson, sharing their own insights, and testimonies.

Tuesdays mission tour was a neat experience. Elder Richards talking about teaching the pure and simple doctrine gave me a new focus in my studies. This last week I have taken time to summarize the essential truth from each point in the lessons. I have also been doing that with my patriarchal blessing, looking at what it is talking about, and praying about how I can obtain the blessing. I have received a lot of personal revelation as I have done so. It has been really cool to see just how willing our Father in Heaven is to teach and instruct us. After the mission tour was over we went and knocked on some doors. We knocked on only five before our dinner, and the last door we knocked on we were able to give away a Book of Mormon, and get a follow-up appointment for this week. We had one of our teaching opportunities fall through that night, so we were able to attend the open house planning meeting. Our building was just redone, and they are having an open house in October. It was going to be on the 12th, but they moved it back a week to the 19th so I'll miss it.

Wednesday's exciting moment was our weekly coordination meeting, we are changing the way we run it, to make it more like a district meeting, and we put that into effect this week. We are starting with a basic agenda; business items, accounting, a spiritual thought, and a training and practice. For our first training and practice we taught about extending invitations, and this next week we are going to start going through the lessons to help them know how to teach. Our goal is to get our ward missionaries involved, and have them teach collectively as much as we do. The ward missionaries are really excited about it, and happy that they are going to receive training on what to do.

Thursday we had an exchange with Elders Burton and McMullin. I was with Elder McMullin in my area. We were able to teach Don, the restoration, and we were also able to set up lessons with a new family, the Aghos, they are less active, and were very receptive to having us in their home. Just before dinner we knocked on a few more doors, and we were able to give away another Book of Mormon, and get a follow up visit. We were also able to set up lessons with the Larsen family.

Friday we spent the morning doing service with the Walkers, and afterwards brother Walker told me to be careful around Maggie, because she likes me too much. After that conversation Elder Barrow wouldn't even talk to me for a couple hours. We went and saw the Olsens, and after that he warmed up. The Olsens are always an uplifting couple to visit. He is coming back into activity, and she was baptized a couple years ago. We are going to start reading the Book of Mormon with him, to help him 1, get in the habit, and 2, be able to quit drinking. That night we taught sister West, which he had told me earlier in the week he didn't want to teach her. The lesson didn't turn out very well I don't think. He kind of blew through it, skipped points, and I tried to reteach things that he missed, but couldn't get all of it without just entirely starting over. Part of the purpose in teaching members is to gain their confidence in your teaching ability, and I'm not sure if that lesson accomplished that design.

Saturday we were supposed to help re-roof a member's house, but instead Elder Barrow slept in until 12, and I had gotten, up, but ended up falling back asleep as well. It started off the day on a bad note. The Spirit wasn't there, and I found myself getting angry at Elder Barrow. We ended up getting into an argument, which of course did nothing but make things worse. I apologized, and asked for forgiveness, and he did the same. We are on much better terms now, but I feel that our work for that day suffered a lot. That night we were supposed to have a missionary fireside, but it hadn't been announced very well, so we are going to reschedule it, instead we just talked with our bishop about the wards vision. He has been receiving a lot of revelation, and is going to start doing a lot more things to help accomplish this vision of splitting the ward.

Sunday in our ward council we revisited the ward mission process, or the focus 5. We went through and thought about who to invite, and I explained how the program is supposed to work, and then we made assignment for invitations. By the end of the day we had three people invited to take the lessons, and they all said yes. It was a big success. Maggie came to church, and her parents were so happy to see her there. It was rewarding to see a family being brought together again. There is still a long way to go, but things are moving in the right direction. Maggie agreed to take the rest of the discussions, and we are going to start teaching tonight, hopefully Summer is able to sit in as well. This could lead to a baptism, we are pretty excited. I talked with her a little about what Bill said, and she was pretty upfront about it. I told her that there is no way I am doing anything as a missionary, and that if she really wanted she could wait a couple months, and we'd talk about it, but right now I'm not going there. I never expected something like that to happen on my mission, and I hope that she keeps her end of the deal and waits. If she doesn't, and keeps flirting, I am going to ask to be transferred.

Elder Barrow has been really depressed recently as well, I have been able to see it in his moodiness, and irritability, that is one of the causes of our fight. I talked about it with him, and he doesn't have any plan for changing it, he is just going to "deal with it". I don't like seeing him that way, because I know that a mission is going to be torture if you are depressed. He thinks that he isn't where he is supposed to be serving, and that maybe he should be serving spanish instead. I'm not sure what you want to do, but he is going to talk to president tonight. We are working on loving each other, and I hope that in my next report I will be able to report a success with that. I want to love my companion, not argue with him.

I did get the thomas guide, it gives us good coverage around Lafayette, which is where we work most, and it is more up to date than the map we had, so it is a welcome addition.

Love Elder Schultz

James letter 8-19-13

This last week was a great one, and I feel that things are going to get even better as we do a few things to change our work, and as the members in our ward get behind us. We spent most of our time this week working with less active and part member families in our ward, there are a lot of them. We went through the ward list and selected families to go see, both active and not, and went out. As a result we were able to get in with a couple less actives that we had not been able to previously. 

Tuesday we had our weekly splits with the ward, and while Elder Barrow went out with brother Branchard to teach the Barletts, I went with brother Palmer to see his home teaching families. Our first visit was very productive. We caught the family in the middle of a birthday party, and found out that they had actually moved, and were just there for the party. They invited us in and shared the cake. They asked me about my mission and I was able to share with them some of my stories from my time in downtown Portland. They got a kick out of them. The members son and his wife were there, and neither of them were members, I think we left a good impression on them. We were also able to see the West family, part of whom are less active. Elder Barrow and I had decided that we were going to start teaching active members, so they have experiences to share with their friends when inviting, it is also less threatening when you are invited to someone elses lessons, and its not focused on you. We were able to set up an appointment with sister West, the active member, and we hope that as we teach her we will be able to reach her family as well. 

Wednesday we had brother Blanchard come with us to see Dirk. It was a great visit, the two of them hit it right off. They talked about their military experiences, and then brother Blanchard invited him to take the lessons, and have his wife sit in. It was a perfect invitation, born of love, and it flowed naturally. That is that way it should be done. Dirk agreed to take the lessons, but he doesn't want to invite his wife until she has their baby in October, because she is under a lot of stress. We also set up an appointment with the McMurays. The best part of the day though is when we stopped by the Walkers. Their daughter was there, and she is going through a really hard time right now. We were able to listen to her, and then she started asking us a bunch of questions about the church. She had told us a little while ago she wasn't interested, and then she had a sudden interest. We answered her questions, and as we talked the Walkers nonmember granddaughter, who also has expressed disinterested, listened in. 

Thursday we met with Don. We taught him the Gospel, and we drew a diagram of how it works to help his memory. He is wanting to go to the temple, but is a long way from that. He doesn't have a very good foundation yet, but it will come. We also had our correlation meeting, and made plans for an upcoming missionary fireside. We are going to run it like a district meeting, where we train them on using mormon.org to share the gospel, and then have them practice. We are also going to start running our correlation like a district meeting as well, so that we can train our ward missionaries how to find and teach. We are getting a lot of ward missionaries called, and we are going to train them just like we are trained, so that they can do everything we can do. 

Friday our district meeting was focused on using the areabook to find people to teach. It was a good refresher on how to use all of the tools at our disposal. We were able to stop by the Mayhew family, and get in and teach a message about the Book of Mormon. They are a part member family, and she said that her husband is warming up to the church. We don't have a set return with them, but are going to follow up in a few weeks. 

Saturday at our dinner we asked who they knew that we could teach. They listed off a bunch of names, and then said that they had invited them before, and they said no. He then talked about how we needed to take care of who we have before we get anymore, and that if we do that the Lord will take care of us. It reminded me of a nondenominational christian, who believes that you don't have to do anything to get the reward. We wrote down all the names he said, and after dinner we went to see one of them. They let us right in, and we got to know them. When we left they gave us homemade jam to take home, and invited us back. It was cool to see that peoples hearts change, and they are ready at different times. If we hadn't stopped by though, we may never have known that they were ready, because the members wouldn't try again. No matter how many times they have been invited before, they may choose now to accept, even though they have rejected it in the past. 

Sunday during sacrament I was reading through the D&C, and in section 11:24 I found a cool scripture. It says Build upon my rock, which is my gospel. I thought about that, and how I could do that, and then I had set it as a vision for myself with the first four steps of the gospel as pillars, and things under those as tactics to accomplish those. I now have a detailed plan on how to live the Gospel. Our bishop gave a talk, and he was talking about vision, and he announced to the ward the Lord's vision to split the ward in two years, and what we need to do to accomplish it. He also called two new ward missionaries, with several more on the way. Things here are moving, and pretty soon all of the members are going to get it, and the work will explode. It is only a matter of time. 

Love Elder Schultz

James 8/13/13

This week had a lot of exciting things in it. Monday night we went over to the Walkers to do some service, and we got there just too late, and they had already done what they wanted us to do. They knew we were coming, but didn't want to wait. Their daughter was moving back in, because she is getting a divorce. We were able to talk with her for a little bit, and it was good exposure fot her. She is a member of the church, but has been attending a different church with her soon to be ex husband. She is not to keen on the church right now, but she seems to like us, and we will hopefully be able to help her as she goes through this trial in her life.

Tuesday night we had our weekly splits with ward members, I went out with our EQP, and we say the Barnetts. We spent some time getting to know them, and then to involve the kids a little more we played the "Restoration game". That is where you have everyone draw a picture of something, and then you pass it, and the next person interprets the picture with a sentence, and covers the picture. THen you pass again, and draw a picture from the sentence. By the end of the game the picture is completely different. We used it to teach the apostasty, and the need for the restoration. We bore testimony of the restoration, and how each of us are able to know for ourselves.

Wednesday's zone conference was great. I have a bunch of notes from things I thought or felt during the meeting. One thought I had, and I'm not sure if it was spoken or not, but its that true repentance doesn't happen until you disregard all worldy reputation or appearance, and accept the consequences, and steps of restitution. You must forsake all of the world, and follow guidance from above. When you do this, repent regardless of worldy consequence, then you have the Atonement take power in your life, and you can feel the power of redemption.  It was Elder McMullin's birthday as well, and we had bought a pinyata, and broke it open before the meeting. We also got him a birthday card. It was actually a fathers day card, but we edited it to make it work. It had a man in a shirt and tie, that when you pulled a tab turned into superman. We used a sharpie to color over the man, and make him a missionary. It fit perfectly with our district meeting from last week with being a hero for Christ.

Thursday we met with Don D, we started teaching him the plan of salvation, and he had a lot of different ideas of how it was. We tried to correct him, but I'm not sure if we got through. He doesn't have a very strong foundation, so we are going to focus our next lesson with him on the basics. We also met with Damin, he told us that there was no point in meeting with us, because he is not going to join our church, and he doesn't see any difference. The Bible is the authority, and you don't need anything more. He is curious to see, but he has no real intent. I asked him if he was willing to forsake the world to follow Him, and he said no, he lives in the world. My heart sank. You will never know if you are not willing to follow.We bore testimony, and told him we were always there, and he is always welcome. I am sad to drop him as an investigator,but I feel good about how our last lesson turned out.

Friday we moved into out new apartment, We are short a desk, and our washer and dryer aren't there yet, but it was ready, so we did it. We have it all set up, and it has been nice to be in the ward, and close to people. We fit all of our luggage, food, and desk supplies in the back of our Toyota Corolla. The only things that didn't fit was a dresser, and our whiteboard.

Saturday morning started out fine, but turned out a little different than expected. I was cutting a piece of cardboard to line the drawer under the over, and I cut my thumb open. It didn't bleed right away, so I was able to see how deep it was. I probably got a good quarter inch slice. I washed it out, put antibiotic on it, and put gauze over it, and wrapped it up and drove to Newberg for urgent care. They put three stitches it it. I have to keep it covered, but I can use it fine. We went to the funeral of the Yamhill police chief, that was a good thing, lots of people from the city were there, and a lot of nonmembers. It was an interesting experience for me as well, it was the first nonmormon funeral I have been too. No one was dressed up, they were in t-shirts and shorts. It was a constant dron of remember what he did, because this life is it. Mormon funerals are much better. People dress up to show respect, the talks are uplifting and hopeful, and the Spirit is there. It was another testimony to me of the Plan of Salvation. Also I had this thought during one of the talks. They were speaking about living in memory of the deceased. I thought about how people will remember their deceased loved ones, and live in memory of them, but not very many remember Christ, and live in memory of Him. That is what you are supposed to do, the sacrament reminds us of that weekly, but do we really live in His memory?

Our ward council on Sunday we spent the whole time talking about how to accomplish the vision of spliting the ward. It was very productive. New ward missionaries were called. Good things are happening. I am excited to see how things unfold.

Thats all that I have time for, that you for all that you do. Love you.

Elder Schultz 

James Letter 8/5/13

Its strange to think that week two of this transfer has already gone by, the time always moves so fast. I am really enjoying my time here. The people are great and there is lots of beautiful scenery. We drive a lot of back roads, and go through a lot of country.

A couple of highlights for the week, Tuesday we talked with a less-active family that we may be able to start teaching. We weren't able to set up anything, but they told us that we could stop back.

Wednesday night we met with our bishop and talked about the vision for the ward. The vision he has is to split the ward into a Yamhill and a Lafayette ward in two years. We talked about how to do this, and how to get the ward council involved in creating strategies and tactics. He wants to start having more ward councils so he can get more accomplished with missionary work. Right now there is some division in the ward council, but there are going to be a few new callings, and some releases that should help, and then we are going to spend ward council on our vision. We shared with him a lot of the ideas that you gave us, and he is all on board.

Thursday we met with Darwin J. He has a non-member wife that he says is really close to joining the church. He has been working with her for a while. He thinks that she will be baptized sometime soon. The bishop is going to call him as a ward missionary, which will really help us work with her.

Sunday we were able to set up an appointment with a new less-active family the Stepps. We may also be able to work with the non-member girlfriend of a less-active member in the ward. She came to church last week with her several kids, and we were able to talk with her grandma, who said she is really interested in the Church. That would be a family of 6 we could baptize soon. 

I found out on Thursday that my extension is still approved, so my scheduled return date is October 15. I am excited to be able to serve until then. I really feel that I need to be here for more than just this transfer, so I am glad that I will be able to. 

Love Elder Schultz

James letter 7-29-13

So I have to say that I really like the Yamhill ward. The members here are great, the scenery is beautiful, and there is lots of time to talk with your companion as you drive. I really enjoy the country, it is a refreshing change of pace from the city life. Wednesday we had a lesson with Damin, he is one of our investigators, and he told us that he thinks that the Book of Mormon is good, and it teaches the same things as the Bible, and he wanted to know what the difference was. We talked about the priesthood, because that is what sets us apart, the priesthood, and modern prophets. He said that he would continue to pray and seek the truth. I think that he is looking for something other than what he is going to get. He didn't come to church this week, so for this week our lesson is going to cover personal revelation and church attendance.

Thursday we met with a couple less-active members that are taking temple prep classes. The first on Don D seems to not want to put in any effort. The second the Olsens really want to make it there. He was telling us that he has a carnival that his family does every year, and this year he decided not to go because he had to go to church to take the temple prep class. It is really cool to see that desire in people. We had our coorelation meeting that night as well. Our WML doesn't want to have more than two meetings a month, and it doesn't seem like he cares to much about the work. I get that feeling from a few of the members; they are just indifferent some of them. When we talked with our bishop he mentioned that as well. He is going to release and call some new people to the ward council that should help with the work. He is on board with us. During our weekly planning we came up with a vision for the area, and what we feel we should work towards is splitting the wards. We believe that through finding teaching and baptizing new members, reactivating less active members, and helping active members progress we can get a Lafayette ward, and a Yamhill ward. In ward council on Sunday our bishop made a similar comment, so we know that the Lord wants that to happen.

District meeting on Friday was great. We talked about working with members, which I have always considered myself good at. My second companion was very knowledgeable about that and he taught me a lot. In out training Elder Burton shared a few things that I hadn't thought of. One of them was a Book of Mormon challenge. You give a member family a copy and have them write their testimony in it, and then prayerfully select another active family to place it. You then go to that family, and give them a book to write their testimony in, and do the same thing as before. They then place the written copy from the first members. It is a cool way to involve all of the members, and get them excited about the work. We have started it with a few families, and they really like the idea. Great things are going to happen soon.  Also that day we found a new less active member to teach, his name is Dirk M. He has PTSD, but was glad to see us, and invited us back. We were also able to set up two other appointments with less actives.

Saturday we met with Bill C, another investigator, we had a good discussion with him. He doesn't believe that there is only one way, but he believes that God would want everyone to be united. His comments didn't seem to make a lot of sense to me, but who knows. He invited us over for dinner, and we set up a time to do so.

Sunday I had a warm welcome to the ward. We went to the combined teacher/priest quorum, and we were talking about the duties on teachers and priests. I pointed out a scripture in D&C 107 that tells how big your quorum can/should be. The teachers president said " I can have 24 in my quorum?" We said yes, and he replied with, "I better get on that." By the end of the lesson they have learned more about their duties as priesthood holders, and more specifically about their commission to share the gospel. A few of the notes that I wrote down from sacrament include a thought of what judgement will be like. The speaker was talking about the temple recommend interview, and I think that judgement might be something like that. God sitting us down and asking us a few questions about our diligence and worthiness, and then asking us if we think ourselves worthy to enter his presence.

I have been doing great this week. Elder Barrow and I get along great, we have similar personalities, and our work together is fun. Things in this ward are about to explode we can feel it. The Lord is definitely hastening his work. I haven't thought much about the events of last week, I feel it is better to move on and continue with the work, so I don't get distracted.  I was wondering if my extension is still approved, my parents were asking, and I wasn't sure.

Love Elder Schultz 

James letter 7-22-13

So I don't have my planner from this last transfer, which means there will be no rundown on the work for this week, however, there has been an interesting situation arise which I can tell you a little bit about.

This last week was the last week of the transfer, and things were going good. Tuesday night I found out that my extension was approved by President Samuelian, I was really excited about it. Saturday I got a call from President asking me to train. I was so happy, that has been what I've wanted to do my entire mission. Elder Mohler was getting transferred, and we spent most of Saturday and Sunday saying goodbye to everyone. Sunday night at 11:30 I got a call from President, informing me that there was a problem, and I would no longer be training, and because of it I would be transferred out of Woodburn. So it turns out that Elder Mohler stayed, and is going to train the new missionary, and I got transferred. This means that my extension may also not be happening, I'm not sure. I will let you know when I know. As of right now I am still extending, but I'm not sure if it will stay that way.

Now I am in Yamhill, which is in the middle of nowhere. My companion's name is Elder Barrow, he has been out for 5 weeks, so I am finishing his training, I guess that counts as training, but not really. The work here seems pretty slow as well, which is not too thrilling. I will have more to say next week, but for now this is it. Love you.

Elder Schultz

Note from James 7/19/13

I was told Tuesday, that my extension has been approved, I am staying until October.

James Letter 7-15-13

Well, lets start off right at the beginning of this week, Monday morning we were playing soccer with the Spanich Elders, and I smashed my toe, the same one as I smashed last time. It was pretty painful, but it went away, and I was able to walk until my doctors appoinment Thursday. I also had my interviews with Sister Samuelian and President Samuelian. I feel that I was holding back a little, and I don't know why. I know that I am supposed to be here in this mission under his leadership, but I guess I was still holding on to President Morby. I have been thinking about that a lot this week, and have made it a goal to be more open and free with my comments, and feelings. In our interview he asked me to write about some of the things that I learned later in my mission that I wished I had learned from the start. One of those things was obedience, and obedience to the morning schedule in particular. Morning excercise, and diligent study really does make such a difference. It changes the amount of the Spirit that you have, and it changes your attitude. I found that whenever I was obedient to the schedule I was happier, that is a lesson that was slowly learned, and still not 100%, but I work on improving daily.

Tuesday we have an exciting miracle to share. Elder Porter, and Elder Lima called us, and asked if we would like to blitz with them, and we said yes. As Elder Mohler and myself prayed about where to go we both chose intersecting streets, so there we went. As we were traveling there the Spanish Elders told us it wasn't in there area, but since it was where the Lord wanted us to go, we went anyway. We tracted in opposite directions, and knocked on all of the doors on the two neighboring streets. When we were about done, we were finishing up the street that I had chosen, and we saw Elders Lima and Mohler walking towards us. We talked with them about how it had gone, and then asked if they had knocked on the corner house, they hadn't, so Elder Porter and I went for it. A young woman answered and agreed to hear our message, we shared about our Father in Heaven, how he loves us and has called prophets in every age, and how he has done so again today and we can know for ourselves. She accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon, and invited us back. Her house was on the corner of the two streets that we had picked, and it was the last house we knocked on. We had indeed been guided by the Lord.

Wednesday our big highlight was our lesson with sister Haws, we talked with her about charity, and that was a topic that she didn't grasp, and didn't think that she could ever have the kind of love that we were describing. We talked about the Atonement of Christ, how it was the ultimate act of charity, and invited her to use it in her life. She asked how she could know how, and I told her to study the scriptures. Everything we need to know is in the scriptures. Her response to that was that all she needed to do was to accept Christ, and the Holy Spirit. It was a very born-again Christian response. The topic then turned to if you accept him, then you follow him. I found a scripture this week that backs up the need for following his teachings, its Colossians 2:6

6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

If we accept Christ we will do what he asks.

Thursday morning we went to the doctor to get my toe taken care of, and it turned out to be a lot worse than they thought. The doctor started to cut away the nail, and realized that it had ripped up the nailbed and wasnt detached. He was worried that it night have exposed the bone( that was not the case), and had to numb my toe, and take it off that way. The swelling was so bad, and the pain so bad that I couldn't put on a shoe or walk on it, and I was on crutches until Saturday. That was not the most enjoyable time, but we were still able to work, and now I can walk on it fine. Its still tender, but its managable.

Friday our zone meeting was a powerful experience for me. Talking about culture, and living the higher law( obedience with a purpose) really struck me. In the OPM we were focused on obedience, but it was just exact obedience, and there didn't seem to be as much of a purpose. Also we were focused on baptisms, not on changing ourselves. I like the new focus, and while the old was good, I know that for me this culture, and vision will help me to change my life. We went and buried our fears as well, which was also a good chance to really ponder what I was afraid of. They all seem like such unsignificant things, but they stop your faith. I hope that I will truly be able to bury my fears, and keep them there.

Saturday I conducted an exchange with the Woodburn 2nd Elders. I was with Elder Hayden. I really felt overall that I made a difference for him, and was able to teach him a lot. I looked back on the exchanges that had meant a lot to me, and I felt that I had done for him what those Elders had done for me. Elder Hayden is a good planner, and a great teacher. He really knows the doctrine, and cares for the people. In one of our lessons we had planned to teach lesson 3, but the Spirit guided us otherwise, and we both taught on the same page, despite the change in plan. he did a good job in following the inspiration received. Also that night we were able to sit down and teach a new investigator. We taught simply and powerfully the message of the restoration. At the end of the lesson we were able to help him see that the Spirit was there, and that that was what he needed to seek out. He was very prepared to receive us, and I am sure he will be baptized. As we ended the exchange I talked with Elder Hayden about what he learned, and about what the most difficult thing about being a missionary was for him. He said loving his companion was hard, so I shared with him something that helped me to love my companions. That is to write down something good about them each day, when you focus on the good, you will grow to appreciate them, and forgive their faults. Also he was worried about teaching with the Spirit, because he can't always recognize it. I shared a scripture in D&C 11 that says to " put your trust in that Spirit that leadeth to do good." The basic thing is if it invites to do good it is the Spirit. So if your teaching is inviting to do good, and you are learning new truths, and they are learning new truths, then the Spirit is there, even if it doesn't seem overwhelming to you.

i met your friend on Sunday, and yes she took a picture of Elder Mohler and myself. It is a small world isn't it? I'm not sure when I will find out whether or not I get to extend for sure or not. I asked President about it in my email. I imagine by the end of this week I'll know. Transfers is on Monday, Elder Mohler may be leaving, but we'll find out.

Love Elder Schultz

James Letter 7-8-13

This week in the work of the Woodburn 1st ward...
Monday at our dinner we challenged the family we ate dinner with to give out pass along cards to their friends, they each thought of someone, and we decided to make it a compitition with the daughters, so we added up the amount that they were going to give away, and we offered to double it. The "loser" buys ice cream for everyone. The great thing about it is there really is no loser, because the work is moving forward. We asked them about it yesterday, and the father was happy to announce that while they have yet to give out any cards because of the busy holiday, they have been talking about it all week. They also stopped by the Portland Temple Visitor's Center, and when they were watching the I'm a Mormon videos they were talking with their daughters about how they could share this experience, and combine it with an invitation when they give out the card. Missionary work is on their mind.
Tuesday most of our day was spent in Albany, or on the way to, however, it was one of the best days of this week for me. As i sat in the chapel and listened to President Samuelian speak to us I knew that I was supposed to come to this mission, and I knew that things were going to work out the best. My prayers have been answered again, just not in the way I expected. On the ride home we listened to The First Great Commandment by Elder Holland, and as he elaborated on the story of Christ and Peter on the beach the Spirit spoke to me, and aksed me how many times I go before the Lord and have the same old conversation, asking forgiveness for the same old things, being called to do the same thing. The call to be a disciple will never change. I need to always make sure that I remember that, and that I am living up to His expectations all of the time, instead of just most of the time. In our comanion study this week Elder Mohler shared his thoughts when reading about George Albert Smith. When he was sick he had a dream where his grandfather came to him and asked "What have you done with my name?" We have all taken upon ourselves the name of Christ, what have we done with His name?
Wednesday we had a great lesson with sister Haws. We talked a lot about hope. That was another word that she just doesn't understand. She still sees no reason to want to return Home. As we talked about hope and trials the Spirit was very present, bearing witness to me as well that all of the hard things we go through are designed to purify us, and make us in to who we are capable of becoming. Perspective makes trials easier to overcome. We also had a great lesson with sister Howard, we discussed the Plan of Salvation; we spent a lot of time on agency, because she had a lot of questions.
Thursday we started the morning at the ward activity, I ran the 5k with Elder Hayden, while Elder Marchant and Mohler stayed back. I hadn't ran in a long time, but I did ok. After that we went with our bishop and his family to watch the parade in St. Paul, we had a blast with them. There were lots of members sitting around us at the parade, and most of them were sitting with nonmember friends, it was a great opportunity to put us out there, and meet new people. We helped the Lalliss family put in a pool after that, and we had lunch with them. Our dinner took us out to eat, we were in on time, and got all of our planning done, and even saw some fireworks from our window. It was a good night.
Friday we had our district meeting. We talked about finding, and did a practice on tracting. The practice went really well, we wrote up a profile for the person tracted into, and clues for the missionaries. The missionaries used the clues to know how the approach the person, and teach them what they need. That evening we went on a tracting blitz with the spanish elders, and I was going to try and implement what I learned, but I ended up not even saying more than a few words. Everyone we talked to spoke spanish. They had good success, but we did not.
Saturday we helped some of our members reroof their house. We were there until lunch, and then went to the Coopers to help them move some furniture. It was a lot of service, but some good finding opportunities. We had a lesson with the Walkers that night, and pretty much had the same conversation as the last time we saw them. I related my experience from earlier in the week, and they changed the subject. They promised to come to church, and didn't. She always says fow strong she feels about it, and how it has to be true, but she just wont live it. It kind of reminds me of myself sometimes. I don't doubt that its true, but sometimes I still just don't do it.
Our fast and testimony meeting Sunday turned into missionary work Sunday. Several members got up and talked about missionary work, and lots of them mentioned how good the missionaries are. I looked around to see if there was another set of missionaries there that I didn't know about, but there wasn't. It showed the trust that the members have in us, hopefully that will lead them to inviting their friends to hear the Gospel.
Thats all of the highlights from the week. Oh, Elder Buhler called, he is one of the assistants to president, and asked me if I would extend. I am going to say yes I will. I will stay out a full transfer longer, and my new end date will be October 14.
Love Elder Schultz

James letter 7-1-13

This last week has been busy for us, with teaching appointments, and meetings. Lots of good things have happened, and I hope to see a lot of good things happen still. I have learned that if you focus on the miracles, you start to see just how much the Lord really is involved in His work.
Monday we were able to meet with brother Lalliss. We have been meeting with him and his family for some time, and his kids come to church, but he and his wife do not. His family has been in Utah for a week, but while they were gone, he agreed to still meet with us, a good sign of progress for him. Also last Sunday Brian, a nonmember that lives with them came to church, and brother Lalliss said that he almost came with. That is the most progress that he has made. He is warm, and friendly, but he has lots of deep doctrinal questions, and he won't put them aside.
Tuesday we met with Amy W, and her husband Jeff. She was invited by brother Gleason, our WML, to meet with us. Our first meeting with her was last week, this week we talked with both of them. He has PTSD, and is angry at God, and wants nothing to do with religion. She is much more open and accepting, but her work is holding her back right now. On our way to her house we were able to talk to a couple teenagers, and were able to invite them to come and play soccer with us in the mornings for our excercise, they are not interested in learning right now, but maybe in the future. Also that night we had dinner and an FHE with our Bishop, and his family, we taught them a lesson on the Gospel, and asked them about people they know that they could share the Gospel with. We commited them to bear their testimony this week with the friend that they chose, and to invite them to learn more. It was a good lesson, and Bishop Christiansen was impressed with us, a good sign.
Wednesday we were able to meet with Iris S, an investigator we have been meeting with for a while. She is the mother of our primary president, and due to her age, she has struggles with reading. We were finally able to get her a large print copy of the Book of Mormon last week, and all week she has been bragging about it to her family and friends. She is very excited to read, and she is curious to know more. We had our coordination meeting that night, and after the meeting brother Gleason came out with us to visit Brian and Asia, an investigator couple. We were able to give her a Book of Mormon last week, and as we met with them she was asking lots of questions. She is very curious, and wanting to know, and he is more quiet, and reserved. They are gone for two weeks, but she commited to reading the Book of Mormon while she is on her trip, and we are going to continue teaching when she gets back. Brother Gleason lives about a block away, so he is a good fellowshipper for them.
Thursday we met with the Coopers, we were talking about the small things that add up, more specifically sins. We used a couple phonebooks, and each time the didn't keep a commandment we would fold down a page from one book, and then the other. We continued doing this until they were intwined together a little, then we pulled them apart to show that in the beginning you could repent easily. Then we started over, and intertwined the whole phonebook. We then were unable to pull them apart, which showed the power that Satan can gain as you constantly choose to do wrong. We then talked about the Atonement, and how gradually it can help you to overcome your addiction to sin, and clease you. We then pulled the books apart a few pages at a time. Repentance is not always instantaneaous, but it always brings the same result: freedom from bondage. We were also able to meet with the Howards, an active family, that invited us to teach them the lessons as a refresher. We taught through the Restoration, and invited them to reread the Book of Mormon and pray about it, and to give a Book of Mormon to her nonmenber brother.
Friday we had our Zone Conference. We talked about revelation, and I received a lot. I don't have my notes with me, so I can't tell you about everything I learned, but here are a few highlights. When you have fear, you have no faith. When you have no faith, you will receive no revelation. You must act, to show your faith, then you will be led, and revelation will come. I think that we are often guided by the Spirit without ever even realizing it, because we are so used to it. We have been promised to ALWAYS have His Spirit, and when He makes a promise He keeps it. We take it for granted sometimes, and are unable to recognize whats always there. We must train ourselves to pay more attention to what is there, and we will recognize it. It was bittersweet to say goodbye to President and Sister Morby, I will miss them a lot, but I look forward to getting to know you and your wife.
Saturday we were able to do service with sister Haws. We helped her put up wallpaper. I am never going to do that again. The project didn't go very smoothly, because she wanted it her way, and didn't want to follow directions. We did it her way, and it doesn't look as good. It was a lesson to me to follow directions, in worldly things, and heavenly. If we want a worldy thing to work, follow directions, if we want to return to Him, follow directions(the scriptures). At this point she is not following either. We also met with the Walkers, an LA family. We used the phonebook lesson with them as well, and were able to talk about the reverse of it too. By doing small good things you will ground yourself to the Gospel, and to Christ. We encouraged her to set a goal on when she can go to the temple, and to talk with the bishop, she said she would, but she didn't come to church.
Sunday we had the opportunity to take part in teaching the 5th sunday lesson on missionary work. We went over a few things from last weeks broadcast, and we did a role-play with them to show the contrast between missionary invite, and member invite. It was a really cool opportunity, and it helped the to get more excited about the work.

Thats about all that I have time for, my hour is almost up on the computer, and I need to write home still. Elder Mohler, and I are doing great. We get along real well, and teach well together. He is a new missionary, about 5 months out, and he has come a long way. He is a good missionary, and ready to train.

 

Thats awesome about Seth and the others. I can't believe they are leaving already, it doesn't seem like they are old enough to go, but I guess they are. I can't think of any songs really that I would want, and honestly I don't really want to think about it. I do like hymn 29 a lot, that A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, maybe you could do that one.

 

Did you really get my return information? That is not still far enough away...maybe not. I can' t beleive its that close. Sister Lalliss is the one that brought the machete. I was going to tell you she was coming, but forgot. I hope it wasn't too much of a surprise. The machete was free, given to me by a less active member in my last area. I couldn't take in on the plane, and forgot to put it in the tote, so I figured I would send it with her. You never know when you might need one. Don't think me too weird... 

Love Elder Schultz

James letter 6-24-13

As for the work of this past week, it was a lot different that usual, which I guess is a good thing. Monday at the transfer meeting I was able to say goodbye to all of my former companions still serving, to catch up and say goodbye to old friends, and to take a picture with the elders from my MTC group. It was a tremendously spiritual meeting. It was neat to be a part of history in the making as we go forth into new missions.

Tuesday I gave a training and practice on a topic that has easily changed my mission. That topic is MRLs, how to work with members. I have seen that the best way to accomplish this work is to work with members. If you spend time with them in their home, and help them to do missionary work themselves, then the work will continue to pick up. You find more and more people to teach as you work with members. You love the ward more, and they love you. This was a fact that was mentioned in last nights broadcast. Working with members is the better way. It was neat to be able to teach that to my district because they are just starting, so they don't have to wait to let this change their missions, but they can do it now. We focused on teaching the doctrine of Christ as the message, and to tie all of the missionary work to that. After district meeting we went on a blitz witht he zone leaders. I was with Elder Lee, and we only knocked on a few houses, because we were able to talk in depth with several of the people. We also found an inactive member that may allow us to come and teach her. Elder Mohler, and Morgan found a family. They talked to a very pregnant mother, but couldn't go in to teach because she was alone. They set up a return appointment for that evening, but we weren't able to teach her then either, because she went to the hospital to have her baby. Very pregnant indeed! We met with Amy W, and were able to cover a couple chapters in the Book of Mormon with her, her understanding is very basic, and she is absorbing some, but a lot of the message is going over her head. We are trying to simplify it as much as we can. We were also able to set up a time to teach a family home evening to our bishop and his family.

Wednesday we met with Iris S, and we gave her a large print Book of Mormon. She was really excited about it. We spent the rest of the time playing a kind of game with her. We would read a scripture, and she would tell us if it was from the Book of Mormon, or the Bible. It was a cool way to show her how they teach the same message. We talked with brother Cole, a member in the ward, who is also her son in law, and he said that she has been bragging about the book we gave her, and telling how excited she is about it. A very good sign.

Thursday was a busy day. We did our weekly planning, went to the library to fill out our progress record, and spend some time on mormon.org. We saw the Coopers, and talked about the Gospel. We drew out the diagram that Elder Whiting showed us, with all of the ordinances included on it, and were able to show the importance of doing these things, we also talked about covenants, and what it is that we promise to do as we go through the path back to Him. We had a lesson with Sam again, he dropped us. He says that the priesthood ended when Christ came, that neither Christ nor John the baptist had the priesthood, and that the priesthood is not needed. We tried to answer his questions, but he wouldn't accept any answers. He also doesn't believe that the Bible has ever been changed. Those are just a few of his objections. We talked about what our purpose was in helping him find the truth, and asked him if he felt he had done all to know the truth. He said yes. What else can you do than pray that someday he will find it. He hasn't done anything other than read and pray, and he refuses to accept anything other than what he already knows. I pray that one day he will be humble enough to accept this.

Friday we spent the morning in Salem doing service for the dance festival. It was a tristake youth conference, and I actually saw several kids from my first area. They recognized me and it was cool to talk to them agian. We had a really good lesson with the Martins talking about our identity as children of God, and how Satan tries to make us doubt who we are so we will be miserable.

Saturday we were able to see Brian and Asia again. They invited us to stay for another BBQ, but we had to help out with the dance festival again. We gave her a Book of Mormon, and a restoration pamphlet, and are going to be able to teach through lesson one next time we see them. The dance festival was fun, I got the see some of the parent of the kids from my first area this time, and they were happy to see me as well. There are so many people that I have come to love, and I can't wait for when I can talk to them more often. We even got to dance in the last part of the show, it was awful. I had no idea what was going on, they taught us the moves for 5 minutes, and that was it. We looked bad, but we had fun.

Sunday was a busy day. We had Elder Hansen sit in on our ward council meeting. Sister Dodge spoke about gaining peace by sorting out your priorities; being humble, prayerful, and repentant always. Brother Dodge talked about how the scripture teach us what to do. The broadcast was incredible. A reemphasis on the importance of members working WITH missionaries. There are several things I liked, and I took lots of notes. It will be cool to see the use of technology in missionary work. I am excited to see things start to move forward. As we teach members at dinners we are going to follow up on this broadcast, and encourage them to help out.  

Love Elder Schultz

This past week has been a good one, with a lot of up and down for me personally. Tuesday was a great day, we stopped by and had a great lesson with Lao Y, we taught him the Gospel, and we reemphasized the points a lot to make sure that he understood, and remembered what we were talking about. We asked him at the end if he would like to be baptized, and he said yes. We asked him when, he said three or four months. We then set a date for September 7. He works late nights, and long days on the weekends, so 8am church is hard for him, but he committed to coming for sacrament meeting. He didn't make it this week, but we will keep committing him to it, and he will come. This week we are planning to teach him in a members home. That will cut down on distractions, help him to have friends in the church, and feel more of the Spirit. He is going to progress well, and we may even be able to move his date forward.

Wednesday we had a lesson with Sister H, and we found out that she has some interesting beliefs, and is a very depressed person. We went over the Plan of Salvation, and she believes that you will be reincarnated, so if you don't make it to the Celestial Kingdom in this life you will just come back and try again. We addressed that with the resurrection, your soul and your body will be reunited, never to be divided again. She also asked us two questions, which at the time I was unable to fully answer. What is joy?, and Why should I want to go to the Celestial Kingdom. We have been studying that, and also asking other members and missionaries to try and get a good answer, and this is what we came up with. Joy is a fulfilment of your potential as a child of God. The things that bring joy in life are expressions of your divine nature: Childbirth, Missionary work, Temple work, etc.., those are expressions of your creative powers, and the work of salvation, which is His work, a divine work. So the reason you would want to go to the Celestial Kingdom is because that is the only place that you can reach your full potential as a child of God in becoming as He is. In no other place can you do that. It was cool for me to gain added insight on those topics, and I hope that when we go back to see her that we can help her to understand why.

Thursday we had a bunch of lessons cancel, but we were able to meet with Sam again, and we had a really good lesson with him. We talked more about the Gospel, which in his eye is just faith. We talked about repentance, which by itself he agrees is something you should do, but he doesn't think that it is neccesary for salvation. He also doesn't think that baptism is more than a show of faith. We talked a lot about how faith is proved by works, and that if you don't have works, then you have no faith. You can have works without faith, but then it will be nothing more than checking the boxes, and will do you no good, because you have not real intent. We are judged by our works and our desires; to see if we did what we were commanded, and to see if our heart was in it or not. We shared several scriptures back and forth, and in the end I beleive we each came to the same conclusion, and agreed on it. The why of the works is more important than the work itself. "If a man offereth a gift, and not with real intent, it profiteth him nothing" We have to do the work yes, but the Lord also requires a glad heart and a willing mind.

Friday we had our mission tour, and I was really impacted by it. One of the first things that Elder Whiting said was write what you feel. I wrote down a couple of questions, and payed attention to how I felt about them, and I received answers. One of the questions that I had was how to consecrate myself to the Lord. I am tired of being half into it, and want to just give all of myself to him, but where to begin I'm not sure. He said to resolve to act, so I pormised myself that I would apply whatever he said. He talked also about changing now, and repenting, and using our agency righteously everytime, so that whenever a choice is before you you will choose correctly, narrowing your choices, but securing your freedom. In the leadership meeting he also talked about becoming more like Christ by following His character; by loving and serving others, not thinking about yourself, and being an example. I committed to myself, and later Elder Mohler and I committed to each other that we would be 100% obedient, and set an example for the rest of the district. One other thing that Elder Whiting asked us to do was to pray and ask if Heavenly Father loved us. I did, and I felt nothing.

Saturday we started the morning with service. Elder Mohler was a little nervous about transfer calls because we both thought that he would be leaving, and I would be training, because it was my last chance to do so. When the call came in that we were both staying together, he was relieved, and I was sad, and disappointed, not because we would be together, but because that meant I would never train, and that was the one thing that I have wanted to do my whole mission. I had prayed for it, I had become more obedient, and it didn't happen. That night in my prayers I discussed it with the Lord, I was confused and hurt, and wanted to know why. I told Him that I didn't feel loved, and the most incredible feeling of warmth came over me and enveloped me completely. I knew that He loved me. I asked him to help me to accept his will, and to fulfil my current assignment without any murmurings. Every missionary in my district will have been out five months or less, I would say that my role as a district leader here will enable me to train them all. I don't know why I'm not a trainer, but I know it wasn't His will, and I will accept that. I am sure that there is more that I can learn from Elder Mohler, and I look forward to continuing to work with him.

Sunday the messages in sacrament meeting were great. One of the priests gave a talk on the Plan of Salvation, and he did a great job in teaching it. He focused a lot on the questions why are we here?, where are we going?, and where did we come from? Our sunday school lesson we talked about the kingdoms of glory, and I was able to increase my understanding of that. During my personal study I read through the "how to improve your personal prayers" talk in the Ensign, and was really impressed by it. The experience that he shared at the end of that talk was quite similar to my experience right now. Sometimes the Lords will is one way, and our will is the other way. We have to humble ourselves, and allign our will to His, because His will won't change. He sees things in perspective, and He knows what each of us needs to be able to grow the most. We can only see the here and now, so His will often does not make sense to us, but in the end it is the better way to go. 

 

I got my package Wednesday I think, I loved the tie, it is ridiculous, but way cool. You guys have been so good to me. 

 

Love Elder Schultz

James letter 6-10-13

Its crazy to think that week five is already over. It seems that the more we are doing the faster time goes, which is a good thing I guess, but sometimes I wish that it would slow down just a little bit. Our Monday morning put us off to a good start, we met with Sam B, and read a couple chapters in the Book of Mormon with him, and we also saw the Lalliss family. It is a lot more of the same with them, though there is gradual hints of progress.

Tuesday we had a really good district meeting, where we were trained on teaching the MIT. It really kind of clicked in my head the importance of that, because if you don't have the Atonement, then you don't have the Gospel, the Plan of Salvation doesn't work, and there would be no need of a restoration, and no motivation to keep the commandments. Truly the Atonement is cetral to everything. I have tried hard this week to try and apply the Atonement more fully in my life, and I have seen a big difference. I started going through the Addiction Recovery book during my studies, and it has helped me a lot to understand what I can do to overcome weaknesses, and to use the Atonement. The way it is set up has really helped me realize a few things. One of which is that set backs are ok. When you first do something you are never perfect, you have to keep practicing and practicing, until you improve, and become perfect. Life is nothing more than practicing for eternal life. We are not perfect, but we need to keep practicing until we are. A while ago I was studying virtue in PMG, and to be honest I didn't find most of the scripture very helpful, because they just told you to be virtuous. I knew I needed to do that, but how was my question. This week I found the answer. I must "practice virtue"(D&C 38:24) until I become perfect at it. This changed my perspective my reassuring me that I don't have to be perfect all at once as long as I am still practicing.

Wednesday we were able to break new ground with one of our investigators. She is an elderly woman named Iris S, and she has told us that she doesn't want to be mormon, but she loves us coming by. On Wednesday we committed her to read the Book of Mormon, and she said that she would, and that she was really excited to do it. It was a big step for her. Also we went out with our WML, and visited a couple less active families, one we set up a return, and the second we taught a lesson, and Brother Gleason invited him to be taught the lessons by us. It was really cool to see it flow like that. Thats how the ward mission process should work; the member invites.

Thursday night we did splits; Elder Mohler went out with President Nelson, and I went out with one of our priests. They went and saw Sam Bible, and from all reports it was a really good, Spirit filled lesson. Sam seems like he may be coming around. I went and saw the Sharrows, we were able to watch some of the Bible Videos, and talk about Christ's Ministry. There are some really powerful videos there.

Friday we were able to see the Duffels again, and we set up to come back and do service this week. We also stopped by and saw the Taylors, and were able to give all three of them blessings, I love giving blessings, it is always a testimony to me of the reality of the priesthood. We had our coordination that night, and were able to work out another night to do splits with Brother Gleason for this week.

Saturday I was on exchange with Elder Buhler, and in the morning we had Elder Petersen with us while his companion Elder Thomas took the ACT. We did service with the Sharrows, helping them to clean out their garage. After we reunited Elder Petersen with his companion we went and had lunch with Brian and Asia. We tracted into Brian on Tuesday, and he invited us back. We tried to do service, but he wouldn't let us. Instead we had lunch, and then talked about what we do as missionaries, and answered a few of their questions. They are a really cool couple, and they told us to stop back anytime, so we will. That night we were also able to see the Walkers, and we had a great lesson on Jesus Christ. It is always cool to take time and just talk about the Savior, because He truly is incredible. I can hardly fathom sometimes what He did, but I know He did it.

Sunday I was able to speak in church. I didn't preapare anything, as I usually don't, but I felt inspired to talk about humility. As I was listening to the sacrament hymn "Thy will, O' Lord, be done" the Spirit testified to be that that was indeed true. A sweet reassurance that this is right. I started my talk with that, and then related the scriptures in Alma 32 about being blessed by being compelled to be humble, and being more blessed by humbling yourself. I then shared my own experience with being compelled rather that willfully humbling myself. I got a lot of compliments on my talk. I also saw Rachel L from Fanno Creek ward there, and it was cool to see a familiar face from a past area. We also attended the EQ presidency meeting, and instructed them on how the focus five should work, and we helped them to get it started by talking the three names that they had on their list, and making assignments to invite them to be taught. We are planning on doing this same thing with all of the other quorum and auxillary leaders.

That is a nutshell of the week. It was a good one, and it has gone by fast. I am excited to see what happens with transfers this week, as well as our Mission Tour on Friday. It should be a week full of the Spirit.

 

Love Elder Schultz

it always seems so easy to write these letters, because even though the week may seem slow there is always things happening that help you to progress. I find that there is almost not enough time to write everything that I do, and I don't even write everything that happened. This week was really good. We started off by teaching a FHE lesson to the Lalliss family on obedience. The parents speciffically requested that one, and they even helped to teach it. We gave each of the kids a specific commitment on what they can do to help make their home a happier place by obedience. It was really cool to be able to bring the Spirit into that home, by teaching the Gospel. While the mother reported that they didn't make it through the whole week, they did make it longer than they have in the past.
Tuesday we had the best district meeting ever. The zone leaders asked specifically if they could do the training, and I agreed. They trained us on goals and accountablility. It was just the thing that I needed to hear. The planning, and goal settings are seen in a different light, and the accountablility has really helped. One of the things I started to do was to use my journal to account for all of the days activities, doing this has helped me to be diligent in keeping my journal. And also, every night I have been saying a vocal prayer, and giving an accounting of my day to the Lord. I have seen a difference already. I don't want to write down, or tell about anything that wasn't what it should have been, so I have done a much better job at doing all that I can to help others, and further the work. We were able to have our lesson with Liz, and sister Haws, which went well, we invited both to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. Liz wouldn't. She said that she knew Catholicism is true, and she doesn't need to, and to do so would be against her religion.
Wednesday our miracle was our lesson with Don. It was a really good lesson, we asked him what he wants in life, and he replied peace. We had taught the Seminary that morning on how to find peace in a troubled world, so the topic was fresh on our minds, and we knew that the only way to have peace is to live righteously. We invited him to be baptized, and he said he would, if he could quit smoking. He has alreaady done so once, but he doesn't think that he can do it again. We told him about the Atonement, and how Christ knows what he is going through, and how to help him. The Spirit was there, and it was really cool to see. Hopefully we will be able to continue to have experiences like that with him. Also I was studying on the Fall in order to answer some of Sam B's questions, and what I learned is that I don't teach that very well. Heavenly Father set up conditions so that the Fall could occur through the use of Agency. He did not cause it, or he would be an author of sin, and cease to be God, but he knew that it would happen, so he planned for it to happen in his favor. In our lesson that evening I was able to explain that in a way that he understood. We also finished the rest of the Plan of Salvation, and that brought up a whole bunch of other concerns. Including the necessity for baptism, the kingdoms of glory, and missionary work in the spirit world. One step forward three steps back with him.
Thursday we had a good planning session, and we were able to set our baptism goals according to Elder Grow, adapted by Elder Buhler. We also tracted for the first time since I've been in this area. We were able to give out one passalong card, thats it, but we will continue to work. We are going to start small and tract on half hour each day. One other thing that is learned was this: You can't have redemptive work done without work done on both sides of the veil-teaching in spirit world, temple work on earth. The same is true with missionary work. Missionary work doesn't work, unless there is work on both sides-the members, and the missionaries. Also a cool quote "You become what you want to become by consistantly being what you want to be."
Friday we were able to meet Kelly D for the first time. She was really nice, and happy to see us, and she invited us back. She is the mother of a less active family, and she has been brought up a few times for us to go see, and we were finally able to. We were also able to do more tracting, no luck this time.
Saturday we were able to see sister Haws without Liz this time. She said that she would really like lessons of her own, and we agreed. she has a new desire to find out whether or not this is true. We are going to teach her all of the lessons, and then help her deepen her understanding by going more in depth one topic at a time. We were able also to see the Walkers, and she has been flying through the D&C, whether she is getting anything out of it I'm not sure. Everytime we ask her what she thinks about scripture she just says "it just reinforces".

Sunday was weird. It was fast sunday, but I didn't even get to do a full fast, because we still had lunch with the Dodges at noon. I'm going to do another fast on Wednesday, so that I can have a whole one. I also left church right after the sacrament was passed to go with the Elders Holland and Pihno to SPC. Elder Mohler stayed with Ethan G. Spc was good, I enjoyed seeing President Ward again, I will miss him as well when the mission splits. We were able to discuss the strengths and the weaknesses of the wards, and what we could do to help. One thing that I liked was something that the Silverton sisters have been doing. They have been teaching active families through the ward mission process as well, so less active members don't feel singled out, and also it gives the members a way to invite others, by being able to share what their experience was, and even inviting them to their home. I want to see if we can implement that more in this ward. It will help build ward trust, and get the work moving.

 

Elder Mohler and I are getting along great. Its always nice when you are able to have fun with your companion, and to still get work done. We are also working on improving,and there is a lot of work, but we'll get there.

 

I sent a tote home. The Blacks from Hillsboro came and picked it up for me. They are going to be driving down to Utah for a wedding on the 4th, and said that they would probably drop it by on the 5th. I gave them the house phone, and mom's phone, so that they can call, and see when you will be home to receive it. It just a few things that I want to keep, but that I won't have room to fit in my suitcases. Time seems to be going way to fast, I want to stay out longer, would you hate me if I extended?

 

Love Elder Schultz