James Letter 5-26-2013

This last week was a pretty good week, and a lot has happened that has increased my own personal testimony. As I continue sharing miracles from each day I will touch upon some of the testimony builders that have occured this week.
First things first, Monday last week we met with Sam B in the morning to read the scriptures with him. What a difference the scriptures can make in your life. I finished the Book of Mormon again this week, and as I went through I was marking all of the references to Christ and his attributes. As we read with Sam I was again able to see how the Lord works as recorded in the scriptures, and recognize how he works in my own life. He is alive and well as they say. We met with Sam again that night and we started going over the Plan of Salvation. He has a real concern with the doctrine of the Fall, because he won't accept that it needed to happen for us to be here, and that it was part of God's plan. He said that the scriptures should build off each other, and each time reveal more. For example, the OT gives the account of the Fall, the NT teaches about the effects of the Fall(he was good till this point), and the Book of Mormon tells us why the Fall was necessary. There is also accounts of the Fall in D&C , and the Pearl of Great Price. He says it should be line upon line, but he won't accept the next line, because its not in the first line. He says one thing and believes another. Very frustrating, but over the course of my mission I have learned patience, and I am confident we can help him understand if he will allow us to. We will continue to pray for a softened heart.
Tuesday was a great day. The Silverton sisters called and told me that they weren't coming to district meeting, and they were giving the training and practice, and so I was left to put together an impromptu training on teaching when you find, and finding when you teach. I was able to share lots of experience from my time with Elder Lott where we really applied this principle, and saw the blessings. I know that when you teach a principle to every person you talk to, that the Spirit will touch them, and you will find more people to teach. I have seen it. I left the commitment with the district to apply that principle, and later that day I had the opportunity myself. We were looking for a less active member, and we talked to his athiest son. As we talked we got to know him a little, and then I bore my testimony of God, and how anyone who will may find out the truth of whether or not God is really their, and I invited him to pray. It was a neat opportunity to bear testimony, and invite to act.
Wednesday we spent some time preparing for ward council, including making a master list for the ward mission process. WE now have 164 names to select from, and we hope to be able to keep pushing this process forward. Our WML has been doing a great job of bringing it up, and explaining what we want from it. He is a great help. We also took the time to update the area book and to write down a list of supplies that we need. That night we saw Sister Haws, a LA in the ward, and we talked with her and her roomate Liz about the Church. Liz is a very strong Catholic, and a very opinionated New Yorker, and she started off a little arguementative. We started asking questions, and by the end we had accomplished several things, one, we learned more about the Catholic church, two, we were able to set up a return appointment to teach her and she aggreed to come to church with us, and three, we dispelled the contention, and brought the Spirit. It was a really cool example of the power of questions.
Thursday we had our annual lesson with the Walkers, and she told us that she had been given an assignment in RS, and would be coming to church to fulfill that assignment. After our lesson Elder Mohler had a flat tire, and we had to walk the rest of the week. We tried to patch with no avail. We stopped by at the Lalliss, and were able to pump it up enough to get home, being drenched in the rain as we did so. The miracle here is that we had Ethan with us, and he still wants to come out with us after being soaked like he was.
Friday we had an exchange with the Woodburn 2nd elders. I was with Elder Marchant, and let me tell you that he has a heart of gold. He is a wonderful, caring missionary, with a great desire for the work. He is also very quiet. It was a little humorous watching him try and talk to some of the elderly members in the ward. They couldn't here anything he said, even when he was trying to be loud. We had a great day together. We were able to do some service with Marcia, and answer a few more of her questions. It seems that she is hesitant to learning more, and we weren't able to teach a full lesson. Hopefully we will be able to in the future.
Saturday we were able to do some service with Sister Haws, we painted her house, and I was able to fix her sprinkler system. We also received a couple of referrals which we contacted that day. The first one, Virginia didn't seem to interested, and asked if someone sent us there. We left our number with an offer for service, but it didn't look to promising. The other was her brother Don. We stopped by and talked with him, and he was a lot friendlier. His wife had just died, but he seemed to be taking it well. We talked with him for a while, but he was content with where he was at, it had been working for him for 91 years, why change? It is sad to see that kind of attitude, but the only thing that I can think of is that I hope he will be able to receive it on the other side.
Sunday was a great day. In sacrament we learned about standing in holy places, and I realized that standing in a holy place isn't always about where you are as much as it is what you are doing. By your righteous actions you can make any place a holy place. Also we learned about ministering. To minister is to show simple acts of kindness and an example of righteousness, and to take care of others spiritual and temporal needs. Also learned a few good things about parenting again, including the importance of teaching by example, and making sure they know the why, and not just forcing them to do. It reminded me of 1 Nephi 3:7. Nephi went and did BECAUSE he knew. If we teach the reason, they will want to do the thing, the same is true with investigators. Also I liked this line from one of the hymns. Confirm thy soul in self control, thy liberty in law. What a truth. As we obey we receive more freedom, as we disobey we get the full plate of what Satan has to offer, which is no more that misery, captivity, and death.
Thats what I have to say about this week. I am enjoying my time with Elder Mohler. He is a fun, and personable guy. He has a desire to do better, and I hope that I will be able to help him grow as my companions have helped me. I've been thinking about things I've learned from companions, and I came up with these things:
Fannin-have fun, and work hard, or don't.
Davidson-the importance of members
Fifita-obedience and patience
Awtry-the importance of a companionship in missionary work
Crockett-obedience, hard work
Lott-patience, obedience, faith, diligence
Pugmire-vision to baptize

I am truly grateful for all of the companions that I have had, and for what I've learned form each of them. Iv'e been amazed at some of the qualities that I have now, that I never would have expected. The list really includes much more than what I mentioned, but this will do.

Yes I did get the package, I thought I told you, but guess not. The pants are being hemmed, and hopefully I will be able to wear them soon. Today I realized that the crotch on my gray suit is coming undone, a little embarassing to say the least.

Love Elder Schultz

James Letter 5-20-13

This week was much better. We still had a lot of visits, but we were able to teach a lot more. At our last district meeting I invited the members of the district to write down one miracle they saw each day, so that when it comes time to share, they have them ready. I too recorded one miracle for each day, and those are what I would like to share with you.

Starting with Monday, we had a great time playing basketball as a district, and with the spanish elders. In the morning we were able to meet with Sam B, and read through some of the Book of Mormon with him. That evening, and this is the miracle, we saw the Lalliss family, and we were actually able to share a spiritual message. It wasn't received well by the parents, but we were able to share it nonetheless, and that was a big step. We will continue trying to work with them. Slowly and surely we will be able to soften their hearts with the aid of the Spirit.

Tuesday we had a great district meeting. I asked sisters Ellett and Tanner to give the training and practice. Sister Tanner was a little homesick, but over the last couple weeks she has come a long way. I think the opportunity to teach, and learn really helped her. The topic that I assigned them was how to recognize the Spirit, a key in missionary work and in life. One of the things I thought was cool, and I don't have my notes with me, so this is from memory, was that if you are doing good things, ie, keeping commandments, serving others, etc., then you are promised to be led by the Spirit, and to have the Spirit with you always. God keeps his promises. What we need to do is to stop worrying about it so much, and to trust him, and to trust that we will be led, and we will. Then as we look back we will be able to see clearly enough to see what was the Spirit, and what was us. I have had lots of experiences like that, where, looking back, it is easy to see that it had to have been the Spirit, because it couldn't have been me. Our miracle for Tuesday came when we went to see a potential investigator named Marcia. The elders had done service for her previously, but no one had taught her. As we talked she mentioned how impressed she was by us, and I asked if they had shared what we do as missionaries. She said no. I then explained our purpose, and invited her to learn more. She agreed, and we were able to set a return appointment for service, and a lesson.

Wednesday I turned 21, and elder Mohler made me pancakes for breakfast. That morning we went out with Ethan G, a ward misisonary, who got his call this week to the Mesa Arizona mission. We saw Iris S, and were able to share teach her about hope. We also saw Ilene H, and Ann H. Ann has been meeting with missionaries for a while, and we asked her why she wasn't baptized. She replied that it was because she had already been baptized as a baby into the Catholic church, which she doesn't believe in. Apparently it doesn't matter whether or not you believe in your baptism, as long as your baptized. As we were walking back to our house we saw an elderly couple laying sod. Now, seeing that I had laid sod for my job for several years I offered to help, and then went to work. We laid their whole front yard in 30 minutes, and I didn't get any dirt on my white shirt, or suit pants. They were so appreciative, and as we were working I was able to talk with them about the restoration. When we were done they told us that we could come back any time. That was our miracle for Wednesday. That evening we met with Sam again, and I would say the best way to describe him is openly closed. he says he is open, but he thinks the Book of Mormon is false, and he refuses to apply any of its teachings, because that would be planting a bad seed. At this point I don't see him progressing far, unless he has a change of heart. We ate dinner, and had a lesson with the Martins after that.

Thursday wasn't too exciting, but we did still have a miracle. We were biking past Otis' house, the old man with the sod, and he was outside and waved us over. We talked with him for about 20 minutes, and during that he opened up to us. Unfortunatly there were cars driving by, and between that and his mumbling voice I didn't hear anything he said about his story. The only part I heard was that someone died, and he was mad at God. Still though, if he opened up once, he will open up again. He is convinced that we were heaven sent. I think he is right.

Friday Elder Mohler was able to go on a split with Ethan while I was at the leadership conference. They did some service, and saw Vicki W. I have a ton of notes from the conference, and a bunch of things that I am going to bring up in the next district meeting. I love the opportunity to be taught and instructed by the Spirit, and I would consider the opportunity to be so guided a miracle in itself.  I am confident that this district will be able to improve a lot in the next few transfers, we have some great misisonaries, and some young ones that can still be easily molded into the kind of missionaries that we need them to be. That night we also had our coordination, and we were able to put more names on our master list. There are still more to go on, but its a start. Also in our PEC this week our WML was able to bring it up, and ask who was going to be assigned to make the invitations needed. We have a good WML who listens to us, and wants to help us get the ball rolling. 

Saturday we saw the Coopers, and read with them from the scriptures, and showed them how to study. It was a good reminder for myself as well that there are a lot of resources in the scriptures to help us get the most out of them, and we need to use them. That night we saw Don, who has also been meeting with missionaries for a long time, and he doesn't think he can quit smoking, or he doesn't want to. He also won't come to church because its too early. After Don we saw Joyce B. She is a less active member, her home teacher asked us to stop by, and she was glad to see us. He gave her a Book of Mormon, and she has been reading it a lot. She is lonely, and lives by herself, so she has plenty of time. She is in Alma already, and she got the book on Tuesday. She said that she feels as if something is telling her not to go back to our church, but whenever she read the Book of Mormon she feels good, and thinks she should go back. It is a miracle how the Spirit works.

Sunday we had our ward conference. And I wa able to learn a lot. The stake president asked all of us to, find something in our life that is a bad habit, and remove it, and then to bring a good habit to replace it. That is something I have been working on, because it is not enough to stop being bad, we have to start being good. Our bishop gave what he called the parable of the slurpee, it goes as follows:

In the summertime I asked the kids to help me work in the yard. They denied me several times, and so I resorted to bribery, and after being turned down a lot I found something that would work, a slurpee. I promised them each a slurpee if they would help me work in the yard. As the day went on, however, some of the kids began to disappear. They would take frequent breaks in the house, or they just stopped helping all together. Finally the time came, and I had to come true on my promise. I found myself driving to 7-11 thinking that some of them didn't deserve a slurpee, but I had promised. I was happy when 7-11had 3 sizes of cups. They didn't think it was fair getting different sizes, but it was. There are also three kingdoms. The next summer the same thing happened, only this time one of our sons got home late from baseball practice. I asked if he wanted to help, and he did. Then when we went to go get slurpees he came with us. They didn't think it was fair, because he hadn't worked all day, but it was, because he had worked. It was a real life parable of the laborers.

Thats all I have time for.

Love you 

Elder Schultz

James letter 5-13-13

What a wonderful time of the year to be a missionary, to be able to call home and talk with family. This last week in Woodburn has been pretty good, but I have a few things to report on the work and the area.

My first night we were able to meet with the whole bishopric, and the WML. We also saw a member family, the Coopers, who I guess is active, and we spent some time with them going through the gospel principles book. We also saw them 3 more times that week. I'm not entirely sure why we are going over that much if they are an active family. They do seem like they need some nourishment, but I would say that a good home teacher would be just as effective.

Tuesday we saw the Coopers again, and we were able to meet with the Walkers, who we also see several times a week. They are a less-active mother daughter, and we went in and taught them, and no male was present. I talked to Elder Mohler afterwards, and apparently they have been going into single sisters homes anyway because most of the people are 50+ in age. I'm not completely sure, but I don't believe there is an exception. After talking to him about it we were able to take members with us to every other lesson this week.

Wednesday we had our zone meeting, we learned about the ward mission process, and how to train the ward council on invitations. We talked to our WML about it, and during ward council we were able to bring it up. We didn't train, but they started talking about people to put on the "master list". We don't have very many names on that at the moment, but we will work on it, and see if we can't get the process moving correctly. That afternoon, we saw an investigator, and in essence, just talked with her for an hour, which from what Elder Mohler has told me is also typical. He said that she doesn't want to be preached to, and so they are fellowshipping her. That is also not our place, and its not a lesson, unless you teach something, but they have been counting those "fellowshipping visits" as lessons as well. This weeks numbers are inflated due to that, and thats something else that I'm working with Elder Mohler on.

Thursday we saw the Walkers again, and also the Coopers. We had a decent weekly planning session, in the which I learned that they had "adjusted" the Grow planning. Instead of setting weekly goals five weeks out, they set monthly goals, and don't worry about the weekly for baptisms. Also it was a struggle to actually plan for the lessons we were going to teach. It seems like they haven't had very many actual teaching lessons, and so they don't need to plan for any. Elder Mohler also wanted to plan a schedule for the whole week as well, so that daily planning would be shorter. He also didn't want to follow the steps in planning. Planning is something that needs a lot of improvement, and I hope that I am able to help him do it correctly.

Friday we were able to set up a few appointments with less-active members. We saw the Walkers again. We also had a "lesson" with the Lalliss family. They are a really fun family. The kids are active, and the parents aren't. They are another family that doesn't want to be "preached to", and so there is no teaching taking place. We also see them several times a week. As we were leaving that night we were going and shaking everyones hands, and the 16 year old daughter decided to play hard to get, and pulled back from Elder Mohler. In an attempt to get back at her like a "big brother should", he is the oldest in his family, he looked for something to spray her with. When he couldn't find anything he grabbed a lighter, and intended to scare her by holding it by her face. She didn't flinch. And then her hair caught fire. She had a 6-8 inch flame on the side of her head, and I thought that he had killed her. Her mom screamed. She was able to put it out, and she was fine. He was shocked, and didn't know what to do, so he tried to laugh it off. He felt awful. As we left the whole house smelt like burnt hair. It was wonderful.

Saturday we had breakfast with the Coopers. We had our first real lesson with the Martins, another less-active family. He has adrenal cancer, and he feels he is not worth much. We had a lesson on the worth of souls, and at the end he asked for a blessing. He came to church yesterday, and he also paid his tithing, which has been a struggle for him. After our lesson with them we completed our PMG surveys, had dinner, and then I was picked up by a member from Raleigh Hills to go to Coltrane's baptism. That was a really special experience. They were so glad to see me. I am so glad that I was able to get to know them like I did. They are a family I'll never forget, and I can see such a huge change in them, they were so happy. While I was at the baptism. Elder Mohler was with our WML teaching. He saw Don, and investigator, and he saw the Walkers again.

Sunday was such a great day. Church was of course focused on Mothers, and it was great. I wrote down a lot of thoughts, a few of which I'll share:

We dishonor our mothers when we break the commandments, and when we break the commandments we dishonor mothers. When we keep the commandments we honor mothers, and when we honor mothers we keep the commandments.

Men are given the priesthood that they may help save mankind. Woman are born with the innate ability to Mother, which is a powerful tool in the salvation to us all.  

The title of Mother is eternally significant, and is one of the greatest blessings in life. A woman should never feel lower because she is "just a mother", rather a woman should feel above all because she is just that, a Mother.

We had lunch with a member family, and we saw the Coopers again. We called home at their house, so I talked with them while Elder Mohler called home and vice-versa. We saw the Lalliss again that night as well.

So, it is easy to see all of the things that we need to work on in this area, but I don't want to have a negative letter, so here are the good things. Elder  Mohler loves the people. It is a great example to me to see how much he cares for them. It is a lot easier to serve if you love those you serve with. He also has a real desire to serve, and to be better. He doesn't want to waste his mission, and he knows it goes fast. He wants to do better, and I hope that I will be able to help him.

 

It was great talking to you guys yesterday. Love you.

 

Elder Schultz

James Letter 5-7-2013

This last week, was definetly a great one, and yes I did get transferred. I am now serving in the Woodburn 1st ward in Woodburn, OR. I am also going to be a part of the Oregon Salem Mission when it opens in July. This will be my last area, and I am a little sad that it was my last week with Elder Pugmire, and in the Raleigh Hills ward. Both of which were great. Our last week in Raleigh Hills started off with a lesson with the Lyons family. We were able to talk to them about prayer, something that they have been struggling with. We talked about what it is, and why it is important. Prayer is essential to know any spiritual truth, and it is essential to having a relationship with our Heavenly Father. We told them that even if they prayed over little things that He would hear and answer their prayers. We also met with Jackie, we were able to teach her the Restoration, and commit her to reading and prayer. She was nervous about church, but I think at a future time she would go.
Tuesday we had our last district meeting, and Elders Richardson, and Bateman trined us on the importance of goal setting. I think that is something that is easy to overlook, but truly goals are an important part of growth. The goals I have set before me for this transfer in particular are excercising everyday, and gaining the attribute of virtue. The latter of which has been a struggle, but has come along way, and I know that with His help I can do it. I can become clean, and this transfer, and the rest of my life I will be clean. I was on exchange with Elder Davis that day, and I talked with him a lot about ministering. One of the biggest things I learned on how to improve ministering is to just call and chat with them about their day every now and then to let them know that I care.
Wednesday we were able to stop by a lot of the members in the ward. We taught them about missionary work, and asked them what they had done. To conclude we set goals with them on what they can do, from the ward mission plan, to do missionary work.
Thursday we met with Clancy, and read more of the D&C with him. We also had a lesson with Nathan and Brian. Brian tried to bash again, and was asking whether of not we had read all of the anti-mormon material, saying that if we wanted to know the truth we would look at everything, and that Satan would want to keep us from doing that. His logic seems pretty flawed though, because Satan, that father of lies, would definetly want you to look at his lies, otherwise you would have no reason to doubt, and you would be happy. He doesn't want that. We also had a lesson with Coltrane. We taught him the 10 commandments, and left his mom the assignment to go over the law of chastity with him.
Friday we had a really good lesson with Dirk. He said that he believes Christ to be a great moral teacher, but he wasn't sure about him being the Son of God. We read Alma 34 with him and talked about the Atonement. It was a great chapter to relate to him, because the question that they had was whether the word was in Christ unto salvation, or whether there would be no Christ. The Spirit was there strongly, and he was able to understand more about it, we told him that if he repented, than immediatly he could see the difference. He told us that he would try repenting and see what happens.
Saturday we did a lot of service. We helped Nathan move out of his house and into a storage facility, where he is going to keep his things while he goes out of town for military training. We also helped the McQuillins prepare to pour a cement pad in their yard. That night we were able to see the Rivers as well. We called and they told us they were busy, but when I said I was being transferred they told me we had to stop by. They are another one of the many families that I am sad to say goodbye too.
Sunday I was able to say goodbye to some of the members in the ward that I have grown close too. I will be excited to come back and visit them when I am off of my mission. It amazes me how much you can come to care about people when you spend so much time with them talking about the most important thing. We had our last lesson with Coltrane as well. We finished teaching the commandments, and took pictures with them. I am excited to be able to go back and see him get baptized this Saturday. There has been such a huge change in their family. I am glad that I was able to be a part of their lives.

I am excited to be serving here in Woodburn, although I was hoping that I would be able to stay in the OPM. Looks like that is not going to happen, but I am glad that I'm here. This seems like a great place, and the people that I have met so far are great. I know that everything happens for a reason, and that this is where I am supposed to be. My new companion's name is Elder Mohler. He is from Beaver, UT. He has been out for 3 months, and it seems that I have been out for that long too, but that is not the case. I asked for white T-shirts right? I can't think of anything else that I want in the package. I realized when I was packing that I have accumulated a lot of stuff. Some members from the Hillsboro ward are driving to Utah inJune, and they offered to take some of it down for me. I think I will take them up on that offer. I'll give you more details later, but you should expect some stuff from me then.

 

Also you have never answered my question. Are you planning on picking me up here, or just meeting me at the SLC airport?

Talk to you Sunday.Love
Elder Schultz