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