Hello Family!
Thanks for all the birthday wishes!! It has been a good day so far, we went to the temple this morning, and all the missionaries who are going home this transfer had a meeting with the temple presidency, which was super cool!
This week has been a good for us! I did something this week that I haven't ever done before on my mission, and it was pretty sweet! We did chalk drawings on a bridge over the main road where a lot of people walk. We drew (or attempted to draw) the plan of salvation, and answered people questions that they had about it. And it was actually pretty fun, I was surprised at how many people were asking us questions! It was really good, and I had the opportunity to teach this lady who prayed that morning that she would find something to help put her life back on the right track, and it turns out she did! It was really cool! I think she was talking with us for about an hour and a half, and she felt like it was an answer to her prayers! She told us that she wants to come to church, and make changes in her life!
We also had a good meeting with one of our investigators whom we have been working with for a while, and Elder Gumbi and I decided that we weren't really making a whole lot of progress with her, and she hadn't been reading out of the Book of Mormon, so we watched an Elder Holland talk on the Book of Mormon, and talked about how it really will change your life, but you have to read it and apply it in order for it to do so! I feel like we were able to get somewhere with her, and strengthen her desire to find the truth!
We also had a cool experience at church on Sunday! Some of the Summer sales people that are here selling pest control for the summer brought someone to church with them, and we taught him right after church! He is from Maryland, lived here all his life. He has been searching for some direction in his life for a while now, so hopefully he will find it in the gospel!
That's about all the updates I have for you this week though! It is weird how fast time is going now! But I am doing the best I can to make the most of the time I have! I Love you guys! Have a great week! Oh, and by the way, I will be emailing on Tuesday next week, because the public libraries are going to be closed because of the 4th of July! Love you guys!
- Elder Schaap
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
New referrals
Well, you wouldn't believe, I actually wrote you a good email right before this, and then come to find out when I tried to send it, something went wrong, and it didn't save, and it lost the whole thing!
Other than that though, things have been going great! It is alwasy so good to hear from everyone! Elder Gumbi and I have been doing really well, we had a really cool experience the other day, as we were teaching one of our investigators. As we were talking with her, one of her friends showed up to come visit her, and we kept trying to get him to come in and listen, but he said he didn't want to, but later in the meeting, she had to take care of something really quick, and so she told him to come and talk with us while she was gone. It turns out that he doesn't really have any direction in life right now, and is just kind of living in the moment with out any real thoughts of what the future holds for him.
Which was interesting, because Elder Gumbi and I both felt as though we had been in the same situation at one point in our lives before. So we talked with him about God's love for us, and how he has given us the Gospel as a compass to guide our life, and things like that. When he first started talking with us, he told us that he didn't really believe in God, or anything, he was just kind of going with the wind. By the end though, I could sense that he felt there was more to life than just playing it by ear. The funny part about the whole thing is that I don't even know if we will ever see him again, hopefully we will, but even if we don't, it was a good feeling to know that I was able to have a positive impact on his life, and hopefully someday he will find the gospel!
Unfortunately I don't really have a whole lot else to report for our other investigators. Our investigator who had committed to baptism has kind of dissappeared... the last time we talked with him he said he was really busy with his new job, and that he would call us, and that was like a week and a half ago or so.
But we are starting to get some referrals from other missionaries! Which is really exciting because we didn't get any my first 5 or so weeks here! So hopefully we will be able to start teaching some of them soon!
Anyways, Love you guys! Thanks so much for all that you do! Have a great week!
- Elder Schaap
Other than that though, things have been going great! It is alwasy so good to hear from everyone! Elder Gumbi and I have been doing really well, we had a really cool experience the other day, as we were teaching one of our investigators. As we were talking with her, one of her friends showed up to come visit her, and we kept trying to get him to come in and listen, but he said he didn't want to, but later in the meeting, she had to take care of something really quick, and so she told him to come and talk with us while she was gone. It turns out that he doesn't really have any direction in life right now, and is just kind of living in the moment with out any real thoughts of what the future holds for him.
Which was interesting, because Elder Gumbi and I both felt as though we had been in the same situation at one point in our lives before. So we talked with him about God's love for us, and how he has given us the Gospel as a compass to guide our life, and things like that. When he first started talking with us, he told us that he didn't really believe in God, or anything, he was just kind of going with the wind. By the end though, I could sense that he felt there was more to life than just playing it by ear. The funny part about the whole thing is that I don't even know if we will ever see him again, hopefully we will, but even if we don't, it was a good feeling to know that I was able to have a positive impact on his life, and hopefully someday he will find the gospel!
Unfortunately I don't really have a whole lot else to report for our other investigators. Our investigator who had committed to baptism has kind of dissappeared... the last time we talked with him he said he was really busy with his new job, and that he would call us, and that was like a week and a half ago or so.
But we are starting to get some referrals from other missionaries! Which is really exciting because we didn't get any my first 5 or so weeks here! So hopefully we will be able to start teaching some of them soon!
Anyways, Love you guys! Thanks so much for all that you do! Have a great week!
- Elder Schaap
Pic #1 - Elder Gumbi, Alex Boye, and me!
Pic #2 - Elder Gumbi and I with our Duct tape ties haha
Pic #3 - For FHE on Monday, we did a photo scavenger hunt on U of M campus,haha it was pretty fun, one of the things we had to do was to take a picture with someone sitting on a bench
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The YSA Ward is Growing!
Hey Everyone!
So good to hear from you! I can't believe how fast time is going... crazy! But everything is going well for us here! We have been doing our best to keep busy! We are hopefully going to start teaching a friend of one of our members! Which should be really exciting!
We got a new ward mission leader, and some interns are actually still coming to the area, we have about 20 now! So things are looking up!
Unfortunately though, our investigator didn't make it to church this past week, still our only contact with him has been over the phone, we had an appointment yesterday, but he cancelled on us, so it doesn't look like he is going to be able to be baptized on the 24th... we still don't know exactly what has been going on, he said he has been super busy, he just got a new job, so it is understandable, it would just be nice for us to know what is going on with him!
We have been meeting with a young lady investigator a lot lately, she is from Cameroon, and she has been making a lot of progress since we have been meeting with her, the only problem is that she is a home aide, and she works on Sunday, so it is hard for her to get that off. Hopefully we will be able to see her come to church sometime soon though!
Other than that we are doing our best to find new people to teach! It is hard in the singles ward! But we will figure something out!
Sorry for being so short, but I Love you guys! Have a great week!
- Elder Schaap
Pic #1 - I am thinking of taking up a new style when I get home, what do you think?
Pic #2 - I tried my hand in baking... kind of filled them up to much, but they tasted good!!!
Pic #3 - I don't think I told you about this yet! These are Scotch Bonnet peppers, they use them in Jamaica, and they are hotter than Habanero peppers! One of the sisters in our ward is from Jamaica and feeds the missionaries once a week, and it is tradition for each missionary to eat one whole! I did a few months ago, and it was by far the hottest
thing I have ever eaten! Don't worry, I have it on video!
So good to hear from you! I can't believe how fast time is going... crazy! But everything is going well for us here! We have been doing our best to keep busy! We are hopefully going to start teaching a friend of one of our members! Which should be really exciting!
We got a new ward mission leader, and some interns are actually still coming to the area, we have about 20 now! So things are looking up!
Unfortunately though, our investigator didn't make it to church this past week, still our only contact with him has been over the phone, we had an appointment yesterday, but he cancelled on us, so it doesn't look like he is going to be able to be baptized on the 24th... we still don't know exactly what has been going on, he said he has been super busy, he just got a new job, so it is understandable, it would just be nice for us to know what is going on with him!
We have been meeting with a young lady investigator a lot lately, she is from Cameroon, and she has been making a lot of progress since we have been meeting with her, the only problem is that she is a home aide, and she works on Sunday, so it is hard for her to get that off. Hopefully we will be able to see her come to church sometime soon though!
Other than that we are doing our best to find new people to teach! It is hard in the singles ward! But we will figure something out!
Sorry for being so short, but I Love you guys! Have a great week!
- Elder Schaap
Pic #1 - I am thinking of taking up a new style when I get home, what do you think?
Pic #2 - I tried my hand in baking... kind of filled them up to much, but they tasted good!!!
Pic #3 - I don't think I told you about this yet! These are Scotch Bonnet peppers, they use them in Jamaica, and they are hotter than Habanero peppers! One of the sisters in our ward is from Jamaica and feeds the missionaries once a week, and it is tradition for each missionary to eat one whole! I did a few months ago, and it was by far the hottest
thing I have ever eaten! Don't worry, I have it on video!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Nationals Game Today!
Hello!
So sorry I forgot to tell you that P-day was going to be on Thursday this week! But we went to the Nationals Game today! It was fun to see everyone in the mission there!
As for Transfers, yes Elder Gumbi and I are staying together for my last six weeks! I am really excited about it too, we are starting to get a lot of good things going in our area, so it should be a good last transfer for me!
We had something really awesome happen this week! On Thursday night, we got a text from one of our investigators, and he told us that he wanted to meet with us one last time before he headed off for the summer, and he said he wanted to meet at the Visitor's Center, so we met with him the following morning, and in total we were there with him for about 3-4 hours, just trying to resolve his concerns, because he has heard all of the Preach My Gospel Lessons many times. So we just decided to talk about the Book of Mormon, and its significance and importance.
We had a very open conversation with him, and tried to present things to him in a way that he hadn't heard them before, and it is funny how the spirit works, because something that we said to him kind of in passing had a very big impact on him, and kind of led him to do a self-evaluation on where he stood as far as the gospel is concerned. After we had just about finished talking he told us that he didn't really have anywhere to be for a few hours, so we figured what better place to hang out at for a while than the Temple Visitor's Center?
So we stayed there and showed him around, all of the displays and exhibits and things, and then we asked if he had ever been down and walked around the Temple itself, he said he hadn't, so we did that. As we were walking to the temple, I told him about how when we first get out to our missions, President tells us to go and walk on the Temple grounds alone for about 20-30 minutes, and just think about what we are doing, why we came on our missions, and commit ourselves to the Lord. I have no idea whether this struck a chord with him or not, but after we had walked all the way around the Temple, he told us that he felt really good, and that he had new material to start thinking about in his journey to find out whether or not this is the path that his life needed to be on, which we were really excited about. Then as we were leaving he told us that if he feels the same at the end of the summer as he did when he was at the Visitor's Center, that he would be baptized when he comes back for school in the Fall! We were really excited! He is making lot's of progress, and I hope he continues to through out the summer!
As for our other investigator that has committed to be baptized, unfortunately he didn't make it to church... he told us that he has been busy, he just got a new job and things are pretty crazy apparently, but hopefully we will be able to meet with him before Sunday so that he can make it out to church!
That's about it for me though! Thanks for the updates! Jealous of Dani and Brad right now! [They're in Portugal and Paris for 10 days] Love you guys! Talk to you next week!
- Elder Schaap
Pic #1 - Random
Pic #2 - District Picture, we had a White Elephant gift exchange for our game! (I got a spatula, and I gave those slippers that Sister Holt is wearing hahaha!)
Pic #3 - Baseball Game!
So sorry I forgot to tell you that P-day was going to be on Thursday this week! But we went to the Nationals Game today! It was fun to see everyone in the mission there!
As for Transfers, yes Elder Gumbi and I are staying together for my last six weeks! I am really excited about it too, we are starting to get a lot of good things going in our area, so it should be a good last transfer for me!
We had something really awesome happen this week! On Thursday night, we got a text from one of our investigators, and he told us that he wanted to meet with us one last time before he headed off for the summer, and he said he wanted to meet at the Visitor's Center, so we met with him the following morning, and in total we were there with him for about 3-4 hours, just trying to resolve his concerns, because he has heard all of the Preach My Gospel Lessons many times. So we just decided to talk about the Book of Mormon, and its significance and importance.
We had a very open conversation with him, and tried to present things to him in a way that he hadn't heard them before, and it is funny how the spirit works, because something that we said to him kind of in passing had a very big impact on him, and kind of led him to do a self-evaluation on where he stood as far as the gospel is concerned. After we had just about finished talking he told us that he didn't really have anywhere to be for a few hours, so we figured what better place to hang out at for a while than the Temple Visitor's Center?
So we stayed there and showed him around, all of the displays and exhibits and things, and then we asked if he had ever been down and walked around the Temple itself, he said he hadn't, so we did that. As we were walking to the temple, I told him about how when we first get out to our missions, President tells us to go and walk on the Temple grounds alone for about 20-30 minutes, and just think about what we are doing, why we came on our missions, and commit ourselves to the Lord. I have no idea whether this struck a chord with him or not, but after we had walked all the way around the Temple, he told us that he felt really good, and that he had new material to start thinking about in his journey to find out whether or not this is the path that his life needed to be on, which we were really excited about. Then as we were leaving he told us that if he feels the same at the end of the summer as he did when he was at the Visitor's Center, that he would be baptized when he comes back for school in the Fall! We were really excited! He is making lot's of progress, and I hope he continues to through out the summer!
As for our other investigator that has committed to be baptized, unfortunately he didn't make it to church... he told us that he has been busy, he just got a new job and things are pretty crazy apparently, but hopefully we will be able to meet with him before Sunday so that he can make it out to church!
That's about it for me though! Thanks for the updates! Jealous of Dani and Brad right now! [They're in Portugal and Paris for 10 days] Love you guys! Talk to you next week!
- Elder Schaap
Pic #1 - Random
Pic #2 - District Picture, we had a White Elephant gift exchange for our game! (I got a spatula, and I gave those slippers that Sister Holt is wearing hahaha!)
Pic #3 - Baseball Game!
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