Hello Family!!!
Man this week has been pretty crazy, with a couple of service projects, and being on exchanges a few times, I feel like I haven't even been able to work in my area hardly at all! It has been good though! On this last Thursday and Friday, I was on exchanges with Elder Rodriguez who is in the French program here in our mission, because his companion and my companion both had to go to leadership training, and things were crazy because we had things to do in both areas, but only the two of us to cover it. We spent most of our time though with a lady(who just got baptized this past Sunday!) and we were helping her get ready for her baptism. It was really cool too, because she asked me to stand in on her confirmation on Sunday as well!! So everything worked out in the end!
I don't have much time today, because we are going to go to the Holocaust Museum later today, and we want to have enough time to see everything there. But I will tell you a short story about this guy we ran into the other day. Elder Krugman and I met him just walking down the street we saw him, and Elder Krugman asks "How's your day going man?" almost immediately after that we could tell that he was in a very rough situation. It turns out that he lost his job, his wife of 21 years, and his house, all within the last six months, and he was just trying to hang on. We both could tell that he was very sincere, and all he wanted was just something to eat to keep him going. So Elder Krugman gave him his ear warmers because he could tell that he was cold, and I gave him what little change I had, and we said to him, "We wish we could help you more!" and he said back to us "You have done more than you think, just stopping and talking to me helped." We felt so bad for him because he was so sincere, so we asked him if he was still going to be there in about 20 minutes and he said he would. We decided that we were going to go to a grocery store near by and buy him just something so that he could have food for a couple of days. Anyways, when we came back, he was nowhere to be found, and we were stuck with these snacks that we bought him. I hope we see him again though, because we still have the snacks to give him!!!
Well I gotta go, but I love you guys a ton!!! And Hope you have a great week!
- Elder Schaap
P.S. Sometimes it is easiest for me to email in the mornings, so if you guys would start to send your emails on Tuesday night that would be great! Thanks!!!!
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Happy New Year!
Well... to answer some of your questions to start off, no I didn't stay awake for the new year haha because it really wasn't any different than any other day, other than the fact that we had to be in by 7 and not 8:30. I am glad you guys had a good New Years though!!
Things have been going pretty well for us here though, I don't know if I have talked to you guys about one of our investigators and his family or not yet, but we had a visit with them on Tuesday, and pretty much the whole time he and his wife were getting into dumb little arguments that they just can't let go of, that went on for about 30-45 minutes, so finally Elder Postma says to them, "How about you guys come to church with us this week?" And they accepted! And all 8 of them showed up! It was sweet! and plus we had 2 additional investigators at church this last Sunday, and they all had a really good time and will all hopefully come back again! Keep your fingers crossed! The work is starting kick into gear here, so hopefully Elder Krugman and I will be able to keep up with it all!
I also had a cool experience this last Thursday, I was actually on and exchange with Elder Mataele (my roommate who is a greenie) and we met this guy for the first time who is from Ethiopia. He is probably the most humble person I have ever met, and he is having a rough time finding employment and a place to stay etc. and he was very open to just about anything we taught him. But there was one point during the lesson where he just broke down to us and started to tell us his whole situation and how he normally wouldn't ask for help but he had no other options at this point. It was about this time where we told him that we couldn't help with anything like that, but that we knew people in the ward that have a calling specifically to help people like that, it meant so much to him that after we told him that he just started crying and said to us "I have found my brothers." Holy Mackerel, I don't know if you guys have ever been in a situation similar to that before, but I had to try really really hard to not cry with him, it was a very powerful experience, and it just made it even more clear to me that my purpose for being out here is to help people like him.
Anyways, that is all I have for you guys this week, I love you guys, and have a good week!!!
- Elder Schaap
Things have been going pretty well for us here though, I don't know if I have talked to you guys about one of our investigators and his family or not yet, but we had a visit with them on Tuesday, and pretty much the whole time he and his wife were getting into dumb little arguments that they just can't let go of, that went on for about 30-45 minutes, so finally Elder Postma says to them, "How about you guys come to church with us this week?" And they accepted! And all 8 of them showed up! It was sweet! and plus we had 2 additional investigators at church this last Sunday, and they all had a really good time and will all hopefully come back again! Keep your fingers crossed! The work is starting kick into gear here, so hopefully Elder Krugman and I will be able to keep up with it all!
I also had a cool experience this last Thursday, I was actually on and exchange with Elder Mataele (my roommate who is a greenie) and we met this guy for the first time who is from Ethiopia. He is probably the most humble person I have ever met, and he is having a rough time finding employment and a place to stay etc. and he was very open to just about anything we taught him. But there was one point during the lesson where he just broke down to us and started to tell us his whole situation and how he normally wouldn't ask for help but he had no other options at this point. It was about this time where we told him that we couldn't help with anything like that, but that we knew people in the ward that have a calling specifically to help people like that, it meant so much to him that after we told him that he just started crying and said to us "I have found my brothers." Holy Mackerel, I don't know if you guys have ever been in a situation similar to that before, but I had to try really really hard to not cry with him, it was a very powerful experience, and it just made it even more clear to me that my purpose for being out here is to help people like him.
Anyways, that is all I have for you guys this week, I love you guys, and have a good week!!!
- Elder Schaap
Friday, December 31, 2010
...And a Happy New Year!
It was so nice to talk to you guys the other day!!! Man, I swear it felt like that call only lasted like 5 minutes though, it was way too short! I loved it though!
Well, things here have been pretty slow recently with the Holiday season and all. No worries though, this week should be better. But not a whole lot has changed since my phone call home. We did have the chance to meet with several investigators again, they are doing really well, unfortunately though they aren't progressing as fast as we had hoped, but we are trying to find different ways to help them out as best we can. Elder Krugman and I haven't really had a whole lot of teaching opportunities this week, so the only other thing we can really do is tract, and instead of saying "ahhh tracting again?" we just go out and do it, and are making jokes to each other and having a good time while doing it, which makes the day go by a whole lot quicker!
Our parking assignment on Christmas Day went pretty well, surprisingly there was quite a few people there, which I didn't think there would be, but it wasn't too bad, and honestly I probably wouldn't have been doing much otherwise, so it wasn't a big deal. Yes I did get the present from the Primary, I was meaning to talk to you about that on the phone call, but please tell them Thanks for me!! I loved it! Well that's about all I have for you today, but I hope everything is going well for you guys, and I love you tons!!!! Talk to you next week!
- Elder Schaap
Well, things here have been pretty slow recently with the Holiday season and all. No worries though, this week should be better. But not a whole lot has changed since my phone call home. We did have the chance to meet with several investigators again, they are doing really well, unfortunately though they aren't progressing as fast as we had hoped, but we are trying to find different ways to help them out as best we can. Elder Krugman and I haven't really had a whole lot of teaching opportunities this week, so the only other thing we can really do is tract, and instead of saying "ahhh tracting again?" we just go out and do it, and are making jokes to each other and having a good time while doing it, which makes the day go by a whole lot quicker!
Our parking assignment on Christmas Day went pretty well, surprisingly there was quite a few people there, which I didn't think there would be, but it wasn't too bad, and honestly I probably wouldn't have been doing much otherwise, so it wasn't a big deal. Yes I did get the present from the Primary, I was meaning to talk to you about that on the phone call, but please tell them Thanks for me!! I loved it! Well that's about all I have for you today, but I hope everything is going well for you guys, and I love you tons!!!! Talk to you next week!
- Elder Schaap
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Christmas Phone Call from Elder Schaap!
We got a fun phone call yesterday afternoon from Robbie. We were able to talk to him for about an hour before he had to go to his assignment to help with parking at the temple visitors' center for people who were coming to see the Festival of Lights. He sounded really great - just like we all remember! He said it was a little weird responding to his first name, because he hadn't done that in 5 months! He loves the new ward he's in, the area he's in, the people he's working with, and his new companion, Elder Krugman. He's having to rely on his own cooking a little more in this area than in his last area, but so far, he's surviving! He said it's very cold because of both the wind and the humidity, which make the wind chill factor colder than what the temperature gauge we see on the internet tells you. He's enjoying being on his bike, and as you can tell from the photos he sent home, he loves his new hat! It keeps him very warm! He loves that his new area is so close to the temple (about 5 miles away). We just had a really great time talking to him, catching him up on things at home, and it was so great to hear his voice!
Marcie
Marcie
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
Merry Christmas!!!!
Wow, this last week has just flown by, in fact, this transfer is going by way too quick, but that is a good thing right? Anyways, so good to hear from you guys! Things are going pretty good here, busy as usual, Elder Krugman and I were able to go to the Visitor's Center 3 times this week!! And we saw Jenny Oaks Baker (violin player) and Sandra Turley (broadway singer) perform, which were both really good performances, and both times the theater was filled to capacity.
We had an interesting day on Sunday haha, so to start off, the missionaries covering the South/East area have been teaching this lady who kept claiming that she had been baptized into our church before, but her records couldn't be found, so she just decided that she was ok with that, and she would just get baptized again. So Elder Krugman and I go to her house on Friday for the baptismal interview and he finds out that there is an issue that has to be taken to Pres. M in order for her to be cleared to be baptized, so we call President, and he says that he will just be there at our church on Sunday and talk to her before the meetings start. Well church here starts at 1:00, and 1:10 rolls around, finally she shows up after President had been there for almost a half hour. So they talk, and she is cleared to be baptized, so Elder Krugman and I start filling up the font so that it will be ready, we called the missionary that was in the area previously so that he could come and perform the ordinance. Needless to say it was a very stressful day at church because me and my companion were in charge of most of the logistics of the whole thing.
And then.... about 30 minutes before the baptism is supposed to happen, this guy in the ward comes up to us and hands us a paper that says they found her records, and that she no longer needs to be baptized hahaha man it was frustrating. After all that work to make sure that the baptism happened on time and that everything was going to go perfectly, we find out that none of it was needed. I liked the way a member of the ward put it, they said it was just a "really intense reactivation" haha that pretty much sums it up perfectly.
Well I hate to throw a wrench in your guys' plans, but we have been lucky enough to receive the opportunity to do parking for the Visitor's Center on Christmas day!! So I really can't give you a better time frame of when I will be calling than 2:00-6:00 my time, 12:00 - 4:00 your time, and even that is not set in stone.... Sorry, but we really haven't been very informed of what we need to do for parking that day, but not to worry, I will get to call sometime! Even if I have to fight for it! haha hopefully I won't though.
I love you guys so much though!! And I can't wait to talk to you on Saturday!!! I will answer your questions that you asked then!!! LOVE YOU TONS!!!
- Elder Schaap
P.S.
Pic #1 - SNOW!
Pic #2 - Me (and my sweet hat!!!) and Elder Krugman all geared up to go out in the cold!
Pic #3 - At the Visitor's Center with our investigators (funniest little old lady ever!!!)
We had an interesting day on Sunday haha, so to start off, the missionaries covering the South/East area have been teaching this lady who kept claiming that she had been baptized into our church before, but her records couldn't be found, so she just decided that she was ok with that, and she would just get baptized again. So Elder Krugman and I go to her house on Friday for the baptismal interview and he finds out that there is an issue that has to be taken to Pres. M in order for her to be cleared to be baptized, so we call President, and he says that he will just be there at our church on Sunday and talk to her before the meetings start. Well church here starts at 1:00, and 1:10 rolls around, finally she shows up after President had been there for almost a half hour. So they talk, and she is cleared to be baptized, so Elder Krugman and I start filling up the font so that it will be ready, we called the missionary that was in the area previously so that he could come and perform the ordinance. Needless to say it was a very stressful day at church because me and my companion were in charge of most of the logistics of the whole thing.
And then.... about 30 minutes before the baptism is supposed to happen, this guy in the ward comes up to us and hands us a paper that says they found her records, and that she no longer needs to be baptized hahaha man it was frustrating. After all that work to make sure that the baptism happened on time and that everything was going to go perfectly, we find out that none of it was needed. I liked the way a member of the ward put it, they said it was just a "really intense reactivation" haha that pretty much sums it up perfectly.
Well I hate to throw a wrench in your guys' plans, but we have been lucky enough to receive the opportunity to do parking for the Visitor's Center on Christmas day!! So I really can't give you a better time frame of when I will be calling than 2:00-6:00 my time, 12:00 - 4:00 your time, and even that is not set in stone.... Sorry, but we really haven't been very informed of what we need to do for parking that day, but not to worry, I will get to call sometime! Even if I have to fight for it! haha hopefully I won't though.
I love you guys so much though!! And I can't wait to talk to you on Saturday!!! I will answer your questions that you asked then!!! LOVE YOU TONS!!!
- Elder Schaap
P.S.
Pic #1 - SNOW!
Pic #2 - Me (and my sweet hat!!!) and Elder Krugman all geared up to go out in the cold!
Pic #3 - At the Visitor's Center with our investigators (funniest little old lady ever!!!)
Pics #4-6 -We went to the National Air and Space Museum today, along with the Capitol Building, and we walked across that frozen pond haha it was sweet!!!
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Pics from DC
New convert in DC 3rd Ward
Elders Krugman and Schaap with DC 3rd Ward
member and Elder and Sister Postma
Elders Johnson and Schaap with Patuxent Ward member
Elder Schaap and Lexington Park Ward member
News from DC 3rd Ward
Hey everyone!
Glad to hear things are crazy as usual haha. Things here are really good, the city is sweet! People here are surprisingly very nice, and humble and willing to listen to us a give us a chance, so that is nice. It is definitely a lot different than down in Southern Maryland, but I love it here. Being on a bike is fun, except it kind of stinks because Elder Krugman has been on a bike now for 3 months, and he dominates me when we go up hills, and because it is so freakin cold here! No worries though, I have a lot of cold weather clothing, and I will be buying some more later today actually, I don't want you guys to have to worry about buying me any, because that way you won't have to spend more money by sending it to me, and this way I can get exactly what I want.
Anyways though, the city is sweet, there are 8 missionaries in the ward that I go to now, along with 2 senior couples! So I am definitely not banished down south any more. The ward is sweet, it is mostly black people, and they are hilarious, and because most of them come from different religious backgrounds, there are some things that they do at church that I wasn't used to, but it is completely normal to them, I can't really think of any specific examples at the moment, but I will get back to you about that next week, it is sweet though. Also, this last Sunday, there was a baptism in our ward, and she is an awesome lady that has a sweet story. Apparently missionaries knocked on her door about a year ago, but she was not interested at the time and just sent them on their way, well about a month or so ago, she saw missionaries riding on their bikes and actually stopped them and told them that she thought that she needed to join the church. She has a distant relative in our ward that she talks to quite a bit, and she just decided one day that this was the next step in her life. Pretty crazy how the Lord prepares people, and just like that they are baptized after 1 month of meeting with the missionaries.
Well thank you guys for the CD player and CD's that you sent me, and Grandpa for the Gift Card!!! Do you guys want me to make copies of the CD's that you sent so that if something happens to them, there will be a back up? Let me know. Dad - my camera is a Nikon CoolPix S3000, my companions name is Elder Krugman, and you are a jerk for bringing up steak and strats!!! Mom - no I am pretty sure that isn't in my area, Silver Spring is east of my area, but I will definitely keep that in mind! Thanks for the update on all the other missionaries, anything on Jake? I got a christmas card from his family this week! Tell them that I hope they are doing well, and Jake as well, also see if I can have his address so that I can write to him!
As for the Christmas phone call, I am not exactly sure what time I will be calling, but it will be after 2 o'clock here, so after Noon there, more likely it will be somewhere around 1 or 2 your time would be my guess, and President has told us to try and keep it to about an hour. I am really excited to talk to you guys! And Have a great week!! Love you TONS!!!!
- Elder Schaap
P.S. I might get on later and send you some pics! I forgot the connector again.... SORRY!
Glad to hear things are crazy as usual haha. Things here are really good, the city is sweet! People here are surprisingly very nice, and humble and willing to listen to us a give us a chance, so that is nice. It is definitely a lot different than down in Southern Maryland, but I love it here. Being on a bike is fun, except it kind of stinks because Elder Krugman has been on a bike now for 3 months, and he dominates me when we go up hills, and because it is so freakin cold here! No worries though, I have a lot of cold weather clothing, and I will be buying some more later today actually, I don't want you guys to have to worry about buying me any, because that way you won't have to spend more money by sending it to me, and this way I can get exactly what I want.
Anyways though, the city is sweet, there are 8 missionaries in the ward that I go to now, along with 2 senior couples! So I am definitely not banished down south any more. The ward is sweet, it is mostly black people, and they are hilarious, and because most of them come from different religious backgrounds, there are some things that they do at church that I wasn't used to, but it is completely normal to them, I can't really think of any specific examples at the moment, but I will get back to you about that next week, it is sweet though. Also, this last Sunday, there was a baptism in our ward, and she is an awesome lady that has a sweet story. Apparently missionaries knocked on her door about a year ago, but she was not interested at the time and just sent them on their way, well about a month or so ago, she saw missionaries riding on their bikes and actually stopped them and told them that she thought that she needed to join the church. She has a distant relative in our ward that she talks to quite a bit, and she just decided one day that this was the next step in her life. Pretty crazy how the Lord prepares people, and just like that they are baptized after 1 month of meeting with the missionaries.
Well thank you guys for the CD player and CD's that you sent me, and Grandpa for the Gift Card!!! Do you guys want me to make copies of the CD's that you sent so that if something happens to them, there will be a back up? Let me know. Dad - my camera is a Nikon CoolPix S3000, my companions name is Elder Krugman, and you are a jerk for bringing up steak and strats!!! Mom - no I am pretty sure that isn't in my area, Silver Spring is east of my area, but I will definitely keep that in mind! Thanks for the update on all the other missionaries, anything on Jake? I got a christmas card from his family this week! Tell them that I hope they are doing well, and Jake as well, also see if I can have his address so that I can write to him!
As for the Christmas phone call, I am not exactly sure what time I will be calling, but it will be after 2 o'clock here, so after Noon there, more likely it will be somewhere around 1 or 2 your time would be my guess, and President has told us to try and keep it to about an hour. I am really excited to talk to you guys! And Have a great week!! Love you TONS!!!!
- Elder Schaap
P.S. I might get on later and send you some pics! I forgot the connector again.... SORRY!
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