Good times Here!

July 4th!!

July 7, 2014 

Wow sounds like you guys are having a blast back home!

It has been a good time down here!
We had quite a few meetings this week. Zone conference Tuesday. Mission leadership council on Wednesday, interviews with the mission president right after that.  Zone meeting Friday. Wow! In spite of that, we still got some great work done this week!

Here are some highlights:

In zone conference we practiced contacting with the Book of Mormon and this is how we did it. A couple missionaries volunteered to practice and the assistants held up cards with the description of who we are contacting. President Mehr was the person we were role playing with.  I volunteered and you guys knowing my corny little self threw a joke in there.  President made fun of me for that and we had a good laugh but then I got serious. I went one more time all the way through and at the end President said, "I don't know if I could of done it any better myself." Not trying to brag but it does feel good to know that you are actually good at what you are doing.

Mission leadership council was great! We spoke about the blessings of the mission wide fast.

We have a couple baptisms coming up that we are pretty excited for.  Two 9 year olds that we have been teaching from recent convert part member families. They should both be baptized on the 19th of July.  Another one is a 17 year old boy.  He recently has become much more interested in baptism from what I have seen he is practically jumping into the water.  I hope it stays that way.  He also should be baptized on the 19th so we should baptize 3 people this transfer!!! That's good stuff.

Having a great time down here, tons of members! It's the best! Port of Spain!

Love,
Elder Schroeder

                                                                

July 14, 2014
The "M" family is doing pretty good... We actually took "M" out with us all day Sunday.  He is solid, it is incredible to see how much he has learned! He can answer any question (in regards to the gospel) the way a missionary would! So that is great!

I have another cool story though there is a recent convert here named "N"  I did not know it until this last week when I went on a trade off. I was with Elder Eggbert in my old area and we went to see her. I found out that Elder Jamison and I contacted her the Friday before I was transferred to St. Lucia and she got baptized a couple months later! So that's cool! I am going to have to take a picture of all those that were baptized here in Port of Spain partially from my efforts! That would be great! 

The Lord has truly blessed me. I love it here! 

We were supposed to have 3 baptisms on Saturday but now we are only having two. The parents of one of the them are having difficulty deciding which day she should be baptized because of their work schedule. In spite of that we are still having two baptisms. The two being baptized are very prepared! We are excited for them!  Expect pictures of that next week!

Highlights of the week! I have been really focusing on Christlike attributes and it is interesting. We need to totally reverse who we are to become like Christ. I have been making an effort, though feeble, to teach some recent converts this. It has been great. It is amazing when you culture a proper learning environment how much people can learn. Without even knowing that they are learning too. Here are some helpful things that I learned.

When something aggravating or potentially contentious occurs do the following

1) get the facts (if only we knew everything we would make the correct choice every time - so long as our morals are on board)
2) take yourself out of the situation
3) teach or correct with love
these are difficult to do...
We so often times when aggravated, throw our opinions or how we feel (emotionally) into the situation, which opens the gates of argument.  It is true that it takes two to tango but if one chooses not to tango, then there is no tangoing. I am not saying that walking away from a situation is good, in fact no progression will occur if a problem is left unattended in the foreground.

It is possible to not tango and annul the problem, it takes practice but it is possible. Its very hard to explain. Anyway, that is what I have been focusing on recently.

Well, I think that is all I have for the week.
I will for sure take pictures this week, you can hold me to it!

Love,
Elder Schroeder

New area- Diego Martin

6/16/14
This week has been a great week!

I got an interesting transfer call .. I am being transferred back to Port of Spain! Actually, the area is right next to the Port of Spain, it's called Diego Martin. I will be going to the same church building and visiting the same members so that I am excited for! My new companion's name is Elder Babb.

I am excited to go but, of course I am also sad .. I loved the area here in Sangre Grand and have come to love many of the members over here... I am excited to go back to Port of Spain though! That is sweet.

Elder Montgomery and Fiame are both staying and getting new companions they will do well in their areas.

We taught some really great lessons this week! I am sad to leave these investigators especially the "J" Family. they are husband and wife with one child and brother "J" is getting baptised not this Saturday but the next. He actually just fed us yesterday, I finally got to try iguana. It is a super tender meat, tastes pretty much like iguana haha... it was cool! I will send some pictures, anyway more about brother "J" .. this guy already mostly understands the whole concept of Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood and he always has the best questions .. he will definitely be a great strength to Sangre Grande.

I am also sad to leave the "R's" they are also a sweet family. I have faith that they will be baptised and contribute much more strength to the ward. Last night, we taught them the gospel of Jesus Christ they ate it up! It is strange how you teach the same concepts every time and it never gets boring.

We have been working with a good amount of families .. that is our main goal as a mission.. Overall, we have baptised about 300 people in just this year already .. we area aiming for 600 baptisms by the end of the year!

Right now, I have been studying quite a bit about repentance and I stumbled across a talk by Neal a Maxwell. It is the best! The talk title is Repentance and the talk is in 1991. I also want to and look forward to reading the many books that he has written.

Love,
Elder Schroeder





Curried iguana close up!! That is curried mango next to the iguana, next to the mango is curried aloo (potato) and chana (chick peas/garbanzo beans) the tan stuff is "bus-up-shut" a type of roti





6/23/14

Well first thing I must say .... BLAKE !!!!! Actually received a wedding invite just last week...I am extremely excited for them! I still can't get over the fact that he married Maddison haha... that is the best!

I must also say about Sid the prego kid, She is looking good! and pregnant! I think it will be a boy. You should send one of those cupcakes to me so I can find out the same way ;) haha just kidding.

More about my new companion. Again, his name is Elder Babb he is from Guatemala (I don't know if I spelled that right) and he doesn't speak a lick of English.... it is very interesting, I can see why he is a zone leader but we can't understand each other very well, so that is difficult. It helps that I can kind of understand Spanish and also french he was transferred to the English side of the mission 1 transfer ago.... just kidding!! He is from Hughson California it is about 20-30 minutes from Modesto. He is awesome, we get along great! He goes home home just before me, in January. He is the outdoorsy type so that's good. He's also a competent driver so I don't need to worry about that. It's going to be a fun transfer with him.

The names of the missionaries in the zone are: Elder Shariatmadari, Rowley (i wonder if he is related) we look like we could share some blood, Evans, Eggbert (from driggs), Westbroek, Hazlett, sister Giles, Reddy, Edmonds, and Schindler. there it is ... the Assistants to the president are also in our area. They are all great missionaries!

Now .. about he fun stuff ... the members over here are the best!!! I didn't have to remind one member at church what my name is, they all remember me! booyah! It is good to be back. We have so many members to take out, it is ridiculous .. it is almost like they fight for spots or times to go out with the missionaries! It is the best! .. We are going to have loads of member lessons! Those are the best .. and plus it is way more fun to go out teaching with the members. We also have a ton of new members in the Port of Spain ward! Its great to see many callings being filled by the recent converts!

We have some sweet families over here I am excited to tell you more about them. I haven't met with too many people yet so you will hear more next week.. I expect to see some baptisms rolling along over here!!! I wish i had some picture for you guys but I haven't taken any yet...

Have fun in Idaho!
Love,
Elder Schroeder

P.S see if you can give Blake a shout out for me! please!


6/30/14

That is super exciting to hear IT'S A BOY!!!! wow that's going to be a load of fun .. little league games. etc. etc. Sid gets to finally learn everything that goes into parenting .. I can only imagine .... Speaking of that, what was the most difficult thing overall you guys have had to deal with parenting wise? just curious.

Sounds like you had some good fun up in Idaho.Probably not as much fun as we are having down here! I have been super tired the past week! But I am keeping it up! Elder Babb is a funny man, it's great to joke around with him. I also love that he is serious when the time calls! That is something I admire in him.

Not too many strange things happened this week. We have got some great new ward members down here and we have been teaching the recent converts a lot about family history work. The calling I received previous to my mission - family history consultant, has helped out so much down here. Truly an inspired calling! Thank you Bishop Dye or whomever received the inspiration for that. There are so few people down here that know about it. It has been great to help people get started with all of that! The spirit of Elijah is real and it is powerful. I know that family history work is going to be a huge part of my life in the future. Connor should get into it a little bit.

I had some questions for Grandma Schroeder
here goes ...

1) What was your most embarrassing moment?

2) What made you decide to join the church - I have heard the story but, I don't quite remember all the details

3) How did you feel when you had your first child?

4) If you could describe grandpa in 20 words what would it be? You can use a sentence or individual words or whatever..

5) If you could learn anything you now know (about parenting) before you were a parent, what would it be?

Love you Grandma!
So there is a small project for you Grandma .. I want long answers! You can have Connor be your scribe, if you feel so inclined .. how is that for volunteering!

Well, I think that is it for the week!
I Love you all, have a great week!

Love,
Elder Schroeder

Teaching...Love the people!

5/26/14

Trying to figure out the balance of these two areas. We did have some very good things happen this week though.

We met a man named "K" late last week and volunteered to help him do some body work on his car (it is a piece of work) but hey... so we went by to help him and he was pretty surprised that we actually came to help. He wasn't ready for us so he said we will have to do it next week, so tomorrow we are helping him change out the rear axle and dif. pretty excited to get my hands greasy! We did get to help him that day though, his other car ran out of gas a couple miles away so we drove some fuel over to his car to fill it up. It still didn't start but hey... I am amazed at the kind of work they do to their cars here. You should have seen this car... my goodness.... haha

"D"the one we have been working with for a long time is growing in understanding. However, he didn't come to church yesterday :( ugh... I wish he had more strength in the home... anyway... we are doing what we can for him. Truthfully, I just feel that he is a little apprehensive about how his friends will react to him being baptized.

Also, I don't know if I have written home about couple we are trying to get married. They are awesome people we went by Saturday night. I took a youth by on splits, his name is "J" and we got on the topic of marriage yet again. You should have seen this kid counsel these two on marriage it was a sight to behold!!!! haha... He was really good, he is going to be a great missionary!
About him (J) being a missionary,  I helped him submit his papers on Friday night. The ward clerk couldn't figure it out and asked me for help. So I was the middle man in all of that. I am glad I did my own papers, we submitted his papers on Friday all he has now, are his final interview with the Stake President! booyah! I hope I am here when he opens his call. That would be cool.

I think that is really it for the week,  plugging along over here. It can be saddening when people don't act on the truth they learn, but hey its got to be that way, right?

We are celebrating two sister missionaries birthdays today, it is Sister Bratt's (brought) birthday today and Sister Herrick's birthday tomorrow.

Well, I love you all! Have a great week!!
Elder Schroeder

A large field in Sangre Grande on the way to a members house.
Coconut shrimp!


6/2/14

We (the three of us) will probably be companions till the end of the transfer.

About transfers... I pretty much know I am leaving. President Mehr called me on Wednesday and called me to be a zone leader. I don't know where I am going but I do know, that I am leaving. So all you have to do is wait in anticipation. We have a big mission leadership conference on Tuesday Wednesday. That is where President Mehr flies all the zone leaders in to instruct them.

We had great week this week in the amount of lessons we were able to teach! We taught a total of 38 lessons! We have a zone competition going on (the competition is based off goal setting) and we crushed it!

As far as our investigators go, it is super hard to really focus on specific people when you are spread so thin, doing the best we can.

Recently, we have been doing really well at taking members out teaching with us. We have some pretty good bonds with the members in the area here. Bro "A" is one of my special favorites, he is a little outspoken kind of guy, but his experiences are a great help to the investigators that we have. Love the people here!!

Ahh.. this week the senior companion assigned to Sangre Grande (Elder and Sister Ray) had their family here visiting. It was super weird to see white people again. I feel like when I go to back to school I will gravitate towards the one black person... it is going to be super weird to go home.

As of now I would say my biggest focus is getting a couple married and also get Brother "R" to church. These couple families could be the best!!!!!

I really just don't have a lot to say this week. I didn't take notes throughout the week, I will this week though.


Love,
Elder Schroeder

Baptisms and Service!

5/12/14

                           Mother's Day skype was AWESOME!!!

It sure was great that you could meet some of the members in the ward during our call. I actually invited them to come meet you guys, that was nice! "S" and" S" love going out with the missionaries! Also Brother "N.B." I am glad you guys got to meet some of them.

We have 6 missionaries serving in the Sangre Grande ward. Elder Montgomery, Hernandez, Fiame, Sister Hendricks, Sister Herrick, and myself. It is a pretty good bunch!

I am glad your range of motion is increasing! That is great you will be back to normal in no time!
Hoping Connor can get that externship! I guess I am always thirsting for knowledge, externship\internship, whats the difference? I can throw out a good guess but still I would like to know more. Oh and I have got to see a picture of that bike, sounds sweet!

Anyway, as far as the work this week I received some great news from Elder Fiame my new companion, he just came form St. Lucia. Of course I asked him how it is over there. He was just ecstatic! I do not know if you remember me writing home about a brother "P".  He is a man who only has one leg due to diabetes that I contacted and began teaching him about 3 weeks before I left. He is now baptized! Also the "A" family which includes "D" "V" and "O" are all baptized! Apparently, "O" is the best, he is a great fellow shipper for investigators and he has already given talks and everything at church. "S" I also heard is doing great! She is a great institute teacher and she has a weekly house meeting with 40+ people in attendance!!!! There also is another investigator named "J" who is being baptized soon. Elder Fiame tells me that they all love me a lot and they always ask about me. It is a great feeling! 5 more souls!

I also found out from Elder Fiame that in the mission, my nickname among the missionaries is "Elder Dictionary" pretty funny!

We did have something pretty sad happen this week a member that feeds us every Sunday after church. His brother passed away, he is not of our faith, we went to part of the wake for him. We were just there for a couple of hours. We visited with the minister, it was quite interesting to see how they handle funerals, he asked us if we had any questions it was fun to pick his brain a little bit and see how they approach the death. We sure are blessed with the plan of salvation... 

I have really discovered how much service plays into missionary work. Often I find myself throwing everything to the side so I can help out a brother or sister. There is not enough of that in the world!
This week Elder Fiame cut up about a million pimento peppers for someone. I hoed a large patch of grass while Elder Fiame taught a lady, it was great! This makes me remember when I was on a trade off a while back. I called into a house and the lady just poked her head out and said, "not interested" and then I said back "can I leave you with something to read?" she said, "Yes" as I walked up to give her the book and I could tell she was still very sheepish, if not a little perturbed. As I was writing down our name and number on the back of a pamphlet, I noticed she had been doing some yard work and the sidewalk needed sweeping. I offered to sweep and she said no (of course) with a little convincing I got a hold of a broom and started sweeping, about 5 seconds in she started laughing out of sheer shock. As I continued sweeping we talked energetically and she actually ran inside to get a camera to take a picture of the momentous event! I finished sweeping and we spoke to her very candidly about what we do as missionaries. We left the house with a great return appointment! Great stuff!
Well, I think that is it for the week. Love you all!
Elder Schroeder

This computer isn't letting me send pictures, sorry:/


5/19/14

First off I have to say... the fires over there looked ridiculous, I am glad you are all safe!

That's funny to hear about Pops being called that also haha. I did learn from you mom, how to work hard though!! You're always going. I am glad I inherited that from you.

"S" (the young man you met) came to church and got the priesthood. He is also coming out teaching with us on Tuesday! He is good and has a very powerful testimony.

A little about this week, I had to stop driving the car on Wednesday because of the work permit issue so Elder Fiame and I were on bike's for two days and guess what? I crashed twice .. once for each day... I guess Connor and I mountain biked a little too much, I tried doing some tricks and yeah it didn't end well haha.. anyway we are back in the car now, that's a whole different story though. We just sent one of our missionaries home... He has got to go home to get surgery on his knees. Anyway we inherited his companion - Elder Montgomery, so now we have a designated driver... kind of terrifying at first but, I trust him with the car now.

So right now the three of us are covering two full areas, we are doing pretty good and doing lots of service.  Elder Fiame and Montgomery are two very energetic guys, they go a million miles and hour and crash at the end of the day. They are great missionaries, hard workers, firm testimonies, great attitudes. What more could you want?

My time is almost up, I had a lot of emails to read today.

Excited for the next 10 months! Keep plugging along at home you guys should try reading the Book of Mormon in 90 days, reading the same assignment everyday and then come together and talk about it at the end of the day. I think that would be great! You can see how much you each learn!

Love you guys!
Love,
Elder Schroeder

1- Two of the best dogs ever
2- Cayman I caught (just kidding, my investigator had it)
3- Me and Elder Fiame

                           

 

Good stuff!! Fun stuff!! Experience of a Lifetime...

4/28/14
Hi!

I know Sid is definitely the perfect material to be a teacher. I am excited for her! It is quite the adventure I am sure. That really is a huge responsibility she holds in her hands teaching the future generation. If she fails... uhh ohh... I know she won't though.

This week really has been a great week. Elder Brown and I have met a good amount of very prepared people! The first being "B" .. we brought a member out teaching with us, he is about 30 and it turns out that he and the woman we went to see knew each other when they were little kids ... they were neighbors and played with each other and everything! Perfect fellow-shipper! Anyway we continued teaching her about the Book of Mormon (we taught the restoration the time before) and she is very serious about it. She is already very active in another faith but she said that she will follow, if she finds that what we teach is true. Quite the faith I have to say! She said, "this is my salvation,  I must find out if this is true" that's the best!

Another person we met is from Jamaica and wow this blew me out of the water; when we brought up the Book of Mormon she said, "I have always wondered, if God spoke to the people in the East, then why don't we have a record of him speaking to the people in the West?" What great joy it brings to know that Elder Brown and I were ready and willing to declare these great truths to our sister! and cause her to rejoice! Good stuff!

Here is one interesting story, last night Elder Brown and I went to an investigators house and they were having a big block party. A Caribbean block party... needless to say there was a lot of alcohol involved .. but everyone here loves ministers so we walk to our investigator and he invites us to stay for food.  Free food! Of course we are staying. We decide though since the food is not ready, to leave and come back. We left then came back and a super drunk guy nicknamed "C" hooked us up with the food. Two ministers just sitting in the middle of a bunch of drunk people that absolutely love us, it was strange, but funny.

Two other people that were just super prepared for us "S" and "K"... they are awesome! We are actually helping "K" do a fundraiser for her child he has got a heart problem where his heart keeps enlarging, eventually it will basically blow up because the walls of his heart can't keep up with the expansion and they get too thin. I can't remember what the name is .. but we are helping her raise money for the flight up to the states.

This week has been pretty good. We have been making some good efforts at reaching out to the members here as well, so we are excited to see the fruits of our labors.

Love you guys so much have a great week!
Elder Schroeder



5/5/14
First and foremost above all things I am super excited for Sid! That is very exciting I hope she handles pregnancy well. I am also excited that I get to be there to see his early life! That's the best! It is strange how much growth in family, makes us happy, I guess it is just inside all of us! We love life!

Now for transfer calls... drum roll please! I am going nowhere! I am enthralled to be here yet again, I love Valencia! Elder Brown however is leaving :( sad day .. he is going to Guyana. My new companion will be Elder Fiame. If you go back on the pictures of us zip lining in St. Lucia, he is the only Polynesian in the pictures. That is who I will be serving with. He is also from California, I think San Jose if I remember correctly. So that change will be fun.

Also, getting a license here doesn't really mean much of anything for transfers in the mission, we just need to get them to drive while we are here. I personally think I will probably be here the rest of my mission though. It seems to work like that. but hey who knows. I am super happy with that though I love Trinidad!!  Not a whole lot of sites to see but the people are the best! I guess the people are the best everywhere though huh??

Oh, I just remembered... I forgot to tell you last p-day we had a zone activity where the entire zone went turtle watching. The beach we went to is Grande Riviere and apparently it is the most concentrated leather back turtle nesting site in the entire world. These turtles are ridiculous! They are huge!!!! I even kissed one! yeah beat that Connor! I kissed an animal that perhaps could go extinct in our lifetime. I hope not... they are mighty cool.
My little nerdy insides were drooling when I heard we got to go see them. We got back from seeing them at 2 in the morning ... and yes we were expected to proselyte just like regular that day.. fun stuff!! We were all super tired  but definitely the experience of a lifetime. Sadly, I only have some poor pictures because flash photography is not allowed at this site. You guys could look up pictures though I am sure. We got to see them lay eggs and everything. Some people even ate some of the eggs that had been dug up... gross.

We finally had an investigator come to church!!!!! yay! His name is "D" he is the 15 year old son of the a great member family, their son has just not been baptized. We challenged him to set his own baptismal date so hopefully this week he will decide what day he wants to be baptized.

Other than that we did have one quite miraculous miracle this week (what else would it be) we went finding down this road 'pro pouche' rd. (oro pooch) and we taught a young man named "K" at the end of his lesson we asked if his mom would be interested in what we have to share. He very enthusiastically said, "yes!"  So we were pretty excited to come back and meet her. A couple days later, we went to see them and we met his mother, and guess what? She is a long lost member!!!! booyah! Her son was right, she would be interested in what we have to say, in fact she is so interested she is already a member! That was the best!  Now we have one more family to work with here in Valencia! Good stuff!

Well, I think that is it for the week! Still having a great time ... I realized this week that this mission  actually does come to an end and it is approaching quickly... I only have bout 11 months left ahhhhh! anyway...

Love all of you tons have a great week!
Elder Schroeder

Should be able to Skype you  for mothers day... About 6pm my time :)

This computer is acting funny I think it might have a virus, I will see if I can get on another computer really fast and send some pictures.

Zone conference

 April 14, 2014

Wow that is super weird (about Blake) getting married. I met Maddison on a couple occasions! Super weird..... anyway I am happy for them!

That sounds like a great opportunity for Connor! As soon as I heard about the FAFSA/scholarship papers I became slightly terrified! Just kidding, but it really is a little eye opener. terrifying prospect. (back to school next spring)

Zone conference was great this week!  It was focused on topics that I have been pondering a good amount about. One topic specifically was the law of consecration. My interview with president was great! He quizzed us all on our knowledge of the scriptures. We had to do a short role play with him, He gave us a topic and then we had to give a brief doctrinal statement, use a scripture, and leave a commitment. I got two super easy ones... He asked me to teach about the apostasy and then baptism. He said I have a good handle on things and that he hears good things about my teaching skills, so that is good. 

We got a few new solid investigators recently. The first goes by "A" He actually spent most of his life in the states,  he played basketball and football for a college in AZ and also boxed. He served in the Vietnam war (got shrapnel in his hip and head) and right now he is very sick, he thought he was basically dying and it has given him some great perspective. He just found out he is a Syliac (celiac)  I don't know if that is proper grammar and I am 99% sure I spelled that wrong. It's the disease were you can't process any gluten. So he is now on a new diet, hopefully he feels better soon. He is planning on being baptized May 17! We are excited for him.

I love you guys and hope you have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Schroeder

April 21, 2014

That's super cool to hear about  M. Russel Ballard, sounds like a great experience!

I hope you guys have fun in Idaho, and just curious how did connor manage to convince you to rebuild that bike? 

Sad to hear about Kim's little boy... it seems as though our two families are meant to bear one another's burdens.

As far as this week has gone. I recently have been pondering a good deal concerning the law of consecration and how that affects me. I have decided upon this - when we truly consecrate ourselves to the Lord it does not mean we give up worldly things for our Savior but that we subject our will to His. The doctrine behind the law of consecration is interesting. If you think about it -as we all came to earth, took upon ourselves a debt. A debt we knew that we could not repay, hence Christ became our creditor. What however does the Lord require on our part.... total and complete consecration. It is the only way back. Not consecration of our material goods but of our souls. We are his because he is our creditor, he can do whatsoever he pleases with us. If we do not consecrate our lives to him he has the right to make us suffer even as he suffered, and he has sworn that he will if, we do not repent. 

In relation to this I have realized that I have a great potential for good. A potential to lift everyone up. It is so easy to make degrading sarcastic comments just for a laugh or two but in the end it is just that .. sarcastic and degrading.... I am trying to flip the way I think around .. it is challenging but it's going well. It is hard to reverse your thought process. 

The work here is gong well...not as well as we would hope... we haven't had an investigator come to church for over a month. ugh it is hard but we are keeping our chins up and working hard. 

I am 2/3 of the way done with the teachings of the presidents of the church: Joseph Smith. Super good,  you should think about reading it. He truly was given a great gift to expound the simple doctrines of the gospel. I am going to try and send pictures, I hope it works.

I tried ... didn't work sorry :( 

I love you. Have a great week!

Elder Schroeder 

Love...

I did get to watch all sessions, L. Tom. Perry's talk rung out to me quite a bit where he spoke about who drives our team of horses. The Lord truly is the master conductor. I guess that's if you are an obedient horse or you could say if all of your passions are properly trained and bridled. I also enjoyed the talk about women and the priesthood it was interesting to hear him speak so frankly about it. That is one of the talks that will be referred to for many, many years to come as a source for much learning. April 2014 conference messages link

Before I go on, I need to see a picture of Madison, I also need Blake's email address!!!! Exciting!

My thoughts have really collected a bit this past week.  Elder Brown and I are still hard at work here. We still have a tremendous amount of Baptismal dates it is just so hard to get people to church. We do however have a great new family that should come next week and be well on the path to baptism. They all (especially the mother) have expressed a great desire to find a church to settle down into. After we taught them two times we called them to check up on them. You should have heard how excited they were to tell us that they read from the Book of Mormon. They basically exclaimed "we read what you asked us to, it was great, when you come back we will tell you all about it!!!" I am super excited for them!

Recently, I have been reading form the teachings of presidents of the church Joseph Smith and that book is incredible. Joseph Smith really was taught the doctrine of the gospel by angelic ministry. Powerful stuff. Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith

I also have been working on memorizing a many scripture references to points of doctrine. I will have to take a picture of the sheet I am using, its pretty good information!Elder Brown and I have finally been starting to work with members more in this area. We have finally found out how to work it out since our area is so far away from most of the members.

To Dad - Paul is also one of my favorites. He had one of the greatest if not the greatest missionary ministry among mortal men. He is a powerful teacher.  I quote him all the time!

A little update about me right now. Right now I am working on getting my Trinidad drivers license, fun stuff!!!! haha.. I stood in line for over an hour today. I think that was the longest process, I'll have to send a picture, when I get it. Of all the time I have been driving here you would not believe the amount of "close calls" we have had. When I say close calls I think of driving back home. If you passed someone on a surface street back home and there was oncoming traffic, people would call you nuts. Also, squeezing through a gap were you have less than three inches on each side of the car is a daily occurrence. I am glad I learned to drive in California! I could only imagine coming here as an Idaho farm kid. The car would never move anywhere, haha... being able to proficiently parallel park has helped a lot too. I have only fell into one of the ditches on the side of the road twice!(with the car) proud to say! haha!

What talks did you guys specifically enjoy? and also I need a picture of all of you guys together. I don't think I have anything else to say. Be strong and of good courage I love you guys loads! Have a great week!

Love,
Elder Schroeder



Tuesday April 1, 2014
The mission truly is full of magnificent ups and downs... right now is really hard.  I love you guys and I also love the people out here. That's really it.

I really am learning what it is like to have your heart constantly pour out to God. I mean I have done it before but not this intensely. I know that everything is perfectly orchestrated for our progression and this is -part of it all. I have learned so much the past couple days.

Firstly, I want to know how my Love for the people here can become as strong as my love for my brother. If that were so I would be so much the better tool in my Lord's hands. Oh, I love Connor and I know that together we are unstoppable (that was actually a bit of revelation I received at one point of my life) Connor and I were together during the war in heaven and together we withstood ALL the fiery darts of the adversary (I mean all). We had each others back and we came to the Earth together because separate we would fail. We do however have each other and we will succeed.

Just hard at work here with Elder Brown. Loving the work!

I send my love!
Elder Schroeder

P.S. We did have a p-day switch cause it was a holiday yesterday (some spiritual baptist holiday) so all the email shops were closed.