Week 6

Dear Family:


As far as the bike lock goes, ask Justin. And also, when you send my sheets and stuff, send that electric toothbrush if it doesn't get used. I don't ever get to do the hosting thing because Wednesday is my p-day. This week flew by. Less than 3 weeks left. I leave on the 17th I'm pretty sure. I should have my flight plans by the next e-mail. The language is starting to come now. Slowly, but surely. And we have like 5 lessons to teach this week in spanish. That will help a lot. So I'm excited to get out of here. I have a list of stuff to talk about. First off, last night in our devotional, L. Tom Perry came and spoke. It was so cool to see an apostle. He did awesome too. Just as he walked in the room the spirit was so strong. He talked about the Book of Mormon and the power that it has and how it is what makes our church. Then last Monday we went to the rc again. I got a few answers but no very good conversations. But I talked to this lady, the first thing she said was, how did you know to call me? Last week a couple kid's from your church stopped by. I explained to her it was all random. She didn't wanna hear what I had to say, but it was still cool. She wished me good luck and everything. Some things I could use this week, sorry I hate asking for stuff, I feel like I always am. Some boxers for gym, it's getting to hot for garments. Some sort of wipes or cleaners for my glasses. My inhaler unless I have it and don't know about it. That cream for my belly button burn. A pocket size dictionary for english to spanish. And then a really small pocket size book of mormon in spanish. They should be like 4 bucks I think. You can get them from the distribution center. If they're way cheap get two cause my companion wants one too. And then some more bowls for salsa. Thanks for that package. It was way good. Those mint brownies are my favorite. As of this week I'm up 15 pounds. I don't get why cause I work out a lot. But whatever. I'm not getting fat. And I'll lose it all in the field anyways. I'm pretty sure I saw Cody Barker last Wednesday when I was walking to the temple. It was weird. Linda Gubler sent me a really nice letter. Make sure you tell her thanks so much. Also I got a Dear Elder from Lindsey Putnam. She's going to Mexico for the summer. She wants my e-mails though so get her address from Shereesa or something. That car recall is something that you for sure need to get done. So don't forget about that one. When you get the blazer aligned just tell them who I am and I used to work at elite. They will help you out. And Mitch will take care of you as far as tires go. Tell Sis that those chinese candy things she sent me, well those green apple hi chew things were absolutely amazing. I love them.

Brody's e-mail was a little wild. I can't wait to start having those experiences. It sounds like Weston is doing good too. I feel bad he is in such a hot place, and it's snowing outside here right now. I don't have a whole lot more to say! Thanks for all your love, prayers, and support. I couldn't do this without any of you. I'm so excited to get out in the field. I wish I could just leave now. The spanish will come out in the field. It's hard but I know it will come. I know this church is true and I'm so grateful for the wonderful parents that you are and the way you raised me. I love the Book of Mormon and the teachings I receive from it. I know that Jesus Christ died and suffered for every single one of us. I am so grateful for that. I know that Joseph Smith is who restored the church on earth today. I'm so grateful for him and the faith he had in God. I know that God loves us all. I pray for all of you! I love you all so much!

Tell Grandma and Grandpa Schvaneveldt thanks for the letter too. I love hearing from them. I won't get to call home on Mother's day, but I will at the airport so don't worry. Tell grandma and grandpa hi and that I love them so much and I appreciate all they do for me and all they have done for me, and the great examples they have been.

Justin, I would really like to get at least $1500 up front then $150 a month after that for the bike. And the lowest I want to get is $3,000. But do whatever you think is right. You're in charge of it. Just give my parents the money and have them keep whatever they need and give the rest to Lynn for the tractor. You didn't distract me by talking about that. I usually zone off about once a day for 15-20 minutes and think about cars and stuff. I know that's bad, but I'm only human.

Thank you everyone and for the amazing examples you have all set for me! Sorry I don't answer all of you questions. I forget all of them. But I try to remember! Love you all, have an amazing week!

E-mail April 21, 2010

Finally a picture!  Thanks to Weston's mom for sending this one.  I think this was a couple of weeks ago.

Hey there!! Things are going great this week. Other than I just went to do my wash and my stupid washer wasn't working because the lid wasn't pushed down quite all the way!! Oh well. I'm sorry about your stomach mom. You should talk to Shereesa, I know she goes to an allergy doctor. I was sad to hear about Devin and Andrea too. That's just to bad. I got Willis's cookies. They were good. Tell them thanks for me please. That's so nuts that it's finals week. And it's even more nuts that Tyler is graduation with such a good degree! Felicitaciones!! I think I'm getting all the Dear Elder's but I'm not to sure. I get quite a few. The language is coming. Slowly but it's coming. I just need to start speaking it more. SYL, speak your language. Or HSI, hablo su idioma. This week is the first week that we teach in spanish. My companion and I teach really well together, and we have already taught a couple of times in spanish. It comes slow but it is coming. Jace's mission call is so cool. That would be a way good place to go. I hope Lynn is doing alright. He is definately in my prayers. It sounds like he is doing better though. I had a cool experience the other day. My companion and I went to the RC again. We started calling and didn't get anything. Well we had gym in about 10 minutes and I had to go to the bathroom really bad so I said I'm making one more call, he said I'll make 3. Well someone answered for him. He talked to the lady for like 20 minutes then I decided well shoot, I better just start calling. So I made like three calls and got nothing. But I felt to make one more call. This lady answered and I talked to her for like 30 minutes. I basically just went through parts of the first lesson with her. In the end I asked if she had any questions. She said will you do me a favor, and I said sure. I was scared she was gonna say never call back. All she said was, I have a nursing test tomorrow, will you pray for me. So maybe I was prompted to make that call just to help some lady out. So that was the end of my conversation, but my companion right next to me was still on the phone. He talked for almost an hour. It was way cool. Sunday I met an Elder at the temple, Elder Anglesey. I guess he lives a couple houses down from Sierra's family. I think anyone can send me e-mails, but I only like having a couple, becaue it takes my time. And I think I can e-mail anyone in my immediate family, not just you and dad. I just never have time. I'm glad you got the car in, I'm surprised the guy remembered me. I think I have only talked to him 2 or 3 times. He is a way nice guy though. He will always take care of you. I'm proud of you mom for noticing big trucks now. Like Kevin. I hope he is doing ok, I haven't heard from him yet. If you were in the red car he for sure noticed you, and most likely if you were in the blazer too. That's probably why he passed you, you just couldn't see him cause his tint. Tyler said besa me fuerte in his Dear Elder he sent me. The translation of that is, You kiss me strong. So I dunno if he meant that or what, but I sure was confused. I can't wait to hear more from my friends and their experiences. See if you can get Cody's e-mail's to me too. It's just nuts that we are all spread out all over. Our zone is doing really good so it's easy to be zone leaders. We have a couple of missionaries who always screw around though, and they are both district leaders so they should be setting an example. It drives me nuts. But oh well. Sis, I loved your paper. I remember seeing that forever ago. That chinese candy stuff was actually way good. I loved all of it, thanks for all the packages. Justin, cheap headset, seat, and seatpost because I wanted to get the stupid thing done and out of here!! I hope you might be having some luck trying to sell it. It would be nice to have it gone. Those pictures from the Rockies game were sweet. I would like going to one when I get home. What mission do you guys live in? I've met a few people going to Denver south and other Colorado missions. Dad, I think this is what Julio is saying, I just translated it with no dictionary so we will see. "Thank you for the spiritual help you have given me in the last months. Your mission started way before you left for the MTC. YOu know what I'm reffering to. A big hug. Julio" That might not be exactly right but it's close. It will be way cool to be able to talk to him when I get back. It's crazy to think that I will see Nick in 3 weeks!! Then like 5 days later I'll be gone. I'm excited. I definately got the best of both worlds. I get the language, and I'm in states. A lot of missionaries worry about visa's and stuff, they're hard to get for Mexico right now. But I don't have to worry about any of that. Nick shouldn't worry, I think the Argentina ones aren't bad at all to get right now from what I've heard. I'm doing really good now, I'm getting used to the sleeping and eating schedules. And I don't think I'll gain any more weight. You'll laugh when you read this, but a lot of it is muscle. I've been working out pretty hard everyday. Last night we had a speaker, Brother Pearson from the 70 I think. It was way good. It was all about faith, obedience, and prayer. At least that's what I got out of it. With faith we can do anything. I learned how I am not just an "average" man. I am a disciple of Jesus Christ therefore, I need to hold myself to a higher standard. Then after I was walking out and ran into him and got to meet him and shake his hand. He said my mission is a huge growing mission. He was the Tacoma Washington mission president for awhile. Then my branch President pulled up, this is for dad, he was in an infinity. It was sweet, it's all wheel drive and everything and has all wheel drive. Anyways, it was a way cool color. Like a creamish color, but light green too. It would be good for the chevelle. They keep telling us not to focus on things outside of the MTC. Ha, I struggle with that at times but oh well. I'm still growing so much. I know that Jesus Christ atoned for my sins. I'm so grateful for that and for repentance so that we can return to live with him some day, and with our families for eternity. I know god loves every single one of us and he knows us personally and we are his children. I love Joseph Smith and everyone that went through the struggles that they did back then just so we could have this church today. I know Thomas S. Monson leads and guides us today. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. Why? Well it's simple. Because there is no way that it couldn't be true. And I love it and love reading from it. It has helped me so much over the last 5 weeks. I know what I'm doing is right and I'm so glad I made this decision. I love all of you so much and all of your support. I would not be where I am today without any of you. Time will fly by.


Love Elder Schvaneveldt

P.S. That cheese was way good. No requests for this week. Thanks for all you have been sending me. One day I will write a whole letter in spanish, it will just take some time. I love you so much! Thanks for being the best mom that anyone could ever have. I can't explain my love to you. I miss you, but will see you in no time!! Tell grandma and grandpa hi and that I love them so much and think about them everyday. I love when I get to brag about them. They are the best and I don't know who I would be without them that's for sure!! Love you!!!

One Month Already!

Things are going good this week. I'll try and answer all your questions but might forget some. Sounds like things are going great. That's crazy that Lynn passed out, it's to bad. Let me know if you find anything else out about it.. I'm glad grandpa is doing his job and telling you to wash the car. You should just keep it and the blazer. That way you can drive the car in the summer and the blazer in the winter. Just don't rack up the miles to high. Did dad get the service done? Also the tires probably need rotated soon, I forgot to tell you. They are directional so you can only go back to front. But just take it to Mitch at discount and he will do it for nothing. I think he is out in Roy on 1900. Text Kevin and ask him. Snoop is pretty cute, but I can sense some naughtiness there. He, or she, just looks way to innocent. Does Annie miss me yet? As far as Spanish goes, it's coming, but coming pretty slow. Every Monday, starting two days ago, we do an English fast where we try to just speak Spanish. It was hard but it did help. My companion and I went to the te, it's teacher evaluation, we taught a sister in completely spanish, we sort of butchered it, but I was surprised we could say as much as we did. We try to speak it as much as possible but it's hard. Then we went to the rc. That's the referal center where you call out to people who have called in in the past to get a book of mormon or bible or whatever. We call and follow up. Some of them requested there stuff like 6 years ago. Everyone was really scared to make the first call. It was way scary. I had an answering machine, you could totally tell it was a black lady, it made my day. It said... "Count your blessins, not your problems, god bless ya." It was way funny, you would have to hear it. So that was a good experience. I was the only one who had someone answer, the guy said the lady I was looking for wasn't home. I should have tried to get to know him but instead I just said okay. I want to go back though. This week has flown by it's pretty crazy. I've gotten one dearelder from Kent and Lori I think, maybe two. Make sure to tell them hi. And yeah, I got a package from Gina. Tell her thank you very much. And to tell Mary and Kala thanks for the letters. She must have talked to you about what to put in it, cause she nailed it. Mountain dew, gummi bears, and apple o's. It was a good package. I can't really think of any requests. I like the easy cheese. I didn't get to say goodbye to Jared really, we planned on meeting up the day he left but it didn't work out. He left a note on my classroom door though saying bye. He will be great. It's weird to think I'm the only one of our close friends here. last night was the last night of choir because they're remodeling the gym. It's weird to see people I know singing. Like Matt Bauer. I also met one of Packer's relatives from Ogden. I think he said he is going to Argentina. I can't remember his name. Last night's devotional was way good though, it was all about how God loves us. The speaker, Elder Pace from the 70's was amazing. He started out by telling us that he requested for the devotional to not be recorded because of sacred things that would be said. The spirit was so strong. The room was just silent. After as a district we shared thoughts abouts God's love. My companion started talking about his dad. I think this was the first time I had even cried since you had dropped me off. It made me think about dad and all he has done for me, then I got thinking about my other dad, Grandpa, and of course, that's when I started to cry. Just thinking about those two examples I've had in my life. I'm so lucky. I hope dad is having fun not having such a busy calling now. I figured it would probably be something with scouts. He loves that though. It won't be any different cause he was basicallly doing that as being a member of the bishopric too. That will probably be pretty cool to work with Jeff Lund. He will get to go to Jazz games. I'm sure the bishop is missing him. He is always and over achiever and picks up everyone else's slack. The ward boundaries in our stake have always been weird. I was trying to figure some of them out from that map that you gave me. It's weird. One thing you could maybe send me, I just thought of this, some cheese and crackers. Like a little roll of mozarella cheese in the air tight plastic crap. One of my favorite Elder's here gave me some and it was amazing. He is Elder Wagstaff, the one who knows dad's cousin. He's probably my favorite, but he leaves tomorrow morning. He's way excited. He reminds me exactly of Scott Allen. They look a lot alike, and he is a basketball freak. It's weird, we are almost the oldest district in our zone now. We get ten new missionaries today. That is a big district. That would suck being in a small room with ten stinky missionaries. I can't believe that I'm gaining wait. I'm starting to work out everyday now though cause they're closing the gym. I'm up like 11 pounds now. Don't worry though. I promise I won't get fat! That place Kristin went to eat sounded pretty cool. I would like that. I can't wait to get out of here and eat real food. This isn't bad, it's just a gut bomb and I always eat way to much of it. So it will be nice to get out and eat good food. Some kid is talking about cars by me, I get so distracted when people do that! They don't know anything. It drives me nuts. Oh well though, I just keep my trap shut. But I'm almost out of time. I dunno if I answered all the questions or not. If I think of anything I will write a hand letter. Just know I'm doing good, and this month has flown by it's insane! I love you all so much and am so glad you are all my family and friends. You all have been amazing people in my life. I know this church is true. I love it. I love the book of mormon and the truthfulness that comes with it. God is our father and heaven and Jesus Christ is our savior. Because of him we can all return to live with each other forever!! I love this church and I'm so glad I'm doing what I'm doing. I love you all!!

3 Weeks Down!

Well 3 weeks today, it's crazy it feels like i have been here forever.  yet it has gone fast.  the shift button isn't working on this computer, sorry.  Conference was good but long.  by the time we sat in there, it was like 9 hours each day.  but it was good.  i loved uchtdorfs talk about patience.  just cause it related to me with trying and learning the language.  it's coming slow, but oh well.  our teachers don't really teach us anything, so we pretty much teach us everything.  the brother that teaches is good.  i also like jeffrey r hollands talk.  just cause he is so broad about things.  i sat by jared for two or three of the sessions so that was nice too.  and then i sat by him at the sunday night devotional and the movie.  it's gonna be crazy when he leaves next week.  i will be the only one here.  that picture was taking either the first or second sunday i was here.  i'm not sure.  i got easter packages from you, sis, and grandma on friday.  everyone was making fun of me, they're just jealous.  so thank you for everything.  especially the ties.  they're great.  i also got my bank cards.  i got an easter card from pam on saturday, tell her thanks, then i also got a letter from grandma and grandpa schvaneveldt.  it was good to hear from them too.  other than that not many people write.  Shereesa does, then julio sent me a dearelder the other day.  it was good to hear from him.  then i have got a few more misc. letters but the rest are from family.  that's sweet ty and bree got a puppy.  i can't believe they stole my name though.  after i get back there will be two snoops running around cause i'm still gonna name my dog that.  but yeah, send me pictures for sure.  sounds like colorado was fun, the drive sounds like it sucked though.  the only time i have done it is right after i had hip surgery and went to denver with dad.  the weather was good, but the drive is just lame.  and it didn't help that we couldn't find a hotel at 3 in the morning.  him changing the oil?  What's up with that? sounds like dad though to be eating 3 bowls of food at the mongolian place, i wasn't surprised.  make sure to dearelder me when jace gets his call.  it should be today or next wednesday for sure i think.  i like how you're starting to become a little rebelious in the red car.  it's a pretty quick car.  the chevelle will smoke it though if it ever get's done.  that speaker is just a stock tweeter i think.  they would have given it to us when we bought the car.  so just put it in the garage with the factory stereo.  Thanks for taking my bike to justin.  i hope you didn't really mess with the front brake..... that's what i just spent money on to get it done.  but oh well if you did.  i hope it sells.  that way i could get some money to lynn.  zone leaders is going pretty good.  right now we only have like 3 or 4 districts, so like 30 missionaries in the zone.  were expecting more though, it's pretty small right now.  it's good to learn leadership qualities though.  i would get all your dear elders, they were just coming like three or four days later.  but i do think i have gotten all of them.  The food is kind of like chuck a rama.  it's pretty good, but gets kinda old.  i'm up 9 pounds now from when i left.  i'm not fat though so that's nice.  the weather here sucks, we've only had like 3 or 4 good days.  oh well though.  Weston has got some crazy stories about his mission.  it sounds like he's loving it though.  that's awesome.  keep sending me his emails, along with brody's and whoever else's you get.  just dearelder them to me please.  Also try to get his address, Brody's, and Cody's.  I would really appreciate it.  Thanks for paying stuff off. i'm gonna buy a mini quad this week, so there will be a 40 or 50 dollar charge on there.  you can use my money to pay it off.  i think all i need this week is retainer cleaner, with a cup to put them in, some tweezers, then some cutips would be nice.  you need to send that stuff though.  thanks for all you do and all you send.  i get more crap out here then i did at home!  last night we had a really good devotional on obedience and successful missions.  the speaker told us about dear john letters, it was hilarious, he gave us advice on what to do when we get one.  Cry your eyes out for 15 minutes then gird up you loins and become a man again.  it was really funny.  sorry the order of this letter is all screwed up, i just was trying to think of everything to write.  the funniest thing ever just happened.  my companion just sneezed, the biggest booger came out of his nose.  he was pretty embarrassed.  sorry i just had to share that.  i'm glad i'm a fast typer, most these keyboards just suck really bad.  oh well though.  i'm working my way up on becoming champion at 4 square.  i've been playing basketball too.  the two elder that are my roommates are huge though.  one is 6'3" and the one is 6'7".  So it's pretty crazy.  that's cool the girl you work with is gonna try and go through the temple.  going to the temple here is just weird, cause i feel like i'm right back in ogden.  5 and a half more weeks and i'll be in a completely different place.  i'm excited.  we got a new district last wednesday and they're way cool.  i was glad that i didn't have a family yet this conference, i would have felt a lot of pressure.  seems like a bunch of the talks were on families and the most important missionary work being done in the walls of your own home.  just know i love you all and i'm so grateful for everything you do and have done for me.  thank you for being the best examples to me.  i know this church is true and i'm so glad to be out here serving.  i am becoming a little weird, but don't worry, not to weird.  i'm loving the things i'm learning.  i'm so grateful for joseph smith and the things he did and the courage he had as such a young boy.  it's amazing.  i'm so grateful for prophets, and apostles.  it's great to have someone here on earth you can guide us everyday.  i love the book of mormon, ever since i got here i have read it with a completely different perspective.  it's amazing and i know it's true.  my time is up so i better get going.  i love you all!!!! thanks for everything!

March 31, 2010 E-mail

Well another week is gone. The computer I'm using is retarded, the space bar sticks and sucks to push. So sorry if it's screwed up. Last p day night we had class, after class the sister from Delaware has a heart condition and she went down on the ground and basically had a seizure. If she doesn't get enough electrolytes it messes up her oxygen flow. I was pretty scared but I got to give her a blessing after she was up again. So that was really cool. Tell dad yes, I did get the stuff in the shoes and in my jacket. Yeah, I got grandpa's letter, I need to get one back to him. That's to bad about Howard, but probably the bet thing. There's a professional skier sitting across from me right now so I guess that's pretty cool. Yeah make sure you dear elder me right after Jace get's his call. On Sunday I actually bore my testimony in sacrament meeting in Spanish. It was my first fast Sunday and that sucked way bad. But in the end it was way good. Me and my companion actually got called to zone leaders on Sunday so that should be pretty fun. We were both shocked considering we had only been here a week and a half. We're in training right now but get new missionaries in our zone tonight so we will see how all that goes. My debit card didn't work, so I had to use my credit, just transfer money from checking or whatever. I will only use my credit card on stuff I need, like lotion this week. My face is drying out way bad. I get 40% off of most stuff here at the bookstore. So don't buy the high lighter refills if you haven't already. Cause that kind of stuff I'll just buy here. There is an elder here from Salt Lake, his name is Elder Wagstaff. His dad runs Wagstaff construction, I'm sure dad has heard of them, they operate the huge cranes, but his family is really good friends with a Mike Schvaneveldt. Are we related? I got to eat dinner with Weston last night then he left. It kinda sucked saying goodbye cause he is the only one I see a lot, but oh well. He will do great. He's most likely either on a plane right now or sitting in an airport, I don't think he left salt lake until around 9 last night. He was way excited to get out and eat some normal food. The food is treating me good here. I'm to the point that I'm sleeping really well too. I did some math today, in a 7 day week we are using about 90-100 hours putting it all towards the gospel. It's pretty crazy, the only other thing I'll ever spend this much time with is my family, and possibly cars ha. I saw a truck here the other day that was pretty cool, well actually it wasn't even cool, it was just the coolest one I've seen for a couple weeks. Yeah I'm way jealous that Kevin is going to the dunes. I wanna go way bad, but at least I'll hopefully get back before Easter cause then I can go. That's the best weekend to go. I'm glad he came and got that stuff. I just got an email from someone but I don't want to get out of this and risk losing all of it. I'm glad Nick and Shereesa came by. Nick probably get's way bored. Tell him to memorize Joseph Smith's first Vision, James 1:5, and d and c 4. It will help him a lot once he is here. If you ever can't figure out the stereo in the car mom just go to hi fi shop. They will take care of you. Some things you could send now is some more body wash. It's the old spice dry skin defense. It's the green one, probably send me a couple of bottles. I shower twice a day and I think the water is hard. Also laundry soap would be cool, my companion got some, it's purex 3 in 1. It's just like a sheet that you use in the washer and dryer. It would be nice. Sorry I feel like I'm always asking for stuff. I do get made fun of for getting packages but I love it. In Seth's email it asked how I got the language out of my head from elite. I guess I never put it in my head. The biggest part was just trying my hardest to never use it. I feel like that's what got it out of my head. I get to go do a session today at the temple, I'm pretty excited about that. I hope you have fun in colorado, be careful driving, it sounds like the weather hasn't been to good out that way from what sis has said. But things here are going good. But time is running short. I'm loving it here and know I will be blessed for it. The language is coming slow but is coming. I know god is our father in heaven and that his son is Jesus Christ. I know he sent Jesus Christ here to die for all of our sins. I am so grateful for the atonement and it all blows my mind. I know this church was restored through Joseph Smith, and that Thomas S. Monson is the true prophet who does receive revelation from god. I'm so grateful for The Book of Mormon and I'm learning to love it so much it's unbelievable, I'm already almost done with 2nd Nephi and I've only been reading for like a week and a half. Thank you for everything you and everyone else is doing for me. I pray for all of you too. I love you all so much!