August 9, 2010 E-Mail

Well, I'm getting moved.  I was just really starting to love it here, but I guess that's the way it goes.  I'm going to East Wenatchee and will be covering a spanish branch and an english ward.  It will be really good because there were sisters there before.  So we are sweeping into the area.  It will be good to get a fresh start.  I don't know my new companion yet.  I meet him tomorrow when I head over there.  He is in Moses Lake right now.  That's about all I know.  And I think he goes home after this transfer.  So I'm sad that I'm leaving, but I'm sort of excited too.  I guess it's quite a bit bigger than where I am now.  It's right on the West side of the mission boundaries.  That's crazy that Spencer Packer is home already.  Time is flying by.  This last transfer went by so fast.  Not a whole lot happened this week.  I gave my talk in the english ward thankfully.  It wasn't to bad.  I changed it a little bit from the copy I sent you.  I think it ended up being like 20 minutes so that was good.  We have some investigators who have there grandson over at there house right now.  I think he's 10 years old.  Well he is catholic but we were talking to him the other day and he was asking the difference between mormons and catholics.  So we started to talk about the godhead.  After all he said was wow, I think I'm going to become a mormon.  It was pretty cool.  He goes home in Idaho though in like a week.  So that's the bad part.  So hopefully the missionaries will find him there.  Last night we had a pretty crazy lesson.  It was really short, but in the end we asked the lady who she wanted to pray.  She asked if she could say it and we said of course.  So she offered the prayer.  Well she was confused and didn't say amen.  Well we didn't know if she was done or if she was just thinking.  So we sat there for a few minutes with our arms folded and our eyes closed still.  The spirit was so strong.  Then we realized she was done and we lifted our heads and she was crying.  It was so cool to see that.  We also had a priest from the ward with us who is going through some rough times so it was really good for him to see that too.  He loved it.  Today I don't have a whole bunch of time because I need to pack all of my stuff.  And our bishop here was pretty sad to know that I was leaving so we are going to his house for lunch today.  I think he started crying last night when I told him.  He's a pretty emotional guy though.  So yeah this last week not a whole lot happened.  I spent one day with an Elder who only speaks english over here.  We only talked to one spanish lady though I think.  Then I had to go over to Othello for a day too.  So my companion and I really didn't get to work to much togehter.  That makes it really hard to teach people when only I, or only him taught them.  But things are going good and I'm excited for the change.  I love you all so much.  When I was doing my talk yesterday I realized how important it is for us as members of the church to lead by example.  So stay strong and set the example for those around you who aren't members.  They will realize you have something that they want!  This is the true church and I'm so grateful to have it in my life.  Thank you so much for all you have done for me.  Have a good week.  If you write letters just send them to the mission office. 

820 South Pines Road Ste 101

Spokane Valley, WA 99206

Thank you so much.  Sorry it's so short, we just have a lot to do today.  I love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 2, 2010 E-Mail

Computers are way screwed up today so I have like no time. We are at the library and they are all timed. So it will be short and sweet. We had a way cool miracle this week. Other than that it has been way slow. But we decided to go see an in-active who hasn't been visited for a long time. Last time they visited her she through out a bunch of anti questions. So that's what we were expecting. Well we got there and she just started crying. It was in spanish so I was way confused at first. But she had been praying all day to know what church was true. She asked God if it was the church that she was baptized into. She said in her prayer that if it was true and if he would send her the brothers from the church that very day that she would start going to church again. Well sure enough, we showed up that day. And she was at church yesterday. So that was pretty cool. Elizabeth was confirmed yesterday too so that was way awesome. The work in the fields has really picked up the last week or so, so people are really hard to find at home. And if they're home they are sleeping. So it's been rough. But still really good. Thank you so much for the package. I was so glad to get it. I was pretty ticked when I locked up that Ipod though. So I'm glad you were able to get the number. I figured it would still be listed. I never took stuff off even after it was sold. The guy that called you is so cool. He is in active. His step daughter has been coming a lot though, and that night she asked if we would start teaching her the lessons. So we were really excited about that. They are an awesome family. Everytime we go over there we end up eating something. They really take care of us. He owns the local mechanic/tire shop. So we get a long pretty good. I hope the reunion was fun. That's crazy you're a den leader now mom. I didn't quite expect that one. I tried whiping off my camera lense but it was still fuzzy today on some pictures I printed. So I dunno what the deal is. And about my toenail, I did my own little surgery on it last week and cut it all up. So it looks a lot better now. If I ever get to Spokane I will have that guy look at it. But for now I think I got it in control. I don't have a whole lot more to write or time. We e-mail our president every week too and I still need to do that. I have my talk all prepared and everything for next week. I'm not excited but it's prepared. I need dad to send me some good starter jokes. I love you guys so much and thanks for everything. Keep praying. After this week I definately know that God answer's prayers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have a good week. I love you!!!

Some Old Pictures

This looks like an oyster, yuck!

Kade sent these pictures a while ago, I just haven't put them on here until now, sorry!

July 26 E-Mail and Pictures!

Well this was a pretty good week.  The work was sort of slow, but we did have our baptism last night.  It was way cool to see work finally go all of the way through.  And I got to baptize her so that was cool.  She has really bad arthritis so the Elder's Quorum President stood in the font and helped out because she can't bend very well.  But it was way cool and the spirit was so strong.  There were a lot of members there too so it was awesome.  The ward here does so good and bringing new people into the church and welcoming them.  Today not much is going to happen.   That's okay though because I woke up with a sore throat so hopefully I can take a nap later on.  I had a pretty crazy story that happened on Saturday night.  I almost got eaten by a dog.  I don't think I have ever been scared of a dog until this one.  We got out of the car to go up to the door step of this house and he was growling and sniffing us.  Well he ended up licking us and all was well.  Then he went to the other side of the house.  So we figured it was safe.  I took one step towards the house and the dog came at me going full speed just growling and barking.  He was definately in attack mode.  So yeah I didn't really know what to do other than just stand there.  So I threw my bag in front of me to try and maybe protect a little bit of myself.  Well he got within about an inch of my hand and immediately stopped and just went balistic growling and stuff.  It was so nuts.  My companion was ready to kill it.  It was probably like four or five Kimber's put together.  So we got out of there.  Then the next house we went to there was a huge rottwiler.  Luckily he was sort of chained up because he wasn't to happy either.  So that was the scary experience I had this week.  With the little dogs you can just sort of kick them a little or throw little rocks at them and they take off.  But the big ones it's a different story.  When my companion lived in Bolivia he had 4 pet bears.  So he usually doesn't get scared with animals.  But he was pretty worried this time.  But other than that it has been a pretty good week.  We are still struggling to find people at home.  But it's okay.  Mom  you asked if we will stay together another transfer.  I don't really know what's going to happen.  A lot of spanish missionaries are going home the next couple of transfers and a lot of new ones coming in.  So any of the older spanish missionaries will be training.  So I have no idea what's going to happen.  It's just crazy that it's already week 5 of this transfer.  It's flying by.  Dad asked about Carne Asada.  They should have it in any of those Mexican stores back home.  It's just really thin sliced and it's usually being marinated in something.  A lot of times there's a slice of orange in the package with it.  You just throw it on the grill and cook it.  It's way good.  Probably one of my favorite meals I get.  I usually eat to much of it though.  I think that's about it for this week.  I'll attatch a couple of pictures with the e-mail.  I know this is the true church and that it is the only way to return to live with our heavenly father again.  His son Jesus Christ did so much for us.  And all we have to do is have faith, repent, be baptized, receive the holy ghost, and endure to the end by obeying the commandments.  That's all he asks of us.  That's not to much compared to what he did for us!!  I love you all so much.  Have a good week!!

July 19 E-Mail

I'm glad you got to go to Jace's farewell. Man it's crazy, I remember he got his call and I was thinking dang he has to wait for like 3 months. Well here it is now. So this week was a better week then the past few. We got a lot more support from the members and we had some good lessons. Elizabeth, one of our investigators came to church yesterday. She is supposed to be baptized next Sunday as long as she comes to church. She met a lot of good member so I'm sure she will be there. It's exciting to see the people who really are ready for the gospel. You can usually tell within the first five to ten minutes you talk to them. Mom, you said you hoped the smell here wasn't as bad as the dog food plant. The dog food plant smells like an airfreshener compared to this! This place stinks bad. I'm getting used to it though and it doesn't really bother me. And yes, I did get your letter last week. It came right after I wrote my e-mail. Tell Linda thanks for the stuff for the talk. I knew she would take care of me. You know how bad I hate speaking so we will see how that goes. At least there isn't as many people in the ward here as our home ward. We heard there are about 600-700 members here in the ward. I think only 150-250 are active. So I shouldn't get to nervous. But, I know I still will! I'm glad your youth spectacular thing is done. It sounded like that was taking quite a bit of time. I always thought those things were kind of boring. But this one was probably pretty good. I liked the pictures dad sent me of the cars from Logan's Run. That yellowish creamish truck was sweet. It was my favorite. Dad said there wasn't any chevelle's. I hope you only meant 65's. If not he needs to be going to the eye doctor. Cause there was a 67 in the background of that picture.( white with a black top. It's there dad) Hopefully he isn't going to crazy on me. Mom you should have sent some mountain dew with the Spencer's. I'm sick of pepsi and coke. That's all the people here drink. But oh well. I've been drinking a lot of water. So those propel and lemonade mix things were way good. Thank you! Thank goodness I hung around grandpa a lot when I was younger. We've been doing our dishes downstairs in the bathroom sink. Well the other day I realized that there wasn't a disposal there ha. Well right when I thought that it got clogged. I didn't want the member's to know. So I had that sink wripped to pieces in about a minute. My companion was like what in the heck are you doing. So I'm glad grandpa taught me that one when I was younger. So it's fixed, and the members have no idea. It's so crazy to think this transfer is already half over. Time flies when you are with a companion that likes to have a good time. We are still getting along great and working hard. It's hard to keep a positive attitude in these little towns. But we are doing a good job. You tend to knock on the same doors over and over. But a lot of the times it's different people. A lot of the hispanic people just rent one room from houses. So sometimes there's like 10 different people living in one house. All they need it for is to shower and sleep. The only other thing they do is work. The harvest season is coming up so people are going to start working even more. A lot of them work 15-16 hours a day 7 days a week. Just to provide for there families that are still in Mexico. It's sad. But it's good to see the love people have for there families. We got to do a couple service projects this week. One was moving a piano with a couple old guys. They didn't do to much. That was on Saturday. My back still hurts today. But I know I'm being blessed because it doesn't hurt like it did at home. Then we got to mow this old ladies lawn. She always takes care of us and makes us lunch. And homemade tortillas whenever we want. I gotta start being a little more careful now. I've gained 35 pounds now. That was as of Saturday. And I think I ate like 2 pounds of hamburger yesterday!! Ha it's crazy. I couldn't gain a pound at home. If I keep going at the rate I'm going at, we are going to have some problems pretty quick! I'm not to worried about it. Over all it was a good week. We are really looking forward to have even a better week. We need to start teaching some more spanish lessons because that is the best way to learn. Although it is getting a little better, it's still tough! I know this church is true. I'm grateful to see the rock solid foundation it provides in peoples lives. And I know it was brought back to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I love you all so much!!!!! Have a good week.

July 12 E-Mail (Sorry I am behind!!!)

First off tell dad the ramps are probably up on the loft. I really can't remember where I put all of that stuff. But there sure was a lot of it. We had zone conference last Friday and I got to see Elder Heiner. That was cool. It was pretty weird to see a familiar face like that. The changes that are happening are we will only have zone conferences every 3 months now. Along with interviews from the President. They are also going to start doing a new way of training missionaries or something. They don't start it until like March in the Mtc, but they want to get the missionaries in the field trained on it as soon as they can so it's not a surprise for us when the missionaries start coming out. So it will be good. We had another pretty slow week here. We have spent a lot of time tracting. We have also been trying to get to become friends with the members to get more referals, and more support. It's hard because the spanish branch and the english ward are at the exact same time. So we have to choose which one to go to. We always go to the spanish branch because it's so small. And I guess because that's how my last companion wanted it to be. But now we are going to start alternating. Because we are strangers to a lot of people in the english ward. Since we have been trying harder to build trust and support from the members we have seen a difference. The other day it was way hot and we were leaving a dinner appointment. We asked the lady for a bottle of water for the road. Well she gave us a whole case. And 3 loaves of bread. And some pop. And her husband works at a dairy so they give us 2 gallons of milk every week. My last transfer we were just strangers to all the members and it made it hard. Because members really do help out so much. So I'm excited to be taking a different approach on things. Yes mom, I have worn my boots. We have been helping our bishop put carpet on his porch for service. He is pretty old so it's a big help to him. Then the other day we got to help a guy fix his van. I'm not really sure what I did, but I fixed it, so that was good. We have to talk in sacrament on the 8th of August. Yay, my favorite!! So maybe between you and Linda Gubler you could send me some stuff on the atonement. And also on service. Just send whatever she has and whatever you can find. I would really appreciate it. That's crazy that Jace's farewell is next Sunday!! He will do great. And I think Nick leaves the Mtc this week yeah? It's so crazy. And half my friends are going on 6 months already!! Time really is flying. It's just so awesome to think of all the examples I have in my life. I meet people all the time who constantly remind me of those examples. It's awesome. I'm very very lucky to have the friends and family I have. So thank you everyone!!! Oh yeah, and I'm still gaining weight ha. I've gained like 32 pounds now or something like that. I feel like all I do on some days is eat. We go from one house to another and people always give us stuff. We are probably going to start jogging in the mornings. My companion wants to lose a lot of weight cause he goes home in December. So I might as well do it too. I think that's about it for this week. Not a whole lot happened. Because of zone conference and we had p-day last Tuesday, it's been a short week since I last wrote. I also spent a day in Othello with a brand new missionary too. It was weird not to be the youngest one in the mission! So I really didn't get to spend a whole lot of time here in my own area. Hopefully I will get to be here this whole week. I know this church is true and I love you all so much. Because of this gospel we can all be with our families after this life!! And for all eternity. And I know that is true and I know that it's only through this church that we can do so. Have a good week. I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

July 6, 2010 E-Mail

So it seems like it has been a long week but a good one.  Lots of people leave here in the summer time or all they do is work or sleep.  So we have spent a lot of time tracting lately.  My new companion is Elder Oliver from Bolivia.  He is now from West Jordan though.  But he is way cool and we have a very good time together.  He is helping me with my spanish too.  So right now I am extremely happy about that.  Lunch last p-day with grandma's relatives was good.  It was weird to get a hug from a lady that's for sure!  But she passed it down from Grandma.  They are very nice people.  That kid that died didn't look familiar to me.  I'm not sure who he is.  That's cool you got a new job mom.  Maybe you will stay a little more busy with this one.  Thank you so much for all the stuff you sent back with the Spencer's.  We were shocked.  I don't think we will have to buy food for weeks.  The ties are way cool too.  Especially the wedding one.  So thank you so much!!  I guess patriarch Heiner's grandson is here now.  I haven't seen him yet, but I will on Friday at zone conference.  He isn't serving to far from here.  That will be weird to see someone I went to school with.  But it will be pretty cool too.  So the fourth of July was pretty good.  We basically just worked all day and spent a lot of time tracting.  But one of our investigators had us over for carne asada right after our dinner appointment.  We were starving cause we had been fasting, but by the time we were done eating we just felt sick.  They always feed me hot sauce and say it's not hot.  Then they just start laughing after because it really is way hot.  Dad would love it.  But supposedly it will make my spanish better so I guess I better keep eating it.  So overall it was a good day.  Tons of people were doing fireworks so we sort of got to see a few.  So that was nice.  It sounds like you guys had a good day!  I'm jealous you went to the car show.  Dad better have got some good pictures.  Was Elite there?  Sounds like Grandma had quite the BBQ too!!  I can't believe my dog is sick!!  Just don't let her suffer that's all I'm gonna say.  There are only like 3 Schnauzers in this town that I have seen so far.  The rest are just mutt's that bite your ankles.  And the owners don't really do anything about it, but you can't kick the dogs right in front of the owners so that makes it hard too.  Yesterday was an interesting day...  We were finally teaching some lessons and feeling pretty good.  Well most people tried teaching us.  It was bad.  One guy was saying how Obama is the second Joseph Smith and stuff.  It was just plain crazy.  I couldn't help but laugh.  Then we went to an appointment last night and it just happened to be during these peoples bible study.  They just preached to us for about an hour and a half about how Jesus is God and all that stuff.  It was all in spanish and I had a hard time understanding the guy.  My head was hurting pretty bad after.  It's starting to get hot here and I'm starting to get red, so thank you for the short sleeve shirts.  The Spencer's were glad they got to spend some time with you.  I can't remember if I told you this last e-mail or not, but when it gets hot here, this town stinks so bad.  It's cause the potato plants.  I can't even explain the smell!  But I'm getting used to it.  That's about it for this week and I'm starting to run short on time.  I guess there are gonna be some changes in the mission coming up.  We will find out more about them on Friday at zone conference so I will have to let you know.  I miss you all but know that this is were I need to be at this time.  I love this gospel and the blessings it brings to all of our lives.  I know that it is the foundation that we all need in our lives.  To all my friends, I love you all and thank you for all your examples to me!  It's crazy to know we are all doing the same thing, but just all over the world.  People are shocked when I tell them I have missionary friends all over.  It's awesome.  So thank you so much for all of your great examples and keep up the hard work!!  Have a safe and good quick trip to California mom and dad.  I love you all so much!  Thanks for everything!!  Have a good week!

Love Elder Schvaneveldt (My nick name from my companion is Elder Sanchez because nobody can say Schvaneveldt)