October 11, 2010 E-Mail (Sorry I'm Behind!)

So it's been a good week here. I think the highlight of it was that I got a sweet haircut this morning by an in-active guy. He like shaved my neck and stuff the old school way with a straight blade. It was cool. Mom I liked how in the newsletter thing you put happy birthday to me on the 20th of September. Well my birthday is actually on the 12th just to remind you!


Well this last Saturday was supposed to be the baptism for Jesus. He wasn't able to get baptized. He didn't pass his interview and might have to wait a couple of months. We're not sure yet. The mission president is going to meet with him next week sometime and interview him. So we will see what happens. But three girls that we were teaching that moved out of our area into another area were baptized! And Jesus came and watched the baptism so that was pretty cool to see. He will be baptized for sure it's just a matter of time now. He works at Mcdonalds and we went and saw him at work today. He was way excited to see us.

We have been really trying to effectively use the hours of 5:00-7:00 to tract and find new investigators. We have been focusing on listening to the spirit on what to say. It's really made a difference in our door approaches. Some missionaries love tracting and some hate it. I'm in the middle. But we have to do it so we might as well have a good attitude about it and make the best of it and trust in the Lord while doing so. And we did a lot of tracting last week because a lot of our appointments fell through. But we have a lot of appointments set up for this week and a lot of them are with members so that will be good. Members really do make such a huge difference in the work.

I can't believe Brady left the MTC already. Where was his companion from? He mentioned the name and I went to school with someone who had that last name. It felt like I was in the MTC for like years. He will be glad to get out in the field I'm sure.

That's about it for this past week. I'm learning to love to study. I know as we study, and as we prayerfully study that our relationship with our Father in Heaven will greatly increase and we will come closer to him and have a greater desire to do what he wants. So either keep studying, or start studying!! I love you all!!!! I hope you will be able to read this Mom and Dad, if not I'm sure Mom will freak out. I was also way way way excited to hear that I'm going to be an uncle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

October 4, 2010 E-Mail

So I've been thinking alot about Weston, and I'm quite jealous of him. Not because he found like 40 cockroaches, but because he doesn't have to wear a suit coat! And yes, until next conference, I have to wear a suit coat. Which absolutely sucks when you have never even worn a suit before in your life until your mission. And the weather here has been about like how you have described it at home. Which is too hot to be wearing a coat. But oh well. I will get used to it. It's been a crazy week because I had to go to Moses Lake on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for most of the day to go to a training. It was a very tiring week because we had to get up extra early to get there. Then by the time we got home at night and went and worked out areas then came back we were just beat. But I was able to learn a lot of good training things that will hopefully help our areas out. We have been having a little bit of a hard time finding new people to teach. So hopefully that will change. Mom I laughed when I got your letter and you confessed that you didn't e-mail me last week. Sounds like you and dad are to old to get new technology. That new computer is just killing you guys. Hopefully you will get used to it pretty soon. Now that dad has 4 DVR recorder things, he should be able to record all of my car shows for until I get home! You said you went to Olive Garden on Saturday, we usually go there once a week. I can't remember if I told you that or not. One of the members here is like the manager or something so we always get hooked up. It's nice. That will be cool to go to the Dominican Republic next week. I better get some sort of cool souvenir.


I really don't have a ton to report on because I wasn't in my area half the week. But we did have an investigator come to conference yesterday. It was Jesus. He is still looking like he will be baptized on Saturday so keep praying for him. He has his baptismal interview on Thursday. We did have a really good lesson with Garret and Lea. They are way cool and were sort of questioning if there was a God and stuff. But they committed to say a sincere prayer about the message that we brought. So we are excited to go back and find out how that went. Conference was good. We just watched it all at the church. There was a lot of good talks. I'm excited to get the ensign and actually be able to go through and read them all. I have a hard time just listening. I need to have it in front of me. Allen Avra didn't come, so he won't be able to be baptized on the 23rd. But pray he will come to church next Sunday. They had a really good lesson with him this last week while I was in Moses Lake.

Yes mom I want you to keep sending me my friends e-mails like you do. Maybe send Colby's too. I know how he feels being transferred into a new area like that. I found out this past week that one of the investigators in Warden was baptized and also that a family I was working with has accepted a baptismal date. So I know what he's talking about. That's crazy though he is on like an island.

That's about it for this week. I'm so glad that we have a living prophet who can speak to us and give us the counsel that we need from our Heavenly Father. I know that as we follow that prophet we are doing what God wants us to do, and we will be blessed. I love you all so much. Thanks for all you do!

Sept. 25 E-Mail from the Spurgeon Family

Dear Sister Schvaneveldt, (if the last name is spelled wrong, its because your son has poor hand writing!)
 
 
We had the privilege of having your (lil boy) elder over for dinner :)  My husband shot a bear last week and he wanted to try it.  So we had bear soup!  He did great and (said) he loved every bite!  Thought we would send you a picture of our stock pot.  You have raised a very brave boy :)!  
 
He is doing great, you should be very proud of him.  Him and his companion, Elder Grey had a wonderful week.  
 
I do have a question, does he ever stop smiling?  We enjoy him and his wonderful smile.
 
 
Love the Spurgeons, east wenatchee Washington :)

September 27 E-Mail

So it's been a good week.  My new companion is Elder Gray.  He is originally from Las Vegas but has been going to BYU for the past five years I think.  His best friend growing up was Bruce Schvaneveldt's son.  Isn't that Dad's cousin?  He has been in the field for like 6 weeks now, and his last area was all english.  So it has been a huge test on the spanish.  He is waiting for his visa to go to Mexico.  They told him 2-3 months and it has been 2.  So He will probably be gone pretty soon.  But you never know.  He is really cool and we get a long really well.  This last transfer we pretty much tracted our entire area and didn't have a lot of success.  So we are going to try and work better with the members this transfer.  Members really are the key.  Yesterday I had to talk in sacrament meeting and that's sort of what I focused on.  So I hope we will see some good things happen.  The Cardena family that we were teaching actually moved out of our area.  But they are still in the boundaries for the spanish branch.  So hopefully the other Elder's will start to work with them soon.  Jesus Coriel is still looking good to be baptized on the 9th of October.  He just accepts everything we teach him.  He is so prepared right now.  He is also very forgiving of my spanish skills.  Yesterday he even gave us a ride to church.  So all he needs to do now is come to one session of conference, and then have a baptismal interview.  So keep on praying for him!!!  Then we have Allen Avra who is now on date to be baptized on the 23rd of October.  He is an awesome guy but he hasn't been to church yet.  So pray he will make it to a session of conference too!  We also had a very good appointment with Ryan this past week and we have him committed to meeting with us tomorrow night at the church.  So he will be able to feel the spirit in the church and want to come back.  Jessica, the girl we were teaching who's boyfriend is a member, she is doing good and they have been reading from the book of mormon every night.  We haven't taught her for a few weeks because things are crazy for her right now, but we do have an appointment tomorrow.  We are way excited about that.  That's probably about it as far as the work goes around here.  This Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I have meetings I have to go to in Moses Lake for training because I'm a district leader.  I guess it's a training on the way they are training missionaries now in the MTC.  So that should be good and I hope it will really help the work out in our district and our area.  Being district leader is good.  The district is very small so that makes it nice.  There's the zone leaders, us, and one other companionship.  So it's pretty small. 

The lady we ate with the other night said she was going to e-mail you a picture of the bear skull and tell you that's what we had for dinner.  Well we did have bear for dinner but it was in a stew.  It was really good.  Her husband killed a bear last week and we wanted to eat some so he told us we were eating boiled head soup or something like that.  But it was really just a stew.  I went to the Doctor this morning and he said he thinks I might have something going on.  They drew blood so they will let me know pretty quick what the lab results are.  That's about it for this week.  I got another birthday card from Kent and Lori, so please tell them thanks!!  I love you all and thank you for everything.  I love this church.  I know that if we all can be like the Sons of Mosiah and pray and fast and have courage and know that this is a great work, that we will see so many people come unto Christ, we will have missionary moments placed in front of us!  I love you all!!!!  Have a good week!

September 20 E-Mail

So my companion headed off to Spokane yesterday.  So I was put in a trio with some other Elders.  So yesterday I got to go to my church, their church, and the spanish branch.  It was  LONG church day.  But it was good.  Tomorrow morning I will be getting a new companion.  I don't know much about him.  I'm staying in the same area and have been assigned to be the district leader.  All I know about my new companion is that he is not a native and has only been out one transfer.  So I guess I am step training him as they would call it in missionary terms.  I don't know if he is fluent in spanish or anything like that.  He is actually a visa waiter.  I think he is supposed to go to Mexico but it's hard to get in there right now.  So he could only be here for a few weeks or for his whole mission.  Who knows.  It will be nice to find out a little bit more about him when I meet him tomorrow.  I have gotten a lot of birthday stuff so please tell everyone thanks.  Brent and Anette, Judy and Greg, Jared's parents, Jared, Jay and Gina, and Kala!  Also on last p-day I got cards from Pam, Gublers, Drew and Lisa, and Brent and Cindy.  So thank you very much everyone!!  And I got Lynn's package and also Grandma's.  I'm going to try and write Grandma today.  I get treated better on my birthday out here than at home!  And yes, Brother Anantatmula did buy me a cake and everything.  So thank you very much!  I was happy to hear that you were typing on a new computer mom.  I'm sure dad loves it.  He is getting OLD!!!!!!  50 years old today!  Wow.  That's pretty cool that he might get to go to Tokyo.  That would be an awesome experience.  Just don't have to much fun while I'm gone.  I was also pretty excited to read Nick's e-mail to know that at least one of my friends is still getting some action every once in a while.  Poor Nick.  I wish I could have seen his face.  Mom you asked if I prefer the ward or the branch.  I really like them both.  It's hard to choose one.  Yesterday we didn't have any investigators at the branch and we had one in the ward.  Saturday night we had a huge spanish activity.  We were able to go because we had an investigator come.  It was way fun.  And our investigator had a way good time.  He's way quiet everytime we go over and see him and he never says to much.  But he had a huge smile on his face and was laughing the whole time at the activity.  His name is Jesus and he is on date to be baptized on October 9th.  He is awesome.  He is one who is prepared right now by the Lord.  Then we had appointments with Ryan and Jessica.  Well Ryan forgot, so we will go see him on Wednesday this week.  And Jessica's boyfriend had to work and then his Grandpa died the next day.  So we haven't been able to see her yet either.  We are going to go to the funeral on Thursday so hopefully we will get to see her there.  Other than that we did a lot of tracting this week again.  We were also able to do some service for a guy named Allen who really is seeking the truth.  So please pray for all of those guys!!  So that was about it for this past week.  Tell Dad I did get to eat his homemade salsa.  It was good.  Between all my birthday stuff I have a ton of food.  I was very grateful for the mountain dew that Lynn and Susan sent.  You asked if we will have to pay for those orthotic things for my feet.  I'm not sure.  I told him just to contact you guys but he sort of just gave me one of those oh we will take care of it.  He is a very nice guy.  He helps me a lot with my spanish when we are with him. So I will let you know if we have to pay for them or what the deal will be.  I got a call late last night from a member of the bishopric here.  I have to speak in sacrament meeting next week.  I was trying to lay low and slip through the cracks but I just couldn't do it.  So I'm stuck speaking again!  It will good though.  Hopefully it will motivate the members to do a little more missionary work.  I was glad to hear that I get to spend at least one more transfer in this area.  I know this is where the Lord needs me to be at this time.  I know that as we obey his commandments and pray for those oppurtunities to do missionary work that we will see great miracles.  Those seeking the gopsel will be put in our paths.  I love this gospel and the blessings it has brought to me and to all of us.  Have a good week.  I love you all!!!!!!!!

September 13, 2010 E-Mail

Ok mom, calm down.  My e-mail is coming!  We went bowling today with a lot of our zone so that is why I am e-mailing later.  It's been a pretty good week and I had a really good birthday.  I figured I might be getting my favorite meal.  Brother Anantatmula was very persistent on us coming to his house for dinner.  So I figured you had planned something out.  It was really good.  He also made the primary sing to me.  So it was a good birthday.  I appreciate everything you sent me.  Thank you very much.  You guys are getting old!!!  You don't even have any teenagers now.  Wow!!!  So last Tuesday we went out to an appointment with the Stake Patriarch.  Well it turns out he is a physical therapist.  Well after he did an exam on me and thinks he knows what is wrong with my back.  So Saturday I went back to his house and he took some impression type things of my feet and is making some of those orthotic things.  I think that's what they're called.  But he said it should really help.  While we were there he was watching the BYU game.  It was pretty funny cause his wife told him to shut it off but he wouldn't.  So I was glad that I don't care enough about football for it to be a temptation to watch.  I was thinking Kristin and Justin probably went and it sounds like they did so that's cool.  So I should get the things he is making in a couple of weeks.  I completely killed a pair of my pants this week.  They got caught in the bike chain.  But a lady in the ward took them and now they look as good as new!  In dad's letter he wrote he was talking about Tokyo, Japan.  Well the way he was talking about it sounded like he had talked to me about it before.  But I don't remember anything about that so I had no idea what he was talking about.  Is he going there or what?  That would be cool.  It was good to hear he sold a very large job too.  I slightly remember that Brother Oliver guy.  It was interesting to read through those letters he sent.  I was also very glad to get the package that you sent home with Brother Anantatmula.  I was very glad to have some Mountain Dew.  Also I loved the tie you sent me, and the cake/brownie thing.  That was way good.  Mom I was about ready to kill someone when I got my free Tucano's meal card and knew that I couldn't go!!  I do miss that place very much.  The mission president's wife is going to do some research on thyroid stuff I guess and she's going to talk to the mission doctor then she might have me go get it checked out.  I'm not sure yet really what's going on.  I just talked to her last night because she called and wished me happy birthday.  As far as teaching went this last week it was a little tough.  Because two of our good investigators our out of town.  But they should be back now so we are looking forward to this week.  Last week we did meet a guy named Jesus.  We taught him on Saturday then invited him to be baptized on October 9th.  He agreed and said he would be at church after work.  Well the way the spanish branch works is we can't go unless we have investigators.  Because there are like 9 missionaries that do work for the branch.  So we go and if we have investigators we stay.  If not we leave right after the sacrament.  So yesterday we were just getting ready to take off.  They were almost done with the water.  Well then Jesus snuck in the back so we got to stay.  He said he enjoyed it and he felt the spirit.  After he could barely even get out because of everyone talking to him.  So we are really excited about him right now too.  We have another appointment with him tomorrow.  He's a really good humble guy.  He is probably in his 50's.  He has children in Mexico and his wife passed away a while back.  He just seems lonely and needs the gospel in his life.  Other than that about all we did last week was tracted.  This area hasn't been tracted for a very long time.  We have almost knocked all of the doors in it over the last 5 weeks.  So pretty soon it will be time to start it all over.  I know this is the only true church.  Through doing that which God wants us to do we can return to live with him and each other for eternity in the celestial kingdom.   I'm so grateful to have that in my life.  I'm so grateful for all of you and your support.  Have a good week.  I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

September 7 E-Mail

So it's been a pretty good week. I was kind of expecting in the next letter I got from you that it would say that Annie was gone. She went downhill pretty fast. And dad told me about Linda Buxton. That's way sad. And Aunt Rosie's husband. Dang, I guess that's why we have the Plan of Salvation so we know we will get to see everybody again!! I was glad to hear that dad's little carne asada was good. I haven't had any in this area yet, and I am for sure missing it. I did get my package. Thank you very much! I could actually see when I was riding my bike last night with the lights. It was quite nice to know that I wasn't going to end up in the canal because we ride on a canal road every once in a while. I'm glad you got to meet Brian. He is an awesome guy. He is moving out of the ward pretty quick. The house he is renting is like 3 blocks out of the ward boundaries. Everyone is pretty mad about that. This ward has had a lot of solid people recently move out. Like a lot. The primary president said that over half of the active primary members have left over the summer. I will be looking forward to see whatever you sent home with him. I don't know when he will be back. He is starting an addiction recovery class tonight so I know he will be back by then. That was interesting what you were saying about the spanish people at work mom. Because it's so true. They just feel awkward cause they can't communicate. They always get surprising looks on there faces when I start speaking spanish. It just makes some of them smile. I was really thinking about that in the spanish sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was so irreverent. I think that's a word. But the spirit was still so strong. They are the most loving and humble people. I love working with them, I just wish I could communicate with them a little better. On Sunday we had 4 investigators at the spanish branch. It is a really awesome family that we met last week. They were previously taught by missionaries but they live pretty far away so the missionaries just couldn't go out there anymore. So we had the guy that we live with take us out there to hopefully meet them. It was about a 45 minute drive but luckily they were home! They dad is not interested, but the Grandma, Mom, and two daughters are. They want to be baptized and everything. They have relatives around Boise who are very strong members. And they were also here on Sunday too and the Brother of the mom who is a member got up and shared his testimony and everything. So it was really cool. We have a lesson with them tonight with the Stake Patriarch because he speaks spanish too. So it will be awesome. That is the Cardena family. So please pray for them! Also we had a lady flag us down the other day. Her mom is a member in Mexico and she is searching for the right path right now. Her name is Alondra. So pray for her too. We talked to her for like 5 or 10 minutes. Told her where church was and when it started, and she showed up! We can't teach her though because her husband won't allow it right now. He was trying to hold her back from going to church because the catholic tradition is strong in his family. But she still came and we are going to keep working with her and hopefully see a desire in her husband to learn more. We had an awesome lesson with Ryan again this past week. He just kept asking question after question. We had our ward mission leader with us who has only been baptized for a couple of years. He basically answered all of the questions. Ryan is out of town until like the 13th though. So we don't have a lesson with him this week. Keep praying for him and his wife that she will begin to listen! We also had an amazing lesson with Jessica and her boyfriend Jordan. And Jordan invited is in-active mom to come over also. She now has a baptismal date of October 9th. But she also left town until about the 13th! She doesn't know that she either has to get married or move out before she can be baptized. We were planning on teaching that this week but she left town. So neither of them could make it to church because they were gone. So pray that she will accept the law of chastity! That's about it for this past week. Can you believe I'm going to be 20 years old in less than a week? It's crazy. I was also glad to hear that you got rid of one car. Mom might be in trouble as soon as the snow hits the ground though. That was not an easy car to drive in the snow. I love you all so much and am so grateful for you support and examples. I have been thinking about Joseph Smith a little bit lately. I know he is a prophet of God and that he did restore this church for us today. I know that he also restored the priesthood authority to perform those sacred ordinances that we need to return to live with our Heavenly Father and our families for all eternity. I am so grateful to be a part of this gospel and to partake of the many blessings that it brings to my life. I love it. Have a good week. Love you all!!!!!!