1st Grader vs Chicken

Hey everyone. 

It has been a good week. Funniest thing that happened
was we went to a less active family's house. And we were talking to
the parents and one of the kids were bugging them. So the dad told him
to go and grab his bow and arrow (little kids target practice ones)
and shoot the annoying chickens. Well his dad didn't think he had good
enough aim to actually hit one. Well he was wrong. The first grader
nailed two chickens. Didn't kill them or anything. But the chickens
definitely weren't happy about it. Well that was probably the
highlight of me week. Hopefully I'll think of something more spiritual
to redeem us from the level I just brought us too.

Monday: we went shopping for winter cloths, but nothing was out yet,
which is kinda scary since it's going to be a harsh winter, and snow
is right around the corner.

Tuesday: The highlight was that we went tracking that night and met a
senior in high school named Clayton. We gave him a pamphlet and talked
to him about the restoration. He seemed very interested in religion in
general, so hopefully we can teach him more. We also met an old lady
who wanted to read the Book of Mormon really bad. She thought that we
go around selling them, which made me laugh. That would make our job
even harder.

Wednesday: We had a New Missionary conference in Bloomington. But
since I'm the farthest missionary away from there (3 1/2 hours) I had
to Skype in. So that was pretty lame. But it saved us mile. My MTC
companion and I were the only two new missionaries that Skype in out
of the 23 that came out with us. After our district leader came down
and we went on splits. We met with a less active at a gun shop that he
is a co owner for. That was pretty cool, he said he was going to go to
church, but never made it. Also went tracking for the rest of the day.
Didn't get anything out of it, but we were planting seeds.

Thursday:all four of us missionaries went to sister Peicek and had
lunch and did service for her until it started raining, we also fixed
her lawn mower. After our lessons cancelled, the district leader
interviewed Sammy who is getting baptized on the 25th. That night we
went and met with Ray who is kinda an eternagator, and doesn't want to
get baptized. But we play chess with him once a week. I have yet to
see someone beat him. But it's still fun.

Friday: we had a pretty good lesson with Cece about how the Book of
Mormon can relate to our own life's today, and also how important it
is to go to church. She said she would go to church, but she didn't
make it. That night we went to a high school football game, cuz it was
the big rivalry between one street signal Aitkin vs. bigger small town
Crosby/Ironton. We stayed until half time since it started to rain,
but Aitkin won. Which we wanted since a kid on the branch plays for
Aitkin.

Saturday: I got my bike back finally, and it is working pretty well so
far. All of our plans ended up cancelling, so we decided to ride our
bikes 10 miles to rusty, Jason, and Michaels house. Right once we got
there, they were leaving. So that was really fun, but good exercise I
guess. After, we talked to a less active named Kyle. He was super
funny, and loves missionaries. He said he would come to church, but he
didn't make it.

Sunday: As you can tell, we had a bunch of people say they would come
to church, but never made it. So we will work harder on that. It was
the primary program Sunday, so I didn't care too much that the they
didn't make it. At church, a super nice blind lady in the ward named
Penny invited us to go the the football Jv football game on Monday to
support her son, and also to get to know her ex husband a little more.
So that will be fun. We had our last lesson with Sammy, and now she is
all good to go to get baptized this Sunday.

Quote of the week:-"Weaknesses become strength, challenges become
opportunities, trials become triumphs, and adversity becomes an
adventure in the service of the lord." -M. Russell Ballard
I like this a lot because I just finished reading a book from elder
Ballard. It's called Our Search For Happiness. It was a great book.
But I like this quote because missions are designed to be hard to make
the missionaries transform into a stronger, smarter, more obedient,
and refined young adult. To really shape us for the rest of our
life's. I know that this church is true, and that this is where I need
to be at this point in my life. Even though this is the hardest thing
I've ever done, I know it's worth it. And I can already seen the
change I've made from the first day in the MTC until now.
I love and miss you all.

Elder Schauers

Out contacting with compaion, Elder Wilson

First Lesson Miracles

Hey everyone, it's been a good week. We keep putting up good numbers
for Aitkin. We have been told that Aitkin hasn't been this productive
in a long time. So that's really exciting, but also crazy to think,
cuz it's still super hard to find people to talk to/ teach. We are
working hard and trying to find new ways to find people. So to tell
you more about our district goal of having 30 first lessons, and
Aitkins goal to have five. We have achieved our goal, and we have
gotten 7 first lessons, it's been really fun. Now the zone leaders
have to buy us ice cream. ( cuz that's what they promised to do haha)

Tuesday: We had a lesson with John and Char again. And they committed
to baptism. We are so stoked. We are really worried, cuz they have
some word of wisdom issues, and a law of chastity issues. Since they
were married, then divorced because of being on welfare they get more
money being single. So our next lesson with them is going to be really
interesting haha. Hopefully they will see the importance of these
changes in their life and that money is just a temporal issue.

Wednesday: We did a lot of service. Since Minnesota is just covered
with grass, and it grows like crazy cuz of the whether. We mow a lot
of lawns. We had lunch with sister Peicek, and she gave us a bomb
apple pie. So we went and bought ice cream and have eaten it for every
meal since.

Thursday: Not a lot happened, but we tracked, which is so fun.
(Sarcasm). Every house was a bust until the very last one, and then we
got a first lesson. It just goes to show that you have to have faith,
and then being willing to work for it. And then heavenly father will
put someone in your way that is willing to listen.

Friday: We tracked again and met a man named David. We had a good
first lesson with him. And he invited us back. I also got to talk to
president Forbes and he gave me some advice on how to adjust to
missionary life, and also for John and Char.

Saturday: This was a day of enduring. We went to Crosby, which is the
town that is 10 miles away and that has a lot of people to teach. We
brought our bikes so we could save miles. Well through out the days
every lesson we had planned out and set up and appointment for didn't
show up to the lesson. So we had to keep changing plans which was
tough. Then my bike pedal broke off, and we were three miles away from
a bid shop. So I rode the bike like a scooter all the way there. (
they called me today saying that I can pay for a new pedal, which is
20 bucks, or I buy a pedal and a lower bracket cuz that's messed up
too for 150.) the pedal isn't a sure fix, but I'm still on,y paying 20
bucks and just hope, pray, and maybe give my bike a blessing that it
will be fixed.

Sunday: Church was great, the members of the branch are so faithful
and strong. It's really cool to see how the church is the same
anywhere you go. We had an appointment with Cece. But she wasn't home.
It's really disappointing when an investigator with a baptismal date
doesn't show up for a lesson. But we made the best out of the rest of
the day.

Monday: today I'm going shopping for winter cloths cuz in about a
month it's going to start snowing here and get really cold.

Well I hope you all are doing well, I love and miss you all.
Elder Schauers

P.S We be knocking at your door.

I've Been On A Mission For A Month

This past week was pretty productive, especially for Aitkin. My area
is a pretty big area, but we can't work a lot of it cuz we have
limited miles on the car. So we have to plan really well to meet
people that we haven't ever talked too before. So my mission has a
goal of getting 100 people to set a date for baptisms. This month we
hit 97 date sets, we were so close. But that's ok cuz it motivates us
to just work a little bit harder this next month to find a few more.
I'll tell you about the week by days cuz I think that will be the
easiest and less confusing haha.

Tuesday: We met with a lady named Sister Pecik. She is not a member of
the church, but she loves the missionaries. Once a week, she makes us
lunch and in return we mow her lawn and keep her company for a bit.
She is super nice. Everyone calls her the best Mormon Catholic around.
I think of her like the Aitkin missionary mom. She even makes­ all the
missionaries slippers. It's pretty sweet. After we met with an
investigator named Cece. She is kind of an eternagator, but this time
our focus was inviting her to be baptized. We set a date with her for
October 22, which is awesome. But she has a lot of word of wisdom
issues that she has to take care of first to be able to get baptized.
Also just learning the importance of being baptized, and the blessings
that come with it.

Wednesday: Probably the highlight was we go to this meeting at the
library called Virtues club. It's just a group of people who talks
about different virtues. Not many people attended, so instead of doing
the normal discussions, they decided to start asking my companion and
I questions about the church. It was pretty interesting and
entertaining to hear and answer some of these questions, cuz they were
pretty crazy. But we did get to teach about the plan of salvation.
They all seemed interested about that.

Thursday: We had district meeting, so that was fun cuz we actually got
to see other missionaries. Which we never get to see cuz we are so far
away. As a district we set a goal to get 30 first lessons in 13 days.
Every companionship said what they thought they could do, and then we
added them up. So our goal was 5. Once we got back into our area we
visited an old dropped investigator. They let us in, and we taught
them the restoration. It was super cool. They said they would go to
church, but they never made it sadly. But we picked up two new
investigators. And a first lesson.

Friday: The zone leaders came and we blitzed Aitkin. I went with Elder
Jones. We were able to get another first lesson, by meeting with a
less active part member family. So we are going to start teaching them
also. I learned a lot that day by working with someone new and finding
different teaching styles. The other companionship got another first
lesson and a new investigator. So that was a super productive day.

Saturday: For most of the day we did service for a member of the
branch. We helped with clearing branches, and then splitting wood and
stacking it. I'm grateful that my family doesn't live in a place where
you have to do that every summer to prepare for winter. It was fun
though, cuz it changed up our missionary routine to be able to do
something different. We had a first lesson set up with this lady named
Franny, but she wasn't home.

Sunday: Sunday's are great. I enjoyed it being fast Sunday, and being
able to fast with a purpose. It makes it more meaningful, and
enjoyable. Cuz when I'm hungry I just think about why I'm doing it,
and then it isn't as bad. We had a lesson with Sammy. It was really
good. She is getting baptized in a few weeks. We also met with Rusty,
Jason, and Michelle. They are super cool, and have some sweet beards.
We talked about the gospel with them, and they said they would read
the Book of Mormon. And that they want us to come back, so we can
discuss it with them.

It was a very good week, I'm still adjusting to being on a mission.
They hardest part for me is thinking that I'm doing this for two
years. It seems like a long time. But I know that I'm doing it, so
it's up to me to enjoy it and have fun. This week’s miracle was that if
you set goals, you will achieve them by working hard. It's been four
days since we made that goal, and we have already have 3 first
lessons, we have more already set up for this week. I know this church
is true, thanks for all the support and prayers. I can really see it
working. I miss you all.

Love Elder Schauers

Sent from my iPad

Last Week in the MTC ... First Week in the Mission Field

August 29, 2016

Hey everyone, this has been one crazy week. Ok so first I'll report on the Tower challenge because I know you all have been dying to hear about it. So my district completed it. I eat 8 bowls of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Which was the most out of my district, so I'm pretty proud of myself ha-ha. Everyone felt horrible after it, cuz it started getting so gross and we eat so much.

So to kind of finish off what happened at the MTC, on Sunday my companion and I taught District meeting, we talked about how relying on the spirit is crucial to missionary work. That night for devotional the Nashville Tribute Band came, which was super cool. If you haven't ever listened to their music, you should look it up. The choir sang three songs with them they are called, “John’s Song", " I Was Born",  and " When the son of Man (Comes Again). Listening to the songs and reading the lyrics, testified to me how important music is to bringing the spirit. The last song of the night was "Hardest Thing I Ever Loved to do" it was referring to his mission. Such a cool song. (Mom fill free to send me some of their music ha-ha) after they left we got to watch two Joseph Smith videos about the translation of the Book of Mormon that have never been seen before outside of the visitor centers. I'm not sure which ones though. It was really cool to watch how Joseph smith and Oliver Cowdry were translating the Book of Mormon and then realized they haven't been baptized like they have been told to do so.

I'll just skip Monday, it was a good day, but nothing super exciting. On Tuesday the 4 Minnesota elders including me were the only ones left in our district, cuz everyone else left for Gilbert Arizona and West Virginia. It was cool cuz this district became a family. It was tough to say goodbye to everyone. Tuesday night we had a devotional by Juan A. Uceda of the Seventy, he talked about his conversion story it was really cool.

Wednesday morning, we got up at 3:50 and we left the MTC in a nice bus around 5. They dropped us off at the train station, and then we took two trains to the airport. At the airport we called home, and I also eat Cafe Rio since we don't have them here in Minnesota. Even though it was at like 8:00 in the morning. It was still worth it. We flew to Minneapolis, met President Forbes and his wife and then went to the mission office in Bloomington. We all met with him for about five minutes, ate lunch, did a little introduction, got our iPads, mountain bikes, and then our trainers/ companions. So my companion is Elder Wilson from Standsbury Park Utah, he has been serving for 6 months and this is his first time training. He is a cool guys. Our area is a small town called Aitkin. It's about 3 hours away from Minneapolis.  The Aitkin branch is a big area but it's a small area that we can actually work since we are limited on miles for the car.

These past few days we have been meeting with a lot of less actives since the branch consists of a few big families that had sons and daughters that have fallen away.  Sunday was the best day so far because I met the people in the branch, they are all really nice. They asked me to bear my testimony and then give the closing prayer during sacrament. We had our first lesson on Sunday with a 15 year old girl who is getting baptized at the end of September. We taught her the plan of salvation, she received it really well. It's sad though, cuz her dad is less active, and we don't know who will be baptizing her since he probably isn't in the position too at this time. Hopefully everything will all work out.

Adjusting to the field has been really tough for me. My MTC experience was great, I loved the spirit that I felt often, I gained a lot of really close friends, and everything was really up lifting. The field is a lot different, you only get one friend, the spirit depends on if you can invite it to the lesson, the people are pretty crazy, and it's hard to find my purpose being here.  I know it will just take time for me to adjust to this new environment.

I know this work is true, and that Jesus Christ is my Savior, and that He gives us strength to overcome these difficulties. Just like how Grandma Moore would say, "We can do hard things." This is that hardest thing that I have and ever will do. But I know it's the right thing for me to do. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.

I miss you all,
Love Elder Schauers

P.s here are some pictures from the MTC. This is my district leader.
We got these sweet Momma boys shirts haha.

Cereal Tower Full

Cinnamon Toasters - his cereal of choice

So great to received this text taken at the SLC airport by someone obviously who

knows how much their momma's needed to receive it.

New arrivals to the MMM

    

Week 2 in the MTC

Hey everyone,

It’s been a really good week, I’m starting to get into the routine of things. My district is awesome, we have become a family. So too keep you up to date on our investigators. We only get four meetings with each of them. I learned so much from teaching Grace and Brice. On our last lesson with Brice, we were able to commit him to baptism (which was AWESOME)! So we are two for two right now, but who is keeping track ha-ha!! We got a new investigator named Jose, he is super cool and has some really deep questions. So that’s tough, but we feel that he wants to take the next step towards baptism. 

Something that everyone in my district is pumped up about is that we are going to do something called the Tower Challenge tomorrow morning. It’s when you eat this giant tower of cereal as a district. Everyone is getting excited about it and finding different tactics to succeed at it. I will send a picture next week of how much cereal we have to eat, and we have 12 people in the district. So keep us in your prayers to be able to accomplish this goal ha-ha.

Oh yeah I almost forgot, I brought my YOYO with me to the MTC. It’s been great. I’ve been trying to learn new tricks so if you get bored, go ahead and email me some tricks I can learn. That would be much appreciated. I named the YOYO "Lassie" because my companions told me to walk the dog with my yoyo. So since then, Lassie has become our district pet. Yes I understand that it’s weird, but the MTC will make you go crazy, so we have to find things to laugh about.

Ok bringing it back to a serious note, last night we had a devotional from Bonnie L. Oscarson. It was really good. She talked about how we don’t want to finish our mission with regrets. So don’t hold back, don’t slack off, cuz one day you will look back and be sad about the effort that you put into your mission. So that really stuck out to me and how I want to work as hard as I can so I don’t have any regrets. There is a picture in one of the MTC buildings with two missionaries kneeling at the bed side and you see their shoes, and how torn up they are because of the hard work they put in. That’s my goal.

So I’ve been studying Alma, which is awesome cuz there are a bunch of wars and Alma is a stud. I just really like it cuz God blesses those who obeys His commandments. He gives strength to those who listen and has faith in Jesus Christ. That’s how a mission kind of is, if you have faith, study, work, obey all his commandments with exactness then everything will work out and you will have success. It doesn't mean that it won’t be hard, but you will have the strength to get through the hard times cuz you rely on the Lord. I have seen this in my life so far here in the MTC. Another thing that I enjoy doing during my studies is I’m able to watch Book of Mormon stories videos. Which it explains the Book of Mormon from beginning to end. But it simplifies it and focuses on the main points from each story. It’s animated and it’s made for little kids, but I think it’s great to help me understand the stories a little bit better so I can teach them better.

For all of my friends that are going in to the MTC soon, just know you eat a ton of food. I have gained 2 pounds last time I checked. One person in my district gained 10 pounds, he eats for like three people every time we go into the cafeteria. Also bring something like a toy that will keep you entertained at night. The devotionals are the best part, and then also sing in the choir. It’s really fun, the conductor is hilarious and super talented.  You get to eat dinner earlier and the songs come out super well. We just sang "Josephs First Prayer" I’ve learned that the music invites the spirit way more than any other way. Also when you sing hymns, look for what the lyrics mean and how they tell such a wonderfully well thought out story. That’s what I enjoy the most because I miss music a lot. 

Well I’m getting of now, I love and miss all of you, thanks for all the support to my family and I as we are all making this transition in life.  Here’s a picture that one of my companions took, but it is terrible quality.

Love,

The Real Elder Schauers

P.S. yes Brandon this refers to you.​

Companions .... Roomies ... Friends

Paytyn Laker who works at the MTC Mailroom made a special visit in to get this picture for us.

First Week in the MTC

Hey everyone,

The MTC is way different than what I expected. But it’s great. I don’t love the MTC, but I don’t dislike it. I came into the MTC with 823 missionaries. It’s very busy. Everyone tells the new missionaries, “Just to make it to Sunday, then it will get better. So the first few days felt like weeks. But since Sunday until today (Wednesday) the week has flown by. I love my district. Four of the Elders are going to the same mission as me. The others are going to West Virginia, and Arizona. My companion is pretty cool. He is from Orem Utah, and we get along very well, his name is Elder Hickman. My teachers are Sister Hoyt and Sister Miller. They both act as investigators too for us to teach.

We do something here called TRC which is when you get to meet with investigators that are either members or nonmembers. My companion and I think that one investigator named Grace is a nonmember and the other named Brice who we think is a member. So our first lesson with Brice didn’t go well. We didn’t focus the lesson on Christ enough and we just couldn’t get him to recognize the spirit. So after that lesson I was discouraged about my teaching skills, even though it was my first lesson. I just thought I would have done better. So I took it as motivation to make me study the lesson more and focus the lesson more on Christ. Cuz when you do that, it brings the spirit more. So later that evening we had our first lesson with Grace.  It went amazing, she was able to feel the spirit and she wanted to be able to feel it more in her life. So we invited her to get baptized and she said, "YES"!! We were so excited. And she has set up a date to get baptized on the 27 of this month. It’s awesome, we both were able to see how much a lesson can change and feel if you just listen to the spirit while teaching.

I can honestly say that being here is hard, but I can testify that my testimony has strengthened tremendously. I also can say that I have probably double the amount of knowledge I have about the gospel.

Today is p-day, so we went to the temple and I was able to do a session with my district. It was awesome cuz the film was my mom favorite film. I felt like she was there with me. It was awesome.

So everyone always talks about the food here, and they say it’s bad. But I love it. It’s really good. I’m kind of sad though cuz I thought I was gaining weight, but when I weighed in I was the same. So I guess I need to eat more if I’m going to prepare myself for the cold winters of Minnesota ha-ha. Also, in my district some people get callings and I have been called to be the online coordinator. Which is super funny cuz I’m am the worst at computers. God definitely has a sense of humor.

So yesterday we had a devotional from one of the Twelve. It was Elder Neil L. Anderson. It was so cool to see the spirit that HE BRINGS when he walks in the door. It’s an experience that I will never forget. He said, "Miracles must be a part of missions," which I think is so true. The Lord works in mysterious ways. Also my whole district has joined choir so we were able to all sing for him. It was very neat.

The other cool thing that I’m pretty sure all missionaries in the MTC are able to watch, is a video of Elder Bednar and its titled Characters of Christ. It is amazing. I’m definitely going to watch it again. So what he focused the talk about was how Christ always turned outwards when the natural man would want to turn inwards. Meaning that when something during Christ’s ministry was hard, he would go and help others instead of doing something for himself like we all would have. That is a goal of mine for my mission. It is to help others when my lie gets tough. Also Bednar taught about how we need to not only have a testimony, but become truly converted.

Well I will just end with my testimony. I know that this church is true, I know that God loves and knows each one of us individually. I know that there isn’t any better place for me to be right now than here. Eventhough it’s hard, tiring, and I want to be with my family and friends, this is the place for me. I know that we have the restored gospel on the earth today and that Joseph Smith translated the book of Mormon through the power that God gave him.

I love you all and miss you. I’m so excited to hear from some of you, and I have loved all the letters I have gotten.

Love, 

Elder Schauers

P.S. Having a name tag is pretty sweet!!​