December 29th, 2014

December 29, 2014

Hey all you fans out there.  It was great to talk to you guys too.  It went so incredibly fast that I wish they gave us like two hours to talk.  That´s really funny about the accent because I don´t feel like I have one at all.  I guess that I am used to how I talk though so maybe it just changed little by little and I didn't even realize it.  I guess that must mean that I´m doing something right haha.  I am glad to hear that you all had a good Christmas.  I am sorry that Madeline felt a bit lonely on Christmas Eve.  So that she knows, I miss her too.  Our Christmas Eve was a bit interesting.  We ended up going to eat with one of our investigators.  It was a bit uncomfortable to be honest.  None of her family members or her friends that were there are members so they were all wanting to listen to music, drink, etc., but they didn't because we were there.  We felt awkward so we didn't stay that long haha.  Our renters brought a flan cake for Christmas and a member bought us pizza.  We had a pretty good Christmas, although it wasn't the same without the family.   It´s fun that you guys got to see a lot of the family.  That´s a bit of a bummer that Diana had to leave early.  I guess the positive thing is that it will only be for two more months and then she is back for good! 

We didn't have a ton of work this week because a lot of people haven´t been home, but we did baptize J., E's daughter, this Saturday and she was confirmed yesterday.  Gabriela and the O. family are preparing for January.  We really need to find a couple of new families soon.  I´m not really sure why, but we have been having a really hard time finding lately.  If you guys that fast could include that in your fast this weekend it would be much appreciated.  Well that´s about all that is new on this end.  I hope you have a great week!  I love you all!

Elder Schow 

December 15, 2014

December 15, 2014

Hey there everyone. Well it has been a good week once again. We had transfers on Tuesday. My new companion is named Elder Hood. He is from South Carolina. We are having a pretty good time together so far. He's got about 7 months in the mission and was trained by the same trainer as me. It has been a bit of a weird week. It was "Day of the Virgin" this week so everyone was celebrating "the birth of Jesus´s mother" by getting drunk and lighting of fireworks combined with the sound of loud music all night. Because of all the drunks we had to be home at 7:00 for two nights straight. It was kind of cool though because we got to know each other pretty well. My companion also has a guitar and is really good at playing so we just kind of chilled and waited out the noise.

The O. family are leaving town for Christmas so they will not be able to be baptized right now. They are so strong though it is amazing. She did not used to want to come to church at all and now they come every week without fail and stay all three hours. We are also teaching the 18 year old niece of a family in the ward that is going to get baptized in January. She told us last night that she knows that the church is true. If Sister H. keeps going strong without drinking coffee she will get baptized on Saturday. We found a really good new guy to teach yesterday- Brother H. He was a contact that we did with "He is the Gift" that we never found at home. We were passing his house yesterday and felt the strong impression to go and knock. He was finally home and he accepted us really well. He also gave us 12 pairs of new socks each. He makes socks so that's why he gave them to us. It was really nice of him.

I'm glad that you all are doing well. That's cool that Roger and Diana are back. That is a ton of pictures. I can't believe that. I need to follow that example because I hardly have like any. Thanks for all of your love and advice. I'm glad that you are getting better quickly mom.   I love you all.

Elder Schow

December 8, 2014

December 8, 2014

Hey everyone,  Well it has been a pretty good week.  Sadly, it's going to be my last day with Elder McEwan though.  They are changing him to who knows where.  I'll be staying in Espartaco with my new comp.  It'll be weird having a new comp for Christmas.  I'll miss Elder McEwan a lot.  We've had a lot of fun together.  I kind of hope that I get to train again, but I guess we will see what happens.  The O. family should be getting baptized on Saturday if all goes well.  (Well just 2 of them, the other 2 don't really want to listen to us yet, but it's a start).  We also found a new part member family to teach this week- the B. family.  They are interesting people haha.  It's pretty fun to be able to teach them though, they joke around a lot.  They get mad if we don't accept their food too.  They changed the church that we go to now. and it is like 5 minutes from where we live so it will make it a lot easier for the investigators to come which will be nice.  Sister H. should be getting baptized on the 21^st if she can give up coffee.  (It is giving her a lot of problems), and E's daughter on the 27^th.  It will be a really awesome month.  We taught M. A. again and he told us that he knows that the Catholic Church isn't true, and that he believes the Book of Mormon is true.  We're not really sure what changed, but it was cool.  "He is the Gift" has not been that effective here either yet.  Our district talked to 122 people about it last week and only 4 of them have become new investigators (not even 4%).  Hopefully we can find a more effective way to put it to use and that we can talk to even more people.  It is surprising sometimes how many people don't want to hear anything about Christ  or that don't know why we celebrate Christmas.  If they don´t listen here they´ll have to hear it in the next life.  Well that's about all on my end.  I hope you guys can get some snow for Christmas.  I'm glad that you all are well.  Love you all. 

Elder Schow

December 1, 2014

December 1, 2014


Hey there everyone,

Wow, I can't believe that it is December again...Time sure has flown by this year. I think that the fact that snow doesn't exist here makes it hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner. I'm guessing that you guys might have plenty of that before too long. I'm glad to hear that you had a good Thanksgiving, and that you were able to visit with the family and what not. We ate really good on Thursday even though there is no Thanksgiving here. It wasn't turkey, but tacos are just about as good so I was happy. It sounds like a lot of things are changing with the house, everyone growing up etc. It will be strange to see all of the changes.

Well this week was pretty good. The church launched a new program for Christmas that we are putting into effect- it´s called "He is the Gift". I'm sure that you have probably heard of it. It is focused on helping the people to remember the real reason that we celebrate Christmas. It has been a valuable resource for contacting and talking to the people. We haven't found any new people to teach yet by using it, but we have several appointments lined up for this week with new people so it should be pretty cool to see what happens, especially ase we get a bit closer to Christmas. Well we have a few people that are still progressing really well. The O. family are doing really well. They are really excited to keep learning. They are accepting everything really well. We had a bit of a curve ball thrown at us this week with M. A. We have only taught him like 4 times and every time that we have taught him he has told us how much he hates the catholic church and how terrible it is. The last time we taught him we invited him to be baptized and he said no I would never get baptized in your church because I was already baptized in mine. We asked him which church he belonged to and he told us the Catholic church. I guess he hates it, but not enough to leave. It was a strange lesson. We started teaching another family this week that are just like him. It makes no sense, but I guess there isn´t much that we can do. All we can do is keep looking for others that are ready to accept the gospel. Well that´s about all for this week. I love you all. Talk to you soon!

Elder Schow 

Nov. 24, 2014

November 24, 2014

Hey there everyone,

Sorry that I didn't write last week, I was a bit indesposed, but I am back and that is all that counts. Well these last two weeks have been really good. R. got baptized last Sunday and was confirmed yesterday, and E. was baptized yesterday. Also, we are working with a few other investigators to prepare them for baptism in December. We are teaching the O. family. The boy is super funny. He's 10 and he hasn't been to church that many times, but he knows a ton. Sometimes he says some pretty profound things to his mom that really help her to see the importance of what we are teaching. We are also still teaching Sister H., and a man Señor G. among others. We have a really pretty good ward here. The members are super great with the investigators, new members etc. They are definitely some of the most charitable people that I have met. It's kind of funny, on of the counselors to the bishop is like the mexican version of Steve Martin. I hope I can find an excuse to take a picture with him before I leave the ward.  Haha.

Well I don't really think that I have any great words of wisdom to impart this week. The holiday season is coming up. Lately I have been trying to read a bit in the New Testament every day to learn a bit more about the life of Jesus Christ. I am impressed by his example and by his teachings. I am amazed at the love that he has for each and every one of us. I think every day I understand just a tiny bit more of that profound love. As we go into the holiday season let us remember the reason for the season.  Oh, and to answer the question that all of you asked, no, Thanksgiving is not recongnized as a holiday here. They call it the day of the action of giving thanks, but they do not celebrate it...so no turkey for me. It's alright though, I hope that you all have an enjoyable time with the family. And don't gain TOO much weight. Well that's about it on my end. Love you all.

Elder Schow

The asked us to tell you guys to not get on our Facebooks.

November 18, 2014

November 18, 2014

 

Sister Schow:

Elder Schow had diarrhea for two days we believe that he had dehydration and we saw that essential medicines were not working, so to avoid a major problem we send to the hospital only a preventive measure, the doctors decided to leave him in the hospital two days (Sunday and Monday) to make studies and to remove dehydration. According to the report by Doctor he has a gastroenteritis, so he gave him drug treatment and we will be observing your physical condition to decide what else to do.

He is better today, but we are waiting for him and his recovery.

Regards.

Nov 17, 2014

November 17, 2014

Hey, I think my president told you but I've been in the hospital so I couldn't write. I'm out now and seem to be doing okay. I had diarrhea and throw up at the same time so they took me in for dehydration and intestinal swelling. Hopefully it is all taken care of. I love you all and hope all is well.

Love Britton