On Friday we got to go to the temple!!!
Last P-Day we celebrated my companion's Birthday at a sweet restaurant
Hello!!!
In 2 Nephi 2:27 it talks about the need to have an opposition in all things. That we have to know the bad to know the good. And in 3 Nephi, when Christ visited the Nephites it says that his Joy was complete. I like to imagine that he was able to be the happiest person that ever lived on the face of the earth at that moment because he once experienced more pain and sadness than anyone had ever experienced. So because he was able to get to a level so low and feel so much sadness, he was then able to feel so much more happiness... This happened to me this week. Saturday night, we got home after a super hard day and it seemed like absolutely nothing was going right. I kneeled down and just started crying, I felt so sad for the people her that were rejecting the gospel, I felt like nothing we were doing was going well. It was just a really rough night to say the least, and I was not looking forward to the next day, which would be Sunday. For those of you that don't know... Sunday is pretty much the worst day of the week on the mission. Its always just so full of disappointment. Every Sunday you think your investigators and going to go to church because they promised they would, but then when you go to get them at their houses they are sleeping or sick or traveling... there is always some retarded excuse. So yesterday I thought it would be the same story. But to my surprise, it wasn't anything like that. Yesterday was the 1st Sunday on the mission that I've been completely happy (my joy was complete). So let me explain...
Me and my companion made a goal for baptisms this month. Our goal is 7. Which is A LOT for this mission, and especially this area, seeing as how in this ward there has been 10 baptisms in the past 2 years! But this was the 1st time that we have made a goal and been emotionally involved in it. We made little sticky notes and put the number 7 on it and put it all over our house, in the bathroom, Fridge, washing machine, desk, bed, mirror, walls, doors... you get the point, everywhere! And we have just been obsessing over it. I was reading in the Book of Mormon about faith and in Ether 12 it talks about how all the great missionaries of the Book of Mormon EXERCISED faith. So my companion and I started thinking of ways that we can exercise faith. When we made this goal we didn't have a single person that could have been baptized this month, but we started telling people that on the 24th of October there will be a family of seven people being baptized (not lying, we were showing faith) .... When Moses opened the Red Sea it says that he had to start walking into the water before the sea opened. Can you even imagine the pressure... Thousands of people following you, watching. And then to top it off a giant army that's chasing after them! That's a lot of pressure! I can just imagine him walking in the water, and the water getting deeper and deeper till it reached his neck and still nothing.. That was him EXERCISING faith! So me and my companion started thinking of ways that we could put the water at our neck! And that's what we have been doing! We even asked a sister in the ward to make a cake for the baptism! haha
So This past week the lord has blessed us so much! We now have 6 people that have accepted baptism dates for the 24th of October. And all of them went to church on Sunday! But better than that the lord blessed us with more people that we are hoping will be able to be baptized on this day. There was a lady that was surfing the web and found the church website and found the address of the chapel and went to general conference last week and then came to church again yesterday! And the other miracle... This week my companion had told me about 2 nights that he had dreamed with a family from the ward that has been less active and is coming back to the church. He couldn't figure out why. But when we got to church the family walk up to us and I asked my companion if everyone was a member and he said ya, everyone was already baptized. But For some reason I felt that I had to ask the little boy of 11 years if he was baptized. So I did and he said No! That he was never baptized!!! And we thought that he was confused and just didn't remember, so we asked his parents and they were like ya he isn't baptized, but he needs to be! So we marked to go there and visit them on Tuesday! We are totally going to baptize 7!!!!
My testimony of EXERCISING faith has been incredibly strengthened and I hope that it can continue to grow! I am so happy to be able to be serving a mission and having these experiences that are changing my life! I wouldn't trade it for the world!
Thanks for all the love and support!
Elder Schoen
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