12/21/2010

This is a funny story. So this past week my umbrella got stollen, which was really unfortunate seeing as how it has rained EVERY day this week! haha so one night we were walking in the street completely soaked and I found this broken umbrella in the dumpster and so i grabbed it because I was tired of being completely wet! So I used it for the rest of the day... it kept me pretty dry... for the most part. But it was really funny because everyone was pointing and laughing at me as the drove by all day.

Me and my companion and other Elders waiting outside the chappel before Zone Conference

Me and Elder Galvão today during P-Day

This week was really really WET!

Yesterday, Today, and the rest of this week until Christmas we are spending one night in each of the areas in our District to go to houses of investigators and less active members to go caroling. Last night was way fun! Tonight we are going to the FAVELA! (If you don't know what that word means, look it up) {favela (Portuguese pronunciation: [faˈvɛlɐ]) is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil} Its an area called Cachoerinha, it should be interesting!

So you know that old man that we are teaching, the one that has a puzzle obsession, ya well today he took us out to lunch and to the center for our P-Day! It was really funny. He is such an angry old man, he is like 75, and has such a temper. He yelled at 5 different people today. haha I'm just glad that I wasn't one of them. He actually likes us alot, he bought us lunch (at a really nice restaurant) and then took us the the toy store (the equivalent of toys R us) so that we could pick out a Christmas present that he would buy us! Awesome right! haha so we got a puzzle of the last supper. I'm excited to start working on it next P-Day!

Christmas in Brazil isn't Christmas! haha is so hot, and rainy. But I'm excited that next year I will get to spend it with all of you! :)

Thanks for all the love and support!
Elder Schoen

12/13/2010

Me and Elder Galvão (my companion)

Looking at the street from outside the Lan House right now! (Its worse than it appears in the picture)

Hey!

This week was a lot better! We were able to find some new people to teach! Its about time!!! So we started teaching 3 guys that are all 20 years old. They hang out in the gym all day, have tattoos, and are super rich. They are friends of a less active family that started coming back to church. So two of them went to church this week, and they are all super excited!... The only problem is that they don't live in our area :( ... But thats ok, some other missionaries are going to get some sweet gift baptisms!!! haha

So this week was transfers... Me and my companion are going to stay at least one more transfer together!!! Whoo!

So yesterday after church, something awesome happened. A member brought a super nice cell phone to us. She said she had found it on the ground. So we were like "Give it to us and we will find the owner" So we called and arranged to meet up with the owner at a super nice bakery by his house. And he was soo grateful, and he wanted to buy us a beer to thank us. We graciously declined, but instead suggested that we could go to his house and give a message of Christmas for his family. And he got super excited and gave us his address and phone number. So the apartment building that he lives in is one of the nicest in our area. The starting price of one apartment is like about 1 million reais. So he has got to be loaded! I hope that everything works out and we end up baptizing him! But I'll keep you posted!

Other than that, nothing really new is happening.

Love you!
Elder Schoen

12/6/2010

Me and my companion (Elder Galvão) at Outback Steakhouse

Hey!

This week was really really hard work wise. So here in this area we teach on average 30 lessons per week. This week we taught 8. I think it was the worst week of my mission work wise. But it can only get better from here! :)

Tonight we have a family home evening planned with a super rich family in the ward and they are going to bring a bunch of friends. So hopefully we will get some new investigators!

Yesterday we got a referral from a member in the ward. It was his dad, who is 78 years old and has been to church a ton of times but doesn't believe in God. So he will be kinda hard to work with, but he is way cool! He puts together huge puzzles for a hobby and frames them and hangs them up in his house. He has somewhere around 35 puzzles hung up. And he has a huge library in his house (he is super wealthy) He has every single National Geographic Magazine printed since 1919! Its quite impressive.

So a couple weeks ago something really really cool happened. Me and my companion were walking in the street and a man shouted to us, "Hey Elders, come here!" So we went and talked to him and he said that he went to the church a couple times like 2 years ago, but wasn't baptized. We asked him if he knew the Elders there in the neighborhood where he lived (which happens to be one of the areas in our zone) and he was like "Ya, ya I know them, they come over all the time" So we didn't even think to get his address because the Elders already knew him. So we called the Elders and they said they have no idea who he was. So we hung up the phone and we was already out of sight. Then me and my companion had the impression to start running to find him. So we just started running, we ran for a good 3 minutes and then we saw him turning a corner in front of us, so we chased him down and talked to him again. We asked for his address and phone number, and then we passed to information to the Elders in that area. Well we didn't think anything of it at the time. But know I can see how that little prompting of the spirit changed his life. He and his wife and 2 kids have now been to church 3 times, have made a ton of friendships with the members in that ward, and are super super excited for their baptism on Dec. 18th! The Elders there said that it is the most Elect family they have ever seen on their mission. Man am I happy that we listened to the spirit!

Today for P-Day we went to Outback Steakhouse! Which is exactly the same here as in the states! It was soooo Good!

So today we will get the phone call about transfers. I hope me and my companion will stay together again!

Thanks for all the love and support!
Elder Schoen

11/29/2010

Hey Everyone!

This week was good! On Thursday I didn't realize that it was thanksgiving until like two o´clock in the afternoon! haha ...Its a holiday that no one celebrates down here! But I was able to celebrate it well! I made 2 pumpkin pies, which were delicious!!!

Today for P-Day we cleaned our apartment, It was so exhausting! haha We moved all of the furniture and swept and mopped underneath, and we scrubbed everything. So now our house is super clean! ...ITs about time! haha

Sunday was the primary program in our ward! It was just the cutest thing ever. There was a little boy that sang a solo, he sang one of the verses of follow the prophet, when he was singing he forgot the words and then tried to recover but couldn't, Then he got so embarrassed that he started crying an ran off the stage. But the coolest thing was that two of his little friends went and talked to him to comfort him. And then, at the end of the program he got up there and sang his solo again, and did it perfectly. I learned a really valuable lesson, about determination, and doing things again until you get it right.

Sorry these emails are getting kinda lame, its just that not very much is happening these past couple of weeks. We are working hard, but not seeing many results. But I know we just have to have patience, and the blessings will come.

Thanks for all the love and support (and letters that I haven't been getting... its actually been like over 4 months since I've received a letter :(

Elder Schoen

This was me and the Assistents eating pumpkin pie, during our division (or splits as some people call them) on Thanksgiving

Making lunch today... Spagetti

11/22/2010

This is me at my desk studying

Hey!

This week was good. I'm still alive. I'm happy. Nothing really exciting happened this week. We just knocked like 50,000 doors and weren't able to find anyone that lives in our area that even wanted to listen to what we had to say.

I hope next week things will be better!

Love you all!
Elder Schoen

11/22/2010

Hello!

So I realized that I'm slacking on the picture part. Its been like 3 weeks since I've taken a single picture. So this next week I'll try and remember to take some pictures to send.

This week absolutely flew by. We had a leadership training for 3 days this week, which happened in the chapel of Vila Sonia (my old area) It was pretty weird to go back there. I was hoping I would be able to visit some people while I was there, but we didn't have time, but I did run into Leda in the street. She is the sister of that girl Ducineia that I baptized.( remember, the one that took like 4 years to finally get baptized.) Anyways it was cool to hear that she is doing well and way active in the church still!

This week was a rough one. We were teaching 5 people that were preparing for baptism, and on Saturday night we visited all of them to confirm with them about going to church. And every single one of them told us they don't want to be baptized anymore. It was a really really sad day. Then we got home and we checked up with the zone to see how everyone was doing and we had 20 baptism dates fall in one day! It was terrible. There are like 4 Elders in our zone that are slacking alot and not wanting to work at all. So this week we will be doing alot of divisions with them so see what is going on. haha its kinda rough right now, but I know everything will get better!

Love you all!