4/25/2011

Hey!

This week was awesome! Wendel was baptized on Saturday! But like always there was alot of trials that happened before the baptism. It started with his mom not wanting to sign the form to let him be baptized, then he decided that he wasn't ready. But after alot of help from god those problems were resolved. Then on Friday night we thought it would be good to go fill up the baptismal font, just so that we could be extra prepared, and avoid any possible problems that could happen the day of. So when we got there Saturday morning 15 minutes before the baptism was supposed to start, we found the font empty!!! All the water drained out!!! So we frantically filled the font and filled buckets of water in the sink in the kitchen and bathroom so it would fill of faster (because normally it takes about 2 hours to fill of the font at this chapel. But in the end everything worked out and Wendel was baptized. It was awesome because his mom went and she loved it, she even cried because she was so happy!

On Sunday I gave a talk. It was sweet! And we got a TON of Easter chocolate from the members in the ward! I've been eating only chocolate for the past 24 hours... I have a headache.

This week Elder Neil Anderson is coming to visit out mission!!! I'm so excited!!!

That's about it for this week.
Love you all!
Elder Schoen

4/18/2011

 We always cut out pictures to make covers for our planners

Me, Tiago, and Elder Manon

Here in Brazil the Big Mac is really small. But in the hands of Elder Manon it looks even smaller!!!

This week was awesome! The baptism of Tiago was really awesome! He was so happy the entire time! I've never seen anyone so Elect!


So after a really difficult fast because of how hot it was we had a sweet miracle that happened on Sunday. There is a young man named Wendel that we are teaching that was still undecided if he was going to be baptized this next weekend or not. So we had a blessing of having an Area 70 named Elder Prieto at our ward on Sunday. So I explained to Wendel who he was and how he is kind of a big deal. Then after the sacrament meeting got over, without Wendel seeing I went up and talked to Elder Prieto and explained to him about Wendels situation and asked him to talk to Wendel. So he took a walk with him around the chapel. Then afterwards we went up to Wendel and were like "WOW! What did he talk to you about?" and he was just like "I don't really remember, I just remember that I felt really really good when he was talking to me, and I want to be baptized this Saturday!" It was sooooooo awesome!!! So he will be baptized this Saturday at 5:30!!! YES!

Also, My Companion broke his bed in half yesterday! He just sat down on it and the wood frame snapped in half! It was really really funny! haha



Just 65 more days!!!



Love

Elder Schoen

4/11/2011

Noogie!!! Fanther and Son love!

This is Me and Elder Manon with a Sister from the Ward. This sister is Awesome she always calls us to come over and eat food! And her daughter speaks fluent english without an accent, which is sweet!

Hey Ya´ll!

This week was sooo sweet! The transfers were crazy just as expected! My companion (Elder da Silva) was transferred to São Paulo. And I'm training again!!!! My new companion is named Elder Manon! He is from Southern California (Upland). He is a 6´7´´ 280 pound kid! Its awesome! Me and him are getting along so well! Its pretty much a party all the time! So we are now working in Jd Simus only, so as we used to be mostly living in the house at Cerrado we had to move all my stuff to the house in jd. Simus, and then we spent a really really long time cleaning the house, because it had been over 6 months since anyone was officially living it it, and the missionaries that had been there before that had left the place a dump. So after alot of chemicals and elbow grease we were able to turn it into a place that it able to be lived in.

Me and Elder Manon set a goal to baptize 10 weeks in a row. (Which would be every weekend for the rest of my mission) We are super exited because yesterday a huge miracle happened. Well actually 3 miracles happened. 1st... We were freaking out because we need someone to be baptized this next weekend on the 16 to start off our 10 week, but we didn't have anyone. So we fasted on Saturday till Sunday, and on Sunday all the miracles happened. There is a guy who is 24 named Thiago (James in Portuguese) He has gone to church 4 times now, and has read the book of Mormon and the doctrine and covenants, he just works alot so its super hard to teach him. We on Sunday we were finally able to teach him, and we invited him to be baptized, and he was like "Of course!" "What do I need to do to be ready" So we taught him the commandments and he is already keeping all of them, and he already received and answer the the Book of Mormon is true, and he will be baptized this Sunday!!! 2nd... We are teaching a young man named Wendel, he is 17. He is Gabriel´s (the kid that we baptized last month) cousin. He is really interested in the church but every Sunday morning he has Capauera practice.(which is Brazilian dance fighting...look it up on the internet, its sweet!) So that's why he hasn't been able to go to church yet. So we taught him about the Sabbath Day, and left him to make the decision. So we went to church and waited for him to come, and he totally showed up! It was awesome! He should be getting baptized soon. 3rd... There is a family that we have been teaching for a really long time (Edival and Ana Claudia) whose son we baptized a couple weeks ago. They need to get married and they have just been procrastinating marking a wedding date. So we went there last night, and I´ve never talked to someone so boldly with such power and authority. It was nuts! We pretty much just told them how serious the sin is that they have been committing for the last 5 years is, and then I straight up told them " You need to repent!!!" It was a really tense situation but the spirit was testifying so much and it worked, because they agreed to go with us today to mark the wedding date with the judge! So usually the soonest you can mark a date is in 30 days, So next month they will be getting married and Ana Claudia will get baptized!!!

So that's about it. Life it Great!

Love
Elder Schoen

4/4/2011

Hey Everyone!

General conference was so good! Its amazing how much you can get out of it when you actually watch it and Pay Attention! haha All of the missionaries here are super trunky now, because they spent the whole time talking about how young men need to get married! It was really funny cause after it got over everyone was like, " Man, I need to find a wife!"

This week was kind of slow with the work. A couple of people that we are teaching took some steps back, and aren't really progressing any more. But now, we just need to work hard to find some new people to teach and baptize!

Today we will get the phone call about transfers. There are 20 new missionaries coming to our mission, and only 3 missionaries leaving. So that means that all the areas on the mission will open. Including Jd. Simus. So I'm not sure in which of these these areas president will have us continue working in. Also, the gossip is that alot of zone leaders will be demoted so that they can help train these new missionaries that are coming! I hope one of them is me! I want to train again so bad! Especially cause 6 of the missionaries that are arriving are from Spain! How awesome would that be to have a companion from Spain, then I could learn Spanish!!! But... we will just have to see what happens.

.... I only have 11 more P-Days!!!!

Love,
Elder Schoen

3/28/2011



The Baptism of Victoria and Yasmin




The Baptism of the family of Marcio. Delair is the mom, and Renan and Gustavo are the two sons.

 Hey!

So this past weekend was amazing! I've never seen so many miracles in my life. This past month I've learned so much about faith, and my testimony of fasting has grown so much! On Saturday we were blessed with helping 5 people be baptized! So we ended this month with 7 baptisms! We weren't able to reach our goal, but that's ok. I'm just so happy that I was able to be a part of all these miracles. So on Saturday morning Victoria and Yasmin were baptized. They have been going to church for about 3 years now, but there parents don't want to get married, and never let the girls be baptized. So after alot of prayer and fasting we had a lesson with them and explained really clearly and boldly. We talked to them about the importance of following Jesus. We talked about how we need to follow him today and right now, we should never wait to follow Jesus Christ. So then we said "We are representatives of Jesus Christ, we are inviting you, as if it was him inviting you, to follow him and be baptized." And they agreed to be baptized. Then we asked them when they are going to follow being baptized, and they said " Today! Can we be baptized today?" And instantly their mom got mad, and was like NO NO NO NO, you aren't ready you need to prepare more, then out of no where, (this was the help of the Lord) Their dad, who is Bolivian, and always really angry was like "No! The girls NEED to be baptized, and need to be baptized now!" And then the mom decided that it was alright, so we called one of the elders and he came and did the interview, and they were baptized the next day!!!

Then there is a family that we started teaching 3 weeks ago. Its the parents and two sons. The dad (Marcio) was baptized when he was 15 and went to church 3 times then went inactive. During his time away from the church he got married and had 2 boys. Well 3 weeks ago he decided that he wanted to return to the church and bring his family. So we taught his family and they are all super elect! On Saturday night they were all baptized!!! On Sunday after the Sacrament meeting I got to be part of the ordination... Marcio got the priesthood, then I got to watch him give the priesthood to his two sons. It was the coolest thing in the world, cause he was so lost, he had no idea what was going on, but the bishop helped him out with the words. But it was such a cool experience.

Unfortunately our Zone wasn't able to reach our goal of 40 baptisms. But so many miracles happened and we were able to help 22 people be baptized and confirmed!!! The record for this zone in one month is 12. And with our faith and ALOT of help from the lord we were able to make in difference in 22 peoples lives in one month!!!

I know that this Church is True. I know that the message that I get to share with people is true! I know that The Lord is guiding this work, and I'm so grateful to be able to be a part of it!

Love
Elder J.D. Schoen

100 Days until Elder Schoen's return !!!! YaHOOOO :)

3/21/2011




We went exploring to find a shortcut, but we ran into a creek that we had to cross using this pipe. I almost fell in!

 



This is Luis Gustavo. He was baptized on Sunday. His parents are getting ready to get married and they will be baptized next month!



This is Luis Gustavo and his parents, Edival and Ana Claudia.

  Hey!

This week was amazing! We had so many miracles happen! So here in our zone, the record of baptisms in one month is 12. As of right now we have 14! and the crazier thing is that this weekend there are 10 more people preparing to be baptized! We are all at a loss for words, just extremely grateful for the miracles that Heavenly Father is doing. It is such a great feeling to know that because we are exercising our faith so many other people are being able to be blessed!

Sorry I'm not writing much, but next week I will fill you in on exactly what happened!

Love
Elder Schoen

3/14/2011



We found a dead possum in the street.



This was Gabriel at his baptism. He was baptized by djalma (young mens president)

Hey Everyone!

This week was awesome! So many miracles happened, it will be impossible to tell all of them, but I will try to tell the best ones. So as you know, we have a goal of 40 baptism in our zone in this month of March, which the record of baptisms in the zone is 12. So this past weekend we had 4 huge miracles happened, and 4 people were able to be baptized in the Zone. There were alot of spiritual experiences and people getting answers to their prayers for these 4 miracles to happen. Including our miracle in our area, Gabriel. So he has been going to church for a month now, and he wanted to get baptized. He is 15 years old. But his mom wouldn't let him, because she felt it was too soon. But we knew that heavenly father would help her so that her son could be baptized. So after alot of praying, fasting and preparation, it got to be Friday (the day before the baptism) and Gabriel had passed the interview, the entire ward was already invited to the baptism, he had already picked out his baptism jumpsuit that he would use, but his mom still hadn't authorized the baptism. But surprisingly when we got there on Friday, we said a pray and then entered and talked to his mom one more time, but I'm don't remember what was said exactly but she changed her mind! What a miracle! So Gabriel was baptized and it was awesome!

Its amazing how much Satan trying to interfere with the work here. On Saturday morning we got a call from 3 different Elders that were all sick, 2 with Pink Eye, and on doctors orders couldn't leave the house, and the other had the flu. This was a huge problem seeing as how they all had baptisms that night. So me and my companion prayed to know what we should do. The answer came clearly. So we called everyone in the zone and asked them to start praying for these 3 Elders, and we asked for the companions of these Elders to give them a blessing of health and everyone would be cured. After calling everyone me and my companions kneeled down and started praying, during the prayer we both felt comforted like everything was going to be alright. Then about 20 minutes later I got a call from the 1st Elder, "Hey man, ummm, I'm all better!" Then the Second " Hey you will never believe this but I feel way better and my eye is back to normal, its like nothing was ever wrong with it!" Then the third "Whooo! I'm healed!!!!" It was one of the coolest experiences of the mission so far. Everyone was cured so that the work could go forward! I have such a strong testimony, that is grower stronger every day of faith. Its such a simple principle that makes ALL the difference. I'm so grateful for all the miracles that are happing and that I can be a part of all of this!

I love you all! Thanks for all the love and support!
Elder Schoen

3/7/2011

This is where we study, and these are our two poasters! 10!!!

Can you say TEN!!!

Hey Everyone!

So this week was sweet! Me and my companion set a goal this month to baptize 10 people! Which is kinda crazy because that's more that is normally baptized during a year. But its totally going to happen. There is a book called calling on the powers of heaven, and it gives 17 steps that you have to do to be able to call on the powers of heaven or (have a huge miracle happen) So we made 2 posters and put them on our wall. one of the is the 17 steps, and the other is our plan of how we are going to achieve our goal. One of the things we are doing is like is says in alma 26:22 praying always without ceasing. So me and my companion are trying to be praying all day long, either out loud as we are walking in the street, or in our minds, or we are singing hymns. Its an amazingly spiritual experience. Its been about 6 days now that we have been doing this and I've never felt the spirit so strongly with me in my life! So one of the things that we put into our plan is that we would involve our family, friends, and the members here in this goal. So I am asking everyone that reads this blog to please pray for us that this miracle can happen. That we can find 10 elects and help them be baptized in March. There are also alot of other things we are doing to exercise our faith and show the lord that we have faith and we really believe that this will happen. One of these things is that we decided that we would fast once for every one of the people that will be baptized. So we are going to do 10 fasts during this month. We are so excited! This Weekend a young man that we are teaching named Gabriel is going to be baptized! He is 15, and we found him knocking doors about a month ago. He is really integrated with the youth in this ward. And everyone is super excited for him to be baptized!!!

Story: So we are teaching a man named Gilson. Its safe to say that he is a drunk. He´s been drunk every day of his life for about the past 10 years. But he is such a good guy! He went to church this Sunday, which was awesome! But when we were at church my companion had a super strong urge to give him food, he felt like Gilson was needing food. Weird huh! So during church we went looking for food, and we were asking some members if they had food, but we only ended up finding some bread. So we told him to follow us to the kitchen and we asked him when the last time he ate was, he said that it had been over 3 days!!!! So we offered him some bread and he was so happy. It was way cool to see my companion receive inspiration like that...

So this week we were teaching Gilson and he had 4 friends over, which were all completely drunk. So it was kinda hard to teach, but when we were talking to them one of them got mad at the other and he grabbed him by the shirt and held his fist up like he was going to punch him, but he was so drunk I think that if he would have tried he would have missed! haha And he was like do want me to hit you now? or later? now or later? And we were like whoa whoa whoa stop! You cant hit him! and re looked at us and was like "Really? Why? is it a law of god?" and we were like ''"YES" And then he said oh ''Ok sorry" and let him go. But it was so funny, it was just one of those things you had to be there to see.

Anyways that's about it!
Love you all!
Elder Schoen

2/28/2011

The final product of everyone.

This is the T-shirt that i made.

These were some of the Elders paiting their t-shirts

Hey Everyone!

Today we had an Zone activity where we painted T-Shirts. Usually the missionaries put their money together to order a Zone t-shirt, but we decided to do it a little different this time, we made our own. It was alot of fun, cause everyone could make their T-shirt exactly how they wanted it! (Pictures included)

This week was really good. We found a couple new families that went to church with us on Saturday! It was awesome!!!

As of tomorrow its just 4 more months till ill be home! WOW!

Sorry I didn't write alot today, but at least there are lots of pictures!
Love
Elder Schoen

We found a Broken toilet in the street, so I just couldnt pass up the opportunity. But I had to take the picture fast before the people that lived there saw me, they were leaving the house right when I was taking the picture! haha

Sportin´ my new tie that my mom sent me! This was at the end of a division that I did with Elder Otterstrom from Provo, UT.

Underneath a convering waiting for the rain to stop.

So an awesome thing happened today! We got a call from a sister in the ward. She was like " Hey Elders are you guys at home? Casue I need to drop something off for you guys" She brought us 2 huge boxes...

...Full of food!!!! WE ARE SO HAPPY!!!

2/21/2011

The baptism of Sabrina. Me, my companion (Elder da Silva) and Sabrina.

Hey!

This week was awesome! We finally had a baptism! The baptismal service was really good. There were alot of people there to watch, and a couple of our investigators were there. Which helped alot, so they could see what "Mormon baptism" is like. Sabrina asked me to confirm her, which I did. I always get a little nervous giving the holy ghost in front of so many people! But everything went swimmingly.

On Friday I had a severe case of Diarrhea.....But it was all day long and it was violent!... I'm sure you all wanted to know that. haha but it was one of the highlights of my week.

That's about it for this week.
Love,
Elder Schoen

2/14/2011



On Friday night we got stuck in the rain and got completly SOAKED!!!



And just as we were getting home it started hailing. I didnt know that hail hurt so bad!



Look at all the water that was in my shoe!!!

 Hey!


This was the most exhausting week of my mission so far. We walked sooo much, and slept so little, but it was all completely worth it!

So we have been praying and fasting for miracles and for baptisms. But these two areas where we are are kinda difficult... Cerrado hasn't baptized in 5 months, and Simus hasn't baptized in almost a year. So its kinda hard here. But we have been really optimistic and working really hard, and this week it paid off! We have a couple families that we are teaching, and the members are starting to give a ton of references! Like I said last week we had 12 investigators at church, and only one of them we brought with us. And so this week we decided that we needed to do at least the same or better. We planned for a different member to go and pick up each one of our investigators, and we were inviting the members to bring friends to church all week. So when Sunday morning arrived, the most wonderful thing happened. We showed up at the church, without having to run and pick up a single investigator. We waited there and watched all of our investigators show up with members! We had 12 investigators at church again!!! And there was a couple new people that the members had brought that we will start teaching this week! Its crazy how much the two wards are helping us out!

Ok so now to the huge miracle that happened on Saturday! Saturday was a very very hot day. And we were fasting. All of our appointments fell, and we felt like we were dying of tiredness and dehydration. At 7:00 we went to the house of one of the families that we are teaching that needs to get married before getting baptized. The parents names are Marcos and Margarette. Margarette is a member that was less active, and Marcos wants to be baptized, he just has to get married first. They have 3 kids, ages 18, 14, and 9. The 9 year old Sabrina isn't baptized yet. But we wanted to wait to baptize her at the same time as her dad seeing as how it was going to be soon. But when we got there they told us that there was a couple complications with some stuff and they were going to have to wait 3 months to be able to be married, but they don't want to wait that long to baptize Sabrina!!! So this Saturday (Feb 19th) Sabrina will be baptized!!! And Simus will have its first baptism in almost a year!!!! WHOOO!!! We are so excited, and so are the members! Its amazing how miracles happen when we fast!

I love serving a mission, and Its going by way to fast... I never thought that I would say this, but I wish that time would pass by slower.

Love
Elder Schoen

2/7/2011

So we went to a members house this week and they have like a little farm in the middle of the city,
and this is the 1st peacock that ive ever seen in person!

Up close with the zoom action!

This is about as close as I got to the geese.
The guy said they are mad and they like to bite!

This is a part of Jardim Simus at sunset.

This one was a gutter ball.

Hey Everyone!

This week was so sweet! We are having so many miracles happen! So we have been working alot with the members because this is an area pretty well-off financially. So knocking doors doesn't work very well. So we decided to put into practice a sweet program that I had heard about. And its working so well. So we asked the bishop to pray and choose a family in the ward for us to work with. Then we work just with this one family. We went there and gave a super spiritual lesson and then while the spirit was there, they wrote down the names of EVERYONE that they know that isn't a member. Then we prayed and they picked a way to talk to each of these people about the church (ex: invite to church, give book of Mormon, give an Ensign, Family Night, etc...) Well this family that we are working with are so excited and brought a bunch of friends to church this past Sunday. We also had a couple of people that other members introduced us to at church. It was so awesome! We had 12 investigators at church on Sunday... So there are 4 families where the parents need to get married 1st, but there are also like 5 people that should be ready to be baptized in the next 2 or 3 weeks if everything goes as planned. Its so crazy! The whole ward is getting excited now about doing missionary work!

This week I found out that there is a bowling alley in our area!!!!!!! So we went bowling today for PDAY! It was the worst 2 games that I've ever bowled in my life, but it was so fun. Its amazing how out of practice you can get after 1 year and 7 months. But it was a blast, then we went to Burger King. And the guy at the cash register hooked us up! So usually for 2 people its about 42 reais. But he gave us a huge discount and it was only 25! So right about now I'm one happy camper!

That's about it for this week!
Love,
Elder Schoen

1/31/2011

This is our chapel.

Me and my companion today...
Yes, I know, I need a hair cut. The barber shop was closed today :(

Hey Everyone,

Well its extremely hot. I'm sweating so bad right now, and its really hard to concentrate. I've lost 4 pounds in the past 10 days since I've gotten here. But its a good thing because I've slowly been gaining weight since I got here on the mission.

This week was really, really awesome. We found 2 families, where one of the parents is a less active member of the church, and the other parent isn't a member. And both of the families have children that need to be baptized! The only thing is that both of the families need to get married first. So we are trying to help them get the money to get married, and get everything all planned out.

So these past couple weeks I've been reading the Book of Mormon alot. During our study time, and during any down time that we have during the day. I'm getting towards the end already, probably this week I will finish the book. But this has been an incredible experience reading it again. I know for a fact that this book is true. It brings me so much happiness in my life, and Its amazing to see how it moves the lives of all the people that start reading it and applying the things that they learn in their lives. I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to be a member of the Only True Church on the Earth. The original church that Jesus Christ established when he was here on the earth was restored, along with all the authority, ordinances, and teachings. I'm so grateful to know that my family is going to be together forever. Every day that I read the Book of Mormon my testimony of these things grows. I'm so grateful that I can share these truths with other people and help them change their lives. I love being a missionary!!!

Thanks for all the love and support!
Elder Schoen

1/24/2011

Last District Meeting Before Transfers (Elder Garner, Me, Elder Wilkinson)

Elder Pereira, Me, Elder Franco

Saying Bye to Cintia and Leandro. This is the Super Elect lady that is going to be baptized on Feb. 5th.

Hey!
So on Wednesday I was Transferred! I'm now in Sorocaba. I'm serving in the Sorocaba Stake, which is the same stake that Salto de Pirapora is part of (I was serving in Salto like 4 months ago) But there is a shortage of missionaries here in our mission so there are a couple of companionships that are taking care of two wards at the same time... and me and my new companion, Elder da Silva, are one of them! So our chapel is the stake center and there are two wards that meet there. Cerrado and Jardim Simus. Cerrado is huge! It takes almost 2 hours to walk from one side of the area to the other. And Jd. Simus isn't that big, thankfully! But its super super hectic working in two areas at the same time. Because its such a long walk from our house in Cerrado, to Jd. Simus, we are living in both areas. So our day is basically like this. We work in Cerrado one day and we sleep there, then the next day we study in the morning then walk to Jd. Simus and work there for the day and sleep there. Then the next day we study then walk to Cerrado to work there. Its really really exhausting living in two places at the same time. I had to buy another toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, laundry detergent, shampoo, deodorant, and stuff like that. Its been a really tiring couple of days. And not to mention church on Sunday! What a mess! haha We had to go to double the meeting on Sunday, and let me tell you, its exhausting setting through two sacrament meetings in a row! Oh and did I mention that at the last minute the person that was supposed to speak with the high counsel member canceled. So I had the opportunity to give a talk :) But it want really well, it was a great way for everyone in the ward get to know me really fast!

My companion is pretty cool! He is from Fortaleza. He has the same time as me on the mission. We were in the CTM together. Its pretty cool, cause I remember doing a practice with him in the CTM, when I had no idea what I was doing, but now we are companions.

Sorocaba is SOOOOO HOT! I think I might die here! It wouldn't be so bad if AC existed here!

Anyways that's about it for now!
Love you!
Elder Schoen

1/17/2011

Hey!

Ok so today this computer isn´t letting me download the pictures that I took to send them... so no pictures this week... sorry!

Tonight we will get the phone call about transfers. Me and my companion are hoping that we will get to stay together, but next week i'll let you know what happened.

Today for Pday we went to BurgerKing!

So remember that blessing/miracle that happened last week? ...Her name is Cinita. She is the lady that her husband was an inactive member, and now he is going to church again and she wants to be baptized! Ya, this week we taught her a couple times and brought some families with us from the ward so that they could make friendships. It was really really cool. Then last night a newly-wed couple offered to have a FHE at their house for our investigators. It is so cool how excited she is, and the ward is for her to be baptized!

So I found out yesterday that my dad has a facebook! haha This guy named Nathan (who is a less active member that we helped re-activate that just turned in his mission papers) said that he found my dad on facebook and started talking to him. He said my dad invited him over for dinner, which he thought was funny because he only lives like 5000 miles away! haha I just thought it was funny to find out that my parents are technilogically updated now, using facebook and all! haha

Other than that, not a whole lot is going on.

Lots of Love!
Elder Schoen

OK so it ended up working, This was us a Burger King Today

1/10/2011

Just thought everyone would like to see an UNedited email from JD.  I think he will need to take English as a second language when he gets back to BYU.

So me and my companion decided to play a prank on one of the Elders that lives with us. He spent all morning looking for his name tag, then we pulled it out of the freezer when he wasnt looking and put it on the table. Then he asked for like the 20th time "Have you seen my name tag" I was like "I dont know, did you look it the kitchen". His reaction was so funny!!!



Elder Da Rosa melting the block of ice!

Finally was able to get it out of the ice!

These are the Elders I live with in our Kitchen. So yesterday was Elder Wilkinsons birthday. (He is the one next to me, he is from Texas) So me and my companion threw a suprise birthday party for him and made a mint chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, and brownies! He was really really happy!

Playing ping pong on our way smaller tha regulation size table!

This week we combined the two districts to have a breakfast and district meeting at our house to help the Elders be more excited! It worked well. It was a very spiritual experience, and everyone loved it!

Me and My companion after ping pong.

Hey Everyone!

Well this week there are lots of pictures! This week was so good! At our meeting we had with the missionaries in our Zone we talked about spiritual experiences, and everyone took turns bearing testimony and telling stories of mericles and spiritual experiences that happend to them on the mission. It made everyone was excited, and then On Saturday till Sunday we did a fast as a Zone for more spiritual experiences... Well me and my companion had a mericle happen!

So things in this area a kinda really hard. Its been over 2 months now since we´ve had someone that has accepted a basptismal date and since we´ve had an investigator at church. So this week we found a man that moved here from a different part of the city that was being taught by the missionaries a long time ago. So we met with him and he said that he wanted to be batized and he would do all that was necissary to prepare himself! Sweet huh!? But the catch is that he is kinda crazy. Like maybe is a little slow mentally from all the drugs he did in the past. So we were kinda skeptical if he would actually go to church like he promissed. But Sunday morning at 9:00 he was there, and took notes in sunday school and asked questions and made comments. It was so awesome! So I thought that we had recieved our mericle that we were fasting for. But just wait... It gets better! ... So when sacrement meeting ended (sacrament meeting is last here in our ward) The Elders Quorem President came up to us and said "Elder come here, I want you to meet someone" (The golden words that every Elder loves to hear) Then he introduced us to a man and his wife. He has been inactive for the past 10 years and decided to come back to church. His wife isnt a member and wants to be baptized! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So this tuesday night we are going to go teach her! Im so excited! After so many weeks of effort and no results, the Lord let us have a mericle! Im so excited for these two people, and I hope that we can keep having success.

Thanks for all the prayers and letters from everyone!
Love
Elder Schoen

1/3/2011

Hey!

Well its offically 2011! Yes! I'm coming home this year!

Christmas and New Years were really good here in Santana. We were able to eat dinner both nights in the homes of members! We ate like kings!!! I think I'm still full from our New Years Day lunch!

Not much new happened, but I will try and send some pictures that will do all the explaining!
Much Love,
Elder Schoen

Christmas Eve

 

A shot of our Area

The same place as Picture 1, but at night

Christmas Day

Me and Elder Galvão with a sweet view

New Years Eve, The little girls name is Sofie. She is soooo cute!!

We finished our Puzzle we got for Christmas. (We did it in only 2 P-days)