Monday, August 6, 2012

July 9: Have YOU done any good in the world today?

Well dearest family!
  While writing this letter I am listening to this wonderful song..
you should all listen to it while you read my letter ;)

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/mormon-channel-stories?lang=eng#2012-07-001-have-i-done-any-good-in-the-world-today

This week has gone super fast. We had our fourth of July party on the
5th and zone conference on the 6th in Göteborg. It was a week filled
with lots of missionaries.

 The week has been just another week of missionary work. Gotta love
it.. but it is also just hard work. Some wonderful miracles that
happened.. We have this random guy who lives in our apt house and he
is so sweet. He looks like this weathered sea man. He sells fish in
the neighboring town. In his free time he likes to take care of the
lawn.. he prunes all the bushes and weeds and plants flowers.. there
is a table and chairs out where he likes to read and feed birds his
left over bread.  Well we walked out the door last week and stopped to
chat while we waited for the bus. He asked us how the work was going
and said if we wanted we could use the table and chairs to have
discussions with people. He said it was sad that more people didn't
want to talk with us... We were both taken aback and so grateful for
this warm kindness. He has been living in the same apt as the
missionaries for the past 15 years.. and he doesn't have a Book of
Mormon yet! :)  So we asked him if he would like to meet and discuss
with us at the table and we could give him a book.  He said yes. We
met with him and he said he would read and that he has been really
curious about what we do and what we believe. He is searching for
truth.. YAY!!   SO his name is Börje and he is super sweet. We shall
see how it goes.
   
 We also got a referral from members in a neighboring town.. it
was an old man named Thorston. So we give him a call and he says to
come and show our selves to him :)   We show up and he is so excited
and happy he lets us in and just goes off about his whole life.  His
wife died a few years ago and he is still having a hard time with
that.  Probably 30 mins later he pauses and says.. "Why are you here?
and if you are trying to sell me something, or get me to join
something.. I'm not interested"  Syster sprague and I looked at each
other .. haha whopps... well! now what are we supposed to do!
 
 so We told him of our purpose and said he didn't need to join
anything but that we had a message about how he could be with his wife
again. He opened right back up and said he would love to listen and be
taught. haha I loved it. We gave him the Book of Mormon and he
promised he would read it.  We went back yesterday and unfortunately
he wanted to give it back. He said his memory is so bad there is no
point to reading it because he forgets what he read on the last page.
Sooo We tried to teach him how to pray and he said to come back after
he goes and talks to his doctor about his memory.  :) I still loved
being with him. And you should have seen how happy he was the first
night we left. After he closed the door he opened it back up again and
said "it was so nice to meet you too!"
     
SO what good are you doing in the world?  Who are you taking an
extra second to say hi to?
 
  One of my goals for this month is to recognize that God loves
me.. stop seeking for people to love me.. and LOVE EVERYONE ELSE!
Love. Love. Love the people who are around you. Your family. Your
friends. Strangers.. :)  and then! don't be afraid to tell them that
they have a Heavenly Father who loves them so so so much.
   
Something that has been hard for syster Sprague and I is that not
too many of our investigators are taking steps and progressing.  But
on Thursday after our 4th of July party in Göteborg we went to a
baptism for a guy named Kenneth.  We actually met Kenneth a few months
ago. He is from the states and he went to SVU to play basketball. That
is where he found the church. But he never decided to become a member.
 Well! he walked into the YSA center in Göteborg because he was
needing help and he knew he could get help there. We were there that
day and invited him to join us for pancakes. I think i wrote about it
home... well! he got baptized! Super cool... and the syster
missionaries were the ones who taught him.. So they were in charge of
the baptism. But they had another investigator named Alana coming and
they wanted sys Sp and I to take care of her.  We met Alana outside of
the building and then showed her around the church. When we walked
into the chapel.. she just started crying. I was blown away... I was
not on the same level as she was. As she cried she explained how she
has been searching her whole life for the truth and she just felt that
this was the right place.  We sat with her throughout the service and
she continued to explain how she just felt such happiness and that
this was true.  I couldn't help but feel the spirit sitting next to
this pure woman who wanted so badly to know how to come back to her
Heavenly Father.  She asked.. when can I get baptized!?  :)   It was
neat to be with her and know that there are people out there who
really want to know and really want to have the gospel be a part of
their lives.
 
SO! Syster Sprague and I will keep on looking for more and helping
those we have found.

 Lastly I just want you to all know how grateful I am for scriptures.
I read a talk this week called "you were born to lead"--and in it I
received some inspiration to some questions I had been having. The
inspiration I received was to search deeper in my scriptures for those
questions I have. I know the book of Mormon is true. To receive this
book--alot of effort was put in. Now ask yourself... why did God go to
such great lengths to give this book to the world?  And next
question.. why am I not using it more in my life.

 So ! you all have two commitments for this week
1. re evaluate your scripture study.. is there one thing you could do
differently to use this precious gift more effectively in your life?
2. Do GOOD in the world by first knowing that God loves you and then
go out and spread it by LOVING Others!

    i'd love to hear back about the results! :)

 I LOVE YOU ALL! and guess what! I have been a missionary for over a
year now! crazy! Time FLIES! I think these past 4 months with syster
sprague have been more like 4 weeks. Who knows how fast the next 6
months will go.

 Love Syster Schneiber

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