Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Nov 12: Who Shall Separate Us from the Love of Christ?

Dear Family!!

Hejsan och hur går allt med er!? jag borde prata mer svenska med er så att ni kan prata svenska när jag kommer tillbaka. Jag älskar er och ser framemot att vara med er snart!

Translation: Hello and how is everything with you? I should talk more Swedish with you so that you can speak Swedish when I come back. I love you and look forward to being with you soon!

Okej! what a wonderful life! This morning syster Werjefelt and I woke up and we had decided to push our beds together. Well I decided to steam roller over her to wake her up. Then we got the brilliant idea to come to the church and play ping pong for our exercise this morning and study at the church and then write to the family. It was a great plan until we got here and only found a broken ball :( but we made the best of it. We live right near a big arena and on Saturday two of our members were in a big ping pong tournament. So we decided to go check it out Saturday morning. I have never seen sOO many ping pong boards in one room with so many awesome players. It was awesome. So we just really wanted to play ping pong after that. While we were at the ping pong tournament we got to meet a few friends of our members and invited them to learn more. I love finding people through new ways :)

The big event for this week was having splits on Thursday. The systers from Alingsås (Syster Talbot and Syster Jacobs) came down to Kristianstad on Thursday and I was going to take syster Jacobs around and syster Werjefelt was going to have syster Talbot as her companion. Let me tell you... it is not easy planning a whole day of missionary work for one companionship... let alone planning TWO full schedules of missionary activities. So we started planning Thursday on Monday. We just scheduled everything for Thursday :) We were a little worried the rest of the week we wouldn't have anything to do.. but we did :) So Wednesday night came and everything was looking beautiful when one of syster Werjefelts main appointments canceled. NO!!! what should we doo!? I was thinking.. if someone canceled on in my schedule it would be ok..we'd find something to do.. but I was worried about helping sys Werj having the best first time leading the whole day. She was going to be in charge. As we sat there thinking the phone rang. It was Björn.

Let me back up. Last week Syster Werj was sick and so I got to spend some time looking through the missionary area book where they have records of all the old investigators they have taught in the past years. Well I found one guy named Björn. We ended up meeting him this Tuesday. The lesson went well but at the end he didn't really seem interested in trying to find out if the church was true during this time. Sys Werj and I were both sad.. but we gave it our best shot and all we can do is invite people.. we cant force anyone.

So Wednesday evening.. Björn calls and says.. you know it was so nice meeting with you guys. I really enjoyed talking with you. Do you think you have some more time this week to meet and talk? WHA?!! yesss.. tomorrow? It worked out perfectly! I love Heavenly Fathers timing.

Thursday came! and I LOVED being with syster Jacobs. She has two older sisters who are the same ages as Katie and Christa and she has a younger brother who is the same age as Erik. She is just happy and full of energy :) I really felt like it was just too much fun to be with her. We went to Hässleholm which is a town right outside of Kristianstad. We took with us a Young Woman named Javi (she is from Chile and wants to serve a mission!! she is 17 right now). We just rocked the whole day with amazing lessons one after the other. It is days like these that I walk out of a lesson and just cant stop smiling and LOVE being a missionary and could do this for the rest of my life. My favorite lesson was with an amazing man named Daniel. He served a mission when he was younger but had to come home early due to some kind of sickness/emotional problem. At that time they didn't know what it was.. He became inactive afterwards.

We had come by two weeks ago and knocked on his door and he was home! (that was a huge miracle) and he said.. "well i've been trying to sort of avoid you guys..." But we smiled and asked if we could come back. He hesitated for a moment but then said ok. So I was a little nervous about what we could say to touch him and invite him to start coming back to Christ. Right now he is sjukskriven (he cant work due to sickness) and is having a really tough time. This week I have been studying hope and I just felt like that is what we needed to talk to him about. And then I was looking through my ipod and I have some Mormon Messages on there and I clicked on one and it was PERFECT. (I believe this is the same Mormon message that erik sent me one day when he had come home from his mission.. )

http://www.lds.org/pages/mormon-messages?lang=eng#the-power-of-hope

well to make a long story short: We came in, showed this clip with him and then syster Jacobs turned to him and asked him how he FELT during it. He opened up and told us about his worries and there was such a strong spirit in the room. He has gone through a lot and has a hard time with "Faith" and really knowing if God is there and "Feeling" the holy Ghost. It seemed to fit perfectly with what I experienced myself in Uppsala. We testified and taught and I could just feel a strong love for this man. I believe it was Heavenly fathers love for his son and his pure desire to really know if his Heavenly Father was there for him. I walked out with a peace and joy and love that could sustain me through the darkest of dark nights.

I was reminded while sitting there that all the hard challenges we each face are for a purpose. They are not given to us to beat us down and kill us. They are given to us so that we might rise above. I am so grateful for the small challenges I have faced in my short life for they too have given me the chance to better understand Gods children around me, my brothers and sisters... and so that I might better be able to lead a helping hand, a listening ear, and an embracing hug.

There is much more I could write about this week. But I think I will leave it at that. I love you all and hope you all know that Heavenly Father loves YOU. And he has sent certain people to you that you too can help and uplift. And he has also sent certain people to you to uplift and help you during your times of need. And don't forget our savior who understands it all.

Romans 8

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Love

Syster Schneiber II

Nov 5: 5 Pictures

1. claudia and us (we love our spanish members!)
2. kevins baptism (our little 8 year old) and Peter Eriksson who baptized him
3. Our branch council :)
4. Sara! our third companion! She will be a missionary soon!
5. Us in the warm sunshine

Nov. 5: hej hej!

Dear Family,

This week was sick week. Syster Werjefelt, She had magsjuck (stomach flue) on Wednesday and we stayed in all day. Usually those days are really hard for me. But I was productive and did a lot of good work at home and sys Werj was a great sport and a happy sick person.

We had so many great positive people we were going to meet with at the beginning of the week. Most of them canceled or said they weren't interested :( So now we are back to the beginning. This is a normal part of missionary work. People have their agency. Even though this was difficult to face... I still could feel that I did the best I could do and could still be happy. When things are down and not going so well that just means that miracles are around the corner.

I don't have a lot of time but I just wanted to tell you about how much I love Sundays!

This Sunday as we headed to church syster Werj was still not feeling so well and it is not always that easy to be positive when things aren't looking so good. It seems every Sunday as we head out.. there seems to be no hope. I got into the chapel and this woman misunderstood me when I tried to compliment her and she got a little angry at me.. We then had a little meeting and as we were saying to closing prayer I realized I had talked the whole time and didn't give sys Werj any chance to talk.. so I beat up on myself a little. I realized this was not the best way to begin church. So! I went to the bathroom and had a little prayer. As I ended the prayer two young women walked in.. and I couldn't help but smile. Then as I sat down for Relief Society.. Marie Jacobsson walked in and got a big smile and chose to sat down right next to us and gave us a big hug. The day just kept getting better. Our less active family showed up to church! and then an investigator walked in for Sunday school.

(one thing I'm looking forward to when i come home is not having to plan a gospel principles class every week for people of three different languages and all at different levels in the gospel... that is HARD.. and I usually only have 1 hour to prepare.. or less on Sunday morning)

Our Sunday school class went really well as we talked about faith and for sacrament meeting I got to sit up on the stand and speak into this little mic to translate for the English speakers. I had a lot of fun with it. I really like translating because I have to focus on what everyone says and I get a lot more out of the meeting... and it was fast Sunday! those are my favorite meetings.

So.. the moral of this story is.. Sundays are the best. Even if they start out seeming hard... say a little prayer and you will find joy in your day.

I love you all!

Syster Schneiber

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Oct. 29: A Member's Friend

Dear Family,

Glad to hear that I will be able to come to the next wedding! :) Life has been wonderful as usual here. And time just keeps on flying by. Winter has officially come. It is COLD here. I have my big puffy jacket and warm boots on. I think I look like a marshmallow but I'm warm! :) I am also getting very tired of my clothes so I play dress up in sys Werjefelts clothes sometimes :)

This week was amazing because we were with members and teaching their friends!

Philip is a 16 year old stud and we met his friend at the youth activity we had a few weeks ago. We got to teach him for the first time this week. I think first teaches are my favorite because that is when you get to dig deep and figure out what part of the gospel they need to hear that can help them in their life. Philips friend said that he really just wanted to know if God was real.. if he really existed. We ended up teaching him on a bench outside his house because there was no girl home. It was a little bit chilly but as we all sat there and he voiced his concerns and the reasons why he wanted to know... it was a very special feeling. We gave him the commitment to begin by praying each day. He looked at us for a moment and then answered.. well you got to be open to try everything. yay! So we shall see what happens.

Hadi our amazing new convert from Iran... is on fire! He came home two weeks ago from church and a girl in his corridor came out and started talking to him. She asked why he was in a suite and he explained that he went to church. She ended up telling him that she was lonely here. She is from Stockholm but is studying down here in Skåna and he said.. "well I was lonely when I first came here too.. and then I went to church and made lots of friends.. you should come" So we have met her a few times now, we have taken her to some members homes for dinner and she came to church this Sunday! She is super cute and we hope to help her more!

Vali and Javi are two awesome young woman with an awesome mom Claudia. We came over and told this family about our desire to meet their friends and teach them. Claudia spoke right up and said, why don't we have a movie night next week. We can watch "the testaments" and the kids can invite their friends. I thought.. wow OK.. ya if the kids want to. (I don't know if I would have been that bold to do that with my friends back home) But we showed up on Friday for movie night and they had two friends over! There should have been a few more people but some other things came up. But Vali had just told her friend that they were going to have a movie night and watch a church movie and then another girl listening said that she wanted to come too. Sweet!

So we had a great time watching the movie. At the end when Christ comes in the film and heals the dad.. all of the girls were crying. We turned off the film and asked them what they thought. "It was a lot better then I had thought it was going to be.... I never cry in films and I cried in that one.. so it means it was a good film"

We had a great time talking to them and invited them to learn more. They both said ya! So we shall meet them on Tuesday.

Just as an update.. we met with that girl I told you about last week. It was fun but she said she had already tried with our church and it didn't feel right for her. It was super sad. But each person has their own choice.

Last cool miracle... We have been so busy that we haven't really had time to visit a lot of less actives. But Saturday we decided to cancel a member dinner and instead stay in this one area and visit the less actives. Usually when I have tried to swing by these people they are never home.. But on Saturday... Each person was home! God can help us know how to best spend our time. We are going back on Thursday to visit a few of them and help them feel the spirit again in their lives :)

Well! It was a shorter letter today! But I love you all!!!

Love Syster Schneiber

Oct. 22: Pictures

Simon, Lukas, and us! (Simon is the blond little boy) We made
cookies together and related the recipe to following Gods commandments
Syster Werjefelt and I! (sys W likes to take pictures and has taken
over the camera)
Me, Roland and Ingrid at the baptism
train rides to zone conference with karlskrona!
Nancy Sandaline! (the mother who invites us over every week)
sys werj's snazy picture taking skills :)
Always on the phone...

Oct. 22: It's a good thing we have cell phones...

I don't know how you and dad did missionary work with out cell phones! Geez. We use them all the time!

Kristianstad is still wonderful as ever. It is getting colder now. Syster Werjefelt and I had a great week :) I thought I would share some little miracles with you all.

The power of prayer is real! On Friday night we were at the Sandaline's home. They have had the missionaries over at their house every Friday for the past 20 years. The branch members know that Friday nights are always taken if they want to invite us over for dinner. :) Well, after we had our message we had to walk fast to the bus stop. As we rounded to bend we saw the bus pulling in. On Friday nights it only comes once every hour. We began to RUN. It left the bus stop and began to pull away. All I could think about was not wanting to wait for another hour for a bus.. we had stuff to do! So I chased after the bus like a crazy woman in a skirt and it had to stop at before pulling out onto the main run. I managed to catch up to the bus and banged on the side. The bus driver (he was early too!) was kind enough to stop and let us on. We got on and my bus card was GONE! noooooooooooOOO!

For some reason I decided to pay my ticket and then we called the Sandalines and asked them to look for it. (I should have just gotten off the bus to look for it myself but I had just run all that way to flag down the darn bus!) Well, we got home and they still hadn't found it. My stomach began turning. Ugg.. We had just bought the bus card and it works for a whole month. That would be a lot of money to loose. It had been about 30 mins and I called to see how the search was going. No luck. Well I thought I'd better tell them to just give up and go home.. I'll just have to buy another one. But sys Werjefelt said, "Why don't we have a kneeling prayer before we give up." (I had of course prayed multiple times in my head)

Side comment: While at the Sandalines we talked about how God answers prayers. Sys Nancy Sandaline talked about how she had lost her son one time in a big park. They all spread out to look for him and they couldn't find him for a while. She finally felt like she needed to go find a place to kneel down and pray. After she got up from her prayer her little son came wandering right into her view.

So we finished our prayer and still on our knees--the phone rings. They had found the bus card on their way home. :)

Roland got baptized!!!! Remember Roland and Ingrid? and how they got married a few weeks ago and then Ingrid got baptized. Roland had to wait to get papers back from the church. He got them back and we had a wonderful baptism on Saturday! It was definitely the easiest baptism yet for us to organize.. because Roland did it all. He picked everyone and called them himself to ask them to give a talk or a prayer, etc. He even made his own fika afterwards! (Fika--important word in Swedish... refreshments). Sys Werjefelt and I sang again. It went not too bad :) haha. Best of all was that Roland was happy.

On Saturday afternoon before we were heading out sys Werjefelt found a record of an old investigator that I had pulled out of the area book with syster Vistaunet. She brought it along with her to read more about her. We were on the train after the baptism and she pulled it out and decided to give this girl a call. No one answered (that is usual), so she texted. Later that night as we were heading home from our last lesson we got a text back!! (very unusual) She said that it was cool to have heard from the missionaries again but she wasn't interested. While we were waiting for the train back to Kristianstad , we responded and said it was very kind of her to respond and hope all goes well. Well we got on the train and I was on the phone talking to our mission leader and I was scanning the crowd as we walked down the aisle. Who did we want to sit next to??? The train was pretty full and I came to a man sitting on my right hand side with three empty seats. I was about to sit next to him when I looked to my left hand side and saw a woman sitting alone with three empty seats. So I sat down across from the woman. Shortly after came a girl who looked to be the woman's daughter. She began to smile and I smiled back. Suddenly, still talking to the mission leader, I watched as this girl pulls out her phone and shows sys Werjefelt something. .... whats going on?? that's weird... I could see it looked like a text from us.. did something happen to the wifi and send our text message to this random girl? and then it hit me. This must be the same girl!!

It ended up being her. She was super nice and so was her mother. We talked and laughed the whole train ride back. We texted her later that night and said that we didn't think that was just a coincidence and would love to see her again. She texted back Sunday and said she didn't think it was a coincidence either. We decided to meet this Wednesday!!!

So! we shall see what happens this week! Much to do, with too little time. There were many other amazing lessons and miracles and answers to prayers during the week.. but this is all I have time for.

I love you all!!

Syster Schneiber II

Oct. 16: Pictures!

Me and sys Werjefelt
our youth activity during the spiritual thought
the magic carpet
quiet skills on stools
the whole family and us!
the family (janette is in the pink jacket and Ondrej is the one in white!)
Ondrej!
We decided to be twins!