Dear Family!
What a great week.. as usual :) Actually I think this week was a
little bit harder for me. But the harder weeks tend to me the more
miraculous ones and the weeks I am most grateful for. This week I had
the chance to do splits with Syster T. She came up to join me in
Alingsås! She came up on Monday afternoon. I had a great two days
planned for her to take part in. Splits might just sound like fun..
you get a new companion for a day.. but it can also be a challenge. So
before we even get to Alingsås our first teach cancels on us and
Lennart calls and says he wants to stop meeting. Well! Here we go.
Syster T jumped right in. We rode to Lennarts and talked to him
at his door. It was like talking to a wall. He had shut himself off.
We bore strong testimony. It was cool to have syster T there
because we really had to rely upon the spirit. She had no clue who
this guy was. She was a powerful soldier to have standing there with
me.
Syster T: Goes to BYU-Idaho!! I had heard about her before I
got here. She is from Holiday UT. She is going home in 2 weeks. I
would say she is alot like me. :)
Well then we had a little dinner and caught the bus out to our
second teach. We had planned on going to Leila but we didnt ever
confirm in with her. So we thought if she is not home we can still
contact around that area.. lets go! In Alingsås the buses drive out
one direction come back and go to the center and then drive out a
different direction. So we get to the center and for some reason the
bus decides to stop going. The next bus out to Leila's doesn't go for
another 30 mins... by that time it would be too late to go out there.
We stood there in the bus terminal and I could feel a little sense of
panic rising.. oh no! what do we do now!! It is all up to me! Syster
T doesnt know this area. I think one of my least favorite things
about being a missionary is not having anything to do. I had a prayer
and looked through my planner. I had one other idea: we could go to
our new convert near town and teach them today instead of tomorrow...
Usually this new convert never can meet on random days. Sys Sp and I
had tried lots of times before. Well what do you know.. we call and
he says sure come on over. So we head over to his house and I give
Leila a call to tell her we wont be able to make it. Guess what Leila
wasn't home.
This might not seem so big to you reading. But for me... this
was a big answer to prayer. I have struggled this week in really
wondering how well I am really doing as a missionary... Is the Lord
really with me in this work if so many people reject me? Its now 4
months in Alingsås and no one has been baptized. If our purpose here
is to find teach and baptize...
Through much contemplation, searching, prayer I know that I am
in the right place. The Lord is with me. He is proud and grateful for
my work. And that this is the Lords work here upon the earth.
This sunday was fast and testimony meeting and one of the
members got up and said the past 6 months have been really hard and he
has felt so far from Heavenly Father. But he had remembered that poem
about the footsteps in the sand. It was the Lord carrying him during
those hard parts of his life. I too bore my testimony. I know that
God is with us. Often times he cant be there right in front of our
faces and hold our hands like we would a friend or parent. But he is
there and he is guiding us. How can we know? Because of answers to
prayers like the one I received on Monday. I cant tell you how many
times timing works out perfectly.
Tuesday syster T and I decided to go to an old investigator in
the neighboring town. (ps. sweden is BEAUTIFUL! Östadkulle is this
town... wow I love this world it is gorgeous) On the way back we
started talking to a girl waiting for the bus.. guess what. She knew
some members in the church. We told her about prayer and how she
could get answers. She declined our invitation to learn more but I
feel like she needed to hear our message. Later that night we were
ridding our bikes home and we passed two ladies trying to carry in a
big couch. We jumped off our bikes and before they could even say
"yes, can you help us" we were there carrying it with them.
Even though people dont make the final decision to get baptized
and follow Christ.. each time someone tries to be a little better from
our commitments I receive joy. We taught Pär (19 yr old who is a
friend to Viktor who just went on a mission). Pär is trying to pray!
It is amazing to see someone try and really find out if God does
exist. I hope you can all meet him one day. And we taught Leila later
on in the week... guess what! She read the first two pages of 1
Nephi!! and she gave the closing prayer again. We taught her about
keeping commandments especially keeping the Sabbath day holy. In her
prayer she thanked God for commandments and asked for help to come to
church.
I think one of my favorite parts about being a missionary is
getting to come into these peoples homes--listening to them--becoming
their friend and watching them change their lives as keep commitments
(like reading the book of mormon, praying, and coming to church) You
can feel a difference in their homes as they change.
Oh yah!! Do you remember how I talked about Kathe and George (two
old people in the ward).. and how they had a friend named Elizabeth--
(80 yr). Kathe met her at the library and Elizabeth gave her a book
she wrote of poems. Kathe found a poem about searching for God and
told George "SHE IS LOOKING FOR THE GOSPEL!! WE HAVE TO FIND HER!" So
they hunted her down and invited her over for dinner. Kathe told her
all about the church and invited her to come back for a second time to
meet the missionaries. :) So!! we went over this week and taught the
POS. It went so great! ELizabeth loved it and she was so grateful for
the plan. She asked if she could keep the paper we wrote the plan on..
so she could look at it and have more hope in her life. We will
hopefully meet her again this week.
You are probably all tired of reading.. but there is a little bit more :)
Syster Sprague and I got to go to Zone Leader Råd in stockholm.. and
then go to the temple!!! It was a neat experience. At the temple we
saw an old man go through the temple for the first time. Before we
left we saw him sitting in the cafeteria and we just couldnt leave
without asking him how he had found the church. I loved sitting down
and listen to him share his story. He teared up as he explained how
the missionaries showed up two days after he had prayed. He looked to
be about 70ish. It is never too late i guess ;)
Ok you have heard enough!
LOVE SYSTER SCHNEIBER
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