Week 4--MTC

This week is the mark of our halfway point here at the MTC. Things are moving along great. I still adore and love Syster Winterton! She is just the greatest companion. The Lord really is blessing me every day through her.  

   What a blessing it is to be a missionary! Sometimes it is easy to forget that this is a gift from the Lord to be on a mission, it's not something that I deserve or am entitled to. But even though this is a gift already the Lord continues to shower us with blessings. Syster W and I were talking about that today on our way home from the temple. On our way out we met an older woman all-full of smiles named Sister Hammond. She grabbed us by the hands and told us that we were doing great things. It turns out that this is the same lady and her husband who gave the devotional two weeks ago. She and her husband talked about love, and it was from that devotional I began to realize that everything that happens here on earth that brings us joy is directed from Love. It is all about Love!! I just love that woman so much--so much so that I had to go back into the changing room and give her another hug!  Yesterday I got sick again and my throat has been really hurting.  It was hard during the middle of the day when I was really tired and didn't feel like talking much, so I decided I'd better start loving someone fast. And what do you know, the next moment I wasn't thinking about myself and I was making someone else happy (although it might have made me more happy than it did them!)

So Syster W and I have two "investigators" right now. One named Leo and one named Anna. It has really been the greatest acceleration of my learning here at the MTC by having the chance to try and develop lesson plans for these investigators and then teach them. We are of course still teaching in Swedish. Isn’t that amazing that I am teaching people in Swedish! I think its just crazy! But it can be done.

I also have come to believe that Swedish is possibly the easiest language out there. It is easier than Spanish. That must be one reason why the Lord is sending me there. Because He knew I couldn’t handle anything worse. I love Swedish though, and it is coming slow and steady. Now that we are at the half waypoint we are trying to speak a lot more Swedish. We have tried to have two full Swedish only days. It was hard and we ended up speaking some English :) but! The more we speak the better we do. The biggest help comes when we are in class and I make sure I respond in Swedish even though it takes longer.  I tried working on that yesterday and when one person takes up the courage to speak in Swedish (and our teachers are teaching us in Swedish) more of our class takes courage and will answer in Swedish too. Yesterday the whole class started to answer questions in Swedish. It was really great. So my Swedish is far from perfect but I’m trying not to be scared of making mistakes and just trying to get out the feelings I want to convey.

   This week I have really been studying a lot on repentance. I'm a little scared to call someone to repentance from some reason. It is just a little uncomfortable... So I have been trying to better understand repentance and what it really means to repent. I loved the BD's explanation that Repentance. Before it was translated meant "turning" or having a fresh view of God. That makes repenting seem much more of a positive thing to go through. Also I'm studying humility in the Christ-like attributes and I read something really interesting. It said that competition is a form of pride. So I have been trying to decide if competition is a bad thing all around. I can’t really see Christ competing with people. But competition does lead people to improve. But often just to be better than another. If we can really learn not to compare ourselves with others. Oh how much sweeter life would be! Right now I am so grateful that I have only one girl to worry about not comparing myself too. As an elder it would be much harder.

My favorite time of the week is getting to sing with the choir. We practice on Sundays and on Tuesdays and then perform Tuesday night at devotional. Syster W is great at singing so I often ask her to sing alto to help me get better. Love it!

  Overall life is of course going great. Sometimes I really don’t seem much change going on. It is only when I look back over a longer period of time that I realize. I actually have changed! That is pretty exciting! Another thing that has been really interesting to have to learn how to deal with is the way teachers teach here.  They are more like guides than teachers. They prompt us with questions and guide our conversation. But when you come out with a direct question for your. They never answer and want you to find it out yourself. It is often frustrating at times because I love to get answers from people. But I am beginning to realize they are teaching me the way the Lord answers us. We can ask him questions and ask for help. But he never really seems to answer directly. He wants us to go out searching on our own and find that answer. We tend to learn the best when we learn it ourselves. Such an interesting concept. Today I read in the Bible Dictionary "Conversion: completed conversion comes after many trials and much testing". Life seems to be all about these challenges that we overcome. Maybe it would be a good thing for us to ask for more trials. Then think about how many big steps we would be taking!

Well I love you all!!

 Syster Schneiber!

Week 3--MTC

Dear Family and Friends,

Here are a few funny things that mixed up our week:

• Two nights ago we had a fire alarm at 2 in the morning! It was pretty fun to wake up to blaring alarms and then traipse outside with a  bunch of tired sisters.. I laughed when I saw what people brought: their name tags! and notecards :)
• On our service day Syster W and I tried to speak in only Swedish! We did a pretty good job (I thought) but we have pretty terrible grammar though. :) But we keep working on it!  My favorite new word is "fornecka," which means "to deny." And it sounds like fornicate, so that is how I remember it... ok soooo! maybe that is bad of me...
• Syster W was chosen to say the prayer at devotional so we got to sit up on the stand and meet Elder Simmons.
• Last week on firday Syster Winterton had a great game of soccer but ended up spraining her ankle. So we had a day of crutches and now i get to practice my nurse skills and i wrap her foot all the time. The Aldster (elders) have been great about helping her out. We love our Elders.
• Awesome experience: Two non-members from Sweden came to the TRC. They were just visiting the States, and only two komratskap (companionships) could teach.  Syster Winterton and I got to teach them! I couldnt understand almost anything they said  but we had a fun time laughing and smiling with them and then sharing our short message. It was really neat. I can't wait to go to Sweden!!! even though i wont be able to understand them for a while

So over-all this week has been another great week. Syster W and I are working really well together and we are just trying to love life and learn a lot.  

 

We also had an amazing district meeting after devotional on Sunday were we talked about the Armor of God. I really like the shield of faith and the sword of the spirit.  I like to think that the shield of faith works like this: If we have faith in the Lord then we let Him in and control the shield.  That way He is invincible and we never get hit by the bad guys. Then, as we try and develop this faith in the Lord and let him control the shield, this gives us the ability learn how to wield the sword of the Spirit. We are really clumsy with the Spirit now and are practicing and building those muscles.  But look at the prophet; he is a master of using the sword of the spirit. When we learn how to strike someone with the spirit sword they are able to feel the spirit and know that we speak the truth.. So cool!!

 

I love you all.. and there is so much more that is going on.. but I am so grateful for all of your letters and your prayers.. know that I pray for you too (in Swedish! :)

 

 LOVE

   Syster Schneiber

Week 2--MTC

Family and Friends!

Ok, so the count down on the computer has already begun.. 29 mins left. What a great week this has been! I'm going to just do this bullet point style of all the great moments with Syster Winterton during week 2! at the MTC

•  I love P-Day's! Last Pday was great to just write and relax. We ate lunch outside.. made friends. I am still getting lost with all these buildings looking the same. But Syster W has a great sense of direction built in and so she just keeps leading me along. She always gets a kick out of it when I make a wrong turn. She said the other day, "What are you going to do when you are made senior comp and all the sudden don't know how to get anywhere!?" I told her I'd just pray real hard :)
• Most mornings I wake up at 6 and go running with a sister in my room named Sister McPhie from Vernal, UT. She is really funny and going to Lithuania. She is in her last two weeks here so she is trying to just speak Lithuanian. So she will say something to me and I'll make up some funny translation for it. It is a great start to the day.
• Gym time. LOVE IT! Syster and I play volleyball with our district often--Erik I am practicing the techniques you taught me... my setting is the worst. They don't let us play Ultimate though, it supposedly too dangerous.. dont know where they got that idea from :) Especially when they let us play soccer! So I have been also playing soccer with some sisters. It usually is Syster W, Sister Mcphie, and I on one team and we play against three girls going to Romania. We have a great time and you would be very impressed to see how my feet don't trip over the ball. 
• I LOVE my district. We are all going to Sweden--so we seem to be pretty close. It is just Syster W and I for systers and then 6 other komratscaps (companionships).. my favorite word. Mostly they are really great Elders, but they do tend to get a little goofy towards the end of the day during personal study. Erik you would be very impressed how I am patient and don't tell them off. :) It's hard sometimes.. but Syster and I just shake our heads with a smile on our face and keep studying. I love personal study time too. Now that I am getting a better idea of what to study on my own it is coming along better.
• Syster W and I finished teaching our first investigator Inari and we both felt like we learned alot. I cant believe we taught someone in Swedish! Very broken and slow, but hey at least we got out the main gist of the lesson: God loves you. :) So our Swedish class is still all in Swedish but they have started doing our missionary class time in English..I am really greatful for that.
• I saw a boy from BYU-I who was having a hard time deciding to go on a mission. He finally decided to go as I was getting ready.  I ran into him the other day and he got so excited he tried to hug me. I about had a heart attack and felt like I had been violated for the next thirty minutes. haha OH man.
• Syster W and I only pray in Swedish now. It is really cool to use new words I learn each day in my prayers. My goals are not as lofty as Erik's were. We try and learn 15 new words a day (we probably end up learning more than that) and remember two scriptures a day. It's going pretty well. Erik, I am using those little flash cards you told me about and they work great. I have also memorized "Our Purpose" in Swedish now. Syster and I quote it to eachother during shower time :) Did I mention I LOVE Syster Winterton! The Lord really wanted me to learn a lot here at the MTC and she has such a similar learning style to me so it is perfect. We pretty much study the same things and all our goals we work on together. She is still faster at learning words than I am.. but that is Ok. We are all different. I usually have to make up funny phrases to help me remember the big words. impossible=om-oil-leak (omoijlig)
• One of my favorite moments has been to watch our elders grow in their understanding of how they are centering their lives on Christ. One of the Elders here named Elder Whitworth has really started to shine. He reminds me of Chris Gynn: tough on the outside,vbut a softy on the inside. Well he has made a few comments where you can see he is tearing up inside. It makes me think of Erik as he grew in his testimony. 
• Ps. ERIK! where did all my letters GO!? I had like 20 last week and none this week :(  But i loved the cinnamon rolls!! :) best idea ever!
• Packages.. I got those cinnamon rolls from Erik the fisrt week and my friend Sarah Williamson sent me some this week! OH my goodness.. Packages are awesome but they are dangerous too :) (Sarah--I loved your wrapping on the package.. your Swedish was perfect!)
• Devotionals are my favorite parts of the week. This week we sang "Called to serve" as an opening hymn. Usually that song is just ok but! the first verse we sang really soft. Second verse louder.. then on the chorus we all stand up at once and sing LOUD. in the middle parts the piano has some trills.. It was AWESOME. It is really cool to be a part of the MTC with all these missionaries together. It was suppossed to be like an army martching from far away.. you can just hardly hear then at the beginnning and we get louder as we come around the bend.
• I listed to Elder Hollands talk called "Divine Companionship" given at the MTC. It was AMAZing and life changing :) He talked about going out in three's not two's. You always have the Spirit as your third comp. And you should ALWays teach with the spirit.  In the D&C where it says "Thou shalt not teach if you dont have the spirit with you.." Well he said that was commandment language.. when it says "Shalt" it means I forbid you to teach without the spirit. So I have thought alot about that

Well only 4 mins left

• There are four of us here from Jerusalem! It was so cool to see each girl and we got together and took a pciture. I have seen quite a few people who I know.
• Oh! and I saw Sister Johnson--Dad who you set apart.. she said i looked like you and recognized me.. she is doing well.
• Katie- Syster W and I had a laughing outburst in class and i couldnt stop laughing. it reminded me of you and Ann. hahha :) Love laughing :) I got your letter and it made me laugh to hear about the people you are working with.. i hope it goes better and you start to like it more. tell ann i say hi
• Christa! I got your letter. :) you are the best! thanks for taking care of all that.. and i pray for those babies inside your tummy always :) oh and i am wearing your necklace "Small but Mighty".. the chain broke.. so i have it on my necklace with my heart and i wear it all the time.
• dad i got your letter. you are doing great. and thanks for the support. I am going to try and do my best
• mommy I love you!! and keep on keeping on.
• thanks grandma! for your letter! You and grandpa are great!

 

So to end, I have decided it is all about love. Everything is centered on God's love for us. That is why without charity/ love it doesnt matter how much faith we have. Love is the greatest motivator in my life. And I am just filled with Love. So I am trying to forget about myself and LOVE.  Also learning a language is an adventure... and I love adventures... especially with all the wrong turns and mishaps along the way. 

 

Love You!!

Syster  J

First Letter Home! Week 1

Dear Family (and Friends)!

 
Well hello! Things are going great here at the MTC.  To backtrack to the first day: Morgan Gilger (my roommate from college who used to live in CT) picked me up from the airport and we had Cafe Rio as my last meal outside the MTC.  We stopped at the store to get some garments and I got new scriptures.

 
Then we pulled up at the MTC, Morgan took some pictures--she's supposed to send them to you, Mom.   The Elders took my suitcases and off I went to get my name tag! I was, of course, smiling the whole time.  My friend Cherysh Hubbard (Hermana Hubbard) was waiting by the building for me to arrive and jumped up and gave me a big hug.  She was in my nursing program and went to Jerusalem with me.  We planned our missions out together and I got to go to her farewell--so it was really neat to get to see her in the MTC!!  I showed up in class not too much later and met my new companion for the next two months.  Syster Winterton!!! (Soouster Vinterton is how you would pronounce it in Swedish). 

The MTC is trying out a new program where they only speak your mission language to you and not English. They are now doing it in all the classes.  So right away I was hearing Swedish... no English.  Unlike when my teacher tried this with Spanish at high school, I didn't feel overwhelmed. Just excited to be learning Swedish. Our teachers (Brother Harris and Brother Ahola (he is from Findland) are great. They talk slowly and of course use hand guestures. I can understand some of the things he says right away because it is like German in the way that there are alot of words that sound like English.

I like Swedish alot... but I am having a harder time with accent than I thought I would.  The "j", "o", "y", and a whole bunch of other letters together are sometimes hard for me to say... which makes it even harder for me to remeber them.  Soo I just keep working at them. 

So my first day in the MTC I couldn't stop smiling and thinking "I'm really in the MTC and I am a missioanry!! This is awesome!! YAHOO!" Second day was a continuation of those feelings.  By the end of the second day we had to teach our first lesson to our investigator "Inari". Can you believe it!! they have us teaching in Swedish the second day! This is crazy. But Syster Winterton and I planned out some things to say and went in there with smiles and just tried to do our best. It went well. Since then we have taught two more lessons to Inari and we have anther one tonight. 

  
Overall I am really happy to be here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. The harder/more discouraging parts of the day for me is that we don't really have a teacher to teach us most of the time. Alot of it is teaching yourself. I was hoping to be done with that after the nursing program... but here they tell us that we are really supposed to let the spirit teach us. So I am working on that. The best parts of the day are when I succeed in one of my goals. I have of course memorized "Our Purpose" and "I saw a pillar of light" in English and Syster Winterton and I have now memorized "Our purpose" in Swedish.  You guys should all pray for my accent.. because it's terrible!

  I LOVE SYSTER WINTERTON!  We work really well together.  Background on her: she is from Heber UT.  She likes to ride biikes, run, swim, rock climb, etc :) doesnt she just sound great already! She is about 5'2" maybe 5'3 :) and we both have similar learning patterns. When we go to lunch we always pull out flash cards or quiz ourselves on Swedish.  She really is great. I think the Lord put us together because of our similarities... and also because I think I can really learn a lot from her.  Her Swedish is coming along a little bit better than mine... but that is ok.  We all learn at different speeds and I am just going to keep doing my best.

Side note; My CROCs are AWESOME.  I wear them every day and have converted Syster Winterton to getting some too.

I don't have a lot of time left.. so I love you all.. and I am praying for you. This week isn't the greatest letter.. so I'll try and do better next week at letting you know about what goes on in Syster Schneiber's life. I LOVE GOING BY SISTER SCHNEIBER!! :) O yah.. also my district is great. We have a great group of guys.. I am really impressed. One of them is from Findland, Dad, and he already knows Swedish pretty well. His name is Aldste Kinunin. (sp?) 

Dad. I have not gotten a letter from you yet. :(  And continue to send them through dearelder.com.  My P-day is Wednesdays.

Love you!

 Sister Schneiber

Introduction to my Sweden Mission Blog

I'm going on a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I will be serving for 18 months in the Stockholm Sweden Mission. I will be serving the people of Sweden by teaching them the gospel of Jesus Christ: To have faith in Christ, repent, be baptized by immersion, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end. I leave July 6th 2011 and will come back around January 6th 2013. This blog will be a compilation of my letters home weekly to my family. So for any who are interested in seeing what I am up to in Sweden--Enjoy!

Hej då

Sister Schneiber

First Post!

Hello loved ones of Jacqueline!
This is Megan Connelly, Jacqueline's roommate. I just wanted to welcome you to the wonderful world of my dearest Schneibs (as I like to call her). I'm so incredibly proud of her for starting a blog for the first time. She's complained before how she doesn't like emailing, and I promise she loves to talk to the people, but not actually to the trillion she needs to talk to and the time it takes. This lady is incredible, and if she were to start this blog to let everyone know about her life, she could focus more fully on school and what she does best: blessing peoples lives. So here's the plan: I'm going to make her blog when I do, so you can all check up on this beauty. If you ever want to know how incredible I think this woman is, and see pictures of her (I promise I take a gajillion more than her, and of her) check out my blog at visitingtheholyland.blogspot.com. I mention her in almost every post, and the blessing she is in my life. I know many of you could agree with me. Best of blessings to all, and enjoy her posting!