March 24, 2014

March 24, 2014

 

It has been a good week this week. We've found some new people to teach this week, including a British lady, which was pretty neat. We've also been able to teach a lot of good leassons with members. The only teenage priest in our ward came out with us several times. He is a good kid.  He's really cool  and is a pretty good teacher. Elder Blalock has taught him some magic tricks in return for coming out with us. C. is getting SO close to baptism. She tore up her cigarettes and flushed them down the toilet while we were visiting her, but she couldn't keep herself from buying more. Not yet, anywyay. She only smokes a couple a day and is working down to zero. Please keep praying for her. We had an exchange with our district leader and his companion this week, so I got to work with Elder Bowler for a while. It's always interesting to see the different styles that missionaries have. Elder Blalock and I were able to finally get in contact with a part member family that the other elders were working with before we got here. We've tried to text, call, and visit them, but nothing has worked up until a few days ago, when they left us a voicemail saying they missed the missionaries and the church. We visited them, and they showed up on Sunday. It was pretty neat. Overall, things are going well in our area. I hope you all have a good week!

Love,

Elder Schow

March 17, 2014

March 17, 2014

 

It is days like today that really make me miss my green suit... Oh well. It has been a good week. We had some good visits with people. On Tuesday morning, we ran into a less-active family who lived in Marble Cliff and moved to Big Walnut Creek about a week before I was transferred here. Elder Cole and I helped them pack up their stuff. I wondered if I would run into them, and sure enough, we did. We visited them later in the week with our WML and he will get their records transferred. We took our ward's only priest out teaching with us. He is a funny kid. None of our appointments or backups worked out, but it was good to talk to him about his mission plans. We got to go on exchanges with our zone leaders on Wednesday, which was pretty fun. We ended up staying up pretty late because the zone leaders kept wanting Elder Blalock to show them magic tricks :) We're still working on finding solid people to teach. We were able to have a good lesson with A. with a member there. We also visited C. on Saturday night. She is sooo close to quitting smoking. She is down to two cigarettes a day. We hope she will be baptized at the beginning of April. I got to meet Angie's sister. We had dinner with her family this week. She actually looks quite a bit like her sister, and her son resembles Bryant and Avery. After church we went home with some members to have dinner at their house. After we ate, Brother Mizer asked what size of shoes we wear. Then he brought out a pair of really nice shoes and gave them to me because they didn't fit him and wouldn't fit Elder Blalock. It was really nice of him. We also went with the Mizers to visit a less-active lady in a retirement home. She was named Sister G. and she was certain that she had seen me before. Oddly enough, several people have told me that recently. I guess I just have one of those faces. Anyway, it was a good week here. I hope it was there as well. Have a good one and Happy Saint Patrick's day!

Have a blessed week,

Love,

Elder Schow

March 10, 2014

March 10, 2014

 

We have actually had some pretty nice weather this week, which has made it more fun to be out and about. After emailing last Monday, we wandered around trying to find someplace where we could get a haircut. Eventually we found a barber shop that was basically empty except for the barber, an African American guy named P. He took about and hour and a half to cut our hair, but we talked about the gospel and the Bible almost the whole time. He said he's a bishop for his church. He was super cool. After he finished our haircuts, he held our hands and said a prayer for us ("Bless them on the highways, and bless them on the byways, etc. etc.") We got a Book of Mormon from our car and gave it to him. It was pretty neat. We had an exchange with the Big Walnut Creek 2 elders on Thursday since Elder Bowler is the district leader. I stayed with Elder McCullough in the Bexley area. We taught a lesson to a really cool guy named B. that Elder Blalock and I found a few weeks back. He isn't willing to commit to much yet, but he's reading the Book of Mormon and is open to the idea that it is additional scripture from God. Elder Blalock and I also found some other neat investigators including a sincere guy named A., a girl named F., and a nice old lady named A. C. is still working so hard to quit smoking. We had dinner with her at the home of the Emmers, who are a great missionary-minded couple. We all discussed the great progress that C. has made. We moved back her baptismal date, but she is going to get there. She said that before she met people from the Church, she never smiled. Now she smiles a lot :). I haven't met Angie's sister yet, but I think we are having dinner with them soon. I have really learned from my personal study out here how important the Book of Mormon is. I have also come to appreciate the New Testament more and have been amazed by how helpful the JST footnotes are. The people of Ohio are mostly really nice. The diversity here is a lot different from Idaho. There are a lot of African American people, which is different from what I'm used to. Elder Blalock on the other hand says it makes him feel at home :). We hope we can continue to improve in all aspects of the work we are doing. Sometimes it is hard to know what to focus on and how to address everything that needs to be done, but we are making progress. Have a blessed week!

 

Love,

Elder Schow

March 3, 2014

March 3, 2014

Well, it's been a pretty good week here in the Big Walnut Creek ward. We had some good lessons this week and got in contact with some of the investigators that were left by the previous elders. There are some really neat people. We visited a Lady named C. who was a media referral. She was so excited that we came and she really felt the Spirit when we taught her about the First Vision. We are excited to be teaching her going forward. We've done some knocking in the older parts of our area and have found some neat new people to teach. C. is still working towards baptism on the 15th and she is working hard to quit smoking. Please keep her in your prayers. She needs to quit coffee, too. She'll get there. We've gotten better acquainted with some of the members of the ward as we've been able to visit with them. Most of them are really nice. We went to one dinner appointment only to find that the family had moved across the ward and had a different address than the one on our roster. We were pretty late, but they understood what had happened. They have a four year old son who has already read the Book of Mormon by himself! Church got cancelled yesterday due to snow, but we were able to shovel for some members and one of the councilors in the bishopric invited us over to have a little sacrament meeting with his family, which was really nice. They also made cookies while we were there, but the eggs got left out, so they didn't bake very well. They tasted good though. We hope the weather warms up permanently soo, but in the meantimes, things are okay. There is a lot of good work to do here.

Have a blessed week!

Love,

Elder Schow

Six months out!

                                                   The "sixth month mark" tie burning

February 24, 2014

 

February 24, 2014

 

Well, we had our transfer meeting. I am now serving in the Big Walnut Creek Ward on the South-East side of Coulumbus. My companion is named Elder Blalock and he is from Mississippi. He is a really cool guy and a great missionary. He is also a magician, which makes things fun. We got doubled in, which means two missionaries got taken out of their area, and we got put in. It will take a little while for us to get familiar with things, but it should be good. This ward is pretty sparsely attended currently, but there are some great people here. There is another set of elders and a set of sisters in the ward, so our proselyting area is just a portion of the ward and includes a nice predominantly Jewish suburb called Bexley and some of downtown Columbus. Our ward also includes a piece of Gahannan, and our building is in New Albany. Lots of new places. I really like it here so far. We have a car and we have some great places to proselyte. The houses and buildings in the part of Columbus that we cover are really old and really cool (if a bit run-down). They make me think of the houses in the John Bellairs books. The other elders left us a few investigators including a sweet old lady named C., who is working toward baptism on March 15th. We have found some neat people through our own efforts as well. They members here are great and are very willing to help with rides and lessons and things. Something funny happened the other day when we were knocking doors in an older neighborhood. A guy dressed in viking apparel walked past. When he saw us, he paused and said, "All praise Odin Allfather!" then kept walking. Elder Blalock said, "What?" and the guy said it again and walked away. I don't think he was kidding either. He was totally serious. It was pretty funny. Anyway, I hope things are going well at home I love all you guys.

Have a blessed week,

Love,

Elder Schow

February 19, 2014

 

February 19, 2014

 

 

Hello,

I suppose this email is a lot later than usual. It has been a crazy day and a crazy week. Last Tuesday morning, the assistants brought us a car for us to use leading up to transfers. We have to give it back, sadly, but it has allowed us to do some good things and get places. We got more snow last week, but the last few days have been very warm and everything is melting. It's supposed to get cold again, which makes me feel sorry for Elder Cole and his new companion on their bikes, because, I am getting transferred! I won't know where until tomorrow, but I will be glad to have a change. Marble Cliff has been a good place and I will miss many of the great people here. There are definitely those that I will have to keep in touch with. The area is in good hands, though. Elder Cole knows what he is doing and there are some great investigators here that are starting to make progress, especially B. He plans to be baptized on the 15th of March. It would be earlier, but he has family visiting Columbus at that time and wants them to be there. When he was asked to introduce himself in priesthood meeting on Sunday, he told everyone he was a "new convert to the Church" and a "new member of the ward." We hope things will keep going well there. Our musical number went well on Sunday. It was so great to have the chance to use a violin again, even if I was in the program under the name "Elder Skowl." :) We have done a lot of knocking doors this week trying to get some new investigators. No dice yet, but there have been a few good potentials. Today, we had a "fun day" with our zone at the OSU institute. We made a silly music video for a missionary song and played pool, ping pong, etc. After that, we went to the Riverside ward Bishop's home and his wife, Sister Silver made crepes for all of us. Then the zone leaders announced the transfers. Quite a few people are leaving the zone, including one of the sisters from our ward and one of the zone leaders. I have to go home tonight and pack all my stuff for tomorrow. I am excited to see what is coming. I hope my new companion(s) is/are nice. We shall see. Well, I hope things are going well back home. I love you all! Keep up the good work, especially the missionary work. I hope the S. love FHE.

Live long and prosper,

Love,

Elder Schow