June 29, 2015

June 29, 2015

Well, we have had a lot more rain this week, which has made things
interesting. Thankfully we have had the car for part of it and have
(out of necessity) spent a LOT of time transferring our records to the
electronic system. It is a time-consuming process. We have also been
experimenting with the planner portion of the new app. It is rendering
the little books that we've had up till now obsolete. I will still
decorate my last one, though :) we didn't have too many lessons this
week, but we did get to talk to a really nice man named Greg who has
investigated in the past. He is a very good person and doesn't  seem
closed off a about the Book of Mormon. We hope we can make some
progress there. We got to go to the temple Wednesday, which was a
really good experience. Brother Henricks was working there that day,
so I got to see him a few times throughout the day and talk to him a
little bit, which was really nice. Earlier in the week, we went on
exchanges with the other Elders in our district. I was with Elder
McDaniel in our area. We had a pretty good time. We have continued our
finding efforts throughout the week. We were finally able to contact
both N. and D. Unfortunately, neither one was interested. K.
is doing really well following her baptism. She is going to the temple
Wednesday to do baptisms for the dead for the first time. We will
probably get to tag along for that, which will be cool. We went to the
Columbus Zoo this morning, which was really cool, even though it was
raining. We also had another musical fireside this weekend. Each month
the fireside rotates to one of the four stake centers in Columbus and
all the missionaries within a one hour radius can participate in the
choir. Since we are fairly close to all four stake centers, we have
been able to participate in a few. Singing in the choir is pretty fun.
The theme of the fireside was patriotic for the Fourth. At each
fireside, a couple of recent converts bear their testimonies, and one
of the ones yesterday was Michelle, who I taught way back at the
beginning of my mission. She and her husband had moved and she had
been investigating all the way up until about a month ago, when she
got baptized! I was happy to learn that she finally was able to get
her answer. I guess it goes to show that things you did almost two
years ago can still bear good fruit today. I'm grateful to be where I
am, and for the wonderful people here. Our Heavenly Father definitely
knows what he is doing. I hope you all have a good week! Have fun at
the family reunion.

Love,
Elder Schow

June 22, 2015

June 22, 2015

First of all, Happy Fathers Day, Dad!

It was an interesting week. Most of it was punctuated with long-lasting rainstorms. We're told it was the result of a tropical storm down south. It made our plans a bit complicated sometimes, but it all worked out. Early in the week we went on exchanges with our zone leaders. I got to go back to the Gahanna ward with Elder Marvin. I haven't been there since I was in BWC, so it was kind of fun to see it again. The zone leaders have a different apartment now, though. I was able to learn some things that will hopefully help in our area and in the district. We are still getting adjusted to using these newfangled iPad things. Overall it has been kind of fun to use them in our studies. In the last couple of days we have been able to start using the Area Book Planner app, which will replace the great big binders that we have now. It will also track our key indicators for us. The only downside is having to type in ALL the handwritten records from the binder. It is a long process so far. We also have to learn to make sure that everything we record and everything that we email conforms with data privacy laws. It's kind of weird. We are still trying to find people to teach. It seems like that is a struggle in this area, but we're working on it. We are trying to get in touch with a man named N. and a lady named D. We get to go to the temple this week, which we are excited about, but it means that our preparation day is Wednesday instead of today.

To answer your questions, Mom, the interactive pamphlets are an app that anyone can download, even the investigators so they can read them when we're not there. They are similar to the paper pamphlets that we hand out, but with more pictures and content and even a few videos. Baltimore is maybe 2,000 people, but that's just a rough guess. 

I'm glad you all had fun at Sun Valley. It sounds like the new location was pretty good. Thanks for the pictures. It was good to see everyone. I hope you have another good week and continue to enjoy the summer.

Love,

Elder Schow

June 8, 2015

We had some good visits this week, including a few with some
less-active members. We are seeing progress with a couple of them,
which is encouraging. I could see them returning to church fairly
soon. The overall membership of this ward is fairly small, but the
percentage of activity is unusually high compared to most of the wards
around here. It's an interesting dynamic. Also, a convert who was
baptized a month or so before I got to the area had his baby daughter
blessed in sacrament meeting, which was pretty neat. We got to stand
the circle, which was really cool. I've never had the opportunity to
participate in a baby blessing before. Besides the visits, we did a
lot of walking again, but also some biking. Friday, we got done
late having dinner with the bishop and his family and went to ride
home on our bikes, but got caught in a thunderstorm. Just as the rain
was getting super intense, we got to a little shopping plaza and took
shelter under the overhang of the goodwill store. We were stranded
there for a good half hour before bishop Kurtz showed up in his truck
and rescued us. Soon after we got home, the power went out, so we just
went to bed pretty quickly.
    Yes, we did get the iPads this week! We had our zone training
meeting Wednesday and they handed them out and had us set them up.
Since I (and several of the other missionaries) go home fairly soon,
we got used iPads that are owned by the Church. It quickly became
apparent that the one I was given didn't have the correct safeguards
on it and didn't have the Church's special software. It was basically
a regular iPad and I had to give it back and wait until Friday to get
a different one :( it all worked out though. I am using the iPad to
email right now because all the computers are taken at the library.
     K. is ready for her baptism this weekend, and all of the
details are falling into place. We are very excited for her. It is
something she really wants. We are going to try to do a lot of finding
this week, so hopefully we will come in contact with some new people
to work with. I hope you all have a good week this time around. Sorry
about your eye, Mom. I bet that hurt :( that's really cool that Maddie
found all those ordinances and that so many were performed. As Spencer
W. Kimball said, family history and temple work and missionary work
are all the same great redemptive work. I love you all!

Love,
Elder Schow