tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37639735139869982282024-03-13T11:51:59.216-07:00Columbus MissionaryElder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.comBlogger91125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-81399804584478875092015-08-19T08:26:00.002-07:002015-08-19T08:26:15.739-07:00August 19th The Last Email of the missionAug. 19 2015<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Well, this is it! It is hard to believe that this is my last mission</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">email. It is so surreal to be at this point. My mind doesn't really</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">grasp it yet, but I think that's a good thing. Just a few things to</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">put out there: I really hope that I do not get Kung fu'd by a naked</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">ninja as I try to enter our house and I really hope there is not a</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Tongan exchange student living in my bedroom. If there is, I dibs the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">top bunk on the bunk bed. That being said, I am very excited to be</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">coming home to see you all! 😃</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">This was a pretty good week/ nine days. A lot has happened, but I can</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">give some highlights. Twice in the last week, I have driven to</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Zanesville, which is about an hour away on the Eastern side of the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">mission. I had never really been that far east before. The first time</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">we went was because Elder Carter needed his permanent retainer fixed</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and there's a member out there who is an orthodontist. The second time</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">was yesterday because both Elder Carter and one of our zone leaders</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">are going to be training this transfer and had to go to a meeting. Our</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">other zone leader had an appointment to have his teeth cleaned by the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">same member, so I got to go again. It was kind of fun to see a</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">different place.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">This last weekend, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Donald L. Hallstrom</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">of the presidency of the Seventy visited our mission. Our entire</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">mission got to have a meeting with them. It was a pretty neat</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">experience to hear from Elder Cook. He took some time to shake each of</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">our hands. He shared some council with us, bore a powerful testimony,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and left a blessing on the mission. Elder Hallstrom was also at our</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">stake conference the next day. It was kind of nice to have stake</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">conference for my last weekend. I got to see a few people that I</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">otherwise probably wouldn't be able to see before I go.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Yesterday for the first time in a while we had a real lesson with a</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">member present. We taught J, and it went really well. I think it</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">was a pretty spiritual lesson, and the member's testimony helped out a</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">lot. It was probably my last real lesson of that sort on my mission,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and it was definitely a good one to end on.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">We had to wake up at 5 today because we were asked to teach the plan</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">of salvation to the seminary class. There were about 15 youth there,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">one of whom wasn't a member. It was held at a member's house. Sister</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Lewis, the teacher, gave us about a half hour to teach. It went okay.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">It was a neat experience.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">By the way, I put your cell phone number on my luggage tags, Mom, as</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">opposed to the home phone.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Well, being a missionary has been a singular experience. I have</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">learned so much and changed a lot for the better, and I'm grateful to</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">have had the opportunity to help others do the same. I know our</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Heavenly Father is there and that he loves us. I know he sent Jesus</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Christ to save us and to give us the grace we need each day. I know</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">earth through the prophet Joseph Smith and that we have living</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">apostles and prophets on the earth today. I am so grateful for the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">scriptures and for the spirit that I feel when I study them. That has</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">made such an impact on my life. Sharing these truths is almost always</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">difficult, but it is worth it, and God gives each of us the capacity</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">that we need to fulfill his expectations for us. I say these things in</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the name of Jesus Christ, amen.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Love,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Elder Schow</span>Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-80202349308227697362015-08-10T09:07:00.002-07:002015-08-10T09:07:09.478-07:00August 10, 2015<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">We had a pretty good week over here. We were at zone conference for</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">almost all of Tuesday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">. That was a pretty good meeting. There was a lot</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">of spiritual content mixed in with some useful training and tips.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Also, during the meeting, they installed little GPS monitored black</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">boxes in all our cars called "tiwi" it talks to the driver if he goes</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">too fast or drives too aggressively or if someone isn't wearing a seat</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">belt. It creates a driving record that the mission president looks at.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Thankfully, I don't drive too crazy and don't have to worry about it</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">for long anyway :) Wednesday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> I led my second to last district</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">meeting. I was very happy with how it went. Afterwards, I went on</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">exchanges to Gahanna again with Elder Marvin. It was kind of a dull</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">exchange, but it was fun. Later in the week, we got to teach N.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">again (she is less active). We gave her a large print copy of the Book</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">of Mormon and she seemed excited to read it. We also got in touch with</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">an old referral named T. who is friends with a member in BWC. He</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">shared a lot of his beliefs and experiences with us and it basically</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">all lines up with what we believe. While I was on exchanges, Elders</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Carter and Wright were also able to get in touch with a former</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">investigator named J. and started teaching her again. It was really</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">great to have some teaching opportunities.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">It was interesting to hear about the deer incident. I am glad everyone</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">was safe, though. Good job on your race, Mom. I'm sorry your time</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">wasn't as good as you would have liked. Well, I hope you all have</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">another good one. I guess I won't be emailing again til next</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Wednesday, which will be very busy, but I will see you soon :)</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Love,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Elder Schow</span>Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-86114948816176775702015-07-14T17:19:00.002-07:002015-07-14T17:19:38.009-07:00July 13, 2015July 13, 2015<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Well, as I said before, neither of us got transferred, so it looks</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">like I will be "dying" in Pickerington with Elder Carter. The reality</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">of how short a time I have left is becoming more and more impressed</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">upon my mind. Each day is now both very long and very short. We have</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">been able to do some good things, though, which has been nice. For the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">first time in a while some people are actually answering their doors.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">We have been able to talk to a few people that we have been trying to</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">contact for a couple of months. We hope some teaching appointments</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">will result. We have spent more time knocking on doors, which hasn't</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">been too bad. We also had a good new-member lesson with K. There</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">was an IMPRESSIVE thunder storm last night. Sadly, the seal around our</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">window isn't completely sound and we had a few leaks! Thankfully</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">plenty of Elders have abandoned old, nasty towels in our apartment.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">There were several inches of water in the parking lot. Crazy!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> It is weird to hear about all these people leaving on missions</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and coming home from missions and getting married and such. Good job</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">on your race, Mom! That's neat that you heard from Elder Blalock. It</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">sounded like the end of his mission went well the last time I talked</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">to him. I racked my brain and couldn't remember a Chris Davis, though.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Hmm. Anyhoo, I hope you all have a good week!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Love,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Elder Schow</span>Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-44496475491487240342015-06-29T14:17:00.002-07:002015-06-29T14:17:39.354-07:00June 29, 2015<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">June 29, 2015</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Well, we have had a lot more rain this week, which has made things</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">interesting. Thankfully we have had the car for part of it and have</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">(out of necessity) spent a LOT of time transferring our records to the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">electronic system. It is a time-consuming process. We have also been</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">experimenting with the planner portion of the new app. It is rendering</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the little books that we've had up till now obsolete. I will still</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">decorate my last one, though :) we didn't have too many lessons this</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">week, but we did get to talk to a really nice man named Greg who has</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">investigated in the past. He is a very good person and doesn't seem</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">closed off a about the Book of Mormon. We hope we can make some</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">progress there. We got to go to the temple Wednesday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">, which was a</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">really good experience. Brother Henricks was working there that day,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">so I got to see him a few times throughout the day and talk to him a</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">little bit, which was really nice. Earlier in the week, we went on</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">exchanges with the other Elders in our district. I was with Elder</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">McDaniel in our area. We had a pretty good time. We have continued our</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">finding efforts throughout the week. We were finally able to contact</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">both N. and D. Unfortunately, neither one was interested. K.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">is doing really well following her baptism. She is going to the temple</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Wednesday to do baptisms for the dead for the first time. We will</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">probably get to tag along for that, which will be cool. We went to the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Columbus Zoo this morning, which was really cool, even though it was</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">raining. We also had another musical fireside this weekend. Each month</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the fireside rotates to one of the four stake centers in Columbus and</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">all the missionaries within a one hour radius can participate in the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">choir. Since we are fairly close to all four stake centers, we have</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">been able to participate in a few. Singing in the choir is pretty fun.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The theme of the fireside was patriotic for the Fourth. At each</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">fireside, a couple of recent converts bear their testimonies, and one</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">of the ones yesterday was Michelle, who I taught way back at the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">beginning of my mission. She and her husband had moved and she had</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">been investigating all the way up until about a month ago, when she</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">got baptized! I was happy to learn that she finally was able to get</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">her answer. I guess it goes to show that things you did almost two</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">years ago can still bear good fruit today. I'm grateful to be where I</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">am, and for the wonderful people here. Our Heavenly Father definitely</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">knows what he is doing. I hope you all have a good week! Have fun at</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the family reunion.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Love,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Elder Schow</span>Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-5353909151001258982015-06-29T14:16:00.000-07:002015-06-29T14:16:00.612-07:00June 22, 2015June 22, 2015<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">First of all, Happy Fathers Day, Dad!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
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.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
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. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
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.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-63483067682374882192015-06-08T14:03:00.002-07:002015-06-08T14:03:17.968-07:00June 8, 2015<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">We had some good visits this week, including a few with some</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">less-active members. We are seeing progress with a couple of them,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">which is encouraging. I could see them returning to church fairly</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">soon. The overall membership of this ward is fairly small, but the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">percentage of activity is unusually high compared to most of the wards</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">around here. It's an interesting dynamic. Also, a convert who was</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">baptized a month or so before I got to the area had his baby daughter</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">blessed in sacrament meeting, which was pretty neat. We got to stand</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">the circle, which was really cool. I've never had the opportunity to</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">participate in a baby blessing before. Besides the visits, we did a</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">lot of walking again, but also some biking. Friday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">, we got done</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">late having dinner with the bishop and his family and went to ride</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">home on our bikes, but got caught in a thunderstorm. Just as the rain</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">was getting super intense, we got to a little shopping plaza and took</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">shelter under the overhang of the goodwill store. We were stranded</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">there for a good half hour before bishop Kurtz showed up in his truck</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and rescued us. Soon after we got home, the power went out, so we just</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">went to bed pretty quickly.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> Yes, we did get the iPads this week! We had our zone training</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">meeting Wednesday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> and they handed them out and had us set them up.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Since I (and several of the other missionaries) go home fairly soon,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">we got used iPads that are owned by the Church. It quickly became</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">apparent that the one I was given didn't have the correct safeguards</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">on it and didn't have the Church's special software. It was basically</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">a regular iPad and I had to give it back and wait until </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1756937180" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> to get</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">a different one :( it all worked out though. I am using the iPad to</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">email right now because all the computers are taken at the library.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> K. is ready for her baptism this weekend, and all of the</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">details are falling into place. We are very excited for her. It is</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">something she really wants. We are going to try to do a lot of finding</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">this week, so hopefully we will come in contact with some new people</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">to work with. I hope you all have a good week this time around. Sorry</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">about your eye, Mom. I bet that hurt :( that's really cool that Maddie</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">found all those ordinances and that so many were performed. As Spencer</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">W. Kimball said, family history and temple work and missionary work</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">are all the same great redemptive work. I love you all!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Love,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Elder Schow</span>Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-64451377087083781832015-05-11T10:35:00.000-07:002015-05-11T10:35:37.283-07:00May 11, 2015I have not been good at getting emails posted for the last month or so. Here is the latest :)<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Well, not a whole lot of new news to report here. It was so good to Skype with you all at home yesterday. I can't believe it was the last one. I wish Britton and I could have been on at the same time, but I guess we will all see each other soon enough. It's good to hear that Taylor's reception went well.</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
We had a pretty good week with some positive contacts. We went on exchanges with our zone leaders, so I spent a day in our area with Elder Marvin, who was in my district at one point a while back. That was pretty fun, even though it was super hot outside and our air conditioner was temporarily out of commission. We had a good lesson with Karen. The ward mission leader came with us, and I think he had a good experience with it. We got in contact with a less-active lady that we have been trying to reach for a long time. We were able to talk to her for a bit and find out more about the people in her family who aren't members. There are Canadian geese everywhere in our apartment complex and the complexes nearby. They all have eggs or goslings, so they hiss and start to chase us if we walk anywhere near them. That keeps things pretty interesting. It's all good though. Well, once again it was really good to hear from you all. I hope you have an awesome week!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Elder Schow</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
It is hard to believe that Elder Ethan has just over three months left--we sure love him and miss him!!</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-66655508964311252112015-02-23T09:31:00.004-08:002015-02-23T09:31:40.003-08:00February 22, 2015February 22, 2015<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Well, we had a pretty good week, though again it was a little slow. I think that's just the nature of our area right now. We keep trying, though. We have been trying to follow up with all of the potential investigators that we have found through our efforts, and that has been helpful. There were a couple of super cold days, as well as a day when about 7 or 8 inches of snow fell, so that slowed us down a little bit, but we found some opportunities to help people, and that was good. One lady said we were an answer to her prayers, which is always good to hear. On one of the really cold days, we took some time to bake cookies and delivered them to some people, which I think made a good impression on them. We had exchanges with our zone leaders Wednesday,</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> which is usually a good experience. It is fun to talk to a different person and to learn some new things. T. is still doing well, but please keep him in your prayers, as well as R. and his family who are experiencing a lot of health problems. It sounds like you all had a good week, which I'm always glad to hear. I hope this week's a good one, too. I love you all!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-35030294373325169502015-02-23T09:28:00.002-08:002015-02-23T09:28:20.430-08:00February 16, 2015February 16, 2015<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">It was another unexciting week, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. We did have a few good visits with people and we feel like T. is making progress. His mom is very involved in his conversion process and while she doesn't want to join the Church herself at this point, she is very supportive of him being baptized. She says that the more she learns about the Church, the better she feels about it all. As I might have mentioned before, President Daines has given us a little bit of time each week to spend on family history, so it has been really neat to be able to read a lot of stories about my ancestors and see where they all come from. On Wednesday, we went on exchanges, so I was with Elder Pippert up in the Piqua ward. It was pretty fun to spend a day up there and we found a few people willing to have the missionaries come back. We had to take our car to get fixed later in the week because the wiper fluid wouldn't work. It just turned out that a hose was pinched off, so they fixed it easily. It's been very cold the last few days, which has required some adapting, but we keep trying. </span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
One other thing that we've been doing lately that has been neat is reading the Book of Mormon as a mission between early February and <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_78170401" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">April 20th</span></span> and highlighting either references to Christ or the the Gospel of Christ. I've been doing the first one, and it is really neat to see how often Christ is talked about- multiple times on almost every page. It has helped me concentrate as I read. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Well, I hope you all have a good week and that things keep going well.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Love!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-43960950454163458002015-02-23T09:27:00.000-08:002015-02-23T09:29:32.647-08:00February 9th 2015February 9, 2014<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">It was a pretty good week. We were able to put in a lot of good work finding, which isn't bearing fruit yet. At least we know we tried hard, though. We had a zone conference on Wednesday and for a few hours on Friday with our zone and the other zone in our stake. There was a lot of good information and we set some goals to report back on. The whole thing focused a lot on finding and trying different approaches in contacting people. That is something we have been working on. Large mission meetings are usually pretty enjoyable and it is fun to interact with some of the missionaries that I don't see too often. We managed to have a couple of good lessons this week. T. is making a lot of progress and is working on praying and thinking of a baptismal date. We are starting to review the lessons with D. and W. and hoping that it will make a difference for them, so that is good. We are trying to teach R., but he has been pretty sick. Hopefully he will feel up to a lesson this week. It is often amazing to me how hard and wearing this work can be. It never really seems to get easier. However, there are times that make it all worth it. I feel like I have learned so much and I hope I am making a difference to people. Ohio is a pretty great place. </span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
I'm glad to hear that things are going okay for everyone at home. I hope the doctors are able to continue helping Naomi. I've been trying to keep her and everyone else in the family with health problems in my prayers. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Well, I hope you all have a blessed week and a happy Valentine's Day. </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Elder Schow </div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-9024591806684733042015-02-02T09:28:00.003-08:002015-02-02T09:28:43.368-08:00Feb. 2, 2015February 2, 2015<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">The winter has been pretty spotty here, so I'm not sure what difference six more weeks will make, but having things warmer would be nice. It sounds from your messages like everything is going pretty well for everyone, which is always good to hear. This week was a little slow in terms of results in our work, but we worked hard, and that is the most important thing, I suppose. We've really been striving to make our plans effective and to find through a variety of methods. We've also been trying to meet a lot of the less-active members in our area that we haven't met before. I got some sort of stomach bug Thursday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">, which wasn't too fun. I spent most of the day resting, then we worked Friday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">, and I felt much better by the time that Saturday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> rolled around. It really wasn't a very exciting week, but it was a learning experience, so that's good. I wish I had more to write, but I can't think of anything :) sorry. I love you all, though, and I hope you have a good week!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-45031403618779059492015-02-02T09:26:00.005-08:002015-02-02T09:26:48.266-08:00January 26, 2015<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Jaunary 26, 2015</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Well, Wednesday was an interesting day. We had fun playing some games with the ward mission leader and a few other people, then transfer calls came. Elder Orton got transferred. Later that evening, President Daines called and told me I was training. They didn't tell me on the regular day since I went to the training meeting just a few months ago. It was a big surprise. We got to the transfer meeting safely, despite the fact that Elder Orton's bike fell off the rack on the freeway. It was miraculously dragged along by a strap and when we pulled over, the only damage was a big scrape on the seat and some scuffing on the hand grip. Eventually we got to the meeting. My new companion is Elder Davis, from Mount Pleasant, Utah. He seems like a good missionary, though he is pretty quiet. It is always a rough couple of days starting training because the new missionary doesn't know the area or anyone in it and the trainer has to make most of the plans, but it has turned out okay so far. The baptism on Saturday went well. The only hiccup was that the water was cold. B and B.J. were pretty excited, though. The confirmations went well yesterday, too. Another neat thing happened yesterday.One of the recent converts in the ward, D. P., was receiving the Melchizedek Priesthood and asked me to be the one to do it. I have never done that before, so it was a really neat experience. Now we are trying to find new people to work with. I'm not sure if I've mentioned R. before, but most of his family are members and he is excited to work towards baptism. I hope that works out. I hope you all had a good week. I always appreciate the email. I would really appreciate some paper letters, too, especially in the next few weeks. I love you all so much. I can't believe how fast a mission goes or how difficult it is, but I know I am growing a lot and I am grateful for that. Have a good one!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-48792706045544192902015-01-21T17:18:00.004-08:002015-01-21T17:18:52.655-08:00January 20, 2014January 20, 2015<br />
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well, it was a pretty great week.We had a lot of good contacts and some very positive lessons. B. and B.J. are now working towards being baptized Saturday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, which is pretty great. We are excited and hope everything works out there. We had a couple of exchanges this week, which is always interesting. I got to work with one of the Elders from the district here in our area, and also got to go work with Elder Nelson in the zone leaders' area. Exchanges are a lot of fun because you can talk with the other missionary about so many things in the mission. The younger man we've started teaching, T., came to church Sunday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> and really enjoyed it. We are having our first official lesson with his family tonight. We also get to formally start teaching a man named R. this week, whose family are mostly members. We are excited with how well things are going. </span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Leadership calls were yesterday, but we didn't get one. President did call us, but he meant to call the Sisters. Seeing President's name on the phone is always an interesting experience. Anyway, nothing new on that front. Transfer calls are <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1504157210" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span>, so we will see what happens. I am not sure what to expect, but I'm guessing I will stay in this area at least one more transfer.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm glad the redecorating and anniversary party went well. That is really neat that so many people came. </div>
</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
I love you all and hope you have another good week!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Elder Schow</div>
</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-2711738003161495702015-01-21T17:11:00.002-08:002015-01-21T17:19:26.228-08:00Jan 12, 2014<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">January 12, 2014</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This was really a good week. After I emailed you all last week, we went bowling with our zone, which was a lot of fun. Then, we and the zone leaders went with a couple of members to tour a cave called Ohio Caverns. It was really big and super cool. I got a lot of great pictures, but I'm not sure if I'll have time to send therm today. They kind of look more cool than the cave did in person :) We have had some good plans this week and have been blessed with some good appointments. Tuesday was very snowy, so we basically spent the whole day shoveling and had a lot of positive contacts with people. It was neat. I went on exchanges with the Elders in the Piqua ward on Wednesday, so I was up working in the city of Troy. That was pretty interesting. It is always a neat experience to work with different Elders in different places. Interviews with President and Sister Daines were on Thursday, which was good. I feel like my interview went well. We were given counsel in the meeting to really try to follow the planning guidelines in Preach My Gospel, and we have bee trying to apply that throughout the rest of the week. It has actually made our work go more smoothly and be more enjoyable. We had a couple of breakthroughs with part-member families this week. One lady, whose sister is a member, and her son are going to start learning about the Church and reading the Book of Mormon, which is a super big step for them. Their extended family is very prejudiced, so it will be interesting, but hopefully everything works out. B. a B.J. were still sick, but we plan to see them soon. D. came to church on Sunday for the first time since I've been here, which was a really good step. It is pretty amazing what can happen if we just keep trying with these people and do our best to be diligent. There can be miracles. Well, I hope you all have a good week. I'll see if I can get those pictures sent. There are a lot! Love you all!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-52788984542353618302014-12-29T10:18:00.003-08:002015-01-21T17:19:42.867-08:00December 29, 2015December 29, 2014<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hi, everybody. It was so good to see you all on Christmas and to talk to you! I'm glad you all had a good Christmas and that you liked the present. Thanks for the stuff you sent me! The OSU sweaters arrived Saturday. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> Thanks for that, they are really cool! :) We spent the rest of Christmas visiting people. We went to D. and W. and had chicken and dumplings, then had dinner with another family a little later. The other Elders were there, too. We visited a couple other families and gave them goodies and got some little treats in return. We basically spent the rest of the week visiting people and spending a little time finding. On Saturday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, the other Elders had a baptism that we went to so I could play a musical number. Someone had forgotten to fill the font, though and then the plug wouldn't work, so the whole thing was delayed almost two hours. The people were pretty chill about it, though. We talked to a man that evening whose parents and family are members. He has talked with missionaries in the past but never got around to being baptized he says he wants to now, though, so we are hopeful that we'll be able to work with him to help him get there. We also had a good lesson with the couple I mentioned last time and they came to church again yesterday. Yesterday, we also knocked on the door of an Italian atheist and talked to him for a while. He wasn't very receptive at all to our message, but we had a good discussion with him and were at least able to testify a little bit. It was interesting. Overall it was a good week. I hope you all have a good one, too! Happy New Year!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-5754735493241441022014-12-16T10:40:00.001-08:002014-12-16T10:40:05.232-08:00December 16, 2014December 16, 2014<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Hello, everyone. I suppose you have concluded by now that I wasn't transferred and that I am still here with Elder Orton. I am thankful that we are both still here. It promises to be a great transfer. It was a pretty good week. We did a little more caroling with the other missionaries, which got a really positive response from people. Now hopefully they will look at the website attached to the candy canes we gave them... We started teaching a couple of new people, which is always good. We hope that we will be able to help them progress. On Wednesday, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">preparation day, I went with Brother Jastal from the ward and Elder Nelson, one of our zone leaders, to the big Air Force museum by the base. It was pretty cool. There were lots of neat planes. With transfers, we got one new zone leader and I found out that Elder Taylor got transferred into our zone, so I will get to see him sometimes :) Throughout the rest of the week we have been doing more visiting and finding. On Saturday, </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> there was another baptism in the ward that I got to play a musical number for, which was fun. On Sunday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, we found out that the parents of one of the recent converts in the ward want to take the lessons, so we will be starting that in the next couple of days. We are excited. It is always nice to have someone who WANTS to learn and be baptized. Yesterday we had a big training meeting with half of the mission because Elder Perkins of the Seventy is here touring the mission. We drove all the way to Columbus with the zone leaders and Brother Bristow and spent the day listening to talks and doing role-plays and things. It was fun to see a lot of the missionaries that were there. I also learned a lot. Elder Perkins talked about how meetings should be revelatory experiences and had us each think of some questions that we needed answers to. By the end of the day I had some pretty good answers. It was neat. Well, I'm looking forward to Skyping on Christmas and seeing you all. I wish I could see Britton, too, but I guess we'll have to wait. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a blessed week!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-13841186251210429932014-12-08T09:40:00.003-08:002014-12-08T09:40:59.948-08:00December 8, 2014December 8, 2014<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It was a very busy week. We had lots of visits with people and spent quite a bit of time trying to find new people to teach. It has been interesting using the "He is the Gift" pass-along cards in our efforts. Lots of people will at least accept a card about Christmas. It is tough to transition it into teaching about the Restored gospel, but we're working on it. We have spent some time working on family history lately, per the mission president's instructions. That has been an interesting and neat experience. We are seeing some of our investigators make slow progress, but at least it IS progress, so that is good :) Our ward Christmas party was Friday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> and all the missionaries were part of the program. I got to play the violin for "the First Noel" so that was fun. The whole party went over really well. We spent a lot of Saturday</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> setting up for a wedding for a member and his fiancee, who the other Elders are teaching. I got to play the violin on the prelude music of that, too.</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
It was interesting to be involved in a wedding. Last night we went caroling with the other missionaries from our ward. It was pretty fun and people actually seemed pretty glad to see us. We gave them candy canes with a little paper about "He Is the Gift" attached. We also got to watch the Christmas Devotional, which was really good. I was glad to have a chance to watch it. I wish we had more opportunities to teach people. Actual lessons where we get to teach people are some of the best parts of a mission. We've had a few and hopefully as we keep following up with people we'll have more chances in the future. Having the opportunity to share the message of the Restoration is a special experience, even though it is super hard to be a missionary. Every once in a while we have one of those special experiences that outweigh the difficult ones, though, and I'm thankful for that. I love you all and look forward to Skyping on Christmas. It was confirmed that we get to Skype, so I am excited. It will probably be in the morning or early afternoon. Anyways, I love you all and I'm so thankful for all you love and support. Thanks for the Christmas goodies! I'm glad you liked the buckeyes :) Have a blessed week! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-66587297419155588972014-12-01T17:27:00.001-08:002014-12-01T17:27:21.494-08:00December 1, 2014December 1, 2014<br />
<br />
I am almost out of time emailing today. I'm sorry, but this will be kind of short. It was really a pretty good week.Probably the most notable things were Thanksgiving and the launch of the "He Is the Gift" initiative, which I know Britton mentioned. Thanksgiving was a pretty good day. We had lunch with D. and W. and another meal a little later with the Jastals. We got pretty full, but we had some good visits. We've been trying to use the "He is the Gift" as much as possible with nonmembers so far, though most people aren't any more receptive to it than to our other approaches. I think reactions will improve though as we have some practice. It is a really neat opportunity. Well, I love you all and I'm sorry again this is so short. We had to do a couple of church surveys which took a lot of time<br />
<div>
Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-71511823630054759342014-12-01T17:25:00.005-08:002014-12-01T17:25:53.069-08:00November 24, 2014November 24, 2014<br />
<br />
It has been a good week. We have spent a lot of our time finding and have been blessed with some neat new people to teach. We found a couple of teenage boys and a super cool lady named S. We knocked on her door and said "sorry to bother you," and she said, "No, you're not!" But she wasn't mad and we talked to her for a few minutes through her screen door and mentioned some things about the Restoration. When we talked about truths being twisted and lost following Christ's ascension and the death of the Apostles, she got all excited and stepped outside. She said she's always kind of thought that. We were able to teach her a lot on her porch and she shared that she's been doing a lot of seeking and praying lately. By the end, she was pretty emotional. It was really neat and the Spirit was definitely there. Hopefully we can teach her in the future and something will come of it. I really believe it will happen. We had a couple of exchanges this week. I spent time with an Elder in Urbana and Springfield, Ohio. I am really getting a good tour of the smaller cities and towns lately. :) One of our zone leaders also came to work with me in our area one day. Both exchanges went well and were good learning experiences. W. and D. are still getting hung up with the Word of Wisdom. It is too bad because they really have the desire to be baptized. It will work out eventually, though. We had a really good stake conference this weekend. Elder Seldon, and Area 70 was there. He had some great remarks and was funny as well as spiritual. He said several times that Elder Holland calls this "the Church of the Happy Ending" because we know the outcome, which I really liked. I hope you all have a good week and a Happy Thanksgiving!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-53622197962094602792014-11-17T10:23:00.001-08:002014-11-17T10:23:27.227-08:00November 17, 2014November 17, 2014<br />
<br />
One of the interesting parts of being a district leader in a new district is going on exchanges with the Elders in the district. On Tuesday, I got to work in the town of Springfield with Elder Taggart. It was an interesting day. Some plans fell through and it started raining, but it was still pretty good and we had fun. We switched back to our regular companions at district meeting the next day. The meeting went pretty well, I think. I also got to do a baptismal interview later that evening. We've been visiting a lot of people this week as well as doing some finding, which has at least led to some potential investigators. One is a lady named P. who has been using crutches for 10 years. We are meeting with her tonight and hope we will be able to teach her. We also met an older man named E. who let us in his home and talked our ears off for a while. It was very tough to really get a word in edgewise. He said we could come again, so we will go back and teach him. On Thursday we had zone conference with our zone and the other zone in our stake. It was a really good meeting. There was some helpful training and talks. Later Thursday evening, we had what they call a "ministering night." For me that meant going teaching with a member of the stake presidency to visit a couple of families. It went well enough, though the information I had on one of the families was rather inaccurate. Oh, well. I'm still new here :) The ward had a chili cook-off on Friday night with us missionaries as the judges. It was an interesting experience testing a couple dozen chilis. Some of them were downright weird. It was fun, though. On Saturday, the ward mission leaders daughter was getting baptized and we went to the service. Sister Mecham was playing the prelude music on a violin and they nabbed me and made me play, too. The violin I had to use was purple. It was kind of fun. All in all it was a pretty good week. I have had a cold or sinus infection or something this week, but I'm starting to feel better. I hope you are all doing well there. I love you all! Have a blessed week!<br />
<br />
Love,<br />
Elder SchowElder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-7139253069488266332014-11-03T12:51:00.000-08:002014-11-17T10:25:26.952-08:00November 3, 2014 and November 10, 2014November 10, 2014<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">It has been a pretty good week here. Nothing too exciting went on, but we were able to visit with a lot of people and see where they stand. Now we know how we can best focus our efforts. It looks like we need to spend more time finding people to teach. We have some great people to work with now, but none of them are making rapid progress at this point. D. and W. are very close to baptism, but they have been very close for a couple of months :) They just need to kick a couple of bad habits and they'll make it. L. and her girls definitely appreciate the difference that meeting with missionaries has made in their lives, but they're not quite willing to act on it yet. We'll see what happens. A couple times this week, we ended up in the exact right place at the right time, so that was neat. We were walking around in a seemingly random neighborhood at just the right time to see a kid on a bike who we'd met in passing the day before. We were able to talk to him and teach him a little bit. It was cool. We also planned to visit one Sister in the ward and just as we started to drive over there, she called and asked us to stop by. The ward members here are really great overall and we have had some good visits when we have been in their home for meals. One family has a challenge where they have all the Elders see how many marshmallows they can fit in their mouth. The record is 31 and I got 24. It was silly, but it was kind of fun. Oh, well. On Saturday, it seemed like everyone needed our help. We dug up flower bulbs, moved wood, moved hay, and leveled the ground in a pig pen. Doing work like that is nice because it shakes things up a little. It sounds like you all had a good week back home. It's always good to hear that. I hope this week is good, too!</span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Love, Elder Schow<br /><div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I can't really think of anything specific that I need in the Christmas package. :S </div>
</div>
<br />
November 3, 2014<br />
<br />
Well, it has been an interesting week. Like I said in the letter, I got word <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1414820495" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">on Wednesday</span></span> that I was getting transferred. Once again I had to pack up all my stuff. I don't know where it all came from, but I have way more than I started with. I'll have to weed out some things. At the transfer meeting, I got assigned to the Huber Heights 3 area, which is way over on the Western edge of the mission. The Huber Heights ward is pretty good sized geographically, so we cover a few smaller communities. Thankfully they are significantly bigger than the towns in Madison Lake. There are two other sets of missionaries here in the ward- two sisters and the zone leaders. They all seem like good missionaries. The ward here is very strong compared to the ones I've been in in the past. We have some neat people to work with. My new companion, Elder Orton is from South Jordan, Utah and has been out on his mission for three months. I have been very impressed so far with how great a missionary he is. We get along well. He and one of the families in the ward played a pretty good trick on me the second night I was here. They pretended to be less active and the dad acted really hostile and was whispering to the wife in the other room that he'd told the last missionaries not to come back. Then he come in the room where we were and acted mad and then said we were always welcome in their home and started laughing. You had to be there, but it was pretty funny. They did a good job acting. We are teaching a few different people including an older Lady named W. and her son, D. Their husband/father is a member and they just have some word of wisdom concerns getting in the way of their baptism. We are also teaching a mother, L, and her daughters, C. and P. I really like it in this area so far and am excited to be here. Thanks for all you emails and for the package. I really appreciate it. The picture of Ella in her costume was really cute. I hope you all have a good one!<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Love,</div>
<div>
Elder Schow</div>
Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-26421808631683776302014-10-27T13:34:00.004-07:002014-10-27T13:34:27.280-07:00October 27, 2014<div>
October 27, 2014</div>
<div>
Even though the outward results of our work this week weren't impressive, we worked hard and that's what counts. We have really been trying to think outside the box in finding places to find people. Sometimes we have to try the tiniest clusters of houses. We also are working on finding through other means. Hopefully we can get some good ideas. We had a lesson with J.D. this week and are trying to figure out what keeps him from coming to church. We didn't get to meet with A. and D., but A. is making some progress. He has read in the Book of Mormon and said he believes it could be true. I guess he's still not quite sure how he wants to act on it. In his own study of the Bible, he came across John <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1784101113" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">10:16</span></span> and asked us if we thought the "other sheep" could be the people in the Book of Mormon. We said "absolutely" :). That was pretty cool. Like I told Maddie, we taught a brief lesson to a Catholic lady who said she was staying Catholic, but would be willing to listen to us. We gave her a pamphlet and a Book of Mormon and she actually seemed excited or at least curious to read a little bit. Even if nothing comes of it in the near future, I felt like it was an important seed that we were able to plant. <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1784101114" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ">On Saturday</span></span> night, we had our branch chili cook-off and trunk of treat. It was pretty fun. The branch president's wife's chili took second place, but she told us afterwards she got it from Wendy's because she was too busy to make here own :) It was kind of funny. We're not sure what will happen with transfers this week, but I guess I just have to have faith that the Lord's will will be done. I definitely know this is God's work, even if it is difficult. I love you all and hope you have a blessed week! Thanks so much for writing and praying and being great.<br /></div>
Love,<br />Elder SchowElder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-37619100860154262632014-10-20T10:47:00.004-07:002014-10-20T10:47:41.460-07:00October 20, 2014October 20, 2014<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Being in a rural area is definitely different than what I am used to. Things are much slower here. Thankfully, though, we do have some good people to work with and some good members to help us. J.D. is still doing pretty well. The next step with him is to just come to church. Hopefully he can put it into his schedule. D likes us to visit but gives a lot of excuses. We have had a chance to teach a neat guy named A. this week who has started to read the Book of Mormon and wants to keep reading and pray about it. He is in a rock band and played a hymn for us that he wrote on his guitar. District meeting went really well this week. We talked about Christlike attributes, and I feel like it was uplifting for everyone. We went on exchanges with our zone leaders this week, so I got to spend a day with Elder Shields in the Hayden Run area, which is located in Hilliard, a suburb on the West Side of Columbus. I found out that J, who I was teaching in Marble Cliff has moved into that ward, and the missionaries there are teaching him, so that was kind of cool. I also found out a few weeks ago that M. that I taught in Marble Cliff is getting baptized in a different ward. Pretty neat. We got to go to the temple, which was really nice. We saw the third new film, which was neat. I'm really glad we had the chance to go.<br /></div>
I loved the pictures of Ella in her blessing dress. She was super cute. I'm glad to hear that the blessing went well!<br /></div>
I hope everyone has a blessed week!<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Love,</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Elder Schow</span>Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-68302115276473451752014-10-15T14:27:00.001-07:002014-10-15T14:27:59.061-07:00October 13, 2014<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<div>
<div>
October 13, 2014</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well, it has been a pretty good week. Since the people in our area are spread out over such a large region, we have been trying to track down and visit some of the smallest communities on the map. Some of them only have 8 or 9 houses.We hope that doing this will pay off and help us find prepared people. Probably the most exciting thing that happened was when we went to a prison to visit a man there. A bishop in a nearby ward asked us to visit this man and put us in touch with the guy who coordinates the faith program at the prison. We were able to go in and teach the Restoration to this man and his friend, neither of whom are members of the Church. It was a special opportunity to answer their questions and to see how sincere they were. Due to the nature of the visiting program at the prison, we probably won't be able to go back, but there are other people who will. It was a really singular experience. We visited A. this week. She is really good friends with a member, but she is a strong Catholic, so the missionaries have been working with her slowly. We also had a lesson with J.D.. He has been pretty busy, but he is a good guy and has made some progress with prayer.</div>
<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_55718654" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Saturday</span></span>, we got to go to M. baptism in Big Walnut Creek. It was good to see the missionaries and some of the members there, and it was great to see Michael. He was really excited to be baptized. I'm really glad I got the chance to go.</div>
Today we had an activity with our zone. We basically just played a bunch of group games. It was fun. We get to go to the temple <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_55718655" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span>, so I am excited about that. We found out this week that we will be emailing every Monday, even on transfer week, so that will be a little different. I hope you all keep doing well! Have a blessed week!</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Love,</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Elder Schow</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xa2mEgeQIc/VD7moTqDxhI/AAAAAAAAA00/pt26hQTiCFw/s1600/DSCN0458.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/--xa2mEgeQIc/VD7moTqDxhI/AAAAAAAAA00/pt26hQTiCFw/s1600/DSCN0458.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></span>Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3763973513986998228.post-88376653520029516202014-09-29T09:18:00.003-07:002014-09-29T09:18:40.433-07:00September 29th 2014Sept. 29, 2014<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
It has been a pretty good week here. <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_601391622" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Tuesday</span></span> a member drove us to the East side of Columbus so Elder Paulsen could go to the dentist. We passed through Big Walnut Creek on the way, so that was surreal. <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_601391623" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Wednesday</span></span>, we had our district meeting. It was good to get better acquainted with the other missionaries. Our district includes the two companionships from our branch as well as the sisters from a branch called Greenfield. Our zone leaders also came to the meeting. They all seem like cool people. <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_601391624" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Thursday</span></span>, there was a mission-wide leadership meeting where a couple of people from the missionary department came and talked to all the district leaders, zone leaders, and sister training leaders. President Daines talked about going strictly by Preach My Gospel in the mission and eliminating all the extra programs and policies that have built up here in the last few years. The two brethren from the missionary department gave us a lot of counsel on how to streamline and improve our work as we prepare to be a technology mission. President Daines pulled a pretty good trick on all of us. At the beginning of the meeting he said, "you've all been told that some day soon we will be getting iPads." He reached his hand into a box "That day is... not today!" and pulled out a book. We were all rather disappointed, but from what they said, the transition to an online proselyting mission will happen within the next couple of months. We have been low on miles this week and have spent a lot of time walking around trying to contact former investigators and people. We had a good lesson with a 19 year old guy named J.D. who lives next door to a member and is his "adopted grandson." He is a neat guy and would have come to church yesterday but got sick. D. came to church, though. She is a nice lady who is probably in her 50's. She has been working with the elders for a while, but never came to church until yesterday. Hopefully she will keep coming. We have met a few other neat people, but haven't really found any new investigators so far. The town we live in has been tracted a lot in the past, which doesn't help things, but once we get more miles we can go to some of our other towns and try working there. I found out today that M., who Elder Taylor and I were working with in BWC is getting baptized on the 11th, which is exciting.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
I am glad that things are going well there with Ella and everyone else. RIP, brown car.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Have a blessed week!</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Elder Schow</div>
<br />Elder Schow's Momhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09507246321346963404noreply@blogger.com0