September 29th 2014

Sept. 29, 2014

It has been a pretty good week here. On Tuesday 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. On Wednesday, 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. On Thursday, 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.

I am glad that things are going well there with Ella and everyone else. RIP, brown car.

Have a blessed week!

Love,

Elder Schow

September 22, 2014

Sept. 22, 2014

Well, we went to the transfer meeting on Thursday and I found out my new area and companion. I am now serving with Elder Paulsen (who entered the mission the same time I did) in the Madison Lake 2 area. You got your wish about me getting out of Columbus, Mom. The Madison Lake Branch, which we split with a set of sisters, covers all of Madison County, which is West of Columbus. Our area is half of the county and includes several small towns and a whole lot of farmland. It is a much different area than what I am used to, but it should be a good experience to work here. We live in West Jefferson which has a few thousand people maybe. I am still a district leader. My companion and I are the only Elders in our district, which is weird. Elder Paulsen is from Tooele (can't remember how to spell it), Utah. he seems like a pretty good guy and a good missionary. I've only met a few of our investigators so far. They include a lady named S, a lady named A, and a mother and daughter named D and A. We had a ward activity at the branch president's farmhouse on Friday, so I got to meet some of the members before church happened on Sunday. They seem like great people. One man in the Elders quorum swears I look like John F. Kennedy. That was a new one. I've heard I look like Russell Crowe a couple times on my mission :) I guess I just have one of those faces. On my first day here, we also did service helping a lady set up a haunted forest, which was kind of fun. We basically just moved a bunch of dummies to various locations.

I am glad to hear that Ella is here. She looked really cute in the pictures. That is exciting news. It is strange to be an uncle!

I suppose I will probably have more to say about the area once I've been here a little longer. In the mean time, I hope you all have a blessed week!

Love,
Elder Schow

My swim in the Big Walnut Creek comes to an end (just kidding; we're not allowed to swim!)

Sept. 17, 2014

So, I found out today that I am getting transferred. I am excited. I have enjoyed much of my time here in Big Walnut Creek and have learned a lot, but I am glad to try somewhere new. We will go to transfer meeting tomorrow and I'll find out my new area and companion. I will miss some of the people here, but hopefully we will be able to keep in touch. 

It was a pretty good week. The nine day gaps are always long.

We haven't heard from M. this week. He is still in the hospital. We really hope he is okay. The hospital where he is at is outside our ward, but hopefully some members can go visit him. I hope to hear news that he is getting baptized soon after I leave here. B. is making a lot of progress as well and she and her fiancee are very motivated to make positive changes in their lives, more that they have been since I've been in this ward. We were able to start teaching Imogene this past week and she wants to come to church on Sunday. It is pretty neat. I will miss working with these people.

We had an exchange this week with the other Elders in the ward. I spent the day with Elder Rodriguez in their area on bikes. It was a pretty good day. Exchanges are almost always fun. We had a zone activity today where we played soccer and ultimate Frisbee, which was also pretty fun. Having friendships with other missionaries is always nice. 

I hope that all is going well at home. Hopefully Ella comes soon. I will keep praying for you all and for Uncle Paul as well. Thank you very much for the letter and all the notes. I really liked the little thought from President Hinckley as well. Anyway, I hope you all have a blessed week!

Love,

Elder Schow

Pictures

                                                                Birthday Packages

                                                                    Ethan's Birthday

                                                                     Minion Friends

                                                                       The Turtle

                                                   OSU--The Buckeyes! Lookin' Good!

September 8, 2014

September 8, 2014

It hasn't been a super exciting week, but it has been a pretty good one. We had zone meeting on Wednesday.  We talked about effective study and how to help establish expectations with our investigators. It was a good meeting, and the things that were talked about were helpful. Since then, I have been trying to do better using a study journal when I study, and it has helped me find more things to learn more about. I would recommend it. We had some good lessons with M. and J. this week. Elder Taylor led out in almost all of our lessons since he is almost done with training. He did a good job. M. was in the hospital again this weekend, so we are hoping he is okay. He is there a lot for various things. Besides that stuff and a few lessons with other investigators, we spent a lot of time knocking doors and walking around to try to contact people. It was super hot a couple of days, but we could usually deal with it without too much trouble. 

It is still crazy that the baby is coming so soon. I'm not sure what my prediction is, but it would be kind of cool if she came on the 12th for Lauren's birthday. That is neat that you guys took Cheryl out and that she had such a good time. 

I wish I had more exciting things to talk about, but it was a fairly quiet week. As quiet as things get in a city this size! have a blessed week!

Love,

Elder Schow

Sept 2, 2014

Sept. 2, 2014

It has been a pretty good week. We are seeing some good progress with some of the people we are working with. M. is doing well. He is very close to quitting smoking. He has received a lot of support from the ward, which is good to see. A lady named B. is doing well, too. She and her fiancee (who is a member) have been in and out of the Church for a long time, so it is good to see them moving in the right direction. We also have had to opportunity to teach a neat lady named Jamie this week. She is really sweet, but has some health challenges right now. We met the archbishop just by knocking on the door of his house. He agreed to let us bring him a Book of Mormon and we have had the chance to sit down and discuss his church and ours a few times. I'm not sure what Syriac means. I think it is a smaller orthodox church than some of the others we hear about, though, like Greek Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox.

I hope Maddie enjoyed her first few days of school. Junior year can be hard, but it was fun, too. I would definitely prefer to avoid Mr. White, too. I'm glad the picnic went well- it sounds fun. Good job on the 5k to both of you! That is really cool. I'm also glad you all had fun at the fair.Thanks for the quote!

We went on exchanges this week, so I spent part of Wednesday with Elder Dubach on bikes. It was super hot, then it rained just enough to get us soaked :) Not my favorite thing, but hey. We had a few other good lessons throughout the week. Yesterday we went to a couple of thrift stores, which was fun. I got a couple of ties, including one for M. For 90 cents, why not? :) 

I hope everything keeps going well for all of you. 

Have a blessed week!

Love,

Elder Schow

August 25, 2014

August 25th 2014

We had family home evening with M at a members' home last Monday. It went well and I think he had a positive experience. He is doing very well with reading and understanding and he is very close with smoking. Thank you for your prayers. Most of the other people we have been working with have fallen off lately, so I will keep you posted if anything changes. We had several good appointments this week. We had our last meeting with a guy I've been working with for the last six months. He has read a chapter or two of 1st Nephi each week and we have visited and discussed each one with him as well as teaching a few PMG lessons. His interest was always more academic, but we would encourage him to pray and ask if this was something he should act on. He eventually decided that his answer was that we are good people and messengers of God, but that he should stick with the faith that he already has. He didn't get baptized. He never even came to church, but at least he now has some understanding of what our faith is and why it is so important to us. We also met with an archbishop and a priest from the Syriac Orthodox faith and taught them about our view of the Plan of Salvation. They shared insights from their views with us and there were a lot of neat similarities. It was a very pleasant meeting. Thursday we had zone conference with the 21ish people from our zone and the 25ish from the other zone in our stake. (there are two zones in each of the 5 stakes of the mission). It was a good meeting. We talked about trials and goals and some of the upcoming developments in our proselyting. We watched the trailer for the "Meet the Mormons" movie and talked about how proselyting will change once we get iPads. We find out the details about that in September. I asked about musical instruments, and President Daines decided that since the missionary call packet says not to bring instruments to the MTC or the field that they aren't allowed. Oh, well. It was weird to think that Thursday was my year mark. Thank you for the package! I liked the note about the symbolism of the camel. It was pretty neat. We had a zone fun day and played dodge ball. I hope things go well for you all this week. Good luck with the 5k, Mom and Maddie! It is crazy that Ella is coming so soon, too!

Have a blessed week!

Love,

Elder Schow