Please Help With A Special Fast

I have a special invitation for you guys this fast Sunday. Remember I told you about Yesenia (the lady who can speak English). Well her situation has taken a bit of a bad turn. Her husband, who is in Guam, has rejected the missionaries and is now making threats against Yesenia that if she continues investigating the church he will take their daughter and leave the relationship. Yesenia knows that the church is true and loves being a part of it. She wants to get baptized but can't because of her husband. Elder Duran and I are fasting for her to help her to have the faith that when she joins the church, her husband will follow her example. She wants nothing more than an eternal family and its sad seeing what her husband is doing to destroy that hope. I invite you all to fast with us because she really needs the help. Thanks guys.
I am doing good and definitely learning a lot this change. I love you guys so much and love hearing from you. Tell everyone hi. Thanks for Everything!!

Take Advantage of the Temple!

We had the opportunity to go to the temple this past Weds and like always it was special. Even though the entire thing is in Spanish I still learn so much. It really is a neat experience to be able to participate in a session in a different language. Take full advantage of that temple in Twin Falls! We were teaching Rocio about temples last week and to help us we jumped on her computer and I pulled up the Twin Falls Temple Website. She really loved looking at the Pictures and getting a little Idaho Culture. And yes she is a Mormon now and no longer a Catholic!

Bringing FAMILIES into the waters of baptism

The Northern Part of Lima definitely knows of the impact the ¨Norteños¨ are making in their communities. One part President Perez´s mission plan is expressing the importance of baptizing families. There is a huge problem here in Lima with people just living together and saying that they are married. Now we can’t exactly baptize people that are just living together so as missionaries we have been talking with government leaders, mayors, and others and helping them to organize huge marriages with lots of couples for a very little price. Over the past two months we have had more family baptisms (husband, wife, and kids) than ever before in the history of the North Mission. It’s amazing! Elder Duran and I currently have about 4 families that need to get married and then the next step are the waters of baptism. HECK YES!!!

Missionary Kisses :)

The greetings here in Peru are very different from a good old American greeting. Back home a simple head nod or wave would be sufficient, but here that doesn’t quite work. The people give kisses on the cheeks when they great people. But as missionaries we are really allowed to do that so we shake hands. But this past week I got two kisses landed on me. The first one was when we were teaching a family and their four year old daughter came in late from the park and I was sitting down talking and didn’t even see it coming. I freaked out! (To say the least). The second one was at another family and we gave their 3 year old daughter an issue of the Friend (Amigos) she jumped in my lap because she was so happy and landed one on me. Yeah it was a little nerve racking, I thought for sure I was going to get sent home!

New Twin Falls Temple Photos!

We recently were sent these photos (courtesy of my cousin Ron Withers) of the Twin Falls Temple. As you can imagine, we are SO excited for it's opening! Come and visit during the open house July 11-Aug 16.

Buenos días!!

There is this little boy that when ever we see him in the street or walk past his house he comes running over to me and yells GOOD MORNING. It doesn’t matter the time of day or anything he always just yells "good morning". I taught him Good Night but he has yet to use it!

I am really beginning to feel the sorrow of missionary work when an investigator doesn’t progress or accept the gospel. But even in the mist of all the hardships there are so many little things that make this work worth while. While we were walking with Rocio to her interview for baptism, she said she had a question that had been bothering her for a while. I thought, Oh man, please don’t be anything BIG. She asked us if she was still Catholic till she got baptized. I just about started laughing and I was so glad that was her big question. I was worried it could have been something else.

Getting to Know Our Families

President Perez is really encouraging our work with the members. To help this he has changed some rules. We can now eat with members in their homes and cook with them. We are encouraged to eat with them as much as possible! I know that in other Peruvian missions the missionaries are only allowed to eat with their Pension but I am so glad we get to eat with the members. We are better able to win their trust and to work more effectively with them. They love having us over and I am more than will to get a free meal. We have a member that is going to cook us some Cuy (Guinea Pig) here soon so I am excited about that. I have yet to eat some.

Man in Charge??

This past week Lima has been quite the place. Every year there is a huge meeting of all the South American Country, Central America, and some European Countries Presidents. They call it a Cumbre. This year it was Lima’s turn to hold the meeting so with something like that the security gets raised. We have had to carry all of our documents with us everywhere we went just in case we got questioned. They had a no tolerance policy, if you don’t have your papers they haul you off no questions asked. The terrorists threats are a big deal here and they don’t mess around. But I never got questioned and hauled off so its all good.

(Landon said they found this vest in one of the rooms of their new apartment. He said that he is pretty much the authority figure now in Lima and everything has to go through him . Ha Ha!!)

"Mormon Standard Time" in Peru!

I have yet to become accustomed to the Peruvian Time system here, but i am figuring it out. When an activity is planned for a certain time, everyone here thinks that at that certain time you start getting ready for the activity. For example a 3 o’clock baptism, People begin getting ready at 3 and show up at 4. It’s a very unique way of thinking so now when we tell people the time for things we tell them an hour early, lol. It just one of those things that make missionary work fun, frustrating, and very interesting.
But I love it!

Getting Back to the Grind!

Hey Family,

It was so great talking to you all. It's crazy to think that it had been about 6 month since I have talked to you but it didn’t really seem that long. You all sounded so good and I loved talking to you.

This past week Elder Duran and I really got things clicking and we got a lot of work done. But it's funny because the Lord always finds a way to keep us humble. We have been teaching two boys named Sandro and Martin. Their mother is a member but their father isn’t. Sandro is 9 and Martin is 12 and both of them love it when we come over and I love teaching them. They are always asking questions and it's impressive because they know a lot. We had a baptismal date set for both of them on the 17th and both of them were so excited about it. But this past week when we went over to teach them we got nailed with the news that their father Andres changed his mind and we no longer had permission to baptize them. We told the mother that we really wanted to talk with him because its really hard to find him home when we are there. We arranged an appointment where we began to discuss with him just what exactly baptism is and the importance of it in our lives. As we began teaching he did not want to listen but as we kept talking to him he slowly began to show interest and started asking questions. We watched a movie with him called ¨Finding Faith in Christ¨. I’m not sure what will happen yet, but I witnessed something special. The Mother told us that all she has ever wanted was her family to be together forever and she feels that it is slowly coming true.

Elder Duran and I are doing something a little different with our work with less actives as well. Every companionship is required to get a list of 10 less active families from the Bishop and to focus our efforts with them. We went a little bit farther and asked for a list of 10 families that are REALLY active. We assign one less active family to an active family and when we go visit the less actives we have the active family come with us. Now the less actives don’t just have to support of the Elders but they also have a friend and a smiling face to help them come back to Church.

I loved hearing from you and knowing you all are doing great. Love you Guys!

Elder Schofield

Technology is Amazing!

It was so awesome to have some time to visit with Landon and really get to know what is going on in his world! Anna and Curt and the kids were here and Amy and Brady called from Rexburg. We all got to spend some time with him and Curt and Brian had fun speaking Spanish with him! I told Landon that he must be doing something right, because he sounded SO HAPPY! He said he really was! He said President Crayk used to tell them to just "be the missionary your mom thinks you are!"

We are so thankful for the technology that allowed us to speak to him so clearly. It was a wonderful Mother's Day memory-maker!!

"Hello, Mom?"

Lani and I had just returned home from two different appointments tonight and the phone rang. "Out of Area" usually means a telemarketer, but I picked it up and said "Hello, Schofields" "Hello, Mom?" was the response on the other end! Oh, it was so good to hear Landon! He sounded so good and just wanted to set up the time that would work for all of us for the Mother's Day call on Sunday. It is so amazing to think that, as far as time zones go, Landon is only one hour different from us here in Buhl! He slipped into Spanish a couple times but his companion and the other two missionaries he lives with were having a great time as they listened to him speak so much English! What a treat to hear Landon's voice!!!!

Crazy Busy!

Hey thanks so much for the awesome letters this week. I seriously love hearing about all of the little crazy things you all are up too. From Amy running the good old Teton Dam Marathon, to Anna and Curt's move to their new home, to the lawn care business getting up and going - you all are really quite busy. I'm staying really quite busy as well but its a different kind of busy and I'm really loving it.


We have another baptism lined up for this weekend and the following weekend we have two more so it is certainly an exciting time right now. We are going to baptize a 25 year old who is actully dating a memeber. We met him for the first time yesterday and he is really quite the guy. All of his friends and family are against him joining the church but he has felt the confirmation of the spirit and he knows that this is the right thing to do. They are making plans to me married in the temple and everything. I love seeing the joy the gospel brings to these people!

Exciting Firsts!

This past week was full of firsts for me. First off our baptism on Saturday had a bit of a surprise. Friday night, Elder Duran and I stopped by Ruth and her son Manuel to see how they were doing and to finalize everything for their baptism. We talked for a while and then just before we left, Ruth asked me if I would be willing to baptize Manuel. I was thrilled, I guess he had been running around the house the past week telling her that he wanted me to baptize him. I was so excited. So Saturday came and like everyone here in Peru, everyone runs on Peruvian Time. So the baptism was suppose to start at 3 but we got started at four thirty. But it was funny cuz the water was a little cold and once Manuel got in there he started freaking, lol. But we got the job done and once they closed the doors he was like ¨Can I go swimming¨ I said ¨go for it¨ so he did a couple of laps in the font and called it good. It was such a neat experience for me. I actually baptized someone!

Praying For Our Missionaries

I don’t know who wrote the following poem, but it might help familes to better understand the heart and mind of a missionary as he passes through the phases of a mission experience. Think about their shifting emotions as you read this description from an unknown missionary.

kathy


Today I am frightened.
My heart is beating a silent fury.
Before me are my family and friends
I love so much and must leave behind.
Pray that I might have courage.

Today I am studying.
With all my intellect I am diligently preparing.
Preparing for the days ahead,
That I might be an effective tool in the hands of God.
Pray that my mind might be clear and alert.

Today I am homesick.
The memories of fun, school, family crowd my mind.
I almost long to return to the carefree days of my youth.
Pray that I might feel the spirit of love.

Today I am successful.
The doors of those seeking truth open to me.
They are receptive to the word.
They will be baptized!
Pray that I might be humble.

Today I am discouraged.
Lowly I trudge home through the rain.
Pondering the slammed door,
The cruel hasty words, the laughing jeers.
Pray that I might have faith.

Today I am happy.
The light shines in my eyes.
From within me I have found joy.
Today I have lived close to the spirit.
Pray that I might always find this joy.

Today I am sad.
Reluctantly and with tears in my eyes
I must someday leave this country and the people
I have taken into my heart and loved.
Pray that I might always remember.

Today I am full of love.
Love for the Lord who called me on this mission.
Love for my family who supports me.
Love for the friends who installed the desire within.
Love for those who had faith in me.
Love for those who prayed for me.
But remember today, today,
I miss you. I love you. I need you.
Pray for me always.
I am your missionary.

"I am doing good and the work is still true and always will be!"

Family Home Evenings

Something that the ward here in Palermo is really edifying is the family home evening. They are teaching on how it really helps to build and strengthen the family. Not only is it a time to enjoy one another’s company but it is also a time for the Father to share council and revelation that he has received during the week which will help the family. They are also stressing on how important it is for the father to be worthy to receive such revelation. I really like it when we get to go to family home evenings with member and investigators. They are pretty fun.