“I thought we were gone for sure!”

Some of the elders got chased a mile by a huge dog this week and they told us all about it. I was laughing so hard! I wish I could’ve seen it, but I hope it never happens to us.

We started off this week on a very good note called Olive Garden. Shout out to my awesome parents for giving me a gift card so we could enjoy unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. The only sad part about our trip to Olive Garden was that we went 2.5 hours before dinner. So we stuffed ourselves there and at dinner. I haven’t eaten that much in a while so it was a little rough the rest of the night. My stomach has definitely shrunk on the mission and I can’t put away as much food as I used to. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. 

We did a lot of service this week. There’s a lady in our ward who’s trying to organize her house more, so we went over last week and we’re going again this week. We’ve spent a few hours there and it doesn’t look like we’ve made a dent. Her house needs a lot of help. And then we did dishes at someone’s house, and Sister Hart was a champ and she washed while I dried. The kitchen looked 100% better when we left over 2 hours later. It taught me an important lesson: if your dishes take over 2 hours to do, you have a problem. It felt good to serve some people though, because we haven’t done service in a very long time.

The most exciting thing that happened this week was finding two new people to teach! That hasn’t happened in a very long time either. One of them lived in Damascus and speaks mostly Arabic, and a little bit of English. We have to talk very slowly and very simply, but she wants to learn more about the gospel so we’re going to make it work. The other lady lost contact with the missionaries a few years ago so it’s a miracle we found her again. Her last name is Miracles so I think that’s a sign.

That’s all for this week folks! Have a fantastic week and remember that everything happens for a reason. That’s a lesson I’m learning a lot out here.

Ciao,
Sister Schroeder

One of our eggs froze in the fridge and Sister Hart was the lucky one who tried to crack it:

We took pictures by a Joshua tree because that’s a stereotypical thing for missionaries to do in this mission:

We got Cold Stone for Sister Hart’s 4-month mark:

She’s the cutest!

“Y’all are beautiful”

I have never been complimented more in my life than I have on a mission. Random people say I’m beautiful or that my hair looks good or that my dress is pretty. I’m kinda gonna miss that when I get home.

This week it rained a lot. People thought we were crazy because we were walking around in the rain, but it’s part of the job so it has to be done. The roads were covered in water because the ‘Caster isn’t built for rain, but we didn’t hydroplane so that was good.

We had zone conference this week and it was good, as usual. It was my last zone conference so I had to go up and bear my testimony in front of everyone. I was still getting over being sick, so my voice was super low. I don’t know if anyone could hear me, but God could and that’s what matters. We talked a lot about how to become better teachers. It was a good reminder about how important it is to teach to people’s needs. The gospel of Jesus Christ can help us in any aspect of our life and anything we go through, and we need to show people that. If it’s not personal, people don’t care.

We had a really cool experience with a member this week. Remember the lady we saw in the psych ward? Well she’s been trying to come back to church, so we’ve been meeting with her. Last Sunday she got lost on her way to church, and ended up at a Baptist church down the street. She ended up staying there, and then told us that she wants to start going to that church. I was upset because I love her so much and I didn’t want to stop meeting with her. I talked with her on the phone for almost 15 minutes, and I told her to pray and read the scriptures and we’d talk to her on Sunday. When we talked to her on Sunday, she said that the more she prayed, the more she felt like she needed to continue going to our church. The power of prayer is real! She was praying to know what to do, and I was praying that she would understand how much she needs the Church and the Church needs her. Heavenly Father really does care about what happens in our lives. 

That’s all I have for this week. I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Ciao, 
Sister Schroeder

Sister Hart and I found an apartment complex that looked like a hotel:

A member made a sushi cake for dinner:

We went outside and saw the eclipse yesterday:

A member made us homemade pizza! I have literally been waiting 16 months to have homemade pizza…

“I travel so much… sometimes I have to ask people where I am!”

President Ballard came to our mission!! For those of you who don’t know, President Ballard is one of the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He is the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which means he is one of Jesus Christ’s Apostles here on the earth. He’s a super cute old man and really funny. We took a picture with him and then all of us got to shake his hand. I wanted to ask him what lotion he uses because his hand was so soft, but that didn’t really seem like the moment to ask. He talked to us for less than an hour, but it was really powerful. He has amazing faith and I hope I’ll be able to have that kind of faith someday. The main focus of what he talked about was to be more spiritually aggressive. What we have to say is really important and we should act like it is. He said he doesn’t want anyone to come up to him in the spirit world and ask him why he didn’t share the truth with them when he saw them. I’ll admit I have walked past people and not tried to share our message. It seemed awkward, or they were too busy, or they were kind of far away. There was always some excuse. But what we share is bigger than any of that. Nothing is more important than eternal life, which is what we’re offering. These last few weeks that I have, I’m going to work on boldly testifying of the truth. I know what I know and no one can change that, so why should I fear? I know that President Ballard truly is a representative of Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only church upon the earth that has the power and authority of God. I’m grateful to be a member and a missionary.

There’s nothing much else to report. I’ve been sick this week so we’ve been inside a lot. I got less than an hour of sleep Saturday night, so I was a little out of it on Sunday, but I drove to Bakes and back and nobody died so that’s good. Hopefully it’ll clear up soon because it’s no fun to be sick as a missionary. My new companion is super cute and I’m excited to work with her!

Ciao,
Sister Schroeder

We roped a bull last Monday:

Ate papusas for lunch:

Our last comp selfie:

My cute new comp Sis Hart on a hoverboard (those things are harder to ride than they look)

“It’s fast Sunday and the guy downstairs ordered pizza…”

Elder Simpson was not very happy with his neighbors yesterday.

Well, here I am again with only a few minutes to write an email. Today has been extra crazy because transfers are tomorrow. I’m really sad because Sister Mounteer is leaving and going to Bakersfield to be an STL and finish training someone. I’m really excited for her because she will do AMAZING, but I’m sad to lose her. I’m getting Sister Hart, who came out with Sister Ottley. I’m “greenie breaking” her (I’m her companion right out of training) and I’m also her second companion, which can be a little scary. I have to show her that missionary work can be done different ways (she only knows how to work like her trainer) without her thinking I’m an apostate or weird missionary. I’m actually really excited for this transfer!

Nothing crazy happened this week. We did find someone to teach this week though, which was awesome! We knocked on her door trying to find her son who had talked to missionaries before. We asked for him, but he didn’t really want to talk at the moment so we talked to her and offered her a Book of Mormon. She said she would love one because she used to have one but it was stolen. We testified of the power The Book of Mormon brings and she said “I know. I’ve read it.” It was cool to know that she felt the same power I do every time I open The Book of Mormon. It’s crazy what a difference reading The Book of Mormon makes in my day. If I’m ever having a bad day or feeling lousy, it probably means I haven’t read my scriptures that day. Some days are hard even when I do read, but without fail bad days and failure to read are connected. It’s not about what’s on the page, it’s about the Spirit that comes with that act of faith.

That’s all I have time for. I hope you have a great week and enjoy school starting again!

Ciao,
Sister Schroeder

We ate at Panara and the soup was AMAZING! (We also wore our slacks and we totally looked like important CEOs having a lunch meeting)

The first tie I skinnied (the elders ask us a lot)

We did face masks and it looked like my skin was peeling off

Me and my cute comp

“God made all the perfect people bald.”
…
“I don’t remember Jesus being bald.”

The kind of conversations we have with some of our members are hilarious! John is bald and thinks it’s the best thing ever, but Renee knows just how to shut him down.

Greetings from the ‘Caster! I hope y’all had an AMAZING Christmas because I sure did. I got to talk to my family, open wonderful gifts from wonderful people, and eat until I couldn’t walk. It was a good day.

I really reflected this Christmas on my Savior and everything He has done for me. I am so grateful to know about the gospel and know that I have a Savior who loves me unconditionally. Sis Mounteer and I read the American version of the Christmas story in the Book of Mormon and my favorite line (taken from 3 Nephi 1) is Christ saying to Nephi, “Lift up your head and be of good cheer… on the morrow come I into the world”. I love that because I relate it back to my own life. Whenever I feel like I can’t handle something, or like I have no hope, I can hear His voice in my head saying, “Lift up your head and be of good cheer, for I came into the world.” The message we share as missionaries is one of hope and happiness and light. Christ came so that darkness could be overcome and everlasting joy could be possible. Because He came to us we can go to Him. I strive everyday to live in a way that will let me return to live with Him. I am so excited to see Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ again and know that I am home.

I have only a few minutes to finish this email, so I’m going to speed through some stuff. We went on exchanges this week, which was a lot of fun because we were with Sis Jackman and Sis Sandorf who are both my previous companions. I was with Sis Sandorf which was really cool because she is going home this week, so it was our last hoorah. The last time we were companions was over a year ago. Crazy! We also had to be inside early on Christmas Eve, so Sis Mounteer and I built the Los Angeles temple out of graham crackers and it looks legendary. We’re going to figure out how to frame it.

That’s all folks! Have a Happy New Year!

Ciao,
Sister Schroeder

The STLs run 2 miles a day and the look on my face is exactly how I feel about it:

We found a bullet hole in the church:

Christmas breakfast with some members… and the elders:

My presents from the amazing people in my life:

Our beautiful temple: