Well… I’m not sure what happened this week. Sis Mounteer and I were both sick, although she did not throw up and I did. That was not my favorite part of this week.
My favorite part of the week was the Christmas Morningside. We got together with every missionary in Lancaster, Palmdale, and Santa Clarita and watched “It’s a Wonderful Life” and did a gift exchange. It was super chill and fun. President talked about the people who were chosen to first testify of Christ in his lifetime. It was all people of low class who weren’t anything in the eyes of the world. However, they were the most humble people and that’s what mattered. It doesn’t matter how much we have, or what our job is, or how much money we have. What matters is the desires of our hearts and how much we try to be like Christ. It matters if we serve those around us and help those in need. That’s what Christmas is all about.
That’s all I have for this week. Have a wonderful week before Christmas!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
We donated clothes for Light the World:
Watching “It’s a Wonderful Life” (Sis Williams and Allan are in the background)
Random picture with some sisters we ran into at the temple today (I only knew Sis Jackman and Sandorf)
Selfie with my cute comp:
The nativity scene they have at the Los Angeles temple:
Sis Mounteer: “I’m going to look through your Facebook”
Elder Vance: “Ok, but don’t blame me when you fall in love.”
We have some good times with the elders in our zone. They’re pretty witty.
This email is going to be short as well. Sorry everyone, it’s just been super crazy around here and we were in Palmdale today, which is 20 minutes away from Lancaster.
This week we had our ward Christmas party, and Sis Mounteer and I were Santa’s helpers. Our bishop was Santa and he was so funny! He such a friendly guy and knows and loves everyone. He doesn’t actually live in our ward boundaries, but he’s the bishop because he speaks sign language. We have a lot of deaf people in our ward, which is super cool. I like to watch the interpreters during church and at the activities. I hope if I watch enough I’ll be able to learn more (I know a tiny bit from Sis Ottley). This week I learned how to say “Merry Christmas” and “ward”. We’re hopefully going to start learning sign language from a member so that we can interact more with the deaf members. There a quite a few that don’t come to church and we want to get them back.
In other news, it rained in Lancaster this week! And not like the baby sprinkle I got in Bakersfield. It was full-on rain. We thought there might be flooding because Lancaster is not built for rain, but it didn’t do any damage. I did jump in a puddle and it was awesome, but I definitely wore the wrong shoes for that so my feet were wet for 6 hours. That’s wasn’t as awesome. And then we drove through this huge puddle of water, and it sprayed up on both sides of our car, and I felt like Moses crossing the Red Sea. The next day the chance of rain was 0%. Guess that one day was it.
Well, that’s it for the week. Sis Mounteer is still awesome and we’re still the only sisters in Lancaster. I’m getting more used to it though because the elders are actually super nice to us. I feel like I’m living the charmed life!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
Our fancy decorations (it took us 6 hours to put them up)
PSA: don’t bring playdough and rice to primary:
Santa and his amazing elves:
A cute cool pic a member took of Sis Mounteer:
Us posing with our favorite zone leaders, Elder Busdicker and Elder Rindlisbacher:
The ugly sweater cookies Sis Mounteer and I made at FHE last week (mine’s on the left)
I love Elder Holland (one of the Apostles) and today is his birthday. I have no idea how old he is, but I’m grateful he was born.
This week has been crazy, sometimes very literally. I’m back in the AV with Sister Mounteer, who is SO awesome! Nothing has gone the way we planned or expected it to, but I guess that’s why you spell missionary F-L-E-X-I-B-L-E. We ended up going to the psych ward this week, which is where the literal crazy comes from. Sister Mounteer said she saw a girl run at the door when it was open, and someone grabbed her shoulder when we were leaving and told her she had pretty eyes. Some lady also told me I had pretty hair. We got ice cream afterwards because it was a tiny bit stressful. But we made it out, and there’s only a slight chance we’ll have to go back. Man, nothing can prepare you for a mission but a mission prepares you for anything.
That’s all I have time for this week. Have a fantastic week and I’ll give you more detail next time.
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
My cute new comp making cookies:
Putting up our Christmas tree:
When you’re the only sisters in the zone, you have to act tough:
Getting ice cream after the psych ward incident:
Elizabeth’s baptism!
“Do you want me to pass the gravy?”
“That’s applesauce.”
(The conversation that happened after Sis Flitton had already put it on her turkey and potatoes.)
Thanksgiving was good! There was so much amazing food and I ate way too much, which is how Thanksgiving should go. Sis Ottley was sick for 3 days, including Thanksgiving, but thankfully she was feeling well enough to eat most of it. Hope y’all had a fantastic day too!
I’m leaving! We got transfer calls on Saturday night and I’m going down to Lancaster. Sis Ottley is staying here and moving into the STLs apartment. They are closing our apartment, so we have to clean it and make it sell-able… maybe. The assistants haven’t confirmed what we need to do, so we might end up doing nothing right now. I’m excited to go back to Lancaster. I’ll be in the same district I was in before. The difference is that my comp, Sis Mounteer, and I will be the only sisters in Lancaster. I’ll be surrounded by elders. We’ll see how this goes.
We had two miracles this week, both with the same person. We’ve been teaching someone who is homeless and his name is Anthony. He used to live next to his mom’s house, but she asked him to leave early last week and we didn’t know where he went. We had set up an appointment for Friday, but when we got to the church building, he was nowhere to be seen. There wasn’t any way we could find him because he doesn’t have a phone, so we just said several prayers that we would find him again or other missionaries would in the future. Then on Saturday night we were walking to see someone else we’ve been teaching, and I looked up and there was Anthony! We ran over and talked to him and set up a place (Starbucks) we could meet for him to be picked up for church. We went Sunday morning and couldn’t find him. So we went to another Starbucks. And another one. Finally we decided it wasn’t meant to be, so we pulled out of the parking lot and were waiting to pull onto the mail street when we saw Anthony across the street! We pulled up by him and told him that God must be trying to tell him something because we found him twice in one week. What are the odds that we would find one homeless guy in a city full of homeless people. It shows that God really cares about His children and He doesn’t forget them. I told Sis Ottley to keep me updated on him.
Well, that’s all I have this week. We’ve got to go finish up packing and saying goodbye to people. Wish me luck!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
Goodbye lunch with Moises:
The Bakersfield fog:
A joke Sis Ottley’s family sent her (we thought it was hilarious)
Our failed district photo (featuring Elder Christiansen, Elder Ortega, and Sis Ottley’s forehead)
A cute mother-daughter photo:
Pictures by a pretty tree (I was cold)
My cute comp:
Not sure what’s happening, but those leaves sure are pretty:
That’s better…
“So He’s keeping me alive longer to punish me for what I’ve done?”
We were talking with Moises (who has a lot of health issues) and telling him that he has long-life genes. When he said he was being punished, we asked what for and he just looked into the distance and smiled. Then he stopped smiling, looked back at us, and said “I’m never going to die!”
Carlos and Anthony came to church this week! It was super exciting! And they loved it! Can you tell I’m excited?! We gave them paper and pens to write down questions they had for us to answer after the service. We thought it was really smart, but they just wrote notes to each other the whole time. That’s ok– they still said it was really good.
That’s pretty much it for this week. I’ll have more to talk about next week; it’s just been a crazy busy day. Have a fantastic Thanksgiving!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
Our adorable comp selfie:
Sis Ottley made me pesto past cause she’s the best!
My comp being Vanna White:
We love Jamba Juice:
Rock painting!
The rock I’m most proud of:
All the rocks we painted:
“But there’s shuffleboard!”
(Sis Flitton didn’t understand why Sis Ottley didn’t like being aboard the ship while she was on a cruise.)
Happy Veterans’ Day, everyone! We had an activity on Saturday where people in the ward who served in the military told about their service and then we made care packages for people who are deployed. It was a lot of fun and interesting to hear the stories.
The most exciting thing this week was Sis Ottley going to the hospital. We were walking around one night in a slightly sketchy area (which is honestly the majority of our area) when these guys started walking toward us. We decided not to talk to them because we’re two girls walking alone at night. We looked at the ground and walked past, but as we did so one of the guys grabbed Sis Ottley’s bag and started running. Well, her bag got caught on her arm so she started to get dragged along with the bag. She had to start running with him so that she didn’t fall, and of course I couldn’t just leave her so I ran after them. The other guy tried to stop me from chasing after them, but by some miracle he missed me and I didn’t trip. I grabbed one of Sis Ottley’s hands and planted my feet. The guy jerked back and tripped, which caused Sis Ottley and me to trip. He landed on Sis Ottley, and Sis Ottley landed on me. He then jumped up and ran off with his friend. I got up and helped Sis Ottley up. Her wrist was at a weird angle and definitely broken. We called President to tell him what happened and then called the nurse to know where to go to get Sis Ottley fixed up. It was a crazy night.
I’m totally kidding though. Sis Ottley just thought she had pinkeye and the nurse wanted us to go see a doctor.
We went and had lunch with Moises this week and it was a lot of fun. It didn’t end very happy, though. Moises reminds me of Larry, who was a member from Ridgecrest. He was the one I always used to say looked like a happy troll. Well I looked up a picture of him on Facebook to show Larry, and I found out that he passed away recently. I’m not sure when, because I only saw a few posts from the 5th and another from the 31st, but I just handed my phone to Sis Ottley and started crying. I never had a chance to say goodbye because he had to be emergency transferred to a hospital in another part of California. I was excited to see him again when I visited my mission, but I guess I’ll have to wait a little longer.
That was pretty much it for this week. I hope y’all have a fantastic almost Thanksgiving week!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
Our selfie from today:
We rode bikes for a day for fun:
Lunch with Moises:
The Whitmores showed their snakes to Sis Ottley and this is Ginger (she’s 12 feet long)
At the hospital:
My açai bowl breakfast:
The Christmas ornament I made:
“Out of everything she makes what’s your favorite?”
“… Babies”
We were at dinner one night with this older couple in our ward and we were talking about their daughter, who’s a baker, and this was the husband’s response. We laughed so hard because it was so unexpected! They love their grandbabies.
I hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween! We planned our week, ate too much candy, and talked in British accents while laughing hysterically. That’s what happens when you buy candy for kids and then none come to your door. Sis Ottley was very disappointed. I’m pretty sure the kids only trick-or-treat in the fancy neighborhoods to get the good stuff because hardly anyone we talked to had trick-or-treaters. We ended up taking our candy to our Friday morning meeting and the elders helped us get rid of it.
Last Monday we went hiking as a zone. We drove about an hour to get to the trail and I said at least 5 times “I feel like we’re lost. Did we miss a turn somewhere?” But it’s okay because we made it. The hike was fun, but pretty short, so we ended up sitting on logs and talking for about an hour. Everyone told some embarrassing missionary stories that were really funny. It’s nice to see that all missionaries have awkward moments and it’s not just me. TOAST! (thrive on awkward situations today)
The next most exciting thing that happened was Sis Ottley made dinner for us in the Insta-pot her mom sent her. We had spaghetti and the sauce she made was amazing! And it made our apartment smell good, so it was a win-win. We’re booked on dinners this week, which is awesome, but Sis Ottley loves to cook so she’s a little disappointed. She said she’ll make us breakfast instead. We’re going to need to start working out really hard this week.
As far as missionary work goes, it’s been the same old same old. We’ve had a few lessons and then have just been out talking to everyone. I’ve been working on explaining The Book of Mormon better because most people don’t know what it is. Even people that say they know really don’t. They think it’s our Bible, or that Joseph Smith wrote it, or that it’s about Joseph Smith. Even if people don’t want to listen to our message, I like helping people actually know what The Book of Mormon is so that they understand The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A lot of people don’t like our church because they don’t understand correctly what we believe. I feel good helping people understand, and sharing with them what we actually believe. It makes me laugh a little when someone says they don’t want to join our church because they’re Christian. I always say “us too!” Jesus Christ is the head of our church and His name is in our church’s name (because it’s His church) and it’s the second biggest thing on our name tags. A member pointed out that it’s a little sad people don’t know that the members of Christ’s church are Christian. That’s why I’m out here telling people!
I hope the rest of everyone’s week is filled with fun!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
My cute comp:
Candid shot:
Sisters selfie:
Mother daughter photo:
Elder Herring photo-bombing in the back:
Our Halloween costumes! (Sis Ottley was a flower bouquet and I was a patch of flowers):
We made the flower headbands ourselves and are very proud of them
Our zone leaders also dressed up for Halloween:
“Nice banana shirt!”
“She likes to wear it on fast Sundays and it’s not appreciated.”
(Elder Tinnoco’s comment on Sis Williamson’s shirt, and Sis Flitton’s response)
Nothing much has happened this week. Well, lots has happened this week but nothing really to write about. We’ve been out pounding the streets talking to people about Jesus. No one has yelled at us so that’s fantastic! Sis Ottley is awesome and is helping me enjoy being a missionary more.
We had a return appointment that actually happened this week and it was the most exciting thing ever! A lot of our people have been canceling on us (sad day) but although it was brief, we got to talk with Faith. We gave her another copy of the Book of Mormon because she said her mom took hers so that she could read it. And now her mom wants us to come talk to her as well! Sis Ottley and I were so happy we got Jamba Juice to celebrate.
We were able to do crafts with Sis McCarty (a less active member) this week, and she had the World Series on. Sis Ottley is a HUGE Dodgers fan so it was fun to see her reactions when she heard the score. She said that the Dodgers need to get themselves together and realize that they suck so that they can win the next 2 games. Everybody has the games on here so she’s been able to keep up with what’s been going on pretty well. She makes me laugh!
We did pumpkin carving with the sisters on Monday and it was so fun! Sis Ottley scooped out the guts and I separated the seeds, which she then cooked into little treats of deliciousness. We called the pumpkin our baby, but now he looks like a sad old man. Carved pumpkins don’t last long in Bakersfield. We need to take him to the dumpster, but he’s become a fly hotel so we’re scared to touch him. I said we should just set him on fire, but Sis Ottley didn’t think that was the best idea for some reason. We’re going hiking today so I’ll let you know how amazing it was to breathe and see green.
We had zone conference on Tuesday and it was awesome, as always. One of my favorite things President Layton talked about was a quote by President Nelson. He says, “When we comprehend His [Christ’s] voluntary Atonement, any sense of sacrifice on our own part becomes completely overshadowed by a profound sense of gratitude for the privilege of serving Him.” It made me realize that if I truly understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ, any sacrifice I am asked to make will be easy.
Another quote I love is, “Let us here resolve that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation.” It takes faith to sacrifice and if we aren’t willing to sacrifice, do we really have faith? Giving up 18 months of my life to talk to random strangers about religion used to seem like a huge sacrifice. I love books, movies, music, and spending time with my family and I don’t love walking around in 100+ heat talking to random strangers, especially about religion. Actually that’s how I used to feel. I can’t say I love walking around in 100+ heat talking to random strangers about religion because 1) it isn’t 100+ heat anymore and 2) I don’t, but I know why I’m doing it now. I’ve know all along in my head, but it’s hitting my heart more. I still love books, movies, music, and spending time with my family but giving them up doesn’t seem like that big of a sacrofice anymore. I can sum how I feel now in yet another quote, this time from President Monson. He said, “The greatest decision I ever made in my life was to give up something I dearly loved to the God I loved even more.”
That’s all I have for this week. Have a spooky Halloween!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
Sis Ottley’s Pooh Bear drawing (he’s kinda skinny so we decided this was we before he ate all the honey)
Sis Ottley corn rowed my hair and put it all in tiny braids
And then we took it out (Pres said he liked it)
What cuties!
Our old man pumpkin (and that was a couple days ago…)
He was a Cyclops pumpkin
We made sure to sign our pumpkin
All the pumpkins (the one on the right is the Tree of Life vision complete with iron rod and great and spacious building-see 1 Nephi 8)
Artists hard at work (Sis Flitton representing Cali in the back)
“I cut off its tail… and it’s still moving!”
I got my second baby this week! Her name is Sis Ottley and she is awesome. She came pre-trained from the MTC so it feels like she been out longer than a week. We went out and found 6 new people this week! And taught 2 impromptu lessons on the spot. It’s been awesome!
Yesterday we were able to take the sacrament for the first time since September! You really don’t realize you miss things until they’re gone. People were surprised to see Sis Ottley because they didn’t know there was a transfer. That’s what happens when you don’t have church for 2 weeks! There was a line from a General Conference talk that I liked. We talked about it in Relief Society. It was, “We need the Holy Spirit as our guide in calm waters so His voice will be unmistakable to us in the fiercest storm.”
Sorry this email is really short. Not much else happened this week. We have a lot planned for next week though so stay tuned!
Ciao,
Sister Schroeder
Our first comp selfie!
Our pumpkin baby
Yes, we buckled it in
Dramatic nametag photos
Sis Ottley makes me breakfast cause she’s the best
A lizard got into our apartment on the first day so Sis Ottley caught him (and accidentally chopped his tail off)
This week we got transfer calls! Sis Stockdale is leaving me and going down to Agua Dulce, which is a little town south of Palmdale. I am going to be staying in the Laurel Glen ward for the 4th transfer in a row and will be training! We were joking with Moises (a member) and said that we got told to leave in a meeting. He said “Wow, prayers really are answered!” but he likes to joke around with us so he promised he wasn’t serious about the prayer thing. He’s really sad to see Sis Stockdale go, but I think he’s also excited to meet the new sister. I’ll find out who my trainee is tomorrow morning after the training meeting.
There have been some changes to how training is done since I last trained and I’m interested to see how. We potentially are going to be on bike again, but I haven’t heard anything so far. Apparently they are going to take away 19 cars over the next 2 transfers and because we have one of the smallest areas, it makes sense that we would get booted out. But our STLs and Zone Leaders haven’t heard anything, and I don’t want to ask and potentially remind the office that they are going to take away our car, so I’m just going to cross my fingers and hope for the best when I show up tomorrow. I really wouldn’t mind being on a bike again (especially since it won’t be the temperature of the sun here) but it’s definitely more convenient to be in a car.
Not a whole lot happened this week. We went out and talked to people a lot and someone wants us to come back! Her name is Samantha and she’s into photography. She was interested in reading the Book of Mormon so that’s awesome! We have a lesson with her this week and another lesson with Rayvon. Both are potential YSA age, but we’ll see what happens.
We had Stake Conference this week and it was really good! We had a guest speaker come and he was really funny and engaging. When he got up to speak he said he had planned something, but felt like he should talk about something else. He spent most of his time talking about President Russell M Nelson and how he really is the prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. He met President Nelson both before he was the prophet, and after he became the prophet, and he said there was a noticeable difference. When he shook the prophet’s hand, he felt a rush of power sweep over him that caused him to freeze where he was standing as tears blinded him. President Eyring shook his hand next and guided him away from the prophet so other people could shake his hand too. He then talked about something Wendy Nelson (President Nelson’s wife) said as well about the change she has seen in her husband. I’m not sure why he felt it was so important to talk about President Nelson, but it was really cool and reaffirmed my testimony that President Nelson is the prophet of God.
Ciao, Sister Schroeder
Someone was trying to be like the LA temple:
I told Sis Stockdale she should go knock doors in that dress:
