March was the best of times and the worst of times. Jared and I enjoyed a lovely 8 day vacation cruising in the Caribbean, and got a lot of food, a lot of sun, and a lot of relaxation. My favorite part was hiking up Dunn River Falls in Jamaica, I haven't experienced something that thrilling or beautiful in a long time. Most of the pictures are from our trip.
Week 1
But the rest of March was tryin to survive old man winter and consuming way too many movies. Poor Mckay was let go from his job. Also Fiora broke up with her boyfriend Cade of 4 years and it was a little difficult for her, we all tried to support her in that hard transition, hopefully she felt loved. Work, winter weary, and lots of worry. To be honest I'm glad March is over. Thank goodness for the trip to even things out.
Weston is hanging in there in Brazil and continuing his good work. He got the Easter package finally from me so I was relieved of that. You can enjoy some pictures and emails from him at the end of this post. We love and miss him.
This week was actually pretty tough! My comp and I caught a cold, so our noses were just running non stop while we were traveling and more annoyingly, while we were trying to teach. And since Friday I've had this weird stomach bug which has kind of ruined my appetite for food. Hoping I get better by tomorrow, I'd appreciate some prayers haha.
During the last zone meeting we had, our zone leaders told us about something they've been having success doing to help the investigators get to know the members and to keep the ward united in general. For their ward activities they've been inviting everyone to get together to talk, chill out a bit, and drink Chimarrão, that drink that is extremely popular here in South america. The best part is it doesn't cost a single real, and everyone just brings their own matte and cuia. Sooo we decided to plan our own. During all of last week we were inviting eeeeveryone to come and participate, and of course we were getting a lot of interest because Chimarrão is that popular, so we're thinking man this is gonna be a great activity. We finally get to the day of the activity aaannnd... no one shows up. All the young adults had institute, and everyone else either forgot or just weren't as interested as we had originally anticipated. So we were there with Elder Medeiros, who was still doing his online MTC who we were able to go and pick up, and some of the kids who were there playing a bit of soccer. I guess not every event can be a win. But yeah we'll probably be leaving that idea in the bottom drawer never to be seen again by the light of day.
Cooler experience from last week hehe- we started teaching a new investigator this week, and during our second lesson, the spirit was especially strong. Strangely, it reminded me of the feeling of the testimony meetings we used to have back home during ward campouts, and yet we were in a completely different situation. It was a cool reminder to me that the spirit can manifest itself in various different ways, but the feeling is always the same.
Keep Jaguarão in your prayers this week! We've got a couple new investigators who we think have a lot of promise, so we'll see what happens this week. Be sure to keep me updated on what's going on in your lives as well if you get the chance! Though I might not always respond, I always read every email I get from you guys. Catch you all next time!
-Elder Schauers
Week 2
Hey how is everyone?!? I don't have a ton of time so I'll just quickly share two highlights from this week:
At the beginning of this week we decided to focus more of our time finding people at one of the parks here in Jaguarão, and we learned a lot from this. I came up with a pretty neat idea of getting people talking with us without getting scared away immediately. Usually we'd approach someone with a question like "Do you have any preference of restaurants around here? We're Americans and we don't know the area very well." Even though we knew the city like the back of our hand from walking in it every day, questions like that got people talking, and eventually curious as to what we're doing here so far away from our homes. We then could usually fit in our message and our purpose. We did this every day, and if anything was really good practice for talking to people. We were super surprised to find that one of the people from the park called to us from in front of his house while we were walking on the street to find out where the church was located. And yesterday he decided to come! He even brought his wife and son. It was really great to see the blessings from our labors.
Yesterday we had the chance to work with a stellar member in our ward, Paulo, and we had an awesome experience. After walking for about an hour and a half looking for an investigator we'd never visited before, we find out that they're not even home. So instead we decided to visit a family of investigators that we hadn't visited for a while, because the mom is pretty firm in another church, but they like the company of the missionaries the same. Paulo leads an amazing discussion about faith, and eventually we get to the end and Paulo invites one of the daughters to say the closing prayer. She reluctantly agrees and starts by saying something like "Our Lord Jesus Christ, we thank thee for this day.." and then stops and starts laughing, because she's got nothing from there. So Paulo gives a brief explanation of how to pray, saying we start with "Heavenly Father," then we are able to thank the Lord and ask to receive blessings or help that we need in our lives, then ending in the name of Jesus Christ. This time she starts again with "Heavenly Father, we thank thee for this day, I thank thee for my family.." and then she stops again. But this time she isn't laughing. My comp and I look up to see tears rolling down her face. Right then and there, the spirit just hit her like a truck as she said the first prayer in her entire life. Neither me nor Pabst had ever had an experience before, a true and clear manifestation of the power of the spirit. It's real my friends, and it has the power to help each and every one of us. We left shaking her hand with the tears still coming, so glad that God was able to touch their hearts in such a powerful way. Helping people feel the spirit is one of the main reasons I came on my mission, and it makes everything that's hard on a mission all worth it.
Aaanyways this email wasn't meant to be this long but oh well. Love you guys and have a great week! I gotta run.
-Elder Schauers
Week 4
Ola everyone! Sorry I missed last week, things got pretty crazy with the new transfer, but I'll try my best to briefly explain what's been going on lately!
Two weeks ago we had a pretty legit week with our Field APs, and they actually spent their last week on the mission doing a division with us. We worked hard with our investigators and managed to have two baptisms that week, Erica and Andrew. Super fun times.
I guess you're all probably wondering about the transfer news, so here it is-- my old comp Pabst headed over to Rio Grande in an area called Jardim do Sul, and I will be staying in Jarguarão for a FOURTH transfer... which means yes I will have served in one area for six months without any changes. Just hoping my mission president hasn't forgotten about me, though I am in the area furthest from him in the mission sooo who knows haha. BUT I have in fact received a new comp, Elder Cabral! He's a Brazilian from Florianopolis and he is amazing! We worked really well last week and we're hoping to mark some baptismal dates this week, keeping the ball rolling in this area.
I sang in sacrament meeting yesterday and I think it went pretty well! I'm always grateful for the opportunities I have on the mission to dedicate my talents to the Lord.
Hope you're all excited for Easter, because I sure am! I'm forever grateful for the victory that was won by Jesus that gives us the gift of eternal life and the chance to live with our Heavenly Father again. I invite you guys to study the resurrection of our Savior this week in preparation for this Easter Sunday and General Conference as well!
I love being a missionary! I know I am where I need to be learning what I need to learn and helping those I need to help. Love you all, until next time.
-Elder Schauers
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