February 2024

 February took Savanna and McKay away, they moved into their own apartment on Feb 3rd. I really enjoyed having them around, nice to have some quality time with them the last couple months. They found a decent place they can afford in Orem so we spent a Saturday helping them move. Sky was sad to see them go. Savanna got her Glimmer Salon finished and up and running this month, so proud of all the work she put into that. She already has 4 estheticians renting booths from her there. McKay still making rings at Manly Bands, and he brings a few "duds" home once in a while for us to wear.

February also brought my daughter Fiora safety home! Jared left February 8th to go to New Zealand and spend a week there with Fiora before escorting her home to Utah. They had a week packed full of sightseeing NZ and Jared had a wonderful time. Fiora was tryin to adjust to the fact she was returning to the States after having formed some great friends and was leaving behind some really good experiences in NZ. I held down the fort at home, and enjoyed my me-time for the most part, but after they got back and got busy on doin their stuff I was a little impatient for some quality time. Thankfully we got to celebrate Fiora's 21'st birthday (which was on the 13th but she was in NZ that day so we celebrated on President's day when I was off work). We had a lot of fun doing errands, getting a pedicure, going shopping at the mall, and having dinner at the Cheesecake factory. Fiora has already found a job at a gluten free breakfast place and is keeping herself busy. Sadly Jared got really sick after he got back home and was coughing for a couple weeks, but he seems recovered from that now. 

Weston is doing well in Brazil. I'll attach his last letter and some pictures at the end. We are already planning our trip to pick him up in September and are so excited about that, he only has 7 months left! So proud of the work and sacrifices he is making, and the lessons he is learning, and the good he is doing.Also Jared and I had some brazilian friends over for dinner Jose and Cristiane and I made them a brazilian carrot cake. It was great to try and speak portugese for 2 straight hours!

Weston Schauers Attachments

 Mon, Feb 26, 8:16 AM (8 days ago) to bcc: me 

 I'm back! Let's just get to the good stuff We've been blessed with many fruits lately, we've had four more baptisms since I've written. Marlí, a very sweet old lady who had had divine revelation from God about listening to the missionaries and being baptized. She has panic of water after drowning as a child, but for whatever reason she didn't even mention that until after her baptism! She literally just went with faith and she didn't even look scared at all, we felt very impressed with her courage to be baptized despite that obstacle. Jhon, an 18 kid who grew up in a Baptist Church also inspired us with his faith. He's been participating in the church activities for a long time, as he's been dating one of the young women, but despite the past missionaries' efforts, they couldn't convince him that the church was true. Recently he had the opportunity to go to FSY with the other youth, and before he went me and my companion challenged him to ask God if he should be baptized during the experience. Not only did he review an answer, but he also inspired all the other youth with his testimony and conversion. Yesterday, he was baptized, and there were more than enough people there to support him, about 50-60. There were even a few kids from his fsy group who traveled to see him, as well as his counselors. Jefferson, a young man was also baptized after learning about the church through a recent convert, his best friend. And finally, Arthur a ten year old who has always wanted to be baptized since we met him about a month ago through his two cousins, who Elder Cavalcante and I first baptized when we got here. We wanted so much to baptize him with his Sister, who was always participating as well, but she unfortunately backed out. But I'm sure her moment shall come in the near future. And after a transfer of miracles, it finally came to an end :/. Unfortunately my beloved companion, Elder Cavalcante, has been transfered to another area in Pelotas. Our time together was something I will not soon forget, he taught me a lot about missionary work and using the convincing power of the spirit. We also had many moments as Zone Leaders praying and receiving revelation to help the other missionaries. We learned how to help each of them one by one. Overall this last transfer with him surely made a difference in the way I see missionary work. With Cavalcante gone, and the other Elders who left as well, in short, we've ended up with a trio here with Elder Pereira and Elder Farias. Our time together has been great so far, but for sure an adjustment. Be sure to keep us in your prayers, for the Lord does in fact here them and bless us because of them. As always, thanks for all of the love and support, until next time! 

❤️ -E. Schauers 

 Feb 5 2024 

Man it's been a couple of crazy weeks. Let's just get into it Ok so we've had two more baptisms since the last time I wrote. The first Zeni, the grandmother of one of our recent converts. She's just great, and we'd been visiting her pretty much every day. She understood all the concepts of the gospel, and was even reading quite a bit of the Book of Mormon. We had marked her baptismal date for January 28th, but when that date was aproaching, it was hard to convince her that she was ready. One Saturday night of the 27th we gave her one last try inviting her to be baptized, having in mind that we'd have to stop visiting her if she didn't accept. We left a very spiritual message with her, and I even played and sang a hymn for her, but to no avail. We were about ready to leave when we asked her to choose one of us to leave the closing prayer. Instead of choosing she said "What time would be my baptism exactly?" We responded 7:00pm, and she just sat there contemplating. But we were patient just playing with her grandson while she sat there thinking. Then finally finally she said "ok sounds good." What a victory hahaha. Her baptism was amazing, but the preparation was very stressful. The font wasn't heating, which was the worst news for a 70-year-old getting baptized. She also has a pretty bad hunch back, so we didn't know if we'd need two people in the water or a chair or something like that to assist her. But thanks to a lot of prayers and much faith, she wasn't bothered by the water, and the brother that baptized her managed to just gently lowered her in the water, no assistance needed. Not only was it a miracle, but a very spiritual and happy experience as well. Our other baptism was Rogério, a guy that was super prepared for baptism before we had even met him. He already had much knowledge of the Bible, and he had already realized that he needed to be baptized like Jesus Christ, and after teaching him the basics about the Restoration, Book of Mormon, the gospel, and the commandments, he was more than ready, and also more than willing to let go of anything that would hinder him from being baptized. He was a great example of faith and willingness not only to us, but also to the ward and to our zone. I will say that the work was not easy this week. My companion had been sick with coughing and sneezing for the past while, but during this last week it got way worse. It's also been burning oven hot lately, tis the season here. But everything lead to these victories. God teaches me constantly how He can turn our sacrifices into miracles. To me the pioneers are the greatest examples of people who sacrificed everything and literally witnessed God's power and glory more plentifully than anyone else because of that. Sacrificing things in our lives for God is exactly what gives us purpose. Instead of just living, we live for something. One of my favorite scriptures is Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. God promises us everything we stand in need of if we just follow him. Leaving space for God in our lives means we let God increase our happiness by changing and transforming us into disciples of Christ. I love my mission! I learn new simple and eternal truths like these each day. No other experience can teach and enlighten us like the mission does. Love you all and have a radical week 

❤ -Elder Schauers