April 2024

 Can a month be both gentle and busy? April seemed to be. Spring came and some warmer days and that brought color, blossoms and green leaves back to our bleak world in Utah. We had some guests come stay for general conference, the Johnson's and their friends from England, and they need wheelchair accessibility (which our house is not) so we had to give them all the rooms in the upstairs hallway and Jared and I moved downstairs with Fiora. Kind of like a little ten day hotel stay in our basement lol. We had a nice dinner with them at Jesse's house while they were here but otherwise they were out visiting all their many friends in Utah.

Fun things here and there but not too stressful, like attending Kaiya Wilkinson's choir concert at BYU, going out to eat with my boss and friend Shannon Young for her birthday, seeing Karli Sue sing in the Lamb of God in Tooele, going to Top Golf with the mission department, and to lunch with my sisters in law, a couple fire pit evenings to burn some old wood, lunch with Justin and Shawna for sushi, so lots of fun little things like that. Ended with some time with the Wilkinson's and attending Riley's graduation. I've gotten to see my niece Lucy doing her MTC training in Provo three times and I love that. I'm also loving hanging out with Fiora whenever I can while she is still living with us, and we love our Sunday dinners with Sav and Mckay. 

The biggest new is our horse Pearl had her colt! Kind of funny story, Jared knew she was due sometime in April and the week before the due date he was checking the security cameras faithfully and even losing sleep because he wanted to be there for it. Saturday morning Jared went and fed the horses, Pearl wasn't showing any signs of labor so he came home to do some work on our back yard, and when we went back in the afternoon to prepare a stall for the baby and get some straw laid down, there was a baby horse in Pearl's stall with her! We were both so stunned. We couldn't tell what the gender was for a couple of days, but Jared got his wish, its a boy! He seems really healthy and is thriving, and after two weeks was nearly double in size. Because his registered name will be Cool Your Checks, we decided to call him Chex. He is a cutie and we have loved showing him to people who come visit. Jared spends as much time with him as he can, I love seeing him interact with his little baby.

I also included some pictures of the Provo UT temple being demolished, I get to see the progression from my office at the MTC. Weston still doing well in Capao de Leao currently. His perseverance is inspiring with all the ups and downs of mission life. Can't wait to see him in just 5 months!!

Letter from Weston April 11 2024:

Hey folks! For those who know Portuguese, try out this tongue twister:

Três pratos de trigo para três tigres tristes 

Today is transfers!! (In case you were wondering why I am writing on a Thursday) and I'm staying in Capão do Leão with my same companion Elder Pereira, so nothing really new here. We're entering into the last four transfers of my mission, which is kind of mind boggling to me. I'm hoping I can keep myself diligent during these last months of service.

About our progress lately, we've been trying to help a family with humble circumstances get married and baptized. We baptized their second son this last Sunday, which was an amazing experience. The parents got to know the ward members and immediately bonded, which is one of the best things to see as a missionary. The process of getting them married has been very tedious, and doing it for free has taken a couple extra steps. We're hoping to get their documents renewed and a date for marriage marked for this week or the next. The only other obstacle they have is with smoking, and we've already made some goals to get them on track for baptism. When you have some time, if you get nothing else out of this email, please be praying for the family of Giliarde and Vivian. They are an amazing family and could be very blessed for being members of the church. 

We're still making steady progress here, and after everything I've tried on my mission until now, I can truly testify that the only key to lasting sucess is obedience to the commandments and diligence in the work. The Lord turns this effort into blessings and miracle that give us the results we have. There is no easy way or short cut to receiving blessings, especially on the mission. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter how much ability or talent you have. What matters is what's in your heart, and if you're in tune with the spirit, because it is God that converts people, not us. If any of you are preparing for a mission, just keep that in mind ;)

Love you all and hope you all had an awesome general conference as well!! Be sure to re-study the talks in your personal studies :) talk to y'all later 

-Elder Schauers