Hugs and Handshakes...

We love Connor so much and found out early last week he unexpectedly needed to come home from his mission. We love him more than ever and want to help him take care of his needs. It was wonderful to just hug him. He definitely has his heart set on returning to the mission field soon. He has grown to love the people that he served in the Philippines, and those whom he served with. He learned so much and has some amazing experiences and stories to share with us.

We loved spending time together this weekend watching and listening to general conference together. Link to watch or listen to conference messages  Truly Inspirational of the love God has for all of us. Connor will be just fine:) He is an amazing person with such love and compassion. He is courageous and valiant and he will be ready to hit the ground running when he returns as a full time missionary to complete his 2 years of service. Please welcome him with open arms when you see him, with a hug or a handshake.

Love the Quote from President Uchtdorf, "...consider eternal perspective, all of God's children are made of the stuff of eternity: Endings are not our destiny."

You can now reach Connor at connora.schroeder@gmail.com

New Companion...

Hello Family!

I am having so much fun with Elder Clarito. It is great! Everyone says he is a super hard worker. And he really, really is.

Being a missionary is such a blessing in the lives of others. I am learning a lot of what it takes to be a real leader. I have to lead by example, if not, then everyone under my stewardship will fall accordingly. Being new in the mission, I thought that the things my leaders were saying were applicable... but not always true. As I serve now in this capacity, I see how it is exactly true. No doubt in my mind. The only way to be a perfect leader is to be perfect. It is very hard for anyone to rise higher, unless you are the one picking them up. I am really trying to work harder to increase the effectiveness of my leadership. It is really hard sometimes to do every single thing that I am supposed to do. It really leaves absolutely no time in my schedule, but it is the Lord's way. All the extra time I have got, from 10:30 to 6:00 is devoted to sleep (yes, I wake up a little early). I wish I had a bit more time in the day. 

As for our area, we are seeing great success among less active members. We had 2 return this week, Sister "A" and  Brother "L". "L's" wife has yet to come to church but I am sure she will, along with their children. We have many other potentials that are going to return for sure, It will just take some more time for them. As for investigators we have a new one that is a part member.... Sister "G". She is the sister in law of our ward mission leader.  Her husband is less active. I am super excited to see this family to come into the Church together. God wants this family to be together forever. 

One great thing also is that Elder Clarito's sister is going to be married on the 18th of April and we get to attend the sealing. Such a great blessing! It will be some good motivation to finish the mission strong. Love you guys.
Elder Schroeder

                                                                  Manila Temple

                                                 They have Krispy Creme in his area

Handshake, food and a good Kiss!

 Feb 17, 2014   

Hello again family!

Alright. so I will have some good and spiritual baptismal pictures next week to send you all, but just to show you all the fun I have been having here while still working hard to serve the Lord. The Lord really blesses us if we will work in His way. He is so concerned with this work and will help us in any way possible if he can. I am really running low on time this week.... we spent a few hours golfing today. We golfed 16 of the 18 holes which took quite a while. I wasn't too bad, but I definitely was not any good. Makes me want to get good at it.

1. My Land Rover Defender 90, old school restored, haha... These things are everywhere here!
2. Me next to a Makati sign. This place really is the richest place in the Philippines...

I am super out of time. Love you guys! I hope you enjoy the pictures!

Love,
Elder Schroeder

p.s. thank you so much for the package. I will get it on Friday probably. We are going to pick up packages then. I love you all! Have a great week!

Feb 23, 2014

Hello Mom and Dad!

It sure is strange thinking that it is just you two and Grandma at home. I will send a couple emails this week so I can send more pictures

two children/ teenager from two close part member families. One of the Dads is working abroad and the other was too shy to stand in the picture.

     Elder Woodburn, Jan Randolf Silvestre (future bishop), and me Jan really is a great convert. He is definitely going to be future leader of the church. And he wants to serve a mission!

                                                  Yes this is a dog. Yes, it is in the church

Hwag kayong magalala. Lalago pa ang buhok ko.
(don't worry. my hair will still grow)
Yeah we got some good haircuts. You may have noticed it in last weeks pictures. This was one really quick week. Thursday we had 2 baptisms!! Which was great! Friday we had a zone conference and conducted exchanges. Then Saturday we finished exchanges and had to deal with a problem in our zone. To be shared another time, it's all worked out now.

So this is what I would like to share a little bit about in my email today.
When it comes to our calling as missionaries of our Lord and Savior, whether full time or not. Is there doubt in our minds, however small it may be, that we can be instruments in His hands to bring about His work? Do we feel that the Lord if before our face, on our right hand, on our left, in this great supernal work? Do we know, without the slightest shadow of doubt, that we are called and chosen representatives of the Master, that we have His divine authority on our side? When introducing our friend to the missionaries, does any doubt enter our mind whether or not they will be baptized? We need to make strong our faith in our Savior. To believe that He is more vitally concerned with this work than any other person who has walked the face of the earth. Will our faith be as the the mustard seed, having the capacity to command mountains to remove, or will we be driven about by the slightest breeze of doubt? We need to stand steadfast and immovable in our faith. That the Lord may seal us His. And that we may become instruments in His divine hands, to seal also our brothers and sisters to this great and immortal family. I know it is true. And I testify that, in this the eleventh hour, we can bring many souls unto Him if we have faith enough in our Eternal Savior, even Jesus Christ.
(Mosiah 5:25, Matt 17:20, Matt 20 and D&C 33:3)

I love you all! Lets all build our faith together. And we will receive more blessings than we could ever imagine.
Love, Elder Schroeder

p.s. got the package this week. thank you so so so much!!! My companion appreciates it a lot too. We are enjoying it together.
p.p.s. I hope those memories of us two growing up are mostly good ones... we'll keep fighting. Kyle and us both agree that if we didn't have each other, and such loving parents, we would not be where we are at now. Thank you for all the love and care you have given in raising us. I bet it was hard a lot of times, and we weren't perfectly obedient, but you both did a great job and put up with a lot. Kyle and I are so grateful for it! Love you!

March 3,2014

Hello family!

It sure is strange to see you with Elder Stephens parents way over there in America! I wonder what kind of food she is going to teach you to make... Adobong Manok is super easy... with pork is good too. One of my favorites is probably Tinola.... but I am not sure is you can get a hold of un-ripe papaya there. Anyways, let me know what she teaches you to cook. I would love to here what you guys are eating that's from the Pilipinas.
This week was great. There sure is power in Fasting. I had a good list of things to fast for this week, including my white handbook, because it had my two bank cards and temple recommend in it. All replaceable, but not very easily... And as I fasted for it, it showed up. phew. I was also fasting for a lot of members and investigators. God sure does bless us when we fast and pray for a righteous cause.
One good story this week of how God works in mysterious ways... so a Sister "A" in our ward that is less active has wanted to return to church for the longest time. She has been praying for it and been trying so hard to go, One night she was praying fervently to be able to return to church... and her husband has a heart attack! Not in the plan, right? So they go to the hospital, and use up every bit of savings they have for the treatment and medication. They return home after 4 or 5 days from the hospital. This was brother "L's" 3rd heart attack. The doctor at the hospital told them that someone at his age, after three heart attacks, should definitely be dead. But "L"is still running strong... the day after they get home, He says, "Why don't you go ahead and go to your church this week?" Out of nowhere, some change of heart came upon "L" and allowed sister "A" to be able to go to church.  I know how much faith Sister "A" was exercising to be able to attend church. And now only in her day of trail, is her faith able to be strengthened by attending church. I know a change of heart will come upon her husband too, and he will be brought unto the waters of baptism.

Loving the mission. I am seeing lots of miracles happen in every ones lives here. God really does humble His people to bring about His great causes. The Lord ways are not our ways. But it is the only way.
Love you guys!
Elder Schroeder

p.s. Thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! Happy to no longer be a teenager, but sad to be getting closer to being "old" - which is still a FAR ways off I would like to add.

p.s.s this is for Joy. My companion was reading an old letter from his friend, sister Cambria Bitter. Serving here in the Bacalod mission now (not sure if that is spelled right). The letter said something like, "it is going good here in the MTC, my favorite teacher is brother Theobald. He is always fun." something like that. not an exact quote... thought that was pretty cool. She was learning hiligaynon (okay, that one i really have no idea how to spell)... but that's how it sounds. Anyway, thought she would like to know. love you guys!

March 10, 2014

Hello Mama! 

You are not going to believe this. For our Zone Activity we went to Ocean Park. Super cool! We fed penguins, touched some rays, and saw a lot of cool fish and things. At the end we went to a sea lion show which was pretty cool. They picked one volunteer from the audience and it was me! So I gave it a hand shake, fed it some food, and gave it a good kiss! I have a video of the whole thing that Elder Woodburn took for me. Then after the show a random guy came up to me that is a member of the church. He had a really nice Canon and took a bunch on pictures of me during the whole thing. He said he would send them to me too. I also gave him your phone number so he could send them to you... because I couldn't quite remember your new email. But he said he will get a hold of you once he is back in America. Super cool! Who in the world out of all the missionaries can say that he or she has kissed a sea lion on their mission! Only yours truly. I can't believe it at all. Way cool! I also have a lot of pictures of us feeding the penguins, which is pretty cool.

On a side note, I am not sure I really want to email pictures anymore from here. It is super dangerous, cause they are computer cafes and missionaries get viruses on their cards here all the time. Elder Woodburn actually got his wiped two weeks ago. So I am trying to figure out if there is some way to send pictures safely. I can always print them off and mail them to you, it just takes a while. So that's one problem that I need to work out.

About transfers... Elder Woodburn is transferring to Palawan. He will be one of the Zone Leaders there in Puerto Princesa. My companion will be an Elder Clarito,  he is super nice.  I will be training him how to be a zone leader because he will just be new at it. I am excited though. I get to practice my Tagalog a little bit more than before. He speaks pretty good English as far as I am aware. It will be fun. It is hard to believe that Elder Woodburn and I have been together now for two whole transfers. Time sure is flying. 

This week has gone pretty well. We didn't teach many lessons, but we are having a lot of success with our less actives recently. My testimony has grown a lot seeing how God humbles his people when they become prideful. Being humble really is a great attribute and one that we should all strive to attain. The Lord truly has great love for a humble leader. There are many many instances where pride is referred to and condemned in Holy Writ. There is no other attribute that leads to more sin than that of pride. If we all strive to be more humble in our day to day lives, we will see greater blessings poured out upon us then we ever have before. I know it is true. I have seen it happen. And it will continue to happen because God's ways do not change. We will be blessed only according to our obedience. 

I sure hope Casey can get into that program. That would be such a great blessing to him and his family. I will definitely remember to include that in my prayers. I can't believe how big Walker is getting by the way. It sure is good that he can walk now, ha. He is going to be so big when I get back home. Time is flying by the way. I cannot believe how fast time really is going here... its like a month goes by in the blink of an eye.
I can't think of anything else to say. I know I am forgetting something good... I will email you again if I remember it. if not, Love you all!
Elder Schroeder

Birthday time!!

Please help us make our missionaries birthdays extra special!! They will be 20 on March 1st. 

Let's fill their mailboxes with cards and letters. I know there are many of you who read their blogs that don't know Connor and Kyle personally. They would be thrilled to get more mail and a birthday card or letter of encouragement from you too:)
Please send to:

Elder Connor Schroeder 
Philippines Manila Mission
PO Box 1997
Makati Central PO, Makati City
1200 Metro Manila
Philippines

Elder Kyle Schroeder
West Indies Mission
PO Bag 543
Valsayn, Trinidad
Trinidad and Tobago

Thank you so much!!

Perry and Robin

I got their packages off in the mail today:) I love mymissionaryshipping.com they get it there fast and I can track it the entire way.

Serving the Lord, Greatest opportunity ever!!

February 3, 2014

Hello Family!
Wow! Webelos leader huh and assistant cub master? Those two will have a lot of fun together with those kids.

Elder Belnap is Elder Stephens companion right now. We are doing exchanges with them tomorrow. I will be going with Elder Stephens so that will be fun. Heard he is a really hard worker. It will be weird to be working with someone that is from the same place over here,  more than 7000 miles away from home... crazy. The old AP really is a great missionary. His new companion Elder Wilson is super awesome too! We are spending p-day with those two. They both love sports and snowboarding and everything. We really are blessed to have such great Elders working along side us, good and inspiring for our missionaries here in the zone.

This last week has been pretty good. We have this killer investigator named "J". He is practically a member already. Everyone has been asking us if he is an investigator because they are not sure if he is just a visiting member or not. He is a super good guy and will be baptized on Feb 22. That's the plan anyway. We are so excited for him!

We are really working at getting the Zone into a more faithful and hardworking spirit. We feel like our zone isn't working as hard as it should and are going to do a lot to get it where it needs to be. We have a lot of great missionaries that came in from this last transfer and I am 100% sure that this work is going to shoot forward. We had a rough month last month and a lot of room for improvement. We had no baptisms in our whole zone last month at all... but the good thing is, we already have two this month. Another problem I see is that missionaries focus on the numbers too much. When I say it is great we had 2 baptisms already this month, it really makes my heart fill with joy that two children of God, our brothers and sisters, have made their first step into the gate. It is such a blessing to be a part of it.

Sometimes as missionaries, people think that we are robots. That we don't have our own problems, that it is easy to make the right choice. I can testify without a doubt, life is still rough for us. We still make wrong choices, we still sin, but we have the Gospel. We can overcome it all. It isn't easy, but it is very possible. I love the opportunity to take the sacrament every Sunday, without it, I don't know if I could hold up.  I love being able to repent, change my life for the better.  I still have got a long way to go, but I know I am going the right direction. Something our President tells us. "it doesn't matter where you are at, it just matters which direction you are going." It is so great to know that even the vilest of sinners, can receive the same blessings as the most righteous,  if they are just willing to repent, and humble themselves before God. I know it is true, because I do it. Over and over again, and it works every time, if my heart is in it, if I am sincere.

mula sa inyong pinaka-poging anak,
Mahal ninyo,
si Elder Schroeder

P.S. sour patch kids or watermelons. Maybe coconut mnm's.... I definitely need beef jerky. That is the number one need here. Oh, if you could put a small money clip in that package too, I could use that. I lost mine somewhere.... just a metal one that I can use in my pocket, not like a wallet type or anything- just metal. They are super cheap (or at least should be) I can't find them here. Maybe a new tie. I am running out, keep giving them away to Filipinos.

Have I told you how much I love you recently? Because I sure love you A LOT!


February 11,  2014

Wow! I had no idea about Mr. Kimbarow, they will all definitely be in my prayers!
Yeah, sorry I forgot to tell you about the p-day switch.

Serving the Lord is the greatest opportunity I have ever had! This past week, Elder Woodburn and my work has really taken off! Working hard for so long with seemingly with no results sure is a test of faith... but we are now looking forward to three great baptisms coming up! and many many potentials on the same path. The field really is white and if we just thrust in our sickles with all our might, great sheaves will be placed upon our back! It is true, sometimes we feel like we work and work and work to no result. But the Lord is on our side. He is vitally concerned and intertwined in this work. Who else wants this work to succeed more than the person who sacrificed to make it all possible? He is helping and guiding this work.

"J" is heading to the gate of baptism faster than any investigator that I have ever seen before and he has so many great friends in the church already. We don't even need to as members do the
fellowshipping. They just do it because they actually LOVE him.  Then we have two part member families that with both have some teenagers baptized also "B" and "JC".  Part of our goal here in the Philippines is to "save the rising generation".. and these two have a great foundation in the gospel and are ready to make the steps. We have so so many great new investigators and progressing ones.... it is just so exciting to be a part of this work here. Hard work really does pay off. I would tell you about all the other investigators we have, but I am pretty low on time. I love you guys. This Church is true!
Love, Elder Schroeder

P.S. Super excited to see pictures of the beetle! I will send some pictures next week. Oh, and our exchanges with Elder Stephens and Belnap went great! Elder Stephens and I really worked well as a team together and got a lot of great work in that day. He is a good leader for sure. It is great to see how much knowledge he has of the gospel now and how much he has been able to grow just being baptized a few years ago. He will be a future leader in the Church for sure. It was weird talking about people back at home when we are over 7000 miles away from it... working together. It was a lot of fun for sure.

Love you all!

Love the People... Love the Work!

Jan 14, 2014

Hello Pamilya!
There sure is a lot happening at home... We often do small activities of having potential missionaries work with us. It really is a great experience. Such an amazing opportunity. I would definitely have done a mini mission as a youth preparing for a mission. That is such a great idea!!!

 
It is funny, Elder Woodburn's mom sent him the exact same thing about the new mission president. I can't believe how close the time is new to get a new president... 

I wish I could do a 5K right now. One of my goals actually is to run a marathon the summer after my mission. The great thing is that my companion loves to run too! We go running ever single morning... except Sunday... so I am still in good shape. I hope I can go running every day for the rest of my mission. We usually only run about a mile or so... then push ups and sit ups and things. Super great.
Glad to hear about Sid's job. That will be a great opportunity. I would definitely never want to sub high school. That is a death wish.... 

Alright, so this week Elder Woodburn and I were more busy than we ever have been on our whole missions. We had so many meeting and special things to take of along with working an area... So we were running around everywhere all week... there sure is a lot of administrative work that it takes to run a mission. We had no day this week where we got to work a full day in our area. We had so much to do. We sure have a great opportunity to teach this zone a lot. We had MLC this week with all the other zone leaders and President. It was a great meeting and very uplifting. We also got to have our zone meeting yesterday. Elder Woodburn and I were able to answer a lot of questions and clarify a lot of things. Our zone should really start working hard and becoming better instruments.
As for the work this week.... we didn't have much time but, we did have some great lessons with our investigators. We have to do some emergency splits last night so I worked with a member in our area. It was a great experience for the member, because he is preparing to serve a mission. Super, super great! We got to teach a great uplifting lesson to a member family and help them with their family mission plan. I amazed all of there little kids by solving a rubix cube,  they were all so amazed. It is so great to be a missionary and so great to "catch the vision" of what missionary work can really become. I feel like I just want to baptize everyone I meet, everywhere that I go. I love the people here and want them all so badly to change their lives. 

We witness so many miracles here on the mission. And I am learning so much every day. The scriptures and the Spirit are our most powerful tools. Let us feast on them, and use them to change the lives of others. In faith, this work will hasten. And we can all become a part of this wondrous work.
Love you all
Elder Schroeder
p.s. I think my English is getting worse and worse every day... I say stuff wrong all the time.. darn

Jan 19, 2014
Hello Family!
Its too bad that mom has the flu... Runners knees can really be pretty painful too. I don't know if you guys have found this out yet, but you can get some knee brace kind of things that hold the patella (knee cap) in the right position so it prevents wearing on your femur. Because runners knees usually comes from a condition called patella-femoral wearing, where the back side of the patella is rubbing against the femur the wrong way because it is misaligned. Does she feel almost like grinding/rubbing/clicking sensation behind her kneecap when walking up stairs? That's usually the biggest indicator. That is a bummer though. It can be super painful for sure. (a good replacement workout for running is walking briskly in loose sand-very good workout). Good replacement since the beach is so close.

Anyways, so the new area is doing great. Elder Woodburn and I work as a really good team. I just wish we had more time to work in our area. This last week we were running exchanges on Wednesday, and we get home at 9:30, and find out we have an Elder who is not doing so well. He is a new elder from Tonga and is not used to wearing shoes. So he got some really bad blisters on his feet. We started taking care of it right when he got but it got infected (really, really infected). So we end up having to take him to the emergency room at like 10:30 (the time we are supposed to be in bed sleeping). So we were there for a lot of the night until President got there. So now Elder Woodburn and I are now in a threesome with Elder Lovete, a Filipino. Transfer day is pretty close now so we don't know what is going to happen... but it will all workout in the end. We spent the whole week going back and forth from the Hospital to check up on those two. We are all good now though and the work will keep going forward.

About the work though, We have one for sure baptism that should happen in mid February.  Then we have a few others we are trying to work out. We are working with a couple to get married so that she can be baptized and their family can be sealed. Just because of the laws here it is hard to get people to marriage. If you are under 25, you have to get parental consent to get married, and she is only 22. So her mom lives in the province far away and it is hard to get the parental consent form done from there (although it is very simple).... They really do want to get married and sealed, and she really wants to be baptized, they just think it will be easier to wait 3 years so there is no extra paperwork... We know exactly what to teach them and I have got faith that they will know what to do.

It is frustrating to see people so close to a covenant and so ready for it, then the world blinds them. I pray that everyone can learn the truth and not procrastinate their day of repentance. I don't know the words in English but it is Alma 43:34, "huwag ninyong ipagpaliban ang araw ng inyong pagsisisi." (do not procrastinate the day of your repentance) something like that in English. If we can all learn it, hold onto it and take it into our hearts, we can and will become much more loving people.
We also have some great new investigators that really want to learn a lot. The sisters in our ward have this great investigator named "P" too. We all help teach him in priesthood every Sunday. He is going to be a future leader for sure.

One thing I have really learned a lot in my service here is the importance of actually opening up the scriptures. I absolutely love and appreciate reciting verses of scripture in lessons and in conversations with people, but I have just noticed a problem with a the use of scriptures in the church. The people love to use the scriptures they have "memorized"... each Filipino has their own few scriptures they have "memorized" (sort of)... so in lessons and things, they just teach from this small pool of memorized scriptures and NEVER open the scriptures in the lesson.... Since they can't remember where they are at, they end up paraphrasing scriptures and adding their own words. We often have investigators ask us after the meetings, "why didn't anyone use the scriptures the whole time?"... There is no doubt great value to memorizing the Word of God. I cherish it personally and strive to memorize much of God's word, but there is an inherent Spirit and unbounded power in opening and reading God's word, word for word. I love how much time I have to study the Word as a missionary, and I realize it is not like this for most; but I do know that we do need to make a greater effort to cherish His sacred word.

I am loving the mission and having so much fun serving. I am so happy that even as a representative of Christ, that I can still be myself. I feel like I can really touch hearts most as people see that I am a real person.

Mahal na mahal ko po kayo,
Mula sa inyong poging anak na lalaki,
Elder Schroeder

p.s. I have really been working on memorizing a lot of scriptures. Our mission president does not require anything to be memorized except for things like D&C 4 etc.

p.p.s. If you could, whenever the reports of the new presidents come out, could you send it to me? I would love that. And whenever you send the next package, could you put a 5x7 picture of the San Diego temple in it?

p.p.p.s. ipagdadasal ko po ang mga tuhod ni mama upang ipapagaling siya. (not sure if google translate will get the jist of that. if not, just ask me and ill send it in English next week
love you guys!


Jan 27, 2014
Hello Family!
Well, I sure hope your shoulder gets better. I don't know much about shoulders unfortunately, and I am definitely sure that Mike knows a lot more than me. You're in good hands there.

I am sure having a lot of fun serving here. Elder Woodburn and I just got transfer boards. Our whole zone is flipping around like crazy! It sure will be a good rejuvenation... our zone has been slacking way bad. Some of these missionaries are just so lazy, or when they work, they don't know how to get results. I am excited that's for sure. The old AP who is going home in a transfer is going to be in our Zone now here... that should be interesting.

Well the work this week was pretty good... we were not able to work on Tuesday after district meeting or on Wednesday because I got some really bad food poisoning or something. So that was quite an experience. But the work was great otherwise. We have this absolutely great investigator named "J" He is super killer! We taught him the restoration and he went to church on Sunday. He was fellowshipped by the members better than I have ever seen before. It is like he is a member already! We are going to baptize him Feb 22! I just know it. We also have another teenage kid that is in a part member family that is going to be baptized as well in Feb. Super excited. I love the work. I love these people. Even though we can get pretty frustrated sometimes teaching in the land of vices....

So last night, a little girl was lost. They thought a crazy relative took her but the  relative is back now and he doesn't know anything about it. So either she was kidnapped or got lost or something. She is three years old and lives down stairs to us. So our neighbor asked us today to help look for her, since all of us walk around the city all day every day. I just don't know how anyone could find a lost child in this kind of a city. There are thousands of alleys and skinitas (super skinny alleys) everywhere. So sad. I really hope they find her.

I can't believe that Hunter is already getting married... on my birthday too! That is way, way fast... I saw Elder Stevens last at MLC. We talked really quick there about Hunter's homecoming and all that stuff. I am wondering who will be able to cook more Filipino food you or me?
Just found out today too, that Elder Stevens is going to be an AP on Wednesday. He really is a killer missionary and really has got his head on straight. He is a great guy and will be a great leader for us!

Just one spiritual thought. 1 Nephi 10:21 "wherefore, if ye have sought to do wickedly in the days of your probation, then ye are found unclean before the judgement-seat of God; and no unclean thing can dwell with God; wherefore, ye must be cast off forever." Just imagine at the day of Judgement. If you have done evil all the days of your probation... it will be the last moment that you will ever see your Heavenly Father again.. for all eternity. Isn't a few hardships, a few hard decisions, and a little repentance while here on this Earth worth an eternity of happiness as an eternal family? This has and will continue to motivate me to make the right choice, and I know it can help you too. Love you all. Have a great week!
Mahal n'yo,
si Elder Schroeder

p.s. In my birthday package, if you send one, I would love to have some beef jerky in it. That is what I am really missing here.... (a lot of beef jerky). Love you guys. Maybe some sour patch watermelons too.... I can't think of anything else. Marami pong salamat!

                                 

 View of my area from St. Lukes hospital 11th floor

                                Whatever you need, we've got it here in Makati 1A

Prayers and Blessings

Hello Family!
WOW! I can't even believe that! That sure is a miracle. I have been praying every night for all of my family to receive blessings according to their obedience. I can definitely see that those prayers have been answered. I love what it says about prayer in the bible dictionary. The purpose of our prayers is to align our will, as His children, with His will. When prayers are answered and we receive blessings, we are at the point where our will and our Father's will are the same. Great blessings come from obedience and as we strive to become more Christlike. (and I hope dad's work keeps working out, just like that...)

"As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are His children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part (Matt. 7:7–11). Many of the so-called difficulties about prayer arise from forgetting this relationship. Prayer is the act by which the will of the Father and the will of the child are brought into correspondence with each other. The object of prayer is not to change the will of God but to secure for ourselves and for others blessings that God is already willing to grant but that are made conditional on our asking for them. Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them. Prayer is a form of work and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings."

Oh, and Elder Stevens is one of the Zone leaders in Makati zone. Our borders touch because we are just the Makati east zone. We could walk into his zone in about 30 minutes.. so we are pretty close. I will see him on Thursday because there is a Missionary Leadership Conference (MLC) that we have once a month. Oh! And i get to go to the temple next Tuesday... So our P-day will be switched. I will email on Tuesday instead, so excited to go!

New years here was intense! We had to go inside at 6 so we wouldn't get injured from all the fireworks.... we couldn't even sleep it was so loud... we went out on our roof patio thing at midnight to see (because we couldn't sleep anyway) and saw all the fireworks... it was crazy!!! The whole city just had fireworks flying out everywhere... like the whole city was under attack! So crazy! It was just straight fireworks from like 6pm to 3am... something definitely worth seeing in this life. so cool.

This has been a full week. The work is doing great here. Elder Woodburn and I are working so so hard together and we are starting to see a lot more success. We are getting used to the area and are starting to really teach a lot of people. We have a couple potential baptismal candidates that may be ready by the end of this month or Feb. Super excited, I love being a missionary!
Have a great 2014!
Mahal ko po kayo!
Elder Schroeder
p.s. it is my companions birthday today. He is 27 now.