Christmas...

12/27/15

Here are some pictures from our Christmas skype with our son Elder Schroeder!!  It was awesome to see him and chat. He is still his our sweet, and funny boy! 

Robin

Worn out shoes...

New socks though!! 

And insoles...

He's not worn out though! Continues to SERVE ONWARD!!! 

He is healthy and happy!! 

Hello Family! 

This week has been great! I am enjoying the work like always and having fun in my area and my stewardship. 

So are you all getting ready for wedding plans? There is only a few more months then you will only have one left that's not married. 

Santa was really nice to you all this year! I found a filipino nativity here and some other cool things that I will probably be getting for the each family.

I don't really feel like I have much to say because I just talked to you all just a few days ago. 

We don't really have time to go to the temple here. We are supposed to have a temple day tomorrow but I don't think it is going to work out. I think we are just going to have district meeting.

I'm glad you are staying busy with everything in the temple. That sure is a lot of marriages to handle in one day. It is probably fun to be able to help out so many brides. 

It is still weird go me thinking that Kyle is going to be getting married. 

This week Elder Burgos and I got rejected a ton. It was hard in the moment for the few hours. It seemed like it was just back to back. I have never experienced Filipinos being so rude before. I had to hold my tongue a few times... But later that day we were blessed greatly because of the trials and persecution that we faced. We found two part member families that we didn't even know about and were not on our cmis. So we have some great potential with those two families. We also have one child from different part member family. We have to be really careful with baptizing kids here because a lot go less active if they don't have really strong member support. 

I am looking forward to new years and the crazy firework here. I just hope it isn't too loud so that I can still get some sleep that night. But we will be going home an extra 2 hours early that night so I should be able to catch up on some other assignments that we have as well as my journal writing. I am planning to teach Elder Burgos how to make baked mac and cheese,  and ham as well. So he will enjoy that. He told me this week that when I made the bread pudding that it was the first time that he has ever seen anyone use and oven in his whole life. 

oh and I ate shark fin this week. Just to let you know, it tasted like shark. Also talked to a guy this week that kept trying to tell us that Jesus' real name was Patrick. He was nuts-o

also I heard that Philippines won Miss universe and that there was some kind of huge mistake or something. 

Well for my spiritual insight I would like to share a story from James Rasband BYU

The Analogy of the Forgiving Landlord

To help explain the two sides of the Atonement, let me try a rather homely analogy. Like most analogies and metaphors, it is not perfect in all respects. I hope, though, that it can aid understanding. Suppose I find myself in a home built for me by a very generous landlord. It is a nice home. He encourages me to maintain and improve the home and gives me a number of instructions for making the home a nice place to live. 

Over the years I sometimes improve the home, but other times, through my negligence, I make it worse. One time I flood the home when I fail to set the faucets to drip during a freeze. Another time my kitchen catches fire because I fail to turn off a burner on the stove. A couple of times I lose my temper and put my fist through a wall. In each instance the landlord forgives me and encourages me to pay a little closer attention to my home and to his instructions for making the home a joyful place to live. He does not charge me for the damage caused by my mistakes. Instead, sometimes he is patient while I figure out how to fix things on my own; sometimes he sends someone over to fix the problem; and sometimes I wake up and things are fixed in ways I don’t quite understand.

This same landlord happens to have a son who is quite wayward. The son is always up to no good, and I don’t particularly like or respect him. One night the landlord’s son, as a prank, sets fire to the shed attached to the back of my house. The fire gets out of control, and the entire house burns down. I lose the home. I lose all of my possessions, including some particularly valuable possessions that I can’t replace, such as photos and heirlooms. I’m angry and distraught. I want the no-good son to pay. I want him to fix things and to make me whole. A part of me knows he can’t really make it better. He may not have the resources to rebuild the house, and, even if he could rebuild the house, he can’t retrieve the photos and heirlooms. And that makes me even angrier. As I sit in anger, the landlord comes to visit me. He reminds me that he has promised to take care of me. He promises me that he is willing to rebuild my house. In fact, he says that he will do more than that: he will replace my house with a castle and then give me all that he himself has. He says that this might take a while, but he promises it will happen.

“What’s the catch?” I say.

“Here are the conditions,” he says. “First, you need to put your faith in me and trust that I really will build you that castle and restore all that you have lost. Second, you need to continue to work on implementing the instructions I gave you about keeping up your house. Finally, you need to forgive my arsonist son, just as I have forgiven you all these many years.”

We are commanded to forgive all men, without condition. And as we do that we will be forgiven and receive a greater gift than we ever deserve. We need generously forgive all those who have wronged us and be willing to move on. With the new year, let us forgive anyone and everyone that has wronged us, move on, and receive the blessings of forgiveness in our own lives.

I love you all and I hope you have a great new year!

Hoping it rains,

Elder Schroeder

1. Bread Pudding

2. Bread Pudding with Vanilla Sauce

Another Great Week!!

12/20/15 

Hello Family! 

Wow you guys had quite a week! Busy busy!! We have been busy here too of course. I will be calling about 1-1:30 on  Christmas day here. I will be doing it from the office but there isn't going to be anyone here in the office because it will be closed. It should be really nice though. The internet here should be good and fast, so it seems like it will be good. 

I am thinking about maybe trying to make bread pudding this week or next but I dont know if I will have enough time. Could you send me the recipe for that? then I will see if it is possible. 

Yeah I don't have any pictures of myself in that suit.. I am going to ask around... I think Elder Burgos has it so I will get it from him. Sister Ostler loved it haha. President Ostler was willing haha... but he just said that you do whatever your wife wants you to do. Haha I could tell that he was happy to get out of that santa costume though. 

That story with the Lopez kids is great! It is really good that they were able to earn some money, good experience for them. 

This week was great! It seems like the Christmas  party was already two weeks ago. We also had to do some emergency pick ups for some choir performances near my old area in Makati on Wednesday night.

We got to work a lot this week! It was super great! After having the mission tour and being on Palawan and all of that, it was great to just feel a little bit like a normal missionary for a while. One day this week was super different though.... a big storm came through and it rained all day long on Saturday... and our area flooded in a lot of spots. We really tried hard not to walk in water that was above our ankles but there was one spot that we had to cross that was just a few inches past our ankles. 

Sorry, I replied earlier to everyone else's emails. Elder Burgos had a doctors appointment that we needed to go to. Then we had a meeting in the office right when we got back... and  I  had to translate for an interview with President Duford. 

We just found out a few minutes ago actually. President Hiatt, the former 1st counselor to President Stucki and Ostler. He was called as a mission president. And his assignment is Cauayan mission! Where Taylor served. He is coming here in July or someting like that! And I might get to see him!

Well, I am all out of time. Lots to do, so I will have to cut out my spiritual insight for the week. 

Oh and our baptismal candidate is not ready for baptism yet, so we moved him to January. He is getting really really close though. 

Love you all and I am excited to see you!

Elder Schroeder

Mission tour and Palawan Christmas

12/13/15

Hello Family!

This was one busy week! I am glad that the missionaries are able to come over to our house for Christmas. It is nice to have somewhere to go for Christmas. We had a Christmas party this week on Palawan which was really good. And we have another one tomorrow. I will be sending you pictures of that this week I am sure. You will probably get a laugh out of it... I won't explain why though. Let's just say that Santa Claus is President Ostler... and even in the mission he still has his little helper elves.... 

Sounds like your week is rearing up to be super busy. Well at least you get to warm up for your next wedding by being a part of Brian's wedding. Oh and if you could wrap up Kyle and cathy's gifts for me that would be great. They are both in separate boxes so you can just wrap them up. Be sure to send s thank you note to the Wakes, They are super nice people and Elder Wake and I are pretty good friends. I will email them as well telling them thanks.

Oh, one question I have that Dad may be able to help me with. It is about the Melchizedek priesthood that Moses got. So he received it under the hand of Jethro, his father in law, a Midianite. He was a priest of Midian. And the midianites come from a branch of Abraham (but not the house of Israel. Midian is one of the descendants of Abraham through his third wife Keturah. Which is not part of the covenant house under Abraham. So my question is... How and why did God chose to pass the Melchizedek priesthood through the Midianites instead of the Covenant House of Israel? My research resources are limited.... so if you could try to figure out the answer to this, I would appreciate it. 

Well this week was really busy with the mission tour and flying to Palawan... So we met with President the day before mission tour and talked about some things. We decided who would be interviewed, what apartments we would go check etc. And since I didn't know how to get to one of the apartments that we would go to check, President suggested that Elder Burgos and I go and drive the route early Tuesday morning. So we woke up at 4am to go and drive all around Manila to figure out the best route to drive to get there... it sure helped a lot. I knew right where I was going when I had to drive around the car with a General Authority and President in the car... I was very happy when that was over with. And then we got to go to palawan for two nights which was really good. Elder Burgos and I got to work in our old area which was a lot of fun. We got back Friday night late. Good news is that we got drive through McDonalds twice this week. 

Anyways, so here is a good spiritual insight for the day. This comes from Elder Bowen. In 1954 (i think, just going off of memory), a medical student named Roger Banister set off to break a record that was thought impossible. At that time, the world thought it was impossible for a human to run a mile in under 4 minutes. On May 6th, 1954 Roger Banister broke this barrier that all thought impossible. The next year, 5 other countries had runners that also broke the 4 minute mile mark. 

Sometimes, we set false limitations for ourselves. We tell ourselves that we cant do something because it hasn't been done before. If we can break a barrier or false expectations that have been set, then others will follow after the example we have set. The same is true with the gospel. Do we ever think, it is impossible to love all the people around me? Or do we ever think that it is impossible to reach out to those we are assigned to home/visit teach because they dont like the church. We can overcome these things if we get it with a new cause and with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I love you all! Thank you for all the emails!

Elder Schroeder

1. Lechon Baboy (BBQ pig)

2. Elder Burgos and I with the Elder and Sister Bowen

Delayed email...

12/6/15

Hello there Family!

Sorry, i just got super busy, got distracted and I forgot to send last weeks. And I don't  think  ever finished typing the email.... so I will send you that one as well this week... busy busy week we are having a mision tour and Elder Burgos and I are in charge of pretty much everything... Or at least a lot of it. phew... just have to stop and take a breath sometimes. It's is all going well though! 

11/29/15

Yeah thats what I was guessing with Arthur's parents. So that is good to get a confirmation on that. 

Driving in Manila is pretty good. Not as hard as I thought it would be.... but it is kind of like playing go karts just in a giant van. The LTO (equivalent of DMV) was not that bad actually... but we got there early so that the line wouldnt be as long. One problem was that their machine that prints off the licenses was broken so we had to go back a few hours later and pick up the copy when the machine was fixed. But we got to go to taco bell while waiting which was super good. 

I am trying to make some arrangements right now to get the gifts I got for Kyle and Cathy back to the states. I have two options. Either I can send it with Elder Wake's parents or I can send them with Elder Johnson who will be seeing Jericho Handy at some point. Then he can just give them to him. 

Yes, by the way I got the package. It was in really great shape when it arrived. I opened it and got the book out, which I figured would be on the bottom, and re-closed it. So I need to look at the rest of the package. But it worked out really well i think. just curious, how much did it cost to send that via slow boat?

Elder Burgos has been out 22 months, but he extended for 30 days.. well actually, he was extended by president without telling him, haha. So actually the same thing that happened with me pretty much. Except when I came in the second time they had already extended my going home date. So he is going home in the middle of February. 

I just watched that video! I can't believe the volkswagen is working!! Is there any thing else that he needs to finish/fix??? Kyle isn't allowed to drive it before me...

It looks really really good! I am excited to drive it!!!

(this us where it ended from my email from last week, another one coming in a few minutes. You'll get 2 this week:)  

Love you!

Elder Schroeder 

1-2 view  from our apartment. that is the pasig river... you can't tell in the picture but that water looks a lot thicker than it should....

3- mini cooper at our apartment complex (there are also a few of these in our area)

Family Tree, Elder Maynes and Haynie's

11/22/15

Hello Family! 

This was another fast and crazy week! We just finished transfer planning meeting earlier today and it was pretty complicated. But it is almost all figured out now and we are ready for going home missionaries, arriving missionaries, and regular transfers. So it should be an interesting next two weeks.

Also, I am getting my license tomorrow so Elder Wilson is going to have me drive everywhere so that I can learn how to get around this place. So wish me luck that I will be able to drive safely and not get lost too many times. 

Can you ask grandma to give me some background on Mary ann Kelchner, Magee, and Grandpa Arthur! I am trying to figure out some things on the family tree. There was some kind of adoption done at some point in there? I just want to know because I found some records and may be able to match them to extend the tree.

This week Elder Maynes came through and did a special meeting with us. The Haynies were also there so that was really cool! Since we were sitting on the stand with them, he didn't really see me at first, but then everyone had the opportunity to shake all of their hands... and when I shook Sister Haynie's hand she paused for a second... looked at my name tag, and said, "you look just like your mom!" They were really surprised to see me. He said that he would try to find a way to get together sometime while I am still here. So that was really cool. They wanted to stop and talk to me a little bit but there was no time before or after the conference. 

For Christmas, I am thinking that I will be available maybe around 10 or 11 am here. I think that will be the best time... but I will probably have to play it a little by ear since we sometimes get random assignments. Would you like me to call on the 26th here, so that it is Christmas time there, or what day would you like? Because we have a laptop and mobile wifi at our apartment, or I can come into the office here. So it is not a hassle no matter what really. Probably 11am -1pm would be the time slot that I would be able to skype you for 40 minutes. 

So as far as teaching this week, we found a great investigator who is totally prepared to be baptized. She is a former investigator, and is so so prepared. So I will send you a picture of that baptism in the first few weeks of January. We are really excited for her. 

This week was great with Elder Maynes coming, and my spiritual insight for this week comes from Elder Maynes message he shared. He said one thing that I don't think I will ever forget. "Leaders learn quickly, but implement immediately." In whatever assignment that we ever receive, we will be expected to lead in some way, whether large or small. To be an effective leader, we do not need to learn everything and be perfect, but when we have improvements to make, we need to implement those needed changes immediately. 

It was really inspiring to see him teach because he did not come prepared with a specific talk or teaching that he wanted to focus on. He asked all of us what we wanted to learn, and had us chose 2 or 3 things. And he taught us on those. He really is a master teacher. I learned so much from him in the hour and a half that he taught us. 

Sorry, I wish I had more time but that is all I have got for you.

Love you all!

Elder Schroeder

our snowman and friend

picture of elder burgos, wilson and i in the office

Transferred to Manila

11/15/15

Hello Family!

How are you all doing!? I am doing really well! My back is feeling a lot better but still a little twitchy sometimes. If it ever hurts really bad again, I have got some extra medication that will help me out. 

 Well, I got a surprise this week that I was not expecting. On Friday, I got a call from president during companionship study. He told me that I was transfering back to Manila. Makati actually. So I am back pretty close to where I was assigned before. Just on the other side of Makati. I am companions with Elder Burgos again! We were only separated for about 4 weeks. I am also with Elder Wilson too. They are both really great missionaries!! 

I was actually Elder Wilson's zone leader in Makati East when he was brand new in the mission being trained. So it is super strange being companions with him. He is going home in 2 weeks and then Elder Burgos and I will be on our own again. So these next few transfers are going to be an interesting expereince. We are always super super busy. One cool thing is that I am going to get a Philippines drivers license. I am kind of nervous to learn how to drive in Manila. But it will be a good experience. 

So the work in my new area isn't doing too well. It needs a lot of help. We don't have much time to be able to work sometimes so when we do work in our area we really hit the pavement and work hard. We had one investigator at church this week named "P". The last time she attended church was general conference. And we actually didn't think she was going to come. So we were blessed a ton to be able to have an investigator there. We fasted and prayed that we could have a "white christmas" like you heard about. So this week is going to be a big week of work. 

Sorry, I was emailing earlier but it kind of got cut off. We had a meeting that we needed to attend really quick to be prepare for a big meeting that we will be having tomorrow. Elder Maynes is going to be coming. So all the missionaries in the Metro are going to be coming to a single church building tomorrow. So were were organizing all of that. One really cool thing is that Elder Maynes is going to have personal interviews with all of the office staff. So I am going to get to have an interview with a general authority.

I am really excited to be back here with Elder Burgos and Elder Wilson. The work is going to be great! And the mission is doing super well. It is great to see how the mission runs and how much it takes to keep it all going. So here is a spiritual insight for the week. 

This is a story that President Mosguera (District President of Puerto Princessa) shared in the last talk that I heard him give. There were two sons, and a Father. One, the older brother and one the younger brother. The older brother was big and strong, while the younger was small and still quite young. One day, their father went and cut down two trees, both the same size and weight, and he told his sons that they both needed to carry one log to a part of his land that was vary far away. Then the father told them that whoever was first, would inherit all that the father had. The older could not quite lift the log even though he was big and strong, but he could still move it quite quickly. The younger had to push and pull with all his might to get the log to move just a few feet. The older thought that he would impress his father by getting there very quickly, so he cut off a foot of his log so that he would be able to pick up the log and just walk all the way to the end. The younger pushed and pulled and pushed and pulled, and had very slow progress. What the older brother did not realize is that there would be a river to cross at the end of his journey, and that the log his father had cut was just the right length to make it across this river. He tried to use his log to cross the river, but it was not long enough, so it fell in the river and was washed away. After a very long time, the younger brother arrives at the river, and is able to cross and receive all that his father had, because his log was just the right length. 

From this we learn that we should not cut short our potential. Even though it looks like things are hopeless and that we cannot accomplish the things that seem so easy for others, we all have a divine nature and destiny that can never be taken away from us, unless we take it away from ourselves. 

I love you all!

Elder Schroeder

P.S. here is a funny picture that was used in last MLC. We talked about the Army of Helaman and how we can be more like them. Caleb (Ostler's son) photoshopped the picture with faces of some elders 

Things just go Wacky sometimes...

11/8/15 

Hello Family! 

Doing really well this week. I was also negative for gall stones and pancreatitis, so no worries. Nothing super serious. I stopped taking the muscle relaxants because I couldn't think while taking them. My back feels pretty good now.

I didn't  do anything out of the ordinary to make it aggravated or anything. It happened the night that we came back from Roxas. So we were sitting on a bus for a  lot of the day actually. Apparently, things just go wacky sometime. That's what Sister Lemmon said. I don't think anyone really knows why it happened. It just did. But I am doing a lot better. oh and also not my appendix. not in the right spot. 

And about the examination. I did not end up going over to Manila early becuase I was already feeling pretty good. SisterLemmon  did a short examination at mlc. and a doctor on Palawan before that. The medication I was taking is called celecoxib if you were wondering. You can look it up if you want. also eperisone for a pain killer. 

So this week was great! We went to MLC and got to laminate hundreds of maps for the office elders. That was a ton of fun.... 

MLC was really uplifting and a great experience like always. I can't believe it but that was the 8th mlc that I have been to. only the 3rd with President Ostler though. 

Sorry, I don't have much time to email again. We are in a rush today. Lots of things that need to be done.

The work is going well and we are working towards a great goal that was introduced in MLC. Having a white Christmas. Every companionship in the mission to have 2 baptisms on the 26th of December . A total of 200 is our goal. So that is going to be a big focus of the next month and a hallf

Here is a great quote that I liked from this week.

“Keeping the sacrament special for me actually requires a whole week of preparation. If I take time every night to ask for forgiveness of the issues that I caused to burden me that day, then when Sunday morning arrives, the sacrament has greater purpose in my life. I usually find my thoughts on Sunday morning turning to all the covenants I've made my whole life, and I'm motivated to recommit to keeping them, knowing that I can start new every week. During the actual partaking of the sacrament, because of the weekly preparation, I'm more able to fully appreciate and reverence the Savior and His Atonement and what it really means in my life and I have a greater commitment to always remember my Savior Jesus Christ and am more willing and able to keep all of His commandments.” —@lowanda1 (Instagram)

I found this on LDS.org, The sacrament really does take more than a morning of preparation. Or even a day. We need to remember the Savior and what he had done throughout the week, be constantly repenting and improving ourselves for the atonement to have a greater effect in our lives. I know if we do this, that we will feel greater love from our Father in Heaven, and we will know the answer to the question posed to all of us in general conference by Larry R. Lawrence, "what lack I yet?" 

I invite you all to prepared more throughout the week for partaking of the sacrament on the Sabbath day. And to answer the question for yourselves, "what is keeping me from progressing?"

I love you all! Thank you for your prayers and love

Elder Schroeder

Mission Leadership Meeting

Airport and Christmas Songs

11/1/15

Hello family!

Haha those pictures are funny. Acting like a nerd sure comes natural to Glen for some reason.

So this week was an interesting week. Something happened to my insides at about 9:45 pm on Wednesday night and I was in extreme pain for about six hours. I couldn't sleep and it was terrible. It has been coming and going ever since. I threw up once the pain was so bad, it was right where one of my kidneys are. So I thought it was a kidney stone. But I got checked out and I have no kidney stones. I am doing well though. The last doctor I talked to thought it was muscle pain so I took a muscle relaxant and a strong pain killer. The pain seems to have gone away so maybe they figured it out. I  didn't take any time to rest this week so maybe that is why it didn't get better. Who knows. We will figure it out though. 

Don't worry about me though mom. I am doing well! Still working hard and helping others to come unto Christ. Elder Sorronda has been a champ the past few days making sure that I am doing well and taking the lead on a lot of lessons. 

oh yes, and tell dad that I am interested in selling the motorcycle. I would like to get 1500 for it if not more. I have seen people asking about 1700-1900 for them on craigslist. I think the lowest. So if dad can sell it to that guy then that would be great! 

Sorry I don't really have that much time to write something very long today,

but here is something cool president wrote in his letter to all of us this week.

This is from President Ostlee: (and I am one of the 6 elders in the story)
"Recently, Sister Ostler, Caleb, six  elders, 2 sisters and I spent many hours at the Manila airport trying to  get on a plane to fly to Puerto Princesa. After waiting several hours we finally boarded the plane, put on our seat belts, and then the pilot announced that our flight was canceled. We waited another 30 minutes, de-boarded  the plane, picked up our luggage and went back home. We got up very  early the next morning and again boarded the plane to Puerto  Princesa. I watched our missionaries closely. What would they do? How  would they react to waiting and waiting, getting to bed late, getting up  early and then doing it over again? I am pleased to report that I never  heard a single word of complaint. What did they do? They talked to  everyone around them about the gospel and received some referrals. After  that, they pulled out their hymnbooks and sang Christmas hymns and  other gospel hymns to the crowds of hot, frustrated people. They brought  smiles to people's faces. Many people (including Sister Ostler)  videotaped these smiling, singing, happy Mormon missionaries. I would  not be surprised if the whole purpose for these flight problems was to  bring the gospel to these souls!

FIRST INVITATION: NEVER COMPLAIN ABOUT ANYONE OR ANYTHING. Never  complain about the weather. Never complain about your companion. Never  complain about the leaders or the members. Never complain about your  area or the bugs or the pollution. Never complain about people who  reject you or who don't keep their commitments.

SECOND INVITATION: FIND SOMETHING POSITIVE IN EVERY SITUATION.  For  example, if the weather is hot, be thankful that it is not hotter. Use  your umbrella. Be grateful you don't have to buy expensive jackets,  hats, gloves and scarves for your mission. Find positive things about  your companion. Say true, positive things about leaders and members. Be  humble enough to realize that you are not perfect, so express faith and  confidence in the people you teach. If they don't keep their  commitments, trust the Lord, do your best and the Lord will bless you.  Complaining never blessed anyone.

Elder Orson F. Whitney said: "The spirit of the gospel is optimistic;  it trusts in God and looks on the bright side of things. The opposite  or pessimistic spirit drags men down and away from God, looks on the  dark side, murmurs, complains, and is slow to yield obedience." 

Well that's all he said about that

I love you guys! Thanks for all our love and emails

Elder Schroeder

Be Prayerful and Faithful...

October 25, 2015 

Hello family!

How are you all doing! I am excited about the Volkswagen! All it needs is the steering column!? You should send me a video once it is all done.

That is really great mom that you get to help out the brides there in the temple. That is probably a pretty sought after position. I would imagine a lot of people like to help out brides. 

Things are going well here like always. My new companion is from an area called Zambuanga. (I am not sure if the spelling is right)... anyways, it is an area in Mindanao with a ton of muslims and a alot if rebels. He lives close to that city that the little war broke out in when I was here in the mission before. He speaks visaya so I am going to have him work on teaching me some so that I can oym in that language, since it is the second most common language in the Philippines. 

Oh and yes the Handy's took my companion and I out to eat. We met them at a place called Robinsons and they fed us. She said she is pretty sure she knows you... and that she may have yelled at you once before. Anyways, they said that I could come over and hang out with them sometime and go out with them on one of their yachts. so I am going to take them up on that offer when I get home. haha

Also, another missionary named Elder Ingram also got picked up by his mom and sisters. I got to see them as well which was really cool becuase Elder Ingram and I lived in the same apartment in Tondo together. He is a really great guy and it was really good to see him. 

The work this week was pretty good. I had 4 different companions this week. Elder Eteaki on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, then Elder Panugao and Wake On Thursday and half of friday. Then I finally got Elder Sorronda. He came off transfer becuase he was attending the sealing of some of his converts in Manila. So I was a single Zone Leader for about a week. Transfer week too! Since the Wolcotts are still new out here I had to organize how all the transfers and things would go down. With Elders from Narra coming up and Elders from Taytay coming down. It was quite an experience to figure it all out. It would have been impossible without the Wolcott's van and the Wirthlin's truck. It was quite an adventure I'll tell you what. 

So becuase of all that I didn't get to work very much in the area. But we had 2 investigators go to church and 4 less active members. So that was great! The branch in increasing in effectiveness and It is great to be a part of it right now. 

As for my spiritual insight for the week, I would like to share a quote that we recite from President Hinckley.

 "The time has come for us to stand a little taller, to lift our eyes and stretch our minds to a greater comprehension and understanding of the grand millennial mission of this the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. This is a season to be strong. It is a time to move forward without hesitation, knowing well the meaning, the breadth and the importance of our mission. It is a time to do what is right regardless of the consequences that might follow...We have work to do. Let us get at it with a new commitment, putting our trust in the Lord. We can do it, if we will be prayerful and faithful. We can do better than we have ever done before. We have nothing to fear. God is at the helm. He will overrule for the good of this work. He will shower down blessings on those who walk in obedience to His commandments. Unitedly, working hand in hand, we shall move forward as servants of the living God, doing the work of His beloved Son, our Master, whom we serve and whose name we seek to glorify." (Gordon B. Hinckley)

I love the part when he says, "we can do better than we have ever done before." Can we say to ourselves that we are always a better person than we were the previous day? Can we say that we have done more to progress the spreading of the gospel today than we did yesterday? It does not mean that we have to talk to every single person we meet about the Gospel, but it does mean that we will do everything we can so that others can see the difference the gospel makes in our lives. It means smiling more, forgiving more, being nicer to those around you and having more patience, and, when the time comes, to invite others to do the same through the Gospel of our Master, Jesus Christ. 

I love you all!

Elder Schroeder

Transfers...

Hello Family! 

I am having a great time serving here in Palawan! We had a hard time finding computers today so I am going to have to make this quick. 

Yes, meeting in a different church building was just for general conference and district conference.

This was a pretty good week. Not totally normal... but I don't think I have actually had a totally normal week since being a zone leader out here. Elder Burgos transfered early to receive the training he needed as the new assistant to president. So I was in a threesome with Elder Wake and Panugao until yesterday. Then I got Elder Eteaki becuase his companion is going home. So that is who I am with right now. He is a big Tongan guy. I tried to lift him up the other day and I could only get him about an inch of the ground. That's how big he is. He has a scholarship to play for Oregon State when he gets back home. I get a new companion on Wednesday, Elder Sorronda is his name. He was a district leader last transfer. I will be training him to be a Zone Leader. That is all I know about him really. 

We didn't have any investigators at church this week, which is a bummer. But we had a lot of less actives come today. I guess I am good at helping people come back to the fold. We will definitely have some investigators come this next week. I am excited! We are teaching a lot of really nice people. 

So here is my spiritual insight for the week. 

This comes from President Ostler. I have been trying to work on being less prideful. I told President in my last interview with him that this was one thing I was working on. This is a great quote he gave me to understand pride better. 

"The first trait of a truly great man is his humility. I do not mean by humility, doubt of his own power...[but really] great men... have a curious feeling that... greatness is not in them but through them... and they see something divine in every other man... and are endlessly, foolishly, incredibly merciful." - John Ruskin

To be humble does not mean that we have to give up the power that we have. We can still exercise the power we have been given. The key part is that this power has been endowed upon us and is the gift of God. Mercy is one of the greatest attributes of a truly humble person... For example, after cooking dinner, do we say to ourselves or others, "I cooked dinner, I don't have to do the dishes now." OR in other words... " I am so good because I cooked the food. Someone else should have to do the dishes now." The example is not perfect, but it helps us to see how we can have pride in even the most simple of things. I invite you all to see the pride you have, identify it, and try to improve yourselves, whatever it may be.

Thank you for all the emails! I love you all!

Elder Schroeder

4 Great Weeks!!

9/20/2015

Hello Family!

This week was another really great week! The work is moving fast and God is blessing us a lot! Sometimes we feel frustrated with the work and decisions of others, but it is just so great to be able to serve here again! I am loving every single day and feel very fulfilled in the work I am doing here.

Yes, I met the Wolcotts! They seem like a super nice couple. I have only talked to them for about 30 seconds so far but they were smiling and happy so that's a good sign.

Darn... I am just too sad, I missed out on cleaning the pool filters... next time I am there, I will help. 

Oh and about the choir. So they had callbacks (beacuse the list of those accepted needed to be revised), which I was a part of, but I couldn't get there since I am in Palawan. So it looks like I won't be able to preform in the Choir. oh well... haha. 

Yeah, Kyle told me that he has a heavy load this semester. He will do well though. As long as he has got half of what my brain is worth. Kidding. He will do well! 

Make sure you tell Grandma that I wish her a happy birthday. I love her a ton! 

I am really excited for Kyle and Cathy!! Make sure you take lots of videos and pictures and stuff so I can see what the wedding reception is like and everything. And I better get a wedding invitation even if I don't get to come. 

So as for the area, we are having lots of success. A lot of new investigators every week, a lot of oyms, a lot of work! We have two baptisms this week and I was able to interview another baptismal canidate in our ward this week. So we are going to have baptisms this week in our branch! We also have some other "conversion indicators" coming up that will be a great strength to the ward as well.

Elder Burgos and I are also going on exchanges this week up in Taytay, which is a 5 hour bus ride from here. So tomorrow we are waking up at 4 to get on a bus in order to get to taytay in time for their district meeting. I am excited because taytay is like way out in the jungle. It is like a province of the province. It is a small place. I am really excited to go work up there though. It will be a good experience. 

And for the spiritual thought of this week I wold like to talk a little bit about pride. 

One great scripture that I found this week is in Psalm 10:4."The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts" When we are prideful, we put our will over the will of God. We need to submit ourselves to the will of God and always strive in word and action to set ourselves parallel with the will of God. One great example of this is Ammon, as he rejoices in being made an instrument in the hand of God to bring about the great missionary work that God accomplished amoung the Lamanites. Here is an excerpt of what I sent to president this week. 

This week I learned a lot out pride and humility in my own personal studies, our proselyting and in church. One specific thing that impressed me is the words of Ammon in Alma 26. He says, "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things." I hope that one day I will be able to proclaim this without pride in the works of my own hands. I see my own pride every day. When I was called to be a district leader, trainer, and zone leader I felt pride in my own accomplishments. Now I am trying to see that the work of the hand of God is the only way in which I was called to this responsibility. As I am trying now to remove my pride little by little, I am learning a lot about what true leadership means, and I am better able to see the endless number of improvements that I can make.

I invite you all to read Alma chapter 26 and ponder where your pride is. Do you have pride in being more humble than others? Do you study the scriptures to gain recognition from others? Find your pride and pray to God that he will help you to remove it, That you may glorify God as did Ammon.

I love you all and thank you for all your love,

Elder Schroeder

9/27/15

Hello Family!

I am going to be in Manila on October 1. The first Thursday of every month we go there.

We have a super super busy week ahead of us. We are leaving on Wednesday to Manila, coming back Thursday, then we have interviews with president Friday and Saturday back here on Palawan, and district conference meetings all weekend. So we will have very little time to work this week. Just Tuesday pretty much. 

The new senior couple out here, the Wolcott's are going to be working with Elder Burgos and I later today and I am excited for that. 

Oh and going up to Taytay this week was super great! total of about 9 hours on buses. We had district meeting in the meeting house up there which was great! There are two new missionaries serving in Roxas, so we got to do some practice teaching with them in tagalog. I am SO grateful that tagalog is easy for me now. I forget how hard it was in the beginning haha. They are doing great though and picking it up really really fast. 

So with general conference, we are actually watching it the week after next week (and we might be up in taytay actually.... not sure yet because we have an interview that we have to do for the district leader out there)... 

We had two baptisms this week! It was great! A mother and her son! Her husband would have been baptized as well but he got a job that doesn't allow him to be able to go to church. Since his wife has now been baptized and confirmed, this man received the strength and inspiration to be able to ask his boss to change schedules. So there is a high likelyhood that his schedule will get changed and he will be able to go to church again. We are really excited!

Sorry, I am almost out of time. For a spiritual insight this week, I want to talk a little bit about Works and faith. We all know that faith without works is dead as said in James 2:17. According to Ephesians 2:8-9, 8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

We are not saved according to our works. But we are saved through the works of God, or in other words, the atonement of Jesus Christ. So what role does our works of faith play in our salvation? According to an additional scripture in James 2:20-24, 

20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith withoutworks is dead?

 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar? 

22 Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

 23 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

 24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.

Thus we know that it is through our own works of faith that we are JUSTIFIED unto receiving the works of God unto our Salvation. We are not saved through the works of our own hands, but we are saved by our Master and Savior. But we are only justified to receive salvation through make decisions between good and evil. I invite you all to read these different passages and ponder the atonement in your own life. Additionally, read 2 nephi 25:23 and ponder the relationship of our works, the atonement, and the divine plan of happiness.

Love you all!

Elder Schroeder

1. Baptism!

2. Taytay meeting house

3. harvesting corn!

10/4/15

Hello Family! 

You got new furniture!? It looks good as far as I can see. 

This was a great week! Super super week. Busiest week! I think I have ever had in my whole life. So this is how it went:

Monday-preparation day and 2 lessons. 

Tuesday- district meeting and a few more hours of work. 

Wednesday-went to Manila and had exchanges with Elder Beagley and Elder Stratton. 

Thursday-MLC all day. We were supposed to go that day back to Palawan but the flights were getting delayed. As we were waiting for three hours, we talked to a ton of people in the airport and shared the gospel a little bit. We also decided we would get together in a group and sing a few Christmas songs, since christmas starts a little early here. So we went and got on our plane at 7:30 or something like that. And as we are sitting there waiting to take of we get an anouncement from the captain that we will not be able to go to Palawan because the airport in Palawan closes at 8:30 and it is an hour and 20 minute flight. So what we did instead, according to the words of Sister Ostler herself, we "partied" at the mission home that night. We got to play with some remote control tanks and helicopters and eat icecream and cookies. Slept with Caleb in his room with Elder Burgos of course. (oh and President and Sister Ostler, Caleb and the assistants were with us)

Friday-woke up at 5 to get to the airport for our flight at 8. Sang some more Christmas songs in the airport. Some people actually took videos of us haha. When we landed we went straight to the church and started the interview schedule a few hours late. So Elder Burgos, the assistants, and I had to figure out a schedule that would work for everyone to get everything done in time for meetings later that day. So we spent the whole day at church doing area books and other things. 

Saturday-also interviews. busy all day at the church doing training classes and checking area books, this time without the assistants help (they went back to Manila on Friday). Elder Burgos also gave a talk in a special training meeting for the district. 

Sunday-District conference, more meetings, and a few more interviews (me being the very last of all Presidemt Ostler's interviews). And then 2 hours of proselyting and weekly reports and follow ups. 

It was amazing that we got everything done this week.

One, we had one our investigators show up late for district conference (we knew she would be late because of her schedule). But she was too shy to go in by herself when she showed up late. We found this out Sunday nght when we went to go teach her. Member fellowshippers are super important to have to be able to progress this work! If she had a friend there then she would have gone in.

Anyways, for my insight of the week, it is about a series of quote things that i heard. This is how they go. It is about 4 different groups/audiences. Everybody, somebody, anybody, and nobody.

 "There was an important job to do, and everybody was asked to do it. Anybody could have done it, but nobody did it because everybody thought that somebody would do it. Somebody got angry because everybody was supposed to do it. It ended up that everybody blamed somebody when actually nobody asked anybody." 

Ask yourself, Where do I fit in this story? And what could each of these parties do to prevent the problem from happening? Could it be solved by one? Or does it take many? How and when does this happen in your life? 

I invite all of you to find out where you fit in this in a certain aspect of your life and do your part to fix the situation, regardless of what others do. 

I love you all!

Elder Schroeder

p.s. excited to watch conference!

getting off the cancelled flight waiting to shuttle back to the terminal

companion and other elders asleep on the plane.

 Elder Hadley (assistant) playing with a remote control helicopter

On the way back to Palawan (love my son's smile) 

Mission Leadership Council 

Singing Christmas Carols at the Airport 

Notice the 2 in the way back posing for the picture. Goofy Elders!! 

10/11/15

Hello again! 

I forgot to tell you last week, but we were walking on our way to catch a multicab to the church, and as I am walking I see something long and kind of shiny on the ground right in front of me.... then I realize... oh okay huge snake.... right as I halfway try to jump/extend my stride to miss stepping on it.... but it was all too late and just slightly too slow. I stepped on it. A four foot cobra just laying there right in the morning sun. I about gave everyone a heart attack when I jumped about 30 feet in the air after stepping on it. I think i sounded like this "woahhhhaghagaahhha!".... so that was an interesting experience. I dont know who was more surprised, me or the snake... I obviously didn't get bit or you would have heard about that story much much sooner... so I am all good. No worries though. (oh and the picture of the snake at the end of the email is a different snake. Just thought I would send it to try and set the mood for my story)... 

Other than that the work has been great!Haven't  had any investigators at church for the past two weeks, but we have some real potential. And the reason why they didn't go to church was mostly just because the last two weeks were at malvar chapel instead of santa monica. so people didn't want to take to time to go all the way down there. 

And we got to watch conference this weekend too! All 10 hours! It was so great! President had us prepare questions or concerns to have ready as we listen to the conference. So I came up with 3 questions and 3 concerns. All unique, and all of which could not be answered just by using the Gospel-only by revelation. Personal revelation received by me through the Spirit working through inspired men of God. It was a great experience and really uplifting to have the Spirit work through them and through myself to answer those questions that I had. 

Here is a small excerpt of my report I sent to President this week. 

One of the answers I received in this general conference is what I would like to share with you this week. I had the question, "how can I help more people?" Two experiences shared answered this question better than I could have imagined. One, David Bednar's experience when watching over Elder Hales' recovery, Elder Bednar learned from Elder Hales that as our physical capability decreases, we learn to do that which is most important. I still have great physical capability, but what he said taught me a lot about priorities. Also, the experience shared about a young Relief Society President. Her Bishop told her that the strong will be able to support themselves together, and that sometimes we need to leave the many, in order to go after the one, like in the parable of the lost sheep. I learned that I need to not worry about how many people I help, but who it is that I am helping. Similarly, I do not need to get caught up in how great my capacity is to help others, I just need to do all that I can and try my best, and the Lord will do the rest. 

And here is my insight for the week. 

A line from a hymn sung in one of the sessions impressed me. Praise to the Lord the Almighty (72)... it says in this hymn "Safely his Saints he sustaineth. Hast thou not seen How all thou needest hath been Granted in what he ordaineth?" Sometimes we tend to think that our needs can only be met by God himself. That there is no other way our problems in life may be solved but by a miracle from God. One thing that comes to mind when I think about this tendency that we all have, and this line of hymn, is the divine revelation in "The Family: A Proclamation to the World." It states, "The family is ordained of God, and is central to the Creator's Plan for the eternal destiny of his children." In every need, doubt, struggle, or lack we have, God has provided a way already through those that he has ordained, and for every one of us, part of that ordination is the family. If you are waiting for a miracle from God to right a wrong or to fix a problem you have, you may be looking too far. God is all powerful and certainly can do it if he so choses, but he has likely already provided a way. We need to love our families and be more united together with one another. As we do this, we will experience that miracle that we are all searching for to fix that wrong or to solve or problems. I invite you all to find one new way in which you can draw closer together as a family and to make it a tradition. 

I love you all! Thank you for all you emails and your love!

Elder Schroeder

this is a picutre of a snake we found... i am not actually so sure if it was a snake or not... it may have been whats called a legless lizard.

This is how I cooked my breakfast this morning, we ran out of gas for our stove.

At the market, translates to ear of rat/mouse.