Unique experiences...

4/10/2016 

Hello Family! 

We just finished an office staff meeting and our meeting with president. We just started planning training for interviews that will start again next transfer. We also talked about some other things and it seems like I am going to be transferred. President of course said that he does know yet, but it really sounds to me like I am transferring. Enough talk about that though, it is not for sure yet. I could be staying here. Wherever I am needed, there I will go. 

This was a good week and I enjoyed being able to watch conference. Conference was super good! If I had to pick one thing from conference that I got in general it would be this: We need the power of more members entering the new and everlasting covenant to protect us from the increasing influence of the adversary. Everything we do as members should point to preparing those who have not yet become part of this covenant to become ready, and for those that have entered into the covenant, to continue to live worthy to receive the power available through the covenant. (you may think that means I want to get married, but its not). All the efforts that we do as members point to that moment where two individuals enter into the most powerful, sacred and binding covenant. This covenant is eternal and supernal, and all who area an appendage of it have the opportunity to receive the power to become like Captain Moroni, an enemy to the Son of the Morning, able to make Satan tremble at the very thought. Our eyes and minds need to be centered on the temple.

I feel like the brethren have really been focusing on this in preparation for the coming days and all the diverse forms of temptation that will cause many to be lost in strange paths. 

I don't think I would ever want to run for president. 

Thank you for taking care of all my school stuff!

Yes, I got some answers to some specific questions. It was pretty cool actually. I don't remember if I told you, about last conference. I had written down a question I wanted an answer to which was, What should my career be? And in the conference three doctors spoke back to back all sharing experiences from their careers. I thought, oh maybe that was just a strange coincidence... So I had the same question this time around, "What should my career be?" And the very first speaker that we got to listen to was Russel M. Nelson, who shared another experience about his profession as a surgeon. I have been praying about it, and I am getting more and more sure this is what I should do. So that has been a really good experience for me. It may be good also to note that I have not just been expecting some sort of sign or miraculous vision or anything of the sort, but I have been praying earnestly for a long time, and the spirit has told me in silent ways and confirmed it in my heart and mind. He has also used His servants to tell me in another small way, that I should pursue this course. That has been a unique experience to me seeing how God works through both His servants and His Holy Spirit. 

I love you all! Sorry my email is short.

Elder Schroeder

4/12/2016 

Proud mom moment!! 

A post on Facebook from Sister Ostler:

"The Hansens just sent pictures of our wonderful assistants' apartment!  Wow!  They are a great example!  Having three couples helping with housing checks has really improved the quality of cleanliness throughout the mission.  Apartments that pass inspections get free cleaning solution and even treats sometimes!  :)  You moms should be proud!" 

I recognized Elder Schroeder's belongings all neat and orderly:) Way to go Son!!! 

Busy in the office...

4/3/2016

Hello Family!

This week has been super busy. It seems like things just get more and more busy the longer that I stay in the office. We had departing activities for a few missionaries this last week. We took a missionary in from the India mission who will be finishing his mission in Boston. We had our very last zone conference which was great, and then we had another missionary who has been wiating here for his visa for 5 months finally be able to go back to India. We have several other visas that are being processed for other missionaries and they will be heading off to their missions soon as well. 

We are kind of the satellite mission for all the other countries around here because we have all of the main government agencies around and the airport is in our mission. So we handle most of the odd things like that when dealing with a lot of missionaries waiting for visas and things like that. It is an interesting experience.  

Anyways, I am enjoying the work here and learning a lot still. I am learning a ton about myself and the spirit and the Plan of our Heavenly Father. 

How are things looking with school? When does registering for classes start. I need to make sure that I get all the classes that I need in order to qualify for my AA before transferring. So if you could double check on the requirements and see what I am missing for an associate of sciences to make sure that I get all those required classes. Sidney and Kyle can help with that I am sure. 

The work is moving along, we had another 11 new investigators this week and are looking forward to all of their progress. We found one man last night who seems really promising and very intelligent. He seems like he is really open to learn and become a member eventually when he receives his answer. We have a few others that we are really excited for in this area. One man that is getting close to baptism. He has been to church 4 weeks now but we haven't been able to teach him much yet. Wealso  have another one who has been to church on and off for the last 6 or 7 months. MLC is this week so we are looking forward to being able to go forward and help the mission to make some big improvements. I really feel like this MLC is going to be a great one. 

Anyways, sorry I have been running back and forth from the computer with office staff meeting and meetings with President to plan training. So I am finally going to be able to get my email off right now, I think.

Here is my spiritual insight for the week. It comes from personal study this week and the words of Job. As we know Job, he was blessed tremendously by the Lord, and it was all taken away in an instant. All of his livelihood and those dearest to him destroyed in a single instant. After which, he developed various skin diseases and was abhorred by all those around him. Despite the revilement and jeering off his former friends and acquaintances, Job continued to praise the Lord and glorify His name. Directly following the ridicule of several rich and honored men and a response of Job, a man named Zophar offers this great teaching.  

5. That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? 6. Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds; 7. Yet he shall perish like his own dung: they which have seen him shall say, Where is he?" (Job Chapter 20). Despite the nature and false accusation of what Zophar said to Job, the teaching remains true. That those who are brought up in pride because of worldly success shall be brought down to be low, and in the day of judgement, shall be counted as naught. The bounds of the Atonement of our Savior are endless and ever-reaching, but continue only in the direction of righteousness. To say that the Atonement is infinite and eternal is only held true for that which judgement AND mercy can be applied. If pride prevents one to be humble, then we will find ourselves outside the bounds of an infinite atonement. We must seek to be like Job and ever rejoice in the redeeming power of our Savior so that we may find ourselves within the bounds that He has set. The spirit continues to teach me and help me to understand the scriptures in a new light.

Have a great week! I love you all!

Elder Schroeder

By the way the pictures from the going home activities were an odd off transfer day. The next transfer day is on April 20th. President said today that I will most likely be transferring "unless he changes his mind." So I will probably have a new area here in a few weeks. Wherever it is, I am excited to go and serve. 

Love you all!

Philippines= The Pearl of the Orient

March 28, 2016

Hello Family!

This week was all good here! We have had extra missionaries staying with us at our house this week on and off. i am learning a lot about selfless service and good things like that. 

Anyways, I am at a loss of words for this week and I am not really sure what it is that I should say in my email this week. We are teaching a lot of people and we had 20 new investigators this week. That means that we taught 20 new people for the first time this week. We have really been blessed to be able to find a lot of people to be able to teach this week. It is a great blessing to serve in a land where people are so willing to listen and to have time to learn from us. 

I am really enjoying the work here and having fun doing lots of different things. We finished another zone conference this week and everything went really well. We have the last zone conference this week and I am really excited for this last one to be over. We also have a batch of missionaries going home this week, we have a temple day, and we have exchanges this week. So we will be super busy this week like normal. 

Yes by the way, my plans are to go to a semester at BYU-I and then to transfer to Provo. (at least I am pretty sure).  Is that 1962 impala for me? haha... kidding. I hope you have a fun time up in Idaho. Don't freeze to death out there. 

This week, a spiritual experience comes from all the new investigators that we had this week. I remember something from our conference with Elder Maynes. He explained to the missionaries that if Elder Haynie and he were to go outside, that they could find someone to teach in 5 minutes. The faith and the power that those two men have made an impression on my mind. I always would think to myself or doubt, how receptive are the Filipino people? Is it really that easy to find a new person to teach. This week, we were able to have 20 new investigators. One week, several months ago, Elder Burgos and I were able to have 22 new investigators. My faith has grown immensely, and I can now also say, "give me 5 minutes, and I can find someone new to teach." The people here are so receptive to the gospel. I understand that not everyone will be prepared to accept the message and to really take it into their heart and mind. However, this Pearl of the Orient is a blessed land and prepared for missionaries and for this work to go forth with great power and great haste. It is such a blessing to have been chosen to serve here for a short period, and I pray that I can make the most of my time here. God has prepared these people to listen to the message of the restored gospel. 

As a side note, you may remember from an email of mine some time ago that the Philippines is referred to by the brethren as "The Pearl of the Orient." I learned this week that in the Philippine National anthem, they refer to the Philippines as "perlas ng silanganan" which means, pearl of the far east. I can testify, this is the pearl of the far east and is crucial to the preparation of missionary work in this part of the world. Great things will be brought to pass as the Philippines becomes and area of strength!

Thank you for all the prayers and emails!

I love you all!

Elder Schroeder

Easter Week

March 23, 2016

Hello family!

Well there are quite a few things that they do different here for Easter. There are a few places that do a few different things. One interesting one is that there is a place where some people actually volunteer to be "crucified" for a short period of time to represent what Jesus did for us. So there are literally people who are crucified for a few minutes with nails and everything. Another one thing that people do is really different is that there are some other people that beat themselves over their own backs with whips... then once it is all swollen and red and puffy, they cut themselves on their back (they do this so it draws a lot of blood to the skin, so when it is cut it bleeds a lot more than it normally would). So those are some pretty extreme things that they do here that are not really anywhere else. The Catholic days like Ash wednesday, palm sunday, and good friday are really the biggest focus here. Whereever you go in the Philippines there are thousands of people that go to church on these days. So it is interesting to see so many catholics go to church. All of the filipinos also buy little woven pieces of palm frongs and hang them up in their houses until they buy new ones on palm sunday the next year. So almost everyone has dried out woven pieces of palm frongs hung up in their house all year round. They also do something called the "Black Nazarene" (but they do this all year around regardless). They have a statue of Jesus bearing the cross (it is called black because his skin on the statue is black and he has curly hair) and then they lift up that statue and everyone worships it. I have a few videos of it, remind me and i will show you what that is like when i get home. So thats a few things that they do different here than in the states. 

Oh yes we went to Palawan this last week. I forgot to tell you that we were going. It was good. We got fed by the Branch President in Santa Monica. They always make fun of me because of how many times I have come back there. Idon't  know if they will ever forget me out there. I have been back there so many times now. haha. I don't know if I will ever get to go back though. That was probably my last time. But I actually do not know yet. It is not for sure yet but I think that I will be transferred this next upcoming transfer. Hopefully, if I do,  I will get to train. That would be a great blessing. 

I remembered this week that you had your anniversary. I hope it was nice! 32 is a lot! I am afraid to say that you are getting "old." No no I am just kidding, give it one more year.

I am really looking forward to driving Dad's car. It looks great!!! 

It is weird everyone I know seems to be getting married or finding someone to get married to.

Anyways, here is my spiritual thing for the week!

One spiritual experience for this week comes from my study of the scriptures. I was reviewing a story that I enjoy in the Old Testament as I was contemplating one of our investigators struggling with a law of chastity problem that he has. I was reading the story of Jephthah the Gileadite. He was the captain of the armies of Israel and had made a promise to God. If he would be made successful in the upcoming battle, he would sacrifice unto God the first thing that came out of his house upon his return. These are his words:

 " 30 And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,

 31 Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering."

He was blessed by the Lord according to his promise as recorded in verse 32, "¶So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands." At this point he returns to his home and "his daughter came out to meet him ... and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

 35 And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back." 

Jephthah made a specific promise unto the Lord, and he knew with all of his heart that he needed to fulfill the promise that he had made. Despite how hard it must have been and despite the pain that he felt after a short period of lamentation, Jephthah fulfilled his promise made unto the Lord. The scpriture states, "39 And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had vowed." 

As I was reading this, I thought to myself, "what am I willing to sacrifice in order to fulfill MY promises unto God?" As members, we have all made certain sacred promises with God. He expects us to keep them. There are no loop-holes, no ways around it, no alternative terms by which we can satisfy those promises, except by the way He has set and through His son. We must be willing to sacrifice all disobedience and show him that we truly love him. 

The spirit often points things out to me that I need to sacrifice and give up to be obedient and fulfill my promises. It is a wonderful gift to have that guidance and to seek to magnify it always. I invite you to do the same.

Well, that is all I have got for this week.

I love you all! 

Elder Schroeder

Eternal Families is the Goal...

March 14, 2016

I looked at the picture with my face in the background and that is really funny!!  I am glad that I was able to be there with a smiling face and all. I am glad that the wedding went well and everything was all fun and stuff. Kyle seems like he is really happy. It is still super weird to think that he has a wife now. But hey that's great! I am super super happy for them. Hopefully, they have a fun honeymoon. After their honeymoon they are going straight up to school right?

Look just over Perry's shoulder and you'll see a special guest at the wedding. We laughed when we noticed we caught this on camera. We had a stand in for Elder Schroeder at his twin brothers wedding at the San DiegoTemple. 

Anyways, I forget all of the other stories that I was going to share with you this week. We didn't have as many investigators at sacrament this week as we had hoped. Only 3. The mission is doing super well though! We have had the missions highest number of oyms in the history of manila mission ever! 15071 oyms! That means that the 200 missionaries in our mission talked to and invited over 15000 people to come unto Christ. It is so amazing to see how great of an influence that we can have upon people. Only 509 of them even gave time to allow the missionaries to share a message with them. It gives me great joy to see how the efforts of so few missionaries can help so many people. So that others can eventually experience what Kyle and Cathy experienced as they knelt at the altar and were sealed for all eternity. That's really what the end goal is.  Every single person of the 15000 individuals that our missionaries talked to here in this mission is loved by God. And God wanted each and every one of them to be able to receive the ordinances that they need to have eternal families and have the opportunity for eternal progression with our Father in Heaven. The gift has been given, and the price paid. All we need to do is follow Him and change our lives to be in harmony with his commandments, and we will receive greater happiness than we can imagine. 

I love you all family!

Elder Schroeder

 Elder Schroeder's twin brother- Kyle and his beautiful bride Catherine 3/12/16

Detour, ticket and pictures...

March 14, 2016 

Hello Family! 

This week went by fast! I cannot believe Kyle is married now. I hope they have a fun honeymoon. It will be weird when I get back I will be the only unmarried one in the family. 

We have a lot of stories from this week. First off, we accidentally drove to cavite this week. We were going to attend a meeting in the vary southernmost part of our mission called paranaque. And we missed a turn. We ended up on the highway (with no exits) that goes all the way down to cavite. So we crossed the mission boundaries by quite a bit. Good news is, we still made it to the meeting on time. 

We conducted exchanges with the Paranaque West zone leaders. And then the next day we conducted exchanges with the paranaque zone leaders. Elder Whittle committed a traffic violation while driving. (which was really not a violation) and we got pulled over. He ended up paying off the traffic enforcer with 2000 pisos. So thats how it goes here. But it was all okay and we made it to where we needed to go. 

The week went by super fast because we were super busy the whole week conducting exchanges. But I got to work with two really great missionaries and I learned a lot from them both. 

I will send another email shortly. I am just sending this one with pictures so the file won't be to large. 

The first three are pictures of palawan and luzon from the air. The last one is the view from the window of our apartment, and inside our apartment

 

Absent best man toast...

March 7, 2016 

Oh! One more thing. I guess Casey can read this for me at the wedding reception to honor the bride and groom. Since I'm not there and I'm the best man.  It's off the cuff, just now- so it may not be any good. 

I remember just before I went out on my mission, Kyle had just gotten back from his and we were sitting in church waiting for interviews with President Wilkenson. I saw Catherine in the hallway, we exchanged a few words and that was it. I told her that I was Connor and Kyle was the one that had just gotten back from his mission, who was in his interview with president at the moment. I don't think she quite knew who was who yet. Then I had my interview with President and we went home. Later that day, our mom asked Kyle if he would like to go on a date with anyone and he said that he saw a "beautiful young lady" while waiting for his interview with President. He described her to us because he didn't know her name at that time. Turns out that was Catherine. I saw our mom get excited and say, "I think I have her number!! You should call her." Using all the fresh missionary skills that Kyle had just acquired, he called her and asked her if she would like to go on a date. 

We ended up going on a double date together at a trampoline park. I remember Catherine trying to make jokes and flirt with Kyle, but as a fresh returned missionary, his flirting skills were pretty rusty. Actually, really rusty. I guess things improved and Catherine still liked him enough to give him a second chance. Kyle kept his eye on her and the rest is history. I pray that my children one day will not beat up your children too bad. I wish you two, Kyle and Catherine, an eternity of happiness together as husband and wife, and I know that you will be blessed with a great life together. I love you so much and I am excited for the years to come. May God bless you with a loving family and a home that will be a refuge unto all.