January 5, 2010

Hey Guys,
Well, New Years Eve was pretty fun. We were allowed to stay out till 12 so...we did. It was fun. We played some games with some members. On our walk up the driveway to our house our neighbor tried to offer us tequila. My Samoan companion had no clue what the word tequila meant, so I politely declined for us both. Our neighbors have parties for every thing---even Halloween!
Other than that we were able to go on exchanges last week, as well, which means we exchanged partners with another set of Elders. We had a blast. We did a lot of tracting and eventually we were able to give this guy a B.O.M. It was the most interesting conversation. We started talking and my companion, being only in his third transfer, rushed the situation and immediately asked if he wanted to learn more. The guy shot him down pretty quickly---we're still working on his finesse. Anyway' I thought I would give it a try and I can't tell you how it happened or what was said really, but eventually I handed him a book of Mormon and before we left. I asked if we could come back and talk about what he had read. He was very agreeable. You would be amazed how many times that happens. People say no and then turn back on their answer. The weird thing is as me and my companion were walking to our next house we talked about it a bit and I couldn't recall any of how we eventually got him to say yes but I do remember it was all rather smoothly done and at the time I knew exactly what to say. We just can't do the work right without the Spirit. It won't work---it would be too awkward. No one would believe what we are saying. So, props to the Spirit, the essential 3rd member of our companionships.
Well, that's all folks.
Love,
Elder Schroeder
Reported by Mom