September 7, 2010

Howdy,
Well, 2 cool things have happened this week. #1 is that our investigator has moved his baptismal date to this Saturday. So that is awesome and every thing is set and running for that to go down then. So we are excited, especially Elder T. 'cause it's his first ever, so he's stoked and I'm happy, too, 'cause I really wanted him to experience that with me as I never did with my first comp.

The #2 thing that happened to me was this week I found out that I can bench 200 lbs. That was a ground breaking discovery!

So this week I learned a lot about what a lot of our investigators and others we are teaching have in common with each other as far as concerns go and I gotta tell ya it's a tough one. We were teaching a guy---awesome guy--- when he stopped the discussion and asked who he had to tell to compliment us. The reason he felt the need to do so is because we were really laid back (that's like the hundredth time I've been labeled as laid back in my Mission, even once by President Belnap, lol) and easy to speak with and he didn't feel as though he was being pushed and shoved towards baptism. Apart from that, we talked about how he looked at some of the families in the Ward and saw that they were not so laid back about some things and he said, "I just cant see myself doing that." Now a lot of what I say next is just opinion, but it seemed to help this investigator. I told him about how it seemed that a lot of LDS families turned Sunday into a day of cans and can nots. I told him how we would go camping as a family, not often, but sometimes returning on Sunday and explained that what everyone else does has nothing to do with what you believe.

Our newly baptized member has that same concern. I had an hour long talk with her on the phone yesterday about how she hadn't clicked with any of the Ward families---so far her issue is, she thought that every one in the church was like me and Elder P.---that is, laid back. I have learned this essential lesson from her: As a Missionary you need to have members with you when you teach 'cause she needs a friend and I will be leaving at some point. I already knew that, but this experience with her bore it to me in a way words never did. She even asked me where all the Mormons like me and Elder P. were...I told her Utah, lol. I'm not worried, though, 'cause all these people are still moving forward.

Love,
Elder Schroeder
Reported by Mom