7 days without water here in Negritos! Fun stuff...it´s amazing how much you miss even the sound of water coming from the faucet! I guess they have to clean the big tanks twice a year, and this was the time they picked! Everyone says we should have water by the 22nd. I really hope so! I smell so bad, and the bathroom smells even worse! We have tanks of water from our ZL´s, so we can flush the toilet about every other day, but it smells pretty bad.
Other than the water...this week has been great! We got 25 new investigators in just this week! Elder Turcios and I have been working hard. We can get into a lot of doors the first time, the trick is getting in the second! People here are working ALL the time. It´s difficult to find more than one time a week where we can teach them. We do have a few that are coming along, and we´re hoping to have some baptisms soon! There´s one girl, Paula, that we had a baptism date set for the 25th! Unfortunately, she didn´t come to church this Sunday, so we have to reschedule. They need to come to church twice in order to be baptized. I think she will come this next week though. She´s really great, and I can tell that she´s felt the spirit really strong during the lessons. The best part is that she´s living with a recent convert, and they´ve been talking about the church a lot! Our second lesson was kind of scary because at the very beginning she said Kiara-the member friend-had told her about the BOM and the Law of Chastity. Those two things really need to have good explanations for people to fully understand!! Thankfully, she had accepted both!
We also have a family we´re teaching, Dani and Jessica with their two teenage girls. We taught them on Thursday about the Restoration. I have to tell you, that was an amazing spiritual experience! Whenever I teach about the restoration, the spirit is just so strong. I love that. We´re hoping to get them to progress in the gospel, but we do have the obstacle of getting them married. They´ve been together 20 years, but never married. A lot of people are like that in Peru. If they really want to be baptized, I guess they´ll do it. I really hope they do!
In reply to your many questions mom...
1. Nope, no box yet, but they said they have quite a few, and tomorrow would be the day I get it! I really hope it comes tomorrow...but even if it doesn´t, I can have a new years Christmas! :)
2. The call home may have changed to Skype!!! We´re still working out the details, but I´m pretty sure that I´ll be able to skype with you on Sunday afternoon/evening. If that falls through, I´ll just call Dad´s cell. I guess just have both ready, and I´ll search for Jen and Derek´s name cause I know they have an account.
3. Socks...actually I was going to talk to you about them! My socks are super thin...because of that, I already have holes in the heels of most of them. They´ll be fine for a couple months, but I think we probably should have got more of the athletic kind, like the nike ones I had for basketball. Like I said I´ll be fine for a while, but maybe in a couple months you could send me a few pairs?
4. As far as anything I need...nothing really. I have NO idea what you put in that package...probably the main thing I would use are CD´s and maybe the conference addresses? Elder Foutz has the addresses, but he´s been soaking them up!
As far as the people here go, they´re really all very friendly! It´s kinda funny because they ALL stare as I walk past, this huge tall white boy in Negritos. I usually just smile and say good evening or something. It takes them a minute to respond cause they have their mouths open in shock ;) The kids are the best! They all try to speak what limited English they know, and then I reply with a full sentence and they have no idea what I´ve said! It´s a great conversation starter, but they never really want to hear the gospel.
The one thing not good about the culture here is drinking and smoking. Every Sunday and Saturday, they´re all drinking and smoking. These are really bad days to procelite. We went to a neighboring town, Caleta, this sunday because we had two promising investigators there. We knocked on their doors, but then we turned right around and came back to Negritos. Both of us could feel the absence of the spirit there, everyone was just doing bad things. I don´t know how to describe it. The other thing is that people don´t come to church! We have 200 members in our branch that don´t come to church! 200! We´re working to double our attendance from 30 to 60, but it´s a struggle. The culture just isn´t used to waking up to get to church at 9.
The language is coming fairly well. I think my biggest weakness is fear, honestly. During lessons, I do great because I have the spirit! It´s really just small talk that is difficult, because I haven´t studied that at all-only spiritual things. I´m getting better though. Thank you so much for your prayers though! That will help me a lot!
Sounds like you are keeping busy as usual! I´m really happy that I can count on your emails every week Mom and Dad. :) It´s weird being away from home for Christmas, things are way different here. Oh! That reminds me of one of the sweet traditions they have here...the 24th is really the big day. They have their nativities, but they keep baby Jesus wrapped up until midnight between the 24th/25th. Then they uncover Him and have their big celebration! I think that´s so cool!
So how are things in the states? Anything big happen? All the north american missionaries have asked about movies and music and news...haha, kinda weird, I can´t even remember! I´m glad to hear a few updates about the Utes...2-8 huh? Maybe I should play for them... :P jk! I´m sure the Jazz will probably be just as horrible as they are every season...unfortunately! You´ll have to keep me updated on Jimmer though...I want to know how he handles the NBA!
Last night was interesting...when we got back to our room, there was a huge crowd accross the street listening to some gospel music. Later in the night, they got louder and louder. Then the music stopped and this lady started preaching! Then they started reciting prayers, really loud...it was so weird! It left a really rotten feeling in my stomach too. Prayer is so much more than that. They also kept me up half the night with their chanting, which didn´t help the headache I have. I´m just so grateful we have a church that believes in communicating with our Father in Heaven.
Well I don´t have a whole lot of time left...I always feel like my letters are rambling too! I´m sorry about that, lots on my mind. Especially a week before I call you! If you want to have a list of questions or something, that would be sweet. I´ll try to answer everything as best as I can! I´m hoping everyone will be able to be there...I know right now you´re preparing for Christmas dinner! That´s always been the best time during Christmas...sharing that meal and then the family home evening together. I´m so grateful that we have such an amazing, tight family. We have so much to be grateful for! So much. I have a feeling that when I get home everything is going to be shockingly large. You can buy a house for under 100 US dollars here! Crazy...
Love you all! You´re in my prayers, and I´m excited for Sunday!
Elder Schofield.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Monday, December 12, 2011
¡Hola mis padres! - Email from 12 Dec 2011
¡Buenos días! Espero que estan muy feliz porque hoy es lunes y recibirá una carta de tu hijo amado, Elder Schofield. Negritos esta calor hoy, pero no mucho calor como Arizona. Es muy bueno aquí. La gente esta muy amable, especialmente in mi rama. ¡Son muy feliz tener un norteamericano quien es muy alto! Note from Dad: I understand it but I pronounce everything with an Italian accent :-)
Well, I bet you´ll need to use google translater for that, and since my grammer still isn´t the greatest, I´ll leave it at that! :) However, my Spanish is getting a lot better since I was at the MTC! Looking back at how I was the first day...wow. Haha, I´ve learned a lot! Negritos will be great for my Spanish too! My companion has been really helpful in showing me how to say things properly. I don´t think I´ll ever be able to roll my ´rr´s´ but that´s completely fine! They´ll still understand me! It has been kind of frustrating at times during lessons, because I simply can´t understand what they´re saying! After an interview last Friday with President Chipman, I´ve really noticed a change. He told me to just trust that God is going to help me. It´s amazing how much more I can understand now that I´ve really begun to rely on Him. Before, I thought I was, but I wasn´t really relying on Him as much as I need to. Even now, I know that I am prideful and think I know Spanish when I really don´t, and I´ll continue to learn to rely on Him, but things are going better. :)
Elder Turcios is AMAZING! He is the best first companion anyone could hope for. Since we´ve actually taught a couple lessons, I´ve seen how incredible of a teacher he is. He´s so straightforward and sincere. Exactly the kind of missionary I want to be. He´s helping me to improve on that too. The first lesson where I talked didn´t go that great because I was focusing on trying to get across my message using words that I know in Spanish. Since then, I´ve started to learn that I need to focus more on the feeling of the message, and just say it as simply as I can. I´ve always had the tendancy to be long winded, this is something that I´m going to have to learn! With the help of God, I know I can do it. I´ve already felt the spirit so strong here...Negritos will be a special place for me.
Elder Turcios is also learning English, and it´s fun to help him! They have a test that the latinos can take from BYU to get certified in English. I guess it´s pretty intense, but if they get it, they have a lot more opportunities in jobs and things. My companion actually said the prayer at a meeting in English last week! I was so proud of him! Also suprised...maybe he´s understanding more than I think when I say things in English! Haha, but the pronunciation is difficult. Oh, by the way...English STINKS. I guess I am beginning to understand how frustrating your job was mom, at ESL. How do you explain the word such? Kind of difficult. Also tried to find the difference between these words: ward word world. When you´ve got a Spanish accent, they´re pretty much the same. I admire the latinos that can speak good English. They have to work 10 times harder than I do.
Negritos is pretty small, like you said Dad. The bigger city is Talada, that´s the name of my zone. The town here is nice though! It´s really safe, which is nice. The people are friendly, most say hi back when I talk to them. They all talk to us at the door when we knock, unless they see us through the window, then they don´t even come to the door. My gringo accent is also a deterrant, so Elder Turcios told me not to talk when we knock. Haha, I think that´s funny! Sundays aren´t very good days to procelite...everyone is drinking. We just visited members, which was definitely good. The people here also are very poor. We painted the inside of the house of our mission leader, and I really got to see their whole house, and they´re pretty well off. The walls are just particle board, except really thin. REALLY thin. I think it might be 1/8 of an inch thick. They use 2 x 2´s to nail them together to form a wall. Although it looks like the roofs are metal, it´s some sort of plastic thing. Haha, thankfully while we painted, I could reach the ceiling, so we didn´t have to use a ladder much at all. They did have a concrete floor, most homes do, but their bedrooms were mud. They put particle board on the floor to try to keep it clean. Their toilet and shower were in the backyard, out in the open. The shower didn´t have a shower head at all, just a pipe. We are so blessed in the states...it´s amazing. I haven´t even seen the half of it, I´m sure.
The branch here seems to be doing ok. We have a TON of less active members that we´re trying to get to come, but those that are active seem to be great! The Elder´s quorum president is really great, and a funny guy! He taught all of priesthood, and he has a very strong testimony. You can tell he´s been through a lot, but he´s just the greatest guy you´ve ever met. The branch presidency are all really nice too. I haven´t really gotten to know all of them well-language barrier makes it kind of tough-but they are all really strong in the gospel, which is what we need! I think the reason we have so many less actives is because they haven´t had missionaries for a long time. Now they have four! I don´t know if you can see from Google, but there´s an elevated area where Elder Fouz and Elder McDonough are working. We´re more in the center. If you can see the town square, and the HUGE Catholic church, just south of there is where we eat, in a restaurant called Bumeran. Our pensionista owns it. North of the square, there´s a huge building that has a court in it. It´s actually pretty nice-we played soccer, volleyball, and basketball on it today! To the east of the building is our apartment, just up the hill. It´s nice, but DEFINITELY needs to be cleaned. Hopefully we´ll have time this afternoon.
We don´t have a ton of investigators, or really a lot of contacts. My companion actually opened Negritos, and he said that not all the people are very accepting. They let you in once, but when you come back, they won´t answer. We have a couple that I´m hoping will progress! There´s a mom and two girls that we found. We taught a super quick lesson about the apostacy, and she seemed interested. We´re going back tomorrow to teach her. Then there´s another girl that we taught with two members there! One of the members is a recent convert, and she is just so enthusiastic about the gospel, it´s awesome! She told us this girl is a ´snake´ but I think that she actually felt the spirit strong when we talked about repentance and the Atonement. She has a little boy, and he´s pretty cute! She´s 21, and is working nights at a restaurant. After the lesson, we asked if we could ´practice´ teaching again. She said, yes, I´m free every day in the afternoon, and I´d like to hear more! Someone actually taking a real interest! I think we´ll be able to help her a lot. I can´t remember how to spell her name...names are tough here.
Another random fact for you...I counted 33 dogs in 2 hours of tracting. Yep. 33 dogs. I don´t have any clue how many cats there were...too hard to see! The dogs are pretty mellow here, so I´m not too worried about them. I was at first, not going to lie! The doctor at the MTC has us all kind of freaked out, he said they´re all aggressive and all have rabies. Well, only one or two have even barked at us!
As far as the phonecall for Christmas goes...that´s up to you! I am 2 hours ahead of Utah here, and I have all day the 24th and 25th. I think specifically from 8am-7pm Saturday and 11am-7pm on Sunday the 25th. That´s Utah time, ps. :) I hope I´ll be able to talk to all of the family if possible! I´m pretty sure we´re just borrowing a phone from someone in the ward and calling with a card, so let me know which phone you want me to call...
Packages haven´t come yet...I talked to the ZL´s today and they said they actually are getting a few today, so maybe those are from you! I hope so, cause that would be nice! I also don´t know if any of you had sent letters...Jen had mentioned in an email that she was, but I haven´t gotten any mail since I got to Peru, except a DearElder from Jen. Oh! I lied, I actually got a poem from Sister Izaat! Tell her thank you, it was really cool!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the slightly longer email! Elder Fouz said that letters take about a month from Peru to the States, so I´m not sure how many I want to send...unless you really insist mom!
I love you all so much! Christmas will be weird without you all. We´ve started listening to a ton of Christmas songs of course, and it reminds me of Christmas caroling with you all! Those are some of my favorite memories. Have fun with the snow! Don´t make any peppermint bark mom, that´s fine. Make everyone suffer until I get home. ;)
Con mucho amor de su hijo,
Elder Schofield
Well, I bet you´ll need to use google translater for that, and since my grammer still isn´t the greatest, I´ll leave it at that! :) However, my Spanish is getting a lot better since I was at the MTC! Looking back at how I was the first day...wow. Haha, I´ve learned a lot! Negritos will be great for my Spanish too! My companion has been really helpful in showing me how to say things properly. I don´t think I´ll ever be able to roll my ´rr´s´ but that´s completely fine! They´ll still understand me! It has been kind of frustrating at times during lessons, because I simply can´t understand what they´re saying! After an interview last Friday with President Chipman, I´ve really noticed a change. He told me to just trust that God is going to help me. It´s amazing how much more I can understand now that I´ve really begun to rely on Him. Before, I thought I was, but I wasn´t really relying on Him as much as I need to. Even now, I know that I am prideful and think I know Spanish when I really don´t, and I´ll continue to learn to rely on Him, but things are going better. :)
Elder Turcios is AMAZING! He is the best first companion anyone could hope for. Since we´ve actually taught a couple lessons, I´ve seen how incredible of a teacher he is. He´s so straightforward and sincere. Exactly the kind of missionary I want to be. He´s helping me to improve on that too. The first lesson where I talked didn´t go that great because I was focusing on trying to get across my message using words that I know in Spanish. Since then, I´ve started to learn that I need to focus more on the feeling of the message, and just say it as simply as I can. I´ve always had the tendancy to be long winded, this is something that I´m going to have to learn! With the help of God, I know I can do it. I´ve already felt the spirit so strong here...Negritos will be a special place for me.
Elder Turcios is also learning English, and it´s fun to help him! They have a test that the latinos can take from BYU to get certified in English. I guess it´s pretty intense, but if they get it, they have a lot more opportunities in jobs and things. My companion actually said the prayer at a meeting in English last week! I was so proud of him! Also suprised...maybe he´s understanding more than I think when I say things in English! Haha, but the pronunciation is difficult. Oh, by the way...English STINKS. I guess I am beginning to understand how frustrating your job was mom, at ESL. How do you explain the word such? Kind of difficult. Also tried to find the difference between these words: ward word world. When you´ve got a Spanish accent, they´re pretty much the same. I admire the latinos that can speak good English. They have to work 10 times harder than I do.
Negritos is pretty small, like you said Dad. The bigger city is Talada, that´s the name of my zone. The town here is nice though! It´s really safe, which is nice. The people are friendly, most say hi back when I talk to them. They all talk to us at the door when we knock, unless they see us through the window, then they don´t even come to the door. My gringo accent is also a deterrant, so Elder Turcios told me not to talk when we knock. Haha, I think that´s funny! Sundays aren´t very good days to procelite...everyone is drinking. We just visited members, which was definitely good. The people here also are very poor. We painted the inside of the house of our mission leader, and I really got to see their whole house, and they´re pretty well off. The walls are just particle board, except really thin. REALLY thin. I think it might be 1/8 of an inch thick. They use 2 x 2´s to nail them together to form a wall. Although it looks like the roofs are metal, it´s some sort of plastic thing. Haha, thankfully while we painted, I could reach the ceiling, so we didn´t have to use a ladder much at all. They did have a concrete floor, most homes do, but their bedrooms were mud. They put particle board on the floor to try to keep it clean. Their toilet and shower were in the backyard, out in the open. The shower didn´t have a shower head at all, just a pipe. We are so blessed in the states...it´s amazing. I haven´t even seen the half of it, I´m sure.
The branch here seems to be doing ok. We have a TON of less active members that we´re trying to get to come, but those that are active seem to be great! The Elder´s quorum president is really great, and a funny guy! He taught all of priesthood, and he has a very strong testimony. You can tell he´s been through a lot, but he´s just the greatest guy you´ve ever met. The branch presidency are all really nice too. I haven´t really gotten to know all of them well-language barrier makes it kind of tough-but they are all really strong in the gospel, which is what we need! I think the reason we have so many less actives is because they haven´t had missionaries for a long time. Now they have four! I don´t know if you can see from Google, but there´s an elevated area where Elder Fouz and Elder McDonough are working. We´re more in the center. If you can see the town square, and the HUGE Catholic church, just south of there is where we eat, in a restaurant called Bumeran. Our pensionista owns it. North of the square, there´s a huge building that has a court in it. It´s actually pretty nice-we played soccer, volleyball, and basketball on it today! To the east of the building is our apartment, just up the hill. It´s nice, but DEFINITELY needs to be cleaned. Hopefully we´ll have time this afternoon.
We don´t have a ton of investigators, or really a lot of contacts. My companion actually opened Negritos, and he said that not all the people are very accepting. They let you in once, but when you come back, they won´t answer. We have a couple that I´m hoping will progress! There´s a mom and two girls that we found. We taught a super quick lesson about the apostacy, and she seemed interested. We´re going back tomorrow to teach her. Then there´s another girl that we taught with two members there! One of the members is a recent convert, and she is just so enthusiastic about the gospel, it´s awesome! She told us this girl is a ´snake´ but I think that she actually felt the spirit strong when we talked about repentance and the Atonement. She has a little boy, and he´s pretty cute! She´s 21, and is working nights at a restaurant. After the lesson, we asked if we could ´practice´ teaching again. She said, yes, I´m free every day in the afternoon, and I´d like to hear more! Someone actually taking a real interest! I think we´ll be able to help her a lot. I can´t remember how to spell her name...names are tough here.
Another random fact for you...I counted 33 dogs in 2 hours of tracting. Yep. 33 dogs. I don´t have any clue how many cats there were...too hard to see! The dogs are pretty mellow here, so I´m not too worried about them. I was at first, not going to lie! The doctor at the MTC has us all kind of freaked out, he said they´re all aggressive and all have rabies. Well, only one or two have even barked at us!
As far as the phonecall for Christmas goes...that´s up to you! I am 2 hours ahead of Utah here, and I have all day the 24th and 25th. I think specifically from 8am-7pm Saturday and 11am-7pm on Sunday the 25th. That´s Utah time, ps. :) I hope I´ll be able to talk to all of the family if possible! I´m pretty sure we´re just borrowing a phone from someone in the ward and calling with a card, so let me know which phone you want me to call...
Packages haven´t come yet...I talked to the ZL´s today and they said they actually are getting a few today, so maybe those are from you! I hope so, cause that would be nice! I also don´t know if any of you had sent letters...Jen had mentioned in an email that she was, but I haven´t gotten any mail since I got to Peru, except a DearElder from Jen. Oh! I lied, I actually got a poem from Sister Izaat! Tell her thank you, it was really cool!
Well, I hope you enjoyed the slightly longer email! Elder Fouz said that letters take about a month from Peru to the States, so I´m not sure how many I want to send...unless you really insist mom!
I love you all so much! Christmas will be weird without you all. We´ve started listening to a ton of Christmas songs of course, and it reminds me of Christmas caroling with you all! Those are some of my favorite memories. Have fun with the snow! Don´t make any peppermint bark mom, that´s fine. Make everyone suffer until I get home. ;)
Con mucho amor de su hijo,
Elder Schofield
I'm alive and in Negritos! - Email from 8 Dec 2011
Hello everyone!
Well this is my first email from the actual mission field! Kinda crazy that I´m already out here. I feel like I just barely left Provo! The Lima MTC was a great experience, and I´m ready to get to work!
I don´t know if you were able to see the Christmas devotional on Sunday, but it was pretty incredible! I loved all of the talks and the way they focused everything on Christ. I´m also very excited to see the Christmas traditions here! The trip to Piura was pretty uneventful. I was pretty suprised though, the plane we took was the nicest plane I´ve ever been on! The pilot also seemed to have a little too much fun on the landing...coming in fast and slamming on the breaks! It was fun though!
President and Sister Chipman are pretty much amazing! We were able to have dinner with them that first night, and it was fun to get to know them a little bit. I had a quick five minute interview with him, and he just told me to make sure and work on my Spanish pronunciation! I know that will definitely help me a lot in being able to communicate. He also talked a lot about keeping our missionary purpose in mind. I´m definitely going to try to do that, especially with these next couple of days!
My new companion is from Nicaragua! His name is Elder Turcios. He´s SUPER nice. He´s actually pretty tall, almost 6´ I would guess. He doesn´t speak a ton of English, but we´ve been able to communicate really well! After we found out our companions, we got all of our stuff and headed off to my first area-Nigritos! The bus ride was only about two hours, but I was able to talk to my companion a lot, which was nice! Turns out, Elder McDonough from my district in the MTC will be living with us too. His companion has been out 21 months, while mine has only been out 3! Haha, kinda crazy how that works!
Last night was really the first time I got to go out as a real missionary! We visited the homes of some members and I got to meet them. We also went to the home of one of the ladies that we´re going to be teaching in a few hours! We talked for quite a while. It was pretty funny, every house I went into I have to duck to get in. They all want me to stand up and show them how tall I am too! Oh! Another cool thing...I´m the tallest Elder in this mission out of 170! Yep, I´m that impressive!
The town here is pretty cool! The homes are pretty much the same as Lima, except most if not all the people are poor. The streets are pretty beat up, and sometimes it´s just sand. Thankfully, the wheather isn´t bad at all! Arizona was 100 times worse! Our house is pretty small, I think that it´s about the size of our family room with the four of us living there. The bathroom is interesting, the shower head is right next to the toilet, with freezing cold water of course! I bet I get home and won´t want to take a hot shower ever again, I´ll be so used to the cold!
I guess there was one thing that Greg told me about is right...there are dogs EVERYWHERE. I don´t think I´ve gone more than one or two minutes without seeing at least one stray dog. It´s pretty sad that they´re all just roaming around. In Negritos, there are a lot of cats too. I didn´t see many in Lima, but here there are a lot! People just walk by them though, no big deal. They´re everywhere anyway.
Well, this is just a quick one, but I wanted to let you know I´m alive! Also, as far as my mail goes, they´ve got it worked out pretty good. You can send every letter to the mission home my whole mission! We get them once a week during our zone meetings. Also, packages need to be sent with Elder Robert Swasey´s name on it, my full name just below. I don´t think that I´ll be sending any packages...they said it costs about $150 for just a 1 kilo package. Ridiculous, I know. Christmas will just have to wait for two years! As well as birthdays and everything like that...
Hope you´re having fun with your freezing cold Christmas while I´m down here sweating with my short sleeves! Good thing they only put 15 people in an 8 passenger van, I´d hate to be crowded with all of our stinky, sweaty bodies. ;)
Love you all! Have fun with all of your planning mom, and don´t even worry about the email...this time of year is SUPER busy for you, I know that! I´ll get another email to you on Monday.
Love,
Elder Dallon Schofield
Well this is my first email from the actual mission field! Kinda crazy that I´m already out here. I feel like I just barely left Provo! The Lima MTC was a great experience, and I´m ready to get to work!
I don´t know if you were able to see the Christmas devotional on Sunday, but it was pretty incredible! I loved all of the talks and the way they focused everything on Christ. I´m also very excited to see the Christmas traditions here! The trip to Piura was pretty uneventful. I was pretty suprised though, the plane we took was the nicest plane I´ve ever been on! The pilot also seemed to have a little too much fun on the landing...coming in fast and slamming on the breaks! It was fun though!
President and Sister Chipman are pretty much amazing! We were able to have dinner with them that first night, and it was fun to get to know them a little bit. I had a quick five minute interview with him, and he just told me to make sure and work on my Spanish pronunciation! I know that will definitely help me a lot in being able to communicate. He also talked a lot about keeping our missionary purpose in mind. I´m definitely going to try to do that, especially with these next couple of days!
My new companion is from Nicaragua! His name is Elder Turcios. He´s SUPER nice. He´s actually pretty tall, almost 6´ I would guess. He doesn´t speak a ton of English, but we´ve been able to communicate really well! After we found out our companions, we got all of our stuff and headed off to my first area-Nigritos! The bus ride was only about two hours, but I was able to talk to my companion a lot, which was nice! Turns out, Elder McDonough from my district in the MTC will be living with us too. His companion has been out 21 months, while mine has only been out 3! Haha, kinda crazy how that works!
Last night was really the first time I got to go out as a real missionary! We visited the homes of some members and I got to meet them. We also went to the home of one of the ladies that we´re going to be teaching in a few hours! We talked for quite a while. It was pretty funny, every house I went into I have to duck to get in. They all want me to stand up and show them how tall I am too! Oh! Another cool thing...I´m the tallest Elder in this mission out of 170! Yep, I´m that impressive!
The town here is pretty cool! The homes are pretty much the same as Lima, except most if not all the people are poor. The streets are pretty beat up, and sometimes it´s just sand. Thankfully, the wheather isn´t bad at all! Arizona was 100 times worse! Our house is pretty small, I think that it´s about the size of our family room with the four of us living there. The bathroom is interesting, the shower head is right next to the toilet, with freezing cold water of course! I bet I get home and won´t want to take a hot shower ever again, I´ll be so used to the cold!
I guess there was one thing that Greg told me about is right...there are dogs EVERYWHERE. I don´t think I´ve gone more than one or two minutes without seeing at least one stray dog. It´s pretty sad that they´re all just roaming around. In Negritos, there are a lot of cats too. I didn´t see many in Lima, but here there are a lot! People just walk by them though, no big deal. They´re everywhere anyway.
Well, this is just a quick one, but I wanted to let you know I´m alive! Also, as far as my mail goes, they´ve got it worked out pretty good. You can send every letter to the mission home my whole mission! We get them once a week during our zone meetings. Also, packages need to be sent with Elder Robert Swasey´s name on it, my full name just below. I don´t think that I´ll be sending any packages...they said it costs about $150 for just a 1 kilo package. Ridiculous, I know. Christmas will just have to wait for two years! As well as birthdays and everything like that...
Hope you´re having fun with your freezing cold Christmas while I´m down here sweating with my short sleeves! Good thing they only put 15 people in an 8 passenger van, I´d hate to be crowded with all of our stinky, sweaty bodies. ;)
Love you all! Have fun with all of your planning mom, and don´t even worry about the email...this time of year is SUPER busy for you, I know that! I´ll get another email to you on Monday.
Love,
Elder Dallon Schofield
When it rains . . . it pours! Email from Nov 30, 2011
Well hello parents!!
This week has been a pretty interesting one! So much has happened, so much is happening that I don´t even know what happened yesterday, today, or what´s going to happen tomorrow! The blessings, as well as the tough times, have definitely come hard and fast this week.
Last week was pretty fun, P-day was normal again and we went to the temple. Today we don´t even go until the 2:00 session, which kind of stinks, but it´s ok! That´s why I´m emailing you so early!
Friday and Saturday-especially Saturday-was kind of tough for me. My district has been having a tough time focusing, especially on our goal to only speak Spanish while in the classroom. Both of our teachers talked to me as the DL and told me to talk to the class. It was pretty tough! It´s hard to get up there and try to lovingly tell people they´re not doing what they´re supposed to without being rude. I think it went pretty well though...everyone is doing a lot better!
Then Sunday night came...probably one of the worst nights in the MTC! I think I got food poisoning...but I was up all night, and most of the morning, just stuck in the bathroom. Elder Littell was great, he checked on me every couple of hours. Eventually, around 9, I had gotten rid of everything, so I slept until about 11:30. I still felt absolutely horrible, but I felt even worse just sitting in my room when everyone else was downstairs being productive, so I ended up going back down and trying to get back into it!
It definitely was not a good Monday...but I´m happy that I didn´t just stay in bed all day. Tuesday morning I ate again for the first time, and now I feel fine. :) probably just lost a couple pounds, but hey-I was getting fat anyway! I gained 2 pounds from the Thanksgiving meal alone!
It´s kind of crazy that I´m actually going to be leaving the MTC next Tuesday! We still have immigration stuff we need to take care of this Monday, but then we´re out of here! I feel really prepared-the MTC definitely is like a fire-hydrant of information, as Elder Ballard put it in a talk, but I feel like I´m way more prepared than any other missionary at any time before. We´re only the fourth group to go through the new program they came out with, and I have to say it is very successful! I can´t wait to get out in the field and actually use all the things I learned, and become a real proceliting missionary!
I´m so glad to have this opportunity to serve a mission! When I think about the opportunity I have to be a tool in the Lord´s hand, I can´t help but get more and more excited! I truly can just count on His help, and I´m so happy for the blessings He gives me each and every day. As a missionary, I feel so inspired on a constant basis. Every day, every hour even, I can feel the spirit prompting me to do something-of course this is according to my faith and worthiness-but it´s real. I think that before my mission I took this for granted, the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Now that every lesson DEPENDS on my listening to those promptings, to decide what this person needs to be taught, I am focusing harder than ever before.
I hope all is well in Utah! Funny to hear that there was snow on the ground Dad...haha, I´m beginning to forget what that is! It´s perfect here right now. It ¨rained¨ one day last week but it was more like walking through a waterfall-the water just hung in the air. Every day is super humid like that, it´s nice and cool right now! It has gotten into the 80´s or so...but that´s fine with me!
Oh! One other thing...I heard our P-days in the field are on Mondays. I don´t know if that´s true or not, just want to warn you that I may not be able to email until then! Also, I´ll have an hour then, which is awesome! I also may be able to reply to EVERYONE! Not just family, so bring on the emails! That will be nice as writing hand-written letters takes a lot longer...even though I know you love those mom. ;)
Have a great day! I love you all so much and I´ll be praying for you!
Love,
Elder Schofield
This week has been a pretty interesting one! So much has happened, so much is happening that I don´t even know what happened yesterday, today, or what´s going to happen tomorrow! The blessings, as well as the tough times, have definitely come hard and fast this week.
Last week was pretty fun, P-day was normal again and we went to the temple. Today we don´t even go until the 2:00 session, which kind of stinks, but it´s ok! That´s why I´m emailing you so early!
Friday and Saturday-especially Saturday-was kind of tough for me. My district has been having a tough time focusing, especially on our goal to only speak Spanish while in the classroom. Both of our teachers talked to me as the DL and told me to talk to the class. It was pretty tough! It´s hard to get up there and try to lovingly tell people they´re not doing what they´re supposed to without being rude. I think it went pretty well though...everyone is doing a lot better!
Then Sunday night came...probably one of the worst nights in the MTC! I think I got food poisoning...but I was up all night, and most of the morning, just stuck in the bathroom. Elder Littell was great, he checked on me every couple of hours. Eventually, around 9, I had gotten rid of everything, so I slept until about 11:30. I still felt absolutely horrible, but I felt even worse just sitting in my room when everyone else was downstairs being productive, so I ended up going back down and trying to get back into it!
It definitely was not a good Monday...but I´m happy that I didn´t just stay in bed all day. Tuesday morning I ate again for the first time, and now I feel fine. :) probably just lost a couple pounds, but hey-I was getting fat anyway! I gained 2 pounds from the Thanksgiving meal alone!
It´s kind of crazy that I´m actually going to be leaving the MTC next Tuesday! We still have immigration stuff we need to take care of this Monday, but then we´re out of here! I feel really prepared-the MTC definitely is like a fire-hydrant of information, as Elder Ballard put it in a talk, but I feel like I´m way more prepared than any other missionary at any time before. We´re only the fourth group to go through the new program they came out with, and I have to say it is very successful! I can´t wait to get out in the field and actually use all the things I learned, and become a real proceliting missionary!
I´m so glad to have this opportunity to serve a mission! When I think about the opportunity I have to be a tool in the Lord´s hand, I can´t help but get more and more excited! I truly can just count on His help, and I´m so happy for the blessings He gives me each and every day. As a missionary, I feel so inspired on a constant basis. Every day, every hour even, I can feel the spirit prompting me to do something-of course this is according to my faith and worthiness-but it´s real. I think that before my mission I took this for granted, the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Now that every lesson DEPENDS on my listening to those promptings, to decide what this person needs to be taught, I am focusing harder than ever before.
I hope all is well in Utah! Funny to hear that there was snow on the ground Dad...haha, I´m beginning to forget what that is! It´s perfect here right now. It ¨rained¨ one day last week but it was more like walking through a waterfall-the water just hung in the air. Every day is super humid like that, it´s nice and cool right now! It has gotten into the 80´s or so...but that´s fine with me!
Oh! One other thing...I heard our P-days in the field are on Mondays. I don´t know if that´s true or not, just want to warn you that I may not be able to email until then! Also, I´ll have an hour then, which is awesome! I also may be able to reply to EVERYONE! Not just family, so bring on the emails! That will be nice as writing hand-written letters takes a lot longer...even though I know you love those mom. ;)
Have a great day! I love you all so much and I´ll be praying for you!
Love,
Elder Schofield
November 23, 2011 Email from Dallon
Ok, so a TON happened this week, and I have exactly 12 minutes to write EVERYTHING. I´ll write you a letter too, but first I need to tell you a few things...
One is that packages are kinda ridiculous here...I know you already sent Christmas, but I just found out today that the best way is USPS, and it needs to have the green customs sticker on it that has everything itemized. Otherwise, it costs about $200 just to get the package. Not even worth it.
Second...I´m not sure about sending everyone Christmas presents. There´s some pretty sweet things here, but I know it will be cheaper in Piura, so I´ll probably wait until I get out. Also, it may be too expensive to ship...let me know what you think!
Third...I am now the District Leader! It happened really strangely...Elder Littell (My new/old companion...weird huh?) got called to go to the District/ZL meeting, so I went with. Turns out that I´m the DL and he´s now just a regular missionary like everyone else! It was very suprising.
Ok, so now I´ll try to tell you what I can in five minutes! Haha, guess I´m super slow at typing...but anyways!
This last wednesday we went out on a tour of Lima that was super fun! We got to go in this old church, the Church of San Francisco. It was way cool, and we got to see some crypts that were pretty sweet! Pretty sure I got some of the residue in my hair because the ceiling was so low...it was kind of nasty, but still cool to see. Old bones that have rotted for a long time kinda stink-if you didn´t know that!
We got to eat these AMAZING churros just outside of the capitol buildings. They were filled with some cream, and it was just delicious! We roamed around the small little stores after. I didn´t buy anything, cause I bet it´s a lot cheaper in Piura! Plus, I don´t want to have to pack it everywhere I go!
Another thing that´s changed now is that I am the ONLY piano player in my whole zone...whew, talk about pressure! You know I´m not the greatest at it, but I have to play at everything now. Sunday was hard because the changed the Sacrament hymn on me, so I had to sight read a song that I´d never played before! It was difficult...but I actually did really well! Only messed up a couple times, and I don´t think many people noticed. I KNOW that Heavenly Father helped me out there, cause I sure was praying a lot.
This week has actually been kind of one of the harder weeks for me I think. The new elders that just came in are really fun, but a lot of conversations have turned to home, which just distracts and depresses me, honestly. One of them was redshirting as a quarterback at the U! He also worked at Pinnacle this summer as a salesman, pretty sure I talked to him at work too. We´ve been talking a bit, and it´s made me wish I could see my little sister! I love you Chels! But it´s just been hard to talk to him about it, even though it´s fun to see the connections. The world really is a small place.
Well, this is going to be super small-promise I have a letter coming with more info! I´m really doing well here! No latino campanion, so I have to work extra hard to learn Spanish, but I need that anyway. Should be finishing the New Testament today! I´ve been reading like crazy-I can´t stop! The scriptures are different as a missionary.
Love you all! I pray for you every single time I pray, individually. Keep up the good work!
Con amor,
Elder Schofield
One is that packages are kinda ridiculous here...I know you already sent Christmas, but I just found out today that the best way is USPS, and it needs to have the green customs sticker on it that has everything itemized. Otherwise, it costs about $200 just to get the package. Not even worth it.
Second...I´m not sure about sending everyone Christmas presents. There´s some pretty sweet things here, but I know it will be cheaper in Piura, so I´ll probably wait until I get out. Also, it may be too expensive to ship...let me know what you think!
Third...I am now the District Leader! It happened really strangely...Elder Littell (My new/old companion...weird huh?) got called to go to the District/ZL meeting, so I went with. Turns out that I´m the DL and he´s now just a regular missionary like everyone else! It was very suprising.
Ok, so now I´ll try to tell you what I can in five minutes! Haha, guess I´m super slow at typing...but anyways!
This last wednesday we went out on a tour of Lima that was super fun! We got to go in this old church, the Church of San Francisco. It was way cool, and we got to see some crypts that were pretty sweet! Pretty sure I got some of the residue in my hair because the ceiling was so low...it was kind of nasty, but still cool to see. Old bones that have rotted for a long time kinda stink-if you didn´t know that!
We got to eat these AMAZING churros just outside of the capitol buildings. They were filled with some cream, and it was just delicious! We roamed around the small little stores after. I didn´t buy anything, cause I bet it´s a lot cheaper in Piura! Plus, I don´t want to have to pack it everywhere I go!
Another thing that´s changed now is that I am the ONLY piano player in my whole zone...whew, talk about pressure! You know I´m not the greatest at it, but I have to play at everything now. Sunday was hard because the changed the Sacrament hymn on me, so I had to sight read a song that I´d never played before! It was difficult...but I actually did really well! Only messed up a couple times, and I don´t think many people noticed. I KNOW that Heavenly Father helped me out there, cause I sure was praying a lot.
This week has actually been kind of one of the harder weeks for me I think. The new elders that just came in are really fun, but a lot of conversations have turned to home, which just distracts and depresses me, honestly. One of them was redshirting as a quarterback at the U! He also worked at Pinnacle this summer as a salesman, pretty sure I talked to him at work too. We´ve been talking a bit, and it´s made me wish I could see my little sister! I love you Chels! But it´s just been hard to talk to him about it, even though it´s fun to see the connections. The world really is a small place.
Well, this is going to be super small-promise I have a letter coming with more info! I´m really doing well here! No latino campanion, so I have to work extra hard to learn Spanish, but I need that anyway. Should be finishing the New Testament today! I´ve been reading like crazy-I can´t stop! The scriptures are different as a missionary.
Love you all! I pray for you every single time I pray, individually. Keep up the good work!
Con amor,
Elder Schofield
Photos Dallon sent on November 16
Lima Peru Temple - Good photo, Dallon!
Dallon's Comps will always look up to him.
Dallon's First Lima MTC Companion from Chile.Saturday, December 10, 2011
Some pictures and Fun from LIMA
Here is Dallon's letter from November 16:
Greetings family and friends!Wow, this week has been so insane! I can´t even begin to tell you everything that has happened! First I´ll explain those couple of pictures that I´m attaching. This is my companion Elder Muñoz! He´s pretty awesome, and I loved his character! We are at the temple, which I also included a picture of. We go once a week on P-days, and it is way cool. Unfortunately, Elder Muñoz left this week on Monday! He´s headed of for Chiclayo. Also, I found out that I don´t get another latino companion. :( This makes me sad, and worried about Spanish. We haven´t been speaking enough when it´s just Norteamericanos. We´ll have to improve. This last Saturday, we went out proceliting for the first time! It was very intense, and I KNOW that Heavenly Father was with me and Elder Muñoz. At first, we couldn´t find the area we were supposed to be in, but when we finally did, the first house we knocked on was a success! We placed a book of mormon with someone, and they seemed really interested! The very next house was even better! :) We knocked on the house, and a lady about the age of 35 answered. We eventually got in and started teaching the first lesson about Jose Smith. It was so amazing. I couldn´t understand everything, but the spirit was there. Her kids were running around screaming, and her older son was trying to control them, but that didn´t matter. Heavenly Father wanted us there, and wanted her to hear this, and she was totally focused on us. When it got my turn to talk, I explained all about the first vision. I can´t tell you how amazing it was to feel the spirit flowing from every word I spoke. I related to her the words that Jose Smith used to describe the vision, and then bore witness of it. It was amazing to look into her eyes and feel the spirit reflected there. When we left, we got her info, and asked her if we could come back. She said yes, that it was a lot to take in, but then she grabbed her heart and said something felt different in there! :) I just wanted to jump for joy! I was so excited to hear that. The rest of the time, we really just got contacts. We were out about 4 hours, but it was way fun! The area of Lima we were in was pretty nice too! They have parks everywhere. The homes are tiny and humble-pretty much like the trailer park, except they don´t have ANY yard here. Another thing that I´ve really started to focus on is my scripture study. I wanted to share a scripture with you about the Atonement, because the Atonement really is the biggest help in our lives. Alma 7:12 has become my new favorite scripture because of this. It says: "And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." During priesthood we talked about how the Atonement isn´t just their for sins. In just this scripture it talks of "death and infirmities" others talk about sicknesses and challenges in our lives. I just want all of you to know that I love you, but more importantly, our Heavenly Father and Jesucristo (oops...Spanish) loves you even more. He knows how to help you. He is there, and all you have to do is call on them. Mom, I´m really happy to hear that you took my challenge of prayer! :) It´s started to help me so much more being here, and focusing on the work. I´m also glad to hear that you and Dad are continuing to read, that´s really great! Well, don´t have hardly any time to write more, and I hope these pictures work! They haven´t worked for other people...but I´ll send my SD card once I fill it up. Today we get to tour Lima, so I´ll get some sweet pictures there! Haven´t gotten many because we can only use cameras on P-days at this MTC. Love you tons!Elder Schofield P.S. Chelsey, you´re pretty much my hero. :) I´ve been thinking about you a lot lately...don´t know why! But I´m glad that you´re doing amazing at volleyball! Always remember that you´re a freshman and you are DESTROYING those seniors in the Pac-12. Love ya sis! Email me when you get a chance too, all of the sisters!!
Greetings family and friends!Wow, this week has been so insane! I can´t even begin to tell you everything that has happened! First I´ll explain those couple of pictures that I´m attaching. This is my companion Elder Muñoz! He´s pretty awesome, and I loved his character! We are at the temple, which I also included a picture of. We go once a week on P-days, and it is way cool. Unfortunately, Elder Muñoz left this week on Monday! He´s headed of for Chiclayo. Also, I found out that I don´t get another latino companion. :( This makes me sad, and worried about Spanish. We haven´t been speaking enough when it´s just Norteamericanos. We´ll have to improve. This last Saturday, we went out proceliting for the first time! It was very intense, and I KNOW that Heavenly Father was with me and Elder Muñoz. At first, we couldn´t find the area we were supposed to be in, but when we finally did, the first house we knocked on was a success! We placed a book of mormon with someone, and they seemed really interested! The very next house was even better! :) We knocked on the house, and a lady about the age of 35 answered. We eventually got in and started teaching the first lesson about Jose Smith. It was so amazing. I couldn´t understand everything, but the spirit was there. Her kids were running around screaming, and her older son was trying to control them, but that didn´t matter. Heavenly Father wanted us there, and wanted her to hear this, and she was totally focused on us. When it got my turn to talk, I explained all about the first vision. I can´t tell you how amazing it was to feel the spirit flowing from every word I spoke. I related to her the words that Jose Smith used to describe the vision, and then bore witness of it. It was amazing to look into her eyes and feel the spirit reflected there. When we left, we got her info, and asked her if we could come back. She said yes, that it was a lot to take in, but then she grabbed her heart and said something felt different in there! :) I just wanted to jump for joy! I was so excited to hear that. The rest of the time, we really just got contacts. We were out about 4 hours, but it was way fun! The area of Lima we were in was pretty nice too! They have parks everywhere. The homes are tiny and humble-pretty much like the trailer park, except they don´t have ANY yard here. Another thing that I´ve really started to focus on is my scripture study. I wanted to share a scripture with you about the Atonement, because the Atonement really is the biggest help in our lives. Alma 7:12 has become my new favorite scripture because of this. It says: "And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." During priesthood we talked about how the Atonement isn´t just their for sins. In just this scripture it talks of "death and infirmities" others talk about sicknesses and challenges in our lives. I just want all of you to know that I love you, but more importantly, our Heavenly Father and Jesucristo (oops...Spanish) loves you even more. He knows how to help you. He is there, and all you have to do is call on them. Mom, I´m really happy to hear that you took my challenge of prayer! :) It´s started to help me so much more being here, and focusing on the work. I´m also glad to hear that you and Dad are continuing to read, that´s really great! Well, don´t have hardly any time to write more, and I hope these pictures work! They haven´t worked for other people...but I´ll send my SD card once I fill it up. Today we get to tour Lima, so I´ll get some sweet pictures there! Haven´t gotten many because we can only use cameras on P-days at this MTC. Love you tons!Elder Schofield P.S. Chelsey, you´re pretty much my hero. :) I´ve been thinking about you a lot lately...don´t know why! But I´m glad that you´re doing amazing at volleyball! Always remember that you´re a freshman and you are DESTROYING those seniors in the Pac-12. Love ya sis! Email me when you get a chance too, all of the sisters!!
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