What a Week!!! - Email from 29 July 2013

Well, this week was pretty insane! There just seemed to be a lot of things to do, and not a lot of time to do it! Elder Muralles and I have been working hard together as Assistants. There`s quite a few things to get done, but we`re doing our best.

This week we had two work visits! It was kinda fun because I got to go back to Sullana with Elder Vargas again! Honestly, I felt much more at home there. :) We visited all the same investigators, and a few more that they had found. I`m super excited because two of the families that we visited are getting even closer to their baptisms! Gloria and Fernando are getting everything together for their marriage and seem super excited. Sara, Julio, and Piero are also progressing. Sara still hasn`t attended church, but I feel confident that they will be baptised soon as well. Another suprise was Walter! We didn`t get the chance to visit him a lot, but he also has a baptismal date.

Although I did feel right at home, it`s a bit different visiting when your Assistant. I felt super responsable and did my best to try to help Elder Vargas. He is an amazing missionary so I really don`t worry about him much at all. I basically just told him to keep it up and to train the missionaries in his zone because pretty soon 64 of us will be going home! That`s a lot of us all at once!!!

The other work visit that we did was with Talara. I had the opportunity to work with Elder Cabrera here in Piura. It was my first time without my companion in our area, and it was a bit difficult, but we managed. Our area is really different. The people here are really closed off. They don`t accept us nearly as much as the other areas of Piura and Tumbes. We`re having to get creative, and are using the members a lot!! I`d imagine that the states are very similar, so for you members out there...go to work!!! The missionaries need a LOT of help finding people to teach! Pray for inspiration, and then open up your mouth to teach!

We did have two SUPER great lessons this week! One was with the friend of our Ward mission leader. He invited her to his house and we taught the restoration. It was a super spiritual lesson and she paid a lot of attention! I really hope things turn out well for Teresa.

The second great lesson was on Sunday with Ingrid and the Gonoza family. We went over for lunch, and were able to talk a lot with them. After lunch, we went to their family room and shard the message of the restoration. The spirit was so strong there, it was awesome!!! It was really cool because while we were eating lunch, Ingrid was all smiley and happy and everything, but when we taught her...you could see deep into her eyes, it was a new type of joy and happiness, something that can only come from the spirit. She`s been confused for a long time by the catholic church. She mentioned the fact that they recite prayers, they have saints, and they don`t seem to follow what they teach. It was really awesome when I was able to teach the first vision...the spirit was just SO STRONG!

I have a great feeling that Ingrid is going to progress. The only problem is that it will be kind of hard to get in contact with her. She`s 22 and is studying and working. That suprises me because most of the young adults here are pretty lazy!

The other thing that was really a great experience this week was a planning session we had with President Rowley. This week we are going to have the Multi Zone Conferences, and we`re planning what we`re going to do. President is talking about changing up our Normas de Excelencia (sorry, can`t remember how to translate it). I felt the spirit very strong with us as we discussed the challenges and strengths of the mission. We also discussed the vision that we have here in the mission, and I`d like to share some of that with you.

Here in the Peru Piura mission, we are going to baptize real converts in every area every month. In order to do that, we are going to work with the ward council to find, teach, and fellowship each and every investigator. We will also work to strenghten the new converts and rescue those that have fallen away. All of this will be done with the help of members, because we know that without them, this work cannot progress the same way. We will train them, strengthen their testimonies, and follow them as we work to furthur the work of salvation here in Piura and Tumbes.

Doesn`t that sound so exciting?? Honestly, I can`t think of any other work in the entire universe that can bring as much joy as this work has brought to my life.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to visit the Young Single Adults with President Rowley. They were supposed to give us an hour to talk to them about serving a mission and how to prepare themselves. However, one lady ended up giving a half hour lecture about Mission Preparation class, and then another man talked for about 15 minutes about having good health on the mission. BORING. They didn`t have any class participation, and I could tell that they were bored to tears.

Then we had the opportunity to share. I felt the spirit super strong, honestly. We were able to have class participation, and I shared my testimony using Alma 26 talking about the joy of being an instrument in God`s hands. That scripture has come to be one of my favorites of all times. Is there anything else more wonderful in the world? I love being His servant, and hope to be able to continue serving Him all of my life, not just these two years.

Well, I have to go now...but I want you all to know that I love you! I`m working hard here in Piura, and hope that each of us can do our part to help further God`s work. All we really need to do is open up our mouths and He will fill them!! Trust in God.

Love,

Elder Schofield

Assistant to President.​..baptism by fire... - Email from 22 July 2013

So...where can I begin? I guess that Tuesday is a good day to begin with.

Tuesday morning I took one of the longest bus rides in my life...thinking about the new assignment I would be receiving, being assistant to the president. There was no way that I could really be ready for what was coming. I don`t feel like I really am as good as the other missionaries that have been assistants here in the mission. Sure, I try very hard to do the best that I can, but am I really at that level?

When I got to the chapel for changes, basically everyone already knew. President was running late, which really suprised me! He`s never late, and he was supposed to interview me before calling me as assistant. However, he got there just in time to announce the changes. `Elder Schofield will be in Piura Central with Elder Muralles serving as Assistant to the President.` The words simply confirmed what was already known.

The changes seemed to go super quickly, and then we immediately had to head off to receive the new missionaries! 18 new missionaries, and 15 of them are from the states! It was pretty cool to see them get here, and it reminded me a lot of when I first came here. There`s so much unknown! So many new things! I was talking to a couple of them, and it was funny how they were suprised by the simplest of things, like the 500 stray dogs that are running around and fighting all the time, or how the taxi drivers drive like crazy in the streets.

The next day proved to be one of the hardest days of my mission! President informed us at about 7:30 am that he wouldn`t make it to the training meeting with the new missionaries. That meant that we would be training all the new elders and sisters by ourselves, and it was scheduled from 8 to 2! President was going to do the majority of the training, we were only going to help him out for about an hour or two with some practices and some basic safety guidlines.

When those kind of moments come...there really is only one thing you can do: pray for help and just go for it. With Elder Muralles, we simply did our best to teach the missionaries what President had planned. We pulled out some examples and experiences in order to try to help them understand how important these two years really are, what it means to really be obedient, and what they are meant to do and become here in the mission.

Honestly, I think it turned out ok. I wouldn`t say it went great, just ok. However, there was a very noticable difference when President finally found a moment to come and make the assignments. His presence in the room was very obvious. I could feel the spirit very strong, and knew that it was because he really does have the priesthood keys for the mission. He is directing us, and it can literally be felt. I know that God really has called him and he really is capable of leading us.

So...you may be wondering why President showed up late to the changes and couldn`t be there the entire training for the new missionaries. Well, what happened is that there was an elder that was very sick, Elder Litano. He`s from Lima and is actually supposed to serve in Argentina, but was waiting for his visa here. President was spending as much time as he possibly could with him. His parents were flown up from Lima to be with him.

The day after, on Friday morning, we got a phonecall at 6:20 am. Elder Litano had died. Honestly, it was one of the toughest phonecalls I`ve ever received. We had to hurry to the airport to change flightplans. The parents were going to fly out that very morning, but arrangements had to be made so that they could take the casket with them. We quickly ran to the airport to do that.

If receiving the news was hard, having to deliver it is even worse. At first, we weren`t supposed to tell anyone, but then President told us that we were allowed to tell people if they asked. Time after time, I had to pronounce the words: Elder Litano is dead. The silence that followed. The silent screams of `No...` and then the questions of how? Why? etc.

Today we held funeral services for Elder Litano. Honestly, it was a very humbling experience for me, and also very spiritual for me. President Rowley shared with us some of his feelings and the experiences he shared in the hospital with the Litano family. His mother and younger sister arrived at the hospital first, and President Rowley shared with us how Elder Litano lit up when he saw them, and he testified of how powerful family relations really can be. However, what touched me even more was the blessing that Elder Litano`s father gave, sending him on to the next life.

Could you imagen sending your son on to the next life? Giving the last priesthood blessing that he will ever receive here? It brought tears to my eyes, thinking of how sacred of an experience that must have been. I am so grateful for the priesthood. I`m so grateful for revelation, and how God really can tell us what His will is for us and for those that we serve. I know that it was His will that Elder Litano is in the spirit world. He has a plan for him.

Being Assistant really isn`t what I thought it would be. A lot of people have the secret desire to be Assistant. Honestly, I never have and never will. However, I am here and am doing my best to be an example for the Peru Piura Mission at this time. I hope and pray that God will be able to strengthen me in my weaknesses and that He will work through me to bless the mission and help others come unto Christ.

Thank you again for all of your prayers, and I hope that you all know that I love you and am praying for our family.

Love,

Elder Schofield

Gpodbye Sullana... email from July 15, 2013

Well, that´s right! I have only survived one change here in Sullana, and boy has it been quite a change!! With Elder Vargas, a lot of things have happened. I have never felt the spirit so much in my life, and felt so close to God. He really has guided us so much here...it´s incredible. Before the mission, I did believe that the Book of Mormon was true. Yes, I believe in angels. I believe that God can change an entire people and that 2,000 people can be baptised at once. However...did I REALLY believe that??

Now, more than ever, I can say that I believe in Christ. He lives. He is beginning to do a ´marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men.´ It´s funny that I say that he´s beginning to do it, because it´s been going on for centuries! He has ALWAYS sent missionaries to preach His gospel. They have ALWAYS found success as they search to do His will, and He has always guided them to the people that are prepared. I have seen miracles. I have found the people that He sent me to.

The bad part about changes is saying goodbye. Right now, Elder Vargas and I have quite a few people that are going to be baptised with the next month! There´s Sara, Julio, Piero, Gloria, Fernand, Joaquien, Josselyn, and possibly Flor. That´s two families and two young women!!! ALL of them have been miracles. I have felt the spirit SO strongly with every single one of them. It´s sad to think that I might not be at their baptisms...but I know that Elder Vargas will do a great job finishing off all the details!

The most amazing thing about Sullana has been the work with the members. Honestly, I never felt like a part of the ward in other places. Sure...I was there every Sunday and I tried to work with the members, but it was different here. I really felt like the relied on my. The trusted in us as missionaries, and because of that we were able to see a lot of success here.

TRUST in the missionaries. Give them the names of your family members and friends. Ask them to help you get started on your own missionary work, because there´s nothing else that can bring as much joy!

This week, I had the opportunity to see that with Antonia, one of our ward missionaries. She´s a bit overweight, and has the BEST smile in the world. She´s been helping us a lot with the two families we´re teaching. Sara and Gloria are friends of hers because their kids study with her 14 year old son. A couple months ago, Elder Turcious (yep, my first companion!) told her to write a list of her friends and to begin praying that they could receive the gospel. She did that, and even invited Gloria to listen to the missionaries, but she said no, she was catholic and would be catholic until the death!

That´s when she kept praying! She didn´t know what would happen, and neither did we, but God knew.

On Saturday, we watching an hour long movie of Joseph Smith with Antonia and the young men we´re teaching. Gloria only made it for the last 15 minutes or so, where it showed how Joseph Smith died for the cause. We weren´t able to explain anything because it was 9 o´clock and we had to be home! However, Antonia told us on Sunday that she was really moved by it and because of that had a lot more desires to attend church!

Sunday rolls around, and they came! I taught the class to the investigators, about gifts of the spirit. I could see that Gloria and Fernando were paying a LOT of attention! That´s always good, because it means that the spirit is flowing there. :)

Antonia grabbed us after the meetings, and gave us a HUGE suprise! Gloria and Fernando, who didn´t even want to accept baptism before, want to get married and baptised within the next two or three weeks!!!! I was so excited!!! However, what gave me the most joy was the look in Antonia´s eyes...I could tell that she was just FULL of gratitude for how God had entered into the life of one of her friends and helped her make the decision to be baptised.

The work still goes on...we have to get their papers and everything, and then get the money together so that they can get married. Also, there may be some repentance to be done...but I know that God will be there every step of the way.

So...tomorrow there are changes! I don´t know 100 percent if it´s what I think...so I´ll post it next week, but let´s just say that I will no longer be a Zone Leader, and I have an interview with President tomorrow before he announces the changes.

Want to know something incredible? This week I have felt the spirit very strongly. I feel more satisfied with our work than ever before...but we had ZERO new investigators...for the first time in my entire mission. Normally, that´s very depressing for a missionary. New investigators turn into progressing investigators, then with baptismal date, and then baptisms, and then CONVERTS.

However, I´m learning something very important: why should I be upset with something if God´s work is rolling forth? He overcame death. He overcame sin. Is there anything that He can´t overcome? He can turn a little family group into a stake in just a couple of years. That´s why I have decided that when things go bad, there´s no reason to be afraid or upset...unless things are going bad because we´re straying off the path. One little sin that we don´t correct can be held against us in the last day. That´s why we need to be humble and accept His love and help. He´s the only one that can take us to our Father in Heaven.

Life is amazing. For those of you passing through challenges, and I know that they are many and that it may appear very bleak...just remember that Christ has overcome the world...there is NOTHING He can´t overcome. I testify of that as one of His representatives.

Love you all!

Elder Schofield

 

 

 

 

The Week of Miacles! - Email from July 8, 2013

This week has been simply amazing. There´s no way that I can tell you everything that has happened in this week because I only have 20 minutes remaining! However, I want you all to know that God is a God of miracles, and that we are seeing many of them here in the Peru Piura Mission, especially here in Buenos Aires, Sullana!

It all started Monday night. As we left our apartment, I felt the spirit SUPER strong. Something told me that something big was going to happen. We headed off to a few appointments we had, but no one was there! I think that God really was setting us up for what happened.

We had been teaching a less active and his wife for quite a while, but they just hadn´t shown interest in attending church, so we dropped him two weeks ago. However, when everything fell through, Elder Vargas suggested that we pass by. Something told me that it was a good idea, so we went. We knocked the door and yet again, no one was home! I wondered to myself why I felt the spirit so strong, and began praying to know what it was the God wanted us to do. That was when Marcos came up to the door!

We entered in and began talking. He asked why we hadn´t come in a while, and we just said we were busy. Then he said that he´d been reading a book called ´The Secret.´ He talked a bit about it, but I had already heard about that book from before the mission. It makes a lot of people doubt about the existance of God, trying to call him some kind of force instead of someone that has a body of flesh and bone.

I don´t know why, but I was SUPER direct with Marcos. Basically I told him that the world can say what they want. They can say that God is just some sort of force that is within all of us, but that doesn´t change the truth. God is REAL. He has a body of flesh and bone and He is our creator. He loves each and every one of us and has a plan, that has been revealed again through a prophet, the prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is God´s word, and one can come to know the truthfulness of all things if they will simply read, ponder, and pray.

I know that we answered Marcos´s prayer. Elder Vargas pulled out some great scriptures that really reached his heart, and he even told us that he had been super confused and was praying to know what the truth was. That was just when we got there!

Tuesday we had a Council meeting with the leaders in the mission! It was AWESOME because this last month there was a miracle! Before, we were baptising about 65 or 70 people a month, but last month we baptised 93!! It felt really good, and we talked a lot about that. We then talked about working with our ward leaders, especially our Ward Mission Leader. Elder Vargas and I have an INCREDIBLE ward mission leader! He´s really consecrated to his calling, and I am happy to be here.

The next few days were SUPER busy. We had a lot of things to do, and a lot of lessons to teach! Our ward has been very supportive of us and I have said many prayers thanking God for that support. This week, admist all of our to do´s and things, we were able to have 13 lessons with a member present! It was AWESOME! We feel great about that!

I also had the opportunity to go on a work visit with Elder Henriquez, which really opened up my eyes, a LOT. There have been quite a few missionaries in this area that have not been super obedient. The members have become great friends with the elders...going out to eat...to play football...etc. They have also entered into the elders apartment on a number of occasions and are just WAY too accustumed to it. Elder Henriquez told me that he has had to be the bad guy on more than one occasion in order to tell the members that they weren´t going to be able to do things.

I want to bear my testimony that I KNOW that we as missionaries are representatives of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I take this calling very seriously, and am doing my absolute best to live up to those expectations. We´re not here to have fun, we are here to help God´s children be saved! This is a war, and God requires the best from us. At times, some elders decide that these two years are to be enjoyed, and they decide that they can take the badge off for a while. That´s not what God expects of us, and we should do better than that. The members can help us with that. They can treat us with the respect that we deserve and show us that they really do expect us to be obedient, and that they are going to HELP US BE OBEDIENT.

After that work visit, it felt really nice to be with Elder Vargas again, where the members really are helping us.

Last experience! Not enough time!!

Today we got a phonecall from a district leader about Elder Martinez that is struggling...we had to go to his room and talk with him again. I had the opportunity to talk with him, and really felt the spirit guiding me to help uncover the problem and help encourage him again.

Elder Martinez is a GREAT missionary. However, he is very self councious. He feels that God is not proud of him. He feels that everyone makes fun of him and doesn´t appreciate him for who he is. I felt honored to be able to talk to him and tell him that God IS proud of him. Because of that, God has called him to be His missinary. This calling is INCREDIBLE. No one is REALLY worthy of it. No one can REALLY take Christ´s place. However, God has confidence in us. He could use His spirit to do all the work, without sending us out. He could do it all! However, He has confidence in us.

God trusts us with His children. Every parent in the world has felt that. God trusts us as Home and Visiting teachers. As Quorum advisors. As young Women´s president, or whatever calling we may have! He places His trust in that we will do our part in spreading this gospel.

Do your part. Share this message. Feel His love for you.

I love you all!!!

Elder Schofield

 

 

The Week of Miacles! - Email from July 8, 2013

This week has been simply amazing. There´s no way that I can tell you everything that has happened in this week because I only have 20 minutes remaining! However, I want you all to know that God is a God of miracles, and that we are seeing many of them here in the Peru Piura Mission, especially here in Buenos Aires, Sullana!

It all started Monday night. As we left our apartment, I felt the spirit SUPER strong. Something told me that something big was going to happen. We headed off to a few appointments we had, but no one was there! I think that God really was setting us up for what happened.

We had been teaching a less active and his wife for quite a while, but they just hadn´t shown interest in attending church, so we dropped him two weeks ago. However, when everything fell through, Elder Vargas suggested that we pass by. Something told me that it was a good idea, so we went. We knocked the door and yet again, no one was home! I wondered to myself why I felt the spirit so strong, and began praying to know what it was the God wanted us to do. That was when Marcos came up to the door!

We entered in and began talking. He asked why we hadn´t come in a while, and we just said we were busy. Then he said that he´d been reading a book called ´The Secret.´ He talked a bit about it, but I had already heard about that book from before the mission. It makes a lot of people doubt about the existance of God, trying to call him some kind of force instead of someone that has a body of flesh and bone.

I don´t know why, but I was SUPER direct with Marcos. Basically I told him that the world can say what they want. They can say that God is just some sort of force that is within all of us, but that doesn´t change the truth. God is REAL. He has a body of flesh and bone and He is our creator. He loves each and every one of us and has a plan, that has been revealed again through a prophet, the prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon is God´s word, and one can come to know the truthfulness of all things if they will simply read, ponder, and pray.

I know that we answered Marcos´s prayer. Elder Vargas pulled out some great scriptures that really reached his heart, and he even told us that he had been super confused and was praying to know what the truth was. That was just when we got there!

Tuesday we had a Council meeting with the leaders in the mission! It was AWESOME because this last month there was a miracle! Before, we were baptising about 65 or 70 people a month, but last month we baptised 93!! It felt really good, and we talked a lot about that. We then talked about working with our ward leaders, especially our Ward Mission Leader. Elder Vargas and I have an INCREDIBLE ward mission leader! He´s really consecrated to his calling, and I am happy to be here.

The next few days were SUPER busy. We had a lot of things to do, and a lot of lessons to teach! Our ward has been very supportive of us and I have said many prayers thanking God for that support. This week, admist all of our to do´s and things, we were able to have 13 lessons with a member present! It was AWESOME! We feel great about that!

I also had the opportunity to go on a work visit with Elder Henriquez, which really opened up my eyes, a LOT. There have been quite a few missionaries in this area that have not been super obedient. The members have become great friends with the elders...going out to eat...to play football...etc. They have also entered into the elders apartment on a number of occasions and are just WAY too accustumed to it. Elder Henriquez told me that he has had to be the bad guy on more than one occasion in order to tell the members that they weren´t going to be able to do things.

I want to bear my testimony that I KNOW that we as missionaries are representatives of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. I take this calling very seriously, and am doing my absolute best to live up to those expectations. We´re not here to have fun, we are here to help God´s children be saved! This is a war, and God requires the best from us. At times, some elders decide that these two years are to be enjoyed, and they decide that they can take the badge off for a while. That´s not what God expects of us, and we should do better than that. The members can help us with that. They can treat us with the respect that we deserve and show us that they really do expect us to be obedient, and that they are going to HELP US BE OBEDIENT.

After that work visit, it felt really nice to be with Elder Vargas again, where the members really are helping us.

Last experience! Not enough time!!

Today we got a phonecall from a district leader about Elder Martinez that is struggling...we had to go to his room and talk with him again. I had the opportunity to talk with him, and really felt the spirit guiding me to help uncover the problem and help encourage him again.

Elder Martinez is a GREAT missionary. However, he is very self councious. He feels that God is not proud of him. He feels that everyone makes fun of him and doesn´t appreciate him for who he is. I felt honored to be able to talk to him and tell him that God IS proud of him. Because of that, God has called him to be His missinary. This calling is INCREDIBLE. No one is REALLY worthy of it. No one can REALLY take Christ´s place. However, God has confidence in us. He could use His spirit to do all the work, without sending us out. He could do it all! However, He has confidence in us.

God trusts us with His children. Every parent in the world has felt that. God trusts us as Home and Visiting teachers. As Quorum advisors. As young Women´s president, or whatever calling we may have! He places His trust in that we will do our part in spreading this gospel.

Do your part. Share this message. Feel His love for you.

I love you all!!!

Elder Schofield

Life keeps rolling on ... Email from July 1, 2013

June is already gone! Can you believe it? Life is just going by WAY too fast. Here in the mission things are pretty great! Every week I´m learning something new and working as hard as I possibly can to help everyone I see come unto Christ.

This past week brought quite a few experiences...many of which I simply won´t be able to explain exactly how I´ve felt. I think it will take a lifetime for me to process all of the things that I´m learning here on my mission. Haha, when I get home at night, I always want to write in my journal ALL the things I´ve learned that day. However, it´s impossible! So many things are happening here on a daily basis. The spirit is teaching me so much it is simply impossible for me to transmit all of that onto paper. The feelings I´ve had, even those that I´m having right now, are simply incredible. I hope that someday I´ll have enough time to sit down and reflect on all that I´ve done and learned. However, for now, I just have to go to work!

So this week we have been working with Sara Pingo and her sons, Piero and Julio. It´s been kind of hard to get to them, because she´s working a lot. However, we had a great lesson with her the other day! We talked about attending church and how important it is for her to know that this is true. I feel really confidnet that she will be baptised. We just need to help her to gain a testimony and stop working on Sundays! We have a lot of support from her friend that´s member, and we hope that it continues to motivate her.

I also wanted to tell you about our amazing new investigator! Her name is Flor and she is 17 years old! Johnathan, a recent convert, was accompanying us on a visit when our appointment fell through. We didn´t have much planned as a backup, so I decided to ask him if he knew anyone before we began knocking doors. He took us to Flor´s house!

The cool thing about this was that I was with Elder Lindsay on a work visit. She accepted us wholeheartedly and had a ton of questions. We taught her the restoration and basically told her that the answers were in the Book of Mormon and that she should read it.

That was Thursday. On Saturday, Elder Vargas and I returned with Johnathan to teach her again. She had read up to 1 Nephi 12!!!! It was a miracle!!! We were very suprised, and you could tell that she´s really interested, but still had a lot of questions. We explained to her that all she really needs to know is if the Book of Mormon is true, because everything depends on that. She seemed to understand, and I have confidence that she will receive an answer and will be baptise! The first time we challenged her, she said yes, but not very forcefully. The second visit, she said yes a lot more directly!

Johnathan was also very suprised about how she has received us. To me, its just another testimony that there are people just waiting for us to share the gospel! All we have to do is open up our months, and invite them to listen to the missionaries! Who knows what can happen? That´s what faith is all about.

This week we also had our interviews with President! It was a great interview, and I feel like I have progressed so much since the last time I was interviewed. President also said something to me about how he can feel a difference, which made me feel good. He said that Elder Vargas and I seem to be giving a great example to our zone, and told me to keep it up! I am so grateful for him. In his prayer, he prayed for our family as well, without me having to ask. He really is an amazing mission president!

It´s kinda crazy to think that this time is going by so fast! I don´t know what will happen within the next few months, but I am excited to be here and just hope to continue doing God´s will. He really knows the way. I am so blessed to be a member of His church. Do you know how amazing a blessing that is? To know the truth. To feel the company of the Holy Ghost. It´s simply an amazing blessing. I hope that you can all recognize that.

It doesn´t matter what challenges we face, we can have confidence that God loves us and He knows where everything is going to lead to. He´s constantly preparing us to be instruments in His hands. On Sunday, as I witnessed for the very first time an effective ward council, I could feel the spirit whispering to me, telling me to watch and learn. I know that God is preparing me to apply what I´m learning after my mission, and I hope to be able to help many more people in my life!

Love you all, and hope that you´re enjoying the hot weather! Honestly...it´s SUPER COLD! I have to study with a blanket now...I don´t know what I´ll do when I get home...maybe you should send me some pocket warmers so that I don´t get frostbite!!! Haha, just kidding...it´s not that cold. ;)

Love you!!!

Elder Schofield

AMEN FIRST PRESIDENCY AND QUORUM OF THE TWELVE! - Email from June 24, 2013

So...basically I just want to hear a big AMEN. That was AMAZING. I hope that all of you were able to see the two hour special session of ´Hastening the Work of Salvation.´ That was the most incredible thing I have seen in a long time. God truly is pulling out the best in us now, and we are ALL called to the work. Home teaching has never seemed so important to mankind before! Now, every time you go out and make a visit, just remember that you are a part of this work! You are helping them to be saved, quite literally, from death!

This week has been super great for us! We have some really great investigators that are coming along great! We did have one not so good thing happen...our investigator that had a baptismal date was way too busy this week with the armed forces! I guess they want to force him to serve for a year, and so he´s dealing with all of that political stuff to get out of it. Because of that, we haven´t seen Jank all week! He didn´t come to church yesterday either, which means that we´re going to have to put off his baptism for another week. :(

However, good news! We had SIX people that came to church on Sunday! I was super excited! We had Piero and Julio, that are both at the age to be deacons, and Juaquin who can be a teacher! They came with a member friend, and we´ve been teaching them. It´s really cool because they seem to be really excited about coming now! Also, their mother told us just yesterday that after reading the Book of Mormon and praying, she´s been having a lot of dreams and hears a voice telling her that this is the right path! I really hope that we can help them to be baptised this month.

We also had Roberto Carlos and Jenny come to church! They are a couple that we´ve been teaching that are kinda at a standstill because they don´t want to get married yet. However, this last week the spirit really worked in them and they decided to come to church! I hope it can last enough for them to be married. If they do that, I have faith that the spirit will enter in and they can be baptised as well!

We found another great family on Sunday! Juaquin was just another friend that we invited to join us, but this Sunday we were able to teach his mother and father. They are GREAT! It´s easy to see that they´re great parents because Juaquin dresses and acts really maturely. It´s so cool to see that there really are good parents here! They seemed very accepting, and we had a member there who is best friends with the mom, Gloria! Come to find out, her husband is also really good friends with Gloria´s husband, Fernando! If they would have shared the gospel with them earlier, I´m sure they would have accepted, but now we´re going to go to work!

I feel so happy to be here on a mission right now. Things are picking up speed! We have felt a very noticable change here in Sullana. The stake seems to be more active in the work. We are working hard with the members. Some of them are eager to help. Others...not so much. The hardest part for me, honestly, is knowing who really wants to help, because everyone just waits for us to look for them! Then they tell us that they´ve had references for a long time, and that they´ve been waiting for us to ask them.

For those of you who are members: LOOK FOR THE MISSIONARIES. MAKE THEM WORK!!!! We are more than happy to help. We WANT to help you with your less active spouse or children. We want to help you baptise your parents. BE PROACTIVE AND DON´T WAIT! This is a matter of life or death! I´m not kidding...we really are talking about life and death, and if we decide to wait or we aren´t proactive in the missionary work...it may be too late for our friend or family member.

I hope that you can all watch the training from Sunday! It got me SUPER motivated. Be that missionary family that you always wanted to be! By small and simple things, you could bring about a huge change in your ward! Just look at what happened in Canada when a branch president set a goal with FAITH and the DID IT!

Love you all and hope that you all feel more commited to do God´s work. There´s nothing more enjoyable than feeling the spirit. Some think that breaking the rules to do something funny is enjoyable, but that never lasts. As a friend said in a recent letter, we suffer in wickedness and rejoice in obedience! Rejoice in this work! There´s nothing better in the entire world.

Love,

Elder Schofield

Sullana! What a Zone... Email from June 17, 2013

Well...this week has honestly been a huge blessing for us here in Sullana! I don´t think I´ve ever seen so much success in a zone, in all of my time here in the mission. It´s really inspiring to see the efforts of the missionaries, and I really hope that it continues!

This week we taught 102 lessons with members! To give you an idea of what that means, last week we taught 72, which is also a high number!!! Way to go Zone Sullana!!! I am really excited about it, and just hope that we can continue to have high numbers. Also, we baptised one other person this week, bringing our total to 8 baptisms! We have 5 scheduled for this weekend as well!!! I feel great about the work that is going on here, and just hope that we can keep the missionaries focused on doing things the Lord´s way.

As for our area, things are going great! We have received some great references and are really feeling blessed by the Lord. We have at least 5 people that really could be baptised within the next two months! Seriously, things are going great. One of them, however, is a young woman that is 17 years old. She is a reference from another investigator in a neighboring ward. Yuli, the young woman, came to church this Sunday! She even told the teacher that she would like to be baptized, even though we´ve only taught her once! The big problem there is that her mother doesn´t want her to be baptised...we´re going to have to overcome that hurdle for her, but I have faith!

The investigator that we´re really focusing on right now is Jank. He´s 19 years old, and really is a great guy. He has a baptismal date for the 30th of this month. However, we´re going to have to help him make some big changes before then! He drinks, and we also had a scare a week ago when he thought his girlfriend was pregnant...so obviously the law of Chastity will be a challenge as well. However, I feel confident. He is reading the Book of Mormon, he´s got a lot of good friends there to support him, and I know that he´s willing to put those things behind him. If you get a chance, a prayer could really do him some good!

We also had a very funny thing happen this week...we knocked a door, and a lady answered who just said, oh elders! Come in quickly! She then went to the back and shouted for her sister and nephew that actually live there telling them, ´Your salvation just knocked on your door!´ Haha, it was pretty cool. :) We tuaght them a bit of the Restoration, and were hoping that they would come Sunday, but they ended up heading out for Father´s Day.

Another family we´re working with is a single mother with two deacon aged sons. It was kind of interesting how we ran into them. We were talking to an old investigator when they came up playing football. I kind of casually made conversation with them, and then handed them some little pass along cards and invited them to listen to us the next day, not really thinking they would accept. However, to our suprise, they came! We then met their mother, and it seems like things will go great!

Our ward mission leader, who I have to say yet again is the BEST, was accompanying us one afternoon when we went to visit this young men. It was kinda funny because come to find out, their uncle is our ward mission leader´s cousin!! Small world. We´re also going to begin teaching him and his wife this Tuesday.

So many things are happening right now, it´s kind of crazy. Last week I went on two work visits! I was able to go with Elder Rice again! He was my second companion in the CCM, so it was cool to be with him again. We also visited with Elder Martinez and Elder Boror. Things are going great with them! It honestly was one of my best work visits, Elder Boror and I had a lot of success together, and found some great investigators.

I think that I am learning here how important obedience is. Elder Vargas and I are really focusing on being obedient, and it´s paying off!

The other thing that I´m learning to do right now is how to set goals and fulfill them! The whole mission, I´ve set goals every single day. However, now we´re really focusing on reaching those goals and doing our absolute best every day. It really is turning out tow be one of my best areas, and I hope to see some baptisms soon!!!

In my studies I have really kept a focus on the Book of Mormon. I feel like I´m discovering it all over again!! It´s amazing how many times I can read it and how much I still love it. For instance, this last week I finished reading it for the 7th time! I am just that much more excited to read it again!!! This time I´m going to be looking for how the power of the Atonement can really work wonders in our hearts, and change our very desires.

Oh, just a quick shout out too...I LOVE PINE SOL. This week I saw it in the grocery store and we definitely bought it. I´m pretty sure that today is the first time in over 5 or 6 months that our room has actually been CLEANED. It is amazing. :) ´Lemony fresh....´ Seriously, I miss having a clean room...(haha, Mom, can you believe I said that?) But really, being a missionary doesn´t give you a lot of time to do it, and if you really aren´t that excited about doing it, your room simply doesn´t get cleaned! However, this week it is. :)

Well...I´m kinda running out of things to say. I hope all of you know how much I love you. People are starting to talk to me a lot about how little time is left in my mission...it honestly scares me! Haha, I am so used to life as a missionary. Our ward mission leader was telling us how it took him 2 months to adjust. It may take me longer! Only four months left...it´s crazy. Time has flown by. I´m doing my absolute best to stay focused and make every single second be the most important in my mission. Hopefully I can do miracles in these last couple of months. It´s really my goal to be able to do that!

Well...love you all! Take care of yourselves and HAPPY FATHER´S DAY!!!!

Elder Schofield

Sullana! The land of sewage water... Email from June 10, 2013

Haha, maybe that´s kinda a bad title to this email...but that´s really one of the first things you notice when you get here! They don´t have plumbing. Their sewage system is horrible and in a lot of the streets it´s just a big black river that smells SUPER bad. Welcome to Sullana. :)

When I got the change to Sullana, I was super suprised! Elder Woodburn guessed our changes, which was funny. I´m now with Elder Vargas! He was my DL in Tacala and I am SUPER excited to be with him. It´s a great zone, and the largest in the mission with 14 companionships! Only one of them are sisters, and they´re the training sisters of the mission! For those of you who don´t know what that is, basically they´re like the AP´s for the sisters in that they´re always doing work visits and training the sisters, something us elders can´t do, obviously. :)

On Wednesday, we had the Leadership council meeting. It was AWESOME! The coolest part was that Elder Waddell came again! He talked to us a lot about the mission and some of the goals that we had. Lately, we haven´t been doing very well. The number of baptisms has dropped dramatically lately. He told us in very clear terms, the number of baptisms WILL NOT continue to decline. We have to turn this around NOW. It was a very spiritual meeting, but it really made me recognize that I am responsible. President and Elder Waddell both told us that as Zone Leaders, we control the mission. If baptisms are going to go up, it will be because of US.

Gotta love the pressure. :)

However, this week has been good! In our zone, we had 5 baptisms! I´m proud of that, especially of Elder Knudson. He´s super great, from Utah, and he baptised four of the 5!

As for the rest of the week, Elder Vargas and I have worked hard. The area here really does remind me of Pampa Grande, one of my other areas. The people here are a bit more hardened than Piura. We tried super hard to find some new investigators and we may have found some good students to teach, we´ll see.

One of the things I wanted to share with you all is my love for the Book of Mormon. Honestly, I have learned to LOVE it. It is my source of inspiration. In Preach My Gospel, every missionaries bestest friend in the whole wide world, (second only to the Holy Ghost) there´s a part that talks about Questions of the Soul. I have learned how to identify those questions in my investigators, and in my personal studies I´ve searched for the answers, mainly sticking to the Book of Mormon.

THANK YOU Mom and Dad for reading and talking to us about the Book of Mormon. I am blessed with that knowledge because now I can recall the stories and think, ´maybe Ammon´s experience could help that investigator.´ Or...´maybe the words of Jacob when he was contending with Sherem could help her...´ Seriously, it´s been amazing that as I begin thinking that way, God reveals the answer to me.

The Book of Mormon can answer ANY QUESTION IN THE WORLD. Don´t believe me? Try me, I dare ya. :) Send me a question and I´ll send you what I found out!

Anyway...it´s been a great couple of days here in Sullana. The ward here is great! The bishop is a clown! Literally!! Haha, his family is part of a company here. The other leaders seem to be really motivated by the missionary work, but are struggling with their home teaching and other things. Hopefully we can inspire them as well!

This week will be busy. We´re going to do two work visits and we´ve also got to really find someone to baptise! We need to give the example here in the zone. I know that someone is out there just waiting for us to find them. We´re going to work super hard in order to do it. :)

Well, I hope all is well with you! Take care of yourselves and please remember what a blessing the Book of Mormon is for us. Those men spent so many countless hours writing...and most of their writings didn´t even make it into the final draft! I think that we can show them a bit of respect by spending a few minutes every day appreciating what they have done.

Love you all!

Elder Schofield

Well...Goo​dbye Tacalà! Hello to what could be my last area! :`( - Email from June 3, 2013

Well...that`s right! I have been changed! Kinda crazy to think how incredibly fast the time has passed here in Tacalà. Honestly, I think it passed like 4 times faster than in Tumbes! Maybe it has something to do with being a Zone Leader. We`re so busy that it`s impossible to have any time to rest! I think it has something to do with how close we are to the office. They always are making us run errands.

I have learned a TON from this area. I can`t even begin to count the many challenges that I have overcome here personally. I have learned how to really focus on my weaknesses and help them to become my strengths. I have learned to follow the councel that my President and other leaders give me in order to improve, among many other things!

This last week we worked hard. We`ve been trying hard to work with members to get referrals. This week, it paid off! We didn`t actually get a referral from one of the members we`ve been working with...but we`ve received 3 from other members out of the blue! Not only are they referrals, but they`re really great! I feel like God has seen our efforts and has blessed us because of that. Hopefully we can continue to work with members and have success that way.

Sunday was also super cool! We trained ALL of the members in the 3rd hour of church. We taught them how to give away a Book of Mormon to a friend. Basically, we had every single person practice it! It was pretty awesome. At the end, we asked how many of them wanted a Book of Mormon to be able to give it away to someone. In our little group alone, there were 10 who accepted! Hopefully they`re going to do it and we`ll get some great referrals from them.

The other thing I saw this week was very inspiring, yet at the same time, very sad.

We`ve been working with a less active family for a while. It`s a family of four with Mother, Father, Sister, and brother. The father was a bishop before and is SUPER GREAT! However, due to health issues, it`s super hard to get to church alone. He still makes the effort and has been going regularly. His son, Spencer, is also super active and goes every Sunday, usually helping his dad as well. However...his wife and daughter don`t help at all.

Recently, Luis (the dad) had eye surgery. He can`t see hardly anything, and he needs his wife to come with him to his appointments, because his diet is also affecting him and she needs to know what to cook. However, she simply REFUSES to go. She is so upset with the church because of a few rumors that have gone on that she refuses to help her own husband! He may be a bit forward with his invitations to church, but it honestly shocked me to hear that she refuses to go with him.

Sunday, he broke down crying, telling us all of this and asking for a blessing. With the help of his brother, who is 1st councellor, we gave him a blessing. I really hope that things get better...the blessing was a great experience. He also asked us to come by to visit his wife and daughter to help get them to come to church again.

When we got there, his wife and daughter immediately just went into their rooms and wouldn`t come out. They said that `they were asleep` even after we had seen them BOTH watching TV just moments before.

What really impressed me about this experience is Hermano Luis. We talked with him, mostly trying to console him in this VERY difficult part of his life. However, instead of being overly selfish and pitying himself, he offered to help us! He`s still teaching at an elementary school, and is a very well known professor. He offered to invite all of the parents of his students to a fireside that we could put on.

Words cannot describe how I felt when he said that...

Here`s a man that cannot see. He`s blind. His wife has chosen to stop supporting him, along with his daughter. He recently had surgery, and continues to suffer from diabeties. However, he is willing, even happy, to go out of his way to carry this wonderful message of the gospel to others! People like him inspire me.

Sometimes, I feel like I can`t do any more. Before the mission, I would say that I was sick and I simply couldn`t do more. However, Luis has changed my opinion. If he can organize a fireside with all of these things going on...then I can continue to magnify my calling and assignment. If any of you out there are having a tough time trying to do all the things you have to, just think about the many people out there that sacrifice themselves every day in order to help other people. Luis is just one of them!

Well...I don`t know that I can write as well as I used to be able to. :) I hope you all can feel the spirit I feel. This work is amazing. I am constantly amazed by the sacrifices that people are willing to make in order to help other people find the truth. We leave behind homes, families, girls, studies, scholarships, and many other things. People here are also making many sacrifices, and all that just to help maybe ONE or TWO people to find the truth, to know the joy that comes from the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

I want you all to know that it`s worth it! The sacrifice is all worth it, and I hope and pray that you all can find the strength to do your part. When was the last time that YOU shared your testimony with someone? When was the last time that YOU invited someone to hear about this message? We always talk about the wonderful blessings that come from missionary work and how many things we learn from making this sacrifice, but are we really a part of it? I would invite you to simply open up your mouth, or your facebook page, or your cellphone, and share the gospel. Who knows how your friends will respond?

Love you all...and I`ll write you next week from somewhere else in Piura or Tumbes! Who knows where God will send me? :)

Love you!

Elder Schofield

 

WoodField Enterprises - Emal from May 27, 2013

So...basically this week has gone by way too fast. Elder Woodburn and I have had a great time, and we`re working super hard together. Really, this change has been pretty amazing with him! We haven`t had a single argument yet, and it`s been super fun to be here together. Haha, this last week we thought of `WoodField` and were messing around a lot with what kind of company we could make, like `Woodfield Workers` or Woodfield Records or something like that. Basically...we`re two elders that may have lost their minds. :)

As for the work here...it`s been super great! This last week we saw some huge steps in the ward. We`ve been having some pretty tough times lately with our Ward Mission Leader. He hasn`t been coming to church, and it`s been impossible to get him to a missionary work coorelation meeting. However...this week we were able to visit him and help him see his responsability.

Honestly, it`s frustrating when people don`t do what they`re supposed to. It`s tough to be a missionary trying to work in a ward where the ward mission leader isn`t helping at all. When we went to visit him, I had to be careful not to get too upset. However, I suprised myself by the way I handled it! Our visit went ok. I simply pulled out Doctrine and Covenants 84 and we talked about the Oath and Covenant of the priesthood. The promises there are AMAZING! All we have to do is MAGNIFY our callings...I`m pretty sure my message got through to him because he came to church AND one of our meetings in the afternoon! Hopefully that continues.

This last week we also had two baptisms in our ward! Elder Garcia and Hernandez baptised two young women that are actually pretty strong in the gospel! I have faith that they will continue on in the church. There was a pretty good turnout as well. I hope that the ward members can continue to support the converts. There has been quite a few challenges here with that. They`re struggling to do home teaching and visiting teaching, which is SO important for a ward to become strong and remain strong!

Well...I know that this letter is kinda short. I just don`t know what to put on it! We`re kinda struggling to find new investigators. We`ve been working a lot with the members here...without a lot of results! They tell us that they have friends that could be interested, but they never take us to them! They say that they`re still `preparing them` to receive the gospel. If any of you feel that way, just remember this: YOU NEVER KNOW IF SOMEONE IS PREPARED IF YOU DON`T ASK THEM. In Preach My Gospel it says to challenge people to be baptised in the first lesson. It could be the very first time that I talk to someone, and I am going to ask them to leave EVERYTHING behind to follow Christ. Suprisingly, all of the investigators that I have baptised said YES the very first time I asked!

That`s how amazing Missionary Work really is.

Anyway...I hope that all is well at home! Make sure to keep doing the important things like reading scriptures, praying, and having FHE. Really...if the whole world could do those simple things...I highly doubt that we would have so many challenges! Just do it. :) Life is better that way!

Love,

Elder Schofield