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