Final Round... Week 98

G'day blokes and shiela's, mates and bro's!

As the title may have eluded to, this is the beginning of the end of Elder Schomburg's last six weeks as a missionary. Transfer information came last night and Elder Barnes is packing- I'm not sure who my companion is yet but I'll know by tomorrow morning.

First, an update of the week's events. We received a phone call this week from Sister Hannan, one of our office missionaries. She was calling in to tell us that we had received a referral from Church headquarters, which is about as rare as finding a cut diamond in your backyard. The man we were meant to contact was named Alex. He had been discussing various faiths with his two missionary mates (one serving in Argentina, the other in Alaska) and had finally decided to check out Mormon.org. He began chatting with a sister missionary who started brief discussions with him- nothing too in depth. Eventually she went home but continued to keep up with him, working on sharing the gospel with him regardless of her lack of assignment to do so. She referred him to our mission office, which she informed him would help him come into contact with missionaries in person to be taught properly.

That's where we come in. Alex lives about 10k's outside of a small town called Clare. It's about an hour and a half drive from Port Pirie to Clare, but after speaking briefly over the phone with him, my companion and I set up a time to go see him on Saturday. We departed Saturday morning, met him in a busy street in Clare's town centre, walked to a cafe, and proceeded to talk for the space of three hours. That's a lot of time to be talking, but I could tell you just about everything you need to know about Alex and then some. We taught the Restoration for about thirty minutes and the rest of it was spent mainly getting to know each other and swapping manly stories (Alex is 21, so that makes it a bit easier to make friends). Turns out he is the most American Aussie I've ever met; he likes guns, he likes trucks, he loves muscle cars, he wants to join the military and if he can, he wants to move to America and join our military. He is about the easiest guy there is to talk to and definitely easy to have a laugh with.

His interest in the Church was this: he had done a fair amount of church surfing (according to him, he had "attended every single church in all of South Australia) because he values a relationship with God. He was perplexed by how it was possible that so many different churches existed and stemmed from the teachings of a single compilation of the same scriptures (the Bible) and yet taught so many contradicting things. He got himself kicked out of one church because he wanted to date a particular girl, but apparently he needed the pastor's permission to do so and he hadn't obtained it, so he was excommunicated and they made repentance for him nigh well near impossible. That's when he started taking his missionary mates up on their offers to learn more about the Latter-Day Saints. At the end of our lesson, he committed to be baptized though we set no specific date- because of distance, we're not sure how often we'll be able to see him and teach him what he needs to know before baptism, but at least he is completely willing and accepting of the doctrine behind baptism. He's been baptized before into other congregations, but he understands the link between the Priesthood and saving ordinances very well, which made it easy for him to commit. We told him we want him to know the truthfulness of our message for himself by exploring it and asking God if it was true, to which he responded, "I'll do it, but just telling you now, the fact that you came all the way out here just for me shows me a lot about who you are and how important your message is- I'll believe whatever you say based on that." Sounds a bit like King Lamoni and Ammon, if you're familiar with your scriptures. So now we've got three investigators who are genuine seekers of truth... blessings.

We had interviews with President Carter over the phone this past week as well, and President and I have a pretty tight relationship. As in all my relationships, I'm fairly honest with what I say and how I feel about things (honest to fault, as worded by some ;D) and we got to talking on very real terms, President and me. He expressed his own experience with trying to remain focused even though he already has movers coming in and out of his home and he has to start thinking about taking over his past businesses once again (he departs for home in June, but we all know he'll be one of the Seventy). I felt it appropriate to tell him how I felt as well. At the start of my mission, I was so popular; everyone was writing me all the time, I got mail like it was nobody's business, and there was just a buzz of excitement. The mission life continued and only a few faithfuls continued to keep up with me, and now that the mission is ending, there's a buzz, and it's exciting, and everyone wants to get geared up for my long awaited return. I love it all, but I was a bit torn that morning during my personal study- do I study for being a missionary, or do I do what my mission has taught me and start planning ahead so that I'm not the guy that gets home and says, "Now what?" I told this to President and he gave me a challenge, invited me to do something: every P-Day that I have left, I am to take an hour or two and set goals and make plans for coming home. He told me there's no shame in that and it is not disconnected. The trick is, he said, turning those thoughts off the rest of the week and working hard until the next P-Day. Easier said than done, President, but I'm not one to back away from a challenge.

So as I was preparing my last planner last night, I decided to stick with what I have done my entire mission. On every planner there is a space to write where your current area is, and on every one, I have written "Round One" or "Round Two" or however long it is that I was in the area, starting over every time I went to a new area. I wrote on the small line in the front page of my last planner, titled "Transfer XVII" on the top of the front page, "Port Pirie (Final Round)". I shouldn't have put that down. Perhaps it was because it was nighttime and I give myself leeway to ponder on anything I want to, or perhaps it was the fairly solemn music that was playing in the background (that's what happens when you don't DJ) that provoked such thoughts, but irregardless of the cause, I felt a huge surge of... I'm not sure what. That heart crushing, overly excited, anxiously nervous feeling that splits your heart in two overtook me and I suddenly had that feeling that I did right before I left for the mission field. Nevertheless, I went into one of my studies this week and asked the Lord, "What more would You have me do before I leave this place?" and I got this most calm and gentle reassurance as I turned to my scriptures. Basically, I learned that my service has been acceptable to the Lord, and that all there is left to do is to do what I have been doing to the very end. I intend to. And thus I can sleep easy at night.

I love you all and will write again soon.

-Elder Schomburg  

Elder Callahan and Elder Schomburg
Wentworth Dunes near Mildura

Wentworth Dunes - Mildura

Art Shot

Fish 'n Chips

Elder Schomburg and Elder Barnes

Goofy Elders
On their way to a service project

It's what Elders do

Off they go...

More Miracles and the Most Repulsive Thing I've Ever Laid Eyes On... Week 97

How's that for a subject title!? My Mum and I are running out of ideas (104 weeks is a lot of weeks to title, and it's not even 104 yet xD).

So I just finished writing my mission president, and what I wrote him best sums up what I was going to write home in the first place! So you get to read what I wrote to him, and hopefully it turns out alright. Sorry it's not tailor-made but time is so precious! This is in regards to the new investigators we have, btw.

"We went over to their (investigators Phil and Lyn and children) home and ended up teaching them about the Restoration and the Book of Mormon in the same night. That is a completely unorthodox thing to do but we felt so impressed to do so- they've had eight years of exposure to a bishop being their best mate in Queensland, and Phil and Lyn told us that they have morning prayers themselves, then they hold family prayers with their little ones, and they even held their own FHE (Family Home Evening) this past Monday, at no suggestion from us or anyone in the Port Pirie Branch. They actually had the Book of Mormon on electronic format, so really we were just teaching them about it according to the manner of missionaries and giving them their own hard copies for study. We taught them how to STUDY the Book of Mormon, not just read it- they looked at me and my companion's marked scriptures and it made them want to study their own books in such a fashion. They had a notepad and pen right there to ask questions, and they ask VERY good questions. I meant to ask you about one because they actually asked us a question that I wasn't sure how to answer, and that hasn't happened in a while (mainly because teaching is rare and good questions are even more so).
"I know you've been a mission president for longer than I've been a missionary, but in my service thus far, I haven't seen anyone so prepared as these investigators- "Bishop Ben" as we know him by did a REALLY good job with this family. Phil has a lot of questions, but none of them are nit-picking; he is a perfect example of what it means to be an honest truth seeker. Lyn is sold; she is the driest Mormon I've come across and both of them want to be baptized. Our lesson was so unorthodox, I've never taught anything like that before. They were asking us how many lessons there were, how much time we had to teach, what needed to be taught first- they were basically setting it up for us to design the overall discussion process and conversion experience with them. We told them that as missionaries we could help them to prepare and know what they needed to know to be baptized in 3-4 weeks time, but if that didn't suit them, we would follow their lead. They want their bishop in Queensland to baptize them, but the soonest he could come to Port Pirie would be in April. Phil and Lyn are discussing it, but that's why they're not on date- we're leaving it to them to decide on when they want to make such a covenant because they already want to make it.
"They came to church again and we attended the Gospel Doctrine (Sunday school) class instead (Elder Barnes and I felt that they felt a bit... out of place and uncomfortable? when they were in our Gospel Principles class; everyone else was in the chapel learning and we were in there with our branch mission leader.). They had good questions and the whole branch was sympathetic to their learning. There's a buzz in the branch now and everyone wants to get to know them and take them in and support them and answer questions- it's been a miracle to witness the branch adopt them as their own. Honestly, President, if you came down here and came to church, you wouldn't be able to tell Phil and Lyn apart from anyone else. Well, you could because I know you're inspired like that, but no one else could.
"Sorry to go on about that for so long- I love golden investigators, they get me so excited! Elder Barnes and I are doing very well- he's young but he's willing to learn and he's taking in a lot. He's grown a lot since when I first met him and he'll be a sharp missionary in your quiver and the Lord's. He studies the Book of Mormon religiously -as he should- and he's always looking for ways to improve. He's easy to get along with, he has standards and lives by the mission rules, and he loves the mission."

So you have a glimmer of what went down this past week. Phil and Lyn are my new best friends and I love them! And they love us, too, which is great! Straight up, I've never really had investigators like this before. Mick would be the only one who I can say was up to par with Phil and Lyn as far as actual desire to learn and change goes. I haven't had many investigators who have been baptized, but I know that Mick and Phil and Lyn will all be those ones that will help build up Gods' kingdom on earth, because they are just that solid.

And now onto this most disgusting thing ever- I received my flight information today... ask me how I feel, I dare you. For the next 20 minutes I will continue to have this gut-wrenching feeling, and then I think it'll switch to a trunky excited, and then it will switch back, and so on and so forth until it is time for me to give President a hug, step on that plane, and come home.

I love being a missionary. I love getting to do crazy things like walk down the streets, approach random strangers, spark conversation and God-willing, teach some Words of Life. There is nothing better that I could be doing right now at this point in my life. But I am excited to come home and catch up with everyone I need to... I love you all and I hope this is somewhat spiritually uplifting!

-Elder Schomburg

And Their Prayers Were Answered... Week 96

G'day!

So before I go about updating you's on the week, I need to answer a question that I was recently asked by my Mum. I guess if you (Mum) want to share this you can or don't have to or whatever- I trust your judgment. =D

[To preface: I recently asked Elder Schomburg his feelings about not having as many baptisms as many of his friends who have also served missions in other parts of the world.]

Sometimes I wonder why it is that I've only baptized three people. Aside from Mick, Alisi, and Annie, Dennis was baptized up in Darwin the transfer after I left (I'd taught him for about 2 transfers); DJ was baptized the transfer after I left Broken Hill (taught him a number of times); a Chinese student named David was baptized almost eight months after Elder Lisati and I became the first missionaries to ever teach him when I was in Evandale, and I taught him twice after that with Elder Anton (all on trade-off) and even ran into him again when I was in Clarence Park. I didn't baptize them personally or even organize their baptisms or take any part in them, but I was privileged to have taught them, and I find great joy in knowing that I was able to teach several people that were baptized later down the road. In some way, shape, or form, I helped them progress towards covenant-making with God, and that's good enough for me.

To be honest with you, Mum, I don't really let myself think about it too much- I just square my shoulders and march out the door; whatever God wants to happen will happen.

I would leave you with that for an answer, but I know you want more. [I was satisfied with that answer, but apparently Elder Schomburg had more to share.] I am sad about it; I didn't think I'd be the missionary that comes home and says, "Well, in two years I baptized three people!" but at the same time, before I left for the field I wasn't imagining baptizing heaps of people anyways. I was a little more than halfway through my mission when I dubbed myself the "ground-tiller" of missionary work. You've got the seed-planters and the harvesters... but before you can even plant a seed you've got to till the soil, and sometimes that is some really hard work. Every area I've had is one that has had nothing going for it when I got there, and so far, I've only left one area as I found it, and that was Mildura North, the area I happened to be in when I was the most disconnected from my purpose. Aside from Mildura North, every area I've left was in better shape than when I first showed up. I don't say that to be prideful, I just say that because it's what I've found to be true. I am the ground-tiller; somebody has to do it, and if the Lord has decided that I can take the trials of being a ground-tiller, then that makes me the man for the job and I'm gonna do it! I don't get to see very much fruit because some "soil" is more difficult to till than other soil (Broken Hill vs. Clarence Park) but that's something that I've accepted. I can sleep easy at night knowing that I at least gave another set of missionaries a chance at planting some seeds and doing some harvesting. That is good enough for me. 

But to talk about the week, on Saturday we had a day of service planned: we went to Sister Ward's to demolish some old wardrobes and split logs (most fun service project ever!), then we went to the Sturt's to help them clean up their old property that they're looking to sell (lots of gardening and yard work [straight up my alley, eh Sister Welch?]). After that, we went to the chapel to clean the baptismal font. It occurred to me the other day that if we wanted to baptize at all, we'd need to get the dust out of that font and make sure it was ready. I was also hoping that doing so would show the Lord that we believe we can baptize in Port Pirie, and after showing such faith, I hoped to be gifted with new investigators that were ready to be baptized. So we tried to clean the font but the drain actually clogged... yeah, there's that much dust down there. We cleared it but we need to go back and get it done properly, after we get the pipes looked at.

The next day, we walk up to church and President Armstrong (he is the coolest branch president I know, save for President Paewai) calls us into his office. He immediately informs us that he was speaking with his mate, a branch president in Queensland, who was informing us that four investigators had just returned to Port Pirie from an extended holiday and that they would be attending church with us that morning. We were told there were four of them, but we didn't know ages or affiliation or anything- could have been four bikies or a family, we didn't know.

As we're greeting people in the foyer, a black SUV (pretty rare in Australia) rolls into the parking lot. An Aussie male in a suit, his Filipino wife in a lovely blouse and skirt combination, and their two beautiful boys (toddlers in age-group) walk up to the chapel. I thought to myself, "Those aren't investigators, those are members!" and I believed they were. Hadn't met them, but it's not uncommon for visitors passing through to stop in and attend church in different wards or branches, so I believed they were members.

We greeted them as per the norm, President Armstrong took over, and I didn't see them until after Sacrament Meeting (I gave a talk... it was alright). We were then properly introduced to Phil and his wife Lynnie or Linnie (not sure about the spelling), and became aware that these were the investigators we were expecting. I was alarmed! I immediately apologized and explained that they looked so sharp that I thought they were members! So we had a bit of a Gospel Principles class (no lesson was prepared because no one shows up, but...there should have been one prepared) It worked out in the end. We closed with a prayer and Phil immediately approached us while his wife entertained Brother Haggard, and he asked us straight out, "How do we get in contact with you? I'm looking to learn more about this church and I want to get this thing going, so what are the steps?" We exchanged details and he then offered to have us over for tea sometime (I mean dinner if you haven't been keeping up with this blog) which was absolutely shocking; an investigator offering tea? What? We then talked in the foyer some more before Priesthood, and he pried into Elder Barnes' and my own personal conversion stories. He mentioned that he had been baptized and confirmed as a lad into the Church of England, but had never felt anything special. He had church-surfed off and on for some time and failed to find God, but his wife had attended church (LDS) three times whilst being in Queensland and had even been taught the first lesson by the missionaries there. She was sold (that's why I'm not mentioning her as much- she's practically already a member, just hasn't gotten wet yet). I've never, in all my time as a missionary, met anyone as prepared as they. Phil was asking a lot of questions, but it wasn't to tear down or nit-pick; he is an honest seeker of truth, and he is eager for it.

ASK ME HOW EXCITED I AM!!!! It's so exciting when prayers are answered!!!

I don't believe in coincidence anymore, not after serving the mission I have thus far served, but I definitely know that this was anything but coincidence- things don't just happen like that.

I hope I haven't rambled too much or sounded too preachy, but I just want you all to know that I have felt your prayers and I can see them being answered, bit by bit. I love you all and am so grateful for all your love and support! Thank you so much! I know this church is Christ's church, and I know that Heavenly Father is indeed a God of miracles, and I say that in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

-Elder Schomburg

[The formatting on the computer Elder Schomburg was using appears to be a bit wonky.  Sorry for the strange look of this week's post.]

A Horse! A Horse! My Kingdom for a Horse!... Week 95

G'day all!

Today I am feeling unusually spiritually filled, and I feel like saying something uplifting. But first, an update on the week.

We have one new investigator! The first one in three weeks! Welcome to my mission. His name is Harry, he's 84 years old, and the only reason we found him was because we were referred to him by the friend of a former that we had intended to see but wasn't there. I have a testimony of asking everybody for a referral, because -as I predicted, or rather, estimated using previous knowledge gained from past outlying areas- the only investigators we are going to receive and baptize are going to be referred to us while I am in Port Pirie, of that I am certain. Our first lesson was appalling, which made me into a raving psychopath in my head because that's where you lose investigators: that first lesson needs to be darn-well near spotless, tailored perfectly, made to fit, and topped with a cherry if we want to get a return appointment. The Lord made up for our imperfections and shortcomings; we're seeing him again on Wednesday and we'll be covering the Book of Mormon. That's about the most exciting thing that's happened all week. Oh, well, just to report, I've given probably 10 blessings since being in Port Pirie- I reckon we give two-three blessings a week. This is a branch full of widows, and there's not enough Priesthood to go around. The Lord's church really does need the Priesthood to function and we're feeling the lack thereof.

Recently I've been thinking about what I'm going to share with the mission for my leaver's testimony. I know, I shouldn't be thinking about that, but here's the thing: two years of my life has been spent being a missionary. At the end of that two years, I will have approximately 3-7 minutes to testify of 1-3 things that have helped me as a missionary. This assignment is challenging, so I want to make sure I pick the right things to say. A common theme for my mission I've discovered is simply this: true discipleship.

Over the course of my service thus far, I've come to several conclusions (many of them the hard way) about how missionary work should be conducted in order to be effective, and thus, display Christlike discipleship.

1) A missionary needs to forget him/herself and get to work. I don't mean this in the way that most people think of when they hear that phrase. Rather, I intend to communicate the following: if a missionary is worried about what he (I mean she's as well) is going to say next whilst speaking with someone, he has not forgotten himself. If a missionary is worried about how he did not plan an effective day and is finding it difficult to accomplish anything, he has not forgotten himself. If one's thoughts are still self-centered in the least degree, he/she hasn't forgotten him/herself yet. When the missionary begins instead to worry about the person's salvation, and what they need to hear and what they need to learn, then the missionary begins to show true discipleship. Paul did not write all his epistles whilst worrying about the possibility of sounding like an egg; he wrote them understanding that those who were receiving his words needed to be told what the Lord had told him, and that was the end of it. A missionary should not worry about himself and the way he looks or sounds as he preaches the gospel; that is not Christlike discipleship.

2) A missionary needs to stop worrying about the numbers. Numbers (referring to the numerical goals that we use as missionaries) represent people. We need them to hold ourselves accountable to something. But the Lord doesn't care about statistics. Surely, as Jeffrey R. Holland pointed out, a God who will leave the ninety and nine to save the one is not worried about or preoccupied by percentages or statistics. At the end of the day, a disciple is not asking himself "How many lessons can I teach today?" but is instead asking "How many people can I draw to Christ today?"

3) A missionary needs to go back to his purpose in the most pure and raw form. "My purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ." That is all. That is the end of the story. When we engage people in conversation on the streets, we should not be pushing for more than that which they are willing to do.  A disciple does not condemn, because a disciple is not the Judge. A missionary that is a true disciple of Christ will show mercy, forgiveness, and will do all he can to leave a positive impression of Christ in the life of the individual he just entered to whatever degree. A missionary will do all that he can to invite the person to learn of Christ, not do everything in his power to force the individual into doing something he/she does not want to do or is not prepared to do.

But I've actually got to go now- my computer was slow and didn't start up properly so I'm behind as it is, but my companion is finished and as per the usual, P-Day is already not going according to plan and it probably won't. Ahhh... P-Day's are the most stressful days of the week. But a disciple does not stress about P-Day!! xD

Love you all, I'm good to go =D

-Elder Schomburg

Down to Port Broughton... Week 94

G'day all! 

We got mail! I don't know who's mail or who sent it because we haven't opened the three big, yellow envelopes that we have yet, but we will. If you wrote me recently, I probably have what you sent! Thank you!

Now for the week:

This week we made a trip down to Port Broughton; having become impatient with the lack of people whom we can preach to in Port Pirie (Elder Barnes has literally spoken with everyone), I brought to his attention that perhaps it was in the outlying towns that we would find who the Lord had prepared. We planned on it, prayed about it, prayed about it personally, and then reviewed our feelings the following morning. We both felt like we needed to go to Port Broughton, so we did. Upon arriving, we stuck to mainly walking, getting a feel for the town. I am so ready to teach somebody (our investigator pool became 0 yesterday) that I wasn't very shy about knocking random doors. I got the vibe that Elder Barnes wasn't really keen on tracting, but I knocked some doors anyways- anything to talk to someone who hasn't been contacted in more than a month. As we approached one house, I held in my hand a Gospel of Jesus Christ pamphlet, and I felt a very quiet prompting that the Plan of Salvation was the way to go. I hadn't felt such promptings at previous houses, so my hopes got up in that we might be tracting into an investigator-to-be. We knocked the door and an older lady came out. She is religious but because of her recent move, has been displaced from her chosen church. She was considering going to the one just across the road from her house. We got to talking a bit more, having decent conversation, waiting for her to say something that we could tie the gospel to, and we caught a break- she's recently had several deaths in her family, and though she stated that she remained faithful, sometimes she found herself asking why the bad things always happened to the good people. Was the Spirit spot on or was it spot on with teaching the Plan of Salvation? We leapt on the opportunity -as calmly as we could (well, Elder Barnes seemed alright; I was just so excited!)- and taught her using the pamphlet. She said she was going to be busy soon, but that we could stop by another time when she was more free. She also said she would give the pamphlet to her 13 year old daughter to have a look through, as well.

Well, we kept on with our little outing and walked about some more. The little port town has a nice, seaside feel to it (I reckon Dad might want to live there- I'll take photos next time if I can get my hands on a camera that actually works...). As we walked, we saw a group of six teens coming down a hillside- three boys and three girls. They looked like they were up to no good, and knowing the history of the Port Pirie area, my combat mind kicked in and I deduced that we would have more than a fair chance at winning if they decided to start something. My companion was better than me; he told me later that he was getting ready to turn the cheek, when in comparison, I was getting ready to turn theirs. Anyways, before we got to this group, we heard someone call out, "Elders!" from inside a house. We spun around and who should come out but a woman named Janine! I've never spoken of Janine before, but Janine was a less active member I knew when I serving in Evandale. She was the Assistants' less active and had made the decision to begin coming to church again. She had planned on taking us to lunch one day, me and my companion, but things fell through. She is a lovely lady and she loves missionaries!

The fact that we had found her in this little town with a population of maybe 1,000 was far beyond coincidence- I reckon that was inspired. We gave her our number and she told us she would take us out for a feed to catch up sometime when she came to Port Pirie next, and she'll be in the area for about a month. So we're anxiously waiting to catch up with a lady whom I met a year ago and somehow found in one of the smallest towns Australia has to offer. Far out, that was pretty crazy.

So anyways, we continued on, and two of this group of six teenagers engaged us; it was one boy and his less-than-confident girlfriend. He said something about wanting to talk about his Church of Satan or something like that. Elder Barnes kept going; I stopped and got ready to listen. I try to talk to people every day about my beliefs, it would be hypocritical of me to ignore him, no matter how muck-around he is being. Elder Barnes didn't get far, though, and soon he had both our attentions, and that startled him. He went on to stammer something out about how we have the ability to choose for ourselves what we will do in this life, who we will become, all the rest of it- he basically was teaching the principle of agency. Elder Barnes and I exchanged glances, and then in unison said, "Yep, all that is true." Talk about a shocked, 16-17 year old boy. What he had to say wasn't anything remotely satanic in nature, but in fact was true doctrine, and he was defending avidly the very thing which we fought for in the Premortal Existence: agency.

He suggested we check out Youtube for more information (didn't give us a proper title for which video he was suggesting) and then began to walk away with his girlfriend. His mates were laughing, as proper mates would be. I admired him, though; even if he had been egged on by his peers, he was the only one that had brawn enough to do it, and not only that, but what he thought would happen -two churchies keep walking past- didn't happen. For a moment, I thought about teaching him how to do proper missionary work; he had the approach down, bold and fearless, almost, but he didn't give us a proper place to find out more, there was no testimony offered, and he didn't acquire a means to follow up with us. But it was his first go, so he handled himself well.

Church on Sunday was splendid- I love Sundays, and I look forward to the days when I will be able to -before doing more Sabbath thingson Sunday like reading scriptures or Ensigns and what have you- take a mohe' (nap) as soon as I get home. I. Am. Trunky in my head. But I'm trying my best to stave it off. I must be honest- I really want to see my family again. It's been a long time, I am tired, Port Pirie doesn't have the Paewai's so missionary work is frustrating (Sister Paewai, because I know you read this, will you please come to Port Pirie and teach these members how to missionary?), and I miss Mexican food. Still haven't decided if I want real Mexican food or classic American food when I get home. There better be heaps of whatever it is, though (sorry, it's time for lunch over here, at least for me).

Anyways, I love you all heaps and I will talk to you soon! Please pray for us- we don't have any investigators at the moment and I really am getting tired of not having anyone to teach.

-Elder Schomburg

I saw this photo earlier today and it definitely reminded me
 of Elder Schomburg when he was just a little tyke...
and maybe as he is now, too.  Always pushing the envelope. :) 

The 12 Week Dying Program... Week 93

G'day all!

I have officially begun my 12 week dying program- not the 12 week training program, but the dying program. Does that sound morbid at all? It should- I have 11 weeks left to be a missionary and I have mixed feelings.

First, thank you all for your Christmas cards and letters and packages, of which I received many! Christmas was yet another wonderful experience and was unseasonably cool this year, which was a blessing to me. As of late, it's been fairly warm. Also, I'm so excited for my Sissy!!! She went to the temple, she's missionarying off in a month or two, and wow, she is the man and no one can convince me otherwise!

I find myself in Port Pirie, a small, barely coastal town west of Adelaide across the Spencer Gulf, if I remember correctly. My companion is Elder Barnes, the "son" of Elder Litstir. Elder Callahan was Elder Nay and Elder Litstir's son, so I find myself asking the question, "Why do I keep getting paired with Elder Litstir's seed?" Either the Lord is trying to straighten me out or he wants me to offer the balance that is needed for Elder Litstir's type of missionary work- I haven't figured out which, yet.

Elder Barnes is very obedient. I've been being a good boy, but it is very difficult, and sometimes I want to pull my hair out. Elder Witehira (who went home this past transfer) warned me of this. In his words, "The last 12 weeks are the hardest, but not because of what you think; being obedient and not being trunky is the hard part." That is a true statement. As I've thought of where I am as a missionary, I think back to what Elder Covey told me about being at this stage in the mission. On occasion I asked him, "How does it feel to be a dying missionary with only a transfer left?" He responded, "It's weird- part of you wants to be a missionary still, but most of you is done; you're ready to go home and do something else." I'm finding this to be true, as well.

That might sound really bad, as I'm sure most people want to hear missionaries say, "I want to be a missionary forever!" and some days I do, but for the most part, I am really ready to do something else.

This has been fairly frustrating- I want to not only endure, but I want to endure well, and thus far I feel as though I am enduring very poorly. Some say that this time in the mission flies past especially fast, and others say that it goes by excruciatingly slow. I'm tasting a little bit of both.

But enough of that. The branch here in Port Pirie has about 30-40 people in attendance, and most of them are older, single sisters. Elder Barnes has tracted every single street with Elder Litstir and he knows about 70% of the town, which makes conducting our own finding difficult, at least in as much as being effective goes. The branch president is actually an American and I have yet to formally meet him (church doesn't count) so we'll be going there tonight to have a yarn with him. President Armstrong seems like a very good guy, very organized, and he loves his branch. He loves missionaries too, but that doesn't excuse me from giving him even more reason to love missionaries. I'm excited to serve here and in this branch.

Port Pirie is a small town, not unlike Broken Hill.  Adelaide-style missionary work cannot be conducted in small towns if you want to baptize. These towns require adaptability and a lot of tact, and lots and lots of member work. I'm discovering that -because so many of the single sisters do not have males to accompany them- very little member-missionary work has been done. The sad part is that there is a clear avenue to getting into their homes because we have a male YSA here who, coincidentally, needs more fellowship from the branch members in order to stay active. All we need to do is bring him along and we're golden. Why wasn't this done before?Tracting does not do anything in small towns where doors have been knocked countless times. We need to encourage the members.

So I've decided to do what I know to do best and that is to rub shoulders with as many members as possible. After all, it is the members that have the friends that need the baptizing, and many of the members here are missionary-minded; they just haven't had opportunity to be taught how to do missionary work. And I've decided that in these last 12 weeks of mine, I'm going to get my hands dirty and rub some elbow grease on everything BECAUSE this area really needs it. I've spent a total of 7 1/2 months in Adelaide and the rest of it in outlying areas- (not to boast) I think I know a thing or two about conducting missionary work in isolated towns.

But that's about all I've got to say. I couldn't have picked a better "grave" according to missionary jargon, as it's highly likely that I'll stay here until my time is spent. I reckon this transfer Elder Barnes will be sent away, and I'll spend my last one training a new missionary; Port Pirie has a reputation for being an area where missionaries die and missionaries are born at the same time, and I reckon President has the same idea for me. But we'll see what happens.

I love you all and I hope to share some spiritual experiences soon.

-Elder Schomburg

B-B-B-B-BAPTISM!!!! Week 90

That's right, ladies and gentleman, the Lord has blessed myself, Elder Schomburg, with another baptism!

 

G'day all!

 

To start, we've just about finished teaching Annie all of the lesson content she needs to know. We always check for her understanding and it's always there. She's really shy in teaching settings, but last night we had the opportunity to have dinner with her as well (usually it's just Brother and Sister Pioch that stick around for a feed) and we got her to open up a bit and have a few laughs. It's good to see that there is a great personality behind her generally shy demeanor. Sister Pioch and Brother Pioch teach her in a less formal way when we're not there, and we always ask them where Annie's understanding is. Even if she's shy in front of us (and I reckon she's just shy about saying the wrong thing or something) she's not shy in front of her auntie and uncle, which helps Elder Callahan and me a lot, as indirect as it may be.

 

She gets baptized on Dec. 21st, and we're trying to go through and make her a program with our branch mission leader, Brother Seve.  Annie was fairly indifferent about the program -not a whole lot of preferences as to who did what- so Sister Pioch suggested the missionaries baptize her. Then came the golden question- which missionary? So we made sure to give Annie all the options available and in the end they settled on having me baptize her. Lest my ears deceive me, I'm going to baptize someone personally whilst serving in the Zion Australia Adelaide Mission. I wanna show you all something, okay, it's called my surprised face: WHHAT!? I'm a bit nervous- her full name is Tongan (Annie is her English name) and actually consists of five names. Even Elder Callahan said, "I'm indifferent, but deep down, I'm thankful that I'm not the one baptizing her- that's a long-as name." Well, well, sir, you've dodged one bullet, but he might be the one confirming her, so HA! xD

 

Also, we saw the Paewai's again! I love serving in Mildura because I get to be so close to my Kiwi Whanau- it's the best! Oh... I need Sister Paewai's email address. Ah, shucks! I'm not allowed to email her yet 'cause we're still in the same boundaries... bugger. Oh well, someday soon.

Dinner with the Paewais

Mildura MiniConference with Sister Paewai!

 

Speaking of soon, guess who has two thumbs, wears a badge that says "ELDER SCHOMBURG" and got asked a terrible question today? Ya, this guy, and that question was from the office, from the beloved Sister Sheffield, who is leaving after Christmas... all the good missionaries and senior couples are going home.... anyways, the request was this:

 

"For your March 25th travel date, please advise us of your home airport asap, please. Love you all- Sister Sheffield."

 

To which I responded: "Sister Sheffield, this is the worst email I've ever gotten from you... but I still love you heaps. Denver International Airport."

 

Did you read that correctly? They're starting the process of sussing out my flight information. I wanna show you all something, okay, it's called my negatively surprised face: WHHAT!?

 

Hmm, ya, so moving on. This week was relatively hot- yesterday was about 38C or 39C so it was pleasurable on the bikes. Something about the hot weather makes me want to work more diligently- couldn't tell you why... maybe it's because biking is the only way of creating a substantial breeze to cool down and cool off.

 

On average, I find myself eating a lot of chicken, or chook(s) as the Aussie's have dubbed them. My favorite is probably the chook kebab. We eat lots of Tongan food, which is alright- I'm not a fan of the way they prepare their pigs, and they don't really flavor much of their food, but it fills us up, so it's good. I like Brother Pioch's cooking, though, and Sister Strathairn (both Aussies, coincidentally). They make a mean-as feed, probably because it's always closely related to what we have back home (potatoes with steak or pork chops, casseroles, seafood salads, all the rest of it). I just don't really like Aussie salads, though- they don't serve them with dressing. I always feel like it'd be equally good to go outside and eat some grass in exchange for eating the salad, but alas, such is a first-world problem; some people don't even have grass to eat, and that's saying something.

 

Aside from that, we eat a lot of rice for lunch. I've come up with a good way of cooking sugar rice that involves adding butter, heaps of raw sugar, and milk, which gives it a nice, creamy texture. A bit easier than eating it plain. All the missionaries that know of it always ask me to make some when they come on trade-offs or are traveling to and from, so it must be good. It also turns out that I give a really good back massage. "Magic Hands" is a common nickname for myself now, so I guess it's not so bad a thing- just extra practice for when I've got a tahini or wahini, depending on your language (Tongan and Moari for "girl" if I recall correctly). But we don't think about those kinds of things for very long- only when the other missionaries tease me about getting ready to receive the next ordinance xD

 

ANYWAYS!

 

I don't know what else to say, and I'm probably out of time by now. I hope my less-than-spiritually filling letter was at least informative. I love you all heaps, and I'll talk to my Whanau soon and to the rest of those whom I think of, I'll do my best to send you a Christmas card or note or something. I love you all!

 

-Elder Jeffrey Schomburg