Few pictures - Nov. 27, 2018

Videophone, it is a device that many deaf use to communicate.

That time we were grateful

So we are grateful a lot but this week was Thanksgiving, hence the email title.

This week was great! We had a few member meals for Thanksgiving, I will start with the one that was actually the one on Thanksgiving, it was all the way down in Olympia/Lacey area I'm actually not sure, but its about and hour and a half to 2 hours away depending on traffic, which there was (Thanks Tacoma) but it was with the Wilsons! Jaime and Ann, they are so nice! Sister Wilson was my primary teacher back in Utah and Brother Wilson told a story about my dad getting firewood from their house and I remembered going to get that! It was crazy!

We also went to the Pecks in Lacey and we also drove that because the South elders are about 1300 miles over, and we are right on track so we drove. But it was good! and Brother Peck gave such an awesome testimony at the end of our lesson, it was sweet.

Also had a dinner with the Frays, they are a hearing family but the dad is called on the high council for the branch, they're awesome!

And then an impromptu lunch with the Mulladjanovs after we did some service!

It was a lot of turkey..and potatoes...and stuff of that ilk.

Anywho, we had some luck contacting some people this week and we set some appointments so we are excited for the future!

I'll share a miracle, so yesterday we texted everyone in the phone who's name starts with the letter D, we text this guy named David and he texts back, I'll just type the conversation.

"Who are you where from??"

"We are the missionaries!....."

"I am in Seattle Wa ok"

"We live in Seattle"

"Yes if you can come visit..."

"Can we come now?"

"What time?"

"4:30?

"Ok"

And that is how you get an appointment with someone in 10 texts or less, thanks Heavenly Father!

So we went to this guys house and he lives on Capital Hill in Eastern Seattle, its kinda ghetto and when we pull up theres an ambulance in front and all that stuff. We are walking in as the paramedics come out with a lady on a stretcher so that was interesting. Then it was a locked apartment so a crazy lady in the front room let us in, something I didn't realize is that there are a lot of buildings with crazy people in front who will just let you in. So we went in and invited this guy David to learn, he said he'll read the Book of Mormon and we can come back!

So Good news! Also some other stuff happened but thats a big email already! 

Love you all!

Power out - Nov. 10, 2017

The power was out and then we got bored waiting for a ferry...

That time the power went out

So this was a fun experience, after we emailed on Monday it got super stormy, like crazy stormy, it was awesome, trees were falling over and wind was really fast and when we got home at like 8 to have dinner, the power in our apartment was out, and basically the rest of the area was out too, almost all of Shoreline. So we decided to go to the closest place with power for dinner, that place? 7-11, it was pretty alright. That was Monday night, the whole mission had to come in and go straight to bed at 9, we woke up and the power was back on! Went to district meeting, came back and it was back out again, so we ate sandwiches and went to work, came home at night, still out, and then I got woken up at like 2 in the morning because our lights turned on, Elder Camillo Gois didn't though, that's about it for that story.

Lets see, beyond that, we had some good experiences, we had to try to contact a lot of people this week and none really contacted us back so we went to work finding as best we can. We went to a deaf social in Port Townsend, that was cool. Then yesterday we received some pretty sweet revelation about deaf socials. The rule with deaf socials here is that we can go but if we start preaching they will ban us from the social, so we have to be really careful which is something we have been struggling about being too worried to cross the line. But yesterday as we did companion study we were discussing Alma and Amulek and their boldness with the people of Ammonihah, so bold, and we decided to follow their example and tell people exactly why we are here. Not preach but a lot of people as us why we moved to Washington, and why did we move to Washington? Because this church is TRUE! The Book of Mormon is the word of God and He has restored his gospel upon the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith! That is why we are here, and that's what we're going to share for the rest of our lives! Do not be afraid to share the gospel! Alma and Amulek knew that some people would reject the truth but still they shared! They knew the truth and knew what was important! Share the gospel and God will bless you!

Love you all! have a good week

P-day - Nov. 13, 2017

That time it was a pretty normal week

The subject line is a lot of what happened...we knocked a lot of doors, we met a couple investigators, some lessons got canceled, some lessons worked out, some crazy people talked with us, and the work continues!

So all in all a pretty normal week, Elder Camillo Gois and I are doing great, working hard to work hard, and trying to find different ways to find. It was a cool week! Our investigator Brady got a job! he is inviting all of his friends to learn and some of them are actually listening! We figured out a way to get members involved in the work too! for a long time its been hard because members live so far apart and so far away from any investigators but! With a new VP (Video Phone), which will be coming soon, we can do conference calls with investigators and members and have a member there for a lesson! and even involve multiple members or multiple investigators! Last night we did it with Brady and his girlfriend Mary Ellen and a member named Barry and it was soooooo awesome! We plan to do it again!

This week Elder Camillo Gois and I talked about what it was like to leave our families and friends to serve a mission, and we decided that must have been what it was like to leave our family in premortal life, we all left at different times but knew we would eventually make it back together. That was a cool comparison! That is the great plan of our Heavenly Father! Families! Families! Families! He loves us and He wants us to be happy with our families! What a perfect plan that is!

I love you all and thats about it!

Elder Schoemig

The pictures need no explanation just know that a mission is sweet!​​

Pictures - Nov. 7, 2017

That time it got dark at 5pm

Nov. 7, 2017 weekly report (transfer day)
So apparently after daylight savings time in Washington it gets dark insanely early, like 5 pm to start, but it will only get earlier, our branch mission leader says like 3:30. And tracting gets insanely difficult when it is cold and dark outside so that will be a fun experience!

But this week was good, we found some new investigators and put some people on date, good week. But then we realized Sunday that we are absolutely awful at working with members, I'm talking like almost no member visits this past transfer..super bad! Especially since President and Sister Schofield gave a training that we need to work with members! Dah! We are going to improve with that this transfer, we have already had a couple member visits so improvement is good!

Transfer news, I am staying ASL North for another transfer with Elder Camillo Gois! I am soooo excited for that! We are going to keep working hard! 

Seattle is amazing, it is starting to cool down, like 37 degrees the past couple days and rainy and snowy.

Lets see, thats about it, the work continues!

Alma 2:30-31, awesome scripture, Alma, a super awesome righteous dude prays for help in the midst of a trial! Right there while he was fighting he asked the Lord for help! and what did the Lord do? Gave him help! That is exactly what can happen for us! Trials are tough, but the Lord is always there to help us immediately!

Love you all!

-Elder Schoemig