tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14590042280334605712024-02-08T01:14:47.752-05:00Elder Jordan Schmeltzer, Ghana Accra West MissionJWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.comBlogger127125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-48987284373138249462014-03-03T12:28:00.003-05:002014-03-03T12:28:27.022-05:00And then there were 2Well this week things have started to change. The fact that I have 2 weeks left is finally setting in. Here in Ghana we have what we call "dying missionaries" - those are missionaries who just get so burnt out and lazy. I'm not one of them. However I would fall into another category called "tired." I'm extremely "tired!" I'm still pushing though. Still using the last 2 weeks to the best of my abilities.<br />
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This week I got another fresh copy of the Book of Mormon and started reading in Enos. It's been nice having blank pages. All my other copies are marked up like crazy and, I think in my mind, I get limited to what is already marked. I've been able to ponder completely new teachings and scriptures that I've read a lot but never seen because of all the other ink on the pages.<br />
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Today we played soccer with a few other districts in the Zone. It was awesome!<br />
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So as a missionary it gets very difficult the last few weeks when everyone you meet is not, at all possible, to be baptized before you leave. Just a small challenge that I have to deal with. President Hill expects us to be getting 10 new investigators each week. A new investigator is defined as "someone you've taught at least once and set a specific return appointment with.<br />
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We've been exceeding that goal the past few weeks. We've been finding so many new people and those who aren't prepared we drop and put them back into the Lord's teaching pool. A frustrating thing is when we feel like we taught at our best and felt the spirit testifying and they just don't want to leave their church. It's always sad but we just find more people.<br />
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I can see how this process of getting lots of new people is helping me to become an escalator missionary rather than an elevator missionary. In the past, we would do like 2 weeks of finding where we get a huge teaching pool and then for the next 2 weeks drop those who aren't serious and work with those who have even a tiny bit of potential. The whole process of missionary work has changed with President Hill and I'm very grateful for it. It's something wonderful and I'll be able to apply it in my life.<br />
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One man we found is named Phillip. He's struggling with the Word of Wisdom. We're going to have daily contact with him to help him. We called all of his family (his wife, sister and 2 young kids) and asked them how they would like it if his father stopped drinking. Every single one of them had a light of hope and joy in their eyes and they were all excited. It's not going to be easy, and I'm not going to be here for the end of it, but I'm excited I can be a small part in it. He did come to church on Sunday and loved it so much.<br />
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Reuben (brother Sakum's brother) is still coming to church. Ready to be baptized on the 15th, right before I leave. I'm excited to finish with a baptism.JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-69805732247103182392014-02-24T12:12:00.001-05:002014-02-24T20:24:57.794-05:00AN EXCELLENT WEEK!<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">What an excellent week!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I thoroughly enjoyed the mission tour. I got to do the Jeopardy with President Hill at my side. It was so much fun to do the game with him. I appreciate when he takes my ideas and runs with them. I really learned a lot as I prepared it, mostly about how to do things rather than just talk about them.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I'm proud to be able to say that I'm finishing strong! I set a personal goal to teach at least one lesson each day. Thursday we almost went straight back to the apartment after a mission tour with Elder Dube (from the Area Presidency). It was about 4:30PM and I realized that if we did went back to the apartment we probably wouldn't have gone back out. We each had a lot of stuff to carry but we made the agreement to go straight and see some people. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Because we sacrificed our will to God's, miracles came! We met a member on our way (Raymond) who decided to come with us. He helped teach and testify. We committed all of that group to come to church and to pray to get a testimony. Out of that group of about 5 people, one man actually did what we asked. His name is Abraham. He said he felt a peaceful feeling in his heart after praying. He's new to Christianity and loves feeling the spirit. Because he's new to Christianity he recognizes the spirit. He came to church on Sunday also! If we decided to go back to the apartment and relax for the night I doubt he would have gotten a testimony that fast and I doubt he would have come to church last Sunday. So sacrificing our will to God's does have incredible blessings because we're able to find them "one by one."</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Elder McCullough is doing great! I'm so glad he's pushing me to work hard and to be obedient. He has so much potential.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Christiana called this morning, she said her and her husband are going to be endowed in 2 weeks. I asked for permission to go through with them. That would probably be the most joyful experience I can think of. Literally watching them go through the finish line.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Things are great! Feeling so happy and excited!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">3 weeks left!!!!!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">[He sent pictures but they didn't download on his end like they were suppose to so he said he would try again next week with a different card reader- the mom]</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-58903565024490638182014-02-24T12:07:00.001-05:002014-02-24T20:31:56.450-05:00WHEN IS IT GOING TO BE WARM THERE?<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">When is the temperature going to get warm? I won't be able to handle the cold.</span><br />
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Well my week was great! Glad to say I'm still working hard and finishing strong!<br />
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We had a few rough days.<br />
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We had one big challenge this last week. We would have NOTHING to do in the evening from about 6 to 9. We continued to pray and counsel things that we can do. When we did that we noticed a huge difference. The Lord would place things to do in our way. Nothing like a member calling us and inviting us to come and teach a friend but simple things like we'd have an investigator who stays far ask us to come back for a return appointment. So again, <span style="color: #cc0000;">God does answer prayers!<span style="color: black;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Something interesting happened </span><span style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Sunday</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"> morning. We went to pick an investigator named Sarah. She had promised to come and we were excited. We got to Amasaman and parked our bikes. I had an idea to park and lock them to a power line near her house so after church we can get them easier. As we were walking close to her house we saw a man calling us far off. It was Moses, another investigator! I thought he was going to his church then I noticed the restoration pamphlet in his hand. I was so excited! We had comitted him but weren't able to see him at all during the week. We didn't think he would come. We went to pick Sarah but she wasn't at home. The storal of the mory is that the Spirit can work through us even though we aren't making a concious effort to follow it. It's always a great feeling knowing that you're living worthy of things like that. We just happened to be in the right place at the right time.</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"> <span style="color: #3d85c6;">I hope as you all read that ponder about in your life within the past few days or weeks when you've had similar experiences. </span></span><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"><br /></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"><span style="color: black;">Elder Mccullough is really pushing me to finish strong! It's a truly inspired companionship.</span></span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #cc0000; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"><span style="color: black;">Everything's looking good to divide the ward in march. The building is almost complete. Just left with a few finishing touches. The ward conference is scheduled for the <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423633544" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">9th of march</span></span>. If everything goes well my last sunday in Ghana (<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423633545" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">15th March</span></span>) will be at the Amasaman ward as it's first week! I'm pumped and I continue to pray for that to happen.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">My goal is to do family home evening each week and home teaching each month. I've gotten to learn a different way of doing FHE. Be prepared!</span><br />
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I'm so excited!<br />
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Thursday Elder Dube is coming for a mission tour. President Hill took one of my ideas (making a missionary jeopardy game) and ran with it! He gave me an assignment to prepare it and we'll play it in our meeting Thursday. I'm so excited for that. I'm nervous! Leading a game in front of a general authority. It will be good though. I'm gonna finalize everything tonight and tomorrow.</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">We talked for a good hour last night about that and missionary work. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">We went through a lot of the questions he helped perfect them with me. I have a lot of work to do to make them perfect</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"> I love when he just calls and chats. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I'll only email you in Ghana 4 more times after today. I might not even email my last Monday.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">[</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"><span style="color: red;">I assured him that he WILL email me that last Monday! -the mom</span>]</span><br />
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I got my itenary this week. </div>
TWO LAYOVERS????</div>
I fly to JFK then to Detroit then to st louis??</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-21179805983431536482014-02-24T11:54:00.001-05:002014-02-24T20:29:34.123-05:00MY LAST MISSION COMPANION!!!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">Well this week was excellent!</span><br />
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I started my LAST TRANSFER!!!!</div>
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My new companion is Elder Mccullough from Provo Utah!</div>
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I haven't taken any pictures with him yet, sorry. I'll send one next week.</div>
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He's great! He's about 6 months on mission. A fireball! He's very easy to get along with and we're sprinting my final weeks!</div>
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We did tons of finding this week. We got a lot of new people. None of them committed to church this week. They almost all committed to coming to church next week. That will be exciting.</div>
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As soon as we got back to the area from transfers we hit the ground hard. I'll be honest though, time has STOPPED! </div>
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That's how it is for the first few weeks of getting a new companion. We're still getting used to each other's teaching methods and stuff. He makes me feel like a legendary missionary. Every day he says he's learning from me. I'm learning from him also!</div>
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We set a goal this week to be more fun and free with investigators. We're going to start playing games at the end of lessons like go-fish and stuff. I saw it work in the past when I did it. They get to see the fun side of us rather than just the preachy side.</div>
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Got a few changes in the district. I'm excited! We're working much more effectively so far. I just gotta point everyone in the right direction and keep them motivated. </div>
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I'm proud to say I'm not a "dead" or "dying" missionary. I'm working hard until the end. I can feel the tiredness setting in but the end is in sight. </div>
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A new family moved into the ward into our area. We moved quickly after church and set up an FHE for tonight. I was afraid of it being too pushy but I saw the husband's surname was from Dodowa. We clicked and had some laughs. I'm excited for that!</div>
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I know you might not like it, but I ordered another suit. I saw Elder Robertson's gray one and I just couldn't resist. I pulled out money that was on my card, it should be plenty to last until I'm going home.</div>
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The exchange rate has been very good.</div>
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So yeah that's about all that's new.<br />
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{then there was more}<br />
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I'm working on making a Jeopardy game to do for a ward activity.</div>
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President Hill also wants me to let him know when I finish so we can do it as a dual or tri-district meeting.</div>
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I love when he takes my ideas and runs with them and points me in the right direction with them. It makes me feel great!</div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">I look pretty much the exact same as when I was in high school.</span><br />
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I noticed that this week. I haven't physically changed at all!</div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">I'm gonna hit up the gym when I get home.</span><br />
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is there a rec-center there?</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-10877450118237984282014-02-03T12:13:00.000-05:002014-02-24T20:26:51.017-05:00LAST TRANSFER WEEK!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">If I can chip in a few things that I learned from Elder Bednar this last week.</span><br />
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He talked a lot about agency. He said (and I'll quote it): "When you are baptized and make covenants you no longer have agency. It becomes representative agency. You give your will to God. Don't teach your children that agency is to choose whatever you want. In this church, we don't have the freedom to choose whatever we want. We have made covenants to God."</div>
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It made me think very seriously. Yeah we still have our choice but the consequences are much bigger than what we often expect. It's the covenants that allow us into heaven. </div>
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Just a small food for thought.</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I'm staying here in Amasaman for the next 6 weeks. I have a new companion (I'll get him on Wednesday) and if I'm not mistaken he's from Utah, a very stellar guy. I'll let you know how he is next week and include pictures.</span><br />
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I have loved serving with Elder Morrison. I hope I have another hard working companion finishing off my last leg of my mission!</div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">One thing I thought of when I saw your sandwiches ...I look forward to butterball turkey & cheese sandwiches!</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-68674858083175299772014-02-03T08:25:00.000-05:002014-02-03T23:07:44.016-05:00One by OneWell this week was excellent!<br />
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We got to take El-Shaddai to the Elder Bednar (Elder Bednar came to Ghana and hosted a missionary devotional this past week) member-devotional. He liked it! He didn't come to church because he traveled to eastern region.<br />
<br />
On Thursday we had our missionary devotional with Elder Bednar. Basically it was a very mature question and answer session. I was so happy because there's a few things I was struggling with spiritually and I went in with questions written on my notebook. By the end of it every question was answered. The way he formatted the discussion was very awesome. He would have someone ask a question such as "what do you find most difficult about being an apostle and how do you get the motivation to push forward?" He would then give an answer and apply it specifically to the person who asked the question. It was very edifying.<br />
<br />
He talked much about "one by one". Basically he said the Lord works one by one. He used the example, if he goes to Home Depot to buy nails to fix his house the Lord will lead him to someone who needs his advice or help. He said everywhere he goes he's looking for "the one".<br />
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It made me think more as a missionary wherever we go we should always be talking to people about the gospel. It's a lesser scale for me but still the principle applies to missionary work.<br />
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Things are going great here. We were greatly blessed with 5 investigators at church:<br />
<br />
1. Lydia and her 2 8-year-old sons. We've been working with her for about 2 weeks. She currently goes to the Church of Pentecost. She hasn't ever been baptized and she liked the church.<br />
<br />
2. William B. His wife wasn't able to come with him but he liked the church. We've been trying to work with him for about 2 weeks also. He's very spiritual and has had a lot of spiritual experiences in his past churches. For this reason, it's difficult because it's like telling someone they're not going to be saved when they believe they are. It's looking like he's going to progress though especially that he's been one time and has got to see the teachings of the church.<br />
<br />
3. Cynthia, We met her right by William's house. The first time we saw her (Friday) she gave us a seat without us even asking. She currently doesn't go to any church because she sees the corruption in a lot of them. She also loved the church and I see her progressing very well.<br />
<br />
4. Francis K. We contacted him a long time ago and have just been calling and inviting him to church. Finally he came. He's pretty old. He drives trucks for a living. The night we met him, 1 month ago, he bought us some juices which are not very cheap here. We really saw that he is a good person. He loved the church. He doesn't speak much English but enough to understand us. He's a tiny bit slow but he's extremely humble.<br />
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Overall I've seen this week, more than ever, that this IS the LORD'S work. He is hastening it and I am hastening my efforts so that I can be a part. He is bringing forth His prepared children and I get to be a tiny part of that. I love when the spirit can use me and work through me even though I fall short in so many ways. I have felt the Lord's love for the people of Amasaman. I feel a change happening in me once again.<br />
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Also, a small testimony: A few months ago I remember saying a specific prayer asking God if he will send either President Eyering or Elder Bednar. As Elder Bednar was talking about "one by one" I felt a very strong deep impression that he was sent specifically for me and to address my concerns. I know that God answers prayers and can do miracles. He literally sent an apostle to find me in Ghana to help me in the areas I was struggling. I feel God's love so much for us. If I have learned nothing else in the past few years, I've learned that God knows each of his children. He has ways and means of showing that love to us.<br />
<br />
Well, I have about 6 weeks left. I'm going to work so hard and finish strong. I'm so excited! It doesn't even seem real and so I don't really get trunky much. Things are looking great for the month of February.JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-16436407774811595982014-01-27T12:23:00.000-05:002014-02-24T20:32:27.423-05:00"If it's painful, get it all out"<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">
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This week was another "experience."</div>
It had lots of good and lots of bad. </div>
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I'll start with the bad, then finish with the good:</div>
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We struggled with the morning schedule this week. </div>
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We got a bit annoyed of each other and Thursday evening had a bit of an argument. We both went to bed angry at each other and at around <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_423633564" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">midnight</span></span> we both still couldn't sleep so we talked everything out. It ended up being a blessing in our companionship. It was a very small issue but we ironed everything out.</div>
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Friday morning one of the other companionship's has some issues and both privately came to me for advice. I told them not to go and proselyte until they talk all their issues out. They both didn't want to but eventually did. It was really good for them and they were both happy they did.</div>
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I put the subject of this email as "If it's painful, get it all out" because just like a nasty case of what we call runny tummy if you don't get it out while the pain is there you'll crap your pants while proselyting (which I've never done). A better simile would be each little annoyance and disagreement is like a piece of firewood. Some are small and some are large. If you don't get rid of them when they happen or shortly after, when a small spark of fire comes it will burn the entire place down. I think it's a great lesson for missionaries to learn. It will flow on into our lives because marriages, friendships, work relations and church assignments all have problems and we need to be able to resolve issues with ourselves as well as with others.</div>
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We also had an open venue street contacting activity. We went to one of the areas in another companionship's area and had some posters and just did street contacting. It's something that we hadn't done before and it was so great!</div>
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I showed up almost an hour late (GMT) and everyone was just standing around not sure what to do. Something in my head just said "let's get this rolling!" I didn't even talk to any of the missionaries and went and contacted someone walking by. It jump started the whole event. It was sweet! We got the phone numbers for 54 people in just about an hour and a half.</div>
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We had 0 investigators at sacrament meeting. That was sad but depended on their agency. Some had some legit excuses but some didn't. This next week we're expecting like 5 or more. It depends on a lot though. We're going to work very hard this week. We're going to earn all of the Lord's trust!</div>
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Overall I'm surprised at how fast last week went. As time gets closer and closer I have more and more of a desire to work hard. I keep telling President Hill, whoever my companion is next transfer, he's dead! I'm going to work his butt off.</div>
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I had a nice phone chat with president Hill for about 30 minutes on Wednesday. He asked me about my plans for my future career. Sadly I don't really have any plans. I told him a lot of the ideas I have. He gave lots of advice that was more like a reality flash of how difficult things will be. I hope to be very successful in whatever the Lord has in store for me. I'm hoping that everything just falls into place. That's how President Hill said his life worked out.</div>
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Well this week already is looking a lot better. We deep cleaned and re-arranged the bedroom this morning and we're ready to get things rolling!</div>
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I won't lie, I've changed a ton! I'm excited for y'all to see the change.</div>
<span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">My mission has made me very bold and frank. I think it's good but also some people get rubbed wrong by it. I just have learned to say things how they are.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">It's the way my trainer was.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">They say "if you don't change, change will change you"</span></div>
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well my time is done here</div>
I'll talk to you next week.</div>
<span style="font-size: 13.333333969116211px;">I'll be meeting Elder Bednar this week!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-78137271047361105192014-01-20T09:44:00.000-05:002014-01-20T22:47:29.291-05:00The Frog - Toad Thingy<br />
Jenny S.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>9:44 AM<br />
Tell me about the frog toad thingy....where was it? how big was it really and...<br />
<br />
Jordan Schmeltzer<br />
9:53 AM<br />
Kind of a joke, we were putting frogs in each others rooms. Elder Morrison and I are planning to catch like 100 and dump them through Elder Bowden's window. Not sure when that will be.<br />
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JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-4022421143690994592014-01-20T09:28:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:23:31.219-05:00My last mission birthday weekWell Tuesday was my birthday last week. Monday we went to KFC. It was so good!<br />
<br />
Tuesday we had District Council Meeting in the morning and then PEC in the evening. After PEC we went and got pizza. It was great!<br />
<br />
I got to enjoy my birthday after all!<br />
<br />
This week was pretty slow. Wednesday I went on exchanges with Elder Bowden. We worked hard and had a very effective day.<br />
<br />
This week Elder Morrison is taking the lead in everything. I'm going to be helping from behind. I'm excited for us to both learn as we do this. I don't think any of his previous companions have given him the opportunity to lead for an entire week, he will be great at it I am sure.<br />
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I was having some trials with some things in the apartment. I won't go into details about that but I found that in times of extreme difficulty the Lord uses that time to teach us and help us to grow closer to Him.<br />
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I wish I could show you my Book of Mormon right now, it's pretty crazy - all the things I've been able to learn through studies.<br />
<br />
One thing that was prominent this week can be found in 1 Nephi 21:14-15<br />
"14 But, behold, Zion hath said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me--but he will show that he hath not.<br />
15 For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee, O house of Israel."<br />
<br />
Basically I learned that at times we forget that the Lord loves us. Or something happens that causes us to stop feeling it. But if we turn to Him, He'll remind us that He never forgets. He'll allow us to see all His blessings. I experienced that this week. I guess I had, in a way, forgotten that the Lord loves me. Through all the trials that I faced this week, the Lord reminded me that He does love me and watches over me. I am, therefore, grateful for all the trials that I have and all the burdens that He gives to me. He loves me enough to give me difficult times as well as joyous times.<br />
<br />
We were blessed to have 4 investigators at church:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Kofi came again but needs more time until he's ready for baptism.</li>
<li>Stella came, after pushing so hard to get her to come. She didn't really like the church very much, she was expecting a charismatic church (dancing and clapping and singing)</li>
<li>Reuben who is a brother of Brother Justice. He LOVED the church! </li>
<li>Mariama who is Reuben's wife</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />
Each night I was praying that the Lord will allow the investigators to come to church despite my weaknesses and faults.<br />
<br />
El-shaddai wasn't able to make it due to work but he's planning on coming on Sunday. Each of these people are progressing toward baptism. Only Mariama isn't quite ready yet. She's kind of just following Reuben which is good. February is looking very good for all of them!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">KFC - Birthday Dinner</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvqLnacFDOvqXVmwGcFQS_odWy_Fjagv-yVdOUXiJfjI2er-x_CkXe6K-CE1SHE6-xgZgM_eG2WTQQz2KVWJodmu5PdgyVkMyQwDNSVTM5ENXdSF9iWUxxTrnuDQB3L0gw7K1R5RoKxE/s1600/DSCN0366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfvqLnacFDOvqXVmwGcFQS_odWy_Fjagv-yVdOUXiJfjI2er-x_CkXe6K-CE1SHE6-xgZgM_eG2WTQQz2KVWJodmu5PdgyVkMyQwDNSVTM5ENXdSF9iWUxxTrnuDQB3L0gw7K1R5RoKxE/s1600/DSCN0366.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frog - Toad thingy?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-67390190569982524762014-01-13T10:46:00.000-05:002014-01-20T22:08:05.416-05:00Alma 50:16 And thus ended the Twentieth year.<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well 2014 has been great so far! Still I'm learning tons every day and every week. Each day the bitter-sweetness of going home grows. I'm trying harder and harder not to even think about it. </span><br />
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Well most people would say another year has been taken from my life, but I would say another year has been added to mine.<br />
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This last week I would define as a diligent week. We changed our teaching styles and techniques. President Hill showed us a page in Preach My Gospel and advised that we (unless directed by the spirit otherwise) teach lesson 1 (The Restoration) and then move to lesson 2 (Plan of Salvation) and then move to lesson 3 (the Gospel of Jesus Christ) in that order.<br />
<br />
We weren't feeling very confident about it because normally we just go straight to Joseph Smith and the First Vision and then jump to the mode and manner of baptism. However as we followed the wise and inspired counsel of President Norman C. Hill miracles were brought to pass.<br />
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We met so many people!</div>
<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1118966787" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1118966787" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday</span></span> was exceptional. We visited a member who we re-activated. Brother Justice. He gave us a seat and said to wait here. He went to call his friends. We had a lesson with about 5 people and then he had a 2nd group of some of his other friends. While we taught his friends, his wife prepared some akple and pepper and fried fish and Brother Justice washed our bikes. He's very serviceable and it's humbling to see someone with that amount of faith.<br />
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We taught one of Brother Justice's friends named Elizabeth. She had her husband die about 2 years ago and had some of the same questions that often come with a death. That is "why would God allow this to happen to me if he actually loved me?" Through teaching her about the Plan of Salvation and the chance to do baptism for her deceased husband she was touched. I think she'll come to church this <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1118966788" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">coming Sunday</span></span>.<br />
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We taught another one of Brother Justice's friends named Reuben. He also had some of the same questions and he loved the Plan of Salvation. He was about to come to church <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1118966789" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Sunday</span></span> but he had an emergency trip to his hometown.<br />
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We have been teaching a man named Kwabena. He owns a bunch of shops around our apartment area. He is currently Jehovah's Witness but doesn't attend their church much. Teaching him the Plan of Salvation also gave him a desire to come to church. He came and I was looking at him and thought he didn't look interested.<br />
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When he was leaving he looked at me and said "I LOVE the church, there's no problem with me coming here every week." His baptism date is set for <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1118966790" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">1st February</span></span>.<br />
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Kofi also came to church. He too loved it! He was giving in class contributions (participating) and asking questions in the investigators class. His wife came last week but she couldn't make it this week.<br />
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1118966791" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span> was January 10th. It was Justice's son's 9th birthday. We found out he hasn't been baptized and so we feel that it was a gift from God. We're planning for his baptism <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1118966792" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">this Saturday</span></span>.<br />
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We had a successful baptism for Gifty! I got to preform the baptism. It's been a while since I've done an ordinance for someone. I felt the spirit as I said the baptism prayer and put her in the water.<br />
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We were able to get some new people this week because we simply talked to more people. Instead of giving people a pamphlet with our contact number at the back, President Hill has changed the definition for a "contact." He's included taking down their information, finding where they stay and also setting a specific return appointment. As we've adapted to this new definition the work has moved forward much more.<br />
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We come home at night satisfied but also exhausted. From now on, I'm going to work this way until the end of my mission!<br />
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Some pictures are included. </div>
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The first one is exactly how I would define Ofankor Ward. (the picture where everyone looks confused and is looking different directions) I love them all so much! </div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">The ward is due to split mid-March. We're working hard.</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: start;">The building is PACKED! I'm pumped for it and hope that it can be done before I return home.</span></div>
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Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes. It was a huge surprise to see way more emails than normal. </div>
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Love you all!<br />
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-Elder Jordan Schmeltzer<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-27058574903831341432014-01-06T07:56:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:18:08.289-05:00Happy New Year 2014<div class="MsoNormal">
First off, Happy New Years!<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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2014 is going to be a great year. I'm very anxious for it to
get rolling.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Tuesday we went to a stake activity for New Years. We had to
leave and be home by 9. It was still cool. There were TONS of YSA. It made me
super excited for the YSA when I get home. They had insane amounts of
food. <o:p></o:p><br />
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I look drunk in a lot of pictures lately<u> but I'm not</u>. I
think I've just been having a lot of fun.<o:p></o:p></div>
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New Years Day was excellent for proselyting we got a ton of
lessons.<o:p></o:p><br />
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We've been working with Kofi and his wife, Linda. We
did our very best to commit Kofi to coming to church. He said he wouldn't but his
wife committed. They stay right next to Bishop and he said he'd bring her (he
has a car) and when we got to church Bishop pulled up and didn't have Linda in
the car.<br />
<br />
I normally would be bummed but for some reason that time I wasn't.
Halfway through sacrament meeting she showed up on her own. Now I was very very
impressed because she's like 8 months pregnant so to get into a tro tro it was
a sacrifice. She loved the church though!<br />
<br />
I made the joke, I'll bless her baby
when it's born and she said she would like that. I personally would love that
if I was able.<br />
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Sacrament meeting on Sunday was a whole 'nother thing. It
marks my number 1 favorite sacrament meeting in my whole life. It was so funny!
Honestly the spirit wasn't there too much but a newly wed couple went up
together and were standing next to each other so awkwardly and saying how they
love each other. All these other couples followed. They would each tell a small
story and everyone was laughing. I've come to love these types of things.<br />
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We got to take a tour of the Chief's palace. It's pretty
awesome! I'll send some pictures. He said we're welcome anytime. It's pretty
unusual for a Chief. They're usually too caught up in the traditional fetish
beliefs. This one still does fetish rituals but also is a good Christian. We would
teach him but he has to be Chief until his last born son is around 20 years (10 more years). It's pretty much compulsory for them to do the shrine
rituals and stuff. We put our foot in the door in case the church needs
anything in the future.</div>
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It was a good week. We're planning on baptizing Gifty this week. It couldn't
happen last week. She's a 9 year old girl who stays with a member. She's very
smart for a 9 year old.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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The town is called Amasaman. it's a developing area. Lots of
nice houses, lots of uncompleted houses too. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The ward is due to split early march. They said the building
will be completed in the first week of February but projects never are
completed on time here - kinda like home I guess.<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We're working very well with the Bishop and some of the
other members.<br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
One less-active family that we helped re-activate is the Sekum
family. Brother Justice has really been helping us with the work. He gave
4 referrals last week. The only problem is that he's going out of the country
for work in about 1-2 weeks. He'll be gone for a year or more. (we find out
details tomorrow)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
A lot of good people we've been finding and teaching are
leaving for school or going to live with family members soon. It's an area that
lots of people are coming and going. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We're going to do better at contacting more people this week
which will give us more people to teach.<o:p></o:p></div>
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My President Hill Quote:<o:p></o:p></div>
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"I'd rather be burnt out than rusted out."<o:p></o:p></div>
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I'm going to burn myself out my last transfer. Whoever my
companion is, he is dead!<o:p></o:p></div>
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I forgot a story I forgot to tell you. A few weeks ago we were coming home and in the
back of the bus there was a drunk guy. We went and sat by him. Keep in mind I
LOVE drunk people - they make me laugh so hard! I laugh with them not at them, if that makes sense.<o:p></o:p><br />
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I started just messing around with him making him laugh and
then I saw his watch. I asked if he would give it to me. He smiled stupidly and
said "because we're friends, yes!" he gave me his watch and then saw
the watch I had on. (I bought mine from a candy stand that very day which
cost me like 1 dollar) I then gave him my watch.<br />
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So that's the watch I'll be coming home in. <o:p></o:p><br />
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I think that's one of my favorite stories that I've gotten.
And the moral of the story is don't drink alcohol, some white guy will end up
with your watch. <o:p></o:p><br />
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(You asked who we can pray for this week) :<o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />
<ul>
<li>Kofi and Linda</li>
</ul>
<o:p></o:p></div>
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They could use some prayers to get answers to their prayers.
They both committed to coming next week and I'm confident that if they come
once more, they'll be baptized<o:p></o:p></div>
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The bicycle repair man has a huge pile of old bikes and bike
parts<o:p></o:p></div>
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This mannequin is my wife, she won't tell me stupid things. Isn't she cute?<o:p></o:p></div>
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The blue wall goes into their shrine at the chief's palace.
We didn't go inside though<o:p></o:p></div>
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(Elder Schmeltzer has expressed a desire to becoming an owner of a motorcycle when he gets home, when we get this picture. I was glad to see that the kickstand was still down and he was enjoying a moment)</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-90724578771782781392013-12-30T10:48:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:26:54.900-05:00Don't worry, yesterday I de-wormed...<p dir=ltr>There's a surprise coming to the Amasaman District council Meeting this Tuesday.</p>
<p dir=ltr>President and Sister Hill are coming to lead us through our district meeting with their own agenda. The other missionaries don't know. I found out because I called President Hill on Sunday after church and asked him about when I can get my temple recommend renewed. He said he was already coming to our DCM to have my district and myself have some input on a new program we're going to design to improve our teaching skills.</p>
<p dir=ltr>I'm pumped that they want to use my district as kind of a beta test.</p>
<p dir=ltr>President also told me that after the meeting he'll be conducting what is called a "Temple Recommend Interview" which will restore me to my full temple attendance capabilities.</p>
<p dir=ltr>So on the last day of the last month that my temple recommend expires, President Hill will save the day! Cutting it close isn't it?</p>
<p dir=ltr>Well as you know this week was Christmas, a very nice time to be a missionary.<br>
The lady who's iPhone I borrowed (Charity) was upset when we weren't able to return the phone Christmas night. She missed a lot of phone calls from friends and family. She came and found our apartment the next morning and we gave her the phone and charger. We saw her later that day and found out she was about to paint her house. We offered to bring all the missionaries and paint her house to make up for what we did.</p>
<p dir=ltr>She was more than accepting for that offer. We went on Thursday morning and spent a few hours painting the inside of her house. It looked much better and her nephew who was visiting also wanted to come to the church after he learned about the church and saw us doing service. He was so happy but it's too bad he lives in Kumasi and we'll have to pass him off as a referral to those missionaries.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Doing the painting reminded me of when we painted the Utah house. I can totally do that as a job if I get a friend/business partner. That could make some serious money!</p>
<p dir=ltr>Anyway Boxing Day was the 26th, That's the day in Ghana where everyone exchanges Christmas gifts (boxes). We visited some members and get 4 huge meals, I was suffering with too much enjoyment!!</p>
<p dir=ltr>Today we went to Accra and went to KFC. It was very expensive, honestly not worth it. But it was nice to have a tiny taste of home.</p>
<p dir=ltr>I got worms during the week. Don't worry, yesterday I de-wormed. I'm ok now!</p>
<p dir=ltr>It was a great week and this week will definitely be way better! We have a lot of people we have to see.</p>
JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-53476388214703754272013-12-02T07:54:00.000-05:002014-01-20T21:45:19.409-05:00Yearning for Home Cooking?<div class="MsoNormal">
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I'll have a list of foods that BETTER be in the car when I get there. I'm thinking (but not very much) that we'll go to like golden corral that night, so I can get a little bit of everything. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You'd be surprised at how much I can eat now, and how fast.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I met a guy who works in an art market There's a wooden sculpture made from one piece of wood. It has 7 people joined together and it holds a bowl on top. I'll get one of those when I come home. It folds up and it would represent all 7 of us being sealed together. It would be excellent for a coffee table decoration or even dining table decoration.</div>
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I'll start getting all of that stuff in February so we've got some time to save and stuff.</div>
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JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-9105797793121045712013-12-02T07:06:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:19:38.829-05:00How to plan effectivelyThis week was full of learning and experiencing! One thing that I've noticed the Lord wanting me to learn is how to plan effectively. We've been setting our weekly and daily goals but not ever talking about them as we go. We noticed our numbers were extremely low on Thursday and sat down and discussed what went wrong. We couldn't really determine the problem but we found a solution. We set goals by breaking the day into "before lunch" and "after lunch" We push ourselves to get 2 or 3 lessons before lunch and then however many after. We don't let ourselves come back until we have reached those. It's really made me notice the importance. We're definitely going to do better at setting goals. We're going to work harder, smarter and better. We're going to get our numbers up and help other missionaries learn what works for us.<br />
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Impressive Elders<br />
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Elder Idemudia and Elder Saleh are doing so great together! They're both on fire and excited with the work. Things are going very well for their area. They're still getting a bunch of people to church and making friends with members of the ward and their investigators.<br />
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Elder Bowden and I had a long chat Saturday evening. He really reminds me of myself when I was about 8 months on mission. Elder Reeves is pushing to work hard. I really like that. He has integrity.<br />
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Elder Vinson came on Sunday. Oh my gosh! It was an interesting Sunday for him to come. One member bore his testimony about giving his dog a priesthood blessing, it seemed like everything that could go wrong did. I felt a firm impression that I've been sent to Ofankor Ward to help strengthen them. I'm very excited and anxious to have the ward split. I heard a rumor that they finally bought the building and now it's under renovations. I've been praying and fasting for it to split soon. Our area will be going very slow because of the distance. Nevertheless, it will be moving forward.<br />
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I'm continuing to improve on all the things I fall short in. I'm finding a new sense of commitment and desire to share my testimony with others. As a whole, the district is improving especially in finding and contacting. New investigators are going up, lessons are going up, sacrament attendance is going up and I'm sure baptisms will go up. I'm not saying everything is perfect but things are going great in the Amasaman District!<br />
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-Elder Schmeltzer<o:p></o:p></div>
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JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-8571310467788795672013-12-02T07:05:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:13:20.001-05:00Find yourself going through the motions?<div class="MsoNormal">
Let's see, we were just kind of going through the motions early in the week, not having very effective days. Thursday we sat down and discussed why we weren't getting to teach many people. We discussed for a while and didn't really find any reason why. We decided that on Friday we'd set a goal to see 3 people before lunch and 4 people after lunch. That's 7 lessons in one day. We pushed hard and forced ourselves to get lessons. </div>
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We saw it very effective when the same thing happened on Saturday and the very last guy who we met was a very cool guy, Phillip. He currently is an Elder of his church. We discussed all about the priesthood in depth. We taught in such a way that he really understood where we were going. We explained that after having the first vision, he received the priesthood because it had been lost for so many years. He couldn't really fight against it because we used scriptures and the spirit to back us up. We're going to try and visit him and help him to get some real intent.</div>
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We finally got our bikes yesterday. Now we'll be able to work a bit more effectively.<o:p></o:p><br />
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Christiana and her son came to church on Sunday. We had a Family Home Evening with her on Friday. She loved it. We cooked for her (made a simple stir fry) and then played some games. It was very fun. The previous missionaries had been pushing to get her to church for a while and I think she just needed that friendship. We've established that very well and she's told us some of her concerns without us even asking. I like that style of missionary work. It's so much more fun.<o:p></o:p><br />
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JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-44602049869916626272013-11-25T09:40:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:21:05.955-05:00Work harder, plan better and keep our heads in the game.<p dir=ltr>This week was tough!</p>
<p dir=ltr>Tuesday was spent (maybe even wasted) looking for someone whose house that we couldn't find.</p>
<p dir=ltr>Thursday I went on exchanges with another missionary in the district. I am not the only one with challenges.</p>
<p dir=ltr>We went to Nsawam (Elder Robertson's area) for their open house on Saturday. That was a lot of fun. I met one missionary from Lehi (I already checked, he didn't know anyone we knew because he moved there less than a year ago) and a few other new missionaries.</p>
<p dir=ltr>At church we had a missionary Sunday. I taught Sunday school class (something I don't like very much) and my companion sang in sacrament meeting. Some missionaries gave talks and recent converts gave testimonies.</p>
<p dir=ltr>We only had 2 investigators at sacrament. Some of the other ones who we were seriously expecting didn't show up. That's always sad because that's a big step to being baptized.</p>
<p dir=ltr>We're going to do better this week and work harder, plan better and keep our heads in the game.</p>
JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-30383323843306595012013-11-18T09:50:00.000-05:002014-01-22T00:22:57.253-05:00Transferred to Amasaman So first thing's first:<br />
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I got transferred to Amasaman. It's about 30 minutes away from my last area. I was excited to leave but at the same time it was bitter.<br />
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Some members had some shirts made for me, I got some new shoes to come home in, I got a surprise for mom and am working on some more things for everyone.<br />
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As soon as I got to the Amasaman apartment, I realized how fast the past 10 months in Odorkor went by. It was so fast and it made me pretty sad. Sunday in particular I was homesick, but not from home, but from my last area.<br />
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It was very hard for me to adjust to a new ward but then I just dived in. I met a lot of cool members and there's a lot of work that has to be done in the ward and I'm going to do my best.<br />
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This will probably be my last area. Elder Robertson got transferred to my neighboring area but he's about 30 minutes north of me.<br />
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My new companion is Elder Morrison from Bozeman Montana. He's awesome! Redhead and just a great missionary. He's one of the few missionaries who aren't aspiring to positions. There's some of the missionaries in the district who all they talk about is how they want to be district leader and zone leader. I remember when I was like that, it was stupid and I regret it and I see how as we grow more mature spiritually we care less and less about titles and positions and we care more and more about serving the Lord and others.<br />
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We are opening a new area so we did tons of finding. We met a judge and his family. We're going to try and have a family home evening.<br />
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President Hill is having us do family home evenings with members in order to get referrals and friendships. He went so far as to say "if you don't play a game, it's not family home evening."<br />
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So when I get home we'll be doing family home evening each week. I'll be enforcing that! We'll have fun also.<br />
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Since President Hill came we've been changing our style of missionary work. President Judd was a very spiritual person and we were always edified with his meetings. President Hill is different and he wants us to feel free, and to be light hearted but not light minded. I personally feel like I've become much more spontaneous and more fun while being serious with our message. I love it! They're two completely different types of mission presidents but I don't think we can say one is more effective than the other. I'm very blessed to be able to have him as a mission president also.<br />
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Things are going great here.<br />
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I bought a small pocket notebook that I'll write in every day for my last 3 transfers. Like a mini-journal.JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-58659349680464974172013-10-27T13:53:00.001-04:002013-10-27T13:54:37.624-04:00The Reason for my Mission<p dir="ltr">This week I really figured out why I came here. </p>
<p dir="ltr">There are many reasons why people serve missions. The most commonly known "correct" answer is: "to serve the Lord." I could have served the Lord as a home teacher going to school and getting married and stuff. Maybe not full time but I could have done it. </p>
<p dir="ltr">I didn't come because my parents wanted me to, I didn't come to get a title of 'RM'.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> I came so that I can be a missionary. </p>
<p dir="ltr">In Georgia we had excellent missionaries in my ward. I saw their examples and saw what they became. I wanted to be like them. As I've been here I've lost track of that but recently I've found it again. I am here to 'Be A Missionary'..... BAM</p>
<p dir="ltr">My trainer wrote on the walls of every apartment (why he did that I don't know): Don't just do missionary things, be a missionary. We are just doing missionary things if we're teaching people and just doing the things we need to. </p>
<p dir="ltr">One experience of this week that I was a missionary happened on Thursday morning. (I don't say this to boast or anything, just to show an example) We went and saw a woman named Elizabeth. She has been to church a few times but hasn't had the commitment necessary for baptism. Before we left the apartment I had the feeling to grab the consecrated oil. I grabbed it and we got there and she said she was sick. She said we should come back another time. We said ok and my companion started to walk off. I stood there in front of the door for a few minutes and called my companion back. I asked her if we could talk to her for a minute. She came out and I could tell she wasn't feeling well. If I was just doing missionary things I could have gone and knocked some more doors or seen someone else. I decided that morning that I would Be A Missionary. I asked her if we could give her a priesthood blessing. She accepted and it was nice.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There's no way I could truly Be A Missionary if I had stayed home.</p>
JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-4461743700789424212013-09-30T22:46:00.001-04:002013-09-30T22:46:57.409-04:00September 30th<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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Well a rough week, very long.</div>
We had a lot of failed appointments. We made the best of it though. </div>
Probably the highlight of our week was getting the Bishop to go with us after to church to visit some less-actives and members.<br /></div>
Transfers are <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_172093020" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">this Wednesday</span></span>. Probably won't effect me.<br /></div>
Things are going good here. Still working hard and doing my best. We had 3 at sacrament meeting. We were expecting a lot more. </div>
We got a call from someone we contacted a while back. He said he didn't have money to come to church so we went and met up and got a trotro (which is like a bus or taxi) to church with him. His name is Attah. We haven't taught him yet.<br /></div>
When we got to church one of the first people we saw sitting down was Wisdom. He's a cool guy we met a few weeks ago. He's still lukewarm, not too serious but not unserious. We're gonna make him serious. We weren't able to meet with him at all last week because he worked every day.<br /></div>
The last one at church was Gershon's son, Kwame. Atsu still brings them.<br /></div>
If you don't mind, could you send some prayers for Atsu? He's looking for a new place to stay (he was supposed to be out of his place by last week) and he's finding it difficult.<br /></div>
We're working with a lady named Sandra. Her brother is an OBGYN in Tampa Bay Florida. He's a member and return missionary and wants her to join the church. She had some excuse <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_172093021" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Sunday</span></span> that she was tired but we'll go and motivate her to come next week. She even has a car and can bring some people. I'm excited for that.<br />Things are looking good for my area. We're hoping to baptize like 3 this month.</div>
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One thing I've learned last week is humility.</div>
One morning there was a missionary in the apartment that got into a little argument with me. It went on for about 20 minutes. Finally I and my companion went out to go proselyte. We stood there on the porch for a few minutes. I wasn't feeling the spirit and didn't feel like praying. Then my companion whispered to me "I think you need to go and apologize."</div>
I looked at him and said "not now."</div>
After a few more minutes he said the exact same thing and encouraged me to just do it. I humbled myself and went in and apologized. It was hard for me do do but swallowing my pride had a great aftertaste.<br /></div>
It really was interesting to see that I have certain companions for reasons. I always pray to have companions who help me become the best that I can be and my current companion is helping me to do it.</div>
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(MOM UPDATE: I was also told to update the countdown...So I have and as you can see its coming soooon. He didn't send any pictures this week but he's really happy when people email him!)</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-86140586734913896432013-09-26T21:24:00.001-04:002013-09-26T21:26:51.166-04:006 Months Left<p dir="ltr">Things are great here. We baptized and confirmed Gershion. His son, Kwame wasn't able to be baptized. He has some concerns we have to go and resolve. Maybe next month though. </p>
<p dir="ltr">The next person we're working with is Elizabeth who we were teaching when Elder Dayley was here. She came on Sunday after some follow-up visits. She loved it and said she'll come next week. I'm excited for that. She'll probably be baptized not this Saturday but the next.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Another guy we're working with is Ebeneezer T. and his wife, Cicilia. Ebeneezer came to church on Sunday (better late than never) and he said his wife will come next Sunday. He's very strange to be honest, and I don't understand half of the things he says. He's good though. Very prepared. He said how he's just looking for the truth and until he came the first time he thought he had the truth but now he's seen the truth.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Atsu got a sweet new phone. He's been coming with us a few days. Love that guy!</p>
<p dir="ltr">Things are moving forward in the area. </p>
<p dir="ltr">So yeah we're still working hard and enjoying. I think I'm forcing myself to lighten up a bit and have more fun, I'm going to be light hearted but not light minded.</p>
JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-57389141079003844282013-09-17T08:22:00.001-04:002013-09-17T08:22:23.182-04:00Pressing OnwardWell, our lessons were low this week. We were invited to PEC on Thursday evening which was great. We had a commitment with our Bishop to go see less actives after sacrament meeting. (the Bishop is one of the few members with a personal car). It was a great experience even though we only saw a few people.<br />
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Friday we had a mission tour with Elder and Sister Vinson from Australia. They're in the Area Presidency I think. It was excellent! We were pumped and spiritually fed towards re-activating less-actives. I'm excited to start working more with less-actives. It's difficult but our goal from a missionary point of view is to re-activate them and then get one referral (especially from part member families). So far the ward hasn't really helped us very much but I feel the wind of change coming and I think the Bishop understands our view and goal for less-actives. I'm positive that he'll be giving us names to work with.<br />
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We felt like we should move Gershon and Kwame A.'s baptism to this coming Saturday (21st) and so we got them interviewed and ready to go for that. It's been a while since we have had a baptism. We're trying to get people for October to baptize.<br />
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-- On a side note from home. Elder Robert Gay of the 1sy Quorum of the Seventy was at our Sacrament meeting this past week. No business to attend to, just passing through as he was on his way from Washington DC to Nauvoo.<br />
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Jeff went up to him following the meeting and gave him the now famous Jeff greeting and handshake. Elder Gay said that he would be a great missionary, and Jeff said he had a brother on a mission. Elder Gay asked where and as a result of Jeff's beckoning, I was sought out and joined the conversation.<br />
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Elder Gay, just a coincidence I am sure, was the Mission President in Accra Ghana a few years ago. He is going to be there visiting with President Hill in 2 weeks. He was very excited to get Jordan's information and is going to be sure to visit with him.<br />
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We also discussed that our family friend from Houston, Giff Nielsen (who is also in the Seventy with Elder Gay) was going to be visiting with Jack soon - since Jack is out there in the area. He was excited about meeting another one of the family and said that he would get with Elder Nielsen and make the trip to Provo with him.<br />
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And as a final note, Elder Gay was in the Area Presidency for the Southeast US which included Chattanooga - such a small world. And all this was done as a result of Jeff being friendly and greeting someone whom he did not know. JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-13213034766622208812013-09-12T23:11:00.001-04:002013-09-14T08:18:49.561-04:00Pictures! Yippie! Atsu can balance a shovel on his head so well!
The two kids were an investigator's kids. Adorable!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmMa58WobR0E4FGA3ajy9XE8FaMmjiWR1KIKK-J1l78RuJFc9GRhMj_y-fS2Twxi_cerDuplt5auXpUxlz5yXKy7pcpjUNduOktpoXfgaHnsi5F7bD1sJU1ZX1HusH8wwl6zVnxrXhNQ/s1600/118_0783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKmMa58WobR0E4FGA3ajy9XE8FaMmjiWR1KIKK-J1l78RuJFc9GRhMj_y-fS2Twxi_cerDuplt5auXpUxlz5yXKy7pcpjUNduOktpoXfgaHnsi5F7bD1sJU1ZX1HusH8wwl6zVnxrXhNQ/s640/118_0783.JPG"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowkHAha7xVYXI19gQsqgaSlbcvcRDCJqguIqT6vWad7okWHGC7dp1OyUgUHKZh06lx8dZY56h8jmWRExc3wy2542ftLr93W5unZMWGvu6_4cfk3S_duNjftn_AF8ihWMZL1so-Zsvycs/s1600/118_0792.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgowkHAha7xVYXI19gQsqgaSlbcvcRDCJqguIqT6vWad7okWHGC7dp1OyUgUHKZh06lx8dZY56h8jmWRExc3wy2542ftLr93W5unZMWGvu6_4cfk3S_duNjftn_AF8ihWMZL1so-Zsvycs/s640/118_0792.JPG"> </a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; 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text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigo43eyPv06FY8f3Ulr38ulmAJWsjzyMM-ACgfpsbpIea4C39SJ0Bd2nhHC-HTtVDqKnr1BdK1QCXVA0j_y0DHODvs3rf9Q3ckUZZe3XauwwDEmL_PRkoQ4iavH9HpVAHef6rCWwKo5zg/s1600/118_0970.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> <img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigo43eyPv06FY8f3Ulr38ulmAJWsjzyMM-ACgfpsbpIea4C39SJ0Bd2nhHC-HTtVDqKnr1BdK1QCXVA0j_y0DHODvs3rf9Q3ckUZZe3XauwwDEmL_PRkoQ4iavH9HpVAHef6rCWwKo5zg/s640/118_0970.JPG"> </a> </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-8457535346177919512013-08-19T10:51:00.000-04:002013-09-15T22:42:45.083-04:00Training Again<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well this week was....
an experience.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was slow, tiring,
full of dull moments and the entire week I was lacking motivation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So last week Monday I
was with Elder Robertson. We went and saw Bosker and Christiana E. (recent converts).
Bosker asked me to give the closing prayer and I had the thought to put my
phone on silent just in case it goes off. Sure enough as I was praying the
phone was going off. Luckily I had listened to the small and subtle prompting
of the spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It was President Hill
calling. I was really nervous because I thought it was about some stuff that's
been going on in the District. I called back after the prayer and he had just a
casual conversation with me. I was really confused. At the end of the
conversation, he asked me to train a new missionary! That's exciting, this will
be my 3rd time in a row. Well technically 2nd and a half. Still that's going to
be almost 8 months of training in a row when I finish. President Hill was very
confident in me. He is very good at seeing people as they may be, not as we
are. I like it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So Tuesday, after our
District Council Meeting, my back was really hurting so I laid down for a few
minutes and rested. It was really hot and all our appointments failed. We saw
one guy named Jershon. He's pretty cool but has a little bit of repentance he
needs to do. He came to church on Sunday (we had Atsu pick him which
was a HUGE blessing for us). We came back in the afternoon and I was very tired
and hungry. We got some food and ate once back at the apartment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We went and saw a
referral up by the market area - about a 15 minute walk from the apartment. His
name is Ebeneezer T. He's super cool! He went to church in another ward last
week. He said he just wants to find the truth and from what he's seen, the
Church is the truth and he wants him and his family to be in it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Wednesday was another
tough day. Motivation was down, energy was down, I don't really know what was
going on. We saw a few people in the afternoon. We contacted a few cool people.
Walked a TON under the hot sun. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Thursday was Trainer's
Council. We got up at 5 AM and went to the Area Office. That was interesting.
President Hill is very cool. He's so bluntly bold about most things and just
says it how it is. I like it that way. He told us how the group that is
training is going to be his "observance leaders" where we are perfect
in some key topics that we discussed. (i.e. emailing for only 2 hours, not
having romantic relationships, not listening to music, not watching movies,
etc.) He doesn't want to have to talk about obedience so his theory is that if
we train the new missionaries to be perfect in those things, they will also
train other missionaries to be perfect in those things. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
It makes sense!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Friday was a bit
better. I realized I had been a bit homesick/trunky all week. We took Atsu with
us to see Jershon, it was a nice lesson. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Saturday we had the
All-African service project in the morning. We went to the market and swept and
cleaned up trash. We all had the "Mormon Helping Hands" vests. I
think it made an impact on the area. A lot of people saw us and made comments.
A lot of people asked who we were. We came back and had to take a nap, we were
so tired. We bathed and prepared and then we went to the church for a recent
convert/investigator activity. We got there at about 3:30 in the afternoon,
they said it would start at 4. Atsu was there by 4 and apart from him there was
NO one else - it was embarassing! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We started the
activity an hour or more late. We watched "finding faith in Christ"
and it was alright. By the time it ended, it was too late to see anyone so we
came back and prepared for church. </span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Before church, we had
to pick up an investigator named Rosina B. Now we've tried picking up Rosina 3
weeks in a row previous. Each time something small came up. We decided that we
had to wait for her to bath and bath the children and dress them and walk with
her. She has never been and didn't know where the church was. The last 3 weeks
her excuses were the same almost. One time she was cooking (I think she really
forgot) another she said she was sick (again, I think she just forgot) and
another she wasn't around. Anyway we were 30 minutes late for church but we
brought her. She loved it so much. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This month I don't
think we'll have any more baptisms. Next month however it's looking very, very
good. We have like 3 or 4 lined up for the first week if all goes well. I'm
excited for that. We've been in a rut where we spend the month preparing people
for that month and not looking forward, when the next month comes we have
nobody who's been to church to work with. Now we're preparing people for next
month and when next month comes we'll prepare people for October. So on and so
forth.<br />
<br />
I'm learning a lot! My studies this week have been as I read the Book of
Helaman. Now in Helaman chapter 5, some form of the word 'remember' is used 15
times. Throughout all the Book of Mormon it is used 240 times. It's one of the
most important words in the English language. Mostly because we need to
remember our testimony!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; margin-bottom: 12pt;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Now In verse 40 and 41
of chapter 5, I noticed how it says "cry unto the voice, even until ye
shall have faith in Christ." Now what happened here in the Book of Mormon
was Nephi and Lehi were imprisoned and as they were in prison they were
inflamed. All the people in the prison had a cloud of darkness put over them but
they could still see Nephi and Lehi. They asked Aminadab (a less-active member)
what to do. He told them pray until ye have faith. As they did that, not only
was the cloud of darkness removed but they were also inflamed with fire. So
whatever our "darkness" may be in life, pray until your faith
increases and not only will your burdens be lightened but you will see
miracles. Keep praying! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Well this week is
looking very good. Tomorrow I might be going on companion exchanges with Elder
Robertson. I'm not even too sure about that yet. But my motivation is back, the
spirit is back and I'm ready to roll again! We're starting to work with many
less active members. President Hill is having us collect 3-5 names of less
active members each week from the Bishop and we go visit them and teach a
message that Bishop prayerfully selects for them. We haven't really been able
to visit them yet but we sure will this week. I'm excited to start bringing
them back and if we do it right, they'll bring their friends.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Here goes another
week.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">-Elder Jordan Schmeltzer</span><o:p></o:p></div>
JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-11976905823555588942013-08-13T07:29:00.000-04:002013-08-13T07:29:00.577-04:00Stepping Up - Working Harder & SmarterWe did a lot of finding this week! Got a lot of new people. We're going to follow up with them and see how this week goes. It's looking promising.<br />
<br />
We got invited to go to PEC on Thursday. It was nuts! We're doing all that we can to get on the same page as the ward.<br />
<br />
I'm learning a lot about being bold with other missionaries. I've learned to be bold with investigators but being bold with other missionaries is somehow difficult for me. I guess the reason is that it will end up causing more contention sometimes. The fear needs to go in the back of the cart and let the faith drive the wagon.<br />
<br />
President Hill is really working us hard! He's having us get 3-5 less active names from the ward each week and we go and visit them. Up until this week we haven't been able to get those referrals. We got our 3 this week and we're going to be visiting them during the week and reactivating them. One is named Frank S. We've been teaching him already a few times. He's a tailor. He made me two sets of dress trouser. The other two are named John A. and Michael A. I don't really know much about either of them. Let's hope all goes well. Nothing big really happened this week. Same old, same old.<br />
<br />
We taught a total of 35 lessons this week. Usually we get around 25. We worked our butts off! We worked smarter this week as well as harder.JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1459004228033460571.post-61574112825939287432013-07-29T09:12:00.000-04:002013-09-15T22:47:25.755-04:00Leadership is stessfull<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">President Hill,</span><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC;">Odorkor</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span><span style="background: white;">ward
is doing well! I was pleased to see so many recent converts at sacrament
meeting show up before the long time members.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">We had
an interesting experience in the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>D<span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC;">istrict</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span><span style="background: white;">on
Tuesday. I hadn't really planned any official instruction for<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC;">District</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span><span style="background: white;">Council
Meeting, but I thought it would be a good idea to practice/review the written
lesson plans. We did some role plays. Personally, I hate role plays but now I
have a testimony of them. We were teaching the restoration in 5 minutes or
less. I was the investigator (acting as someone we taught in the week previous)
and two Elders were the missionaries. First, they go into Christ
establishing a church and the nature of God. It ended up taking about 10
minutes and wasn't a very good lesson. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We then counseled as a<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>D</span><span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">istrict</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">on how it can improve. We decided, going straight to Joseph Smith and
the restoration is much more effective! We practiced again. The second time it was
much better. My companion and I started putting those short powerful lessons
into practice. We were surprised! We got to see more people, we really saw all
the concerns they have clearly. We can see who's serious about our message and
who's not. The spirit was really leading our DCM. One missionary mentioned how
it was the best<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>D</span><span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">istrict</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">meeting the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>D</span><span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">istrict</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">has ever had. I was so happy that the Lord took
control of the meeting.</span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">It's stressful being a
leader. I'm really trying my best. I struggle with being bold with
missionaries, my fear is that sometimes correcting people actually causes a
much bigger problem, especially if they're not humble. I think it's like when
I'll be a father and have a stubborn 17 year old son who doesn't want to listen
to me.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">My
companion is doing great still. We're working on improving our lessons and
teaching skills. We're going to try and get a 5 minute lesson plan for lesson 2
and 3.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><br />
<br />
<span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC;">Odorkor</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span><span style="background: white;">3
(Elder Robertson and Elder John) have had a rough week. They were only in their<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC;">area</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span><span style="background: white;">a
few times this week due to companionship exchanges and going to Accra on
Thursday. They did well if we take all those challenges into consideration.</span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="il"><span style="background: #FFFFCC;">Odorkor</span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><span style="background: white;"> </span><span style="background: white;">2
(Elder Joseph and Elder Kanu) also had a challenging week. I think they're
learning patience</span></span><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Well we're finding,
teaching and baptizing! The Lord and the members can really trust us. Even
yesterday, after church, a member invited us over and had the TV on. It was
some awesome action film. At the beginning of my mission I would have asked him
to turn it off straight away but I guess over time I've become content with
things like that, which is wrong. Brother Ewudzie asked us if the movie is ok
and I felt compelled to ask if he has anything else, particularly a church
movie. He said he had 17 Miracles. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Nobody wanted to watch
that, including myself. I had never seen it but had heard a lot about it. I
told him that we'll watch that instead. Some missionaries weren't happy with
that decision. By the end of the movie we were all feeling the spirit. I told
them "now that was a much better movie to watch." It's tough to make
decisions when people are against you. I took courage and knew what we were and
weren't supposed to do. The blessings came from doing what's right.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white;">My
companion and I will be bringing another candidate for a special interview on
Thursday. I think we'll also bring a member to translate.<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">I'm
pleased with my work. I'm working diligently. Teaching short powerful lessons
makes the work much more exciting and lively. It shows the importance and
foundation of our message.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">In my
studies this week, I read in Moses<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="aqj"><span style="z-index: -1;"><span data-term="goog_2118164899" style="z-index: 0;" tabindex="0">5:42</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> that
Cain had a son named Enoch. This is a different Enoch than the one from Seth. I
thought to myself "Satan really does have a counterfeit for everything
good."<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background: white;">I also
read in Moses<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span class="aqj"><span style="z-index: -1;"><span data-term="goog_2118164900" style="z-index: 0;" tabindex="0">5:23</span></span></span><span class="apple-converted-space"> "If
thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted. And if thou doest not well, sin lieth
at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee" <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background: white;"><span class="apple-converted-space"><br /></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">If we are busy doing good
things, we'll never need to sin because we won't have time for it. Now I see
why you said you'll feel like a failure if you have to talk much about
obedience. If we missionaries are so busy in good things, we'll be effective.
The Church really is true!</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="background: white;">Thank
you for all that you do. I really appreciate all the encouragement and advice
and counsel. May God bless you until next week.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
<span style="background: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; float: none; orphans: auto; text-align: start; widows: auto; word-spacing: 0px;">-Elder
Jordan Schmeltzer</span></span></span><o:p></o:p></div>
JWSchmeltzerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01215521807150089001noreply@blogger.com0