October 16 2011

Hey!

We should all know by now that writting is NOT my strength, I've been pretty bad at keeping up with this and I apologize.  Life as a missionary in LA is going pretty great.  Newest thing, We are working with a 16 year old boy from Peru.  He had meet with missionaries there and when he moved here one of the first friends he made was a member of the church that invited him to join him on Sunday. He has been coming for quite a few months and we were able to sit down with him and ask him if He would like to be baptized and he said yes.  He is really smart and has wanted to be a member and a priesthood holder for quite sometime now. We are super excited for him! =] 

A little story... So, When someone is a missionary, they have certian rules.  One rule being that we are not permitted to entire into the home of someone of the opposite gender if an adult of our same gender is not present. ....

The other day we went to visit an older member of our ward so that we could introduce ourselves.  His name is Brother Berggren, he is 94 years old and lives on his own an a 2 floor home.  He is hard of hearing and very active, infact, he gardens and has all of his own carpenter tools in his workshop that he uses daily.  When we meet him at the door he invited us in, which lead to us explaining our mission rule.  He was pretty much done with us at that point and said, ' see you later, I've got to get to work planting my tree.' ... So we asked if we could help, he said no but we insisted and finely he let us.  He said he was going to get some fertilizer in the backyard, except he never came back so we went to find him.  He showed us his back yard and since we were over there he decided to show us his garage and his workshop.  When we were just about finished with our tour, he said, "well, now your in my garage...(closes the garage door with the clicker) and now your in my house! I tricked you, your locked in, I guess  your just going to have to take a look around the house (chuckling)."  Mom, Dad, don't worry, the spirit said it was fine. :]  He is just one of the sweetest old men.  He wife past away 3 years ago and he loves doing work on and around his house.  He has numerous canes that he has made and they are spread out all around the house. 

I'm surrounded by amazing, funny, excentric, loving, giving people.   Moments like this can happen more and more as we love and serve one another and take the oppertunity to just enjoy the things that life puts in our path.  Don't freak out if you get lost without a map while you are going to a mission event to a location completely unfamiliar to you and your half an hour late.  Don't go after your companion with a knife after they sneek up on you and scare the stuff out of you while your cutting brownies... laugh, enjoy the moment and make it a memory to look back on. haha....so maybe those things happened to me... ;)

I hope your all doing great! I love you and I hope you know how much more Heavenly Father loves you.  We are his children, he has high expectations and he knows our potential.

<3

gabi

9/26/2011

Family, Friends =]

 

Life has been wonderful.  Here we go, some of the happenings in West L.A.   The Westdale 2nd Ward is one of the most versatile groups of people I have ever been involved with.  They are incredible!  This past week has been pretty fantastic.  Tuesday night, the 20th, my companion and I went tracting around Culver City and not having much success except for the few polite conversations ending with 'I'm not really interested but thanks,' as we were walking to the next house my companion spotted a woman pulled over to the side of the road trying to get a desk into her mini cooper.  We asked if we could help and she let us and asked what we were doing. My companion simply stated that we were talking to people about Jesus Christ.  She invited us to come over for tea (herbal) and said, I want to hear what you have to say. It was wonderful! We are still working with her but we will see where it goes.

Also, my compaion, Sister Bodily is just wonderful.  She made sure that I felt like it is my birthday.  It was a wonderful day.  We had Visitor Center Training in the Morning and everyone sang to me, then we headed off to do service for a old folks home in Santa Monica.  We push the residents down to the Farmer's Market and spend some time with them.  Wednesday I was lucky enough to be matched up with Jean,  she has now become a friend of mine and we had a wonderful time.  For Lunch, My companion and I had packed a picnic and we sat on a look out off of Ocean Ave.  It was beautiful.  The lessons and people we saw after that went perfectly and the dinner that night was to be with the Krantz family.   They spoiled us rotten.  We got sent home with a ton of food and I was sung happy birthday. They also gave me a beautiful bookmark for my scriptures. Later in the week we had the opporitunity to help Randy Hull get ready to be baptized.  He was baptized and confirmed this weekend and it was a wonderful experience and uplifting for everyone involved.  My companion and I and another sister preformed a musical number and we heard that it pretty good so I was content (I'm thankful Heavenly Father answered that prayer for me).  So far so good!  Of Course there are still times that aren't too wonderful and that I wish I could bury myself in a hole but the Lord is always there, always listening and waiting for me to ask for his help.  I am frequently reminded of all of you who make my life the best it can possibly be and I'm thankful to you all. 

with love,

your missionary. 

Gabi Letter 5/23/11

Let me start by saying, I love being a missionary. I've figured out why everyone says it is the best time of their lives... because it is one of the only times in our lives when we are completely dedicated to the Lord and striving to live his Gospel so strictly.  I pray that I'll be able to enjoy life this much after the mission as long as I continue to strive to live the Gospel as much as possible...
This week has really been full of miracles.  We have 3 baptismal dates in the works starting as of this week.  Lisandro is an investigator that we have had in the area for quite sometime now.  He really wants the blessings that come with baptism and is working to find a job and another place to live in order for him to be able to be baptised.  Israel is 27, from Mexico and his parents and brother are members of the church.  His Brother Served a mission and he looks to his example a lot in his life.  He already believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and we were able to extend him a baptismal date during our first meeting with him!  He is really awesome and has a lot of questionsand a lot of faith, which we love.  Ricardo is 19 and he lives in the projects.  He is another investigator that has had a prior baptismal date but wasn't able to make it due to some habits he is trying to kick.  He is really a great kid, he just doesn't see a lot of potential in himself or his abilities even though we can. (That is how God feels about all of us times a million).  We have also had the opportunity to work around our area in the evenings recently and we have had a lot of great lessons on the street and as we knocked on a few doors.  We were able to set an appiontment to meet with a man named Hubert (about mid-30s) he has spoken with missionaries before and really wanted to learn more.  We are really excited about the progress we are seeing and I am learning so much from Hermana Bustamante.  She is an amazing missionary, she really cares about the people and the quality of our work and she is a wonderful companion.   Key to any great realtionship - self improvement.  Work on yourselves, become a better you and as both people do so things will work out as God intends them too.

((((******This is in response to a comment left last post.  If you leave comments here I will send ANYTHING from ANY of you to Gabi and she'll reply back here!!))))

To Brother and Sister Page:

I LOVE YOU and I'm so thankful for you and your family in my life and for the support and encouragement I have ALWAYS recieved from you.  This isn't a nice long letter but I couldn't go on without saying thank you. Love,

Sister Schumacher

Gabi Letter 5/15/11

Hi!
So, Maybe I'm a bucket of tears right now... haha.  I opened my mail today, one giant envelope from my Camp Springs family - Relief Society.  And I began to think, is it really all done?  Is my little branch REALLY being closed down?  Heavenly Father gives us things and takes them away to help us to grow and ache and recognize the good we have.  My tears, they are from the stretching my heart has to do.  I LOVE that I even had the chance to be a part of such a difficult and maturing task of starting  a Branch and putting my heart into it.  The people I have meet there are my family and some of my best friends.
I remember the day that the stake president, President Page, called my family into his office and asked us to help start a branch.  We had been living back in Maryland for 2 years and I had JUST made some friends in the Ward we were in. (I was the type of kid that was a bit uncomfortable about approaching strangers so finally having a few good friends was a big deal for me, especially being kinda new to the area). To say the least I was NOT happy about this request but Dad's response to my gripping was 'the Lord has asked us to do this so we are going to do this'.  I was not allowed or able to argue that.
There was a lot asked of everyone who was in attendance and no experts on how anything was to be done but we did what we could.  I was not the best at teaching lessons or being a leader.  I was a brat, stubborn, and lets be honest now - Who doesn't know about my desire to bite back at anyone who bit me first? (you could say I was very much a follower of the law of Moses, an eye for an eye anyone?) not very Christlike. haha
God doesn't call us to serve him because we are perfect or the best qualified.  He does it because he knows it is what we need to draw nearer to him.  We don't hear about the great faith of that random boy in the scriptures who didn't except the challenge the Lord was giving to him,  We do hear of how Moses was able to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt because he had faith in what the Lord was asking of him though.  I have learned SO much from everyone in my small familiar little branch full of people who just struggle with life, but were willing to do what God was commanding of them.  Among those things: how to take on challenges, overcome weaknesses and difficult circumstances, love, teach, have patience, etc.  It has been the BEST preparation I could have had before coming on a mission.
Which is kinda ironic because I have had a lot of changes the past few months.  Since in LA I have had 4 companions in the past 6 months, I have worked in 3 wards, and I have had 4 areas.  It has been interesting, hard and amazingly rewarding.  My current companion is Sister Bustamante from Spain.  She is amazing and we are learning so much together.  I don't have my camera cord with me today but I promise to send pictures from the past few months to give you some visual aid. ;)
I love you all and I'm thankful to have you in my life.

Sister (gabi) Schumacher

Gabi Letter 5/2/11

Hello all! <3 I know it has been quite some time since I have posted, SORRY!!!! Mission life is busy and from those who have sent me letters and I have yet to respond, SORRY!!! again, I have a list of you I'm working my way through. I will definitely respond, promise.  If I don't, blame my forgetfulness, it is not intentional.
So, a lot has happened with in the past few months! I have had 2 companions within the past 3 months and my current companion, Sister Stout, is heading home.  Come May 11th I'll have a new companion, I'll keep you posted.  Some things about Sister Stout, 1) she is just awesome and so fun, 2) it's cause she is #15 out of 16 Kids! haha, that isn't the only reason but I thought it would fun to through that in. If your wondering, all of them are from the same 2 parents and there are 2 sets of twins. haha.
The area we are in right now is called Brentwood, it is a very nice area and we just love our ward so much!  The ward mission leader is Brother Smith, he is fairly young and he and his wife are just great.  Brother Smith is always doing what he can to help us, as are the Ward missionaries and other members.  Even though we do have a lot going for us in that aspect we are having a bit of a difficult time finding anyone that really wants to make a serious commitment or take what we are teaching and really apply it.  We are praying a lot and doing our best so we know we will find someone soon. =]
The Visitor's Center is awesome as well.  These past few weeks we have been setting a lot of goals and working on a lot of different aspects in the Visitor's Center that we want to improve on.  I love healthy progression. Last night we had a concert by Sister Fonokalafi's cousin (she is one of the Sisters in the Visitor's Center and one of my best friends).  It was amazing, he invited his friends - Zion's Voice- to come in and perform with him.  I was blown away.  I really love seeing people's talent come out and shine, it is such a gift to me!  I feel like there is so much I want to be able to do and learn, for example - play the ykelele, piano, learn how to sing properly, etc. hahaha. I'll get there.
I have just been loving this experience and I'm so thankful to my Heavenly Father for this time to grow and learn and to become more like the person he wants me to be. I love you all and I'll write more next week! PROMISE!!!!
Hermana/Sister Schumacher

Gabi Pictures!

Gabi Letter 4/18/11

"Let me tell you about some great stuff that happened this week.  In my mission we have a goal of inviting people to be baptized in our first lesson with them.  We invited one of our investigator's to be baptized on May 8th and she said yes!  Her name is Debby and she is very sweet.  She went to church on Sunday as well and had a great time.  We also had the opportunity to contact a referral named Della, she turned out to be a Member of the church who was baptized when she was 8 and her name was Bella. She said she really wanted to get back to church, but didn't feel comfortable going.  We encouraged her to go and she did!  She said that it was great, that she got a lot of attention from the members!  We also taught Brother Dover.  He is a reactivating member of the church.  He is so sweet and so sincere and everything we teach him, he applies to his life.  It is great! 

Out here they do this thing called a Mini-Mission.  It is for youth and single adults, ages 16- 24?  My companion Sister Stout and I were choosen to do it this weekend and we were paired up with a girl named Stephanie Calanche, she is 19 and Guatamalan.  She was so super sweet and an amazing missionary!  We had such a great time with her and we are definately going to stay in contact with her.  I'm doing great!  The mission is such a wonderful place to grow and learn and to have the self-improvement I want! hopefully, lol.

 

stay positive, be happy, be motivated. Have a desire to do the little Things Heavenly Father asks us to do.  "

Gabi Letter March 21, 2011

First, Thank you mom and dad for giving me all the details on Dmitri's Graduation!  MY big brother is now a really cool rank in the United States Marine Corps (Dmitri, you know I've never been good at all the termanology).  I am so thankful for the family I have and the example ALL of you are to me.  Do you realize how amazing God is?  Seriously! It blows me away when I being to really think how much he has given me.  Ok mom, here it comes, are you ready??? your always ready for these words (haha)... You were right.  I do appreciate my family a LOT more now that I am serving a mission.  As I've been away from home that is the one thing that keeps coming back to me, Heavenly Father must really love me to give me all of you.  You inspire me to be a better person and to work my hardest to give other families what WE HAVE.   In the MTC(missionary Training Center) the speakers and teachers were always saying, Heavenly Father has already given you all the training you really need, your just here to tune in to it. =] 

These past 6 weeks have blown by fast, I will be back on the Visitor Center schedule come 2 weeks.  We aren't sure what is going to happen with our areas or our companionship but we are hoping we can stay together for a bit more time and learn to get a hold of what we have a bit better.  It really is a challenge to keep track of 2 different areas and looking to work with two different types of people... the types being 1) spanish speaking families and 2) single 18-30 yr olds that speak english, talk about complete opposites.  We have seen some great potential in a few individuals but they all seem to be going out of town for long periods of time =/ lol oh well, we will just keep studying, praying, teaching when possible and searching. I have come to rely on past experience and examples of people in my life to help me to understand people and their needs.  More then anything, I've come to rely on the spirit to give me the right push or thought in doing what needs to be done.  How often do I want to just say what I want to say? All the time! BUT usually what I want to say and what needs to be said are two different things and I'm trying my best to heed into those still small hints.

I was reading in Helaman 10 this morning and verse 4 really stuck out to me.  It is the Lord talking to Nephi and telling him WHY he is going to bless him after Nephi had some struggles with his people and their wickedness and after he had warned them.  The Lord tells him "4^aBlessed art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how thou hast with ^bunwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee, unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine ^cown life, but hast sought my ^dwill, and to keep my commandments. "

SO, as the missionary I am, I want to challenge everyone.  Put yourself in Nehpi's place, what has the lord asked of you? Why aren't you doing it? I thought about it a lot, what are the things the Lord is commanding me? Why aren't I doing it? The Lord NEVER gives a commandment without promising our happiness.  Being obidient doesn't mean you are you, it means your a better you (another lesson I've learned).  I love you all and miss you and constantly have you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

Love you with all I got,

Hermana Schumacher

Gabi Letter 2/28/2011

Hello All,

 

=]

 

So, these two weeks have been moving pretty smoothly concidering all of the changes and excitment that has been going on.  This transfer (missionary term meaning a 6 week period) I have recieved a new companion, Sister Parra.  She is from Mexico and she has been on her mission for about 10 months.  I am no longer working in the Visitor's Center all though Elder MacDonald says that he would love to have us in when ever we'd like.  I am also the Designated Driver because Sister Parra isn't certified to drive. I did not switch areas but they did add on to the already HUGE area I have and can not cover more then a 5th of.  I am still serving in La Cienega (Spanish Ward) and now I am also serving in Santa Monica 3rd Ward which is in english and for singles, AND it covers the whole English Stake. ha.

I think Heavenly Father is trying to prepare me for something... lol

 

The 1st picture attached is of me, Hermana Parra and Katie who is now a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints as of Sunday, Feb. 27th 2011.  

2- Feb. 27th 2011 Hermana Parra, Katie and I, at Katie's Baptism.

3- " " Elder Mcbride and Katie in their Baptismal Clothes and us missionaries

 

For those that were curious,  my area is San Vicente and it covers Santa Monica, Malibu, Brentwood, Beverly Hills and Bel Aire.  When they added Santa Monica 3rd ward, they added on Culver City and I'm not sure of what else just yet. haha.  It's interesting to be teaching in English as well now.

I'm learning A Lot.  In fact, during studies I have been really soaking in the October Conference talks in the Ensign and the Book of Mormon.  I love it!  I totally get why all the girls in Seminary wanted to marry Captian Moroni now! hahaha.  I want to invite everyone to take sometime and pick up the Book of Mormon.  If you like reading, you'll love it even more.  

My companion and I were talking this morning and we just love how we are so luck to be living and serving right now in Los Angeles and we know how well the Lord knows us and how much he loves us.  It is incredible to me how much he knows my heart and the things he puts in my path to make it better and more pure.  I love you all and think of you often.  Everyone I have come in contact with has impacted my life and made it that much better, even if they weren't nice and I didn't like them much, Thank you.

 

Love,

 =P

Hermanita Schumacher

February 7 2011 PICTURES!

The past few weeks have been great and rough all at once!  My companion, Sister McCollough, and I are working hard and trying our best to find people who are truly interested in learning the Gospel.  BUT that isn't what most people are looking to do now a days. Ha, go figure.  We have had some really great experience anyway.  I'm pretty nervous about these coming weeks.  We are getting ready for transfers and Sister McCollough is expiring this transfer =P  She has been an awesome companion and I've learned a lot from being with her. I'll be honest, I haven't wanted to think about what is going to happen when she leaves... Are they going to keep me in my area? Are they going to take me out of it?  Who is going to be my companion?  Will we get along? gosh. haha, I know it will be fine but these are the thoughts of a missionary who's world is being twisted by transfers. hahaha. This is a pretty short message but most of them are.  I love you all and think of you often.  If you want to know specifics you'll have to write me and tell me what you want to know about. hahaha.  Peace out!

MTC companions.  Hermana Ochoa & Gonzalez

MTC District

Visitor's Center Training, on Splitz on Temple Square with Sister Gunter

Hike to the Hollywood sign

Funny Stop sign in my area =P

Brother and Sister Larsen on their last day in the Visitor's Center

Me and my First District at Christmas

January 24, 2011

Here is what has been happening with me (summarized).  This past week has been full of miracles,  We have been teaching Alejandro for a while now and he finally excepted a baptismal date last night.  He will be baptized the 6th of Feb. if everything goes well. 
We also stopped at one of the members houses to say hi and it turned out that she really needed some comforting because her mom (who lives in Mexico) just had a stroke.  Sister McCollough was able to share the perfect scripture with her and when we left we all felt better. 
Oh, By the way...  I meet President Uchtdorf and his wife yesterday.  hahaha, I am NOT kidding.  The Visitor Center Director's didn't tell us that they would be coming in until a few hours before they arrived.  I talked with him and his wife for a little while.  When he read my name he said, "Schumacher, that is a strong German name", and his wife came up to me and gave me a hug.  Elder Mcdonald (visitor center director) spoke with me after and said, "Funny thing sister Schumacher, every time Elder Uchtdorf saw you he always stopped to speak with you."  WOW!
haha, it is so crazy.  I never expected to meet a member of the First Presidency while on the Mission.  It has been quite a month.

New message From Sister Schumacher!

01/03/2011

dear blog lovers =]

You are wonderful. haha.  So, being a missionary is not an easy task.  It isn't just giving tours around the Visitor's center or knocking on people's doors asking if they want to be baptized.  That really isn't it at all.  To do the work correctly, your heart has to be in it.  Now, when some of you asked me why I was serving a mission I said it was for me.  That is true.  I knew that serving a mission would make me work harder then ever before for something that makes my whole life up.  In school some knew me to be the religious one and some of you have seen me in my most shameful state.  Those experiences have built me and changed me but the mission is a new and life change experience of it's own.  We have people that don't give us the time of day, that slam the door in your face and yell at you.  Do I get mad? nope, I feel really sad because I know they aren't happy and they wont let me help them.  We have had a few people that feel that this is true and we have had wonderful experiences with and then they decided that they don't want to learn anymore... this one happen right before Christmas and it was really hard for me. 

But then, we have those amazing individuals that are so ready to make this step and to change their lives.  They really are miracles from God... one such as this is Monica, she called us and asked us to get her ready for Baptism! haha. Monica and her daughter Stephanie were the first 2 baptizms for the California Los Angeles Mission of 2011!!!!! My companion and I have been working hard and making goals for this month hoping and praying that he will continue blessing us with work and people who are ready to here this important message.

Mom, Dad, God knew what he was doing when he assigned me to you because so much of what I use to survive comes from how you taught me and loved me.  My friends back home, I miss you so much and I have also learned tons from you! For example, Emily... I cut up a pizza with scrapbooking scissors today, hahahaha (my companion was impressed by how well it worked)!

Thank you to the Mommy & Daddy, Lubianca & Jaye, Grandparents Cluff <3, Dmitri & Jenna, Aina family, Barrera Familia, Samalamadingdong, Emily, Mary Ellen, Stake Presidency (Pres.Volk!), and everyone else that I forgot to write out here (oops, still love you tons! keep writing!!!!) for the holiday love and joy.  If I didn't have support from home this would be so much harder to do, but Heavenly Father realizes that I need you.

Btw, I think I make some people a little nervous with how daring I can be about somethings. hahahaha.  I think it's that east coast girl in me <3

12/21/2010

Mission- We have a family we are teaching and they are really cute.  We are really trying to get them to church but it has been pretty hard.  We have an investigator named Monica who is getting baptized on Jan. 1, She is really amazing and we are teaching and preparing her 10 year old daughter for Baptism as well.  My companion Sister McCollough and I are trying to find more people to teach and strengthen the members in the Ward.  There are some really amazing and strong people out here, it reminds me a lot of the branch and how thankful I am for my little band of saints back home.  I talk about my family a LOT to everyone, haha.  It really is amazing how Heavenly Father just knows who to put in your life to make you progress the most and to make you the best you possible (he is working pretty hard on me, he gave me you guys! =P) The visitor's center is really amazing!  The senior couples here are the best and the other visitor center sister really try to help each other out and making things work the way that there suppose to. I miss you all and think of you often but I'm so excited to do the work! It really is super gratifying when you receive a prompting from the spirit and you follow it.  Some of the conversations I've had with people are incredible.  I actually meet one 16 year old boy on my flight out to LA, he sat next to me on the plane.  He flies back and forth from LA to Salt Lake because he is in a rehab program.  He really wants to do well for himself and I was able to talk to him about an amazing person I know back home who has had similar trails.  It really boosted his self-esteem to hear about it.  At the end of that conversation I was able to give him a Book of Mormon.  I don't know if he has read it or anything but I gave him the best thing I could give to anyone.  I guess that is something that has really made me excited, Is knowing how really the Book of Mormon is and being able to share it.  I love the gospel of Jesus Christ and correct principles understood (by the heart) truly changes behavior and lives.

This is Gabi with some people from her Grandma Cluff's ward who are also serving a mission.  Gabi Promises more pics to come!