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