Elder Alexander Weston Schindler: August 2013

Monday, August 26, 2013

[Dear family and friends, her is Weston's letter that we received today! If you wish to send Weston a reply, simply reply to this note - and I'll forward your note to him! I will be posting some new pictures on his blog -- shortly! Weston's editor - BWS] Dear Family, Want to hear some sad news? Last night we had the rain storm of the century, but I slept through it all! I was so devastated when Elder Benton told me this morning, but you know, I´m sure I´ll get another great Spain shower soon. Do you want to hear some happy new?! We should be having a baptism this upcoming Saturday, with a man named Cristian from Romania. He´s great and while he is the kind of person that most would be quick to judge, (due to his long hair and scruff) he´s fantastic when you get to know him! He´s working very hard to live the Word of Wisdom and so we have been helping him so much these past few weeks. We hope the best and hope that you can pray for him! During Sacrament Meeting I was asked to give a talk, again, and I was able to choose my topic. I decided to talk about keeping the commandment, a topic that has been calling my attention for quite a long time. I talked about how we always hear the commandments and say that we understand them, but then later we end up falling on our face. I shared a funny story about another night that happened this week with a Sister in the Ward (dad, it was Maria on Facebook, just so you know). She had given me the directions to a restaurant and I was pretty sure I understood the details, but she asked me if I did understand. I said yes, but she kept checking to see if I had really understood her and I told her yes, trusting in myself a little it too much. By the time we were catching the bus and were trying to figure out where she was, we found out that we were at one end of the river on the opposite side of Valencia! She was laughing so much as I shared that in my talk and I wrapped it together to how we have to not only listen, but understand and then follow through with what we know, or we´ll be stuck on the other side while our loved ones are on the right side of the spectrum. Today, as you saw in the photos, we went to Xativa but the castle was closed.. AGAIN! It was fun, as you can tell by the photos. I´m hoping to have a relaxing preparation day when I don´t have to go do anything! Ah, that would be nice! So, that´s a wrap for the week. I´ll get better at writing but you know, it´s all good! I love you so much family,

Letter dated 19Aug2013

[Dear family and friends, here is the latest letter from Weston. If you have a response that you would like me to send to him - simply respond to this email message. I hope your summer is beautiful wherever you are! Weston's editor - BWS] Dear Family, Well, dear Mother specifically, since it was your birthday and I didn't get the chance to wish you a happy birthday... D: sorry, you know me, just doing stuff here in Spain! I just couldn't find the time to do anything special for you so I hope that this is enough for this year! ^_^ So I won´t dwell much on the anything negative in this e-mail, but we did have a sad experience this past weekend. You see, Angelica was game set ready to get baptized.. but you all know how the devil works, when we went to her house an hour before her baptism to pick her up a man answered the door and he gave us one of the most bizarre and fakest reasons why she couldn't get baptized and by the time we asked her what she felt, he had already persuaded her and she told us no. So, sadly, we´re going to drop her for a little while and then see if there will be any hope later, but the truth also came out that they are a couple and that they live with each other... so there was a legitimate problem, but it was him who didn't want her to start living the law of chastity, so he made up that whole garbage and we were too late by the time we showed up. ¿Sabéis? But all goes well outside of that. I was very down for the rest of the day and even into Sunday, but know I am doing better and we´re going out to find more people that are ready to progress! WHEWW!! So it´s been a while since I've told you any jokes... so here´s one! Who is the one person, out of all of history, that broke every single commandment in one single moment? (check the bottom for the answer) But in very cool news, my companion yes, is the kind of person who goes to Comic-Con and yes, is also a very heavy YouTube nerd, so I imagine you can imagine how well we get along! But he´s really learning a lot and I´m very impressed. He´s still chipping down the language barrier bit by bit, but he´s incredible. This week we´re going to be doing a lot more things and especially since we´re going out to find new people to teach, it´s going to be an amazing week. Joke answer, Moses ^_^ With sugar and love, Weston

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Good morning!

Valencia missionaries!

Surprise!

Dancing above city!

Overlooking city!

Man cave

Preparation Day

Scenic!

District fun!

District elders!

Train!

Trainer!

Family!

Josef!

Training!

Companions!

Friends!

It's all in the hat!

Seriously speaking . . .

Mission friends!

Letter dated 12Aug2013

[Dear family and friends, here is the letter we received from Weston this morning! Let me know if you have any message that you would like me to forward to him! Weston's editor - BWS!] Dear Family, Ah man, what another week down and another right here! The times in Valenica have been grand, I´ll say! With Elder Benton my mission experience has been changing so much and I´m learning so much in this new experience that I have. I don´t even notice that he´s British anymore, though I will admit, my English accent has been improved quite a bit! So the week was good and we´re keeping at it all and right now we´re excited because we have two people who are preparing for baptism right now and they are both solid! One of them actually told us before we started our lesson this past week that he wants to get baptized! Those are my favorite moments! But we´re working hard and also visiting Josef, who really has changed a lot since we first started teaching him. We now meet with him every Thursday and he´s always just so excited to learn more and he´s incredible! We had a special training meeting this past Friday with President and Hermana Pace and it was a very good conference. We discussed a number of changes that are happening in missions world wide and all the things that we need to focus on to become better teachers. We´re finding an incredible amount of new people to teach as a mission right now but now we need to focus on teaching them better and better as we progress as missionaries. Oh, and these pictures include me with Elder Benton when we first met and you can see Elder Wiscombe in the back. The other photo is with Elder Wiscombe and he´s just the best Elder that this mission has! ^_^ [I'll post these pictures on the blog!] I love you all and I hope that you are having a great time in the world! Keep at it, Love, Weston

Letter dated 5Aug2013

[Dear family and friends, I am attaching Weston's letter from this week. He loves to hear from all of you! Please send your messages to me as a reply to this email -- and I'll forward it to Weston! Best wishes! Weston's editor (BWS)! Dear Family, Oh boy, how can I begin to describe how our week went when it was just the best! It was just such an incredible experience to help our friend Joseph come into the waters of baptism and it was an incredibly sweet experience. I don´t know if I even told you what happened a few weeks ago, but I was asked to come up during our training meeting for a baptizing demonstration and.. President Pace was asked to be the investigator! Anyways, funny story short, they took the time to show all the new missionaries just what should be happening in our baptism services and this Saturday I took this as my opportunity to complete all the steps we went over to help our investigator feel ready and feel relaxed and honestly, it just helped everything out so much. It was probably the smoothest baptism I've ever done, but also one of the most spiritual services I've ever seen held during my mission. We had incredible attendance from the wards here in Valencia and all the missionaries brought many investigators, it was a great thing to see. I remember just feeling the spirit so much during that service and I just felt so much peace as we were sitting there and then finally when the ordinance was performed. I felt a little bit jealous of my companion that he had this opportunity to have just a great baptism right at the beginning of his mission, but now we´re just going to have to continue having these great experiences as we find more new people! In other news, Joseph is from Cameroon and he doesn't speak a lot of Spanish. He was a gun runner back in his days in Africa, but now he´s changed so much and he´s the best! During this week we weren't able to find the new investigators that we've been wanting to find, but we taught many lessons and also had the baptism, so now our main focus is to focus on finding these new people. It was also a bit disappointing that at church only one investigator came, since we've been having quite a few people come during the entire month in July, but that´s just what happens sometimes. With new people to teach we can expand our horizons to more people that will be more ready to progress and follow up on their commitments that we extend to them. Elder Benton is definitely the best. I know I say that about a lot of people but I´m not lying when I say that! He´s been learning more and more each and every day that I´m with him and he even sets me an example at times that I find very special. He´s a great elder with a powerful testimony. As he learns more Spanish he´s going to do things here in Spain that will change the lives of sooo many people! His British accent is also so awesome, I´m going to have to start learning more English from him! He is from the town Harlow in Essex and he was excited to hear that Uncle Lowell served a good time in that area! I have to say, strangely enough, Elder Benton reminds me so much of both Uncle Phillip (probably because of the strawberry blond hair) and in personality he´s almost like a British Andrew. Seriously. I´ll try to send a video of his accent next week, because that would be tight! Oh man, I´m out of things to say, so I´ll end with much love and hugs, Love, Weston

Letter dated 29Jul2013

[Dear family and friends, here is the letter we received from Weston this week. It is short -- but shows his enthusiasm! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! I hope you are enjoying your summer! Yours, Weston's editor - BWS] Dear Family, Why hello there everyone! I´m sorry, but I´ll have to make this week a bit quick, so sorry in advance! This week was incredible! My new companion is Elder Benton and he is from Essex, England! I haven´t said anything, but a number of the other elders have said that he sounds like he´s straight out of Harry Potter! He came straight out of the Madrid MTC after 6 weeks and now we have begun the 12 week new missionary program. It´s a blast, and it´s so different to be the only member of a companionship who understands everything. I love it! This week we also signed all the neat contract information and so we should be moving in this week! With much love and much prayer, Weston

Letter dated 23Jul2013

[Dear family and friends, here is Weston's latest letter! There are some pictures that I will be putting on his blog later this week! Let me know if you have any messages you would like me to pass along to Weston. Today is Pioneer Day! It's a great day to remember all of those ancestors who made it possible for us to be here today! Love, Weston's editor - BWS] Dear Family, I apologize for not writing sooner, but there´s been a lot happening during this transfer time. First and foremost, Elder Coombs is leaving and I´ll be holding down the fort for hopefully the next 3-4 months here in Valencia 2. Elder Coombs has been the best and now he´ll be going out to Menorca, the smaller island north of Mallorca, where, you know, I was last year! He´s gonna do work out there! I´m going to miss him soo much (Among the things I´ll miss are 1-His great tolerance and patience for listening to my jokes 24/7. He´s a trooper! 2- His incredible height 3- His constant knack to confound me with deep scripture and obscure references from the Old Testament 4- His easy going, very humble person that he is :´) So as for me, well, I´m in Barç right now and I currently don´t have any idea who my new companion will be.. and that´s because he´s going to be brand new.. so I don´t know where he´ll be from or if he´s been visa waiting or if he´s cool or funny or anything.. basically what I´m trying to say is that I´m training so I´ll tell you more about all of this next week ;)! We are also in these silly plans to get our new piso [apartment] and we found a fantastic one. You wanna know why it´s fantastic? Okay, I´ll tell you. It has a terasa (almost like my old area!) and it´s in the perfect area for where our ward is located in the city. Also, the building has a Schindler elevator. Boom, no more questions please about why it´s sick! We had a week full of piso running and so that threw us off our pace a bit, but you know, rolling with the kicks is what I do and while we are going to have to move Angélicas baptism to another week because she didn't come to church, we have another man who´s from Camaroon that should be getting baptized on the 3rd. His name is Joseph and he speaks French, decent Spanish, and little English, but thankfully there is a member from the first ward, Mama Africa, who is also from Camaroon and she´s been helping us so much with our visits with him! We´ll verify everything this week and I´ll keep us posted on everything! Alright, I've got to go now, but here are some pictures that I took with my new sick camera! Nice work, Elder A&W Schindler! The elder in the sunglasses is Elder Pérez from Chile and he´s the best! There are some family pictures and also one of me in a Bolivian hat! ^_^ I love you all so much, take care,

Letter dated 15Jul2013

[Dear family and friends, here is Weston's latest letter. We are now safely back in Michigan - after dropping Daniel off at the Missionary Training Center. It was hard to say goodbye - but it was also exciting to see all of these wonderful missionaries (there are 3000 at the Training Center right now!) and to see how happy Daniel was! We haven't heard from Daniel yet - but we think he can write to us tomorrow. If you want to send a quick note to Weston, simply reply to this letter - and I will forward the note to him! Thank you for your love and support! Weston's editor - BWS] Dear Family, I can only begin to imagine what it must have been like to say goodbye to Daniel at the MTC this week. I thought that it might be possible to have a brother out on the mission the same time as myself, but now that it´s happening it feels so weird to know that I am not going to see Elder Schindler for another 2 years from now! I know that you´re doing great at the MTC right now and sadly I don´t have your new e-mail yet, so daddy, could you forward this letter to him? Thank you! Anywho, we had an ever progressing week from the previous ones. We've been doing great on improving each and every week and we have great new things happening in our area. We had 6 investigators come to church yesterday, two of which were different than the ones that came last week but sadly, Angélica was not able to come to church so we are going to move her baptismal date back one week. We visited her later that afternoon with our ward mission leader Víctor and ward missionary Clemxynn and she is still happily preparing for baptism. *NOTE* I'm reading over the letter I sent last week and I am now just realizing that I didn't mention Angélica last week... sorry! Well, she´s from Ecuador and has been living here in Spain for quite a number of years. She has a problem with her leg so it´s difficult to walk, but we've been working with members who are kind enough to offer seats from their cars in order to help her come to church. That being said, the 27th of July is the day of her baptism ^_^ This week I was still recovering and finding my voice, which I found in my pocket! It was there the whole time! ;) My companion told me that I was talking even more than ever before when my voice was gone, which I didn't believe but maybe that´s why it took so long to get it back. I don´t know how many investigators the Sister missionaries in Ward Two had come to church, but last week, unless they were lying to us, we had 14 investigators come to church last week. That´s incredible what´s happening around our Bay City Ward these days and I would love to hear more about some great missionary stories from back home. It really inspires me to also strive to achieve more! Also very exciting is that we are looking for a new apartment. You see, we now have plans that every ward will have 6 missionaries in it, so hopefully by September this will be fulfilled, but by the 23rd, we need to have a new piso (apartment?) ready for four missionaries to live in, so Elder Coombs and I have been searching for a good one that is actually in our area! It´s been fun and tomorrow we´ll be meeting with some people that are helping us find what we're looking for. We have about a week to get it! AHH, I hate rushes! This upcoming Saturday is going to be a good day. The sisters have a baptism with a man named Moses and when they asked him at church who he would like to baptize and confirm him and he pointed at Elder Coombs and me to do them! This Saturday is also when we find out about transfers. It´s always an anxious time even if you know that you won´t leave, but maybe it´s more of an excitement when changes really could happen. Next week I´ll let you know what happens! I love you so much everyone! Best of blessings Elder Daniel Schindler, in this new journey that you've begun! ^_^ Welcome to the mission! Élder Xander Weston Schindler P.S. We have to go back, Kate...

Letter dated 8Jul2013

[Dear family and friends, I hope this letter finds you well. We are taking Daniel to the Missionary Training Center this afternoon. He is definitely ready and excited. We are thrilled for him; though goodbyes are always hard. Here is our latest letter from Weston. He loves hearing from you. You can send him a note simply by replying to this letter. I hope the day and week brings you safety, joy and happiness. Love, Weston's editor - BWS] Dear Family, The time has come... to turn 21! [Weston's birthday was last Saturday!] Wow, I thought it would feel really different, but it feels the same as how the old (or younger?) Elder Schindler was. The only notable difference is that now I've lost my voice, which started a few days ago and it´s slowly been getting worse and worse. I have to talk really low if I want to avoid the annoying raspy noises coating my words! Besides that, my week was fantastic! Let me begin with how the week went and then my birthday. So, in all, we were blessed to find 6 new investigators this past week! It was such an amazing time for us and like I mentioned last week, we've been seeing tons of exciting things continue to happen during this past week as well. To top that off, we had 7 investigators come to church, which was a staggering improvement since the last several weeks! So to say in less words than more, we had a really good week! So during the weekend we had a good amount of work and partying for my birthday! On Saturday we went to visit 2 families in the ward and I ended the day by having my face smeared into two cakes. Brace yourselves for the next one, but also, while we visited the Gusman family they treated us to an ancient Bolivian birthday celebration- of cracking eggs over our heads and pouring flour all over us (Elder Coombs had his birthday last week, so we were blessed to have it happen to us on the same day). I hope to send photos soon and possibly video, because it was a very fun way to turn 21.^_^ [I suggest that you don't try this at home!] Among all of that there was a ton of love shared with me for my birthday, so I want you all to know that your son/brother is being well taken care of! I´ll continue to keep you all in my prayers about the next big chapter of our family's life. This is an exciting time for us all, so lets remember to enjoy the moment and trust in our Heavenly Father and his plan that he has in store for us all! With much love and ever more to come, Élder Xander Weston Schindler P.S. We have to go back, Kate... P.P.S. So yes, I did get the card and should be getting a camera very soon. Right now I´m in the process of destroying my 4th pair of shoes so I´ll also be investing into some new kicks!

Letter dated 1July2013

Dear family and friends, Today is Weston's birthday! He is 21 today. Reply with any birthday wishes - and I will forward them to him! We are leaving Idaho today to take Daniel to the Missionary Training Center where he will begin his 2-year mission to Stockholm, Sweden. We hope you are all staying cool, dry and happy! Love, Weston's editor - BWS] Dear Family, Happy July greetings everyone! I hope that everyone else is having a great warm 1st of July and staying cheerful and bright! After all, this is the greatest month of the year, if you know what I mean!^__^ [Weston's birthday month!] This week was a really great week for us and we've been having some really great experiences recently. We were able to watch the recent broadcast from the church about the new missionary work efforts that the church is bringing in and it was a very great thing for us and the members to learn what are some of the new things that they want us to begin doing! We also, once again, had 5 people come to church and we also had some new people come for the first time ever and we now have some good prospects in the area. We had such an interesting experience after church too. We were outside saying good bye to people and setting up visits with various people and one of our investigators came up to us, Nicu from Romania. We started talking and he very seriously stated that he wanted to get baptized and asked if he would be able to be baptized the following week!! It took me a bit by surprise because for my entire time here in Valencia we've been visiting him and working with him in gaining a testimony. He has a smoking problem and he´s shared desires that he wants to quit and we've talked about baptism a number of times but he´s always wanted to push it to a later date in the fall. But on Sunday he told us that during the past week, as we were teaching him and his wife, he couldn't deny that he just felt so peaceful when we were with him. He´s always felt that with us and he´s felt it at the church as well on a number of occasions. So right now, today actually, we´re going to visit him and see if he´s ready and we´re hoping that mid-July we can help him get baptized! AWWW YEAHH!!! I hope that you all have a great week and that you stay safe and well! Enjoy these last moments with Daniel until 2015! Best of blessings for you, my brother! With all my love and heart, Élder Xander Weston Schindler P.S. We have to go back, Kate...