Chubbuck, Idaho!

Elder Andrew with Eborn Family from Chubbuck.  Ryan Eborn served some of his mission in Martinez and then lived here for a while after his mission when he was newly married to Lisa.

Elder Andrew with the Eborn kids...

Poppa Schwartz was out of town last week and didn't get the emails from Elder Andrew Schwartz posted on the blog, so here are the two emails from June 17th, then June 24th:

Hey Family!

So the good news is that this week was awesome, the bad news is that I forgot my camera cord...so no pictures for right now but maybe later. Glad to hear that everything is going good. Mom with HER NEW CAR and work, and Dad with BASEcamp and his other activities.  Elder Nate is right.  The missionaries in this mission do gain a lot of weight because we get fed by members almost every day. I think I already put on 5 pounds. I should probably work out a little bit more....aha!  How is my brother Phil?  Haven't heard from him in a while (Hey Phil if you're reading this that means you should write me.  Love you!). Has graduation already happened yet? Man it seems like yesterday I graduated. Crazy!

Everything over here is awesome!  My companions are doing great!  Elder Aiono is really musically talented; he sang for some members yesterday and played the guitar for them, and it was awesome. Elder Cappelen is one of the funniest people I know. I love my companions! We also have been working really hard!  Some highlights of the week:  One of the investigators my companions were working with before is getting baptized. Her name is Melanie and she is married to a son of a family who is really awesome. She apparently has wanted to be baptized for a while but she was scared of what her parents would think but she finally decided to set a date for this Friday! So that's pretty exciting. Another investigator we've been working with, Jeff, moved from his trailer on Tuesday to his boss's basement and we thought we wouldn't be able to teach him anymore because he was out of our area, but apparently his boss is moving in August, so on Saturday we helped move him back in, but he now has a roommate helping him out so that was a blessing. He even came to church yesterday and during sunday school the lesson was on the word of wisdom which was something he needed to hear because he started smoking again. He said he really enjoyed it and he's going to try to quit again. On Thursday, Elder Cappelen and I went on exchanges with Elder Malau'ulu, one of the Zone Leaders. He's from Samoa and he is HUGE, but he's a teddy bear.  It was really great because we got to work in his area and had some cool experiences. We had the opportunity to give a blessing to an ex-convict who just had surgery for a brain tumor. We had a great experience with him and we shared spiritual thoughts, sang him a song with a ukulele, and he bore his powerful testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It was amazing. 

That's about it for this week. Everything is going great with me and I can't wait to here from you all next week.

I love you all!

Elder Schwartz  

Hail in Chubbuck

Elder Schwartz's wall in his apartment

From June 24th:

Dear Family and Friends,

How is everything?!? Man, I can't believe that another week has passed by. It seems like yesterday I just sat down and wrote you guys!  It's good to hear that everything went well with Pops and BASEcamp. I know that it will impact the kids that attended for the rest of their lives. It's also great to hear that my brothers are doing great and that everyone is happy. 

Everything over here is going fantastic. We just had a baptism this Friday for Melany. Apparently, she had been interviewed to be baptized for two months but she didn't want to do it until she told her parents.  Last week she told us that she was ready and we went through with the baptism last Friday. It was a small, but awesome service. She wanted it to be small, so it was only family, close friends, and us. Her husband performed the ordinance and did the confirmation the following Sunday. Even though I don't know her that well, I can tell she is going to be a fantastic member of the church.  Our other investigators are doing well.  Jeff came to church again this Sunday, he could only go to sacrament meeting but he said he enjoyed it.  When I first got here, our ward mission leader for one of our wards issued us a challenge to tract out his entire ward boundaries and find out who lives where, and set up appointments with both members and non-members to get to know them a little better. That's what we've been doing pretty much this whole week along with a few lessons with both members and investigators.  Since the broadcast on Sunday from the Church leaders telling us that members should be more involved in missionary work and finding people for us to teach, I have a feeling that we will be tracting less which will be great. Our mission president has already given us some instruction on how to better work with members, and, no, we can't use Facebook, YET.  However, he said that when we receive specific direction from the missionary department, it might be implemented.  So maybe sometime in the future I will be able to get back on social media but for now, nothing. 

I just want you all to know that I love you!  Even if I've only talked to you once before, you have made me who I am in one way or another, and I thank you for that.  I just want to share with you all a little insight a friend has shared with me that has helped me in my mission and can help you all in life.  ATTITUDE MAKES REALITY.  If you go thru your day only having a bad attitude, then you're gonna have a bad day.  If you are trying to accomplish something and you don't have any faith in yourself and you believe you're going to fail, then you're going to fail.  If you have a positive attitude, however, even if things aren't going how you want, and you continue to have faith and believe in yourself, you will have success, you will overcome, and you will be HAPPY.  And if you don't have any belief in yourself and in what you're doing, I just want you to know that there is One who does.  He is your Heavenly Father.  He loves you.  He wants you to be happy, and he wants you to have success.  As I go throughout my day and I start to feel down, I take comfort in the fact that my Heavenly Father loves me and that through him I can do all things.  My attitude changes. I am more positive.  I have success.  I want you all to know how great you are and I pray for you, and I share these things in the name of Jesus Christ who is our Savior and Redeemer. Amen.

Until next week!

With love,

Elder Schwartz

Here's A Llama for your troubles...