Joseph's letter dated 14Nov2011

[Dear family and friends,

I hope you are all doing well. We are already into the middle of November! I hope you all have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I hope that St. Martin's Day has been good to you. (See reference in Joseph's note below.)

Send me any response that you have for Joseph and I will forward it to him. He LOVES hearing from you!

Sincerely, Joseph's editor - BWS]

Dear Family,

So first of all my next Preparation Day will be on Thursday the 24th, so do not expect a note from me next Monday.

This last week we have had a lot of fun. My new companion is hillarious. Elder Story is from Orem, UT and is a fun, happy, great missionary. We have had a lot of fun together and I think that this transfer together will be a blast.

We actually had a very interesting first few days together. Wednesday was transfer day and then we had district meeting on Thursday. Friday was normal, but then on Saturday we went up to Hradec Kralové for a conference with the Elders in our zone, including the Elders in Třebíč, with whom we traveled. Unfortunately, we missed our train back to Jihlava by five minutes and so instead of returning at six thirty, we got back at nine thirty and then we broke our key in the lock to our apartment building. Luckily, we were able to get the broken key out of the lock after playing around with it, but we then had to fit four elders into our small apartment, since the Třebíč Elders could not get back home for another two hours. Then we all went together to Brno for a district conference and then back. Needless to say, I spent much more time in a train than I ever wanted to and am not looking forward to going to Prague this Wednesday, or next Wednesday for that matter.

Sunday was nice though. One of our investigators came to church with us by train. There were a lot of people in the building, but I think it was enjoyed. President Irwin shared a story about his childhood when a group of older kids threw him over a three foot high wall into a pile of horse manure. Then, since he was already "in it", he started throwing the manure at his tormentors. He then reminded all of the members that they are also "in it", refering to the gospel and that they should spread it around as much as they can. We all had a good laugh, and members here were highly encouraged to share the gospel with there families. There was also a story of dillegence of a man for who many years cared for a wasteland, carefully planing and caring for trees for many days and years. Then the trees eventually grew into a large forest and benefited thousands of people. It was a good story about quiet, persistent diligence.

We are doing well here also. I am happy and while it is cold, we still do not have to deal with snow, although we just had Saint Martin's Day, which is supposed to annouce the coming of snow, or rather, permitting the weather that it can snow now.

I love you all and good luck at home. I am sorry that Christopher will waste away before I return [he didn't earn enough food points in his game as a coyote], but try to keep him going as best you can. Andrew, I know that the end of marching band season has left a giant hole in your heart, but be of good courage: it will come around next year again. Daniel have fun recovering from your tooth yanking [Daniel will have his wisdom teeth taken out on November 18 - the day after his birthday!]. I remember watching a lot of Bob Ross when I had my teeth extracted. Weston, could luck working on your goals, and Nicholas, you are super.

Love,

Joseph

Joseph's letter dated 9Nov2011

[Dear family and friends, here is the letter that we received from Joseph this morning. He loves hearing from you. If you want to send him a note, simply respond to this email -- and I will send it along to him. I hope you enjoy this as much as we did! At this season of thanks, we, as a family, are certainly thankful for the many blessings that we enjoy - including wonderful family and friends. I wish all of you a season of happiness, peace and prosperity at this time! Sincerely, Joseph's editor - BWS]

Dearest Family,

The last ten days worked out rather well for us here in Jihlava. We worked rather hard this week and unfortunately had to say goodbye to some people. Brother I is returning to the Ukraine and so we will not be able to meet anymore, but we had a wonderful last meeting. He is still searching for his answer, but I really think that he is close to finding that. We are referring him to the missionaries in the Ukraine and we hope that they will be able to connect and begin meeting with him. We also had a final meeting with an investigator from the seventh day, who we have met with a couple times. The spirit was definitely strong in the meeting and so it was difficult for us when she declined our invitations to continue meeting. However, the work continues on and after a good night's sleep I felt much better.

We are teaching some other great people. One, Sister E, has been learning more and more about the Book of Mormon and about how she can gain a desire to believe. She is curious about the gospel and wants to understand Christ and what we have to teach, but it is the first time that I have really taught someone for more than just a couple meetings who, for now, is just really curious. It always seems that before the lessons about the power of the restoration and the Book of Mormon that the Spirit would have already taken over, or that their curiosity was satisfied. It has been a great experience to think on her needs and how we can help prepare her to receive the restored gospel. We read in Alma 32 this last meeting about how the word is like a seed that we plant in our hearts, but then we need to care for it and give it all of the attention that we can make sure it grows so that we may taste of the fruit and know if it is good. After the lesson we all had felt the spirit and were very happy with the lesson. I think that a real desire to know is starting to overtake her curiosity.

Oh, by the way, I am staying in Jihlava. I sent Elder Weaver off to Brno this morning and Elder Story is my new companion. He is in the same group as Elder Heath, so he has been here in the country for about four months. I, of course, do not know him very well yet, but I likely get to know him in the next few weeks.

I love you all and wish you the best in the next few days. Daniel, that is so great that you are the best Daughter of the American Revolution at Western. [Daniel was chosen to represent his school for the Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen Award - which award was issued to Daniel's father - 33 years ago.] Too bad they did not have any actual daughters to represent them, but still, congratulations. Weston, I ate at McDonald's the other day. Thank you for keeping the roots of McD strong back in the States. Andrew, please write me so that I can say something clever as a response to you. Chris, good luck surviving the winter [Christopher recently played a game where he was a coyote trying to get enough food for the Winter -- and he wasn't able to gather enough food to survive] and Nicholas, enjoy your new seat [Nicholas, the best-behaved boy in his class, was assigned to sit in a new seat].

I love you all,

Elder Schindler

Joseph's letter dated 31Oct2011 - Halloween!

[Dear family and friends, I hope that all of you are doing well. I hope that you have had a good October -- and are ready for a GREAT November! I know that some of you have experienced snow already. Fortunately, our snow is waiting. I am hoping that all of you are happy, healthy and well.

Respond to this email with any notes you have for Joseph. He LOVES hearing from you!

Sincerely, Joseph's editor - BWS]

Dearest Family,

This week has flown by rather quickly. We saw some amazing blessings, and everything just seems mushed together. This upcoming week is the last of the the transfer, so my next pday [preparation day] will be on Wednesday the ninth. Looking forward to hearing from you.

So this week.

We were finally able to set up with and connect with a referral whom we have been pursuing for about two months now. His name is Brother M and he is a truck driver and so is often gone. However, he had time this last week and so we met with him on Friday. It turned out that ever since meeting the branch president in Olomouc, and receiving a book of Mormon, he has been reading it every morning before going to work. It was so amazing to see such a humble man who is trying to understand why he is here and who God is. He absolutely loved learning about the Gospel and told us that that is exactly what he wants to do when he meets with us. It was such an amazing testimony builder is so many ways, in seeing this humble seeker of truth, the misisonary work of members and in the converting power of the Book of Mormon.

Also we are meeting with a young woman named Sister E, and while at first it was hard for me to gauge her level of interest and reason for interest, this last meeting we had with her was amazing. We were teaching about prayer and she asked the question, "how can I know if an answer I receive is from me or from God?" It was such a sincere question and after turning to Moroni 10:3-5, and answering it, I notice a definite strenghtening of the presence of the spirit in our lesson. [Here is a link to that scripture! http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/10?lang=eng] That question was so sincere that I was able to recogize that this investigator really did want to know how to find truth.

We have been working so hard here in Jihlava that it is difficult to realize that the transfer is just about up. We still have one week left, but I know that this week will go by even faster. I am praying for the help I need to keep working hard right until the end and so far I have seen such prayers answered in magnificent ways.

Our new branch mission leader, Jarda K. is just on fire. He is so excited to work with the missionaries and see less active members come back to church that it is just strengthening to be around him. I think that thanks to his help we are going to see some really amazing blessing in our area and in this city in terms of working with members.

Well, I have to run, but I love you all,

love,
Elder Schindler