Hello!

Family! Hello there! 

Haha, ok well! It's my second week here in the field! How is everybody doing? Good I hope. We don't get mail here as much as we do like the MTC because it can only be sent to the mission office. So yeah it's harder to get.

So yeah, Nam and Nampa I just want to say thank you for your wonderful package, all the stuff in there is exactly what I need! :)

It's kinda crazy here. The days all seem to mash together. It's kinda suprising that it is Pday again. But let's see...something that is crazy here that happened...

Well, where I live is straight GHETTO. This last week, it was about 8:50 pm and we were biking home. We were about 2 streets away from home and we turn down one street that we go down to get home. But as we turn the corner, there are 3 cop cars blocking off the road! So they told us to turn around and we shouldn't be in this part of town, little did they know that we live the next street over. So we had to find another way home. We decided to watch for a bit before we went inside. I went and asked one of the cops what was happening. She said some guy was on the street drunk shooting a semi automatic gun at people! Haha, so yeah it started getting crazier, a helicopter came and had a huge spot light with a large speaker saying in Spanish and English, "Give yourself up, put down the weapons, you are surrounded," haha all night we heard the helicopter. 

So that was our first cool experience, the second one was the next day. We were biking to the church to get food from a member and again, we tired to leave our neighborhood in a way to get to the church the fastest but this time SOO many cops were blocking off like half of the One Ways. So we had to turn around to go another way. We watched from the end of the street for a while and we saw a SWAT team come in, another helicopter and a guy with a bomb suit on. CRAZY. We never found out what happened. But yeah, I think almost everyday I have been here now I have seen at least one cool thing with the police! Awesome! Hermano Golindo (the member that houses us, in the One Ways) told us that back in the 90's and early 2000's no one could step foot in the one ways and expect not to get hurt. 

But honesty I feel so safe here. It's actually really cool. I really do feel like angels are walking with us sometimes.

Ok, so now for a spiritual thing that happened. So we were planning one night trying to decide what to do for the following day. We decided we needed to knock part of the day. We chose a street called Lesser St. But it turns out we didn't have time that day to actually go knocking because one of our lessons ran long. The next night I had just this strong impresion to knock that street, like we needed to go to Lesser St. So the next day we go there. And it didn't look like that good of a street to knock (we look for streets with mostly hispanic people) and this street was all white. But we felt like we needed to be there. So we start knocking. And door after door we are rejected. But then...we knock this one house and no one is home so we start leaving the driveway and as we are, a truck pulls up to us and starts talking to us. The people in the truck were members and felt like they needed to come by this street, they gave us 3 more referrals and left! It was so cool, and really showed that the spirit works in really cool ways to help members and Elders out!

So yeah, my Spanish is getting better, ever so slowly but better. I just need to keep reminding myself to have patience. :) It takes time! I got my bike fixed last Pday, super easy.

Dad- How are you, I LOVE to get your emails they are so amazing and I just love you so much. How is the ward and that's cool for Conner! Excited for Cali? Give Gavin a kiss for me. Don't worry about me, I'm good here in the hood! Can you maybe try to get me Mrs. Manginos address?! Thanks, we also come to a library to do email just FYI.

Ash- I love you! How is Gavin? Excited for Dad to come? Good to have Lisa there to help? I love both of the little kiddos so much! You seem like all is going well, have a great week!

Kay- I still haven't heard from you about Costa Rica!! Haha it's all good, whenever you have time I would love to hear. How's work going? When does Busch open back up?!

Becky- Glad to have warm weather again in CO? I bet! Getting ready for some rides soon? Put those Elders there to work! Make em' throw some hay! haha

Ok well fam I love y'all sooooo much! Keep me in your prayers, I pray for y'all all the time! Love you soooooooo sooooo much!

Elder Schooff 

Elder Schooff with President and Sister Bubert

Here is a picture of Jayson with his mission president, President Bubert, and his wife. 

Hello!

Hello World! 

Ok! Well hello family! Wow, I sure do have a lot of things to share with yall today! This week has been incredible! So I feel like I have done soooo much in just one week. Let's see...I'll start from the beginning!

So, I woke up at 3:50am in the MTC to get to the travel office by 5 o'clock, our flight left at 8:30 so I was able to call family and all for just a bit (so good to hear all yalls voices again, loved it!). So yeah we get on the plane and there are 32 other elders on this plane! haha So yeah, a very well protected plane! I fall asleep on the plane and the next thing I know I am looking out the window in CALIFORNIA! It is soooo greeen here! No snow to be found anywhere. We get off the plane and walk into the airport. And that is when I realize that this is real! haha, People gave us the weirdest looks ever! No joke! So yeah thats when it hit me. I AM ON A MISSION! Ahhh so cool! So we get like 3 huge vans to put all our luggage in and go to the church building with the mission office attached to it. Cool! We do some orientation and then (drum role please) we get our companions! They lined us newbies up in the front of the gym and started calling off a name one at a time! My companion's name is Elder Torres! He is great and he has been out here for a year now. And he is from Mexico!! So my Spanish will be gettting better, I tell him to speak Spanish to me as much as possible. 

So after that I get in the car and we get our first area, (I know Bryson is wanting to know where I am serving sooo bad). Right now I am in the area called Cerritos. I live in an area which is called the One Ways, ever been there Bryson ! Haha, it's pretty freaking ghetto. No lie our apartment is pretty small and ghetto... I love it :) haha. So yes we go there and drop our stuff off and go to work! 

Let me just explain something really quick- when I met with the President he told me that my first area is definitely going to push me to do my best. This is why...we came into the area (Elder Torres and I) both not knowing it, his old area was HBN. So this is all new for him, we both white washed this area. We asked the old elders in the area for any progressie investigatos or an area book. They didn't have any. They didn't even have an area book!! Or a map!! Hahah, so it really is all on us to reactivate this area! And let me tell you...it's so great!  Yes, it has been hard. But it's soo awesome, my area is all hispanic! I only have spoken Spanish to like 1 person this whole last week. But the Lord has totally blessed us! We now have a ton of progressive investigators and have a lot of success for the most part! It's been great. 

My Spanish is still iffy! Haha, I went to church yesterday and out of all the words said..I probably understood 5! Haha, but I am trying my hardest to go out of the way and talk to people, I LOVE my ward. They are all soo nice and happy!

I got my bike a couple of days ago, and yesterday...it broke! Haha so that is my task for today to go and try to get it fixed!

I am so grateful to be here in California, I am so happy to have a wonderful companion that wants to work really hard just like me! Thank you all for the wonderful support you give me. It really helps a lot! 

A really cool experience this week, let's see...well we were going down one street knocking but having no luck, so my companion said we need to get on our bikes and go north...so we did. And he is taking all these crazy turns and I have no idea where we are. Then he stops, gets off his bike, and we lock up our bikes and he starts walking for like 20 feet. Then stops, looks at this pink ghetto house and starts walking to the back of the house! Haha I was freaking out because I wasn't sure if we were allowed to go into the back. But we did. He knocked on the back and then this little old lady answered the door. We started talking with her. She started crying, and didn't stop. She said she has not heard from her son for a long time - and she thinks he might be in jail or dead because he is in a gang around here. She said that she was looking for an aswer in life and we just happened to come over right when she needed us. So we prayed with her, and now she really really wants us to come back and to talk with her about our religion! So cool! I am so proud of my companion for listening to the spirit!

Welp up, that's about it! (also Clara if you are reading this I tried to write you back but I apparently sent it to the wrong address or it said you don't live at the address on your letter, can you get me your address again! Because I have to write you!!) 

Here is my new address for all of yall:

Elder Jayson Maury Schooff

California Long Beach Mission 

6500 Atherton St. 

Long Beach, CA 90815 

USA

So yeah well I love you all! Keep writing me and telling me how yall are doing, love to hear from yall! Until next week!

Elder Schooff

Getting off the plane.

Connor

Elder Torres

My room

Marissa

Old MTC district

Old Districts

Old teacher Herm Frost

Trees in Cali

Old teacher Herm Kuhn

Some AMAZING food at this place called Senor Bajas

I'M AN UNCLE!!! (again)

WOOT WOOT!!!!

Hello Family!

Ok, well holy mack-A-roll! I am freaking out right now! YAY! I have a nephew, and I am so incredibly happy :) Wow, I was freaking out when I got the dear elder! I was just jumping up and down with joy! What an amazing thing :) Thanks for thinking of me and keeping me included yall, that really means a lot :) So!!!! Ash?! How is he?! Cutest little bean I have ever seen (equal to Ava of course) haha, but that one pic with his eyes open....wow I wanted to cry! I am so happy for yall family! Treasure Gavin for me while I am gone, give him hugs and kisses from me! (also what I was thinking Ash...if you wanted me to see videos of him progressing in his sweet little life for the next years, send me a flash card that goes into my camera!) Anyways, how is it all going?! I can't wait for the day when I see him, and just give him a hug. So adorable. AHH, I just cannot express my joy right now :) :)

I don't even wanna talk about me right now, I just wanna know everything that is going on with Gavin!! Hahaha, but I guess some cool stuff happened this last week.

Let's see, well I only have 5 days left, and I leave at 5am on Tuesday...it's becoming real. I have seen so so so many other districts go, and never really thinking about our time to come. But wow, it's here! 5 days I'll have a new compainion, find out where my first area is going to be and just have the mission start!! Que en el Mundo?!  Este es LOCO! So yeah this last week I have been kinda freaking out, just psyching myself out ya know? What is it going to be like?! I am sooo excited! But yeah, our teacher Hermano Frost was talking to us, and he said some really really cool things to help us relax and just have patience. One really cool thing he said was, "Yes, it is easier to doubt than believe - DON'T doubt." That hit me hard! And it's so true, you can't doubt yourself and your ability to endure. Here, I have seen things be done that I never thought I could do, and honestly I still don't think I can do - but with the Lord's help, ANYTHING is possible. It's like what Elder Bednar said, "The Lord calls us to callings to push and challenge us, and those extra tough parts that we can't carry on our own, He does for us." On a mission I have learned to never loose faith. Cause faith is what is holding us up. My teacher also said something really cool, "We never stop trying...but we have to always keep caring." You gotta love this work! Love the people in your area and find the love you have inside of you and give it all to the people you serve! Man, I cannot wait to just have my heart ache and yearn for the people I serve - that's when I know I'll be doing something right!

On another note...I have not played guitar for now over one month, CRAZY!! Haha, cool huh! It's pretty cool actually I kinda forgot I played it! This time has seriously flown by! Madness, I hosted yesterday and seeing all these new elders and sisters come in and just seeing what they are about to do, embark on one of the greatest things ever! A mission for the Lord himself. Wow, that is crazy to think about. I have definitely learned to NEVER take a mission for granted!!

I am not entirely sure if dearelders go to the mission field, but just keep sending them to me! I love to hear from yall. Thanks Dad for the updates of the new Mission Pres. I'm excited to meet him and talk with him. So, have yall heard anything about my mission being split cause of the new Cali mission calls? We have just heard some rumors about it being repositioned, that's about it.

Some pretty cool things have happened here over the last couple of days. Every week as yall know, we have a a devo every Tuesday and Sunday. But this last week was mission conference. So yeah it's like a 2 hour devo instead of other meetings in the day. Well at the beginning of the devo, the MTC Pres gets up and he says, "We want to hear from one of you today, will one of the ASL speakers come up here and bear their testimony?" and I was like, "WOAH Connor is ASL!" and lo and behold Connor just walks up there with an interpreter and bears his testimony for like 4 minutes!! It was so so cool and a really spiritual time. Awesome.

On a more funny note - the MTC Pres also said after Connor got down that the water in the WHOLE MTC would be turned off. The water turned off last night at like 10 and came back on this morning at like 6, super funny to just watch others freak out and fill up like 6 water bottles and their camel backs. It was funny. haha.

I have met a lot of people here in the MTC, and yesterday especialy TONS of elders going to the Omaha NB mission and TONS of sisters going to the Winter Quarter Temple mission! I hosted two sisters going to that mission! So Nam and Nampa watch out, some really great missionaries coming! Ya!

Dad- hello, so yeah again thanks for sending me all the info and the newspapers of the church mail! So quick update with the travel plans. I have to be at the travel office at 5 am, we leave the MTC probs about no later than 5:30. Get to the airport like at 6:30 I hope, and there are 33 elders flying with us. so yeah that's a long line to get through security and the flight leaves at 8:30. I dunno how much time I will have to talk. BUT I AM GOING TO TRY MY HARDEST!! haha, Just keep the phone next to you! I love you and I hope I get to talk to you!

Becky-Where are you going to be when I call?! Will you be with Dad? Also thanks for all the updates! Please keep sending them! haha, And tell Candi I am on my way down to see her ;) How is it all going? Hollies move with out a fight?! haha I hope all is well :)

Ash- AHHHHHHH!!!! You have two kids now!! WOW, gosh I don't think you understand how happy I am right now! Gavin is, ONE) the greatest name in the WOLRD! It fits him so well. So yeah, I just wanna say I love you and your amazing example to me. Love you tons and write me if you are not too busy, thanks for all the pics as well! I will try to call you too! So keep your phone open, but if you're busy with ya know the baby that's totally fine if we can't talk :) Also I know for a fact if I posted a pic of Gavin on Instagram...AT LEAST 60 likes. hahahahaha

Kay- Costa Rica eh? Almost as cool as Long Beach. hahahm jk. But yeah am I going to get to call you?! Does your phone work down there?! I NEED TO KNOW! hahah, Ok well just try to let me know. I'll try to call you anyways. Love you and have a great time down there in paradise. Also, I LOVE the tie. It's my favorite...and don't worry I won't trade it :)

OK yall thats about it. Next you hear from me I'll be in CALI!!! Can't wait to go there. Last cool inspirational thought of the day... we went to Elder Holland's talk this last Sunday and he said some AMAZING things. If you ever get the chance to watch his talk called, "Missions are Forever" DO IT! Amazing. He said something really cool. "GO ASTONISH SOMEONE" Cool huh! Do just that. And I am going to! I'm going into Cali with my whole heart! Working as hard as I can, never closing my mouth until I have done ALL I can do. Can't wait! :)

Love you all, see you soon :)

Elder Schooff.

Hello, not too many pics today! Just wanted to make sure you got one!! hahah Love y'all.