This week, for an example, we were meeting with one of our INV's who is pretty solid and we have gotten pretty well along with her. She is pretty solid just with a "few rough edges" that could hold her back. We went to her house this week and had a great lessons and even picked up her children as INVs too. In the middle of the lesson, we kept getting a big nasty whiff of the smell of Marijuana. I mean, you smell it from left to right here, but this time it was a little stronger smell. We look out her window and we see her husband chilling there picking some weed off his like 5 foot tall marijuana plant. We were dumbfounded to say the least. We walked by that bush a good 10 times before even thinking about what it could be. Asking why they had it reminded me of home in Colorado..."Medical purposes" they said, haha get it? haha...ha..ha. After we saw that the spirit kinda died out and left, so we did too. If the spirit isn't there, we should never teach. It was a unique experience and it really showed me how crazy Babylonian this place can be sometimes. I wasn't called to South America to Baptize hundreds of people, I wasn't called to Japan to help build the church in a new culture, I wasn't called to Russia to endure cold and test my patience. But I was called to California, but not just that. Southern California, AKA where people live "of the world". Where I was called to find the few who search to live in this world...but not of it. It's crazy to see how people can be so addicted to something and not even know it. I heard once, "that any addiction that takes our right to choose for ourselves is against the Word of Wisdom." I agree with that. I am grateful for the those few people that are earnestly searching for the truth of how to be free. It's so funny to me to see that people think that commandments such as the Word of Wisdom which prohibits us from smoking, drinking, and using illegal substances and coffee and tea are things that "tie us down". But as it says in Helaman,
7 Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick to hearken unto the words of the Lord—
The commandments of God bring us joy, but we have to experiment upon it, in other words...try it out! I have a firm testimony that God won't give a full answer if we don't put our full hearts into it. I believe that God loves and he protects us not restricts us at all. Naturally, I took a picture with me and the nasty plant....haha.
On another note about the Word of Wisdom; I have run over 100 miles now of my cool little watch that I got. I LOVE to run, I love the feeling you get after of just a good old healthy feeling! I will be doing it for the rest of my life now. Cool!
This week, we also had a wonderful lesson with out recent convert Bianca from Honduras. She got baptized last week and she is so solid! sShe will not let anyone take away her faith. I feel like she is going to go far in the gospel. You can tell because she really loves reading the Book of Mormon. It says in Preach my Gospel, "The Book of Mormon, combined with the Spirit, is your most powerful resource in conversion." She is a clear example to that. We found her a little over 4 weeks ago and she is in Ether 15, basically the end of the Book or Mormon. It's hard to see sometimes because she has no one here in LB, family wise. She has 2 solid friends in the ward and that's about all who can help. And even then, they can't always be with her. One night she had something happen to her and we texted her to read Ether 12:27 so see what can come of her trials and "weak things." We went over there in the night for the lesson and man, she LOVES that verse. She just bore her testimony to us that even though she had no one, she has God and that these trials (weak things). She knows that she will learn from them and (she said) is looking forward to get more trials from God. Talk about mountains to climb! haha. I love the gospel and what is does to us.
Conference was this week, and my last one as a missionary. Seeing that I go home in January I needed this to help me in the last bit of my mission. It's sad to always say "my last this" or "my last that." There are 31 elders and 2 sisters that are going with us...some are leaving in Dec and some in Jan. But in total, about 50 missionaries will be leaving in between the beginning of Dec to the end of Jan. And not even close to that amount coming in. MADNESS. President refers to us as the "goat in the python" one way or another we are all going to leave eventually. President is dreading it, more than 20 other elders that are going home in my group are or have been APs or Zone Leaders.
BUT anyways, Conference was great! I LOVED Elder Hales' talk, "Do not fall into Satan's lie that you do not have time to study the scriptures together." BOOM. True! I have a testimony and I know that having FHE and not just personal but family prayer change a kid's life. It changed mine. I know the feelings in the house and in myself were so drastically different when we did it and we did not. If you are not doing it, I advise you to change and do it. There is no right date or right way or time to start, just do it now.
I love this place, LBN is the most unique places I have served, going to the temple was so great today and I needed it! Every time I go I realize more and more how real God is. Gives me chills.
I love you all and have a great week!
Elder Schooff
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