Episode 12: Weed in the Park, doctors, Japan, Bikes

 

Hola mis amigos y mi familia!

So first off, I'm so so sorry I didn't write last week!!! I spent a good deal of time catching  up on individual emails and ran out of time for this big party. My apologies fam. I love you all. To make up for it you're going to get this get this very scatterbrained email (scatter-brained? Ugh hyphens):

So last Sunday we went to the park for a lesson and the people we were teaching didn't show 😞 . As we were about to turn back around home this older gent said "hey! Are you Mormons?" To which we said "that's a name we're known by!" and then he started to tell us about how he studied a bunch of religions and found "the secret of the universe in a TED talk" and how he could "control his body with his spirit behind his mind with cosmologic physics."🤷🏼‍♀️ He would randomly say Bible references and we would look them up and read them and he would smile oddly and nod his head and ask if we got the hidden meaning. At one point when I was reading, one word (one!) was not how he remembered it and he claims that we're weren't using the KJV because it wasn't "Shakespearean" enough. This pal was very confusing. Turns out his name is Weed. Kids,  don't do Weed in the park. You'll walk away very confused. 

The rest of the week has not been as confusing as Weed 😅 My new favorite discovery is this Japanese version of the dollar store called Daiso. Friends, I love random Japanese stuff! It's low key an obsession. LOVE IT. Guess what Daiso is filled with? Cheap Japanese stuff. It's amazing. 10/10 would reccomend. Definitely spent too much time and money in there. I love that my mission has lots Chinese, Japanese, and Mexican stores. It's amazing!

Pioneer day was this week! Woot woot! I forgot for a moment that California doesn't celebrate the best holiday ever, which was kinda sad... Thankfully, I live with a bunch of Utah girls who know what's up and we made German pancakes and went out to eat and had our own little celebration! It was awesome! I am so thankful for my ancestors. I owe much to those who came before me. They are our ministering angels. 

Fun news: we're now part time biking! It's a party. We gonna be ripped. 💪Saturday we biked 30 miles! We sore. That was partly because we had a lot of lessons, which be bueno! But it was also partly because we wanted to go eat out annnnnd we got lost a little. We good though! There's also lots of fun discoveries on bikes like boxes of of free grapefruit and dead peacocks.

In other fun news, I have surgery on the Friday! I had to get a Covid test today and will be quarantined from now until then. We gotta stay in our room and do the missionary thang. It's a good thing Sister Sintz and I are pals! 😉 I also had fun blood work. Woot! Anyone who knows me well knows that I haaaaastttteeee going to the doctor... or medical things.... Not a fan. But I did it!! Please be proud of me. 😉

Um also guess what? I've been out for two months. 2 months! 1/9 of the mish. 11.11% done. Wow. The biggest miracle of my mission so far (of which there have been many!) is the help I've been given with homesickness. I have felt literal strength and comfort. There are so many tender mercies and miracles. I testify that Christ knows us on the most personal, intimate, and perfect level. He knows us and loves is in a way we can't even comprehend. You are loved and known. 

Love you! Your emails and prayers are appreciated. Thank you for being wonderful people!

God bless! Hurrah for Israel!

-Sister Schramm 💕

Quotes of the week:

"Hello Elders!"-random fam at Walmart 

"This is why we have a following distance."-Sister Sintz, after I ran into her on my bike

"As your Zone Leaders, we are proud. As bad people, we are sad."-ZLs

 

 

 

Episode 10: Reality Check Followed by Squash

 *important notes before we begin:

1)Friends, I LOVE SQAUSH. Sqaush is a pal. Squash makes my day. Specifically squash of the spaghetti variety. It's easy fun and tastes like pasta without all the carbs.

2)Also, friends, I DO NOT like being told I did something wrong. I don't like feeling inadequate. I don't like flaws. Not a fan. Not my gig.

*now for this week:

This week was the start of transfers. (We work in 6 week rotations called transfers) To make a long story short, sister Sintz and I were told our performance did not meet expectations last transfer... given the facts presented in note 2), I was not feeling too happy. Pretty down on myself. But honestly, I needed the reprimand. We changed our attitude and prayed for forgiveness. And shocker, we were blessed with many teaching opportunities! It was really a world of difference. Friends, when we repent, God blesses us. True doctrine. Also, I've learned that being told you're doing something wrong is not the end of the world. No one died. (My pride did, but honestly it needed to die anyway). Take feedback friends and run with it!

Second story! The past few days have been over 100 and we have no AC. It's been a sweaty struggle and spirits have not been high ;) I didn't feel too peachy for the past couple of days and was in a funk. Today we went shopping and I just really wanted some spaghetti squash. I haven't been able to find some in several weeks. Guess what I found today? Spaghetti squash. Yep. That's all I needed. I can be a happy camper now. 

Guys, Christ knows what means the most to us. He knows when we're down and He knows what will give us a pick me up. It can honestly be something as random as spaghetti squash. It reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures. It's Alma 7:11 in the Book of Mormon... it talks about how Christ knows how to help us in our struggles: "...and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." He knows how to help you because He went through everything you've gone through. He knows what it means to be you.

Anyways, so so so sorry for the short email! I love you all millions and I truly appreciate your emails, prayers, and general support. I can't comprehend how I know so many wonderful people. 

Love,

-Sister Schramm

Quotes of the week: "I think Sister Sintz is Holier, but I like Sister Schramm more."-Samba

"Sintz and Schramm. That's like a band"

"Or a law firm"- rando couple at the Mexican Restaurant

"You are valid,  you are relatable,  you are better than the elders... you are my spirit animals."-Rachel 

"We got around today. Like mono."-Sis. Sintz

PS try Hong Kong style egg waffles. It will improve your life 100% 

That's all folks. :)

 

 

 

 

Episode 9:AMERICA

 

Hallo Freunde und Familie!

This was a good week with lots of ups and downs, which meant a lot of lessons learned. ;) Looking back I can say: "man, I'm not sure I want to go through that again, but I'm glad I did!" The big lesson from this week was that exact obedience brings blessings (point blank period!) God can tell when our heart is in the work, and He'll bless us accordingly. Our efforts don't have to be perfect, just as long as we're good and getting better. Just like Jesus loved the widow's mite, God loves our flawed effort. I don't think He really appreciates talented people who don't push themselves. I do think He appreciates imperfect efforts from intentional people. For example, this week we had a few days where we were kinda grumpy and moving really slow. Lessons either fell through or didn't go well... no bueno. The next day, we decided to say a repentance prayer and we tried much harder to be happy, on time, and sacrifice. We had a lesson opportunity come up (a true rarity these days!), and all the rest of our lessons had the spirit. Of course, things don't always work out like that 100% of the time (God is not a vending machine), but it was nice to know that God recognizes when my intentions are right even though my actual performance is flawed. 

GUYS! It was the fourth of July!!!!! InDePeNdEnCe DaY! This is Sister Sintz's favorite holiday (what a patriot) and she was a little sad about missing some good ol' BBQ (I was too tbh). However, she had a good attitude about it and we filled our day the best we could. That morning, we got a call from a sister in our ward inviting us to join her family for a BBQ before our 6pm curfew! What a tender mercy! (Shout out to Sister Okabe! You're a true saint!) Turns out God blesses us when we try to go forward with a good attitude... who'd a thunk? It was absolutely amazing and there was so much food (Japanese pork rolls, hamburgers, Korean BBQ, pie, salads, watermelon, the works.) It was nice to be remembered. If you ever wonder what you can do to help me, just do me a favor and call your local missionaries on a holiday and let them know they are remembered. It will mean the world to them.:)

During the day for the 4th of July we did a free lemonade stand and it was sooooo fun! It was cool to see people's reactions: "Free? You're not raising money? You don't expect to do something? What is this?" It was nice just to talk to people in person (With masks;)) and bring some happiness. One man said: 'This lemonade is good! Tastes like kindness!" We were able to listen to a couple people talk about some things they are going through and share a quick prayer with them. It was awesome! It definitely wouldn't be summer for me without standing at a booth at some point in time ;) We got to see SO many fireworks from our apartment!!!!! It was amazing! Celebrating America by blowing stuff up and eating food is probably the best thing ever. 

We live next to Sierra Madre, a small town nestled in the foot of the mountain. (Worth a Google!) We affectionately refer to it as the fairy town because of all the little shops, funky houses, viney plants, and quirky decor. We went there on one of our morning walks and took some fun pictures, so enjoy that.:) There are also a few little book exchange boxes around the neighborhood, and I got a fun business management book that I'm excited to read when I get home. Any walk with fairy houses and books sounds good ti me!

We got a new mission president!!!! His name is president Hall (A fellow Ute AND an accountant, so I was pretty thrilled about that!;)) Him and Sister Hall are very neat people and fans of creative missionary work (they gave us the thumbs up for the lemonade stand, which was a huge blessing.) They want us to take this time on our missions to learn how to govern ourselves and reach out to people in ways that are meaningful and convenient. *Maybe* our Facebook teaching can come back in the future! If not, I'm still very excited to be working with them.

Alright, I'm done rambling! I love you lots! BTW, we are allowed to teach people from anywhere over zoom/phone/messenger now, so if you know someone who is in need of a good message or they simply want to know more about Christ, send them my way. Ya'll are the bomb diggitiy!

Much love,

-Sister Schramm