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

 

 

 

 

Episode 8: Doctors and Hobos and Police, Oh My!

 

Hola mis amigos y mi familia! 

This week can best be described as....off?? We just had several odd moments (lots of good stuff as well, though!) Here's the craziness of our week at a glance:

Tuesday: We had to say goodbye to president and sister Wells 😞 we had a special mission-wide Zone Conference where they gave their final instruction to us as missionaries. It was sad, but they shared some really great talks! Unfortunately, we found out that our mission's FB access has been greatly reduced. (Pretty much no FB use at all) That was a hard blow to take. We were making some decent strides, so we were pretty discouraged. I was kinda a grumpy soul and did not take it like a trooper. God is kind to me though, and that night we had a surprise phone call from one of our special needs members. We talked about Postcards From Buster and Portuguese food for two hours and had a lot of fun, and that's exactly what I needed. Kindness saves the day again!

Wednesday: I had to go see a doctor about a problem with my wrist (no worries fam, it's very minor and I've dealt with it before😉). It's definitely not a big deal, but I HATE going to the doctor by myself. I get ridiculously stressed out over it and think things like "what if I forgot my insurance card? What if they want to do surgery right then and there? What if I forgot my date of birth? Ah!" It's super ridiculous and one day when I don't have the mind of a seven year old I'll get over it. 😅 Thank you sister Sintz for putting up with my stressin'.

Thursday: We were working on calling people and doing other random jazz at the church building and we hear a noise... (basically what I think a pack of angry monkeys would sound like🤷🏼‍♀️😅) turns out it was a pack of coyotes, so we decided to go check outside to make sure no one got hurt. We left a shoe in the door so we wouldn't have to take the time to unlock it if the coyotes decided to attack 😉. Armed with butcher knives from the kitchen, we did a perimeter check in our car and noticed a man with a *full* mask (like ninja/robber style) standing outside the front of our building... apparently he hid behind some bushes when I went to unlock the gate, but we didn't think much of it... we saw the coyotes walking down the sidewalk, but there were no small kids out so we drove around the block and came back to the building, and our scary friend was still standing outside. He was talking to another friend and they suspiciously watched our car. *oh no* we drove around the block again and he was still there still staring into the building. *panic noises* we decided to park the car across the street and watch our friend and call the elders to come stand by the gate so we could go get our things (and the shoe out of the door... that was no bueno). Thankfully,  they laughed it off and came (shout out to elders Greenhalgh and Morriss!) One of the elders went and talked to scary man (who had been staring into the building for about an hour now) and it turns out he was most likely homeless and selling "unmentionables." Fun. Needless to say we've been a little jumpy.

Friday: we went running in the morning and came back to firetrucks chilling in front of our apartment. *internal screaming* Turns out one of our neighbors might have had Covid and the fire department needed to come check??? We haven't heard anything back on that yet, but we're feeling okay, so.....? *cough*

Saturday: My little sista got baptized and I got to watch! That's an awesome blessing of qaurentine. Lovely tender mercy. 

Sunday: We had a missed call when we were done with zoom sacrament meeting and we had a voicemail that said: "This is officer Morgan from the Pasadena Police department. We need to speak. Give me a call back." *internal and external screaming* well we called them back and to make a long story short, one of our former friends went missing and one of the last things he had on him was a pass along card with our number. Sister Sintz now has her name down on police records in a missing persons case so that's awesome 😅

Overall, it's been a weird week. It's been a little spiritually exhausting, and lots of things have dropped on us. But, there have been many blessings. I've never been a fan of family history,  but since there's not a lot of other things to do, we decided to do some. It's been amazing. The stories of my ancestors have been great to read and have helped me to feel the spirit. We have access to the family history library here and most other areas don't, so having that blessing is lovely. It's exactly what I needed. I highly reccomend reading some family history if you're having a hard time. There is power in knowing the stories of your family.

We were also blessed to meet a wonderful member who is very excited about missionary work, and we strongly appreciate his enthusiasm and support. He definitely moved in at the right time. We were also instructed to do more role plays and were promised that we would be blessed according to our preparation. We practiced sharing a message after calling the wrong number, annnnnd we actually got the opportunity to talk to someone who wanted us to share a scripture after we called the wrong number!  Turns out there are blessings for obedience 😉

I love you all and really appreciate you. You're lovely people. God knows you personally. Christ knows you personally and you had faith in His atonement before we came to Earth (Revelations 12:11.) Keep having faith in Him now just like you did then and you'll make it through. Love you!

-Sister Schramm

 

 

 

 

Episode 7:We called the fire department

 So short email today, but as the header says, we called the fire department! We smelled natural gas in the church building VERY strongly and no one in the entire church would answer our calls for about an hour, so we called someone who would respond. 😅

We went on a 18 mile hike today and it was great! See the pictures below.

Last week was very slow, but all hard things pass my friends! This week we were blessed to meet many people thanks to God's tender mercies. We were able to teach lots and have so many missionary opportunities. Friends, if you feel stuck, know that that state is temporary. The light will come. I don't know when, but I know it comes.

Much love,

Sister Schramm 

 

Episode 6: Bears and Germans

 Hola amigos y familia! This week was a weird week with a lot of meetings... we also had lots of lessons drop and not a lot of contact from our members, so it's been a bit of a struggle. I guess it surprised me a little bit, which it shouldn't have,  because I knew that missionary work was going to be hard at times! (Who knew?😉) I guess there's no teacher like real experience.

All that being said, there wad still lots I'd great things this week and I wouldn't trade away those experiences. Here's my week:

Tuesday we had lots of lessons drop, so we decided to mark some great scriptures in the Book of Mormon and drop them in these cute little book exchanges boxes (which made my nerdy heart happy). This was up in the mountains in a part of Sierra Madre we refer to as "the fairy town." It's crazy adorable and all of the houses are funky and neat. While we were up there, we came upon a mama bear and baby bear strolling down the street! We went on a bear hunt ;)

Wednesday we had interviews with president and he's the best (shout out to grandma and grandpa Cain: I found elder Nielson! He's in my zone so that's fun)

Thursday we had a 4-mission wide (Frezno, Arcadia, Anchorage, and Washington), 3 hour devotional with Elder Klebingat of the 70. He's a very fiery, salty, sarcastic soul and I loved listening to him speak. He called us to repentance with "all the love a German general authority can give," which was very direct but very needed. He spent about an hour explaining the premortal life with God. He explained that we knew Him, He knew us, and we learned directly from Him. We had confidence in Christ, so we were willing to come to Earth. He loved us enough to come to Earth to suffer for us. We are here to fulfill covenants to gather others to return to return to God. Isn't that worth any sacrifice? Of course! Friends, don't be lame! (Elder Klebingst's words;)) there's too much work to do and things to become to just stay chillin where we're at. 

Saturday we did exchanges with the hermanas...  I helped read scriptures in Spanish with a very American accent. 😂I bore my testimony in English, and the man we were teaching said "I don't understand what you said, but I'm sure it was good!" Tambien my friend!

Anyways, it was a harder week, but so goes the work. I'm blessed! It is well with my soul.

Love,

-Sister Schramm :)

Episode 5: Revel in the Awkward

Hey everyone! I'm one month into this crazy adventure! Isn't that kind of weird? I've been very blessed to have gotten to spend part it at home with my family and then call them often now that I'm in California. This homebody feels very blessed.

First off, I just need you to know that I love my trainer. Sister Sintz is awesome and a lot of fun. She is a very outdoorsy soul, so we go on a hike almost every p day... As the subject line suggests, I am very awkward. Because of this, I have a tendency to trip on things when we hike. Last week it was in a river, and this week I scraped myself falling on some rocks. I'm okay, only bruised my ego 😂 Both times the spirit warned me right before to walk more carefully and I said "nah Spirit, I don't want to be paranoid" and then I fall and the Spirit is like "told you so." 

Guess what?  I did another awkward thing: we were delivering notes to young women and people who just moved into the area.  I ran a note up to the door of this one house and was admiring the brick walkway on the way back to the car. Not paying attention, I opened the car door and started to get in. I glanced at the hands on the steering wheel and thought "boy, sister Sintz sure needs to use more lotion cause her hands sure look like man hands."

They were man hands.

I got in the wrong car.

Thankfully,  the driver just said "excuse me?" politely, to which I replied, all in one breath,  "OH MY GOODNESS IM SO SORRY" and I got to walk back to my laughing trainer. I am the epitome of grace!

One last Corrine-is-an-awkward-nugget story: we were teaching a lesson over Zoom at the church building, and it was getting fairly late. As you are aware, there's been many riots in LA, which have effected our area (one of our church buildings was vandalized!) As a result, I've been a little bit jumpy. During the closing prayer of our lesson, I heard someone drive into the parking lot and get out of their car... it sounded like a bunch of young guys who were talking loudly about something... then they came to the door and started messing with it, trying to unlock it. I thought to myself: "people who know how to get into the building wouldn't fiddle with the lock, they'd use the key pad! These guys must b  vandals! Mercy me!" I opened my eyes and looked at the praying sister Sintz with a look that said "why won't your stop praying?  Someone is trying to break into the building?!" She did not stop praying, so I started praying feverently myself. As soon as the prayer was done, I whipped around to see other missionaries standing in the doorway. I probably looked a little crazy, but I guess I am crazy, so no harm done. 🤷‍♀️I'm glad I did not ninja pounce because that would have been REALLY awkward.

Despite all of my blonde moments, the work rolls forward! We were able to make some breakthroughs this week with a friend of ours who has had a hard time with some things. We prayed about how to have a discussion that meets his needs and were given inspiration. We also got authorization to meet in person again! (Outside, with masks, by invitation mind you). That was exactly what our friend George needed. We were able to answer some questions he had and have a great discussion. We have also been praying specifically that we might have 2 people referred to us. We haven't had much success in that area the past few weeks, but this week we had 2! Sister Sintz likes to say that "God always answers forgiveness prayers and missionary prayers." Truth! 

Finally, I just want to share one thing a member shared with us this week: he said that joy and happiness are like climate and weather; places that have pleasant climates will experience poor weather from time to time. Similarly, you can still have a joyful life even though happiness will come and go.

Anyways, love you all bunches!!! Hurrah for Israel!

- Sister Schramm 

Episode 4: Welcome to the hotel California

Hello amigos y familia!

California is AMAZING. To start off, there's  mountains, palm trees, cacti, the works. There's so many flowers and fruit trees. We get to eat oranges right off the tree (thanks to our adopted grandma!) and kumquats (so good!) I'm in east Pasadena area, and there are parrots here! (According to the locals, a pet shop burned down years ago and all the parrots survived. They just stayed in the area!) 

My trainer is sis. Sintz from Sandy. She is awesome! She's an adventurous gal! Love her. (She convinced me to do the cinnamon challenge... let's just say she did well and I did not)

Because of quarantine, we mostly call people and teach lessons to members. It's been a bit slow, but it's okay. God will move the work forward at His own pace. 

When I got here, I was basically told that we'd only get the sacrament about once a month. That was kinda hard for me to digest. However,  this week our Zone Leaders called and said they could bring us the sacrament! It was just what I needed! It nice to know that Heavenly Father is looking out for me. If there are missionaries in your area,  reach out to them and ask if they want the sacrament and they'll love you forever. ;) 

I've got to go, so sorry for the short email! (Between technology issues and time, things are tight today. Next week I will be better!) 

Love,

-Sister Schramm