Episode 16: A diabetic albino Tongan

 

Hola mis amigos y mi familia!

Oh my goodness I love Upland! The people here are absolutely lovely and sister Shirts is a doll! She's so willing to do good and work hard, which is the essence of greatness. I went from almost the far West end of the mission to almost the far East, and it only took about 20 minutes! Corona has definitely helped with bad traffic! ;)

Before I got transferred, we decided to go get Korean frozen yogurt with fish shaped waffle cones! Sounds bizarre, but it is so good! Ube is now one of my favorite flavors and I would reccomend, 10/10 (tastes like captain crunch!)

Speaking of food, I think the members in Upland are determined to give me diabetes 😅 There is so much food here haha! It's a little insane. They  are very missionary oriented, which I love a bunch. They share the gospel with those they know because they know it brings happiness and they simply want others to feel that. I appreciate their example and I want to be more like that when I get home :)

I love the sisters in my apartment! One is from Tonga and I LOVE HER! She gave us tshirts from Tonga and I am SO proud of my shirt haha! I've been adopted as an albino Tongan and I love it!

We had to start almost from scratch this week because I'm new and sister Shirts is still in training! It's been quite a bit of work, and I've felt very stretched and inadequate. We had a training for trainers and trainees and president and sister Hall told us that the best thing we could do was help our companions feel God's love. Having obedience issues? If you know God loves you and you love Him you'll be motivated to try better. Self confidence issues? Know how God feels about you and you'll have courage. Can't get along with someone? Know how God sees them and you'll be able to love them. It works! 

When I was feeling very inadequate this week I prayed a bunch and asked God: "what lack I yet?" I was expecting a reprimand and a list of things to do better. Instead, I got the impression to read my patriarchal blessing. This blessing is special to me because it is a blessing that we receive once in our life, and it is recorded. It tells us about oursleves and what God would have us know. My blessing is very sacred to me. As I read it, I was reminded of my strengths, talents, and potential. I felt very loved. That love inspired me better than any chastisement would have ;) I'm so glad Heavenly Father is patient with me! 

I know He loves each of you and wants the best for you. I love you each and appreciate you very much. Sorry for the short scatterbrained email!

Onward Christian Soldiers!

Love,

-Sister Schramm

 

 

 

 

Episode 15: Transfers!

 Hola mis amigos y mi familia!

So I took about an hour this morning and wrote a good, detailed email and my crazy phone deleted it! I'm going to have to keep things short, so sorry! As said in the Princess Bride, "There is too much, let me sum up!"

-We had some fabulous exchanges! I was with Hermana Gooden and learned so much! We were talking about our goals for this next transfer and things we wished we had known. At one point she said something like "I had one transfer I regret, but I wouldn't take it back because of the lessons I learned." At first that seemed sorta contradictory, so I decided to study repentance and the atonement to make sense of it. Here's what I learned: when we make a bad choice, we get regret and shame/sorrow. Regret motivates us to not make that decision again (preventative) and sorrow motivates us to correct our behavior (correctitive). When we repent with the help of the Savior, we can remove sorrow because we know that He can truly correct the effects of our behavior and truly make things right. We get to keep our regret so we won't make that bad decision again, and sorrow is turned into a lesson learned about ourselves. The atonement of Jesus Christ repurposes. Christ is not ashamed of those who try (Hebrews 2:11)

-Saturday we did some very very fun service! We helped move some boxes and other things out of the basement of this beautiful home built in the 1920s! It was very bomb-diggitty. We got to wear jeans, get dirty, and serve. Basically the best! I didn't realize how much I missed having a Saturday project to work on. Maybe my parents were on to something after all? 

-Okay, here's the very crazy news! Saturday afternoon we got our transfer calls and were told that sister Sintz and I were both staying in East Pasadena and there would be nothing new. Okay 👍 buuuut that night we got a call from president Hall at about 10:20 and he asked for an emergency switch! Sister Sintz will be staying in East Pasadena and I will be going to Upland! What?! I'll be finishing the training of Sister Shirts, so this will be her second transfer! I'm just barely ending my training, and I'm not quite sure how I feel about this, but I know that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! (But I'm still a little shook haha 😅)

So there you have it folks! Saying goodbye was very sad and I just love so many people here! I'm also going to miss Sister Sintz a bunch :'(. I love that lady very much and I have learned many important lessons from her. She has taught me about having fun, studying hard, standing up for the truth, repentance, recognizing the spirit, having confidence, and never settling. She's not perfect, but I know that she will always do the right thing when it comes down to it. I'm grateful for how fearless she is. I trust and respect her immensely and am can't wait to go shooting with her when we get home ;)

Last quote from Elder Ucthdorf that seems pretty relevant for this week: "There seems to be something inside of us that resists endings. Why is this? Because we are made of the stuff of eternity. We are eternal beings, children of the Almighty God, whose name is Endless and who promises eternal blessings without number. Endings are not our destiny."

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!

-Sister Schramm

"Come on Elder. Sister Schramm took that much and didn't complain, and she has one arm!" -Elder Greenhalgh 

"How dare you make me feel emotions!" -Rachel

"Who's leaving? Sister Schramm. The one who has my favorite teachings."-Samba

"You said that like how a pimp would say that."-Hermana Marquez

 

 

 

Episode 13-14 Surgery Part one and 2

 Hola mis amigos y mi familia!

First off, thank you for your emails, prayers, and support. I miss and love you all! I will answer emails as fast as I can with my funny hand. :)

Speaking of funny hand, I got surgery! (Hopefully you already knew that haha). To make a long story short, I had a ganglion cyst on my right hand. It was low key cutting off circulation. No bueno. After lots of logistical struggles, I was able to get surgery July 31st! Anyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT like doctors. Nothing causes me stress quite like needles and knives. Honestly, it was very intimidating to go on in to surgery by myself. I had to rely on God very, very much. The nurses were having a hard time getting the IV in and were describing the struggle to me as they went along... no thank you😅. I was praying and asking God for help. Right after that, the nurse started asking me about what I did as a missionary and we got to chat about her belief in God. It was great :) She said "sometimes when I can't find something, like your veins, I pray to Saint Anthony and he helps me find them." Right then, she got the IV in!  I know that God listens to the prayers of all of His children. I love that the gospel was something that could bring us together. 

Anywho, I'm getting better! I just barely got the stitches out less than an hour ago, and even made myself look at my hand before. I'm gonna overcome my doctor fear ;) I learned that, as a right handed person, I love my right hand! This was definitely a forced opportunity to learn patience haha!

The rest of this week was great, with lots of ups and downs. Our friend Joel is progressing well, but Satan is sure throwing a lot at him! Between car accidents, health issues, and family, he's put up with a lot. He is a great example to me because he acknowledges his trials while still saying:  "the Lord will provide a way." He will. I know He will. It reminds me of Ether 12:6 "And now, I, Moroni, would speak somewhat concerning these things; I would show unto the world that faith is things which are hoped for and not seen; wherefore, dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

I would write more, but my hand is incompetent. LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

-Sister Schramm 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

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