Why did YOU decide to serve a mission?

Making empanadas

holy CANNOLI I DO NOT HAVE THAT MUCH TIME BUT I HAVE SOMETHING THAT I REALLY WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT THIS DAY TODAY

first of all

LITERALLY WHAT EVEN WITH MY BROTHER EXPERIENCING THINGS THAT HE'LL TALK ABOUT IN GENERAL CONFERENCE ONE DAY WHEN HE'S AN APOSTLE  

what even

what even

what EVEN

dont worry i'm not freaking out

[Jeffrey spent the weekend in the hospital following some complications after a routine procedure.  He's special that way and he's fine now. :)  All is well.]

In the ER

After being admitted

BUT I'VE GOTTA TALK ABOUT SOMETHING WITH YOU GUYS

i received an email last week from a very good friend (<3 <3 <3) that was asking a few questions about how to prepare for the mission and because i have very little time, i thought i would respond to her email in a bigger form

i dont speak english anymore by the way so if these sentences dont make sense that is why

but anyway

LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW TO GET READY FOR THE MISSION

i was thinking a lot about that this week actually. about what more i could have done before the mission to prepare myself and i came to a couple of conclusions. i also want to address another question that my companion asked me a couple days ago

a question that everybody always asks 

but that made me think more than usual

my companion asked me, 'Hermana Schomburg, ¿porque decidió servir una misión?' (Sister Schomburg, why did you decide to serve a mission?)

and i decided that the answer is no longer what it used to be

i used to say 'because i want to share the gospel blah blah (insert what everybody says that is noble all the same but everybody says it)' but you know what the truth is?

i decided to serve a mission because it is something my brothers did; because i felt i needed to pay back the many blessings that i was given as i watched every member of my family change forever as we came back to church; i decided to serve a mission because i had always said 'if i dont get married first, i'll serve a mission'; and yes, because i wanted to share the gospel.

maybe there isnt anything wrong with that answer; those are perfectly good reasons to decide to serve a mission, but i have realized this week that the reasons i decided to serve a mission are not the same reasons that i have now to be in the mission. my reasons have changed, as they should, because the longer i'm here, the more i realize the importance of this work

i am here in the mission now because i am playing a part in the great plan of salvation, not just to share happiness and joy. This is eternal salvation that we are talking about and God told me, me specifically (well i mean, probably in a great big group of people) that i was going to play a special part in his plan because the plan is to get God's children back to him, not just to let them feel the spirit for a little bit or to help them know a little bit more about religion

Making empanadas with members
is part of the work.

this work is the most important work in the world and I am a part of it! and if i had understood that more fully before the mission, i would have been better prepared.

but let's be real

there is no way to prepare yourself 100% for a mission

i couldnt even prepare myself adequately for the last hobbit movie how was i supposed to prepare myself for something that has to do with the eternal salvation of these people and not only that, but my own salvation.

so, dont worry if you dont feel prepared in this moment

you're not

but you can do it

and if for some reason something happens and your departure date is postponed or you return home early, there is no reason to fear

this is hard. I know it, other missionaries know it, and God knows it. Everything that happens in our lives is part of the plan the God has for us. He has everything under control and we have to trust him 100%. All we can do is keep on keeping on with the things that they always tell us to do.

Pray, read the scriptures, go to church, learn all that you can, serve, go to the temple, be humble, keep in mind the eternal nature of our beings and our destiny. 

i know a heck of a lot of people that are going through trials right now, and i dont have the answer for all of them... actually i do

because the answer to all of our tests and trials and problems can be found in Jesus Christ. In his Atonement; in his gospel - the plan of salvation - in the words that he so carefully planned to tell us before coming to earth

Look to him in every moment, in every trial, in every test and problem. Look to him and you will find all that you need. Put him first and there will be nothing to stop you! Let's pretend God is a rain cloud

he rains blessings on us

but if we use an umbrella (or put other things before him)

we will never experience the blessings that he has for us! 

Dont let anything come between you and your father in heaven; he is more powerful and greater than anybody or anything else and he is the only one that can help us accomplish all that we have to do and the only one that can give us all the strength that we need

I testify of this gospel and of my Savior; i testify of the truthfulness of the plan of salvation and of the peace that this knowledge brings. I love the Lord, I love this gospel, and I am humbled to have the great privilege of bringing this gospel to the people of Chile; to play this part in our Father's plan for us, and this i share in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

SORRY IF NONE OF THIS MADE ANY SENSE I'M IN A BILLION PLACES IN MY MIND BUT HOLY COW I'LL TALK TO YOU GUYS

on sunday

hahahahahahHAHAHA

PLEASE BE WELL EVERYBODY I LOVE YOU ALL SORRY IF I DIDNT RESPOND TO YOUR EMAILS 

OH YEAH

NOTICIAS

NEXT WEEK WE WILL HAVE AN HOUR AND A HALF AGAIN AND I WILL BE ABLE TO WRITE YOU PEOPLE BETTER WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO also we have cambios this week

i will let you know on sunday what is going to happen to me

or my companion :S

ayayayay

I LOVE YOU ALL HAVE A GREAT WEEK

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Chilaquiles with agua de horchata

The beauty that is Santiago.