Pictures dated 26Dec2022

Letter dated 26Dec2022

Dear Y'all, You might be able to tell but Christmas time is really crazy so because of that this week was also crazy! Not necessarily because of Christmas but because God is good and likes throwing some crazy experiences our way. Just take the following into consideration. There was not a single day this week where we had a normal missionary schedule. Yee haw Tuesday We had a mission gathering for the Christmas season where we wrote letters, played games, and had a wonderful devotional from the mission presidency. I got todirect the music for the devotional which was quite a lot of fun especially since I got to see my past companions in the congregation! It was wonderful to spend a lot of time with my friends and brothers and sisters that day. Wednesday/My Birthday I turned 21! Fortunately I had no desire to sink into alcoholism so that was fortunate and a tender blessing. For dinner the Gold family threw an amazing party for me with the Bishopric, fire works, and cake. The three you need to have a good time. Honestly it was magical and I was very grateful for the fact they are such kind and wonderful people. Oddly my birthday was not the main event on the 21st. My previous companion Elder Batista had appendicitis and had to recieve a speedy surgery all within a day of finding out because it was about to burst. We had to rush to the hospital shortly after dinner with the Golds because President Harris called us to let us know what was going on so we could take care of Elder Witte, Elder Batista's current companion. After going through a few waiting rooms we got to see Elder Batista loopy and in a hospital gown and he said very jovialy, "Happy birthday Elder Schindler!". It was heart warming and humbling for him to care about me even when he was going through such a scary experience. He is a wonderful young man. He ended up having a successful surgery and we took Elder Witte home after giving him a blessing with President Harris. We didn't end up going home until about 11 pm. (Bed time is 10:30 just for reference) Thursday Thursday was COLD!!!! We had to wake up early to reunite Elder Batista and Elder Witte after his surgery and it was bitterly frigid. That or I just got used to the balmy weather of Georgia (it was about 5°F so it wasn't as bad as Idaho). Because of the weather though we had to keep our faucets on and we actually helped a few people with the heat in their house since no one has insulation in their houses. We were also told to stock up for the weekend in case businesses had to close down which made me feel like I was in covid again. We also went to the hospital again to help the elders and came back at 11 again so there went our sleep schedule. Oh yeah Elder Lind also ruined his knee and had it looked at in the morning. He may need to go home for surgery so keep praying for him. Friday We got to have a good planning session and ran back and forth to the hospital delivering pills and Elder Batista was discharged. We also had a good lesson with Trey! Saturday/Christmas Eve We had a wonderful time on Christmas eve brightening the other Elders boredom with playing monopoly deal with them and making them laugh. We also had some wonderful Greek food from the Weishars which was cool. In the evening my companions and I prepared some awesome talks because we all spoke in church for Christmas! Sunday/Christmas! Like I said my companionship gave Christmas talks! Elder Lind shared about the angel Gabriel, Elder Elmer spoke on the shepards who visited Jesus, and gave my talk on the wise men and the gifts they gave Christ. The ward loved them and it was very fun to be able to do. We then opened presents and wrote letters to the ward members who have given us gifts. Several people actually came to church on Christmas who hadn't been there in a while which was exciting! Then we spent Christmas dinner with the Nelsons which was lovely. They gave us presents and their boys loved having us over. While there we watched Mr Kreuger's Christmas. I am not sure if we were supposed to watch it but it is made by the church so it's a fifty fifty shot at this point. All in all Christmas was magical! Especially since we went back to the Elder's apartment to play monopoly deal again! I everyone has a wonderful time this Yule Tide season! God bless and merry Boxing Day!!!! Sincerely, Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler

Pictures dated 19Dec2022

Letter dated 19Dec2022

Dear y'all, This week was really cool because we visited a TON of families in the local wards. Due to the shear number I won't be mentioning every visit but just keep in mind we visited a couple of households each day. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday On Tuesday I went on exchanges with my district member Elder Witte who has been awesome to work with the past 4 months. It was super cool to work with a few of his friends who are progressing to baptism and we actually decided to talk about fasting with one of his friends who is planning to be baptized and we actually got to fast with him about learning about the Book of Mormon. It was pretty cool! The next day our zone went to the temple. I kind of forgot how peaceful and wonderful it is to be in the house of the Lord and it was a sweet respite after a long time of not going. I also got some answers about some questions I have been asking for a while so I want to urge everyone, if you have not been to the temple for a while, just go. It's worth the effort. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday At one point we felt prompted to visit this one family who has a son going on a mission in February. We wanted to answer any questions he had and help him have a good boost before the MTC. It was lifting to see his excitement to serve the Lord and it reminded me of when I was getting ready for my service. It's been over a year and a half now since I was in his shoes and I have loved every single day of it. The experience made me very sentimental. We were going to teach Trey but he was busy with the holidays but he did promise to go to church. more on that later. On Saturday we found and met a new person that a member referred to us and then went to a Christmas party. We then got a bunch of referrals from some members all in his neighborhood and it was the first time tracting since our mission started focussing on only working with members which was kind of fun! Yesterday we had many of our friends come to church (Trey made it as well!) and it was fantastic! I also got to perform a special musical number which went really well. Here is a link to a clip of it: All in all I am excited for Christmas, my birthday on Wednesday, Christmas Eve, Chris's birthday also on Wednesday, Hanukkah, and Dad's birthday which is also on Wednesday. I hope this time is magically even without me :3 Merry Christmas y'all! Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler

Pictures dated 12Dec2022

Letter dated 12Dec2022

Dear yall, This week was fun, here are the updates Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday: We got to visit and help several member families with doing missionary work and we got to meet an inactive woman of over 10 years. She has just recently felt an in interest in coming back to church due to some hard challenges in her life. We knocked on her door right when she was thinking about it but the real miracle was that we were supposed to stop by three days before the actual visit but couldn't because we ran out of time in the schedule.. She told us that she would have been in Florida that day and we realized that if we had come by any earlier we likely would never have met her. We also got to participate in a zone conference which was quite revelatory and helped me to focus on areas of growth. We also had a really good restoration lesson with a new friend of ours. Since she is a lady we referred her over to the sisters but she has a lot of promise. Her name is Debby if you want to pray for her. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: We got to participate in Seminary which was a lot of fun. We also got to visit more members who are wanting to do missionary work and one inactive brother who I have grown fond of since coming to this area has decided to come back to church. It was kind of cool because we visited him as well as the Bishop on the same day and it seemed to help get him invigorated about coming back. All in all, it was a good week. We also had a good lesson with our friend Trey. We had a great discussion about belief and we are helping him grow and find his faith in Christ and the restored gospel. It was also really cool since we haven't been in recent contact with him and he revealed to us that he had silenced his phone for the week since he is doing finals which made us feel a lot better about our selves since he wasn't getting back to us 🙃 I am super excited for this next week since it is getting that much closer to my birthday and to Christmas! Although I haven't felt as productive as I have in the past since many people have been canceling on us it has been wonderful to recognize and see the Savior's hand during his season. I really do mean it when I say I love and cherish you guys. I consider my family and friends to be the greatest presents I have been given in this life. Thank you for being there for me in my life. God bless us, everyone! -Miniscule Timothy Sincerely, Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler

Pictures dated 5Dec2022

Letter dated 5Dec2022

Dear yall, This week was a little slow but it was fun. Monday: we put some Christmas lights up for a member in the ward and it was a fun service project lighting the world just a little bit. Tuesday: we had several good visit happen which was very encouraging! It was also cool because we had many unplanned finding opportunities as we went around talking to visiting local members which was cool to see since our mission is focusing on working and visiting members now. Wednesday: on Wednesday we visited with the Rice family and talked about a few key principles we needed to finish teaching them. They have been putting off baptism for a little bit now but they finally said they are going to figure out a baptismal date soon. It was a wonderful miracle to see. If you can, please pray for them. Their names are Greg and Jill Rice. Thursday: we had exchanges with one of my old district member named Elder Silva. It was fun to see/work with him again even though literally everyone canceled that day except for a member couple who don't want to do missionary work. Oh well! Friday: on Friday we had interviews with President Harris which was fun. He is a very loving person. I am glad I get to serve with him. It was kind of interesting since after interviews we taught a very well delivered restoration lesson. We were very united and the Spirit was very present. Sadly, after hearing our final testimonies they told us they were catholic and uninterested. *sigh* Saturday: everyone canceled on us on Saturday until about 8 pm so that was pretty tough. That lesson that happened though was great and he was receptive to changing his life. Sunday: we had a great church service and followed up with a lot of people. We also got to go a sing along and talked to a lot of our members who brought nonmember friends and the Christmas devotional from the Church was a bright note to finish off the week. By the way. Mother, I have loved opening your daily Christmas packages. It starts my day off on a very merry note! Also, one or these images is of me pointing at a chair in a catholic church that says "for saint Nicholas". Since I am a Saint, named Nicholas, and named after the original saint Nicholas, I have decided to steal this chair later in the month. Love you all, keep being my favorite people! Sincerely, Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler

Pictures dated 28Nov2022

Letter dated 28Nov2022

Dear yall, This was a fun week of the holidays for most people. For the missionaries however, no one wanted to meet with us. Yaaayyy. Even though it was hard to fill time with meaningful activities we still had good contacts and activities. Monday: We met with this guy named Francisco. He wants to come to church so we'll see how that goes. Tuesday: then we had transfers which were wild since we had to drive down even though none of us were transferred. Because of that my companion Elder Elmer got some boots. Wednesday: we helped this lady named Martha move her entire house on Wednesday. It took a llloooooonnnngg time. We talked with her about the gospel and gave her and her daughters blessings since Martha just went into surgery. It was positive but we will be having the Azalea Spanish Sister start teaching her since she also speaks Spanish and is a lady. Thursday: Thanksgiving was interesting. We played football in the morning with the ward and then had two member meals which were much appreciated. Shout out to the Homan and Amott families, they were incredibly kind in inviting us over. Later we finished moving Martha into her house and tried to do some missionary work but no one was willing to talk us. Friday: On Friday we helped another family move and had a great lesson with our friend Trey and invited him to be baptized. He said he wanted to but wanted to talk about it with his fiance first. We then asked if we could start teaching his fiance and he said he has been wanting to ask us so wish them luck and their journey of faith Saturday: we dropped off a copy of preach my gospel to a recent convert on his birthday. Hopefully he didn't think it was boring and that he reads it. Sunday: we had a good ice cream social with the zone and talked about coordinating with our ward councils. This week was kind of fun but I am definitely looking forward to people not canceling on us. Just gotta wait for Christmas week to do it all over again. Love yall! Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler

Pictures date 21Nov2022

Letter dated 21Nov2022

Dear y'all? This last week was great even though most people canceled with us and they also canceled this next week due to the holidays so we have to be creative and resourceful now with our time. On Tuesday we wrote Christmas cards for a brother in the ward who is loosing his sight which was a fun service opportunity. We also had a good visit with an older couple who have been going through difficult circumstances regarding their health but they have been so joyful and kind to us regardless. Their names are the Harpers and please pray for their health and family. On Wednesday we had an in depth discussion about the plan of salvation which was a good change of pace rather than having people not talk or discuss it with us. We also went on exchanges that day and a member family gave us Red Robin. Score! On Thursday Elder Patrick Kearon of the presidency of the 70 gave an amazing mission tour devotional to us! It was very spiritual, inspiring, and hilarious. It was fun to see a general authority be a little goofy and make jokes with us. He is also our mission president's wife's uncle so that was cool to hear about! On Friday we had a good district council where we bore our testimonies as a district and on Saturday we did a ton of service which was fun. Here a link to my greatest moment of my missionary service: https://photos.app.goo.gl/FtCwAZRLprmC1H6EA To finish it off, yesterday we got transfer calls and I will be.... *drumroll* Staying. Tada For real though I am excited! I will be here in cumming GA till after new years so that should be a hoot. I will keep yall updated on how Thanksgiving goes, it will be a full proselyting day so I am looking forward to everyone not wanting to talk to us, not that will change anything honestly. Have a good one, I love you guys! Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler