Letter dated 27 February 2023

Dear Yall, This week was good. It was very long and I am currently very tired but it was good. Monday We had good meeting after Pday where we met as a zone and talked about missionary work and how to be effective. We also did a little late night service at dinner that night by helping a new family move a heavy dresser into their apartment. It is always a good opportunity to serve. Tuesday So recently we have had a lot of strange people reach out to us rather than us (the typically strange people), reaching out to others so it has been nice feeling popular. Unfortunatley we aren't too sure how willing to progress any of them are so we will keep having hour long text chats per day with them. Fun stuff! One of friends who we thought had been avoiding us actually turned out to be very sick. We had a good conversation with her about staying strong through difficult times and she was interested in getting a copy of the Book of Mormon. She has decided to read it and we are hoping she will come to our Book of Mormon study this week. We also had a good lesson with Sawyer this week. She is excited for her baptism and it's been fun to get to know her! Wednesday We met with our friend Justin who has been meeting with missionaries for a while now. He's awesome and it was great to meet and encourage him in his endeavors he has been pursuing. We played capture the flag later that night and I got tackled by a youth. When I say I got tackled, I should say I was standing and someone ran into me and I had a solid 100 pounds on the kid so he crumbled to the ground. I'm glad I'm finally one of the big kids now. Also, he was fine, just a little discombobulated. Thursday After we had dinner with this one family they showed us their moon garden. They lived in Hong Kong for 12 years and have a very intricate garden in their back yard with a whole assortment of asian flowers and trees. It was very beautiful lit by moonlight. I am not sure why it's called a moon garden but it was cool nonetheless. We didn't have anything else interesting happen since we weekly planned that day. Friday For district council we had a huge emphasis on faith and how to teach the priniciple of faith to others. It was a powerful experience especially when we tried an exercise I thought of ealier that week. Before we practiced teaching I asked that each of us pray individually for faith and for anything in order to teach and testify. The Spirit was palpable in the room and it was a humbling experience to see the plans I had made paid off so well. I am glad I get to serve the Lord. I went on exchanges that same day with Elder Homer in the Winder Ward. When I started my mission I went on many exchanges to Winder and it was fun coming back to the same area after so many months. We met with a many people and it was cool to see the timing of everything. We were at this one home right when someone fell down and we lifted the person back up and they were able to go the hospital safely. We met with some recentlly baptized friends, some friends close to baptism, an older gentleman related to Ezra Taft Benson, and this awesome family who live in a 110 year old home which reminded very much of my home in Idaho! Saturday We burned down a ton of wood for a member in the ward which was very hot. serving is a one of my favorite things we do.We later went to a family's home and I apparently look identical to the father's childhood best friend named Rusty. If anyone finds a 50 year old version of me nicknamed Rusty, that might be him! Sunday My talk, powells, Mykhailo I gave a talk about increasing faith and it was great to be able to share something with this ward. A Sister later thanked me for what I had said and I was greatly moved by this. It was also fun to see many people come to church that day. After church our Russian friend Mykailo missed the meeting but wanted to meet still at the church. We came by again and waited. When we called to reconfirm he was still coming he said he was working so we rescheduled for that night at 7:30 at the church. Once again, he did not come. We called once again at 8 and he said he was on his way. By 8:30 he still was not there and not getting back to us. Just another day in the life of a missionary. We also had dinner with the Powell family who own a local dance, music, and theatre studio (due to the fact that their jobs are centered around everything I did in Highschool I feel obliged to include them in the update). They are a sweet couple and they want us to meet with and talk to one of their neighbors who needs a blessing. Hopefully everything works out! I hope life is good for everyone else. I am pretty tired from everything so I'll probably take a nap soon. I also have zone conference tomorrow and I'm going to the temple the week after this one. Let me know if anyone needs a name to go through the prayer roll/ if I need to be praying for anyone. God bless! Sincerely, Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler