Letter dated 3 April 2023

Dear yall, This week was great! I got Elder Miner and he is such a faithful servant of Christ and I am excited to perform some miracles with him in the coming weeks. Monday: Elder Ray and I went on visits to say goodbye. It was sad saying goodbye but Woodstock Georgia will be blessed by him! Tuesday: I got to see many past companions, friends, and previous district members that I missed. It was especially sweet to see Elder Lind come back into the mission after being gone! Elder Miner and I proceeded to do some visits and we met this family from Millington Michigan! It was great to connect with some fellow Michiganders and we connect well. Please pray for their daughter named Maddie, she needs the blessings. That night we had dinner with the Duces and Sister Duce gave me a stunning hair cut! It was a good gift to no longer be a shaggy missionary. She did it just in time for our visit with Sawyer that night who is GETTING BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!!! All in all, a successful day. Wednesday: After an hour and half long contact block we went out and no one was available except for a sister in the ward who needed her car washed! We were able to wash and take care of it and it was sweet being able to serve her. Thursday: We ended up having a good couple of hours doing yard work and cutting down some blackberry bushes that infested the yard of another member. Later we had lunch with them and they offered cinnamon pancakes with soy sauce and chili flakes. Most of you would think that is gross, and you would be right! They did it as a joke and I was the one who fell victim to it. We later visited a family (The Rohliks) who have been through a lot of struggles and offered prayers and a message. It was a sweet experience. Friday: We had lunch with our friend John and his mom which was awesome! He is struggling and looking for another place to move to but still wants to come to church and be baptized which was awesome to hear! We then did even more service (Our district is piloting a new initiative to do 5-10 hours of service per week which I have loved!), had a good meal with the Powells and our friend Paul, and visited our friend Vania. She has been thrown to the wayside recently and is just struggling terribly. The Spirit moved me and I proceeded to boldly testify to her and her kids about the healing and strengthening power of Jesus Christ and we gave her a blessing of comfort. It was incredibly powerful. We all cried and she will be okay, just needs time and the help to heal from the heaviness of the world. Please pray for her husband Mark that he might recover from his ailments and support his family as well as for her. Saturday: Conference was AWESOME! We watched it with Sawyer and then Rohliks who we visited on Thursday. We taught Sawyer her last couple of principles and I did a fun object lesson with tithing. I had a box of chocolates and asked her to pick her 10 favorites. She eagerly chose and I requested payment for giving them to her that I needed one of the chocolates back. She was reluctant but conceded and gave me the chocolate. Once she did, I gave her the entire box of chocolate and her eyes lit up. I like this lesson with tithing because it shows the need to give the material blessings we receive back to the Lord and then He repays us in more numerous ways than we can conceive. My favorite talk from Saturday's Sessions of conference was Elder Renlunds with Christ's ability to change us completely. For the Evening session we had no internet in the apartment so we went on a late night Arby's run so we could steal their internet and we actually met a member while we were there! Good stuff. Sunday: Then we watched conference with the Whitmires and their extended friends/family. Several of their cousins were recently baptized so we went over the new member lessons with them and we started teaching a friend who was there named Kevin. He is a sweet guy and we are excited to begin meeting with him! In between sessions we met with Sister Lambergs son who is being miraculously provided for with a doner, good insurance, and recovery! It is wonderful to see the Lord working his powerful miracles in Georgia. For the last session we watched it with the Padrick family and had a good visit with them. My favorite talk from this day was President Nelson's about being a peacemaker. It was exactly what I needed to hear. God be with you all! I only have 5 amazing weeks left and am excited to serve joyfully! Sincerely, Elder Nicholas Nephi William Schindler