2013 Lovin'

We ended 2013 with two incredible babtisms! The first was Danny (on the right) from Venezuela. Honestly, he´s amazing! Completely changed his life 180 degrees and is just the best. 

Our other baptism service was for Olga! She is from Cuba and wonderful. She is super sassy and we love it. Her husband is not a member...yet. But comes to church EVERY sunday and is so supportive of her. He will have his moment when he is ready and until then we just love him too! Cannot wait to see them in the temple together someday. 

I love this work. I have had the best/hardest last few weeks, but it´s worth it. I am learning a lot about sacrificing (including a week withough a shower...oops)  and trusting in the Lord´s timing. 

The church is true. Families can be together forever. 

I love you all. Have a great week and an awesome start to 2014!!! 

"I know not by what methods rare

But this I know, God answers prayer 

I know that He has given His word 

Which tells me prayer is always heard

And will be answered, soon or late 

And so I pray and calmly wait 

I know not if the blessing sought 

Will come in just the way I thought;

But I leave my prayers with Him alone

Whose will is wiser than my own 

Assured that He will grant my quest 

Or send some answer far more blest"

-Eliza M Hickok

Love, 

Hermana Scheu

Christmas and New Years

Happy New Year!!!

Can you believe it? 2014 baby. It´s gonna be a good one.

It was soooo wonderful seeing my family this past week! I love you all and miss you all so much. Thank you for all the yummy treats and thoughtful gifts. I loved everything! This Christmas was very different, but one of the best I´ve ever had. Definitely one I will remember forever. 

Skyping with my family!!!!!

Christmas goodies!!!

Best Christmas Eve jammies ever!!! And the sweetest necklaces.

 Never thought I would be so excited to get a box of good ol mac n cheese. Thanks Dad! 

Time for new boots?

Skype date?

Familia! 

Welp, I pretty much sent all my exciting updates to mom, but I saved a few. 

1. Missionary Christmas concert tonight at temple square. I don´t sing. And it´s worse in Spanish. If you need me, I´ll be hiding in the back row mouthing "watermelon" the entire two hours. 

2. I never thought I´d ever say this, but I could probably die happy if I never had a cup of Hot Cocoa again. We walk the streets in the freezing cold and when we get invited in we are always, without fail, presented with a cup of hot chocolate. Okay, so I should probably clarify. When I say "hot chocolate" I am not talking about American Swiss Miss. I am talking about a glass of melted chocolate with a bit of milk splashed in. Super thick and super rich. Which would be wonderful if we didn´t have it 4 times in one night with a handful of cookies. Props to Santa because I struggle. 

3. I get to SKYPE in 8 days 9 hours and 24 minutes...not that I am counting. That means Dad, Mom, other Dad, Chase, Sky, Alison, and Allie May better be ready for me at 7am (California) 8am (Idaho). Cant wait to see your FACES. The christmas presents can wait :) 

 

Merry Christmas to all! Although I miss you all lots and lots, I am so excited to be here in Madrid. I am excited to celebrate a different kind of Christmas and seek Christ more than wrapping and tinsel. You will all be in my heart, but if you're wondering, I couldn´t feel more blessed to be here and I´ll be sending my love across the seas. 

We´ve been studying the Living Christ these past few weeks in preparation for a special mission Chirstmas Devotional. It´s incredible and perfect for Christmas Eve. Print it off and we´ll read it together. You in your home and me in my home away from home. Living Christ 

Love, 

Hermana Scheu 

New Address

P.S. My new address! You can send love letters directly here: 

Hermana Kinghorn (for packages it has to match my government ID) 

Calle Bravo Murillo, 69 3 IZQ

28003 Madrid Spain 

Moving Forward

Hi Family! 

It´s P-day...AGAIN. 

I don´t understand how the time goes by so fast. We are already almost halfway done with this transfer and I feel like I JUST got transferred. But hey, I guess time flies when your having fun. 

So, Christmas is soon...that´s wierd. It doesn´t feel much like Christmas here, but I am hoping to do a little cookie making and Christmas caroling to bring some holiday cheer. Also, we are planning some sweet Christmas lessons that we are excited to share with people. 

Things are still dreamy here in Madrid. I am still trying to get the hang of my new area and I am still working on meeting all the new people. Slowly but surely. It´s a little more difficult because I am gone one or two days out of the week on exchanges, but we´re making it work. 

Hermana Heims is still wonderful and our apartment is still freezing. Showers are still miserable (not much hot water and 3 minutes long) and my companion and I still laugh way too much. One thing that has changed, however, is that we have a new work out routine! We now race the other Hermanas (they live in a different apartment) a few times a week. We have a place that we race to in the mornings and whoever loses the most at the end of the week has to buy the other companionship McFlurries. It´s actually real serious. We had a trial run this morning and I almost died. We sprinted at full speed in the below freezing weather at 7am. I´m thinking that this actually might be a bad idea...I just hope no one gets sick. But it wakes us up and gets us going! 

I love the people we have been teaching. We dont have a ton of investigators, but we have been doing a lot of contacting. I am excited to see the work here progress. The few investigators that we do have are AMAZING. We have two baptisms coming up! There are so many people ready to hear the gospel. 

I love you all so much! I hope you´ve been enjoying lots of hot cocoa and warm fire places. I do miss Christmas in the States a lot, but I wouldn´t change where I am for a thing. I love what I am doing. The church is true. 

Thought of the Week: 

"As you and I come to understand and employ the enabling power of the Atonement in our personal lives, we will pray and seek for strength to change our circumstances rather that praying for our circumstances to be changed." 

- Elder Bednar 

Here is my favorite talk of the week. Life changing. 

Love, 

Hermana Scheu 

Have a great week! 

Not funny

Hi family,

I guess I´ll start with answering a few of mom´s most pressing questions:

     Dear Hermana Scheu,

     How do you like your new ward ? 

     Area? 

     Companion ? 

     Hope you are doing well.

Dear Mom and other loved ones,

Things are SOOOO good. Yup, I really like my new ward. It´s a bit smaller than my last one and it has a ton of people that speak English. We live in the very center of Madrid and really close to downtown, so that makes sense. It throws me off though. I don´t know how to have a normal conversation in English. My first week home will be great.

My area is HUGE. It takes us quite a bit of time to get to lessons and we spend a lot of time in the Metro. It gives us opportunities to contact, but less time to teach formal lessons. It´s all good though, we´re making it work. We have lots of fancy restaurants and a TON of stores. Which does nothing for us poor sister missionaries. However, guess what we discovered the other day?! Theee most delicious mexican burrito place. It´s a spanish Chilpotle and I am in love. The food is delicious. The people are great. And the interior decorator loves Pinterest. I´m sure of it. I´ve already eaten there 3 times. It´s a problem.

Moving on.

Hermana Heims. Yes, my companion is amazing. Of course. I always love my companion, but I am so grateful to be with someone I already knew before. For the past few transfers her companion and I were both sister training leaders in our zone so Hermana Heims and my companion were with eachother at least 2 a week. We all just became really good friends. It´s been quite convenient actually. I only have to worry about getting to know a new area :)

Anyway, Hermana Heims litterally rocks. We are both really easy going and it´s so easy to just focus on the work and not sweat the small stuff. The only problem with her, though, is that we laugh WAY TOO MUCH together. Don´t get me wrong, laughing is definitely necessary and needed in this work, but we actually have a legitimate problem. There have already been 3 serious ocasions when I´ve had to lean over, close my eyes, and offer a sincere prayer to keep me from not laughing at the most inappropriate times. We´ve made some goals and we are working on it. I´ll keep you updated. 

So, I´m happy. It has definitely been an adjustment (I barely got unpacked today) and I miss my old area a lotttt, but all is well. It´s just so nice to know that I don´t have to be in charge. I am exactly where the Lord needs me to be and I dont have to worry about the big decisions. I just do what I am asked and try my best. This work is amazing. I never want my time here to end. There is absolutely nothing that compares.

I´ll share a little piece of what I get to experience on a daily basis.

My very first night here in Barrio 5 Hermana Heims and I contacted a young family from Columbia. We introduced ourselves as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and began an easy conversation. Ten minutes later we were invited to share more and we set up an appointment for later that week.

Thursday night came and we were greeted at the door by this young mother and her sweet little girl and the most beautiful little boy I have ever seen. No joke. She invited us in and we started chatting while we waited for her husband to get home from work.  After a good ten minutes it looked like the husband was going to be late so we decided to start with a prayer and jump into the lesson.

The lesson began and the second we started testifying the most beautiful spirit filled the room. This young mother opened up to us and wept as we taught the Plan of Salvation and focused on the Atonement. We promised that she could be with her family forever and the emptiness inside her could be filled as she made steps towards repentance. We invited her to be baptized and finished by promising her that Heavenly Father´s plan is perfect.

I wish I could explain more of what happened during those short 45 minutes, but there are no words. It´s impossible to explain how fufilling this work is. I have never felt so complete and so content. Lessons like these make alll the hard times worth it a hundred times over. As Hermana Heims and I made our way home that night we couldn´t stop smiling. Then, right before we got home that night we received a text message "cordially" inviting us over for dinner the following afternoon. The next day we went and ate the most delicious Spanish meal ever and taught the whole family. The little girl prayed at the end and the husband was excited to have us over again later this week.

When I say things are good, I mean really good. I love my job! Paid in blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving to all! I hope you all had a wonderful day! I am thankful for the most amazing friends and family and all of your love.

Thought for the week:

"We need to bear in mind that people can change. They can put behind them the bad habits. They can repent from transgressions. We must develop the capacity to see men not as they are at present, but as they can become." 

-President Monson

Love you ALL. Make good decisions.

Love,

Hermana Scheu