On da islands

Mis Queridos, 

Wonderful week. So many blessings. I love being on da islands! 

I have a lot to say, but sadly no time to say it. All I can say is that I am happy, healthy, and everything is "the best." Actually, I´ve been learning a lot of things lately, many of them the hard way, but that´s what it´s all about, right? 

I hope all is well! I wish I had time to tell you about the Madrid finals soccer game (amazing), dreadfully trying to translate to the English tourists at church, catching "black taxis" home when we miss the bus at night, finding a beautiful new family to teach(!!!), adventures to the police station, yoga on the beach, and how grateful I am for the whisperings of the spirit and the Book of Mormon. 

I guess you´ll just have to wait until missionary story time in a few months :) 

Love you all! The Church is true and God loves you. 

Love, 

Hermana Scheu 

p.s. Yes, these pictures are real. 

                                               And the battle with the cockroaches continues...

Just, WOW!

This week I´ve learned that sometimes, you just need to laugh. 

The Power of Laughter

xoxo 

Island Adventures

Hi lovelies! 

So, where do I begin? 

I guess I can start with the fact that I live on an island and erryday is a crazy adventure. These next three months are going to be great :)  

1. I love my companion. I love her I love her I love her. She is from Utah. She´s super funny. and she loves cookies and chocolate milk before bed almost as much as I do. We´re quite the team. 

2. I was warmly welcomed to the Island this week with a sweet new tan line. oops. You know you´re a red neck when...

3. My companion was happy to hear that her companion likes to cook! Holla! However, it´s still poor missionary food, with a Spanish twist, but it´s better than cold cereal for 6 months straight! 

4. Hey mom, look what we found. haha Thought you would enjoy this one :) These little guys are running all over our apartment. I´ve come to accept them as part of the family.  

                                               

5. Possibly one of my most embarassing/funniest moments of my mission happened the other day. I know I wont be able to give it justice, but I´ll attempt to explain. Hermana Bennett and I have been COMPLETELY broke all week. We didn´t get our reembursement money so we´ve been stuck in our little pueblo (town) with no money for the bus or for food. Oh, and our piso has abosolutely NOTHING to eat that hasn´t been invaded by cockroaches. 

Earlier this week we gathered together 1.62$ and ran to the grocery store to buy what we could. We walked out with a small bar of bread and a liter of milk. Thinking that this would be a good mission memory, we thought it would be funny to take a picture holding our humble food. We asked a young guy and his grandpa (from England, of course) if they would take a picture. They did and then we briefly/akwardly explained to them why we wanted a picture holding a bar of bread and a container of milk...

Bad Idea. 

They both started reaching for their wallets to give us "poor" sister missionaries money. We quickly told them "no no no, really it´s fine" and as we were running away they tossed 3 euros at our feet. Haha Hermana Bennett and I learned a couple things from this fun little experience and one of them being that we now know exactly what to do to get money in times of need :)

On a more serious note, this was another testimony to me how Heavenly Father really does bless His missionaries, even in the most unthinkable ways. We still have hardly any money, but we´ve been invited to eat at a member´s home every single day this week! Miracles. The Lord really does provide. 

6. Thought you all might want to know where I am emailing today. Haha I love Spain. 

                                

As you can see, all is well. I am loving serving in the Islands, but it is soooo different. Just in case you haven´t checked a map yet, I´m basically in Africa. I´m learning a new language! It´s African English. Haha we have so many African investigators and they are so fun. I´m sure I´ll have plenty of stories to come. 

Church on Sunday was amazing! Our ward is so wonderful. Definitely full of character and quite the mix of people from all over the world, but I´m in love already. We are also teaching quite a few people with so many different religious backgrounds. Last night we had a longgg, but super interesting lesson with a man from the middle east. It was actually one of my favorite lessons. It was so interesting to compare differences in religions and our beliefs in Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Although there were many points that we did not agree on, the lesson ended well and we have a follow up lesson later this week. I went to sleep last night so grateful for the Gospel and the truth that we have been blessed with. I am so thankful for my faith in our Savior Jesus Christ and I am so thankful for the things that I am learning on a mission. I´ve learned SO much and the more I learn the more my testimony is strengthened. The Church is true. I´m thankful for the Book of Mormon and the Bible and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to share my testimony each and everyday. 

I could continue to tell stories for dayyss, but I´m sure I´ve surpassed your attention span. Just know that I love you all, and the sunshine and I are doing great things over here. 

Have a great week! 

Love, 

Hermana Scheu 

p.s. If any one loves me enough to send me pepper spray...it might come in handy. We´ve found ourselves stranded out in the boonies in some pretty super sketchy little towns. haha Dont worry dad. 

ALSO, I have a new address! 

Hermana Scheu 

Ad. de Chayofita Ed. Soledad 3, 5C 

38650 Arona Santa Cruz de Tenerife 

España 

Goodbye Madrid...

Hello Canary Islands!!!

So many things to say, sooo little time.

This week was definitely a crazy one and I feel like I am still trying to take it all in. My mission just changed dramatically within just a few days! But it´s great. And it´s official, I´m in the Canary Islands!!! How did I get to be so blessed?!

I arrived a few hours ago and met my new companion, Hermana Bennett! She´s (dad, are you ready?) "the best"! I love her already. We are going to get along great. I got off the plane, picked up my luggage, and walked outside to a beautiful smiling face. And then we jumped in the car with the senor couple that is serving here, helped them get real lost for an hour or so, and finally made it to our bus that took us to our area about an hour south. We then ran to our apartment, dropped my things off, ate something real quick, and now I´m here with only a few minutes left until we have to get back to work. Everything is happening so fast and I´m not quite sure what to think, but all I know is the sun is shining and I can see the ocean from my bedroom window :) Missionary tan lines, here we come!

View from our bedroom! You can see the beach more from the otherside :) 

Also, a crazy thought is that I´ll be finishing my mission here in the Island which means I wont see very many missionaries again before I leave! There aren´t very many of us here and there are only 6 other sisters! Super wierd. Made saying goodbye yesterday so much harder.


Yesterday was so fun seeing you all! I really loved it. I have the best family. Also, it was so fun watching Hermana Costagliola skype with her crazy fun italian family haha They were so funny and so loud and italian. I loved it! I even spoke to them in Italian and they laughed at me. A lot. It was great.

And this past week, I am actually grateful that it´s over. It was a little rough haha We were so busy and it really was a very rewarding week, I was just super sick and had a little bit of a hard time keeping up. And I ran straight into a sliding glass door in the middle of one of the busiest metro stations in Madrid. That just topped off my week. haha it was rough. And probably real funny for every else but me. Andd now you all just pictured it in your minds and laughed out loud.

Saying goodbye to everyone was sad as well, and I´ve never been a real fan of goodbyes. I usually like to just avoid them haha But it was pretty hard saying goodbye to a lot of the missionaries that I most likely wont see again. Especially my little Hermana Costa! I told her that she has to come to States some day and come visit me!

I love you all! I got theee best emails this week! Epecially Justin and Simon (shoutout!). It was so good hearing from you all. I´ll have more time to respond next week, but know that I love you! 

Have a great week. I´ll be here enjoying the salty air and sweet sunshine! 

Love, 

Hermana Scheu 

So I've Got A Hot Date

Dear Family, 

I get a skype date next week!!! I´M SO EXCITED. 

This is the last week of this transfer and chances are that I´ll be moving to my last and final area! So crazy. I´ll know by Sunday where I will be sent so I´ll be able to tell you in person!! Or something like that :) 

Have a great week! 

Love, 

Hermana Scheu 

Letter to President. One of those "lessons learned the hard way" weeks:  

Hi Presidente, 

I cant believe that we just started week 6! What´s even more unbelievable, however, is that Hermana Costagliola is almost done with her 12 week training! That´s so crazy. She´s such a wonderful missionary. I am so grateful for her and all that I´ve learned along with her. 

This week went really well. This whole transfer has been full of miracles, but also full of a lot of heartache. I guess I never really realized, as a missionary, how much I would be exposed to the cruelties of the world and how real the situations of others would seem to me. We´ve had some hard lessons and we have seen a lot of what seem to be the results of Satan´s best masterpieces. 

Just the other night we had a heartbreaking lesson with one of our investigators who has been involved in some of the most threatening evils of the world. At this moment she is living a life of what seems to be perfectly created by "the world." She´s been caught up in some of the darkest sins and despite our most sincere efforts, she seems to be on a steep and uncontrollable downward spiral. After this specific lesson, and after telling us some devestating news, I couldn´t help but feel a heavy burden upon my shoulders. I couldn´t help but wonder how this world that we live in could be so dark and evil. For a small moment, for the first time in my life I asked myself if there really is any hope left? 

The next day for personal studies I read a talk by Elder Christofferson called "Allegiance to God." In his talk, Elder Christofferson shared a small story that restored my faith and reminded me that the fight against Satan is worth fighting. 

He says, "Years ago I presided in a Church disciplinary council. The man whose sins were the subject of the council sat before us and related something of his history...As we considered the matter, my soul was troubled, and I asked to be excused to think and pray about it alone before rejoining the council.

I was standing in front of a chair in my office pleading with the Lord to help me understand how such evil could have been perpetrated... I was overcome. I collapsed into the chair behind me. It seemed to take my breath away. I cried silently, “How can we ever hope to overcome such evil? How can we survive something so dark and overwhelming?”

In that moment there came to my mind this phrase: “Be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Seldom have I felt such peace juxtaposed to the reality of evil. I felt a deeper appreciation for the intensity of the Savior’s suffering, having a better, even frightening appreciation for the depth of what He had to overcome. I felt peace for the man who was before us for judgment, knowing he had a Redeemer whose grace was sufficient to cleanse him... I knew better that good will triumph because of Jesus Christ, whereas without Him we would have no chance. I felt peace, and it was very sweet."

This week I am thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ and that despite all the sadness in this world, He will come again and good will triumph over evil. I was yet again reminded to rely less on my own abilities and more on His perfect example and the perfect hope that He brings into our lives.

 “Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:17).