3 Samuel Chapter 1

1.  And so passed the fourth week of the seventh month of the two thousandth and fourtenth year after the birth of Christ, with much heat and little rain. And the servants of the lord began to complain and murmur because of the heat, lack of rain. And the situation became Exceedingly difficult because the price of food tripled.
2. Nevertheless they did work dilligently and did sweat much, until their garments because filthy. And the people did reject them because their hearts were placed on the things of the world. Closing their doors on the Messengers of the truth. Saying things such as " My mother says she`s not home" or " Nobody`s here right now"
3. But they servants of the lord began to have success among the poorer class, who were humble of heard, and willing to hearken unto the council of the Lord. Insomuch that many souls came unto the waters of baptism, and were baptised unto the remission of their sins.
4. And if came to pass that at the beginning of the fifth week of the seventh month or the same year, Elder Schriever wrote to his loved ones saying:
5. "My beloved family and friends, how good it is to hear that you all are well, and that no harm has befallen you. Yea my soul was filled with great joy when I read your letters.
6. This week we went as missionaries in the land of Los Hèroes to entertain ourselves by playing soccer, and we did run and play for many hours in the heat of the day, and if came to pass that we did feel faint because of the exceeding heat fo the day, which caused us to drink much water and hunger, In this day we did not rest.
7. And when if was the second day of the week we still did obtain no rest, and walked much searching for souls to bring unto Christ, and we did obtain some success. But the greatest succes was not until the Sixth day when Edwin hernandez descended into the baptismal font, and was baptised, and all the people of La Cima regoiced.
8. And there are others who are anxiously waiting for that blessed day, namely Raquel, who will be baptized on the Seventh day of the first week of the eighth month. And there to will be much cause to rejoice.
9. Yea, my heart does regoice in those that chose to follow Christ, and it remindeth me of why I went down from the land of my fathers into the lands of the south to preach of Christ.
10. I would that you all would ponder on the words of Elder Uchtdorf when he said "Being a disciple of Jesus Christ is not an effort of once a week, or once a day. It is an effort of Once and for all" How true that is. We must strive constantly in order to follow Christ and endure until the very end. We all need to be more commited and live
more consistantly the Gospel of Christ. to give rest unto our souls in the kingdom of God.
11. Salute my bretheren Elder Stark and Sister McGregor who are in far away lands. I look forward to hearing from you all in the near future. Adios my beloved brethren.

Elder Schriever

July, July, never seemed so strange

  Wow this week was HOT!!! It was around 90 degrees almost every day, which isn´t that hot, but it was the 95% humidity that gets to me. I just sweat and sweat. By the end of the day my shirt is just filthy. But thats how I know that it was a good day of work.  I have been uping the amount of water I am drinking. I probably drink around 4 liters a day but i still feel like I need more. Maybe I will step it up to like 5 or six! The good thing is that most of the houses here don´t have sheet metal roofs, they have tile roofs which are lots cooler. But when we visit the houses that have corrugated metal houses it is an oven. you can feel the heat from the ceiling. Its weird because normally in July it doesn´t stop raining, but there is a drought right now.
     Anyway, as far as missionary work goes this was a fantastic week. Elder M and I decided we need to help out the zone a little more so we are doing interchanges or visiting the sisters area every day. From Tuesday till Sunday we were in interchanges or spent about 3-4 hours working in other areas. It took its toll on our own area, but we were able to help the zone out and the lord blessed us as well. Up until Monday of this week we had one baptism in the zone for the month, which for here is really bad. but right now we have six baptismal dates for this Saturday and possibly one more. We are super happy about that, and grateful that we have so many good missionaries in our zone. They really are fantastic. In our own area E and R H decided to get baptized on Saturday. They truly are amazing. We had some really good lessons with them this week, and they both decided to do it. The ward is great as well. Super welcoming, and really supportive. They both have learned lots and have a great testimony. R even has given pamphlets to her neighboor and we have started to teach him as well! We didn´t even ask her too! You can see someone's conversion when they want to share it with others.
   On Monday we had interviews with President Hintze. They were as always super good. i always leave feeling better about myself and excited to do better. We talked a lot about all of the sick missionaries in our Zone. We have so many people that have come here to get better. Its another thing we have to worry about. Making sure they don´t push themselves too hard and that they can recover. Almost all of them are getting better, just a few that are still a little sick. Hopefully this week they will get better.
    Today we are going to play soccer as a zone. We are super excited. After the world cup there are some hard feelings from the Mexicans. We will see who wins. My hopes of scoring lots of goals are basically zero but my defense should be a little bit better. It is going to be way fun to run around and play. I don´t do it enough.
    One of the things I read this week in the Book of Mormon was in Nephi 8, the vision of the tree of life. I love how after tasting of the fruit (or the gospel) Lehi wants his family to try it as well. And calls out to them and motions for them to come. He does all he can to get them to come. and even when Laman and Lemuel don´t come he still encourages them "like a loving father." to come and partake of the fruit. We too can help and encourage those we love to choose the right, they may or may not decide to come at first. but we have the responsibility to help them along in their journey on the path to eternal life. Well thats all I got for now. Thanks to all of you for writing me and I hope you all have a good week!
Elder Schriever

14th of July

Hey everyone how is everything going back in the good ole U S of A?
    Here in La Cima everything is going super well. Working hard and getting stuff done. First of all changes. My new companion is named Elder M from Guatemala. He is a super good missionary and a hard worker, we are going to get stuff done I am sure. I have at least 6 more weeks in La Cima which is going to be a big opportunity. We focused alot of energy this week in looking for new investigators, and we were able to find several. One of the biggest successes was when we had a lesson in the house of the P Family with a less active member named G and his sister who is 11 who isn`t baptized. R and E H also came and it was a really good lesson. We watched The Restoration video and I think they liked it alot. It helped them visualize what it was like.
    As far as my birthday goes it was way good. We got back to our area a little late but we made it back in time to eat lunch at Subway. I got a BBQ rib melt. it was sooooo good. With a chocolate chip cookie and grape soda. Best birthday lunch ever. I also got the package that you guys sent, wow I never realized how much I miss beef jerky before now. I still have a little bit left. I am saving my gummy octopuses and pistachios till later. I am also going to start using the excercise band. Thank you guys so much! On Monday the S family invited us over to eat and they made a cheese flan cake. It was interesting but I really liked it. They are super good people. On wednesday night the S family always has us over for dinner. It was soup, with rice and chicken. Birthdays in the mission are never exciting but this one was pretty good. I don`t feel any older or different but I guess thats how it always is. But now when I get back I will be able to buy any type of gun (not that I`ll have any money to do so). Me and Jake are already planning on getting our concealed weapons permits when we get back. Its gonna be awesome.
    So this week we are really focusing on R and E getting baptized. We are trying to help them recognize the answers to their prayers. R told us about how she had a dream where she was all dressed in white, with a bunch of other people. And she saw a message on the wall that said "the choice you have made is correct" she still seems to be a little scared of making a decision. We are planning a baptism for the 26th of July for them. I will keep you guys updated. F still is having some legal problems with her mom which is keeping her from being baptized. If you guys could keep her in your prayers that would be way good. Edwardo hasn`t been coming or answering his phone lately. We will keep trying to contact him. We found some other investigators but no one came to church, hopefully next week. We have been working better with the bishop alot better, he leaves with us every Saturday. The missionaries that were here kinda destroyed his trust. But we are slowly gaining it back.
    This week we have plans to do interchanges every single day of the week. It is going to be crazy, but the zone needs lots of help. We are going to go hard this week, and the next week I am glad to hear you are all happy and I look forward to talking to you soon!
Elder Schriever

Sitting in the hammock with Chucho

July the 7th

Another great week come and gone!
   This week we didn´t get alot of time to work because of meetings, helping other missionaries in their areas etc... but we were able to have some success. The week started out with the 2014 Salvadorian Challenge. Which was a success. I was able to finish all ten pupusas but the kolashampan was to much for me. I drank about half the bottle and wanted to throw up. Out of the six elders 4 finished the ten pupusas, Elder F finished but threw up, and two only ate 5, or 6... Girls. I have some pictures to so you will get to see about how big the pupusas were. It was one of those things that you don´t do very often, but it was fun.
   On tuesday we had the leader´s meeting with President Hintze. We talked about qualities of leaders, and working hard. We ate waffles and had sloppy joes and nachos. Overall a good meeting.
   On wednesday we found out that Elder F who has been in the same district as me for 9 months and is one of my best friends from the mission is going to Belize, well he already left so he is in Belize. I was a little bummed but super happy for him. We had his companion Elder T with us for about two days, until he got a substitute companion. We went over to a members house who is a huge advocate of herbalife supplements. She had us take a BMI and body composition test. The results were not quite what I would have hoped but not as bad as I feared. I weigh 195 pounds right now with 19.7% body fat. Not terrible, just a little over average. My BMI says I am severely overweight but BMI isn´t a very useful indicator. But overall I am going to start being more carefull with what I eat and start doing more excercise. It will help me be healthier and happier. I bought lentils the other week and have started eating them with whole grain rice. Super healthy and filling! Taste isn´t amazing but I´ll live with that. Elder V cooked beans one morning and forgot to turn off the stove. When we got back at 9 at night they were literally charcoal. The house reeked for like two days but its mostly gone now.
   The best thing about having a companion that is leaving is that all the members invite you over for dinner, and lunch.  I have eaten more pupusas this week than any other week on my mission. We haven´t cooked for days because people just keep inviting us. It is pretty nice actually, but makes it hard to get lots of lessons in. I am looking forward to this week and getting  back to work. The zone needs some help right now so there isn´t time to think about anything other than the work. May and June were excellent months, and July needs to be the same. Sounds like everyone is doing great, having car troubles but enjoying the 4th of july and all it brings. Thank you all for writing me and I look forward to hearing from you all soon!
Elder Schriever

July! July!

Hello Everyone! how are you all doing?

   First things first this Sunday we had E T´s baptism, it was one of the best baptismal services I have seen. Probably because we didn´t have to do anything to prepare it. We just filled the font, and that was it! We didn´t have to direct the meeting, sing a hymn, or give a talk. This ward is amazing. There were lots of support from the ward and everything went well. E´s sister who is a member gave one of the talks, she cried for most of it. I think it was pretty hard for her to be the only member in her family, and I think that many prayers were answered yesterday when her sister got baptized. I only got a few pictures on my camera, but the T family has a Canon IES or some fancy professional camera like that so I will have to get the pictures from them. All in all a great experience and a good reminder of why I am in the mission. Elsa seems like the kind of person that is here to stay, and I think she will help many other people to help live the gospel.

   We also had a really good lesson, with A. we had a bunch of problems finally getting an appointment, but she is actually very positive. We had taught lesson 2 and invited her to be baptized. She basically told us no, her family doesn´t support her at all, and don´t like that she talks to us or goes to church. But we left her 2 Nephi 31 to read, and the next time we met with her we asked her how she felt about what she read. She paused for a long time and told us that she took a long time to read and ponder on the chapter. She said that she realized that if Jesus Christ was baptized than she too needed to be baptized, that it was a commitment with God, and not anyone else, not her family, not her boyfriend, not the missionaries. She told us strait out, "I am going to get baptized, I don´t know when, I have some changes to make first, but I am getting baptized" I could barely believe it. Taking the decision is over half the battle. I left that lesson not walking but floating. The H family´s dog bit my companion but other than that they are doing really well. They couldn´t come to church because they went to visit a relative far away. But they will come next week. All of the people we are teaching right now are progressing really well. My hope is that in July and

August we will have very successful months.

   Today for P-day we are going to do the "Salvadorian challenge 2014" for Elder F´s birthday which is today. It includes eating 10 pupusas and drinking 2.5 liters of Kolachampan. I am trying to prepare myself mentally for that. it should be a good contest. (I will send pictures next week) and then we will probably also play Phase 10 before or after depending on how we are feeling. Overall it is going to be a great day. the last P-day of June, craziness. My companion Elder V is getting super baggy now, he has just a little bit over a week left, so its understandable. He leaves on July 9th. Pretty soon he will be saying goodbye to everyone in the area. I am super happy for him, but its hard to have a a baggy companion.

   This morning while taking a shower I sang to myself the Decemberists song "July! July!" which by law can only be listened to during the month of July. I won´t be able to listen to it this year, but you guys will. I forgot most of the words and could just remember the first line "There is a road that meets the road that goes to my house, and nothing green grows there" and some of the chorus but that was enough for me. its hard for me to believe that is almost July, this second year has been passing by so fast, its hard to believe.

   This week our electric stove broke, and we haven´t gotten a new one from the office. On Sunday morning we couldn´t go out to buy something for breakfast, so I improvised and using the clothes iron I fried an egg, I took some pictures so I will send those after. It took like 20 minutes but it worked. I tell people that I have Salvadorian blood (because of so many mosquitos) but now I am thinking like one. Scary. Well other than that everything is pretty normal just working hard, trying to be inside when the rainstorms come. Great to hear from all of you and I hope this week goes well for all of you.

Elder Schriever