September 26

And I'm Lea-vin', ON a Jet Pla-aaane! Don't know when I'll be back again... Deh, deh, deh, something about Wyoming, and an Eagle..


I've got less than 24 hours until I'll be leaving the MTC!!! I'm super diduper pumped!!! We report to the travel office in the MTC at 3:50 in the morning tomorrow!! Jam pumped. That's Shqiplish for "I'm pumped." I also want you to know that I have never been happier than I am right now on my mission! This gospel and the thought that soon I will be able to bring it to people who may not even know they are searching for it brings me so much excitement. I totally believe, almost to a knowledge that the Lord's elect disciples of Christ are in Albania, and some don't even know their potential yet. I am SO EXCITED!!! I scripture that has gained new meaning for me this week is D&C 123:12-14. Give that a glance. I know they are in Shqipëria. I'm gonna go work my guts out and find 'em!!!!

Aight, so I figured out that I will be in the Chicago airport from around 12 in the middle of the day to about 3:30, so I'll be calling again in Chicago probably, but we can talk about that after I call the first time tomorrow! I'll call tomorrow morning sometime in between 6 and 8:30! I'll try to call, but there are a lot of missionaries, and not a ton of phones, so I'll see what I can do!

So do you remember a while back when I told you about the "Character of Christ" talk by David A. Bednar? They encourage us here to watch that the first Sunday we come in, and the last Sunday before we leave, so yesterday we watched it again. In there, he quotes Neal A Maxwell, who said something like "There would have been no saving Atonement without the Character of Christ." Pretty powerful. So it makes you think, "What is the Character of Christ?" Well Elder Bednar gave an idea that to learn about the Character of Christ, we can get a new paperback BoM, and you underline anything you can learn about the Character of Christ, it is so amazing to see what you learn in passages you've read a ton before about the Character of Christ even though it's a story about Nephi and Lehi in the wilderness! It's incredible, and it is through this activity partly that my testimony of Jesus Christ and of the Book of Mormon has grown. So fam, and everyone else that is on this email, I've got a challenge for you! It has varying levels of awesomeness if you're willing to accept! Level one is this: I invite you to read I Ne. 16 and look for things you can learn about the Character of Christ. That chapter is awesome, and before I wouldn't have thought I could learn so much about the Savior, but I did! Please check it out! I'll leave it up to you if you want to do it as a personal study or if you want to do it as a companion study with a roommate, or whatever, or for FHE! It would be a super stellar FHE. Level TWO: Watch Character of Christ, and make goals to develop the Character of Christ in yourself, or to learn more about the Character of Christ. Or another goal! It's up to you! It would also be great for FHE!LEVEL THREE: Do Level TWO, and then take a paperback BoM, and look for things you can learn about the Character of Christ. And of course, these are all only invitations, and you can adjust what you want to do according to what you think will help you, but I can promise you this. Being a missionary, I feel like I have a special authority as one who invites others to come unto Christ. Therefore, as a missionary and representative of Christ, I can promise you with surety that if you do any of these things with real intent, your testimony and love of the Savior Jesus Christ will deepen and grow. I can promise that it has worked for me. As I have said before, my love for the Savior and appreciation for the Atonement has grown to places that they have never been before. I love Him, and am so thankful for His sacrifice for me :)Anyways, that's about all I got for today! I won't do the individual parts today because I'll talk to you tomorrow, and I gotta go pack and clean our very dank-smelling room! But I wanted to leave you with one more thought for a little encouragement to do my challenge, In 1 Nephi 16:16 it says, "And we did follow the directions of the ball, which led us in the more fertile parts of the wilderness." This scriptures is awesome! And it directly helped me the other day when I was kind of having a rough day. I love how it said that the Liahona led them through the fertile parts of the wilderness. They were still in the wilderness, but because of their dilligence in following the directions on the ball, they were led to the more fertile parts! Is that not a perfect model for our own lives? Sometimes, we feel like we are traveling along in the wilderness. And the truth is, just because we're doing what is right, we may not be lead to the promised land right away. We'll probably have to keep pushing on in the wilderness! But if we give heed to the Holy Spirit, remember our Savior, and strive to follow Him, we will be lead to the fertile parts in the wilderness! That's just a little taste of what you can expect to find if you take my challenge :)I love you all so much! I'll call tomorrow! I'll call you, Jess! and probably Conrad and Dad and Daniel maybe too! Love you all!-Elder Schneider