Letter dated 31Mar2014

Dear friends, I hope you are all doing well! Here is the letter we received from Daniel today. I hope you are enjoying your Spring! We returned from Spring Break to find a foot of new snow! Weston and I will need to go and dig the car out of the snow bank where it decided to stop. If you have a response for Daniel, simply reply and I will forward all replies to him. Thank you for your love and support! Daniel's editor - BWS Dear Family and Friends: Another great good-weather, action-packed week here in the Big Tuna :) It is so good to hear from each of you. Glad that Spring Break went well for dad and that's sweet that Weston's starting school soon! I've had loads of edifying moments this week. The most recent was when I learned that it's not good to hem pants based off an estimation of the length. But I've also learned some more significant things also! We taught Veronica (she's in the picture with her daughter), who's Ukrainian, Swedish on Saturday, and she is a wonderful example of faithfulness. She was baptized in Ukraine and afterwards married a Turkish man who doesn't believe in God. She has a hard time coming to church because of some ridicule from him, but she still is an active member with her young daughter here (also despite the fact that she doesn't understand the speakers in church). And in the midst of being really stressed by going to Swedish school, she asked us how she could sign up to clean the church. Her testimony is so strong and uplifting to hear! Yesterday we taught Mahmoud and Zohreh about tithing. I was a little bit nervous about the lesson, but was helped as I found much money on the street before the lesson, which reminded me how earthly things all come from God and that paying 10% of one's income is a step of faith that pleases Heavenly Father and lets Him bless us more. Using that good perspective in the lesson helped a lot, as well as showing them an example of how I will pay tithing on the 100-crown note I found. And the lesson went well! It was a tender mercy that I could find that money and be reminded in that way that everything comes from God. As we were walking along the river near the city center yesterday, we contacted an elderly Arabic couple. They looked like very nice people, but also that they'd been through a lot. The husband's face had been burned by acid so that his nose and one eye were gone. He had a rosary in his hand, and so I assume that in their vicissitudes they've turned to God, and that they've been able to grow from their trials. When we stopped them there to talk about the Church, neither could speak Swedish, but they were still gracious and polite. It was really quite tender because even though the language barrier made it awkward I could feel that they were loving people and it was good to be by them. Following that, the next two contacts were two well-to-do men. They were probably ordinarily nice, but both of them rudely said "No." to our message. It showed me so clearly the truth of the doctrine that trials can make us better people. It was a super cool thing to observe. But with that, trials only make us better as we become more humble ourselves and rely on the Lord in a yet better way than we have previously done. So I'd encourage each of us to be sure to pray and exercise faith when given a trial... Remember that it comes from God in order to eventually help you! Well, I love you all! It's great to be here :) The other pictures are of a sweet bug we passed on the bus, Klosters kyrka (church), a cabbage that looked a lot like a Muppet, and a secure walker (no one gets a free walker in our apartment building!) [I will post the pictures on the blog!] Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler

Letter dated 24Mar2014

[Dear friends, here is the letter we received from Daniel today. I hope you enjoy it as much as we have! I hope that even if you are under a snow alert right now (as we are) -- that you are enjoying Spring in some manne -- even if only in the warmth of your hearts! Love, Daniel's editor - BWS] Dear Family and Friends: We had a wonderful week! On Monday, one of my shoes' soles cracked, which was pretty disappointing. But luckily, we happened to walk past a shoe-repair man. I asked him if he could fix it and he took care of it without charging! He was a super nice man. It was after reading about how the church's missionaries in the 1800s would not take any money with them, so needless to say I felt like one of them :) Two of our friends, Mahmoud and Zohreh, are getting ready to be baptized! They are from Iran and when we knocked on their door, they said "We are very interested in becoming Christians." That was about a month ago, and they've come to and loved church each Sunday since. Mahmoud was a professional soccer player in Iran and also is a really great baker. Getting to know and teaching them has shown me how the Lord prepares His children to receive the restored gospel. They are such great people! It was great to hear from you, I hope that you all have a great Spring break and Springtime. I love you all lots. I know that the church is true, and it is so good to be a missionary. I love reading the words of the prophets, in the scriptures and the "Teachings of the Prophets" series. They are so good and uplifting, and they always increase my testimony that God loves us and speaks to us. Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler

Letter dated 17Mar2014

Dear friends, for all of you (Irish or not!), HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! Here is Daniel's letter that we received today. I hope you enjoy it! I also hope that there's a bit of Springtime hitting you this week! Love, Daniel's editor - BWS Dear Family and Friends: It was a really, really busy and eventful week! I can start off with last Sunday: We came to church early so I could practice piano a little before sacrament meeting, where I played "Come Follow Me" and "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." Both songs went quite well, which made me really happy. Äldste Bybee said "Yeah, it sounded good. I really liked your one-finger technique!" In truth, it only ever got down to two fingers, but the latter song is just too hard to play double handedly. During sacrament, the doorbell rang, so I went and answered it. A man, contacted by the other pair of missionaries, came in. He soon asked loudly "Har ni kaffe?" -- Do you have coffee? -- he was a little disappointed at the negatory, but at least he was in time for the sacrament water :P Then, yesterday night, we went to an investigator named Borhan's house. He's from Turkey and is on the county school board despite still being in high school. He is super great and it was fun to be at his house. Last time we were there, we were given Turkish delight, and this time, we were given turkey, which was fantastic! He is very bright and excited about reading the Book of Mormon. We're really excited to keep on meeting with him. His neighbors, Mahmoud and Zohreh are also doing really well! They've come to church for 4 Sundays in a row! They are a really nice couple and love the church! We met a Swedish couple named Amrita and Johann who are doing well also. They love reading from the Book of Mormon and have a really high opinion of it. They have a sort of surrogate daughter in the Philippines for whom they're paying for school. They are super nice and loving. And we have an iPhone now, which is really nice as it helps to be more organized and effective. Plus, I'm still really bad with directions, so I don't have to get us lost all the time any more :P Cool Swedish thing: the stake president's 10-year-old daughter, Lina, really likes speaking English, and she's really good. But she translated a common Swedish phrase, "Hur mycket är klockan" which means what time is it, directly, into "How much is the clock." I just thought that was really funny :D Well, I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week! Weston: have a safe trip to Idaho! That sounds super fun! Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler P.S. mom, it was great hearing from you! Sounds like a great week you had and it pumped me up hearing about it! Could you tell me what the "7 habits of highly effective people" are? Thanks!

Letter dated 10Mar2014

Dear everyone, here is Daniel's letter that we received this morning. Thank you for the many notes of love that he received from you. Daniel's editor - BWS] Dear Family and Friends!! It was wonderful to hear from all of you! I thank you each for your letters as well for your prayers, especially those for the Baileys. The memorial service for Äldste Bailey was so great. About half of the missionaries were able to attend, and it was such a good time to reflect and grow. What was really amazing was that Äldste Bailey wrote a lengthy journal entry in the evening before he died. President Newell read it to us, and it was so powerful to hear. He had just baptized someone earlier in the day, and he was thrilled to have had the opportunity to baptize his friend. And he expressed his testimony of the church five times in the entry, which was so frequent but so powerful. He also wrote about how he knows the Lord accompanies us in each step we take, and I then knew that that is true. Being given the opportunity to reflect on the Plan of Salvation and the Atonement has been so wonderful to me this week. And I'd just like to share with you that I know that Jesus Christ is our brother, and that he knows us perfectly and has compassion on us even when we don't deserve it, that he is our advocate with the Father and that through him we can be cleansed and really be happy for eternity. It is so good to have this knowledge and faith. The picture is of some missionaries at the train station after the memorial service. I love all of you and I'm so glad for my relationship with each of you. You are in my thoughts and my prayers. Love,

Letter dated 3Mar2014

[Dear family and friends, we were very sad to hear about the accident that took the life of one of Daniel's mission friends in Sweden. If you have a minute, this would be a very good week for Daniel to hear from you -- words of encouragement and comfort. Thank you for your prayers on behalf of the safety of Daniel and all of our missionaries. Love, BWS] Dear Family: I am quite sad now and a little bit in shock; you've maybe heard about Äldste Bailey's passing away. He was hit by a car last night. We were in the same district in the MTC and he was a very good friend. It was very hard news to hear. But at the same time I know that it's ok and according to God's will and plan. And I know that we'll be able to see him again! I know that God's plan will allow us to all be reunited and I am so thankful for the knowledge of this plan. And I know that through Jesus Christ we have the way back to our Father in Heaven. Could we all remember Äldste Bailey's family in prayers at this time? He has several younger brothers and sisters. It's an unimaginably difficult time which they are having. Mom: if you're able to communicate with his mom on facebook (he has a mom and a step mom, so try to find both of them on the Sweden Mission page) and if this sort of thing is appropriate, could you tell them that I really love Äldste Bailey. He was one of the most diligent people I know and he was always delightful and friendly. He was extremely loving and warm to everyone, when we played volleyball together he would pretty much give everyone a high five after every point. Just the person that you always had fun being around. I love you all! Thanks so much for praying for my safety and security, I have actually felt extra protected time and time again. I am doing well, and the work is going super :) Love, -- Äldste Daniel Schindler

Letter dated 24Feb2014

Hey mom and dad! I really love how detailedly I get to hear from you every week! There's a member named Gun Karlberg here who just wanted me to tell you that she appreciates what we are doing. We've been participating in visiting teaching with her as well as teaching an investigator, and she is really thankful for that. She's been a member a while and hasn't been used so much in the past, so she just wanted me to say thanks to you for raising me! And thanks from me as well :)