HE'S COMING HOME!!

YES, HE'S COMMING HOME!!!  December 11th at 3:15 pm we will be reaching for, and holding our son in our arms once again!!  I am such a proud momma of this wonderful young man.....through diversity and challenges he has served the Lord with all his courage and strength.....a mission is not the easiest thing a young man will do in his lifetime, but it is the most rewarding and memorable experience he will EVER do....we have watched our son grow in leaps and bounds not only in the Gospel and his Testimony, but within himself....I think he now knows his own strengths and abilities, and especially patience and love for others....he went out as a timid young 19 yr old boy and is coming home a strong courageous Man.  This has proven to be such a great experience not only for him, but for our family.....in his words....this was an EPIC experience.  We are so proud of him.  He is finishing this mission in the Vancouver area....La Center to be exact.  He has made some wonderful memories, and we are going back with him to meet some of those memories....we are also going to do a session in his favorite temple...the Portland Temple....this should be a great experience.  Lots of logistic things to work out....one being, we need to get his bike home....get his registration completed for LDS business College etc.....his life will take off so to speak when he gets home....but keeping busy is a good thing after a mission.  I just can't wait to see him come down the escalator ..... It will be an EPIC day!  Our family has been so blessed by his service, and I am so grateful for him and the sacrifice he has made to serve those in the Kennewick Washington Mission....love you Rob.

WE HAVE HIS DEPARTURE DATE!!!!

Did you find out if your departure date was Dec 11th for sure...."YES! It's the day before the next transfer... so that is the day I'll be coming back so mark it on your calendars!"

December 11th!!!  So excited to see our son come down the escalators at the airport!!  Our big plan is to surprise Max....we plan on taking him to the airport to just see how it will be when Elder Rob comes home....then BAM!!!  He will see Rob come DOWN THE ESCALATOR!!!  We also want to make T-shirts to wear and signs....this will be "EPIC" but we will see if we can pull it off or not....hahahaha....we will give it the old Schroeder try!  Now, back to the mission....it's not over yet and there are still 3 good months of teaching/experiences left....here's one....

How has this week been?
"Been ok. We didn't get many lessons or any investigators of our own this week, it's been getting frustrating... there is someone I am supposed to find here, but their not being very
forth coming.  We had another lesson with Allie and Danielle, and Danielle came to church which Allie came the week before, i wish they both would come, but maybe this week.  We're teaching them the the doctrine of Christ tonight so we shall see what happens."

And the work goes on.....

How are you?
"I'm doing ok, I got my wart on my hand removed so hopefully this time it will be gone permanently."

What are you guys doing this Labor Day?
"We are going shopping and doing some bowling later, it should be a remotely fun."
How is everything going for you?
"The two bright spots, Allie and Danielle that's all that's going on.... we have nothing else going on, its kind of dead. :/  it's ok, I don't think I'll be here long.  I dono what I can do, but I guess complaining about it won't do any good."  Sometimes there is discouragement with missionaries....they want to work so hard, that is why they are there....once again satan doesn't want the work to move forward....pray for our young elders that they will find and teach those willing and ready to hear the gospel....they want to work so hard.

This was exciting...I am a member of Moms of Missionaries which is an email site....I made a comment and I got this response back...

Dear LuAnn,
It was Longview. I think your son was my son's first companion and trainer. Daniel had a great time learning from your son and he will be exited that I connected with you. He is in Herminston right now. He struggles in the areas where the prominent language is Spanish, but he keeps knocking doors and asking Hablo English. That is exciting that you get to have your son home for Christmas.


Kathleen C. Day

Dear LuAnn,

Yes, I got the pictures. My other children were amazed at how much your son and mine looked a like. Glad to hear that your son liked Herminston. Last week mine was a little discouraged because all their appointments canceled, so hope he has better days ahead.


Kathleen C. Day
What fun it is to hear from other mother's and people in Elder Rob's mission!!!  It's a great world to be the mom of a Missionary....loved every minute, every up and down, every success and failure....there is nothing more gratifying than to hear from your son and the love he has for those he is serving!

Missionary Fun......and 21st Birthday

"We had a fire side for new converts and people who are less active, they bore their testimonies and shared their stories, they really are active members and every thing, it's cool.  There was this Spanish guy who bore a powerful testimony in Spanish and I felt the spirit,  that was before I knew what he said."  These types of experiences are memorable and great......when we asked Elder Rob about his next Temple trip.....his comment was "we have one on the 24th of this month, it's gonna be amazing... I really need it, I can't wait to go to the tri-cities and enjoy.  "It the Columbia River Temple... it is so pretty inside, it's super small though, only enough for one endowment room and 4 sealing rooms.... it's got a really pretty font."

We have one investigator that is gonna get married and then hopefully soon there after he'll be baptized...  I don't know how soon he will be able to be baptized though his name is Jason, he's been attending church for almost two years now.   The ward is kinda neglecting him a little bit, it makes me sad. We're working on that.  The lady he's getting married to is named Jessica, she and her 5 kids are all members.  They're kinda rambunctious, but there all really fun.

"So this week was special a part member family Jason and Jessica got married! It was a great wedding! They looked so good too! It was a wedding at the church because Jason isn't a member. yet. not even saying that to be cocky or anything he's totally planning on getting baptized we just need to work on coffee and one more personal thing and he's golden. He's the most active non-member I know, like seriously, he's got everything down... knows the book of Mormon mostly and goes to class gets involved its great!

"Then, two young men I've been working with for 4-1/2 months got the Aaronic Priesthood last Sunday and I got to ordain the oldest one to a priest... it was legit!   This will be the third transfer with my current companion and I'll have spent at least 6 months in this area by the time I leave...It's pretty crazy, if there is only one reason to be left here,  it was those events happen!"

What did you get to do for your birthday?
"I worked!  I think I worked harder that day then I have in a long time, it was nice, we helped some people set up their wedding and it was awesome.   Their 11 year old daughter is my little buddy.  She sang and they were practicing, I got to see her kinda go from scared and timid to loud and proud!  It was soo cool.  One time she was having a hard time belting it out and I looked down at my planner to see what was next for the day and all the sudden she belted out ..... it made me look up and she looked at me like hey pay attention!  It was soo cool.  Our Bishop went to Dairy Queen and they bought me an ice cream reeses cake! It was soo cool! I was surpised when the bishop showed up at 9:30 that night and said you called to have him get a cake or some thing like that, I was stunned.  It was soo nice and  I was happy!  I loved my gifts! I am using the Jesus the Christ CD's now, I'm learning a lot!  Happy Birthday Elder Rob....sounds like you had an "epic" birthday with lots of great things to do.....21yrs ago you came into our lives and we have loved every minute....you are the man!!! and the missionary!!!

District Leader in Yakima!!!!

We got a letter in the mail from Elder Rob's mission president....he has been made District Leader.  He is not sure how long it will be, but as long as he is in Yakima he will serve as District Leader...his comment in his email was "so we found out this week that I'm gonna be the district leader. at least for this transfer, those change all the time so it could be only a one shot deal..but so far so good"  what a humble comment from him....he will make a great District Leader and learn a lot about organization and leadership.  This will be good for him and I think he will enjoy working hard.  Another comment he made was "It's pretty fun so far, it makes me feel like I have allot to work on... it's gonna be good though, I kinda wish I was gonna be a regular missionary but it's what I'm needed to do as of right now."  Yes, Elder Rob, the Lord knows what you need to do and who needs to benefit from your service....you are going to be great and grow in leaps and bounds ..... another comment from Elder Rob when asked what do you do?  "
What do you do?  "I conduct District meetings, do exchanges (we switch companions for 24 hours and work with them in our area's and in theirs) I collect numbers from the district and give them to the zone leaders and report to the mission president on how their each doing."  He continues to work hard and grow throughout this mission....it's great to hear!
Max is really mission his uncle....it is fun to hear him pray....it always is "bless that Rob will be a good missionary,  I told Rob and his comment was " awe he's definitely my best bud!"  It will be a great day to see those two together again...they are best buds.

Epic bike crash!!!! WHAT???

In Elder Rob's July 2nd email we asked him about his baptism....his comment "Yep, it went good, went off without a hitch and it was really good! Nothing happened bad at all... something always goes wrong" This was a great baptism without any problems....satan really doesn't want anyone to make such a great decisions in their lives to become members of the church...so even to the very minute something usually happens to try to stop or delay the baptism....nice to have one go off without a hitch. We got an interesting message on this PDay....Elder Rob had yet another bike crash!!! Geezzzzz Elder Rob hahahaha....the only victim in this crash was his camera, "my camera is TRASHED"....NOOOO not the camera!!!

Thanks to Grandma Bahr....it was replaced in epic time...you can't have a missionary without a camera! Oh yeah, the bike crash...WHAT HAPPENED!!!

"I'm doing really well. I crashed my bike, I broke my back axle and I smashed my camera... I'm gonna get a new wheel today. The only thing I walked away with is scrapped up palms and a big-ol bruise on my knee....but it was an epic crash! I was going down a hill and my back brakes went out and I had to use my front and I was on gravel and I slid sideways and landed on my side....epic!" Only a young missionary would consider a bike crash "epic" hahaha.... my bike's ok though i got the new wheel i might need to take it in for a tune up here in a few weeks maybe next month We sent a little package...when we asked, "did you get your little package?" his comment was, "I did, I made a wallet out of my candy boxes." Really? Hahaha...now that's thinking and recycling LOL....When asked "What do you get to do for the fourth?" his very simple comment was "proselyte!" Way to go Elder Schroeder...

Hanging out at the Pres house playing catch.....

Elder Rob has been working in Yakima for a while now. He is still teaching a couple people and plan a baptism July 7th...."I'm so excited for her" is his comment. Sometimes the people they teach are back and forth with decisions to be baptised, but it seems that the decision has been made and a baptism will happen. Horray for Alexia....good choice! Welcome to the church.

Talking about PDays...."I'm probably just gonna hang out with and talk to the other missionaries, I'm excited to just do that" and "last pday we hung out at our Stake Pres. house all day we played catch (its weird how fun that game is) ultimate Frisbee and badminton." These are fun breaks in a busy week for our hard working missionaries....have a fun day!

Holy Cow!!!! I have no excuse for not keeping up this blog for Elder Rob except I HAVE BEEN BUSY!!! I will repent and try to catch everything up....where do I start...Elder Rob is in Yakima Washington right now and has been for the last two or three transfers so he probably will see a new area in his next transfer. His first companion in this area was Elder Parsons....he really had to work hard with this Elder, just a few conflicts I guess he had only been out 4 1/2 months and as Elder Rob put it "he's soooo green" .. let's just say he was excited to have a new Elder from Lehi Elder Robert Greaves....he says right now he is kind of quiet and "a little bit country" hahaha...they get along really well though. The area Elder Rob is in is a little rough...rough enough that when they ride down the streets police will pull them over and ask them if they know where they are...their comment is "um yes" and they go onto teaching. The people are extremely humble and great...dogs on the other hand are out of control!!! Lots of rotweilers and pit bulls....andddd the dreaded chiwawa's....the ankle biters! Elder Rob describes them as "PACKS" OF VICIOUS LITTLE CHIWAWA DOGS who chase them when they are on their bikes and try to bite their ankles LOL....he says he wants to drop kick them...hahahaha...Elder Rob has been able to attend the temple about every 3 months...that is amazing in the mission field...two temples in his mission help with this. He says the Portland Temple is so beautiful...quote "We visited the Temple I feel so much better than I did last week. It's hard doing missionary work when you only visit the Temple once every 3 months, I do not know how the other missionaries who do not have a temple in their mission do that! It would be so flipping difficult (flipping is my new word ... we had some "Mormon swears" banned from our mission recently) Some of the people Elder Rob is teaching in this area are Alexcia who is 11 and super smart..she reads and comprehends the most amazing things. Isabella (Bella) Davis...she was getting Baptized. The Sharps are a nutty family that remind Elder Rob of our family...Mom Melissa is raising the kids since the dad is in jail right now...Destiny 14, Bailey 13, and Gage 10.."they are the coolest people, they love us and want to learn"....then there is Alexis and Fidel...Elder Rob's quote "I've taught them since I've been here, they seem to now be understanding why reading and praying is so important...I dono why they all of a sudden got it, but hey, they did". "We have TWO BAPTISMS coming up...Alexia 10yrs and Christina 19yrs...exciting. "I'm doing pretty good, Happy just tired" Seems to be the theme of a missionary...they work hard and study long. Love hearing from Elder Rob and knowing some of the experience he is going through...even more excited for his future in the Kennewich Washington mission...oh, he only has 6 months left.....until he "Returns with Honor" A bunch of good looking missionaries on P-day Elder Rob's companion from Lehi Ut Bella and her little sister...Bella got Baptised

YIKEES!!!! He crashed on his Bike!!!

Geezzz!!!! Just got word that Elder Schroeder crashed on his bike!!! He said he is fine and it only hurts when he takes the bandage off his knee....what! This was his comment to me "that was the first crash that involved blood, and only the third one in 13 months :)" I like his positive attitude lol. He was having an exceptionally great day with his bike...he said he crashed twice in 5 minutes...the first time in a bush..which he climbed out of, then the bloody knee crash...hmmmm...maybe he needs to focus more while riding his bike, or even BE CAREFUL!!! Oh, and I think it also involved his new pair of pants that we sent him for Christmas...yes, hole in the knee! I told him to send them home and I will see what I can do...it might be he will need another new pair of pants...oh well, this is the price you pay as a parent of a missionary hahahahaha. The life of a missionary...

This week is transfer week and Elder Schroeder and Elder Nielsen are staying in Walla Walla...they are excited to have time to really teach people in that area. His home address, which is a room and bathroom in the basement of the 2nd counselor's home is 32 Francis Dr Walla Walla, WA 99362.

They are currently teaching a man and a couple right now... he said they are working on teaching others. He ended his email with his experience at dinner "we had a really fun time at dinner last night. We shared a thought and I felt the spirit way strong. I love being a servant of Heavenly Father!" That is a missionary...crashes on his bike, hole in the his pants but all that matters is his love for being a servant of Heavenly Father...it's fun to hear his love for his mission...