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!