The phone call.....................

WEll, it came, 3:30pm the call came in...Elder Rob..."Hi mom!" Oh how I missed hearing those words...it was so good to hear them again. It has been exactly 5 months...he is happy and enjoying his mission, and he really likes his companion..SHOCKER...he hasn't had the best luck with companions, until now...Elder Applegate from Tooele. They are both new to the area in Longview...and they love the area. He said they still are in 'car' areas...too much distance in their area so riding bikes is not very easy. They are in one ward and one branch...he said the branch is really small and the church tiny...lots of inactive members in the branch, in fact, their Elder's Quorum President is in active...how's that. Anyway, we put him on speaker phone and all talked to him for an hour..all of us....throwing questions at him right and left....it was such a nice phone call....thanks for Mother's Day...now...looking forward to Christmas (well, maybe in 7 months)....love that boy!

First Transfer!!!!!

Well, it happened! Elder Rob had his first transfer! He is now in Longview Washington about an hour from the coast. He left behind some great experiences and wonderful friendships. I have talked with one sister who is now my friend on facebook...Jeanette Goldie, as well as others...Elder Rob got close to her in their ward for the last 4 months and was sad to say their goodby's last tuesday night...but on Wednesday, he headed out for a new place, new companion and new people in the area of Longview. He will do great. I did get a wonderful phone call on Friday night from Glenda Henthorn...the elders live in a room at their home and she is a delight! She has made herself an extension of the elder's families and takes such good care of our young men. It was such a nice conversation with her. She also has a son serving in the Farmington/Ogden area and has been out just a month after Elder Rob...his name is Elder Brett Henthorn. It is such a nice comfort to know these young men are taken care of so that they can spend their time sharing the gospel and serving the Lord...today is Mother's Day and we are expecting our phone call from our missionary around 3:30pm and are soooo excited to talk to him...it is certainly a blessing to have a missionary in the mission field. Elder Rob has been out on his mission exactly 5 months today....19 more to go lol.

His address is 3506 Pennsylvania Street
Longview, Washington 98632

Living in the home of the Henthorn's

Elder Rob is "Having Fun"

Elder Rob is doing really good and loving his mission. He has a new companion who is actually from Magna area and graduated from Cyprus High School a year before Rob...that's kind of crazy...they are busy spreading the gospel. He has really experienced his share of door knocking...he said at one time they knocked on about 300 doors and spoke to about 30 people of the 300....WOW! He has experienced a lot of anti mormon sentiment, and that has been hard to deal with, but still, he knows they move forward with the gospel regardless. They have had about 6 baptisms so far, love their wards (I think they are over 2 or 3) and especially loved General Conference a couple weeks ago. He mentioned that he wished it could of gone on....the missionaries hung out at the Stake Center all day long...it was great as he put it. He really enjoyed President Monson's talk at the Priesthood session as well as others....

We got an email from a member of his ward, Sister Renee Ransom. She fed 4 of the missionaries dinner and sent us pictures of the guys. It was a great experience for her to bring these young men into her home and share a meal with them. She said "The ward enjoys taking care of "our" missionaries and I especially do since we have a missionary out at this time"....they are really being taken good care of by the members in Hermiston..that makes me happy, and it was good to hear from her and see these current pictures. It's a great day in Hermiston Oregon...we love our missionaries.

General Conference....oh how we need thee......

Hey, I'm taking just a moment to let you all know that I am planning on updating Elder Rob's blog this weekend! Sorry with a capital "S"! Just been busy, but rest assured, he is doing fantastic and "having fun" on his mission.....he especially LOVED Conference weekend and wished there were more sessions to watch...they spent the entire weekend at the Stake Center watching, eating treats, eating pizza and being filled with the Spirit of our Lord...as he said, good preparation for the missionaries to have fresh messages to share. He said they are having success, but that the ward members need to help with that success giving them people to teach as well as fellowshipping newly baptized members after they are baptized...he mentioned how importand we as members are to our missionaries in the field...it is our responsibility to help our missionaries and their responsibility to teach and baptize.....they have baptized I think 6 new members so far...great success! Like I said, this is just a small note, I will completely update this weekend!

All in the day of a missionary.....

This is the other Elder Schroeder Rob met at the MTC...I believe he came from Vernal Utah. They are both in the Washington Kennewick mission and that is why we have to make sure when we mail Elder Rob something, we use his entire name.....he said there is a crochetty old lady in the mission home who gets upset if we don't put the complete names on the mail....hahahahahaha....notice the green tie Rob is wearing....that signifies him being a "greenie" he also had to eat green eggs and green pancakes...LOL...

This is another missionary I think Elder Rob knew at the MTC....it's been fun looking at Rob's pictures.......

....I will try to catch up with some of the things Rob is doing in Hermiston Oregon. Elder Rob's cold is gone (YAY!!)...health wise Elder Rob is doing really well...He said he took a "sick day" as they call it and had some time to rest up, then it was off to teach the gospel to those good people of Hermiston. My Aunt recently passed away (actually my only aunt) As Elder Rob put it, we all know where she is and of course we also know she is happy and healthy again, with those family she loves and missed, but I'm sure she is missing uncle Leon terribly right now..our knowledge of the plan of Savation is a great comfort at times like these. Elder Rob is concerned about Uncle Leon and how he is doing, but knows he will be just fine. When the kids were younger we would go to Eva Jane and Leon's house for a family Christmas/Santa party...this left some fond memories for my kids and will always stay in their hearts as one of those memorable times growing up.

Well, on to Elder Rob's mission experience...he and his companion were scheduled to baptize a man names Rick, at the last minute Rick backed out...he had some questions about the doctrine. The Zone Leaders, Elder Rob and his companion talked to Rick and they again schedule another date..that of March 19th. He said that there is another possible baptism that day and they are really praying and excited for both. They also are teaching a young lady named Kaylee...Rob was able to give her the BofM from Kati, she put her picture and testimony in the book so it was a little more special....Rob said that Kaylee really liked getting the book. Everybody thinks they are getting close to being transferred...Elder Rob actually has not been transferred yet...hopefully it will wait until after the baptims since they are invested with these people and their making the choice to be baptized...but, like he said if it happens there is nothing they can do about that...just part of the process of serving a mission and it does happen.
Quote from Elder Rob: "No, shocker.....he fell off date. Not gonna lie it was the saddest feeling of my mission so far, And I did what the other missionary’s do. Beat themselves up about his choice. But we took our Zone Leader over there and he put him back on track. He had some DEEP Doctrine and some Basic Doctrine issues So no worry’s he's back on date for the 19th" Elder Rob and his companion are teaching another girl named Tiffany who is also on track to be baptized on the 19th.....all in the day of a missionary.

He's got a cold!

Got our email today...Elder Rob sounds really good except he has a cold! He said he is really congested and wants to know what to do.....this 19yr old young man is on his own, no mom to help him out, and he's got a cold! Hmmmm, I guess it's time to rely on himself...hahahaha...his question was I don't know what to do and I quote "I want to rip my face off" hmmm...that sounds pretty serious, sooo.... my advise (which he won't get for days due to only be able to communicate with letters and emails once a week)would be to get some kind of decongestant like Musinex

etc, drink lots of water, rest and chicken soup! Hahaha...then he told us that they are teaching a 17yr old young lady at a members home....the member has a rope swing..












yes, Elder Rob decided to swing, in his suit no less...and he turfed it...or might I say Face planted himself on the ground (LOL) His comment was...there were no broken bones, no concussion but a few scrapes and scratches on his face...he did mention they didn't record the incident hahaha...that is just too bad...in this day of technology...we could of had it on YouTube hahaha!! Anyway, he didn't go into detail about his "condidtion" or the condidtion of his suit :( so I am hoping both are ok.

He really sounded good...He said they have 2 solid baptisms coming up...I think he really likes this mission thing *sigh* That's our missionary.

Does anyone have a Book of Mormon?

Sorry, I have been a little slow in updating this blog. Things are going really good for Elder Rob. His first comment in my email was "I'M DOING REALLY GOOD"...whew! So nice to hear since the week before we not only got a, shall we say, discouraging email from Elder Rob....but one that concerned me a little. Apparently his companion has a bit of an idea that hanging out at members homes and being a little less than a hard working missionary is ok....poor Elder Rob...excited about serving the Lord and wanting to really do what it takes to press the work forward.. It was nice though because that week they went out on exchanges with the Zone Leaders...that was a good experience for Elder Rob. He really enjoyed it. We flooded Rob with letters of encouragement and ways to work things out with his companion. Probably before he even got our mail, he had things already worked out. Hahaha...isn't that the way it goes. He said things are good and he is thrilled that they have a man who has set a date for baptism. He is around 55-56yrs old and is so excited about being baptized. Rob is so excited....he said he will keep us updated.

Elder Rob has a favor for anyone who wants to help him out. He has asked that we get a Book of Mormon, write your testimony in the book with your picture and send it to him so that he can pass them out. How fun is this. If anyone wants to participate...you can either mail him directly the Book of Mormons, or get them to us and we will send them for you. I will post his address at the end of this blog. What a nice way to spread the gospel to those in Kennewick Washington. And the work goes on.

Elder Robert David Schroeder
Washington Kennewick Mission
8656 W Gage Blvd Ste 205
Kennewick,WA 99336