Last email. Elder S is coming home!

Elder Schroath returns home this Friday.  It has been a joy sharing his letters/emails with each of you.  Thank you for your love and support during the last two years.

Elder Schroath will speak in church this coming Sunday, May 31st at 9 am.

We will have a 'drop in' Open House from 7-9 pm Sunday evening for anyone that would like to come by and welcome him home.

Here are his last emails:
5.25.2015

Dear Mom,

So yeah it won't be a long email, but I just want to share how much of an impact my mission has made on me. It has been an amazing 2 years, and I have learned so much from it. Honestly, I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started, but I knew it was the right thing to do. And I stuck to it and tried hard because I knew this was going to change my life. I was kind of nervous about changing...I didn't really want to.

But now I understand the change it puts you through. It isn't changing who you are or changing what you like or want to do, but it changes perspective. I can't even describe how open my eyes have been to the larger perspective of life. Things of the world don't really matter much at all, as before I thought it meant everything. I have an amazing appreciation for the gospel and the plan of happiness.

I understand my purpose and it gives me the motivation to want to go out and do the Lord's work. It is really hard to express my testimony in words, but just know that my testimony has grown incredibly. I still can't believe it went by that fast...and I don't know how the Lord worked so many incredible miracles through me but I wouldn't trade it for anything. And even though I will be so heart broken leaving this place, I know the Lord has more in store for me.

And this place will always hold a huge place in my heart. I love this place so much, and I'm so so grateful the Lord called me here because I grew so much and learned a ton that I am not sure I could have learned anywhere else. I love you mom, thank you for all the encouragement you
have given me, and I can't wait to see you:)

Elder Schroath

Dear Dad,

My last email time. Thank you for writing every week, I hope I lived up to what I was directed to do in writing family every week, I did my best! I still remember the exactly obedient talks you gave me in my youth, and I am incredibly thankful for them. It has helped me grow as a missionary and a person. I didn't just learn to be a missionary here, but also to be a better person.

I listened to a talk by Jeffrey R. Holland the other day (from a MTC devotional) and it talked about Peter after the Savior went back to his Father. And that Peter wasn't really sure what to do, so he went back to fishing. Like it was over. And Elder Holland explained in really good context about what really happened, how Jesus Christ was there on the shore and called them over and asked Peter if he really loved him. And three times he said yes, and three times the Lord said feed my sheep. It wasn't just while he was with Christ that he will do Christ's work, but for the rest of his life. That's what happens when we are changed by the Savior, we are part of the work and we can't deny our testimonies but continually be representatives of the Savior.

If you haven't already heard that talk, I want us to listen to it as a family I think, I really like it. So yeah like you said, I should embrace the opportunities to do service in my life, cuz it is still my calling. Well, I love you dad, I'll see you on Friday!

Elder Schroath

MTC 2 years ago

Sharing final testimony on his mission.

quick email

05.18.2015

Hey! so i do not have a lot of time because the internet has been going super slow so hopefully i can get this off. We are doing super good and now we have a new (kind of) comp Elder B! he is back in Chuuk and since i leave a couple days before the transfer he will be with Elder Robinson the rest. It will be good for Elder Robinson to have a new missionary to lead. Hopefully we can do a lot of splits with Priesthood this week. I love you all!

Elder Schroath

We had a wonderful talk with Elder Schroath on Mother's Day.  Although we could see and hear him, he could only hear us.  The three phones were our other three children and spouses listening in on the conversation long distance!

Elder Schroath will return home May 29th, just in time for Amanda's high school graduation the following day!  He will speak in church on May 31st at 9 am.  We will have an Open House that same evening from 7-9 pm if anyone in town would like to drop by and say hello!

Finding and Rats

04.26.2015

Hello again!

This was another solid week, first week of the transfer so we tried to go out and work. I felt that all the areas in our district were struggling with new investigators so I did a training on finding and I think it worked because the area that was struggling the most found 7 solid new investigators. Elder Robinson and I have also found a ton of potential investigators.

2 of our new investigators are Sanome and Kitson. Sanome is actually like Chuuk-famous for singing, and has lots of CDs, she mainly does religious music. But yeah it's pretty cool. I guess she used to come to church Mormon all the time, but hasn't for a few years. And now she is married and they both really want to learn more. After our most recent lesson, our member present told us that Sanome told her that Kitson has already decided he wants to be a member of our church. Which is a total miracle! I am super excited for them, They live quite a ways from the church, but they're young, they can walk:) haha.

We also have another investigator, Antura, who is on track to be baptized on May 9th. She really wants to be baptized and has already come to church twice. I am excited for her as well. We are going to do some more finding this week, and contact a lot of people we talked to this last week. I am excited. We also have District Conference this week so that will be super exciting, I love District Conferences.

For mother's day, I will call probably next week about when we will skype/talk, it will depend on if the internet is working or not. But I'll plan it for when you guys are home. I am excited to talk to you guys, even though it seems like I just did! haha. Love you guys, thanks for the update! This church is true, and the principles it teaches us leads us to an eternal happiness, I love being able to
spread this happy news! What a great day!

Elder Schroath

(email to Dad)

Hey dad!

So the typhoon recovery is still moving slowly but surely. Not really sure what the government is doing, they have been giving out rice and stuff. They did ask Pohnpei to come help them with the power lines, so hopefully that starts moving faster. It has been a month and we still don't have power yet.

which reminds me, I woke up last night to something crawling on my back, so I shook it off and grabbed my light and turns out it was a nice fat rat haha probably the size of a size 8 shoe and so me and my companion spent the next half hour tracking it down and killing it with a machete, quite the experience. Stupid rats ha

The new elder is actually from Samoa, he is gonna be a good addition because he is already trying super hard to learn the language, I think he will learn fast. I mean, he is starting in Udot so he has gotta be a good missionary.

thanks for the update! love you dad!

Teaching Efforts

4.19.2015

Hey dad!

This week was super good. We went all out in our teaching efforts. The reason we were so focused on teaching this week is because all the typhoon recovery efforts are kind of at a pause, the government hasn't provided any real help yet (a little) and so no one really has supplies to rebuild houses or cookhouses or get chainsaws to cut the big trees to clean their yards. So even if we offer our time for service, no one is really working and we don't want to do their work

for them, we want to do it with them. We did have 2 baptisms on Saturday for Santir and Ripo, it was a super good experience. AD, the kid we taught in Mwan was also baptized so we had a combined baptism that we did in the ocean because the water pump to the church is broken.

We had transfers yesterday as well, but pretty much everything stayed the same so that was nice. We are down to like 66 elders in the mission, really low. So hopefully we get a lot more over the summer, Chuuk needs it. Elder Robinson has been doing a lot better with the language, especially pronunciation. It has been fun helping him, and seeing the success he is having. The goal is to get him to the point where he could be senior companion if called upon, which he is pretty much there. He is very obedient, and is definitely helping me to stay

focused on the work.

I know it is my last transfer, but like you said I have learned so much and now is the time to use it to be the most effective. And I really want to be an example to all the other missionaries of how a missionary should be their whole mission so I will be trying really hard. We have quite a few possibilities for baptisms this May, so I know it will be a month of miracles.

thanks for all the updates with the NBA and missionaries and stuff, let me know when some of the other guys are getting home so I know! 

I love you dad!

Elder Schroath

Ha mom, you are crazy! I don't need shoes haha but maybe the new guy from Papua New Guinea will fit in those shoes...haha but thanks for taking care of me :)  

I love you mom!

Elder Schroath

Yes I have shoes

4.12.2015

[note: I noticed in some pictures I've seen of Elder Schroath I never see him wearing shoes so I asked him if he needed some.  That's what he's referring to in the first paragraph]

Hey!

I have been hearing lots of help coming from families in the states so thank all you guys for everything you do! It is definitely needed here. Mom, yes I do have shoes haha just no work shoes so I choose the flip flops haha (well sometimes barefoot works too) when we were in the typhoon, we were in the zone leaders house which is right next to the church, so that's why we were so close to the church. I took some videos and pictures so you can see.

Church went super well, we had a huge attendance at church mainly because we helped distribute food and so every inactive member just came out of the woodworks haha everyone wants their share. But hey they came to church so they were exposed to the spirit again and now we know a lot of less actives!

So us missionaries have no problem with food or anything, all the stores are back open and we still get money ha it is really just chuukese families struggling with food since a lot of them live off the land and most of the trees broke or at least all the fruit fell. So yeah I am good I don't really need food to survive ha just send me good American food:) ha. We have service planned almost every day this week so as long as the weather stays good we will have another service week. We also have a baptism planned for Saturday for Santir and Ripo, sons of a less active mother.

I love being here in Chuuk! These people are just so grateful all the time and so loving and willing to help out. I never thought a mission could be so fun! We don't have power back in the house yet and that is terrible while sleeping in a cement house with no fans or AC ha so we have been sleeping in the ZLs house. I think that is about it, I love you!

Elder Schroath

Typhoon Clean Up

4.8.2015

Well so this is the first time I have written since the Typhoon Maysak hit Chuuk! All I have been doing since then is cutting trees in half and carrying bags of rice! I'm gonna get jacked!!

But yeah so March 29th we had a typhoon hit, me and my comp drove over
to the church in the morning (it looked gloomy) and only 4 people showed up to church. Pako was one of them who is recently reactivated ha he is the man. But it was getting super windy and the power got knocked out so we did sacrament then just went in the house cuz we were on "lockdown". no one really knew how big the typhoon would be since there hasn't been a real typhoon in chuuk since 1990. But anyways for a couple hours we sat in the house and it didn't seem too bad, some tin roofs were getting pulled off and a couple tall trees fell but not too bad. The senior couple went up to Wichap for church and a tree blocked the road so they asked us to come get them. So it
cleared up and we drove up there (had to cut a couple trees up) and we got them. We passed the district President on the way down and he told us to hurry...that we were only in the eye of the storm!!

So yeah we rushed back and he was right. It came with full force and water was coming from under the door and trees were falling and the winds just got stronger and stronger. We had to go open the church for some members who wanted to wait it out in the church, scared their homes would be destroyed so that was crazy in itself having to run across the basketball court with rain and stuff all around us. The waves got super big and high too, they pushed boats on to land and broke a lot of them. Our house didn't take damage, except a little
leaking in one corner and a door broke in and got water and dirt all over. The udot house got destroyed:( the missionaries had to wait it out in the members house and a lot of their stuff got ruined cuz they ditched in the house. All of the houses/churches that were made by the church were practically undamaged. The typhoon stopped for the most part around 2 or 3. Monday morning we went around to members houses to check on them, some of them were just destroyed. Mama Merty, whose house is this tiny wood and tin house right next to the ocean didn't get damaged at all!! She is old and has a hard time walking and is just so strong in the church so obviously her faith protected her
house!

So yeah every day until today we have been clearing roads and helping
members build houses and carrying shipments of rice and ramen and tools into the church and distributing them to the branches. Lots of work. I am super sore haha. It has been really fun. What is cool about it all is that no one is really distraught, even though everyone's gardens are destroyed and that's a lot of what people eat from, everyone is just thankful no one was hurt or killed in the event and everyone is really turning to God during this all. It's so cool.

Well, that was about it for the past couple weeks. I did get the box you sent Mom! Thank you ha we were actually running low on food so thank you. I love you all!

Elder Schroath

These pictures were taken by one of the senior couple missionaries, The Martins.

Typhoon Update

4.5.2015

It's been a week since Typhoon Maysak went right through Chuuk State where Elder Schroath is serving his mission.  There has been a lot of information shared on a Facebook group I am a part of for parents of missionaries in Cam's mission.  I wanted to share some of the information from the group with everyone and most especially from a missionary currently serving there, an Elder Bloxham.  Elder Bloxham was in Chuuk during the typhoon and just recently returned home because of illness (not due to the typhoon) and will return to Chuuk when recovered.  He has been a blessing to the parents of missionaries there because of his first hand experience, pictures and videos he took.

Elder Bloxham has set up a "gofundme" page to raise funds to help with the recovery effort in Chuuk.  http://www.gofundme.com/qzjnzc
If you are able we encourage you to donate and share this link with others but please do not share this blog, as it is private.

We also received a very quick email from Elder Schroath just a couple of days ago!

4.3.2015 - email from Elder Schroath
hey  mom just wanted to shoot you a quick email! We are here at the
senior couples house and they were nice enough to let us shoot an
email, not many places with internet/power in chuuk haha. But yeah we
are all safe, doing lots of service! I might not email monday because
pday might be switched to thursday! Love you mom:)

These next two emails are from the Senior Couple serving in Chuuk, the Hardy's:

4.2.2015
We are safe and blessed! We got our power back on but haven't been able to retrieve our truck from the trap of giant trees, we were in Wechap to Sunday services when it hit!  Elder Schroath is doing great , no major damages! He lives in a sturdy cement home , I don't know when you will get this or if you will! Lots of love

Elder Schroath is doing great! He keeps singing what a great day to make us laugh so we won't cry! You know he came to rescue us when we had to walk home and leave our truck stranded between 2 giant trees! We just barely got home before the other half the bigger part of the typhoon! We are all so blessed and the elders are going about like the Armies of Helaman helping those in need! Got to hurry before power goes off , I will update you soon , your young son you sent out to join Gods Army has become a strong, valiant man full of love and compassion for his fellow men! love sister. Hardy! my heart breaks to think of him leaving in May but I know you will be rejoicing to have your son back home! I hope to meet the great parents that raised such a wonderful man!

FSM UPDATES new story: You can follow this link to read about the Typhoon
http://myfsm.blogspot.in/2015/04/maysak-distroys-too-much-in-chuuk-and.html

Video of Typhoon taken by Elder Bloxham.  He was on the main island in one of the church's in his area.

Information from Elder Bloxham April 3, 2015
He talks about many different islands that are all a part of the Chuuk islands.  Weno is the main island and Moen is the main city there:

From what I've heard from other elders, outer islands were hit pretty hard. From what I saw in Weno, I can only imagine what the other islands look like. All elder's were still on their islands when the typhoon hit. Elder H and few others who's houses were destroyed came in on Tuesday. The plan was to get everyone in Weno in the next few days.

The Udot and Pata homes were destroyed so those elders went to Romanum for a few days then were brought to Moen.  [Udot is the first island Elder Schroath served on.  The home he lived in there is the one referenced above].

Romanum was not destroyed, sorry if my last post made it sound that way. Romanum is where the elders were sent who's homes were destroyed until the zone leaders could come get them on Tuesday. I know the elders in Udot and Pata lost a lot of stuff, if the house has open windows it is very possible lots of stuff got wet. That was the case with the Mechitiw house.

The Mechitiw home is still standing. The roof started to come up and lots of water and debris got inside but it's fine. The missionary house and the church in Mechitiw were some of the only structures still standing in that area. The members are living in the church now.

As of Tuesday the plan was to get all outer islands in Weno in the next day. I am not sure if that was suppose to be long term or not however. If their home is ok, they may have just been coming in to get food and water and then head back out to help on their islands.

Many trees have been destroyed including the breadfruit, banana, and coconut trees local people rely on for food. They've been able to gather all the fruit that fell, but after a few days it's all going to go bad. Water tanks have also been badly damaged. Only 1 of the 8 water tanks in Mechitiw (area on the main isalnd) were still functioning when I left. The system that collects the rain water had also been destroyed. The church had sent a pallet of food and water on Wednesday, but they are going to need everything they can get. Many people will starve if more help does not arrive soon. When it comes to the missionaries, I'm sure the church will make sure they are well taken care of. The zone leaders were able to acquire some boxes of ramen, clean water, rice, and propane and were taking it to every area they could get to.

We had heard from local's the day before that a typhoon was coming, but Saturday night the baptist radio was saying the typhoon was not going to hit Chuuk. We were not notified from the church (zone leaders) until the first part of the storm was already starting to hit. They texted everyone and told us to stay in our houses. Luckily, the worst of the storm didn't hit until after the eye went through, so everyone was expecting it at that point.

Outer Islands were hit pretty hard. Because the living conditions are so primitive, most structures were destroyed. The Uman house is ok. From what I heard from Elder Smith this morning, Uman and Fono came in for a day this week to get food and do laundry then went back to their islands to help out.

Elder Schroath told me their house is fine. They live in a very large, well built house. Neaoa was not the worst hit on the island. We met him and his companion on the road to Mechitiw Monday morning, they were clearing the road trying to get to us after they heard how hard our area was hit.

The church has sent 250 bags of rice for the members, but that it will only last a short while because of the high demand for food right now. One of the Elder's is really worried there is no long term solution, and wanted me to ask as many people as possible to help send food for the members. He wanted to be clear that the food is needed for the locals, not the missionaries.

Really it means a lot to see so many families rallying around the people of Chuuk. These islands so often seem to be neglected by the rest of the world so when stuff like this happens, there is little hope for outside assistance. Elder H told me on the phone last night that they do not believe the U.S will be helping with relief efforts. The people of Chuuk are so good to us missionaries and are always willing to give, even when they have nothing. Even this past week, when they didn't know where they were going to find their next meal, they were so anxious to share what little they had with us. We had to explain to them over and over that they needed that food more than us.

Information from the Mission President.  After the typhoon hit the Chuuk islands it proceeded on to another island state called Yap which is many hundred miles away from Chuuk:

As you know, last week was extremely full. We had two islands hit by a typhoon, and relief efforts are proceeding through LDS Church humanitarian resources, Red Cross, and other programs. Our hearts reach out to the people on Chuuk and the outer Islands of Yap.
Our missionaries have been involved with much of the clean up of roads, distributing food, and other essentials as needs arise. They are a wonderful army of young men on Chuuk, and young men and women on Yap. It is gratifying to see them working selflessly to assist these people.
In the mean time the missionary work on the other islands continues. We had two zone conferences, and a Mission Leadership Council.
I don't wish to push the humanitarian efforts in the background, as this will be ongoing. (It is my understanding that a special cargo plane loaded with supplies will be leaving Guam tomorrow morning (Monday). It has pallets of supplies donated by the Church, and assembled by missionaries serving in Guam.)

Sister Zarbock and I will be personally visiting our eastern islands of Kosrae, Pohnpei, and Chuuk this week, to see first hand some needs and identify things we as a mission can do, and assist where we can.
Our missionaries have been instructed to reach out to all of the people, and assist them in the rebuilding and clean up process where they can as well.
May God continue to bless these great missionaries in their efforts as well.
President Zarbock

The following are pictures from Elder Bloxham. He has given permission to share them:

"We found Elder Schroath and Elder Robinson helping clear the road, trying to reach us with the Hardy's truck" -- Elder Bloxham

"Trying to make our way to Nantaku Monday morning.
This is the main road from Mechitiw to Nantaku." - Elder Bloxham (main island)

I believe this is the church where Elder Bloxham was when he took the video of the typhoon.

Mwan Church Building - main island

The Senior Missionaries (The Hardys) truck

Branch Presidents Office

Our family is so thankful for the Lord's watchful eye over the missionaries and people of Chuuk.  Although there have been five deaths, it could have been higher especially since they had very little notice ahead of time to prepare.  We continue to pray for the Chuukese people and ask that you add your prayers with ours that they will have the food, shelter, water, and help they need to recover over the coming months.  Please donate if you are able.

Having the time of my life

3.22.2015

Hey!

Another week gone by. Man they are flying by too fast...but I am having the time of my life.

To answer questions first, we have had a setback with Erem, he hasn't come to church the past two weeks so we want to wait until we know he has a testimony of the importance of coming to church so he doesn't come, get baptized, then just stop going. Estino on the other hand is doing awesome! On Saturday we did a service project with him where we built a pig cage, it was super fun. Then he showed up to church the next morning in his white shirt and tie at 8 in the morning. He is seriously the man and is doing so well. He told me that he really wants to be strong again and feels like now is the time where he isn't gonna look back and really endure. We just got to get the rest of his family on track! His wife comes on and off, mainly because of their baby, but there are a few more relatives in that house we will be working with.

There is also a guy named Pako (23) who was strong and then all of the sudden moved out of his family's house and just went super less active, but we felt like we should go by his family's house and there he was after 1 year or so. Just said he felt like it was time to come back and he missed going to church and seeing all of his friends in church. And sure enough he came to church yesterday. We will be working with him to get the Melchizedek Priesthood and go on a mission.

Elder R. has been doing good with the language, just pronounces some stuff wrong but when he gets it right he will be super good. So I actually haven't gotten the boxes yet, or the letter. So maybe it will come today? So you are getting a car for me and Amanda?? haha sweet. Like does that mean we like trade off or...haha jk but thanks you guys are the best! About the sports camp job, Jess just emailed me when the job was posted and saying I should apply for it then I did and they emailed me saying I needed to sign up for an interview time so I told them I am in Chuuk so they said we could Skype haha so at 6am here I skyped them for a total of like 12 mins but I mean hey we will find out if I get the job.

I know this church is true! I have been seeing so many miracles lately and I am so blessed! thank you for all of your love and prayers.

Elder Schroath

Awesome Week!

3.15.2015

Hey!

So here I am to report another week. It was an awesome week! Mainly because I finally got to do normal, real proselyting for the whole week. It was like a big burden was lifted off my shoulders!! Haha tender mercies of the Lord, really.

This time around in Neao I am planning to do stuff a little differently. The first time, I just tried to go out and teach everyone and just baptize everyone and felt like that was the best way to do things. This time after learning a lot from President Zarbock, I am going to slow down and let the Spirit lead me to those I need to teach. It is different in Chuuk, where you don't really need to open
your mouth though that much, mainly because 95% of the time they WILL talk to you just because its culture so we have gone around and get a lot of referrals from members so we can find legit investigators that already have some connection to the church. Instead of talking to a random guy who acts super spiritual and takes it all in but never actually does anything...ha.

So we have already 4 or 5 solid investigators that have come to church at least once. One is a 17 year old guy named Erem. Chiro (going on a mission) is good friends with him and started bringing him to church. So we have been meeting with him and he should be good to be baptized on the 28th of this month.

We have also been meeting with a lot of less actives and striving to get them to keep commitments. Estino and Jean (a family I worked with before) have ever so slightly been starting to come back to the church, and now they are doing super good and their whole family has been here the past two weeks, and Estino has stayed for all three hours. They are doing great, they will be back to full activity this week!

No new elders this transfer. We had 4 elders go home this last transfer and 2 left to Guam so we had to close 3 areas. hopefully the mission will get some big intakes this summer to start reopening areas.

The members were happy to know I was in Neao again. Ha I saw them all the time because they come to the Mwan branch. So really I have been working in the same branch since I left Udot.

Things with Elder R. are super good, he is learning a lot. All the members in Neao tell him that in just a few weeks he will know Chuukese really well. Wow, that is rough about the Vanuatu storms. I don't know if you remember but Elder Garae (comp from Neao) is from Vanuatu, and Elder Hokao (also in our Zone) is from there so I hope their families are doing okay, not sure if they have even heard about the storms. dont worry about us in Chuuk though, storms never really hit here. But hopefully it brings some rain cuz it has been dry the past two weeks.

Well, I will write next week! I love you all!

Elder Schroath

Crazy Transfer

3.8.2015

Hey there!

So it was a crazy transfer ha let me tell you. Anyways so about last week.

I did a couple more exchanges, the first was with Elder Beard in Neao and they had like few investigators so we went around the first day to members and less actives and asked for referrals and we got a ton so that was awesome. We met with Amie (the mother of a less active family Elder Garae and I worked with a lot to reactivate) and while I was in Neao before they had huge family problems and the husband would come home drunk like every day and the kids weren't in school and Remes (18) stopped coming to church and at one point didn't want to go on a mission anymore and it was just a really hard time in their lives. So we worked with them a lot and got them to say family prayers and Amie would always say it was hard to be peaceful and happy in their family so I told them if you can't find any peace at home, find peace in church and church activities and baptisms and whatever else. And then I was transferred from Neao but I would see her at church every other week and she would show up at baptisms with some of her kids and went to Relief Society activities and so on the exchange we went and talked to her and she was so happy! just a happy expression on her face. And her kids weren't home because they were all back in school! She said that her husband still gets drunk sometimes, but only like 2-3 times a month maybe. and overall there is just a happier spirit in their home and we are currently working with Remes to submit his missionary application!! It just taught me about fruits of our labors and when I thought what Elder Garae and I did wasn't enough, turns out the Lord through us really helped change around their lives for the better and they are stronger and happier members now, even though it wasn't immediate. It was awesome.

I also did an exchange in Wichap with Elder Vanisi where for the most part we helped the youth get ready for a special performance on a fireside on Sunday. It was a fun time. The rest of the week we were getting ready for transfers and stuff, and on Sunday Elder Vanisi had to leave Chuuk:( he was one of my best friends out here as well, we started in the same district and when I came to Neao he went to Wichap (next to each other) and was my district leader the rest of his mission so we got pretty close, he will go back to Tonga and I will miss him, he really was a beast of a missionary. All the missionaries that go to his area after him always feel like they have big shoes to fill!

So transfers, a couple days before President called us and asked me if I was getting tired of being Zone Leader haha and I said I was indifferent and he told me he wanted another Elder to step up and get leadership and told me I would be getting a challenge the last two transfers of my mission (as if ZL wasn't enough haha) but I was transferred BACK TO NEAO!!!!!! I am actually whitewashing it as the two elders there got transferred. So I will probably die there! 1 year in the Udot Branch, 1 year in the Mwan Branch. I am one lucky dog!! I am also District Leader there and my companion is Elder Robinson who has been out 6 months and is really struggling with the language. I am really excited to work with him and teach him out to be the best missionary he can. He was the second ever born on Udot so he is like blood to me hahah we are going to do work!! I am so excited! So yeah I am still inner island so I will email. It was a crazy transfer cuz 3 areas were temporarily closed due to lack of missionaries and 4 areas were whitewashed. But it will be good! A fresh start for Chuuk. I think that is about it for me, um mom if you could send me some more of that protein that would be awesome!! I love you!!

Elder Schroath

Mission Leader Conference

Trip to Guam

3.1.2015

Hi Mom!

So questions first, yes I got the boxes you sent and Devin sent. They were very much appreciated, they are the only things that keep me sane;) haha but really though they were awesome, i am surprised you didn't come up with the seal fresh cookies earlier!

Guam was super good like always, the meetings were good and really we are getting training on helping out new inexperienced missionaries cuz that is all we will have in a few months, crazy. This transfer on Sunday might be kind of crazy, not really sure yet on any details.

We are hoping to go contact all our referrals this week and build up our teaching pool again. None of our investigators from before have come to church so I am guessing we might just drop them all. It's been rough from the work side of things, but I feel like in a few weeks or months that Chuuk will really take off again.

I love you!

Elder Schroath

(email to Dad)

BYUUUUUUUUUU wow I am so glad to hear that. Too bad like none of the missionaries care for college basketball and Chuukese people don't know what it is so i can't rub it in anyones face but just know I am happy to hear it and can't wait to hear about the next matchup in the conf finals.

News for Chuuk...still working on getting problems sorted out and trying to look for the future, we are trying to build up Chuuk the right way so things are getting slow with focusing a lot on helping the leaders and the branches run well. Well, I love you dad!

Elder Schroath

Quick Email

2.22.2015

Hey!

First to answer questions, last week I spoke on Repentance. Our mission is having a huge focus on it right now because technically all we are supposed to do is declare repentance so I mean hey my calling just got a lot easier;)

Transfers are in a couple weeks and we go to Guam next week so we will be super busy the next couple weeks but hopefully we have a really good March.
I am excited. We lose 4 really good missionaries though, so hopefully some younger ones can step up. I talked to Elder F and he said he was going to call Sister Martin today about getting home on the 29th or whatever so I will call her also this week and just say to make my plans the same as his then I will let you know which day exactly. I will probably get a good guess of what day I will get home but I won't know exactly and what time until they get the flight plans back from headquarters I believe, but I'll keep you updated.

This week we had the Assistants here which was fun, they both served in Chuuk (Elders Plocher and Fabiano) and I think they really helped out some Elders. We are trying really hard right now to teach the new guys and get them up to speed so they can start getting ready to lead the zone because now it's not too far away.

AD didn't come to church again yesterday...not sure why. So that will push his baptism back a little bit. Thank you so much for the box! I just barely got it and haven't looked through it thoroughly enough.
I love you! Have a good day!

Elder Schroath

Hey dad!

Love to hear that BYU is on a roll. Elder Plocher asked me the other day if BYU has Tyler Haws and a guy that has the record for triple doubles and a bunch of other good experienced players that why aren't they the best haha and I didn't know how to answer...he has a good
point!

Didn't have a whole lot of finding time this week, but one unique thing I did this week was counsel a lot of young missionaries who called me complaining with their problems haha. I calmed them down so I mean I must have done a pretty good job haha. It is good marriage
practice I guess:)

Thanks for emailing me dad! Love you!

Elder Schroath

Here are a few recent pictures (if you click on the picture it will open in a new window in a larger size)

Elder Schroath & companion

Teaching at Zone Conference

Chuuk Zone Feb 2015

Internet Down

We didn't get an email from Elder Schroath last week but here is todays:

2.16.2015

Hey mom!

So I apologize but the internet is down at the church and we are doing a bbq at the senior couples for pday so i am getting a little time on the computer but not a lot! I usually try and let the outer islands do their email since they only get once a month ha but i usually have time, the internet is just down. Hopefully it will get fixed this week.

That is awesome you got to see Amanda's concert, i am excited to watch her perform cuz she sounds way good! That is INSANE that Corey is already going to be 8...haha I just remember a crazy 4 year old ha.

this week was good, we got some time to teach and we even took Pito out to teach with us, he had no hesitation to come with us! We just gotta help him to speak up and share his testimony a lot more. Sunday me and Elder Siren (his comp was sick and in Weno) went to Pata for church and we also stopped in Romalum and went to their sacrament because theirs was at 9 and patas was at 11.  I ended up giving talks in both meetings haha. The Romalum branch is big, and during sacrament it was kinda noisy with all the kids, then I stood up and gave my talk and all of the sudden everyone just went super quiet and listened. It was pretty cool. I was getting some really nice comments about speaking Chuukese like a Chuukese so that was cool.

the story about the handycraft is in the olden days in chuuk, the men would carve their own "lovesticks" and the girl they liked and wantedto marry they would go at night and stick it in the hair of the girl and then if she accepted she would find the guy and go give it back to him then it means they were "married" so yeah, lots of handycrafts have that carved into it.
[Elder S sent us a carved wooden plaque depicting a woman lying down in a house and a man standing near her head.  The above is an explanation of what it meant]

Well, I love you mom! I am also working out details to the day i come home so I will let you know! Love you!!

Elder Schroath   

Late Email

2.4.2015

Hey!

So we moved our Pday until today because we have Zone Conference with President tomorrow! We are doing a zone pday today and shopping and all that good stuff. So it will be kind of busy so sorry if my email isn't too long!

I'm glad you got the box! It will probably be the last one till I'm back, right now I have two empty suitcases and I know all the stuff I have probably won't even fill up one haha. So yes, we did get two new elders in Chuuk this last friday, Elder Taylor and Elder Bloxham! Elder Bloxham is in the area next door and Elder Taylor is out on Fono, lucky guy. They are super cool, and will be good additions to the Zone.

Besides transfers, everything else went good. Oh ya, we went to Guam so that was fun. We got to know the other zones by doing a Q+A about the other islands, there are some cool things the other zones do! Like on Palau they feed chickens to alligators. The Sunday meeting went well, we had pretty cool trainings, one on the "Ward Rescue Plan" we are going to start putting into action to help out members with their family mission plans and things like that.

We will have another Pday on Monday so I mean I'll talk to you guys soon haha, love you guys!!

Elder Schroath

Snail Mail Letter & Email

Between the last two emails we received a letter in the mail from Elder S.  Here it is (I also added his email from today right after the letter):

1.12.2015

Dear Family,
So the internet was down today so I figured I would just write a quick letter instead.  Since I don't really know what's going on in the outside world (except I know the Broncos lost :( (sad face) ), I will just tell you about my week.

It was a solid week for sure, we got in a lot of time to teach.  We had a couple Elders stay with us for a couple days because one was getting treatment at the hospital.  So we were able to do a lot of splits and stuff, and cover a lot more ground.

We have some cool investigators, one is Pito.  We have been seeing him everyday because he is progressing fast and will hopefully be ready for baptism on the 17th of January, as well as Karleen, a 12 year old girl that comes regularly, but just hasn't yet been baptized!  So we would be able to hit our January baptismal goals if these to happen.

There is this prospective missionary named Curtis that goes teaching with us, and one day we just grilled him trying to get referrals and we got 3-4 of his friends/relatives and they are all awesome!  One named Maurus really wants to be baptized, they live far from the church though.  But I think he will start coming.  He is 18 and about to graduate from high school, so he has already thought about being a missionary like his cousin Curtis will be.

Other than that, we are gonna start working with this less active named JS, who wants to change because his Grandma right before she died a month ago asked him if he would change and go on a mission and help the family name.  so he wants to!  He was all ready to go to church then it rained a ton so he didn't make it.  But next week we'll get him!

I love being here in Chuuk, I still always think about how blessed I was to get called here.  I have had the best areas too!  an old missionary named Blake Fisher is back in Chuuk doing an internship, so it means every once in a while an old missionary does make it back to Chuuk, so there is hope for me!

I love you all, keep me updated.  Ai tong ngenikemi!

Love, Elder Schroath

Here is today's email:

1.25.2015

Hey!

This was another good week, to answer your questions, we just found out last night we have two trainers from Chuuk so maybe both of those Elders will come. We already have two Elders from England, I guess we could get a third!
[A lady in our stake volunteers to Skype with missionaries at the MTC so they can practice teaching.  This past week she Skyped with two Elders that will serve in the Micronesia Guam Mission.  One from England, and the other from St George, UT so that is what Elder S was referring to above.]

It's the time for the English haha. Uman was super fun, we had a really good exchange. The hoop there on their court is only like 9'8" and I dunked on it haha so I still got it! But we found a lot of new investigators, we actually go to walk around the whole island. Uman isn't too far, probably the same distance as Udot, just going SW instead of NW. Transfers had some good changes, Elder Fermanis (my best friend in Chuuk Zone) got transferred to Guam for his last two transfers so that was a bummer. Elder Paulis and I are still together. Elder Pitiol (from MTC, Elder Paulis' companion, he is from Uman) got transferred here to Chuuk so that was awesome, he told us he was confused when they told him transfers cuz he thought he was done with his mission cuz he was coming back to Chuuk haha. He is the man, super funny. He is the one that gave me the name 'Tekia.' He will be moving to Utah when he is done so you guys will probably meet him eventually.

Besides the exchange, we really didn't get to do a whole lot this week, because we were dealing with transfers and getting people on flights and stuff. Elder Fabiano is the new Assistant with Elder Plocher. So now we got two Chuuk Zoners in the top spots haha. We had a bad month again numbers wise, mainly because two Sundays in a row we had a lot of rain. We only ended with 7 baptisms. So hopefully we can get it back in February.

Well, That is about it, i love you guys! Have a good one!

Elder Schroath

Elder Schroath mentions people not coming to church when it rains a lot. The Senior couple missionaries have sent me some pictures of the roads after a big rainfall.  These pictures will give you a good idea of why people don't want to walk to church in the rain!

Sickness, buckets and translating

1.19.2015

Hey!

This week was great! I hope you guys get the letter from last week, it was a good one too.

And okay this week we had a baptism! It was awesome! His name is Pito. He is turning 19 in a couple weeks, and Chiro (prospective missionary) is really helping him out and leading him on the right path. I think he will endure, now we just need to work with him family because they

got a lot of less active members.

We have had a wave of sick missionaries, so this week was filled with a lot of hospital visits. It was not very fun at all. Oh, I forgot to mention with the baptism, the water pump was broken so we couldn't fill up the font normally so we spent an hour hauling buckets of water to the baptismal font. We would have just done it in the ocean, but the other baptismal candidate from Wichap gave birth a couple months ago and Chuukese culture, they can't go in the ocean or else sharks will attack them. So yeah.

The translation team is here (Tod Harris, the head supervisor from Salt Lake and some other Japanese guys) and they have been having meetings about the final revision of the full Book of Mormon, he said after the review, it will take at least 8 months to get it on the shelf:( dang. But I also talked to them about getting on the Chuukese translation team for after my mission, which I can do all from a computer and it is $36 dollars a page which is super good. And during general conference i could make bank! So I am excited for that little side job as well. I never would have thought Chuukese would be that useful after my mission:)

It rained again yesterday, so we had a small church attendance. But Pito was there so that was great. Tomorrow I am going to do an exchange on Uman with Elder Jonas, the district leader out there. I am definitely excited. Transfers are this Sunday, I think I will be staying here in Mwan though. We will know next week though!

I got the box mom! Thank you very much! the shirts were much needed. Yes the neao elders are moving into a new house, way nicer. I felt bad for them living in that terrible house haha so this new one is way better. I am excited for them to leave my house, no lie hahah but I love them, Elder Garae is still in Neao so it is nice to have him around cuz he is the best.

[a trio of missionaries had to move in with Elder Schroath and his companion because their roof was leaking badly]

I love you!

Elder Schroath

Another Week to Report

1.4.2015

Hey!

Another week to report. It was a good week, especially with New Years. New Years is huge in Chuuk, like the most celebrated holiday probably. Pretty much what happens is everyone starts getting empty jugs or water barrels or pots and pans ready to use for midnight and start practicing with their 'bands'. Then at 12 midnight on the 1st everyone goes crazy doing chants and driving up and down the roads dancing on top of cars and sometimes even a few cars will just block the road and everyone gets out and just has a crazy dance party for 10 minutes then jump back in and continue down the road. All this coupled by random fireworks going off from a bunch of different places. It was really fun to watch, we couldn't really sleep that well. Haha. Oh, we also killed a pig for it, so that was fun. Then 12 midnight on the 2^nd everything stops and that morning it is just dead silent because everyone is sleeping. haha. Oh I love new Years.

We were supposed to go to Guam for mission leader council on the 2nd, but there was a big delay and while we were waiting inside the gate, the announcer said that the plane was no longer going to stop in Chuuk but go straight from Pohnpei to Guam, not sure why, but yeah we ended up not making it. Which is okay.

We were able to go to the Priesthood leadership meeting on Saturday and talk to the Branch Presidents, really trying to get branch council meetings going and happening every other week hopefully. Church was also good, we had a good show of about 100, it has been rough trying to get our investigators to church though.

Then we just skyped into the meeting in Guam, which was hard because half the time we couldn't hear and it was pretty blurry, but we got the jist of it. Hopefully we can make a good zone meeting out of it tonight. I am super excited for the new year!! We are setting goals so I'll let you know about them next week! In 2014 we had 1214 people come into the Church-adding together baptisms and reactivations which exceeds our goal we had of 1,000. So we were very blessed. I will write you guys next week! Love you all!!

Elder Schroath

ps yes I did get the box of candy, on the 31st. so good timing!