Called to Serve - Madagascar: June 2016

I've learned a lot about how to deal with life through my experiences here. Perhaps more important than that is the fact that I've learned what is actually important in life and what isn't. It's my personal philosophy that a troubled soul is the fruit of a complicated life. Life can be simple and hard, but it can never be simple and troubling as long as you keep things in perspective. I'm determined to lead a simple but fulfilling life.

Something else that I've learned about myself is that I've fallen in love with people since being here. No, I haven't found my future spouse. I've fallen in love with people as in the human race. I love learning people's stories and helping them write the next chapter. I think that's why I enjoy books and movies and things like that. There's so much to be learned from the way someone lives and how they have lived, what their motivations are, and what their dreams for the future tell about them. I can already tell that I'll be different when I get home because I appreciate those sorts of things more. I'm determined to make my life a story worth telling, not because I will have been famous and important or influential, but because I lived my life the way I intended to live it: according to the simple values I have.

Elder Nelson and I are doing well, getting along good and working hard. We've been focusing on finding new families to teach because we baptized most of the other people we were teaching. We only teach recent converts a couple times a week.

I can't wait to watch movies and stuff with all of you when I get back. Haha you'll have to start keeping a list of the things I miss.

Here's my advice for you this week. There's an African proverb that says, "If there's no demon within, the demons outside can do no harm." When life gets hard, take a step back from everything and focus on what's inside of you. We're held accountable for how we act and how we represent ourselves and that's it. If you scrutinize yourself and believe there is nothing more you can do for any given situation, then let everything roll off your back. If there's something you can improve on (there normally is), focus on improving that.

I love you all very much! Mazatoa!

Elder Schnoor