End of Sept Mission Report

Elder and Sister Schill

Our mission is going well. We were able to get permission from our mission president to go outside of our mission in order to go with the members of our branch to the Chicago temple. It was a wonderful trip and a spiritual experience for many young people to go and do baptisms. Afterward we all went out for pizza.

We are moving forward with baptisms. We have had one baptism per month in our branch for the past several months. We enjoyed attending the baptism of a young man a couple of weeks ago and then, last Sunday, to watch him as he prepared the sacrament. We have another young man scheduled for baptism in October, and a young lady who is attending one of our institute classes who is also preparing for baptism.

Elder Schill has been called to serve as the branch mission leader and such works with the young elders who are assigned to the university campus to teach the 30,000 students who attend there. Working with him are five branch missionaries who have been called from the branch to share the gospel with their friends and to bring people for them and the full time missionaries to teach. Elder Schill is able to work with them to keep them motivated, active and assist with the teaching pool of investigators.

We are teaching three classes on Family Relations and Eternal Marriage and one class on the Doctrine and Covenants. We teach two classes in the daytime and two on different evenings. We have arranged table in one of the classrooms in the institute and Sister Schill always fixes a nice lunch for the students coming to the noon class. When we have finished lunch we sing a hymn and then have our class discussion. It is very cozy around the table together, like a family gathering. The students take the lead on Monday evenings with teaching the Family Home Evening lesson and we have very outstanding lessons, after which we play various games in the cultural hall of the institute. We have a family in the stake who each week tapes the BYU devotional and on Fridays at noon we have a nice luncheon and show the DVD of the devotional. It was great to have President Hinckley address the students two weeks ago. Since we have new members at the institute, several had never seen him before. We are looking forward to General Conference at our Stake center and for the opportunity for the students to hear the talks of the General Authorities. Many are very excited for their first opportunity to do so. We are having a branch luncheon at the home of the branch president between sessions.

We are getting very close to many of the members of the branch and enjoying their loving spirit and fellowship. The institute is really a haven for them as they spend so much of their time on the campus of a very secular university. They always look forward to the spirit of the institute and of uniting together for a few minutes each day. We love and support each one of them.

Squirrels

We have three different colored squirrels in Michigan. The missionaries call the gray ones, Jaredites, the dark brown ones, Lamanites and the light brown ones the Nephites. For weeks I have been trying to get a photo of one of these squirrels. They are so fast that by the time I get my camera up to my eye, they have disappeared into the tops of the trees. But yesterday I spotted a Nephite in the tree by our apartment and he stayed there scolding me and waving his tail back and forth. He had something in his mouth that made him look even more ferocious. I finally got some photos of him.
We are excited to go to our first zone conference tomorrow. We have canceled our noon class so we can attend. It will be held at the Kalamazoo Stake Center from 9 AM until 3:30 PM. We love all of you.

Happy Birthday Rexbo!

Rex turned 3 years old today. He was pretty excited to turn big as he calls it. We had a fun day. I made him a Super Why cake. It is a new TV show on PBS kids. Rex enjoyed his birthday! We love that boy!

KUB PHOTOS

Photos of KUB activities

Hi, everyone. Here are some of the activities we have been doing. The first photo is of Dad teaching one of the institute classes at noon. One day I went to the branch building and met a service missionary that was dressed just like me so I had to take a photo. She teaches the 12 step program an hour before our class. She has been attending our marriage class with her daughter on Thursdays. She makes good comments and seems to be getting a lot out of the class that is helping her in her marriage. The branch played the balloon tied on the ankle game that is a favorite at our parties. Leo from India was the winner! There is a photo of our FHE and some of the fun games we play at KUB=Kalamazoo University Branch (Fooseball. four Square and Cowboy Golf) While a group was playing four square, they asked Elder Schill to clap his hands under his leg.
Friday we had 12 come to the devotional to hear Pres. Hinckley speak. A member in another ward records the BYU devotionals so we can watch them on Fridays. We had stew, rolls, green jello(most of the students here have never had jello but they were good sports to try it) and ice cream pie. It was a great experience to listen to the prophet speak. He is in his 98h year and still able to inspire so many people. We are very blessed to have him as our prophet.

Rob Rice's babtism

On the 15th of September, Rob Rice was baptized. It was a spiritual experience to be there as the missionaries gave talks on the importance of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost and then to watch Rob be baptized. While he was getting dressed, the person in charge of the meeting gave everyone an opportunity to bear their testimony. My heart was pounding so I knew I needed to bare my testimony so I stood up and bore a simple testimony. It makes you feel so good when you have the courage to bare your testimony. By studying the scriptures more, I have a stronger testimony of Christ and the great love he has for all of us. Rob wasn't confirmed a member until today. It seemed strange that the confirmation was delayed for such a long time. I don't know the reason. He comes to institute classes on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights. He is anxious to learn about the gospel. It is neat to be around someone who has just joined the church. There is a girl named JoLene who has been coming to church and is an investigator. The missionaries are teaching Brian who will probably get baptized the middle of Oct. Today in Sacrament meeting, five branch members were called to be missionaries to help find the less active of our branch. Also in church, Elder Schill gave a talk on encouraging the members to come to institute classes. We enjoy being around the branch members and feeling of their strong testimonies of the gospel. Love, Elder and Sister Schill (Dad/Grandpa and Mom/Grandma)