LAST WEEK IN THE MTC!!!!

September 28, 2015



NI MEN HAO! ZHE GE LI BAI FEI CHANG HAO!

Hello everyone! this week is and awesome week because its my last week!! Also this last week that just ended was by far the best week of my mission and i feel confident enough to say on of the most important weeks in my life. This last week i also got my flight plans!

Ok so this past week was a very good week! it started out to be the worst week of my life. I was just so unhappy with myself and with missionary work and a whole lot of things were bringing me down. As I went in to this hard week i had the mind set that I would just be able to help myself out of this and everything would be ok. This is a very long story but I only have a few minutes to share. So I just kept trying to find happiness and I could not do it to save my life. And some things were said in class and in devotionals where the spirit just thumped me in the head saying the only one who can get you out of this is heavenly father. And so that night I poured out my whole soul to him with me being at my lowest point on my mission just pleading for help. And immediately he comforted me, and immediately I could feel myself changing. and that change has been so real. Since this experience I have been the best missionary I have ever been and have had the best lessons I have ever had. But I credit my heavenly father to all that. The change came when I realized I needed help and the only one i could get it from is heavenly father. It came when I was humble enough and at my lowest of lows so far to ask for help. The experiences I have had this week have not only been mission changing, but even better... life changing! There is so much more to these experiences that I wish I could share but I just don't have time. But I am grateful for heavenly father and Jesus Christ and how loving they are to every single one of us. we just have to be humble and willing enough and have faith to ask. 

Ok..... FLIGHT PLANS! are you ready?!?!?!

Such a stinker hiding it from us!!!

LV: Salt lake 7:15pm oct 05

AR: Los angelesCA 8:18pm oct 05

LV: Los Angeles CA 11:55pm oct 05

AR: Hong Kong, Honk Kong 5:45am oct 07

LV: Honk Kong, Hong Kong 8:05am oct 07

AR: Singapore, Singapore 11:45am oct 07

LV: Singapore, Singapore 6:50am nov 07

AR: Tokyo Narita, Japan 2:55pm nov 07

LV: Tokyo Narita, Japan 5:30pm nov 07

AR: Seattle, WA 9:35 am nov 07

Well there you have it! I'm going to China!! I'm pumped to stop in Hong Kong so that I can say ive been to china before. but I'm more excited for the first thing I see when I get off that plane is just straight Asians! I've been in the mtc long enough that its weird to see someone whose not a missionary. And then to the best place in the world SINGAPORE!! Ok so here's the deal with those return flights in November. If i don't get my visa or something or there's something Singapore doesn't like they have that flight set up just in case. But I talked to the travel office and they said they almost guarantee I wont need to make those flights. which I'm kind of bummed about cuz I wanna see Tokyo yo! haha jk.

This week my boy Elder Ballard decided to show up to the party! It was so awesome to see him he is great. This week we lost Elder Murdock to the Tahitians. He took off this morning and I'm so excited for him hes going to be awesome!

Elder Ballard has finally made it in the MTC!!

He found two of his best friends :) 

Saying goodbye to Elder Murdock as he heads out!

So this week is my last week! I'm going to try my very hardest to make the best week I've ever had on my mission! I am going to push myself to be best prepared to teach all them Asians in Singapore in just a 7 short days!! i love you all! thanks for all the support everyone gives me you are all the best! Starting next week my emails will be much more interesting because they will be coming from the other side of the world! ZAI JIAN NI MEN ZHAI YOU!!

- Elder Schwemmer



"I'm the Second Counselor. My egg and my crocs are my crown."

 

I'm an English Elder!!

September 21, 2015

This week I am officially an English Elder! no i wont be speaking English but it means i only have as much time left as an English speaking elder would at the mtc! pretty exciting! I also get my travel plans this Friday which I'm way pumped about! I heard its like getting your mission call all over again. So there's two districts that were all supposed to leave to Taiwan today and not a single one got their visas. So they have to stay another week at the mtc then they have to get reassigned! haha poor elders, I'm just glad I only need my passport to go to Singapore so no worries about that!

So as you know we got a new branch president recently. As I've gotten to know him he's one of the most interesting coolest guys I've ever met! He's so rich! He was the U.S. ambassador to Sweden, worked in the white house for Raegan and Nixon, started his own company, has his own Wikipedia page, and is currently in Dubai! He's so cool he's traveled all over the world including Singapore many times. I feel like he could hook me up after the mish haha. But he's way cool and has tons of cool stories!

So my Chinese is coming along great! There are levels you hit here that when you hit them feel so good. So there's a point here in the first few weeks where you'll be able to understand everything your investigator says, i hit that maybe the second or third week. Then the next is you are able to teach with out writing any script down, I hit that the 4th week. Then the best of them all which everyone says once you hit this point your ready to go. Its when you understand everything the teacher says the whole class period and your able to know exactly what he's explaining or what activity were doing. And i hit that this week. Now the last one is I just have to dream in Chinese! It's so fun being able to speak and understand Chinese. But.... as soon as i get to the field, its gonna be a whole new language and they are gonna speak so fast and i wont know anything haha. Ive also gotten to the point where i can memorize 50 vocab words a day. The gift of tongues is awesome!

"We just got our Chinese name tags! we're so close!!"

This week has just been another week at the mtc. But I'm so grateful for this mtc experience so far and everything it has helped me with. I am starting to grow a real love for the gospel and our savior Jesus Christ. I'm so grateful for everything this gospel has blessed me with and everything it will bless me with. I am so excited to get out to the people of Singapore and Malaysia. There are some missionaries here at the mtc from Taiwan and i just love talking to them everyday! I love Asians they're so legit! haha i just cant wait to be riding my bike down the streets of Malaysia talking to every Asian i see. I am so grateful for this mission and everything its teaching me. Its changed my life and I've only been out 7 weeks. I cant imagine how it will be in 2 years. I love you all! thanks for all the mail and support! Zai jian nimen!

我愛你!!!

-蘇長老

They're all laying on their teacher

"This thing is legit yo"

"I can't wait until this is Malaysian rain!!!"

I've made it to 6 weeks!!!

September 14, 2015

 

 

 

 

Ni men haoooo! jin tian zenme yang????

What's up everybody! I've made past the halfway mark of the mtc and just a few more weeks and ill be in south Asia! The mtc weeks are just flying by. This week has been one of the fastest of my life. I felt like just yesterday I was sending this email out. so before I know it ill be on a plane to Singapore!

This week has been pretty fun! I don't think anything special has happened its just been fun.

There this awesome missionary here named elder burns. He's from Boston and he's a convert to the church for 3 years. when he first moved in to the residence he started talking to me in chinese and i was like what the heck your white! and so I guess he's been studying Chinese in Boston for 10 years and he's fluent! but this poor elder is going to twin falls Idaho speaking English haha he was so bummed he thought for sure he would use his Chinese. I feel so bad for him. he's also one of the most humble kind legit people I've ever met. he's always the first to offer to help and he's always doing service like picking up trash. He's no joke one of the coolest guys I've ever met. me and him have become pretty good friends while he's been here and we want to keep in contact after the mission and start a business with our Chinese. He's so awesome and has been such an example and an awesome Chinese coach! he leaves this Tuesday and I'm pretty sad about that.

Chinese is still coming along great! its slowing but its coming. I think I will learn the most when I'm in the field surrounded be Asians lol. I can not wait to get to Singapore! It's coming up quick and lickily the weeks have been flying by!!! just a few more to go!

This Saturday the BYU football game was at home and so we decided to do all our personal and comp studies outside so we could hear it. Haha it was so fun to hear the real world lol and every time byu scored they would launch off fireworks and all the missionary would freak out lol it was fun.

This week we will do our trc on Skype to some people in Taiwan! it will be awesome and I'm way excited for that.

Anyways that's about it this week! 

ZAI JIAN!

                                                       
                                                              -Elder Schwemmer








This is Bruce Wayne



This is what studying will do to you ;)

Bruce Wayne to the rescue!

Spy kid gadgets :)

Who's watches are these?? Haha



They're all in this together

1 MONTH DOWN!!

September 7, 2015


Hi everyone!!! I've officially made it to the one month mark which means I'm half way through the mtc! haha I'm only half way that's such a bummer lol. its ok though the mtc is great. but its always discouraging when every few days the English elders in your dorm leave and you've been sitting there for a month and your only half way haha. but its ok because in just a few more weeks I'll be on a 23 hour flight to one of the prettiest places in the world.

So this Tuesday was pretty cool because of the devotional. we were sitting in the gym waiting for it to start and usually they show whose going to speak on the projector. well this time they didnt project who was speaking so i leaned over to elder Anderson and was like "I bet ya 20 bucks its oaks" ten minutes later the music director gets up and says "so you guys do know that if for some weird reason an apostle were to walk in we all stand up right? just saying" haha so then we knew it was an apostle. then sure enough a few minutes later Elder Dallin H. Oaks walks in!! it was so awesome! he brought the spirit in so strong and gave an awesome talk about the plan of salvation. and i was like the 6th row so we were really close! it was awesome.

 

 

Elder Schwemmer towers Elder Evans haha!



 



Elder Schwemmer loves Elder Ferrell

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week we also got a new branch president. I'm sad because our other one was so awesome but now its this new guy who talks exactly like the snake off of the Jungle Book. hahaha no joke I think he's the voice of it. I love it! Our old branch president got called to district president which is pretty high up there. All of the current mtc presidency were district presidents before they were mtc presidents so well see maybe President and sister Gilbert will be next! They are so awesome they always have the best stuff to say and they are so fun to talk to. but oh well.

 

This week I also got to see Grammy and Grandpa again! That was so awesome. We got to sit down and talk for a little bit. And Grammy brought me a TON of treats! haha they're so awesome I'm gonna miss seeing them at the mtc.

 

Seeing his grandparents again!!!

 

 

Chinese is still coming long great. I have a ton of funny stories to tell but unfortunately don't have time.

One of our new teachers we got is very short and super ginger. He's also very monotone and not fun to listen to. but he went to Singapore on his mission so That's cool.

That's all for this week! I promise once I get to Singapore my emails which get much more entertaining! love you all thanks for all the packages and mail and emails! they really help a lot!

 

 

Zai Jian!

-Elder Schwemmer

 

 

 

Studying hard



More Davis High Elders!



"lol I tried on the shirt I'm sending you."



"I call him bae"

New hair cut for Elder Schwemmer!

 

 

 

 

All snuggled up and ready for bed haha!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ni Men Hao!

August 24, 2015


Another week down at the good ole mtc. nothing really special happened this week. Except for hosting! Hosting was way fun! I got to host 5 kids. The whole time I was on the look out for Elder Murdock. (one of my friends) and on my very last person they made me host an Elder and then Bridger pulled up like 3 seconds after haha I was close!

Chinese is coming along great. I've reached my goal this week of being able to teach with out a script. we had our first trc on Saturday. That's where we teach actual Chinese members. the lesson went really good! I could only understand like half of what they were saying because they talk so fast!!!! but it was awesome!

 

That's so crazy that everyone is starting school! Man I still cant believe I'm already graduated! missions are hard but they are so much better then school! Ty and Lydia looked good for their first day! tell them good luck they'll do awesome!

The food here is really starting to suck haha but I've gained 5 pounds!! I'm hoping to make 15-20 before I leave lol. other then that nothing special has happened. Just 8 hours of class a day which is awesome (not). but my testimony and faith have been growing so much! I've learned so much here! I went to the temple this morning and felt the spirit way strong there! I love you all thanks for all the support!

 

 

Zai Jian!!

-Su Zhang Lao (Elder Schwemmer)

 

 

 

 

Elder Hilton AKA: "Bruce Wayne"

 

 

 

Elder Evans: from Beijing China

Nap time zzz

 

 

 

 

 

 

MTC Week # 2

August 17, 2015



Yo wasup fam. the mtc is really starting to stink. haha if only I was an English elder I would be leaving tomorrow. but its ok it will all be worth it when I can rap in Chinese and be the next big thing ;) the days are finally starting to fly by the days are also starting to blend. I can never remember what happened when. the food is also starting to suck lol. I only have flaming hot Cheetos to keep me going lol. I've gained 3 pounds here at the mtc haha hopefully by the time i leave it will be 30! my body just isn't used to having 3 meals a day because back home i would wake up at lunch time lol. I can finally sleep now thanks to those earplugs Michelle sent! No more snoring from gao zhang lao (elder gasser) the physical aspect of the mtc sucks but the spiritual is still so amazing and makes up for the 16 hours of studying.

Chinese is still coming along great. I'm basically fluent now;) I'm finally learning how to speak from the heart and not from a script. the gift of tongues is incredible when your teaching. your sitting there teaching and it feels like your speaking in English. you dont even have to think about how to say things you just say them its unreal. its not till afterwards your like holy crap i just taught a lesson in full Chinese. we get 2 new investigators this week. ye shi jua (our old investigator) moved to Taiwan :( This week the focus is on getting to love the person you teach. and to teach people not lessons.

 

 

 

 

"My dope name tag!"

 

He got to see some of his Davis buddies :)

 I finally got to see Elder von Niederhouser :) he got a kidney stone removed and rolled around the mtc in a wheelchair for a while haha. i cant wait to see Elder murdock here in a few days! bridge i hope your farewell was good haha i bet you did great. Also im a host on the 19th so bridger you better find me and have me host you!!!!







Sunday was awesome as usual. the gym hasn't been open since I've been here so devotionals have been broadcasted on screens through out the mtc. the gym finally reopened and the whole mtc met in there for the devotional. We sang called to serve of course and holy crap that was incredible. that was literally a dream come true!!! I had chills during the whole thing. the Nashville tribute band played for the devotional they were great you should check them out!

That's about it this week! Thank you everyone for the letters and support thus far!! love you all!

 

 

 

 

                                                                     Zai jian!!

 

                                                 -Elder schwemmer

 

 
 


Indoor soccer with Elder Hanks

 

 

 

He found Elder Hatch!!

The 3 amigo's!

 

First Week in the MTC

Hello everybody! I'm alive! the first few days here at mtc have been great! I love it. the people nad the spirit here are amazing! 

alright so the first cool thing happened right as i got here. they give us these yellow envelopes that have your room info and all that stuff on there. I look and it says my companion is hunter hanks! i was good friends with hunter in high school! we both took the same Chinese class together now were learning it in the mtc together! so after that I put my bags in my room and off I go to Chinese class! I walked into Chinese class and elder hanks was sitting there and when he saw me he started freaking out because we were companions. meanwhile the teacher is up there babbling Chinese and my journeys begins!

Elder Schwemmer's companion Elder Hanks! These two were friends before their mission. They had their own indoor soccer team with some friends from their High School.

We sat there for an hour in Chinese class and that's when it started to set in that I was on a mission. after class we did orientations and all that good stuff.

So my district is awesome! there's only 6 elders in my district and they are:

• Elder hanks- my comp. way cool. going to England Leeds
• Elder Anderson- this is crazy too, me and elder Anderson played baseball together on mike floods team! were way good friends. Taiwan Taichung
• Elder Bradford- he is so dang funny. me and him have the same sense of humor haha. he's from Arkansas- Taiwan Taichung
• Elder Gasser- he's a big time book worm. study's literally all the time. he snores really really loud and makes it hard to fall asleep haha. Taiwan Taichung
• Elder Ferrell- he's such a cool guy. he's also a spiritual beast! England Leeds

Elder Schwemmer's District.

Elder Schwemmer with Elder Hanks, Elder Anderson and Elder Bradford

We are all getting along great! were becoming best friends and it seems we are always laughing. 

My Chinese is coming along SO GOOD! I've been at the MTC for 4 days and i already know how to bear my testimony and pray in Chinese with out even thinking about it! its crazy how fast you learn here! ill give ya a little sample.... wo zhi dao shen shi women de tianfu. wo zhidao yesu jidu shi shen de erzi. wo zhidao shen shidao women he ta ai women. wo zhidao yesujidu touguo tade shuzui women keyi didao ping an. that was all off the top of my head and just a sample ;) the hardest thing about their language is their grammar! its like how a little kid would talk. its so awesome tho I love it.

I have seem so many people i know! I've seen Gunner Francom, Jacob Garcia, Carter Bisk, Hayden Chisholm, Jake Christiansen, Parker
Christiansen,   Isaac Godderidge, Mitch Rogers, Conner Simonsen, Austin Niederhouser, Brayden Ross, Conner Mehr and so many more i cant remember! also every single day I see Caleb Leondhart Ryan hatch and Mason Cook hahaha.

He saw his good friend Elder Francom!

Some Elders from Davis High School

The only thing I've heard these first few days is "welcome to the mtc elders" "don't drink the orange juice" and "make it to Sunday" and "watch character of Christ" guess what.... I made it to Sunday!!!:) boy were they right! these past few days have been so hard and tiring and Sunday was such a relief! and pday right after is even better! the days have felt SO LONG!! we are constantly busy!! I have not drank the orange juice yet haha butt if i do ill let you know how it goes haha. and holy, character of Christ was amazing! as Andrew would say, that was a BEAST talk! the spirit was so strong and taught me so many things! it changed my life and my mission outlook!! it was so awesome.

P-day has been great! we're going to play soccer soon

Oh another thing, I saw gammy and grandpa here after my first companionship study! it was so awesome! I almost cried when I saw them haha. I didn't think I would see grandpa again but I'm so so so happy that I did! that was such a blessing!!

Elder Schwemmer with Gammy and Grandpa

well that's all I have time for. wo ai ni men. zai jian!!! :)

pictures are coming I just have to figure out how to do it lol.

 

"me and Brother Seow. he's in our branch presidency and he's from Singapore!!! hes givin me lots of info so far"

The Drop Off

August 4, 2015

 

 

 

 

 



Saying one last goodbye to his sweet friend Greg.




Right before he got set apart as a Missionary

 

 

 

August 5, 2015

We dropped Elder Schwemmer off at the MTC at 1:00 PM today. It was a hard goodbye but filled with lots of peace. We are so proud of his decision to go and serve the Lord and the people in Singapore. This mission is going to change his life and others life for the better. We love you Elder Schwemmer and wish you nothing but happiness over these 2 years! :)




 

Elder Schwemmer saying his goodbyes




Unloading all of his bags at the MTC!



Saying one final goodbye to his sweet Mom.

     






Elder Schwemmer's Host.



 

 

 

Let the 2 year journey begin!

 

 

 

 

 We love you Elder Schwemmer! And we will see you in 2 years! :)