Regresar al CCM, #LDSConf, and CAMBIOS

Sorry I didn't write last week. We didn't get around to writing emails until later than normal, and the shop was closing (because people seem to close important places like Internet cafes really early around here for some reason), so we had to leave.

Anyway, this week has been nuts. We started out with a conference in Monterrey called Regresar al CCM, or Return to the MTC. Basically, all the people who were in their training with their companions would go to the chapel next to the mission offices and do some final training and testing with their companion. We left Thursday night, spent the night in Monterrey, and had a whole bunch of training and reviewing of the MTC training with the President all day Friday. We then hurried back as fast as we could to make appointments for Friday evening, but our bus ended up leaving super late for some reason, so we didn't arrive in Nuevo Laredo until about 10 at night . . . almost our bedtime, and WAY past curfew. Ugh. Oh, well. It was a great conference, and we managed to catch up on some sleep.

Also, we had General Conference, which, for those who don't know, is where all the leaders of the Church (including a living prophet who literally can speak to God face to face) get together and give talks on various topics. It's always super awesome and enlightening, and this conference was no exception.

Originally, we would have had to watch the conference in Spanish with the rest of the stake in the stake center. I was a little worried about this, because my Spanish skills aren't quite up to snuff yet to be able to understand the words and understand the meaning of them and think about them with any level of profoundness. That's okay, though, because 5 of the 10 companionships here in Nuevo Laredo are training American elders, and so we were all kinda stumbling. The stake executive secretary must have noticed our faces contorted in concentration and took pity on us. He walked up to us about 5 minutes into the conference and said, "Hey, I set up the conference in English in my office. All the American elders can come in and watch it here if you want." With the district leaders' approval, we all happily and gratefully took him up on his offer. It turns out the the executive secretary speaks really good English, and he wanted to watch the conference in English anyway, so he stayed with us as we watched the conference in his office. I have to say, the it just wouldn't have been the same hearing a translator's voice instead of Elder Holland or President Uchtdorf.

I particularly enjoyed the Saturday evening and priesthood sessions, which basically talked about how to teach with love, and how to keep pressing forward when life seems tough. I really learned a lot and I'm grateful I got to watch it all in English. :)

Also, there's going to be a temple built in Saratoga Springs, which is almost my backyard. I'm super excited! No new temples in Mexico, yet. We'll just have to wait until October.

The other big thing of this week is the end of the transfer. The entire mission is divided into 6-week transfers, or cambios as they are known in Mexico. Sunday night, we found out that Elder Bonilla would be going back to Monterrey for his last cambio before going home. I will be staying here, and an elder named Elder Garcia will be moving here. I'm a little scared because I'll have to remember where everybody lives and everything, and I'm not exactly known for a good memory. I suppose I'll just ahve to apply what I learned in the conference and do my best and rely on God. If faith can move mountains, it can probably help me remember who Hermano So-and-so-who-we-met-on-the- street-5-days-ago is and where he lives.

There are also going to be major changes in the leadership of the zone here in Nuevo Laredo, so we took the time during our last zone meeting to take a lot of pictures. Zona Nuevo Laredo trying to use the timers on 20 cameras at once

My district, with Zone Leaders Elders Andriese and Bartholomew

(From left to right, Elders Bradley, Schramm, Wilcox, and Kirkman). The 4 Gueros that arrived from the MTC on the same day . . . and we all got assigned here. We've been pretty close. After all, clueless gringos have to rely on each other.

Thanks for all the love, prayers, and support. I know that we are all loved by God because we are His children. I know that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His true church on the earth, and that we can all become better people through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Lots of love from Nuevo Laredo!

Elder Jakob Schramm

Note from Camille: Here are a couple of pictures he included on the google drive:

Good-bye Elder Bonilla