Week 12: Verdadera Intenciones ~ October 12, 2015

Well my loved ones, I'm not going to lie to you. This was week was the hardest week I have had as a missionary. Maybe one of the hardest weeks I've had ever. It started last Monday. I wasn't feeling very well (I was really tired and achy) but I figured it was because I wasn't totally adjusted to the schedule yet and it would go away after a good night's sleep. Well that night I did not sleep much (I won't share all the gory details) but let's just say I was sick. In case anyone is counting, that makes three times in the last 3 months. I don't remember a lot of what happened but a doctora from the ward came and gave me a shot of something so that I could eat. My distrito lider and his companion were there and they gave me a blessing. I slept for a while and then showered and tried to make it to some of our appointments. We made it to two houses but I just didn't have the strength to climb the hills here. 

So we went back to the house and I slept for most of the day. The next day I still felt terrible but I stopped throwing up about night and we were able to work all day.  My compaion ended up getting a little sick as well but not as much as me. By Saturday, I still was barely eating (just at our daily comidas with the members and some bread or crackers to take the medicine the doctor gave me.) my throat hurt and my ears were killing. Every time I ate anything it made me really nauseous. I remember one time when I had a sinus infection and it made my throat hurt and me not want to eat. With my ears hurting I figured maybe it was an ear infection and we had comida with the doctora en the bario. So I asked her if she could check but she just brought me some antibiotics and told me to take them. As of today I finally have a little bit of a desire to eat and have eaten two meals today! 

To make matters worse, last week was the worst week we've had in this area. We had two times where we had members with us and our investigators weren't home and we couldn't find someone else to visit. We were only finding about one or two lessons every day (usually it's more like 5 or 6 investigators) and about half of those were members.  Then we did not have a single investigator at church. 

By last night I was definitely feeling discourage. But it is the oddest thing but now I feel as good, probably the best, that I have felt my whole mission. I have no idea why. Maybe it's because I got to think so much last week about why I'm here. And if this is really how I want to spend the next 16 months of my life. I really had to decide that this is where I should be. And now I feel great. Or maybe it's what the prophet Joseph says in the restauracion movie "Sometimes God brings you low, so that He can lift you higher."

I love you all! Have an incredible week.

Mucho amor,

Hermana Schmidt

District- Last Sunday

Con el distrito...ultimo domingo

District

Farewell for Elder Fuentes

Farewell for Elder Fuentes

Sisters Eating at KFC

con las hermanas de Zacatecas en KFC

Week 11: Conferencia General ~ October 5, 2015

There is never enough time here. The work is good. The investigators still don't keep there commitments and I'm not sure if we'll see a baptism in October, but it is in the Lord's hands. We're going to keep working hard.

Conference was this week and it was, like everything, in Spanish. There was supposed to be another English speaking sister here so we could watch the conference in the secretaries office in English but she ended up staying in her area. So I got 4 sessions in Spanish.  I understood very little but the Spirit speaks English and Spanish. So it was still nice. And three new apostles! 

Love you all!

Hermana Schmidt

Not sure what bit her but here are some photos she took:

Week 10: Gratitude ~ September 28, 2015

I am almost out of time, but I want to talk about Sunday.

I got to live my dream of speaking English and it was terrible.  There was a wedding in our ward this week. (A former missionary and a girl from the ward. It is pretty scandalous) and his family came down for the wedding. None of them speak a word of Spanish so they ask if I could translate for his mom in RS and when I said hello she looked and me and said "Do you speak English?" Which is hilarious because I'm so guera that I clearly speak English. Haha. But it was so bad. I could hardly translate anything. 

But Sacrament was the highlight of my week. Maybe of my mission. I was sitting on the stand during sacrament (because I play the piano and they don't wait for me to get back to my seat before they start) and I was looking out at our THREE investigators who came to church this week, and at Cruz who was baptized the day before and confirmed just a few minutes before, together with his mom who was just called as the second counselor in the RS presidency even though she had been inactive before we got to the area and then I started thinking about how different my life would be now if I had made different choices.  How much happiness I have now, even when everything about being here is so difficult, and how easy it  would be for things to be different.  

I know are choices are so important, and if we want to be happy, really and eternally happy, we have to work for it. And make the right choices and change when we don't make those choices.  And I know this is God's plan for every single one of us.  To find this happiness that comes when we make the right choices, even though the wrong choices are usually easier.  

I love you all. Thank you for your love and prayers.

Hermana Schmidt