Week 51 ~ July 11, 2016 ~ Still Homeless

We I've officially been in San Luis three weeks and we are still living with the Hermanas from Jardin. We had a maybe option for an apartment but yesterday they told us that they don't want to rent anymore. Luckily all 4 of us have good attitudes and every day we get a little more settled in. We will probably have just gotten comfortable by the time we find a house. But we have a lot of fun. 

This week we had one investigator come to church. His name is Moises and he has a lot of desire, but also a lot of problems. He lives with his girlfriend and he smokes. But we're working on the smoking and he said he would talk to his girlfriend about getting married. Right now he has a baptismal date set for the 30th of this month, but I doubt he'll be married by then. But I know that crazier things have happened.  

I know I should have more things but this is seriously all I can remember.... The days pass so fast but at the same time I feel like the last week was 4 months long. Jaja.

Pray for us. 

Love,

Hermana Schmidt

Week 50 ~ July 4, 2016 ~ Pants: Week 1

From here on out I will be counting the weeks based on when we started using pants. Because it's weird. But I also kind of love it. 

This week was pretty much the same as last week expect we got lost a little less and so we talk a little more. We still basically don't have any investigators but at least we can find people when they tell us we can visit them. 

We did receive a huge blessing this week when we got a reference from a member from Utah. He reconnected with an old girlfriend and she went up to Utah to visit him. Her name is Monica. While she was there she went to temple square and the conference center (they were downtown when they preisthood session ended and it really made an impact on her because she has 2 sons). They also went to welfare square and the member talked to her about how the members of his ward have supported him and she really liked that. We had a great lesson with her and she accepted a baptismal date so we're really excited about that.

Well we're going to keep working hard and trusting in the Lord to guide us. (Even more so because we literally do not know the way) 

Love you all!

Hermana Schmidt

Week 49 ~ June 27, 2016 ~ Perdidas

Well I don't have a whole lot to tell you this week. We basically spent the whole last week somewhere between lost and people who don't remember that the missionaries visited them once six months ago. Haha. But every day is a little better than the day before. My companion is great and we just need to find an apartment so that we can have our own space and unpack our suitcases. But for now we'll just wait.

Here are some fotos. 

Love you! 

Hermana Schmidt

Week 48 ~ June 21, 2016 ~ Cambios!

Well I had one of the best weeks ever last week. We spent the whole week getting Irma ready for her baptism and Saturday night her son Alfonso baptized her and it was absolutely amazing. When she came out of the font she gave me a huge hug and then said "oh no. I got you all wet" (which was true) but I didn't even care and just kept hugging her. 

We also saw a lot of progress in our investigator José. He didn't drink the whole week and came to every activity, including the baptism. 

Saturday when we were waiting to start the baptism the zone leaders called me to tell me I was going to be training a new missionary! I was super excited and assumed it would be in my area in Aguas. (both because it's pretty rare that they transfer people when they're going to train and because it would mean sending two new missionaries to the area where I was) but they told me that I would be training and opening a new area. I felt a lot of things when they told me that. Excited, nervous and also really sad because I LOVE the ward where I was. But I knew one day I was going to have to leave. The good news is I knew ahead of time so I could take fotos. 

Sunday was a really bitter-sweet day. Irma was confirmed a member of the church and we had 4 investigators at church, 2 of which have baptismal dates. At the end of sacrament meeting the bishop announced over the pulpit that I was going to have transfers and asked me to come up and bear my testimony. When I got to the stand one of the counselors whispered to me "without crying please" I am pleased to report that I did not cry but it was close. 

Then after the services ended we were all outside and taking pictures and all three of the people who got baptized while I was there expressed their gratitude to me and that pretty much made me want to sob. And I realized how much I have love this area and how comfortable I have felt there. I really felt like it was my home and it was incredibly hard to leave. Even more so because I didn't know where I was going. 

Monday I went to pick up my new companion and found out that we would be going to San Luis Potosi. My companion is Hermana Machado and she is from Columbia. We are going to have a lot of challenges here in San Luis but I learned in my last transfer that God always takes good care of his missionaries. 

Pray for me to learn my way around quickly. Love you all!

Hermana Schmidt

ps I forgot my camera but I will sent fotos next week.  

Week 47 ~ June 13, 2016 ~ Last week of my 8th transfer #hayquebautizar

Well when Presidente first told me I would be without a companion the whole transfer I felt like I would never end, and now it's the last week and I can't believe it.

The good news is that Irma is excited for her baptismal date and if everything goes according to plan she will be baptized Saturday night. I am also super excited because Alfonso received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday and he will be the one to baptize her. Unfortunately her other son made some poor choices (well really one) but the point is he won't be able to confirm her. We offered to postpone her baptism so that he could get everything worked out but she said no. So that's kind of sad but I'm happy for Irma and for Alfonso. 

We also met a new investigator this week named Cesar and he is really excited about the church. He is really humble and is so full of faith. I really think he should progress rapidly. José (I don't remember if I wrote about the drunk guy who contacted us in the street and then was actually lucid when we went to visit him) but he has really been working hard and is progressing towards a July 2nd baptismal date. And the wife of the Paredes' family came to church! That was really exciting. I wish it had been everyone but it was nice to see that she made the effort. 

Well keep praying for us. And that it will rain at night. (That may seem oddly specific but if it rains during the day we get wet but at night lowers the temperature for the whole day.) It's better when it rains at night. 

Love you all!

Hermana Schmidt

Week 46 ~ June 6, 2016 ~ Still Companionless

It is such an odd experience to be without a companion. (I obviously am never alone but I technically do not have an assigned companion right now) I've had various sister from the locally wards making visits with me for a few hours or even coming with me for a few days. It's been a lot of work to coordinate everything but I've felt really blessed and seen how God has blessed my life and the lives of everyone around me as we've made the best of a less than ideal situation. One really striking example was last Sunday when the sister who was going to go with me to my area for the day called us 2 minutes before sacrament meeting started to tell us she couldn't make it. At first I felt super stressed and was just praying and praying, asking God what I should do. And I really clearly felt "Don't worry. I know what's going on. I'll take care of it." And I just immediately felt calm and sat through the rest of the meeting without a worry. At the end of the meeting with asked one of the young single adults if she would be willing to go to my area with me for the day and she said yes. Later she told me that the day before she went to the temple and while she was there she was praying and asking for one more day as a missionary. It was so neat to see how God answered both of our prayers. 

Even with everything that has been going on Irma, the mother of our two recent converts Alfonso and Marco, has been coming to church and she says that she is going to be baptized on the 18th. I still feel that she's doing it more for her sons than because she believes it but I have no doubt that she will have a testimony by the 18th. Saturday we taught her the message of the restauration and it was a really powerful lesson. I don't think I'll ever forget it. It was her and her two sons who are members of the church. We shared the story and then one of her sons testified about Joseph Smith and the other about the book of Mormon. I'm pretty sure I'm the only one who cried but it was still powerful. 

Well I hope all is well there in the US. They tell me it's getting hot there. Welcome to the hot. Supposedly it's going to start getting cooler here but I'll believe it when I feel it. The good news is we can use hats and sunglasses now. The bad news is there going to make us use pants. I'll keep you updated on that.

Love you all!

Hermana Schmidt

Week 45 ~ May 30, 2016 ~ Another Week in the Life

Hola familia,

I feel like the past week just flew by. I'm basically just trying to survive until transfers because even though we've found some people willing to help us they have lives too so we are running around trying to conform the plans to work that I have with their schedules. A young lady that is getting ready to go on a mission in august was with me a few days last week but I think she kind of got burnt out. She said she would be coming back today in the afternoon but today she sent me a text that she can't until Wednesday. Which left me with a lot of appointments and without a companion. We found someone for today but without someone who can live with me in the house here it's a LOT of work to be here in my area. But the Lord has been so merciful and we've still been able to teach and the mother of out two recent converts, Irma, came to church. I was expecting more investigators but hopefully this week. 

It's weird that even though I don't have a companion I still don't feel as lonely as I did those first few weeks with H. Yañez. I actually think that time with her really prepared me for all this that is happening now and I've been able to cope better because I was able to build trust with the Holy Ghost who is the only companion I've had my whole mission. 

This has been hard, juggling companions and managing an area alone, but I feel honored that my mission president and the Lord have trusted me with this and strengthened by their confidence in me. 

Pray for me to find sisters with the desire to be missionaries for a few days. And more people to teach.

Love you all!

Hermana Schmidt