Address:

c/Clara Campoamor 18, 8ºD

Zaragoza 50018

España

Buenos Dias!
   We seem to be having a lot of difficulties with the buses this
week, but it has made more interesting. We figured out that the buses
for two months are on strike and do not pass by as frequently. We have
had a lot of luck in showing up just on time to the bus stop right
when it is coming though. One day we we're coming back from getting
groceries and we needed to get off the bus. My companion got off first
and I was right behind her, but the doors slammed shut and the bus
started to move. I tried to get the bus driver's attention, but he
didn't seem to care. I got off at the next stop and quickly ran back
to my companion with the groceries in my hands. Another day the bus
was packed and we were stuck at the very front near the bus driver.
So, I started up a conversation with him, and it was going really well
until he opened up the door to let more people in and the door
squished me. My companion started to laugh thinking it was the
funniest thing. Another day we were in the bus, and still trying to
get to our area when all of the sudden the bus driver stops the bus,
turns off the lights and kicks everyone out. "Strike time" he said.
Noooo... That meant walking another 45 minutes in the cold to get to
our area.That's great!
       Just like all companions of Hermana Schmidt, my companion got
sick and needed to go to the hospital. Luckily we had the relief
society president with us, who is like our other companion, to help us
out. She was so kind as to take us to the hospital and back. Another
day in piso. That was just one day though. My companion is so good and
just keeps working. It's really cold in Zaragoza. We don't really have
a lot of investigators right now, so we do a lot of talking in the
street and knocking doors, but the members are really great and allow
us over sometimes.
     When I first arrived here my companion said that we were going to
have a Christmas concert and I needed to memorize a lot of songs. We
practiced them during our companionship study and also sung  them for
an elderly lady in our ward who lives at a rest home with a lot of
other elderly people. They loved it. We go every Thursday there. By
the time the concert came around I was pretty prepared. Then President
Dayton and his wife came. We did dancing while we were singing and I
just made up some words on some songs, but everyone loved it.
        We had zone conference with our President and learned about
the Atonement and about love. It makes more sense to me now why Christ
would suffer for us, people who sin, who make mistakes, and even
reject him. In Romans 8:38-39 it reads,
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
    Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
     It amazes me how much our  Savior loves us. He knows our
heartaches and our happiness. He rejoices with us and mourns with us.
He understands us and shows us his love. He has asked that we have
charity because it is the pure love of him. As we serve, and don't
criticize but instead try to understand, we will be able to more fully
feel of he love Jesus offers us. "wherefore, the Lord God hath given a
commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is love.
And except they should have charity they were nothing."(2 Nephi 26:30)
   I hope that we may all remember the true meaning of Christmas and
fill the world with the love of Christ.

¡Os quiero mucho!

Hermana Schmidt
Misión Barcelona España

¡Hola Mujeres y Caballeros!
       I have finally been transferred. Maybe the last time seeing as
how I have a tendency for staying in each are for 6 months. I'm now in
Zaragoza! It's not as humid here, so the cold weather is bearable. My
new companion is Hermana Plant. I was supposed to go in the train from
Bilbao to Barcelona then back to Zaragoza. I would have passed by
Zaragoza on the first train, so I called the office to let them know
that I would be getting off right away in Zaragoza. They were okay
with that. I forgot my coat in the train, but luckily an elder on the
train will be coming back to Santander on Wednesday and can give it to
me.
      We had a baptism this week! Alba finally got baptized!
Everything went perfectly and a lot of members showed up see her
baptized. She was very nervous, and excited about the whole thing, but
after she was baptized she was so happy and calm.
    After the baptism, we had to hook up a machine to suck the water
out of the baptismal pool. Our ward mission leader accidentally tipped
it over and water sprayed everywhere. All of scattered, including the
ward mission leader. One of the elders practically jumped over the
pool in order to stop the machine from shooting out water. He and my
companion, who had the bad luck of having been standing in line of the
water, were soaked. We all had a good laugh about that afterwards.
    I walked out with my house slippers on, and didn't realize it
until we were in the elevator. We had to return quickly to the
apartment and change out my shoes.
    I also slept talked this week. My companion said that she woke up
to herself talking. When she woke up she realized that she had been
responding to what I was saying in my sleep. Apparently I was telling
her directions. She had to nudge me in order for me to stop talking.
      I said goodbye to everyone in our ward. With one we made
Marzipan, with another we ate chicken, and the others luckily didn't
give us food because I was way too full to eat anymore. We left for
Bilbao and we had to fit my two giant suitcases into a really tiny
elevator. At first we were just going to send up the suitcases, but
when we saw hat there was a little more room we thought that we might
as well get in. That was a bad idea. The elevator got stuck and
wouldn't let us out. That was awful, but my companion started to pray
out loud, and called the sisters that lived there. We finally were
able to get out. That was scary.
    I love this work! I'm excited for this change and this opportunity
to progress.

Hasta la vista

Hermana Schmidt
Misión Barcelona España

¡Hola!

       The members in Santander are so awesome. We were invited to a family's house, who are from Columbia, for thanksgiving, and they went all out. We had pumpkin soup, stuffing, salad, mashed potatoes, and instead of turkey we had chicken. It was so fun. 

        The morning of Thanksgiving, my companion forgot to grab the keys to our apartment. We quickly called the elders, who have the spare. We went to their apartment building to wait for them. Someone let us into the entry way, and so I took that as an opportunity to hide behind a wall so I could scare the elders. That plan would have worked had an elderly man not come in two seconds before the elders and started talking with us. I'm just glad my companion was at an angle in which she could see who was coming in or else that old man might of had a heart attack from me jumping out from behind the wall.

        The Christmas lights have been put up all around Santander and this week they were turned on. We are now in a Christmas wonderland and it's getting so cold here! My poor companion is getting sick again. We had to get flu shots on Tuesday after a zone conference we had with our mission president. Shots don't mind me, but my companion refused to get a shot and so she is paying for the consequences now.... Just kidding, it's not the flu that she has.

        Transfers are next week. Maybe I will be leaving...

     On Tuesday and Wednesday it was raining and there was a lot of wind. I was on exchanges in Bilbao and our umbrella ended up breaking, and so we walked around for two hours getting soaked. I have an Idaho coat though, so I wasn't too soaked. We found four new people to teach though! Three of them were a group of girls from Nicaragua who had just recently arrived in Spain. They were grouped together and the member who was with us suggested to talk to them. So, being the blunt person I am, I walked up to them and broke up their conversation. They started listening and accepted to have an appointment with us. The rest of the day we just saw a whole bunch broken umbrellas in the garbage cans around the city.

       We are going to have a baptism of Alba this week!!! There will be pictures next week.

    My ponderize scripture for this week is in 1 Nephi 13:37 -"And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be."

       When I normally think about building up Zion, I usually think of the stakes in which we live in, but as I was studying the verse, it came to mind that the best place to build Zion is within the walls of our own home. D. Todd Christofferson said, in his last general conference address, "we must remember that in the beginning, the Church was the family, and even today as separate institutions, the family and the Church serve and strengthen one another."

     I am so grateful to have been born into such a wonderful family with parents who taught me correct principles and made Christ the center of our home that helped me to strengthen my testimony in our savior, and now I have the opportunity to share this message with the people here in Spain. I'm so stinkin blessed! 

    

I hope you all have a great week!

Hermana Schmidt