Hola Caballeros y Señoritas!
    Training my German companion, Hermana Humbert, is going really good. She speaks a little bit of English and her Spanish is improving rapidly. We have to repeat ourselves a lot, or act out what we are trying to say so that we understand one another. I'm just learning all sorts of talents: acting, pronunciation, some fun phrases in German as well. We just laugh about or miscommunication because there are so many of them. She is reminding me of how it was to be in training. I remember how I was so tired at the very beginning of my mission and just wanted to take a nap. My companion is smart and just takes a nap every time we get onto a bus. One day I was wanting to talk to her on the bus, but she had already fallen asleep. I woke her up with my question and she looked at me with her eyes only slightly opened. She started to answer and about halfway through her sentence she paused to think, closed her eyes, and fell back asleep. I asked her later if she remembered doing that and she started to laugh because she could not remember a thing. 

      We had another lesson with our Argentina investigator and this time we went in to asked her to be baptized. It was so good to hear that she was keeping her commitment to not drink alcohol. She said that ever since the last time we met with her she has not even had a desire to drink even a small glass of wine. We invited her to be baptized on the 27th and she loved the date, but said she would have to pray first. That was okay with us. She did come to church again. That is three times in a row and she is progressing so much! 

       On Sunday we left early so that we could practice with the choir for our ward conference, but on the way we saw the bus leaving and the next one didn't come for another 20 minutes. We caught the next bus and had to run to the church. We got there two minutes late and I felt so awkward as all the stake was there watching as we walked in late. We then sang with the very small ward choir, and I had the soprano part. It turned out fine. I think that I've used my singing voice more in the mission than at any other time in my life. Another talent that I'm learning although there is still a lot of improvement needed. 

       I was reading in Mosiah this week and in chapter 12:27 it says,"Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been wise..." I asked myself what it means to apply our hearts to understanding, and the answer came as I read in Mosiah 2:9, "you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view." In order to apply our hearts to understanding we must:

1. Hear the word of God-we fins the word of God through the scriptures but also through the prophet and other church leaders. 

2. We must apply those teachings into our lives so that we can feel, within our heart, that they are good.

3. As these teachings become a part of our lives, our eternal perspective becomes more clear, as though the sun were coming out and the fog going away.

  I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Hermana Schmidt

Misión Barcelona España