We had a great Easter week. I loved being able to testify of our
Savior Jesus Christ during this week to all those with whom I came in
contact. It's something that we do everyday as missionaries, but this
week I felt that my testimony was strengthened even more and I became
much grateful for the sacrifice which Christ made for all of us.
    We found a young man on the street on Tuesday, since he didn't
have much time at the moment to talk we took down his phone number and
set up another day to see him. When the day came and he was actually
there we were so happy. He said that he had heard a lesson from he
missionaries before when he was in the military in Ecuador. He has
only been in Spain for a week and when we taught him it was as if he
had been prepared to hear this message. He wanted to come to church,
but sadly when Sunday came he had slept in because he hadn't realized
there was a time change. NOOO! Next week he can come to general
conference though.
    I'm so proud of my companion! We were in a visit with our
Argentinean investigator and were accompanied by a member who was a
returned sister missionary. My companion wasn't speaking for the first
part of the lesson and our investigator was explaining how she didn't
agree with some commandments, so the returned missionary and I were
teaching her and then she asked us a question:"What does it mean to
you to follow God?" I looked at my companion and waited for her to
answer, and the answer she gave was exactly what was needed to help
our investigator understand. She said that, for her, following God
wasn't always simple and sometimes she has the desire to not be
obedient, but she fights against those feelings and keeps the
commandments because she knows that God knows better than her of what
will make her happy. My jaw dropped and I was so proud of her in that
moment for listening so closely to the spirit. Our investigator
understood and committed to truly read the Book and Pray to know if it
is true.
    I went to Barcelona for a Leadership Council and stayed the night
in the mission office with the other Sister Training Leaders. It was a
blast to be able to see old companions and people that I knew. I loved
what we were taught and of course the food was fantastic. My poor
companion was stuck at the train station waiting for the other sister
to arrive, but she had gotten off at the wrong stop. We figured things
out though and it turned out fine.

Love you all! Hope you all have a great week and prepare to listen to
General Conference!

Hermana Schmidt
Misión Barcelona España

¡Hola Familia!
   It's finally starting to warm up and so of course to celebrate the
nice weather we had a barbecue and played baseball with all the
missionaries in Zaragoza. We didn't actually have a baseball or a bat
so we used our hands and a tennis ball. I made it back to home base a
couple of times, but in the end I just took videos and photos of
everyone.
    I did my first companionship exchange with a sister missionary
Ledida. It was a two hour train ride because I was put on the long way
around. I loved it though because I could just enjoy the scenery. On
the train ride home a young man sat down in front of me and we began a
conversation. He started to ask me about the name tag I wear and that
lead into the perfect opportunity to share about the church. I ended
up teaching him the whole restoration and gave him a Book of Mormon. I
had been praying for an opportunity to share a Book of Mormon on the
train ride and was so happy when it actually happened.
   Normally, every Thursday my companion and I go to a rest home to
sing for for an elderly woman of our ward. We have loved to sing and
hear stories of her past. On Wednesday morning we assisted at her
funeral service. The cemetery was beautiful with its old architecture,
but the wild cats were a bit creepy. We had to run from the funeral to
another visit where we were able to invite a man to be baptized.
  Just now, we were on the bus with all of the missionaries heading
home and an elderly man started to talk with us. I had a Book of
Mormon in my hand and we started to explain to him what it was. When
we were all getting off I asked him if he would like the book and
invited him to read it. He accepted!

This week has been great! Hope you all have a great Easter weekend!

Hermana Schmidt
Misión Barcelona España

¡Hola Familia y Amigos!
   It's been a really good week with lots of sun and also some days
with lots of rain, but overall we've had a lot of success. The other
sister missionaries scared me, there was a barbecue, and so many
miracles!
   My companion and I are trying to plan out our days better by
planning which streets we will be proselyting on, or which people we
will try and pass time, etc... We knew that if we did this we would
have a lot more success and God could place prepared people in our
path.
   Wednesday morning we had our day all planned out and we noticed it
was raining. My companion looked at me and said, "can we just make
phone calls instead?" I then just replied by saying that with
sacrifice always comes blessings, and there were so many blessings! We
passed an old investigator and he was at home. We were able to teach
him on his doorstep and invite him to come to church. He did end up
coming to church that Sunday. Then, while walking in the planned
street, we found an Spanish lady with her child entering into there
apartment and stopped to talk to them. We shared with her a little
about our message and she accepted to receive more visits from us.
      More people are wanting to learn German and now we teach three
women. I have a goal to be able to share my testimony in German by the
end of these six weeks. "Jesus Christus ist mein Erlöser" that's all I
know so far.
       We were walking home to our apartment and I was talking with my
companion and didn't even realize that the other Sisters were right
behind me. They scared me good as they ran behind us and shouted. I
screamed, but Hermana Humbert stayed calm. Hermana Humbert is actually
gaining so much more confidence. Whenever we go proselyting with a
member she will do role plays and teach the member. She is getting
very good at stopping the people on the street.
     It's snowing a little bit today! I made some Rosquillas for the
older missionary couple in ward and will be dropping them off at there
house because they had a loss of a loved one recently. I love the
senior missionary couple. I get a new recipe from them every week. Now
I know how to make churros and Croquetas.

I love this work, I love this people, and I love Spain!

Hermana Schmidt
Misión Barcelona España

¡Buenos Días!
      It's transfers again and I'm staying in Zaragoza with Hermana
Humbert, mi bebe. One of the sisters in my apartment ended her mission
and will be leaving to go home, and coming to Zaragoza fill her spot
is a sister from Finland! There is so much different culture in our
apartment. I love it! I received another call from president this
transfer asking if I would be willing to serve as a Sister Training
Leader. Of course I accepted. It will be interesting because I will
have to speak in front of our zone once a month and all who came to my
farewell talk know that speaking in front of large groups is not one
of my strengths, but if president thinks I can do it than I will do my
best.
    We had a zone meeting this week and were taught about the Word of
Wisdom and how to help our investigators understand it. It was a nice
day outside and as an activity we split into groups, each group having
to eat a bowl full of fruit as fast as possible while the other groups
were cheering. I was in the last group and we had to eat melon. MELON!
I ate it for the team, and it was strange because I don't normally
like melon, but it actually didn't taste to bad. All girls were
holding my hair back for me and everyone was so loud cheering us on.
In the last room was a bowl of celery and everyone had to participate.
It went from being really loud and everyone cheering, to everyone in
silence with only the sound of celery being chewed. No one even even
like celery, but we did it for the team. The senior missionary couple
made some Spanish treats called rosquillas and gave me the recipe to
make them. My recipe book is getting pretty full!
    We read the Book of Mormon in German with one of our
investigators. I'm able to kind of understand their conversations, and
companion is helping me with reading in german.
      With a member family and their little children we taught the 10
commandments by playing a memory game, and the little girls got really
into it. It was so cute to see them all getting excited about learning
and playing the game, and everyone participated so that was even
better.
   I'm so proud of my companion. One night we were walking back to our
apartment and saw the other sisters coming as well. So we hid behind
the gate. When they came around, my companion yelled which made the
other sisters scream and jump. I'm teaching her so well. But, really I
am so surprised by how amazing my companion is. Yesterday we were in a
lesson teaching a man from Africa who speaks English, and she was just
pulling out scriptures to answer his questions. She is so smart, and
the scriptures that she used helped the spirit to testify.
    We seemed to be in the right place at the right time again this
week and were able to find more people that are so prepared to listen
to this message. Thank you so much for your prayers.

¡Os quiero mucho!

Hermana Schmidt
Misión Barcelona España

¡Buenos Dias!

     This week we seemed to always be in the right place at the right time. We had a lot more success in finding people to teach and even received some references from the members. 

     On Tuesday morning we were just passing by some people, that had been taking the missionary discussions before, to see if they were home and to see if we could teach them again. Before going back to our apartment to have lunch, I thought it would be good to surprise the other sister missionaries in apartment with some "palmaritas"(a Spanish pastry that is absolutely delicious!) I've found my favorite bakery here and it was right in the area we were working in. We started to walk across the street to go the store when we heard someone shout. We looked behind us to see if the person was talking to us. It was some lady and it looked like she was looking at someone else. So we went ahead and bought out palmaritas. When we walked outside the shop, the little lady was standing there. She said that she could see that we were missionaries and that she was going through a difficult time right now and wanted to learn about God. We wrote down her information and went to visit her the next morning, but she wasn't there sadly. We will try again.

      On Wednesday night we had a dinner appointment with a member family who lives close to the church. I kind of knew where they lived, but the address I had was incorrect and we were little lost. This member had a reference for us and I did not to be late. I tried calling everyone in their family, but no one answered. We didn't know what else to do, when we heard someone calling us from out their window. It was the sister we were to be visiting. We later asked her if she had seen our missed call and knew we were lost. She said she hadn't even looked at her phone but that she had just felt impressed to look out the window. That was great! Most of the dinner conversation was in German and I understood maybe half of what was going on. I was pretty glad that I could understand a little. 

    The reference we were given was of a lady who is from Spain but knows German as well and so our visit with her was also mainly in German. I could kind of tell what was going on, so I just spoke in Spanish during the visit while I responded to in German. It's been pretty great to be able to hear my companion speak her native language. 

     It rained a lot one day, and my companion laughed at me as I started to sing "I've got sunshine on a cloudy day," and skipped over the puddles. I'm not going to lie that I was really happy for the long bus ride to get to our dinner visit. We arrived there and gave a message on prayer. As I was speaking, the family's pet bunny jumped up onto my lap. It startled me a little and I let out a little squeal, but tried to act cool. It was a really cute bunny though and loved to be petted. I thought we all were supposed to eat afterward, but they brought out food just for us and watched us eat. It was way too silent and I felt awkward being watched, so I started to make conversation. My companion still has a hard time understanding and speaking so she didn't help me with the conversation. I found the situation so funny and wanted to laugh, but kept myself from doing so. 

     In my scripture study I am in Mosiah and in chapter 19 of Mosiah, the Lamanites are pursuing the people of King Noah. Many people begin to perish by the sword and King Noah commands them "that all the men should leave their wives and their children, and flee before the Lamanites." In this moment of  pressure some men are weak and run away with the king, but some stay with their wives and their children to face the Lamanites. 

     All of us have had moments or will have moments where our faith will be tested. Our testimonies will be tried, and we will have to make a decision whether we will stay true to what we have been taught or if we will fall away. All of us must strengthen our own testimonies and come to know for ourselves that the gospel is true, that God has restored his church, that we have a living day prophet who leads and guides us, etc....As we pray to our Heavenly Father we can ask for the confirmation that the things which we are learning are true. As we do so, and as we study and live these principles, we will be able to confront difficult situation with the faith to hold fast to those principles of the gospel that we have been taught. I know that we are all children of our loving Heavenly Father and, as His children, we have the potential to become like him and overcome the obstacles in our way. My prayer is that we will all do what is necessary in order for us to reach our full potential, and choose the right when faced with decisions, so that we can one day live in the presence of our Heavenly Father and receive a fullness of joy. 

Cariñosamente,

Hermana Schmidt

Misión Barcelona España