¡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