¡Ya Vinieron Los Reyes!
We celebrated Kings' Day this week. This is the day when all of
the little children are most excited because the Wisemen come to bring
them their gifts. It was a normal day for us missionaries as we were
out on the streets trying to talk with people who were in a rush to
start cooking and do some last minute wrapping of presents. We ate
with a member in our ward and had a Roscón de Reyes for desert. It was
so delicious! We also sang to the lady in the rest home. She seems to
be forgetting s bit more of her memory which was sad to see, but we
answered her even when she had asked us the same question two seconds
before.
People don't really seem to be very open during the holiday
seasons. A lot of people have too much "prisa", but we kept a smile
and knocked doors. After a day of rejection we were blessed to knock a
door of someone who actually wants to listen to us! We met with her
yesterday and she seems golden! My companion and I also went to a park
to do some proselyting there because they aren't in such a hurry to
get to go places. We saw two young men training to be matadors. They
had a strange invention of a fake bull head connected to a wheel with
some handle bars. One would push it and the other one would dodge it.
We thought it was so interesting and decided to talk to them. We had
to walk a while out of our way to get to where they were so they knew
we were coming for a while. They were pretty awkward when we talked to
them and not very interested in what we had to share, but they let us
take a picture of their invention at least.
We were knocking doors of another building and there were so many
dogs. Every door we knocked seemed to have a dog behind it. At one
point all the dogs in the building were barking and we were pretty
sure some people were going to be coming out angry at us for
disturbing them, but all of the sudden we heard a "mooooo....." And I
don't think we were the only ones confused because all of the dogs
became quiet as well. A cow in an apartment building? I hope not!
We taught a member, and her non member daughter, about the plan
of salvation and the mother absolutely loved it. We had made some
little drawings to help them to be able to understand it a little
better and at the very end the mother asked if she could have the
drawings. She had just lost her father a couple weeks before and
hearing that lesson gave her a lot of peace. I love that we can be
instruments in God's hands to help his children!
¡Que tengan una buena semana!
Hermana Schmidt
Misión Barcelona España
Sunday, January 17, 2016
Sunday, January 10, 2016
Feliz Año Nuevo!
It's amazing how as missionaries, everyday we are out in the cold
or heat, rain or snow, just to find maybe one person who will listen
to our message. Often times we do not even realize the good that we
are doing. From the kind smile to bringing someone into the fold of
Christ, we do a lot of service and yet and some points it can feel
daunting. My companion and I have had a lot of success this week, but
we didn't even realize the good that we had been doing until Sunday.
Many times our visits cancel on us, and that is why we end up in
the street again. This happened many times this week, but one day we
decided to go and visit the mom a recent convert who was not a member.
The mom wasn't there, but our recent convert was. We visited with her
for a little while. She had been struggling a bit and we shared with
her some scriptures and gave her courage to keep moving forward. We
left her with a smile on her face. When Sunday rolled around, she went
up to share her testimony and we were surprised to hear her talk a
little about how much our visit had helped her. She had decided to
serve a mission and very content with her decision.
On New Years we ate some typical Spanish food and lots of
chocolate with the mother of our relief society president. We did the
tradition of the twelve grapes at Midnight with the sisters in our
apartment. I can never get all of the grapes down because they have
seeds in them.
Sunday seemed like a day of the missionaries. One of our
investigators came! My companion was asked to give the opening prayer
in sacrament meeting, the elders passed the sacrament, I gave the
opening prayer in gospel principles, and my companion and I gave the
lesson in relief society about goals. I got into relief society and
saw the daughter of a member we visit, and this little girl does not
allow hugs. She is only one, but it has been my goal to get a hug from
her. After 6 months of being here, my companion was allowed a hug, but
Sunday was my day. I bent down and said, "Hermione (yes, that is her
name) un abrazo por favor?" And she gave me a hug! I felt accomplished
in that moment.
Random thought: I think I found out the reason that the Spanish
people give besos as a greeting! In 2 Corinthions 13:12 it says "Greet
one another with an holy kiss." The people here are very Catholic so
it's possible.
I was also studying another scripture this week in 2
Corinthians 12:9-10 that says, "9 And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most
gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power
of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for
when I am weak, then am I strong."
During this time of year we are normally setting goals to
better ourselves, but so often after the first week/month we get
discouraged and give up. We start to recognize our weaknesses. I would
encourage all of us to not get discouraged. Instead recognize that our
weaknesses and rejoice in them because they are the way that Christ
shows his power. As we work every day to over come our weaknesses,
little by little through the enabling power of Christ they can be made
strong.
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Hermana Schmidt
It's amazing how as missionaries, everyday we are out in the cold
or heat, rain or snow, just to find maybe one person who will listen
to our message. Often times we do not even realize the good that we
are doing. From the kind smile to bringing someone into the fold of
Christ, we do a lot of service and yet and some points it can feel
daunting. My companion and I have had a lot of success this week, but
we didn't even realize the good that we had been doing until Sunday.
Many times our visits cancel on us, and that is why we end up in
the street again. This happened many times this week, but one day we
decided to go and visit the mom a recent convert who was not a member.
The mom wasn't there, but our recent convert was. We visited with her
for a little while. She had been struggling a bit and we shared with
her some scriptures and gave her courage to keep moving forward. We
left her with a smile on her face. When Sunday rolled around, she went
up to share her testimony and we were surprised to hear her talk a
little about how much our visit had helped her. She had decided to
serve a mission and very content with her decision.
On New Years we ate some typical Spanish food and lots of
chocolate with the mother of our relief society president. We did the
tradition of the twelve grapes at Midnight with the sisters in our
apartment. I can never get all of the grapes down because they have
seeds in them.
Sunday seemed like a day of the missionaries. One of our
investigators came! My companion was asked to give the opening prayer
in sacrament meeting, the elders passed the sacrament, I gave the
opening prayer in gospel principles, and my companion and I gave the
lesson in relief society about goals. I got into relief society and
saw the daughter of a member we visit, and this little girl does not
allow hugs. She is only one, but it has been my goal to get a hug from
her. After 6 months of being here, my companion was allowed a hug, but
Sunday was my day. I bent down and said, "Hermione (yes, that is her
name) un abrazo por favor?" And she gave me a hug! I felt accomplished
in that moment.
Random thought: I think I found out the reason that the Spanish
people give besos as a greeting! In 2 Corinthions 13:12 it says "Greet
one another with an holy kiss." The people here are very Catholic so
it's possible.
I was also studying another scripture this week in 2
Corinthians 12:9-10 that says, "9 And he said unto me, My grace is
sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most
gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power
of Christ may rest upon me.
10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for
when I am weak, then am I strong."
During this time of year we are normally setting goals to
better ourselves, but so often after the first week/month we get
discouraged and give up. We start to recognize our weaknesses. I would
encourage all of us to not get discouraged. Instead recognize that our
weaknesses and rejoice in them because they are the way that Christ
shows his power. As we work every day to over come our weaknesses,
little by little through the enabling power of Christ they can be made
strong.
I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Hermana Schmidt
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Hola Mis Amigos!
Christmas is so much fun in Spain! Or maybe it's also because I'm a
missionary. On Christmas Eve we went with the relief society president
to sing Christmas carols to her friends and to give gifts to a family
in our ward who are from Africa. All of the little children were so
excited to receive gifts for Christmas. We then went and saw a lady
who had just lost her father and were able to give her comfort and
Christmas joy. We are now teaching her children. In the street we ran
into the uncle of one of the sister missionaries who is serving in
this mission. He isn't a member and we will be teaching him. We had a
Christmas Eve dinner with the R.S. President and another family from
Africa. Christmas Eve is a bigger celebration than Christmas Day. Even
though we were allowed to get home an hour later, we still had to get
back to our piso before because the buses stopped at 9.
We got home earlier than the other sisters one night and so we
decided to scare them. We made sure we had all of the lights turned
off and waited. I was in their bathroom and my companion in their
room. The sisters came in and started to pray to start their planning.
When their prayer finished, I slammed the door to their bathroom.
There was silence for five seconds, then we hear shuffling and the
front door open and close. They were running down the stairs! We ran
after them, which made them even more scared until they realized it
was us. Our neighbor, an old man, came out to see what was happening.
We told him and he just started laughing.
The rest of the week was full of service, great lessons, and
lots of food.
Hope you all have a Happy New Year!
Christmas is so much fun in Spain! Or maybe it's also because I'm a
missionary. On Christmas Eve we went with the relief society president
to sing Christmas carols to her friends and to give gifts to a family
in our ward who are from Africa. All of the little children were so
excited to receive gifts for Christmas. We then went and saw a lady
who had just lost her father and were able to give her comfort and
Christmas joy. We are now teaching her children. In the street we ran
into the uncle of one of the sister missionaries who is serving in
this mission. He isn't a member and we will be teaching him. We had a
Christmas Eve dinner with the R.S. President and another family from
Africa. Christmas Eve is a bigger celebration than Christmas Day. Even
though we were allowed to get home an hour later, we still had to get
back to our piso before because the buses stopped at 9.
We got home earlier than the other sisters one night and so we
decided to scare them. We made sure we had all of the lights turned
off and waited. I was in their bathroom and my companion in their
room. The sisters came in and started to pray to start their planning.
When their prayer finished, I slammed the door to their bathroom.
There was silence for five seconds, then we hear shuffling and the
front door open and close. They were running down the stairs! We ran
after them, which made them even more scared until they realized it
was us. Our neighbor, an old man, came out to see what was happening.
We told him and he just started laughing.
The rest of the week was full of service, great lessons, and
lots of food.
Hope you all have a Happy New Year!
¡Feliz Navidad!
I can't believe it's already Christmas again! The year went by way
too fast. I'm so blessed to be in Zaragoza for Christmas. We have a
lot of amazing members who we will be spending our Christmas with.
This week we tried to spread the Christmas cheer and sung Christmas
carols with the young women to the all the old folks in the retirement
homes. They loved the songs even though we did not sound so great. I
think they just loved having people to visit them. It was fun to go
around and talk to them afterward.
We had a good week planned out, but nothing went according to plan.
We had very many interesting experiences as well as many blessings. My
companion and I just learned to laugh. I believe that laughing is the
best cure when things don't go as you had planned. It's a lot better
than getting angry or sad. It says in 2 Nephi 2:25 that "men are that
they might have joy." My companion and I have had a lot of fun in just
spreading that joy especially in this Christmas season.
We went to the house of an investigator to teach her, but when we
got there we found that she was a little sick and cleaning her house.
So, we took advantage of the situation, rolled up our sleeves, and
started helping her to clean the kitchen. As we were helping her, we
talked to her and got to know her better. Our love grew for her as we
served her. We realized her needs and wanted to help her. Everyone
deserves to have a happy Christmas.
Our ward had a Christmas dinner. A family came that had not been
to church in a while. They had two young girls who I just fell in love
with. They were so funny. They were a bit shy at first, but I started
getting to know them. They said I looked like Katniss and asked if I
would give them an autograph. Umm.... Instead I just wrote a little
note to the two of them and signed it Hermana Schmidt and below, in
parentheses, "Katniss." They flipped when I gave it to them, and in
return drew my companion and I a Christmas card. They came to church
the next day! I was so happy to see them!
In the mission we help a lot of members who have fallen away
from the church and we also help people to come to know the church and
make covenants with God. It amazes me how their are so many people
that fall away from the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many times it has to
do with certain people getting upset and rumors spreading, sometimes
it's just a lack of interest. I felt confused as to why people fell
away. Didn't they have a testimony? As we all know, life is not always
easy. There will be trials in our life that will test our faith, we
will feel as if our testimony is weakening and start to question if
things are true.
One day as I was reading in the Book of Mormon, I could not get
this question out of my mind. Why did so many people let the trials of
everyday life effect their faith? I tried to put myself in their shoes
and think of things in my life that could possibly test my faith. The
passing away of family members, the feeling of being judged by others
or rumors spreading, lack of love in the ward, etc. ... Then a
question came to mind: "Do you know the Book of Mormon to be true?"
... That made me think. Then, without hesitation, I thought to myself,
"Yes! I know the Book of Mormon is true!"
Things started to fall into place after that. Because I knew the
Book of Mormon to be true, I also knew that Joseph smith was true
prophet of God who restored the church of Jesus Christ and translated
the Book of Mormon by the power of God, and because that power has
been restored, we are also able to make sacred covenants that will
enable us to return back to the presence of our loving Heavenly Father
and be with our families for eternity.
It makes more sense to me now the saying of the Prophet Joseph
Smith: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most
correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a
man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any
other book.” As we read the Book of Mormon everyday and study its
teachings and pray to know that it is true, I know that we can receive
the answer that it is true and, as we receive that testimony,
everything else will fall into place. I am so grateful for the Book of
Mormon in my life. It really is the keystone of not only our religion
but also our testimonies.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
I can't believe it's already Christmas again! The year went by way
too fast. I'm so blessed to be in Zaragoza for Christmas. We have a
lot of amazing members who we will be spending our Christmas with.
This week we tried to spread the Christmas cheer and sung Christmas
carols with the young women to the all the old folks in the retirement
homes. They loved the songs even though we did not sound so great. I
think they just loved having people to visit them. It was fun to go
around and talk to them afterward.
We had a good week planned out, but nothing went according to plan.
We had very many interesting experiences as well as many blessings. My
companion and I just learned to laugh. I believe that laughing is the
best cure when things don't go as you had planned. It's a lot better
than getting angry or sad. It says in 2 Nephi 2:25 that "men are that
they might have joy." My companion and I have had a lot of fun in just
spreading that joy especially in this Christmas season.
We went to the house of an investigator to teach her, but when we
got there we found that she was a little sick and cleaning her house.
So, we took advantage of the situation, rolled up our sleeves, and
started helping her to clean the kitchen. As we were helping her, we
talked to her and got to know her better. Our love grew for her as we
served her. We realized her needs and wanted to help her. Everyone
deserves to have a happy Christmas.
Our ward had a Christmas dinner. A family came that had not been
to church in a while. They had two young girls who I just fell in love
with. They were so funny. They were a bit shy at first, but I started
getting to know them. They said I looked like Katniss and asked if I
would give them an autograph. Umm.... Instead I just wrote a little
note to the two of them and signed it Hermana Schmidt and below, in
parentheses, "Katniss." They flipped when I gave it to them, and in
return drew my companion and I a Christmas card. They came to church
the next day! I was so happy to see them!
In the mission we help a lot of members who have fallen away
from the church and we also help people to come to know the church and
make covenants with God. It amazes me how their are so many people
that fall away from the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many times it has to
do with certain people getting upset and rumors spreading, sometimes
it's just a lack of interest. I felt confused as to why people fell
away. Didn't they have a testimony? As we all know, life is not always
easy. There will be trials in our life that will test our faith, we
will feel as if our testimony is weakening and start to question if
things are true.
One day as I was reading in the Book of Mormon, I could not get
this question out of my mind. Why did so many people let the trials of
everyday life effect their faith? I tried to put myself in their shoes
and think of things in my life that could possibly test my faith. The
passing away of family members, the feeling of being judged by others
or rumors spreading, lack of love in the ward, etc. ... Then a
question came to mind: "Do you know the Book of Mormon to be true?"
... That made me think. Then, without hesitation, I thought to myself,
"Yes! I know the Book of Mormon is true!"
Things started to fall into place after that. Because I knew the
Book of Mormon to be true, I also knew that Joseph smith was true
prophet of God who restored the church of Jesus Christ and translated
the Book of Mormon by the power of God, and because that power has
been restored, we are also able to make sacred covenants that will
enable us to return back to the presence of our loving Heavenly Father
and be with our families for eternity.
It makes more sense to me now the saying of the Prophet Joseph
Smith: “I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most
correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a
man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any
other book.” As we read the Book of Mormon everyday and study its
teachings and pray to know that it is true, I know that we can receive
the answer that it is true and, as we receive that testimony,
everything else will fall into place. I am so grateful for the Book of
Mormon in my life. It really is the keystone of not only our religion
but also our testimonies.
I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!
Sunday, December 20, 2015
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
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
Monday, December 14, 2015
¡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
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
Sunday, December 6, 2015
¡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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)