From: Nicole Schmidt [mailto:nicole.schmidt@myldsmail.net]
Sent: 06/08/2015 11:30 AM
Subject: When A Gate Falls On You (at least it's better than bird poop!)
Sent: 06/08/2015 11:30 AM
Subject: When A Gate Falls On You (at least it's better than bird poop!)
Hola a todos! :)
Wow, another week come and gone on the mission. I just can't
believe it! I don't think about my time really and that just makes it go faster
:(. But! It's okay. I still have loads of time left to be part of the Lord's
Full-Time Missionary Army :)
Well my friends, the DR sun is OUT. I am like scrambled eggs
FRYING. Just thought of a word. Fryding. Frying + Dying. Fryding. But not
fryding emotional no worries. I am also as red as a tomato. And who even knew I
had freckles!? Also, my friend once said that being a missionary in the DR is
like working in a sauna, but I honestly disagree. A sauna would be a nice, cool
break! Waking up literally with sweat rolling down my face has been quite a big
change. It'll just make me more grateful for my dad's love of AC in the nights
one day.
Okay, so this week we were faced with loads of trials, but
we aren't letting it beat us up! We found out Jose Miguel sells Hooka, and
needs to change his job before being baptized. The problem is he doesn't see
Hooka as a problem (as many people don't) and we tried explaining it in
different ways, but really the only thing he can do is pray and feel the
truthfulness of what we are saying. Bummer.
Also, Nicole was baptized in a different church and
her mom told her being baptized again is a huge sin, so we don't have her mom's
permission, nor do we have nicole's excitement to be baptized anymore. But we
had a lesson with her and her mom about baptism using Acts 8, and how it's okay
to be baptized again with proper authority. They liked the lesson, but didn't
change their minds. But, good came from the lesson because Nicole's friend was
there and is now super interested in the church and even came to church!! From
trials, come blessings!
Most of our appointments fell through this week so we were
contacting like crazy women. In the heat. Yeah, it's not the easiest thing in
the world. But, it sure was cool to meet a lot more potentials who are really
excited to take the lessons from us! Like I said, from trials, come the
blessings ! I testify of that :)
Another trial was that we were at the church, opening the
sliding gate, when slam!! It fell right on top of my shoulder/head. It was
painful, and I was sore for a couple of days, but i'm all good now. But that
made our pace just a tiny bit slower as well.
But on top of it all, we saw the coolest miracle ever. (From
the trials, come the blessings, (can't emphasize it enough, the Lord is good)).
So there is an RM in our ward who went completely inactive. He grew his hair
and beard out, as well as got into Alcohol and smoking. We had a lesson with
him for the first time about a month ago and he said, ''I'll be honest. I have
absolutely no desire to go to church. Yeah, you can tell me it's good and
all, but I do not want to go. I like the world i'm living in, and I like my
friends. If you want to share with me, i'll let you. But don't expect me to
come around any time soon.'' well 2 days later, we saw him working at an
empanada stand and talked to him. He was actually pretty friendly that time. We
both felt we should give him a CTR ring and tell him we missed him at church.
It was really something small and simple, and we didn't expect anything to come
from it.
But the next week, he came to church. He only came for a
bit, and he was on his phone the whole time, but he came! And that was a
miracle. Slowly, every week he started paying more attention and coming to
church. Well, he told our Mission Leader that it all changed with the CTR ring.
Just knowing that we cared about him enough to show him a little attention made
the world's difference to him. He hasn't missed a church yet. This week he told
us he was leaving behind his old friends, his addictions, and he even cut his
hair and shaved! He got a calling this week for the first time in a long time
as the YSA rep. in the ward. HOW COOL! Wow, just a little act of service can go
a long way. I'm just so happy to see someone so far from coming back, coming
back full-heartedly! He even said he wants to visit investigators with us. It
really all started with a prompting from our Heavenly Father telling us to give
him a CTR ring. How good is our Heavenly Father!!
We also fasted for our area and we had a lot of
investigators in the church!! It was such a blessing. We also had a great
activity watching meet the mormons with members and investigators and it was a
great turn out!
Miracles exist!!
To finish I want to share this quote (okay two)
''There are 3 types of people in this world. Those who make
it happen. Those who watch it happen. And those who wonder what happened!?''
''Good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger the
wind, the stronger the trees.'' -Thomas S. Monson
Love you all more than words can say and HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!!
:)
-Hermana Schmidt
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