Hermana Schmidt Week 77 Letter 03/14/16 Last Letter :)

From: Nicole Schmidt [mailto:nicole.schmidt@myldsmail.net]
Sent: 03/14/2016 12:57 PM
To: Bunney Schmidt
Subject: ''What tongue, my gratitude, can tell? O gracious God of Israel!'' Hurrah for Israel!

Hola a todos! 

Yeah, i'm already crying, it's fine. 

Okay, I will start with our week and then I will get to... that other thing.

So this week was amazing!! We taught Rodrigo Rubio ALL of the lessons! Every day he kept saying ''I just feel it so strong when I read the Book of Mormon! The church is true!!'' And at the end of the week, he said he is for sure moving to the capital. BUT we got to have the amazing priviledge to teach him everything before he left! He said, ''I'll never forget the missionaries who taught me everything in a week and changed my life'' :) Missionary work really is amazing, whether or not you get to be there to see them get baptized or something. Just seeing someone develop, or redevelop, a testimony makes it all worth it.

Eric is getting the melchizidek (idk how to spell that) priesthood this sunday!! so amazing! :) 

WE WENT TO THE TEMPLE!! Okay... I have never felt so much peace ever!! It was definitely the boost I needed for the end of the mission. I just know that that is the house of God. 

We went to a church history discussion with a general authority in the capital and OKAY. Yes I know the church is true from the spirit, but secondly WOW! Our church history just says it all. It's amazing how much good God has done with weak people! He's amazing. 

Now... 

to that part. 

Well, I thought a lot about a song this week and thought to share the lyrics:

1.     Savior, Redeemer of my soul,

Whose mighty hand hath made me whole,

Whose wondrous pow'r hath raised me up

And filled with sweet my bitter cup!

What tongue my gratitude can tell,

O gracious God of Israel.

2.     Never can I repay thee, Lord,

But I can love thee. Thy pure word,

Hath it not been my one delight,

My joy by day, my dream by night?

Then let my lips proclaim it still,

And all my life reflect thy will.

3.     O'errule mine acts to serve thine ends.

Change frowning foes to smiling friends.

Chasten my soul till I shall be

In perfect harmony with thee.

Make me more worthy of thy love,

And fit me for the life above.

Words cannot express.. 

I never realized how much I needed the Lord. I never realized how powerful he really he is and how completely, utterly, wonderfully, perfectly aware he is of all of us. He is the being that doesn't just make us whole, he makes us holy. He lives!! And what a joy it is to share that, to proclaim his name and defend his faith! 

You know, before my mission I always said, ''I know it will be hard but it will be worth it.'' I didn't really grasp it I think. I didn't really know what the ''worth it'' meant. I was like, ''Well... i'll learn a lot and change and stuff.'' But that was like... one tiny itty bitty bit of it. I came to know for myself that God is our LOVING Heavenly father, and he is My loving heavenly father, and yours! He is AMAZING! He is glorious! He is so patient. I want to be like him. In every day and in evey way, I want to follow him. And I know I will fall short and trip and fall, but the Lord will always be there to pick me up and help me change. I came to know what faith in the Lord Jesus Christ really means and how that can change our lives. I came to know who I was before I came to Earth, and how that can motivate me and change me here on earth. I came to know that what I preach every day is true. 

And although I know I didn't deserve it, 

I can honestly say that I have been changed. 

The Lord has changed me. 

I know He lives.

Thank you for being my ''angels through the mail (email and real)'' and it's true when the Lord said he would send angels round about to bear me up... he sent you. All of you. Thank you for lifting me when I couldn't keep going. I owe it all to you and the Lord. I love you and admire you all. 

And last, I want to thank my parents. I do not deserve parents like them, but i'm so grateful the Lord gave me people so capable and so loving to be my leaders. I had an experience about 7 months into my mission when I got a call from the doctor (after an emergency run to the hospital from an infection) telling me I would probably have to go home early. I remember being shocked and I kept telling myself, ''Well.. I guess that's the Lords plan for me.'' And I can be so weak and I was so ready to just throw in the towel without a fight. Well, my dad wrote me ''hang in there sweetheart, don't let the adversary confuse you as to what you are destined to do for our Heavenly Father and Savior. You have greatness in you and Satan knows that.'' and encouraged me to stay. Well, I took that to heart and I actually got to the go to the temple the next day after that pday with the mission.

In the temple, I was reading my scriptures at the end, and I prayed after pondering long and hard about what my father said, and I felt, better said, heard, like thunder in my mind, ''You will serve 18 months.'' 

I have been blessed with a good earthly and heavenly father. 

I owe it all to them.  Thank you mom and dad for inspiring me, and for putting up with me, and for sustaining me. I love you.

I know the church is true. I KNOW IT! It is everything. There came a point early on my mission when I had to ask myself, ''Well, am I gonna give everything?'' And I had to take a step back and realize  that if I was going to give it all it would HAVE to mean everything to me. And that's where the journey started. It has become everything to me, God's eternal truth. I know it's true.

I love you all...

I just know this will be the best week ever, as my sister sarah encouraged me long ago, ''Make your last weeks your hardest working.'' I know that the lord will help us to do so! 

HURRAH, HURRAH, HURRAH FOR ISRAEL!! 

Love, 

Hermana Schmidt 

East Mission at the Temple

Sunset

Hermana Schmidt and Hermana Shaw at the Temple

Another of Hermana Schmidt and Hermana Shaw at the Temple

Hermana Schmidt Week 76 Letter 03/07/16

From: Nicole Schmidt [mailto:nicole.schmidt@myldsmail.net]
Sent: 03/07/2016 9:36 AM
Subject: This is SO worth it!

Hola a todos!! :) 

Happy birthdays to my niece Eden! :) And my cousin Austin! I hope they are great! :) 

So this week was full of exchanges so we were everywhere. It was fun to see other areas and work with new people, but it does make for one tired Sister Schmidt... haha. Keep on trucking all the way! Animo! 

Okay so the last couple of weeks have been really great, but we have also hit TONS of brick walls. We have seen people progressing a ton and then out of the blue disappear completely! It took kind of toll on us but we kept trying to look for the opportunities and for miracles and blessings daily. But, sometimes there are just low points in some transfers and we have to pass through them to be super excited about the high points. 

On that note, yesterday I was sitting at church and I started church SO frustrated. Not one of our investigators had come and I was just so overwhelmed by feelings of disappointment and stress. I was sitting there and as fast and testimony meeting started, I realized that it would be my last Sunday to give my testimony in my ward here in La Romana. Well, I did not want to give my testimony angry and sad so to prep myself before going up I just said a prayer that the Lord would comfort me and inspire me to know what to say to them and as my last testimony as a full time missionary in their ward. Well, to my surprise, our convert ERIC SOSA got to bless the sacrament for this first time yesterday! Okay, that was a total booster! After that the testimonies started and I got up and shared mine. It was really hard, but I felt SO strong the Lord's love for his people here in the DR and once again testified to me how much it has been a priviledge to serve here thus far. 

Well, after my testimony, Eric got up and shared his testimony. He started of, with tears in his eyes, mustered out, ''I am just so grateful to my heavenly father who showed me that this church is true, and has changed me, one hundred percent. I am so grateful to have been baptized because I know this is the true, restored church. Thanks to God, the members, and the missionaries who helped me, I am here and I know it's true.'' Yeah. I was crying. After the meeting he said, ''There was more I wanted to say to just you sisters. I want you to know i'm here for the long run. I will miss you when you go, but I am never going to leave here. I just know its true. Thank you so much for teaching me."

You know, there are hard days here. There are hard weeks. There are hard moments that have made me tremble and basically crumble. There are frustrating moments that make me want to just rip my hair out! There are let downs and heart breaks and the hot sun and blisters and cold showers and big bugs and tears and loneliness and darkness. But I just know... that the Good will ALWAYS outweigh and dispell the bad. The light will always dominate the darkness. It always has. 

I know, along with Eric, that the church is true. It's SO true! It's so amazing and such a huge blessing from our heavenly father. It has been a wonderful priviledge to see people's lives change from the hands of the Lord and his marvelous spirit. He really is all powerful. With him, as it always has, light will ALWAYS dispel the darkness. The Good will always win! 

But another update is that we received a cool reference from the Temple Square missionaries in Salt Lake. They called us and when I saw a utah code I was like (Uh.... what is going on....) but it all worked out. His name is Rodrigo and he, for years, has been interested in the church but hasnt known how to get in contact with it. He was searching on line and found the info to contact missionaries from Salt Lake and they gave us the reference. YEAH so he has already dived into the Book of Mormon and accepted a date. He is so prepared and wants to get baptized on the 20th. the only down side is that he is moving to Santo Domingo so will be baptized in a different ward, but this week we will be teaching him all of his lessons so that it's an easier task for the new missionaries there right before his baptism. It's so cool how some people just KNOW the church is true even before knowing much about it! It's incredible!! 

Tomorrow we go to the temple (woot woot!) so excited :) 

Other than that, everything is going good here in La Romana. It will be a great week in the work of the Lord!! 

I love you all, thanks for all of your support!! :)

Hurrah for Israel! :) 

-Hermana Schmidt 

Found a puppy

Nikki and a puppy

Another with puppy

A final with puppy

Jennifer from the DR and Hermanas

Another with Jennifer and the Hermanas