Emails: July 5th and 12th

Here are are the most recent emails from Anna! She's officially been in Argentina for 6 weeks!
She hasn't been able to send out any written letters because she hasn't learned how to use the mail system there yet, so right now email is her only communication with us. She has been receiving everyone's written letters though (it takes about three weeks for her to receive it, so the fastest way to communicate with her is still by email or dearelder) and she appreciates all of your love and support!
Here's the first one from July 5th:

Hello everyone !! First off I received a WHOLE bunch of letters and I was thrilled!! Thank you ALL for the letters!! It made me soo happy!! It takes about 3 weeks for a letter to come from Us to Argentina!! Just soooo you know!! Make sure you thanks Sharon Erland for her sweet letter and to all my family who wrote....THANKYOU!!! I will write someday when I figure out how to use the mail here and I have a companion who knows what a postcard is.......

I have much to say and wrote down a bunch of stuff so I wouldn't forget but always somehow I forget something I want to say!! First off I am thrilled to report that we now have "hot water" in our apartment now. I was so mad at my companion about this......I just could not understand why she would not fix this so we wouldn't have to boil hot water in a bucket to bathe with. I seriously thought that the average person didn't have hot water in their homes.....I threw a fit about this and we went and bought a new Ducha Electrica which is basically a little toaster that connect to the shower head and heats the water when it comes out.........I have never been so thrilled to have a normal warm shower in my whole life. I loved what Austin wrote in his letter about how you can't believe how crappy your apartment is and for Argentina it's just such a nice apartment....but seriously I can't complain b/c its not horrible at all but its not like back home.


ANYWAY....yep I'm going through that stage of culture shock where I keep looking for American products here and I'm sooo thrilled when I find them!!!

Guess what I found out this past week??? My Companion who has been here for 4 months had no idea that Ituzaingo is basically the Galveston of Argentina!! It a beach town!! There is a HUGE giant river that it like the size of the ocean with sand & waves and everything.......so now lots of things make sense!!! Its not like a normal big city with giant stores or anything........Anyways tonight was exactly pretty cool.....my companion had to go to Resistencia to do some work on her visa here for Argentina and I had to go with her....so at 3:30 am we got up and got on a bus (the buses here are really nice that people use travel between towns) and slept for 3 hrs until we got to Resistencia.

The wards are huge in Resistencia!!! I miss huge wards and I miss our Nottingham County Ward sooooooooooooo bad!! In Ituzaingo we have a beautiful building with only a branch sized amount of people attending ( I seriously think everyone is inactive in South America) Anyways, afterwards we went with the Elders who are the President's assistants in a really nice minivan with leather seats (the church's car of course) and they drove us back to Ituzaingo b-c they were driving through for a another zone conference. My mission includes 4 states in Argentina! We had soooo much fun!! AND....guess what?? There is an actual Walmart in Corrientes and we went to it!! I have never been sooo happy in my life for a Walmart....and I hate Walmart back home......I bought PEANUT BUTTER and organic good .......I was soooo thrilled......I miss being vegan sooo much and I've gained weight from all the food people give me but not alot........still I have NOW figured out to only eat half of my plate and give the other half to my companion and then I eat very little the rest of the day becuase we walk all day anyway so I can burn it off........I know that shouldn't be my first thought and its not but it is something I care about.......anyway after my mission I'll have all the time I want to eat vegna and work out.......

so back to missionary work....I am soo excited to say that I finished reading Alma a few weeks again which I think is a big deal.....I love reading my book of Mormon...now its something I do because I want to & look forward to reading everyday during personal study and not because I have to!!! I feel so much better after I read it and its amazing how we are able to receive personal revelation while we read our scriptures. I had my first interview with the Mission President last Wednesday and I was terrified of this man......but he was soooo kind & supportive.... I was shocked....he is very strict but because of this he gets results......before he was mission President...Resistencia was the lowest number baptizing mission in South American....now its the Highest in all of South America!!! Our Motto is "Baptizmos Cada Semana"........Baptisms every week!!! I think he let my companion have it a little though because our numbers were horrible..........she is a good missionary and we work hard but our planning isn't good.........because I don't speak Spanish- well its hard to express the changes that I think we need to make.......but anyway the President is pleased with me and very supportive and talked to my other hermana friend in Posada about me and said really good things....he also sympathizes with me because he knows that I'm having a hard time right now adjusting to everything. But that's normal.....

last Friday during our lunch with the members I just started bawling.....because I wanted my Mom soooooooo much. There is a lady whose a member who is 75 and is taking care of her Mom who is 95........CRAZY!! Her Mother actually has an eyes missing and there's nothing in it!! Well this got me to thinking about you Mom and I thought I'm going to take care of my Mom when she gets old.....anyway yes I miss you Dad of course and Johnny & Laura and everyone and my perfect comfortable life in the US!! I was soo sad on 4th of July to not be in America.....I have never had sooo much pride for my country in my whole life!!! But its okay........because when my companion and I teach a lesson and I see someone tear up because somewhere deep inside they remember who they are when they feel the spirit....that makes it all worth it!! I have been helping my Companion be more effective and when we met someone we make an appointment RIGHT away ...........After this past week we have 25 new investigators.......this is awesome!! A yway my time is up.....I love you all and thanks for your prayers and letters!!! This past week I celebrated 3 months in my mission...my companion made me the cutest card ever!!! I love you!! Keep writing! love hermana schmidt p.s. they lied in the mtc when they said men wouldn't try to kiss me hello.......YUCK!!!!!! Its awkward too because they wont try to kiss my companion hello but they will try to kiss me hello...... The woman always kiss each other hello but men usually only when they know you.....My companion cracks up everyday b-c men are always saying stuff to me and whistling & hissing (which I hate) but I ignore them or smile & wave hello and then walk really fast away.....I've got funny stories but no time! Ciao!!

Here is her most recent one sent today, July 12th:

Hello everyone!!! WOW......I am soooo bummed to not have an email from dad, mom or Laura.......but I did get a whole bunch of letters about a week ago from everyone so I appreciate it MUCHO.........

This past week was interesting AND really hard.....lots of rejections which I haven't experienced too much of til now and I had major food poisoning which kept me in bed for a day & a half. I forgot to tell ya'll last week that I got kicked out of my first house!!!! This teenager said we could come in and teach......right as we were about to sit down- her Mother came into the room in a fit and said we are Evangelical ( sp?) in this house and we believe in Jesus Christ and GOD!!!!!!! She pointed at all her tacky gothic stuff on the walls and told us to get out and that she didn't need us to create confusion in her home.....I'm not going to lie...I was mad but I just looked at her and said we have a HUGE testimony of Jesus Christ ALSO....He IS our Savior. We left......This past week when we went up to contact this old lady...she just looked at us with a really nasty sneer and said "You are not representatives of Jesus Christ" That one actually hurt my feelings a bit....wha's weird though is part of me is glad it stung a little because it means that I really want to be like Jesus Christ and its hurtful for a person to say I'm not...interesting but no worries I got over it quickly.......What's interesting as a missionary is that many people cry to you....you really don't know them at all but as they talk to you about things in their life...they just start bawling and I don't understand everything but I understand the important parts and I can feel their pain. My friend Hermana Tritsch (in Posada) said its because maybe their minds don't recognize who we are but their hearts & souls know that we are Rep. of Christ and want their pain healed.

This pasy week was really hard for me.....I miss stupid things back home.....I miss being in control of my time and working out everyday and not having serious responsibility on my head. I hate being fat and not having total control over my diet. I miss my family, home and my PERFECT life back in the US. In my prayers- my thanks has REALLY doubled....tripled. But I also know that what I'm feeling is normal and eventually with time my Spanish will improve and I will love being here. My mission president, everyone says....things will get better!! SO I'm just holding onto faith that things will.

Yesterday,Sunday was a good day!!!! We has a mom in her 20's attend church with her 2 children. She is separated and so pretty & sweet!! I did everything in my power to help her that morning because she has forgotten and her children were tired and REALLY cranky!! My companion and I sang songs.....I gave stickers and brushed teeth and hair!!! We got that family to sacrament meeting and afterwards I had everyone in the ward come up and talk to her!! Some of the members know her Mother!!! Awesome!! We also found out that she stopped saying prayers after the death of her father yrs ago and she is still torn up about his death. SO we are going to teach the Plan of Salvation on Tuesday. We also taught a family this past week who the Mother has been trying to figure out for yrs which church is true!!!! We have had many good experiences lately as well!!! I was also told this past week on a day when I was really struggling how Sisters who are from the US are not usually sent to South America.....The church sends Sister to Europe or keep them in the States. My Mission President said the church sends the strong women to South America. He said you are one of the strong ones.......I feel much better but I'm also waiting for the day when I FEEL strong. Anyway yep....lots of stuff going on and Tuesday night is my first possible transfer!!! But I'm pretty sure I;ll be in Ituzaingo with my trainer another 6 weeks but who knows.......Í'll find out Tuesday night when the Elders call.

The Weather here today is insane!!! We had the craziest weather all night with a huge thunderstorm and its been raining most of the day.....now its freezing again here!!! There are also tornadoes here which I was not thrilled to hear about and the sky will turn red....it scares me to death but I just throw up my hands said God- I know you'll protect me so I'm going to try not to worry!!!CRAZY CRAZY!! Okay well I love you all and pray for you all!!!!!!!!! Stay safe!!! Love you all- Hermana Schmidt