Monday September 6th,
First off please excuse me if you don't get my emails every week. I try to make sure they get sent to everyone but this stupid email I'm using is weird sometimes.
OKAY
OKAY
Hello everyone!! This past week I had my 5 months in the mission!!!! WOW! CRAZY! I think for every month I've gained about 5 pounds of stress AND fat........but summer is coming and everything is about to change here....no one eats a lot in the summer and you literally drop weight from sweating from the heat. But I also realized that I've spent the almost the last yr in Winter!!
Think about this....winter last December in Houston lasted longer than usual and then after I was in Utah which has longer winters and then when I arrived in Argentina, it was during the Winter months!!! We actually have a different schedule in the Summer which is going to change in the beginning of December (when its Summer here)
Okay........well my COmpanion Hermana Catricura is awesome.......she is such a powerful teacher !!!!!!!!! The Spirit just hits you right in between your eyes when she teaches. I am learning a lot with her!! Its interesting but you really do learn different things with every Companion. She is still adjusting to the total shock of being here in Ituzaingo and yep......she's not a fan.
I found out that the Mission President knows that Ituzaingo is a disaster and all the Elders in leadership positions are aware of this also. But with this Companion we are going to fix things and turn everything around.
I have an interesting announcement to make.......I have survived my first Dog "attack" and I had my second one in the same day. We are knocking on doors and at this one property....when the owners walked out of the house so did their Dogs...........and one ran right for me.........snarling like a beast......I stuck out my giant umbrella (sp?) with a metal sharp end and the Dog literally chewed it in its mouth!!!!!!!!!
The horrible owners did absolutely nothing and the dog backed off and we left. The other dog situation happened when we were visiting inactive members in this area and it was at night. We went down the wrong way and passed this house where a Dog came out and ran for us. Of course I started screaming in english to run!!!!!! There was almost no light and we started to run but the area came to an end and we were trapped in the dark with this horrible dog coming at us. My Companion grabbed my umbrella and was really brave and used it like a sword.......now its just hysterically funny to think about it.........well the kid who owned the Dog came out and kicked it back into his house.
As we walked out to leave this other kid said.....¿ Muriò ? which means he died?........he was asking if we killed the Dog!!!!!!!!! My Companion said...NO. We had a pretty good laugh about this for a long time.
So yep......we are teaching alot and many people will listen. There are actually Jehovah witnesses Missionaries here in Ituzaingo!!!!!!! They almost look like us!!!!!
Anyway......yep its amazing the things that I have learned in 5 months.....to be honest I'm tired of struggling and feeling uncomfortable.......this is REALLY REALLY hard. But I'm learning so much from my Companion. We celebrated her 1 yr in the mission this past week and I bought her this REALLY pretty cake and decorated our apartment when she was sleeping in the night!!!!!!!!!
She has had difficult times her entire mission with companions and areas! She had some really wonderful words of wisdom to share after I had a bad day and felt sooo horrible about my many flaws and weaknesses as a person & missionary and how fat I am now and all this junk. This Mission is a process.......I'm becoming a better version of myself and its not going to happen overnight like I want it to!!!! She says that she KNOWS that she is a different better version than she was before. For the first time in my life I'm aware of my blessings and things that I never knew were blessings before. Anyway we are working hard to help the people here. okay.......well I LOVE YOU ALL!! please keep writing me!!! Love hermana Anna Schmidt
Think about this....winter last December in Houston lasted longer than usual and then after I was in Utah which has longer winters and then when I arrived in Argentina, it was during the Winter months!!! We actually have a different schedule in the Summer which is going to change in the beginning of December (when its Summer here)
Okay........well my COmpanion Hermana Catricura is awesome.......she is such a powerful teacher !!!!!!!!! The Spirit just hits you right in between your eyes when she teaches. I am learning a lot with her!! Its interesting but you really do learn different things with every Companion. She is still adjusting to the total shock of being here in Ituzaingo and yep......she's not a fan.
I found out that the Mission President knows that Ituzaingo is a disaster and all the Elders in leadership positions are aware of this also. But with this Companion we are going to fix things and turn everything around.
I have an interesting announcement to make.......I have survived my first Dog "attack" and I had my second one in the same day. We are knocking on doors and at this one property....when the owners walked out of the house so did their Dogs...........and one ran right for me.........snarling like a beast......I stuck out my giant umbrella (sp?) with a metal sharp end and the Dog literally chewed it in its mouth!!!!!!!!!
The horrible owners did absolutely nothing and the dog backed off and we left. The other dog situation happened when we were visiting inactive members in this area and it was at night. We went down the wrong way and passed this house where a Dog came out and ran for us. Of course I started screaming in english to run!!!!!! There was almost no light and we started to run but the area came to an end and we were trapped in the dark with this horrible dog coming at us. My Companion grabbed my umbrella and was really brave and used it like a sword.......now its just hysterically funny to think about it.........well the kid who owned the Dog came out and kicked it back into his house.
As we walked out to leave this other kid said.....¿ Muriò ? which means he died?........he was asking if we killed the Dog!!!!!!!!! My Companion said...NO. We had a pretty good laugh about this for a long time.
So yep......we are teaching alot and many people will listen. There are actually Jehovah witnesses Missionaries here in Ituzaingo!!!!!!! They almost look like us!!!!!
Anyway......yep its amazing the things that I have learned in 5 months.....to be honest I'm tired of struggling and feeling uncomfortable.......this is REALLY REALLY hard. But I'm learning so much from my Companion. We celebrated her 1 yr in the mission this past week and I bought her this REALLY pretty cake and decorated our apartment when she was sleeping in the night!!!!!!!!!
She has had difficult times her entire mission with companions and areas! She had some really wonderful words of wisdom to share after I had a bad day and felt sooo horrible about my many flaws and weaknesses as a person & missionary and how fat I am now and all this junk. This Mission is a process.......I'm becoming a better version of myself and its not going to happen overnight like I want it to!!!! She says that she KNOWS that she is a different better version than she was before. For the first time in my life I'm aware of my blessings and things that I never knew were blessings before. Anyway we are working hard to help the people here. okay.......well I LOVE YOU ALL!! please keep writing me!!! Love hermana Anna Schmidt
Monday August 2nd,
Well I am THRILLED to say that I have a new companion who is FANTASTIC.......Her name is Hermana Catricuric and she is from Chile and we totally understand each other. She is a really smart good missionary!!!! She has had a really tough mission though. She has had really difficult companions ( one was over 50 yrs old) and she has been in really hard areas. She started out in Formosa which I think is the poorest state in Argentina. The water there is toxic and there is malaria in certain areas and some areas are really dangerous. There are people who live in houses made of plastic and cardboard. But everyone is really loving and she actually had 5 baptisms there.
She was next in the capital of Corrientes and its the hardest area in the entire mission!!! Its also really dangerous. Her American companion was mugged in this area. I also found out that the reason why my trainer Hermana Carlos was in Ituzaingo because the Sister missionaries were pulled out of an area in Corrientes after a man threatened to kill the Sister missionaries if they ever stepped foot in this neighborhood again. SO of course after the Mission President found out the same day....they pulled the Sisters out of that area.
But PLEASE....don't worry.....I am in a very safe area where I don't have to worry about any of this!!! My Companion is actually having a really hard time right now because she only has about 6 months left and is most likely going to end her mission in Ituzaingo. She is totally in shock because Ituzaingo is the total opposite of the Capital of Corientes. She is also really worried because she and Hermana Carlos switched places and whats going to happen to Corrientes now. SO now My trainer is in Capital of Corrientes and I have Hna. Catricuric. Hermana C is pretty ticked off at Hermana Carlos after she saw what a disaster Hermana Carlos left for us in Ituzaingo. The Area book is a mess and we don`t have many progressing investigators but maybe 3.
BUT I KNOW with this Companion we are going to have baptisms. We visited the same people this past week and got totally different results becuase my companion is SHARP and really knows whats going on around her. She is also in tune with me when we teach and listens. She is not oblivious to all the problems in my area. She is in reality!!
I have NEVER had so much hope before in my mission. She corrects my Spanish and actually said that her American companion in Corrientes who's been a missionary for 9 months only speaks a little better for me and I've been in Argentina for 3 months. Everyone says that my spnaish has REALLY improved. Its still really hard and I lack a lot but I am starting to be able to understand people!
We had Stack Conference yesterday in Posada with Bradly Foster of the 70 and I understood ALOT!!!!!!!!!!! Then today we had Zone Conference and it went really, really well and Bradly Foster was there and taught us. I got a picture with him and his wife!!!!! I also got to see Elder Meeks and Elder Taylor from my District in the MTC! PRETTY AWESOME!!! Elder Meeks and I always seem to end up together and we just laugh and talk about all the crazy stuff we've seen here.
Yep...so I am sooo happy!! Everyone is like...You're not sad anymore!!!!!!!!!! Its still hard and right now I am trying to really serve my companion because she is having a really hard time and doesn't want to be in Ituzaingo. Anyway......I just feel like a huge burden has been lifted off of my shoulders.
I love all the emails and letters that ya´ll send me...PLEASE keep writing!!!! I know that its only through the Gosepl of Jesus Christ that we can truly have a fullness of happiness in this life. We can't be perfect but there are things we CAN do every single day and week to become more like our Savior. Through Jesus Christ we can become perfect and have eternal life with Heavenly Father. It is VERY easy to forget our purpose in this life sometimes!!! Its ALL about ETERNAL LIFE with Heavenly Father. Every decision we make.......if it doesn't bring us closer to God........don't do it!!!!
