May 30th:
Hola familia. WOW! Can't believe that ya'll already got a letter from the Mission President saying that I'm training!!! Make sure and save that for scrap0booking
Well thank you for your emails.....DAD and Austin!!!
This week was a better week...it's like everything just got way harder when I started training...you are pulling more weight for sure. My companion is an awesome girl and I think she will learn fast and it’s nice to actually have someone who can understand how you see things since we are both American and from similar lifestyles.
When I heard that there were 3 girls to train and that 2 were from Idaho and one from California----I sooooo knew that I would be training the girl from California!!!!!! One things that's really hard is I feel like everyone is judging me because I'm training. I hate that and I know that their opinions don't matter.....but it still kinda hurts............
We are working hard to find people to teach and praying a lot. Its REALLY hard & I need the prayers of everyone PLEASE! What's interesting in the Mission is that there's always something that's a huge challenge and when you eventually get over it and get comfortable.......THINGS CHANGE and you think.......WOW.....that last challenge was WAY easier....why can't I do back to that??
The goal in life is to learn to be happy when things are crappy because there will always be some kind of challenge that's for your good eventually.
I found a really interesting quote from Gospel Principles when I was doing my personal studies today-----
"IN Reality, everyday is a day of judgment. We speak, think and act according to celestial, terrestrial, or telestial law. Our faith in Jesus Christ, as shown by our daily actions, determines which kingdom we will inherit."
Pretty interesting huh??? I hope that everyone is doing okay.....I do pray for every single one of you--My parents, Jonathan, Laura, grandparents, Aunts & Uncles.............I really can't think of anything else to share.
The Members have really stepped up in my time here......now we have lunch almost everyday and we have members who wash our clothes so that's no longer a huge hassle!!!! I love you all!! MOm....please remember to put in money for the next week so that I can buy material to get clothes made!!! I love you all....please take care.......when I get back one day I want to make a huge dinner of food from Argentina for everyone all together!!!
Love you all Hermana Anna Schmidt
May 23rd:
I hope that everything is okay since I have not received an email from anyone....hopefully Mom and Dad are doing okay. No emails today from anyone???
?I am a kinda depressed about that........I am kinda having a hard time right now as a trainer.....We are having a hard time finding new people and I am really struggling to talk to people in the streets.....its very hard when your companion doesn't speak the language. All the pressure is on me to carry on everything. I really miss Hna. Medero sooooo much. I think some of the best time in my Mission was those 4 1/2 months together and all the success that we had together in this difficult area. What miracles we had together!!! Please pray for us........I have realized that its true that whenever you get comfortable in the Mission that there will be changes and starting over again is sooo hard. I remember when I started out here in Laguna Seca how overwhelmed I was and how hard it was with Hermana Medero and this huge change.
However......now I would love to go back to that time starting out here......I just gotta stay positive and find those chosen people who are ready to do commitments and be baptized. I am still frustrated with the language and want to improve.
I do have some good news.......I can't remember if I told ya'll or not but we have a family who have been investigating the church for about 7 yrs......all the children were baptized but the parents couldn't because they are not married and were unable to because the first wife refuses to sign the divorce papers and here in Argentina its sooo impossible to get divorced!!! If your spouse won't sign the papers...you can't get divorced...however there is a law that if you have been separated for more than 20 yrs that you can go ahead and get divorced without the signature......well these people have been together for 23 yrs but then a bunch of things happened in the church and they stopped going and their children went inactive. We always visited them and invited them to go to church for Easter and they actually went as a family and now we put goals & dates for them to get divorced and married and baptized and they accepted!!!!!!!!! Now the children are active again and we have found a lawyer to help them with everything!!!
Its seriously a miracle!!! They are now sooo happy and we are teaching them the lessons again and preparing for everything. Hopefully this lawyer can get everything done FAST for their baptism dates for June 25!!!!!!! I am very happy about that!! I hope that ya'll are all doing well.......I can´t believe that I have like 4 months and 3 weeks left in my mission......CRAZY!! okay well I don't have much than that to share but please put our names in the Temple.....My companion is named Kara Van Wagenen........and pray a lot for us.....I am always praying for all of you.
Love you all every much!! Hna Schmidt
May 16th:
Hello Dad, Mom, Laura, Johnny..........I am happy to say that I got my other packages and they only stole one of my blushes and one can of green chilies.......I also bought brand new shoes today that are perfect for the Mission and I love them.
The church Presidency has cracked down on the Missionaries BIG time here in South America......now we have sooo many new rules and its pretty tough.....now we are not allowed to get together with other Missionaries on P- day and we are no longer allowed to leave our areas on P- day (without permission of the Mission President) with is soooo tough because in my area there is nothing.....shopping Mall....Walmart and places to print pictures and ATMS are all in other areas so now I have to call Presidente Castillo every time I need to leave and ask for permission to leave....he always says yes.......He is VERY strict but even he seems to know that these new rules are very tough.
I also made taco soup from the spices that ya'll sent to me and my Companion Hna. Vna Wagenen loved it so much!! I love it how I got the girl from California.....we have a lot of things in common and she is great. We both went to BYU-I too!! Her father is actually a maxifacial surgeon like my Doctor who did my jaw surgery! Its hard because I am pulling a lot of weight to keep things going because she only talks very little and is still learning but she will learn fast.
Also I have officially received my trunky papers.........the Mission is beginning to make my travel plans and this is how it works.......I answser yes to the question that my parents WILL be picking me up and then I will put your emails......the Mission will contact you in an email with information to call the church and make travel plan and do everything and I was told that NO......you don't have to pay for my plan ticket home. I hope that ya'll are doing well especially DAD and MOM with your health.......please take care of yourselves.......and listen to the Doctors.......Mom......I have been praying for you everyday and Dad too with Johnny and Laura.
I love you all Love Anna
May 9th:
Hello everyone!!! I'm hoping that everyone had an awesome Mother's Day!!!!!!!! I was very happy to talk to my family yesterday and that Laura is putting in her Mission papers!!!!!!!!!! yep....ya'll may have heard.......I am officially training a new missionary named Hermana Van Wagenen from California. I have a child!!!!! She is learning to speak Spanish and things just got REALLY REALLY hard.
I was so excited to hear that I was training and then reality set in...........I have been feeling VERY VERY inadequate and wondering why God has give me this responsibility when I still lack so much. This poor girl is struggling with it all but I know that she will learn fast and she is really a very sweet girl and its weird for me to have an American companion. I MISS Hermana. Medero sooooooooo much that it actually kinda hurts.
We were listed as having 11 people in church and 29 new investigators!!!! I was so excited to see that we were listed in the top!!! I am very happy for the work that I did with Hermana Medero.....I miss her & love her like crazy!!! She is already Senior Companion and was transferred to Formosa!
With my new Companion I just crack up some much every time she says something really American ( like how everyone breastfeeds in front of the whole world) and she is suffering her first infestation of bug bites everywhere........I remember my days in Ituzaingo so well......so I understand exactly how she feels emotionally. I asked for a blessing Saturday night from one of the Elders and I have a really special blessing and felt so much peace after-wards.....it was really amazing.
He told me lots of amazing things but one thing in particular was that this would be the area where I would have the most impact in my Mission. He told me that the numbers aren't important but that I would affect the eternities of people here. He told me that my Companion and I would learn and grow together. He told me that God didn't give me a Missionary to make me feel insufficient but that he knew what I capable off.
I wasn't expected to know everything but I was expected to do my best. He also told me how my Mission was preparing me for a greater work in the future and that at some point I would look back and see & understand. SO please pray for me that I will figure out how to do my best and help my Companion. Its even harder when you are training because you are pulling all the weight in the beginning. On another note: the missionaries here in our mission. We have officially received information about our new mission President who will be taking over the 1 of July.
His name is Ray Heyman and he is from Gilbert Arizona....he is serving as a Stake President in this moment and he served his mission in Argentina too!! One of his sons actually served in this Mission in 2000!!! Pretty cool......we got a picture of him with his wife. Pretty crazy!!!!! I can't believe it still!
I will have a new Mission President and then I go home in 3 1/2 months in October!!!!!!!!! CRAZY!!! Okay.......I love you all very much.
Hna. Anna Schmidt
May 2nd:
Hello family!! First off.............that's freakin awesome that we have finally gotten ride of Osama Bin Laden!!!!
No I have not heard anything about this yet here in Argentina..........they always talk about how the Radio says that we are the fattest country in the World......yep.....nothing more important than this...
Second, I have received one of my packages and I was sooo thrilled & crazy happy......it had all my makeup.....shoe inserts.....taco kits and trail mix and a ton of letters that my Zone Leader forgot to give to me!!!
Grandma and Grandpa Azbill.......I have received the conversion Story of Grandpa Azbill.....it was awesome and thank you for sharing it-------one day I will send a letter when I can!! Its expensive and NOT trustworthy here to send mail.
ALSO......THIS SUNDAY I WILL BE CALLING FOR MOTHERS DAY.......I HAVE NO IDEA WHEN YA'LL WILL BE IN CHURCH AND THERE IS A 5 HR DIFFERENT HERE SO I WILL TRY TO CALL CELL PHONES AND THE HOUSE BUT IT IS REALLY POSSIBLE THAT I WILL CALL EARLY BUT I HAVE NO IDEA YET BECAUSE I HAVE NOT RECEIVED RULES YET REGARDING WHEN I CAN CALL NEXT SUNDAY BUT BE READY FOR MY CALL ALL DAY!!
Wednesday is transfers and its pretty obvious that my companion will be leaving.....I will miss her......we have had sooo much success here in an area VERY hard and we actually had 11 people in church yesterday.........every week this are numbers that the mission sends out to all the missionaries of the best of the best and my companion and I were listed for 8 investigaters in church last week.....this next week will be for 11!!! REALLY awesome!!! okay I have attached Easter pictures!!! I love you all!!! Love Hna. Schmidt
April 25:
Hello everyone!!! First off Happy Easter or Feliz Dia de Pascua!!!!!!!
My companion and I actually had 8 investigators in church Sunday!!!!
That is AMAZING for the Capital of Corrientes and for our area. We did
divisions and had success!!! Sunday, I taught my Companion how we
celebrate Easter in the United States. Sadly.....just like Christmas
is here.....they celebrate it but not like us Americans who do
everything big with the Easter baskets, candy and hard boiled eggs.
I totally forgot to ask for an Easter Egg Kit!!!! I bought the biggest
eggs that I could find and we had an Easter Egg decorating party!!! I
actually painted the book of Mormon on an egg..... and I don´t want to
hear that it's apostasy......b/c its pretty darn awesome.
We also had lunch with a Missionary couple Brother and Sister Larsen who are from
Utah and they are serving here in Corrientes!!!
They are sooo awesome and they have such an amazing family!!!
Brother Larsen spoke in Branch Conference about how the parents here
are all friends with their children and let them do whatever they
want and he let the members have it!!!
I agreed with everything that he said.......
In my Mission I have learned so much about how I want my
future family to be and how I want to teach my children the Gospel
from day 1...in other new that's really awesome.... My
Companion and I are THRILLED because our convert of 2 weeks actually
left Saturday night to serve a Mini Mission in Formosa....you can't
even imagine how happy I am.....
This is a golden baptism and he will
serve a Mission in the future and baptize!!!! I'm not sure what is
going to happen in this next transfer (in one week) because there are
very few Sisters in the Mission and a lot of mini missionaries who only
serve for 6 weeks. Its very possible that I will have a mini
missionary.....I seriously doubt that I will ever train......its
actually a really scary idea. But we will see......
I am hoping for a missionary who's already here in the Mission.
I will miss Hna Medero......she seriously cracks me up........I have soo many funny
stories to share but little time.......
We had our interviews with Presidente Del Castillo this morning and he is really happy with our
work here together. We have a goal of 8 baptisms for the whole yr and
in 3 months my Companion and I had 4 !!!! I am very happy to be here
but I am hoping to end in Formosa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IN less than 3
months we are going to have a new MIssion President!!!!!!!! Its very
likly that it will be an American now.......that will be weird for
me!!! OKay.....I love you ALL so much!! Mom.....please tell Heather
and John personally that I am sooooo happy for them for their new baby
and how MUCH I miss Taylor!!!!!!! I love you all!!! I am always
praying for all of you individually Love, Hna. Anna Schmidt
