puppies!

Hey Family!

 

I just have to say that I'm so jealous y'all are getting a new puppy soon!  The pictures you sent were adorable!!  It's a bummer that I by the time I get back home it will be all grown up and big but that's okay.  I have three favorite dogs over here in Louisiana.  Number one is Boudreaux, he's part wolf and giant but he's a big teddy bear.  Number two is Nunu, she's a pitbull full of so much energy.  And number three is Duke, he's a little guy and is always so calm.  Dogs are just the greatest aren't they.  :)  I'll try sending a picture of Boudreaux for y'all next week. 

 

This week was kinda hard but it was good nevertheless.  Let's just say there were lots of haters, maybe it was because of the holiday weekend?  Who knows, but it's all good and it's the start of a new week!  The greatest lesson I learned this week is how grateful I am to be able to keep busy and work hard everyday.  On Wednesday we didn't leave the apartment the whole day because Sister Andrade wasn't feeling well.  I stayed busy reading, working on our map, cooking and what not which was fine, but the next day it was so hard to get motivated to go and do anything.  Throughout the mission people always ask what motivates you to keep going which honestly I didn't know.  Until I was reading a conference talk one day called 'Act in All Diligence' and learned that ultimately we should do everything because the Savior and His love for us.  Someone once said, love lasts fear fades, which is why we must teach out of love because otherwise it will eventually fade.  Everything in the gospel always turns back to love.  The love that God had for us to send his son to die for us, the love that Christ had for us to willingly submit to his Father's will.  And what do we do?  We love everyone in return.  One of my favorite scriptures is in Moses chapter 7:

27 And Enoch beheld ^aangels descending out of heaven, bearing ^btestimony of the Father and Son; and the Holy Ghost fell on many, and they were caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.

28 And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the ^aresidue of the people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it that the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the mountains?

29 And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst ^aweep, seeing thou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?

30 And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth, yea, millions of ^aearths like this, it would not be a beginning to the number of thy ^bcreations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and yet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just; thou art merciful and kind forever;

31 And thou hast taken ^aZion to thine own bosom, from all thy creations, from all eternity to all eternity; and naught but peace, ^bjustice, and truth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face and have no end; how is it thou canst ^cweep?

32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own ^ahands, and I gave unto them their ^bknowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his ^cagency;

33 And unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should ^alove one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they ^bhate their own blood;

The Lord was crying because all he asked of his people was to love one another and yet they hated each other.  Everything always turns back to love!  Anyways not to go off on some random love tangent but it's super sweet to really study the affect that love has on others. 

A sweet miracle from this week though was two of our investigators came to church yesterday!  The office elders used to be teaching them back in january or somewhere around there but when they got transfered they stopped seeing them.  Long story short they never had an area book so no one knew about them but one of the elders called us up and we got to meet them and we've taught them a couple times since them.  Their names are Natasha and Rabrisha!  It was Rabrisha's first time to church ever and she brought her son with her and both of them seemed to really enjoy it.  And Natasha said she'd been a couple times way back when.  All Natasha said was that it was the same as the last time she went and she wanted to go home after sacrament meeting.  But Rabrisha loved it and said she wants to stay for all three hours next sunday!  Oh and Natasha is Rabrisha's mom.  I'll tell y'all more about them next week. 

Another sweet miracle was getting to work with Miranda and Tasha's mom, Melissa.  The Lewis' are my absolute favorite family in our ward.  Mostly because I feel like I can relate to them all and they don't pretend to be the perfect family.  I know I've already mentioned them before but I can't remember what I said.  Melissa has thyroid cancer so she can't physically do much for a couple weeks in the month but she loves doing service so we got the whole family to come help out at Sister Heard's home.  They just moved into our ward back in March and I remember Miranda being so shy, just like me.  And now here she is preparing to go on a mission!  And Tasha is awesome as well.  It takes some time for her to get used to all the changes in missionaries but once we do she's open.  For some reason she reminds me a lot about Sarah even though they're complete opposites.  I love just getting to know them and their family because they've been through so incredibly much.  It's honestly taught me to never judge anyone for things you might not know.  Also Boudreaux is their dog and they have tons of bunnies.  :)  we're working on getting them all to come back to church, but it will just take time. 

And then we went shepharding yesterday with Sister Lewis which was sweet.  We couldn't get another sister to come with us so Sister Andrade and I had to stay together, but it was still great.  We got to learn tons about the area from her and it was sweet to hear how much of a blessing it is to have sister missionaries in our ward.  Perfect timing if I do say so myself.  Also we have a pretty crazy area...I already knew this but found out yesterday that a couple years back the zipcode 70805 which is where our chapel is located, was ranked the most dangerous in the nation.  Don't worry though Mom, missionaries used to be banned from going into certain areas but it's all good now.  Plus we're being safe and protected by the Lord and there's no where I'd rather be...I love North BR!  Working with members is truly the way to go!  Now we have a return appointment with Sister Lewis and she's inviting her non member friend to be there!  Sweet blessings.

  

Hmm..I don't know what else to tell y'all.  If ya have any questions or anything let me know and I'll try to answer them!  Good luck with picking out a puppy!  And best of wishes with finals in the upcoming weeks, Sarah!  I'll actually write you back today for once because we're going down to Gonzalez for the day.  The Elders decided to make a special trip down because I asked if they were going down anytime soon so I could trade my shoes since that's the closest store and they said we could go down today!  Thanks for the shoes Mom!  I like them but they're just like my other ones so I'm gonna try switching them, I hope that's okay.  Oh hey you should name the new puppy Boudreaux if it's a boy.  :)  Also Sarah you will never believe this, actually Nik might have already told you, but he was in the same district as Sister Andrade in the MTC!  it's such a small world!  Also Bro. Holloway said he called you guys but y'all never answered...

Enjoy your week!  I love y'all!!    

Love Always,  Sister Schmutz

p.s. the picture is from last monday sorry it's so zoomed out.  That's our whole district!  We went mini golfing and then the Prairieville Sisters and us went shopping at Goodwill! 

july

Hey Family!

 

It sounds like y'all had a wonderful time up in Rexburg this past weekend.  The places y'all went sound pretty sweet..you're gonna have to take me when I get back.  Swimming, sand dunes, frozen yogurt, and family, nothing sounds better than that.  :)  Seriously I can't believe it's already July.  Time is just flying by so stinkin fast. 

 

A random picture of my desk for y'all!

 

Thank you for sending back the flashdrive this coming week!  I haven't gotten the shoes you sent yet mom probably because the office is crazy busy with transfers this past week.  Also my ear is all good now.  :)  nice haircut Emily!  Haha and I loved the pictures of y'all.  Thank you for sending them!  Sarah, go onto facebook and add Wana Lee Mills as your friend.  She's the sweetest lady in our ward and I told her to go find you but I'm not sure if she did or not.  And then tell me what she says and everything, you'll love her. 

 

It's been a really good week to say the least.  Our district is completely changed now with transfers but it will be good.  

 

Here's our district:

Office Elders: Elder Jessop, Navitakula, Gilbert

Zone Leaders: Elder Foremaster, Ageda

Tiger Bend: Elder Morrow, Sun

Prairieville Sisters: Sister Seegrist, Thornley

 

All of us there helping the Tate's move...that's our whole district but the office elders are missing.

 

All the companionships changed except ours but it's sweet.  Our biggest focus for this transfer is getting to know everyone in the ward better.  We have a huge list of members but hardly any of them are active and the majority of them we've never met.  Plus tons of them have moved and their phone numbers are disconnected so we're gonna try meeting as many people as we can and helping our ward.  I'm real excited for it because there's so many people that we need to see! 

 

Church yesterday was awesome!  I'm not gonna lie though, it's stressful coming to curch as a missionary because you're constantly thinking of the less actives and investigators that are attending that haven't attended forever.  Wondering what they're thinking of everything and if they understand everything.  But yesterday Brother Born came to church for the first time in forever!  We've been working with him lately and he keeps coming up with excuses to not be there.  But he came yesterday and stayed for two whole hours which is pretty sweet considering he's in a wheelchair and it took a lot to get him there.  Plus Miranda's sister, Tasha came for the first time in a long time as well and she stayed for all three hours!  Their cousin Leila came also!  We even got all three of them to come to a fireisde last night and Tasha said she actually enjoyed coming to church!  At first I was worried because it took a couple weeks for Tasha to start talking to us and then once Sister LaPorte left Tasha wouldn't come into the lessons again.  But we've built the trust back up again and we're getting through to her!  Miracles do happen.  :)  Our next step is to get her and Miranda both on missions, and Leila as well!  Seriously they are the sweetest family.  They've been through a lot but they're doing great despite the set backs.

 

Praireville Sisters and us helping the Tate's move.  That truck was completely packed full by the end of the day.

 

This week we also got to help some members from the 3rd ward move which was awesome.  Haha seriously we've helped so many people move and clean their houses I've learned that I'm only gonna give my kids one toy and we'll keep the house reasonably clean.  I love doing service though and finding little ways we can serve those around us.  Sister Andrade and I also cleaned Sister Easley's home.  She's 93 and the sweetest lady you'll ever meet.  Since she can't really do much, and her daughter that lives with her doesn't really clean that much either we went over and dusted everything which she absolutely loved. 

 

Birthday Breakfast!

 

In Alma Chapter 32 of the Book of Mormon, Alma goes about teaching people but no one seems to be listening to him.  But "they began to have success among the poor class of people"(v.2) these poor people were cast out of their synoguges and couldn't worship because they weren't dressed nice and what not.  I love this story because in North BR there's tons of people struggling to make it.  Majority of the people have multiple jobs and they barely make it through the month.  The story goes on to say that they were cast out so they could be humbled, "he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word."(v.6)  I know that this is true, we're all put through things so that we can become humble.  So many people I've met here and humble and willing to give of everything.  People feed us when they hardly have enough food for themselves.  But here's the problem, "blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather in other words, blessed is he that believeth in the word of God."(v.16)  Everyone was compelled to be humble because they have no other choice.  But in reality they hardly have enough money but here they are with their fancy iphones and nice cars.  So yes, people are humble but they aren't humble because they choose to be.  I wish everyone could just understand how worldly things don't matter at all.  This probably makes no sense at all...but it made sense in my head this morning.  The people in Louisiana are crazy but I absolutely love them!     

 

Sister Andrade and me.

 

Anyways I love y'all so much!!  Let me know if there's anything I can do for you.  The pictures today include 1. Sister Andrade and me.  2. Praireville Sisters and us helping the Tate's move.  That truck was completely packed full by the end of the day.  3. All of us there helping the Tate's move...that's our whole district but the office elders are missing.  4. A random picture of my desk for y'all.  Enjoy!   

 

Love Always, Sister Schmutz

transfer number 4

Hey Family!

 

So it sounds like y'all think I'm being transfered tomorrow, and here's the big news...I get another 6 glorious weeks here in Baton Rouge!!!  Plus I get to stay with Sister Andrade as well!  We're both stoked and ready to make the most of this upcoming transfer.  I'm super happy to be staying here because there's so much work to do and there's so many people we need to help.  And man I absolutely love it here.  Dad I just have to say that it's crazy that the longest you stayed in an area was for five months or so.  Last night at dinner we were all talking about the longest we've been in a single area and the average was around seven months.  Haha and Elder Franke served in the same area for fourteen months.  It mostly depends on your mission president, but I think President Wall usually likes to keep us there for a couple months at least.  Oh yeah, and Elder Franke is going home tomorrow and I give him y'alls address and phone number and he said he's gonna go see y'all.  It's gonna be weird without him here because he came to BR the day that I got here and now that he's leaving I'll be the one here that's been here the longest.  Everyone's leaving but me..haha but I love the people here so it's all good.  You'll have to tell him I say hi when he calls or comes to see y'all.  He's an awesome missionary.

Anyways a sweet miracle from this past week was a media referral.  Basically if you get onto mormon.org you can type in your address and info and missionaries will come visit you.  So we got one two weeks ago or so for a girl named Valarie and we decided to just stop by because she didn't answer our calls.  Turns out her son Jonathan is a member in our ward currently serving his mission in Vegas.  Everyone always talks about him and how good of a missionary he is so it was sweet to be able to meet his mom.  Jonathan is the only member in his family and we've met his cousins before but they're anti.  We met her for the first time last monday and she's a super sweet lady.  We just talked to her a little about how you receive mission calls and what Jonathan's doing everyday.  And boy you could just feel the love that she has for her son and how much she misses him.  While we were sitting there talking there was just this overwhelming feeling of love that Heavenly Father has for her and how important she is.  She's had a crazy life and she's just super sweet.  It's awesome because we asked her if she ever went to church with Jonathan and she said she didn't.  But she said she'd ask for work off so she could come in two weeks.  It's an awesome experience because we have to teach her from a different approach because she wasn't the one that actually put in her info online.  Haha I'm guessing it was Jonathan because she said he keeps asking if any missionaries have stopped by.  So basically she's not real interested in learning more...but she is open to listening.  So our plan is to just take everything real slow and start at the basics and just be her friend.  Plus what's even better is whenever she's cancelled she always let us know and always reschedules.  That means a ton because even members cancel and don't tell us.  Aw man I see so much potential in her!  With Jonathan serving his mission I think it's softened her heart so much and nows the time for her.  If you haven't read the talk from President Monson during last preisthood session of conference you should.  I hope and pray that Valarie will be like that experience, it would be a sweet miracle!

 

Thank y'all so much for the packages and letters.  Seriously I feel so spoiled for this past birthday.  Maybe I should be away from home for every birthday in the future.  :) but really thank you so much I love everything you sent.  My two favorites are the blue shirt from Sarah and the brown and cream skirt.  Thank you!!  And Emily that sticker and card you made are sweet.  Dude I hope you're taking graphics again next year because you're awesome at it.  I put the sticker on my journal to help motivate me to write more often...so hopefully it will help!  Haha and I think I'll be good on clothes for the rest of my mission.  Thank you so much! 

 

Sarah I hope you had a great birthday as well.  Sounds like some fun times going to the sand dunes and what not.  The zone leaders and prarieville sisters came over Saturday morning with breakfast for us which was super sweet of them.  Then the rest of the day was pretty normal just visiting lots of people and doing the Lord's work.  We had dinner at a members home and everyone sung to me.  And then we went over with the office elders and zone leaders to the Olsen's (the office couple) to sing happy birthday because it was also Elder Olsen's birthday.  And then the office elders and zone leaders surprised me with a poster card with candy for my birthday.  A super sweet day none the less.  Oh and the Banks made me a cake that we ate on Sunday.   :)

 

Elder Franke, Foremaster, Ageda, and Jessop.

It's been raining here a lot so it's actually not too hot out lately which is nice.  Geez and the rain here is crazy.  We were at the Banks on Sunday and it just started pouring outside.  The thunder and lightning here is crazy loud as well.  Haha so when we were leaving Tae said she'd walk us out to the car under her umbrella but the whole front yard was a giant puddle and we were drenched but it was all good. Haha I love the rain!  I can't wait until August and September when hurricane season is really here and will rain a ton more.

Sister Banks, Tae, and Beatrice.

Something sweet I read this week from the Book of Mormon was in Alma where Ammon and Aaron went about being good old missionaries.  Seriously those two are the perfect missionaries and such good examples with perfectly inspired questions, ideas, testimony, and commitments.  Something I loved was in chapter 20 verse 29 when Ammon just found his brothers from prison, it saying, "And when Ammon did meet them he was exceedingly sorrowful, for behold they were naked, and their skins were worn exceedingly because of being bound with strong cords.  And they also had suffered hunger, thirst, and all kinds of afflictions; nevertheless they were patient in all their sufferings."  Some days I feel like no one is progressing and everything we do fails.  But when you look at the brothers of Ammon they were imprisoned and beat for trying to share the gospel.  When you see that, all you can help but think is we've got it pretty good.  And it's true, we are blessed to be able to share the gospel right now at this time.

 

I hope y'all have a nice last week of june!  Time just keeps on flying by. I love y'all so much and thank you for all you do for me!  Oh yeah and President Wall did call about Annie, he apologized for putting it off for so long.   

 

Love Always, Sister Schmutz