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!
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