Happy New Year!

Hello Everyone ~

This week is transfer week and I am staying and my companion is leaving.  :-(  My new companion is Sister Blackwell and she was my MTC companion. (Apparently that doesn't happen very often. It is rare.) So that will be fun. I am the senior companion which is weird since we have been out the same amount of time.

Riverfront Park

On Monday we went to Riverfront Park and it was sooooo much fun. When we were walking in the city it was snowing big snowflakes and it felt like I was walking in a movie in New York. Every time I go outside I feel like I am living in a movie like New In Town. It is just so foreign to me. Then this week we also got stuck in the snow a ton of times. We also almost died twice which you know is always an adventure. I am still not used to snow.

We met with a former investigator and she is a Messianic Jew which is very interesting. We are seeing her again this week. Her name is Jeannie and she doesn't think that she needs to be baptized again so that will be interesting to address. She also kept telling us how she believes everything that we say  ~  but really she doesn't. So her lessons are going to be awesome....ly fantastic.

I don't know if you've heard this before, but during my district meeting I learned that December 23th is actually called Happy Christmas Adam. (Apparently it is a Utah thing.) Then for Christmas Eve we went to Sister Cavanaugh's house and that was good  ~  then we went caroling and that is always fun! 

Caroling

Then for Christmas day I went to the Stake President's for breakfast a devotional then at 12 I skyped you!!!!!!!!!!!! It was so weird to see all of you. It took we a while to recover after seeing you. Only took me about a day to get over it. I am good now. 

Christmas Breakfast!

Christmas Devotional

Skyping

One morning this week we were getting bashed on by a potential investigator and all we did was testify to him. He believes that Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Ghost are entities of God. God took a part of himself and put it into a little baby who is Jesus. He told us that he hopes we eventually figure it out for ourselves. Not to be sassy on email ~ but I already have. I know this church is true and it has made me so happy.

I am so happy for Scott's friend. What is his name? The sisters were bummed because they want Scott as a friend to fellowship him.  He could skype for the lessons and be there that way if they want him as fellowship for his friend. Member missionary work is by far better than just missionary work. We as missionaries, rely on the members so much. I was a horrible member before my mission in the area of being a missionary. Just being a friend is a way to start because people will see a difference in you. They will notice the light that you radiate and they will want to know what it is even if they are not aware of it themselves.

Well I am being stretched yet again by the Lord. I don't want Sister Griffith to leave and I don't want to lead out an area that I am not really familiar with yet. I am so overwhelmed right now but I keep telling myself that the Lord knows what he is doing and that I am supposed to learn something because of this. I just want know what I have to learn now. This is my third transfer in a row of having a different companion. I want to have one for more than 1 transfer. I just can't wait to go on a mission with my husband when we are older where I don't have to worry about my companion changing. That will be the day!

Well I love all of you and I wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Toodaloo!

Sister Schmidt

Giant Radio Flyer

Spokane Sister Cities

Sister Huang

Olaf

One cold fridge!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas

Merry Christmas Everyone!

I am glad that you love the card and the nativity. I made it with love. I made it on the AFB at a FHE with the whole ward.

So this week was really well. On Tuesday we stopped by a potential investigator and we talked to her and she is now an investigator!! The sisters before I got here tried her house, which used to be where some less active members lived, instead they found Eva Dixon and her family. Her husband is not interested but she is. We found out that she used to meet with missionaries a long time ago and she was going to get baptized but her husband didn't want to join so she stopped meeting with them. We talked to her for awhile getting to know her and developing a relationship. We gave her a Book of Mormon because she asked if we had one. (Of course we did!)  She thought the Book of Mormon was written by Joseph Smith's best friend and she thought the writer was trying to be convincing and she didn't think that was necessary. WE explained that Joseph Smith's best friend did NOT write the Book of Mormon but that prophets did and it starts out in 600 BC and then she was interested and she asked for one. Glad we could clear up some confusion. We are meeting with her after the holidays on January 15th. We are excited. 

I went on exchanges this week with Sister Huang. She is from China and is going home on the 28th of December. She is awesome. I first met her when I was serving in Lewiston. She is the STL (sister trainer leader) here and she is fantastic. I just didn't get to teach with her because we did Chinese work all day. Their language sounds awesome and very difficult to pronounce. Sister Huang was trying to help me say a few simple things and I was stuck on the first word. I just couldn't pronounce it. ??? We taught one of her recent converts the last lesson in temple prep because she was going to get her endowment on Saturday. It was so cool.

On Thursday we went to a dinner appointment to the Stanfields. They have 5 little kids and the oldest is 9. They are so cute and adorable. I will send a picture of them. They love the sister missionaries. They always give us a hug whenever they see us. One of the girls gave me a big hug and said, "You are nice and very pretty." I got all mushy inside.

The Stanfield's
The little girl on the right is wearing Monica's missionary tag!

We met with a less active member and his family. He went to Japan and he gave us a pickled plum. It was firm when he gave it to us and when we got home to eat it, it was shriveled up. It tasted like vinegar. We have a video of it. I about died in the sink. It was gruesome.

We also got one of our investigators on date this week. Her name is Elena Olsen and this is the second time that I have taught her.  As we were talking with her the idea to ask her to be baptized came to mind and I asked and she said yes. So she is on date for the 30th of January. Sister Griffith was very surprised that she agreed to be baptized because she has been taught since 2013. The Lord knows His children and He knows when they are ready.

SO yesterday it was snowing pretty heavily. It has been snowing like crazy here for a few days and it is supposed to keep snowing for 4 more days. I will get my white Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  YAY :-) SO we got 5 referrals from the Spanish Elders in one night and we could only contact two of them because the other 3 were going to be out of town for the holidays but we can come back after the holidays.  On Sunday we tried the two we could visit ~ and we have no idea where it is ~ and we found it eventually ~ but first we got stuck in the snow in a creepy trailer park. But two really nice guys helped get us out. (I told them that I am from California and they laughed and said that makes sense.)  So I was extremely embarrassed. But one of the referrals we contacted and he is a new investigator and the other one told us to come back after the holidays.

I love you all and I miss you all !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Watch christmas.mormon.org. 

(You all should, it will make you feel warm and fuzzy inside.) 

Toodaloo!

Sister Schmidt

Keeping Busy

Hello Everyone!

So many things are happening back at home. I am so excited for Del Oro to compete for the State Championships!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I could be there and cheer them on. But I am here cheering for them. Just don't forget to let me know who wins.

I am not going to lie but I get really lazy when it comes to emailing. I get too excited to email you all and then when the day comes I get lazy and emailing home is super stressful. I didn't think it would be ~ but it is just one of those things that you have to experience as a missionary to understand. So I will do my best to give a full detail report about things that have happened this week. I have about 40 minutes to do this.

OH, before I forget. I have the info about skyping. So I will give you the info of the ladies skype account next week.  Also we only get to skype for 40 minutes since that is what the white handbook says. Just giving you a heads up so have things written down that you want to talk about if you want. We will be going over to her house at 12 and I will be skyping first. I will give you more info next week with specifics. If there is anything else that you want to know just email me.

Something I forgot to share before ~ when I was still in Lewiston and we had exchanges I went to Orofino and we stopped by to check on a lady and once she opened her door a HUMONGOUS dog comes running out and we learned that it is actually 98% wolf. So I was petting a wolf! It was so fluffy and nice and beautiful. So I thought you all would like to know that I have touched a wolf and I have been around so many dogs that you would be impressed. I have not freaked out ~ except once when it was a vicious pitbull. But I have been around other pit bulls and they have all jumped on me. I am still afraid of mean dogs but I am getting better. 

SO this week has been strange. On Monday we had a lesson with Greg Jensen who is about 60-70 years old and his girlfriend is a less active member. Our lesson topic was the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity. The Word of Wisdom went well. He said that he can quit alcohol, coffee, tea, tobacco and drugs because he doesn't even do drugs. He is such a jokster. Then we got to the Law of Chastity and he understood the being loyal before and after marriage but then it threw him off when we said that in order for him to get baptized he cannot live with Joyce. (We found out that he has been living with her when we were giving him this lesson.) Anyway, he was telling us how he can't go back to his apartment because it is depressing because it reminds him of his wife of 42 years who passed away about 2-3 years ago. He asked us, "SO you are telling me that if I want to be baptized I need to rent a motel room?'" We didn't know what to say to him. We felt so bad but these rules are not our rules. They are rules of the church from God. We told them that they can get married or that he can leave for the evenings and sleep at his place and then come and hangout with Joyce. He was thrown back. His countenance changed. But Joyce was being so supportive and telling him that they will figure it out and that this will not be the hardest thing for them to go through together nor will it be the last.  On a happier note we found out that he has been reading from the Book of Mormon and we want him to develop a testimony because if he knows that the Book of Mormon is true then everything else will fall into place. We have yet to have any contact with him this past week. They went out of town this weekend. Greg is an Air Force Veteran and he likes that our ward has villains and Air Forceman in it.

For the AFB we don't really do anything. We can't proselyte ~ we just help out with things like decorating. Nothing really exciting. But it is cool to go on the AFB though. Don't get me wrong. I have a soft spot for people in the military.

SO we had exchanges this week and I went to the Cheney YSA and it was cool to be around young people again. That was on Wednesday and then on Thursday I woke up feeling sick to my stomach and it turns out that I had the flu. I was inside ALL DAY long Thursday- Saturday. I did NOT feel like a missionary. I only threw up twice though. I am starting to feel better now. Being sick is the worst.

! Muddy Felicia !

SO on Monday when we had our lesson with Greg and Joyce I parked our Chevy Cruise, I strongly dislike Chevy, in the mud by accident and Sister Griffith is about to get out of the car and her foot sinks into the mud and so I slowly drive out of the mud and park somewhere else but while I am slowly driving out of the mud, mud gets flung

Specialized Training 12/11/15

over half of our car. I will send you a picture. It was hilarious and disgusting. It looks like monkeys threw poop at us.

On Friday I made myself go to Specialized Training. It was fantastic. I am so glad that I went. I asked my district leader, Elder Gingles and his companion Elder Bingham to give me a blessing and they said that they would love to. Also the zone leaders came into the room for the blessing and they were a part of the circle as well. This priesthood blessing has been my first blessing on the mission. It was a cool experience. Then after specialized training a lot of missionaries left but some stayed to talk to President privately and Sister Dymock because she is a psychiatrist. In between those visits I got to talk to President a lot and it was nice to just talk to him and not be rushed or him being rushed. He asked me how I am doing in a family ward coming from YSA and I told him that I feel like a new missionary. He laughed.

Well nothing really happened this week since I was mostly sick for it!

AWESOME BLOSSOM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

Love you all and I wish you a Merry Christmas!!!! Toodaloo

Sister Schmidt

Modern day loaves and fishes!!!!!!!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

So the snow.... I like it to an extent. Oh and I am the new designated driver! I drive really well in the snow. Sister Griffith is teaching me and I am a pro.  Sister Griffith lived in Centennial, CO - right by the temple. (Before I forget Sister Lovell is from St. George, Utah. She has four siblings, one older brother who is also blind and one younger brother and a younger sister. Her family didn't know that she was blind until she was 3 or 5 I can't remember. She has been out for over 14 months. She is awesome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss her!!!!!!!!!!!!)

 I have yet to get any information from President about skyping this Christmas. We know that we are going to Skype but we don't know the details yet. I will try before next week when I email you. I am so excited to see all of your faces and to hear your voices!

Barr's Humongous Christmas Tree

Monday we went to the Barr family for FHE and it was fun. Their tree is 18-20 feet tall!! Holy smokes!  That is one big tree. We took a picture with it so I will send it to you.  

We had a church tour with Greg Jensen with his girlfriend, Joyce, who is less active but who is being reactivated. It went really well and he loves how we do things. AWESOME BLOSSOM!  

Tuesday Sister Griffith and I went to the AFB (Air Force Base) and we helped decorate for the annual Base tree lighting. It turned out really good. They appreciated our help. Oh and something funny happened when we were on base. It might not be funny to you but at the time is was hilarious. So the Air Force police were looking inside of a truck and another Air Forceman walks over and says, Hey, that is my truck, and the police say, we know but we got a call that you have weapons in your truck. The Air Forceman then said, those are Nerf guns!!!!!!!!!! Sister Griffith and I were dying. 

Wednesday we had a lesson with Greg Jensen and we told him if he dies during heart surgery that God knows his heart ~ but he is stubborn and he says that he will push his open heart surgery until after his baptism. That is one crazy old man. 

Thursday was fantastic! Nicole Hall who is a recent convert went to the temple and did baptisms for the dead! She was so nervous but after she had a massive smile on her face. It was so cool to see a recent convert do baptisms for the dead because I was unable to see Brittany Harrison do them. Hopefully I can see her do them for her first time in February. The spirit was felt! The temple is just a good place.  When we got home around 9:05 (because there was traffic) we pulled up and checked the mail and some random girl comes and sits in our car thinking that we were someone else. Once she realized that we were not the people she thought we were she got out and her face was bright red and she was so embarrassed. We told her it was alright. (I remember when I did that in elementary school. So many people had the same car and color as mom. I met a lot of people though !) :-) 

On Friday we had a crazy referral. His name will not be mentioned but in the note section he wrote, "I think that I am falling in love with Satan and I am now starting to be a white supremacist." That is exactly what he wrote. Don't worry we are not going to go see him. We also had zone training on Friday and it was amazing. I received so much personal revelation it was spiritually draining. Then we had our ward Christmas party that evening and it was so much fun. It was also physically draining because everyone wants to talk to the missionaries. I just wanted to sit for a few seconds and eat the food that was on my plate. I am not looking forward to my wedding day when everyone wants to talk to me when I just want to eat my food and sit for a second. But that will be an exciting day whenever it happens. So a miracle happened at the party if you couldn't tell by the subject of this email. So the Relief Society underestimated how much food to bring and so there was not going to be enough chicken for everyone who came. There were 24 tables set up with 8 chairs around them, and during the party we had to set up three more tables with 8 chairs around them. But after everyone was eating there was left over chicken. Modern day loaves and fishes!!!!!!!!!! We were given a lot of it and so I am excited to have green beans, mashed potatoes, and chicken parmesan for a few dinners this week!! 

On Saturday we had a lesson with one of our investigator couples and it was rough but very good at the same time. They asked questions that I would never have thought about before so we are going to look up references for them. So I am excited. We also contacted another referral and she is so sweet. Her name is Rickie and her husband's name is Jordan. Her cousin referred her because her grandma just passed away. So we just talked to her for a little bit and we are going to see her again sometime this week. While we were there a Kirby salesman came by ~ I thought of you mom. 

Then on Sunday Greg came to church and Janette who is another investigator of ours. Then we had another lesson with one of our investigator couples. This one was rough because the lady was trying to prove our church wrong. Some things she asked I didn't know how to answer. She wants to know where it says things in the Bible. She is very educated with the Bible. So it was an interesting lesson. She asked us about our temples and asked why people outside of our church can't go inside?  She thinks that goes against what it says in the bible. She talked about the temples in the bible and how Jesus took the veil off so people can go inside and worship. Where does that say that in the Bible? I want to know. She is very hard~hearted but her husband is more open. They believe that if you believe in Jesus Christ and live a good life that you will be saved. Then we had dinner with the Tippets in our ward and Brother Tippets served his mission in the CA Roseville Mission! He is in his early 30s and he knows Matt Johnson. They are good friends. Small world!!!!!!! 

Well I love you all and I hope you have a great week! Toodaloo!!!!!!!!!

Sister Schmidt