Letter from 07/20/09

Hey Dad,
It sounds like you had a really good time at blue lake. The only thing I remember from blue lake is you hanging on my tank, and the inside of my mask. But if I remember right, we still did really well with our air. I think if nothing else between Blue Lake and Sea Base, you learn how to conserve air ha ha. I really can’t wait until I will be able to just hang out with everyone again, that’s what I’m looking forward too. And, as far as the pavers go, I really wouldn’t mind doing them, cause there is nothing like working hard and that feeling that comes right after that the (I feel good) feeling.

We have been working really hard here and I am excited to see more miracles. I still know that there are a lot of changes that I need to make, or in other words repentance, so that I can be a better tool in the Lords hands. We fixed two more baptismal dates this week. One with a man named Khalil; we had to drop him for a bit, but I was really a miracle cause the reason we dropped him, was cause he couldn’t come to church because of work. So we fasted for him, and haven’t called him for a while and then we called him the other day, and said “how’s it going”, the first thing he said is, “I found another job and I don’t have to work Sundays anymore”. The Lord works in mysterious ways, that is for sure and on his own time table.

The second was with a man named Jessie, we have been working with him and he is reading the book of Mormon everyday and praying. He shared a experience with us this past Sunday, he said, “I was looking for this church on the internet and I found some anti Mormon stuff, then he said it made me feel really bad for a couple of days, and I didn’t read or pray. Then, I decided to start to read again, and he felt good again.

Oh… we also had another miracle, the man and his wife that you are going to meet are fantastic member missionaries he was on this camping trip with boys from the ward and he saw two people fishing, he went up to them and said oh you like to fish and then he said I am a Fisher Of Men, then he offered them a book of Mormon, and spoke with them and got their information. We talked with her and she seemed very nice.

And then, the last miracle we had was a lady that referred her self to get a book of Mormon in Salt Lake. We met with her and she said, “I have been searching for the right Church all my life but I still haven’t found it”, so we fixed a rendezvous and offered to help her. We left and like 15 min later, called her to move the appointment. She said, “Sure, and thanks for coming over I really felt something different; it made me happy”. We said we didn’t do much of anything, and then it hit me that she felt the spirit as we where speaking with her.

Dad, I really like what you said, to search for the things that I will want to look back on. Our new mission president said the same thing, he said (these are the GOOD OLD DAYS). So I will take your advice and search for the experiences that I want to remember.

Another thing that I learned this week is that you can honestly tie anything back to the gospel. I was chopping wood for a member the other day and I thought to my self “I can split this in one try; I tried and it didn’t work. Then the old member explained to me, you have to study it, and see if she is telling you anything. So I was thinking, yeah… right… He looked at it for a couple seconds, turned it a bit and swung. If I didn’t know any better I thought I saw Paul bunion right before my eyes. The wood split in two like butter. Then, he explained to me what he did. So I took the next piece of wood and looked at it, and found this little hair line crack, it was the only thing I could find, and this on was bigger, so I had to use a wedge. I took a couple swings and the wood split apart and flew three feet from where I was, and the wedge was stuck in the ground. I was like oui je suis bien en forme which means basically “yeah… I’ve been working out”, they laughed. All in all it helped me see that when we are faced with something, if we just take a moment to study it and search for the best way, we won’t use as much energy, and the job gets done faster it’s like you always say, it’s the lay out that takes the time.

Well, I love you and hope you have a fantastic week. Thanks for the e-mail.

Love Elder Schmidt

A couple of Pictures

Here's 2 pictures that Bronson emailed us. One is from the baptism they did, and the other is Bronson having fun on his P-Day

07/13/09 Letter From Today!

This week has been really great; we have been doing a lot of stuff to prepare for the Baptism of Sylvie. Everything went great; she was the happiest person on earth. All the members kept saying she has really changed for the better, since the first time that we met her. It is true, the gospel is changing her life. That’s one of the greatest things that we have the opportunity to witness as missionaries, is seeing the Gospel change people. She keeps telling Elder Lepretre and I to go to her country and preach the gospel. Her country is one of those areas where missionaries can’t go. So, remember the council of President Thomas Monson, to pray for those places to be opened.

One thing I have really realized, having these two baptisms, is that I have so much changing to do myself; I can not stop in my progression. I need to make changes and do some repenting. I love the Gospel because we can always become better, and be a little bit more obedient. When we are obedient we are changing our will to the fathers.

One thing that really is helping me to reach what I want is setting goals and working little by little to get them or attain the goal. Another thing that I am really trying to work on, is not looking at the faults of people. I read a talk from 1999; it was titled Martin Harris. He said, I don’t like the way members view Martin Harris, he did many great things, like mortgage his house to pay for the printing of 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon. He was chosen to be one of the 3 witnesses to the Gold plates. He was a well respected man in the community, and a man of his word. He gave 50 dollars to Joseph Smith so that he could move and many many good things. But this man, Martin Harris, is remembered for a couple slips/mistakes that he made, like losing the Manuscripts, losing trust in Joseph smith, he released from the High Counsel and then was excommunicated. This was a great man that repented for those things, and was later re-baptized and never said that the church was false.

So, the goal I made was, every time I see someone, and have a desire to make fun of them, I will look for the good thing, And also, those that have done bad in the past, remember their good qualities over the bad.

Well I better get going, I love you all. I hope you have a fantastic week.

Love Elder Schmidt

Letter Bronson sent on 07/09/09

Famile Schmidt,
Hey everyone, I thought I would send some pictures, to keep everyone entertained. Some of them you have already seen so sorry. Noting new is really happening here. I don’t think anything especially funny has happened, other than what I wrote in my e-mails.

Missions are great. I understand why when you ask someone how their mission was they will say “it was the best two years” or “it changed my life”, because what happens in those two years is some of the highest highs and the lowest lows. You also have some of the happiest times and the saddest, but you learn how to lean on the Lord to have faith in him and your Heavenly Father, to listen and follow the answers you receive, and then the quest becomes how can I become more obedient so I can receive promptings more frequently. One great thing the Mission is teaching me is how to change my will so that it is consistent with the will of the Father. I honestly think that is a life long goal, because I am far from it. But at least I am on the latter going the right direction.

One thing I really want is that at the end of my mission everyone will see a difference in me, because I don’t think anyone goes on a mission not to change. Besides that, this church is a Church of change and I ‘m not speaking of principles or the Gospel, but of the members. After all that is why we are here, to learn to grow and to change.

I am so very grateful for the restored Gospel in my life. My favorite part of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the plan of God is that I can make it back home into the presence of God with my family. I love knowing that I can obtain this kingdom of glory. It all depends on what choices I make now in life. I have studied much about how I can keep from sin and I found out that an answer is virtue, all sins start in our minds, so if we can become the master of our minds and let virtue garnish or decorate our thoughts unceasingly, very few thoughts will develop into sin. I see virtue as a thought filtering system it keeps our thoughts clean and pure.

I think studying the gospel is like an Astronomer, He first looks at the stars with his eyes but is curious to know more. So, he gets binoculars and looks again only to realize there is so much more to learn. Then, he looks through a telescope, then through a satellite telescope and realizes that the more knowledge that he gains, the more there is to learn.

Well, sorry this letter isn’t very proper it kind of skips all over the place. Well, better get going. I love you all.

Love,
Elder Schmidt

07/06/09 Email

Hey Everyone,
I hope you had a fantastic day of Independence! We had a BBQ at the church. I think that it was the only BBQ that I have ever been too, where they weren’t cooking ribs or hamburgers or hotdogs..... Bienvenue a France, welcome to France.

I had the opportunity to play the part as Joseph Smith in a play that all the Missionaries put on, about the first vision; it was great and everyone loved it.

I wanted to give you a challenge this week, I have been thinking what can I ask everyone back home to do that would help them progress, and it came to me this morning. It was reading an old conference addition Ensign. I learned so much, so my challenge is to read one talk a week from a former conference. I promise you will learn a lot. We need to study their words so we can follow them.

I love you all.

Love,
Elder Schmidt