03/30/09 Transfers

Hey,
How is it going this week? Thanks so much for the invitation to Grandma's 50 years in America! I hope that everything went off without a hitch.

Sorry I couldn’t get a e-mail off last week. I actually wrote a huge one, and it just would not let me send it. I wish that I could have at least sent pictures, but don’t worry this week went really well. We fixed a baptismal date, but I won’t get to be the one who has the opportunity to teach her anymore. We received transfer calls today; it turns out that I am staying in Geneva, but no longer Spanish speaking, thank heavens!! ha ha That was a little much for me.

I will be (DRUM ROLL!!!!) A Senior companion to Elder Laws. This is going to be really interesting. Now, I have the old equipe in which I just came from, that had no Amis. I know that we will find someone to help bring closer to their Heavenly Father. So, in other words I am going to need your prayers this transfer, because I am going to have to be the one who teaches a lot of the lessons. So, pray for me to be able to speak clearly to the people that they might understand!

Oh, I forgot to tell you my debit card is not working still I think it’s because there is a very large scratch in the little band thing.

This past week has been a week of Spanish Rendezvous and let me tell you, its so hard when you want to participate, but you can’t. All in all it was fantastic; I learned a lot!

This past Thursday, we went down to the driving place to get a permi de conduire (Swiss drivers license-good for life) because the mission office asked us too; not really sure why. The cost of it was 100 Swiss francs; they try to justify it by saying that that’s as much as we would have spent on a bike if we had one. Hopefully, that didn’t shock you too much mom and dad when you saw that transaction.

I also had the opportunity to do an exchange with one of the office Elders, it was great! We where supposed to teach some Muslim man in English, I think they chose me to go because of my great knowledge of teaching Muslim people from St. Etienne ha ha. It turns out the address was bad, so we ended up doing some porting!

Then, we started up a little Saturday ping pong with some amies and some recent converts and they couldn’t believe how good I was at Babyfoot (AKA foose ball). I kept telling them I had never played before, it was fun! Then, we played a game of pool, and it was one of those shots where you have to jump a couple of balls to get it in. I approached the table with the presents that I was good but in a joking way. I did the jump shot, and some how it actually worked, and then right after that I went to hit another ball into the corner pocket and then a chain reaction happened and hit like four other of my balls in. I was thinking in my head, did that just happen? They thought I was amazing! It just reminded me when of when I would play pool with dad and be like “six ball corner pocket”, and the six would go around the table about six times before arriving at a corner pocket. Then when it went in, I would act like I meant to do that. Well sorry for that little tangent ha ha it was fun.

This next part might really interest Shane a lot!!! Today for preparation day we went to see this huge Particle Excellerator; it’s the largest in the world. It is really deep in the ground, and they run Protons into each other. The name of the place was called CERN (European center for Nuclear Research). It’s about a mile around, but in the earth. I saw it on the Discovery Channel once. Let’s just put it this way, they where talking…. and not one of us understood what the heck they where talking about. Elder Griffin looked at me and said, “This must be what its like when we teach people the first lesson”. The lady was talking in the back round about matter, and dark matter, and Dark energy. Elder Griffin was whispering to me words like Apostasy, Restoration, Holy Ghost. Then, he said, “Seriously, think about it, all this stuff makes complete sense to her, and we just shake our heads up and down trying not to feel stupid.” He said, it’s the same with our investigators, that’s why we need to teach simply. I said, “I know, we need the milk before the meat” ha ha. He was making me laugh so hard.

Oh, and the best part was a senior couple (I swear they must be from the Harmon ward), he posed the question, “does this line of work make scientist think that there is no God?” Then he said, that Joseph Smith said 200 years ago that all things revolve around a center. Then (this is the best part), he said, "I’m just glad to see that your just starting to catch up with us, we will give you a brochure after". Every single missionary was like…”what are you doing? But it’s ok, he had the best of intensions.

Other than that, not much has been going on here. I am starting to get excited for General Conference. I can’t wait… its going to be great! Word of the Prophet and his Apostles, is like candy to my ears; I love it! We listen to at least three or so conference talks a week, and I learn new things every time. I am really nervous for this coming transfer, cause I don’t know how to be a SR Companion yet. So, once again, pray for me! I love you all so very much; you’re the best support team a missionary could ask for.

Love
Elder Schmidt

03/16/09 This week was amazing...

Hey Everyone,
Let me tell you what just happened. We are doing our e-mails and we just found out that one of the Elder’s is leaving Miremont. So, I am going to be in a three some companionship, which is going to be really weird, cause I don’t know how to speak Spanish (one lick). So, I will probably have a lot of time to ponder around here ha ha. No more cantiques, we are going to be singing Himnos ha ha. So, that was some crazy news that we just received.

This week was amazing. Last preparation day was awesome, at the car show, I think there was every cool car that you could possibly think of, including, the Lamborghini, which had a model lady to stand next to it. I thought to myself, that car is beautiful enough, do you mind taking a step aside so I can get a picture of the car by itself ha ha.

So, that’s really cool to hear that Vic is getting scuba certified. I am beginning to see Sebastian’s point of view when he sang UNDER THE SEA. I am pretty sure that should be the theme song for any scuba diver.

My Companion Elder Asay and I have seriously contacted everyone on the road, even so much that we have contact them twice. I figure why not give them another chance to accept, right? We had 50 finding lessons this week, and the average for a missionary is 8-10. We did however; find someone really cool to teach. His name is Virgillian. He let us in, and we taught him the restoration. Then he told us to come back in three days, so that his wife could be there with him, it was awesome. They asked a lot of good questions. I think they are going to love the plan of salvation. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be with there spouse for eternity.

It has been a great week, and the weather is really starting to warm up. I can’t wait till summer, cause its the last one here ha ha. Might as well make the best of it!

I have been reading my book of Mormon every day and I love it I seriously learn something new every time; I cant even explain. I think my companion is getting a bit irritated, when we have comp studies, cause I just lay everything out there, and I get so excited that I forget to let him talk. I read in Alma in ch 17:12 et 13, it talks about their desire to share the gospel, and in 17:21-25, it says that his only desire was to serve the king. In verse 29, he finds a way to share the gospel through his service. Then, in Alma 26: 22, they where able to bring thousands of souls unto repentance. The point I wanted to get across, is it started with the desire to share the gospel, and he found a way to share it, through service. So I bet you cant guess what I’m going to ask you to do.... Look for ways to serve others so that you might find a way to share the gospel, and bring one soul that is so precious to repentance and then to the waters of Baptism.

I love this work, I love every opportunity the Lord gives me to help others, and in so doing, I am following the example of my Savior Jesus-Christ. Hopefully, I will help someone come closer to their Heavenly Father. I love you all so much. I pray for you all, and I am thankful that I have wonderful family and friends who love me.

Love Elder Schmidt

03/09/09 Letter inside mailbox from family... Priceless!!

Family,
Hey Mom,I got both of your letters that you sent this week; it was a great surprise! It doesn’t matter that they where a bit late. I was thinking about making a commercial like the church makes that says "mail box 32.00 dollars... key for mailbox 2.00 dollars, letter inside mailbox from family,priceless! Isn’t it about time you send your missionary mail? This message was brought to you from the missionaries of the church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints" ha ha Mom, you are doing pretty good, two letters in one day. I almost didn’t want to open both of them in the same day. Thanks mom I really enjoyed the stories.
This week has been great, but hard at the same time. We have had some great experiences. This past Tuesday we had this mission couple come to our apartment and they arranged a ton of stuff and made us throw a lot of stuff away. We didn’t have any way to dispose of it at all. So, they asked us to go to the mission home, and ask if we could use the Traffic, which is this big white van; so we did. Let’s just say that we didn’t have a license to drive it, but it was a great adventure. I was the one that got to drive, and let me tell you there are some weird traffic laws here. What made it even better is it was a stick. Elder Asay and I, lets just say, had the times of our lives. I took some pictures.
Another weird thing that happened is we where just sitting at the tram stop just Elder Asay and I, and this man just pops out of no where with this news video camera and just starts filming us. So we didn’t know what to do, so I thought to myself, might as well get some free advertisement. I made me tag very visible and turned Le Livre de Mormon so that it could be read, than he just took off; it was pretty funny!
We had the opportunity to have an area 70 come to our zone conference. His name is Elder Paya, he is French. It was cool cause half of it was in English and half was in French, and I could understand them both very easily. I even answered in French, and gave the opening prayer it was great! I love when our Heavenly Father gives us challenging situations, cause that just means that he is helping us grow stronger. A rock must have pressure, before it can become a diamond.
Oh, and this passed Sunday I had the opportunity to get up and talk about the spirit, for five min or so, in sacrament; it was great. What else has been happening, the work here is kind of going slow; we still only have one ami. However, this week, we decided we are going to get 40 finding lessons. That’s when we teach a principle, bear testimony, and then invite to act. I know the Lord will bless us with someone to teach, if we work diligently, have faith and rely on his timing.
Today we are going to go and do something great.....lets just say Dad, Vic, Dallas, and Kent, and Frank, will all be jealous. I am going to one of the world famous Car shows here in Geneva, don’t worry I will take a lot of pictures and hopefully, I can sit in a Lambo or something, maybe a Miclearin F1 (I probably spelled that wrong; sorry. It’s all coming together…. my Mission President was inspired sending me here… ha..ha I’m just kidding! Its going to be sweet! I swear this transfer is going by way to quickly, its already half over, wow. Well, I better get going, I love you all; cant wait to hear from you!!!!

Elder Schmidt

03/02/09 An instrument in the Lord's Hands

JOAN MARIA'S BAPTISM DAY!!!

"Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day. Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel....."
3 Nephi 27: 20-21

Family,
This week has been so great! I received a call from St.Etienne, and it was Jean Maria, he said “I want to be baptized and I want you to do it”. I told him that I would be honored. He had already spoke with my mission President and got permission for me. I took a 3 hour ride to St.Etienne, with one of the assistants, it was great. When I arrived he gave me a big hug, and said, “Thanks for this gift that you have given me, I know that it is a fit from God, but thanks so much for talking to me that night on the road, for bringing me this great message.” At this time I was thinking, “Wow, God really does guide the work”, cause we where just out that night because we felt like we should stay out a bit longer contacting.
This was such a great experience for me cause I feel like we just taught him principles to his mind, and the spirit is the one that carried this message to his heart. it is wonderful this feeling of being an instrument in the Lords hands. I can’t tell you how many times I say stuff, that has nothing to do with the subject that we are talking about, but I just feel like I have to say it. I know that there is power in callings, cause I could do this no other way than with the help of the Lord.
I am so grateful to be a missionary in the Lords vineyard at this time, cause I know that he truly is directing the work here, and all across the world. I love this church, I know it is true, and I love sharing this great message.
The baptism went great. I had the opportunity to do the baptism in French. I was going to do it in Spanish, cause that is his native tongue, but there was only one witness who was familiar with Spanish. The hot water was not working in the font, but that didn’t stop us... it was freezing. I mean I was shivering, but in the words of Jean Maria, “it was "PERFECT". I think I would have to agree; it was perfect. Cold water cant stop anyone from making a covenant with their Heavenly Father.
I will try to write a hand written letter, sorry this is so short but I had to retype it, cause it was erased for some reason. I love you all. Things are going great here in Geneva. My companion is hilarious; I love it. Thanks for all your love and support. Try to share your testimony with someone this week.

Love Elder Schmidt

Joan Maria has Chosen

to be BAPTIZED!!! We're so excited for him! He has asked Bronson to do the baptism! My Mom recieved a letter from Joan Maria, here it is...

Dears Brother Victor and Sister Rebecca,
The time is arrived, I asked to my brothers my desire of be Baptised....
We have all ready, Bronson is coming from Geneva; He is who will give it to me. I asked because, He was the first Brother who was taking care of me, and with him God's grace came, and He (after was added to the team Brother Hamilton) whose Friendship and thirsty of Truth and God wisdom they stole my heart...
Now all is ready to true this Saturday at 5pm FT and, Sunday 11am confirmation...
I have big confidence on you!
Please, be closer in your prayers... I know, the distance is big but, even with that I feel you very close, so, please, I beg your prayers! On the Heart of Jesus we will be one at that time...
Ut unum sint -Jn 17-
Joan Maria

GOING PRIVATE

After debating we've decided it would be best to make this blog private. However if you would still like to read the blog please leave me a comment with your email address or send me an email with your email address and let me know you want to still have access to the blog. My email is ashlee3@hotmail.com put in the subject line Bronson's blog so I will be sure not to miss it!! This will allow me to give you access you'll just have to log in when you want to visit! So its one extra step but it will make this safer!! I will be making this private as of APRIL 1ST so please make sure to email me!! We welcome anyone who is following Bronson's mission!! Thanks so much for your help

02/24/09 Back in Switzerland!

Hey Everyone,
So much has happened the passed week, so, I’ll try to get it all down so that you can understand it. My mission president called me up on transfers and told me that I was going to be serving with the previous assistant Elder Kimble, “How’s your Spanish”. I said, “I don’t know any Spanish. The only thought that came to mind was I could order a burrito from Baracoa in Spanish, but that’s about it ha ha. So anyway, about a day goes by, and I receive another call from President Peterson, saying that I was going to be serving with Elder Asay. So, I was like great, still in a Spanish companion ship.

So it has been really stressful cause this whole week I have been trying to learn Spanish. I can almost say a simple prayer, but that’s it. We went to church, and it’s basically a Spanish ward. Half of the talks where in Spanish, and surprisingly enough I got the just of it. We also had class in Spanish. Wow… go missions, they really push you to your limits.

Then, in church I saw my mission president and he told me he wants me to focus more on French, and have Spanish come after. So that was some weight lifted from my shoulders; thank goodness. However, we still have rendezvous in Spanish, and pretty much search for Spanish people to talk to. I am the designated listen for Spanish; when I hear it, I call the other elders over to talk to them, that’s my job ha ha. Along the way I get to speak French.

My companion is way tranquil, and way funny. We where porting, and I saw the name José, and I said, “Are you ready for this, in a movie advertisement voice, and he said "Bring it on José"; it was so funny. In that same building we where taking the elevator up to the top floor, but the door would not open. Then, it started going down again, and there was a guy standing there. He said to us, "you guys came back". We went back and talked to him a bit and fixed a time to go back to his house to talk. Then, the man went into his apartment. Elder Asay was like, "that was a MIRACLE"! He is really cool, I look forward to serving with him. He is from Dallas Texas, but he isn’t a hick at all.

We also had the chance to play soccer with the Spanish guys here. The field got so muddy cause we all had cleats. We where all sliding around and were all muddy. I stayed up the longest without falling, and then I really biffed it, like you would see in the movies, where they slip and fall face first into mud and get it everywhere. Then I heard my companion yell "the king has fallen", I just laughed.

It is really different being in Geneva, because it is so dang big. I have had the opportunity to talk with Americans; it’s so good to hear an American accent.

What else has been going on... we don’t really have any Amis right now, but we have faith that we will find some pretty soon.

Oh I forgot to tell you, I am in a one room apartment with four elders. It’s so dang small, but I must admit, it is very fun. I still think the mission is like a rollercoaster and I am on one of those 90 degrees drops right now, but in a good way like ahhhhhhhh…… I don’t know what I’m doing, but I’m going to do it anyways, kind of drops. I really don’t know what my President is thinking right now, because all the other Elders in the apartment have to leave next transfer. So, I think that he is going to be taking one Spanish companionship out of there. I don’t think I am staying more that one transfer, but we will see.

He says that I will be going senior companion soon, I don’t even think that I am ready for that. The good thing about being a Jr. Companion is if anything bad happens, you can blame it on the Sr. Companion ha…ha. When good stuff happens, you can take credit for it.

Well, I better get going. I love you all so very much. I wish I could tell you all in words, how great the Gospel of Jesus Christ is. It’s everything, its perfect; I love it, and I am so thankful to be a member of his church. I love having the opportunity to share this message that has blessed my life so very much, and then watch it bless and change the lives of others. You know that song count your many blessings. I love taking a step back and just really being able to see how the Lord has blessed me; you should try it.

I love you all,
Love Elder Schmidt

Cotton Candy

We recieved this from an "Ami" that Bronson is teaching! Thought we'd share!

02/16/09 On to Geneva Switzerland!!!

Dear Missionaries,

What a wonderful meeting with Elder and Sister Bednar! It was a truly a privilege to be thaught by an apostle and his wife who were being led and directed by Heavenly Father through the Holy Ghost. Sister Peterson and I felt that there were many things that they said that were directed right at us. We are so grateful for an apostle who was so in tune with the Spirit to say exactly what we needed to hear. He answered our questions, calmed our fears, and reminded us that it is the Savior who directs this work. We couldn't have been more pleased (there are those who don't think we should say 'proud') with the reverential way with which you conducted yourselves. Our guests were duly impressed with the wonderful missionaries in this mission. As I said, you are the greatest.

We have six weeks left in the quarter. We already have had 17 baptisms and we currently have 29 baptismal dates. I appreciated Elder Bednar's use of Nephi and the three attempts to get the brass plates. As we have talked before, we will reach our goal.

This was the email sent to us by our mission president. We had the wonderful opportunity of learning from an Apostle of the lord and let me just testify to you that he is, he carried the spirit with him I have not felt anything like the spirit in which I felt, it was like being in the Temple, he taught us about….. well you probably could guess it the spirit. He taught us in such a way that he wasn’t talking at us he was talking with us, I even got to talk a little bit. He answered every question with a scripture and it was a perfect response to the question, he said I DO NOT want you writing down what I say, when he said this I was like why not you are an Apostle, then he said I am not the teacher here the SPIRIT is the teacher; so I suggest that you split your paper into two sections one side being the doctrine and the other side being the spiritual impressions that we received it was really a good experience to have the opportunity to do this because as he talk the spirit was doing his job and giving me answers to all the questions that I had. He said sometimes we as members listen so much to the words that they speak that they don’t even listen to the spirit, I was like that is true cause I used to do that all the time just write down the words and not the spiritual impressions. Elder Bednar did not once chastise us, and I think he knows that he doesn’t have to because I am pretty sure that we all received our fare share from the spirit. The spirit will truly help us know all things that we should do. It was just a huge spiritual experience for me and I will never forget it, he talked about how we teach he says if we aren’t teaching by the spirit we are practicing witch craft that really shocked me, but it makes sense because we are then teaching them from our own knowledge and not turning them to their father in heaven. He is an Apostle of the Lord, I had the opportunity to shake his hand, Elder Kapishka was present as well it was one fantastic spirit filled day.

So anyways we got our transfer calls this morning and it looks like I will be going to Geneva, I will be serving with a former Assistant that should be interesting, president said on the phone, how is your Spanish Elder Schmidt ha ha because I will be in a Spanish equipe, that doesn’t mean I am going to learn Spanish but its going to be interesting to say the least I am pretty excited? Our mission is cutting back in size over the next six months we will loose 30 missionairres and so now that makes our mission really old, everyone is almost over a year. Back to Switzerland yay no more gloomy ST. Etienne. I leave this Wednesday I am scared to serve with a former assistant, does that mean I am a bad missionary ha, hopefully not. Elder Hamilton has to encourage a missionary that is coming here cause he really wants to go home in fact his grandma lives here so Elder Hamilton is going to have his work cut out for him. So we had a pretty sweet miracle this Sunday we had SIX amis at church it was amazing our x monk brought a muslim girl to church and she loved it when she was watching finding faith in Christ and she cried she said she really felt something then we went over to a memebers house to eat with them after and we had her read the promise in moroni 10 and she read It and looked up and said ma Coeur est chaude in other words my heart is warm right now, we explained to her that this was the spirit It was her first time in a christean church and she said I have never felt that before. All of our chineese members invited people to church so all I all it was really sweet.*

Well I love you all and my heart is warm also cause the spirit makes known to me every day that The Church of Jesus Christ of latter day saints is the one and only True church upon the face of the earth. I pray for you all please pray for me to be able to do the work of the lord here in Europe the way the lord would have it done. Love Elder Schmidt

02/09/09 The Gospel of Jesus Christ is Wonderfully simple, and simply Wonderful

Hey Mom,

How has your week been? So, I am in Lyon today to go and look at a castle. It’s going to be fun and we are also going to go and do some shopping. Hopefully, I can find some cool ties that are cheap that would be great. I am still wearing pretty much the same ties I left with. It’s because I am a tight wad with money.

So, this week has been really good, we have had many opportunities to teach this week. It's really crazy cause they have switched the way that we do everything. Like working with members, the way we contact people on the road, I mean we have to stop them, and before we introduce ourselves, we have to share a principle and testify and ask a question, it’s really really hard.

Right now we have some pretty solid amis and they are really searching for the truth. The man we just barely set a baptismal date with, just fell through, because his mother died, and he has to return to Cambodia.

I love it because I am learning a lot, and I love inviting others to learn more about God and their Savior. It’s just sad most of all, when they don’t except what we have to say, because you know that its true.

Well I love you all, and once again I want you all to know that the gospel is wonderful and perfect. I forget who said it, but it’s like this… the gospel of Jesus Christ is wonderfully simple, and simply wonderful. Share it at any opportunity that you have. It is something not to be kept. I love you all so much. Have a great week!

Love

Elder Schmidt

02/02/09 Best P-Day Ever!

Sorry I am late today!

We had a lot of stuff going on, and we got back about 3 hours later than we had planned, so I have to get this off a lot later than I had hoped. I hope I didn't scare anyone! lol.

So today was a pretty sweet day. Our Catholic Monk ami took us out to his monastery, where he lived for 4 years to meet all of his other monk friends. I thought that there were only going to be a few, but there turned out to be over 100 of them! It was really cool, and one of the best preparation days of my mission. But I will get to all that later, I will tell you about my week for the time being.

So, last Monday we had an RDV with a man named Prince. He is from some small African country that I have never heard of. We contacted him a while ago, and he said that he was living in Lyon, and that he wouldn't mind meeting with the missionaries there. He seemed really cool, and interested, so I was kinda bummed to have to pass him on, but oh well. When the elders in Lyon called him, he said that he had just decided to move to St Etienne permanently, and that he wouldn't mind meeting with the missionaries here (us). We didn't have a lot of time for the RDV, because we had to get back to the church for soiree familiale, but the RDV we were able to have, was SWEET! We explained about the great apostasy and about the restoration a bit, and he asked some really REALLY good questions. He wanted to know what was the difference between our church, and his. So he can be aware of all that before he starts coming to our church regularly. It was a really good RDV, but he hasn't had time to see us since then. We were supposed to see him on Saturday, but he didn't have the time, so we should be seeing him on Wednesday. Hopefully, I will be able to give you some more positive news!

On Tuesday we had a meeting in Lyon with our whole zone about the lessons that we are trying to have with our members, to build their faith. It is SUCH a hard and overwhelming task. I have honestly been stressing out about it, and trying to figure out how it is going to work. The GREAT news is that we had a sweet meeting with the Bishop and our DMP on Wednesday morning, and he is WAY excited about missionary work this year.

We had an idea to do a puzzle thing with the ward for our ward mission plan, where members of the ward have to complete small goals in order to put pieces of the puzzle together. The Bishop wanted to take it one step farther, and have each family have their own personal little puzzle, that they fix goals for and put together as they accomplish, and then the one at the ward house gets put together as the families complete their own puzzles. I don't know that I am explaining this very well. The only problem was that he wanted to start this right now, which wouldn't work with the 5 lessons that we've been asked to have with each member, to strengthen their faith. So, what we decided is that we, the missionaries, will have 5 months to visit all 5 active families and individuals, and meet with them 5 times. Then at the last RDV we will give them their puzzle, and set goals with them. Then, once the entire ward has their puzzle, we are going to get it moving at a ward level. I was thinking about it earlier today, and I think that we may give them the puzzle in the first RDV, and then they get to check it off as they complete the different engagements that we will be giving them over the next little while. I don't know exactly how it will work out.

Our DMP seemed less than excited during this RDV and seemed to disagree with a lot of the ideas that we were sharing. The good news is that on Thursday night we were able to go over to his house and figure out what was up. I guess that he has been getting really depressed lately as we weren't able to meet the goals that the ward set for last year, and he was getting down on himself because he felt like they had really tried and they had set a goal of 6 baptisms, but they only had 3 here. We were able to talk to him for a while and then he REALLY opened up to us, We were able to solve a lot of his concerns, I think, and we have seen him twice since then and it's almost like a complete 180 degree turn around (for instance, during DMP meeting on Sunday, the Bishop was there, and our DMP was suggesting that we go and pick up some of the people that haven't been to church in a long time to see if we can give them that desire to come again). It was REALLY good.

We also had a RDV on Friday night with one of our amis, Florent, who is from Cambodia, and it went really well. We read 2 Nephi 31 in English, then French, then Cambodian to help him understand. We tried to figure out why he hadn't been able to come to church yet, and it's because he works some really odd hours, and he thought church was at 9 pm instead of 9 am. Hopefully he will be able to come on Sunday, as he doesn't work. He is SO SWEET, and I think that he has a lot of potential to be baptized this quarter.

A quick update on the mission, while I am thinking about it, we have already had 10 baptisms this year, which is GREAT! That's a lot better than any of the first months of the quarters last year, so 2009 is off to a great start!

On Saturday morning, Jean Marie (the monk) came to church to teach us some Tai-Chi. It was really fun. We had a couple of members here with us, and we learned how to get ourselves all relaxed, and do a couple of simple moves. It was really relaxing, and got me into a nice mindset, but I would never EVER do it in front of anyone. Awkward! He then showed us some practices that he does using a wooden katana sword. This guy is so cool, I can hardly believe it! It was a lot of fun, and it was great to have an ami to come to Samedi sportif, especially, when it was him who taught it!

Sunday was actually a good day at church, as it was fast and testimony meeting. All three members of the bishopric bore their testimonies about missionary work, and I think that this ward is starting to get itself ready to get some stuff going! The only sad thing is that we will be instituting the big plan right before I leave, so I won't be able to see it all in action. But that doesn't really matter. What matters is that things here change for the better, and that stuff starts moving in the right direction!

So that brings us to today. Jean Marie came and picked us up at the church a little after 8:30 and we drove out to the monastery. It is about a 40 minute drive from here. He took us around and showed us what was going on there, all the chapels and everything. There were monks and nuns running around everywhere, and it was really cool. I felt like I was in the Sound of Music! We were there with the zone leaders, who came in last night, and it was sooo much fun! We saw where they study, where they eat, etc. They are at this place for about 4 years, and they learn philosophy and theology, and then they leave to go to another place for a year to learn something else, and then they start going on 3 year missions for the rest of their lives. It is a lifetime commitment, unless you ask to leave, or they ask you to leave.

Today was the day that they celebrated the presentation of Jesus at the temple, when Simeon and Anne both saw him and rejoiced. We had a candle lighting ceremony, and then we went into the chapel and they had some other ceremony followed by a mass. It was my first full on Catholic mass, and I must admit that it was a bit weird. It was cool though, and I liked it.

After that we went and had lunch with the monks. Normally they don't talk when they eat, so the room was just clinking silverware through the salad. Then, one of the head people got up and said that because it was a feast day, they would be aloud to speak. Everyone cheered, and then all the monks started asking us questions. They were from all over the world, including at least four Americans! It was SOOOO cool! Some African monks played some drums and stuff while we ate. It wasn't until after the meal that I realized that we were the only non-monks in the room! Apparently it is a real honor to be invited to eat with them! They all chatted with us about what we believe, and two elders taught them a first lesson. They were SOO respectful though! Man it was cool.

After the meal, some of the monks wanted to drink some coffee with us, but we told them we don't drink it. Then they wanted to drink tea, we don't drink it. They were like, “What do these Mormons drink”! They're lives are harder than ours! They found some orange juice, and we went into some other room and chatted with about 4 of them for a good hour and a half. It was soooo much fun, and they were so nice. We took a TON of pictures; it was such a great day!

After we left, we went and Jean Marie took us and showed us some pretty sights including a castle that is in the middle of a river. It was sweet, and we got a lot of sweet pictures with that too. Basically, today was an AMAZING preparation day, and the work is going really well, and the ward is preparing to do missionary work, and Elder Schmidt is really loving his life! YAY!

I bought a sweet little bead things that the monks use. They have little beads and a cross, just for a souvenir it was sweet. So needless to say, you can only serve your mission once, so I might as well see how they do it here. I could never be a monk, its too intense and involves never being able to be married~ what a bummer, I could never do that. But they where all really nice to us and I had the opportunity to teach four monks by myself about the book of Mormon. When we where eating lunch together it was sweet and I got to talk to an American monk, he was Chinese, it was sweet he asked us soo many questions; it was so cool. At the beginning we weren’t able to speak to anyone, but then they rang this bell and all the monks started chatting with us. What a sweet day, the young guys are just like us, we passed some time together and we where joking and playing around. All in all it was the best p day ever!

I love you all, and I hope that you have an awesome week! Talk to you again soon!

Love, Elder Schmidt

01/26/09 Exchanges

Hey Everyone!
Things are going pretty good here. Let me just tell you that missions are crazy, the things that we see, the people we hear. For example we tried to contact this guy the other day and he said get out of here are you guys the police we said no we are missionaries, when her heard that lets just say his vocabulary was a little bit more colorful. Once again I find myself learning words I can't use ha ha but it's OK because it doesn't affect me at all because there is no emotional attachment to the words they use.
This week I went to Lyon for an exchange and the kid I did the exchange with... lets just say I could have called him Elder Brady because I felt like I was in an episode of the Brady bunch. He uses words like super and swell. Even when we would talk in french he would say vous et formidable Elder Schmidt vous avez expliquez le plan du salut trés bien. ( translation your formidable Elder Schmidt you explained the plan of salvation very well) maybe he came out from a fall out shelter before his mission like that show blast from the past.
Any ways on other news we are helping a man quit smoking he gave us all his cigarettes ands cigars and we broke them up and threw them all away he hasn't done it for five days now pretty cool. We don't have a lot of amis here but the ones we have are great. None of them however are french so that's probably why ha ha! I have to learn to love these people some how, there is specific french people that I love but as a people they are rude. The Swiss side of our mission received more baptisms than the French side and the Swiss side is like five times smaller. We are trying to work with our members because that is the better way to do missionary work. It's really hard here because the members here if they don't want to do it they just toss it to the missionaries so by the end of everything we feel like we have everything. no joke i almost feel like i have to prepare a discourse for every Sunday because if someone doesn't show up to give their discourse it somehow falls on us!
I have received one referral since I have been here and it was from another mission ha ha. I guess you have to love the members here that think if they have invited us over for a manger vous that they are doing missionary work. we have stood up and said that that's like the last thing we want them to do. Oh and our DMP told my comp to print out the ward mission plan that we made because he dumped it on us and distribute it. So I gave it to all the members and he said to me ca marche pas come ca ice Elder which means it doesn't work like that here Elder, i almost said ça marche pas de tout ici, wich means it doesn't work at all here, followed by oui ca march come ca chez moi et il y a boucoup des membres qui est active which means it works this way back home and there is many members active. but as a missionary we say desolé frére Professo c'est ma faut---- sorry brother professo its my fault. Being a missionary teaches patients that's for sure. hopefully our working with members helps them have the desire to share what has been given to them. I always tell them on peu pas garder l'évangile pour nous méme il faut que nous partager cette grande message---- the gospel is not ours to keep its necessary to share this great message. I swear its getting harder to spell English.
So on another note we are having Elder Bednar come to the mission and speak to us. We are preparing our selves for a verbal chastisement ha ha it should be good. I'm pretty intimidated by him because he tells it like it is. So all in all its going great here I'm loving it and growing a lot along the way.
I love you all so very much I love sharing this message because I know who ever will listen and follow their lives will change for the better. For me the gospel is the only thing that's ever consistent, something we can always hold on to and gain support with, second to this is our families.
I love you all so very much you're in my prayers

01/19/2009 A ton has happened this week

Hey everyone!
A ton has happened this week. I will start out with the weird stuff that happened. We were on a tram and we saw this muslim kid just throw up everywhere all over everything NASTY and we also went to jewish synogog and they almost didnt let us in because we weren't part of the community, and we told them we are American mormons and one of the guys said no joke, "Well anyone can act like an american mormon and not be one, we have to consult the Rabbi." Anyways they finally let us in and we where with our jewish friend ELVIS! Cool name huh he loves Eminem. They let us in before him and he is jewish we wore jewish yamikas and the servive was wierd you sing a crazy launguage stand up face the back do that a couple times and then say shalom at the end, in between all this to get our paper yamikas to stay on our head. what else we met with our christian munk. He is like a Mother Theresa munk that helped aides kids, he showed us pictures, crazy.
There has been a lot of good things happen this week. We got a less active to come to church and found some other less actives, that actually seem promising that they will return if we work with them a bit. I swear the mission is so up and down but I think we only grow when its like that we just need to learn to laugh at the bad stuff and shake it off.
I love you all so very much. Things are going great here for now. We are getting ready to go to Lyon and play some American Football and do some soldes shopping. Soldes is a sale that happens 2 times a year where stuff goes up to like 75 percent off so thats cool.
Oh I forgot to tell you all that we went on an exchange to Clarmont Ferrand and we stayed in bed the whole time because we where sick. You might ask what kind of sick... lets just say I lost six pounds and was dehydrated, I will leave it at that. Don't eat the meatball sandwich at subway now i know how JARED lost so much weight off the subway diet ha ha well
I love you all. If there is anything I can do for anyone just let me know!
Love Elder Schmidt

Oh and I am following up on my commitment did anyone have an opportunity to share the gospel with anyone the past week?

01/12/09 St. Etienne

Well everything is going really well here in St. Etienne. I'm not going to lie, it's not my favorite place in the world but I will still try my best. The hardest thing for me is the dang French it's so hard. I mean trying to do missionary things is hard enough but when you have to do it all in another launguage its hard. And to sit there and have a conversation about how your going to help the work is very difficult, I only imagine that it gets worse the older I get as a missionary. Like I really don't think I am even close to being a Senior Companion because I feel so inadiquite. I wonder if anyother missionaries feel this way.

As far as the appartment here, it's pretty good but its still a missionary appartment AKA filthy but I try to clean it up little by little!

I dont think the ward here should be classified as a ward because there is like thirty-five people including kids there. In priestood it was me and my comp an one other guy in the congregation.... can i even call that a congregation??? Lets just say the church is so far from being strong here and it has soooo much to do with no member support no help from the members, I mean we go months without referrals. I remember in a conference they said that the church would grow in Europe twice as big in ten years if they had enough faith.... now there is less active members then when that was said. It can't be the missionaries because we always change but there is the members who stay consistant.

My comp is pretty cool, I mean he has his things but I think that everyone does, he is an older missionary so he is pretty much set in his ways meaning he is feels like he has a hang of it, im not sure i will ever get that way because I feel like I have way too much to learn. And as far as the door to door contacting we do it all the time when you can find a building that is unlocked sometimes you get kicked out by the concierge or they will threaten to call the police... I kinda feel like a little kid getting my ear pulled out of a building but not litterally. So that does mean alot of street contacting. I wish I knew how to speak aribic ha ha.

We saw this huge crowed striking against the jews, you guessed it, it was all the muslims that hate jews. There had to be about 2000 people walking down the road, but this is normal it happens like every week. GO FRANCE to me this isnt a place to be desired the people are so hard. oh well though its our job to make them soft right! The thing I really dont like is the church is not strong they are scared to spread a great message they want to make the church grow by having kids and letting it slowly grow but thats not the way it should be invite you friends to know about this... so my invitation to you all is to talk with one of your friends about the gospel and bear a simple testimony, that felt good to give you all that commitment cause i know that you will really do it and you probably already have the person in your heads that you want to share it with. I promise nothing will make you happier than sharing the gospel with friends and those you love. Give them a chance to accept maybe something you say will change thier lives. I think that god gives us our friends and puts people in our paths so that we can help them get on the right path too. The gospel is great and perfect in every form, I love it! It's what gives me strength when I am at my lowest points and builds anyone up who is willing to work for it and makes them stronger. (The gospel is not something to be kept and stored away it needs to be shared, i thinks Gordon B Hinckley said that)

Well I love you all so very much your constantly in my prayers, and I thank you so much for your prayers for me.

LOVE ELDER SCHMIDT

One more email

I recieved this email from Bronson.. thought I'd post it on here as well!!

Holy cow Ash that's no good, stay in that bed k.
Sorry you didn't get to go to the wedding, but either did I, and I wish I could be on bed rest! You know that song (I would walk ten thousand miles and I would walk ten thousand more just to be the man who walked ten thousand miles and winde up at your door? ) Well I think it was a couple of missionaries who wrote it like this (I would walk ten thousand miles and I would walk ten thousand more just to be the missionary to wind up porting at your door) anyways something like that because I swear we walk a ton.
Ash I love you and will pray for you! Thanks for all the love and support you give me.

Love
Elder Schmidt

01/05/09 Email from Bronson

I can’t believe that Breanna is a married woman. It was so weird for me to get that wedding announcement... oh well as long as she is a happy camper, I guess that’s all that matters.

The baptism with Shuyang didn’t go through; he wasn’t ready. I am fine with that, cause I want to baptize only those who have a testimony of it, and know that they are making a covenant with their Heavenly Father. We will keep working with him. I am sure he will receive his answer.

Our Zone leaders gave us the goal to get twenty finding lessons this week, and let me tell you, we talk to everyone we passed. It was the last day Sunday night, and we had two more to get. But there was nobody on the roads.

We passed a Muslim kid who we stopped, he was actually pretty cool. We talk to him about why we believe that Christ was the son of god and not just a prophet.

Then, we kept walking and we saw this guy holding some bags, and what looked to be a Samari sword. We approached him, and he said to us very clearly “your the Mormons right”?... (in English)? We replied… yup. We gave him a finding lesson and tried to arrange a return appointment. He said, “Do you want to come over and talk now”, we replied “yes”.

He began to tell us that he was previously a monk, and how he has always been searching for the truth. We shared with him the restoration, and he said, “Well it looks like we should learn the truth together”. Gave us all his information (when we didn’t even ask), and said, “if this book is true, then I’m in trouble, cause then, I’m going to have to change”. Then, he said, “But if its not... your in trouble”. We said, “Exactly”! Followed by the testimony that it’s true, and he can know it!

It was really cold by the time we left his apartment, and we needed to get home because it was almost nine. We still needed one more finding lesson, so as we walked the rest of the way to the tram, there was one Chinese man walking. So I stopped him, we gave him a finding lesson, and figured out that he has the same last name as a recent Chinese convert in our ward, both from China. We got his name and number and met the goal. I know this could be done in no other way than with the help of the Lord. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be on his errand!

I love you all so much and I hope you had a great new years.

Love Elder Schmidt


*The significance of a man is not in what he attains, but in what he longs to attain."

Kahil Labran

12/29/08 Merry Christmas

POOR FLOUNDER

Hey Mom,
I loved hearing your voices on the phone. I can only imagine how messy it is. I feel like time flew from last year to this year. I can't even believe it, I had my call this time last year; how weird is that? Oh, I totally received the packages the day after Christmas. I felt humbled by all the presents I received. Although, I am half a world away, you all made it a very special day for me. I loved everything. I made the cheese cake and everyone loved it, cause they don't sell it here, its like rare. It was so good, I think I gleeked a couple of times cause my mouth was going crazy. I loved the tie rack, the gloves, the sweet watch (with digital for your challenged boy who it takes 30 seconds to find out what the time really is here). Well I loved it all. Thanks so much Mom and Lin and Britt!

Happy New Year!

I hope you have a great trip to Arizona.
Bronson

12/29/08 Crazy!

i know that was really crazy hearing everyone's voice i was kinda shocked cause although i hadnt heared your voices for so long it seemed as though i never left it was a really good feeling and the other feeling i got was `see i told you they are fine im taking care of them now just go to work` it was really cool. man next time i call i will have been out for a year that's insane just like five months, thats so sad to hear about paisley but i know everything will go just how its supposed to:) what did gavin think about talking too me? i swear i have the most amazing family ever and i would totally agree with you on the mom and dad thing they are amazing people i want to be like them when i have a family cause in my opinion they did it right all of us are tight with one another and i love that well i better get going ash i love you and i cant wait to hear you voices again only two more calls left ha ha love your little brother, Elder Schmidt

12/24/08 I will be calling Tomorrow!!

I never thought i would say this but I NEED A NEW CALENDER!!!!!:)
hey mom how are things going? i cant believe i will talk to you tomorrow thats crazy. so as for the victor and dad working thats a bummer but at the same time i loved those nights cause we always made memories just trying to get the job done and done right, dad is a hard worker i really like that. so it sounds pretty crazy with everyone being pregnant and all its like father of the bride two ha ha. YES!!!!!!! i got packages thats sweet i only have one little box to open tomorrow i called it my pitty present our mission president found out who didnt recieve packages and then got us all something! i am so excited to get them. But i must tell you one of the best presents i recieved this year came in a red envolope... any guess what it is? it was your testimony that you wrote to me after i read that i swear the thought that came to my mind immediatly was i am so thankfull for the gift our saviour the redeemer of the world has given us all, all though this present has some conditions before we can have it, like keeping the comandments and being worthy before him. I like to compare it too the santa clause thing you as parents have done this all year long at any giving moment if we werent doing what we where supposed too be doing you could say santa is watching and you wont get the present you want if you keep doing that... then we would stop and the power of you saying that becomes more apparent the closer it arrives to christmas. Well just like this our Savior Jesus Christ has already payed for the present and is just waiting till that last day (like christmas) to give us this and the cool thing about this is we are not in the january or february of this process we are in the december or the Last Days, we should be just as excited and willing to be good in the eyes of our father in heaven as a little child is around the christmas season. hopefully that made sense! i am just so thankfull for that precious gift the Atonement cause with that gift i can be with you all for forever if i am obediant to those conditions! i will talk to you tomorrow i love you. Elder Schmidt: hopefully i call at a good time

12/15/08 We Saw A Miracle!

Hey Y'all
This week has been great! We saw a miracle! We set a baptismal date with a chinese man named Shuyang, he is really awesome, and just an upbeat happy person. He will be baptised the week after Christmas! Its time to step it up to show Heavenly Father that we want him to have this because we know that it will bless his life, he is sweet.
Just letting you all know I have a mail box here in St. Etienne too ha ha. Here's the address in case you forgot! Ha Ha Elder Schmidt 14, rue de Terrenoire 42000 St. Etienne France
Don't worry I remember how busy it gets this time of year.
So how is life going? I can't believe Bree is getting.... getting.... well you know the "M" word Ha Ha. This guy better be good enough! If he gets through the filter (that is our family) he must be ok. (Hint* Ty interview this kid see if he is worthy of your sis ha ha.) I think I am just scared of having everyone be married because I think it won't be the same. Oh well! That's life I guess.
Well St. Etienne is starting to grow on me just a bit. I am still trying to find my way around. It has snowed here a ton, and for a day we where absolutely soaked, but me and Elder Lemich looked at each other and said go play ping pong or have a White Christmas. We went the whole day soaked and you would almost think it would get us some pitty points but not here! It makes me laugh it just makes me feel like, ok you don't want to hear what we are saying then I will knock on the next door and see if they do.
Missionary work is amazing. I would encourage you all to just share the Gospel with someone this week and don't even think about if they will reject it because we are not searching for their approval. We are doing it for our Father in heaven and for our brothers and sisters who don't know about this great message. I can't tell you how many people I have contacted that I would never even talk too, but I feel like they deserve to have the chance to accept it. The Gospel is not something to be kept to ourselves, it's supposed to be shared with the world. I like a qoute I heard it goes something like this: The worth of a soul is always great in the eyes, the sins of a person only take away from the persons worthiness but never their worth. something along those lines. I look at people and say everyone I see is worth it too God. I really can't explain why I love my mission so much, but I think its because I am starting to get a taste of how great the gospel is. I hunger to know more.
Well I love you all! I hope you know that.
The Church is true I love telling people that.
Love
Elder Schmidt

12/08/08** Humble

hey mom its ok that you didnt write last week i can only imagine how crazy its been. we had the little christmas party the other day for the ward it was... how can i say this humble they did this little play in witch my companion was an angel he is one of those kids that hates acting but he did really well. there was only about four people that knew what they where supposed to do meanwhile everyone else was running around it was fun though. a member invited two of her chineese friends and we taught them about the book of mormon and they also came to church and we taught them about god. it was really cool; oh I had the opportunity to go on splits with i french kid in the ward and it was cool we where just contacting but i was keeping a pretty good conversation with him we had a couple finding lessons that night it was awesome: their is a web site that you can go to and view the mission slid show its www.swisspetersons.blogspot.com its cool. well i better get going i love you all i get to call pretty soon. love elder Schmidt

12/04/08 Arrived in France

Things here in France are hard. I feel like I am in down town Bagdad. Although, I haven’t seen anyone blow themselves up yet…;(it’s 60 percent Muslims). All we do is port a port, and knock on doors in massive building, with no elevators. I am trying to keep my faith and hope level up. I know that the Lord will help us.

We have a real building for church. The Bishop came up to me and asked if I could prepare something to talk about, because someone that had a talk was sick. So I talked about faith. Let me tell you all, that you should never be scared of giving a talk in English, cause in French it is so freaky. I just talked about how they can grow in faith and to share the gospel. This girl about my age came up after, and told me I did well at expressing myself. I probably sounded like one of those foreign people, that bears their testimony, but I guess I’m good with that.

My companion’s name is Elder Lemich, he is pretty cool, he does have a habit of spitting a lot, though he is from Colorado, so I can understand ha ha.

I skated (skate board) the other day, with some French kids, and at first they laughed, before I did anything. Then I did a one eighty off of this little drop off. I swear the cigarette almost fell right out of the kid’s mouth, it was open so far. I would do that too, if a kid in a suite did that ha ha. It was fun.

Well I wish I had a spiritual experience to share with you all, but this week has been crazy.

I love you all so much; I hope you all know that.

Elder Schmidt

Facts about Fribourg Switzerland

I just wanted to put this in a post before I erased the info about Fribourg Switzerland as Bronson is in a new area!

*645 sq miles
*Located on the Swiss Plateau and amid the foothills of the Alps
*Fribourg is an agricultural region known for its cattle and cheese
*Industries include the production of watches and chocolate.
*It is famous for its chocolateHere's some info on the LDS church in Switzerland
*LDS Membership 7699
*Approx Active Members 1924
*LDS as a percent of population 0.108%
*Active LDS as a percent of Population 0.027%
*Wards 23
*Branches 16
*Average baptisms per mission per month 3.5
*Average converts retained per mission per year 10

11/24/08 Transfered to St. Etienne France

Hey Mom,
Wow...now I have a ton on my plate. That made me sad but thanks for telling me. I will pray for Grandma; she is strong and I know she will pull through to a full recovery. Tell Grandma that I love her so much! Man I hate how life goes on, being gone, ya know.

Well, my news for the week is I'm getting transferred to a city in France, it's called St. Etienne. It's the city with the most persecution in the mission. The place where people get rocks thrown at them and spit on and punched and stuff. It's highly populated with Muslims, that don't like us. I will just have to make the best of it, that's where I will be spending my Christmas. I hear that it is not really pretty. I will just have to do my best.
I have so much going through my head right now. Things have been going great here in Fribourg. Elder Chapman and I got along really well and we have a strong baptismal date set for the 13th of December. But I guess I wont get to be here to see that.
My new companions name is Elder Limych. I don't know if that is the way you spell it. I really am not looking forward to going to France, it's really dirty and the apartments are not that great. Hopefully I will only be staying there for one, that would be great, wouldn't it?
I will get to call you next month; I can't wait to hear all of your voices. I am starting to pack to go to my new area, I will leave Wednesday.

Well, I don't really have to much to say, I am just stressed out, but that's ok. I'm sure it wont be as bad as I hear it is.
If you send a package just send it to the mission home cause I wont be here in Firbourg much longer :0( Well, I love you all so very much, sorry this is so short. Thanks for everything that you do for me.
Love,
Elder Schmidt

Elder Benson is Home!!!

Elder Tyler J. Benson returned home last night after serving a 2 year mission in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! We're so glad that he is home!! Bronson wanted to tell Tyler "Hi and Congratulations on finishing strong!!."

11/17/08 I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Hi Everyone,

I'm just going to start this off saying that this won't be too long, I have to go to France for legality, having to go to France is a pain and a waste of a day because we do absolutely no work, so we decided to do it on a P- day. I am with my zone leader Elder Hamilton, his comp is driving him crazy so he said that he wanted to go with me ha ha.

So anyways today we are having are Ami's fast to know if they should be baptized this weekend and we are joining them, i know they will receive an answer. This weekend we get to go to the temple with them I am excited.

We are also teaching a man named John. We have been teaching him for a week and he has already finished first Nephi and told us all about it! He said "I couldn't sleep all night because I was thinking about it. He is pretty awesome. We committed him to live the Word of Wisdom and he agreed! He said its going to be hard, but it will be worth it!

Transfer calls are at the beginning of next week. I really don't want to leave, I love Fribourge. I have seen so many miracles here. I swear I get humbled like every day by something that happens.

It is starting to get pretty cold here, and I am not liking it very much ha ha! I am wearing all my winter clothes already. It wouldn't be too bad but we are outside a lot more than normal people.

We watched the Testaments with our Bolivian Ami's and they loved it. They also made us racklet, which is melted cheese that you but on a boiled potato its delicious.

Well tell Ty hi for me, and congratulations on finishing strong! I hope that I am the same way, but it is many moons away ha ha.

Dad did you get my little cruise boat thing i made ha ha, Elder Chapman thought that it was really funny.

Man I have learned so much being out here. I love the Book of Mormon, it is the most amazing book on the face of the earth. I learn something new from it everyday! I am really digging in deep this time, checking out the foot notes on everything and I love it.

We had a very nice district meeting, we learned a lot we all had the opportunity to bear our testimonies, I love doing that because you know the words that your telling everyone are true!!

Yesterday I had a man come up to me and start talking to me in German and I would respond in Frence. He was telling me what my name meant in German ha ha. It is great because that happens so much.

What else... I am so thankful for all that you do and for your prayers. I have learned that when we have faith we see miracles! I'm not just talking about the normal faith, but the faith that you know it will happen because you know that the lord wants it to happen as well.

Man I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day saints. I know it's the same church Jesus Christ himself established because it is flawless, perfect if you will!

Well I better get going. I love you all so much.

Love Elder Schmidt

Please pray for Carina Garcia and Josh Lopez!!!!

Well, things have been going absolutely amazing here; I can’t even explain. Our amis (investigators) I was talking about... Carina and Josh, they are only going to be here for three more weeks. So, my companion and I were looking at the time frame, and it looked like they would have to be baptized in two weeks. They will eventually come back, but we don’t want them to loose any testimony that they have already gained. We said a prayer; we prayed that if they where ready they would have us over that night, and that we would invite them to be baptized, and that they would accept if it was his will. We said, we would do everything in our power to make this happen.

So, we called them, and the first answer we got was they didn’t think that they would have time, but to give them a call when they got back to Fribourg. I told my elder Chapman that we where going to have to rely on miracles. They were at a young singe adult’s activity for the weekend, what a miracle, and they loved it.

So, we continued to knock doors. Then, we received a text from them, saying we could call. So I did. I asked her if it was possible if we could come over that night, and that we know that she was really busy. She said, yeah you can, but I only have a half an hour; we said ok. We can be there in 15 min; she said ok. So I made those peanut butter cookies that you got for me--:) by the way they tasted fantastic! (I love sister Betty Crocker’s cookies ha ha), and we took a couple over to them. It was great!

We asked how everything was going. They told us about the YSA activities and how they loved them. Then, we started to talk about the things that we have been teaching them, and the spiritual experiences that we have had together, and everything. Then it popped into elder Chapman’s head to talk about temple marriage, and of eternal families... cause they are going to be married in December:) They really loved it, then we invited them to be baptized. They said that they wanted to know. We promised them that they would know by the end of the two weeks if they did all that was asked of them, then we bore our testimonies of baptism and the book of Mormon. They said that it is really hard because they have a catholic background, we told them we know it is hard, but if this is Jesus Christ church restored, then wouldn’t you want to be apart of it? I broke out into how I gained my testimony of the book of Mormon. I told them I pushed for it, I read whenever I had a free moment, and I always talked about it. I prayed sincerely to know, and I did receive my answer. I told them the Lord wants you to know this, he will tell you all you have to do is ask.

Then elder Chapman said just try these next two weeks. Then, Josh said, what is going to happen in these two weeks, and we explained (keep teaching --- give commitments) and then, he said I will try. Then, right after that she said, we will do it. Our prayer has been answered. My Heavenly Father heard our prayer, and gave us all we asked for. This has really made my testimony grow.

I love you all, and I would ask that you pray for Carina Garcia and Josh Lopez to find an answer to their prayers, in these next two weeks. I love you all. This work is amazing! Love, Elder Schmidt

11/10/08 Letter from last week...

Wow! Mom it sounds like you had a blast in Hawaii I love how you and Dad are still adventurous; I love that. I can’t believe you rode a dolphin, I just imagine you cruising through the water screaming because a fish was touching your feet. I hope you had the time of you life. Oh man, they let you swim in the water at the waterfall, sweet. Is that the one where they dive down and find those people who didn’t survive? je ne sais pas ha ha. I love to hear when you and Dad are having fun together. People here just don’t seem to have that same kind of love that you and Dad have. I really admire that.
We received my first box, thanks so much for everything; that was awesome! I am so thankful for every last thing that was in that box. Thank you so very much. I wish I would have gotten Dad something. Did you ever get that chocolate I sent? I hope so!
I can’t even believe that it is November, that is really crazy to me. Time flies but at the same time goes slow, when I compare it to how much longer that I have. But I should be glad that I have longer out here. Fribourg is amazing! We had a zone conference and let me tell you I learned so very much. I learned that any promise given in the Book of Mormon, I can have for myself, If I am worthy of it. I am starting to figure out what it means to have faith enough, almost to the point knowing that you will receive. Prayers of faith are so important. I compared it to when I extend an invitation to someone and tell them they will receive an answer to their prayers, I really know they will receive an answer, if the do their part. So, in this way I can know I can receive a blessing if I do my part. Sorry if that’s confusing but it seems clear to me ha…ha.
I had a really good birthday we went over to our amis (investigators) house Carina and Josh, and they fed me pizza and we played the guitar and cards and such. It was nice to get my hands on a guitar, it’s been a while. We also went to moins actif or less active and she tried to give me a birthday party the way that she thought it was done in the states. A piece of turkey and tons of noodles and a the flan, and you all know how much I love flan; she made me eat like three servings. But I know she was just trying to be nice. We made her paper flowers and she no joke has them in a vase in her house ha..ha, that makes me laugh.
Halloween was so much fun, we taught the little kids how to make pumpkins out of paper, we bought a ton of candy . We were telling the kids just hide it in your pockets for later ha…ha. They don’t do trick or treating here so we were going to make sure the kids were on sugar highs ha..ha. At the end their mom’s were thanking us ha..ha. It was just an all around good night?
This passed Sunday we had stake conference and it was awesome. There was so many members they had to do it in this big old theatre thing. Our to amis Carina and Josh came as well. They loved it and they had a little meeting with the Branch President, and President Peterson for all the investigators; it was really cool. They loved it. The part that was cool is…I could understand it, and I took some notes ha ha. They talked about paying a la dime or in other words tithing and how it protects us and reading the book of Mormon and strengthening our testimonies, and how to make the stake unified. Wow, I loved it.
It’s weird seeing these new missionaries, for example for about five minutes you are trying so hard to understand. Then, the old brain shuts off and then you think…oh look a fly, then you realize, you’re not paying attention anymore. I just can attribute it to the gift of tonges. It really works. Not saying I am an amazing speaker but learning a language has strengthened my testimony of prayer. I know it works and I know that my prayers are being heard and answered.
President Peterson has received revelation for the mission it is a difficult task; every companionship must have a baptism by the end of the year. But I know that with the help of God, we can do anything. I have faith that it will happen, if we do all that we can to make it happen. I am so excited to be in the mission at this time. It is really amazing, the things that we learn and experience. There is no other way to gain this type of experience unless you just do it. That is my personal opinion. Well, I love you all so very much, my prayers are with you and I am so very thankful for all of your prayers. Prayers are so powerful.
Thanks again for the birthday package and tell Aunt Deb thanks for the singing card, I loved it, and tell her “my head is in the game”; man I just love my family.
An elder here that is going home said, I think they limit our connection with our families, so that by the end, you just are yearning to go back to them; I think that’s true. Thanks for the family pictures, I just look at it… and think. I love the picture of the Armour of God, thanks again.
Love
Elder Schmidt

11/03/08** Have Faith that it will happen

wow mom it sounds like you had a blast in Hawaii I love how you and dad are
still andventurist, I love that, I cant believe you rode a dolphin, I just imagine you cruising through the water screaming cause a fish was touching your feet, I hope you had the time of you life, oh mad they let you swim in that water sweet, is that the one where they dive down and find those people who didn’t survive? je ne sais pas ha ha, I love to hear when you and dad are having fun together, people here just don’t seem to have that same kind of love that you and dad have. I really admire that. I received my first box thanks so much for everything that was awesome! I am so thankful for every last thing that was in that box thank you so very much. I wish I would have gotten dad something. did you ever get that chocolate I sent. I hope so! I cant even believe that it is November that is really crazy to me time flies but at the same time goes slow when I compare it to how much longer that I have, but I should be glad that I have longer out here. Fribourg is amazing we had zone conference and let me tell you I learned to very much, I learned that any promise given in the Book of Mormon I can have for myself if I am worthy of it, I am starting to figure out what it means to have faith enough, almost to a point of knowing that you will receive. prayers of faith are so important. ( I compared it to, when I extend an invitation to someone and tell them they will receive an answer to their prayers, I really know they will receive an answer
if they do their part) so in this way if I can know I can receive blessings if I do my part. sorry if that’s confusing but it seems clear to me haha. I had a really good birthday we went over to our amis house carina and josh and they fed me pizza and we played the guitar and cards and such. it was nice to get my hands on a guitar its been a while. we also went to a moins actif or a less active and she tried to give me a birthday party the way that she thought it was done in the states, a piece of turkey a ton of noodles and the flan and you all know how much i love flan she made me eat like three servings. but I know she was just trying to be nice. we made her paper flowers and she no joke has them in a vase in her house ha ha that makes me laugh. Halloween was so much fun we taught the little kids how to make pumpkins out of paper, we bought a ton of candy lets just say their moms weren’t too happy with us ha ha we where telling the kids just hide it in your pockets for later ha ha they don’t do trick or treating here so we where going to make sure the kids where on sugar highs ha ha, at the end their moms where thanking us ha ha it was just an all around good night! this passed Sunday we had stake conference and it was
awesome there was so many members they had to do it in this big old theater thing, our two amis carina and josh came as well. they loved it and they had a little meeting with the branch president and President Peterson for all the investigators it was really cool. they loved it. the other part that was cool is I could understand it and I took some notes ha ha they talked about paying la dime or in other words tithing and how it protects us and reading the book of Mormon and strengthening our testimonies, and how to make the stake unified. wow I loved it. its weird seeing these new missionaries I know just how they feel like... for example for about five minutes your trying so hard to understand then the old brain shuts off and then you think oh look a fly then you realize your not paying attention anymore, I just can attribute it to the gift of tongues it really works. not saying i am an amazing speaker but learning a language has strengthened my testimony of prayer I know it works and i know that I my prayers are being heard and answered. President Peterson has received revelation for the mission it is a task difficult every companionship having a baptism by the end of the year, but I know that with the help of god we can do anything. have faith that it will happen and do all that you can do to make it happen. I am so excited to be in the mission at this time it is really amazing the things that we learn and experience there is no other way to gain this type of experience unless you just do it. that is my personal opinion. well I love you all so very much my prayers are with you and I am so very thankful for all of your prayers. prayers are so powerful. thanks again for the birthday package and tell aunt deb thanks for the singing card I loved it and tell her "my heads in the game" man i just love my family an elder here that is going home said I think they limit our connection with our families so that by the end you just are yearning to go back to them, I think that’s true. thanks for the family pictures I just look at it and think and i love that picture with the amour of god, thanks again love elder Schmidt