Rain and Rejections

Excerpt from May 24th email:
This last week was full of rain and rejections. No one wanted to even open their door for us, but the trials brought a lot of blessings. That is something I have gained a really strong testimony of in the mission. If we do our part, try to have patience and just keep going even in times of trial, the Lord will bless us. We had an especially tough day on Wednesday, but when we went to the church for our meetings everything turned around. I got to do a question and answer session with the mission prep class and it was really fun. They asked lots of really great questions like, "What do you love about being a missionary?" but then there were also some really bad ones like, "what do you miss most about home?" and "Why didn't you just stay home and get married?" In the end it was really nice to be able to give them advice and think of all the things I have learned in these 18 months. THEN, when we got home that night our branch president called us and said that he put a baptismal date with one of the young boys that comes to seminary and plays soccer with our branch. THEN, his mom traveled to Buenos Aires and we don´t have her signature to sign the baptismal record...so the blessing still comes with some trials. But I might be seeing another baptism before I come home. Abigaíl got baptized on Saturday and it was really sweet. The other ward we share a building with also had baptisms and it was very nice. The primary (well 4 kids) from Parque plus me sang "I am a child of God". They wouldn't do it without me...which is kind of endearing. That is kind of the motto of Parque, "not without Hna. Schmutz!" I don´t know what they will do when they for some reason don´t have missionaries one day.

Missionary Monster

Excerpt from May 17th email:
"This last week we had zone conference and it was my last which gave me the opportunity to bear my testimony. I didn't cry, but felt very overwhelmed with many emotions. After I sat down Presidente del Castillo got up and said how much he was going to miss us (there was another elder that bore his testimony as well) and how we were a part of his family, etc. Then he said, "I remember when Hna. Schmutz got here. She was very sweet and quiet...I don't know what happened to her now!" It´s true, I´m kind of a monster now. The Zone Conference was great and totally powerful."

Sundays

Excerpt from December 7th email:
Sunday was great, very simple and sweet. It was pouring rain but we managed to get 4 investigators at church despite the weather. There were no members from our branch at first, so we went to the Sacrament Meeting of the ward that meets in our same building. Almost all the members had to get up and share their testimonies, and the lights kept cutting out…but it all worked out and the spirit was present. By the time we finished some other members had shown up and we had Sunday school with our branch, then finished by holding another Sacrament Meeting so the members who couldn´t before, could partake of the Sacrament. There weren´t very many of us, but it was a moment in my mission I will never forget. Everyone had the chance to bear their testimony and it was very personal and extremely peaceful. There is a part in Preach My Gospel that says that there is nothing that brings the Spirit more powerfully than a heartfelt testimony, because people can´t tell you that what you believe is a lie. I now understand better why that is true. Rodolfo came to church with his daughter. She and his two other kids are going to come to the baptism on Saturday. He is doing really well, and of course, I have really grown to love him. He is hard to describe, because there is just no one like him. Sometimes teaching him is like teaching a child, and then other times, when we just let him talk, I can see who he might have been before his wife died. Every time we see him, we see him more and more “normal” (and I only use that word for lack of a better one). It´s a strong testimony to me that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is very real, He loves us so perfectly. We cannot judge others, because we don´t know what they are going through. We can´t relate to them, but He can.

Things are good, I am happy and healthy. Another year has come and gone, and it has been a good one. The fastest but most productive year of my life…"