Week 35

Hey fam damily!

I half like writing that at first because I want mom to mess up when she reads it out-loud to everyone and she curses hehehehe... anyways, wow! Little Aiden is a teacher now! How awesome!! Happy Birthday, Aiden!!! I'm still anxious to see what you look like when I get home. The voice I heard come out of you was definitely not the same voice you had when I left. I didn't even leave that long ago! Only 244 days ago! But who's counting?! #486daysleft! But anyways, It was awesome to see those pictures haha, you are definitely growing! And from the sounds of it, everyone else had a decent week, too! It is always interesting, mom, to learn more about the priesthood, what it is, and what it does. I don't think anyone really gets it, and those who do realize that they never will... if that makes sense hahaha! But it's super interesting. The blessing attachment didn't get through, but that's ok, I have the copy still. It's in my 'important documents' folder! ;)

This week was alright! Nothing too exciting went down. Except yesterday. But I'll get to that. First off, my shoulders HURT! Haha I bought a weighted jump rope from the Zofri in Iquique, and it's working me. I do 600 jumps to start off my workouts in the morning, and it gets me breathing hard! But it's heavy, too, and so swinging it works my arms a ton, and they are more worked then my legs! This thing better make me lose fat haha! But this week, I also decided to buy a little bit of some diferent foods to try fo breakfast. I bought some eggs and tortillas and cheese to make burritos. That was a mistake. Haha I almost threw up my first burrito! I don't even know why, or if I did something, but it tasted absolutely horrible. I threw out the rest of the stuff, and started sneaking some of my comp's cereal in the mornings! (hehehe) He caught me...

Elder Barney and I tried to have a lot of more new investigators this week. We tried to contact and talk to everyone and just have a fresh new stock, but I don't know, everyone seemed super pesado (heavy) this week! Nobody wanted to talk to us, and everyone we did talk to seemed super duro (hard)! But we kept on trying, and ended up scoring some new people. One of them is a woman named Valivia. We found her using a list of all the members in Pozo, even less actives. So we knocked on the door, and she came out and I had never seen her before, and I was about to introduce oureselves, and she beemed and said ''¡Elderes! ¡¿Donde han estado?! ¿Cómo están?'' So I didn't really bother with the introduction haha! But apparently her husband is a member, but she is not, even though she's listened to the missionaries for 20 years!!! She told us the only reason she didn't get baptized last time is because they closed the sector, which means they took both the elders out and brought in two new ones. The new ones didn't know her, and so she was forgotten. But she's super friendly and awesome! We had a cita with her, but it fell through becuase it was late at night and everyone else was asleep. I was super bummed, but we are going to keep passing and see what happens! We've had a joven (young) leave with us for the last few days. He's actually been suspended from school and so the mom is trying to use us to clean him up, but hey, that's more lessons with  member for us!! It's been cool. His name is Samir, and he's pretty awesome. But pretty much the whole week has been like that, just normal missionary work with Samir.

Sunday was interesting. We didn't have too many people commited to go to church, which sucked, and then the morning came and those we did have pretty much fell through. So I just decided to kick back and enjoy the Sunday and not stress, which was awesome! But I was sitting there playing some prelude music, and the chapel started to fill up! More full than it's ever been! So I stopped and got some more chairs out, and church started, and there were 70 people there! I've never had so many in the chapel! It was awesome! But the hymns were super crazy haha! The chorister is a sweet old Chliean and I love her, but she can't sing. At all. And she is super loud. And off pitch. But that's ok, because she enjoys it, and I don't usually care! But this week, we had a bunch of people singing, so she felt that she had to sing louder so that everyone can hear her to know what to do! Which didn't work out to well, because the louder she got, the more off she got! I tried to play piano a little louder to show her the tones, or to drown her out a little, but that was a mistake. She got super loud! And it was basically just a war between us until I just basically gave up. Then, after church, she walks up to me, and says 'I know you messed up a lot, but the songs are different here! Don't feel bad!' I just kind of stared at her. I honestly didn't know what to say haha! But oh well, hay que sonreír y ser amable no más! (You just got to smile and be kind) But the first counselor, who was conducting, announced who was playing and leading, which he did three times, he said my name three different ways! I don't know if I've told you this, but the people here simply cannot say my name! The first time, I was Elder Chim. Second, I was Elder Meech. Third, he just gave up after Elder Ch... haha it was funny, and he got embarrased, but oh well! Whatcha gonna do? 

This week we receive our new cambios. I'm excited, because I'm fairly certain I'm leaving! The other missionaries here don't even realize how much time I have. They keep saying, oh, Elder Newkirk and Elder Wheelwright, they're leaving for sure, they have a ton of time here! And I have at least one cambio more! I'm excited, but then again, not too excited. Everywhere I've been seems exactly the same here in the north of Chile. Dry, dirty, and filled with stray dogs. But oh well! I am excited to leave Pozo and start fresh again! I always like change. 

But that's my week! I hope you all have a good one, and.... eso!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 34

Querido familia!

Well, this week was pretty same old, if I do say so myself haha! But, of course, to get it said first and foremost, Dad, Happy Father's day!!! And Christiaan, Happy Birthday!!! A quarter of a century, ya old fart! Hehehe but hey, guess what, there's a missionary here in Antofagasta that is older than you! Can you imagine that?! He came out when he was 26 or something, or he's that age now. But can you imagine being on your mission at that age? crazy... but ok, here goes the Daddy's day quiz. Time to put my siblings to shame.

1. He is sitting in front of the TV, what is he watching? You kidding? If he's in front of a tv, he isn't watching. He's clocked out and dead to the world. But if he were awake, it'd be walking dead.
2. Usually, what dressing does he eat on his salad? Salt (The chilean way wut wut)
3. Name something he hates. Ruffles or the desert
4. You go out to eat, what does he order to drink? Diet coke
5. Favorite music to listen to?  Weird 70's or 80's stuff that nobody knows but him
6. What is his nickname for you?  'Dallin Man!' (I never got that one)
7. When he’s being sentimental it’s about?  Mom or family or really awesome sons leaving on missions
8. What is something he likes to collect? dreams of a better life  of not living in a desert
9. What is his favorite color?  The gray of a porsche 911 carrera GT
10. What would he NEVER wear? Something stylish (jejeje jk, dad's pretty stylin sometimes.)
11. What are his favorite sports teams? Something European
12. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what flavor is it?  Keelime pie? (How do you spell keelime?)
13. What is his favorite animal?  Ruffles
14. What could he spend all day doing?  Working
15. What city was he born in?  Canberra Australia
16. What was the name of his mission?  Kentucky Lousville
17. What temple was he endowed in? The temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Últimos Días) Located in... Provo? I don't know. But he was sealed to his parents in the Cardston temple.

Tell me how I did! ;)

That's scary what happened to Kiwi, but I'm glad it was nothing too serious. And I'm sure she got a lot of attention in camp! But that sucks. Qué chanta! And you mentioned Havasupai? You guys are NOT allowed to go until I come back. That is still my favorite campout or superactivity that I've ever done. Or, if you do go, we just have to go soon after I get back. But in the summer... but yeah, I want to do hikes like that as a family. 

This week was pretty stressful. Especially the last bit. The first few days was just work as usual. We went and visited and everything and preached and found new people and what not. I had an intercambio with Elder Lozano, my Peruvian zone leader.  Some of my favorite Elders are Peruvian.  I personally love them, but everyone bags on them here in Chile for some reason.  But it was a good intercambio, and we tried to interview Evelyn and her family, but it didn't work out. Then the rest of the week was alright until Saturday hit.

Our hopes were super high for Saturday because we had the baptism of Claudia. I don't know if I've talked about her before, but she's super awesome! She's the other kid of Tania in our ward. I baptized Tania's other kid Carlos a couple months back. But she is seventeen years old, and just moved here from Bolivia. She was super receptive, and accepted everything. But we planned her baptism better than any other before, and it was all perfect, and we even planned it super in advance. There were some other activities going on in the chapel, but they all told us they'd be finished by 7:30 and would come watch the baptism. Some of them even had assignments. So the time came Saturday, and everything was ready in the room for everyone to come, and... nobody showed up. Well, technically, everyone was there, but all in some actividad por Sociedad de Socorro (Relief Society activity). We waited until Claudia came with her family, because she has two kids she needed help with, so that was ok. But then everything was ready and we went to go tell everyone, and they all told us no. They weren't finished with their activity. We were like... what? are you kidding. They refused to come to the baptism because they wanted to finish making and eating their fry bread and jam! We were frustrated to say the least. The people who had assignments did come, though, which is good. But a lot of the people we invited didn't come because they just forgot. But, Claudia got baptized, which is super super awesome, and of course I am super happy for her. I am just frustrated a little. A lot. 

Then Sunday came and the we had people lined up and ready to come to church, and we had a member who told us he'd help us go pick them up. Well, Sunday morning, we are at the church building, and the time came when we were supposed to meet the member, and he isn't there. So we call him, and call, and call, and he doesn't pick up. We had to quickly look for another member who left with us super late and was mad at us because he thought we should've planned better. So I got mad, but I didn't say anything, because 3 Nephi 11:29 (For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of ^acontention is not of me, but is of the ^bdevil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.), but I was getting frustrated. Then Claudia almost didn't show up to church, but it wasn't too much her fault because her kids are crazy, but still, I was worried. But she came and was confirmed. Elder Barney gave the blessing. He is very good at them, and speaks and blesses with the spirit. It is always super special. 

So, now the lesson I've learned from all this. I actually only learned it a few hours ago while thinking on the bus. I have been complaining in my mind a lot about the people here, and how I am super frustrated with them not doing what they say they will, and I decided to relate it to myself. It says in the scriptures to judge righteously, because as you judge others, that's how God will judge us. So, I related it to myself and my repentence. How many times have I pleaded with God for forgiveness, promised him great changes, and then do the very opposite? How many times have I told God that I've repented, and then proven to him that I'm not? How can I judge these  people, get mad at them for not following through, when I can almost never do the same? We cannot get mad at people. Something Christiaan told me while on his mission that I've never forgotten. 3 Nephi 11:29, contention is not of God, it is of the devil. Any time we argue, it is of pride, and is not of God, but of the Devil, who is the father of contention. We cannot succumb and let ourselves fall into arguing. I can't get mad at these people, or argue with the members, because it is not of god. I cannot be  so prideful as to judge them. 

But that's my week. Not too much stuff, but a lot of learning! Hope everyone loves this week!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 33

Mother!

First off, Happy Birthday!!! Of course I did not forget! I even told my comp, on the day of, that it was your birthday! (Though actually it wasn't my comp, I was on an intercambio with another Elder). But I did not forget! It's the same with all the holidays, I thought. I wished it afterward. But anyways, not important, the important thing is that I did not forget, and that I'm wishing you a happy 29th birthday!!! Sounds like the day wasn't all partying, but still good! You got to see the Tucson Temple, which is awesome! I saw a picture of it on LDS.org, and thought it looked really cool, so I'm jealous of you! I can't exactly give you a present from here, but... Happy Birthday!

Looked like the rest of the week for you guys was chalk full of fun stuff! I never did get to see Tammy's house. But it sounds super fun! And I'm sure dad loved the air museum haha! I can't believe primary softball is starting up again! I remember I was always asked to help, and so I always had to wake up super early in the morning hahaha. Pero está bien, it is always fun! But that also means that priest softball is just around the corner, right? Or ending? Oh man, I miss softball so much! This is making me trunky haha!

Well, this week was pretty good. It wasn't our best week in terms of the work, but we still met all the mission standards, so that's ok. We had several intercambios this week. It was actually super tough, because it was three days in a row! I forgot how it's called in English, an intercambio. But it's when we change companions for the day. But anyways, I had my first one with Elder Wheelwright in Alto Hospicio the first day. Usually I am the one who stays in my sector, because Elder Barney is district leader and needs to do the baptismal interviews for the other districts, and so me finally leaving to another sector was super cool! I learned that I'm being super ripped off in terms of my pension. These other elders live in a penthouse! They live in some really nice apartments at the end of Alto Hospicio, in a gated complex with a pool and everything! It's crazy! And their apartment itself is super nice, with an awesome shower with hot water, and a washing machine!!! I was so jealous haha! But I enjoyed my time with Elder Wheelwright. He actually taught me how to juggle! So that's dope! I actually have a video of it, but I left the camera in my pension in Pozo Almonte, so... sorry! Anyways, the next two days I was in Pozo Almonte, first with Elder Newkirk, my zone leader, and next with Elder Jibaja, a Peruvian Elder who just started his mission. It was fun, but stressful. A lot happened in terms of citas falling, so I had to improvise with my plans. But it all turned out alright, and I learned a lot, which is the point of the intercambios in the first place. Elder Barney now has a problem with rats, too! Hahaha the night that he was in Elder Newkirk's bed, he felt something nuzzling and brushing up against his arm. He thought it was the other elder, but then he heard the elder breathing in his own bed, so he realized that it was something else, and so he freaked out and flipped it out of his bed. He heard something thud against the ground and then scitter away! Haha he freaked out after, and the other elders of the pensions explained how they've been having problems with rats for the past few weeks. They're the size of cats, almost. 

After the intercambios, when Elder Barney returned, it was super tough to get back into our groove. I don't know what was up with us, but it was bad. We didn't feel sad or trunky or anything, just wiped. It was hard to focus, hard to work, hard to plan, hard to do everything! No matter how hard we tried, we couldn't get ourselves back into it! So the week went pretty slowly, but we still tried hard. We didn't have to many members come with us, and we didn't find too many new people, so that's no fun. Sunday was super hard. Cristina, our golden investigator, has been having problems. The owner of her house before her apparently left with a ton of debt that was unsettled, and so now PDI is pestering her about it all even though it's not her. Which is ridiculous. But she's been missing work and everything, and so she couldn't miss work again on Sunday, so she couldn't come to church. I feel really bad, and I am praying really hard for her. I would love it if you guys could too! But then the other investigators started falling through one by one. It was super hard. Eventually, by the time church came, we had one in church, after 36 had told us they were coming. So we went to the house of Evelyn, to see what happened, because we had woken them up an hour beforehand and they told us they were coming. She answered the door, and was still in her pj's!!"!! So we told her to get dressed, get her family dressed, they were coming to church! She said ok, and we waited outside for 40 more minutes while they got dressed. Then we took them to church. Haha I don't know if that was bad or not, but they ended up loving church and not wanting to leave! We also made a bunch of no-bake cookies that night. We have 42 in our fridge right now! :D 

One last thing I wanted to talk about, because I just realized I never had, but I want to tell you guys about the Evangelicos, and their 'missionaries', because they just make me laugh! What they do, is every couple days or so, they all gather together to go on their walks, their rounds, I don't know what. But they get all dressed up, then split up 2x2 and choose a corner. There, one of them starts preaching, which is basically just yelling at the top of their lungs stuff about the gospel. They choose the weirdest places! They never go to a busy place! It's always in some corner at the edge of the city, and they yell at a wall or something. It's strange because nobody is around to even listen! Whenever they see us walking towards them, they quickly pack up and head to another corner. We intimidate the other churches and missionaries here. Especially the Testigos de Jehovah! Haha they don't like us.

But anyways, that's my week. To answer your question, I have gotten a package with a bunch of spices and a card game that I'm not allowed to play and some letters. Anything other than that, no. But, I would absolutely love it if you sent me my jacket! :D Whoever told me I wouldn't need it is a liar. I'm freezing. I'm using a jacket from Elder Crabtree, but it's not enough. But anyways, thank you all for everything! Happy Birthday mom! Enjoy your last year of being a youngen!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 32

Hola familia,

First off, that's so crazy! I'm definitely grateful that Caelan was not hurt too bad in the car accident! By the looks of Ginger, it seems to me that it would have hurt her more. I'm glad she's ok, though. How crazy! But yeah, ciao Ginger! That car is gone! And I am definitely happy that everyone could help out so much so that you could go to Caelan! I can't even imagine how stressful that must of been trying to the figure that out! But it all worked out, in the end. 

This week wasn't quite so crazy for me, but still a good week. First off, all the investigators are doing well. Cristina especially, and her family are just awesome! We had a little scare when we went Saturday. We asked her if she was still able to go to church, and she told us that her work ended up telling her that she couldn't have Sunday off, even if it was just to go to church. First off, that's stupid. But it's ok, because right after she said that, and we were freaking out, she told us she quit her job... can you believe that?!?! This girl is golden! But she told us that she has wanted more time with her family, and that job legit takes so much time, and so this was the last straw. So, long story short, she's awesome, and they are coming to church this week. And, turns out, her son also sells some pretty bomb completos! And they're only $1200, which isn't the cheapest, but not bad, either, compared to the rest. So we have an 'in' with ice cream, and completos! 

That's another thing that gets me, that irks me, about Chile. Everyone here works way too much! The average work schedule is a 12 hour day!!! They wake up, send off their kids to school, then go to work. Then they get a little 45 minute to 1 hour break in the middle of the day to eat, and then they work again until 10:00 or even to 12:00!! Then they go home and sleep and do it all over again! Que feo!!! But then there are other schedules for certain jobs. For example, 7x7. If you work in a mine, you work 7x7. Which means one week on, one week off. One week you head off to work, usually several hours away from home, and you stay there and work your shift all week without going home, then the next week you have off. It kinda sucks. A lot. But that isn't the worst. There's a carabinero in our branch, which is basically a cop, and he works 15x4. Fifteen days on with a four day break!!! That's just stupid! And the Chileans  they just do it! They think that's the best way to do things! They are just so absorbed in working! 

So funny story. Elder Barney now not only has problems with cats, but with dogs too! Well, I guess we both have problems with dogs now... we had a bad experience. So we were walking one day on the edge of the city with the desert on one side and houses on the other. Here in Chile, there are stray dogs everywhere! And you have to be super careful, because they are super territorial. But we were walking, and were passing a couple of dogs just chilling there, and one of them gets up, so we automatically are a bit more careful, because that's the first sign. Then it does the second sign, which is putting it's head down and circling us, all the while staring at us. I was kinda scared at this point, because it was a big ol' heffer! It was a massive dog! But we pass it, and the final sign happens, which is it comes in growling. So I scoot away a bit and stick my hand up, which is just instinct, and that sets it off. It comes at us barking and biting and everyting, and the other dog starts coming in too! So we are yelling like idiots, and dodging dog bites. I bend to the ground to look for a rock, because they run if you throw one at them usually. But I bent down because they were on Elder Barney for a little. I couldn't find a rock, so I looked up to see what was goin on, and my companion was gone. He was just gone. I look to the left, and my comp is 200 feet away, booking it into the desert, with the smaller dog on his heels. I was like, wait, there's another dog, and I look, and it's running at me. So it comes, and I legit couldn't run away from it, so I waited, and as it came to bite, I swung down with all my strength, and punched the dogs head. I was having a real stressful day, and was super angry at things, and so I kinda feel bad for the dog a little, because I nailed the sucker. I punched the head to the ground, and my fist was still going, so I hit it again on the ground. But it was probably the best punch I have ever or ever will throw. But it got up and came at me again, but at this time I had found a couple stones, and I just started pegging it. I will admit, I've gotten pretty good at my throwing, just because I throw rocks at crazy dogs all the time. But then Elder Barney was coming back from the other dog, because it had stopped chasing him. But it was just a real crazy 1 minute of dogs. But now, we are definitely scarred, and give every dog a huge berth. 

Anyways, the work moves forward here. We are working crazy hard. This week we hit a speed bump because we were bajo en ánimo (low in spirit), but we picked ourselves back up, and now are back at it stronger than before. I have a new commitment to the mission now, because I have experienced what it feels like to work hard and focus, and it is definitely more worth it than being trunky or chueco. Elder Barney and I are going to have the best week this week, and keep improving after that! I hope all of you have a fantastic week, and don't get in any more car accidents. If a dog attacks, throw a rock at it!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid