Welcome Home!

Hello!

I can hardly believe it, but the day has finally come! I am home!!! My mission has ended, and once again I am with my family and friends here in Mesa Arizona. It has been an unforgettable two years, a path that has led me to greater understanding, love, and testimony! I would not change that for anything!

The flights themselves were the last challenge of the mission. We were scheduled to leave tuesday afternoon 4:00 chilean time. However, when we got there, the itinerary, the flights, everything had been changed. And, nobody had told us! We were stuck with nothing! Luckily, they realized how they messed up, and tried to make up for it by redoing our flights. However, the best they could do was get us to Santiago in the middle of the night and stay at a hotel and in the morning pick us up. They told us that as soon as we landed in Santiago, they would be ready for us, and would take us to the hotel and give us the rest of our itinerary. So they sent us off, and we arrived at midnight there. And nobody knew who we were, or what we needed. The airports never got in contact, and we were almost stranded in Santiago! It took two more hours of running around talking to everyone from LatAM for us to get ourselves some flights home, the whole time my head pounding from stress induced migraines haha! But, it all got settled, and we were scheduled to return home late Wednesday night. They did get us a hotel, and we stayed there the night. Seeing as we had no alarm clocks, and we needed to be somewhere in the morning (they were going to pick us up again to take us to the airport), we asked the front desk to give us a wake up call at 5:30 to eat a little something and leave. Next thing I know, 6:00 Elder Hirschi is calling me saying the people are there! What?!? So we all scramble around and luckily get down in time to leave with the man. The front desk never called. The flight itself was normal, long maybe, but it was ok. I sat next to Elder Hirschi, and the flight first took us to Lima Peru. We had no idea why we were there, but then we left for LA arriving late night, then catching a connecting flight home. In this flight there was an awesome stewardess who recognized us as missionaries (she was a member herself) and treated us with some food from the plane (we hadn't eaten in a while). Her name was Kelly. She was awesome.

Arriving in the airport of Phoenix was such a crazy experience! As the flight landed I was close to hyperventilating! I almost ran down the halls looking for where I can get out, and then, going down the last hall, I can see the balloons and giant cardboard faces I knew only my family could have! I turn the little corner and there they are! And there I was! And I was in the moment I had been dreaming about for so long! And there was my mom, waiting, and after two long years I was able to give her the biggest hug I had given in all my life! Pure happiness, joy, I can't describe how exactly I felt, but I only know it felt good. I was finally reunited with my family and friends. 

My mission has been the hardest thing I have done in my life. The constant rejection, hard work, dog attacks and everything else that stood as an obstacle to me reaching my happiness was working its hardest to make me miserable. However, through the mercy and love of Him who I served, I was able to see the light and receive the help I needed to overcome those very same obstacles. Everything, as the scriptures say, ''...was for my good!'' The mission taught me how to work hard and give my all, but also recognize when my all was not enough, and to then trust in God to make up what I missed. It taught me how to love, not just get along with a person, but really love them and desire their happiness! It taught me how to look at others as children of God, and helped me want to serve them! It helped me appreciate the love the God has for me, and the plan he also has sketched out for me to follow. I know that that plan is the one that will bring me the most happiness in this life, I know this. So I will act with all I can to follow it and 'go where he wants me to go.' I am so grateful for my mission, my mission president, his wife, those I met in Chile, and all that I was able to do! The greatest feeling on the mission is finishing and hearing and feeling in your heart those blessed words, ''Well done, good and faithful servant!'' To know that all of your struggles, your pains, your efforts were not in vain, but were accepted and appreciated, that is the greatest feeling. And I now go into the rest of my life, and as I go through, I will have in my mind this goal: that when it all ends, when all this is over, I will once again hear and feel those words said by my Father, though this time I will be in His presence, and in His embrace. I testify to everyone that this church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is the one and only true church of God on the earth today. Jesus lives, and He loves us, and He helps us to achieve what alone we could not. All those who have faith in him, repent, are baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and endure to the end will return to live in His presence and will receive a complete joy. All of us can achieve this, God loves all his children equally. However, we must act. We must choose His life, and live as He lives if we want to live where He lives. I love you all, and am so grateful for all the support everyone back home, and everywhere else, has given me! God bless

Les amo a todos! Que vayan con Dios
Elder Schmid

Elder Schmid is coming home!!!

We did not get an email from Elder Schmid this past Monday, but thats ok because we are expecting him home tonight. We actually were supposed to have him here this morning, but his flight to Santiago arrived after the flight left for Dallas. He, and two other Elders, spent the night in Santiago and he is scheduled to be home tonight by 10:42 pm.

We have prepared our home for the last month, cleaning, organizing and purchasing a new bed, to welcome Elder Schmid home. We are all beyond excited to reunite with him and give him a big hug. For this mom, the last two years have gone by somewhat slow without him. However, it has been a rewarding two years of spiritual growth for our family, as well as Elder Schmid. Blessings have come to all of us because of his service. He is coming home with a stronger testimony, with a love for a people he never knew existed, with a greater love and appreciation for family and God. We are looking forward to meeting this new and improved Dallin Schmid :)

He gave it his all and endured to the end, and is now returning with honor. We love our Dallin so much! He is a great example to us, and we are grateful for the choice he made in going on this mission. Well done Elder Schmid! We love you!




p.s.  His dad is so anxious that he has been following his flights throughout the whole trip. He even celebrated as Dallin crossed the equator, and left spring to enter autumn. The family is being updated every hour :)

Week 101

Hola!

So, I was talking with dad, and thinking, I'm just going to do a normal email this week, like any other, and then close my mission in the next coming weeks! ;) I'm glad your week was so normal! This storm you're having, hopefully it lasts, say, another week and a half! ;)

So this week was a very good week! There really is one big reason it was so good a week. Danny and Luz were both baptized this Saturday and confirmed Sunday! It was a very big happy surprise! And a very big miracle. As we were talking with Danny one day, we were testifying of everything, and he looks at me and says he has a question. ''If I get baptized, can I do it facing the people instead of of facing the side?'' I said yes, and so he agreed to be baptized. I think I've already told you this. What happened that was completely surprising, is the day before the baptism. We were talking with Luz, and waiting for Danny to get back to redo his baptism interview. So there were us four elders there, my comp and I and the two zone leaders. We spoke with Luz about several things, but testified a lot about baptism, and at the end, she commited to being baptized! And the next day she was baptized together with her son! It was so amazing to see! I am so grateful I was here to see it! I thought that perhaps I would not get that chance, but it happened, and God saw fit that I was here to see it. It was very definitely a tender mercy from Him to me, and a great miracle from Him in the lives of them two! 

This last Sunday was my last normal Sunday here, since next week is general conference. I was able to bear my 'last testimony'. It was surreal speaking like that to the ward. I love this ward! I am sooooo grateful that I was able to come here! I love the members here! They have been so good to me. It was weird on Sunday, because it was the first time I could tell myself 'this is the last time doing this'. I'm sure all this week I'm going to feel like that.

So I don't know who's praying that I get new shoes, but whoever it is, you can stop! Hahaha this past week I've had three different people come to me to give me shoes because they saw mine all broken and destroyed and wanted to give me new ones! I was so surprised, and very moved by their love! I love these people! Unfortunately... none of them have gotten the size right, and I have two awesome looking blisters on my achiles tendons... they hurt. But at church I had to wear them to show I was grateful jaja! I'm so happy for these people who are willing to give to me! The love of the people here is real. I am so blessed to be here!

So... that's pretty much all that's happeneing this side of the world! Today we played fútbol with president and the two zones! I played dang good, if I do say so myself. Danny wanted to come, and he played with us, but he said he was scared seeing so many gringos speaking english! I said get used to it, you're going on your mission to the US! ;) But yeah, I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Les amo a todos! Vamos por esta última semana! (We are in the last full week!)

Elder Schmid

Week 100

Hola!

ohhhhhh boy, we're getting pretty close, aren't we?! Not too much time left for me out here. My last week was pretty normal, except for the weekend, which was awesome and filled with spiritual experiences. Sounded like yours too was pretty great! Nico got his eagle project done! Nice!! Why has Aiden not done it yet? And Darian had a solo?! And I missed it?! Gaaaahghghhaghahgh that's so cool! And lame... cause I missed it! But I'm proud of her, based on how good you tell me she did! 

Anyways, this week was fun. Independence day came and went... it was pretty uneventful. We had a very good lunch with our mamíta, she made us asado. It was pretty delicious, ribs steak and chicken! We had a ton of Mote con Huesillo as well, and I think I've kinda gotten used to it! It was pretty good. In the day and night, we had planned a little family home afternoon with La Familia Vilca, and that ended up going on the whole day... but we kinda let it go on the whole day, because nobody else would let us in their house. So it was a good day, we had some more Mote con Huesillo in their house, and it was delicious. In the family home evening, they invited friends and another family from the ward, and every singly one of them was peruvian! I was the only one their who wasn't peruvian! Out of 18 people... so it was fun, we didn't really celebrate the independence day too much because... none of us were Chilean. In Chile they don't celebrate it as much as we do back home. Or at least, not in Antofagasta. Just a ton of asados, family time. It's chill. 

The next big thing to happen was Saturday. It was a big day of course because Elder D Todd Christofferson came to Antofagasta Chile and had a special conference with all the missionaries of the mission. For the first time since I've been here, the entire mission came together, all 200 missionaries and senior couples! It was so amazing! The rules were strict, and the office was super stressed out, but I enjoyed it a ton. We weren't allowed to take too much time to visit with all the missionaries, but.... I went an hour early and did that. It was so awesome to see everyone there! I had 7 companions there! Elder Blanco, Aparicio, Bravo, Carrasco, Flores, Vicente, and Gonzales! So I got a picture of me with all of them, of course. 

The conference itself was absolutely amazing. We were all outside waiting in formation when Elder Christofferson showed up. He came with his wife, and with Elder Bragg and Sister Bragg. We took a picture with him as a mission, then we all shook his hand and the conference started. Everyone else had a short time to talk and give their testimony until we got to Elder Christofferson. All the testimonies were super great, and very powerful. The spirit was just thick in the room, everyone could feel it. Christofferson ended  up speaking on several topics. (GAGAGHHGHAGGAHGAGHAGHGHAHGAG crap, my computer just erased everything I wrote after this point, and I have to redo it... freaking internet) Anyways, He spoke on the name of church, and pointed out the different parts of it and explained it. For example, he picked out ''Saints'' and shared many scriptures on what it means to be saints. It was very interesting. He also shared a lot on his calling and how it relates to our calling, and he talked about how we can do the work with the Book of Mormon. At the end, he opened it up to a big questions and answers session. It was at this point that I felt the spirit most, and gained my testimony of his apostleship. I realized, he's just a man! He's like any one of us! The only difference is, God speaks through him. There were some questions that were very difficult, that I was thinking to myself, dang I would have no idea how to asnwer that. Then I look at him, and realize he's thinking the same thing! Then, it was interesting to see, he put his trust in God. He paused for a few moments, and let the revelation come. I saw how God spoke through him. That's what makes his callimng so special. It's not that he himself has all the asnwers, but he's connected to the one who does, and has learned how to trust in that person. I have a testimony that God has called prophets today, and speaks through them. Elder Christofferson is one of them. 

We've been moving forward with Luz and Danny, and I honestly feel like they are on the verge of being baptized. They are so close! I feel like one more little bit and they'll be in the water. They come to everything, including a fireside chat that Christofferson had with the jovenes adultos solteros on Saturday after the missionaries. They are already members, they just need baptism. Victor and Elsa and co. are kinda falling off, though they did come to the same fireside. They did not come to church, however, and work now is taking over their lives, and we aren't able to teach them. 

All the questions that you asked feel more like a last email kind of topic, so I'll address them next week! ;) Until then

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 99

This week has been pretty good! Nothing too big went on. Well, actually yeah a few things happened! It was a good week! We kicked it off with a zone conference with President Ferreira. My last zone conference, actually. I was actually late to it, as well. Hermana Ferreira had me wandering around the city a bit haha. I was supposed to take a blood test to make sure that the tb was negative. I lived at least an hour away by bus from the clinic. It would be difficult enough getting there, but the people who were already there did not know how to get me there. I asked the bus to let me off close to the building because he said he knew it. He let me off 2 miles away. -_- So I was on the phone with Hermana Ferreira and the missionaries who were there, and none of them knew where I was, nor how to get me to where I needed to go. So that was a fun hour. At the end, I found it, and got my blood drawn. The conference was a very good conference, though I felt like I've had it before. It started out with how we can work with members, and ended talking about working with less active members. It was a very good conference, I enjoyed it. And we had pizza for lunch! Which was so great, because President had stopped buying pizza for lunch a while ago. So this was a nice surprise. I saw several friends there, Elder Vicente, Elder Smith, Elder Cook. It was a good time. 

We are getting very close to the celebration of Chile's independence, the 18 de Septiembre. Everyone is decorating (because it's the law and they have to) but I love it! The ward had an activity on Saturday, in the morning. They gathered everyone and basically had a big barbecue. There were games, food, and La Cueca. La Cueca is the national dance of Chile. I don't remember if I did anything for the 18th last year, but this year I went all out. I played soccer with the ward, I helped cook, and sang karaoke with them, and... I danced the cueca! Jajajaja it was so fun! I and two other elders danced. It was fun to learn it and try it out. It was definitely something new and different, but I got good at it! ;) Someone took a video, but it was of my first try, so it was kinda... awkward. But it was so fun! I'm hoping the 18th we can actually get in to some asados or something, enjoy the day. 

So, I don't know if you remember, but in Caliche I talked about two dogs who would follow me everywhere and use us as shields from other dogs. Well, they've migrated. Now they follow Centenario. I'm stuck with them again. However, if I plan right, and do some running strategic, I can dodge them and they go with the other companionship. So I was trying to do that on Friday, aaaaaaaaaand as I was running I was attacked by a dog jaja! Rule 1 in the North of Chile: Don't Run!!! The dogs will chase and attack you. Luckily he only scratched me, but now there's holes in the shape of a dog's mouth in my favorite pants. -_-

We are getting further along with Victor and Elsa and Emily y Mary. We were with them almost every day of the week! They are progressing well, and are reading from the Book of Mormon. Victor is progressing the best. He reads daily, and is understanding everything! We ask him what he remembers, and he gives us the detailed story as if he were reading it to us! I'm stoked for him, buuuuuttt... they didn't come to church on Sunday! AAAAagagghghghg I was so frustrated. We still don't know why, but today we're heading over to see what's up. I want them to keep progressing. Victor has been searching since 11 for the true church, and he says that with us he feels something that he's never felt in any other church! Dude!!! That's the spirit! I want him to recognize that. Once he does, he will commit to baptism. With Elder Gonzales we're doing ok. Just... chugging along haha! I'm so grateful that in my last cambio I was placed with somebody who likes to work!

And that's my week! I hope yours was fantastic! And... 3 weeks left! ;)

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 98

Hey!

Is it not weird to think that I'll be doing this only a few more times? I think that's kinda weird... so many good things are going on back home! I'm stoked that Ashlyn gave such a good talk! She's gonna have to give it again to me when I get back! ;) And Bronson, that kids a crack. Jajaja that story made me laugh pretty hard! I can imagine his face as he told Dad to clean up the jenga! At first I was bummed that I won't be coming back to my double bed, but you're so right... it's better than the cot that Christiaan slept on! 

So this week has been pretty busy. Más que nada it's because we had so many activities in the ward. It was their ward conference yesterday, so Bishop wanted to do something special during the week. They had a night of ''Who knows the Book of Mormon best?'', and a pass the Book of Mormon to a friend challenge, and a movie night of The Testaments, but the big activity was on Saturday, when we had the open house. Instead of having the normal tour, bishop decided to have different ''theater interpretations" of the Book of Mormon. The young women did the tree of life, the elders did Captain Moroni, the primary did the visitation of Jesus Christ, and last but least, us the Elders (missionaries) did when Joseph saw Moroni in his room, when he received the plates, and the translation. Joseph Smith was played by yours truly. I think we did pretty well. We had to fit a ton of people in a tiny room, and so my space was limited, but I'm still one dang good smokin actor, so it was ok. All the preperation and whatnot took up a ton of our week, so we didn't really work in the mornings.

Ok, so about TB. Doc says my XRay looks good, no sign of TB. To be sure, tomorrow Hermana Ferreira has me and five others going in to get our blood tested. So... I'm so sorry, but official results will be coming next week. 

My investigators are coming along alright. Luz and Danny are progressing, but slowly. They did come to church again, and to the breakfast that the ward put on before church. They were with their parents from Peru for the whole week, so we couldn't visit too much with them, but they're still ok. There is another family who got here a few weeks ago from Bolivia, Victor, Elsa, Emilyn, and Mary. We have had some awesome citas with them, and they are progressing very well! They promised to come to church, and I was worried when sacrament was finished and they weren't there, but after the meeting, I walked out and they were standing right there! Jaja apparently they were walking around the city for a bit because they got lost and that's why they were late, but they stayed for the classes! They're so great!

Something a little funny happened yesterday during gospel principles. I was there with Victor, Elsa, Emilyn, Luz, Danny, and everyone else and we were talking about talents, and how we need to develop them. In this moment, we were talking about how some people have certain dificulties to overcome for their talents. The teacher asked if anyone knew about Beethoven's difficulty in developing his musical talents. I was the only one who rose their hand, so I was called on. Now, so you know, in spanish ''sordo'' means deaf, and ''surdo'' means left handed... I was explaining how Beethoven is a world famous classical composer who lived a couple hundred years ago. He was a musical genious and wrote music that lasts until today, but it was very difficult to do for him because he was ''left handed''. Jaja I was explaining that nobody thought he could write or play or anything due to the fact that he was 'left handed'! Everybody was super confused, and the teacher recovered from her laughter enough to correct me. It was kinda embarassing haha!

It's been confirmed that on September 22 we will have a conference with D Todd Christofferson! We are starting to prepare for that. I'm really excited because I'll finally meet an apostle! 

So that's my week! 

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 97

Mamá!

Wow, this letter was huge! I guess you felt like you had to make up for past weeks or something! ;) Anyways, it sounds, like always, that you guys had an amazing week. Some questions: Darian travels for work? What does she work in? What's she studying in MCC? If I share a room with Aiden, does that mean I don't get the double bed? 

Anyways, I'm sorry for writing a little late, I had a long day. I was finally sent today to the doctors to take the test for TB. And so I was basically in the urgent care and consultorios and everything until 5:00 pm, and just recently was able to get on the computer. They took an X-ray of my chest, and nothing else. The whole flipping day, and the only thing they did was take an X-ray. They didn't even look at it, I have to go back tomorrow so a doctor can actually analyze it. But oh well... we'll see what happens tomorrow. I guess you'll have to wait another week to know if I have TB or no! ;) 

Things are going excellent here in Centenario. I was a little worried at first, because I thought I was going to feel bored here on account of me having been here basically already. But I am doing well! Haha Elder Gonzales and I work well together. He is an interesting missionary. He is the epitome of what it means to be a missionary. Strictly obedient, never says anything bad about anything, talks in any conversation like he's giving a testimony, always talking about something about the work. Sometimes it frustrates me, but it's normally ok! He is from Perú. He was born in Piura but grew up in Lima. He's a good missionary, he'll help me with my goal of not dying before I leave. We teach well together.

We live in an interesting pensión. It's the upper two floors basically of a 3 floor house. It's very... spacios. I say that because the only part that is seperated is the bathroom. There aren't rooms, everything is just super open. I actually really like it, it makes it seem bigger, but also weird because we have no furniture. We sleep on the 3rd floor, and study there two. Elder Gonzales and I live with the two other elders in the other part of Centenario. The pensión is actually around 30 minutes walking from our sector, which I kind of like, honestly. There are a few interesting things about the pension that I think are funny... for example, my first night, while walking home, Elder Gonzales told me ''Oh that's right, I forgot to mention, we have a small cockroach problem.'' And I thought, ok, normal, just a few bugs crawling around. But then we get there, and I turn on the lights, and everything is covered in cockroaches. Dishes, fridge, counter, floor, everything. It was... kinda disgusting. As the light turned on, they all scurried around and found some hiding place. So that's awesome. Also, we have no hot water. Welcome to Antofagasta again! XD

We are working with several awesome people here. The first of which is a family, the Vilca family. They are Peruvian, and don't have too much time here in Chile, except for one who has several years here. Viviana, the one who's been here a while, is a member, and is recently reactivating. She lives with her two sisters, Rosa and Luz. Rosa is not a member, but her daughter just got baptized. Luz isn't a member either, but her daughter got baptized at the same time as Rosa's daughter. Luz also has a son who isn't member. Basically.... we're working with Luz and Danny, her son! :) They all are amazing people, and they love the missionaries! We had a family home evening the first night right after writing, and it went very well! They love listening, and Luz and Danny are sure they want to be baptized. The only problem is, they want to wait. They don't even know what they want to wait for, they just want to wait! So that's a little frustrating, but they still listen and come to church, and so I will still teach and testify. Luz came to church on Sunday, but Danny didn't, however they both have around 8 assistances to church. For now, they are the main people we are working with.

The ward is doing a ton of activities, and this week we will have one every day. I love it! This ward is just so established! This week, we will be giving a Book of Mormon to every family in the ward with the challenge that they give it to a friend. I'm curious to see how it goes. Of course we will have a little time with the members teaching them some ways of how to do it, and will be doing some practices so that they feel confident doing it. Also, we will be having an open house this week, but instead of a tour of the chapel, we are going to do some ''theatre interpretations'' of the restoration. Basically, every group in the ward is going to act out a certain part of the Book of Mormon or restoration. The missionaries, we are acting Joseph's meeting with Moroni and him receiving and translating the plates. So I'm excited for how this all turns out!

So, I think that answers all your questions! I hope you all have a fantastic week!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 96

Hey mom!

So... it was a crazy last week, that's to say the least...like I said last week, Elder Vicente was taken to the hospital with what might've been tuberculosis. A few days ago that was confirmed, so he does in fact have TB. He was sent to Antofagasta to begin recovering and everything, and president decided to keep him there in Antofa to recover or something. I was, meanwhile, left to suffer the consequences in Torreblanca. Basically... stress. Lots of stress. 

Every day was a lot of planning and calling and moving around. I was with the elders from the other sectors, with the two who live with me and also the zone leaders. However, that made me super stressed just being with them, so I tried hard to get a member that I could be with in my own sector. Every day I was calling and planning and whatnot, and trying my best to be able to work in my own sector. Even so, I basically didn't get anything done in my sector. President decided not to send me a new comp right away because the cambios were so close, so I spent the week alone. In some ways I loved it, in some ways I hated it haha! I loved the actual part of being alone, but hated the part of having to take up the slack left by the lack of companion. But oh well, I got through it haha! But then Friday comes, and I get a call from the assistant. I've been transferred! I have been sent back to La Portada, to the ward that's right next to my old ward, Caliche. My new ward is called Centenario. I am with yet another Peruvian companion, Elder Gonzalez, who has around a year and a half on the mission. It feels really weird, I'm actually in the same cyber that I always wrote in before, so it almost feels like I never left, or I'm picking up where I left off. I am now officially in my last cambio. Mis ultimas seis semanas! How crazy is that, no? It's weird to think about, but it hasn't really hit me yet. It feels like any other cambio. I'm excited to be with Elder Gonzalez, he seems pretty chill. I'm gonna have to turn up the heat these last few weeks! Kick it into even higher gear! But I'm excited to do that. 

The last few days in Torreblanca were uneventful, I was basically just with members all day. I almost couldn't even say goodbye to most people. But that's ok, this week I'm going to start it well! Thanks for everything! 

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 95

Hey mom! Well... I can only write for a tiny bit before I can go. I have enough time to give a rough overview of the week haha, which has been kinda wild.

Well, we had conference on Thursday in Copiapo, which was fantastic. We talked a lot about personal rervelation, and how the spirit works with us, and lots of other things. The main theme seemed to be The Lord has Invested a lot in us. I really liked it, and then Saturday we had interviews with president, which was super short and normal. However, Saturday night was kinda weird. So, since my comp got here, he's had a small cough that has never gone away. It's not really bad, and I always made fun of him for it because he coughs like a little girl, but then Saturday night he goes to the bathroom, and starts coughing up a ton of blood. So we said, "Oh, that's not normal". But we're not allowed to do anything medical until we have permission from President and his wife, so we are trying to call them and call them and it took forever, and all the doctors were closed, so we had to wait until Monday to be able to do anything. We went in the morning, and we thought he was going to have some cut in his throat from coughing too much or something, and the doctors take an xray. Then they call him in, but I stay outside, and after five minutes, the doctor calls me in, and tells me he's sending my comp to the hospital. I look over at his xray, and there's a golf ball sized spot in his lungs. So, the doctor isn't a lung specialist, but he tells us he thinks it's tuberculosis, so he gives my comp a mask, and sends us to the hospital in an ambulance, and he gets checked in and isolated. Luckily, the senior couple here is Elder and Sister Olsen, who was a surgeon for 40 years. He helped a ton. He got everything situated, told the doctor everything he needed, and now my comp is on his way to Antofagasta so he can have a specialist... I am now without a companion, and I'm going around with members and missionaries as some add on or something. If it gets confirmed that my comp had TB, then I'll have to take a test to see if I have it. But I am not even coughing and feel fine in every sense of the word. It's also possible that it is some fungal thing or lots of things just chillin there in his lung, sooooo... I don't know. That's my life right now, and it got thrown into a ton of stress and chaos, and that's all I have time for! I'm fine, things are going well for me, everythings good!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 94

Hola Buenas!

Haha two weeks in a row! Good thing the rest of the family is coming in clutch writing me, mom! ;) Nah, I'm just kidding! Haha I'm sure you have your reasons. 

Things are sailing smoothly along here in Torreblanca. I'm still here with Elder Vicente, we are entering the 5th week of our cambio. We are working super hard, trying to get everyone to come to church with us. It's been kinda hard, we are in a tough spot right now. There are a lot of inactive people, and our assistance to church keeps going down. Last week only 30 people came to church. So... I'm sorry leaders, Ima start using my vision again and start talking with the menos activos. We are working a lot with this menos activa familia, Gisel y Jonathen. They are progressing well, the only thing that gets in the way of them coming back to church is her work. So I was ecstatic when this week, she told me that her job was lost because the kids she took care of aren't here anymore! So all week we were working with her and teaching her and her son, until Sunday. They both had told us sí o sí they were coming to church with us. But then Saturday came along, and we went to verify how everything was, and she was leaving, on her way to work. She told us she got a job with the same people, but not taking care of their kids, just cleaning their house. Soooooo.... I was worried. She told me that she doesn't have nearly as much to do, so it should be fine. However, Sunday came, and neither she nor her son came to church. I was... bummed, I guess. But I just need to keep going at it this week. We are also going to start working with a ton more menos activos. 

Things with Elder Vicente are good. We have very different visions of the mission, but thats ok. We still teach well together, and get along well. We are also trying to teach Rosario, a 15 yr old girl who is the kid of a menos activa. She has heard from the misisonaries before, so it's nothing new to her. She remembers a ton of stuff, and is progressing a lot. But....... she's lazy! Hahaha she doesn't wake up for church. Such was the case yet again yesterday. Everyone has an excuse not to come. But oh well, next week sí o sí she will come. 

But that's pretty much it.... not much is going on. We will have more to write about next week, because this week we have conference with president. I think. They haven't sent us any schedule, so I'm not sure, but yeah...

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 93

Well, nobody sent me an email (except Caelan) so I'm just gonna go ahead and write anyways haha! Hey family! How's everyone doing! Things are going ok here in el Gran Torreblanca! It is now the fourth week of the cambio with Elder Vicente, and we are still going at it strong! This week was kinda different from the rest of the semanas, so I have at least a few things to write about, haha!

First things first, Tuesday, there was a man working on his farm with his tractor next to the electricity towers that feed the entire city of Vallenar and some other cities beyond. He... crashed... and the entire city was without lights from 8 in the morning to 10 in the morning the next day. So our cell phone was super bad, and gets uncharged within an hour of using it, and so we could not use it the entire day, and we could not charge it. So we did not know what to do. I remembered a similar experience we had in Alto Hospicio a while back, and in it all the missionaries had to not work. So as soon as night fell, everything got super sketchy. I felt super weird working, and told Elder Vicente we should not be outside, so we tried finding a member to be with. But there was none, and so we went home and made ramen... and slept 3 hours early haha! 

Our investigators are progressing... I think... sorta. We had to stop teaching Sebastian and Constanza. After everything, we tried to get her to come to church, and she told us ''I told you from the beginning, I belong to this other church. I don't go, but that's my church!'' So I was confused, by why she listened to us, and how in the heck she passed her baptismal interview, but we don't teach them anymore. The Jonathen kid that came to church last week still wants to listen, but is never home, and this week couldn't come to church because it was 'Día del Niño'. His mom took him to center to celebrate. We haven't been able to talk to her at all. Nobody else is super strong... none of the converts came to church this past week, Nacho doesn't listen to us anymore, Mílan went to centro to celebrate Día del Niño. Nico and Ezekiel, the two kids who were baptized a week before I got here, sent a note to the young men's leader saying that they don't want them or us to pass by there house anymore, and that they only got baptized because they got along well with Elder Flores and Rodriguez. None of the less active people we are teaching is progressing at all, and all the 15 people we passed by to come to church with us yesterday gave us an excuse for not coming. Sooooooo.... that's my sector. But I'm supposed to have the vision now, sooo..... We're just gonna baptize everyone and that will fix it!

We bought two big tubs of ice cream last week. I ate it all. We make milkshakes. I'm still going good with Elder Vicente. We talk with everyone we can, and talk about exactly the same thing with every single one of them. That's your choice. You can set a baptismal date with everyone and report those numbers to the mission, or you can talk about what specifically applies to them and skip baptism, and receive the backlash from your leaders. If you can't tell, I'm a little flustered. As I apply the vision again to my mission, I am quickly reminded of why I abandoned it in the first place. But, it is my duty to have it, so... we move forward. The branch may be dying around me while I watch, but we will baptize. If a bottle is broken, and spills everything you fill it with, what should I do? Should I keep filling it, hoping it will somehow stay there, or should I fix the bottle?

So that's pretty much what is going on in our sector. AS promised, this cambio has been my most obedient, in which I have worked the most. So I'm excited to keep going with that. I still have my unbreakable testimony that Jesus is the Christ, and his atonement is infinite, and amazing. He helps us in absolutely every aspect of our life, but we must ask for, and be ready to recieve, that help. I know that He loves each and every one of us, and knows each and every one of our cares and worries. His arms are forever outstretched for us, and he welcomes us with love every time we turn to Him. I know this, and I have felt this. I know we all can feel this. I hope all of you can feel it a little more this week!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 92

Hey mom!

Wow, this is crazy. I´ll answer your biggest question right off the bat. My itinerary just got emailed to me! Whoooooaaaaaa that's so weird! So my arrival date and time is........ drumroll please...... October 10th at 7:42 in the AM baby! Hahaha it's kinda hitting me how close I am to the end. You told me, mom, not to countdown, that helped me realize that I´m the last one still out in the field... thanks haha! So yeah, I´m leaving from Antofagasta the 9th to head to Santiago, then to Dallas, then to Sky Harbor. I don´t know why not straight to Sky Harbor, if it´s an international airport, but oh well! There you have it. Second things second, Happy Birthday Darian!! Jaja you´re getting old too! The 27th of July we celebrated your big day by... walking around and talking to people! :D

Sounds like you guys had an amazing week! Well, at least you mom. Hectic, maybe, but fun! I´m sure you´re glad girls camp is over, and everything is calming down. This was Ashlyn´s first year there, right? I´m glad to hear that she enjoyed it! They have some awesome activities and people there, it seems like. Especially that nature lady. I´m happy Ashlyn actually picked up the animals! So Aiden´s getting a laptop....? Why?!?! Get me one! For... school, and stuff, for when I get back! I need a laptop! :D And Darian, nice going with the scholarship! I, personaly, am freaking out about money when I get back, to pay school. But oh well. 

So, this week has been a very good week. We have been progressing a bit with a few of our investigators. To answer your question first, mom, I haven´t seen Mílan. In a long time. Since he´s gotten back I haven´t even seen him. He spoke with us on the phone and said he was coming to church, but didnt come. And every time we´ve gone, he´s not there. It´s soooooooo frustrating, but we´ll get there. Nacho, the other convert, is golden!!! He comes to church with no effort on our part, comes to the activities, and participates in everything! He´s awesome! He passes the sacrament in the meetings. I'm happy for that. Now we just need to work with Mílan a bit more... or at least find him. 

We worked a lot this week with Sebastian and Constanza, but more than anything with Constanza. We wanted her to come to church really badly, so we were there almost every day to animate her more. She was progressing a lot, and we had her interview, along with Sebastian. Elder Vicente is animated to baptize her this Saturday, and I´m supposed to have the vision now, so we went along with it and she passed, and so we wanted her to come to church desperately. We were there every day, almost, and talked a ton about church. She promised us she´d come, and we were set. Then Sunday came, and we went to pick them up from their house/store, and she´s there selling to some lady, and she looks at us, and gets instantly ashamed. We talk to her and she says, my worker hasn´t come, I can´t come to church. I was severely disappointed. I talked to her, because she said she would close the shop to come, but that didn´t seem to be her plan. She told me no she wasn´t going to close. Then I talked about her commitment, and how it was not with us, but with God, and breaking it would be breaking a commitment with God. I was desperate that she´d come to church. So I left her there to pray and get ready to come, and we waited in church. She never came. 

We have also been working with a few other people, like a kid named Dustin. He lives in front of the branch president, and we´re trying to teach his family, but it´s hard to find them all together. He´s progressing a bit, but not too much. Then we have Jonathen. This is a child of a less active lady from Bolivia, Cochabamba. We met him and his friend and played a little soccer with them and startred teaching a bit. He is super receptive! Then we went to meet his mom, and found out that she is actually a member, though hasn´t been to the church since she moved to Chile (8 years). So we began trying to teach him a bit more, and invite him to church, and he was open for everything! He accepted to come to church, but when we went to pick him up, he said he was sick with a stomach ache. Then I invited him to come for just an hour, and he thought about it, and agreed! So he came with us to church, and we were stoked. We are going to begin working a bit more with him. 

This week has been a very interesting week for me. President passed all the missionaries a sheet with different chapters of the Book of Mormon about the atonement of Christ. I decided to use that as my personal study and study a chapter a day from that list. I begin with a prayer and seek inspiration then read and write down what comes to mind. It has been absolutely mind blowing! I have learned a ton, and my testimony has grown immensely! I started in 2 Nephi 2, Lehi´s patriarchal blessing to Jacob and testimony on Christ. I loved learning a bit more into the reason of why there is opposition in all things. It helped me understand more fully the importance of the fall together with the atonement of Christ that gives us the freedom to choose. Then I moved to Alma 39 through 42, when Alma talks with his son, Coriantón, and admonishes him to repent. I have learned a lot about the resurrection and the restoration of things to us. I have loved studying like this! My testimony on the Atonement has grown a lot. I have coupled this study from the Book of Mormon with a light reading of The Infinite Atonement. It really opens my mind about the atonement, and helps me realize more the importance. It is the doctrine of doctrines, the most important thing to happen in all of history! All doctrines only have light and meaning because of the atonement and Jesus Christ, our Saviour. I know this is true, now more than ever. I have loved reading about and studying this these past days. It helped me to teach better to my investigators this love for Jesus Christ, and understand who He is really for us. I love this gospel, and want everyone to love it like I do! Or more.

So that´s what´s been going on for me. Still cruising on with Elder Vicente! All is good! Hope you all have a great week!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 91

Hola familia!

Wow... short email! Haha that doesn't happen to me a lot! Usually you send me a new testament every week! 

Things this week have gone by fast! We have gotten a lot done! Let me start by telling you about my new comp. Elder Vicente is from the Phillippines, específicamente, he's from General Santos. He speaks basically perfect english, because that's what his family speaks, though he can speak 5 languages fluently. He is hilarious! Him and I have been getting along so well! There hasn't been a boring day so far! He likes to talk a lot, which is good. It keeps us entertained during the long days. Him and I have a very similar sense of humor, which is good. He also likes to work a lot, which is perfect! I haven't had a companion like that in a long time! I asked president to take away my district leader position, which he did, so Elder Vicente is district leader. He... has the vision. I'd say that's the only point where sometimes we are not in agreement, because he loves baptising, and wants to do it now. I like to wait a bit. So we'll see how this cambio goes, but I think I'm going to love it. 

The work is going smoothly. As I have promised Dad, I wish to make these last 12 weeks my strongest weeks. And as many have challenged me, I plan to follow president more in his vision for this mission, in other words, we set 30 baptismal dates in the street this past week. It kinda goes against everything I want to do, and against my vision that I've applied to myself, but we will continue for a solid 4 weeks with this, so I will reserve my judgement till then. We have plenty of ''new investigators'', but unfortunately, nobody came to church again. This is the 4th week in a row. We had so many people lined up to come, but I don't know what happened. I regret to say... it doesn't bother me too much anymore... I'm too used to it. We have been teaching a few families, the first being a single mom with her son, Constanza and Sebastian. Seba is a friend of Mílan, the recent convert, and Constanza is friends with Maritza, Mílans mom. Constanza is progressing well, we have taught her pretty much everything. Everything was going perfectly until we tried to teach her the Word of Wisdom. As we were beginning, an ex of hers showed up, and joined us. We began teaching, and I decided to just keep on with the WoW, and that was a mistake. The first mention of alcohol, he goes of on a tangent about how beer is good for you, and soda kills you. He also talked about marijuana, and if it's legal now as medicine, why on earth would we forbid it? And tea and coffee are good for you! Ohhhhh it was such a bad lesson. She didn't know what to think, and so I just ended it, tried to put in a spiritual testimony, and got out of there. But other than that moment, she's progressing. It's been good teaching her. We are also teaching a family, a mom Ethel, and Pablo and Sofia, her children. They are progressing a little as well, but didn't come to church. 

So today for pday, we borrowed a couple of bikes and headed up to the top of our sector. It was so fun! We were able to see the greenest part of the mission, and then ride the road down! It was great! I don't have a camera, but Elder Vicente too lots of pictures, I'll try sending you some.

It's weird to think I'm coming in close to the end. I want to make these the best cambios of my mission! Vamos por esta semana! Hope you all have a great week!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

 

Week 90

Hola familia!!!

Welllllll... so a bit has happened hahaha! First things first, I send my condolences to the the Hoopes family. The first sibling has passed on, that is hard. I hope everyone is dealing with the pain well. The plan of Salvation is real. I am so grateful for that. I know that we will be able to not only see, but be with Aunt Iris for eternity. We need only live now in a way that will give us that opportunity. And that's also very scary with what happened with Gunnar! But... there's a first for everything! I hope he begins to feel better. I cannot begin to tell you how jealous I am of the monsoon you are having right  now... it sounds absolutely amazing! I saw a little bit of rain a few weeks ago, but I need a big storm... 

So this week, as I said, was kinda busy. To begin, we had cambios!! And Elder Flores and I actually had a cambio. I am no longer with our beloved Mexican. He has been cambioed to Alto Hospicio, my birthplace. He is actually with an Elder from my group, Elder Hirschi. He was excited to go, because Alto Hospicio is flying right now! Everyone baptizes there. I stay here in Torreblanca. My new companion is named Elder Vicente. Get this. He's from the Phillipines!!! How awesome is that! He got here today from Alto Hospicio, a 18 hour trip! Haha! But he seems pretty cool. I don't really know too much about him now, I can tell you more next week. 

This week, this Sunday, I had a talk in Sacrament. Nobody else could, I guess, so they say, and so they assigned me. They let me choose my topic, and so I talked about Gozo, or Joy. I decided to talk about this because so many people talk to me about the problems in their lives. I was thinking, I need to tell them why coming to church helps them have joy. I feel like it went very well. People told me I did good, so I feel good. I feel like I learned a lot too, and I applied the joy into the Plan of Salvation. It may have sounded a bit too much like a lesson and not a talk, but oh well! I tried to just tie the what we need to do into the why we need to do it. I enjoyed talking. But then again, there were only 50 people. It'll be different in my homecoming talk, when there's a few more than 50 people haha!

Everyone has been out of town, we are in the middle of their winter vacation. It was kinda hard finding people, but we were able to find some. We spent a lot of times in intercambios, every day almost this week. I went to Baquedano with the zone leader, Elder Levrino. Then they wanted another one, with Elder Cook. I was here with him. While here we had an awesome day. I met this less active kid, a recent convert from a year ago who hasn't come to church in a long time. His name's Jonathen. He is such an awesome kid! He said an amazing prayer better than I could say one at the beginning, and knew all the answers to everything I asked him! He just doesn't come becacuse his mom, also recent convert less active, doesn't come. She works. So he doesn't feel any reason to go. So we talked a lot, and he is starting to progress. We've also been talking a lot with a family who hasn't come to church in a while, the family I mentioned last week, la familia Carmona. They are great, and we had a very good Family Home Evening with them and an investigator friend of theirs. They are progressing. Then the LZ s wanted to have intercambios the next two days with two other elders, but we said no, because Elder Flores was leaving and wanted to say goodbye to people, and we were tired of intercambio. 

But that's my life! I'll tell you more next week of the new comp and everything! Hope y'all have a good week!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid

Week 89

Hola mama!

Haha, I don't know if you were trying, but shoot! That La Jolla trip made me so trunky! It seems like your favorite trip to La Jolla, and I wasn't there! What the crap?! Jaja but that's ok, y'all just have to make it up to me... somehow! And, Feliz Cumpleaños, Tía Lyn! Glad it was so memorable! I enjoyed your birthday by... basically doing the same thing I have done every day for the past 20 months haha! :D And I'm glad that Christiaan and Alex and Maecita could go too! It's always super great to be together as a family! Sounds like the best way to celebrate the fourth! Haha, I still remember when I opened my mission call and it said Antofagasta, and Paul sent a foto from Antofa saying, ''Oh yeah, great place!'' 

Well, this week has been pretty great. This cambio is flying by, I feel like it has just started, but I'm actually now in the last week. A few things have happened, nothing too big, just some good short stories. To answer some of your questions, I did make the salsa. And it turned out fantastic! Thanks again, Mom and Tío Larry! I made it for the fourth of July. I celebrated the American Holiday with mexican food.... the salsa turned out great, not too hot at all, though when I gave it to the Chileans, they all freaked out and ran for water. As I was making it, I dumped out the powder into a small bowl, and it turned into red hot dust that filled the room. All the missionaries with me all started coughing up a storm, and I with them. It was awful, and they all yelled at me asking why I was trying to kill them! It was fantastic! The candy was delicious, and yes, it may or may not have lasted a day or two... what can I say, the mission changed me! I actually shared my Starbursts with people! 

The 4th of July came and went, and I did almost nothing to celebrate it. I made Mexican salsa. It was kind of sad, but the next one will be great, I'm sure of it. The work is going a little slower here, because now all the kids are on their winter vacation. All of the converts here have gone away on vacation, so to answer that question, mom, no, Milan could not make it to church. He is in Calama. But I'm pretty sure he went to church there, we tried to put it all together for him with the missionaries there. But really we've been trying to just find new people. We found a very good family of less actives, who show a lot of promise. The mom's name is Margarita, I've met her and her son, Nicolas. They are fantastic people who stopped going to church for a reason that I don't know jaja. They love the church, and her dad was actually Branch president for a long time. So we talked to her for a bit, and she came to church Sunday with her son! It was fantastic! And then we went and talked to her mom and family, and they came to church too. Her dad is sick in bed with something like alzheimers, and he can't walk any more nor remember anything. But we took the sacrament to them on Sunday, and as we introduced ourselves and what we were doing, he got emotional, and started to cry, and it was a very special moment. He remembered what the santa cena was and took it with a lot of emotion. 

Thursday, we were about to go home for the night, and we found ourselves with an older man that my comp knew somehow. He wanted us to walk with him as he went back home, and we agreed. So we walked with him, and I was a little worried, because he looked really old! And the way home was really steep stairs, and lots of them! He looked like he was around 70, 75 years old. But as we went, we talked and talked, or rather, he talked and talked haha! He told us all about his life, what he had done, and what he had seen. He had seen a lot! He told us all the years and progression he saw in Chile, and so I asked, ''How old are you, anyways?'' 104!!!! The man's older than a century! I didn't believe him at first, but he pulled out his carnet, which is like the ID card in this country, and sure enough! June of 1914! He just finished 104 years! And he was walking pretty fast! He works in Torreblanca as some sort of janitor, and he walks his way there every day and back. Just so you know, he lives in Baquedano, which is on the other side of the valley. He goes down and back up every day twice a day! I just thought that was crazy. 

Our apartment is... interesting. When it was just two of us there, it was amazing! Perfect! It's kinda like a run down New York apartnemt. I think. Even though I've never been in one of those. That's just what it reminded me of. It's small and everything is in the same room. Except our bedroom. The kitchen, dining room, and studying room is all one thing. And it has a massive window in that room and we can watch everyone outside haha! I love it. But now there's four of us, and it's way too crowded. It gets really cold at night inside, or at least it did. It's not too cold here anymore. The vision is going great. 

But yeah! That's... kinda it! Hope y'all have a great week!

Les amo a todos!

Elder Schmid