So first off, I wanted to thank you, Natasha, Oma! You really saved me a bit there! Haha I was able to buy a sweater so now I won't be cold. And I'm talking to president to get permission to buy more meds. So thanks! I really do appreciate it! Love you guys! And dang, mom, busy week! That's awesome that you finished the Book of Mormon so quickly! It is true, when we try reading it different ways, we get different understandings out of it. I have found that, just like you, when I read it fast, I understand better who is related to who, and where exactly everything is going on. It's always fun to learn something different out of a book we've already read so many times! Not to mention it builds your testimony every time you read it! So let me ask, did you follow Moroni's 'exhortation' and promise? Did you pray to know if it's true? Something I've learned is we can never do that too many times. Nor can we do it enough! So many people here go inactive, and the first thing I ask them is if they've read or are reading the Book of Mormon, and if not, when was the last time they even picked it up. Without fail, they haven't read it since before they decided to go inactive. We can never have too big a testimony of the Book of Mormon. That's really interesting about the teacher strike in Arizona. But I like it! Power of the People! WOOT!
Anyways, things are going alright here in good ól El Palomar. We had cambios come in this last Friday, and I will be staying here another 6 weeks. I am still with Elder Carrasco. It will be an interesting cambio. The chilean zone leader left, and came another latino from Ecuador to live with us. It will be interesting to see how he does things. I am going to start charging, I told them, for every dish I have to wash of theirs. Every dish will be 500 pesos. That's around 80 cents. They laughed, but we'll see how this goes. Every dish they leave in the sink that I wash will be 500 pesos, and I'll take a foto and wash it. Haha the new Elder looked at me like I was crazy, probably thinking that I will be like that this whole cambio. And I will.
This week was super tranquila. Once again, there were no investigators who came to church Sunday. I was a little upset. We tried real hard this week to get people there, and we had some good commitments, but they all fell. The two best were Yvania and German, those two I talked about last week. Yvania got a Sunday off finally to come to church. And instead of coming to church, she slept in. I... I actually didn't talk to her much because I was angry, and you know, better to just not talk if you're angry. So we called her, she said she slept in, I said we'll come by another day, and chao. German was a bit different. We went on Saturday to make sure he was coming and had an awesome little lesson right there in his doorway (gateway) about why he needs to come to church, and he told us that he was coming for sure. So we go there in the morning to pick him up, and his older cousin is outside having a little party with his friends. Usually when the 20 or 22 year olds here get high and drunk and all that, they love to talk with us in front of their friends to look brave, or I don't know, in front of their friends. And it ticks me off. A lot. I was already angry that morning for 3 investigators calling me saying they won't come to church, and this guy comes out and begins playing with us, trying to look...I don't even know what. I told him we were there to pick up German, but he said no he's sleeping. I tried to get him to go and get him, but he refused because ''The sabbath day is a day of rest, and there is no reason that he would need to be up so early (it was 10:00 am).'' I just laughed and walked away, not really saying goodbye, and he got mad and started following us. I told him ''Largate'' which kind of means get lost, and he sprayed me with a bit of his beer. I guess I kind of deserved it for losing my cool, but oh well. That was my Sunday.
Our investigators are all freezing up. The less actives are stopping from listening to us. We are losing the little we have, and we are not finding. But you know what? Oh well! It doesn't really matter too much. I'm working harder than I have in a while, and I love working, and I stopped looking for success in numbers! By the looks of it, the sisters in my district had a week very similar to mine, where everything just started slipping through their grasp, and their numbers were a little less than usual. They freaked out. Our phone call was a lot of me trying to convince them that they hadn't failed pres, or anyone! So I would say that I am loving the new way of working that I have applied, because I am not in a state of despair like my district for having bad numbers. I know they worked hard, and gave it their all, becasue they always do! They didn't fail! They had tons of success! But they don't know where to find that success. I will show them this cambio.
Other than all that, not much is going on. Barbara and her daughter Michelle (the recent converts) went to Santiago this week to go to the temple!!! How awesome is that? She sent a member in our ward some pictures, and she told us she loved it! I am so happy she got to go and just feel the spirit there! And her daughter! She was able to enter and watch baptisms for the dead, though she couldn't participate. Even so, how amazing is that! I am happy for her. We had a little check in with the family of my other converts here to see how they were doing. They thought that I was leaving, and were all pretty upset... so I dragged it along haha pretending that I was going. Until last minute I had them, but then I told them I was staying, and they were all happy! And then they got upset because I tricked them. But they are progressing too very well! They are both in seminary, and are loving it! I love these people!
Just want you all to know how much I love you! Four cambios left! 6 months! I know that I am here to work, and that that work will bless not only the people here in Chile, but also me! I know this is God's work. I know this is His church! How can I deny it?! Every time I testify of the Book of Mormon, it's like I'm testifying to myself, and I receive an even bigger testimony. Every time I pray to know if what I am doing, if all of this, is God's work, He answers me! Every time I turn to Him, He turns to me, and I feel the blessings come! Like you said, Mom, just love, love, love, that is the greatest commandment! And with the greatest commandment, comes the greatest blessings!
Les amo a todos!
Elder Schmid
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