A Wonderful Week!

Hello Everybody!

i hope you all had a wonderful week, and a fantastic Thanksgiving! I know we did here in Blanding! Thanksgiving sure was a good day for us, except for the fact that we told everybody we would come over to eat so we ended up eating three Thanksgiving dinners that day! We were stuffed by the end of the day. then sister Langston wanted us to come over for pie so we ended up finishing then night off with more pie. I don't think I have ever eaten so much pie in a single day. But it was really good. We are so grateful for all the people that feed us and take care of us. We get well taken care of here in Blanding.

So we have a Baptism coming up this week! We are really excited about it, because we haven't had one here in Blanding yet. It is down on the rez. for a girl named Adrianna. Their family is pretty awesome. It is one of those situations where she really should have been baptised a long time ago but because their was only one set of missionaries for the entire county they couldn't get down there and teach. So since they now have two sets of elders here we are able to make it down there once a week. Our teaching pool is getting pretty big down there now. We are getting to the point where we need to go on splits down there in order to see everybody the day that we are there. We are excited about that because it is showing how the branch is getting involved in the work. We are hoping that this or the next transfer we will get a set of elders to cover the Montezuma Creek branch and the bluff branch don on the rez. We are also hoping that in the near future Mexican Hat will get a set of Elders because they haven't had any in a long time and the other elders up here cover it and don't have the time to go down there. They haven't been down there in at least five months. We are getting a lot more missionaries, in the next two transfers we are getting nine more companionship's meaning that nine new areas will be opened. So we are hoping that we get some more here in Utah! But our goal between the other elders and us is to have a baptism every week to the end of the year. We got started two weeks ago. The past two weeks that other elders have had baptisms and this week we do. And then the weeks that they don't have any planned we do. So we are praying that we will be able to accomplish that goal. President wants us to baptise every week, so that what we are going for. It seems like we get so much pressure sometimes to baptise sometimes that the people that are getting baptised are not ready. I think that's my problem I want to make sure they are converted and are going to continue in the faith rather then getting them baptised to baptise them and hoping things work out. But we are getting on it so we are excited for that.

This week we have zone conference so that will be exciting. It is going to be in Durango again, so that means we will have to leave Wednesday night to go to Cortez and spend the night with the ZL's. Which is unfortunate because our nights are when we are the busiest, but nit is good to get the training. We are having to go on splits at least two nights a week here in Blanding and then when we are down in M.C. which is good for a few reasons. The work is moving forward and we are busy and it gets the people from the wards out seeing who we are working with so their is someone else to fellowship them when they come to church.

This week we found and awesome new investigator. His name is Sean Murphy. He has grown up here in Blanding and Monticello but his whole family is non-members. He said his family were the ones to have a binders full of anti stuff and that they would just bash with the missionaries. He told us we deserve more respect then that ans he has already made up his mind and he wants to be baptised. He already new that he needs to quit smoking and drinking coffee and has already stoped doing that, so it is pretty awesome. We are excited to have found him. It helps that his wife is a member but has been really less active for a long time. But they made up their mind that they want a better life and know where to find it. So they are doing what they know to be best. Let me tell you they chose a pretty good path to go down. They are just an awesome family though.

We had a pretty neat experience last night. We had an appointment with this less active family that we are working with. We got their and only the dad and mom where in the room talking with us. We were bummed because we wanted to meet with one of their daughters and her boy friend who lost a baby about four months ago and are havine a really hard time with it. So we were talking with the mom and dad when the boyfriend came in and just broke down and started balling. we didn't know what to do and so the dad kind of told us what was going on and how he was still having a hard time and that they had been getting in fights and it had been kind of rough. So the girl fiend came in and they asked for blessings. They asked me if I would do it and I gladly accepted. I can truly tell you those blessings came straight from Heavenly Father. I don't think I have have really had the spirit work in me like that for some time. I don't remember exactly what I said but I know what was said is what they needed to hear. It was amazing. I have not been in a lesson on my mission where so many tears were shed. It was a very spiritual experience.

Well I better get going! I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Schmidt

Blanding District

 Sister Langston's home we decorated for Christmas!

Elder Schmidt's Halloween pumpkin! 

 

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Hello everybody!

So how was everybody's week? We had a pretty good week here in Blanding. We are making a lot of progress with some of the Less actives we are working with and with investigators. Their is two less active families inparticular tha we are working with that came to church and stayed for all three hours. It is truly amazing too see the Lord at work. They haven't really been to church in a long time. One family,, the Randals, have just really come a ong way the past few weeks. We got really worried about them because we heard from the mom's boss, who is a member we work with, that one of her close friends and co-workers was really throwing anti stuff at her. Then after we heard that they missed the appointment that we had, so then we really began to worry. Bt last week we stopped by and had a really good visit with them. They had had some things happen in life and were just kind of down so we shared some scriptures and just talked about what was going on and turning to the Lord. We went back a couple days later and the dad told us that he quit smoking and that by the end of next year he wants to take his family to the temple. Two suprisies to us. We didn't know he smoked, and he sat down and picked a date himself that he wanted to go to the temple. That was pretty awesome! They came to schurch and stayed for all three hours, which was amazing. We didn't get to go to priesthood with him because we had to teach the young men and women, but we talked to the ward mission leader after and it sounded like he just fealt really comfortable and the quorum welcomed him. So that was pretty awesome. The other family hasn't been to church since they moved here which was like two years ago. We have been working with them for quit a while now and they are finally making some progress. We like going to see them because the dad is from Samoa and makes really good Samoan food. But they came to church and stayed for all three hours too. So it was really good.

We have a baptism coming up next week. It is a little girl who lives down on the rez in Aneth. It was suppose to be this week but we were unable to teach her a couple weeks ago so we need to teach her one more of the lessons. It stinks because we are only able to make it down to the rez only once a week. So we can't get all of the work done that we would like too. We are really pushing to get a set of missionaries down there because their is a lot of work to be done there. In January their will be nine new areas opened up because their are 18 extra missionaries coming in. So hopefully we can talk President into it. Sometimes it seems like everybody forgets about us out here in Utah. We are the farest north west corner of the mission. But the rez really could use its own set of missionaries.

It will be interesting to see how this week goes. It seems like a lot of people are going out of town, so the work could be kind of slow. It's not like anybody wants family to come here because their is nothing here. We here about it all the time, but the city won't let anything come here either. This place could really use a pizza place but the city won't let any kind of food place or anything in. But we do have quit a few people that have invited us over for Thanksgiving. I guess everybody that is staying has invited us over. They have a community dinner and i'm pretty sure we are going to stop by there because they have a lot of non-members that sow up to that. Then we are just going to have to stagger times so we stop by some when the are not eating. Well I hope you all keep in mind the true meaning of the season! I have so much to be thankful for. I am thankful for my loving family and all they do for me! I am thankful for this wonderful opportunity that I have to be serving the Lord! I have truly come closer to my Father in Heaven and his son Jesus. I am so thankful for this gospel and the joy and happiness that it brings into my life. I hope you all have a wonderful week and keep in mind the many things that we have to give thanks for. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Trevor Schmidt

Hello everybody!

Well it has been a wonderful week here in Blanding! We nare emailng a little early because we have a mission wide Temple day today. Everybody in the mission is going to the Temple. It is pretty awesome. We just found out about it last week. It is pretty exciting. Everybody in the mission will be going through in three sessions. So it will be pretty busy. It will be kind of fun to see some of the other Elders that I haven't been able to see in a while. So that is what we are doing for p-day today. It will be a wonderful day. There is no better place then the Temple.

So yesterday we had a missionary fireside for the stake with Brad Wilcox as a special guest speaker. I was asked to conduct which was a bit frightening because the entire stake center was full; all the way to the back of the gym. I have gotten better with my public speaking skills since I have been on my mission but not that public. It was good because we had such a great turn out but I wasn't to fond of speaking in front of that many people. To make matters worse us four elders had to sing a song, and well you can imagine how that went. Especially since one of the other two sings about like me. So i hope nobody went deaf. But over all I think it went well and Brad did a really good job. I had never heard of him untill we got to putting this on but apparently a lot of people do, and I think thats why we had so many people there.

It was a very good week of missionary work as well. We taught the most lessons I have ever taught in a week on my mission. We had to go on splits two nights which is so wonderful. We were suppose to go on splits down on the rez on thursday but the branch president waited untill that day to try and get someone, and everybody said it was too short of a notice. It was kind of dissapointing because we didn't get to see everybody that we wanted to, and I would have thaught that if people down ther would have had the opportunity to go out with the missionaries they would take advantage of it. So hopefully this week we can get that set up down there. But we are so thankful for those that did come out with us. We have some real amazing ward mission leaders and ward missionaries that are a huge help to us.

Well I better get going we don't want to be late. I hope you all have a wondefrful week. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Schmidt

Hello everybody!

Well the weather sure has changed here as well. It has been cold this past week, and has snowed the past couple of days. It sure turned rather quickly. As soon as we hit November it decided to get cold. It seems like over night the whole weather just changed, it is defiantly winter now.
We had a pretty cool experience this week. A couple of weeks ago we got a referral for a family but we were unable to find where they live. So we tried going back to the people that gave it to us but whenever we went over there they weren't home. So the other night we were at dinner with a family and asked them who we could go see and they gave us that same family. We told them how we had received their name but we couldn't find them. They were able to give us better directions so right after we got done with them we went to go and see if we could find them. We were able to find them with their directions, and it was pretty awesome the way things unfolded. The family we ate with told us it might be kind of hard to get in because the mom is kind of reserved , so they said just be patient with them. So we were expecting to just visit with them on the porch and set a time where we could come back. But that is not how it happened. They invited us right in. they are a very nice family they have three girls and then there is the mom and dad. So after we got in we figured we wouldn't be in very long, but we all started talking and getting to know each other. Then the next thing we know we had almost been there an hour and had to get going. The interesting thing was that we both felt that we shouldn't share a message or really talk about the gospel a whole lot just whatever they would bring up. But we found the real amazing part out two days later when we were at church. We talked to the family that gave us the referral and told them how it went. The dad told us that we should go talk to the bishop because he found something out. So we went and talked to the bishop and were really surprised at what he had "found out." We weren't sure if the dad was a member or not. But i guess that after we left there the dad went to the bishops house and told him how we had come and visited them. I guess it was just perfect the way things went. He told bishop that he wanted to get baptized and that we were welcome there any time. Bishop told us that it is just going to be one of those slow moving situation and not to push anything on them since the family is less active. Sometimes the Lord works in mysterious ways. We are excited to start working with them!
We set three baptism dates this week!! We are way excited about them because it has been way too long since there has been a baptism in this area. One is for the 26 of this month with a girl we are working with down on the rez. She is really awesome so we are excited for that. Then two are from one ward here in Blanding. One is for December 3 but we might have to push that one back a week or two them the other is just before Christmas. She is living here with her aunt and uncle and could be baptized today but she wants her family to be here. So she will get baptized and that is what is awesome.
Well I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all! Stay safe!
Love,
Elder Schmidt

Yaateeh my family!

That transfer went by way to quickly! It does not see, like i have been here in Blanding for six weeks already. I guess time flies when you are working hard. I am staying here and so is Elder Nelson. we are working with some really good people right now and should be setting a couple of baptism dates this week. We are excited for that because it has been a couple of months since their have been any baptisms here in this area. We were really progressing with some investigators but then we had some set backs and it was really just bringing us down and we were beginning to wonder what was wrong. But, the past couple of weeks we have found some really awesome investigators. We were talking with one of our assistant ward mission leaders yesterday and he was telling us how on his mission he found that if you just continue to work real hard these awesome investigators will just come to you. I believe that to be really true. We have some we are working with that are slowly progressing and some that are just really grabbing a hold of the message and progressing rather quickly.

So mom that guy who called you on Saturday, his name is Kelly. He is one of our really solid investigators but has a long ways to go. He is a smoker but he has really come a long way with it. We have a goal to have him quit by the 25 of November, so we are taking steps to obtain that goal. He is set on it so we are really trying to get that done. He not only wants to do it because it is a commandment but he really needs to for his health as well. Just a side note he only has one eye and no teeth, he is proud of it too. He is a really good guy and really wants to do what is right, so we are working really hard to get him baptized. I am going to do it! He also has to get married to the lady he lives with, who is a member but is extremely stubborn. But before we can get them married we have to get them both divorced. So it is a big challenge but were working hard to over come them. Last night we were over visiting them and they got a call from her son who was over at her parents who live just next door. I guess her dad is having health problems and fainted and hit his head really hard so we went down to help them out and they asked us to give him a blessing. I love being able to exercise the power of God and being worthy to bring his blessings to his children. They took him to the hosiptal so hopefully he is ok.

So we got a text from the zone leaders today informing us that we have to be in by 7 tonight. That doesn't leave much room for doing much since on P-day we are suppose to be out at 6. So it should be a fun night i guess. We were going to go to the other elders house but they are leaving because one of them is getting transfered so hopefully we can find something to do.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all! Be safe and be smart!

Have a wonderful HALLOWEEN!!

Love,

Elder Schmidt

Hello everybody!

I can't believe it is the last week of the transfer. Time has absolutely flown by it does not seem like I have been here in Blanding for nearly six weeks already. We have had some great success and some upsetting set backs. But our obedience and hard work is seeming to pay off. This week we found two new investigators that are just awesome. One is an 18 year old girl that is living with her aunt and uncle here. We thought she was already a member because she goes to church every week, but we found out that her dad for some reason or another does not like the church; ever though he is a member. She told us I'm 18 now so i can do it if I want. So we are excited she will be baptized in no time. The other is a man named Colemen. He was actually at one of our dinner appointments and asked us if we could come over and teach him. So we gladly accepted and had a really good lesson with him. We actually have a lesson with him this morning, so we are enjoying some success here. We also found out that one of our investigators who the missionary's have been working with for a long time asked somebody to baptize him. We were so excited to find that out because we didn't get to meet with him this week because he has been sick.

This week we went on exchanges with the zone leaders. It was a little different so it wasn't really like exchanges. The zone leaders are in Cortez which is about and hour and a half away from here so they both just stayed and one went with us and the other went with the other elders. So Elder Sharp came with us. It was kind of fun to spend a couple days with him and talk about Window Rock and the people we worked with there and share stories. He was excited because we went down to the rez on Thursday and he hasn't been able to serve their since he left Window Rock. I sure do miss the rez too. Everybody here thinks that I am crazy because I want to go back, but I love it there. And it is hard to tell the people why I miss it so much because it's something that they can't understand. I love the native people and working with them. That's something I couldn't understand until I experienced it for my self. All my life I have grown up listening to people talk about coming to love the people. I always wondered what people meant by that and said to myself that wasn't possible, but now I know! I truly love the Native people and sharing the gospel with them! We had a pretty neat experience this week. We are working with a Navajo girl that is living with some members here because she got kicked out of her house. It;s kind of a sad situation. But she has grown up traditional and with no real belief in God or Jesus Christ. So we have to take things real slow with her. So when we began to talk about the Book of Mormon I asked her where her people came from. She kind of gave me an answer but wasn't too positive. So as we asked her to read the introduction page of the Book of Mormon I asked her to pick something that really stands out to her. When she finished she immediately said we are descendants of the Laminates and this is a record of them. It was so neat to see her make that connection and be excited about it. She thought it was so cool. In our next appointment with her we asked what she had remembered. She remembered everything about that and about the Priesthood and Joseph Smith. It was really awesome to see the spirit work and teach her, and take those things to her memory when she has had no real religious background.

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week. I love you all!

Love,

Elder Schmidt

Hello my loved ones!

How has every body's week been? I hope it was wonderful! We had a pretty good week here in Blanding. It seems like they could always be better, but when we step back and look at it it could always be worse. So I like to look at the bright side and count our blessings and just think how wonderful it has been. We had a very good zone training meeting on Thursday. It was is Durango which is about 2 and a half hours away from here. So we drove to the zone leaders in Cortez on Wednesday night so we didn't have so much driving Thursday morning. It was a very good meeting. President Jones primarily talked on the Ward Mission Process. It was really good to have him present it to us; especially since he has worked with the quorum of the twelve and had a little more in depth understanding about it. It is amazing and I love having a mission President that has been a general authority before. He shares some amazing stories and experiences from meeting's that he has had with the First Presidency and with the apostles. It is amazing. But, back to the ward mission process. It is something that is so effective if understood and used properly. From what I learned I don't think everybody has the complete understanding of it. I haven't been able to really use it in the other area's on my mission because we didn't even have a ward mission leader. But, in this area it could be used so effectively. Everybody thinks that everybody is members but there are a lot that are not but we rely on the members to find them because it is hard to do by knocking doors. Just like Elder Holland has said the most effective way of finding is through referrals and not knocking doors. So it is something that we as missionaries have discussed and next week in our stake correlation meeting we want to talk about it. But it was a very nice meeting. I had never been to Durango, but to put it in your words dad "it was beautiful!" At this time of the year with all the trees changing colors and being up in the mountain's it was beautiful. I'm glad I wasn't the one driving.

Well tomorrow we are moving out of where we are living. We are moving into a three bedroom three bathroom house by ourselves. It is a pretty unique situation. It is a less active lady that is letting us stay in the house that she has, and all we have to pay is utilities. We meet with her on Saturday and she was going to get keys made and then she was going to drop them off to the lady that we are currently living with. We weren't there but Sister Langston, the lady we live with right now, told us about the visit that they had with each other. Sister Langston told her about how she came to have the elders stay with her and how it was at a very hard time in life when she really needed something and the Lord sent the elders to live with her and now it has been going on for almost five years. It is similar with sister Bayless the lady who is letting us have the house. She hasn't been to church in years and is having a lot of trials right now. So the deal with letting us have the house is that we work with her and her son and get them re-activated. So we are so grateful for them and excited to get the back into church.

I am so glad to hear that you had the missionaries over to teach a lesson mom and dad. Their is no greater joy to a missionary then when members open up their doors and let people be taught in their home. It helps so much and it makes it easier for those people to come to church when they know somebody. They feel more comfortable and have someone to fellowship them. President Hinkley said one of the three most important things that every recent convert needs is a friend. Missionaries come and go but the members need to be there to support and befriend those that the missionaries are teaching. So keep it up!!! I challenge you all to invite somebody into your home this week and have the missionaries teach them! We all need to better fulfill our calling as member missionaries!

Well I hope you all have a wonderful week! I love you all! Be safe and be smart!

Love,

Elder Trevor Schmidt