Letter #29 January 17th

Family! Well This is short because Dad got on a chatted with me! That made me so happy! Then right after Sister Larsen was on and said hi and so we chatted too! And still are right now! So This week was a lot better than the week before! Or numbers are still not as good so that is a bummer but we had a great Zone Meeting where President got me all fired up for the work again! It was super sweet! Zone meetings are incredible! They make me realize how much I am not doing and how much better of a missionary I wt to be. Although, I found myself last night saying “ Well next week we will have better numbers “ But that's what I said last week! I really hope that I don't find myself saying that On the Last week of my mission when I don't have any more “next weeks” to come!

I get a new companion tonight. She speaks some English but I want to speak as much Ukrainian as possible. I am starting to think it Ukrainian! Which means I speak faster but then I still have English in my head so random English comes out in the middle of my sentences. It's WEIRD!

Things are great here in Kiev! I got a huge compliment from the Stake President. In an interview with my companion for her temple recommend he told her That she has a great companion and he likes me a lot! How amazing is that. I wanted to cry He is such a great man! Well I love you all, I love Kiev and the mission's and everything! I can't wait to read everything everyone sent me! Tell them I love them all so much and am so Happy to hear from them!

With Love from Ukraine

Sister schmidt

Letter #28 January 10th

So the news you have all been waiting for... just kidding you probably forgot. I have a new companion. She is a mini missionary from Kiev. Her name is sister antoch. I met her last week at the temple she is a return missionary she just got home a week ago. She doesn't speak any English and has forgotten Ukrainian. It's sweet I am learning so much from her but it is SO HARD. We can barley communicate in my broken Ukrainian. I am pretty sure each missionary goes though a time in their mission when they had a really hard time and everything seems to go wrong and no matter how hard they tried it was just a struggle. I think I am going through that right now. The good thing is with every story it always turns out okay and it's fine in the end. So I know that this will be the same way. I was on the verge of a total break down all Yesterday and then at the end I just lost it for a 5 second period and then I sucked it up and was okay. So that's the truth. I am learning and growning a ton right now. I hope it doesn't seem like I am totally down I am fine now I promise. But it was a bummer. I feel like i am dropping the ball here in Center. We went from 21 lessons a week and within three weeks we had 9!!! OUCH! But the best thing it we can only go up from here! Ha ha that's the best part about being at the lowest point.... you can only go up! YAHOO!

So Center is Totally different now! Our Zone Leader is now AP and the DL is training a elder from Peru that doesn't know English but knows Russian Fluently he is 26 and is a doctor. then there is my comp who doesn't speak English. So everything we do is now in Russian (not Ukrainian) So once again I am going to be learning Russian a lot better! I think I might come back either knowing three languages or just not knowing any because I am the three so jumbled up in my head! ha ha ha crazy! ha haha Oii! Oh and it is also crazy because she can only serve with me for a little over a week and then I get another Mini. Ha ha So I Will have had 5 comps by the end of this transfer! ha ha I still don't know Ukrainian. My poor comp has so much patience with me. Bless her heart! I am so grateful for her. She is a sweetie. We are going to make lots of good Russian food today! So hopefully I will be able to write a bit to you too!

Highlight of the week was sister B and I decided we wanted to talk to EVERYONE@ It was cool. We have stand ups at transfers. President says stand up if you have talked to 10+ people the last three days and then 20+ 30+ by this point there is only us and one other sisters comp standing then 40+ then they sat down 50+, 60+and finally we say that we have talked and invited 64 people to meet with us and hear our message. It was super cool that the two newbie comp blew everyone out of the water. Come to think of it..... that's why this week is so dang hard. I totally needed to be humbled! ha ha Heavenly Father is funny! But that makes sense! Well This is a super lame e-mail! I am sorry! I promise everyhting is GREAT! I truly am leaning and growing so much! "Don't worry about a thing, Everythings is gunna be all right" I think that is how the song goes!

Love you all so much! I love this work and Ukriane!

sister schmidt

Letter #27 January 3

Can you believe it's a New Year! What a great opportunity to change your life make new commitments and rededicate yourself to the person you want to be! That's what I am doing! I am so excited this is going to be the best year of my life. I am so excited for everything that is ahead of me! I am so happy. Want to know something crazy. This week the office told me my departure date. I will be coming home December 7th. Weird huh! I come home this year!

Well this week I said good bye to sister Larsen. i didn't think it would be hard but I found myself all pouty the next day because I already missed her. She is an awesome girl. I had fun with her. This week has been fun though. Sister B and I have been doing weel covering both of our areas. It was crazy at first but all has gone well so far. We totalled with 5 new investigators. Which is extremely good for normal! I was happy. I realized I really am understanding both languages and I am growing so much. I really am loving it! I can't wiat to see what is happening at transfer meeting on Thursday. I think I will have a mini. for a while we thought Sister B and I would be together over all 4 areas at the same time!

Well I know how you can find me! First go to LDSmail.org then go to tools and then maps. Then you can put in kiev ukraine and then it will show the meeting house and that is where I am all the time! then you can see it and then I actually don't know me address so pretty much I will have to get that to you soon. Well New Years was good we watched fiddler ont he roof and ate junk food with our district at the church. I am sorry this is so lkame but I have no time now! I love you all! Thanks for everything! Well Love you all! I am surving in Ukraine! My ukrainian is better and better everyday! :)

Sister Schmidt

Letter #26 December 27th

Hi Family!

So was that crazy or what!? I talked to you all on the phone! I am not going to lie I was scared that it might have been harder than it was. But It was exciting and fun and then great to continue doing the work!

Wow! I have no time! And I didn;t even read all your e-mails yet. I just printed them and will read them soon. I need good reading material because this week we are not allowed to leave the apartment from 4 PM December 31st and all day the 1st and then till noon the 2nd. Everyone here parties too hard and we are not allowed to be on the streets. So hopefully I will be able to send you some letters!

Did I tell you what is happening soon! I am TERRIFIED!!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to be with sister Besieger. She is a 2nd Transfer Russian and I am a 3rd transfer Ukrainian. Ha and we will be manning our 4 areas together till transfers in two weeks! Talk about scary. I have only been in center for 4 weeks. HA AHHHHH! So yeah then I will hopefully have a mini missionary or something. Yes so! That's my new thing happening! I am so nervous! I am so sorry this is so lame and nothing but I am such a happy little missionary! I love you all so much and I love that we were all able to talk on the phone! Dad Your bruises are nuts! I am glad you are alive and fine! Dad I eat well and I live and a good apartment! my living conditions are great! I am sorry I never have time to explain! I will next e-mail. Pull up a metro picture of the metro in Kiev I live on the blue line between palat ukraine and and respobliconskiy stadium. Ask marina! She has been to my apartment!

Well love you!!!!!!

Sister schmidt

Letter #25 December 20th

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!! Sad news I have already been out six months!!!!!!!! Where did that tiome go! I only have a year left! WEIRD! Rememer the picture of us wanting to put a tree up... we did it! We are all ready for Christmas! Presents under the tree lights up music going and stockings hung. can you say HO HO HO! I love this time of year!

So it''s Christmas time and it snow a little everyday. It's not terribly cold which is nice and I am in the warmest area of the mission I think. Because we ride metros with a million people and we are all smashed next to each other getting warm. Ukrainians don't really have personal bubbles like Americans do which can be good and bad I guess.

So this week We went to the temple!!!! I LOVe the temple. I made it a goal to go once a week after I get home and when I first get home I am going to do all the ordinances in a row from start to finish in one day! Won't that be so cool! You all can do it with out me now and then do it when I get home with me. while we were in the temple we saw everyone we know. It was really cool for sister Larsen because all her really close couples in he ward that she knows was there and they were all so excited to see her. It was amazing to see how peoples faces just light up when they saw her. I loved it. They take such good care of her and you can tell they truly love her. I want to create relationships with the members her like that. It's just difficult now because I don't understand them. I want to understand everything they say to me so I can truly be happy for them or sad for them but I just don't know what they say to me. It's a bummer sometimes.

But good news is that I am starting to understand Russian. and I LOVE it when people speak Ukrainian to me. I feel so much smarter because I really understand Ukrainian now. It still kicks my bum everyday but not as bad as normal. It hard when my comp speaks all the time so everyone speaks Russian back. I hope that this next transfer I get a mini missionary (native volunteer) so that I can really improve my language abilities. That would be so cool and SO hard. But i think I am ready for that challenge. Oh and sister Larsen leaves the 30th and the transfer doesn't end till the 4th so I will be with Sister Besieger who has only been out for two transfers. and speaks Russian! Ha ha we are going to get really lost I think! and really confused because we don't understand anyone! Wish us luck and pray hard because I have to step up to the plate and senior comp for a week and I don't know how to be a missionary yet! just kidding. I hope this doesn't sound down at all! Because Ia m not down at all!!! I am so happy right now! I just love being a missionary I love being push by the Lord to do hard things and I love that he helps me do everything I am supposed to do. I love the phrase (switched around) When much is required much is given. I know this is so true for me! The Lord is there helping me do everything and I know that in these next three weeks I am being pushed hard and i will be able to do everything he wants me to do so that I can do the things that are required of me!

I love being a missionary I am so grateful for my calling and this work. I love this time of year so that we can really focus on what matters! I can't wait to hear from you this week

Sister Schmidt

Letter #24 December 13th

Hello loved ones!

NEWS: NADIA GOT BAPTISED!!!!!!!

Okay now I will explain! Nadia is the 40 year old woman that just showed up to the temple interested in knowing more. She is the one that had the vision and new that Joseph Smith wasn't lying because she also saw Jesus Christ. So she isn't actually crazy! People here are just really in tune with the spirit! I moved out of her area but Sister Robinson still met with her. I found out on Monday they set a date with her! YEAY She asked me to say the closing prayer at her baptism. Not a lot of people were there but it was so great. I loved it so much. She came running at me when she say me and hugged me and said "my little angel" I almost cried! She is so great! I feel such a connection with her! I love her and she makes yummy food! :) There are so many baptisms here! Which brings up the next thing!

The mission already has over 30 people with baptismal dates on Christmas day! How cool is that!!!! Hopefully they will all go through. and one of them is ours. There will be 9 in Borshahivskiy at 12 aka right before I call home! We are going to have a white Christmas for sure! I am so excited! So her name is Baba Lilia (baba is for baboosya= grandma) she is 75 and a little crazy she tried to get baptised a year ago but lets just say it went really wrong and she came up to us and is ready for a second dip! We are trying to have some others commit to the 25th so keep praying!

Have I told you I love center? Oh yeay I already have a million times but it's true! Missionary work is so much fun! I love being a missionary. Plus in center I keep warm because the Metro is warm. I swear my body is so confused! I start sweating with all my heavy clothes on for the cold when I am in the metro but then I go outside and my sweat freezes on me and makes me even colder. ha ha its weird but I am just grateful to be warm at some points in the day! Which reminds me Yes mom I did get a winter coat! It's warm (ugly but warm) Let's just say it's not the 1,000 dollar coat that I had my heart set on :) Sister Larsen and I am having lots of fun together! It cracks us up all the things we do! It's so great. She is an amazing missionary! I am learning so much from her! It's weird if you go out with her family after Christmas she could come with you! ha ha I am so sad she is leaving on the 30th. I will miss her! She is helping me be a better missionary. It's really good to serve with other people so you learn so many different ways to be a good missionary!

Well I love you all so much thanks for your e-mails, love, support, and prayers! You are all so great can't wait for next week to hear your updates. (I think they are cool even if you think they are lame still let me know whats up) LOVE YOU! Sister Schmidt

The Video from conference

Lauren referenced the conference video several times 2 weeks ago. I found it online. It took a while to load, but is totally worth watching.

http://www.byutv.org/watch/2037-100