Spring Lake - Week 4

Hey there family and friends. I didn't send you my address last time because I didn't have it. 

Here it is:

15054 Lukas Ct. #220

Grand Haven, MI

49417

So yeah. That's the best place to send me mail for at least the next 4 weeks, almost definitely longer. The mission office's address is this:

1400 Abbot rd. Suite 310

East Lansing, MI

48823-1900

Preferably send mail to the first one, because it will go directly to me.

I'm going to start this email with where I left off. Last Thursday after Zone teaching Elder Reheis and I went and contacted a referral named Trevor. Elder Reheis taught Trevor's family in Battle Creek and baptized them. Anywho, Trevor was there and we let us in. Trevor's girlfriend Allie was there as well, and both of them seemed interested in the Gospel. We taught them the Plan of Salvation and they committed to praying about the Book of Mormon, etc. 

Here's the thing about Trevor: He's a licensed medical marijuana grower. After we taught them a really powerful lesson on the Plan of Salvation Trevor showed us his farm that was 10 feet away from us the whole time we taught him and Allie. Trevor reminds me a lot of James Franco. 

Moving on.

Friday was a good day. Our afternoon consisted of finding and less-active contacting. Later in the day we went to Brett's house, a less-active, and helped him with the clubhouse he's making for his daughters. We're now going to start teaching Brett, his wife and two daughters (none of them are members except him). Woo!

I'm copying and pasting from the letter I sent to President Hess to tell you about Saturday andSunday.

Saturday was an alright day, Elder Reheis was miserably sick so we didn't leave the apartment. I got lots of studying time. I read all of "Our Search for Happiness" that day and wrote my talk that I gave on Sunday AND started reading the Old Testament along with my daily Book of Mormon study. It was a really relaxing day. After about 5 hours of studying I took a nap and cleaned the apartment up. I don't know what the rules are on days that your companion is sick, but I think I had a really productive day.

Sunday was really good. I gave a talk in Sacrament meeting on the Plan of Salvation. It was a huge blessing for me to get to plan that talk and learn more about the Plan of Salvation myself. After Sacrament, a young man named Parza (pronounced Paza) came up and talked to me and Elder Reheis. He's a foreign exchange student from Germany and was really interested in what I and the other speakers had to say on the Plan of Salvation. Parza wants to have more discussions with us. What a tremendous blessing. He lives with a famiy in the ward, I forget their names but they're great and will be able to help us out a lot in teaching Parza. 

After church, we went over to the Dehogue family's home for lunch. They fed us and we taught them a powerful lesson on the Plan of Salvation. We had a very enjoyable and Spiritual time with them. We asked them for referrals afterwards and even though they didn't have any at the time they committed to praying together and keeping their minds open for referrals to give to us. 

After the Dehouge's we saw our investigators Corey and Kelle, they didn't come to church because Kelle was sick. We had a good talk with them, and they had lots of questions on the Plan of Salvation. We answered them and also taught them the Word of Wisdom. I almost forgot: Kelle's cousin Maysia sat in on our lesson and is willing to hear more about the Gospel. 

So that's what's happened since last time I e-mailed. I love you all tons and tons! I know that I have been comforted and blessed beyond my comprehension because of all of the prayers that are coming my way. In addition, I recognize the Holy Spirit more and more in my life and he comforts me and directs me more than I know as well. Missionary work is hard and I miss you all quite a lot but the miracles I've seen and the feelings that I've had would not be possible without God's love, the Spirit, and all of your prayers. Again, I LOVE YOU.

The Gospel is true. God is our loving, Heavenly Father and he cares for us tremendously. I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior, Redeemer,  and greatest friend. I know that he lives! Joseph Smith saw God the Father and the Son, he is a Prophet, and  the Book of Mormon is true. Jesus Christ guides His church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, through a living Prophet. What blessings this knowledge gives! That's why I'm here; I want everyone to hear the message that has blessed my life beyond reckoning. 

Keep writing/e-mailing me! I love hearing from all of you.

-Elder Schmutz

Shoutouts:

Vaughn/Mags: Mom tells me that Lucy is crawling. Is this true? It can't be. 

Mom/Dad: I'm glad to hear that you are sub-settled into your new place. I hope everything else goes well. I hope that Khalil leaving won't leave you terribly traumatized. He's such a sweet guy. I miss him like crazy. 

Annie: THANKS FOR THE POSTCARD, I LOVE IT. In the MTC I was eating fruits and veggies like crazy but now I'm in Michigan, not so much. Thanks for the reminder, I'm working on that. 

Clark: Thanks for that lovely email. I'll keep you in my prayers concerning Med School. Amy, I love you. 

Celia/Benson: Mom told me about your big news! Wow! ;)

Celia: Will you forward this email to Natalie and tell her to email/write me? Is she like, engaged or something? Dang.

Missionary Friends: You're all great! Thanks for the emails, I read them entirely.

Elder Yu, U ROCK.

PICTURES:

This is a picture of my lovely MTC district in front of the Provo Temple being cool.

This is of me and Elder Reheis, a picture I took an hour ago to show you what we look like

This is a picture of the Elders in my MTC district. We were a pretty tight bunch. Such nerds, too.

This is a picture of Elder Safley, my first companion ever, and myself in front of the Provo Temple.