Nearing the End of A Transfer...

This is the last week of the transfer! It's been fantastic, we're going to end up baptizing five people just in this transfer which is a huge blessing. I'm super excited/nervous for transfer-calls this Friday because it is likely that Elder Reheis is leaving. We've had a great time in Spring Lake together and I'm excited for the things that are coming anyway. It is likely that I will stay in Spring Lake for another transfer (that's what I hope at least). 

It was a great week. We had a great lesson with Kilian at the Ensign's home on the Restoration and the Priesthood. He is ready for baptism this Saturday which is way exciting. Even cooler is that Hamish was ordained a Priest since he turned 16 this Sunday. He will be baptizing Kilian which will be an amazing experience for all to see. It was so heart-warming to see Hamish pass the sacrament this week. 

Other than Kilian being a boss, we set three other baptismal dates this week. I had a great trade-off with an even greenier greenie, Elder Stoker, in which we set a date with Venessa. Venessa is the fiancee of Carlos, a less-active. She is a sweet Spirit, that's for sure. She has had three sets of Elders teach her and she's never found much motivation to work for baptism so we hope that we can can change that and help her in any way possible. Elder Reheis and I set a date with Trevor, our favorite medicinal marijuana grower. He has a strong desire to be baptized but has many concerns with the "rules" of Mormonism. We're excited for him though, and his family is way stoked I'm sure (they're recently converted members in Battle Creek). We also set a date with Rosalie, Tony Lee's new wife. She came to church this Sunday and brought her 18-year-old son Dalton as well. They are great and we love them. Rosalie will be baptized pretty soon here (December 4th). Her last obstacle for baptism was giving up coffee but we committed her to stop drinking it last Tuesday and she has stopped since. She says that coffee has been harder to give up than her smoking. 

That's the biggest news as far as the work goes. On Wednesday (after district meeting) and Thursday I did a trade-off with Elder Stoker. He's a Visa-waiter who actually got his visa to Brazil and was shipped off yesterday, but anywho he's a great missionary (he came out a transfer after me). We had a great two days and had some really powerful lessons. One was with Venessa- we finally got something through to her and re-committed her to baptism. We also had a really powerful lesson with the DeVries. I don't know if I've told you much about Paul, but he's a less-active member who is super sweet and way cool. His family has been listening to missionaries for like a year and they love the Gospel but for whatever reason can't commit to changing churches. This week I made some flash cards for teaching the Plan of Salvation that has been helping a lot. They enjoyed the lesson and I think we got Sister DeVries really close to committing to baptism. They are super sweet people and love Jesus Christ. They gave me a pair of knitted booties (see picture) that are amazingly comfortable.

That's about all the news I've got. I've come to realize that all missionaries have something that makes them stick out. For instance, Elder Reheis is freakishly tall and really likes girls. I think I'm becoming the missionary that everyone else thinks is a psychopath that really likes making up visual aids for any lesson. Elder Reheis tells me he's concerned that I talk to myself and laugh at my own thoughts and jokes way too frequently. Also, whenever we're preparing a lesson I try way too hard to include a visual. I also need to lay off on sarcasm. Repentance is a process. 

I forgot to tell you all a couple more things. Last Monday, I was at the mall buying boots and stopped in at Homestead or something like that (I found some really nice Rockports on sale).  and the sales associate asked us what our tags were about. We said we were missionaries of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and he was like, "No way, I was baptized in your church at the age of eight!" His family was active in the church until his parents split up and he moved from Salt Lake to Michigan. He's been looking to come back now that he's older and was way excited to see us. His Mom doesn't want any contact with the church but we're still stoked about meeting Trevor. He is a great guy and is only 5 days younger than I am. 

Another tender mercy- today we hung out with the Ongerts. They took us shopping and got me a SICK tie. It's the coolest tie in all of the MLM, fo real. We also had lunch with them and had a blast. They are such a blessing in my life. I love them so much. 

Well, that's it, folks. Love you all. I wish I had something inspiring to say, but all I know is that I love being a missionary and I don't know how to fully express it. The Spirit is fantastic and it's such a blessing in our life. Always strive to be worthy of the Holy Ghost's presence and things will turn out all the better. God loves us. That's all.

-Elder Schmutz

the picture is of me right before comp study sporting my amazing new sweater from Celia and Benson and my home-made, knitted booties from Sister Devries. 

Elder Reheis hates when I call them booties or slippies. He also hates when I use the word "fragrance". Arizonians are so weird.