Divisions

Hola Hola,

This week was interesting. Elder Sorenson and I had divisions with the President's Assistants. (I think that's how you say it in English...) It was awesome! I went to their area with Elder Lawson. He's from Colorado and is a really good missionary! I always like working with other people because there are little things that you can learn from everyone. He legitimately talked with EVERYONE that we saw. I usually pick and choose the people I decide to talk to based on if they are busy or if they look like they are ready to accept the message. But he really talked with everyone who would listen. And by doing that we actually found a whole lot of people who I wouldn't have guessed would be interested, but they really were. He told me something like this, "God gives the best references. If we show Him that He can trust us, He will put the people who are prepared right in front of us. We just gotta talk to them." Haha, I believe him!

We also had divisions with Elder Christiansen and Elder Alarcon from our district. I went to their area with Elder Christiansen. We talked with some recent converts, found a couple new people to teach, and had some really good lessons! One in particular I have no idea how it went well, God was watching over us. We started talking about the Book of Mormon, and we were just all over the place! Elder Christiansen started off explaining really simply and clearly, but then Josue, the father of the family, asked us if this was before or after Christ. So then we started explaining, and it went something like this...

"Well you see, it started off about 400 years before Christ about the time of Jeremiah, in the land of Jerusalem, but then God told this other prophet that you've never heard of, Lehi and his family that they needed to leave, so then they built a boat and crossed the ocean and came here to the Promised Land, and because God loves all of his children he spoke to other prophets here just like in Jerusalem, but then Christ died in Jerusalem, and then he showed up in America too, and he organized his church here just like he did over there, but then because the Lamanites were wicked and the Nephites were too, they were all destroyed. Oh, by the way, they are called Lamanites and Nephites because the prophet Lehi, remember him? Well yeah, he had a lot of sons and some were wicked and some were righteous...never mind. But then the prophet Moroni, who was the son of Mormon... that's why it's called the Book of Mormon...anyway Moroni buried the plates of gold in the ground, oh by the way, all the prophets wrote on gold plates...anyway and then about fourteen hundred years later Joseph Smith had a vision of Moroni and he told him where he buried the gold plates, and then three years later by the power of God Joseph Smith translated the book into English, and that's why the church is true!!!!!!  Any questions?"

Haha, it was like we were just throwing up a ton of information that really wasn't important for him to learn all at once... but somehow the spirit was still there and touched his heart. We really witnessed that the Lord is there to help us out, as long as we are trying our best... even if our best is terrible! (:

The church is true. Even when the missionaries give terrible lessons! The Book of Mormon is the word of God. Read it! And tell your friends to read it! They might think you're weird now, but when you are both talking about it in the Celestial Kingdom they will be so grateful.

I'm glad you are doing so well!  Have fun in California! I love you all! 

-Elder Smith

We hiked a mountain in our area one day!!  It was awesome, but we took the hardest way up EVER!!

 

We worked at a construction site for service one day. They are building a new chapel.  Should be done in July. It was awesome!!

Promised Land

Hola Hola!

It was soccer day today!!!!! I love soccer! It felt so good to play!!! I miss soccer so much. I told you this before Mom, but I will know who my wife should be when I would rather spend time with her than play soccer! haha That's a tall order to fill, ladies. You are going to have to be pretty awesome.

We had Stake Conference this week. Which means that we lost all of Saturday's work because we had to go to conference. But it's OK, because then on Sunday we had a special church broadcast for all of Central America! Two apostles spoke, Elder Richard G. Scott and Dallin H. Oaks! It was really awesome. Elder Oaks spoke of four ways to strengthen the family:

     1) prayer: personal and family
     2) scripture study: personal and family
     3) family home evening, and 
     4) making sure everyone gets a good education.

Elder Scott Spoke about how Central America is part of the Promised Land, and how blessed we all are to be here in this part of the world! He spoke of the blessings of tithing and fast offerings. It was really good and powerful. Plus, Elder Scott speaks really good Spanish!!! I was glad we had a couple investigators there to listen to two of the apostles of the Lord speak.

I had divisions this week with Elder Torres, one of our Zone Leaders. He's a really good guy and a good missionary! When we got back to the house that night we had a little bit of a heart to heart talk. We started with a prayer and he told me some of the attributes I have that he has noticed. He said that I am really obedient, I try to follow all the rules. That I am very observant, and like to see and take in everything that happens before I start to speak, and that I am really patient in criticizing anyone. I think he is right about all of those things. But I was thinking about the me before the mission, and I can see pretty clearly some of the changes that I have gone through! I'm definitely not the same person I was when I left! But I like all the changes that I can see. The Lord is helping me change into the person I need to be!

MARCH MADNESS, haha. I can't believe it's starting this week! You guys are all just lucky that I'm here in the mission or else I would win all of the bracket tournaments! haha And I can't believe that the high school soccer season is already starting!! GO LEHI!!! Thanks for the sports update, Dad! And Stefanie, good luck out there in California! You and your squad are going to win nationals for sure!

I love you guys and I'm glad you are doing so well!!! Keep up the good work! The church is true. I dare you all to invite someone to church this week!

~Elder Smith

Not My Favorite Week of the Mission

Hola Hola!

Este semana fue muy mal. Nuestro bautismos se cayeron, Yo estaba muy enfermo y todavía estoy un poquito, no tuvimos mucho exito, y ahora el hombre quien esta sentado a lado de mi esta mirando X....awkward...Pero por lo menos, hoy es un nuevo semana. Tango mucho esperanza para este semana. (Translation:  This week was very bad.  Our baptisms fell, I was very sick and still am a little bit.  We did not have much success, and now the man who is sitting next to me is viewing pornography…awkward…but at least it is a new week. I have much hope for this week.)

This week was a little rough. Not my favorite of the mission. But that's ok, they all can't be the best. The two baptisms that we had planned both fell through, one due to coffee, and the other because the kid's mom influenced him to choose against it...way to look out for your kid, mom...but I guess everyone has their free agency, right? I was also pretty sick all week. Still am a little, but it's ok. But the good part about it is that this week FLEW by! I swear someone is pushing the fast forward button on life right now.

This week has had a couple of silver linings. We started teaching two investigators who are GOLDEN!!! The first one's name is Glenda, she is married to a guy who is a member but has been pretty inactive for a while, up until about three weeks ago when we found him. He is now asking to come with us to teach almost every day, and then we found out his wife (or girlfriend...everyone just says wife here) isn't a member!!! Music to my ears! Elder Sorensen and I taught the first lesson to them and the spirit was so strong. We have an appointment with them this Wednesday, I'm pretty excited about this one!

The other investigator who we found lives with her sister and their family who are active members! She has come to church like a million times! Really all that's left is to baptize her! And figure out what her name is because neither one of us knows it...haha. Even when we have hard weeks the work of the Lord is still moving forward.

All the District Leaders were also invited to attend Consejo, which is usually just for the Zone Leaders. Elder Amado, former mission president of Mission Tegucigalpa  and member of the temple presidency, spoke to us. It was a great talk. He spoke about the power and authority that we really have as missionaries. It was incredible! We really have the power to act in the name of Christ!!! If I feel the spirit, and promise them blessings or answers to their prayers, it is really going to happen! I heard a saying that I like, "Be willing to sacrifice who you are for who you will become, at any moment." That to me means that when a good idea comes along, don't just condemn it because it is different from the way you did things before. So I have tried to apply that to my teaching, and it has really helped.

Sounds like you guys have had a pretty good week at home too. I can´t believe that its already been a year since I got my call!! haha And it's even crazier that Kaitlyn Florek got married!!! Congrats to her!

Ok, do something awesome this week!

Love, Elder Smith

P.S. Shut up Stefanie, YOU are getting weird!!!!

I Have a Wash Lady!

Hola Hola!

I can't believe that it is already March! It feels like February just started. This week has been awesome! My new ward is awesome! I really like Elder Sorenson. He's a hard worker and really patient with our investigators, and with all of my shortcomings too. I really like our zone! I am super happy with where I ended up. But we have had some bad things happen too. I'll start with the good.

I have a wash lady!!!! I no longer have to spend hours washing my own clothes, scrubbing on the pila and not getting all the stains out anyway! We have a lady in our ward who washes our clothes for 100 limps once a week, that's like five dollars. It's awesome! I gave her my clothes on Friday and got them back whiter than they have been in three months! Plus I had a hole in one of my shirts and she patched it. She's awesome and this is honestly a blessing! We also have dinner with a member five out of the seven days of the week! The people here are way nice to the missionaries. And yesterday after church the whole Elder's Quorum came with us and visited our area. We are really going to have a lot of success here, I can feel it! We had a fast this week as a zone to accomplish a goal of fifty baptisms, with at least six families. I hope we can accomplish it.

We have two baptisms lined up for this week, two brothers named E*** and Y*****. Their uncle is a member, but until two weeks ago he hadn't come to church for a few years. But now he has come out and worked with us two times so far, come to church two weeks in a row, and helped us teach his nephews! I'm really excited about it! I would really appreciate it if you guys could say a few extra prayers for them this week.

On top of all that we had Zone Conference this week. President Hernandez gave an INCREDIBLE discourse based on the talk, "Becoming a Consecrated Elder" by Tad R. Callister. He spoke on the difference between a social missionary, an honorable missionary and a consecrated missionary. It was so powerful, it really helped me open my eyes to some of the things that I was doing, not necessarily wrong, but just not as well as I could have been. I want to become the best missionary I can be. I really suggest this talk for everyone preparing to serve a mission...Maggie, Hunter, Michael and everyone else! And also another talk called "The Fourth Missionary" by Lawrence E. Corbridge. They both talk about the same thing. Both excellent!

OK, now for the bad. One of the areas in my district was changed this week because of disobedience issues. So there were some "mini changes". I hope everyone involved can use this as an opportunity to work harder and just become better, and not as an excuse to fail...I have faith in them! But the thing is, I have been a district leader for only about a week and have already lost one of the areas that I was supposed to help. Dang it...but I'm not going to use this as an excuse to fail either. "The greater the challenge, the greater the triumph."

I love you all, keep working hard to become the people that God expects you to be. There are people depending on you! This church is true! I really believe that with all of my heart. My faith is tried, tested, confirmed, and strengthened every day out here. But I'm going to keep on fighting to have more faith every day until the day that I don't have to have faith anymore because I will have a perfect knowledge. Until the day that I can hug my Savior and thank him for everything he has done for me, and tell him that I did everything I could to follow him and help others do the same. How great that day will be!

-Elder Smith

Elder Pau'u and Elder Glassett