One of the Best Weeks of My Mission

Hola Hola! 

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!! I love you so much!!! You are the best mom in the whole world! I am so happy that I will never have to go another one of your birthdays in my life without talking to you, even if it's just by phone, and telling you how much I love you! I hope it was a good one! 

This week was an interesting one for sure! It started just like any other week. Elder Yac and I got to work! That guy is an animal! We make a good team. We have been finding a ton of new investigators and have been being super direct and upfront with everyone about how important our message is. And people have been responding pretty well to it. I am hoping (Moroni 8:40-48 hope!) that we are going to have quite a few baptisms in October. Please pray for Alejandro and Dilcia. Alejandro is eight years old and Dilcia is his nanny, she takes care of him and his little siblings while his mom is at work. Alejandro's parents are members, just inactive, so we are trying to get the whole family back.

Then on Wednesday we had interviews with Presidente Bowler as a zone. He is an amazing man! He came down with the assistants to give us some instruction and the interviews. My interview with him was pretty quick and painless, but at the end he gave me a blessing that was super powerful. It was exactly what I needed to hear! It is always a great experience when we get to talk to president.

On Friday we got a call from some Elders in our zone, who live in the middle of NOWHERE! An area called Agua Caliente. That is about an hour and a half away from Choluteca, in the middle of the mountains. They said Elder De Leon hurt his knee pretty bad and that he was going to have to come get it checked out. So I went into the jungle in his place. It was awesome! I love that little place. I was there for three days. There is no cell phone service. Only like half the houses have electricity. No running water. Nothing! But it was awesome. 

The best part was after church on Sunday we went to give a blessing to a guy named Juan, who wasn't a member. He said that he had heard of the Elders and how they can heal people by the power of God. He had been really sick for a while. But he lived about an hour walk from the little village. So we went. When we got there it was getting dark, so they lit their oil lanterns that they use for light and we shared a short little message about the priesthood, the power of God given to men. And then we asked him if he had faith to be healed. He looked up at us with almost childlike esperanza and said, "Si." We then gave one of the most powerful blessings that I have ever been a part of. Juan is out working in his field today. 

This was probably one of the best weeks of my mission. I am so happy all the time! I am covered in mosquito bites, my feet are sore, and I'm sunburnt out of my mind. But I am just happy! 

I love you all, I hope you prepare yourselves spiritually for general conference this week! It is going to be great. I can't wait! Be good this week, keep working hard at what you are doing, but remember what is most important.

-Elder Smith