A Bunch of Miracles

Hola Hola! 

The highlight of this week was the baptism of Marisol and Jensi. Those two girls are the best! We have been trying to activate their parents for a while and now we had the privilege of seeing them be baptized. Their brother, Junior, also came to their baptism and to church. He now has a date to be baptized as well! I love this family! 

This week was a very good week for us. It was our Ward Conference. We had a bunch of activities all week to get people excited about coming to church. We had a talent show, an activity with all the youth and a giant visit where a bunch of members came and did divisiones with us. It was great to see the ward working together so hard as missionaries! At the end of the week our attendance went up by about fifty people! The church was the fullest I've ever seen it on a Sunday! Only our temple trip beats it!

We really saw a bunch of miracles this week. We had a new family move in from Lemon, my old area, and they had been going to church over there. They are just on the verge of being baptized too! Another thing, we have been invited to go and teach at an orphanage! The director is a member of the church and there are some kids there that want to listen to us. They are going to come to church, and because of their hard lives maybe their hearts have been prepared for the message we have to share.

It is getting SOOO HOT down here again! We are heading into the hottest part of the year right now. I get sunburnt every single day. You'd think my body would adapt already. But nope, I just sweat and burn and peel and do it again every day. But it is part of the sacrifice. Let's just say we do almost all of our planning, studying, phone calls, eating, sleeping, just about everything in this tiny room where there is a little air conditioning unit that keeps the temperature bearable. Jaja!

It sounds like things are going good back at home! Spring sports starting up! This is the best time of the year for sports!!! Keep me updated! 

  

Love you all! 

-Elder Smith

P.S. A family trip to the Sacred Grove would be fantastic! I would love that!

We got to go to this little pueblo called Yusguare. It's sweet there!

 Plus a giant watermelon we found!

The Lord's Vineyard

Hola Hola! 

This week was a pretty good one. We decided to be very direct with a bunch of our investigators. A lot of them were not really progressing and we had been spending a lot of time focusing on them. We let them know exactly why we are here, looking for people who are willing to change their lives and come unto Christ. We asked each of them if they were at a point in their lives where they were ready to do that. Some of them said no... that part was super sad. We grow to love these people out here so much, and when they decide not to accept our message it hurts. But we now have two baptisms scheduled for the end of this week. Jensi and Marisol are going to be baptized on Saturday. Please pray for them! As for Regina and Cati, they decided that now isn't their time. 

Apart from that we went on a super sweet adventure this week. It was Thursday and we had four or five appointments fall through in a row. So we decided to go check out this giant tree in our area that we had always seen from a distance. IT IS GIANT!!! The lowest branch is probably about twelve feet up, and the trunk is huge!  We decided that next p-day we are going to climb it with ropes, jaja! 

It was another really good week down here in the Lord's vineyard. I hope you all keep the Lord at the center of your lives. He loves you. I read D&C 6 this week and it really touched my heart, the last couple of verses in particular. Read it! 

I love you all! 

-Elder Smith

Here in Los Llanos

Hola hola!!! 

This week was a good one for us here in Los Llanos! We saw some key progress in a couple of investigators. A girl named Angie came to church. She is the sister of a young man in our church and we have a lot of hope for her. If you could add her to the prayer list it would be great! 

As for Cati, Merella, and Regina, the three of them didn't come to church this week... mostly because school has started again. The school year goes from February to November here in Honduras. So now everyone has the excuse that they have to go to school or they have to do homework... I went to high school. I know no one does homework! But whatever, jaja, we'll keep working on it!

We also had Consejo this week. that means another trip to Tegus...I'm getting really good at traveling. I think I make that four hour drive at least four times a month these days! But it was really good. We have some new goals as a mission that are going to help us all work together and achieve goals that we couldn't if we worked individually. I'm really excited to see where it takes us!

Stefanie, that's awesome!  Brother Gentile was a great seminary teacher! I really liked the way he taught! He always came to our soccer games and was always talking to me about the team! I hope you take advantage of seminary! Its such a great opportunity to feel the spirit every day! 

Dad, good luck to you and your team this week!  I'll be praying for you down here! 

 

I can't believe that Alonzo is already done with his mission, that went by so fast! Also congrats to Jacob for receiving his mission call. I love missions! They are really the very best part of being a member of the church! 

Well, I hope you all have a great week. Just make sure your life is centered on the gospel.

Love, Elder Smith

The Best Decision Anyone Can Make

Hola Hola!

I didn't even know who was in the Superbowl until yesterday! Jaja, but then the highlights were playing in KFC today. It looks like it was a great game! Last one I will ever miss again! 

It was a pretty good week. I went on divisions with Elder Hatch, the president's assistant. It was probably one of the most eye opening experiences of my mission. Elder Hatch was with me in Cuidad Nueva when I first got to the mission. He has been one of my best friends for my whole time down here, and he will be finishing his two years next month. I had some reflecting moments just thinking about how far we've come since then. The mission really is the best decision anyone can make for their life, it just is. I love it! 

I'm sorry it wasn't the best week for your team, Dad. But it sounds like next year should be a great one for you guys. Keep developing the mentality of winning. I really think winning is a habit. Get the JV team used to winning and you will just keep doing it! Stupid Tom Brady, for example, jaja!!

I have read Jesus the Christ, Mom! I read it with a dictionary right next to me because Talmage uses SOOO many giant words. But it is an amazing book! The way he brings the atonement to life is nothing less than inspired. Thank you for the spiritual thought! It is so true. I know that a lot of times I look for the very easiest way to do things. But sometimes that's not the way God wants it. Our Savior is the best example of that. 

We are really bringing this ward back to life! When I got here our church attendance was about 50 on average. Now it's over 100 almost every week! We should have a couple of  people getting baptized soon. Could you please include Kati, Regina and Merella in your prayers this week? They are really close to being baptized but just need a little extra push. You guys make a big difference when you pray!

Well, I love you all so very much. I hope you all have the best week of your entire lives!

Love, Elder Smith