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

Just Thank You

Hola Hola!!

MOM! You sold the van! You look cute in your new little car! Jaja, I'm going to miss the van a whole lot! That was my girl getting machine! But all good things run their course! Que le vaya bien!

I'm glad you're still fulfilling your calling as primary president, Mom! Jaja, I think I just found my new goal, beat my mom in baptisms this year! Jaja, I'm going to help 17 more people become converted before the end of my mission!! 

This week was cambios! My companion and I stayed the same, I'm still here with Elder Porter, which is fine by me! We are good friends! Almost once a day we take a little break and have a "I bet I can hit that tree before you" contest and throw rocks at trees! And today we buzzed our heads! My hair is super short! I'll send you a picture!

Our zone had quite a few changes, but they are great changes! I love everyone in our zone and I really think we are going to have a lot of success this change! 

I was laying awake in my bed last night thinking about everything that I have lived in my life. The great family I have, The Gospel and all the blessings that it has brought me, all my great friends. The experiences I had with sports and school. Living in a country that is so safe, so comfortable, so full of opportunity and dreams. My amazing mission, all the great experiences that I have passed through here in this beautiful country. I couldn't hold back the tears of gratitude. I went outside and knelt down to pray but all I could say was "Thank you!" I really am so grateful for everything He has given me. I will never be able to express or repay Him, or you guys Mom and Dad, Rachel and Stefanie, and everyone else who has played a big part. Just thank you. 

I hope you all have a great week! I'll talk to you next week! 

Love, Elder Smith

We bought scripture cases made out of boa constrictor skin! The snakes are huge down here!

And this little guy is the son of an investigator of ours, his name is Derek. He is super cool! 

The Cherry on Top

Hola Hola!

Dang!  I have been down here for a long time haven't I! I received an email today from an hermana missionary who was with me in the MTC, It was her email saying goodbye! SHE'S DONE!!!! I can't even believe that. The hermanas who started with me are now home. I have officially finished my sister mission, and now I can finally start on my man mission! 

This week was a good one! Full of work, excitement, let downs, happiness and it ended with a little cherry on top! Elder Porter and I have been searching for inactive members lately, because there are a million of them, and that's one of the best ways to get new investigators. So we printed off a list of all the members of our ward. It is 27 pages long! There are over a thousand names on there. Which is great, but not when your attendance is right around a hundred most Sundays. So we have been spending our days playing "Find-the-Inactives"! Jaja it's kinda fun and we have actually seen a lot of success doing it! 

On Saturday we spent all day just committing people to come to church. We were sure that we were going to have about twenty investigators at church, and five or six inactive families too! But when Sunday rolled around we only had five investigators.... and only one family...but it's better than nothing, right?? We have a lot of work to do this week. Then we got the opportunity to speak in church. Elder Porter spoke on repentance, and I spoke on receiving forgiveness of our sins, which are different. But together it went very well! I really like speaking in front of people. 

And for our cherry on top we went to the beach again for P-day today! I love the beach! Its beautiful. We played beach volleyball, and hung out under the canopy. It was great! I'll attach some fotos! 

Well I love you all! I invite you all to repent! Which really just means change what you are doing and come unto Christ a little bit more this week through your prayers, your scripture study, or leaving behind a sin. It will make taking the sacrament that much more special! 

-Elder Smith

A Good Week

Hola Hola!

I am officially 20 years old. That seems super old! For the first time in seven years I'm not a teenager! That's crazy. But it's also good. Well, nothing has changed at all, jaja, but it was a really good week! Here, let me tell you about it.

So on Tuesday we went to Tegucigalpa for Consejo, just like at the beginning of every month. But it was different this time, because it was my birthday! The guys here in the mission made it a really good one! We got to the Assistentes house and they had a cheesecake waiting for me! IT WAS SOO GOOD!!! And they all sang happy birthday to me. After that we all went to Denny's and because it was my birthday I got a free Grand Slam! That was also delicious! They made my birthday really good!

The next day was Consejo. My zone baptized the second most in the mission! I was happy about that, but the bad thing was that it wasn't even a really good month for us... the mission just did really bad. But that's ok, we took second! Consejo was really good, we came back fired up like normal to get the whole zone working harder and trying to be better. But the best part of that day was that after Consejo we got to stay the night for a temple trip the next day, so we had the whole afternoon free! I went with the other Elder Smith to visit VILLA VIEJA!!! It was so good to see everyone again! That was a huge blessing from the Lord! 

Then we were able go to to the temple with the whole zone and two other zones. The temple is so amazing! The promises and blessings that we receive in them are just unbelievable. There is real power in those covenants that we make. We need to do our best to keep those covenants. Then we had a long drive back to the South. 

It was a really busy week! But it was a good one too. I hope you all had a great week too! And I hope this next week is even better! Atta boy Dad, keep your team rollin'!  Mom keep the school year going great for the second half! Stef, keep getting good grades! Rachel and George, keep working and stuff! And to everyone else, good luck with whatever it is you're doing. I love you all!

-Elder Smith

This little guy's birthday is the same day as mine! His name is Luis, and he lives at the house of our cocinera. He is completely naked 75% of the time! 

New Year's Eve

Hola Hola!

I hope you all had a great New Year's Eve! It was crazy here! There were so many fireworks and bombs and parties and everything going on outside! Elder Porter and I went outside at midnight and just watched and listened to all the craziness taking place. I'm sorry USA, but Central America knows how to throw a bigger party than you do! I can't believe it's already 2015! My full year as a missionary is now behind me! I will never have this opportunity again by myself. It has been great and I'm sad to see it go. Also, I will turn 20 tomorrow! When did I get so old?

We had a pretty slow week, to be honest. Everyone is still on vacation. Things should finally get back to normal this week! But despite little teaching, and a lot of drunk people in the streets, we had a pretty cool week. Today we went to the Peña again--that giant cliff/mountain that I had gone to a while back! It was cool, great hike, but when we got to the top there was more wind then I have ever felt in my life! It was sooo crazy! But it was still a blast! Elder Porter, Gray and I wore Hawaiian shirts, jaja.

We also started a tradition. Every Friday night is going to be weiner night, jaja!  We bought hot dogs and roasted them over a fire in our back yard. It was super good! We also bought marshmallows and chocolate and for the first time in his life, Elder Flores had s'mores! It was super fun and I think we are going to make it a tradition now. 

Then on Sunday we had a visit from a member of the Seventy, Elder Ocampos. He is the second councilor in the Area Presidency. He came to announce that our stake is going to be divided! That was super exciting, it means we are doing our job as missionaries! It also helped motivate all the members to work just a little harder. I was super excited about it!

That is pretty much all my news for today. It was a good week, and an even better year. I hope this next year will be even better! 

I love you all! Have a great week!

-Elder Smith

Happy New Year

Hola hola!!!

Happy New Year everyone! It was super good to talk to you on Christmas! Which was like three days ago! Haha, I feel like we caught up that day, so I'm not going to bore you with a long letter! The good thing was that we had a baptism in between then and now! Franklin got baptized! He is the best! 

Another thing that happened since then was that Zach Glassett came to see me today! It was really cool to meet his family and be able to talk to him again for little bit. He also delivered to me a birthday package from my family! I'm super happy about that! 

I love you all a whole lot! Have a good New Year's Eve. Be safe. Make some resolutions! 

-Elder Smith

Merry Christmas!!!!

Hola Hola!!!

Merry Christmas!!!! 

I am so happy to be in the service of God at this time of year! I miss you all at home a ton, but I have probably never had a better Christmas season. I think for maybe the first time, or at least stronger than ever, I understand what people mean by "The Spirit of Christmas". I have shared the 2nd chapter of Lucas with anyone who will listen, and with it my testimony of the importance of the life of that little baby who was born. It's been special. 

Apart from that spiritual stuff it has been a great week! I had to travel to Tegus twice this week! One to take care of my legal papers again. When I got my new ID I realized how fat I have gotten in the mission! DANG, jaja I need to stop eating tortillas! There is this thing that missionaries do called "the Sexy Six" which is when they work out super hard and stop eating so much for the last six months of their missions to get home looking good! Jaja, I'm on my last month of eating as much as I want and doing lazy exercises in the morning! Then things are going to get serious! 

The second trip to Tegucigalpa was for the Christmas party. It was so good! 

We started it off singing musical numbers that each zone had prepared. We sang Noche De Luz. It was super good. Nothing brings the spirit like music. There is an Hermana Steele in our mission who sings so incredibly! She sings like an angel! Then President Bowler shared a really great message. The spirit was so strong. Lunch came next, honey ham! OHH! It was so rico! And then we played sports. There was a ping pong table, I kicked everyone's butts! Except Elder Riveras, he beat me once... and then I played soccer for like three hours. I'm super sore! 

Tonight we are going to do a Secret Santa with the zone. It should be great! And then tomorrow I get to talk to you guys!!! I'm super excited! I love Christmas time more than anything.

Well, see you tomorrow! 

~Elder Smith

A New Companion

Hola Hola!

It was a pretty good week, full of goodbyes, hellos and a lot of waiting around. We had changes this week, that's always a lot of fun. President is still doing his giant power point presentation. It's always exciting when you know someone's face is going to pop up there with yours. But it was really sad knowing I wouldn't be with Elder Yac anymore.

Monday and Tuesday were spent with Elder Yac saying goodbye to all the people in our area. It was super sad but at the same time super good! He was testifying with all his heart because he knew it was his last time as a missionary. So we touched a lot of hearts in our last little bit together!

We have some new people progressing, I'm excited to see how it goes. The most pilas one is Franklin, please pray for him! 

On Wednesday I received my new companion, his name is Elder Porter. He's from Arizona, and I heard that his aunt works with you, Mom! Jaja, it's a small world! I was super happy when I found out! He was already one of my good friends in the mission, so it's going to be a lot of fun. 

Then came the worst part...he had dengue all week! So after changes we had to stay in the city for three days...nobody told me about that. I spent three days in the same clothes, jaja! But it was alright because we got to stay in the Assistant's home. Everyone who stays there gets to eat for free! Best week of food ever!

So we got back to our area on Saturday and got to work...a little. Hermana Bowler wants us to take it easy until Elder Porter gets completely better. But we're going to do really good together! I'm super excited! 

My zone didn't change that much, just Elder Yac. But he was a pretty big part of it. I'm really going to miss him a whole lot. 

I'm glad you are all doing so good! I'm still not sure about our plans for Skype on Christmas, but I'll figure it all out this week and let you know! 

Merry Christmas, I love you all! 

-Elder Smith

Mi Querido Companero

Hola Hola! 

This week was pretty... SAD!! It was my last week with Elder Yac, mi querido compañero! He has actually been really good at keeping it out of his head, we have worked super hard. But this week the gravity of it kind of hit him, he's going home. But we still managed to have a pretty good week. Let me tell you about it. 

The very best part of my week was an activity we had in our ward to help la obra misional! It was called "La Fiesta del Albedrío" which means "The Party of Agency". The first hour of this activity we just played games and stuff, there were spiritual games, and just fun games. Every time you played a spiritual game you won a white ticket. But in order to play a worldly game you had to sell your white tickets for 5 colorful tickets. It was a lot of fun! Everyone had a blast. But then, the second hour we had a spiritual part to it. We had everyone line up, and one by one we asked them how many white tickets they had. If they had five or more they were accepted in the celestial kingdom, a bright room with plenty of space. If they had 2-4 white tickets they went to the terrestial; a smaller room with just a little light. And if they had 1 or 0 tickets they went to the telestial--a tiny pitch black room. There were lessons given in each room and everyone really learned and felt firsthand the importance of our choices here in this life. It was awesome!

Another cool thing that happened this week was we had Consejo de Lideres. Consejo is always good! But this time something happened that I will remember forever. Ok, to understand this story you have to know that President Bowler is a little like Dad at times. He is super good at focusing in on one thing! So we were all in Consejo sharing what we thought and I had an idea, so I shared it. My idea was good and valid, but President had already thought about this topic a lot and had decided to go in another direction. So he said, ¨NO!¨ pretty sharply. It was shocking to everyone! It didn't bother me, I have pretty thick skin, but if it had been someone else it could have cut them pretty deep. But the cool part came the next morning. President Bowler called me and apologized. He said he had not been able to sleep because he was thinking about how harshly he had rejected my idea. He showed a lot of humility. I respect him a lot. 

And then yesterday was the First Presidency Christmas Devotional. It was so good! I watched it in the home of the family that I saw sealed when I was working with Elder Glassett. It was great! 

Besides that, we went to the beach today. That was pretty dang cool! Honduras is the best! I love it here. You are all invited to come join me any time, jaja! The beach is about an hour drive from where we live here in Choluteca, so we rented a little bus and spent the morning in paradise!

Well that was pretty much my week! I will get a new companion this week, so I'll let you know next week! Please keep praying for Marisol and Jensi, they need it! And I need it.

I love you all! 

-Elder Smith

 Elder Yac baptized a girl from the hermana's area.  It was pretty great!

I Almost Forgot About Thanksgiving

Hola Hola!

Happy Thanksgiving! 

I almost forgot about it! It was late in the evening when I remembered, so I bought some fried chicken from this lady that sells it in the street, I had to eat some kind of bird! And I made strawberry jello. Jaja, that was my Thanksgiving dinner. But I did take a moment to think about all the things that I am grateful for, I had a nice little moment with my Padre Celestial. 

Way to go Dad! That's a pretty fast half-marathon! And the story about Landon is super funny! Jaja, we might end up being teamates, who knows?? 

I'm super proud of Caleb Rodabough!!! Atta Boy! You're going to love Mexico! And you're going to be the best missionary ever! It's good to have you in the ranks! 

This week was a pretty good one. We spent the whole thing in a trio with Elder Flores. There are good things and bad things about being in a trio. It's good because it is a BLAST!!! There is just another dynamic, a third opinion, another voice. It's really a good situation! It's also good because we did divisiones with the youth in the ward almost every day! So two of us were always together, and the other one was always with one of the kids from the ward getting stuff done and helping them get excited for their missions! It's bad because the flow of teaching is thrown way off! Showering in the morning is all messed up, sometimes in lessons all three of us want to talk, and sometimes no one knows who should talk... it's just because we haven't had as much practice, but it has been a little rough!

Today, finally, Elder Flores got his companion. His name is Elder Grey. He is pretty new too, but he seems like a super cool guy. I'm super excited for him and  Elder Flores! They are going to be a really good companionship!

The best part about this week coming up is that we finally have a baptism here! Her name is Cindi, she is awesome! I would love it if you would say a couple of prayers for her this week. And then next week we have three more baptisms planned, Jensi, Marisol, and Eliam! If you would pray for them too it would mean a lot to me! 

I can not believe it is already December. This year has gone by so fast! This time last year I was training Elder Arteaga! So much has happened in the last twelve months, I can't even believe it! But I love it too.

Well, that's really all for this week. I hope you all have the best week of your life this week! Jaja, thank you for all the prayers and love you send our way. It is felt! Just remember to keep the Lord in the center of your lives this week and it will be a good one! 

-Elder Smith

Virtue

Hola Hola!

First of all, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BIG SISTER RACHEL! You are getting so old, jaja.  I hope you had a really good day and that this will be the best year of your life! If you will make Christ the center of it there is no way it won't be.

Second, CONGRATULATIONS TO MY LITTLE COUSINS, AVA AND ALLIE, FOR GETTING BAPTIZED! I can't believe you are both already 8. But I'm super proud of you for living the gospel of Jesus Christ and being baptized! 

Also congrats to Daniel Madsen for getting his mission call. Good luck out there Daniel! You are going to be great!

Wow. That is really good news about the soccer scholarship offer to Western Wyoming! That would be super fun to play with Landon again! I would love that. But I haven't prayed or fasted about it, or even really thought about it at all. I would like to take some time to do that... these are big decisions! Let's just hold our horses for a little while and see what happens!

This week was hard. Elder Yac got sick. Really sick. Monday after writing we went back to the house and he fell asleep. He didn't leave his bed again until Friday! Dengue is EVERYWHERE down here right now! I hate mosquitoes. But its OK, the rainy season is now over. So they should all start to die soon. But entonces, I had a really boring week. I was able to go work with some of the youth of the ward a few times, but we lost a lot of progress we had made the week before. It's frustrating to be a missionary stuck in the house.

Besides that my zone is falling apart a little bit. Hermana Randall went home. It was really hard to say goodbye to her. She's a great missionary. Then they took her companion Hermana Zavala to another zone to be in a trio because we don't have anyone to be her companion down here. And last week Elder Moore went to the office to be the new secretary. His old companion Elder Flores is with us now, and we are also in a trio. Super cool guy! But we started as a zone of 16 and we are now down to 13... all three of those things were out of my control, but still we're not doing so hot right now. But this week we are finally back on track and we are going to have the best week ever! 

This week I studied a lot about the quality of virtue. It is one of the attributes of Christ. But I didn't really know how to define it, so I studied it for a couple days. I learned a couple of things that I really liked. Virtue is something that has to do with our thoughts. What we think about when we don't have anything to think about is a good judge of our virtue. It's not just about not thinking bad things, it's consciously choosing to think righteous thoughts. There are a bunch of promises given to those who are virtuous, but my favorite is that we will have confidence in the presence of God! So I've been working on having virtuous thoughts this week. If you guys have some insights on virtue I would love to hear them! 

Oh, also Elder Yac and I had to give a workshop sorta thing for zone conference this week! That was pretty cool. I'll probably remember that for the rest of my life. 

Anyway, that's all for this week! I hope you all remember the covenants that you have made with your Heavenly Father, including priesthood covenants. They are real. They bring blessings and peace. Think about them more and you will realize, or maybe re-realize how important they are.

Love, Elder Smith! 

It's Hot Down Here

Hola Hola! 

It's hot down here. SOOOO HOT! Jaja, I hear you all talk about the cold and snow and it seems like a fairy tale. Walking outside and feeling cold? What is that??? That doesn't really exist. And it's just going to get hotter down here too. Please enjoy the cold. You don't realize what you have! 

Elder Yac and I worked pretty hard this week! We knocked on so many doors. Talked with so many people, visited so many less active people! It was a good week. But with the good always comes the bad. Everyone in my zone is super sick! They all have dengue. Three compañerismos aren't even allowed to leave the house right now. And the worst part of it all is that Elder Yac woke up with some of the symptoms that always come before dengue...I'm worried. 

The worst part of this week though happened last night... Elder Moore, one of my best friends down here in the mission, and the only person in the mission who I had met before the mission, got changed... he is no longer in my ward or zone. He is now the new secretary to the president. Dang it! Jaja, I mean its going to be super good for him! He's going to learn a whole lot and grow into a better person... but I'm going to miss him like crazy.

We had a couple people come to church this week! Will you please pray for Rupert this week? He loved church and said he was going to come back next week. But the best part is that he is actually married to his wife! They are clearly some of the chosen children of God! :)

Well, that's really all for this week, not a lot of news! I'm glad you had a good experience with the family home evening I suggested last week! I have grown to really love the hymns in my time out here, so I wanted to share that a little bit with my family! I'm glad you liked it!

I hope you have a good week! You're all in my prayers! 

-Elder Smith

My Spanish is Better Than My English

Hola Hola!

Hi! I can't believe it's Monday again already, that was super fast!  The time is flying by. Also, my Spanish is better than my English right now. Ok, that's probably not true, but my Spanish flows better. When I speak in English I have to think hard so I don't form my sentences in the Spanish way. But what can you expect when in the last year I have only had an English speaking comp for six weeks?

We had Consejo De Lideres again! The first week of every month we have this consejo. So we travel up Tuesday night, stay the night with some elders up there and then the next day we have a great meeting. I really love going to these consejos! It is such a great opportunity to listen to and learn from President Bowler and the Asistentes! We are really changing la obra misional. And it's going to help so much!  I'll spare you the details, but when I get home I'm going to be the best missionary member ever because I'm learning how important it really is! Just wait, you'll see. Oh, also President gave us SKYPE back!!!! I'll see you on Christmas!!!

Elder Yac and I had kind of a hard Sunday. We had like 20 investigators who all said they were going to go to church with us, so we were super happy Saturday night. Sunday morning rolled around, and we woke up early like normal to go pick them all up. One by one they all told us no. "We're busy." "I'm sick."  "Something came up." The same old excuses you hear a million times as a missionary. It was a long, lonely walk to the chapel. We sat in the back row by ourselves for the first time in a while. Just crushed.

Just before the sacrament one of the inactive families we had been working with for awhile walked in the chapel for the first time in three years. There was a change in the atmosphere of the room, I was so happy I wanted to cry! It was such a tender mercy from the Lord! After the meeting almost all the members went to welcome them! To tell them how good it was to see them! 

We gave the lesson in Sunday School on the worth of souls. With the Ramirez family as our key example, it was one of the most spiritual Sundays of my life. I will never forget it.

I'm glad your primary program went so well, Mom!!! That makes me so happy! I can tell you love your calling and I know the Lord is happy with you for all your hard work! 

And WAY to GO LEHI!!! Dang, I loved going to the Lehi volleyball games! Probably one of my favorite parts of high school! Too bad they didn't win.  But good season! 

I'm feeling much better! Nothing to get in my way this week. Look out Gentile world, Elders Yac and Smith are coming straight at ya this week! Jaja.

Well, I hope you have a great week.  I encourage you to read the introduction of the Hymn book for Family Home Evening and then sing some of your favorite songs and look up some of the scriptures that go with each song. You'll have a great experience! 

I love you all, especially you, my family, And especially you, my future wife! Maybe someday you'll read this and laugh at me! Jaja, I pray for all of you every night! 

Anyway, talk to you next week! 

-Elder Smith

Changes: I'm a Fan!

Hola Hola!

Happy Halloween!!!

Halloween doesn't even really exist down here... nothing happens.

This week consisted of changes! So that's always fun! I had a new experience of receiving the changes first this time! It was fun to call everyone and let them know if they had changes! I look forward to being able to do that again! 

Changes are done differently now. So President and the APs spend about a week working hard with the spirit, trying to get all the changes down! They call new ZLs, look at the new group of missionaries coming in, look at the list of elders leaving, look at how long everyone has been in their respective areas, and just try to receive revelation for the mission and for the people who live here. That part hasn't changed, still very inspiration lead. The part that has changed is that President now doesn't tell anyone where they are going or who their new companion will be. It's crazy! 

So the day before changes the assistants call us and let us know which elders in our zone have changes. We tell them, and they pack their bags and say their goodbyes. Then the next day we all go to the stake center where President lives and all the elders that have changes are in the chapel. Nobody knows where they are going, or who they are going to be with, The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife, it's awesome! Jaja, then President makes us sit through a 30 minute presentation, listening to announcements, the testimonies of the elders that are going home, ect. Meanwhile everyone is dying with the anticipation of who their next comp is going to be!! It's kinda like torture! Jaja.

Then one by one president goes through a power point presentation. One face shows up, then the area, then the other face!!!! It's so exciting, it's so much fun!! People become Zone Leaders without even knowing they were going to! People are assigned to areas they have always wanted to go! It's really just so exciting! It helps the whole mission have a lot more animo. I'm a fan!

My new zone is awesome! Today for p-day we made a slip and slide. So that was pretty fun. I'm super sunburned... like normal! But it was a good time! I'm still not feeling super good... I've had diarrhea for like a week and a half... in the worst kinda way... jaja but its all part of the Honduras dengue experience! Thanks for your prayers! You guys rock! 

I got two letters from Grandma Smith this week!!! I love you so much Grandma! Thank you for always writing me! And sorry for being so bad at writing back! 

Also I wanna give a shout out to Elder Moore's girlfriend. Jaja, he told me you read my blog and that you got mad at him because my letters are more descriptive than his! But don't get mad at him, he's the best! Jaja.

Well that's all from me this week! Good luck with your primary program, Mom! I'll be praying for you! 

Love you all!

-Elder Smith

One of the Most Memorable Weeks of My Mission

Hola Hola! 

This week has been pretty stressful! Full of a lot of miracles, a lot of good and a lot of bad, and overall one of the most memorable weeks of my mission. It started off with me scrambling to get everything ready for the temple trip to Tegus! From contracting buses to getting food ready for three hundred people. It was crazy! 

We did another baleadas sell, and with a lot of help from our ward we got all the money we needed to contract the buses. We contracted five buses! I had two thoughts in my mind: "What if we don't even fill two?" Or "What if way more people come than fit in the five buses?" I was stressing a little! But everything was coming together so nicely that I knew God was helping us out a whole lot! 

So we moved forward with faith and finished up with our actividades that we needed to do. We did a last minute garage sell that ended up being awesome!!! Jaja, it was a whole lot of fun! And we got all the money finalized! Everything was looking good. But then I got sick... I think it is just the flu, but for the past three or four nights in a row I have woke up with a fever of over 100 degrees. But when you are a zone leader with a huge zone activity coming up there is no time to be sick. Jaja, we kept sacrificing to give those people the opportunity to visit the temple. 

The morning of the activity we woke up at 5:00 in the morning to verify everything and to make sure that our investigators came. And we got to the church early. When we got there, there were already a few people waiting to enter the church.  So we entered and waited for all the people. Within thirty minutes the church was packed!!! I have never seen it so full! There were more than 300 people ready and waiting to go to the temple! Just seeing that room full of people was an answer to many prayers! It was amazing.

So we gave a few instructions and left for the temple! Four hours up, two hours there, four hourss back, with a fever of 102 degrees all day... it was a LONG day! But when President Bowler gave his talk the spirit in that room was so strong! It was all worth it. Every activity, every baleada, every prayer, every second on that bus. It was really a huge miracle that everything worked out so well, because there were a million things that could have gone wrong. God was helping us! 

The next day was Sunday, and I slept almost the whole day. Today I woke up feeling super sick, so i just laid in bed all day today too. Please say a prayer for me to get better, Mom! Your prayers are pretty powerful.

Overall it was a pretty good week! I would never want to relive it again. But I learned a lot, and saw the hand of the Lord bless us a whole lot.  I will be thankful for that for the rest of my life.

I believe the temple is the house of the Lord. It should be our goal to be there as often as possible. I invite you to rededicate yourself to temple attendance! 

I love you all so much! Have a great Halloween! Eat some burger beef stew for me! Jaja.

-Elder Smith