Zone Conference with Elder Ochoa

Hola Hola! 

This week was great! We had the opportunity to listen to Elder Ochoa. He came on Thursday for our zone conference. He spoke on how there are chosen people who have been prepared to receive the gospel, it is these people we need to be looking for. He told us that we need to do a better job of helping people understand and realize who it was that sent us to talk to them. It was exactly what I needed to hear! 

This week we have been focusing on our investigator Xiomara and her family--Alejandro, Nelly and Ashli. I love them so much. We gave them a promise last week that if they would read the Book of Mormon every day and come to church that they would be able to receive an answer to know if this is the only true church. They kept their part of the promise, they read every day. And they came to church! I really am hoping and expecting three baptisms very soon! Please pray for them this week.

We went to this sweet waterfall this week..but my camera is missing again..this is like my fourth camera of my mission. Jaja, so I don't have any pictures but it was amazing! I really like my zone.

WOW! It's crazy that you already have my flight information! If you wanted to share that with me I would like to know. I'm super proud that Stefanie is going to mission prep! And Mom, I'm happy you accepted my scripture challenge. Thank you for your insights! 

I feel like my emails are getting shorter and shorter! But know that I love you and that I am growing and becoming who the Lord needs me to be. I hope you are too!

Love your son, 

Elder Smith

Roller Coaster of Emotions

Hola Hola!

Well, I'm with a new companion. Elder Pearson from American Fork, Utah! He's a really good guy and we are going to work hard. It's crazy that he could very well be my last companion. Our zone had a bunch of changes too. There are now more Hermanas in our zone than Elders. It should be a good change! 

It is always exciting the morning of changes! We wake up and start the day as normal, pretending that it isn't killing us not knowing what is going to happen. Then at about eight o'clock the Assistants call to tell us the changes. We then call everyone in our zone to let them know. And the rest of the day is bittersweet. We go out and say goodbye to everyone, which is very sad, but there are always very nice things said, and usually a lot of food! The worst part is that night when we start packing. That's when it hits you the hardest. You might not ever see that place again. But you are also very excited to see your new area! It's a roller coaster of emotions. But it's very good because it gives you a great chance to progress.

Mom, thanks for all the news and updates. I can't believe that the school year is almost over for you guys! Life just keeps going, time just keeps sliding past. Mom, I'm glad you have so many fun activities planned for your first graders. And I'm glad Dad's track team is doing so well! I'm proud of Stefanie for being so pilas. Go Lehi soccer! And that is the craziest thing I've ever heard that Rylie and Josh have two kids! Congratulations to Nate Hancock, and Amanda McHenry too. She better not get married before I get home! And way to go Trevor and Haley for your graduations! 

This week we have Zone Conference. Elder Ochoa from the Quorum of the Seventy is coming to talk to us. We have a meeting with him on Thursday, and then a meeting for leaders of the mission on Friday. I'm very excited for that.

Well that's all from me this week. I love you all!  Keep reading and praying as a family.

-Elder Smith

The Spirit Was Felt

Hola Hola! 

Arches National Park looks awesome! I'm glad you guys had such a good time. I can't believe spring break is already past! And you guys can now say that you have been to the  place on your license plates!

This week was awesome for us, Consejo was great as always. We saw a bunch of progress in our investigators and we had a lot of them in church yesterday! I'll attach a picture we took.

Hermana Xiomara and all her kids came, as well as Consuelo and her WHOLE FAMILY, including the guy who took us to mass! We were super happy! It was the first time that the whole family had come to church together. It was also ward conference, so the bishop and the stake president both spoke. The spirit was felt! 

We also felt super guided to go to this guy's house in a part of our area where we had never really worked that much. His name is Freddy, We started teaching him and he said he didn't want to join any church because the faith of the people in churches isn't really faith. That no one who goes to church would be willing to die for what they believe in. We shared Doctrine & Covenants section 135 with him, the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The spirit was very strong and I was able to tell him about the time our family stood in that very room. How I saw the holes in the wall where the bullets entered. How I have felt the spirit of Joseph Smith's testimony that he sealed with his blood. And how the church was restored! He said he would pray about it, so we´ll see what happens when we go back!

Well that was pretty much our week! On Wednesday we have changes. I will probably stay here in this area, but I might get a new companion! I'll let you know next Monday!

Love you all, 

-Elder Smith

Easter and General Conference

Hola Hola!

Happy Easter and Conference to each and every one of you! I hope you had a great week full of the spirit and remembering the Savior and his sacrifice. General Conference probably helped you to do that. It was so great this year! I have grown such a love for Conference while out here on my mission. But did you notice that Elder Scott didn't speak? I wonder why? My favorite talks were given by President Eyring in the Priesthood session, Elder Bednar, and Elder Holland. Can't wait for the Liahona to get here next month! 

This week was pretty slow. Everyone went on vacation, even the public transportation people. We were unable to get to the half our area where we have most of our investigators. And most of the ones we have here close by were gone. So we had a week full of member visits! It was fun, but it was not a very productive week. 

That's really cool that Carter got his mission call!  Atta kid, Carter! My MTC companion is serving in San Antonio,Texas! It sucks that I won´t be able to see him before he leaves. But I am really proud of him!  

Its also pretty cool that you signed my National letter of Intent! Its official, I'm going to be playing college soccer! I'm pretty excited about that! Thanks for all your help.

This week coming up we have Consejo! I'm excited, it's always a great spiritual experience. I´ll keep you posted on that.

Well that's all from me today. I hope you all have a great week, and that you apply what we learned in Conference. Love you!

-Elder Smith

Easter Week, Samana Santa

Hola Hola! 

This week was the most Catholic week of my entire life! Jaja, but in spite of that it was pretty good. Easter week--Semana Santa--started down here, which means two things: #1) everyone goes out of town and #2) the Catholic church does a bunch of traditional things. There are big groups of people in the streets every night carrying crosses and singing and worshiping in their own unique way! Jaja, the 11th Article of Faith has never rung so true for me. 

On Wednesday we were walking down the street and this little old lady was walking the other way. We stopped her to talk to her about the church....or tried to! We didn't get two words in before she started talking about all the crazy dreams she has had where God told her that the Catholic church is the true church! In a world as confused as ours she is among the most lost of them all. But then before I knew what was happening she started doing the cross thing to me! Jaja, I was scared at first! I leaned away and wasn't going to let her do it! But she insisted... after that she turned around and walked away, leaving me stunned, and Elder Ruiz laughing his head off at the bewildered look on my face! 

Then on Friday we went to visit Xiomara and Consuelo. They both live in a part of our area that is about fifteen minutes away from our house by bus, so we always visit them on the same day. We had two great lessons, they both accepted the challenge to be baptized! Nothing is final still but it's a great first step! We were excited,to put it lightly! And then on the way out we saw Consuelo's husband, Miguel Angel. He is a great guy, but doesn't really have very much interest in the church. We invited him to church like we always do. And he proceeded to say no very politely like he always does, nothing new.

But then he said he would go to church with us if we went to Mass with him, thinking I'm sure, that we wouldn't be caught dead in a Catholic church! But we jumped on that opportunity! We told him that we would gladly go to church with him if he would come to church with us this week! He agreed but said we had to go with him first. So this morning we woke up early to go with him to mass before work! It was a very interesting experience! And best of all, HE'S GOING TO COME WITH US TO CHURCH!!! 

This week is sure to be full of more Catholic experiences! I'm very thankful to be a member of the true church of Jesus Christ. I hope you all have a great Easter week! Watch the video Gracias A Que El Vive. I don't know what it's called in English but they're great. Color some eggs and have a great Easter egg hunt for me too! 

I love you all! 

-Elder Smith

 This is a sweet soccer field in our area. These people have a true love of soccer!

There was a giant fire right by our house!

Keep the Lord in First Place in Your Life

Hola hola! 

This week went by really fast! I'm sittin' here in the cyber cafe and the only thing that I can think about are my investigators. This week we found some that are really positive. The mom's name is Xiomara, she is a single mom with three kids: Alejandro, Nelly, and Ashli. They are reading the Book of Mormon and praying every night. I have a whole lot of hope for them! 

Right below them lives our investigator Consuelo and her family. They have a really cool garden behind their house. After we taught them they took us back there to see everything they have planted. It was really cool, kind of like a jungle! 

Mom, that's super cool that you met Sister Porter! My time with Elder Porter was a ton of fun, we were a good team. But that's really how I feel about all of my companions that I have had. I have been really blessed! Elder Ruiz and I are super good friends too.

I got a package from you on Friday, I was very surprised! Thank you very much! I am going to start studying those scriptures you sent me tomorrow morning. I just got done reading the New Testament so it's perfect timing.

Well, that's really all I have today. Don't get discouraged, just keep the Lord in first place in your life and everything else will fall into place. I hope you all have a great week. Keep up the good work. I love you!

-Elder Smith

March Madness

Hola Hola! 

This week went by SOOOO FAST! Jaja, I don't know where the time goes here. Today on the bus coming back from playing soccer I was half daydreaming about being a superstar pro soccer player, half meditating on the mission. And while I was doing that I realized that I am so happy here. I can't explain it, but I'm just really happy! I remember reading in my mission call that "greater blessings and more happiness than you have ever experienced await you as you  serve His children".  And I think today I realized that it is true. 

We have a family of investigators, la familia Hernandez, and they are the best! The mom's name is Consuelo, she has been going to church for the past six months here. And finally this week she told us that she wants to be baptized! The rest of the family still isn't sure, so we are going to have to work with them, but Consuelo is the key! She and her husband have to get married though, that is their biggest challenge right now. 

To answer some of your questions about our area, we have a lady who washes for us, we don't have a lady to cook for us but that is because we eat every meal in the houses of the members! They take care of us so well here! Our apartment is pretty nice, but the water is SO COLD! Showering is a challenge here, jaja.

Stefanie, I'm super proud of you! You are going to be blessed! But more than that you are always going to remember that you decided to follow the counsel of the Lord! That is so much more valuable than going to a lousy high school dance. I love you!

This is the Last March Madness that I will ever miss in my life! Jaja, I hope you all enjoy it, because there are some people that can't watch it!  Count your blessings! (: 

I love you all! have a great week! 

-Elder Smith

Here are the kids from the school I told you about last week.  We went again this week too!

Pday fun!

Back in the Big City

Hola Hola! 

Well, I had to say goodbye to Zona Choluteca. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty hard. There are a lot of people down there in the heat that I love sooo much. I didn't even say goodbye to many of them because it was too sad. I think this was my hardest goodbye. Changes are the WORST part of the whole mission. Pero ni modo... 

I am back in Tegucigalpa, in Zona Valle De Ángeles! That's the Valley of Angels, and it lives up to it's name. It is sooo great here! The ward is super strong. The members are awesome and give us A TON OF FOOD! It's super safe here too, from what I have heard. My new companion is Elder Ruis. He's from Guatemala. He is awesome! We were already friends a little bit from before, and now I think he is going to be one of my favorite companions! He's been showing me the ropes, introducing me to the investigators and the members a little bit. And from what I've seen it is going to be a great place to finish my mission. Wow, I can't believe I just wrote that. Time is flying by!

This week we had a super cool experience. Saturday morning we were invited by one of our investigators to teach a bunch of kids in a service project. We went with two other companionships to a school that was having an open house sort of thing for kids to help keep them off the streets. We taught them about Jonah and the Whale! Haha, it was so much fun! I think they are going to start inviting us to come every week. I got a little taste of what you do every day, Mom! 

As for signing a letter of intent, Mom and Dad I am officially giving you permission to sign on my behalf! I have thought and prayed about it and I feel like that's what I need to do! Stefanie, I'm proud of you for keeping the commandments and not dating until you are sixteen, that's what I'm talking about! Dad, good luck with your track team! Rachel and George, I love you guys! And Mom, thank you for writing me every week! You haven't missed once and that means a lot! I love you. 

Well, that's all for this week! I'm at a computer that can't send pictures, so I'll try to see if i can switch to another one. But if not, I'll send some pictures next week.

Keep the Lord in first place in your life this week! I can't think of a single situation that would go better without His help. 

-Elder Smith 

He Was Just Waiting for Us to Find Him

Hola Hola! 

So good news, this week we had two more baptisms! Junior, The brother of Jensi and Marisol decided to get baptized after seeing his sisters get baptized the week before. And a young man named Ricardo was also baptized! His family are almost all members, but they had been inactive for awhile up until about three weeks ago when we went out with some members and  found them on splits! He was so ready. Just waiting for us to find him! 

This week is a little bittersweet. Changes are coming up this week and its almost a 100% guarantee that I will be changed. I have loved this area! It has helped me grow a whole lot! I will miss all these people who I have grown to know and love so much. But I'm also very excited for a new challenge, a new area, more people the Lord has in store for me to meet! 

This week we also had Consejo, always a good experience! This time it was super fun! It was Elder Stoddard's birthday so we had a little party in the basement of the AP's house, kinda like what we did for my birthday. It was a blast! 

And then the next day we had, as always, a very uplifting consejo with a lot of great advice on how to be better missionaries.

I love you all! Have a great week! (:

-Elder Smith

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

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