Merry Christmas!

So Christmas week was super good! We started the week with our p day and then the next day we were with the whole mission. It was awesome but we were not able to work or have success Monday or Tuesday.  So going into Wednesday was rough.  I was really worried that we weren't going to be able find people. But later in the afternoon we were knocking doors and we passed a little street that I thought in my head would be good because I felt like the missionaries passed it a lot. So, we knocked the whole thing and at the end we found a huge blessing waiting for us. As we waited for someone to answer I whispered to my companion, " We're getting into this house".  I really started to pray  and the guy came out and invited us in. We started to share with him and in the end he said that we was super interested in learning about this restoration. So we passed by his house again on Saturday and taught him the restoration and then invited him to be baptize and they accepted. Then on Sunday he attended church and he liked it a lot. 

I know that God loves us and that he blesses us when we put in our effort. I love him and I know that He loves us and that He wants the best for us. I know  that when we need help he is there to help and I know that he will always be there. 

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that we will all be able to start this new year with good goals and desires to do his will. 

Con harto amor,

Elder Chase Smith

Let's accept Christ into our lives this Christmas!

Well I've had a lot of time to think about our Savior. Really, I was thinking about what I could give to Christ this Christmas...I think I found that while reading the last lesson of this year in the priesthood manual.

We all have received a commandment to be like Christ... not to be 50% like him...to be even as he is. This is a commandment and what we learn in 1 Nephi 4 is that God doesn't give commandments that we can't complete. There is so much we can do to become more like Christ, but it requires practice. Just like anything else we have to practice to learn and to get to where we want to be.

This Christmas I think that I really have learned that the only thing that matters is Christ, the baby that was born so many years ago. I know that he is our Savior and Redeemer and I know that he took every single error or sin of ours upon him so that we could have the chance to be with him and our Heavenly Father again and so that we can have a forever family. I love them both so very much and I know that they live and love us. Let's accept Christ in our lives this Christmas and continue to improve. 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Smith

Faith brings blessings!

Well this week was good we had interviews with the President it was good he always seems to ask me weird questions and I have no idea why. He’s an awesome dude.

So we are trying to work even harder and find more people. Our investigator told us that she doesn’t want to go to church and well that was a hard thing for us because our sector is working us hard.

So I had to talk to the wife of the President and she told me that they couldn’t help me too much with my back. She told me that I need to keep doing what they told me and that I need to stick it out the rest of my mission which I just have to do it.

 So I have been thinking a lot about the faith.

I think that we all lack faith some times. Something that Elder Cook shared with our President was that, "if the missionaries had more faith, they would have more success." I agree so much with that. Now in the mission you could say that things haven’t been going so well and that the whole mission needs a bust. Personally, I think that if we set ourselves in strengthening our faith and doing things to show our faith we will grow and we will have more success. I think a lot about how the Lord says that if we are faithful and continue to have faith he will bless us and will help us out of hard times. There are so many times that we choose not to do things and that shows that we don’t have faith. Recently I heard a missionary say,  “with this new rule we won’t be able to have lessons at all, I have faith but I know that it won’t happen." If we continue to always look and see things from a human point of view we will never grow in faith because we will say the same thing this missionary said.

 I know that God lives and I know that Christ is his son and that he lived and died! I know that only through him Gods plan is possible and that we can have never ending happiness. Be faithful! Trust God! Try it and love it!

 Con mucho Amor,

 Elder Smith

He remembers us!

A couple weeks ago... or maybe 2 weeks. I was faced with something that I never thought I would feel or experience in my life. So, we were having a good week, it was filled with goodness, I had a leader conference and we talked about a lot of stuff we can do better. This also included new rules or clarifications about rules we didn’t understand. This made me feel happy and well the way I feel about it is if they give us a rule we need to complete it and just continue to work hard. Soooo, this stressed me out a little and I think I felt anxious but I have no idea what it was. Anyway. I felt this way because my companion hasn’t gotten to the point where he wants to be obedient with all the rules and I knew that maybe he wasn’t going to like what I was going to tell him. Knowing that I think it freaked me out because I hate feeling a lone in the work. So. after that we went to the house of some old investigators that don’t really like me because we stopped working with them because they hadn’t progressed in almost over a year. We went there and talked to them and I tried to explain what we as missionaries do. She was nice but said a lot of rude things to me. After that night I’m not sure what or how it happened but it did. After a bunch of things that had happened Satan, started to attack me... literally I felt like God had left me... I couldn’t recognize the spirit and the only thing that was going through my mind was the question, "Does God exist?" I suffered for a couple of days praying and reading the scriptures. Finally, I got an answer very clear from an Hermano here in the ward. It was the Bishop actually,  we had to talk to him about ward counsel and then we started talking about the atonement and he was explaining stuff. I felt prompted to ask him what it could be that I was feeling or what was happening with me.  He told me, “Elder Smith do you remember what happened when Joseph Smith was in jail and he said, “Oh God, where art thou?” or when Jesus Christ was suffering for us and said, "Oh God why hast thou forsaken me?” He continued to say, “Elder, Sometimes God leaves us for a little bit to test us, not because we are disobedient but because we need to grow."

During this time the only thing that I was hanging on to was my testimony and the things that I had felt and remember feeling about the gospel or when I was in the temple or any other time that I felt the gospel strongly. Anyway, I got through that but it made me think about how important it is to strengthen us daily. We can’t wait around thinking that all is good because one day something will hit us and we won’t be ready and we will fall.  That could mean that we might not find our way back.

 I know that this Gospel is true. It is the life that we need to live. I know that through Christ we can do all things and I know that he lives and that he is the son of Our Heavenly Father. I know that God our Heavenly Father lives and loves us and that even though we don’t remember his face, He remembers ours. I am so thankful for this time on earth and for the veil that blocks us from remembering so that we can learn and progress and continue to become like God and Jesus Christ and so that one day we can live with them. I love this Gospel. I know that this is the light that we all need.

Remember I love you all!!

 Be happy!!

Con Harto Amor,

Elder Smith

Faith will make us mighty...even unto the power of deliverance!

It's been a crazy day but I'd like to share this scripture, 1 nefi 1:20. I like it because it ends talking about  how if we have faith God will strengthen us and give us the power to overcome everything. Last week I was tested and really I had to find my faith but I know that faith is so important and we all need to have it and continue to strengthen it.

New investigators and donkey milk!!!

Well this week was great. We started to work better or we started to see the fruits from our labors. The zone leaders taught on diligence and why it’s important. I thought that was a great thing for the whole zone to learn more about. My companion and I started to work on that and we also learned a lot this week about LOTS of stuff. 

We were able to talk to a lot of people this week and we found many more people to teach. We still have to wait to see if they will progress but it was great to talk to them and teach them a little bit but we will see this next week or so. 

We have an investigator that has been progressing a lot and her name is Emily.  Her mother named her after a sister missionary that taught her. She is 11 and really wants to get baptized. Her grandma and mom are both members that are starting to come back to church now and really are supporting Emily. It’s amazing to see the excitement Emily has when we teach her or when we invite her to do something. She loves reading the Book of Mormon and she has just been reading it like crazy. 

We also learned a lot about getting robbed by some Chilean selling donkey milk... let’s just say I had to try it and before we knew it, we were having to pay a lot of money.

(Mom note:  This part is from an email we got Friday)

... well you could say something super stupid happened to us today. So we left the house today and some guy was selling donkey milk... me being me,  I wanted to try it. So I told me companion that we were going to ask how much it was to try some. Well he told me 1000 Chilean pesos (that’s a little more than a dollar) for a class of milk. He told me that I had to go get a glass. I went and got a glass. Then I returned and he filled the class half full and I drank it... he started to say some more stuff about the milk and then asked my companion if he wanted some. My companion told him yes and he tried some then after that he started to explain more about  how much the milk costs and then both me and my companion did the math in our heads and asked him how much we would have to pay him. He said we had to pay him 4000000 Chilean pesos!!!! Well you could say that I felt like he was tricking us and that he didn’t explain it to us really in the first place. So I talked to him and told him that I was not going to pay him that much money. One because I wouldn’t be able to live for the next three weeks and 2 because I didn’t believe him and that he tricked us. We called some members and they told us that the milk was expensive but not that expensive. So, we tried to bargain because he tricked us. I wasn’t going to pay him that so I talked with him for an hour and half and he wouldn’t take anything less than 30 million pesos and we couldn’t get the police involved because our president... or I actually think it’s for all the missionaries...  but we can’t because they don’t want problems. Soooo, we paid him $25 for a glass of donkey milk!

My back is better I have really been trying to just work out a lot so that I can strengthen everything but the doc. told me that it still wouldn’t be enough. He told me that the good thing is that I will be living a normal life again soon and that I will have time to work out and do other things that will help... such as climbing and hiking and other things.

I’m so grateful for the time that I have to serve our Father in Heaven. I learn so much every day and really I never thought that I could be where I am now. I’m so grateful that I have this chance to help others know of the gospel of Christ now days and I’m glad that I can strengthen my testimony and come to the knowledge that I have and continue to keep learning. 

I love you all!!!!! 

Con Caleta de Amor,

 Elder Smith

2 Nefi 15!

This week was awesome. We started to see more of the blessing from our work and we are starting to work even harder. So we were able to have interchanges on Friday and I learned a lot about seeing people more for who they are.

We have a family that is going to church. It's a family of 6 and two of them are members and they want to return to the church. So we started working with them a couple weeks ago... maybe one.  They really have started to do a lot to follow Christ. A little girl with 11 years is in 2 nefi 15 and she started reading maybe 2 weeks ago. The grandpa that really isn't old just wants to get baptized and will do anything to follow Christ and be baptized.

Seeing these people love this makes me feel with a feeling that I can't describe! I feel a huge love and peace and the spirit is so strong because they just want to do the right thing.

I think that I have learned a lot about how reading the scriptures helps me. I think that more then anything when I don't read, I don't feel the spirit as strong and I don't feel as protected... in my patriarchal blessing it says that if I read the Book of Mormon every day I will never lose my testimony and it will strengthen me.. I really have seen those blessing in my life and some days when it's like we never have time because we have to wake up early for a conference or something I always try and read because I know that it blesses us. 

 I pray that we will be able to be the Lords servant and guide them correctly!

 I love you all!!

 Con mucho amor,

 Elder Smith

Hard work pays off!!

This week was good!! Our sector is good I enjoy it but it's a bit rough because the leaders aren't working. I have some ideas that we are going to try and pass by the bishop to start working on them. The missionaries are good and we are all getting better. I recently found out that the sisters are a bit disobedient and I think it's because one goes home next week. I try to learn with them as I teach. I don't like to make it seem like I am telling them to do things. I try to invite the spirit and then I put myself there with them because I know that I have a lot to learn too. We are finding more people but this sector is one of the places where the church started here in Chile so there are a lot of members that aren't active and don't know anything about the Church but we are working a lot with part member families. I have been practicing playing the hymns on the piano to invite the spirit more during sacrament meeting so that I can help all the ward members. 

We are starting to find and have success. We found a family thanks to an activity all of the missionaries did for our wards. We invited the members to pray, fast, and think of someone they could gift a Book of Mormon to and then give it to them and pass us the reference. Soooooo this last week payed off. We found a family "Bakán" that has two less actives and four people that are not members. We went over to their house and it was cool!! We started getting to know them really fast and then we shared a message and gave them all a copy of the Book of Mormon. It truly was such a big blessing because it's been hard to find people here in this area, although I  know that there are always people ready for the gospel we just have to find them and do our part. 

I know that God lives. I know that He loves us and that this life is part of His plan. I know that this is Christs church and that He loves us and that He payed for our sins our pains and everything.  The gospel is the way and we need to live it. 

I love you all 

Con mucho amor,

 Elder Smith

Working hard!

So this last week was good. It's been super weird in this new sector and I've really been trying to work hard but.... it's been hard because I don't  know this new sector. We have been talking and helping some of the leaders of the ward so that we all can work together to the strengthen the ward and really start to progress. 

We recently started working with a family that really is excited to come back to church and a another girl that is 22 that wants to come back. We took this family and this sister to the temple this week and had a tour so that they could get to know the temple. It was super good! It seemed like this single mother of the family and this girl got along super well and they are both going to help one another come back to church. The family came to church and the girl didn't. We don't know why because well she is a firefighter but we haven't been able to contact her. 

I've also been learning a lot this change with my new comp. It's been a new challenge and sometimes I find it hard but I am learning more and more how to love as Christ does. 

Other then the people that we are reactivating, not too much is happening. We have been trying to find more and more people but haven't been finding too much success. We will continue to work hard and do what we need to. 

I love you all and hope the best for you all!! 

Con much amor,

 Elder Chase Smith

PS. Elder Smith let me know that he didn't end up having scabies but a severe reaction to a bug bite.  They treated it with some medicine in the IV and sent him home last week with some other medication and he is doing much better.

Endure to the End!

Well this last week was good... with me going to the therapy we often loose time to work and it kills me. Sometimes I feel like I'm a terrible missionary and I imagine that all of us have felt like that. I was determined to turn that around and to have a better week. On Thursday I went and did interchanges with an elder in our district and it was good. We did a service project and talked a lot. I got to know him and it was cool because I didn't know who he was before and it was nice. At night when we were in the house he opened up and just talked to me. I honestly didn't talk but I decided to just listen and listen. He basically told me his life story but I felt good because he seemed happy to open up and talk to me about that stuff. 

The next day we worked in the morning because I had to be at therapy in the afternoon and it was cool. My companion seemed even happier and he was talking with a lot of people doing contacts and that never happens sooooo it really was a blessing. 

So now we are going to back up a little on Tuesday and Wednesday I had gotten bit by a bunch of.. well I don't know what but the Presidents wife said I had scabies... sooo I  really had no idea what that was it just sounded bad.... well they told it to me in Spanish.. Anyway, I  told her on Friday,  the next day on Saturday they sent me to the clinic again and well...I'm sick of that place. The people looked at all my bites said I was okay and then they drugged me up by IV and man I really wanted to kick the nurse she was not nice with the needle. So Saturday, we were in the house all day because I was drugged. But I got to study a lot even though they told me to rest... or sleep but I didn't want to so I read and studied. With those studies I could really feel my spirit grow and it helped me feel more of Gods love for me and I  understand a little bit more of the gospel. 

On Sunday, the Bishop told me that I would be speaking right before sacrament started.  I had know idea what I was going to share I immediately started thinking about my studies and I found a scripture I liked. I then had to pass the sacrament and during that time we need to be thinking of Christ and really I just wanted to think about what I was going to talk about because I'm a freak.  I was nervous. I then prayed for help and said to myself that if I think and focus about Christ during the sacrament God will help me.. so right after I stood up to go to sit down the Bishop said that I  would be talking.. I was not ready, so I grabbed my Book of Mormon and went up to the pulpit. With my legs shaking I started my talk... I don't know when I stopped shaking but I just talked and talked and really I am so grateful for God because I know that what came out of my mouth was given to me by the spirit. It was soo cool I felt like it was one of the best talks I have ever given and I just felt spiritually pleased. 

Anyway, my week was a little weird. I love you all and I encourage you all to endure to the end. Don't just hang in there. 

Con amor, 

Elder Smith

I feel your prayers and support!

This week was fast. On Tuesday I went and worked with one of the zone leaders for the day because we had interchanges and it was fun. I learned a lot. I learned that when you are with people.. or your friends, sometimes things can get out of hand or maybe you can be comfortable to say or do things that maybe you shouldn't. It made me think about after the mission and really how life is always full of other who are going to be doing things that maybe we shouldn't be doing or saying things too. Nothing bad happened on our interchange I just realized this then.  With that being said it makes things very clear that we need to constantly be coming  unto Christ in our actions, thoughts, words and so forth.

On Wednesday we had district class. We are focusing more on how we can enjoy the mission more and I taught how being obedient is going to help us enjoy the mission more. Really I think that we forget that somethings are just pleasures and they just make us feel good for a little bit of time.. like playing a video game.. its only fun until you stop playing. But when we are constantly trying to follow and do what Gd wants us to do we are going to be happy and it's going to stay with us always. Sometimes when we don't think that a rule is going to help us or we are going to be happy from following it it's because we don't trust God and our faith has gotten weaker. 

So on Wednesday night we got home late and we didn't plan because we didn't have time and then we were going to plan in the morning and then we had to give a blessing. We then continued to work the rest of the day and I just didn't feel good the rest of the day because we didn't plan. I feel like the spirit wasn't as strong as it could have been and we weren't prepared. I think that really when we plan things out.. like life and everything we will be prepare and God will bless us so that we can complete these plans and be able to do what we need to..but only if we prepare ourselves. 

Friday I got up feeling super good and I was ready to go. I really wanted to feel the spirit and be uplifted so that we could work hard. So, when I got on my knees to start my studies I said a pray and during my prayer I could really feel the spirit come to be with me stronger and it just grew during my studies. 

A while back I read a talk that said when you feel the spirit is when you know you are forgiven. Because the spirit can't dwell with any unclean thing. I like this a lot because really we all sin every day and we need to constantly repent so that we can have the spirit to be with us. 

On Sunday I played two of the hymns that we sang and man it was rough because I am out of practice and they don't know how to sing with the piano. 

I know that this is the true gospel of Christ and that this is Gods work. I know that all of us are His children and that He wants the best for us. I know that Christ lives and directs his church and I know that this is Gods plan so we can come to live with Him and be like Him some day.

I love the gospel and I know that this is my life and without it I am lost.

I love you all and feel your prayers and support, they give me strength to continue even when I have a bad day. 

Con mucho amor,

Elder Smith

I know that God has sent me to this area!

This week was super long!! I got to my sector and all I can say is that things needed to change so we took the whole week to work and change everything. The ward is small but the same amount of people attend like my other ward. I got here and they had not  been working at all. They spent a lot of time with members and less actives and were not progressing and their only investigators were found in January of this year and they are still working with them.... But I'm excited because I feel like I was sent here to help... not just in my sector but in my zone because this zone has the lowest number of baptisms and on top of that it has a lot of disobedient missionaries. Soooooo, it's going to be rough but I am excited to see what happens. 

  We really didn't have anyone that they were working with to get baptized so we went looking and after a good day of walking and talking to people we contacted a man that was standing outside his house. We started talking to him.. he had a football jacket on from the states, so I started talking to him about that... after a little while, he said that his son is in Utah studying English and UVU!!! This was cool... now on top of that his son will be baptized this Saturday in Utah! 

We met with him again and taught him about the restoration, then we challenged him to be baptized and he took the date. 

I know that God has people chosen that are ready to hear his message but all we have to do is to talk and to open our mouths. I also learned that I need to work a lot more on being a good leader and studying more about the life of Christ so I can try and be like him. I know that this is true and that this is the work of God. I love this work and I love serving and growing closer to God. I know that God loves us and I know that even though things are hard we can get through them but we have to trust that we can do it, but only through Gods help.

I love you all!! 

Con mucho amor, 

!Elder smith

New Change, New Area!

Soooooooooo I got changed!!! I'm actually sad and it's funny because my other sector was a very hard ward... and I grew to love it no matter how hard it was, I loved it. I feel like God has been preparing me for this change for a while but I could really only feel and see it  for the last couple weeks. I am now in a very small ward that supposedly needs a good patient elder...I am not him, ha but I'm going to try and be who God needs me to be so I can help the people here. I actually feel the spirit very strong helping me to be calm and maintain who I am. 

I enjoyed  listening to our prophet and the apostles and the other leaders of the church. I had fasted this last week to receive help and for other things tooo. The talk that really hit me the most was the first one on Saturday by Elder Uchtdorf. It struck me because an answer to my prayers had come so fast and strong. After listening to everything yesterday, I feel closer to my Savior and Father in Heaven.

I think we all leaned a lot about how we can do better. I really feel like these new apostles are going to be able to help us so much. Their sweet testimonies touched my heart.

I know that this is the true church of Christ and I know that he directs this church. I know that God lives and loves us and I know that we are all here to complete the plan God has for us if we let him mold us. 

I'm in a new new new area and I feel a little "solo" but I feel the spirit so strong and I know that I am supposed to be here. 

I love you all so much and wish the best for you all!!

Con mucho amor,

Elder Smith

Study and learn about God's plan!!

So this last week was good, super long, but it was good. We haven't been able to work a normal week for a long time and its bugging me but I know that it happens and I can tell it is also bugging my companion and he really wants to work.

We had the 18 de Septiembre this last week and it's like the 4th of July for us. It's huge and some people get crazy. We had a zone conference with the whole mission and that was fun. One of the area presidents talked. His talk made me think that we need to continue to work hard every day but we should never be unhappy or have a bad attitude. I have found that it happens a lot when we forget this and we don't work as strong when we are unhappy. It is important that we always maintain the happy positive attitude with everything. There is no better way then learning more about the gospel and the plan that God has for us. If we understand God's plan then we should be happy because there is so much opportunity for us. We all need to learn about it and study it.

I love you all. God loves you all! So be happy no matter what!!

Elder Smith

Chao!!



P.S.  Thanks so much for your email mom!! I especially love that last part. I am weird and I know it. Or in spanish " no me importa lo piensen otras personas". The earthquakes have been cool... we didn't feel the big one because we were in the street walking but we have been feeling lots.. today we went to a mall and when we were eating lunch on the 2nd story everything started shaking.. It was like a rollercoaster ride.. I loved it!! ha  but I'm okay nothing happened where I am but yes in the north and close to the beach there is a alot of damage. We continue to have small after shocks all the time.

 

Act as Christ would...

Last week was good we were able to work a good amount. On Saturday we did a service project all day and it was fun but it really killed us and we were dead the rest for the night.

Something to caught my attention on Sunday was that they talked about forgiving others. That we need to be willing to forgive others and that sometimes we wait to forgive someone until the other person makes the first move... Is that what Christ would do?? Heck no! We all forget that to forgive someone and tell someone sorry doesn't hurt us it actually makes us stronger especially on the side that we are trying to progress. Like it says in Moses, God wants to bring to pass the inmortality and eternal like of man... but how will that work if we don't follow the steps that he gave us... he gave us Jesus the best example that literally showed us what we need to do. If we don't forgive and forget or say sorry for that matter we aren't progressing and we aren't following Jesus Christ. So, I invite us all to think about this and when others hurt us or when we hurt other we can act as Christ would.

I love you all!!

Elder Smith

Soooo this week... "FOME" o "CHANTA (September 7, 2015)

So this week started out with an interchange with our zone leaders on Tuesday and I think that threw us off. Then on Wednesday, we had our district class and so we worked the second half of the day. On Thursday morning we got a call saying that we needed to be out of the house and have it cleaned really good before Monday. Luckily, we decided to do it in the morning on Thursday. This started our week of weirdness. We worked but not has much as normal and well it kind of messed with us. So then we worked more on cleaning the house after we got everything out and then on Saturday we spent almost the whole day cleaning the house. On top of that we didn't have lunch and we found out right before and so we bought some bread and made sandwiches... then we started our fast.... Soooo part of what happened is we weren't thinking good because we literally didn't eat good and we started a fast and well we ended it later on in the day and it really was lame to end it early.

This last week we had planned out to have a good week but then it went down hill because the family wanted their house back. All in all it was a very weird week and it made us feel super weird and not like we had the spirit of the mission with us.

We have lots of plans this week to make things a lot better.

On the happy more positive side we had the opportunity to go on splits with the missionaries from the MTC  in Chile for 3 hrs. and that was fun and we were able to put someone with a date for baptism and my companion had some good lessons with some of our investigators so we had lots of good things happen but it was a very strange week.

I love you all!! Keep going and never give up!

#wefalltopickourselvesup

Love you all!

With all that God has done for you what can you change to show that you really love Him!

Well this week was super good! We have been having a lot of success and been finding some new people. We started working with the sister of one of our converts and she is ready to find the gospel but her husband is very stubborn and doesn't let her go to church or anything... or he wears the pants. It's super sad to see that because she really has the desire to come to church and she told us that she could come but the thing is that she would have to lie to him to be able to get out of her house... Well, I told her that she shouldn't do that and that this is a time to learn and really trust in God because really this is something God wants.

We have a family of four boys that want to get baptized and really we are trying to teach them but it's a bit hard to find them in the house. The oldest came to stake conference and that was awesome for us because he is starting to come to mutual and become friends with everyone. He is very bright and reads everything that we leave him. I am stoked to see what happens, but he wont be able to be baptized until the midle of October and well I fear I won't be here then but its chill! 

We had stake conference and I really loved how they focused on the Sabbath day because a lot of people have problems with that.... even members. I liked something that I think Elder Nelson said in the last general conference. I don't really know how it goes but the way I felt is... how can I not sanctify one day to God even after all he has done for me... I  really don't even know who  I am anymore when I think back to when I first got here. I have been able to be forgiven for so much and he still forgives me. Soooooo with all that God has done for you what can you change to show that you really love him? 

I love you all!

Con mucho Amor,

Elder Smith

 

We took Mate from a pineapple and it was GOOOOOD!

 

Only true happiness!

Well ,this last week was super good. It was a little long but it was very good. Soooo, I told you about how we went to the temple for a tour with our converts and their daughter last week. We went to their house on Monday night last week and talked about faith and actions. We talked about  how that is how we receive our answers. We shared a good spiritual message with them and then my companion invited her to prepare and be baptized this week. She accepted and said that she had received an answer when we went to the temple. This made me so happy because she is such a bright girl! This family is awesome! We also have started working with the sister of the mom and we are so excited for this because they are going to be able to participate with us when we share and I think that it will all so good.

I have noticed a lot recently that when I am tired or down about something that God usually has sent something my way to cheer me up and I thnk that this happens very often but only now am I realizing what is happening.

I have been thinking a lot of Christ and his atoning sacrifice recently and really I have felt like I needed  to strengthen my study in that so that's what I have started to do... I have found that I have felt more of the spirit and that I feel that when I testify about Him and His gospel to the people that it comes out more fluidly and I can feel the spirit.

I know that God lives and loves us and because of this, he sent his son so that we weren't eternally lost and so we could make our way back to him. I love this gospel and I know that the only true happiness comes from when we try to completely follow Jesus Christ.

Con mucho Amor,
Elder Smith

Crazy Elder Smith

Temple tour!

 

 

They could feel the spirit of the temple!

So this last week was great. We worked hard and have been finding more and more people... some don't end up accepting us but hey its all good. Maybe they will with the next missionaries. We have been working on the retention of our converts.

We took the family Zenteno to the temple and it was amazing! I love it because they went on a tour and they let them go into the foyer of the temple and it was so amazing! They could feel the sprit in the temple. At the end they talked about Jesus Christ and then asked them to share how they felt about Him and what they felt on the tour. It was amazing to feel the spirit come over us and to really testify what we believe. I was a bit teary.  I wasn't expecting the dad to be so emotional but he had some strong feelings that he shared with such emotion. We also had their daughter there that isn't a member. She is working on getting baptized and I pray that her dad will be able to do it.

Me and my companion are learning a lot! We continue to become better and well my English is getting better.

I love you all! 

Con amor Elder Smith

Get with it and start following!

Another good week! We had zone conference and so we didn't work too much on Tuesday but that night when we finally got out to work we went to visit a lady that we met in the street. She wasn't there and so we left. We went to the next street and I felt prompted to knock on a house, so I did and a man came out. We did the contact and then he let us in. It was cool because he opened right up. We talked to him and he told us about his life and it was obvious that he needed the gospel. So we challenged him to be baptized and gave him a date to prepare and be baptized. He accepted and then we visited him two more times that week,  The last visit, on Saturday, we verified if he was gong to come to church and he said that if God sent us, then it must be a good thing for him to go to church. We went and walked with him to church. By the way his name is Manuel. So that was something super cool!!!

We have been really trying to work hard and just when you know it on Thursday we got a call and they told us that all the mission was to stay inside and not go out and work.. because it was raining really hard... note I have never heard of this so it made me giggle because I was ready to get wet that day!!

We also have been working with the daughter of the couple that just got baptized... she wants to get baptized but her mom wants her to make sure she is ready for a commitment this big. I had the chance to talk/preinterview her and it was very interesting because she is very timid. She told me about the testimony she has for prayer. It was amazing to see a little 14 year old talk about prayer the way she did. She also came to church with her parents, and really that family is just growing so strong. I love them so very much and it is weird how that works only knowing them for a couple of months.

We have a change in the mission we can now go to the temple once a change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been waiting for this for the longest time!! The temple has become so special to me and really it helps me so much!
 

I know that this is the work of God and I know that he wants us all to be engaged in it to help bring our brothers and sisters to eternal life. I know that as we strive to do what He wants and to follow Christ we will have these desires to do these things. I love God and our brother Jesus and I know that when we follow them that is when we have real happiness. So if your not happy. Get with it and start following. 

I love you all!

 

Elder Smith