Suits On The Loose

Wow, this week has been crazy. I have never had so many things to do in my life. It's something that I'm still getting used to. It's been a stressful week, but it's weird because I feel super happy (most of the time). 

We have had problems with our water for 3 weeks now. Our dirty dishes have been sitting in our sink now for about 3 weeks. The good thing is that our sink is outside, so its not stinking up the house :) The problem is that only a little bit of water comes when it does come. We´ve been using our little bit of water to shower and to use the bathroom. You know, the essentials. The dishes can wait. Who needs clean dishes anyway? I called the home owner and she said she sent someone to fix our hose, because the problem is our hose. Hopefully we start getting water in abundance now. 

The big news of the week is that we had a baptism! My companion was able to have his first baptism in the mission! He baptized Francisco. A 13 year old boy with a less active Dad, and a nonmember mom. He's a great kid.

I'm going to confirm him next Sunday. We weren't able to confirm him this past week because he came late to church. That's what the title is about I put in the heading. We were sitting in the beginning of sacrament meeting and we were super worried thinking where Francisco was! We waiting until after the Sacrament and I we left to go looking for Francisco. We ran in our suits a long ways to Francisco's house. People were looking at us weird as we were hustling in the hot mid-day sun of Santa María in our suits. I felt like the guys from Men in Black. I also thought of that one missionary movie "Suits on the Loose." 

Well we found Fransico in his house alone with just his sister. He didn't have a clue what time it was. A lot of people here tell the time by where the shade is on the side of their wall so I wasn't too surprised. We ran back, suits on the loose style again, but we didn't make it in time. Oh well, at least I got some exercise. 

I had a really spiritual experience this week too. It was 8 o'clock, after a super long day of contacting and teaching. I really wanted to just go home an hour early and relax for a bit. I was super tempted, trust me. But I knew I shouldn't because it's not my time, it's the Lord's time. The problem was that I had no idea where to go and by 8 o'clock everyone in this town is sleeping. I suddenly felt an impression to pass by this one house that we always go by on the way home every night. This family is always outside at night together, and they wave at us every night we walk by. I felt an impression to go visit them, so we did.

I walked up to their gate and said, Buenas noches, cómo están? That's all I said and they told us to come sit with them. I was pretty surprised and super relieved. We were able to teach them and one of them told us that when she was 19 years old, she had a Book of Mormon that someone gave to her and she was reading it! But one day she got caught in a storm and the Book got ruined. So she was never able to keep reading it. We were able to give her a brand new one that day.

I know that the Spirit will guide us if we are listening. That was an awesome experience that taught me that special lesson. I hope that you all remember to always be ready to let the Spirit guide you, and to ACT on your impressions. 

Love you all and I hope you have a fabulous week!

Con Amor, 

Elder Smith

Elder García

My new companion is Elder García from Sinaloa, Mexico! He´s a great guy and we get along super well. He's the type of guy I would hangout with outside of the mission. He´s pretty much the Mexican version of me. 

I have had a lot of things to worry about this week. It´s wearing me out and I just want to go take a long nap in my hammock right now. But I know that I just have to keep working as hard as I can to feel better. The best medicine for stress on the mission is work, work, and work some more! 

One of our issues is that we haven't had water all week in our house. We are showering with the jugs of purified water that they sell for drinking water. We also had no food in the house all week. But we just got back from a trip to the supermarket and we spent a good 1000 pesos on food, so we´re good on that now! For much of today, I was trying to get the owner's of the house that the sister missionaries used to live in to sign a document to end the contract. They still haven't signed it and they told me to come back tomorrow. Well, the good thing is, is that Im learning how to deal with house contracts. The mission really prepares you for everything in life.

This passed week we also had to travel to a New Missionary and Trainers meeting in Salina Cruz. Salina Cruz is about 3 hours away from Huatulco. It was nice to nap on the way to and from Salina Cruz. I really learned a lot at the meeting too. At the meeting, President Madsen talked to us that The Lord has put his trust in us and has chosen us to train. The whole culture of the mission depends on how well the trainers train the new missionaries. Its true, so I'm going to make sure that I am as obedient as I can be so that Elder García can learn from example. I am super greatful for my Trainer Elder Erikson because he taught me and showed me by example how we should act and work as Missionaries and representatives of Jesus Christ. 

With all of the house contract, water, and food problems, I have been balancing the District Leader duties with all of that too. As District leader, I train all the missionaries on Tuesdays at the District Meetings and I perform all of the Baptismal Interviews of the District, as well as do reports every night. It's a lot, but it's keeping me focused on the mission. I've realized that this week, I have thought less about Home than ever. I think that's a good thing for me haha. Gotta stay focused, and the Lord is helping me with that with all my new responsibilities. 

We were invaded by a lot of unwanted creatures in our house this week. One night I was laying comfortably in my hammock and I looked over to the wall nearby...and FREAKED OUT. A GIANT tarantula just chillen there. It was almost the size of my hand. We ended up capturing it and letting it go far far away. But we found another one later in the week, even bigger. That one escaped and we don't know where it went.

Another morning, I was out back when I saw something big rummage through the trash. I saw a bunch of fat legs scurry in the trash bag so I thought it was another giant spider. My companion laughed as I squealed searching for a stick to poke it out of the garbage. I didn´t realize what it was until it came out of the trash. It was a crab....how in the world....we´re like a 20 minute drive from the beach. I don´t know how it got in our house. The crab also escaped and we don't know where it went. I then found a super big scorpian in the house. I killed it with a stick before it could escape. 

I love you all and I hope you have a fabulous week! I´m always praying for you!

Con Amor,

Elder Smith

When it rains, It pours

Happy Transfer day!

The heading of this email doesn't pertain to anything negative. But it does describe how transfers went. Well, right now I'm at Elder and Sister Dewolf's house on their laptop. Elder DeWolf is my companion for now, until my new companion gets to Huatulco. Our district had major changes. The zone leaders and I are the only ones that didn't get moved.

 I'm the new District Leader here in Huatulco, and I will be training a brand new missionary. I don't know who my new companion is yet, but I'll find out tonight. I'm going to have my first "son" on the mission! The question is if he's going to be a latino, or a gringo. Another big change is that the area, Santa Maria Huatulco 2, closed. This was the area of the Sister missionaries in our branch. So now I am in charge of ALL of Santa Maria. Before, it was split in half.

Honestly, I'm really excited to have more responsibilities. I was thinking that I was just going to be District Leader, but I never thought in a million years that I would be training a greenie! Yeah I'm a little nervous, but overall I feel really calm about it all. I know that the Lord trusts me. He trusts me more than I trust myself. The General Conference messages helped me prepare for this. This was exactly what I need so I can take another step forward in my growing process as a missionary, and as a man. For that I am super grateful for this opportunity! It's going to be incredibly hard, I realize that, but I feel like I'm ready for anything because The Lord can lift me up and make me capable to do his work. I just need to make sure I try my best to do the will of the Lord at all times.

I hope that everything is going fabulous at home! Les amo mucho y espero que tuvieran una buena semana!

Love,

Elder Smith

General Conference!

My General Conference weekend was awesome, because it was pretty much a two day vacation for me. We got to stay at Elder and Sister DeWolf´s house in La Cruz, Huatulco. Elder and Sister DeWolf are a married couple who are serving here in Huatulco. They Just got here about a month ago. They're from Utah and Sister DeWolf is our missionary nurse.

They're house is super nice and it has AIR CONDITIONING! We spent the night there Saturday night, and we hung out there between sessions. It was the first time that I slept in air conditioning in months. It was like staying at a super nice hotel. Oh yeah and the shower was amazing too, it actually had water pressure unlike the showers I have had in my mission so far. 

Crock Pot Chicken Curry! 

I truly believe that he Lord was talking directly to me this General Conference. I received the answers and comfort that I was looking for. This is the final week of Elder Tello's mission. I know that more sooner than later, I'm going to become a leader in the mission or at least have a lot more responsibilities after this week. I have been worrying about it these past weeks, knowing that things are going to change. Too often we get used to our routine and we get scared of change.          So far in these past eight months, the changes have always worked out. I know that if we don´t leave our comfort zone, we will never grow. I´m here to grow, not to be in my comfort zone. I was talking to Elder DeWolf about it the other day too. He had to give a talk in the District Conference in front of hundreds of members here in Spanish. Just a couple weeks after getting to Oaxaca. He doesn´t know any Spanish but he got up there and gave a great talk. He helped me realize that the things that I am doing now, that have become second nature, I was terrified to do the same things just a few months ago. Sometimes I can´t see it in myself, but I know that the Lord is helping me grow exponentially. 

Elder Gary E. Stevenson said two things in his General Conference address that really helped me and made an impression on me.

" The Lord will qualify those who he calls." "Don´t focus on what you can´t do, but what you can do."

 These were the answers I needed. I know that the Lord answers prayers and that there is a living Prophet of God and 12 Apostles on the earth today. The Lord is the head of this church and He directs inspired men to guide the church. I have no doubt in my mind. This is the testimony that has grown within me.

Les quiero mucho. Que tengan una semana maravillosa!

 Con Amor,

Elder Smith

La Mina

This was an awesome week! This week we had divisions with the Zone leaders. I got to go and work in the Zone leader's area for a day. I like their area a lot, I had a special experience with Elder Dominguez (my zone leader). Their area is in Bahias de Huatulco. It's an area really close to a lot of beaches and it's where a lot of the fancy hotels are in Huatulco. It's fun because you find a lot of tourists there from the US and Canada. 

We had an awesome experience with this one lady from Cicily, Italy. The Elders had visited her once before, and we found her in an ice cream shop. We started talking to her and she pretty much told us that she's not religious and the only reason she's talking with us is to learn more about the Mormon's. She also said my Spanish was really good, so that made me happy :). She started asking a bunch of questions like, why do young men leave everything at home to preach for two years? Do you really follow all these rules? She even told us it was a waste of 2 years of our youth. We explained everything and shared that we really want to do this and that it is the best thing that we could be doing at this time in our lives. 

The special part was when she asked us about our beliefs of what happens after death. Elder Dominguez and I taught and testified of God's plan for us and we were able to have an answer for every one of her difficult questions. The Spirit guided us and she was able to see the spirit within us. She ended by saying, "You know what, I'm going to visit your church one Sunday, because I like your charisma and the answers that you gave me." She said something along the lines of that in Spanish.

That was a special experience for me, because what she noticed in us, to realize that she should visit the church, was the Spirit. It wasn't us or even our answers to her question's that she liked. But it was the Spirit that she felt. After we left that lesson, Elder Dominguez and I just looked at each other with the biggest grins, feeling like we were on top of the world. The joy that we felt was indescribable. 

Today, we had an awesome Zone activity! We went to Puerto Angél to a beach called la mina. We brought a bunch of coconuts and cracked them open to drink on the beach. We played volleyball and looked longingly at the water, wanting so bad to just put our feet in the water. Missionary struggles...haha but seriously it was an awesome activity in a gorgeous setting. 

 Next week is General Conference!!! I'm super excited.

Love you all and have a great Gen. Conf weekend!

-Elder Smith

21 Septiembre 2015

This week I experienced my first 15 de Septiembre (Mexican Independence Day) in Mexico! It wasn´t very crazy here in Santa María until it got late. What they do is have a parade and at midnight they all yell ¡Viva México! a bunch of times. We saw a little bit of the parade that went through the town. The coolest part were the men and women riding on horseback, wearing sombroros and traditional clothing. There were about 100 of them going down main street at once. It was cool but the 4th of July is a lot better ;). 

This week we also had a Zone Conference in Pochutla. They just changed the zone to make it all of the Coast. It used to be two different zones but now we are one big zone. Pochutla is about an hour away from Santa María and the road to get there in incredibly windy. The taxi was cruising super fast so I got really dizzy. But the views were incredible. It was weird to see the greenie gringos who don´t know much Spanish. It´s hard to believe that I´m almost considered a veteran already. It was also fun to see missionaries at the conference that I hadn´t seen in months. 

The other day, I had a funny food experience. We sat down to eat after church yesterday. We eat with Hermana Nicole and Hermano Alberto every other Sunday. They placed two plates full of rice, grilled onions, and this dark looking meat. I didn't have any idea what kind of meat it was, but half the time I don't know what I´m eating here anyways so I didn't worry about it. I took a tortilla, and made a taco with the rice, onions, meat and salsa. (That's how you eat almost everything here). It was really good! I could have sworn that what I was eating was some sort of steak. My companion looked at me and asked if I wanted his. I asked him why and he responded that he doesn´t like liver. THIS IS LIVER? Was my first thought. Yep, cow liver and onions. I thought it was delicious so I ate my companion´s portion too. 

We are preparing to have a baptism on the 10th of October. The last weekend of my companion´s mission. We have been working a lot with other investigators and we have 3 other baptism dates, but they aren´t as solid as Fransisco´s baptism date. It can be frustrating at times, but I just finished reading Alma 26, and it helped me feel a lot better about the work. Alma 26:27 made a huge impression on me. It says: 

Y cuando nuestros corazones se hallaban desanimados, y estábamos a punto de regresar , he aquí, el Señor nos consoló, y nos dijo: Id entre vuestros hermanos los lamanitas, y sufrid con paciencia vuestras aflicciones, y os daré el éxito.

I know that this is the Lord´s work and if we trust in Him, and are perfectly obedient, he will give us success. 

I love you all! ¡Que tenga una buena semana!

-Elder Smith

Mexico City Temple/Mexican Independence day

This week we had the special opportunity to watch the Re-dedication ceremony of the Mexico City Temple! President Eyring and Elder Holland went to the ceremony. We got to watch it for our Sunday services yesterday. They had translators for them, and they both gave amazing talks. On Saturday night we were able to watch the Cultural Pageant of the temple re-dedication. It was amazing with stories played out of the Book of Mormon, the Restoration, and stories of the history of the Church in Mexico. They played out the story of the convert who came from Spain and translated the Book of Mormon into Spanish, and also the first two missionaries in Mexico who were shot and killed in a Mexican Jail for not denying their faith. It was an awesome performance with traditional Mexican dances that represent the different parts and cultures of Mexico. 

Tomorrow is Mexican Independence day! An investigator took some pictures of me with the Mexican flag and they were teaching me the Mexican Anthem.

Tomorrow, I feel like I´ll be yelled at in the street more than usual, but it will be a fun day :). I think they're going to have us return to our houses earlier for the parties in the streets that are going to be happening. I´m excited because it will make for an interesting day. I´m not sure how crazy little Santa María will get but we´ll see. 

It´s fun to be an American with green eyes and blonde hair in Mexico. A lot of people want to come up and talk to me about the United States, Obama, or Donald Trump. Hahaha seriously, EVERYBODY talks about Donald Trump here. About something he said about Mexicans, idk but I got tired of hearing about him. The people here absolutely hate him, its kinda funny.

All of the females tell me I have beautiful eyes and kids tell me they want to eat my head because my blonde hair look like the hairs on a corn on the cob. They eat corn on the cob (elote) a lot here. SO yeah, those are the things that I hear from the Mexican people every day.  hahaha. 

I hope everyone has a great week! Love you!

Con Amor,

Elder Smith