December 23, 2014 - It's a Christmas Miracle!!

Feliz Navidad party animals,

I’ll just cut right to the chase. SKYPE. THIS THURSDAY. 11:00 AM (that is the morning) GUATEMALA TIME. I don’t know if we are in the same time or what so just internet that or something. I will be skyping from a mission account. I will call you guys first. And we only have 5 minutes to talk. Which is a shame because I really wanted to talk to you for a little bit more. But the Lord only is giving us 5 minutes this year. Sacrifice brings miracles! Just kidding I think we have 40 and I hope I gave my sweet mother a miniature heart attack. It will be fun I think!

I will recount an experience from this week that basically sums up the whole week. So. For the past couple of days we have been rejected and rejected and rejected. By members, converts, investigators, perros (dogs), you name it. We still found a way to achieve our goals but we found no one positive and yeah everyone rejected us. And we have not baptized in December yet. Yesterday in our mission wide prayer that we say at 8 o’clock every morning it was my turn to say the prayer. In our studies of Enos this month (we read Enos once a day) I have learned a great deal about praying with faith and letting the spirit guide my prayers and allowing the things in our minds penetrate our hearts. I expressed my feelings in my prayer to Heavenly Father (or at least tried to in my Spanish) that we had been working like beasts to achieve our goals and to find people to come unto Christ. During my prayer I said ''Heavenly Father, please bless us with a miracle today.'' Then I paused, waited a second and said ''Or dos.'' Elder Palma and I both felt the spirit very strongly during and after the prayer, then we finished our studies and whatnot and began to work. Then the miracles: First, we found a less active family that has a little guy that is 9 years old. Baptizing him this week. He has been to church 3 times already. Miracle. Then another little guy. 10 years old. Lives with a family here in the ward. Been to church twice. Baptizing him this week. Oh how wonderful it is! We really have been working so hard these past two weeks. I have never been more tired and more happy and so grateful to my Heavenly Father. But yes, these were and are our CHRISTmas MIRACLES!!!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas. I don’t know if you have had a chance to watch or share the ''He is the Gift'' video/message but I challenge you to do so. It was inspired by the first presidency and that thing is so powerful. Like magic. They gave us 300 of these little cards to give out and one elder said that they have the priesthood because they are so powerful in getting new investigators. It awesome. We will go up to a house in a street full of evangelicals and right off the bat they will tell us to scram but then we will interrupt them and say ''But we have a gift for you! A Christmas Gift!'' Then we will teach them a lesson about Christmas, give them the ''He is the Gift'' card and then set an appointment to meet with them again and it has been so useful. I challenge the Smith Family to do the same!!! I want our family to baptize someone and to have the missionaries teach someone in our home. And this can help immensely. This is the gift to give the Savior! Not to be nicer, to pet your dog more, to clean the dishes without being asked, but to give the gift of eternal life through this precious and plain Gospel!

I love you guys. And thank you SOOO much for the gifts. I received packages from my awesome family, Grandma and Grandpa, the Lebarons, the Robison’s and Trent and Emily. The only one I couldn’t wait for was the Lebarons. Tell them thank you for the tie and candy!! and Trent and Emily for the missionary cards and for their awesome Christmas card!! And the Patagonia and fish shirt (forgotten at home when he left) were awesome. And the peanut butter candies and jerky –yessss! It was all awesome and I will open the rest on Thursday.

Love you guys,

Elder Smith

We were very touched and grateful to receive this email and picture from his companion today and we thought his english was great! 

I´m Elder Palma comanion of your son and I wish you merry christmas

Thanks for sent your son at the misiion he is really awesome and i´m so grateful that he eis my compañion 

I know that this is the best experince that a man can be in the life and God will bless your life and will change the life of Elder Smith.

Sorry i don´t good write in inglish  sorry for my mistakes

MERRY CHRISTMAS

FROM THE MISIIONARY FIELD

GUATEMALA CITY CENTRAL

Jacob and his companion with things we sent them.  Behind them is the poster the Granite Bay 2nd ward made for him- a much needed decoration!  We had a wonderful opportunity to send Jacobs Christmas gifts in a duffle bag (behind Elder Palma) with Christopher Mullen and his wife who, while on their trip to Guatemala, hand delivered it to Jacobs mission office.  We were BEYOND grateful for their kindness and generosity!!! The Mullen's couldn't have made it easier for us as Ann Marie Mullen, took the bag for Jacob across the country to Christopher, when she went out to babysit for them!!!  SO GRATEFUL for such wonderful friends!