Hello My Wonderful Family!
Thank you for your emails this week. I always look forward to
reading them. Dad, the stories you shared about missionary work were inspiring.
This branch I am in is slowly, slowly receiving that fire of missionary work.
It is pretty cool to see. And congrats for having the investigators over! Make
sure you ask the missionaries who their investigators are and pray for them by
name! And always offer to have them in your house. There is such a remarkable
difference when the members participate in the work of salvation. There is no
better combination than missionary and member. Especially the one and only
Smith Family that I am eternally grateful to be an eternal part of! And KK,
congrats on bearing your testimony! Make sure you never forget to share it! I
was thinking about you Kathryn last night because we were playing games with a
family in a Family Night and this one girl kind of looks like a Latin American
you and acted just like you during this crazy game we played. And paint my room
pink, looks good on you!! Matt. Just follow my advice,) Mother, Elder Palma is from Tlaxcala, Mexico and my
favorite scripture I will share with you next week and you should be pro Elder
Palma because he is crazy awesome! I hope you guys had an awesome time partying
in Utah. But I hope everything goes smoothly in the transition!
Well my week. New Years was insane. And I thought Christmas was
gnarly. But wow. It was like the Disneyland fireworks in our backyard. All.
Night. Long. I always sleep like a dog so I was fine. Elder Palma woke me up at
11:55 and we went out to our forest and watched the nightlong firework display
until 12:00 and then we knelt and said a companionship prayer and then went
back to bed. That was pretty sweet. I am so excited for 2015 and I realized
that I have the choice experience to be a servant of the Lord for all of this
year. I think I will remember this year for all of eternity. I can’t see all
the changes or the person I will become but from these first 3 months here, I
am ready for it. As a zone we are starting this year off with a process of
purification and sanctification. We are going to fast to know all the things
the Lord wants to us get better at or stop doing or change and write all of
them down on a piece of paper and for 40 days we are going to have a ''fast''
of the things the Lord wants us to leave behind. This is to the end that we
will be able to testify with the power of the Holy Ghost and be PURE. President
Markham has taught us a lot about the purification process. I can’t share all
his insights on it in this mode but I wish I could. He is an inspired man. I am
ready to change and take out all the bad and let in all the good. 2015 is going
to be sweet.
Eddy was confirmed this Sunday. He is such a sweet kid and whenever
we teach him he always begs us to never leave. We have a baptism this Saturday
for Kayler and another for the following Sunday and then another (and possibly
2) for the 25th. The Lord has really blessed us with miracles in January and I
know it is because of the offering we gave him in December. We worked so hard.
I read that scripture in the subject line this morning in my personal studies.
A pretty direct admonition from our Savior! I don’t think I have ever known how
to work until I came on my mission. Sure I had jobs and worked in an arcade but
seriously if I take nothing else home with me after these 2 years is that I
learn how to work and to put the needs of others before my personal comfort or
wellbeing. That is what I am learning right now. It’s all about love and how we
give it!
But the word and the branch are progressing in Rio Santiago. And so
am I, I think. I can communicate almost everything I want right now but I am
still so far away from where I want to be. I want to be native sounding! The
Lord has blessed me so much in the language department because he needs me to
be able to say things in correct Spanish to his precious souls in Rio Santiago.
My teaching is getting better each day and I am learning to teach with the
power of the Spirit. There is nothing sweeter than a heaven sent thought or
question to ask that changes the lesson and heart of an investigator. I love
being a messenger.
Have a wonderful week everybody. Keep up the work! I love and miss
you guys with all my heart!
Elder Es-Smeet
PS- that is how everyone pronounces our last name here. It is
awesome!!!
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