February 23, 2016 - Week 2 en TIERRA FRIA

That means COLD LAND. My body is still adjusting to the frio here. I’ve spent almost a whole year of my mission in the coast and I am definitely feeling it! I wear a sweater almost everywhere and last Saturday we had to wake up to go to a meeting and I went dressed as a skier with my scarf and beanie and gloves, etc.

But really I am loving Chimaltenango. My companion Elder Diaz is probably the funniest human being ever and we are getting along super well. We found quite a few people last week and worked our tails off. We got part of the family to church that I wrote about last week. At first he was a little reluctant to go to church because his wife had to work on Sunday morning but Elder Diaz and I went to his house at 7 (church starts at 8 here) and used all our powers of persuasion to get him to church.....he ended up taking us to church in his pickup. It was pretty funny because last week we were led to each one of his family members that lives in the same block and now the whole family is listening. More updates on them to come.

We baptized on Sunday! It was awesome. He is the son of a convert that my trainer Elder Palma baptized a year and a half ago. Elder Palma is still helping me! The first time I got there to teach him on Wednesday we finish the prayer and he says ''I don’t want to get baptized''. WHAT? Ha-ha he is like 9 years old. So after lots of patience (we played with his toys for 2 lessons to demonstrate baptism in a bowl full of water) and practice (he put on his white clothes and had his dad baptize him above water for 2 lessons) and a last minute panic attack (we couldn’t heat the font and he thought he was going to drown) he got baptized. It was cool. Those moments always seem to motivate the family of the kids that get baptized. We are helping them get to the temple soon. I think the baptism of their son is a big push in that direction.

We have 4 or 5 more people preparing for baptism for this week. This area is seeing some real progress and its great to be part of it. The ward needs some help that we are ready to give. I have seen that when I have focused on helping the wards I’ve been in; Heavenly Father prepares the way for more of his children to enter into the baptismal font. How can we put more food in the fridge if the refrigerator isn’t cold and ready to help and protect what’s in it?? Just a thought for that solid Rocklin CA stake of yours.

Well I sure love you guys. Like a lot. I feel your love from each one, Dad, Mom Matthew and Kathryn. Congrats to Matt on his acceptance to BYU and KK for her persistence (you could be the best missionary ever KK.).

Keep living the Gospel,

Elder Smith

To Kathryn-

GET THE DOG KK GET THE DOG! I WANT ONE WHEN I COME HOME TOO!!!!

It is really cold here KK. I use a sweater sometimes!

February 17, 2016 - CHIMAL

Hey guys,

Well the Escuintla days are over, the Lord called me to serve in Chimaltenango. It is GORGEOUS. I am finally in the mountains. It is literally a different world up here.....a whole new world! But I will get used to it. I got rejected in the street and in doors yesterday for the first time in a LONG time. The people here are very set in their ways. I think the Lord leaves me in areas for a while because I get pretty nervous when I have to change and this change was no different...until I got on the bus at 5 in the morning and started praying and reading the BOM. I just told the Lord that I would do what He asks of me and in return he would help me find His chosen children. And oh how He spoke peace to my mind (Alma 58:11)! I just felt that all would be well. And it was. Yesterday Elder Diaz (my fifth Honduran comp), and I just left with all the faith in the world to find someone to teach. We got rejected real hard but just kept going. And the Lord led us to an incredibly prepared family to teach. They accepted everything and then at the end the wife said the prayer and just started BAWLING. Seriously crying so hard. She told the Lord in her prayer that she would do anything He asked of her. The Lord provides.

Leaving Golondrinas was so hard. They had a weird meeting at the end of church where everyone went to the front of the room and said goodbye to me and said a few words. It was nice to see people I love but I honestly felt really awkward. They bought me a cake and sang a few songs. I love Guatemalans. I had a few very spiritual and emotional goodbyes as I said farewell to a couple of converts in their homes. I sat down to say goodbye to the preacher guy we baptized in December and the only words I was able to get out was ''Gracias'' and then we both just broke down. I wrote a lot of it down in my journal so I wont bore you with details. It just felt good to know I gave it my all there. I don’t think I held anything back.

But now I’m in Chimaltenango. In the cold and among the lovely people of the mountains.

Love,
Elder Smith

Elder Smiths preacher friend - those aren't his glasses:)

February 9, 2016 - Last Week in Golondrinas

Ohhhh man the time has finally come. Today I participated in my last zone training in Escuintla. It was just awesome. A ton of us in the zone have been together for 6 months straight and I have honestly never felt more unity in any other zone I’ve been in. We have baptized in two weeks 24 people and in January had the most of anyone. I’m not competitive but here in Escuintla we are always fighting....to be the best. It has been a miraculous 6 month run that I will never forget. I gave my testimony on Sunday and I was almost brought to tears up there looking out at the congregation and seeing lots of people I love with all my heart. People I’ve sacrificed for, studied for, cried with, taught, baptized etc. But I am ready and willing to tackle this next challenge ahead of me. Adonde me mandes, iré! (I’ll go where you want me to go)

The Zoo. The zoo was cool; I had gone there 7-8 months back and....nothing has changed. The only news is that while we were there one giraffe killed another giraffe. We didn’t even know that they did stuff like that. But I am a witness and was quite distressed. I got a cool t-shirt thought and all is well. That would be a fun place to go if we come back one day. It was a blast to be with the whole zone. We played harmonica on the ride down there and just lived the dream.

This last weekend was crazy. We took an hour bus ride down to Puerto San Jose at like 7:30 at night and stayed there for the baptism too because it was too late to come back and there weren’t any buses. Everything went great and they got baptized. We stayed in the house of the District leader in Puerto and slept on their floor. We woke up at 4 am to catch the earliest bus to Escuintla. While on the bus back to our area, I went to the back of the bus to try to sleep. In the process, the familiar feeling came ''Elder Smith....contact that guy!'' Uggghh I felt like saying. Its 5 in the morning...no one wants to listen to me.... But my conscious didn’t let me fall asleep. I got up and contacted the guy and..... got totally rejected. I told this story to the zone today and got a good laugh. The point is that God just wants us to do All we can, then His grace is sufficient. Honestly, my companion and I hardly worked in our area this last week but all 5 people got confirmed and we had 6 new investigators come to church that will be baptized in these few weeks (albeit without me!). I am not saying that because I contacted that guy we had a successful Sunday, but I do recognize that God rewards a constant effort. That’s all He asks. Just keep trying, do your best, and He'll take care of the rest.

Well guys, sure love you. I pray for you often and like I have said, I feel your prayers. Matt, I am glad you got your patriarchal blessing. That has been a guide for me and a constant reminder of WHO I need to become and HOW to get there.

My life has a plan... My life has a purpose... In heaven it began....

Bendiciones!

Love,

Elder Smith