¡Hola mi familia bonita! Another week has come and gone. This week has
been full of adventures and stories, and I'll be honest, it's been
kind of a bummer of a week. It's been raining practically every day.
I bought a new umbrella, but then left it on the bus. And then I lost
my sweatshirt last Monday. We've also had to drop a lot of our
investigators because they aren't progressing and doing their
commitments. And a bunch of other things I could list, but,
nevertheless, I have learned a lot this week and the Lord has
comforted and helped me through it all. Ready to hear all the
adventures of Hermana Smith this past week? Ok, here we go...
We visited the Familia Quituysaka Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
night. We were trying to prepare the mother and kids to be baptized
on Saturday. But every night we were at their house, the spirit would
be strong and then something would happen. Like Monday night, we were
right in the moment of them deciding to be baptized and Juan walked in
saying their was an emergency down at the house of a neighbor and that
they needed to help, so we quickly ended the lesson with a prayer.
Tuesday night we went back to teach and right after we ended the
opening prayer, they got another emergency call and we had to leave.
So our ultimate plan was to return Wednesday night with our district
leader, to give the interview and prepare them to be baptized. LONG
STORY SHORT, we returned Wednesday night with our leaders, they had
their interviews, and the thing is they want to be baptized, but they
don't want to right now. They have a lot of stresses in their life
right now and now is not the time. They said that they would continue
to come to church, but we are not going to be able to continue
teaching them. They have had all the lessons and we've done
everything we possibly can for them. I am sure one day they will be
baptized and fully accept the gospel in their lives, but I just don't
know when. It was really sad to leave them, but I know this is part of
God's plan for all of us.
Friday we did a zone weekly planning session in the stake center. We
seperated into our districts and did our weekly planning session with
our companions. After, we all met together and had a little reunion
and our zone leaders left us with a message, which really touched my
heart and addressed my needs. I had been a little down this past week,
especially with my Spanish. I'm about to have 6 months in the mission
and I still struggle to speak the language. When I tell people that I
have about 6 months in the mission, especially the Latin missionaries,
they always respond with a "wow" or an "ooooo" in a way that means
"Uhhhhhh, wow, that's not good". I don't know at least that's how I
feel. Every one has been giving me advice and I end up responding
saying "Yes, I am doing that... Yes, I am doing that also". However,
in this little reunion, Elder Solano shared Matthew 14:23-31, which is
the story when Christ walked on water and invites Peter to come out
with him. Which says, "30) But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was
afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. 31)
And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and
said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?"
Sometimes I feel like Peter, especially in the mission. Sometimes I
forgot that I have been set apart and given the power to be a
representive of Jesus Chirst. A lot of times I lack the belief that
through my faith in Christ, He can help me complete everything that is
asked of me. While reading this scripture, it was like the Savior was
telling me "Hermana Smith, O thou of little faith, why do you doubt
yourself?" His hand is stretched forth to help me with my Spanish and
even though it feels impossible for me to speak Spanish well, I need
to have the faith that I can do it and that He is going to help me.
I'm kinda hoping, like Bishop Arnett told me, that I'll wake up 6
months into my mission one morning speaking, thinking, and dreaming in
Spanish, haha. We'll see what happens :)
After this zone meeting, we went to lunch, and after lunch I got sick
and was throwing up and we weren't able to work. Saturday morning, I
woke up with a weak stomach, but was ready to work. In the morning we
went and taught Nelly. We hadn't visited her in over a month because
she was super busy and wasn't progressing. But earlier in the week,
we happened to pass by her cabina and she stopped us and told us that
her kids were about to start their summer vacations and that they are
ready to listen and study the scriptures with us. We talked to her
about life and the gospel and she told us that she believes the church
is true and wants to get baptized. We are planning her baptism for
the end of July.
In the afternoon, we had the baptism planned for Tanya Chuñir,
however, when we called her an hour and half before her baptism, she
told us that she wasn't ready for her baptism. So we ran to her house
to talk to her. We did everything we possibly could. We talked to her
openly, asked what her concerns were, we read the scriptures, we even
knelt in prayer. Even after all this, she told that she just didn't
feel ready. She wants to get baptized, but just didn't feel sure that
she should get baptized this day. It was really sad, because there
was nothing else we could do, but she told us that she would pray and
decide for a day (either the 2nd or 9th of July).
In the evening, we had a ward missionary activity. It was a "Festival
de Comidas" and a bunch of people from the ward came. Our
investigator's (Maria) daughter Michelle came with the familia
Muñoz-Salinas and Nelly came with her daughter. Unfortunately, their
was more people than food, so we didn't eat very much, but it was cool
to try different types of appitizers, main dishes, and desserts. Our
investigators had really great time too.
Sunday was the day that things started to get better. BUT, in the
morning, as we walked into the church building 10 minutes before the
meeting started, Bishop stopped me and told me that one of the
speakers wasn't coming and needed me to give a talk in Sacrament
meeting and that I would be the first one to speak. I almost freaked
out. How was I supposed to prepare a talk in less than 10 minutes?
But, with a quick prayer and the help of my companion, we quickly
prepared a talk on the importance of home teachers and visiting
teachers for the recent converts. It was probably one of the most
stressful moments of my mission, but everything went well. I was able
to speak, with a little struggling over words, and everyone was
listening. Hermana Barker had to lead the music and was sitting up
front and she said that everyone paid more attention to my talk than
the other speakers. I even made people laugh, which means I have a
personality in Spanish (finally!!! haha). I just told everyone that I
may not be able to say all that I want to say, but that I hope that
they can learn something from my message and apply it in their lives.
I am so grateful that the Lord helped me to say the right things and
I'm grateful that Bishop had the faith that I could speak to the
congregation.
Even though I was super nervous in Sacrament meeting (because of my
talk), I was super happy because many of our investigators that we
were praying to come, actually came. And a few of these people were
in the "make or break" moment to show us that they are serious about
progressing in the gospel. It really goes to show that when there are
difficult moments and trails, something great is bond to happen or in
other words, we'll receive the blessings. Even though this week was
hard, in the end, the Lord blessed us.
That's pretty much all that happened this week. Reflecting on this
week, I realize that even though crummy and sad things happend, I
never felt like "I want to give up". The Lord comforted me in the
moments I needed it and blessed with the strength to pick myself up
and continue to work. Even though this past week wasn't the greatest,
I am stll super happy and excited to see the outcome of our labors.
As for this week, we're going to Machala for a training/conference
Wednesday-Friday. It's for the senior companions, but because Hermana
Barker and I are the only sisters in Cuenca, we can't do interchanges,
so I have to go too. I don't know exactly what I will end up doing
their, if I will go with a junior companion in Machala or if I will
attend the training, we'll see. Hopefully I won't die of heat, I am
loving the cool weather here in Cuenca.
I hope you all have a good week and that you travel back safely from
Farmington tonight. You are all in my prayers. Yes, it is sad that
Grandma Green passed away, but I feel just fine about it all. The
plan Heavenly Father has for us is perfect and he has a plan for her.
She doesn't have to suffer any more. I just pray for the comfort
that our family and her family needs, especially those that don't have
this knowledge that we have.
I'll talk to you all next week! Love you tons :)
Love,
Hermana Smith
PS: Happy Birthday to Molly this week! Hopefully because she'll be "a
year old and wiser too", that she won't cause as much trouble....
hahaha.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
20 Junio 2011
¡HEY HEY HEY mi familia bonita! How's it going? Are you all dying of
heat or what? Today in Cuenca is super beautiful! We played Ultimate
Fresbee again. We haven't played in 3 weeks because we hadn't gotten
permission the last 2 weeks, so we were all super happy to play. Now
we're writing emails...
I'm glad everyone had a good week, especially Daddy. I'm jealous of
your new iPad Padre! I'm excited to SEE it and BORROW it, when I come
home...in 13 months haha. I hope you had great Father's Day. It stinks
that we can't call on Father's Day, but Christmas will be here sooner
than we think. Time is flying! I'm already half way through this
transfer...crazy!
Well, I'll get started on telling you all the things that happened
this week, especially because I don't have a lot of time. AHHH...
Tuesday we had our district meeting. I had made cream cheese
chocolate chip cookies, which were kinda sort of an epic fail (because
we don't have a beater in the house, opps). Nevertheless, the Elders
were happy to have American cookies. We also got mail, which I got two
DearElder letters. Hermana Barker got her flight plans too. It's
such a weird feeling to have a companion who is about to end her
mission. She is definitely focused and we're working hard, don't get
me wrong. It's just a weird feeling, because that day for me is
forever away, haha. However, I am so grateful I still have year left!
Last week, Hermana Barker and I got switched into a different
district, I don't know why, but now we're in Elder Sandberg's
district. Wednesday afternoon/evening he and his companion came to
the church building for the baptism interviews of Ximena and Isreal.
After the interviews, we did divisions; so Hermana Barker went with
one sister and me, another sister, and the Elders went to visit la
familia Quituysaka. On Monday night, they had told us that they
couldn't get baptized for the 18th, so went to talk to them and see
what we could do to help. This was definitely a learning experience
for me. Even though I know exactly were this family lives, we missed
the bus stop because I was explaining to the Elders the situation and
wasn't paying attention to where we were. We ended up getting off
like 5 or 6 blocks down the street, so I paid for a taxi to take us to
their house. Once we were dropped off, climbed up a hill, and arrived
at their house, we discovered that Juan wasn't home because he was
visiting his dad. And since there wasn't a man in the house, we
couldn't teach. Piedad had also told us, that someone broken into her
sister's (Nidia, who was baptized in May) house. So then we walked
down to Nidia's house to see if we could help, but she wasn't home.
At this point in time, it was super dark, and I only knew one way to
get to the street to go to the bus. So we ended up going down a hill,
with no light. I probably fell down like 3 times. I felt SO BAD for
everything that happened! But at least we were all laughing as we were
struggling to walk down a hill in the dark.
Thursday for our weekly service, we went to help Maria Prado deliver
lunches. It was pretty cool, except for I stepped in a muddy hole and
had a wet and dirty foot all day. After the service, she gave us
lunch and we taught her a lesson. In the afternoon, we went to teach
la familia Salinas-Muñoz. Ivan's birthday was Monday, so we taught a
lesson, ate ice cream, and gave him his present (a blue tie for
church, because he didn't have one). It was great to teach them
because we hadn't been able too as much as we did before they got
baptized. In the evening, we had a really great lesson with Clifton
St. Felix (Francia's cousin). Two recent converts came with us to
teach him who had a similar situation as him. He is really confused
with what to do, because he likes the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, but he attends a different church and says that he
feels good in both churches. He's such a great kid and knows what he
needs to do to get his answer. I'm just hoping and praying he does
those things and receives his answer, really soon. He told us he'd
like to serve a mission and he asks tons of questions about the rules
we have, haha. He's 24, so he would have to get baptized really soon
so he can leave before he turns 26.
Friday we went back to teach Maria Prado. Just for chance, Nidia,
Ivan, and Fernando were there. They all shared their testimonies of
how the gospel has changed there lives, which made me super happy.
And then Maria accepted the date to be baptized on July 23rd!!!! She
is really receptive and loves listening to the messages of the gospel.
Saturday was super great also. We had the baptism of Isreal Infante
and Ximena Puchi. It was a very small baptism, only a couple ward
members, Isreal's wife, daughter, and in-laws, and the missionaries
(us, Elder Sandberg, and Elder Fares). Elder Sandberg baptized both
of them and Hermana Barker and I sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light"
in Spanish and English. There's nothing much more to say about this
baptism service, but that it was great, peaceful, and the spirit was
there. What more could you ask for? Isreal had to leave right after
he was baptized because he had to work, but after Ximena Puchi bore
her testimony. She is such a storng young woman and she's going to be
a wonderful in the church, I just know it.
Sunday Ximena and Isreal were confirmed and received the Holy Ghost.
Isreal came staight from work, tired, but super happy. Another thing
that made me happy was that during Relieft Society I sat next to
Ximena, she asked to borrow a pen and took notes, she is seriously
amazing.
That's all the exciting and great things (and some not so great
things) that have happened this week. This week's e-mail isn't super
long, which means the week was good too. Hermana Barker and I are
continuing to work hard and trying to find more people to teach. The
Gospel of Jesus Christ is still helping and changing people's lives.
And the Lord is helping me and strengthening me every day.
I love and miss you guys! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Smith
heat or what? Today in Cuenca is super beautiful! We played Ultimate
Fresbee again. We haven't played in 3 weeks because we hadn't gotten
permission the last 2 weeks, so we were all super happy to play. Now
we're writing emails...
I'm glad everyone had a good week, especially Daddy. I'm jealous of
your new iPad Padre! I'm excited to SEE it and BORROW it, when I come
home...in 13 months haha. I hope you had great Father's Day. It stinks
that we can't call on Father's Day, but Christmas will be here sooner
than we think. Time is flying! I'm already half way through this
transfer...crazy!
Well, I'll get started on telling you all the things that happened
this week, especially because I don't have a lot of time. AHHH...
Tuesday we had our district meeting. I had made cream cheese
chocolate chip cookies, which were kinda sort of an epic fail (because
we don't have a beater in the house, opps). Nevertheless, the Elders
were happy to have American cookies. We also got mail, which I got two
DearElder letters. Hermana Barker got her flight plans too. It's
such a weird feeling to have a companion who is about to end her
mission. She is definitely focused and we're working hard, don't get
me wrong. It's just a weird feeling, because that day for me is
forever away, haha. However, I am so grateful I still have year left!
Last week, Hermana Barker and I got switched into a different
district, I don't know why, but now we're in Elder Sandberg's
district. Wednesday afternoon/evening he and his companion came to
the church building for the baptism interviews of Ximena and Isreal.
After the interviews, we did divisions; so Hermana Barker went with
one sister and me, another sister, and the Elders went to visit la
familia Quituysaka. On Monday night, they had told us that they
couldn't get baptized for the 18th, so went to talk to them and see
what we could do to help. This was definitely a learning experience
for me. Even though I know exactly were this family lives, we missed
the bus stop because I was explaining to the Elders the situation and
wasn't paying attention to where we were. We ended up getting off
like 5 or 6 blocks down the street, so I paid for a taxi to take us to
their house. Once we were dropped off, climbed up a hill, and arrived
at their house, we discovered that Juan wasn't home because he was
visiting his dad. And since there wasn't a man in the house, we
couldn't teach. Piedad had also told us, that someone broken into her
sister's (Nidia, who was baptized in May) house. So then we walked
down to Nidia's house to see if we could help, but she wasn't home.
At this point in time, it was super dark, and I only knew one way to
get to the street to go to the bus. So we ended up going down a hill,
with no light. I probably fell down like 3 times. I felt SO BAD for
everything that happened! But at least we were all laughing as we were
struggling to walk down a hill in the dark.
Thursday for our weekly service, we went to help Maria Prado deliver
lunches. It was pretty cool, except for I stepped in a muddy hole and
had a wet and dirty foot all day. After the service, she gave us
lunch and we taught her a lesson. In the afternoon, we went to teach
la familia Salinas-Muñoz. Ivan's birthday was Monday, so we taught a
lesson, ate ice cream, and gave him his present (a blue tie for
church, because he didn't have one). It was great to teach them
because we hadn't been able too as much as we did before they got
baptized. In the evening, we had a really great lesson with Clifton
St. Felix (Francia's cousin). Two recent converts came with us to
teach him who had a similar situation as him. He is really confused
with what to do, because he likes the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, but he attends a different church and says that he
feels good in both churches. He's such a great kid and knows what he
needs to do to get his answer. I'm just hoping and praying he does
those things and receives his answer, really soon. He told us he'd
like to serve a mission and he asks tons of questions about the rules
we have, haha. He's 24, so he would have to get baptized really soon
so he can leave before he turns 26.
Friday we went back to teach Maria Prado. Just for chance, Nidia,
Ivan, and Fernando were there. They all shared their testimonies of
how the gospel has changed there lives, which made me super happy.
And then Maria accepted the date to be baptized on July 23rd!!!! She
is really receptive and loves listening to the messages of the gospel.
Saturday was super great also. We had the baptism of Isreal Infante
and Ximena Puchi. It was a very small baptism, only a couple ward
members, Isreal's wife, daughter, and in-laws, and the missionaries
(us, Elder Sandberg, and Elder Fares). Elder Sandberg baptized both
of them and Hermana Barker and I sang "Teach Me to Walk in the Light"
in Spanish and English. There's nothing much more to say about this
baptism service, but that it was great, peaceful, and the spirit was
there. What more could you ask for? Isreal had to leave right after
he was baptized because he had to work, but after Ximena Puchi bore
her testimony. She is such a storng young woman and she's going to be
a wonderful in the church, I just know it.
Sunday Ximena and Isreal were confirmed and received the Holy Ghost.
Isreal came staight from work, tired, but super happy. Another thing
that made me happy was that during Relieft Society I sat next to
Ximena, she asked to borrow a pen and took notes, she is seriously
amazing.
That's all the exciting and great things (and some not so great
things) that have happened this week. This week's e-mail isn't super
long, which means the week was good too. Hermana Barker and I are
continuing to work hard and trying to find more people to teach. The
Gospel of Jesus Christ is still helping and changing people's lives.
And the Lord is helping me and strengthening me every day.
I love and miss you guys! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Smith
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
13 Junio 2011
HEY! Buenas Tardes Familia! Once again, another week has flown by!
It's weird to think it's summer time in Phoenix. You're all probably
suffering from the heat while I am trying to stay warm. Don't worry,
soon enough I'll be back in Guayaquil or another part of Ecuador dying
in the heat. This week in Cuenca has been great!! I'll write the same
as last week, because the day-to-day life of Hermana Smith isn't as
exciting anymore, haha.
So Monday, our zone leaders and all the district leaders went to
Guayaquil for a conference/training with President, so we didn't play
ultimate. Hermana Barker and I went to the mall and I bought a new
skirt and a little mini oven! We've been making cookies for our
investigators, the members that help us out, and for ourselves of
course. It's so nice to have this oven and so wonderful to eat
American cookies!
Wednesday we went downtown to teach this lady named Maria. She and
her daughters came to conference the Sunday before. She was a
reference from a member, but is super Catholic and didn't think she'd
come, but she did! We went to visit her to see what she thought of
conference. It was really neat, because we got there and she began
sharing with us that she was working that day and a thought came to
her head "What is the true church? Because there are so many and
Christ only organized one". And that also, her mother-in-law had
invited her to go to a different church this evening, but then we showed
up at Maria's house a couple of minutes before this lady. It was
really cool how the Lord had guided us, how we got to her house just
in time, and how it was an answer to her prayers.
Thursday was the wedding of Israel Infante and Sabrina Guzman.
Sabrina's family has started to reactivate in the church, so
we've been teaching them a lot since I first came to Cuenca. And
through these appointments, we started teaching Israel. One day, a
few weeks ago, he told us he wanted to get baptized. So we set a date
for him and Sabrina to get married (because they have a daughter and
our living together) and for his baptism which will be June 18th. The
wedding was in the afternoon and we just went to the Registro Civil
with their family. It was short and sweet, but all of us were SUPER
happy for them! All their family came in town and they were
dressed up nice. In the evening, we returned to their house, taught a
lesson with their family, and then celebrated with dinner and cake!
However, before we returned back to the The Guzman's house, we went
with Elder Guerro (our new zone leader) and Elder Keables to visit The
Quituysaka Family. They had their baptism date for the 11th, but the
father can't get baptized right now, so the wife and the children told
us that they want to wait to baptized when he can so they can do it
all together. Hermana Barker and I have been praying and fasting for
them and we received the answer that the wife Piedad, and their kids
Erica and William are ready for baptisms. We prepared a lesson
specifically for them and this afternoon was "show time". With the
help from the Holy Ghost and from the Elders. We had a wonderful
lesson!! We talked about how after baptism, they'll receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost and many other blessings. And all of this will
bless their lives and their home. We talked about how they will have
the Spirit in their home and how this Spirit and their examples will
be a help to their father as he prepares to be baptized. In the end,
they accepted to be baptized on the 18th.
Saturday in the afternoon we did divisions, where my companion went
with another sister to teach some lessons and I went with Maritza
Carrillo. This was the 2nd time we had done divisions, but I was
nervous because this time I had to teach a lesson to investigators
(and not to recent converts and less-active members who already know
the truth). We taught this family, Jose and Karena and their
daughters, who we hadn't taught in a while. We taught about the
Restoration, and yes, I struggled to say words correctly, but with the
help of the Holy Ghost and Maritza, I was able to teach and say the
words so that this family could understand. Through this experience,
I learned that even though I have a lot of weaknesses, especially with
Spanish, the Lord is helping me. Because my purpose is to invite
others to come unto Christ and help them to receive the gospel, the
Lord is not going to let me fail.
Saturday evening was the baptism of Francia Bien Aime. Franica is 19
and from Haiti. She came with a group of Haitians to Ecuador over a
year ago to study after the earthquake in Haiti destroyed their
schools. She started taking the lessons after her friend John was
baptized and from the beginning knew that the church was true. Her
baptism was small compared to the last one, but it was super great!
Many of the young single adults from the ward came and the Spirit was
there, what more could you ask for? Hermana Barker and I sang her
favorite song "I Am a Child of God" in both English and Spanish.
Sunday was really great, especially sacrament meeting! Franica
received the gift of the Holy Ghost, Nidia Salinas (who was baptized
on the 28th of May) got up and shared her testimony, and Ivan and
Fernando Muñoz (who were also baptized on the 28th) received the
priesthood and it was announced in Sacrament Meeting. The Spirit
really touched my heart and I began to cry. I have only known these 4
for a little over a month and it's amazing to see how much the gospel
has changed their lives and how their growing in the church.
That's pretty much all that has happened this week. I'm reminded many
times during the week of my purpose and why I am supposed to be here.
The Lord is blessing me and the ones I teach and share the gospel. I
have been thinking a lot about how much I've changed in the last year,
how the Lord has comforted me over and over again, and how I've grown
SO much spiritually. It was about a year ago that I started praying to
Heavenly Father to help me make a decision of what to do with my life.
This last year has been SO amazing and wonderful. I wouldn't change a
thing of anything that has happened this past year.
Well, I need to get going! Have a wonderful week family :) I love you tons!
Love,
Hermana Smith
It's weird to think it's summer time in Phoenix. You're all probably
suffering from the heat while I am trying to stay warm. Don't worry,
soon enough I'll be back in Guayaquil or another part of Ecuador dying
in the heat. This week in Cuenca has been great!! I'll write the same
as last week, because the day-to-day life of Hermana Smith isn't as
exciting anymore, haha.
So Monday, our zone leaders and all the district leaders went to
Guayaquil for a conference/training with President, so we didn't play
ultimate. Hermana Barker and I went to the mall and I bought a new
skirt and a little mini oven! We've been making cookies for our
investigators, the members that help us out, and for ourselves of
course. It's so nice to have this oven and so wonderful to eat
American cookies!
Wednesday we went downtown to teach this lady named Maria. She and
her daughters came to conference the Sunday before. She was a
reference from a member, but is super Catholic and didn't think she'd
come, but she did! We went to visit her to see what she thought of
conference. It was really neat, because we got there and she began
sharing with us that she was working that day and a thought came to
her head "What is the true church? Because there are so many and
Christ only organized one". And that also, her mother-in-law had
invited her to go to a different church this evening, but then we showed
up at Maria's house a couple of minutes before this lady. It was
really cool how the Lord had guided us, how we got to her house just
in time, and how it was an answer to her prayers.
Thursday was the wedding of Israel Infante and Sabrina Guzman.
Sabrina's family has started to reactivate in the church, so
we've been teaching them a lot since I first came to Cuenca. And
through these appointments, we started teaching Israel. One day, a
few weeks ago, he told us he wanted to get baptized. So we set a date
for him and Sabrina to get married (because they have a daughter and
our living together) and for his baptism which will be June 18th. The
wedding was in the afternoon and we just went to the Registro Civil
with their family. It was short and sweet, but all of us were SUPER
happy for them! All their family came in town and they were
dressed up nice. In the evening, we returned to their house, taught a
lesson with their family, and then celebrated with dinner and cake!
However, before we returned back to the The Guzman's house, we went
with Elder Guerro (our new zone leader) and Elder Keables to visit The
Quituysaka Family. They had their baptism date for the 11th, but the
father can't get baptized right now, so the wife and the children told
us that they want to wait to baptized when he can so they can do it
all together. Hermana Barker and I have been praying and fasting for
them and we received the answer that the wife Piedad, and their kids
Erica and William are ready for baptisms. We prepared a lesson
specifically for them and this afternoon was "show time". With the
help from the Holy Ghost and from the Elders. We had a wonderful
lesson!! We talked about how after baptism, they'll receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost and many other blessings. And all of this will
bless their lives and their home. We talked about how they will have
the Spirit in their home and how this Spirit and their examples will
be a help to their father as he prepares to be baptized. In the end,
they accepted to be baptized on the 18th.
Saturday in the afternoon we did divisions, where my companion went
with another sister to teach some lessons and I went with Maritza
Carrillo. This was the 2nd time we had done divisions, but I was
nervous because this time I had to teach a lesson to investigators
(and not to recent converts and less-active members who already know
the truth). We taught this family, Jose and Karena and their
daughters, who we hadn't taught in a while. We taught about the
Restoration, and yes, I struggled to say words correctly, but with the
help of the Holy Ghost and Maritza, I was able to teach and say the
words so that this family could understand. Through this experience,
I learned that even though I have a lot of weaknesses, especially with
Spanish, the Lord is helping me. Because my purpose is to invite
others to come unto Christ and help them to receive the gospel, the
Lord is not going to let me fail.
Saturday evening was the baptism of Francia Bien Aime. Franica is 19
and from Haiti. She came with a group of Haitians to Ecuador over a
year ago to study after the earthquake in Haiti destroyed their
schools. She started taking the lessons after her friend John was
baptized and from the beginning knew that the church was true. Her
baptism was small compared to the last one, but it was super great!
Many of the young single adults from the ward came and the Spirit was
there, what more could you ask for? Hermana Barker and I sang her
favorite song "I Am a Child of God" in both English and Spanish.
Sunday was really great, especially sacrament meeting! Franica
received the gift of the Holy Ghost, Nidia Salinas (who was baptized
on the 28th of May) got up and shared her testimony, and Ivan and
Fernando Muñoz (who were also baptized on the 28th) received the
priesthood and it was announced in Sacrament Meeting. The Spirit
really touched my heart and I began to cry. I have only known these 4
for a little over a month and it's amazing to see how much the gospel
has changed their lives and how their growing in the church.
That's pretty much all that has happened this week. I'm reminded many
times during the week of my purpose and why I am supposed to be here.
The Lord is blessing me and the ones I teach and share the gospel. I
have been thinking a lot about how much I've changed in the last year,
how the Lord has comforted me over and over again, and how I've grown
SO much spiritually. It was about a year ago that I started praying to
Heavenly Father to help me make a decision of what to do with my life.
This last year has been SO amazing and wonderful. I wouldn't change a
thing of anything that has happened this past year.
Well, I need to get going! Have a wonderful week family :) I love you tons!
Love,
Hermana Smith
Monday, June 6, 2011
6 Junio 2011
HEY GUYS! Great news is that I'm still in Cuenca and with Hermana
Barker :) We didn't have transfers until Tuesday/Wednesday. Tuesday
night, we were in bed and falling asleep, when we got a call (after
10:30) from Elder Keables telling us that we were "safe", but that we
were losing 6 Elders from our zone. We were a little sad because a
couple of them have become good friends of ours. But we got some cool
new Elders in our zone, so everything is ok, haha.
So, I was looking at my agenda of what has happened this past week and
I don't think that in this email I will be writing the day to day
update of what happened. I would pretty much say "This day we taught
this person and it was good". Also, yesterday was Stake Conference
and we had the goal of bringing 15 investigators, so most of our week
was teaching the people that we were inviting and making the plans for
them to get to the stake center. So instead of explaining the day by
day of Hermana Smith, I will just tell you the highlights of the
week!!!
Wednesday, we went back out to Sayausi to teach one our investigators,
but she wasn't there. Her cousin said she was there the day before and now
she was with her family (more to come later of what had happened with a kid).
As we were walking to visit another family, we started walking by
these two young woman, named Lala and Jenny, with their young
daughters. We started talking to them about their lives and ended us
teaching them, their aunt, and their cousins at their house. This
lesson was really special because we followed the spirit and taught to
their needs. We taught about the importance and power of prayer, how
Heavenly Father is always listening and ready to help us. Also, how
that if we pray with faith, He will answer our prayers. The lesson
ended with all of us kneeling in prayer as Lala prayed for the help of
the Lord. She ended the prayer and we were all in tears because the
Spirit gave this family the comfort and hope they needed.
Friday we ended up having our District Meeting. The week was a little
crazy with the transfers and conferences of the zone leaders, so we
ended up having it on Friday instead of Tuesday. After our meeting,
we went straight to work...we didn't even go to eat with our mamita
because we had SO much to do and important people to teach. We taught
this woman named Maria. She is the neighbor of Nidia, Ivan, and
Fernando. Funny story of how we met her.... It was about 2 weeks ago
and we were going to teach Nidia, Ivan, and Fernando. We had finished
lunch and started to fast. We started our fast on this hill that
leads to their house. It's pretty secluded, so we said our prayer
together and them seperated for own prayers. As we were praying, Maria
started coming down the hill and scared us. Right then and there she
invited us to teach her. For the past 2 weeks, we've been trying to
teach her, but she either wasn't home or when she could, we couldn't.
So finally, we were able to teach her Friday afternoon. Well it turns
out, this young man that died Tuesday, he had commited suicide and was
the boyfriend of Maria's daughter. Maria was in a lot of pain because
the family of this young man was blaming her for his death. However,
even though she's in a lot of sorrow, she handling this situation
super well and in a very Christ-like way. I was prompted to share
with her a similar experienced I have had, how I handled it, how it
effected my family, and how the gosple of Jesus Christ is what helped
me overcome that experience. I told her that I understood how she
felt and testified that her faith in Jesus Christ will help her handle
this situation with love, patience, and hope.
Saturday morning, we went out to Lentag to visit Jacqueline and start
the recent convert lessons. This lesson was very special because
Jacqueline shared her testimony with us. It was a confirmacion to us
that she was ready to be baptized and was one of God's chosen. Even
though it was a battle and tough fight to get her to make this
decision, it was all part of the plan and what we were supposed to do.
As we were riding down the mountain in a truck, Hermana Barker and I
started talking about the work. She became super sad because her time
as a full-time missionary is coming to an end. We have such an
important purpose. The people we teach have so much trust and belief
in what we say will help their lives. They come to us with their
problems and questions believing that we have the answers. Hermana
Barker is sad that she won't have this same purpose come August. I
don't know, but this really was a realization that I need to make the
best of this next 13 months. I won't be able to do this again and
need to do all that I can to help bring the gospel of Christ to
everyone I meet and know here in Ecuador.
Sunday was stake conference. We were super nervous because our
mission president, President Montalti, was there to speak in the
conference and wanted to meet all of our investigators (this is why we
had the goal of 15 investigators). With a lot of help of the members,
we ended up having 12 and President met them and asked them all to be
baptized. Shortly after, we had a little zone meeting
with President. We were sitting in a circle and he went around asking
every companionship how many investigators they brought. Every
companionship said "1" or "2" with hesitation and then it came to us
and we said "12" with a little embarrasment and President's face
changed to a surprised look. Our zone definitely got the machete from
President, but he left us with a blessing to open our mouths and we
will have success. As we were leaving President came up to me, shook
my hand and said "Hermana Smith, congratulations for your hard work".
It was nice to hear that from President, but I definitely did not feel
relieved....haha, there is still a lot more work to do.
Sunday afternoon/evening, we did divisions with two sisters from the
ward. Hermana Barker went with a young woman named Veronica to teach
our investigators who have baptism dates and I went with the Young
Women's president, Afrania. I was a little nervous because this was
my first time doing divisions and being responsible to lead the
lessons, but the Lord helped me tons!!! We went to teach Maria and
the family I contacted on the bus last Monday, but they weren´t home
:( But we did teach a recent convert lesson to Nidia, Ivan, and
Fernando and it went well. We were only able to teach the first 3
principles of the Restoration, but we talked about how the gospel has
blessed their lives, as a family and individually. They are such a
great family and we (me, Hermana Barker, and Afrania) think Ivan and
Fernando are going to be fabulous members and future missionaries.
It's so great to see them enjoy the gospel and see them grow.
Well, that is pretty much it here in Ecuador. The Lord has really
blessed me with all these experiences and has definitely helped me
express myself and say the words to bring these people the comfort and
joy the gospel brings to everyone. It amazes me to see how much has
happened in the last 5 months. I have learned so much, had great
experiences, and have met such wonderful people. I am so grateful
that I have 13 more months to continue to do the same thing....learn,
grown, meet wonderful people, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Have a fabulous week :) I love you tons!
Love,
Hermana Smith
Barker :) We didn't have transfers until Tuesday/Wednesday. Tuesday
night, we were in bed and falling asleep, when we got a call (after
10:30) from Elder Keables telling us that we were "safe", but that we
were losing 6 Elders from our zone. We were a little sad because a
couple of them have become good friends of ours. But we got some cool
new Elders in our zone, so everything is ok, haha.
So, I was looking at my agenda of what has happened this past week and
I don't think that in this email I will be writing the day to day
update of what happened. I would pretty much say "This day we taught
this person and it was good". Also, yesterday was Stake Conference
and we had the goal of bringing 15 investigators, so most of our week
was teaching the people that we were inviting and making the plans for
them to get to the stake center. So instead of explaining the day by
day of Hermana Smith, I will just tell you the highlights of the
week!!!
Wednesday, we went back out to Sayausi to teach one our investigators,
but she wasn't there. Her cousin said she was there the day before and now
she was with her family (more to come later of what had happened with a kid).
As we were walking to visit another family, we started walking by
these two young woman, named Lala and Jenny, with their young
daughters. We started talking to them about their lives and ended us
teaching them, their aunt, and their cousins at their house. This
lesson was really special because we followed the spirit and taught to
their needs. We taught about the importance and power of prayer, how
Heavenly Father is always listening and ready to help us. Also, how
that if we pray with faith, He will answer our prayers. The lesson
ended with all of us kneeling in prayer as Lala prayed for the help of
the Lord. She ended the prayer and we were all in tears because the
Spirit gave this family the comfort and hope they needed.
Friday we ended up having our District Meeting. The week was a little
crazy with the transfers and conferences of the zone leaders, so we
ended up having it on Friday instead of Tuesday. After our meeting,
we went straight to work...we didn't even go to eat with our mamita
because we had SO much to do and important people to teach. We taught
this woman named Maria. She is the neighbor of Nidia, Ivan, and
Fernando. Funny story of how we met her.... It was about 2 weeks ago
and we were going to teach Nidia, Ivan, and Fernando. We had finished
lunch and started to fast. We started our fast on this hill that
leads to their house. It's pretty secluded, so we said our prayer
together and them seperated for own prayers. As we were praying, Maria
started coming down the hill and scared us. Right then and there she
invited us to teach her. For the past 2 weeks, we've been trying to
teach her, but she either wasn't home or when she could, we couldn't.
So finally, we were able to teach her Friday afternoon. Well it turns
out, this young man that died Tuesday, he had commited suicide and was
the boyfriend of Maria's daughter. Maria was in a lot of pain because
the family of this young man was blaming her for his death. However,
even though she's in a lot of sorrow, she handling this situation
super well and in a very Christ-like way. I was prompted to share
with her a similar experienced I have had, how I handled it, how it
effected my family, and how the gosple of Jesus Christ is what helped
me overcome that experience. I told her that I understood how she
felt and testified that her faith in Jesus Christ will help her handle
this situation with love, patience, and hope.
Saturday morning, we went out to Lentag to visit Jacqueline and start
the recent convert lessons. This lesson was very special because
Jacqueline shared her testimony with us. It was a confirmacion to us
that she was ready to be baptized and was one of God's chosen. Even
though it was a battle and tough fight to get her to make this
decision, it was all part of the plan and what we were supposed to do.
As we were riding down the mountain in a truck, Hermana Barker and I
started talking about the work. She became super sad because her time
as a full-time missionary is coming to an end. We have such an
important purpose. The people we teach have so much trust and belief
in what we say will help their lives. They come to us with their
problems and questions believing that we have the answers. Hermana
Barker is sad that she won't have this same purpose come August. I
don't know, but this really was a realization that I need to make the
best of this next 13 months. I won't be able to do this again and
need to do all that I can to help bring the gospel of Christ to
everyone I meet and know here in Ecuador.
Sunday was stake conference. We were super nervous because our
mission president, President Montalti, was there to speak in the
conference and wanted to meet all of our investigators (this is why we
had the goal of 15 investigators). With a lot of help of the members,
we ended up having 12 and President met them and asked them all to be
baptized. Shortly after, we had a little zone meeting
with President. We were sitting in a circle and he went around asking
every companionship how many investigators they brought. Every
companionship said "1" or "2" with hesitation and then it came to us
and we said "12" with a little embarrasment and President's face
changed to a surprised look. Our zone definitely got the machete from
President, but he left us with a blessing to open our mouths and we
will have success. As we were leaving President came up to me, shook
my hand and said "Hermana Smith, congratulations for your hard work".
It was nice to hear that from President, but I definitely did not feel
relieved....haha, there is still a lot more work to do.
Sunday afternoon/evening, we did divisions with two sisters from the
ward. Hermana Barker went with a young woman named Veronica to teach
our investigators who have baptism dates and I went with the Young
Women's president, Afrania. I was a little nervous because this was
my first time doing divisions and being responsible to lead the
lessons, but the Lord helped me tons!!! We went to teach Maria and
the family I contacted on the bus last Monday, but they weren´t home
:( But we did teach a recent convert lesson to Nidia, Ivan, and
Fernando and it went well. We were only able to teach the first 3
principles of the Restoration, but we talked about how the gospel has
blessed their lives, as a family and individually. They are such a
great family and we (me, Hermana Barker, and Afrania) think Ivan and
Fernando are going to be fabulous members and future missionaries.
It's so great to see them enjoy the gospel and see them grow.
Well, that is pretty much it here in Ecuador. The Lord has really
blessed me with all these experiences and has definitely helped me
express myself and say the words to bring these people the comfort and
joy the gospel brings to everyone. It amazes me to see how much has
happened in the last 5 months. I have learned so much, had great
experiences, and have met such wonderful people. I am so grateful
that I have 13 more months to continue to do the same thing....learn,
grown, meet wonderful people, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Have a fabulous week :) I love you tons!
Love,
Hermana Smith
Monday, May 30, 2011
30 Mayo 2011
Buenas Familia!!!! As of right now I am still in Cuenca. We thought
we'd receive the call for transfers last night, but they will probably
be tonight. I really really hate how transfers work... because we have
no idea until we get the call at 10:30pm. If we're told that we are
leaving, we have to pack up ALL our stuff and have to leave to our new
area at 7am. It really sucks. I stress out so bad, because it's the
"fear of the unknown". It's such a test of faith to say "Ok, I will
go where the Lord wants to me go and in the exact moment he tells me
to go". At this moment, I am grateful that I at least get to have a
normal pday and get to spend one last day with my companion and the other
missionaries in our zone. Anyway, enough of the stress, I'll let you
know what else happened this week.
This week was pretty busy, but we weren't able to get a lot done
because we went to Guayaquil and were preparing our investigators for
their baptism. Monday in the evening we just taught the Familia
Salinas-Muñoz and we spent a lot of time with them because we still
had a lot we had to teach them before their baptism Saturday. So that
was all we did that evening.
Tuesday morning we had our district meeting. There we found out that
Elder Richard G. Scott wasn't coming to Guayaquil and that Elder
Gonzalez (one of the area 70) was coming instead. It was quite a
bummer to hear that, because we were super excited and bragging in our
emails every week that we were going to listen to Elder Scott, but we
were excited to be spiritually uplifted and see the rest of the
missionaries in the mission. We also got our zone jackets, which are
pretty cool (pictures soon to come). In the afternoon, we went to
teach the Familia Salina-Muñoz so we could finish the rest of the
lessons they needed, and then Elder Keables came after for their
interviews. It was cute because they were all super nervous for their
interview and it all went totally well. They are a super awesome
family!
Wednesday morning we met at the terminal at 9 and left for Guayaquil
in a minivan (or mini-bus). The "road-trips" with the Elders are
always super fun! We swap stories and watch a couple of movies, and all
in all it's super fun. We got to Guayaquil around 1 and had to wait
in a park for an hour for all the other missionaries to get there so
we could have lunch. OH MY GOSH, it was so hot! Even though I miss the
people in Guayaquil, I do NOT miss the heat. The conference started
at 5... and the funny thing was the North mission sat on one side and
the South mission sat on the other side and we could feel this little
tension of "hmmm.... which of us is better", but it was all good.
Elder Gonzalez gave a good message too. He talked about our purpose
as missionaries, then we had a little demonstration, and then he
closed with questions. After it ended, we had a few minutes to talk
to the other missionaries and then we were off (with a quick stop at
McDonald's). We didn't get home until about 1 in the morning.
So, I had forgotten to mention this the week before, but last Monday,
we got a call from Jacqueline telling us that she couldn't get
baptized on the 28th, but wanted to the next Saturday. We just
accepted it because it's been a struggle for the last month and half
of chosing a day (because she kept changing her mind). But, Thursday
morning we got a call from the zone leaders that said they had called
her, that she had changed to her mind, and that we were going to
Lentag in the afternoon for her interview. This was pretty much all
we did for Thursday because she lives almost 2 hours away and the
interview took forever. But we were so happy because we were going to
have 4 baptisms (which was our goal for the month of May).
Friday we had our weekly planning session in the morning and then in
the afternoon we went to Sayausi to contact all the
references/contacts we had received from the activity on the 30th of
April. We just had no time this month to go and we finally had time
to go visit them. We taught women named Nancy and Gladys and they are
really interested and we believe our message and the gospel is going
to help their lives.
Saturday was such a crazy day! We were running all over the place to
get the baptism clothes, teaching lessons, filling the font, getting
food and drinks, and getting the investigators to the baptism! It was
SO stressful, but it all got done and it was a great service.
Jacqueline Tirado, Nidia Salinas, Ivan Muñoz, and Fernando Muñoz were
all baptized and there were more the 35 people at the service. They
were all super happy and I was super happy that I was practically
dancing all over the place. This evening was definitely one of the
highlights of my mission thus far!
Sunday was a little crazy too, because the Familia Salinas-Muñoz
almost didn't make it to sacrament meeting. They lost the keys and
had troubles getting a taxi and they came super late. Hermana Barker
and I were freaking out because they almost didn't get confirmed.But they got
there after the sacrament and were confirmed. Nidia's blessing was
super awesome too. It said that her decision to be baptized will be a
blessing in generations to come and that her descendants will praise
her name. Then, in the evening we went and taught them about the
priesthood. Ivan and Fernando are preparing themselves to receive the
priesthood and should be passing the sacrament soon!!!!!
This week was really great! Not many things happened like normal, but
we really focused our time in the ones who were getting baptized and
we had success. Hermana Barker and I are super happy and are
continuing to work hard and prepare the other 8 (and hopefully more)
for their baptisms in June!
Today we played Ultimate Frisbee with the Elders, but this time it was
in the mud and rain!!!!!! It's been raining for the past couple of days,
but we didn't care, we wanted to play! It was super fun! We got
super dirty and were sliding and falling a ton, but we had fun! I am
getting better and the Elders are passing the frisbee to me. After,
we left to go eat at a buffet for $3. We ended up getting on a bus
that was super packed and I ended up sitting next to woman, who had
her two children sitting in front of her. I had full on conversation
with her about her family, work, and life. She teaches Kindergarten,
so we talked a lot about how I want to do the same thing. To make
this long story short, I got her number and address and we're going to
teach her and her family this week. Now, I don't know what will come
of this, but this was the first time I've ever contacted someone ALL
by myself. Mom told me in her email today that I haven't said
anything about struggling with Spanish in awhile. The truth is, yes I
am still struggling and it's super frustrating at times, but I'm
learning and talking more and it's amazing HOW MUCH the Lord is
helping me. I still have A LOT more to learn, but the good thing I
have 13/14 months left. As we ended this transfer, I added up all my
numbers thus far.... I have taught 216 lessons and had 5 baptisms.
Just shows how much work has to be done to help bring someone unto
Christ through baptism. And even though I have taught 216 lessons, I
still have to practice because I struggle with it. For my personal
study today, I was working on a lesson plan for the Restoration and
was working on the first principle that God is our Heavenly Father.
This is pretty much all I studied and worked on, and it was confirmed
to me how much love He has for me and all his children. It brought me
to tears. And it makes me so sad that so many people don't know how
much love He has for them and it's my responsibility to teach all the
people I come in contact with to let them know the love he has for
them. I just hope that I can do and convey it well enough with my weak
Spanish to the people of Ecuador.
Well, that's pretty much. Next week for sure ya'll will know if I'm
still in Cuenca or not. I sure hope so because I love it. I feel
like my purpose here isn't over, but we'll see if the Lord has another
plan for me!
Have a fabulous week! I love you all :) And I'm glad you are all safe,
healthy, and happy!
Remember Heavenly Father loves you MORE than you can IMAGINE!!!!
Love,
Hermana Smith
we'd receive the call for transfers last night, but they will probably
be tonight. I really really hate how transfers work... because we have
no idea until we get the call at 10:30pm. If we're told that we are
leaving, we have to pack up ALL our stuff and have to leave to our new
area at 7am. It really sucks. I stress out so bad, because it's the
"fear of the unknown". It's such a test of faith to say "Ok, I will
go where the Lord wants to me go and in the exact moment he tells me
to go". At this moment, I am grateful that I at least get to have a
normal pday and get to spend one last day with my companion and the other
missionaries in our zone. Anyway, enough of the stress, I'll let you
know what else happened this week.
This week was pretty busy, but we weren't able to get a lot done
because we went to Guayaquil and were preparing our investigators for
their baptism. Monday in the evening we just taught the Familia
Salinas-Muñoz and we spent a lot of time with them because we still
had a lot we had to teach them before their baptism Saturday. So that
was all we did that evening.
Tuesday morning we had our district meeting. There we found out that
Elder Richard G. Scott wasn't coming to Guayaquil and that Elder
Gonzalez (one of the area 70) was coming instead. It was quite a
bummer to hear that, because we were super excited and bragging in our
emails every week that we were going to listen to Elder Scott, but we
were excited to be spiritually uplifted and see the rest of the
missionaries in the mission. We also got our zone jackets, which are
pretty cool (pictures soon to come). In the afternoon, we went to
teach the Familia Salina-Muñoz so we could finish the rest of the
lessons they needed, and then Elder Keables came after for their
interviews. It was cute because they were all super nervous for their
interview and it all went totally well. They are a super awesome
family!
Wednesday morning we met at the terminal at 9 and left for Guayaquil
in a minivan (or mini-bus). The "road-trips" with the Elders are
always super fun! We swap stories and watch a couple of movies, and all
in all it's super fun. We got to Guayaquil around 1 and had to wait
in a park for an hour for all the other missionaries to get there so
we could have lunch. OH MY GOSH, it was so hot! Even though I miss the
people in Guayaquil, I do NOT miss the heat. The conference started
at 5... and the funny thing was the North mission sat on one side and
the South mission sat on the other side and we could feel this little
tension of "hmmm.... which of us is better", but it was all good.
Elder Gonzalez gave a good message too. He talked about our purpose
as missionaries, then we had a little demonstration, and then he
closed with questions. After it ended, we had a few minutes to talk
to the other missionaries and then we were off (with a quick stop at
McDonald's). We didn't get home until about 1 in the morning.
So, I had forgotten to mention this the week before, but last Monday,
we got a call from Jacqueline telling us that she couldn't get
baptized on the 28th, but wanted to the next Saturday. We just
accepted it because it's been a struggle for the last month and half
of chosing a day (because she kept changing her mind). But, Thursday
morning we got a call from the zone leaders that said they had called
her, that she had changed to her mind, and that we were going to
Lentag in the afternoon for her interview. This was pretty much all
we did for Thursday because she lives almost 2 hours away and the
interview took forever. But we were so happy because we were going to
have 4 baptisms (which was our goal for the month of May).
Friday we had our weekly planning session in the morning and then in
the afternoon we went to Sayausi to contact all the
references/contacts we had received from the activity on the 30th of
April. We just had no time this month to go and we finally had time
to go visit them. We taught women named Nancy and Gladys and they are
really interested and we believe our message and the gospel is going
to help their lives.
Saturday was such a crazy day! We were running all over the place to
get the baptism clothes, teaching lessons, filling the font, getting
food and drinks, and getting the investigators to the baptism! It was
SO stressful, but it all got done and it was a great service.
Jacqueline Tirado, Nidia Salinas, Ivan Muñoz, and Fernando Muñoz were
all baptized and there were more the 35 people at the service. They
were all super happy and I was super happy that I was practically
dancing all over the place. This evening was definitely one of the
highlights of my mission thus far!
Sunday was a little crazy too, because the Familia Salinas-Muñoz
almost didn't make it to sacrament meeting. They lost the keys and
had troubles getting a taxi and they came super late. Hermana Barker
and I were freaking out because they almost didn't get confirmed.But they got
there after the sacrament and were confirmed. Nidia's blessing was
super awesome too. It said that her decision to be baptized will be a
blessing in generations to come and that her descendants will praise
her name. Then, in the evening we went and taught them about the
priesthood. Ivan and Fernando are preparing themselves to receive the
priesthood and should be passing the sacrament soon!!!!!
This week was really great! Not many things happened like normal, but
we really focused our time in the ones who were getting baptized and
we had success. Hermana Barker and I are super happy and are
continuing to work hard and prepare the other 8 (and hopefully more)
for their baptisms in June!
Today we played Ultimate Frisbee with the Elders, but this time it was
in the mud and rain!!!!!! It's been raining for the past couple of days,
but we didn't care, we wanted to play! It was super fun! We got
super dirty and were sliding and falling a ton, but we had fun! I am
getting better and the Elders are passing the frisbee to me. After,
we left to go eat at a buffet for $3. We ended up getting on a bus
that was super packed and I ended up sitting next to woman, who had
her two children sitting in front of her. I had full on conversation
with her about her family, work, and life. She teaches Kindergarten,
so we talked a lot about how I want to do the same thing. To make
this long story short, I got her number and address and we're going to
teach her and her family this week. Now, I don't know what will come
of this, but this was the first time I've ever contacted someone ALL
by myself. Mom told me in her email today that I haven't said
anything about struggling with Spanish in awhile. The truth is, yes I
am still struggling and it's super frustrating at times, but I'm
learning and talking more and it's amazing HOW MUCH the Lord is
helping me. I still have A LOT more to learn, but the good thing I
have 13/14 months left. As we ended this transfer, I added up all my
numbers thus far.... I have taught 216 lessons and had 5 baptisms.
Just shows how much work has to be done to help bring someone unto
Christ through baptism. And even though I have taught 216 lessons, I
still have to practice because I struggle with it. For my personal
study today, I was working on a lesson plan for the Restoration and
was working on the first principle that God is our Heavenly Father.
This is pretty much all I studied and worked on, and it was confirmed
to me how much love He has for me and all his children. It brought me
to tears. And it makes me so sad that so many people don't know how
much love He has for them and it's my responsibility to teach all the
people I come in contact with to let them know the love he has for
them. I just hope that I can do and convey it well enough with my weak
Spanish to the people of Ecuador.
Well, that's pretty much. Next week for sure ya'll will know if I'm
still in Cuenca or not. I sure hope so because I love it. I feel
like my purpose here isn't over, but we'll see if the Lord has another
plan for me!
Have a fabulous week! I love you all :) And I'm glad you are all safe,
healthy, and happy!
Remember Heavenly Father loves you MORE than you can IMAGINE!!!!
Love,
Hermana Smith
23 Mayo 2011
Buenas Tardes Familia :) ¿Como estan? I'm doing really great! The days
are flying and we're in the last week of the transfer, which is super
crazy! I feel like I just got here, but also feel like I've been here
for awhile too. Anyway, here is what has gone on this week...
Monday after emailing, we went home and showered, and then went out to
teach our investigators who have baptismal dates. That's pretty much
it that happened the rest of that day.
Tuesday morning we had our district meeting and we had mail :D I got
my Easter package and a lot of letters that were sent back in the
beginning of April. This mail process sucks, but at least I'm getting
what is being sent, right? After our meeting, Hermana Barker and I
decided to splurge a little for lunch (because we've been working
really hard and we don't have a mamita on Tuesdays), so we went to
Pizza Hut and it was delicious. We read our letters and shared all
the crazy stuff that is happening with our friends. I think we got a
little trunkie for like 2 seconds, but then started talking about the
work that we're doing and we were fine, haha. In the evening we were
able to teach Valeria and Karla Tacuri, and Silvia and Michelle
Arevalo. All of them accepted a baptism date for the 28th, but
something happened and they weren't able to attend church the Sunday
before. And because of this, they can't get baptized on the 28th
because they have to attend sacrament meeting at least 2 times before.
The lesson was great! The spirit was strong and we were able to
answer all their questions. They still have desires to be baptized,
but we're going to wait a little bit longer to put a baptismal date
with them. We also found out that Silvia is not married. Her fiance
lives in New York, but when he comes back in August they'll get
married and then she can get baptized. It's a little sad because
Silvia has the strongest testimony and desire to be baptized of all of
them, but she has to wait until she's married. Her daughter Michelle,
will get baptized though once she attends church 2 times.
Wednesday morning we went and contacted. We haven't been able to find
a lot of new people to teach because we've been teaching all our
investigators who are progressing and have baptismal dates. It's
super stressful because we have so much we have to do and we just
aren't able to do it all. It wasn't a super successful morning of
contacting, but we have a few people we plan on visiting and teaching.
In the afternoon, we went to go teach the Salinas-Muñoz family, but
we ended up being super late and they weren't there. So we thought,
well let's just contact. However, we were a little nervous to contact
because the area we were in there are a lot of wealthy people, but the
second door we knocked on, a young woman with her 2 kids walked out
and invited us in. We didn't even say we were missionaries. We just
smiled and said Good Afternoon and she asked if we'd like to come in.
We taught her and her kids and we have an appointment with her and
husband tonight! In the evening, we went downtown to teach Isreal (the
boyfriend of Sabrina Guzman who we have been visiting her family and
now they are reactivating in the church). We have taught him a little
bit. At first he was interested and then started avoiding us, but
then became interested again and has been reading the Book of Mormon.
We had to wait for him a little, but when he came in he was like "I'm
sorry, I don't have a lot of time, but I want to get married to
Sabrina (the have 3-year-old daughter) and I want to baptized". So we
set dates for them... they'll get married on the 2nd of June and he'll
get baptized on the 18th (maybe the 11th).
Thursday morning we woke up and we didn't have water, because the
owner of our apartment is doing some construction and rebuilding
something new for the apartment below (I don't know, I was a little
confused). So our day started late, because we had to wait until they
were done and we had our running water back. However, in the
afternoon, we went with Elder Keables, his companion, and one of our
zone leaders Elder Solano to visit the Salinas-Muñoz family. They had
a baptismal date for the 11th with their family (the Quituysaka
family), but they are able to be baptized on the 28th. We were a
little nervous because the plan for this visit was to change their
baptism date. Hermana Barker and I had fasted the day before for just
this, but still we were super nervous. However, the lesson went super
well! It was a little struggle at first to show them they are ready to
be baptized on the 28th, but they accepted and they are excited!!!
Nidia expressed to all of us that she is so much happier and is sad
the days that we don't come to teach her family. I seriously love this
family so much and am so excited for them!
Friday morning we had our weekly planning session, and then in the
afternoon we went to Lentag to teach Jacqueline. We finished the last
lesson with her, so she is already to be a baptized, but she still has
a little fear. She's funny because one day she's super excited for
her baptism and then the next she'll call us and tell us about her
worries. She is set to be baptized on the 28th also, but we will see
what happens!
Funny story that happened after the lesson with Jacqueline. We were
waiting at the bus stop, and by the bus stop there was a community
party. The people were so nice and offered us food. They gave us
each a tamale and some coffee, then the bus came. The bus driver was
driving super fast and all over the place and it was super dark and we
couldn't see anything on the bus. We tried to throw out the coffee in
the bathroom, but as I opened the bathroom door, we turned a corner
and it shut and I couldn't open it again. We ended up tossing the
coffee out the window haha. However, the coffee had spilled all over
Hermana Barker's tamale, so she didn't it eat, but I finished mine.
Then Saturday morning I woke up SICK and I think it was from this
stupid tamale because Hermana Barker was totally fine. I was almost
in tears because we had so much to do and I was in no condition to
leave the house. But after some time in the bathroom, resting, prayer,
and some medicine, I was fine and we were able to go out and teach in
the afternoon. In the evening, my companion, me, and 4 of our
investigators went to the baptism of some Elders in our zone. It was
really great and think all of them are excited for their own baptisms
:)
Sunday was great too! It wasn't as eventful as the last 2 Sundays have
been though. Church was great though, we only had 8 investigators in
sacrament meeting because the Quituysaka family is sick, so we
should've had more, but I think all of them had a great experience!
In the early evening, we had another appointment with Ximena (the one
who's boyfriend is a member and she's going to school and is super
busy). Well we taught her about baptism and set a date for the 25th
of June. By this date she'll be done with school and have attended
church 2 times. She said yes and she is excited! Her boyfriend is
awesome too and will help her a lot.
Last night as Hermana Barker and I were walking home, we started
talking about how much the Lord has blessed us. We have 12 people
with baptismal dates which is a miracle here in Cuenca. We are
working hard and the Lord is just putting these amazing people in our
paths. We're super happy too that we're proving to President that
Cuenca is a great place too. Even though the transfer is next week,
we're really hoping that we can stay together and continue having
success the next transfer. I'll let you know next week what happens!
That's pretty much it! Today we played Ultimate Frisbee again with
the Elders and then after we went to a Mexican Restaurant to eat food.
It was a lot of fun! The Elders are hilarious and we always have a
great time together! Except for now the pday is almost over! AHHH!
Seems like this next week is going to be a busy one for all of us! We
go to Guayaquil Wednesday to hear Elder Richard G. Scott. We have our
baptism interviews and the baptism on Saturday. And tons of other
stuff to do! We're stressed and don't know if we can do it all! But
we're going to try!
I hope you all have a fabulous and wonderful week! CONGRATS A.J. on
completing high school! Have a great graduation week!
I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!
Love,
Hermana Smith
are flying and we're in the last week of the transfer, which is super
crazy! I feel like I just got here, but also feel like I've been here
for awhile too. Anyway, here is what has gone on this week...
Monday after emailing, we went home and showered, and then went out to
teach our investigators who have baptismal dates. That's pretty much
it that happened the rest of that day.
Tuesday morning we had our district meeting and we had mail :D I got
my Easter package and a lot of letters that were sent back in the
beginning of April. This mail process sucks, but at least I'm getting
what is being sent, right? After our meeting, Hermana Barker and I
decided to splurge a little for lunch (because we've been working
really hard and we don't have a mamita on Tuesdays), so we went to
Pizza Hut and it was delicious. We read our letters and shared all
the crazy stuff that is happening with our friends. I think we got a
little trunkie for like 2 seconds, but then started talking about the
work that we're doing and we were fine, haha. In the evening we were
able to teach Valeria and Karla Tacuri, and Silvia and Michelle
Arevalo. All of them accepted a baptism date for the 28th, but
something happened and they weren't able to attend church the Sunday
before. And because of this, they can't get baptized on the 28th
because they have to attend sacrament meeting at least 2 times before.
The lesson was great! The spirit was strong and we were able to
answer all their questions. They still have desires to be baptized,
but we're going to wait a little bit longer to put a baptismal date
with them. We also found out that Silvia is not married. Her fiance
lives in New York, but when he comes back in August they'll get
married and then she can get baptized. It's a little sad because
Silvia has the strongest testimony and desire to be baptized of all of
them, but she has to wait until she's married. Her daughter Michelle,
will get baptized though once she attends church 2 times.
Wednesday morning we went and contacted. We haven't been able to find
a lot of new people to teach because we've been teaching all our
investigators who are progressing and have baptismal dates. It's
super stressful because we have so much we have to do and we just
aren't able to do it all. It wasn't a super successful morning of
contacting, but we have a few people we plan on visiting and teaching.
In the afternoon, we went to go teach the Salinas-Muñoz family, but
we ended up being super late and they weren't there. So we thought,
well let's just contact. However, we were a little nervous to contact
because the area we were in there are a lot of wealthy people, but the
second door we knocked on, a young woman with her 2 kids walked out
and invited us in. We didn't even say we were missionaries. We just
smiled and said Good Afternoon and she asked if we'd like to come in.
We taught her and her kids and we have an appointment with her and
husband tonight! In the evening, we went downtown to teach Isreal (the
boyfriend of Sabrina Guzman who we have been visiting her family and
now they are reactivating in the church). We have taught him a little
bit. At first he was interested and then started avoiding us, but
then became interested again and has been reading the Book of Mormon.
We had to wait for him a little, but when he came in he was like "I'm
sorry, I don't have a lot of time, but I want to get married to
Sabrina (the have 3-year-old daughter) and I want to baptized". So we
set dates for them... they'll get married on the 2nd of June and he'll
get baptized on the 18th (maybe the 11th).
Thursday morning we woke up and we didn't have water, because the
owner of our apartment is doing some construction and rebuilding
something new for the apartment below (I don't know, I was a little
confused). So our day started late, because we had to wait until they
were done and we had our running water back. However, in the
afternoon, we went with Elder Keables, his companion, and one of our
zone leaders Elder Solano to visit the Salinas-Muñoz family. They had
a baptismal date for the 11th with their family (the Quituysaka
family), but they are able to be baptized on the 28th. We were a
little nervous because the plan for this visit was to change their
baptism date. Hermana Barker and I had fasted the day before for just
this, but still we were super nervous. However, the lesson went super
well! It was a little struggle at first to show them they are ready to
be baptized on the 28th, but they accepted and they are excited!!!
Nidia expressed to all of us that she is so much happier and is sad
the days that we don't come to teach her family. I seriously love this
family so much and am so excited for them!
Friday morning we had our weekly planning session, and then in the
afternoon we went to Lentag to teach Jacqueline. We finished the last
lesson with her, so she is already to be a baptized, but she still has
a little fear. She's funny because one day she's super excited for
her baptism and then the next she'll call us and tell us about her
worries. She is set to be baptized on the 28th also, but we will see
what happens!
Funny story that happened after the lesson with Jacqueline. We were
waiting at the bus stop, and by the bus stop there was a community
party. The people were so nice and offered us food. They gave us
each a tamale and some coffee, then the bus came. The bus driver was
driving super fast and all over the place and it was super dark and we
couldn't see anything on the bus. We tried to throw out the coffee in
the bathroom, but as I opened the bathroom door, we turned a corner
and it shut and I couldn't open it again. We ended up tossing the
coffee out the window haha. However, the coffee had spilled all over
Hermana Barker's tamale, so she didn't it eat, but I finished mine.
Then Saturday morning I woke up SICK and I think it was from this
stupid tamale because Hermana Barker was totally fine. I was almost
in tears because we had so much to do and I was in no condition to
leave the house. But after some time in the bathroom, resting, prayer,
and some medicine, I was fine and we were able to go out and teach in
the afternoon. In the evening, my companion, me, and 4 of our
investigators went to the baptism of some Elders in our zone. It was
really great and think all of them are excited for their own baptisms
:)
Sunday was great too! It wasn't as eventful as the last 2 Sundays have
been though. Church was great though, we only had 8 investigators in
sacrament meeting because the Quituysaka family is sick, so we
should've had more, but I think all of them had a great experience!
In the early evening, we had another appointment with Ximena (the one
who's boyfriend is a member and she's going to school and is super
busy). Well we taught her about baptism and set a date for the 25th
of June. By this date she'll be done with school and have attended
church 2 times. She said yes and she is excited! Her boyfriend is
awesome too and will help her a lot.
Last night as Hermana Barker and I were walking home, we started
talking about how much the Lord has blessed us. We have 12 people
with baptismal dates which is a miracle here in Cuenca. We are
working hard and the Lord is just putting these amazing people in our
paths. We're super happy too that we're proving to President that
Cuenca is a great place too. Even though the transfer is next week,
we're really hoping that we can stay together and continue having
success the next transfer. I'll let you know next week what happens!
That's pretty much it! Today we played Ultimate Frisbee again with
the Elders and then after we went to a Mexican Restaurant to eat food.
It was a lot of fun! The Elders are hilarious and we always have a
great time together! Except for now the pday is almost over! AHHH!
Seems like this next week is going to be a busy one for all of us! We
go to Guayaquil Wednesday to hear Elder Richard G. Scott. We have our
baptism interviews and the baptism on Saturday. And tons of other
stuff to do! We're stressed and don't know if we can do it all! But
we're going to try!
I hope you all have a fabulous and wonderful week! CONGRATS A.J. on
completing high school! Have a great graduation week!
I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!
Love,
Hermana Smith
16 Mayo 2011
Wow famila, the days are FLYING!!!! It's probably because we've been
super busy and working hard. Hermana Barker and I have been sick with
colds this week, but we're enduring to the end and working working
working...well, resting a little when we have time which hasn't been a
lot....BUT it's been paying off! Let me tell you about our week...
Monday was SUPER awesome, because it was the first real pday that I
had had in a long time! We cleaned the house, wrote letters, rested,
bought our groceries, etc. In the evening we had some good lessons.
One funny story about Monday... we taught Jose and Karena (they went
to church the Sunday before and they're pretty receptive to our
message). But, they were asking me what my name Smith meant in
Spanish. I explained to them that it is my last name and that there
was no exact meaning in Spanish. Karena turns to Jose and says "Let's
name our next son after her, we like the name Smith for a boy".
Hmmm....bueno... looks like there will be a little chiquetito named
Smith walking around Ecuador in the future!
Tuesday in the morning we had another lesson with Nelly again and
Hermana Arteaga (our neighbor who is a member) joined us. And once
again, the spirit was super strong. In the end, Nelly was in tears
and so grateful for this new knowledge she has of God and the
restoration. The challenge with her is that her husband is not
supportive of the church because their family is Catholic. We are
hoping and praying that one day he will be supportive. We are
planning on putting a baptismal date with her and her kids in June.
In the evening we had another lesson with Richard Guzman who had the
baptismal date of the 21st, but his mom won't give him permission to
be baptized because their family is Catholic (yes, there are SO many
Catholics here in Cuenca). So we'll probably visit him and his family
every once in awhile.
Wednesday in the evening we had a lesson with Valeria and Karla Tacuri
and their neighbor Silvia, and her daughter Michelle (We taught them
the Sunday before and they were very interested and Silvia had told us
that she believes Joseph Smith was a prophet). The lesson was SUPER
awesome! We read in 2 Nephi 31 and talked about baptism and they were
super receptive and understanding the importance of baptism. We asked
them to be baptized on the 28th and they said YES!
Thursday we taught Familia Salinas again (this was the family that we
visited the Sunday before between my phone calls). This was actually
the 3rd time we taught them this week because the love learning and
want to get baptized. Lidia, the mother, is going through a divorce,
and the husband is HORRIBLE! But they've seen the blessings and
changes in their family members (Familia Quituysaka who were are also
teaching) and in themselves. Lidia's neighbors and friends have been
coming to listen to the lessons too, but their husbands are not
supportive of it.... Gosh, there really are horrible men here in
Ecuador!
Friday we had our weekly planning session and then in the afternoon we
went to visit Jacqueline in Lenta (2 hours away). This lesson was a
bit of struggle, because we had intentions of moving her baptism date
up to the 21st because she's had all the lessons and is ready, but
when we got there she shared with us that she has all these fears and
how her family isn't supportive and how she wants to wait until she
feels 100% for sure about baptism. We told her that she wouldn't feel
100% for sure about baptism and that she is going to receive SO many
blessings after her baptism. We also testified that the gift of the
Holy Ghost is going to help her so much in her life.
Saturday we had some pretty good lessons also. We taught Julia; she's
been an investigator for 8 or 9 monthes, but can't get baptized
because she's not married and is from Peru. BUT, her and her husband
are going to Peru in the beginning of June to get married! So we put a
baptismal date with her for the 18th of June!
Sunday we had a stake activity called "A Day like a Missionary" which
meant that members of the church would help us out. We'd do divisions
so we could teach more lessons. So we met at the stake center at 7am
and of course it was ALL boys and no girls to help the sister
missionaries. We were a little upset because we thought we'd have
help so we could pick up all our investigators, but we had to do it
ourselves. We had to walk a TON and FAST...ALL over the place to pick
up our investigators and NONE of them were there. We went to pick up
Valeria, Karla, Silvia, and Michelle, but they weren't home and we
don't know why because they said they would come. And then we didn't
have time to go pick up Ana Jimenez (another investigator). We got to
church late and the Familia Salinas wasn't there, only the Familia
Quituysaka, Jacqueline, and Julia. We were pretty bummed because we
thought that we were going to have 13 investigators in Sacrament
Meeting.
But then the sun started to shine... A 24-year-old girl named Indira
showed up to Relief Society and said "I'm sorry, I was supposed to
meet you at the stake center in the morning, but I wasn't feeling
good. But, I am here now, I want to help, because I just put in my
mission papers and am preparing to leave" ...and she had a car! We
taught Jacqueline after church and it was great! We answered all her
questions and calmed her fears (at least for now) and we planned her
baptism with her for the 28th!.
After this lesson, we went with Indira to lunch, and then after we
taught this girl named Francia. The Elders in a different ward were
teaching her, but she just moved into our sector, so we had our first
lesson with her. She's 19 and from Haiti. She doesn't speak a lot of
Spanish, but believes the church is true and wants to be baptized.
She hasn't come to church yet (she needs to attend at least 2 times),
so her baptismal date is for the 11th of June.
Then, we went and taught this girl named Ximena. She's dating a
member of our ward and wants to take the lessons. Right now she is
studying in school and can't attend sacrament meetings on Sundays
because she has class, but her semester ends in June and then she can
start coming to church. We asked her to pray about being baptized in
the middle of June. We are planning on teaching her this next Sunday
and putting a baptismal date with her.
Indira dropped us off at the church and we hustled over to visit
Familia Salinas and Familia Quituysaka. We were in such a hurry and
we ended up having to walk a ton to get to their house. When we got
there they said "Teach us about baptism!" (because that was the lesson
in Sunday School, but famalia Salinas wasn't there because we found
out that they accidentally slept in....). But anyway, they told us,
also, that they want to be baptized!!!!!! We put a baptismal date with
ALL of them (7 in total) for the 11th of June! BUT with Lidia and her
two teenage sons we're going to try and move their date to the 28th of
May because they are ready and we found out that they don't need the
permission of their father (this is why we said the 11th of June with
them).
AHHHH... this week was awesome! Even though we were/are sick, we
worked SUPER hard and we had a lot of success! Right now we have 10
baptismal dates (and hopefully a few more after tonight). Hermana
Barker received a personal email from President today congratulating
us on having 11 investigators in Sacrament Meeting the week before. He
told us we need to have more baptismal dates than 3 (what we had the
week before) and have at least 20 lessons each week. Well this past
week, we had 10 and taught 24 lessons! We have this goal of showing him
that we can have just as much success and baptisms as the missionaries in
Guayaquil(because Cuenca is a lot harder). In this last week, every time we've called our district leader to update him on our numbers, he's told us that
we our the idols of the missionaries here in Cuenca! I'm hoping that because
of our hard work, I'll be able to stay here for the next transfer or
more and be here for all these baptisms we will have!
Well, that's pretty much it on this side of the world! Today we played
ultimate frisbee with with Elders and it was super fun! I SUCK and
they were definitely not passing it to me BUT I caught the winning
goal/point which was AWESOME!!!!!! My team ran together and started
jumping and hugging, without me of course because I was the only
sister missionary on our team. They were like "We're sorry Hermana
Smith that you can't be apart of this hug, but way to
go!!!!!"....hahahaha! Oh the life of a sister missionary!
I'm glad everything is going well with you guys! Thanks for your
letters and love :) I hoping mail comes this week, because it's been
FOREVER since we've gotten it!
I LOVE YOU!!!! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Smith
super busy and working hard. Hermana Barker and I have been sick with
colds this week, but we're enduring to the end and working working
working...well, resting a little when we have time which hasn't been a
lot....BUT it's been paying off! Let me tell you about our week...
Monday was SUPER awesome, because it was the first real pday that I
had had in a long time! We cleaned the house, wrote letters, rested,
bought our groceries, etc. In the evening we had some good lessons.
One funny story about Monday... we taught Jose and Karena (they went
to church the Sunday before and they're pretty receptive to our
message). But, they were asking me what my name Smith meant in
Spanish. I explained to them that it is my last name and that there
was no exact meaning in Spanish. Karena turns to Jose and says "Let's
name our next son after her, we like the name Smith for a boy".
Hmmm....bueno... looks like there will be a little chiquetito named
Smith walking around Ecuador in the future!
Tuesday in the morning we had another lesson with Nelly again and
Hermana Arteaga (our neighbor who is a member) joined us. And once
again, the spirit was super strong. In the end, Nelly was in tears
and so grateful for this new knowledge she has of God and the
restoration. The challenge with her is that her husband is not
supportive of the church because their family is Catholic. We are
hoping and praying that one day he will be supportive. We are
planning on putting a baptismal date with her and her kids in June.
In the evening we had another lesson with Richard Guzman who had the
baptismal date of the 21st, but his mom won't give him permission to
be baptized because their family is Catholic (yes, there are SO many
Catholics here in Cuenca). So we'll probably visit him and his family
every once in awhile.
Wednesday in the evening we had a lesson with Valeria and Karla Tacuri
and their neighbor Silvia, and her daughter Michelle (We taught them
the Sunday before and they were very interested and Silvia had told us
that she believes Joseph Smith was a prophet). The lesson was SUPER
awesome! We read in 2 Nephi 31 and talked about baptism and they were
super receptive and understanding the importance of baptism. We asked
them to be baptized on the 28th and they said YES!
Thursday we taught Familia Salinas again (this was the family that we
visited the Sunday before between my phone calls). This was actually
the 3rd time we taught them this week because the love learning and
want to get baptized. Lidia, the mother, is going through a divorce,
and the husband is HORRIBLE! But they've seen the blessings and
changes in their family members (Familia Quituysaka who were are also
teaching) and in themselves. Lidia's neighbors and friends have been
coming to listen to the lessons too, but their husbands are not
supportive of it.... Gosh, there really are horrible men here in
Ecuador!
Friday we had our weekly planning session and then in the afternoon we
went to visit Jacqueline in Lenta (2 hours away). This lesson was a
bit of struggle, because we had intentions of moving her baptism date
up to the 21st because she's had all the lessons and is ready, but
when we got there she shared with us that she has all these fears and
how her family isn't supportive and how she wants to wait until she
feels 100% for sure about baptism. We told her that she wouldn't feel
100% for sure about baptism and that she is going to receive SO many
blessings after her baptism. We also testified that the gift of the
Holy Ghost is going to help her so much in her life.
Saturday we had some pretty good lessons also. We taught Julia; she's
been an investigator for 8 or 9 monthes, but can't get baptized
because she's not married and is from Peru. BUT, her and her husband
are going to Peru in the beginning of June to get married! So we put a
baptismal date with her for the 18th of June!
Sunday we had a stake activity called "A Day like a Missionary" which
meant that members of the church would help us out. We'd do divisions
so we could teach more lessons. So we met at the stake center at 7am
and of course it was ALL boys and no girls to help the sister
missionaries. We were a little upset because we thought we'd have
help so we could pick up all our investigators, but we had to do it
ourselves. We had to walk a TON and FAST...ALL over the place to pick
up our investigators and NONE of them were there. We went to pick up
Valeria, Karla, Silvia, and Michelle, but they weren't home and we
don't know why because they said they would come. And then we didn't
have time to go pick up Ana Jimenez (another investigator). We got to
church late and the Familia Salinas wasn't there, only the Familia
Quituysaka, Jacqueline, and Julia. We were pretty bummed because we
thought that we were going to have 13 investigators in Sacrament
Meeting.
But then the sun started to shine... A 24-year-old girl named Indira
showed up to Relief Society and said "I'm sorry, I was supposed to
meet you at the stake center in the morning, but I wasn't feeling
good. But, I am here now, I want to help, because I just put in my
mission papers and am preparing to leave" ...and she had a car! We
taught Jacqueline after church and it was great! We answered all her
questions and calmed her fears (at least for now) and we planned her
baptism with her for the 28th!.
After this lesson, we went with Indira to lunch, and then after we
taught this girl named Francia. The Elders in a different ward were
teaching her, but she just moved into our sector, so we had our first
lesson with her. She's 19 and from Haiti. She doesn't speak a lot of
Spanish, but believes the church is true and wants to be baptized.
She hasn't come to church yet (she needs to attend at least 2 times),
so her baptismal date is for the 11th of June.
Then, we went and taught this girl named Ximena. She's dating a
member of our ward and wants to take the lessons. Right now she is
studying in school and can't attend sacrament meetings on Sundays
because she has class, but her semester ends in June and then she can
start coming to church. We asked her to pray about being baptized in
the middle of June. We are planning on teaching her this next Sunday
and putting a baptismal date with her.
Indira dropped us off at the church and we hustled over to visit
Familia Salinas and Familia Quituysaka. We were in such a hurry and
we ended up having to walk a ton to get to their house. When we got
there they said "Teach us about baptism!" (because that was the lesson
in Sunday School, but famalia Salinas wasn't there because we found
out that they accidentally slept in....). But anyway, they told us,
also, that they want to be baptized!!!!!! We put a baptismal date with
ALL of them (7 in total) for the 11th of June! BUT with Lidia and her
two teenage sons we're going to try and move their date to the 28th of
May because they are ready and we found out that they don't need the
permission of their father (this is why we said the 11th of June with
them).
AHHHH... this week was awesome! Even though we were/are sick, we
worked SUPER hard and we had a lot of success! Right now we have 10
baptismal dates (and hopefully a few more after tonight). Hermana
Barker received a personal email from President today congratulating
us on having 11 investigators in Sacrament Meeting the week before. He
told us we need to have more baptismal dates than 3 (what we had the
week before) and have at least 20 lessons each week. Well this past
week, we had 10 and taught 24 lessons! We have this goal of showing him
that we can have just as much success and baptisms as the missionaries in
Guayaquil(because Cuenca is a lot harder). In this last week, every time we've called our district leader to update him on our numbers, he's told us that
we our the idols of the missionaries here in Cuenca! I'm hoping that because
of our hard work, I'll be able to stay here for the next transfer or
more and be here for all these baptisms we will have!
Well, that's pretty much it on this side of the world! Today we played
ultimate frisbee with with Elders and it was super fun! I SUCK and
they were definitely not passing it to me BUT I caught the winning
goal/point which was AWESOME!!!!!! My team ran together and started
jumping and hugging, without me of course because I was the only
sister missionary on our team. They were like "We're sorry Hermana
Smith that you can't be apart of this hug, but way to
go!!!!!"....hahahaha! Oh the life of a sister missionary!
I'm glad everything is going well with you guys! Thanks for your
letters and love :) I hoping mail comes this week, because it's been
FOREVER since we've gotten it!
I LOVE YOU!!!! Have a great week!
Love,
Hermana Smith