Wow wow wow, is it really April already? 3 months ago today we were in
Salt Lake City together (well, Mom, Dad, and me). My last day with the
family. It's been so fast and so slow at the same time. Before we
know it, I'll be home.
Anyway, me coming home is not the topic to talk about...hahaha. Here
is the update of my week!
Tuesday the 29th
In the morning, Hermana Parrales and I went contacting. We tried to
contact a lot this week because we don't have a lot of investigators.
We had a strange experience. We knocked on a house of an older man
and his nephew. They were super nice and invited us in. We started
sharing the message about the restoration, but the nephew, Alex (who
is in his 40s), stopped us and said he wanted to share his beliefs.
He went on for like 45 minutes, trying to prove that the bible is
incorrect and that there isn't a God. Obviously, I didn't understand
everything. We just sat there and let him talk, but seriously all I
thought was "We need to get the heck out of here". Eventually, we
were able to leave, but man oh man was that weird.
In the evening, we had Family Home Evening in the house of Famila
Herrera. There were a lot of people there. After the lesson and
before we ate dessert, Hermana Herrera had everyone sing Happy
Birthday to me in English. I got a bunch of hugs and "cheek" kisses
(from the women of course). One elderly woman in the ward, Hermana
Balaz, gave me a huge hug and said she was sad that I had to be away
from my family for my birthday, but me and my family will receive many
blessings. Everyone is seriously so kind and feel so loved here in
Huancavilca.
Wednesday the 30th
In the morning, Hermana Parralas decorated my desk with balloons and a
sign that said "Happy Birthay" (yes, there is no D, haha) and gave me
a loaf of sweet bread and lit two candles (saying 22) and sang Happy
Birthday to me.
We had our district meeting, where I received Mom's packages and 10
letters!!!! Thank you Mom for the candy, perfume, pictures, money, and
"beautifying" stuff. Also thank you to every one that wrote me! Even
though the packages and letters weren't for my birthday, they were
definitely the highlight of my day. At the end of our district
meeting we had some cake that the district leader brought, we
celebrated my birthday and Hermana Castillo's birthday.
In the afternoon, we went contacting. It was super hot and no one was
letting us in. We came to house and were greeted by a woman named
Jeanette. I totally pulled the birthday card too. I was like "Oh, my
grandma has the same name. Today is her birthday and my birthday
too". She let us in and we taught her and her daughter Jordana.
Also in the afternoon, we ran into Julio. I told him it was my
birthday and he gave me a huge hug. I did an awkward pat (because I'm
not allowed to hug men, hahaha). He was super nice and bought me a
coke.
We also ran into Carlos on the street as he was smoking a cigarette.
LONG story short, we threw away all his cigarettes, and testified that
he can change. We talked about his baptism and after asking him the
baptismal interview questions, he is ready for baptism...he just needs
to stop smoking
In the evening, we taught the Lamota family. Hermana Lamota made this
banana thingy with crackers and gave me some cookie dough so I could
make cookies.
I had always imagined that my birthday in my mission would be bad, but
it was actually really great. People don't believe I'm 22 though,
they all think I am 16 or 17. Hahaha
Thursday the 31st
Thursday was kind of a hard day. Most of the people we planned to
teach weren't home and I was struggling with my Spanish. I kept
telling myself "you can make it through this day, just keep going".
And then it started to rain. And then it started to POUR. We didn't
have our umbrellas and we were soaking wet. All I can say about this
day is to let out a big sigh. hahaha
Friday the 1st
In the morning we had our planning session. After lunch, we had to go
to the doctor because Hermana Parrales is having problems with her
stomach :( Poor girl.... there are a lot of foods she can't eat now,
like chocolate.
In the evening we taught lessons, but nothing spectacular. This day FLEW by!!!!
Saturday the 2nd
In the morning, we decided to contact instead of watch conference (we
had the choice of what we wanted to do). We taught this elderly lady
named Rosa. We offered to give service and she asked if we could pick
fruit from a tree. Since I am taller than her and Hermana Parrales, I
of course, had to climb the latter and pick fruit. Just imagine me,
in my missionary clothes, to pick fruit from a tree, AND being
directed of what to grab in Spanish. It was interesting, as you can
imagine.
We attended the afternoon session of conference. Here, the people
meet in the stake building where conference is broadcasted and
translated in Spanish. I am not going to lie, it was a tad bit
depressing, because I couldn't understand a lot, and the speakers, in
reality, were speaking in English.
In the evening we taught Julio. He is so funny, because we try to
teach him something simple, but then he asks questions about
EVERYTHING and we have to bring the conversation back. He seemed very
excited to attend conference in the morning.
Sunday the 3rd
Sunday was great! We had 5 investigators at the morning sessions. It
was a little overwhelming getting everyone there, but with the help of
some ward members, we had success.
Even though I hardly understood the speakers of conference, I really
felt the spirit and enjoyed it. It was nice to sit (inside with
airconditioning, haha) and listen to the prophets and apostles of the
Lord.
TODAY the 4th
At 7 o'clock this morning, we got a call that I needed to go and get
my idenfication card and that I needed to be there 8 o'clock. We
rushed to get ready and were off. I was alittle upset that it was
such a rush and random task, but it was good because I got to see
Hermana Cochran and Hermana Kendell (and some other missionaries from
my group and their companions). It was great to catch-up and talk
about how our mission have been!!!!! It was weird to talk in English.
I actually struggled to speak in English at some points. I guess
that's a good sign.
I haven't had time to write letters today :( After this, I'm going to
get my hair cut and then our pday is over. Mondays are seriously the
fastests days.
There aren't a lot of other updates. Carlos and Bryan have their
baptisms on Saturday. Bryan wants me to sing at his baptism. I am
excited and looking forward to Saturday. I am just hoping and praying
that it all works out.
I think and dream in Spanglish. I talk in my sleep in Spanish, mostly
when I dream about teaching lessons or I'm talking to people here in
Ecuador. And with my thoughts...it's mostly the simple things that I
say all the time. It's pretty cool to look and see my growth with
Spanish, but man oh man do I still have a lot to learn. It's
overwhelming, but I am trying to be patient, work hard, and
practice/learn little by little.
Alrighty, that's all I really have for now. 6 more weeks until
Mother's Day and we can actually talk on the phone, yeaaaaaa :)
Have a great week!
I LOVE YOU ALL
Love,
Hermana Smith
Monday, April 4, 2011
March 28, 2011
Hola Hola Hola Famila!!! How are you all?!?!?!!?
I was so excited to get on today and see emails from both Mom and Dad
:) Just one question, is AJ alive? Hahah, just kidding, but seriously,
I thought I had a little brother too.
I am glad to hear everything is going great!!! Thanks for the picture
Mom :) I started laughing seeing the pictures of the girls... Molly is
HUGE, oh my gosh. I miss those dogs. Everytime I think of Molly, I
laugh. She's a goof. She needs to learn some manners from Jenny.
Anyway, I'm glad to see everyone is well. I hope Mom had a great
birthday yesterday too :)
As I have said before, time goes by fast. I can remember my last pday
like it was yesterday. But then it feels like the week has lasted
forever. Mission time is just weird. I've been here for almost 3
weeks. In 3 more weeks is the next transfer and who knows where I
will be going next?
The quick update... Carlos didn't get baptized on Saturday. Super
devastating I know.... From what I understand, it's this back and
forth desire to be baptized. It changes every day. At this moment,
he wants more time, which I am fine with. He needs more time to gain
a testimony and to really change his life. All these "backing out of"
baptisms is making me sad. We've had to move or cancel 5 baptisms
since I've been here and it's making me sad. But I know it's all in
the Lord's time and there is nothing I can do about people's agency.
Ok, now here is the day to day update from this week.
Monday the 21st:
After I sent my email, Hermana Parrales and I went to the casa de
Famila Herrera. We ate lunch with them and then headed out to
Malecon. We had a lot of fun! It wasn't very sunny, but super humid. I was uncomfortably sweating, but I had a great time. The day FLEW
by though.
Tuesday the 22nd:
We had our district meeting in the morning (unfortunately there was no
mail for anybody that day). We set a goal as a district to have a
total of 34 people attend sacrament meeting. If we reach our goal,
we'll have cake our next district meeting (and if we don't, we'll
still have cake for my birthday haha).
The rest of the day was so-so. We taught this man named Luis who was
super Catholic and all he wanted to do was talk talk talk, we didn't
really teach him anything. We taught Ninosca in the afternoon. She
doesn't want to be baptized because she doesn't want to change her
religion. She said she's feels the spirit in both the Catholic and
Mormon church and doesn't see a need to change. She came to the
Family Home Evening activity with us which was really fun. We watched
one of those old cartoon Book of Mormon movies, ate/drink popcorn and
Coke, and played a game. Ninosca had a good time.
Wednesday the 23rd:
In the morning, I was feeling sad about our investigators. That they
weren't progressing and I didn't know how I could help because I can't
really communicate. During my personal study, I was reading in Preach
My Gospel and was reading Chapter 1, My Purpose. I was led to the
scripture in Alma 17:2-3¨about the sons of Mosiah when they were
teaching the gospel. It says "and they waxed strong in knowledge of
the truth...they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they
might know the work of God... But this is not all, they had given
themselves to much fasting and prayer. Therefore, they had the spirit
of prophecy and the spirit of revelation. And when they taught, they
taught with power and authority of God" This was a reminder that I
need to do my part, study the scriptures, pray a lot, and fast and
then I can teach with power and authority, even if I can't speak
perfect Spanish.
This day then became what I called the day of miracles. In the
morning we went contacting in an area where we don't have any
investigators. Here we knocked on a door of a 15-year-old boy named
Bryan. His parents are divorced and he is living here with his mom
and aunt. When he was living with his dad, he was being taught by the
missionaries, but then he moved with his mom. We retaught him Lesson
3, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ (we can be clean from our sins,
faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
enduring to the end). He said he wants to be baptized and his baptism
date is the 9th of April.
In the afternoon we stopped by the house of a girl named Diana. She
is 15 and is an old investigator. She wanted to be baptized, but her
mom give her permission to be baptized. However, Diana said her mom
has become more supportive and believes her mom will sign the
permission slip. She is just waiting for the right moment to ask.
THEN,we stopped by the house of Sandra and Javier Lamota. Hermana
Sandra told us that Javier was officially divorced from his previous
wife, and now they are waiting for Javier to receieve permission to
leave work so they can go get married.
Awwww, I was on cloud 9 this day!!!!!!!!! So many great things are happening.
In the evening, we got a phone call from our zone leader that we
received permission for our district to fast for our goals. We would
start our fast after lunch the next day and fast for 24 hours.
Thursday the 24th:
We taught recent converts in the morning, had a big lunch, and then
started our fast. I was fine at first. We went to Bryan's house and
we met his mom. She is interested in the church too, but had a lot of
life changing things to do first before she can be baptized. However,
she signed the permission slip for Bryan to be baptized.
We taught Ninosca after. This lesson was filled with a little bit of
tension. She kinda got upset with us because she doesn't believe the
Book of Mormon is true. We shared scriptures in the Bible that helps
support the Book of Mormon, but she just wouldn't believe what we were
saying. We are trying to make a plan to help her believe.
In the evening, we had a lesson in the house of a recent convert named
Vincente. He brought 3 friends to this lesson and they said that
they'd come to church.
Fasting was so hard!!!!! I was so thirsty and in all the houses we
went in they all gave us my favorite drinks (Coke, Incacola, and apple
soda) and we had to practically beg for forgiveness that we couldn't
drink it. However, great things happened during our fast.
Friday the 25th:
Friday was a so-so day. We had our planning session in the morning
and then broke our fast for lunch. We received a reference from a
member and taught her. Her name is Graciela and she said she'd attend
church on Sunday. Hermana Parralas and I were so happy because at
this point we had 10 investigators say they were going to come to
church on Sunday. The rest of the day we just had lessons with recent
converts.
Saturday the 26th:
In the afternoon, we finally got to teach Julio (the older man from
the last email). He wanted us to come back and teach him, but every
time we stopped by his house he wasn't there or was asleep. He makes
me laugh, because he is very receptive, but asks tons of questions
just to make sure he understands. I can't really explain in. We set
a goal for him to be baptized on the 9th, he was a little hestiant at
first, but then said he would be baptized if he receieve the answer
that the church is true. We had a member from the ward with us at
this lesson who said he'd stop by Julio's house in the morning to
accompany him to church.
Sunday the 27th: (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY)
Hmmm... Sunday, oh Sunday. We have church at 8 in the morning, super
early right? Long story short, we only had 2 of our investigators
come to church (Javier and Sandra, who come to church every Sunday
anyway). I was VERY frustrated and disappointed. I actually broke
down during Sacrament meeting, almost to the point where I would've
sobbed if I was alone. I was so confused. We had made all these
plans for people to come to church (members stopping by their houses
to get them, etc.) and they didn't come. I was upset because I didn't
know what else I could do. I thought "Man, if I could speak Spanish
fluently, I could know what to do to help these investigators"
However, I was comforted during the rest of sacrament meeting. The
topic was on missionary work and the members talked about how they
need to help the missionaries. We sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me to
Go" and I was reminded of the moment when I received that answer that
I was supposed to go on a mission. Then the closing song was "Called
to Serve". I know Heavenly Father was telling me in this sacrament
meeting "Taylor, don't give up, I've sent you to Ecuador for a
reason".
After chruch, we stopped by Bryan's house. He said he was all ready
to go to church in the morning, but the person who said they'd stop by
didn't come (which they actually did, they just didn't knock loud
enough). Long story short, so Bryan can be baptized on the 9th, he
needed to attend a sacrament meeting...so we went to a sacrament
meeting of another ward with him at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
In the evening, we had a family home evening with Famila Lamota
(Sandra and Javier). We are all just tryng to be patient with Javier's
work to give him permission to take a day off.
Today the 28th:
Today has been pretty chill. We cleaned our apartment in the morning,
did our studying, and had some time to write letters and relax. We
headed to the mall to have lunch. Hermana Salmon (a sister from Mesa,
AZ) and her companion were at the mall too. So we ate with them and
it was so good for me to talk with Hermana Salmon. We were able to
vent and talk about our missions. It was a little tender mercy that I
needed.
Well, it's time for me to head off.
I can't believe my birthday is Wednesday. Am I really going to be 22?
I always want to be forever 21, haha. I am actually excited for my
birthday. We have our district meeting on Wednesday instead of
Tuesday because the zone leaders have a meeting. It should be a good
day...hopefully I have mail and the packages you sent mom!
I miss you guys. I pray for you every day. I hope all continues to
be well. Hugs and kisses!!
I LOVE YOU
-Hermana Smith
I was so excited to get on today and see emails from both Mom and Dad
:) Just one question, is AJ alive? Hahah, just kidding, but seriously,
I thought I had a little brother too.
I am glad to hear everything is going great!!! Thanks for the picture
Mom :) I started laughing seeing the pictures of the girls... Molly is
HUGE, oh my gosh. I miss those dogs. Everytime I think of Molly, I
laugh. She's a goof. She needs to learn some manners from Jenny.
Anyway, I'm glad to see everyone is well. I hope Mom had a great
birthday yesterday too :)
As I have said before, time goes by fast. I can remember my last pday
like it was yesterday. But then it feels like the week has lasted
forever. Mission time is just weird. I've been here for almost 3
weeks. In 3 more weeks is the next transfer and who knows where I
will be going next?
The quick update... Carlos didn't get baptized on Saturday. Super
devastating I know.... From what I understand, it's this back and
forth desire to be baptized. It changes every day. At this moment,
he wants more time, which I am fine with. He needs more time to gain
a testimony and to really change his life. All these "backing out of"
baptisms is making me sad. We've had to move or cancel 5 baptisms
since I've been here and it's making me sad. But I know it's all in
the Lord's time and there is nothing I can do about people's agency.
Ok, now here is the day to day update from this week.
Monday the 21st:
After I sent my email, Hermana Parrales and I went to the casa de
Famila Herrera. We ate lunch with them and then headed out to
Malecon. We had a lot of fun! It wasn't very sunny, but super humid. I was uncomfortably sweating, but I had a great time. The day FLEW
by though.
Tuesday the 22nd:
We had our district meeting in the morning (unfortunately there was no
mail for anybody that day). We set a goal as a district to have a
total of 34 people attend sacrament meeting. If we reach our goal,
we'll have cake our next district meeting (and if we don't, we'll
still have cake for my birthday haha).
The rest of the day was so-so. We taught this man named Luis who was
super Catholic and all he wanted to do was talk talk talk, we didn't
really teach him anything. We taught Ninosca in the afternoon. She
doesn't want to be baptized because she doesn't want to change her
religion. She said she's feels the spirit in both the Catholic and
Mormon church and doesn't see a need to change. She came to the
Family Home Evening activity with us which was really fun. We watched
one of those old cartoon Book of Mormon movies, ate/drink popcorn and
Coke, and played a game. Ninosca had a good time.
Wednesday the 23rd:
In the morning, I was feeling sad about our investigators. That they
weren't progressing and I didn't know how I could help because I can't
really communicate. During my personal study, I was reading in Preach
My Gospel and was reading Chapter 1, My Purpose. I was led to the
scripture in Alma 17:2-3¨about the sons of Mosiah when they were
teaching the gospel. It says "and they waxed strong in knowledge of
the truth...they had searched the scriptures diligently, that they
might know the work of God... But this is not all, they had given
themselves to much fasting and prayer. Therefore, they had the spirit
of prophecy and the spirit of revelation. And when they taught, they
taught with power and authority of God" This was a reminder that I
need to do my part, study the scriptures, pray a lot, and fast and
then I can teach with power and authority, even if I can't speak
perfect Spanish.
This day then became what I called the day of miracles. In the
morning we went contacting in an area where we don't have any
investigators. Here we knocked on a door of a 15-year-old boy named
Bryan. His parents are divorced and he is living here with his mom
and aunt. When he was living with his dad, he was being taught by the
missionaries, but then he moved with his mom. We retaught him Lesson
3, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ (we can be clean from our sins,
faith in Christ, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and
enduring to the end). He said he wants to be baptized and his baptism
date is the 9th of April.
In the afternoon we stopped by the house of a girl named Diana. She
is 15 and is an old investigator. She wanted to be baptized, but her
mom give her permission to be baptized. However, Diana said her mom
has become more supportive and believes her mom will sign the
permission slip. She is just waiting for the right moment to ask.
THEN,we stopped by the house of Sandra and Javier Lamota. Hermana
Sandra told us that Javier was officially divorced from his previous
wife, and now they are waiting for Javier to receieve permission to
leave work so they can go get married.
Awwww, I was on cloud 9 this day!!!!!!!!! So many great things are happening.
In the evening, we got a phone call from our zone leader that we
received permission for our district to fast for our goals. We would
start our fast after lunch the next day and fast for 24 hours.
Thursday the 24th:
We taught recent converts in the morning, had a big lunch, and then
started our fast. I was fine at first. We went to Bryan's house and
we met his mom. She is interested in the church too, but had a lot of
life changing things to do first before she can be baptized. However,
she signed the permission slip for Bryan to be baptized.
We taught Ninosca after. This lesson was filled with a little bit of
tension. She kinda got upset with us because she doesn't believe the
Book of Mormon is true. We shared scriptures in the Bible that helps
support the Book of Mormon, but she just wouldn't believe what we were
saying. We are trying to make a plan to help her believe.
In the evening, we had a lesson in the house of a recent convert named
Vincente. He brought 3 friends to this lesson and they said that
they'd come to church.
Fasting was so hard!!!!! I was so thirsty and in all the houses we
went in they all gave us my favorite drinks (Coke, Incacola, and apple
soda) and we had to practically beg for forgiveness that we couldn't
drink it. However, great things happened during our fast.
Friday the 25th:
Friday was a so-so day. We had our planning session in the morning
and then broke our fast for lunch. We received a reference from a
member and taught her. Her name is Graciela and she said she'd attend
church on Sunday. Hermana Parralas and I were so happy because at
this point we had 10 investigators say they were going to come to
church on Sunday. The rest of the day we just had lessons with recent
converts.
Saturday the 26th:
In the afternoon, we finally got to teach Julio (the older man from
the last email). He wanted us to come back and teach him, but every
time we stopped by his house he wasn't there or was asleep. He makes
me laugh, because he is very receptive, but asks tons of questions
just to make sure he understands. I can't really explain in. We set
a goal for him to be baptized on the 9th, he was a little hestiant at
first, but then said he would be baptized if he receieve the answer
that the church is true. We had a member from the ward with us at
this lesson who said he'd stop by Julio's house in the morning to
accompany him to church.
Sunday the 27th: (HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMY)
Hmmm... Sunday, oh Sunday. We have church at 8 in the morning, super
early right? Long story short, we only had 2 of our investigators
come to church (Javier and Sandra, who come to church every Sunday
anyway). I was VERY frustrated and disappointed. I actually broke
down during Sacrament meeting, almost to the point where I would've
sobbed if I was alone. I was so confused. We had made all these
plans for people to come to church (members stopping by their houses
to get them, etc.) and they didn't come. I was upset because I didn't
know what else I could do. I thought "Man, if I could speak Spanish
fluently, I could know what to do to help these investigators"
However, I was comforted during the rest of sacrament meeting. The
topic was on missionary work and the members talked about how they
need to help the missionaries. We sang "I'll Go Where You Want Me to
Go" and I was reminded of the moment when I received that answer that
I was supposed to go on a mission. Then the closing song was "Called
to Serve". I know Heavenly Father was telling me in this sacrament
meeting "Taylor, don't give up, I've sent you to Ecuador for a
reason".
After chruch, we stopped by Bryan's house. He said he was all ready
to go to church in the morning, but the person who said they'd stop by
didn't come (which they actually did, they just didn't knock loud
enough). Long story short, so Bryan can be baptized on the 9th, he
needed to attend a sacrament meeting...so we went to a sacrament
meeting of another ward with him at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
In the evening, we had a family home evening with Famila Lamota
(Sandra and Javier). We are all just tryng to be patient with Javier's
work to give him permission to take a day off.
Today the 28th:
Today has been pretty chill. We cleaned our apartment in the morning,
did our studying, and had some time to write letters and relax. We
headed to the mall to have lunch. Hermana Salmon (a sister from Mesa,
AZ) and her companion were at the mall too. So we ate with them and
it was so good for me to talk with Hermana Salmon. We were able to
vent and talk about our missions. It was a little tender mercy that I
needed.
Well, it's time for me to head off.
I can't believe my birthday is Wednesday. Am I really going to be 22?
I always want to be forever 21, haha. I am actually excited for my
birthday. We have our district meeting on Wednesday instead of
Tuesday because the zone leaders have a meeting. It should be a good
day...hopefully I have mail and the packages you sent mom!
I miss you guys. I pray for you every day. I hope all continues to
be well. Hugs and kisses!!
I LOVE YOU
-Hermana Smith
March 21, 2011
Hola Familia!! Time is so weird on the mission. It feels like this
week has been long, but then I feel like I can remember last pday like
it was yesterday. It feels long because I'm working so much I guess.
The baptisms aren't as great as they should be. Sandra and Javier
cancelled their baptism for this past Saturday. Javier is still
legally married to another woman and it's been a hassle to get the
divorce papers. And they don't have money to pay for their marriage.
They actually don't have enough money to pay for food this week, so
we're trying to think of ways that we can help. The thing we can do
is testify that by being obedient the Lord will bless us.
Sammy's brother Jonathon wants to be baptized too, but they couldn´t
go to church yesterday because they went with their family to visit
their grandmother. They've only attended church once and need to
attend twice before they can be baptized, so unfortunately their
baptism is being changed from the 2nd to the 9th.
Carlos Espinoza is set to be baptized this Saturday. He is dating a
recent convert named Norma and he is ready to change his life and be
baptized. The frustrating thing is that we've had our zone leaders
and district leader teach with us twice and both times Carlos doesn't
seem as eager to be baptized with them as he is in lessons with me and
Hermana Parrales. Tonight we're teaching him the Law of Chastity and
the Word of Wisdom....hahah, wish us luck!
Here is also what happeneded this week..
Tuesday the 15th:
Tuesday morning we had our district meeting. It was pretty cool, but
super overwhelming to talk to everyone in Spanish, especially the
"gringo" missionaries who can speak Spanish and I can't very well. I
got a letter from Alyssa :) It took about 2 or 3 weeks to get here. I
also found out that I was mistaken about Dear Elders. I could've
sworn the AP said that they are printed in the mission office, but
apparently they are sent from Salt Lake and will take about 2 or 3
weeks to get to me. Just spread the word to people that write me on
Dear Elder to put the date of when they write the letter so I know
when it was written.
Wednesday the 16th:
Hermana Parrales had training again, so I went contacting with Hermana
Robison while her companion and my companion went to training. It was
a little scary because she is in her second transfer and I am in my
first, but we did totally fine. We actually came across this couple
who were interested in just only talking with us. The man grew up in
LA, so we spoke in Spanglish. We were the first sister missionaries
for the church they had ever seen. They gave us some Cokes and chips
and we talked about why were are on missions. They were very
persistent that they didn't want to be taught though, which was sad.
They were just super nice, so I think Hermana Robison and Hermana
Castillo should go back and keep working with them.
The strangest thing happened in the sky on this day. In the afternoon
there was a rainbow that was perfect circle around the sun. And the
sun was directly up above. It was so cool, but super weird.
Umm...signs of the second coming?
In the evening we taught a lesson to this 18-year-old girl named
Ninosca. We contacted her the Sunday before and she was super open
about listening to us. She seems to believe our message but says she
can't be baptized because she was already baptized Catholic. We're
going to continue to teach her and rely on the Spirit to convert her.
Thursday the 17th:
Thursday was kind of a sad day because we didn´t have a lot of
success. We had 3 confirmed appointments and none of them were home
when we went to visit them, so we ended up doing a lot of contacting
which was an interesting experience. We went into this house of a very
old couple. The man is very sick and his wife is taking care of him.
All she wanted to do is talk and talk and talk. It was just very
strange is all I have to say about it.
Every Tuesday evening we have a Family Home Evening in the house of a
member. This night was at Norma's house and Carlos was there. It was
super fun and I got to know some of the ward members better. I was in
charge of the game and we played two truths and a lie. My example was
that 1. I have green eyes. 2. I like Justin Bieber. 3. I speak perfect
Spanish. They thought that was funny because obviously it wasn't hard
to figure out which one was the lie.
Friday the 18th:
Friday was good, nothing super exciting happened. We planned for our
week in the morning. In the afternoon and evening we taught Ninosca
again, Sammy & Jonathon, and some other investigators, recent
converts, and less active people.
Saturday the 19th:
Saturday was good too. In the morning we had lessons with Carlos and
Tyron (a recent convert). In the evening, we went to the Relief
Society activity which was celebrating the anniversary of the Relief
Society. All the women dressed up in pioneer outfits which was pretty
cool.
In the evening we taught a man named Julio. He's in his 60s or 70s.
We actually contacted him and taught him on Thursday (I forgot to say
that). We taught the plan of Salvation on Thursday and on this day we
taught the restoration. The cool thing is that he loves learning and
seems interested in our message. He said he couldn't come to church
because he was busy though, which was a bummer. He reminds me of
Grandpa Smith a little.
Sunday the 20th:
Yesterday was a hard day for me. I am getting overwhelmed with the
Spanish. At times I feel like my Spanish is improving and at other
times I feel like I am staying right where I am and that I am never
going to be able to speak this stinking language. In my moment of
self pity, I came across Ether 12:27 which talks about weak things
becoming strong through Chirst and I was comforted. I know that
because I am doing the best I can on my part, the Lord will make up
the rest, I just have to be patient
TODAY:
Today Hermana Parrales and I got permission to go to Malecon (which
apparently is a place for tourists and is really cool). We're going
with the Herrera family who are recent converts and have been like
family to me and Hermana Parrales. I'm pretty excited.
Other stuff:
Hmmmm....
There are TONS of dogs here!!!!! It's a little scary at times. One
day there was a dog all muddy and reminded me of Molly. I was
laughing and explained to my companion how Molly likes to play in mud.
I also was able to explain how dad and are like dogs and mom and AJ
are like cats...so I guess that's a sign my Spanish is improving.
Man, I miss you guys!
Something I like about here is we sing hymns all the time! We sing
hymns in every lesson. To say this in the nicest way possible, the
people here just don't sing very well, haha...so they think I have a
beautiful voice (*cough cough* A.J. hahah)
With washing our clothes, a member in the ward who has a washer and
drying does our laundry, except our garments. I washed my garments
this week and oh my gosh, what an experience that was...haha. I am so
thankful for washers and dryers.
Well, that is all I have for this week. Please continue to keep me in
your prayers. I am keeping you in my prayers always.
I miss you tons and LOVE YOU tons too.
I talk about you guys all the time to the people I meet!
Have a great week :)
Love,
Hermana Smith
week has been long, but then I feel like I can remember last pday like
it was yesterday. It feels long because I'm working so much I guess.
The baptisms aren't as great as they should be. Sandra and Javier
cancelled their baptism for this past Saturday. Javier is still
legally married to another woman and it's been a hassle to get the
divorce papers. And they don't have money to pay for their marriage.
They actually don't have enough money to pay for food this week, so
we're trying to think of ways that we can help. The thing we can do
is testify that by being obedient the Lord will bless us.
Sammy's brother Jonathon wants to be baptized too, but they couldn´t
go to church yesterday because they went with their family to visit
their grandmother. They've only attended church once and need to
attend twice before they can be baptized, so unfortunately their
baptism is being changed from the 2nd to the 9th.
Carlos Espinoza is set to be baptized this Saturday. He is dating a
recent convert named Norma and he is ready to change his life and be
baptized. The frustrating thing is that we've had our zone leaders
and district leader teach with us twice and both times Carlos doesn't
seem as eager to be baptized with them as he is in lessons with me and
Hermana Parrales. Tonight we're teaching him the Law of Chastity and
the Word of Wisdom....hahah, wish us luck!
Here is also what happeneded this week..
Tuesday the 15th:
Tuesday morning we had our district meeting. It was pretty cool, but
super overwhelming to talk to everyone in Spanish, especially the
"gringo" missionaries who can speak Spanish and I can't very well. I
got a letter from Alyssa :) It took about 2 or 3 weeks to get here. I
also found out that I was mistaken about Dear Elders. I could've
sworn the AP said that they are printed in the mission office, but
apparently they are sent from Salt Lake and will take about 2 or 3
weeks to get to me. Just spread the word to people that write me on
Dear Elder to put the date of when they write the letter so I know
when it was written.
Wednesday the 16th:
Hermana Parrales had training again, so I went contacting with Hermana
Robison while her companion and my companion went to training. It was
a little scary because she is in her second transfer and I am in my
first, but we did totally fine. We actually came across this couple
who were interested in just only talking with us. The man grew up in
LA, so we spoke in Spanglish. We were the first sister missionaries
for the church they had ever seen. They gave us some Cokes and chips
and we talked about why were are on missions. They were very
persistent that they didn't want to be taught though, which was sad.
They were just super nice, so I think Hermana Robison and Hermana
Castillo should go back and keep working with them.
The strangest thing happened in the sky on this day. In the afternoon
there was a rainbow that was perfect circle around the sun. And the
sun was directly up above. It was so cool, but super weird.
Umm...signs of the second coming?
In the evening we taught a lesson to this 18-year-old girl named
Ninosca. We contacted her the Sunday before and she was super open
about listening to us. She seems to believe our message but says she
can't be baptized because she was already baptized Catholic. We're
going to continue to teach her and rely on the Spirit to convert her.
Thursday the 17th:
Thursday was kind of a sad day because we didn´t have a lot of
success. We had 3 confirmed appointments and none of them were home
when we went to visit them, so we ended up doing a lot of contacting
which was an interesting experience. We went into this house of a very
old couple. The man is very sick and his wife is taking care of him.
All she wanted to do is talk and talk and talk. It was just very
strange is all I have to say about it.
Every Tuesday evening we have a Family Home Evening in the house of a
member. This night was at Norma's house and Carlos was there. It was
super fun and I got to know some of the ward members better. I was in
charge of the game and we played two truths and a lie. My example was
that 1. I have green eyes. 2. I like Justin Bieber. 3. I speak perfect
Spanish. They thought that was funny because obviously it wasn't hard
to figure out which one was the lie.
Friday the 18th:
Friday was good, nothing super exciting happened. We planned for our
week in the morning. In the afternoon and evening we taught Ninosca
again, Sammy & Jonathon, and some other investigators, recent
converts, and less active people.
Saturday the 19th:
Saturday was good too. In the morning we had lessons with Carlos and
Tyron (a recent convert). In the evening, we went to the Relief
Society activity which was celebrating the anniversary of the Relief
Society. All the women dressed up in pioneer outfits which was pretty
cool.
In the evening we taught a man named Julio. He's in his 60s or 70s.
We actually contacted him and taught him on Thursday (I forgot to say
that). We taught the plan of Salvation on Thursday and on this day we
taught the restoration. The cool thing is that he loves learning and
seems interested in our message. He said he couldn't come to church
because he was busy though, which was a bummer. He reminds me of
Grandpa Smith a little.
Sunday the 20th:
Yesterday was a hard day for me. I am getting overwhelmed with the
Spanish. At times I feel like my Spanish is improving and at other
times I feel like I am staying right where I am and that I am never
going to be able to speak this stinking language. In my moment of
self pity, I came across Ether 12:27 which talks about weak things
becoming strong through Chirst and I was comforted. I know that
because I am doing the best I can on my part, the Lord will make up
the rest, I just have to be patient
TODAY:
Today Hermana Parrales and I got permission to go to Malecon (which
apparently is a place for tourists and is really cool). We're going
with the Herrera family who are recent converts and have been like
family to me and Hermana Parrales. I'm pretty excited.
Other stuff:
Hmmmm....
There are TONS of dogs here!!!!! It's a little scary at times. One
day there was a dog all muddy and reminded me of Molly. I was
laughing and explained to my companion how Molly likes to play in mud.
I also was able to explain how dad and are like dogs and mom and AJ
are like cats...so I guess that's a sign my Spanish is improving.
Man, I miss you guys!
Something I like about here is we sing hymns all the time! We sing
hymns in every lesson. To say this in the nicest way possible, the
people here just don't sing very well, haha...so they think I have a
beautiful voice (*cough cough* A.J. hahah)
With washing our clothes, a member in the ward who has a washer and
drying does our laundry, except our garments. I washed my garments
this week and oh my gosh, what an experience that was...haha. I am so
thankful for washers and dryers.
Well, that is all I have for this week. Please continue to keep me in
your prayers. I am keeping you in my prayers always.
I miss you tons and LOVE YOU tons too.
I talk about you guys all the time to the people I meet!
Have a great week :)
Love,
Hermana Smith
March 14, 2011
¡Hola familia! WOW, what a crazy week it has been. I still can't
believe I'm in freaking Ecuador!!! I feel like I am on a
rollercoaster. At some moments I feel beaten down and that being a
missionary is super hard and then at other moments I am thinking "I
LOVE THIS" haha. I'll give you a play by play of my week:
Wednesday- After I emailed you guys, Hermana Parrales and I went and
bought some food. After, we took everything to our apartment and went
to a member's home for lunch. We do this every day for lunch. It's a
different family each day and we call the women that cook us food
"mamita". We had rice, beans, and this wierd meat thing. I was
thinking "Seriously, is this what I have to eat every day?" It was bad
of me to think that because it put me in a bad mood. After lunch I
had a little breakdown. I feel so confused all the time and it's so
hard to speak and understand Spanish. However, we went to the house
of the Bishop and met his wife and family. They were so nice and I
was able to actually have a conversation with them. They told me that
I speak good Spanish too. During this week, I have realized that when
people say they can understand me and that my Spanish is good that I
have more confidence and speak more. But when people tell me "Oh
you'll learn it eventually, little by little" I get discouraged and
sad.
Anyway, in the afternoon we were all over the place, visiting recent
converts, ward members, and investigators. At 4 we went contacting
and started teaching a woman named Kathy and her son. They listened
to our message and said they would come to church on Sunday.
Thursday- Thursday was a little bit different schedule because Hermana
Parrales had training in the morning. In the morning I went
contacting with 3 other sisters. One of them is named Sister Robison
and she is from Utah. She's 6 weeks into her mission and her Spanish
is pretty good. She gives me knowledge that my Spanish will increase
tremendously in 6 weeks. Hermana Parrales returned for lunch and we
ate at the Bishop's house and the food was much better haha. There
were 2 highlights of teaching in the afternoon. We got to teach a
group of kids (between the ages of 8 and 14) and I loved it. They all
listened and thought it was cool that I was from the states and could
speak English. Our last lesson was with Sandra and Xavier Lamota who
are getting baptized on the 19th. They are so awesome and nice and
I'm so excited for their baptism. They have been investigating the
church for a long time. They said I am the 20th missionary that has
been in their house.
Friday- Wow... Friday was even more different than Thursday. We got
up in the morning and did all our studying. Hermana Parrales was
supposed to go to training again, but we got a call in the morning
that said her training was canceled and that we were both supposed to
meet our zone at the mall and to come with a change of clothes and
PJs. We seriously thought "What the heck is going on?" So, we did
our planning for the week and then went to lunch where we find out
about the tsunami in Japan and that it could effect Ecuador too.
Honestly, I was kinda freaking out in my mind, because I didn't know
if it was super serious or not...which it turned out it wasn't serious
at all for us in Guayaquil. Anyway, so that afternoon we just had training at the mission home with almost all the missionaries in our mission. We all returned to our sectors
that night.
Saturday- The funny thing about Saturday is that I woke up thinking
"Ok, this is going to be a ¨typical¨ day in the mission and I won't be
able to speak English at all". Well it turned out, MANY people tried to
speak to me in English. There were many "Hello my friend" "Hello you
are beautiful" and the best was "I am crazy for you". I even had one
old crazy man come up to me and was talking to me in all English but
it didn't make a lot of sense. He said that he loved the church and
Joseph Smith, but then my companion said he's crazy and when they
invite him to come to church he says he´s sick.
We had a lot of great teaching experiences Saturday, but the coolest
was teaching this girl named Samy. We taught her whole family except
her dad. She is 9 years old and she wants to be baptized. She is
going to be baptized on the 26th. Her parents even signed the paper
that says they will allow her to be baptized. We are going to
continue to return to prepare her for baptism and teach her Mom,
Jessenia, and her brother Jonathon.
Sunday- Sunday was great! Church was a little overwhelming because I
struggled to speak Spanish. Most of church was me being super
confused and not understanding alot, but it was good. The members are
amazing and super strong in the church. They are so willing to help
with missionary work. And they are so loving to me. We find ways to
communicate with eachother and they are just overall nice, kind
people.
After lunch, we stopped by this woman's house named Gigi. She is less
active and lives by herself. She was in an accident and is in a
wheelchair and has difficulty speaking. I literally could not
understand a word she said. She was so happy to see us. When we
asked her if she lived by herself she started crying. We sang a hymn
with her and I started crying. We talked about the love God and Jesus
Christ have for us. We talked about how we're never alone and that
she has family and friend from the ward. I can't really explain all
that happened but I seriously felt the spirit so strong and I was able
to say the things Gigi needed to hear.
Another cool experience was teaching this girl named Dayanna. She is
16-years-old and wants to be baptized, but her parents won't let her.
Sunday night we stopped by and got to teach her, her mom, and Dad.
Hermana Parrales said she has taught many lessons to Dayanna, but her
parents have never been there. Her parents explained that they don't
want to her to get baptized because they don't have enough trust in
her to make such a big decesion. We talked alot about our missions
and they said they believed that our parents have a lot of trust in us
to be serving missions. I got to talk to them about you guys and how
it's super difficult to be so far away, but that I am here because God
sent me to Ecuador to be a missionary and share the gospel. Long story
short, they like us and we are returning Thursday night to teach them.
So many other great things have happen, but there is not enough time
to share it all. It is SO hard not being able to speak Spanish well.
I find ways to comminuicate, but it's hard. Some moments I think "
there is NO way that I will be able to speak this language fluently",
but I know with time and the help of the Lord I will be able to.
Huancavilca is so amazing. The members are strong and the baptisms
are high. Even though my feet are swollen, I have bug bites all over
my legs and feet, I sweat all the time and reak, and I can't speak
Spanish... I love it here.
I don't have much time left, but know I am keeping you all in my prayers
Just a side note about Dear Elder. Dear Elder letters are printed in
the mission home here in Ecuador. My district leader said that we get
them every week at our district meetings, and so I assume we get our
other letters and packages then too. As I had said last week (or the
week before) I didn't receieve any letters in Peru. Just Dear Elders
from Mom, Dad, Hannah, and Jordan Landes. So if people sent letters
there, I'm so sorry that I didn't get them
Ok, it's time for me to go....
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND MISS YOU!
Please keep me in your prayers
Love Always,
Hermana Smith
believe I'm in freaking Ecuador!!! I feel like I am on a
rollercoaster. At some moments I feel beaten down and that being a
missionary is super hard and then at other moments I am thinking "I
LOVE THIS" haha. I'll give you a play by play of my week:
Wednesday- After I emailed you guys, Hermana Parrales and I went and
bought some food. After, we took everything to our apartment and went
to a member's home for lunch. We do this every day for lunch. It's a
different family each day and we call the women that cook us food
"mamita". We had rice, beans, and this wierd meat thing. I was
thinking "Seriously, is this what I have to eat every day?" It was bad
of me to think that because it put me in a bad mood. After lunch I
had a little breakdown. I feel so confused all the time and it's so
hard to speak and understand Spanish. However, we went to the house
of the Bishop and met his wife and family. They were so nice and I
was able to actually have a conversation with them. They told me that
I speak good Spanish too. During this week, I have realized that when
people say they can understand me and that my Spanish is good that I
have more confidence and speak more. But when people tell me "Oh
you'll learn it eventually, little by little" I get discouraged and
sad.
Anyway, in the afternoon we were all over the place, visiting recent
converts, ward members, and investigators. At 4 we went contacting
and started teaching a woman named Kathy and her son. They listened
to our message and said they would come to church on Sunday.
Thursday- Thursday was a little bit different schedule because Hermana
Parrales had training in the morning. In the morning I went
contacting with 3 other sisters. One of them is named Sister Robison
and she is from Utah. She's 6 weeks into her mission and her Spanish
is pretty good. She gives me knowledge that my Spanish will increase
tremendously in 6 weeks. Hermana Parrales returned for lunch and we
ate at the Bishop's house and the food was much better haha. There
were 2 highlights of teaching in the afternoon. We got to teach a
group of kids (between the ages of 8 and 14) and I loved it. They all
listened and thought it was cool that I was from the states and could
speak English. Our last lesson was with Sandra and Xavier Lamota who
are getting baptized on the 19th. They are so awesome and nice and
I'm so excited for their baptism. They have been investigating the
church for a long time. They said I am the 20th missionary that has
been in their house.
Friday- Wow... Friday was even more different than Thursday. We got
up in the morning and did all our studying. Hermana Parrales was
supposed to go to training again, but we got a call in the morning
that said her training was canceled and that we were both supposed to
meet our zone at the mall and to come with a change of clothes and
PJs. We seriously thought "What the heck is going on?" So, we did
our planning for the week and then went to lunch where we find out
about the tsunami in Japan and that it could effect Ecuador too.
Honestly, I was kinda freaking out in my mind, because I didn't know
if it was super serious or not...which it turned out it wasn't serious
at all for us in Guayaquil. Anyway, so that afternoon we just had training at the mission home with almost all the missionaries in our mission. We all returned to our sectors
that night.
Saturday- The funny thing about Saturday is that I woke up thinking
"Ok, this is going to be a ¨typical¨ day in the mission and I won't be
able to speak English at all". Well it turned out, MANY people tried to
speak to me in English. There were many "Hello my friend" "Hello you
are beautiful" and the best was "I am crazy for you". I even had one
old crazy man come up to me and was talking to me in all English but
it didn't make a lot of sense. He said that he loved the church and
Joseph Smith, but then my companion said he's crazy and when they
invite him to come to church he says he´s sick.
We had a lot of great teaching experiences Saturday, but the coolest
was teaching this girl named Samy. We taught her whole family except
her dad. She is 9 years old and she wants to be baptized. She is
going to be baptized on the 26th. Her parents even signed the paper
that says they will allow her to be baptized. We are going to
continue to return to prepare her for baptism and teach her Mom,
Jessenia, and her brother Jonathon.
Sunday- Sunday was great! Church was a little overwhelming because I
struggled to speak Spanish. Most of church was me being super
confused and not understanding alot, but it was good. The members are
amazing and super strong in the church. They are so willing to help
with missionary work. And they are so loving to me. We find ways to
communicate with eachother and they are just overall nice, kind
people.
After lunch, we stopped by this woman's house named Gigi. She is less
active and lives by herself. She was in an accident and is in a
wheelchair and has difficulty speaking. I literally could not
understand a word she said. She was so happy to see us. When we
asked her if she lived by herself she started crying. We sang a hymn
with her and I started crying. We talked about the love God and Jesus
Christ have for us. We talked about how we're never alone and that
she has family and friend from the ward. I can't really explain all
that happened but I seriously felt the spirit so strong and I was able
to say the things Gigi needed to hear.
Another cool experience was teaching this girl named Dayanna. She is
16-years-old and wants to be baptized, but her parents won't let her.
Sunday night we stopped by and got to teach her, her mom, and Dad.
Hermana Parrales said she has taught many lessons to Dayanna, but her
parents have never been there. Her parents explained that they don't
want to her to get baptized because they don't have enough trust in
her to make such a big decesion. We talked alot about our missions
and they said they believed that our parents have a lot of trust in us
to be serving missions. I got to talk to them about you guys and how
it's super difficult to be so far away, but that I am here because God
sent me to Ecuador to be a missionary and share the gospel. Long story
short, they like us and we are returning Thursday night to teach them.
So many other great things have happen, but there is not enough time
to share it all. It is SO hard not being able to speak Spanish well.
I find ways to comminuicate, but it's hard. Some moments I think "
there is NO way that I will be able to speak this language fluently",
but I know with time and the help of the Lord I will be able to.
Huancavilca is so amazing. The members are strong and the baptisms
are high. Even though my feet are swollen, I have bug bites all over
my legs and feet, I sweat all the time and reak, and I can't speak
Spanish... I love it here.
I don't have much time left, but know I am keeping you all in my prayers
Just a side note about Dear Elder. Dear Elder letters are printed in
the mission home here in Ecuador. My district leader said that we get
them every week at our district meetings, and so I assume we get our
other letters and packages then too. As I had said last week (or the
week before) I didn't receieve any letters in Peru. Just Dear Elders
from Mom, Dad, Hannah, and Jordan Landes. So if people sent letters
there, I'm so sorry that I didn't get them
Ok, it's time for me to go....
I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND MISS YOU!
Please keep me in your prayers
Love Always,
Hermana Smith