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