What the heck, it's already May?!?!?! Wow wow wow, I can't believe.
I'm almost 4 months into my mission!!! Time is flying. We're working
hard and I'm coming home super tired every night, which is a good
thing I think.
Well, once again, I don't have a normal pday today :( We got a call
last night at 10:30 that we have to go to Guayaquil, again! We have to
be at the terminal at 12:30. It's a training for all the new
missionaries. Well, I'm technically not a new missionary anymore, but
we're going to the temple. Usually when a new group of missionaries
arrives they go do a session at the temple, but when I came to Ecuador
the temple was closed for cleaning and we couldn't go. I'm really
excited to go to the temple and see all these missionaries, but I'm a
little upset that I've had to travel so much. After today, I will have
spent $54 in the past 2.5 weeks traveling to Cuenca, Guayaquil and
Machala. We're supposed to get reimbursed, but the other missionaries
tell me even when we fill out the paper work we usually don't get the
money. I'll just be leaving on little money... what better way to
prepare for my future life when I'm a poor teacher? Hahaha.
So here is what has gone on this week:
Monday - We left Guayaquil around noon. We ended up taking a different
bus service, so we could leave earlier (the "normal" bus service
wasn't leaving for another hour after that). Well, the bus was
GHETTO!!! Hahaha. I had to go to the bathroom and I couldn't hold it.
Well, the bus assitance had to stand outside the bathroom door with
this metal thingy to help unlock the door from the outside because
every time someone went in the bathroom, they would lock themselves
in. Kinda funny in hindsight, but super awkward. We got back to Cuence
in time that we could go to the grocery store, take a short little
nap, and write one letter. I was grateful for that!
Tuesday- We had our district meeting and we got mail :) I got some
Dear Elders from Hannah and Alyssa and I got my new backpack.. It's
kinda dorky, I call it my dork bag, but it's pretty cool. It has my
name on it with the flag of Ecuador and my mission. And it fits all
my stuff and is better for my back.
Wednesday- In the evening we taught Jaime and Precila Delgado (we
contacted them and taught them the Sunday before and they were really
receptive). They lesson was pretty awesome. They had 3 of their kids
there (2 of them were their with their fiances), so we taught a total
of 7, which I totally love doing! We had committed them to read 3
Nephi 11 the lesson before and they did!!!!! We talked about what
Christ taught the people and the conversation was awesome. They were
really understanding of everything, the spirit was strong, and I was
mentaling preparing to commit them to baptism. Hermana Barker asked
them if they believed that the way Christ was baptized (full immersion
in water) is the correct way. Jaime responded yes (awesome, we're
getting there), but THEN, he started talking about that when he
showers that it's like being baptized...Boom! the exciting feeling to
commit them to baptism was gone! This man has some strange ideas.
Like the appointment before, he had talked about how he thought that
every meal is like partaking of the sacrament. We still feel really
good about this family, even though Jaime has some strange opinions.
We're going to continue to teach them and slowly prepare them for
baptisms.
Thrusday- Oh man, Thursday. Thursday was SUPER rainy. It was pouring
and we walked a ton and weren't able to teach a lot. That's all I
really want to say about Thursday, hahahaha.
Friday- In the morning we taught Nelly. We had planned to discuss
about 3 Nephi 11, because we had committed her to read it, but she
didn't end up reading it. She is a very busy woman, but likes talking
with us (we had taught her and her children the Sunday before too and
she came to church). Well, we started to talking about trusting in
God because we trust in Him, he will help us. We were reading in Alma
38:4-5 and I felt the spirit so strong. After, she read it I broke
out in tears and I testified about the truth of this scripture. These
tears were part spirit, part personal testimony building, and part
personal break-down. I said "I can't say much in Spanish, but I know
that this is true....I have trusted in the Lord and I have seen him
help me so much and I know when you trust in him he will help you
too". Nelly started to talk after and share how she has seen the Lord
help her in her trials and started crying too. This lesson was very
special.
Saturday- We had the missionary activity with some of the members. We
had 3 RM's, 3 young men preparing for a mission, and one 19-year-old
girl. It was cool to see the RM's super excited to go out in
proselyte. Before, I was super nervous, because there was supposed to
be 2 young woman helping us and we were going to separate (Hermana
Barker with one, and the other with me) meaning I would be responsible
for actually talking and leading the conversations. But, fortunately
(or unfortunately) only one showed up. Well, we didn't have as much
success as we thought we would. The area we went to, the people
weren't as nice. It was funny how many people were rude. We did,
however, teach one lesson, and received some good references from the
other companionship's.
In the evening we taught Nelly and her kids (Leonela who is 20, Joel
who is 15, and Samantha who is 7). We taught the Restoration with two
members of the ward. This lesson was super awesome. They are really
receptive and enjoy the lessons. One funny thing that happened during
the lesson was that it was my turn to talk about the life of Jesus
Christ and I started saying, "When Joseph Smith was on the earth,
ahhh, I mean Jesus Christ!!!!" Sometimes I just get on auto-pilot
with the lessons and then I still mess up....oh this
language....hahahaha
Sunday- We had 6 investigators come to church, which is super awesome!
Jaime and Precila, Nelly and Leonela, and 2 others. It was fast and
testimony meeting and it was awesome, because the people who shared
their testimony were testifying of the things we wanted our
investigators to hear! We were definitely super happy and very
grateful for this. Goes to show what happens with much prayer,
scripture study, fasting, and hard work. After sacrament meeting,
Nelly told us that little by little their family with start coming to
all of church and eventually become members. They are making friends
and loving all the programs and activities the church offers!
Well after church, we were STARVING because of our fast, and we rushed
to lunch. We ate with this family, and the mom cooks DELICIOUS food.
2 weeks before we ate burritos with guacamole and then yesterday we
had lasagna. I love eating at their house because their super fun and
the food is yummy! We stuffed our faces and we SUPER full!!! After,
we headed to another appointed to teach a new investigator in the
house of a member. When we got to their house, they were eating lunch
too and then gave us (with asking) MORE food. And of course we have to
eat it.... I thought I was going to throw up!!!!!
After this lesson, we went to visit another investigator named Julia.
She's from Peru and wants to get baptized, but she's not legally
married to her husband. In June, they are going to visit Peru and get
married, and then when they return she will get baptized. Julia is
seriously amazing. She has a crazy and harsh past, which has made her
become the wonderful person she is today. She has a huge heart and is
friendly to everyone! When we were at her house, these 2 Indian men in
there 20s were visiting her. One of them speaks little Spanish, and
the other speaks NO Spanish and a little English. We started teaching
them and Julia, which was pretty interesting. We were all
communicating to each other in Spanish, English, and Indian. I was
explaining to the one Indian man who speaks English what we were
doing. It was kinda funny, because I'd explain something in English,
we'd talk in Spanish, and then he'd ask me questions like "What's your
cell phone number" or "What's your email?"... I had to explain to him
how I didn't have a cell phone, how I could only email my family, and
that this time is for the Lord....hahaha... Anyway, these young
Indian men didn't learn a thing, but never the less, it was an
interesting lesson.
In the evening, we taught Nelly and her kids again with the Bishop and
his family. It was super awesome. We taught about obedience. And
once again, they were really receptive and enjoying what we taught.
Even Joel, (the teenager, who acts like a punk and like he doesn't
care what we have to say) was answering our questions and gave an
awesome prayer at the end of the lesson. We are so happy and excited
about this family. This week were going to put a baptismal date!
WOW... a lot more happened this week than I had thought. I wish I
could share all, but I feel these things are sufficient :)
Of course, I am still struggling with my Spanish, but I feel the love
and help of the Lord every day. It's amazing to see how much I have
learned and I know that it's all been through the help of the Lord. I
know if I continue to work hard that one day I will be able to speak
Spanish well and understand everything. Being a missionary is super
hard, but I am comforted every day.
I am excited to call ya'll on Sunday :) 5pm my time!!! Woo hoo!!!!!!
So awesome. Be prepared for tears and hearing me struggle to speak
proper English!!! Hahahaha
Well, I need to get going, we're in a hurry to get to the bus terminal in time!
One more AWESOME thing I need to tell you!!!! I got an email from my
mission president saying that Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorem of
the Twelve is coming to visit our mission on May
25th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we will have a conference with him, I
am so excited :) Our mission is having a lot of success, so that is
why he's coming to visit.
Ok, that is all I have to say! Have a fabulous week and I will TALK to
you on Sunday :)
Love you all!!!!
Love,
Hermana Smith
Sunday, May 15, 2011
April 25, 2011
¡Buenos Dias Familia! This month has seriously been full of
surprises...right now I'm in Guayaquil! Hermana Barker got a call
Saturday night saying that we needed to be in Guayaquil at 8am this
morning so she could renew her censos (I got mine 3 weeks ago). So we
left our house at 2:15 this morning, to catch the bus to Guayaquil at
3am. I am SO tired right now. The bus we took is a nice tour bus, but
it was hard to sleep. We got here at 7am, ate some breakfast, and
walked across the street to immagration. Right now we're writing
emails, then we'll do a little shopping here, and then head back to
Cuenca. I am hoping we get back around 4 or early so I can relax. I
haven't had a "normal" pday in 4 weeks. Hermana Barker and I are
definitely planning on having a chill and relaxing pday next week...I
hope it works out.
So here is what has happened last week...
As I had mentioned last week, we had a conference with Elder Nash (the
area general authority). All the missionaries in Cuenca met up at the
terminal around 1, and all of us packed into a mini-van/bus. The ride
to Machala was about 4 hours, but we had tons of fun. We listened to
the CD you guys sent me for my birthday (AMAZING!). We also got to
watch some movies (mission approved). I suggest you go to Deseret
Book and buy the movie "The Errand of Angels". I LOVE IT! It's a story
about a sister missionary. I laughed and sighed so many times because
so many things in that movie have happened to me! Just go buy it :)
(because I'd love to watch it and have it when I get home).
The conference with Elder Nash was awesome! The great thing is I
practically understood almost all he said, so I was happy I was able
to learn something in Spanish! The conference was Tuesday morning.
After, our zone went and ate at this restaurant (seafood, which was
yummy) and then we headed back to Cuenca. We didn't get back until
9pm. I had a great time with our zone though. We have some funny
Elders. One Elder from Gilbert has some hilarious stories (that he
tells in English, because he can't do it in Spanish). I haven't
laughed so hard in a long time, I was in tears from laughing. Oh how I
love being able to communicate in English...and Spanish too, of course
:)
Wednesday morning we had our district meeting. Unfortunately, there
wasn't mail :( (I forgot to mention that the week before, I got a huge
letter from the School-Age kids from Sunrise! I sure miss those
kiddos!). After our district meeting, we went to lunch and did our
errands that we couldn't do Monday because of the conference, like our
laundry and groceries. Hermana Barker was feeling pretty sick, so she
took some medicine and rested in the afternoon, while I studied. In
the evening, we went out to proselyte. We were stopping by all the
houses of all the people we had planned to teach, but NONE were home
or wanted to listened. We were at like plan "R" as we were starting
to head back to proselyte near the house. The Sunday before, we
passed by this house of an inactive family. The woman's mom stopped
us and told us that she is a member and that her husband, Rafael (who
is not a member) went with her to a general conference session and he
liked it. They are living with their daughter right now because Rafael
is sick with diabetes. She asked to stop by later that night, but we
ran out of time and couldn't. Well Wednesday night, we decided to stop
there because we didn't on Sunday. Well, in Ecuador, usually people
have a locked gate a few feet away from their door. This family
doesn't have a doorbell at their gate. So we were knocking on the
gate and shooting "Buenos Noches" for about 2 minutes! We saw people
through the window but nobody was coming to the door. Well, the gate
was unlock,ed and I had this feeling that we should open the gate and
knock on the door...so we did. They finally answered and invited us
in. We met Rafael who was sitting in a chair by the TV. He was just
listening to the TV because he's almost blind. Well, we started
teaching him and he started sharing his testimony of Jesus Christ,
Joseph Smith, and the gospel. Then he asked us to baptize him...WAIT,
WHAT?! Yes, he wants to be baptized and he asked us! His baptism in
for the 21st of May. Through this experience I have learned that the
Lord really guides our steps! Hermana Barker and I were having no
success and walking ALL over the place, but we listened and followed
the spirit and the Lord led us to his chosen!
Thursday, we met up with Jacqueline (who lives 2 hours away and has a
baptism date for the 28th of May). She was in town shopping with her
sister Surly. Surly and her husband wanted to hear our message, so
she invited us to come teach them in the afternoon. We didn't have
set plans, so we said we'd go. Sher told us that they lived like 10
minutes away. Hermana Barker wasn't exactly sure where she lived or
if their family lived in our area, but since she told us they lived
10 minutes away, we thought we'd just go and see. So we left with her
on a bus and it ended up that she lived like 30 minutes
away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Surly and her husband live on a hamster
plantation, so I got to see TONS on hamsters. They even offered to
cook us hamster, but we declined (hahaha, AHHH!!!! Eat hamster,
really???????) It was a really cool experience though. They
definitely want to learn more and start attending church, so the
Elders are going to continue to teach them.
This week has been kinda weird and crazy, especially Friday, because
it was "Holy Week". We did a lot of contacting Friday, but didn't do
a lot of teaching. We did teach a woman named Nelly who lives really
close to our house. We taught her Friday, she came to church
yesterday, and we taught her family (minus her husband) last night.
She is Catholic and told us that she would "change" her religion if
she really felt that it was right. We're going to continue to teach
their family and hope it leads to great things!
Saturday we went out to Lenta (where Jacqueline lives). She was a
reference from a family in the ward who lives right by her, so we
taught the lesson in their house. Lenta is like an hour and half away
from our house, then once you get to Lenta, you have ride in a truck
all the way up a mountain to their houses. It's super pretty! It's
just interesting that it's so different here than in Guayaquil!
Yesterday afternoon we taught a woman named Presica and her husband
Jaime. They are super nice and pretty receptive to our message.
Hermana Barker and I contacted Presica on Saturday as she was sweeping
her front porch. In this appointment, she had told us that after we
had left, she called her husband and said "I just met 2 angels who are
coming to share a message with us tomorrow at 4". Jaime had some
crazy and interesting "spritual" stories. It was a bit difficult to
follow, but cool to hear. They said they'd read 3 Nefi 11 and pray
together. We are planning on teaching them Wednesday night, and we're
REALLY interested to see what happened (especially with Jaime).
Wow, a lot really has happened this week! I am so grateful for all the
cool things I have experienced. I am at a point right now that while
we teach lessons, I understand SO MUCH (I'd like to say almost all,
but I know that's not the case), but then when it comes for me to
speak, I stumble over my words. It's a little frustrating, because I
know how to say things correctly, but I struggle. I know with time and
with the help of the Lord, one day I won't stumble over my words.
This Saturday, we're having this activity with the returned
missionaries and future missionaries of the ward. We'll pair off a RM
with a future missionary and send them of to an area with pamphelts
and Books of Mormon and contact for about 2 hours. And you'll never
believe it, but this was MY idea! Yup, I was able to contribute to
missionary work :) hahaha. I'm super excited to see the results of
this activity!
One last funny detail about my life. Hermana Barker talks in her
sleep too and a couple times this week we've had "conversations" in
our sleep, hahahahah! The other night, I was talking in Spanish
(sharing my testimony or something) and she was like "Way to go
Hermana!" I don't know, it's pretty funny and something we laugh
about!
Well, that's pretty much it here in Ecuador! I am glad to hear
everyone doing well and that life is still going on! I am excited to
see what interesting and amazing things will happen this week!
And I'm excited that it 2 more weeks I will be able to call home (I
will send an email to mom with details).
Have a great week ya'll! I love you tons :)
Love,
Hermana Smith
surprises...right now I'm in Guayaquil! Hermana Barker got a call
Saturday night saying that we needed to be in Guayaquil at 8am this
morning so she could renew her censos (I got mine 3 weeks ago). So we
left our house at 2:15 this morning, to catch the bus to Guayaquil at
3am. I am SO tired right now. The bus we took is a nice tour bus, but
it was hard to sleep. We got here at 7am, ate some breakfast, and
walked across the street to immagration. Right now we're writing
emails, then we'll do a little shopping here, and then head back to
Cuenca. I am hoping we get back around 4 or early so I can relax. I
haven't had a "normal" pday in 4 weeks. Hermana Barker and I are
definitely planning on having a chill and relaxing pday next week...I
hope it works out.
So here is what has happened last week...
As I had mentioned last week, we had a conference with Elder Nash (the
area general authority). All the missionaries in Cuenca met up at the
terminal around 1, and all of us packed into a mini-van/bus. The ride
to Machala was about 4 hours, but we had tons of fun. We listened to
the CD you guys sent me for my birthday (AMAZING!). We also got to
watch some movies (mission approved). I suggest you go to Deseret
Book and buy the movie "The Errand of Angels". I LOVE IT! It's a story
about a sister missionary. I laughed and sighed so many times because
so many things in that movie have happened to me! Just go buy it :)
(because I'd love to watch it and have it when I get home).
The conference with Elder Nash was awesome! The great thing is I
practically understood almost all he said, so I was happy I was able
to learn something in Spanish! The conference was Tuesday morning.
After, our zone went and ate at this restaurant (seafood, which was
yummy) and then we headed back to Cuenca. We didn't get back until
9pm. I had a great time with our zone though. We have some funny
Elders. One Elder from Gilbert has some hilarious stories (that he
tells in English, because he can't do it in Spanish). I haven't
laughed so hard in a long time, I was in tears from laughing. Oh how I
love being able to communicate in English...and Spanish too, of course
:)
Wednesday morning we had our district meeting. Unfortunately, there
wasn't mail :( (I forgot to mention that the week before, I got a huge
letter from the School-Age kids from Sunrise! I sure miss those
kiddos!). After our district meeting, we went to lunch and did our
errands that we couldn't do Monday because of the conference, like our
laundry and groceries. Hermana Barker was feeling pretty sick, so she
took some medicine and rested in the afternoon, while I studied. In
the evening, we went out to proselyte. We were stopping by all the
houses of all the people we had planned to teach, but NONE were home
or wanted to listened. We were at like plan "R" as we were starting
to head back to proselyte near the house. The Sunday before, we
passed by this house of an inactive family. The woman's mom stopped
us and told us that she is a member and that her husband, Rafael (who
is not a member) went with her to a general conference session and he
liked it. They are living with their daughter right now because Rafael
is sick with diabetes. She asked to stop by later that night, but we
ran out of time and couldn't. Well Wednesday night, we decided to stop
there because we didn't on Sunday. Well, in Ecuador, usually people
have a locked gate a few feet away from their door. This family
doesn't have a doorbell at their gate. So we were knocking on the
gate and shooting "Buenos Noches" for about 2 minutes! We saw people
through the window but nobody was coming to the door. Well, the gate
was unlock,ed and I had this feeling that we should open the gate and
knock on the door...so we did. They finally answered and invited us
in. We met Rafael who was sitting in a chair by the TV. He was just
listening to the TV because he's almost blind. Well, we started
teaching him and he started sharing his testimony of Jesus Christ,
Joseph Smith, and the gospel. Then he asked us to baptize him...WAIT,
WHAT?! Yes, he wants to be baptized and he asked us! His baptism in
for the 21st of May. Through this experience I have learned that the
Lord really guides our steps! Hermana Barker and I were having no
success and walking ALL over the place, but we listened and followed
the spirit and the Lord led us to his chosen!
Thursday, we met up with Jacqueline (who lives 2 hours away and has a
baptism date for the 28th of May). She was in town shopping with her
sister Surly. Surly and her husband wanted to hear our message, so
she invited us to come teach them in the afternoon. We didn't have
set plans, so we said we'd go. Sher told us that they lived like 10
minutes away. Hermana Barker wasn't exactly sure where she lived or
if their family lived in our area, but since she told us they lived
10 minutes away, we thought we'd just go and see. So we left with her
on a bus and it ended up that she lived like 30 minutes
away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Surly and her husband live on a hamster
plantation, so I got to see TONS on hamsters. They even offered to
cook us hamster, but we declined (hahaha, AHHH!!!! Eat hamster,
really???????) It was a really cool experience though. They
definitely want to learn more and start attending church, so the
Elders are going to continue to teach them.
This week has been kinda weird and crazy, especially Friday, because
it was "Holy Week". We did a lot of contacting Friday, but didn't do
a lot of teaching. We did teach a woman named Nelly who lives really
close to our house. We taught her Friday, she came to church
yesterday, and we taught her family (minus her husband) last night.
She is Catholic and told us that she would "change" her religion if
she really felt that it was right. We're going to continue to teach
their family and hope it leads to great things!
Saturday we went out to Lenta (where Jacqueline lives). She was a
reference from a family in the ward who lives right by her, so we
taught the lesson in their house. Lenta is like an hour and half away
from our house, then once you get to Lenta, you have ride in a truck
all the way up a mountain to their houses. It's super pretty! It's
just interesting that it's so different here than in Guayaquil!
Yesterday afternoon we taught a woman named Presica and her husband
Jaime. They are super nice and pretty receptive to our message.
Hermana Barker and I contacted Presica on Saturday as she was sweeping
her front porch. In this appointment, she had told us that after we
had left, she called her husband and said "I just met 2 angels who are
coming to share a message with us tomorrow at 4". Jaime had some
crazy and interesting "spritual" stories. It was a bit difficult to
follow, but cool to hear. They said they'd read 3 Nefi 11 and pray
together. We are planning on teaching them Wednesday night, and we're
REALLY interested to see what happened (especially with Jaime).
Wow, a lot really has happened this week! I am so grateful for all the
cool things I have experienced. I am at a point right now that while
we teach lessons, I understand SO MUCH (I'd like to say almost all,
but I know that's not the case), but then when it comes for me to
speak, I stumble over my words. It's a little frustrating, because I
know how to say things correctly, but I struggle. I know with time and
with the help of the Lord, one day I won't stumble over my words.
This Saturday, we're having this activity with the returned
missionaries and future missionaries of the ward. We'll pair off a RM
with a future missionary and send them of to an area with pamphelts
and Books of Mormon and contact for about 2 hours. And you'll never
believe it, but this was MY idea! Yup, I was able to contribute to
missionary work :) hahaha. I'm super excited to see the results of
this activity!
One last funny detail about my life. Hermana Barker talks in her
sleep too and a couple times this week we've had "conversations" in
our sleep, hahahahah! The other night, I was talking in Spanish
(sharing my testimony or something) and she was like "Way to go
Hermana!" I don't know, it's pretty funny and something we laugh
about!
Well, that's pretty much it here in Ecuador! I am glad to hear
everyone doing well and that life is still going on! I am excited to
see what interesting and amazing things will happen this week!
And I'm excited that it 2 more weeks I will be able to call home (I
will send an email to mom with details).
Have a great week ya'll! I love you tons :)
Love,
Hermana Smith
April 18, 2011
¡Buenas Dias Famila! I AM IN CUENCA :)
I don't know if I told you about Cuenca before my mission, but it is
BEAUTIFUL and COLD!!!!!! I had heard great things about Cuenca before
my mission, so I was super excited to hear that I was coming to serve
here! We actually had transfers on Friday instead of today. They were
early because the general authority of the area, Elder Nash, is here
for a conference with us. The missionaries in the south part of the
mission are leaving for Machala this afternoon for the conference
tomorrow. We'll return back to our areas tomorrow night. I'm pretty
excited, mostly to be with other missionaries, be spiritually
uplifted, and take a break from walking a TON!
So in our district meeting this week, we found out that transfers were
going to be early, and that our district leader would call us and let
us know where we are going when he found out. Well, Thursday night at
10:30, I got a call that I was to be at the bus terminal at 730 and
there I would find out where I was going (Hermana Parralas is staying
in Huancavilca). I was super nervous because I had to pack up all my
stuff and have NO IDEA of where I would go or who my companion would
be. While I packed the song "I'll go where you want me to go dear
Lord" kept replaying in my head. I was also reminded of how
"high-maintanance" I am, because I have a TON of stuff and took
FOREVER to pack. I got like 2 hours of sleep.
In the morning, we headed to the terminal where there were tons of
other missionaries waiting to find out where they were going. There I
was told that I was going to Cuenca and my companion is Hermana
Barker. She's great! I met her when I first got to my mission because
she was working in the office as the nurse. She's from Indiana and is
going home in August. She served the first 5 months of her mission
here in Cuenca and then the last three weeks (because one sister
missionary was super sick and had to go home). She knows the area
really well and all the members of the ward. Our area is HUGE!!!!! We
have to take a bus to a lot of areas. For example, Friday afternoons,
we go to an area called Baños, and so when we're there we'll teach our
investigators there or contact. Even though we are taking buses, we
walk a ton. There are tons of hills and it's super muddy because it
rains every day. In Huancavilca we talked a ton, but it was super
flat. Right now my legs are killing!
As I mentioned before, it's kinda cold. I don't know the exact
temperature, but everyday I wear a light sweater and my big jacket.
At night I sleep in sweats, a t-shirt with a sweatshirt, socks, and 3
blankets. Our apartment is big and beautiful. It's supposed to be
for 4 sister missionaries, but at this moment it's just me and Hermana
Barker. There is a family from the ward that lives 3 houses down from
us and the mother washes our clothes (and our garments too because she
is endowed...ah I'm SO glad I don't have to wash them in a bucket
anymore! haha).
As far as teaching goes, we have a good number of investigators,
especially for Cuenca because the people are SUPER Catholic. It's not
uncommon to not have any baptisms in one transfer. Saturday morning
we taught a woman named Jacqueline. She lives like 2 hours away (yes,
in our area). She wants to get baptized and we have a baptismal date
for May 27th. We have it far in advance because she lives far away and
needs to attend church at least 2 times and we need to teach her all
the lessons. We also have the Quituysaka Familia. The father wants
to get baptized and has a strong testimony of the church, but may have
a few things to work our before he gets baptized. I met them last
night and they were awesome! We're hoping for a baptism in May with
them.
That's pretty much about Cuenca. Just a few more things to mention
about my last week in Huancavilca.
Last Monday, Hermana Parralas, Hermana Castillo, Hermana Robison, and
I went to a park with Iguanas. We got permission to leave and visit
because it was the last pday for Hermana Castillo. It was pretty cool
to travel around and visit different parts of Guayaquil.
Julio Espinoza had his interview for baptism, but he doesn't want to
get baptized anymore :( The Sunday before, a Jehovah's witness talked
with him and now Julio doesn't believe in Joseph Smith. Hermana
Parrales and her companion are going to continue to teach him... I
sure hope!!!
We had a family home evening Tuesday night with the Lamota Family and
the Herrera Family. It was so fun! We took tons of pictures and told
jokes (which I didn't understand haha).... I attempted to tell the
joke about the duck and the grapes. It wasn't a total epic fail, but
it worked hahaah.
I got my birthday package this week :) THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM AND
DAD!!!!!!! I also got a birthday card from Lyss and a few other
letters from my friends. I feel terrible that I can't write as much as
I thought I could. Sending letters here is super expensive, like 2 or
3 dollars every letter. What I am going to do is to send a few
letters in one big envelope to the house (with the US stamps you sent
me). Hermana Salmon told me it's cheaper to do it that way.
Well, I think that is pretty much it. I am doing good. My companion
and I get along great. We try to talk as much in Spanish, but it's
such a blessing to be able to communicate, ask what something means,
or for her to explain something.
I've realized how much Spanish I have learned. I talk more and
understand more than I did 6 weeks ago. I still have a LONG way to
go, especially with talking, but I have the faith that the Lord will
help me and that it's the gift of tongues that's allowing me to speak
and understand as much Spanish as I know.
I miss my first area, well mostly the people, NOT the heat! I've been
taking Dad's advice. Every morning I wake up telling my self "The
Lord sent me here for a reason!" and when I go to bed I think of all
the amazing things the Lord let me experience that day.
Hopefully my next email will have more details about the mission work
and less about random details. Look up Cuenca on the internet, it's
seriously so beautiful. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to
serve here and see the beauty of God's creations.
Have a great week everyone! I love you and miss you!
Love Always,
Hermana Smith
I don't know if I told you about Cuenca before my mission, but it is
BEAUTIFUL and COLD!!!!!! I had heard great things about Cuenca before
my mission, so I was super excited to hear that I was coming to serve
here! We actually had transfers on Friday instead of today. They were
early because the general authority of the area, Elder Nash, is here
for a conference with us. The missionaries in the south part of the
mission are leaving for Machala this afternoon for the conference
tomorrow. We'll return back to our areas tomorrow night. I'm pretty
excited, mostly to be with other missionaries, be spiritually
uplifted, and take a break from walking a TON!
So in our district meeting this week, we found out that transfers were
going to be early, and that our district leader would call us and let
us know where we are going when he found out. Well, Thursday night at
10:30, I got a call that I was to be at the bus terminal at 730 and
there I would find out where I was going (Hermana Parralas is staying
in Huancavilca). I was super nervous because I had to pack up all my
stuff and have NO IDEA of where I would go or who my companion would
be. While I packed the song "I'll go where you want me to go dear
Lord" kept replaying in my head. I was also reminded of how
"high-maintanance" I am, because I have a TON of stuff and took
FOREVER to pack. I got like 2 hours of sleep.
In the morning, we headed to the terminal where there were tons of
other missionaries waiting to find out where they were going. There I
was told that I was going to Cuenca and my companion is Hermana
Barker. She's great! I met her when I first got to my mission because
she was working in the office as the nurse. She's from Indiana and is
going home in August. She served the first 5 months of her mission
here in Cuenca and then the last three weeks (because one sister
missionary was super sick and had to go home). She knows the area
really well and all the members of the ward. Our area is HUGE!!!!! We
have to take a bus to a lot of areas. For example, Friday afternoons,
we go to an area called Baños, and so when we're there we'll teach our
investigators there or contact. Even though we are taking buses, we
walk a ton. There are tons of hills and it's super muddy because it
rains every day. In Huancavilca we talked a ton, but it was super
flat. Right now my legs are killing!
As I mentioned before, it's kinda cold. I don't know the exact
temperature, but everyday I wear a light sweater and my big jacket.
At night I sleep in sweats, a t-shirt with a sweatshirt, socks, and 3
blankets. Our apartment is big and beautiful. It's supposed to be
for 4 sister missionaries, but at this moment it's just me and Hermana
Barker. There is a family from the ward that lives 3 houses down from
us and the mother washes our clothes (and our garments too because she
is endowed...ah I'm SO glad I don't have to wash them in a bucket
anymore! haha).
As far as teaching goes, we have a good number of investigators,
especially for Cuenca because the people are SUPER Catholic. It's not
uncommon to not have any baptisms in one transfer. Saturday morning
we taught a woman named Jacqueline. She lives like 2 hours away (yes,
in our area). She wants to get baptized and we have a baptismal date
for May 27th. We have it far in advance because she lives far away and
needs to attend church at least 2 times and we need to teach her all
the lessons. We also have the Quituysaka Familia. The father wants
to get baptized and has a strong testimony of the church, but may have
a few things to work our before he gets baptized. I met them last
night and they were awesome! We're hoping for a baptism in May with
them.
That's pretty much about Cuenca. Just a few more things to mention
about my last week in Huancavilca.
Last Monday, Hermana Parralas, Hermana Castillo, Hermana Robison, and
I went to a park with Iguanas. We got permission to leave and visit
because it was the last pday for Hermana Castillo. It was pretty cool
to travel around and visit different parts of Guayaquil.
Julio Espinoza had his interview for baptism, but he doesn't want to
get baptized anymore :( The Sunday before, a Jehovah's witness talked
with him and now Julio doesn't believe in Joseph Smith. Hermana
Parrales and her companion are going to continue to teach him... I
sure hope!!!
We had a family home evening Tuesday night with the Lamota Family and
the Herrera Family. It was so fun! We took tons of pictures and told
jokes (which I didn't understand haha).... I attempted to tell the
joke about the duck and the grapes. It wasn't a total epic fail, but
it worked hahaah.
I got my birthday package this week :) THANK YOU SO MUCH MOM AND
DAD!!!!!!! I also got a birthday card from Lyss and a few other
letters from my friends. I feel terrible that I can't write as much as
I thought I could. Sending letters here is super expensive, like 2 or
3 dollars every letter. What I am going to do is to send a few
letters in one big envelope to the house (with the US stamps you sent
me). Hermana Salmon told me it's cheaper to do it that way.
Well, I think that is pretty much it. I am doing good. My companion
and I get along great. We try to talk as much in Spanish, but it's
such a blessing to be able to communicate, ask what something means,
or for her to explain something.
I've realized how much Spanish I have learned. I talk more and
understand more than I did 6 weeks ago. I still have a LONG way to
go, especially with talking, but I have the faith that the Lord will
help me and that it's the gift of tongues that's allowing me to speak
and understand as much Spanish as I know.
I miss my first area, well mostly the people, NOT the heat! I've been
taking Dad's advice. Every morning I wake up telling my self "The
Lord sent me here for a reason!" and when I go to bed I think of all
the amazing things the Lord let me experience that day.
Hopefully my next email will have more details about the mission work
and less about random details. Look up Cuenca on the internet, it's
seriously so beautiful. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to
serve here and see the beauty of God's creations.
Have a great week everyone! I love you and miss you!
Love Always,
Hermana Smith
April 11, 2011
Hello family! Another week has come and gone and I am doing well!
This week has been pretty busy. We had a lot of meetings and
interviews this week. We also continue to teach people and try to find
more people to teach. For the past 2 weeks, we've struggled to find
people. We don't have a lot of progressing investigators right now,
but we continue to walk and walk and search and search. It was a
pretty tiring week.
Tuesday we had a zone conference. It was pretty cool to meet together
with a total of 3 zones. It was a little overwhelming and intimidating
because I had to speak in front of EVERYONE two times and I was super
nervous because my Spanish is nowhere near perfect. Zone conferences
are cool because they are motivators to work harder.
Wednesday we had our district meeting. Unfortunately we didn't receive
letters. I can't really say when I exactly receive letters because it
depends on when the missionaries in the office deliver our mail to our
zone leaders. I am hopeful for this week that I receive your letters
and packages.
Friday morning we had interviews with President Montalti. My
interview with him went well. I was a little nervous because it was
in Spanish, but he complimented me on my Spanish and said that my
Spanish is great. It was definitely a confindence boast with the
language.
Saturday was our baptism day! Unfortunately, Bryan was not baptized.
He started school and working this past week. He also moved to a
different house, so it was really difficult to teach him and set up a
baptismal interview. We're preparing him for baptism this Saturday.
Carlos was baptized in the evening. It was late in the evening
because he had work. It was supposed to start at 8, but he was
running late, so we didn't start the program until 8:45. For the
musical number, I sang the primary song that goes "I like to look for
rainbows whenever there is rain..." (I believe it's called when "When
I am Baptized", but I'm not sure haha). Before I started singing, I
told everyone, "Because I can't speak Spanish well, I like to share my
feelings in a song". I felt the spirit so strong as I sang, especially
when I looked at Carlos dressed in all white. I almost started to
cry. After he was baptized, we sang a few hymns while we waited for
him to change. When he came back into the room, he shared his
testimony. Even though I couldn't understand everything he said, he
expressed his gratitude for the chance to be baptized, to be clean,
and to be on a good path. As we left the church building, he had a
HUGE smile on his face. His smile, his testimony, and the spirit I
felt at his baptism were the highlight of my week. This week was
hard, but Carlos' baptism made it all better!!!!!!!
I am sorry I don't have a lot to report this week. This week feels
like it was a dream. In one more week is the next transfer. So, I'll
let you know where I am going next, if I am staying in Huncavilca or
going somewhere else.
I will send pictures to mom with a little bit of information about them :)
I promise I will have more to say next week. I usually organize my
thoughts before and have notes of things to share, but I didn't have
time.
I am glad to hear everything is going well! I miss you guys and am SO
grateful for you!
Have a fabulous week! I love you!
Love,
Hermana Smith
This week has been pretty busy. We had a lot of meetings and
interviews this week. We also continue to teach people and try to find
more people to teach. For the past 2 weeks, we've struggled to find
people. We don't have a lot of progressing investigators right now,
but we continue to walk and walk and search and search. It was a
pretty tiring week.
Tuesday we had a zone conference. It was pretty cool to meet together
with a total of 3 zones. It was a little overwhelming and intimidating
because I had to speak in front of EVERYONE two times and I was super
nervous because my Spanish is nowhere near perfect. Zone conferences
are cool because they are motivators to work harder.
Wednesday we had our district meeting. Unfortunately we didn't receive
letters. I can't really say when I exactly receive letters because it
depends on when the missionaries in the office deliver our mail to our
zone leaders. I am hopeful for this week that I receive your letters
and packages.
Friday morning we had interviews with President Montalti. My
interview with him went well. I was a little nervous because it was
in Spanish, but he complimented me on my Spanish and said that my
Spanish is great. It was definitely a confindence boast with the
language.
Saturday was our baptism day! Unfortunately, Bryan was not baptized.
He started school and working this past week. He also moved to a
different house, so it was really difficult to teach him and set up a
baptismal interview. We're preparing him for baptism this Saturday.
Carlos was baptized in the evening. It was late in the evening
because he had work. It was supposed to start at 8, but he was
running late, so we didn't start the program until 8:45. For the
musical number, I sang the primary song that goes "I like to look for
rainbows whenever there is rain..." (I believe it's called when "When
I am Baptized", but I'm not sure haha). Before I started singing, I
told everyone, "Because I can't speak Spanish well, I like to share my
feelings in a song". I felt the spirit so strong as I sang, especially
when I looked at Carlos dressed in all white. I almost started to
cry. After he was baptized, we sang a few hymns while we waited for
him to change. When he came back into the room, he shared his
testimony. Even though I couldn't understand everything he said, he
expressed his gratitude for the chance to be baptized, to be clean,
and to be on a good path. As we left the church building, he had a
HUGE smile on his face. His smile, his testimony, and the spirit I
felt at his baptism were the highlight of my week. This week was
hard, but Carlos' baptism made it all better!!!!!!!
I am sorry I don't have a lot to report this week. This week feels
like it was a dream. In one more week is the next transfer. So, I'll
let you know where I am going next, if I am staying in Huncavilca or
going somewhere else.
I will send pictures to mom with a little bit of information about them :)
I promise I will have more to say next week. I usually organize my
thoughts before and have notes of things to share, but I didn't have
time.
I am glad to hear everything is going well! I miss you guys and am SO
grateful for you!
Have a fabulous week! I love you!
Love,
Hermana Smith
Monday, April 4, 2011
April 4, 2011
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
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
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