13 Junio 2011

HEY! Buenas Tardes Familia! Once again, another week has flown by!
It's weird to think it's summer time in Phoenix. You're all probably
suffering from the heat while I am trying to stay warm. Don't worry,
soon enough I'll be back in Guayaquil or another part of Ecuador dying
in the heat. This week in Cuenca has been great!! I'll write the same
as last week, because the day-to-day life of Hermana Smith isn't as
exciting anymore, haha.

So Monday, our zone leaders and all the district leaders went to
Guayaquil for a conference/training with President, so we didn't play
ultimate. Hermana Barker and I went to the mall and I bought a new
skirt and a little mini oven! We've been making cookies for our
investigators, the members that help us out, and for ourselves of
course. It's so nice to have this oven and so wonderful to eat
American cookies!

Wednesday we went downtown to teach this lady named Maria. She and
her daughters came to conference the Sunday before. She was a
reference from a member, but is super Catholic and didn't think she'd
come, but she did! We went to visit her to see what she thought of
conference. It was really neat, because we got there and she began
sharing with us that she was working that day and a thought came to
her head "What is the true church? Because there are so many and
Christ only organized one". And that also, her mother-in-law had
invited her to go to a different church this evening, but then we showed
up at Maria's house a couple of minutes before this lady. It was
really cool how the Lord had guided us, how we got to her house just
in time, and how it was an answer to her prayers.

Thursday was the wedding of Israel Infante and Sabrina Guzman.
Sabrina's family has started to reactivate in the church, so
we've been teaching them a lot since I first came to Cuenca. And
through these appointments, we started teaching Israel. One day, a
few weeks ago, he told us he wanted to get baptized. So we set a date
for him and Sabrina to get married (because they have a daughter and
our living together) and for his baptism which will be June 18th. The
wedding was in the afternoon and we just went to the Registro Civil
with their family. It was short and sweet, but all of us were SUPER
happy for them! All their family came in town and they were
dressed up nice. In the evening, we returned to their house, taught a
lesson with their family, and then celebrated with dinner and cake!


However, before we returned back to the The Guzman's house, we went
with Elder Guerro (our new zone leader) and Elder Keables to visit The
Quituysaka Family. They had their baptism date for the 11th, but the
father can't get baptized right now, so the wife and the children told
us that they want to wait to baptized when he can so they can do it
all together. Hermana Barker and I have been praying and fasting for
them and we received the answer that the wife Piedad, and their kids
Erica and William are ready for baptisms. We prepared a lesson
specifically for them and this afternoon was "show time". With the
help from the Holy Ghost and from the Elders. We had a wonderful
lesson!! We talked about how after baptism, they'll receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost and many other blessings. And all of this will
bless their lives and their home. We talked about how they will have
the Spirit in their home and how this Spirit and their examples will
be a help to their father as he prepares to be baptized. In the end,
they accepted to be baptized on the 18th.

Saturday in the afternoon we did divisions, where my companion went
with another sister to teach some lessons and I went with Maritza
Carrillo. This was the 2nd time we had done divisions, but I was
nervous because this time I had to teach a lesson to investigators
(and not to recent converts and less-active members who already know
the truth). We taught this family, Jose and Karena and their
daughters, who we hadn't taught in a while. We taught about the
Restoration, and yes, I struggled to say words correctly, but with the
help of the Holy Ghost and Maritza, I was able to teach and say the
words so that this family could understand. Through this experience,
I learned that even though I have a lot of weaknesses, especially with
Spanish, the Lord is helping me. Because my purpose is to invite
others to come unto Christ and help them to receive the gospel, the
Lord is not going to let me fail.

Saturday evening was the baptism of Francia Bien Aime. Franica is 19
and from Haiti. She came with a group of Haitians to Ecuador over a
year ago to study after the earthquake in Haiti destroyed their
schools. She started taking the lessons after her friend John was
baptized and from the beginning knew that the church was true. Her
baptism was small compared to the last one, but it was super great!
Many of the young single adults from the ward came and the Spirit was
there, what more could you ask for? Hermana Barker and I sang her
favorite song "I Am a Child of God" in both English and Spanish.

Sunday was really great, especially sacrament meeting! Franica
received the gift of the Holy Ghost, Nidia Salinas (who was baptized
on the 28th of May) got up and shared her testimony, and Ivan and
Fernando Muñoz (who were also baptized on the 28th) received the
priesthood and it was announced in Sacrament Meeting. The Spirit
really touched my heart and I began to cry. I have only known these 4
for a little over a month and it's amazing to see how much the gospel
has changed their lives and how their growing in the church.

That's pretty much all that has happened this week. I'm reminded many
times during the week of my purpose and why I am supposed to be here.
The Lord is blessing me and the ones I teach and share the gospel. I
have been thinking a lot about how much I've changed in the last year,
how the Lord has comforted me over and over again, and how I've grown
SO much spiritually. It was about a year ago that I started praying to
Heavenly Father to help me make a decision of what to do with my life.
This last year has been SO amazing and wonderful. I wouldn't change a
thing of anything that has happened this past year.

Well, I need to get going! Have a wonderful week family :) I love you tons!

Love,
Hermana Smith

6 Junio 2011

HEY GUYS! Great news is that I'm still in Cuenca and with Hermana
Barker :) We didn't have transfers until Tuesday/Wednesday. Tuesday
night, we were in bed and falling asleep, when we got a call (after
10:30) from Elder Keables telling us that we were "safe", but that we
were losing 6 Elders from our zone. We were a little sad because a
couple of them have become good friends of ours. But we got some cool
new Elders in our zone, so everything is ok, haha.

So, I was looking at my agenda of what has happened this past week and
I don't think that in this email I will be writing the day to day
update of what happened. I would pretty much say "This day we taught
this person and it was good". Also, yesterday was Stake Conference
and we had the goal of bringing 15 investigators, so most of our week
was teaching the people that we were inviting and making the plans for
them to get to the stake center. So instead of explaining the day by
day of Hermana Smith, I will just tell you the highlights of the
week!!!

Wednesday, we went back out to Sayausi to teach one our investigators,
but she wasn't there. Her cousin said she was there the day before and now
she was with her family (more to come later of what had happened with a kid).
As we were walking to visit another family, we started walking by
these two young woman, named Lala and Jenny, with their young
daughters. We started talking to them about their lives and ended us
teaching them, their aunt, and their cousins at their house. This
lesson was really special because we followed the spirit and taught to
their needs. We taught about the importance and power of prayer, how
Heavenly Father is always listening and ready to help us. Also, how
that if we pray with faith, He will answer our prayers. The lesson
ended with all of us kneeling in prayer as Lala prayed for the help of
the Lord. She ended the prayer and we were all in tears because the
Spirit gave this family the comfort and hope they needed.

Friday we ended up having our District Meeting. The week was a little
crazy with the transfers and conferences of the zone leaders, so we
ended up having it on Friday instead of Tuesday. After our meeting,
we went straight to work...we didn't even go to eat with our mamita
because we had SO much to do and important people to teach. We taught
this woman named Maria. She is the neighbor of Nidia, Ivan, and
Fernando. Funny story of how we met her.... It was about 2 weeks ago
and we were going to teach Nidia, Ivan, and Fernando. We had finished
lunch and started to fast. We started our fast on this hill that
leads to their house. It's pretty secluded, so we said our prayer
together and them seperated for own prayers. As we were praying, Maria
started coming down the hill and scared us. Right then and there she
invited us to teach her. For the past 2 weeks, we've been trying to
teach her, but she either wasn't home or when she could, we couldn't.
So finally, we were able to teach her Friday afternoon. Well it turns
out, this young man that died Tuesday, he had commited suicide and was
the boyfriend of Maria's daughter. Maria was in a lot of pain because
the family of this young man was blaming her for his death. However,
even though she's in a lot of sorrow, she handling this situation
super well and in a very Christ-like way. I was prompted to share
with her a similar experienced I have had, how I handled it, how it
effected my family, and how the gosple of Jesus Christ is what helped
me overcome that experience. I told her that I understood how she
felt and testified that her faith in Jesus Christ will help her handle
this situation with love, patience, and hope.

Saturday morning, we went out to Lentag to visit Jacqueline and start
the recent convert lessons. This lesson was very special because
Jacqueline shared her testimony with us. It was a confirmacion to us
that she was ready to be baptized and was one of God's chosen. Even
though it was a battle and tough fight to get her to make this
decision, it was all part of the plan and what we were supposed to do.
As we were riding down the mountain in a truck, Hermana Barker and I
started talking about the work. She became super sad because her time
as a full-time missionary is coming to an end. We have such an
important purpose. The people we teach have so much trust and belief
in what we say will help their lives. They come to us with their
problems and questions believing that we have the answers. Hermana
Barker is sad that she won't have this same purpose come August. I
don't know, but this really was a realization that I need to make the
best of this next 13 months. I won't be able to do this again and
need to do all that I can to help bring the gospel of Christ to
everyone I meet and know here in Ecuador.

Sunday was stake conference. We were super nervous because our
mission president, President Montalti, was there to speak in the
conference and wanted to meet all of our investigators (this is why we
had the goal of 15 investigators). With a lot of help of the members,
we ended up having 12 and President met them and asked them all to be
baptized. Shortly after, we had a little zone meeting
with President. We were sitting in a circle and he went around asking
every companionship how many investigators they brought. Every
companionship said "1" or "2" with hesitation and then it came to us
and we said "12" with a little embarrasment and President's face
changed to a surprised look. Our zone definitely got the machete from
President, but he left us with a blessing to open our mouths and we
will have success. As we were leaving President came up to me, shook
my hand and said "Hermana Smith, congratulations for your hard work".
It was nice to hear that from President, but I definitely did not feel
relieved....haha, there is still a lot more work to do.

Sunday afternoon/evening, we did divisions with two sisters from the
ward. Hermana Barker went with a young woman named Veronica to teach
our investigators who have baptism dates and I went with the Young
Women's president, Afrania. I was a little nervous because this was
my first time doing divisions and being responsible to lead the
lessons, but the Lord helped me tons!!! We went to teach Maria and
the family I contacted on the bus last Monday, but they weren´t home
:( But we did teach a recent convert lesson to Nidia, Ivan, and
Fernando and it went well. We were only able to teach the first 3
principles of the Restoration, but we talked about how the gospel has
blessed their lives, as a family and individually. They are such a
great family and we (me, Hermana Barker, and Afrania) think Ivan and
Fernando are going to be fabulous members and future missionaries.
It's so great to see them enjoy the gospel and see them grow.

Well, that is pretty much it here in Ecuador. The Lord has really
blessed me with all these experiences and has definitely helped me
express myself and say the words to bring these people the comfort and
joy the gospel brings to everyone. It amazes me to see how much has
happened in the last 5 months. I have learned so much, had great
experiences, and have met such wonderful people. I am so grateful
that I have 13 more months to continue to do the same thing....learn,
grown, meet wonderful people, and share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Have a fabulous week :) I love you tons!

Love,
Hermana Smith

30 Mayo 2011

Buenas Familia!!!! As of right now I am still in Cuenca. We thought
we'd receive the call for transfers last night, but they will probably
be tonight. I really really hate how transfers work... because we have
no idea until we get the call at 10:30pm. If we're told that we are
leaving, we have to pack up ALL our stuff and have to leave to our new
area at 7am. It really sucks. I stress out so bad, because it's the
"fear of the unknown". It's such a test of faith to say "Ok, I will
go where the Lord wants to me go and in the exact moment he tells me
to go". At this moment, I am grateful that I at least get to have a
normal pday and get to spend one last day with my companion and the other
missionaries in our zone. Anyway, enough of the stress, I'll let you
know what else happened this week.

This week was pretty busy, but we weren't able to get a lot done
because we went to Guayaquil and were preparing our investigators for
their baptism. Monday in the evening we just taught the Familia
Salinas-Muñoz and we spent a lot of time with them because we still
had a lot we had to teach them before their baptism Saturday. So that
was all we did that evening.

Tuesday morning we had our district meeting. There we found out that
Elder Richard G. Scott wasn't coming to Guayaquil and that Elder
Gonzalez (one of the area 70) was coming instead. It was quite a
bummer to hear that, because we were super excited and bragging in our
emails every week that we were going to listen to Elder Scott, but we
were excited to be spiritually uplifted and see the rest of the
missionaries in the mission. We also got our zone jackets, which are
pretty cool (pictures soon to come). In the afternoon, we went to
teach the Familia Salina-Muñoz so we could finish the rest of the
lessons they needed, and then Elder Keables came after for their
interviews. It was cute because they were all super nervous for their
interview and it all went totally well. They are a super awesome
family!

Wednesday morning we met at the terminal at 9 and left for Guayaquil
in a minivan (or mini-bus). The "road-trips" with the Elders are
always super fun! We swap stories and watch a couple of movies, and all
in all it's super fun. We got to Guayaquil around 1 and had to wait
in a park for an hour for all the other missionaries to get there so
we could have lunch. OH MY GOSH, it was so hot! Even though I miss the
people in Guayaquil, I do NOT miss the heat. The conference started
at 5... and the funny thing was the North mission sat on one side and
the South mission sat on the other side and we could feel this little
tension of "hmmm.... which of us is better", but it was all good.
Elder Gonzalez gave a good message too. He talked about our purpose
as missionaries, then we had a little demonstration, and then he
closed with questions. After it ended, we had a few minutes to talk
to the other missionaries and then we were off (with a quick stop at
McDonald's). We didn't get home until about 1 in the morning.


So, I had forgotten to mention this the week before, but last Monday,
we got a call from Jacqueline telling us that she couldn't get
baptized on the 28th, but wanted to the next Saturday. We just
accepted it because it's been a struggle for the last month and half
of chosing a day (because she kept changing her mind). But, Thursday
morning we got a call from the zone leaders that said they had called
her, that she had changed to her mind, and that we were going to
Lentag in the afternoon for her interview. This was pretty much all
we did for Thursday because she lives almost 2 hours away and the
interview took forever. But we were so happy because we were going to
have 4 baptisms (which was our goal for the month of May).

Friday we had our weekly planning session in the morning and then in
the afternoon we went to Sayausi to contact all the
references/contacts we had received from the activity on the 30th of
April. We just had no time this month to go and we finally had time
to go visit them. We taught women named Nancy and Gladys and they are
really interested and we believe our message and the gospel is going
to help their lives.

Saturday was such a crazy day! We were running all over the place to
get the baptism clothes, teaching lessons, filling the font, getting
food and drinks, and getting the investigators to the baptism! It was
SO stressful, but it all got done and it was a great service.
Jacqueline Tirado, Nidia Salinas, Ivan Muñoz, and Fernando Muñoz were
all baptized and there were more the 35 people at the service. They
were all super happy and I was super happy that I was practically
dancing all over the place. This evening was definitely one of the
highlights of my mission thus far!


Sunday was a little crazy too, because the Familia Salinas-Muñoz
almost didn't make it to sacrament meeting. They lost the keys and
had troubles getting a taxi and they came super late. Hermana Barker
and I were freaking out because they almost didn't get confirmed.But they got
there after the sacrament and were confirmed. Nidia's blessing was
super awesome too. It said that her decision to be baptized will be a
blessing in generations to come and that her descendants will praise
her name. Then, in the evening we went and taught them about the
priesthood. Ivan and Fernando are preparing themselves to receive the
priesthood and should be passing the sacrament soon!!!!!

This week was really great! Not many things happened like normal, but
we really focused our time in the ones who were getting baptized and
we had success. Hermana Barker and I are super happy and are
continuing to work hard and prepare the other 8 (and hopefully more)
for their baptisms in June!

Today we played Ultimate Frisbee with the Elders, but this time it was
in the mud and rain!!!!!! It's been raining for the past couple of days,
but we didn't care, we wanted to play! It was super fun! We got
super dirty and were sliding and falling a ton, but we had fun! I am
getting better and the Elders are passing the frisbee to me. After,
we left to go eat at a buffet for $3. We ended up getting on a bus
that was super packed and I ended up sitting next to woman, who had
her two children sitting in front of her. I had full on conversation
with her about her family, work, and life. She teaches Kindergarten,
so we talked a lot about how I want to do the same thing. To make
this long story short, I got her number and address and we're going to
teach her and her family this week. Now, I don't know what will come
of this, but this was the first time I've ever contacted someone ALL
by myself. Mom told me in her email today that I haven't said
anything about struggling with Spanish in awhile. The truth is, yes I
am still struggling and it's super frustrating at times, but I'm
learning and talking more and it's amazing HOW MUCH the Lord is
helping me. I still have A LOT more to learn, but the good thing I
have 13/14 months left. As we ended this transfer, I added up all my
numbers thus far.... I have taught 216 lessons and had 5 baptisms.
Just shows how much work has to be done to help bring someone unto
Christ through baptism. And even though I have taught 216 lessons, I
still have to practice because I struggle with it. For my personal
study today, I was working on a lesson plan for the Restoration and
was working on the first principle that God is our Heavenly Father.
This is pretty much all I studied and worked on, and it was confirmed
to me how much love He has for me and all his children. It brought me
to tears. And it makes me so sad that so many people don't know how
much love He has for them and it's my responsibility to teach all the
people I come in contact with to let them know the love he has for
them. I just hope that I can do and convey it well enough with my weak
Spanish to the people of Ecuador.


Well, that's pretty much. Next week for sure ya'll will know if I'm
still in Cuenca or not. I sure hope so because I love it. I feel
like my purpose here isn't over, but we'll see if the Lord has another
plan for me!

Have a fabulous week! I love you all :) And I'm glad you are all safe,
healthy, and happy!

Remember Heavenly Father loves you MORE than you can IMAGINE!!!!

Love,
Hermana Smith

23 Mayo 2011

Buenas Tardes Familia :) ¿Como estan? I'm doing really great! The days
are flying and we're in the last week of the transfer, which is super
crazy! I feel like I just got here, but also feel like I've been here
for awhile too. Anyway, here is what has gone on this week...

Monday after emailing, we went home and showered, and then went out to
teach our investigators who have baptismal dates. That's pretty much
it that happened the rest of that day.

Tuesday morning we had our district meeting and we had mail :D I got
my Easter package and a lot of letters that were sent back in the
beginning of April. This mail process sucks, but at least I'm getting
what is being sent, right? After our meeting, Hermana Barker and I
decided to splurge a little for lunch (because we've been working
really hard and we don't have a mamita on Tuesdays), so we went to
Pizza Hut and it was delicious. We read our letters and shared all
the crazy stuff that is happening with our friends. I think we got a
little trunkie for like 2 seconds, but then started talking about the
work that we're doing and we were fine, haha. In the evening we were
able to teach Valeria and Karla Tacuri, and Silvia and Michelle
Arevalo. All of them accepted a baptism date for the 28th, but
something happened and they weren't able to attend church the Sunday
before. And because of this, they can't get baptized on the 28th
because they have to attend sacrament meeting at least 2 times before.
The lesson was great! The spirit was strong and we were able to
answer all their questions. They still have desires to be baptized,
but we're going to wait a little bit longer to put a baptismal date
with them. We also found out that Silvia is not married. Her fiance
lives in New York, but when he comes back in August they'll get
married and then she can get baptized. It's a little sad because
Silvia has the strongest testimony and desire to be baptized of all of
them, but she has to wait until she's married. Her daughter Michelle,
will get baptized though once she attends church 2 times.

Wednesday morning we went and contacted. We haven't been able to find
a lot of new people to teach because we've been teaching all our
investigators who are progressing and have baptismal dates. It's
super stressful because we have so much we have to do and we just
aren't able to do it all. It wasn't a super successful morning of
contacting, but we have a few people we plan on visiting and teaching.
In the afternoon, we went to go teach the Salinas-Muñoz family, but
we ended up being super late and they weren't there. So we thought,
well let's just contact. However, we were a little nervous to contact
because the area we were in there are a lot of wealthy people, but the
second door we knocked on, a young woman with her 2 kids walked out
and invited us in. We didn't even say we were missionaries. We just
smiled and said Good Afternoon and she asked if we'd like to come in.
We taught her and her kids and we have an appointment with her and
husband tonight! In the evening, we went downtown to teach Isreal (the
boyfriend of Sabrina Guzman who we have been visiting her family and
now they are reactivating in the church). We have taught him a little
bit. At first he was interested and then started avoiding us, but
then became interested again and has been reading the Book of Mormon.
We had to wait for him a little, but when he came in he was like "I'm
sorry, I don't have a lot of time, but I want to get married to
Sabrina (the have 3-year-old daughter) and I want to baptized". So we
set dates for them... they'll get married on the 2nd of June and he'll
get baptized on the 18th (maybe the 11th).

Thursday morning we woke up and we didn't have water, because the
owner of our apartment is doing some construction and rebuilding
something new for the apartment below (I don't know, I was a little
confused). So our day started late, because we had to wait until they
were done and we had our running water back. However, in the
afternoon, we went with Elder Keables, his companion, and one of our
zone leaders Elder Solano to visit the Salinas-Muñoz family. They had
a baptismal date for the 11th with their family (the Quituysaka
family), but they are able to be baptized on the 28th. We were a
little nervous because the plan for this visit was to change their
baptism date. Hermana Barker and I had fasted the day before for just
this, but still we were super nervous. However, the lesson went super
well! It was a little struggle at first to show them they are ready to
be baptized on the 28th, but they accepted and they are excited!!!
Nidia expressed to all of us that she is so much happier and is sad
the days that we don't come to teach her family. I seriously love this
family so much and am so excited for them!

Friday morning we had our weekly planning session, and then in the
afternoon we went to Lentag to teach Jacqueline. We finished the last
lesson with her, so she is already to be a baptized, but she still has
a little fear. She's funny because one day she's super excited for
her baptism and then the next she'll call us and tell us about her
worries. She is set to be baptized on the 28th also, but we will see
what happens!

Funny story that happened after the lesson with Jacqueline. We were
waiting at the bus stop, and by the bus stop there was a community
party. The people were so nice and offered us food. They gave us
each a tamale and some coffee, then the bus came. The bus driver was
driving super fast and all over the place and it was super dark and we
couldn't see anything on the bus. We tried to throw out the coffee in
the bathroom, but as I opened the bathroom door, we turned a corner
and it shut and I couldn't open it again. We ended up tossing the
coffee out the window haha. However, the coffee had spilled all over
Hermana Barker's tamale, so she didn't it eat, but I finished mine.

Then Saturday morning I woke up SICK and I think it was from this
stupid tamale because Hermana Barker was totally fine. I was almost
in tears because we had so much to do and I was in no condition to
leave the house. But after some time in the bathroom, resting, prayer,
and some medicine, I was fine and we were able to go out and teach in
the afternoon. In the evening, my companion, me, and 4 of our
investigators went to the baptism of some Elders in our zone. It was
really great and think all of them are excited for their own baptisms
:)

Sunday was great too! It wasn't as eventful as the last 2 Sundays have
been though. Church was great though, we only had 8 investigators in
sacrament meeting because the Quituysaka family is sick, so we
should've had more, but I think all of them had a great experience!
In the early evening, we had another appointment with Ximena (the one
who's boyfriend is a member and she's going to school and is super
busy). Well we taught her about baptism and set a date for the 25th
of June. By this date she'll be done with school and have attended
church 2 times. She said yes and she is excited! Her boyfriend is
awesome too and will help her a lot.

Last night as Hermana Barker and I were walking home, we started
talking about how much the Lord has blessed us. We have 12 people
with baptismal dates which is a miracle here in Cuenca. We are
working hard and the Lord is just putting these amazing people in our
paths. We're super happy too that we're proving to President that
Cuenca is a great place too. Even though the transfer is next week,
we're really hoping that we can stay together and continue having
success the next transfer. I'll let you know next week what happens!

That's pretty much it! Today we played Ultimate Frisbee again with
the Elders and then after we went to a Mexican Restaurant to eat food.
It was a lot of fun! The Elders are hilarious and we always have a
great time together! Except for now the pday is almost over! AHHH!

Seems like this next week is going to be a busy one for all of us! We
go to Guayaquil Wednesday to hear Elder Richard G. Scott. We have our
baptism interviews and the baptism on Saturday. And tons of other
stuff to do! We're stressed and don't know if we can do it all! But
we're going to try!

I hope you all have a fabulous and wonderful week! CONGRATS A.J. on
completing high school! Have a great graduation week!

I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!

Love,
Hermana Smith

16 Mayo 2011

Wow famila, the days are FLYING!!!! It's probably because we've been
super busy and working hard. Hermana Barker and I have been sick with
colds this week, but we're enduring to the end and working working
working...well, resting a little when we have time which hasn't been a
lot....BUT it's been paying off! Let me tell you about our week...

Monday was SUPER awesome, because it was the first real pday that I
had had in a long time! We cleaned the house, wrote letters, rested,
bought our groceries, etc. In the evening we had some good lessons.
One funny story about Monday... we taught Jose and Karena (they went
to church the Sunday before and they're pretty receptive to our
message). But, they were asking me what my name Smith meant in
Spanish. I explained to them that it is my last name and that there
was no exact meaning in Spanish. Karena turns to Jose and says "Let's
name our next son after her, we like the name Smith for a boy".
Hmmm....bueno... looks like there will be a little chiquetito named
Smith walking around Ecuador in the future!

Tuesday in the morning we had another lesson with Nelly again and
Hermana Arteaga (our neighbor who is a member) joined us. And once
again, the spirit was super strong. In the end, Nelly was in tears
and so grateful for this new knowledge she has of God and the
restoration. The challenge with her is that her husband is not
supportive of the church because their family is Catholic. We are
hoping and praying that one day he will be supportive. We are
planning on putting a baptismal date with her and her kids in June.

In the evening we had another lesson with Richard Guzman who had the
baptismal date of the 21st, but his mom won't give him permission to
be baptized because their family is Catholic (yes, there are SO many
Catholics here in Cuenca). So we'll probably visit him and his family
every once in awhile.

Wednesday in the evening we had a lesson with Valeria and Karla Tacuri
and their neighbor Silvia, and her daughter Michelle (We taught them
the Sunday before and they were very interested and Silvia had told us
that she believes Joseph Smith was a prophet). The lesson was SUPER
awesome! We read in 2 Nephi 31 and talked about baptism and they were
super receptive and understanding the importance of baptism. We asked
them to be baptized on the 28th and they said YES!

Thursday we taught Familia Salinas again (this was the family that we
visited the Sunday before between my phone calls). This was actually
the 3rd time we taught them this week because the love learning and
want to get baptized. Lidia, the mother, is going through a divorce,
and the husband is HORRIBLE! But they've seen the blessings and
changes in their family members (Familia Quituysaka who were are also
teaching) and in themselves. Lidia's neighbors and friends have been
coming to listen to the lessons too, but their husbands are not
supportive of it.... Gosh, there really are horrible men here in
Ecuador!

Friday we had our weekly planning session and then in the afternoon we
went to visit Jacqueline in Lenta (2 hours away). This lesson was a
bit of struggle, because we had intentions of moving her baptism date
up to the 21st because she's had all the lessons and is ready, but
when we got there she shared with us that she has all these fears and
how her family isn't supportive and how she wants to wait until she
feels 100% for sure about baptism. We told her that she wouldn't feel
100% for sure about baptism and that she is going to receive SO many
blessings after her baptism. We also testified that the gift of the
Holy Ghost is going to help her so much in her life.

Saturday we had some pretty good lessons also. We taught Julia; she's
been an investigator for 8 or 9 monthes, but can't get baptized
because she's not married and is from Peru. BUT, her and her husband
are going to Peru in the beginning of June to get married! So we put a
baptismal date with her for the 18th of June!

Sunday we had a stake activity called "A Day like a Missionary" which
meant that members of the church would help us out. We'd do divisions
so we could teach more lessons. So we met at the stake center at 7am
and of course it was ALL boys and no girls to help the sister
missionaries. We were a little upset because we thought we'd have
help so we could pick up all our investigators, but we had to do it
ourselves. We had to walk a TON and FAST...ALL over the place to pick
up our investigators and NONE of them were there. We went to pick up
Valeria, Karla, Silvia, and Michelle, but they weren't home and we
don't know why because they said they would come. And then we didn't
have time to go pick up Ana Jimenez (another investigator). We got to
church late and the Familia Salinas wasn't there, only the Familia
Quituysaka, Jacqueline, and Julia. We were pretty bummed because we
thought that we were going to have 13 investigators in Sacrament
Meeting.

But then the sun started to shine... A 24-year-old girl named Indira
showed up to Relief Society and said "I'm sorry, I was supposed to
meet you at the stake center in the morning, but I wasn't feeling
good. But, I am here now, I want to help, because I just put in my
mission papers and am preparing to leave" ...and she had a car! We
taught Jacqueline after church and it was great! We answered all her
questions and calmed her fears (at least for now) and we planned her
baptism with her for the 28th!.

After this lesson, we went with Indira to lunch, and then after we
taught this girl named Francia. The Elders in a different ward were
teaching her, but she just moved into our sector, so we had our first
lesson with her. She's 19 and from Haiti. She doesn't speak a lot of
Spanish, but believes the church is true and wants to be baptized.
She hasn't come to church yet (she needs to attend at least 2 times),
so her baptismal date is for the 11th of June.

Then, we went and taught this girl named Ximena. She's dating a
member of our ward and wants to take the lessons. Right now she is
studying in school and can't attend sacrament meetings on Sundays
because she has class, but her semester ends in June and then she can
start coming to church. We asked her to pray about being baptized in
the middle of June. We are planning on teaching her this next Sunday
and putting a baptismal date with her.

Indira dropped us off at the church and we hustled over to visit
Familia Salinas and Familia Quituysaka. We were in such a hurry and
we ended up having to walk a ton to get to their house. When we got
there they said "Teach us about baptism!" (because that was the lesson
in Sunday School, but famalia Salinas wasn't there because we found
out that they accidentally slept in....). But anyway, they told us,
also, that they want to be baptized!!!!!! We put a baptismal date with
ALL of them (7 in total) for the 11th of June! BUT with Lidia and her
two teenage sons we're going to try and move their date to the 28th of
May because they are ready and we found out that they don't need the
permission of their father (this is why we said the 11th of June with
them).

AHHHH... this week was awesome! Even though we were/are sick, we
worked SUPER hard and we had a lot of success! Right now we have 10
baptismal dates (and hopefully a few more after tonight). Hermana
Barker received a personal email from President today congratulating
us on having 11 investigators in Sacrament Meeting the week before. He
told us we need to have more baptismal dates than 3 (what we had the
week before) and have at least 20 lessons each week. Well this past
week, we had 10 and taught 24 lessons! We have this goal of showing him
that we can have just as much success and baptisms as the missionaries in
Guayaquil(because Cuenca is a lot harder). In this last week, every time we've called our district leader to update him on our numbers, he's told us that
we our the idols of the missionaries here in Cuenca! I'm hoping that because
of our hard work, I'll be able to stay here for the next transfer or
more and be here for all these baptisms we will have!

Well, that's pretty much it on this side of the world! Today we played
ultimate frisbee with with Elders and it was super fun! I SUCK and
they were definitely not passing it to me BUT I caught the winning
goal/point which was AWESOME!!!!!! My team ran together and started
jumping and hugging, without me of course because I was the only
sister missionary on our team. They were like "We're sorry Hermana
Smith that you can't be apart of this hug, but way to
go!!!!!"....hahahaha! Oh the life of a sister missionary!

I'm glad everything is going well with you guys! Thanks for your
letters and love :) I hoping mail comes this week, because it's been
FOREVER since we've gotten it!

I LOVE YOU!!!! Have a great week!

Love,
Hermana Smith

May 9, 2011

¡Buenas Dias Familia! It feels like I just talked to you
yesterday...wait, I DID talk to you yesterday and it was so great :)
I was happy that we were able to have time to finish our phone call in
the evening, because I was super sad that we weren't able to for the
full hour at first. I'm sure it was a surprise when I called again,
hahaha.

Well, anyway, even though we talked on the phone for a good amount of
time, I wasn't able to let you know what has gone on this week. So
here we go....

Last Monday after writing emails we had to RUSH home to grab our stuff
and head to the bus terminal to leave for Guayaquil. We were freaking
out that we wouldn't make it in time, but we got there with about 40
minutes to wait until our bus left. We got to the temple in the early
evening. We had time to walk around the temple, chat with all the
other missionaries, and then had a Family Home Evening. Even though
this temple visit/training with President was for all the new
missionaries, it was only the missionaries from the south part of the
mission. The new missionaries serving in Guayaquil went to the temple
the day after us. We ended the night pretty early and headed to our
rooms (we stayed in the hotel right next to the temple) and went to
bed early because we were all exhausted.

Tuesday morning we went to the 8am endowment session in the temple.
It was sooooo good! I really love the calm and peaceful feeling in the
temple. It's not that often I get a moment to relax and "take in" the
spirit. And unlike the sessions I did in Peru, I did not have a
translator head set, so it was all in Spanish....but I practically
understood everything, which was great! After the session, we had a
late breakfast in the temple and then had a conference with President.
We talked a lot about our weekly and nightly planning sessions and
how we can better plan, so we can have more success. I learned a lot
and this time, didn't epically fail when I talked in front of
everyone. After our training, we quickly ate lunch and headed off to
the terminal to go back to Cuenca. We stopped by a church store by
the temple and I bought a ton of church DVDs for super cheap. When we
were on the bus, we asked the bus driver if we could put in one of our
DVDs and he said yes! So we watched the Joseph Smith movie. Kinda
funny because all of us missionaries were excited thinking we'd get
some references or new investigators, but nope, practically everyone
fell asleep and the only ones watching the movie were us
missionaries....hahaha. We got home right before 9 and planned for
the next day.

Wednesday was a pretty good day, especially in regards to my Spanish.
We didn't teach tons of lessons because we had to go visit and teach
Jacqueline (who lives 2 hours away and has a baptism date), but in
every lesson, when I spoke, I didn't have troubles (well not like
usual). I had prayed for the Lord to help so I could communicate and
had tons of faith that he would help me, and he did. My companion
even was like "You're talking a lot more today" and I responded "It's
definitely not me, it's the help of the Lord"

Thursday we had our district meeting. Our district leader Elder
Keables asked Hermana Barker and I to teach a 15 minute lesson. Phew,
that was a bit of a struggle... I was talking and everybody was just
staring at me and patiently listening and trying to understand me. I
don't know, it's kind of a funny mental picture...but I'm glad it's
over. In the evening we went downtown to teach the grandson of the
Guzman family. His name is Richard, he's 10, and went to church with
them the Sunday before. We taught him about baptism and committed him
to baptized on the 21st of May and he said yes!

Friday we had our weekly planning session. We planned REALLY well and
actually planned for a lot longer than we had time for. I'm really
excited to see the results of this coming week because we seriously
planned super well and we are going have a busy and hopefully
successful week. In the afternoon, we had a mini zone conference in
the stake center with the mission president (for some reason, I've
been having a lot of conferences with him). This conference was good,
because the stake president was there and he talked a lot about the
help we can get from the members, and then President Montalti talked
about how we have to apply the Atonement in our lives still because
we're imperfect and need to better ourselves.

Saturday morning we went downtown to teach this family that was a
reference from a member. She owns a bakery, so after the lesson we
helped her make some bread, which was pretty cool. Except, I can't
roll bread the right way :( Saturday night we had a lesson with Nelly
and her kids. Elder Keables came with us too. It was really good.
The frustrating part was that I had prepared for this lesson, I
studied it in the morning, practiced with Hermana Barker, but then we
were there, I stumbled over my words but couldn't speak. It was like
preparing for a big performance and then getting stage freight....ugh!
But as the lesson continued, it got better. We asked them to be
baptized on the 21st and they want to be baptized, but their dad
doesn't support it. I was then prompted to share the story about one
of my best friends who got baptized and her parents didn't support the
decision. I told the story and shared how happy she is now because
she has the companionship of the Holy Ghost and I promised them the
same happiness and peace. I didn't tell the story as well as I
would've liked because my Spanish was limited, but as we left, Elder
Keables told me that my story was powerful and that I as told it the
spirit was strong.

Sunday was an adventure....oh my gosh. At 6:15 in the morning we
received a call from one of our old investigators (Familia
Quituysaka). We had stopped teaching them because they weren't coming
to church and not keeping their commitments, but the mother asked when
church started and told us their family was coming! Before sacrament
meeting, we did divisions, meaning my companion and I separated with
members and we went to pick up our investigators to come to church. I
was little nervous because I don't know our area super well and that I
would have to keep a conversation going, but I did it. We had 11
investigators in Sacrament meeting, which is the most there have been
thus far in my mission. Familia Quituysaka also brought their
extended family (the sister of the mother and some of her kids).
Lydia, the sister of Hermana Quituysaka, told us that she wants to be
taught the lessons, so we had set up an appointment for 630 and to
have a ward member come with us.

Well, after lunch we went to teach this 18-year-old girl named Valeria
who we had contacted on the street. This is a long story, but to make
it short, we ended up teaching her, her sister Karla, and her neighbor
Silvia and Silvia's daughter Michelle. Silvia told us that she had
met with the missionaries a few years ago and liked it. We taught the
Restoration and Silvia told us that she believes that Joseph Smith was
a prophet and restored the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They all said that
they would get baptized after they prayed and received the answer.
When this happens, they'll get baptized on the 28th of May.

After this, I called you guys :) I was so upset that the cabina we
were in only had one phone for international calls, so we only talked
for 25 minutes. Right before we left to teach Lydia, Hermana Barker
ended her phone call with her family and decided that we'd call our
families again after this appointment because we didn't get to talk
for a whole hour. We rushed to this appointment. We went with 2 ward
members in a truck, but when we got to the house of Familia
Quituysaka, Lydia wasn't there. We got the directions for her house,
but as we started leaving, the truck we were in got stuck. We had to
find help and ended up having these drunk men help us. Then we
struggled to find the house, but ended up finding a neighbor of Lydia
who wants to be taught. Once we FINALLY found Lydia's house, we ended
up teaching her, her kids, another neighbor of hers (who she invited
to hear our message), and Familia Quituysaka. The lesson was awesome
and we're going to teach them some more this week.

When we finally got near our house, we found a cabina that was open
and that had 2 phones to call internationally!!!!!!!!!!! Dad sure was
surprised to hear I was calling again, but it was great to talk to you
guys again and finish our hour phone call. Thank you for letting me
"eat dinner" with you guys. After the phone call, we rushed home and
called in to report our numbers. When we told Elder Keables that we
had 11 investigators in sacrament meeting and 17 new investigators
this week he responded "Shut up!!!!". It was truly a miracle that we
had this many people. The Lord has really blessed us for our hard
work and diligence. This week we are planning to put baptismal dates
with these investigators!

Well, I need to get going... I've spent forever writing this email,
but Ï wanted to share all these cool experiences and stories.

I hope you all have a fabulous week! I'm thinking of you and praying
for you! I love you :)

Love,
Hermana Smith

May 2, 2011

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