Hey Guys!
It was good to hear from you guys and read your
letters. It sounds like everyone is doing great and having fun. I
am with you guys - I can't believe it is December. It is really weird to
me that 6 months have gone by. It has been fast, and I have learned a lot
from the time I entered the MTC until now. It is kind of weird sometimes
because you always looked up to missionaries and always wanted to be one, but
now I am in the shoes of them, and it is strange. I love the work and how
big of a testimony builder it is. I have learned quite a lot in just 6
months. My love for the Savior has definitely grown. He truly loves
us, just like our Heavenly Father. He has atoned for each one of us and
dropped drops of blood for us. He wants the best for each one of us and
wants us to do good, to follow his example, and become like him. I
am really grateful for him and you guys. I miss you guys a lot this
Holiday Season. I see the lights and wish I was celebrating it at
home. But I am out here for a reason, and I am here to help the Lord in
his work. It is tough but you just got to push through it, and when you
have tried and tried, God will come and get you and pull you the rest of the
way through. I know he will.
This week was a pretty good week. Better than last
week, that’s for sure. You’re not always going to have blue skies on your
mission, and you just work through it. We found or have a new
investigator who is pretty awesome. I don't know if I told you about the
lady who we have been doing service for, her name is Gracie. We had a
lesson with her this week, and it was super awesome. We taught her Lesson
1, and her son was there listening as well. It was definitely a spiritual
lesson and the spirit was there so strong. I never really realized how
awesome Joseph Smith's First Vision was till the mission. It is something
so beautiful, and always the spirit is there when we share it. It is also
funny what I have been noticing when you’re about ready to share it.
Satan always tries to stop it or make it noisy so it can't be told. He
knows he can't just attack the lesson - he has to go through other means of
doing it. Whenever we share it something noisy or disruptive
happens. When we shared it, since we were outside because we couldn't go
inside because of the gender rule, and no members could come out with us, dogs
were barking, and it was just nuts. But it calmed down, and it was super
awesome. She was crying because of it, and it was super neat. We
asked them to be baptized, and they said yes. Next time we are going to
give them a date. What put a damper on this is that she promised that she
and her son would come to church, but they never showed up. We texted
them to remind them, and they said they would come for the second hour, but
they never showed up. It was upsetting but whatever. We are currently trying to find more people
through area booking, and we are trying to see the former investigators.
Oh ya, also my Thanksgiving was pretty good. Not as
good as home, but that’s ok. We had Thanksgiving with a member, and we
had just the usual. Mashed potatoes (that were not as good as mom’s),
turkey with chili salsa on it (which turned out to be really good), bread,
jalapeno poppers, and a pumpkin cheesecake. It was a good Thanksgiving,
but I didn't stuff myself like home. I missed mother’s cooking big time,
and it’s going to be a treat when I have it again or any one of her amazing
meals.
Jesus Luna is also doing really good as well. I deeply
love that man, and it doesn’t matter if he doesn't get baptized. I truly
want him to, and I think he will, but we have brought him closer to Christ and
we are his friend. I don't care if I only get one baptism, all I care is
that I make friendships and bring souls closer to Christ. It is my goal
to get them baptized, but if it doesn't happen you shouldn't get super
sad. You did your part, and they chose which path to ultimately take in
their life. All our other investigators are doing pretty good as well,
and that was mostly who we focused on this week. And that was pretty much
my week.
It sounds like everything is good at home, and I truly miss
it there. I wish I could be watching the Christmas Vacation or some kind
of Christmas movie with you guys right now. My Spanish isn't the best,
and I swear I am not improving at all. It is really kicking my butt at
times, but I just keep my frustrations inside. My companion is kind of
annoying when it comes to my Spanish. He is the kind of person that reads
textbooks and can just get it. His Spanish is so good because all he has
done is memorized verbs and what it says in the book. I can't do
that. He corrects my Spanish every time I speak a word of Spanish.
People understand me, but he tells me we need to work on it because that’s not
how you should say it. It is how I say it and what makes the most sense
to me at the time. Also when I read scriptures he has to stop me and make
sure I say every single word absolutely correct. It bugs me, and I full
understand that every word is important in Spanish, but I am not that good
yet. It gets me frustrated, and I want to say “stop”, but I just keep my
cool and tell him “thanks” and correct my mistakes. It is such a hard
language, and any other language besides English (I am not even truly good at
English) is super hard for my brain to take in. I can't just read
textbooks and words. It is not how I
learn. I have told my companion that,
and he is just like, “Well - you have to get your brain to do that,” and I am
like, “I am trying.” It is such a hard language, but I know it will come
sometime. I am meant to speak Spanish,
and God wouldn't give me a trial if there wasn't a way out of it. But
sorry about my rant. Thanks for all your letters. Also could you
send me a nice case for my Jesus the Christ? I love the book and want to
keep it in something nice. Also, maybe a Spanish dictionary with pictures
and the word you say for the picture. Like it would have a table, and it
points to it and says it is a mesa. I don't know if would help me, but I
guess I could try it. Maybe you guys have suggestions for my
Spanish. All of you have all gone through learning a language, and I need
some help. Thanks for all your prayers, and you’re in my prayers. I
hope your week is awesome and Scott’s birthday is sweet!! Have a great week. I love you guys tons!
Con Mucho Amor,
-Elder Smith
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