December 16, 2014

Hey Family!

Another week has flown by and life has been crazy out here.  Transfers came and went this week.  I got a new companion this week as well, and that was awesome.  We have been pretty busy this week with a lot of things.  I feel like life has sped up, and it has been just crazy.  I have been really tried lately but that is okay.  I think is because of stress and just being worn down.  I think every day of the mission is tiring.  I don’t think there has been a day that I haven’t been tried, but I sure do love it.   We had a really good, kind of crazy, and a little bit of a hard week.  But it was a great week.  I sure do love ABQ.

My new companion is Elder Chamberlain from Holladay, Utah.  He went to Olympus with me, and I knew of him.  He was a swimmer and a water polo player.  He is a super cool guy, and I really enjoy being around him.  He is showing the ropes of being a ZL right now, and that is awesome.  We had to do a lot of reports this week, and that was crazy.  We had SMCM meeting this week with the Stake, and so we had to type up all these reports for the Zone and present it to the Stake President and his councilors.  It was a little crazy and took some time, but we did it!  The meeting went really well, and the Stake is happy with the work that has been going on right now.  We also had to drive down to Socorro on Tuesday.  It is like a 1 hour drive from us, and it was a crazy drive.  We had to bring an Elder that was supposed to be dropped off there on the way up from El Paso, but he ended up not being dropped off.  We had to pick him up and then drive our night away down to Socorro.  It was a gnarly drive, but we got to see some of the Elders in our Zone so it was cool.  We have a super big Zone.  It is the biggest Zone geographically in the mission.  We have Elders 2 hours away from us on a reservation.  It is kind of nice to have a big Zone and have a lot of missionaries.  We are working hard and trying to change this Zone around.

Our investigators are doing pretty well.  Magda, Osvaldo, and Tanya are still on date for the 17^th of January, and I am really hoping they will make their date.  I know they want to, and they are striving for it, but it’s been kind of a struggle.  Osvaldo has moved in, and they aren’t married yet.  I am just hoping everything will work out, and we will get them in the water in January.  I love that family to death.  Jesus, another one of our investigators, is doing well.  I think I wrote about him a while ago but I am not really sure.  We had an awesome lesson with him and his wife.  He is definitely prepared for the Gospel, and he is trying to find something better for his life.  He is a super cool guy, and he accepted a soft baptism invite this week.  His wife is still trying to decide whether it’s for her or not.  I know we will be able to get him and his wife baptized.  We still haven’t seen Jamyll yet.  We had an appointment with him and his dad this week, but when we showed up Jamyll wasn’t there.  His dad apologized because he spaced it and sent him to the movie theater.  We ended up sharing a thought with him and his mom and it went really well.  We have an appointment with Jamyll tonight, and we are hoping it goes well.  Other than that we haven’t had too much success with our other investigators.

 Our less actives are doing well, and we had a lot of success with them this week.  I don’t know what Elder Chamberlain has, but a bunch of less actives just poured their soul out to us this week, and that was cool.  Hna Trujillo told us how she was having problems with her husband because he is drunk and is debating whether to leave him or not.  We did a fast together, and we went back to follow up with it, and they took off to Mexico because her Grandma died.  So they went to go take care of that.  We are really making progress with them, and it is awesome to see that happen.   We are just crossing our fingers that they finally come back and are active again.  Aaron is showing signs of improvement as well.  I have notice a change in his soul.  I don’t know if it is because he is drinking tons right now and is just happy all the time, or if he stopped it and has the Holy Ghost with him and the Light of Christ.  He has been much happier and just full of life.  The past couple of weeks he was different and not happy.  He seemed to not care as much and just didn’t want to talk.  Lately, he is laughing and having fun with us.  He is just different, and I love it.  We fasted with him as well, and he committed to do it.  The day he was fasting he was able to find a job, and that was awesome.  He called us the night he was fasting and told us how he found a job and asked if he could eat.  We told him he could because it was like 6, and he was happy.  He was also super happy because it was the first time he really fasted.  It was awesome to see that happen to him.   We went over Sunday to chill with him, and he was talking to us about the fast.   He told us how when his mom and sister started making food he went to his room and locked himself in and didn’t come out till 6.  He told us how he fought his hunger by writing down all the things he was fasting for on a paper.  He really changed from fasting, and it was awesome to see that happen.   There is light for him, and he is now changing.  It is awesome to see.

That was my week for you in a nutshell.  We worked hard this week, and it paid off.  We were kind of busy, so that was a little crazy and hard to work sometimes.  We are trying to carol as much as possible right now, but it’s sometimes a little hard with everything we have going on.  I sure love it here in ABQ, and dad you should be coming down to the game this week!  It’s like 15 minutes away from my place!  I love ABQ that is for sure.

This week, or sometime, I need you to make me a Skype account and also for you guys.  I am going to be Skyping this time instead of using Facetime, so I need you to hook me up with an account and send me the info next emailing session so I can sign in without a problem on Christmas.  I will be doing it at the church, but I don’t have the times yet.  I will let you know for sure next Tuesday.  If you could just figure out the Skype thing and make me account and hook it up to the account, I will call - that will be great.  I am super excited to talk with you and see you. 

It sounds like you had a blast at the Packers game!  I got the stocking so thanks a million!  It made me feel like I was right there with you guys.  I am bummed that I missed out on the game, but that is alright!  I love the pics of Green Bay and everything.  I sure do miss you guys.  If you could also send me some new basketball shorts that would be great.  One of my pairs has a hole, and my other is hanging on by a thin thread and has paint all over it.   I sure do miss you guys and pray for you daily.  Mom, it’s kind of funny you are studying the New Testament right now, I am doing the same thing.  I just got done with John 2 today, and I have loved reading the New Testament.  It has really taught me who Christ was.   He is our Shepard, and we are his sheep.  When we show our love to everyone, we are recognized as one of his disciples.  He is an amazing person and through him we are changed.  We must follow his ways and when we do that, we become like him.  That is our goal in life - to become like him.  This time of season we reflect on him, and we don’t need gifts or presents, we just need our Savior.  He is the perfect gift this Christmas Season!   Happy Birthday Tyler this week!  Big 16 baby!  Love you, and miss you!

Love,
-Elder Smith   

December 8, 2014

Hey Family!

I am just chilling in an ABQ library.  There is a guy next to me looking up hot babes on his computer, and pictures are popping up left and right.  He is super old.  I don’t know what is happening to the world these days. Another week down out here for me, and it was a really good week.  I enjoyed it tons.  It was a hard week at first, but it soon picked up, and we were able to find some new contacts and get some baptismal dates set.  This area has really picked up, and I love it out here.  It sounds like you’re having a blast in Green Bay.  It looks like an amazing trip, and you are on an adventure.  I sure do wish I was there with you.  But that is okay, I am on an adventure too.   Life is good out here, and I am enjoying it.

Transfer news came this week, and it was really crazy what happened.  During the week we got a text from the AP’s asking if Elder Peterson was able to drive.  We said “yes” and they were like “thanks”.  The next day our vehicle coordinator came down and had him fill out paperwork to drive.  I was wondering what was going on.  I kind of thought that I was getting the boot from this area, and they wanted Elder Peterson to drive.  Saturday morning rolled around.  We were just about to close morning studies when the phone rang.  It was President Miller.   He called me to be a Zone Leader, so that threw me for a loop.  I didn’t think I was that good enough to do those things.  I expressed my gratitude and thanks for extending that assignment to me.  I then for sure thought I was going, so I went over and fixed the handle that broke three transfers ago.  We went on throughout the day and worked.  Saturday night rolled around.  We got transfer calls, and I thought I was going to leave.  But, instead Elder Peterson is leaving.  They are switching the Zone Leader areas down here.  My area used to be an English area, with English-speaking Elders as Zone Leaders, and now it’s Spanish.  I didn’t see that coming.  So I am staying and being a Zone Leader out here in the South Valley.  I never thought that would happen to me.  I am excited and nervous, but it is going to be a good growing experience for me.  I just hope I do my very best, and I am excited but sad to receive a new companion.  I love Elder Peterson a lot, and he and I have become really good friends.  He has taught me a lot, and I have grown a lot from him.  He is a stud missionary, and I am sad to see him go.  He is awesome.

This week started off as a really hard week, but then it turned out to be a really good week.  Last P-day we went bowling, and that was really fun.  I bowled really well my first game, but my second game I stunk.  Our week went on, and we weren’t really teaching anyone.  That was super frustrating, and I was asking myself, “What am I doing wrong?”  Nothing was working, and I was upset.  I was praying super hard for guidance and help.  We were walking around Thursday night out in the rain, and I just felt this peace and voice telling me to start knocking.   We didn’t knock that much that day because we had correlation in 30 minutes, and it was dark.  The next day on Friday at Zone Training, the zone leaders told us that President Miller wants us to keep track of knocking now.  I realized that it was the Lord telling me what I needed to do.  That day in the afternoon we went out.  I was super rusty because I was just used to talking to people in the streets.  We knocked the first door, no answer.  We went to the next one, and I said to my companion, “Let’s move on to the next house, there is no one home.”

My companion didn’t care, and he went straight ahead and knocked the door.  The guy opened immediately, and before we could even talk he said, “Come in.”  I was like, what is going on?  We taught him the first part of the restoration, and it was sweet.  He had to go, so we asked him if we could come back, and he said yes.  It was a cool and humbling experience for me.  He is a stud.  We had more success and found two more contacts that day from knocking.  We also got a lot of referrals for the English Elders.  It was a cool experience that we had from it.  The Lord is right, I just need to knock. 

A new thing President Miller has started is caroling.  We have to carol to one person every day.  It is definitely getting me out of my comfort zone, and we found a new contact from it.  The first day we had to do it was Friday.  We went out around 6:45 to find someone.  The first door we knocked we had no luck, no one answered.  I was getting all pumped up, and when it came time, no one answered.  We went to the next house, and this lady came out.  I said, “Good Evening, we are going around spreading Christmas spirit, can we sing to you tonight?”  She immediately shot back at us, “I know your beliefs and what you do, I don’t think you can tonight!”  My companion and I were begging her, and so she finally gave in.  She told us that she would sing with us.  We broke out singing “Silent Night” with her on her door step.   At the end of it, she said, “HALELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD, and AMEN!”  I was standing there trying to not laugh, and she said, “Thanks guys, and Jesus loves you.”  We walked away.  It was pretty funny and a good way to start our caroling adventure.  It has been interesting.  My voice sucks, but that is okay, I guess.   It is what the Lord wants right now, so I can do it even if I have to grab myself and just sing sometimes. 

The miracle of this week was that we were able to get three people committed to a baptism date.  We have Magda, Osvaldo, and her child on date right now.  Yesterday we had a super awesome lesson with them at the church.  We watched the Bible video about the nativity, and then afterword we were talking about it.  My companion read the scripture in John 14:13 were it talks about if you love me, you keep my commandments, and Magda blurred out “I want to be baptized!”  We set a date with them for the 17^th of January.  I know they can make it, they just have to get married or separated.  Magda will make it, but Osvaldo is going to be the project.  That was a miracle when we set the date with them.  It caught us off guard, and we didn’t expect it.   That was another miracle this week.

Our other investigators are doing great, and they are slowly progressing.  A lot of the new investigators we have found have dropped off the face of the earth, so that is a bummer.  I am hoping the news we have found will continue to progress, and we will find more.  Life is good out here, and that is my email for you in a nutshell.

It sounds like you are having a blast in Green Bay.  I wish I was there!  I hope the Pack beat the Falcons tonight, and cheer them on for me!  Just a heads up.  I don’t really need anything for Christmas.  The only things I really want are two books - one “Lectures on Faith”, by Joseph Smith, and also, “The Infinite Atonement”, by Tad R. Callister.  If you also find a super good gospel book that is better than those get that instead.  I am just trying to study my heart out right now.  Also, can you find me a journal with the Green Bay logo on the front of it?  That is going to become by Zone Leader book for meeting and everything!  That is all!  Thanks for everything, and have a killer week!  I miss you tons and think about you daily!  GO PACK GO!

Love,

-Elder Smith

December 2, 2014

Hey Family!

It was great to hear from you this week.  I miss you guys tons.  It was fun to have a visit from Dave this week.  I will have to tell you about that story later.  We are working hard and giving it our all right now.  I love this area, but I am scared that my time is short.  We have transfers next week, so P-day will be on a Monday.  I am finishing training, and I don’t know if I am going to stay or what.  I love it here like all my other areas, but there is just something about ABQ that I love.  It is an amazing city, and I truly love it here.  It is unique, and the people are as well.  It has a good feel to it, and it is just a fun city.  I am kind of scared that I am departing, but we will see.  This week we had a lot of success.  It has gotten colder so it’s a little bit harder to contact people.  But that is ok.  We are having success with less-actives like usual, and that is awesome.  It was a good Thanksgiving week, and for the first time ever I didn’t have turkey on Thanksgiving.

Our investigators are doing really good right now.  We haven’t set any baptism dates this whole transfer, which is a struggle to say the least.  We have been striking out on that.  I hope we will be able to set some dates this week.  That is my hope.  We were able to get members out with us this week, and that was awesome.  We took a member out to the boonies with us to see Maria and her family.  It was a short lesson because they don’t have any light out there.  We were sharing a message under flashlights, so that was kind of cool.  She has been having problems with her sewer system, so she asked if we could help her with it.  We had the member look at it, and it just drains out into the desert.  So from what I understand it’s been freezing.  We are trying to get the ward into doing a service project, and we are hoping it goes through.  Every time we go out there I get this weird feeling in her house.  I think there is something fishy that we don’t know about, and I hope we dig it out.  We haven’t been able to see Jamyll in a while.  I don’t think he has gotten back from Mexico.  I still hope he comes back with good news.  We are continuing to work with Osvaldo.  We have been teaching him and teaching him.  I am just hoping that he will say yes to a date, but he keeps telling us that he wants to work things out with Magda and get baptized together.  My companion and I think he should just get baptized and lead the pack.  It is a struggle.  We weren’t able to see the Fam Ramos this week, and that was a real bummer.  They called and canceled on us, so that was a bummer.  They told us that they would call us next week, so we are planning on just going by tomorrow if they don’t call.  That is pretty much an update on the investigator end.

We are having pretty good success with less-actives.  I think my companion thinks I am nuts because I love going by their houses.  We found a new less-active this week, and that was cool.  His name is Hno Escobedo.   We stopped by on Sunday to see him.  He told us he is somewhat of a new member, but he now is going to the Catholic Church and really likes it there.  He told us he is in a group over there with all the guys, and they talk about Jesus or something, and he is enjoying it a lot.   I walked out of there just thinking how hard it’s going to be to get him to come back, but I know that the Lord can do it.   We are going through the ward list right now and calling all the people we don’t know.  We have had some success with it.  We found another guy last night.  He asked us to call him today, and he would tell us what days are good for him.   Aaron Gallegos hasn’t come to church in a while.  I don’t know what his deal is.  He told us it has been a struggle waking up, but I think there is something more to it.   Hopefully he comes soon.  Other than that, all the less-actives are doing well.  It has been hard, but it’s all good.

I was funny to run into Dave Hildebrand this week.  We were pulling up to our house, and we were driving by the mail box to check the mail.  Our mail box is just off the side of Gun Club, and we share it with our landlord.  But we noticed there was a car in front of the mail box.  We checked the mail, and we didn’t think much of it.  We pulled into our parking spot, and then the car pulled up behind our car, and then this man got out.  We were like what is going on?  We kind of live in the ghetto, so we were like something is about to go down. He walked closer and closer to the window. I rolled down the window and said, “Hi, I am Elder Smith!”  He responded, “I am Dave, I know you!”  He grabbed my shoulder and looked back to the car and yelled, “We found him, WE FOUND HIM!”   I was trying to figure out in my head where I had seen him.  I realized soon that is was Dad’s really good friend.  I got out of the car, and we started talking.  His wife got out of the car and gave me a hug, and she was like this is from your mom.  His son also gave me a hug and told me it was from mom as well.  They gave me the package, and we talked for a minute.  He told me he lives out in Paradise Hills.  It is just a little bit over from me in ABQ.  It’s probably a 20 minute drive from me.  He gave me his business card and told me to call him whenever I need something.  He is a really nice man.  He was talking a lot about you, Dad, and how you are such a great friend to him.  Thanks for the package and the surprise visit from Dave.  It was nice to meet him, and he is a great guy.

Thanksgiving was good out here, and we had success.  We had one of our dinners with the bishop and we had pazole.  It was a good meal.  The other one was huge, and it was Guatemalan food so it made me think of Scott.  We have a member who is Guatemalan, so she makes Guatemalan food when we come over.  I think I like Mexican more, but it is still good.  It was a good Thanksgiving.  

That was pretty much my week for you.  We were able to see a lot of people, and it was a really successful week.  Funny thing is that I got attacked by a dog for the first time with my companion.  I guess his good luck charm ran out.  Life is good out here. and it will be interesting to see if I get transferred or not.  I will let you know Monday.

It sounds like everything is good at home.  I am happy the Pack won this week.  It made me excited when I read that they won.  I hope you guys have a safe trip next week, and if it is too much of a hassle to email me don’t worry about it.  My life is the same, and you’re having a blast.  Get me something good from Green Bay!  I hope you guys have a great week, and it is full of fun!  I miss you guys tons, and give Beary a scratch for me!  I am excited to see you guys in a couple of weeks over FaceTime.  I am looking forward to that!  Love you, and you’re always in my prayers!

Love,

Elder Smith

November 25, 2014

Hey Family!

It was great to hear from you this week.  I love my Tuesday’s out here in the mission.  They are always so great to relax and email.  I am loving life right now, and the work is moving on like usual.   This week was a bit of a struggle, but it was good like usual.  I feel like you learn the most in hard weeks.  We had a special Stake Conference this week because the old Stake President got called to be the head of media operations for the church in Germany.  So he is heading over there.  It was a good Stake Conference.  We also had a special Zone training this week because we had President Corbridge of the 70 and his wife touring the mission.  It was good to have that meeting.  It was a good week, but we struggled, but it’s all good. 

This week started off a little hard.  Most of our appointments with our investigators fell through, and that was really hard.  In spite of our hard week we did find a new investigator, which was a miracle.  It is the Family Ramos.   We were able to get a member to come out with us on Sunday.  He is the former bishop of the ward named Carlos Lopez.  He is Puerto Rican and a really sweet member.  He is in that video that I told you to look up.  He is the young men’s president.  We had all these plans to contact all these people but they all fell through.  He was determined to find someone with us.  We had to run back to the church to get my companion’s planner because he forgot it.  We pulled up in our car, and my companion jumped out.  He grabbed his planner.  In the meantime, I am in the car trying to think of people we could see.  Obispo Lopez then said, “We are going to knock that house.”  I was asking myself in my head, “What kind of member is this?  I haven’t had any of the members that come out with us wanting to knock a door.”   My companion got in the car, and he explained the story of how when he was the Bishop the missionaries used to stop by this house, and how awesome the family was.  He told us how he has been meaning to go by but just hasn’t got around to it.  He told us that he doesn’t even know their names, but we were going to go for it.   We drove like 2 feet, parked the car, and we got out.  We went up to the door, and we knocked.  While we were waiting up there in my head I was like, “Wow, is this really happening?”  They answered, and right away Obispo Lopez and the guy just started talking.  He let us in, and we talked a while in the hallway.  We were able to share a quick message with him and set up a return date.  It was one of the coolest things I have seen.  It was cool to see how affective member missionary work is.  As we left Obispo Lopez was like, “I will be here on Tuesday with you guys!”  So today we are going back over, and I am really excited about that.  It was a really cool experience.

We have been really focusing on Osvaldo this week.  We have had some really good lessons with him at members’ houses and also at the church.  The church’s TVs have this device that lets you get on The Mormon Channel, and we have been teaching him with lessons.  It is awesome.  Lessons at the church make the spirit increase so much.  We are working with him to get a baptism date.  He keeps telling us that he wants to get baptized with Magda, but we think he should just get baptized solo.  He is an awesome guy, and he is just eating it up right now so it’s a blessing. 

We were not able to teach Jamyll this week due to him being in Mexico, I think.  I think he is off there asking him mom, and we are praying that he comes back with some good news of him being able to be baptized.  We weren’t able to see Francisco due to him being out of town.  The Guajado’s kind of dropped us this week.  We had a Noche de Hogar at the same member’s home this week.  We read 3 Nefi 11 with them this week because they didn’t read it.  We asked after if we could come by again to teach them, and they told us they would call us.  They say it’s too hard to study two religions at once right now, and they were going to stick with the JW’s.  That kind of made me mad, but it’s the mission life.  They are super awesome, but they are just not wanting to follow what is right.  It is crazy how much Satan works to take people down.  He is so real and alive in this world.  Hopefully we will be able to set something up again with them.  They are awesome.  We journeyed out to Maria’s last night with a member and shared a short message with her.  She has no lights in her house at night, so we had to us flashlights.  We had a member check out her pipes that the toilet runs through.  They just go outside into the desert.  I think it has been freezing, so they have had problems with the toilet.  The member said he would get on it, so that was cool.  It was sure an adventure, like usual.

Our work with the less-actives is still moving along.  It’s hard at times for sure, but we have really built up trust and friendship with them.  We are just hoping what we are doing will get them back to church.   I love working with them, it’s really hard and rewarding.  I think it has been one of my strengths on my mission, and the Lord has helped me to see that.  I can sit there and chat with a less-active and try and get them back to church.  It has been really rewarding to see less-active members walk into the church again.  It makes me so happy inside to see them coming back.   I hope we will continue to have success and we find more less-actives to teach.  We found a new one this week.   His name is Salvador Bailon.  We found his name on the ward list, and we thought we should stop by.  We went to his house address, and we realized it was shop.  We were both like, “This is a shop, there is no way someone lives here.”  We walked past the shop once, and then we thought we should go in.  We walked into the shop, and it’s a seamstress shop.  We asked the guy if he knew Salvador Bailon, and he said yes.  We asked him where he lived, and he gave a basic area.  He later told us that it was him, and we asked him if he was a member.  He said yes but he had not gone in a while.  We asked if we could come to his house and talk with him, and he told us to give him a call.  He handed us his card, and we left.  We tried calling him but we haven’t had any luck so far.  Hopefully something will turn out with him.

Other than that life is good.  Something funny happened to me this week.  When I was getting up one morning and went to say my morning prayers, I realized that my sheets had ripped down the middle.  I have no clue how it happened.  I was pretty much sleeping on a mattress this whole week, so I have to buy some new sheets this week….hopefully that is ok!  My companion also had a showdown with a dog this week.  The dog was showing him his teeth and barking up a storm.  I just kept on walking, laughing my head off.  It’s so funny how the dogs just go after him.  One of the members told me he is my good luck charm with dogs, and that is true.  I don’t have any problems with dogs when I am with him.    Also our special Zone conference was good but long.  Elder Corbridge talked for a while, and at times I got lost to what he was saying.  My favorite part was President Miller’s talk.  He talked about what the church is doing for Christmas this year.   They have a new movement called, “He is the Gift” and they are giving us special cards to pass out to people and everything.  It is really awesome.  They also have a new website called Christmas.mormon.org.  They have a new video as well, and it is super sick!  Check it out.  It will be in the Ensign for this month as well.  That is my week for you in a nutshell. 

It sounds like everything is good at home, and life is good for me as well.  I am super jealous of the trip to Green Bay.  But that’s ok, I am enjoying life out here.  I just want to go see the Giants play next summer, and that’s all I need.  I don’t need this paddle board, just a trip to San Fran.  You guys better bring me something back!  I am also glad to hear about Beary the rescue dog!  He is a stud!  I am stoked to hear about Scott and his interviews!  I hope you guys have a great week, and I miss you tons!  I will be thinking about you on Thanksgiving!  We are going over to the Bishop’s house so that will be fun.  We also have a dinner with a less-active family afterwards, so wish us luck that night!  It won’t be as good as Mom’s!  Love you tons, and have a great week!

 

Con Amor,

-Elder Smith

November 12, 2014

Hey Family!

It’s another week down out here in the South Valley.  I love it out here and fall is amazing out here.  The leaves are changing day by day and it’s awesome.  We had a really good week out here and we worked are butts off.  I love my comp so much, he is a stud beyond believe.  We were really busy this week and we had things every day to keep us busy.    Sorry for not writing you guys yesterday, President Miller moved P-Day to today instead of Tuesday due to Veterans Day.  It was a really good week and we had some fun.  We are working hard, we just need some news right now.

Last Tuesday was crazy to say the least.  We had to deal with crazy Aaron Gallegos.  He decided to get drunk as a stunk and go and preach the gospel to some homeless people.   We were on our way to dinner and we got this call from him.  It was unusual to get a phone call from him.  We picked it up and right away I had this feeling that he was drunk.  He told us he found this homeless guy who is a member and he told us he wanted us to find a place for him to stay.  We told him we would call him back.  We prayed as we were driving to figure out what to do.  He called us back without us calling him and he told us the guy ran off into the forest by the Rio Grande and he didn’t want our help.  He told us he ripped up the card Aaron gave to him in his face and that made Aaron really upset and he was crying to us on the phone.  He was a mess to say the least.  We asked if he had a ride home because he was so drunk we were scared he wouldn’t make it home.  He told us he would just take the bus and he would be alright.  We didn’t feel good about that and we were kind of scared for him.  We have been told that he kind of goes crazy and gets mad when he is drunk.  We didn’t want him to get arrested or get into trouble.  We told him that we were going to come and get him and take him home.  We aren’t really supposed to give people rides at all in our vehicles and we are kind of prohibited of doing it.  We prayed and we felt like we should do it.  We drove down Central and found him walking.  We pulled over and mean time we are still on the phone with him.  He told us as we were driving that he was going to hide from us and he wasn’t going to come out.  I was kind of laughing to myself because I knew hiding for a drunk man is like laying there on the street.  I was kind of scared though that he might do that.  We pulled over into this abandon parking lot and I swear in synchronizing motion me and my companion got out of the car.  It remind of my of the tv show Cops when they are going to take down someone who is drunk.  I grabbed him and he was on the phone with someone else and he handed the phone to me and then I handed it to my companion.  I dealt with him as he broke down on the ground.  I held him them there and my companion dealt with the phone call.  I tried to get him in the car and he wouldn’t but finally we did.  On the phone was one of his best friends who called him to see if he wanted to hang out.  It was a miracle, how right as we got there she called.  We drove him home and right as we got there his friend pulled up and help us out.  He gave me the biggest hug and cried while hugging me for a while.  We got him settled down and then we took off.  The next day we had an appointment with him and he called us and confirmed it.  The appointment time came and we stopped by and he wasn’t there.  We talked to his mom and she told us she hasn’t heard from him.  He had probation and everything today and the called to ask if she knew where he was and she didn’t.  Later that night we got a text from his friend asking if we knew were Aaron was.  His phone was found in the streets but he was gone.  We thought he booked it.  Come to find out as he was going to Probation some accused him of stealing his phone and chucked a rock and knocked him out and he woke up in the hospital around 12 am.  We were later able to teach him this week and he is safe and sound but that was in a nut shell Aaron for you.  He is doing better so hopefully he will change.  We are praying for it. 

Our other investigators are doing well.  We had a lesson with Jamyll on Monday and that went well.  He goes on vacation soon so they are going to travel to Mexico and I think he is going to talk to him mom then.  His dad told us he really wants to get baptized he just needs to talk to his mom.  He is a stud but a project.  We have been dealing with the 7^th day of Venice people lately and they are crazy to say the least.  The think we are going to be damned because we don’t worship on Saturday.  We have been trying to tackle this question for the longest time of why we worship on Sunday so if you have any thoughts please write them.  We have Jose Corona who is 7^th day and he is an amazing guy we just can’t answer his question about worshiping on Sunday.  He is amazing he just needs to get over this stupid little doubt.  We found an awesome new this week named Jesus.  Elder Peterson found him on splits with our Ward Mission Leader.  We taught his Saturday and he was awesome.  He is looking for the truth and a church to join.  We had a brief lesson with him because he told us that he wanted us to teach his family too.  We asked him to come to church and he said he wanted too but he never made it.   He is awesome and he was a great find and he has a lot of potential.  Hopefully he will progress and change.

We are doing really well with our Less Actives lately.   We have been seeing a lot of them and that is really good.  We are slowly getting some back and we have built a lot of trust with them.  It is so sad to see people go away from something they know is true and good for them.  I love working with them and it’s amazing to see when they do change and start coming back

We had interviews with President Miller yesterday and they went really well.  I have been really stressed lately about my Spanish.  It has been so hard for me my whole mission.  Our ward mission leader has been a butt to me about it.  He kind of has hinted to me that my Spanish suck and I need to improve.  I have been trying my hardest but it’s hard to say the least.   Our ward mission leader instead of building me up always he just tears me down.  He tells me things to study and I do.  He also thinks I am not helping my companion Spanish but I am trying and helping him but trying to help me.  I have been really down but yesterday President Miller was awesome.  He asked me to pray in Spanish and after words he was like your Spanish is great Elder Smith.  He told me that my accent was good and I have been working hard at it.  I thanked him and told him it has been a struggle.  I love him so much.  I can’t express my gratitude of how great he is.  He is an amazing man, called of god.  The interview went well and he express how excellent I was.  I love him and they were nice comments he gave to me.

We have recently volunteered at an old people’s home for service and it has been a blast to say the least.  The head man is LDS and a lot of people that work there are LDS.  We help set up things and get ready for the parties they have.  One day we just had to sit and chat with some of them and it was pretty dang funny.  It’s sad to see people get old but it’s fun to do service there.  The mission has been really pushing for Service lately so we our out and about looking for places we can serve.  It’s awesome and we are seeing miracles from it.  We found a Less Active through it and also this guy lost touch with the missionaries and he asked for a number for the missionaries in Los Lunes.  It was pretty awesome and a miracle to say the least.  It’s been fun.  That is my week for you in a nut shell. 

I loved reading your emails this week and it was great to hear from you all.  That is awesome to hear that the Pack murdered the Bears in Green Bay.  I bet the fans were loving it there at the Stadium.  I am so excited to get away from all the Dallas Fans and go home to a house full of Packers.  Time is flying here and it is scaring me but I love it.  I hope you guys have an awesome week and it is fun.  Mom if it isn’t too late can you get me the pocket English scripture set.  It’s these pocket sized scripture that just came out that I could carry around in my bag increase I need some English Scriptures.  You can sent them to me at Christmas, I thought I would let you know.  I will also get a blanket.  Thanks for everything you do for me and all your support.  Good luck this week Scott!  You will do great and I hope Tyler gets a hot date!  I remember going to that and this crazy lady was trying to score a hot date but she didn’t.  Hopefully that doesn’t happen to you!  I love you guys and you’re in my prayers!

 

Love,

-Elder Smith

November 18,2014

It was good to hear from you all this week, and I am happy everyone is in one piece at home.  I am freezing my butt off right now.  My hands are really cold in this library, so it’s hard for me type, but it’s all good.   It was a freezing cold week to say the least.  I bought myself a blanket last week.  I bought an electric one.  I hope that is alright.  I sleep like a charm now, so thanks for letting me do that.  Other than the cold, we had a really good week out here.  We worked hard, and it really paid off in the end.  We have been really busy the last couple of weeks, and that has been really good.  We are trying our hardest with everything we have, and it’s paying off.  The Lord is really blessing us right now, and that is really good.  I really do love it out in in ABQ.  I never thought I would ever really get attached to a state but I have.  It’s such an awesome state, and I love it out here.   We also had some funny things happen to us this week, so that is good.  We are working hard and having fun.  It’s been awesome.

The big news of this week is that we were able to find 8 new people to teach, and that was awesome.  One of them is a family of 3, another is a family of 4, and then we taught this other guy who is super sick.  The one new dude is name Francisco, and he is awesome.  The funny story with him is that we contacted his daughters in the street and started talking with them back in October.  They were about our age, so I was a little hesitant to talk with them.  Their dad came outside and talked to us for a minute.  We asked if we could come back again, and he was like “ya, that is fine if you want.”  He gave us Aya as his name.  We have kind of put it off and put it off.  We kind of thought he wasn’t really interested in it.  My companion kept on saying every week that we needed to go back.  We would get caught up with something and then never see him that week.  Finally we made some time.  We drove over there, parked our car outside, and said a prayer.  We were both saying how we were really nervous and scared.  We walked up to his door.  There was a gate in front of the door, so we thought we would not be able to knock.  I kind of got ready to turn around, but my companion tried the gate, and it was open.  He walked into the passageway and knocked on this castle looking door.  We waited and were freezing.  All of a sudden this little sliding door at the top opened up, and he was like, “Who is it?”  We asked if Aya was there.  He replied, “Who?”  We explained to him that we talked with him, and he was like “oh ya”, and then he opened up this castle door, and we walked into the passageway and into his house.  I felt like we were trying to get into the castle doors.   We walked in, and he had crosses everywhere.  We were thinking, “This is going to be a problem,” but we ended up having an amazing lesson with him about the Restoration.  He loved when we talked about the Book of Mormon, and he told us he would read it that night.  It was a super cool experience.  My companion made the comment after that Satan probably didn’t want us to go see him because he knew that he would love it.  It was awesome. 

Our family of 3 is friends with a member.  We had a Family Home Evening with them, and it went really well.   I think they enjoyed our message.  The other family of 4 was also a really cool experience.  Last week at the library my companion got done emailing early, and he just sat by me as I finished.  He ended up talking to a woman who asked us if we could go to her house.  Last Saturday we had a journey into the boonies.  We went to this part of our area where hardly anyone lives.  It reminded me of Chappy, and we had an awesome lesson with her and her kids.  It was awesome.  They invited us back, so we have to head out there next Saturday.  But we are trying to set up a lesson at a member’s home who lives out there.  Hopefully we will be able to set something up.  The problem with that lesson is that she was make the message of the Restoration seem more complicated than it was, so it was a struggle.  But we handled it, Harry.

Our other investigators are doing really good.  We had an awesome lesson with Jamyll yesterday about the word of wisdom.   He received it well, and he told us that he goes next week to ask his mom if he can be baptized.  So we are hoping that goes well and she says yes.  We had Nestor show up this week to Church, and that is awesome.  He loved it there.  He asked our ward mission leader if he could come over with the missionaries to answer his questions.  Our ward mission leader told him that we would find someone else.  So instead of saying, “Yes, I’ll come,” he passed the buck to someone else.  He is a head case, but I love him.  Also Magda kicked out Osvaldo again.  He showed up to church if you can believe it.  We had an awesome lesson with him that night at the church.  We invited him to be baptized, and he said he wanted to.  He told us he wants to try and get back together with Magda, but if that doesn’t work he wants to be baptized.  We are praying for him.   

Our less-actives are doing well, and we are continuing to work with them.  I love working with them.  It’s hard, but it’s really good.  We have built up a lot of trust with them, and we are just trying to get them back to church.  We had a member teach us this week how to make tortillas, and that was awesome.  We then had a less-active member teach us.  So if you can believe it, I know how to make tortillas.  Café Rio salads are going to become a bigger hit now!

 

November 4, 2014

Hey Family!

It was so good to hear from you and hear about your Halloween.  I am super happy you guys had some fun, and I wish I was home for the action.  Mom looked super good, like usual.  She never fails to amaze me.  Scott and Wendy were classic, and I am still chuckling over here about that.  Everyone else looked really good, and I miss you guys tons!  I am happy the Giants won!  They took it again for the 3rd year, and I couldn't be happier.  Thanks for getting me those items.  You guys do too much for me. 

I am doing well out here - just working away at the everyday grind.  I love it out here, and I love this city.  It has been getting really cold lately so I have been freezing my butt off at nights.  We don't have any heat in our house.  I put on my Oregon jacket, and that helps with the cold at night.  I am just handling it, Harry.  I might have to buy another blanket, but I think I’ll be ok.  We are working hard out here, and the Lord is blessing us.  I love serving a mission and the people.  It’s a joy to do what the Savior would do 24/7.  It opens your eyes to so many things.  I wrote in my journal this week how the mission really increases your gospel knowledge and helps you understand it better.  It’s amazing, and I love it.

This week was a little bit hard, but at the same time it was a really good week.  We worked hard and gave the Lord the best we could.  I know that I could have worked harder some days, but that’s alright.  We weren’t able to see Jamyll this week.  His dad has been at work and also at the hospital because his uncle has a tumor.  I did go on splits with his dad this week and we talked for a while.  He told me that Jamyll really wants to get baptized, and it’s something he wants to do, but the only problem he has is he wants to talk with his mom about it.  I guess that has been a struggle.  I think she might live in Mexico our something.  I think he is also kind of scared to talk with her.  I hope he will do it soon because he is super prepared.  Juan kind of blew us off this week.  We had appointments with him and everything but he wasn’t there, or he told us he was busy.  So that was frustrating.  Hopefully we will reconnect with him this week and be able to teach him.  He is awesome, but we struggle with appointments with him.  We have a new investigator name Cladio.  He lived in Rio Grande North’s area, but he and his family moved over here into our area.  His wife is a recent convert, so we are strengthening her and trying to get him baptized.  He is an awesome guy, and we had a great lesson with him this week about reading and praying.  We had some good laughs, and the spirit was strong.  The miracle from that was this Sunday.  He showed up to church, and the other Elders told us that he hardly comes.  It was a pretty cool to see the Lord work miracles.  I think he enjoyed it.  I am hoping he did.  I am happy we are teaching him.

We had a lot of success with our less-actives this week.  Aaron Gallegos is back into his routine of coming to church every week.  I hope he progresses with the Gospel again and doesn’t fall back into his old habits.  He is going to still need some strengthening from us and the ward.  He blessed his 2 kids this week, so his whole less-active family came, and that was awesome.  We did some service for his mom this week and hopefully that opened her heart a little more this week.  I hope we get her back to church and get that family going again.  It’s an awesome family, and the ward needs them badly.   I love working with less-actives a lot.  Hopefully we will get some back. 

We are also still dealing with crazy bible bashers, and that is hard but it’s good. The ward had a Trunk or Treat also, and that went well.  My companion and I put on our cowboy hats and passed out some candy.  I will send some pics for you. My companion is still having really bad luck with dogs.  I don’t know if I told you this story, but my companion got attacked by a dog again.  I about peed my pants.  We were walking down this street, and I was walking near this fence, and this dog came bolting out and ran past me and started biting my companion.  It didn’t care one bit about me - all it wanted was my companion.  I was laughing, and my companion was trying to get it off.  We were both laughing really hard.  Yesterday we were walking in a trailer park, and we almost had a dog bust through a fence to get us.  I think the Lord was protecting us.   It was crazy but we are safe.  That was my week for you in a short couple of paragraphs.  I am doing good - just working away

It sounds like everything is good at home, and I do miss not being there.  I love the fall at home, and I am missing that right now.  It’s crazy how fast time is going for me.  I can’t believe that it is November.  It feels like yesterday it was summer, and I was out in Chappy dealing with the heat.  Now it’s freezing over here, and it’s fall.  I love it though, and I am just trying to make the best with the time I have left.  I am happy to hear everyone is good at home.  Dad,  I would love to go to the New Mexico-Utah State game with you next week….the only problem I have is that I have no way of getting there right now.  I hope it’s an awesome game!  I hope the Pack bring their A-game this week and kick some butt!  I love you guys tons, and you’re always in my prayers!  I also finished Jesus the Christ this week, and I loved it!  It was such an awesome book, and I learned a lot.  I hope you guys have a great week, and I miss you tons!  Keep it steezy for me!

Love,

- Elder Smith

October 27, 2014

Hey Family!!

First off I want to say I am super happy the Giants are kicking some butt.  I wish I was home to see it.  If they do win the World Series, can you please get me their classic black bill, orange SF lettering hat with the World Series patch??  I think I wear a 7 3/8, but you'll have to go check my hats in my room.  Tyler will know what I like.  Also, could you get me their locker room t-shirt that they get for winning it?  You could stick the hat in my room and send me the shirt.  I am sorry I am ordering things out here on the mission.  You guys do a lot for me, and sorry I am asking you to do something for me again.  If they win can you please get those?  I want to make sure I am up to date when I roll into the stadium next year!  I love you guys!  I am though bummed about the Packers.  I wish they pulled it off!  Sorry for asking for some room service.

My week was a super hard week out here, and I learned a lot.  It was a learning week, and that's what me and my comp called it.  Everything that we had going for us didn't happen.  All the appointments we had set fell through.  It was a struggle, but the Lord blessed us, and that is what I love about him.  He will drag you through the mud, but he will pull you out in the end, and he will dry you off and set you back on your feet.  It was hard, but we did it.  We got transfer news, and me and my companion are staying.  I had a feeling that would happen, and I am really happy about it.  I am going to be here for another 6 weeks, and I can't get enough of it.  I love this city so much.  It was a really good week even though we had our setbacks. 

We weren't able to see to many investigators this week, but we had a good lesson with the ones we did see.  Juan, our drunk man who likes to party, is doing really good.  I love him to death.  He is a stud.  This week we went by, and he was really calm.  We were kind of just wondering what was up.  We sat down with him, and he was glazed over.  He told us he was drinking all night till 6 am and all day.  We were like “holy cow,” but it was strange because he really opened up to us.  He told us how much he cared for us and how we bring a good feeling into his heart.  He told us he wants to change, and he needs help with it.  I don't know what the beer did to him this time, but he was just down to earth, and it was amazing.  He told us, "You have big balls to do this."  I tried not to laugh.  He told us he wants balls like us.  It was pretty awesome.  We taught him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and it went well.  We finally had a lesson with Jamyll this week.  We were finally were able to catch him and his dad home.  His dad has been working a lot this week and last.  We taught him about the Holy Ghost and the importance of it.  We told him that we are first baptized by water and then fire.  He stopped for a minute, turned to his dad, and was like, "You get baptized by fire too?"  His dad kind of chuckled and explained really well to him what it means.  He was happy that he didn't have to get set on fire.  I kind of made a crack after his dad explained it by saying, "Don't worry we aren't going to set you on fire."  He laughed, and I think he liked the lesson a lot.  He is coming to church every week, but we are just struggling to get a date for baptism with him.  I know he will get baptized sometime soon.  Another thing that followed us around this week was crazy people who just want to bible bash with us.  We saw inactive Jose and his wife this week, and they pretty much kicked us out - but in a loving way.  I have to say they did it in the nicest way possible.  They told us they like having us over but will never changes their ideas.  His wife kind of makes up their ideas for them.  They don't share the pants at all like a marriage should.  She kind of wears them the whole time.  She is mostly the problem there.  I was kind of down after the lesson.  I thought we could change them.  It is sad to see a heart closed to change.  It’s not the Savior’s way, nor the Lord’s.  We are going to give them a break.  We found a new guy this week named Mario, and he wanted to butt heads with us.  He asked us a million times, "Are you preaching what the Lord wants you to preach or are you preaching the devil?"  He was kind of nuts and liked his beliefs.  He was taught once before by missionaries, but they stopped going by, and now we know why.  He was bashing on the Book of Mormon, and it was bad.  But at the end he came to his senses, and he accepted to read it so that was cool.  I have people who just want to bash with us.  Aaron, our man who is semi-less-active and struggling with things got arrested this week for violations to his parole.  He was in jail for like 36 hours.  So when we went to the appointment that we had with him, he wasn't there.  Church came around, and that's when he told us what happened.  I hope everything is going ok with him.  He is a stud.  We didn't get to see Alfonso and his wife this week.  We had an appointment with them last night, but she was tending kids so we moved it to Tuesday.  They are an awesome family.  That was my week for you in a nutshell.  It was a hard but good week.

Oh, if you want to see where I am serving there is a video that got on to LDS about the youth in the ward.  It’s called, "We are Brothers."  It’s a super cool clip, and maybe dad you could show it in the priests’ quorum.  It’s about saving the less-active kids.  It’s a cool video.  Thanks for all your wonderful emails this week.  I love reading them like usual.  Tyler sounds like he is going to be nasty next year in football.  I can't believe how good he is.  I am excited to watch him next year!  I hope the Giants pull off the win, and the Packers bounce back.  I miss not watching football.  I hope the witch flies in this year with her partner.  I miss Halloween at home.  It’s always the best!  Happy Halloween this week!  Tyler looked like a ladies’ man at the dance!  Keep it steezy this week, and I miss you tons!  Love you, and you’re in my prayers!

Con Amor,

-Elder Smith

 

October 21, 2014

Hey Family!!

This week was a pretty good week out here in the mission.  It was really busy, and we had everything happening to us this week.  We had 2 exchanges happen, Zone Conference, and crazy amount of work to be done.  We really worked hard this week, and thanks to the Lord, he has blessed us so much lately. This is up there as one of my most favorite times of the mission.  We are just giving it our all, and this area is changing.  It’s amazing to see the success we have when you just give it your all.  We are working hard, and I truly love ABQ and the South Valley.  It’s great to be in the city. 

Before I dive into my week, I just want to say how happy I am that the Giants are going to the World Series.  I am stoked out of my mind, and I am bummed that I didn't see them this year.  We will have to make a trip to SF when I get back.  I miss not watching the Packers and the Giants play.  I love sports.

This week started off really well.  Tuesday night we found a new investigator named Jose Corona.  We found him on Monday, and I think I wrote a little about him last email.  I can’t really remember.  He invited us back, and we went over last Tuesday.  He remembered a lot of what the old missionaries taught him, but he didn't understand why we have another book.  We went over The Book of Mormon with him and bore our testimonies about it.   He is attending the "Aventista" church (I am not sure what that word is in English, but I think its Evangelist).  He loves his church, but I know we can slowly change him.  If he has an open heart, the Lord will touch it.  I have some hope for him, and it was a good lesson.  We are seeing him tonight, so hopefully that goes well.   We had a really good lesson with Jose (the inactive member who was baptized in our church in Mexico but doesn't think he is a member) and his wife this week.  I was on exchanges with a ZL, and he only spoke English, but Jose’s wife did too.  It got pretty heated in the end because the English elder, Elder Doutre, was just making her think and realize that their doctrine has some faults.  It was heated, but the spirit was there, and it turned out to be really powerful.  We left them with the invitation to just pray to know if this church is true.  Elder Doutre made a good point during the lesson when he asked, "If you never even ask and already think the answer is no, what good is that to God?"  It made me think after, and it is so true.  If we just already come up with the answer and don’t ask God, it’s not doing us or him any good.  I hope they pray about it.  We saw a lot of less-actives this week, and that went well.  I am just hoping some of them come back to church because it would bless their lives a hundred fold.  I just don't get why people go inactive, it’s seriously dumb.  The gospel would bless their lives so much, but instead they go back into their old ways.  God said it would be hard but it would be rewarding, and it’s sad to see people go against it once again.  We were able to see "Meet the Mormons" this week, and I liked it a lot.  It was an awesome movie, and I love how they had all those clips of movies that talked about Mormons.  I thought that was pretty funny.  I liked the movie clip with Chevy Chase in it.  I also really liked the football coach and the missionary mom.  The whole movie was really good, and I enjoyed it tons.  It was also a really good Zone Conference.  It was all about planning and how to plan.  It was great.  Dad, I remember you always telling me you really looked up to you mission president and that he became one of you biggest mentors.  I kind of thought you were crazy when you said that because I thought a mission president is a mission president.  But I was wrong.  President Miller and his wife are amazing, and I look up to him so much.  It was a good Zone Conference.  Nothing too funny really happened to us this week.  I saw a person shoot up in the street as we were driving by, and that was strange.  This city is strange, but I love it.  That was my week for you this week.  I hope it was an ok letter this week.

It was so good to hear from you all this week, and I enjoyed reading you letters.  I miss you guys tons, and it’s weird to me that I will be talking to you in a few short months.  I am looking forward to that.  It’s crazy how fast time flies on the mission, but I love it out here, and my time is really precious.  I hope you guys have an amazing week this week and that the Packers and the Giants win.  You might need to buy me a World Series hat that has the black bill and the orange SF lettering with the World Series patch on the side.  But I will let you know.  I am happy to hear Tyler killed it in football as well!  I hope you guys have an amazing week, and I miss you tons!  Have a great one!

Love,

-Elder Smith

October 7, 2014

October 7, 2014

Hey Family!!

This week was a busy and awesome week. We worked really hard this week, and that was good.  The Lord blessed us with some awesome miracles this week, and I really enjoyed that.  It’s amazing what the Lord can do.  It’s great to be on a mission and just to serve the Lord 24/7.  He blesses you a lot, and it’s amazing to see it.   We are working hard together, and I love my companion a lot.  He is a great blessing to have along.

This week we just tore it up.  We just gave it to the Lord and just went to work.  It was kind of the boost I needed.  I love this area and the people here in ABQ.  It’s an amazing place, and it’s so much fun.  We found a super awesome family this week - Alfonso Morales and his wife.  We found him while we were contacting one night.  He was outside doing something to his truck, and we went up and talked to him.  We had a nice chat with him, and he invited us back.  We tried to get in contact with him during the week and didn't have much success with that.  We decided to go contacting around his trailer park again, and we ran into him cleaning up his yard.  He told us to hold on, and then he finished up his yard.  He told us to come inside with him, and then from there we taught him and his wife.  It was an amazing lesson, and they told us they are trying to find the right church.  He told us he knew the Catholics weren't right or the Christian churches because they were all hypocrites.  He told us he wanted to know what was right.  It was the first time that someone told me that.   We taught him the Restoration and then asked if we could come back.  He said yes and told us that he was very impressed by our message and us.  It was a miracle that the Lord worked, and he and his wife are awesome people.  We didn’t have anyone at church this week, and that was kind of a bummer.  We haven't seen Jamyll in a while because his dad has been gone.  Hopefully we will get in touch with him soon.  We had a good lesson with Ramon (drunk guy and party man) this week.  He told us on Wednesday that his real name is Juan.  I don't know if he didn't want to tell us his real name at first, but he is a stud.  He received our message well.  I like him a lot. 

I had a pretty funny story this week that happened to me.  It’s pretty funny to me.  On Sunday we went over to a member’s home for dinner, and that was awesome.  It’s kind of an awkward family.  The dad came out and greeted us for a minute and then went out into the backroom.  His wife isn't a member and is super against the church.  She works in Mexico and is never home, so we didn't see her.  His less-active daughter came out after he took off, and she is like 16.  My companion had to go the bathroom and asked her if he could use it.  She said yes, of course, and so he took off.  So it was me and this girl at the dinner table, and it was just super awkward.  The food was right in front of us, and I was just waiting for my companion to come back, and we would figure out the food.  She then says, "Are you just going to stare at it or do I need to help you and serve it for you?", in a sarcastic manner.  I was like “oh no” in my head, and I immediately blurted out, "I can handle it, thank you!"  I hurried and scooped some food up, and then it was just awkward.  I was praying for my companion to get back.  I was trying to get to know her, and she was trying to get to know me.  I was in the spot where you are asking questions at the same time as each other.  It was like a battle in the ring, and you’re trying to hang on till the bell rings.  My companion final came out, and I was so relived.  It was so awkward.  I don't know if the mission is making me weird or I just can't talk to girls. It ended up being a pretty good dinner but it started off kind of shaky.  General Conference I thought was good, and I enjoyed it.  Maybe it was just me, but I felt like it had a different feel to it this time.  I really enjoyed Elder Cook’s talk about decisions during the priesthood session.  I thought that was a quality talk.  Oh, Aaron Gallegos is back at his house.  I guess his mom welcomed him home and everything is good with him.  I think that's my week for you in a nutshell.

It sounds like everything is going good at home.  I love the sports updates.  I look forward to hearing about Tyler, the Giants, and the Packers.  I am happy all 3 of them are kicking butt right now.  It sounds like everyone else is in one piece.  I am happy to hear that dad had an awesome birthday, and Dad if you want to come to ABQ next year to see the Aggies play the Lobos count me in, but I am warning you that I might be cheering for my Lobos.  I would love to do that with you Dad.  This city is beautiful.  You guys might not think it is, but I do.  It’s just unique, and that's why I like it.  I hope you guys have an awesome week, and you are al

September 30, 2014

Hey Family!!

It feels good to sit down and write you again.  It is the highlight of my P-Day, and it’s something that I look forward to every week.  I am doing good out here.  Life is good for me, and I am just plugging away with everything.  Our area is really struggling right now, and that has been really stressing me out.  We need it to get better, and hopefully it will by the end of this week.  We are pretty much just starting over.  We are kind of down with the investigators we have, and we have been trying to find a lot lately.  Hopefully the Lord will deliver some miracles for us this week.  I know he can.  We also had the opportunity to go to the temple yesterday, and that was a great blessing.  I love the Albuquerque temple a lot.  It’s super beautiful and really nice.  It was a great session.  We also got our truck back, thank the heavens, and that been helping the work progress.  We got it back Friday, and so we had to walk a bit during the week, and that was good.  Life has been great out here, and I have nothing to complain about.

This week was pretty busy and stressful like I said above.  Our area is not doing the best right now, and that's been really hard.  It’s been frustrating me and stressing me out, but it’s all part of the experience.   We have had some really solid lessons lately with Jamyll Munoz.  He is very close to having a date for baptism.  Yesterday we went by, and we taught him about faith and read Ether 12 with him.  It was an amazing lesson, and the spirit was super strong.  We talked about baptism and how we need to have faith to do it.  We asked him if he had prayed, and he said no.  We invited him to pray, and we promised him some blessings.  It was an awesome lesson.  We had something funny happen to us yesterday.  We were driving to our other lesson, and my companion just rolled down the window for who knows why.  We came up into a part were you yield to turn into traffic.  We noticed this guy off to our left, and he was a guy that looked kind of shady.  He turns around and has this gas mask on top of his head and has a pair of binoculars.  He then shouts out, "HOLY SH#$, IT’S THE ELDERS!!!"  I was trying to hold in some laughter, and it turns out this man was a super inactive member.  He told us he travels around, and he is from Utah.  He told us he just got kicked out of his dad's house, and then he point to the desert and told us he had his tent set up out there.  He asked us to come over tomorrow and chill with him out in the desert.  We drove off after that, just laughing our heads off.  He also told us seeing us gave him a boost.  God definitely put him in our path.  It was awesome, and so today we are going on a journey into the desert to find his tent and talk with him.  Wish us luck with that.  It’s going to be an adventure.  We found two new investigators this week, and that was rad.  One is Ramon, the drunk guy from my email last week, and he is a character.  We taught him the first part of the Restauracion, and he invited us back.  He is a pretty awesome guy and just a lovable guy.  We stopped by yesterday, and I asked him in Spanish how his week went.  He responded, "Mucho party man!"  It made me laugh so hard.  He is a stud and we are seeing him tonight.  We also found a guy named Ismael, and he is pretty awesome as well.  He contacted us.  The only problem we might have with him is that he might speak more English than Spanish, so we might have to hand him over to the English Elders, which is totally fine.  Other than that we are just plugging away at the grind out here, and I love it.  The temple was awesome yesterday.  It was a boost and a blessing to go to a session.  It’s crazy how fast 6 months have gone by, and it’s crazy it is General Conference again.  I feel like it was just April, but it’s now October.  I don't get time, and it goes too fast on the mission.  I am loving life out here.  That was my week for you.  Not much has changed for me!

It sounds like everyone is in one piece at home.  I laughed at the teacher drama, and I hate those kinds of teachers.  Who is Tyler's new English teacher?  I love hearing about football each week.  It sounds like Tyler is a stud out there and tears its up wherever he is put.  Sounds like everyone else is doing really good.  I am happy mom didn't get fired.  That would have been bad.  I hope everyone has a great week, and you’re always in my prayers.  I love you guys tons, and have some fun this week.  Talk to you next week!

Con Amor,

-Elder Smith 

P.S.  Thanks for the quotes!  I will look for them!  And mom, if you could send me more shirts that would be great!  Don't ever put your pen through the wash.  Bad things will happen!  Love ya!

September 23, 2014

Hey Family!!

It was good to hear from you all this week.  It has felt like I haven't really emailed in a while.  I am doing good.  This week was a stressful one that's for sure.  The worked slowed down big time this week because of transfers.  My companion took his bike, so we had to walk all week, and it was really tough.  We have 2 more bikes at the house, but one doesn't have air.  We were going to pump it up, but if you can believe it my last companion stole the pump and took it with him.   I don't get what he was thinking.  I have a greenie, and I love him a lot.  His name is Elder Peterson and he is from Woods Cross.  He was an all-state center in Utah last year, and he also played lacrosse.  He is stud, and it is so inspired that we are together.  He reminds me a lot of Elder Folsom, and it’s awesome.  We are working hard with what we can do right now, and life is good.  The area is struggling right now, and I am hoping we can get on top of it when the car comes back.  I really can't complain because life is good.

This week was a hard week because we were walking every day.  The work has slowed down really bad ever since the car crash happened.  Sometimes I feel like I am not giving it my all because we are walking half the day and only end up having one lesson.  It is rough but what effs, it is missionary life.  I love it, and it’s what the Lord wants right now.  Tuesday was an awesome day.  I picked up Elder Peterson, and he is a stud.  He wants to work hard and just wants to get work done.  It’s been awesome to have him along lately.  We have been having fun while we walk, and we have run into some crazies.  One day we were waiting for the bus.  A car pulled over, and this guy got out.  He then got on the bus with us.  Throughout the bus ride he was just trying to bible bash with us, and it was just stupid.  We got off at Wal-Mart, and he got off too.  We walked into Wal-Mart to use the bathroom, and he was heading there too.  He ended up walking into the women's restroom, and it was super funny.  He came out and was super embarrassed.  We just walked around in Wal-Mart till we thought he was done.  My companion later put together that he just got out of the car and rode with us to bible bash, and he didn't really need to take the bus.  It was pretty funny to see this guy waste one dollar and get no reward from it.  Got to love the people out here in ABQ.  So that was pretty funny.  We also contacted this guy who was drunk.  He is so funny.  His name is Ramon, and he loves to party.  He asked us if we wanted a beer, and we said no.  He also told us later when we stopped by again that he has 3 girlfriends, and it keeps him going.  Hopefully we will be able to teach him this week when he isn't drinking.  He is a pretty cool guy!   Our investigators are slowly progressing right now.  Not much is happening with them.  The only person who is really progressing is Jamyll.  We need to set a baptism date with him because he is ready, but I don't think he understands that yet.  Hopefully that will change this week.  We were going to see him yesterday, but he canceled last minute.  Our other investigators are slowing down, and we just need to start fresh with new people.  We set a goal to find 8 new investigators this week, and I know we can do it.  This area needs a makeover really bad, and it’s not up to shape.  I know Elder Peterson and I will change it this transfer.  We got some crazy rain yesterday, and we were out walking around in it.  It was pretty crazy, but we had fun.  Being a District Leader is nuts to say the least.  I was dealing with a lot of problems, but it was all good.  The people we roomed with are in our District, and this Elder who is training Elder Christensen isn't doing his job.  Elder Christensen came to me, and we talked about it for a while.  It brought back memories of when I was being trained.  I also wondered why I was put with this trainer while I was with him.  I was praying to know why, and I never really received an answer.  But a year later I now know why – it is to help another Elder out.  I love Elder Christensen a lot, and he is a stud.  We have become super good friends.  Last night we were talking till 11:30 because his best friend is in the mission, and he wants to go home.  President Miller put him in a trio with them to see if they could help change his mind.  We were talking late last night trying to figure out what we can do.  He is very worried about him.  We are going to figure out something to do to make him stay.  It will be interesting to see how the week pans out.  That was my week in a nutshell for you.

It was good to hear that everyone is doing good at home.  I miss you guys a lot, and I miss football.  Hopefully the drama will die down soon, and hopefully the Pack will pick it up.  I am happy about the Giants.  I miss baseball and football.  I hope you guys have an awesome week, and it’s fun this week!  I think about you guys a ton, and just know I miss you.  If you have some time this week could you send me some quotes in the mail??  I love reading quotes, and I use them every week in District Meeting.  If you could do that, that would be awesome!  Love you guys tons and miss you more than ever!!

Con Amor,

-Elder Smith

September 15, 2014

September 15, 2014

Hey Family!!

This week was an eventful week, and it feels nice to email you all today.   We biked pretty much all this week, and that was crazy.   It’s been nice to get in shape once again.  It’s crazy what a car can do to your body.  President Miller called me.  I love him so much.  He asked me to train a new missionary that's coming in today.  I never thought I would train in my life, and it’s hitting me.  I don't know how to train or how to train him well.  I am a little bit scared and nervous on how it is going to go down.  I just hope we become better missionaries by the end of the 12 weeks.  I am sad to say goodbye to Elder Millett.  He is a stud and has been such a great missionary.  It’s going to be weird to be a trainer and a District Leader at the same time.  I don't know if I am fully ready to train or did I ever think during my mission I would train someone.  We will see how life goes the next couple of weeks.   I also broke my permanent retainer again.  I didn't stress it much this time because I was in the mission home, and I had President and Sister Miller right there.  They took care of me and got it fixed the same day.  I am so sick of my dental work.  My tooth is screwed up from the first time, and it broke again.  It kind of sucks to say the least, but it’s all good!  I am doing good out here, and Albuquerque is the best.

This week was hard work to say it the least.  I am happy my companion and I just work - even on bikes.  We worked hard, and we saw a lot of people this week.  We found out the reason why Aaron got kicked out.  I guess he has been getting drunk, and he won’t give it up.  The night when his mom booted him he shot up 3 shots, and he just got super aggressive and violent, so he got the boot.  He hasn't even called us or tried to contact us lately.  Hopefully we will get in contact with him soon.  Magda finally kicked out Oswaldo, and that was a miracle this week.  I guess he has lied to her about going to work and everything at night.  Instead of working he went out partying and drinking.  He also had another girl that he was with.  He came over and choked her one day, and she called the cops.  So I guess they are looking for him or something.  She is going to get a restraining order against him.  Hopefully we will be able to have a baptism date with Magda soon.  She is awesome.  Jamyll is progressing as well.  He came to church again, and that was super sweet.  He just wants to feel a little more ready before he gets baptized.  We have a lesson with him tonight.  The work is still going on out here, and we are trying to find new people to teach.  The Lord gave us some miracles this week on the new investigators front.  We were able to find a couple named Maria and Daniel.  They were a referral from another Spanish area up here in ABQ.  They are teaching their daughter, and she told them that her parents are interested.  They have been looking for a church, and we were able to talk to them about ours.  They invited us back, and hopefully something happens with them.  I hope we will find some more this week with my greenie.  Life is going good here and it about the same.  Not much has changed, but I have to say time is flying.  I can't believe September is halfway over.  It feels like it just started.  I am loving mission life, but it’s going by too dang fast. 

Nice job dad on doing your race thinger!  That was awesome to hear you finished fourth in your group.  That's so sick.  I guess all your hard work with the training paid off.  That's also cool about Scott.  He is so smart.  Nice job Mcunit.  I hope Sean, Andrea, and Ella enjoyed Lake Powell.  I still can’t believe Tyler is in high school.  It sounds like he is a stud on the football field, and I am bummed I am missing it!  Mom, hopefully you don't have to go into nasty apartments again.  I know how you feel.  I have seen too many of those on my mission!  You all are awesome, and I miss you tons.  Have a great week full of fun!  I miss you tons, and you are in my prayers always.

Con Amor,

-Elder Smith