March 25, 2014

Hey Guys!

This week was a pretty good week.  Not much happened again this week.  We are just working away and trying to do our best out here.  It’s super hard to find people to teach out here, but we take what we can get.  We have tried knocking, and that doesn't work.  Every door we knock we usually get the boot off the property or we run into some crazy person.  Life out in Chaparral is fun and just an adventure.  I have realized that New Mexico is really the Land of Enchantment, and I wouldn't trade anything to be called to another mission.  I know without a doubt that this is my home for 2 years.  I never thought I would be serving stateside but you know what, I love it.  It’s the best thing I have done, and it’s the same whether you’re in New Mexico, Ecuador, Russia, or Guatemala.  They are all callings from God, and he needs us there to help the people out.  I am grateful that I get to serve here. 

This week was just another hard working week.  We are doing a lot of service lately out here, and I enjoy it.  I am eating away at Mexican food, and I am pretty sure my butt is getting bigger, like the cleaning ladies.  You got to love the tortillas and all the lard.  Joey is doing really good.  He is progressing really nicely in the gospel, and all we have to do is get him locked up.  This week he came to church.  We went to his house afterwards.  He said, "Dudes my mind was blown today."  He didn't really understand why we had all these different scriptures.  We explained it to him, and he was loving it.  I love that man so much, and now he is like, “I got to get me one of those quads.”  He is awesome and just soaks up the gospel.  He also calls us every day, making sure we are in one piece, and he just loves to talk to us.  He is awesome.  Perfecto, the guy that we found a while ago, is having problems coming to church.  It’s wasting our time seeing him because I am pretty sure he doesn't want to progress.  I think he might get the boot.  Armando is causing us problems.  He likes our visits but doesn't really want to change.  I think he might get the boot as well, and we might work with the branch to try and get his wife reactivated.  Margaret Vargas came to Church this week, and I hope she liked it.  I am kind of scared she didn't.  We haven't been able to see her this week yet.  She seemed like something bugged her at church.  Oh - we have this investigator whose name is Jessica.  She was a referral from a member, and she has a baptism date for April 12.  So we are praying she is going to make it. 

I had a really cool experience this week that I want to share.  We were visiting our less active branch president, who was the branch president before our current one.  He kind of just gave up because a lot of stuff was just going on in the ward, so he was like, “I am done.”  His wife is also an issue.  She is mainly the reason why he isn't coming.  We showed up during the week, and he hit rock bottom.  He was super depressed.  I think something was going on with his wife.  He was talking to us and he was in tears and stuff.  I got a thought that he needed a blessing.  I just kind of pushed it away, and he asked us to go see his wife.  We walked away, and this thought just kept bugging me.  I mentioned it to my companion and the member who was with us.  They also thought a blessing was a good idea.  We tried knocking on the house, but the wife didn't want to hear it.  It was stupid.  We went back and offered to give him a blessing.  He was so grateful that we wanted to give him a blessing.  We did it, and then afterwards he asked who thought of giving him a blessing.  The member pointed to me, and he thanked me because he wanted one.  He commented that I listen to the Holy Ghost.  It showed me that he truly is in our lives.  We just need to clear our minds sometimes and listen.  On Sunday, Presidente Portillo asked if I could give a talk on the Holy Ghost, and I shared that story.  I pretty much just got up there and spoke.  I am pretty sure no one understood my Spanish.  That was my cool experience.  But the rest of this week was pretty good, and it’s weird that is transfers next week.

Thanks for all the letters this week.  It sounds like everyone is in one piece.  I hope Sean's knee heals up and he is able to go through surgery ok.  He will be in my prayers this week.  Also next week P-day is on Monday because of transfers.  I will let you know next week if I am staying on Monday.  I just need some protein bars and some candy.  That would be awesome!  Thanks for all you do for me, guys!  I love you tons, and I hope your week is great!  You’re in my prayers!

Love,

-Elder Smith

Desert Sunset

March 18, 2014

Hey Guys!

This week was pretty good.  It’s really hard work out here, but you just do what you can do and hope something turns out.  Life out in Chaparral is chill and an adventure always.  There really is no dull moment out here.  We usually go back at night laughing about something that happened or something that people said.  There are so many nut jobs out here, and I love it.  It’s been fun.

This week was hard towards the end of the week.  Margaret Vargas, our star investigator, doesn't have a baptism date currently.  I swear it always happens to me right at the very end.  She hasn't come to church twice yet.  This Sunday she was planning on coming, and then she said she had an electrical problem and couldn't come.  I think it might have been made up or something - I don't know.  She is a project, and we’re trying to make something with what we got.  Joey Lopez is other one of our investigators.  I don't know if I have told you about him yet but here is a rundown of him.  He currently has warrants for his arrest in Texas and in New Mexico.  In Texas he bounced from bail too early, so he has to serve some time there.   In New Mexico he has a warrant for theft.  But he is a super nice guy, and I love him.  He loves us to death.  All the ex-drug people out here are the nicest people ever.  I don't know if the drug does something or what, but they are teddy bears.  Joey is super funny, and I love him.  He has nothing to hide from us.  He tells us everything.  Right now we have to wait for him to serve his time in Texas before he can get baptized.  He knows everything is true, and it’s cool.  He is like 45 and has diabetes so he doesn't have full function of his legs.  His girlfriend is super funny as well.  She has a court date in April because she was selling and the DEA caught her.  It’s an experience over there.  They live with Joey's mom.  He came to church this week, and he loved it.  We just need to get him in jail! 

Valentina Cano is another one of our investigators.  She is 12, and her mom is baptized but is inactive.  We went by this week to talk with her but she wasn't there.  Both the parents were, and that was a rare sight.  Missionaries have been trying to talk the parents into allowing her to be baptized.  They haven't been successful.  The dad right now is the step dad.  This lesson was super awesome.  We talked about the book of Mormon and prophets.  It was sweet.  We then got to the end of our lesson.  We went in there with a purpose - to talk to the parents again about baptism.  We got to the end, and both of us were scared to bring it up again.  Finally Elder Stewart said something about her baptism, and then I just went off about how important it is to be baptized.  I just opened my mouth, and it was filled.  It was a cool experience, and they told us they will discuss it tonight and have an answer for us Thursday.  So I am crossing my fingers that they say yes.  She is so prepared for baptism.  I just hope and have faith they will say yes.  That was our highlights from our week, and it was a good week.

Thanks for all the emails this week.  I loved them.  It sounds like everyone is in one piece.  I got your letter mom, so I guess you can try a package.  I don't need much.  Could you send me a small photo book with a lot of different pictures so I can carry it in my backpack?  If you could also send me some CD's with music, that would be great.  Our rule here is this, "Listen to music that is consistent with the sacred spirit of your calling.  Music should invite the Spirit."  So whatever you think invites the Spirit it, should be good!  Thanks for all you do for me, and I love you guys a lot!  Have a wonderful week, and I hope it’s a good one.  You’re always in my prayers.  If you send a package make sure it gets here in 2 weeks because transfers are in 2 weeks, and I could be leaving!  Thanks for everything and I love you guys!

Love,

-Elder Smith

March 11, 2014

Hey Family!

This week was a pretty good week.  It’s an adventure out in Chaparral for sure!  It’s so much different, but it is fun.  I wouldn't have asked for a better place to be.  I enjoy it. This week was a little rough.  People weren't home for most of the week, and that's rough.  I got thrown out of the crazy, less-active man’s graveyard this week after I bore testimony of The Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith.  That was an adventure.  But overall it was a good week. 

Our investigators are progressing.  Armando, the person whose wife is inactive, is progressing good.  He is having some troubles with baptism because he thinks his catholic one was good.  We are trying to get him to have a date, but it’s been hard.  We are just teaching him all the lessons.  We went to teach him on Sunday and, oh my, I almost peed my pants in that lesson.  We were teaching him the Plan of Salvation, and all of a sudden I got hit by a wave of "I have to take a pee now!"  I was just like hold it out for the lesson.  I got to the point where I couldn’t hold it anymore.  I was jumping and doing jigs in my seat trying to hold it in.  I tried to get his attention, but that didn't work.  I was scared that I was going to pee my pants and ruin my suit pants.  I was just hoping it wouldn’t come out because Armando was going on a rant, and I was left fearing for my pants.  Finally my companion was like, "He needs to use the bathroom!"  So I took off to the bathroom and made it.  I never felt more relieved in my life. 

We found, well she has been investigating the church forever, a new lady.  Her name is Margaret Vargas.  She has been through a lot of missionaries.  She has had 3 baptisms, and she didn't show up once.  We were driving back from doing service at this one lady's house and saw her working away in the yard.  She doesn't like help because she thinks that we do enough just trying to save souls.  But she pretty much couldn't say no.  We did the service and then taught her.  It was by far the best lesson I have had on my mission.  The spirit was so strong - bearing witness that this church is true.  She knows it’s true, and she told us but she fears that if she gets baptized again God is going to be angry.  She has been baptized in the Catholic, Baptist, and Christian churches.  This would be her 4th.  We told her that this is the one she needs, and she told us she knows.  She just has fears, but I know she will make it for the 29th of March.  She is prepared for us.  It was an awesome lesson. 

Kenny, one of our less actives, is nuts.  We saw him yesterday and, oh my, it was interesting.  He and my companion where talking about something, and I zoned out.  I don't like his crap.  He then brought up stuff about the Book of Mormon and Joseph Smith, and it was just bad.  He thinks the Bible is all that matters and that it is better than the Book of Mormon.  It’s been translated so many times and the Book of Mormon has been translated once.  I bore my testimony of the perfectness of the book, and he couldn't do anything about it.  All he could do is tell us to leave.  It’s amazing how people don't have power when a testimony is borne.  I know it without a doubt that a testimony is one of the most powerful things on this planet.  He told us to leave, never come back, and never call him or text him.  It was nuts.  He later texted us and said “sorry,” but I don't like his crap.  Those were the highlights of my week.  It’s an adventure out here.

Thanks for all your emails.  I love reading them.  I hope you guys have an awesome week and just know you’re in my prayers.  It sounds like everything is in one piece at home.  I miss it a lot sometimes, and I miss you guys.  It’s amazing what the mission makes your grateful for.  All I need is my family for eternity and my friends.  There is nothing more I need, and you miss them when they are gone from you for a while.  Just know how much I love you guys, and have an awesome week! 

Con Amor,

-Elder Smith

Pics of my trailer

March 4, 2014

Hey Family!

This week was a pretty good week.  It’s been nothing but an adventure out here.  I almost got a Bible chucked at me this week.  We had to take care of cockroaches, crickets, and weird spiders in our trailer.  We took on dirt hills and banks trying to get out to this house.  The truck life is fun.  To top it off we had Zone Conference in El Paso yesterday.  It was just another week in wacky Chaparral.

Yep, a Bible almost got chucked at me.  We somewhat teach this less-active guy named Kenny Slaughter.  He is the cemetery keeper in Chaparral.  His records are in the Hondo Pass Ward, which is the English ward in Transmountian.  There are sisters in that ward but they don't really see him because he is literately a nut.  So he texted us this week asking when we would come over.  We told him we would stop by that night.  Missionaries have been seeing him for centuries and can't seem to get him back.  He thinks the church is now false.  The temple needs some work, and it’s not true.  He thinks Joseph Smith was a prophet but then wasn't because he started translating the Bible, and that's why he died.  He has some crazy thoughts about everything.  So we showed up that night, and we sat down.  Right off the bat he started yelling at us about how the church is just false and he has the true church inside.  I was just hearing him out, but I was just baking inside because I don't like when people start tearing down The Book of Mormon or Joseph Smith.  It’s the worst thing to hear as a missionary.  It’s like in Harry Potter where they don't like hearing Voldemort's name.  That's how it is for me.  He was going off on how the church shouldn’t send 18 year olds out and just complete crap.  I have never felt the spirit of contention so bad, and he is over there thinking it’s the spirit.  I was just about ready to grab my stuff and walk out the door, which I should have done.  But I went into a Stinny mode with him and just let him have it and bore my testimony to him.  I told him this church is true and everything and that it’s all from God.  He didn't like that so then he started getting mad about the laying on of hands and how it’s not in the Bible.  I shot back at him that it was, and he was raising the Bible up to throw it at me to prove him wrong.  But then he shot up and walked over and dropped it in my lap.  My companion knew I was upset so we just said a quick prayer and we bounced.  It was crazy and it was just a terrible situation. 

So he is one person we are dealing with, and we have a bundle more of less-actives who we have to work with.  But in the mess of all the less-actives up here we have another inactive lady whose husband we are teaching, and they are awesome.  The lady isn't on the church records.  The way we found them is through the listing of former investigators in the area book.  I just felt like we should go see them.  We showed up, and they let us in immediately.  Their names are Armando and Esther.  Esther is the member, but I don't think she remembers her baptism.  The husband really enjoys it, and they love having us over.  It’s good to have someone who is normal.  We have taught them the restoration and the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and they liked it.  They are by far the best investigators we have right now.

 Yesterday we had Zone Conference, and it was really good.  President Miller always delivers great talks.  He and his wife together crack me up.  They start talking about funny stories they have had together, and it’s just great.  They remind me a lot of you, mom and dad.  He is a great President. 

Yesterday in one of our lessons a kid full-on kicked a door open and broke it.  We were teaching the Holguin Family which is just a bad situation.  The daughter who is a member is 18 and lives with her other half at the house.  Most of the kids have some problems.  The dad is in jail, and the mom is a trucker.  The kid who we were trying teach is 9 and not baptized.  He didn't want to listen, and they were trying to force him.  We were like “it’s fine.”  They are also less-active.  He got sent outside.  The door to the outside is right by the couch we were sitting on, and they locked him outside.  The next minute we heard this “pop”, the door frame snapped, and the kid came walking in.  It was crazy.  One of ladies was trying to man-handle him and was body slamming him.  I was just in shock and awe during it.  We tried to teach but he didn't get much out of the lesson.

We went off- roading into the desert this week.  We were trying to visit former members who live in the boonies.  We were on paths that probably aren't roads.  We were on tight banks and going over just crazy things.  It was awesome.  We had a pest problem in our trailer this week.  We had some cockroaches, crickets jumping around, and spiders.  It was crazy.  We had a bug man come and handle it.  It’s starting to become spring, so supposedly the tarantula spiders start coming out.  It’s also dust storm season so we are supposedly going to get some bad storms.  That's pretty much my week out here in the desert.

It sounds like everyone is in one piece at home.  Thanks for all the emails and everything you do for me!  I hope you guys.  Have an awesome week.  This gospel is so true.  I know it to be, and it’s crazy how it changes lives.  I love you guys tons!  You’re in my prayers!

Con Amor,

-Elder Smith