Hey Family!
It was really good to hear from you guys this week! I
totally spaced Sherm’s birthday this week.
So Happy Birthday, Sherm, and Happy Birthday to Andrea this week!
I hope you both had or will have great birthdays! I miss you guys, and I
wish I could be there for your birthday.
The work has been going well lately, and we are just trying to
find. We have been knocking like crazy lately, and it has been bringing
us some success, which is good. I am getting blasted by the sun lately,
and I am rocking a nice missionary tan right now. There is nothing like
hot and sand weather. I love it though, and it’s been really nice to have
some sun. Other than that our investigators are doing well, and we are
just trying to stay busy out here in Sunland Park.
We were able to find a new investigator this week on Sunday.
It was kind of a miracle how we found him. We were out in Santa Teresa,
which is on the other side of our area. We hardly go out there to work
because there isn’t much out there. But
that might change because we were having some success out there when we went on
Sunday. It is more of a white population, but we decided to just knock
till dinner, which was out there too. We knocked on this house and this
lady answered. She told us how she was busy and asked if we could try to
come back another time. We started walking away, and all of a sudden we
heard the same women yelling “VENGASE!!” or “come here” in English. We
kind of just kept walking, but I had this feeling and this voice tell me to
turn around. So I did, and she was
outside motioning us to come over. We walked back up, and she told us
that her husband wanted to talk to us. We waited there, and I feared the
guy was going to just tear us apart because we saw his shadow, and he was this
super big dude. This guy came walking out, and he was super happy to see
us. He was blind and had a lot of health problems but told us how
missionaries use to come by. They stopped
all of a sudden, and ever since he has been waiting and looking for them.
He knew where our temple was in Juarez, and he told us how beautiful it
is. His name is Juan Ramirez. It has been kind of hard to
teach a blind person because you can’t gauge if they are listening or
anything. He is pretty dope, and we are
super happy we found someone new.
We also found a family yesterday through a member. We went
by on Saturday to that member, named Hno Silva, who lives in the projects. He told us how he talked to one of his
neighbors, and she wanted us to come by. We went by yesterday. It turns out this lady talked to missionaries
before, but they stopped coming, and she really wanted them to still come
by. She is super prepared and looking for the truth. She told us
she wants to find out which church is true because she hates going to all these
different churches. She just wants to be
part of one. The member, Hno Silva, was there, and that was good.
They got along really well, so that was awesome. It was a miracle that
the member opened up his mouth and asked her if she wanted the missionaries to
come by. It strengthened my testimony on how powerful member missionary
work is and how it is a lot more effective then tracking or talking to
people. So now we are teaching the Familia Reyes, and we are happy about
that.
Noe is stilling being Noe. He still hasn’t come to church,
but we are still pushing for the 9th of May with him. He
keeps telling us that he is going to get the guts to come, but when Sunday
comes he doesn’t show up. We called him on Saturday to remind him at
10:00 at night, and he told us he was going to be there. When we were
about to hang up, he was like, “Don’t you want to come over for pumpkin pie and
milk?” It made me laugh, and we told him we were going to bed. He
is such a great dude and could be such a powerful member if he just takes the
steps, but he isn’t taking them. It makes me frustrated, but that is all
good. We are trying to work with them, and I am hoping that they come
Sunday.
Jorge our main man is doing really well. I love him so
much. We invited him to be baptized, and he told us that he doesn’t feel
ready yet and needs us to come over more before he knows for sure that this is
something he wants to do. He also told us he needs us to come by some
more times before he comes to church also. He just wants to learn more
before he does, which is reasonable. We are going to see what this week
holds for him, and I hope he continues to progress and sets a date to be
baptized.
I think one of the best highlights of my week was giving Javier
Herrera the Melchizedek Priesthood. He is a youth who is preparing for a
mission. He is stud, and I love him to death. We have become really
good buddies, and he comes out with us twice a week. He had an interview
with the Stake President this week to receive the Priesthood. He was
telling us how he was nervous a little bit, and we told him he didn’t have to
worry. He texted us after the interview asking us if we needed some help
that night teaching. We told him no, but
we would let him know when. We asked him how the interview went, and he
told us it went really well and that I was going to give him the
Priesthood. Sunday rolled around, and I did it. I never thought
that would happen on my mission, but it sure did. It was probably one of the
most spiritual experiences I’ve had. It was amazing, and Javier is a
stud. He is going to be a great missionary.
Well that is a wrap for me! That was my week for ya! I
love it out here, and I don’t want it to end. I don’t want to leave this
desert paradise. I love the Lord, and I love his work. I enjoy how
hard it is. I never thought I would love going up to people and just
talking to them. There are nut jobs out there, but it’s so fun to talk
with them. I know this church is true and that Joseph Smith was the
prophet that restored Christ’s church here once again. I like what you
said, dad, about how much you respect him. He is someone that we are all
in debt to, just like the Savior. He restored salvation to this earth,
and we owe him a lot of respect. I love the gospel and the message
it brings.
I hope you have a great week this week, and know how much I love
you. It sounds like everything is good at home, and I am happy that it
is. I am excited to see you soon.
Let the gospel shine through you! Have a great week!
Love,
Love,
-Elder Smith
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