More pictures

 A mosquito bite that turned into a blister because my sock was rubbing on it. 

San Pedro in the morning

 Zone Lunch

Thanksgiving and the norm

Thanksgiving was really fun this year! I spend the day telling other people "Happy Thanksgiving" and then educating them of the abnormal method of date selection that we use for the American Holiday. My companion and I celebrated with ice cream and ice cream pie. 

This week passed extremely fast. I made a goal to take pictures this week for my mom (her birthday was yesterday!). While doing so I learned that 1. I don't take that great of pictures and 2. I should probably take more! huh, surprise.

Lautaro and his younger sister Jaquelín are doing great! They love the church and are going to get baptized this Friday if everything goes well! We are teaching them and the rest of their family with hopes to help their mom, dad, and their older siblings. 

Jaquelín wrote us the cutest note yesterday. I sent a picture of it. It says

with love, Jaqui, Lautaro's sister

for the mormon esmit

I believe in the books of mormon and in God and in God and Jesus Christ. Amen

for the "fine Mormons"

ah, teaching her has been great. I am excited about their baptisms and for all of the family to have the gospel together!

Last Sunday's church meeting was exciting. While I played the prelude on the electro-piano, Matías, a member of the church came up to the piano and asked me if I would be playing the piano for the primary program. I responded that if there was music, yes! He brought me the music and I sight read my first primary program as a pianist. The best part was playing "The Wise Man" song with only the first half of the music and improvising the other half! I'm grateful for my primary teachers that taught me to sing or that primary program would have been toast. 

I focused on gratitude in my prayers this week. After reading "Of What Matters Most" by President Uchtdorf, I decided I needed to focus on improving my relationship with God. Doing so helped me feel less stressed during the week and helped me realize all of the things that God has blessed me with. 

I hope that all of you have a great holiday season! I invite all of you to participate in the #LightTheWorld activities of the church (mormon.org). I am grateful to be part of something bigger than myself and love all of you!

Love,

Elder Smith

Ice cream pie from Gridos

me, Elder Pereyrá, Jaquelín, Lautaro

note from Jaquelín

More Q&A

Question: 

1. Do you know any of your neighbors?  Are they friendly?

1. Neighbors

We live in an apartment building. Ten stories tall, with two apartments on each floor. I saw our neighbor for the first time today as she was getting into the elevator. We`ve never talked. When we get home at night, the entryway is always full of cigarette smoke. We don`t smoke so we know its the neighbors. 

We do have a friendly downstairs neighbor. She has a baby that cries really loud at night. Apparently, there have been some problems with the baby being woke up from naps by the missionaries. She slipped a note under our door a week before I got here saying, "Dear Neighbor, you wake up my baby. Please respect the resting hours of the day from 20:00 at night to 8 in the morning and the siesta from 1-4. Muchas gracias. your neighbor" I thought it was pretty funny but to try and make less noise we taped clothes around the bottom of our metal chairs (similar to the metal folding chairs in the church) to stop them from squeaking on the tile floor (only rich people have carpet).

2. Homes -Do most of the homes in your area have computers, cell phones, and televisions?  What are some differences in their homes and the one you grew up in?

Everyone has smartphones and TVs. The only people without them were robbed of them in the past week or so. Computers are rare. The wealthier part of the people sometimes have desktops or a laptop. 

Differences in the homes: They`re all made of red block and a little bit of wood. It can be a mansion or a shack and they`re going to be made of the same red blocks. Almost everyone has bidets. The plugs are different. Water heaters and stoves are run by natural gas. The floors are tile or dirt. Sheetrock doesn`t exist, only bricks and blocks on the inside for walls. Very few people have front yards or side yards or backyards. Most houses are surrounded by fences. All windows have bars. Every bedroom is shared by two or more people. 

1. What is your favorite smell right now?  Least favorite?

3. Favorite smell: a book of Mormon fresh from the box

Least favorite smell: skunk marijuana. Cigarette smoke smells bad but marijuana is terrible. We smell it a few times a day. 

Learning

I love learning. God has given us the incredible ability to learn and progress and grow. Here are some things I learned this week.

1. Little caterpillars can sting you.

There are caterpillars here that have a bunch of spikes along their body. They live in the trees and sometimes drop off of the branches. On Saturday, we were teaching a lesson on Mabel`s front porch (a lady we had just met). As I was sharing the experience of Joseph Smith and the first vision, I felt a little prick. Then I felt my skin burning. I looked down and saw a friendly little caterpillar cuddling with my forearm. It hurt. 

2. God guides you when you plan

Every morning we set goals and plan for the day. On Wednesday we made plans to teach the Gutierrez family and felt like we should teach them about eternal families and how we can live with our family members forever if we make and keep promises with God in the temple. When we got to the lesson there were two new people, Gimena and Fiorela. So, we made a last minute change and taught about Joseph Smith and the restoration of Christ`s church. 

After sharing our lesson about Joseph Smith, I felt like we were missing something. I remembered what we had planned to teach and decided to talk a little about eternal families. That was the right choice because Fiorela broke down crying (side note, she`s 15). Her mom explained to us that Fiorela`s dad passed away 2 years ago and she was devastated. Fiorela had attempted to commit suicide (unsuccessfully) to be with her dad and for doing so was abandoned by her previous church. 

I am grateful that we planned and followed the plans that God helped us make. I know that God is interested in every one of His children and will guide us if we seek Him.

3. I LOVE THE BOOK OF MORMON

This isn`t completely new information but my testimony of the Book of Mormon and its purpose grew this week. I am currently studying the BoM with the question "What does the BoM teach me about Jesus Christ?" This morning I read in 1 Nephi 11 and was amazed as almost every verse taught me something about Christ, His plan, His power, and His divinity. 

I love how complete the Book of Mormon is. I know that it is true. 

I hope that you all have a great week and that you can invite someone to church this Sunday. There is no better way to show gratitude to the Lord than by sharing the blessings we`ve been given.

Love,

Elder Smith

Does Verano mean summer?

Buen día gente! I hope you´re all doing well. This week was a good one in the Zarate 1st ward of the Zarate stake of the area SudAmérica Sur in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This is Elder Smith speaking. I will be your reporter today

the weather

"it´s indecisive. it can´t decide" (thank you Justin Beiber)

"it's hot and it´s cold" (thank you, Katy Perry)

Rather unspiritual references but that´s what it´s been like here, haha. In the morning, we´re soaking wet and freezing and by the afternoon we´re sunburned and sweating. 

the people

we found a good number of new people to teach this week! We contact a lot of people in the street and this week we found Lautaro. He was sitting on his front porch when we knocked on his aunts door. His aunt (his next door neighbor) kindly told us she was Catholic and didn´t want anything but Lautaro listened to us. We invited him to read the book of Mormon and he accepted. We set an appointment for Thursday.

Thursday we passed by his house but he wasn´t home. But, his mom talked to us and said we could come back Friday. 

Friday we had interviews with President Smith (our mission president). After the interviews, he came with us to the lesson. Elder Pereyra and I were nervous to be teaching with President Smith there but we ended up having a really spiritual lesson. Lautaro and his mom accepted the invitation to be baptized. I almost couldn´t believe when Lautaro´s mom said "baptism would be great for my kids. My oldest kids are baptized by the youngest few don´t go to a church and aren´t baptized yet." We´ll be explaining on Wednesday that being baptized will be great for all of the family but we were happy that she is supportive of her son going to church and being baptized. 

Lautaro came to church on Sunday and had a great experience. More on him to come. 

We also taught Noelia for the first time this week. She was a street contact from another set of missionaries that said we could visit her. She lives alone, has one daughter, and is a cat lady. We taught her about the restoration of the gospel and she had a million questions. We answered a good number of them but assured her that going to church would help her understand more. 

This Sunday was stake conference.

The stake patriarch spoke.

Noelia has more questions. 

the missionaries

We are happy! Elder Pereyra and I are getting along better every day. I am learning how to be more humble and more supportive in this companionship. Elder Pereyra doesn´t have a lot of support from home and he is here anyway. I am impressed by his desire to serve the Lord despite the challenges he has. I am grateful for him and hope that you can all keep us in your prayers. 

This week I studied happiness. I´ve been thinking about my boss from home (Dale Perry) and how he is always happy. I wondered, "why is Brother Perry so happy even when everything breaks and the people renting his property trash everything and don´t pay? That doesn´t sound like things that would make me happy." 

Hours of wet contacting in the rain led me to the conclusion that he is happy because he´s obedient and obedience brings happiness. 

Mosiah 2:41 says:

41 And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness.

I know that this is true. I have seen the gospel of Jesus Christ bring happiness to so many people; a happiness that is not just a condition but rather a state of joy that perseveres through all situations. I know that Christ is the source of this happiness and invite all of you to seek this Jesus. 

Love,

Elder Smith

Fireflies

Preaching the good word in the grand continent of South America is going well. My week started out with two trips to Capital. As I now live near the border of my mission, the trip to big mission meetings is a whopping 2 to 3 hours, depending on the traffic. On Tuesday, I got to see Elder Ryan and Elder Elkins, two of my previous companions. We had a great time talking about the people in Suarez and how they're doing.

Elder Pereyra and I had a good experience yesterday. We were talking to a few teenage boys, Lautaro and Cristian, in a passageway when Norma, a lady we had talked to a few days before, came out of her house and asked us "quieren tomar unos mates?" (classic Argentine way to invite you into their house). We accepted the invitation to drink some mates with the condition that we could drink something fresh (we can't drink mate, only soda or juice or water if it's life or death). Norma let us in and we had a great lesson with her and her family. She is hardcore Catholic and believes in Saint Death. But, she listened to us and agreed to let us come back. We'll see if the mate offer leads Norma to the living water of the gospel. 

Two new investigators showed up at church this Sunday, Pablo Vega padre, and Pablo Vega hijo. They were a complete surprise as our only contact with them was 2 or 3 minutes in front of their house. More on them to come. 

We've recently been teaching the Galarza family. They got baptized a month ago and live in a barrio about 20 minutes from where we live (it's called Barrio Bosch if you want to look it up. a small neighborhood close to Zarate). During a lesson with them, I kept seeing a little light flash on and off. I originally thought it was a light from a factory in the distance but I realized it was a firefly when it started flying around the yard! Fireflies! I'm fairly sure it was the first time in my life to see fireflies. I'm grateful for the amazing things that God has given us without us even asking for them. Fireflies make me grateful for God. 

I love you all and hope that you can find lots of little things to be grateful for this week!

Love,

Elder Smith 

Zarate from the Bridge

The Bridge crossing the Parana River

Me on the bridge

The Elderes de Zarate (LtR: E. Naylor, E. Pereyra, yo, Elder Gonzalez)

Q&A

Dear Mom,

Some answers:

      
What is the biggest difference you have noticed between the culture of Argentina vs the culture of America?

Hm, the biggest difference I see is that of religion (probably because that’s what I talk about all day long). The majority of people that I talk with have no clue what the scriptures say and are content to agree with whatever their pastor says. They are very loyal to their faiths and families.

Another big difference is the attitude towards time. In America, I feel like we’re pretty   aware of where we spend time and are careful to lend our time to others, especially if we don’t know them. Argentina is really relaxed. Despite the fact that most people say that they’re “really busy” to avoid talking to you, I have only seen one person seem like they were in a hurry to get somewhere or get something done.  Lots of time is spent just chatting with friends and family drinking mate.

What strength/quality have you found you have developed the most since being on your mission?

I have felt a huge shift in my desires while I’ve been here. Before I would have never thought to help someone go to church or visit someone who needed some help. Now, I cannot believe that I didn’t encourage others to be active in the church every week! I mean, I had a truck and lived 3 blocks from the chapel. I’m set on helping the ward out more when I get home.

I’ve also felt more desires to help our family out. Very rarely have I openly talked one on one with my siblings or cousins about the gospel and about Jesus. I realize now that being a brother or cousin puts me in a place where I can help bless my family more. I am supposed to actively fight for them to be part of our eternal family.

Are there any differences between the youth in the church there vs here?  Are people there as much into social media?

I don’t see many differences between the youth here and the youth at home. There is a different attitude towards dating. Group dating/casual dating doesn’t exist here to my knowledge. People are just as into social media. The biggest social media here is WhatsApp. Everyone uses it.

-What made me laugh?

A lot of things. I laugh a lot with Elder Elkins, at myself, at my Spanish, at other gringos' Spanish, at jokes. Elder Elkins told me a really funny joke this morning but it doesn't make any sense in English, sorry. I also laugh a lot when we have lessons with Gladys and her family. Her little girl Johana is the cutest and always ask me to draw with her in church. 

-What did I learn this week

I learned that chicken pox is contagious and scares parents (here at least). Gladys' baby has chicken pox. When the ward found out that he was at church a few kinda freaked out. They pulled us out of class and told us that they had to leave right away. I was aware that chicken pox is contagious but I didn't think it was that big of a deal. Isn't it better to have chicken pox when you're young and then not get measles when you're older? Anyways, apparently not many have the chicken pox vaccine here so we dealt with that :)

-Favorite thing about Elder Elkins

Elder Elkins has really pure desires to help other people. He is really focused on doing what he can to find and baptize people. I love his example of selflessness that he has. 

-Favorite Conference talk?

I loved Elder Christofferson's talk about the sacrament. Having meaning sacrament meetings has been a weak point for me in my conversion. I want to improve my testimony of the sacrament so that I can more powerfully teach others about the Sabbath Day and the blessings we can receive from going to church. Attending church is a big challenge for people here. 

-Organ

I've actually been relieved from playing the organ. A member of our ward got married and his wife plays the piano very well. Hallelujiah! I can now start to learn the Hymns in Spanish. 

I hope that answers your questions well enough. I like when you send questions. It gives me  something to focus on.

Love,

Elder Smith

Backpacks and miracles

Dear Everyone,

This week was fantastic! Vanesa’s baptism, tons of divisions and transfers!

After Gladys’ baptism, all of the kids wanted to get baptized too, haha. Valeria (7 years old) asked me sooo many times, “why do you have to be 8 to get baptized? Why do I have to wait? I‘m smart enough to get baptized!!!” She turns 8 in December so she won’t have to wait too long.  Vanesa (11 years old) was really excited to be baptized as well. Gladys wanted to wait until this coming Saturday so that her extended family could come but Vanesa was set on getting baptized this weekend. I’m sure glad Vanesa was stubborn because it meant that I got to be there

A little over a week ago, an Elder from our zone went home for medical problems. So, his companion, Elder Giraldo, was with Elder Elkins and me for the remainder of the transfer. To allow us to work in both our area and Elder Giraldo’s, we did day long splits with a member of our stake named Jeremy Silvaggio!  What a capo! He met us at the chapel at 10 every morning and was with one of us until 9 every day!  Members aren’t allowed to sleep in the missionary apartments so Jeremy endured an hour-long bus ride to and from his house every night and morning. He received his mission call last week and will be going to Santiago, Chile to be a missionary in November!  

On Sunday, I went with Elder Giraldo to his area. We knocked doors in the Munro “Villa.”  Imagine four city blocks put in a row. Around the perimeter of the blocks, there are 3 story apartment buildings made of cement. They are normal apartments. However, if you venture in one of the innocent looking passageways (pasillos) you enter the maze of the villa. The inside of the four blocks is packed with shanties and brick houses.  They are all built so close together that you sometimes have to duck and squeeze to walk through the pasillos. In one of the lessons we taught, the mom started breastfeeding right in front of us.  That was weird. Then one of her older daughters came in and also started breastfeeding her baby. If that wasn’t enough to completely drive away the Spirit from the lesson, a dance program come on their big screen tv and the dancers were dressed in what we can call the bare minimum. So hm. Yes, I am in a foreign culture.

Transfers! We got the news about transfers last night and I am now in Zárate! This is possibly the biggest area in the mission. We have fields in my area!!!!!!!!  On the drive here, I saw more open field than I have in 8 months. Later today, we’re going exploring. My new companion is named Elder Pereryá. He’s from Tucumán, Argentina. He’s a super happy guy so we’re going to get along well!

The biggest miracle of the week. On Tuesday, Elder Elkins went with Elder Lucas to work in Boulogne. He left his backpack with me in our chapel to take back to the apartment on my way to Suarez.  I set the backpack down on a bench in the hall and went into another room to finish a lesson. When I came out five minutes later, the backpack was not there!! I called Elder Elkins to see if he had come back to grab it, but I knew before I called him that it had been stolen. I was really nervous to tell Elder Elkins because the backpack had a lot of his stuff in it: his scriptures, PMG, nice leather covers for his scriptures, a spinner, his journal, and worst of all, his pen drive with pictures and documents from his whole mission (he has 6 weeks left).   He was pretty devastated to find out that it was gone, toast.

Friday night I was coming back from working with Elder Giraldo in Munro. We came out of the train station and some random guys called us over (sometimes a good thing. sometimes a drunk guy). We cautiously went over to hear him ask if we knew when the Elders were in the chapel.  He then told us that a few days before a kid on the street had sold him a backpack that had a Book of Mormon and Bible in it! It was Elder Elkins’!!!!!!  I about cried as I made arrangements to pick up the backpack from him the next day. We got the backpack back. The only thing missing was the spinner (a popular toy in Buenos Aires).  Que mil agro! I am confident that God has a hand in our lives even when it’s just the little things.

Other things:

·       Sunday - got beer spit on me by a train full of River fans

·        The water heater in the chapel worked  (hallelujah! Warm water for the baptism)

·       The water in our apartment went out for a day. Even our use-bucket-to-flush-toilet system was down for the day

·       I love being a missionary! Hope you didn’t forget J

Love,  Elder Smith

Robbed by a ten year old-yep

Dear Todos! 

We had a fantastic week!

Gladys

Gladys and her family came to church again! They are progressing very well. In the chapel Elder Elkins and I were busy drawing with Gladys' daughters (along with a team of other members who helped hold Gladys' baby Mateo, play with the daughters, and helping them in their classes) I am grateful for all the members that helped us. Sharing the gospel of the Lord works the best when we all participate!

Robbed again

While crossing the only field that I have seen in my whole mission, a group of chicos and teens started coming down the road towards us. They got to us and stripped our pockets clean. It was in the middle of a rainy day so they robbed my umbrella, name tag, and agenda. Oh well. We stuck to our instructions to not resist robbery so nothing happened. Overall, it was just embarrassing to be robbed by a few little kids. I hope they get good use out of the umbrella.

María and family

We visited the family of María one time about a week ago. Due to her work schedule, we weren't able to visit her or her family at all. We passed by her house on Sunday morning because we were already close and to our surprise, she came to church with her two daughters! We visited them on Sunday afternoon and María is already set on being baptized! 

I know the Lord does His own work because we did not do anything.

I love you guys! Sorry today was short but we've got to go catch the bus!

Love,

Elder Smith

8 months complete!

This week was fantastic!!!!! Elder Elkins and I are having a blast as we work and teach in Suarez!

This Saturday, Gladys Añasco got baptized!

Gladys has the purest desires that I've ever seen in anyone here. She accepted the gospel incredibly fast and has told us many many many times, "I was thirsty for God. I found him and I will never leave the church. I am going to do everything that God wants me to." She is keeping her commitment to follow God and is already experiencing the great happiness that comes from being a part of Christ's church. In a lesson we had this week, she said,"The church has completely changed my life and I've only been 3 times!!!" I love seeing the happiness in her eyes when we visit her. 

The baptismal service was a little fiasco. The stake was having an activity on Saturday night and was scheduled to finish by 6:30 "at the latest" we were told. So, a 7 o'clock start time for the baptism wasn't too crazy. But, as we should have expected, the stake activity lasted until 8! ehhh! Elder Elkins and I were pacing back and forth for an hour apologizing to Gladys about the delay. It ended up being a great baptism anyways. President and Hermana Smith helped us out (they live in our stake and were already there for the stake activity). I have never been so happy to see someone receive the blessing of baptism for the remission of sins. I love helping people receive the blessings that come from Jesus Christ and His Gospel. 

Other notes about Gladys and her family:

-from Paraguay

-Gladys has 7 kids, the youngest 4 are in the picture (from oldest to youngest: Vanesa, Valeria, Johana, Mateo)

-Valeria and Johana always ask me to draw with them in church. If I wasn't a missionary, I would give them the biggest little hugs

I love you guys and I love serving the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that He lives and that He has the power to sustain us in our trials because I have felt it in my life and I have seen it in the lives of others. 

Love,

Elder Smith

Bendiciones

Working this week was great! Elder Elkins and I have been finding a lot of new people to teach and a few of them went to church yesterday! 

Elder Elkins

Elder Elkins is a stud from Greenbay, Wisconsin. He was the first Elder from my mission that I ever met. When I was in the MTC, he was an assistant to the Mission President so he came to the MTC to train the new missionaries. Crazy enough, he ended up being my comp. E. Elkins has 21 months in the mission so he is in the prime of his mission. He speaks great Spanish and is really excited to baptize here in José León Suarez 1. 

I was transferred from Suarez 2 to Suarez 1. It's in the same ward but the area is very different. My new area has a lot of passage-ways that run in between houses. They're about 3 feet wide squished by 2 story buildings on both sides. The longest we've found so far is about 4 blocks long. The area is a lot poorer as well. There are more houses made from wood and aluminum siding here. 

Gladys

This Friday we did divisions with the district leader in our zone, Elder Asper, and his companion, Elder Giraldo. Divisions are when you switch companions for a day to learn from other missionaries. Miracles always happen when we do divisions. 

Our miracle was Gladys. Elder Elkins and Elder Asper were knocking doors in the Villa Paraguaya and found Gladys at home. After hearing a shortened version of the first vision, Gladys immediately accepted to have us come by the next day and visit her family. 

Gladys is a single mom. She has 4 kids, ages 12, 9, 4, and 1/2 a year old. She told us that her boyfriend had left her just over a year ago when she found out that she was pregnant again. He went to Paraguay and came back with a new girlfriend. When Gladys found out, she got mad. She told us she went verbally attacked her ex and his new girlfriend. Ever since then, she told us that she has been ashamed to talk to God. 

We were able to teach her a little about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and invited her to church. She came (alone, with all 4 of her little kids) and I'll tell you, I have never wanted someone to have a good experience in church soooo bad. So bad. She accepted the invitation to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost in 4 weeks! We are excited to see the gospel of Jesus Christ change her family's life!!!!!

"Bendiciones" (blessings)

An interesting phrase that we hear a lot here is "bendiciones." When we pass by people in the street they always yell it out. I can't yet decide if people actually believe that saying the word blessings does something or if it is just a tradition of the people here. 

Testimonito

I am grateful to feel God's presence. This week we had a conference with 80 or so missionaries. I was praying to feel the Spirit in the meeting because recently I've haven't felt like I've been feeling the Spirit as much as a missionary should. So, I looked for the Spirit and I prayed for it. 

As someone was speaking (I can't remember who) I felt something small in my heart. I felt the need to find more people to teach. Later in the meeting, I got the chance to bear my testimony about Jesus Christ to my zone. As I did, I felt the same feeling again but more strongly. I know that I felt the Spirit. 

Feeling the Spirit doesn't have to be something big. I know that we can all feel the Spirit of God if we are obedient and if we are looking for it. Own all the testimony that you have and have faith that the rest will come! 

I love you guys!

Elder Smith

. La Zona Norte!

 Planning Baptisms for the next 4 weeks.

 Divisions with E. Asper, E. Elkins, yo y E. Giraldo

 Harvesting from the chapel's avocado tree.

Avocado Tree, Elder Elkins being himself square and center :)