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