Lots of typing

Hi Mom,

I hope that you have a good time at the family reunion! Let everyone know that I miss them and am grateful for their support! We have the greatest family. 

This week was heavy on the office work side of things. I have no clue how many hours I spend sitting in front of a computer but wow, I am getting much better at typing, haha. I actually have calluses forming on some of my fingertips. Did not know that typing could do that.

Working in our area is hard when we spend lots of time in the office. It´s kinda like what I imagine crank starting a model-T in winter is like. You just have to work and work and work and pray that it'll start up. There was a day last week when I was really tired. I was thinking about the offices and couldn't quite get focused on talking to people about the gospel. At night I threw a mini-pity party and said, "poor Elder Smith. You have such a hard life and are always in the offices. No one listens to you on the street. You're just an OK missionary." The next morning I got up and realized that I had fallen into the thinking about me trap, again. And it didn't help anything, again. (go figure) I studied faith in Jesus Christ in my personal study and was humbled as I was remembered that I need to rely on Christ's strength and not my own. It's hard to always remember Christ but as I try to do so, I feel much more hope. That is a great blessing. 

To answer your question from last week (more up days or down days?) I would say that there are many more up days in my mission life. There are challenges every day but I have hope in the knowledge that I am helping build God's kingdom. 

I love you and hope that you have a great time at the family reunion! 

Love,

Elder Smith

La Boca (two weeks ago)

 Evita Perón (9 de Julio, Capital Federal)

The view from our apartment

Zone Conferences

Mom, 

This week was full of zone conferences! We are really involved in the planning and execution of the conferences so Elder Crandall and I got to drive to each one and help out. I was excited to see more of Capital! One of the conferences was in La Boca, a part of the mission that I have never even been close to before. On the way there I made a few wrong turns (capital highways are crazy and constantly changing) and we ended up in another mission. But we did get to drive along the river and see the barges way off in the distance. 

We also got to visit Caminito! Sister Smith (the mission presidents wife)decided that we've been working way too many hours and that we needed a break. She took us to Caminito with her kids and the Wrides (see pictures). I am grateful that she takes care of us. 

That's crazy that Brinn is now home! Does she have a southern accent? She wrote me a little and said that it's been really good to be home. She enjoyed going over and visiting with you guys.

Now, to answer your questions:

How is your mission different then what you expected it to be like?  What is harder?  What is easier?

Many things are different than what I expected. I thought that Buenos Aires would be more like a big city in the states and that outside of the city it would be much less developed. I was surprised both in that Downtown is not as developed as other big cities I've been to and that outside of downtown is not 3rd world. Everyone has running water and electricity. Technology is everywhere. There is a large range of financial situations.

As for being a missionary, I expected always being with a companion to be a huge bother. I haven't got along perfectly with every companion but I can say that I enjoy having a companion to talk to and work with. Companions are a great support in both a motivational sense and a spiritual sense. Making an effort to be better missionaries is easier when you've got a companion working towards the same thing. 

Finding a balance between focusing on being a missionary and using what I've learned from my previous experiences is harder than I thought before. I tried completely isolating my mind from my previous memories and feelings at the beginning of my mission to become a "consecrated missionary." Let's just say that was an epic failure. I greatly depend upon all that I experienced and learned before coming to Argentina. Remembering the strong relationships and experiences that I have with family and friends has been one of the strongest sources of help in times of difficulty. 

Are you ready to leave the office yet?

Yes, but I will miss being with all of the office elders. Lots of good friends there. 

Do you have more ups or more downs in your day to day mission life?

Not sure, I'll have to think about that one. 

Do you miss America?

YES! yes, yes, yes. America is the greatest place on earth. 

Which of your companions thus far has had the most impact on you?

I've learned from each of my companions but I would say that Elder Ryan has had the biggest impact. I've been able to watch him since my first day in the field until just a few weeks ago when he went home. I am overly impressed by how happy he always is and how positive he is. Life goal: be more like Elder Ryan.

Elder Smith

Missing the mountains

	Jul 9

Hi Mom,

I am so happy that you were able to go up Adams. I saw the second picture and remembered exactly what it was like. I love the mountains so much! I'm glad that you were able to glissade! It is the best! I hope Andrew heal quickly but learning the hard is sometimes a valuable teaching method. 

Wow, my letter got there fast! I'm glad it arrived well. I'm skinny in both the should-probably-eat-better way and the doing-real-exercises-is-really-hard way. Living in a concrete world and the missionary schedule complicates both of the skinny causing culprits. I believe I'm down to 165, the least I've weighed since middle-school. But I'm not sure I want to gain weight right now because it would just be fat from alfajores and soda. Have any healthy living/really really REALLY simple tips?

I had a few ideas of what I'll do when I get back when I left. They are not developed plans in any way and depends on what the girl situation looks like soooooooooooo, I'll think about that later. I'm glad that I can take care of registering for classes after I get back. 

This week was great! We knocked on lots of doors and went to Sebastian and Carolina's wedding. I'll put some pictures. Yea!

I don't know what else to say about this week. We have 4 zone conferences this week and some reports to prepare. I don't know what else to say about this week. Do you have any questions?

I'll put more pictures. 

I love you!

Elder Smith

- We look dead in the picture, but we're not!!!! Don't judge an office elder by his baggy eyes.

Marriage and baptism

Hey mom, 

We had a crazy week in the offices! Transfers, two leadership councils and a baptism!!!!! Wahooo!!! William got baptized on Saturday (see picture) and was confirmed the following day! We found out as we were teaching him last week that he works with three or four ex-missionaries and that they've been teaching in between our lessons! Ah-ha! That's why he understands everything the first time we teach it. 

Update on the Iasevoli family: GETTING MARRIED THIS WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!! They have been planning their wedding and reception like crazy these last few days. They decided to get baptized in two weeks so that Jade, their oldest daughter, can be baptized with them (Jade has a few more questions than her parents and has been progressing as we've read more of the Book of Mormon together). 

Best part of the office week: buying a shopping cart full of yogurt and milk for a mission conference.

Best part of the proselyting week (besides William's baptism): Diego and Anahi asking us to help them get married!!!! (We've been teaching them for a few weeks) Anahi and Diego love the church and want to be sealed in the temple. Finally decided to get married after soooo many lessons about repentance and baptism and God's plan. (funny observation, in my missionary mind, taking a whole month to decide whether or not to get married and baptized in a church is forever. But that's actually a pretty quick big life decision. It's amazing that when someone feels the truth of the gospel, their decisions become more clear and more firm).  

I think it's weird when parents pick up their kids from their missions. You kinda miss out on the whole getting home to the airport experience and there's no definitive "end" to your mission. There's an Elder who just had his parents pick him up and he said it was kinda weird to be a missionary and to be doing not missionary things. I would love to come back afterward and visit all the people here! I would also like to visit some of the more touristy parts that aren't available to us during our missions.

Have a great time on Mt Adams! I love you!

Elder Smith