Weekly

September 24th, 2018

Dear Mom,

We don’t have internet right now, so this’ll probably get to you in a few hours or tomorrow. Or Wednesday, haha. There is a general strike in Buenos Aires starting today that goes through the next day or so. There will be a stoppage of buses, subways, trains and other miscellaneous things. We’re not sure if the internet is related to that (not sure how it could be) but there is a chance.

How did your week go? Everything here went fairly smooth with transfers and the new missionaries coming to the mission. My new companion is Elder Stokes:

(LtR: Elder Cameron Stokes – Layton, UT, Elder Bradley Mitchell – Nampa, ID, me)

He has a lot of desires to work! He’s been in Capital for most of his mission, so the quiet streets of San Fernando are a little different for him, but he’ll do great! This’ll be a great transfer.

Hermana Rosa Meza met with us this week. We taught about the family and the importance of marriage in God’s plan for the families. She told us that she’s moving to Italy in one month (what?!!) and is unsure about whether to get married with her boyfriend or not, because he’s not going with her (hmm). We challenged her to pray and ask God how He wants her to follow His commandments. We’re praying that she continues forward and remembers the spiritual impressions that she has received.

This morning I looked over emails from you and dad that I have printed out. I was reminded that the most important things here are following the Spirit and ministering to others one person at a time. I hope that in the time I have left that I can learn to love the people more and help more of them receive baptism.

How are things going with the new school year? Is Dad’s new clinic up and running? Did they find a new therapist to work there? We ate with the Izquierdo-Maldonado family on Sunday and their oldest son, Nico, was asking me about dad’s work. He’s studying to be a PE teacher.

Tell Sadie happy birthday for me! I wish I could be there. I can’t believe that she’s already 15! That happened way to quickly.

Update for dad: I ate Seco de Carne today with Chicha Morada to drink. I loved the seco. The chicha morada tasted like Hubba Bubba so drinking it was rather strange. Did you have a favorite drink or desert from Perú?

I’ll write more next week! I love you!

Elder Smith

One of the happiest days of my mission

Dear Mom, 

Yesterday was one of the happiest days of my whole mission! The Meza family (Katherin and Marcia) invited us over to dinner to say goodbye to Elder Crandall. We ate papa rellena (one of the greatest Peruvian dishes ever) with the two of them, Rosa, their mom, Fiorella, their older sister, and Henry, their stepdad. As we ate, we gradually turned the conversation from the falling Argentina economy to a recent temple trip that Marcia took to do vicarious baptisms for her grandmothers. As soon as the topic came up, Fiorella spoke up and said, "Hey! Now that my grandmas are baptized, what are they doing? Like, what now?" We explained a little about the spirit world and ended up answering a good number of questions that her sisters hadn't known how to answer. I shared my Mi Familia pamphlet with her and we all gave little testimonies about family history work and eternal families. The spirit was so strong! I could just feel pure joy as we saw Henry and Rosa and Fiorella have their interest sparked and their hearts softened towards the gospel! When we first met the three of them, the didn't want anything (two old-time Catholics and a strong atheist). But, having seen the happiness that their sisters/daughters have, they are closer to receiving the gospel.

I could go on about how happy I am to see their progress but I will write more on them later. Maybe next week. We're going to teach Fiorella more about the Book of Mormon on Wednesday. Seeing families progress together in the gospel gives me a feeling of joy whose magnitude it greater that any non-spiritual experience that I have ever had!

Luis has mysteriously disappeared. We've taught a little to his kids this last week but we could never find him at home. 

Transfers are tomorrow. Elder Drummond and Elder Crandall are both leaving. I'll be getting a new companion to train. 

I received Brother Allan's letter this week! Tell him thank you for me! I will be writing him back promptly. 

Enjoy the fall! 

Love,

Elder Smith

Dear Mom, 

I'm so happy to hear about the family reunion. I can feel how great it was just from the pictures and what everyone has commented about it. What were all of the dads doing walking on Legos and mouse traps? 

That's exciting that Grandma will be going to Norway with you and all of your siblings. Do you have any specific places you want to go to? Remember my roommate Jared? He's on his mission in Norway and sends me pictures every week. It looks really pretty and extremely cold.

Elder Crandall had to go to the central Church Area Offices of Argentina to get special office training (conveniently located one stake away from our offices). I went too because I'm his companion and gladly ate the free donuts that they gave us :)

We had lots of office work like normal and knocked on a lot of doors. One of the greatest feelings of being a missionary is waking up every day and trusting that regardless of how many doors you have previously knocked and despite the number of people that have rejected your invitations, God is going to use you to build His kingdom. Feeling the hope that Christ will keep His promises moves me forward to keep working and keep giving my best. 

We had a lesson with Marcia (she got baptized about 2 months ago) and were able to talk about the Book of Mormon. Seeing her continual progress has been so satisfying! Her older sister, Katherin, is on vacation in Peru right now and so Marcia's had the opportunity to talk with more people in the church. It's been good for her. 

The Iasevoli family ran into a few questions and doubts that they what to resolve before being baptized. We're happy to keep teaching them but feel sad that they're letting doubts and concerns keep them from greater blessings. 

I´m doing well. President Smith asked us to study the scriptures in a different way and it has been spiritually beneficial for me! I feel more desire to keep learning about the gospel! There is so much to learn. 

Transfers are coming up. Pres. Smith told Elder Crandall and I that we'll be getting a new companion this coming week. That means only 7 more weeks with Elder Crandall (1 until the new Elder gets here and 6 for Elder Crandall to train him to be a secretary). We'll know who it is by next Monday. 

I love you! Hope your summer continues to go well!

Love,

Elder Smith