Dear Mom,
The offices are going great! This week passed really fast! We worked a lot and were able to find a few people to teach! They didn't come to church on Sunday but people rarely come the first week that they meet us. More visits and teaching will help them feel the desire to go to church. Transfers turned out surprisingly well. We decided to use three taxi companies to do all of the traveling that the mission needed (one of the companies previously has a monopoly on our traveling needs and they were getting too comfortable). The owner of the company with the monopoly threw a little fit over not getting 100% of our business but he cooled down after a while. I never would have thought that I would participate in making business deals during my mission. The offices have brought many great unexpected experiences.
I've liked learning about excel and honing my computer skills. Being part of the "Office Team" has also been enjoyable. We've become very good friends. I should probably look for ways to enjoy more of the work that I do. I feel very much that I am working and not so much a missionary during the day. But I don't worry about that too much. God put me here to do good and so I'm going to do it.
Our ward is pretty small, 50-60 active members. The majority of the ward is Peruvian (haha, the bishop is from Peru and wasn't too anxious to replace the flag of Argentina a month ago. (it was dirty and ripped up). We ganged up on him along with the first counselor in the bishopric and the ward Secretary to convince him to buy a new flag. Haha, we won.) They are a few core families that make up the most of the ward and a few others mixed in. The group that we work the most with is the YSA. Most of the recent converts are YSA along with our ward mission leader and the ward missionaries. President goes do a different ward; he lives 20 minutes away from us in train or car.
I loved that talk by Elder Oaks! I read it a few times after he gave it.
Mathias (my BYU roommate from Spokane) told me that Glaser Nat. Park is his favorite! Take lots of pictures for me!
Here's a little part of the letter that I wrote to President this week:
I am doing well. I've recently been thinking a lot about the covenants that I've made with the Lord and pondering in the promised blessings that accompany every covenant. I was taught by my dad that "the power of godliness is manifest in the ordinances." I always thought that this meant that the moments in which we perform or witness ordinances are when the power of God is shown unto us. While this is certainly true (I've felt the Spirit strongly while participating in ordinances) I understood this week that the power of God is largely made manifest as we live our covenants. I know that God remembers the promises that He has made and that He keeps His promised as we follow Him.
Covenants are the way to receives God's blessings!
Have a great week with everyone together! I love you!
Elder Smith
1. First day with Elder Mitchell (oh yeah, Elder Mitchell is our new companion)
2. Wheat Soup
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