Taking off the skirt

February 6, 2017

Hi family!

  So yesterday I completed 18 months and took off my skirt, which is a mission-term meaning that we Elders that serve 2 years instead of 18 months have become real men and entered into a time that sister missionaries just can't understand and will never have the pleasure of experiencing.  Since I couldn't buy anything yesterday, I'll be celebrating my 18 month mark with Papa John's.  WooHoo!!  If I was a sister I'd be going home on Thursday.  But I'm not a sister and I've got the best 6 months ahead of me still! 

    So this week was kind of tough.  We found a lot of new investigators and got a lot of references from the ward.  Basically everyone initially accepted us well but decided they weren't willing to do anything about it.  I  encourage everybody who reads this to be doers and not just listener.  As it says in Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."  

 Anyway, church yesterday was very interesting...  There was a big leadership meeting with all of the local stake presidents, the two mission presidents in Nicaragua, and an area 70 so all of those guys were in our ward on Sunday to take the sacrament before their meeting.  We've been teaching a very sick inactive lady but she's been too sick to go to church but she has a brother who is perpetually drunk.  He told us all week he was going to go to church and then he pulled through and showed up.  Unfortunately he was drunk.  Towards the end of testimony meeting he went and bore his testimony.  It was very interesting.  He told a story of how he went to the beach to sin and then got bit by a cobra and everyone told him he was going to die until he ran into the missionaries and God saved him (If this story actually has any sort of truth to it he was talking about different missionarires because I've definitely never seen this guy with a snake bite nor have I seen him anywhere near a beach) After going on and on the bishop stood up and kindly invited him to take his seat in the congregation and he happily complied.  This guy picked the perfect Sunday to pull this so all of the church leaders in Nicaragua could see him.  

   We've had a lot of really great spiritual experiences this week, a lot of them actually came when we were teaching with members and they testified of the restoration and shared their own conversion stories.  There were a lot of people this week that were very prejudiced against us without even knowing anything about us, just because of the crap the other churches say about us but simple testimony about the restoration and support from their member friends was able to help a lot. 

   Elder Gonzales got his first experience with the unseen forces of parasites and bacteria.  Poor guy.  

   This week we have changes.  I'm not sure if I'll have changes, or if Gonzales will, or if neither of us will.  We'll see where the Lord wants us. Have a great week!

Elder Smith

Today's lunch.  It is called indio viejo.

New Schedule!!! Eventually....

January 30, 2017

Hi Family!!

   So on Wednesday we had the big broadcast that it sounds like you heard about where they announced some of the big changes they are making to our daily schedule and some of the numbers we report.  Basically now during the day we don't keep track of how many lessons we teach or people we talk to or references we receive, we just report how many new investigators we find, how many people have a baptismal date, how many come to church with us, and how many we baptize and confirm.   I like it because it gives us more trust and I feel like I can better focus on my purpose as a missionary during the day.  The goal is to invite people to come unto Christ... convert people, and teach them to repent, not just to teach 7 lessons a day.  So I'm good.  The new schedule changes are customizable according to the missions and President Brown is still experimenting with the schedule that will be best for us.  Me and Elder Gonzales have actually been involved in top-secret experiments where we have been trying out different schedules and reporting back to President how we like it.  I'll tell you more about that when I'm allowed to...

   After the broadcast where they announced that on Wednesday we had our interviews with President Brown.  As always it was incredible. I love that man so much. 

    I'm doing better health-wise, I've had nothing wrong with me this week.  What a miracle 

   On Tuesday I did divisions with Elder Seneca from Virginia.  He's awesome.  Everyone here is awesome.  

   On Saturday was Calixto's baptism.  He was super ready and excited and it all went well.  His grandpa baptized him.  After the baptism the family brought cake and cacao (a drink here, just google it) which is one of my favorite drinks here.  Also on Sunday after church a lady from the ward brought everyone cake and more cacao for her grandson's birthday.  I'm not complaining:)  I had three more cups of cacao.  And then last night, a couple from the ward that got married this week brought us leftover food and cacao from the wedding!!!  I'm in heaven but I'm probably going to get fat.

   Grettel didn't go to church this week but is adamant that she wants to get baptized on February 11.  Hopefully she'll be ready because going to church is a pretty big deal.  She already received an answer from the Lord that this is His church so now we're really trying to help her understand what that means and what He expects of her.  Pray for her. 

   That's about it for this week.  Other than the stuff I mentioned we just taught people and looked for news.  We're excited for tonight because we're going to go with a member to visit five different references she has for us.  Hopfeully some of them turn out positive.  Member missionary work is the most effective way to do missionary work!!!!!! Give the missionaries references!! 

Love you!

Elder Smith

Tub of Cacao from the baptism

Falling Apart

January 23, 2017

​Hi family,

   I gave the email that subject because I've been afflicted with a plethora of ailments this week.​  On Monday after we wrote we played soccer as a zone and I was outrageously sore for the next three days.  And then yesterday my bacteria came back and I felt like crap again and had some other afflictions that, out of respect, won't be mentioned but you can probably figure out.  I've also been hurting in my left shoulder and neck, I think from my backpack or something.  I'm looking for ways to lighten it a bit.  

     Happy birthday Dad, I thought about you on Thursday but I didn't treat myself to anything on your birthday:(  

    The investigators, for the most part, had a pretty rough week.  Angela went back to the street after being clean for a whole week and got lost in the paths of the world.  Grettel had a rough week as well.  But she still went to church but ended up just arguing with people in Gospel Doctrine class and I got pretty annoyed.  It's not looking as good for her as it was that's for sure....  But she's managed to make it a whole week without letting her ex back in so that's good.  

  We got permission to baptize Calixto so his baptism is on Saturday.  He's really cool.  When we let him choose who will say the closing prayer in a lesson he always just chooses himself.  Paola also had a bad week.   She basically just decided to be Catholic no matter what God tells her.  And we dropped Jorge because he doesn't complete with any commitments.  But we have worked a lot better with the ward members lately and they're giving us some good references and inviting friends to FHEs and stuff.  

   This Wednesday in the morning we have a missionary broadcast thing from Salt Lake and then after our zone has interviews with President Brown.  WooHoo!

Have a great week!!!

Love You!

Elder Smith  

Happy Birthday Dad!!

January 14, 2017

Hello family!!  Happy Birthday on Thursday Dad!!

    This was a really busy week!  On Thursday we had multizones.  They were awesome!!  We learned a lot from President and Sister Brown and the APs and had good food and it was good to see some old friends from the mission.  

   On Tuesday someone gave Grettel a free gallon of paint so we hellped her paint the outside of her house.  We were very clear that since we don't get paid and we have no painting experience that if we did a bad job she couldn't complain.  We probably did a bad job but nobody complained:)  Luckily most paint jobs in Nicaragua look bad and nobody really cares. We also painted a stripe on the dog (with permission)

   Then my birthday was on Friday.  It was really good, don't worry Mom, lots of people knew it was my birthday.  But it was really good.  I suspected that at District meeting the zone was going to crack eggs on my head (latin birthday tradition) so I bought eggs and took them to district meeting and announced beforehand that anyone that tried to egg me would get egged back.  So we walk into the church and the whole zone threw a surprise party with a cake and soda in bags :) and balloons and everything.  It was good and actually caught me by surprise.  I saw that some people had eggs and were planning on getting me outside after the meetings but I evaded everyone else and was ready to defend myself.  All violence was avoided.  Then at night the family we lived with threw me a little party with a cake and soda and it was really nice.  

    The investigators are doing pretty good.  Grettel didn't go to church this week for various little problems that came up on Sunday morning.  She separated from Jose and he's out of the picture now.  We had a fhe with her on monday and watched the restoration movie with some other members and she received an answer to her prayers and felt that this is all true.  It's kind of hard for her because she knows that if she gets baptized her friends from her other churches will probably reject her and she still doesn't have many friends here.  So we're trying really hard to introduce her to a lot of people in the ward and help her be brave in following the answer God sent her.  

   Paola is also doing well.  She showed up to church this week like five minutes after sacrament meeting.  Church was hard for the investigators this week because all we did after Sacrament Meeting was watch a video from the area presidency about the area plan and they didn't understand anything.  

   Calixto also went to church and we're still working on getting permission from his dad to baptize him but he's really smart and knows his stuff already.  Also another member lady brought a homeless guy and his partner from off the street and they're trying to rehabilitate them a bit.  Pray for them.  The lady's name is Angela and I didn't get the name of the guy. 

   Today has been a great pday so far.  After studying this morning I just took a little nap on my hammock, then we ordered popcorn chicken right to the house, and then we mopped the floor, went shopping, and came to write.  Then I think we'll go sleep some more.  WooHoo!!

I hope you have a great week!  

TO ANYONE WHO SEES THE BLOG BUY MY DAD DIET COKE ON THURSDAY FOR HIS BIRTHDAY!!!!

Elder Smith

Party at District Meeting

Cake with members that live on the property

Painting

The dog after it got a stripe painted down it's back (with permission from the owner)

My Bacteria Is Gone!!!

January 9, 2017

Hi family!

   Well, my bacteria went away.  Thanks for your prayers!  I feel great now.  

   We had a great week.  On Tuesday I did divisions with Elder Wilkey from Tennessee.  That was good.  Then on Wednesday we had leadership council and a training with all of the DLs.  As is any meeting where president Brown trains, it was awesome and super spiritual.  I learned a lot.  Then they gave us subways which was really good.  This weekend we had stake conference and we were able to go to all of the sessions and bring investigators on Saturday and Sunday.

   We are working with a family where the lady is less active and the guy isn't a member because he's had some challenges with the Word of Wisdom.  He would get baptized if it wasn't for that.  His name is Jorge.  They came to the adult session on Saturday and enjoyed it and got to meet President and Hermana Brown.  Also Hna Coco (the lady that lives in the other house on the property) brought a friend.  On Sunday Grettel and Jose came to church.  It was a struggle to help them get ready on time and try to walk instead of meander to church when we were already a little late.  The stake center was full and we had to sit in the back and everyone was talking so it wasn't the best experience they could've had but they did like it still.  They're decided to get married and baptized.  Pray that Jose won't fall back into drinking, and that Grettel can be patient with him.Also we have been teaching a lady named Paola with some members.  They brought her to the christmas activity a few weeks ago but she hasn't been able to go to church because she sells nacatamales (just google it) on weekends and if she hasn't sold them all before church on sunday she can't go.  We promised her the Lord would send people to buy her nacatamales and He did and she sold them all and came to church.  We went with the bishop too to buy some nacatamales and they were pretty good.  

    So ya it's been pretty good.  This Thursday we have a multizone and it should be fun.  Our zone has to do a musical number so we'll see what we throw together.  Then my birthday on Friday.  I don't really have any big plans, maybe we'll order a pizza or something.  IDK.

  Well have a good week.  Enjoy your time with Myles!!

Love,

Elder Smith

Happy New Year!!

January 2, 2017

Hi Family!! Happy New Year!  I'll see you this year!

  We had a pretty good week.  New Years Eve was weird because everyone got drunk super early (some even a couple days early) and were just bothering everyone on the street.  We saw one guy in a creepy Halloween mask with a cape who was very intoxicated pretending like he was killing people on the sidewalk.  Gotta love Nicaragua.  But we worked as normal and a couple of people fed us.  We went to bed as normal but at midnight we were woken up by a ton of fireworks.  It was funny because we walked to our gate and looked out to the street and there were just a ton of bonfires in the middle of the street and every house had their speakers out and their music blasting.  It was pretty crazy.  But don't worry we stayed safely locked inside.  

   Church on Sunday was a struggle.  When sacrament meeting started at 8 there were only 21 people there (including us) but by the time it ended there were 42.  None of our investigators went in spite of being warned and warned and committed like five times to watch out for it.  Grettel went to some Evangelical vigil thing and didn't get back until 5 AM and then turned off her phone and wouldn't answer the door despite many knocks and a lot of yelling.  But the ward pulled through and a young woman brought her boyfriend and another lady brought a cousin that isn't a member.  Yesterday was pretty quiet because everyone was sleeping and super hungover.  

    I also have another bacteria that hasn't been very fun.  But I'm feeling a bit better now.

    Yesterday the puppy that lives on our property randomly got sick and died.  That was pretty sad.  The landlord took him to the vet but everything was closed so he just died.  Who knows what happened to the poor guy.

   We haven't been able to find very many new people to teach, but we found a lady named Cynthia yesterday who's kind of positive.  We're working with Calixto's grandparents to get permission from his dad so we can baptize him.  I'm confident they'll be able to get it and we'll probably baptize him towards the end of January.  

  Next week we have Stake Conference.  The best part is that it's at 10 so it should be a lot easier to get investigators there.  

  Today for Pday we went in to the office and got the mail.  Thanks to all of those that sent Christmas cards!  Also thanks Ryan and Lezli for the package!!  It's awesome!!!!!

  So ya...  Not that exciting of a week...

   I'm jealous that you guys get to babysit Myles!   You're going to be in heaven:)

Love,

Elder Smith

December 26, 2016