Week 43 - Blessings

This week has been really great. It's been one of my slowest weeks for a while, but it's been really good.

We've been working with the Cortez family for about a month now. We found them when the came to church back in May, but soon after, the dad got in an accident at work and really injured his back, so we haven't been able to really teach them until a week or two ago. This week we've had the opportunity to meet with them a few times and teach them the lessons, and they've loved it all. They've already committed to baptism, but the only complication is the dad's back. We're not really sure when he would be able to be healed enough to be baptized, but this family is golden, and they want to go to the temple and be sealed together and learn how a normal family following gospel standards and principles should live. This week they were also able to come to church again, and the ward did a great job of greeting them and making them feel welcome. We're super excited with this family, and it feels like everything is just falling into place with them.

We've also been able to find a few former investigators and start teaching them again, but we gave them to the Hermanas. As we've heard about the success that the Hermanas have been have with the people they've been finding and teaching, I feel like we're really going to have the work booming in this ward. Even though there hasn't been a lot of success everywhere we go, the Lord has blessed us with bits of success here and there. It reminds me that the Lord doesn't give us everything right up front, but line upon line, precept upon precept. He gives us small things that accumulate into something bigger and grander as we're patient and as we wait on His timeline. Love you all!!
- Elder Jared Smith

Week 42 - Transfers bring Hermanas

This week has been a long and crazy one. For some reason, transfers made this week drag even though not a whole lot happened.

We tried to stop by people whenever we could, but we didn't find a whole lot of success. On Wednesday, President Leishman wanted Elder Bradley to give his Dying Testimony to all the greenies since it would be his last chance to do so. So Elder Clay and I were stuck up North where there wasn't much to do, but we did what we could under the circumstances.

On Thursday we had weekly planning combined with the new Hermanas. There were two new Hermanas at transfers, and President had Sister Hankins who took 6 years of Spanish in high school to train Hermana Jarvis and Hermana Muller. Things have become pretty interesting with them around since President said he doesn't really know how to incorporate them, so he's left it up to us for now. So during weekly planning, we gave them a few of our main female investigators, and gave them all our Hispanic hot spots. We also did some roleplays with them in Spanish to start helping them understand how to talk to people. That took all afternoon, so we only had the 2 hours after 5-7's left to do what work we could.

As for the rest of the week, we tried to contact more people, we had a meeting with our ward mission leader, and church of course. We've decided that knocking and visiting old potentials hasn't really been doing much for us lately, so we're going to try to go by PMF's and UBC's to see what we can do there.

Love you all!!
-Elder Smith

Elder Clay, Elder Bradley and I emailing at the library.

My first pepper from my own pepper plant. It was actually pretty spicy.

Week 41 - "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others."

This week was pretty good. Not a whole lot happened because it was the end of this transfer and the 4th of July, but we tried to visit people when we could.

This last Tuesday was the departing missionaries temple trip, so Elder Clay and I dropped off Elder Bradley at the office early that morning and then came back to do our studies. We went by a lot of people that day without many people answering. That night we met with some eternigators. They've been taught all the lessons, their son is baptized, and they come to church most weeks. The only problem is that they're married to someone else in another country and they've supposedly been waiting for their divorce papers for a while now.

On Wednesday we met with a member who we go by every week to help her read from the Book of Mormon, so that took up our afternoon. That evening we were able to get into a lesson with someone we found that Sunday night. We taught her the full restoration, but we had to refer her since she wasn't Hispanic.

For the 4th of July, we had weekly planning and then after 5-7's we met up with the zone and went to Panda Express and then played sports at the church. It was a really great day. This entire week has reminded me of Mexico because everyone has been setting off loud fireworks at all hours of the day. It was just like the good old days in the CCM. Also someone in our district had to go the hospital to get stitches because a dog tried to eat him. He had some pretty gnarly cuts on his leg, stomach, throat, and hands. He had to get about 5 stitches in his hand because he had to grab its jaw to prevent it from ripping out his throat. So that was fun.

Each week our mission president sends out a talk for us to look over that week, and this week's was The Divine Gift of Gratitude by President Thomas S. Monson. The part that I really liked was this:
"We can lift ourselves and others as well when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Someone has said that 'gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.'"
I really like this because in his talk he says that if learn to be grateful then we can push out the darkness of the world, and right here he talks about how gratitude can be the basis of all other Christ like attributes. President Monson says that it takes conscious effort to do it, and that when we feel grateful we need to express it otherwise it is for naught.

Other than that, not much else happened this week. Maximo was supposed to come back Saturday night, so we went by Sunday and he wasn't home. He's so close to baptism, but he never answers his door. It's a little frustrating. We also got transfer calls this Saturday and we are all staying! Both of our ZL's go home this transfer, and next transfer we'll be getting two more dying ZL's. So many missionaries are going home, especially the leadership. That's all for this week. Love you!
-Elder Smith

Week 40: What happened to this transfer?

This week has gone by soooo fast, and the transfer has gone by even faster. This Saturday we get our transfer calls and the week after is transfers. And then Elder Bradley will be home in four weeks. This is all happening so fast. The mission needs to take a chill pill and slow down!

As for the week. We haven't had too many lessons. We've tried by different people, but no one's been home. Maximo is coming back from Mexico this Saturday, and our appointment with Gloriana fell through. She thought it was going to be a class where other people were going to be there too, so she canceled and told us to schedule another day and have it be the same day we schedule it on. So that was a little frustrating.

Last Sunday we went by Erick and Jessica. They have a small young family, and the Erick had recently broken his back at work a couple weeks ago. We stopped by and gave him a blessing and invited them to read in the BOM. This Sunday we went by again and talked with their entire family and we read out of the BOM with them. We were also able to get the kids English copies since they didn't understand Spanish too well.

Other than that, we didn't have much this week. We had another 9-9, and we had more success this week, and we found some people that we'll be going back to this week. Hopefully things will turn out with them. Love you!!
- Elder Smith

Pictures:
I've been growing some pepper plants for a few months now, and so I transplanted them to a bigger pot. However, I had to smash the glass jar it was in so I could get it out.