10/17/11

Hello everyone.  Thank you for all your letters and your support.  this week was really great. i had a ton of amazing experiences and some trials as always. the longer i have here the more the scripture in 2 nephi 2:11 has become really true. there is always opposition, but thats what makes the good things so great. this week there were some funny things that happened. one is that i saw a volkswagon beetle with butterfly doors. i thought it was funny when the guy climbed out hah. also this happened last week but i forgot to say it. every night when we come home there are a ton of kids playing soccer and stuff in the street. they always looked and there was an occasional "good morning, no good night" shouted out ha, but one night we stopped and talked to one of the kids. within 10 seconds 25 little kids from ages of 5 to 17 were gathered around asking questions and talking to us. needless to say we are the "cool kids on the block now" and they always say good night when we go by and ask us to play soccer with them. a similar thing happneed when we went to nacajuca this week. we were waiting for a combi (taxi van) and as we waited the high school got out and all the students were waiting too. one of the girls stopped and talked to us because her cousin was a recent convert in our ward. similar to the little kids, when they saw one person start to talk within 10 seconds we were surrounded by about 40 teenage students, mostly girls all asking questions and taking pictures. i used it as an opportunity to talk so i explained who we were, why we were there, and asked them "do you all believe in jesucristo?", they all responded in unison YES! then i asked and do you say your prayers? a few less. then i invited them all to come to church and they all know where it is and said theyd come. we moved away shortly after that and they all followed us around til we left hah.

this week we had an amazing experience with two sisters named yuridia and norma. norma is 24 and her sister is 11 and they live alone apart from their parents. theyve had some rough stuff happen, but are living happily together now. We found them last sunday and taught them a few times. we taught the restoration and the spirit was really stong in the lesson. they almost didnt come to church but i invited them again the night before and then they decided to come. it was the primary conference and was really good. all the songs and speaking parts were really well organized and it was well done. we had 180 ppl in sacrament including 5 investigators we brought, and 3 less actives that are solid now! anyways so we went and talked to yuri and norma after church and we sat down and she said she needed to tell us something. she said that she liked everything and it was great and she wanted to keep learning but wanted us to know that no matter what she was going to stay catholic for personal reasons and her family. while she said this i ddint feel worried or anything. i just listened and when she finished i started, with a mentality of that she just doesnt understand everything thats happened yet. it was an amazing experience where we were able to rely on the spirit and have it guide us. she mentioned that she felt the spirit during the hymns in church, and when she read and prayed about the book of mormon. i explained something that i hadent thought about to her before about the staight and narrow. that we are walking but on either side of us there are millions of voices shouting in our ears telling us to follow them, that its easier, faster, happier, and where everyone else is. its almost imposible to hear but there is another voice. its soft and its quiet, but its the voice of the lord and its telling us to take one more step forward. if we dont listen we will be swept away into forbiden paths. we have to focus all of our energy to hear the voice of the lord and follow it. i felt the spirit very powerfully and know that it was from god for her in that moment. it was a lot better in spanish and in the moment too hha. In the end my comp shared a scripture and she was crying. we gave her and her sister a date to be baptized for this next sunday after the services in church. i know that god guides us and im so thankful for his spirit in this work. when we really listen and strive to follow, god will guide us in each step we take. 

there were a ton of other really amazing things that happened this week where we were guided by the spirit to those that god has prepared. one man who is a nonmember but his family are members says that he has had 9 years of missionaries and at least 40 differnent missionaries have come but he's never felt like he should be baptized. we met with him sunday for the first time formally because before i thought he was a member. we answered his questions and sometimes it is just time for ppl. in church that day i taught a class on eternal marriage (i know im highly qualified to teach that haha) but he was there and last week the lesson was on eternal families or something like that. i talked about the plan of salvation and the role of families in gods plan. it is amazing that as a family we truly can be together for all of eternity, if we follow gods plan exactly. anyways sometimes its just someones time to accept, but i told him he needs to be sealed with his family, he as the head of his household and family needs to baptized his daughter in two weeks who just turned eight, and to do that he needs to be baptized first. i invited him to be baptized this next thursday and he accepted. he still needs to decide but i feel that he will be baptized. it was an amazing experience to see how the lord will complete with his work. 

i love the mission and these amazing experiences, especially with the families. we dont have to do too much in life except be obedient and listen for what god tells us to do. if we are obedient and trying our best always to complete with our purpose, god will guide us. i hope you all have a great next week. i love you all and miss you very much. 

love 

elder smith

picture: i havent been too good at pictures these weeks but i am using the white board hha.