November 14 Que Rollo con el Pollo?

So, this week was such a special one. JORGE got baptized and it was such a cool thing to be a part of. He asked me to baptize him and I felt so honored to do so. It was kind of funny, when he went to go under, he didnt bend his knees, and almost hit his head on the wall because of that. I had to make a super sick reflex save, and he just barely didnt hit. But because of my ninja like reflexes, his hand didnt go under, and we had to do the ordenece again. But its all good. the other little girl is named Angela, and its Jorge´s cousin. She is only 8 years old and her mom is a member so the bishop is in charge of her baptism. So when we told the bishop about Jorges baptism, he suggested that we call Angela to see if she wanted to be baptized as well, which she did. So they got baptized together, and she asked the bishop to baptize her. It warms my heart, because both of them are such sweet kids and were so excited. There were lots of tears. Im happy I got to be an instrument in the lords hand.

We also had zone conference this week. Which meant going and staying several days in Piedras Negras. Which all went very well. We stayed with Elder Schulthies and Elder Garcia, and Shulthies is one of my brother in the mission. He has also become one of my best friends here as well, so we ended up staying up, and talking and having some spiritual discussions, and just talking about life as a whole. Which was awesome. We also went to this super nice restaurant called Tierra Santa, which was some of the best food Ive had in the past year, hands down. We had some really cool steak tacos, and man. Food can change lives. I also cut onions, and cried a lot

This week I also finished the book of Mormon in Spanish. And I can share with full confidence, that that book is the word of God. There is no other book more powerful or imporant here on the earth. I wish to add my testimony to the many Prophets who have testified of its wonder and truths, I testify that it is the most correct book on the planet. And through reading it, any person can come to know their savior better. It has power to change your life, as it has mine. I have felt of the testifying power of the spirit too many times to every deny that book. I declare it is true. And I invite all to read it, ponder its message and ask of God to know of its truth. It will bringer greater Joy and Peace into your lives.

I want to express my love for all of you. I had to retype this message super fast. I hope you all enjoy it as well as the pictures. Have a great week!

Elder Smith

November 5, Chile

We ate more chile. And Elder Pinedo cried. BIENVENIDO A MEXICO(: But dont worry, this time we didnt give any to Elder Croxall. But man, dont know how its going to be to one day return home and not eat chile everyday. I feel as though I will actutally be lost without it...

But onto more important things, this week we took some pretty good steps forward. Jorge officially has another baptismal date for this Saturday. And we have been working alot with the parents, and we have been recieving support from his dad, so Everything should go very well with that. 

This week in Mexico was Dia de Muertos, so if any of you have seen Coco. You know a little bit about what its like. Here in the north where there in more american influence it is not as big. But the cemeteries look very pretty with all the flowers and its a very big a cool flower day. To explain a little bit, they put up altars with pictures of family and put old clothing, and sometimes they put out their favorite foods. Everything is covered in the orange and purple flowers and its super pretty. Its a cool time because people start asking questions more about what really happens after you die. And then we can help them find these answers a little bit more readily. Its a good time to be a missionary and to help people. 

We had a super fun time doing exchanges with Elder Sabey and Elder Pinedo this week. They came over and worked with us on Thursday, and then we helped them work in their area of Friday. And it was really fun and awesome to work with some other missionaries, and learn from them as well. We also ate more chile piquin, as well as chile serrano. The serrano was not that spicy, but the piquin was. Those little guys hurt your mouth. But when in Mexico.

So this week, I pushed hard to finish the Book of Mormon in Spanish for the first time, and I only made it to Ether 9 (missing like 36 pages) so Ill have to finish it another time. But in so doing, I have come to have an even deeper  conversion to the Lord thanks to this holy book. Its true, its all I can say of it. It is the most true book on the planet. You can know just by reading and feeling the still small voice of the spirit tough your heart. Its amazing to hold such a book in your hands, and even better to feel the power in your life. I know and testify of the truth of The Book of Mormon. I know it is true with every fiber of my being. 

Lots of Love, 

Elder Smith

To explain the idiot sandwich video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV3_UHG73oQ

October 29 "Elder Esmit, porque siempre se pone rojo?

The members in a family home evening last night kept making fun of me because I easily turn red. And each time they asked me why I'm like that, I just turned red again. So that my life at the moment.

I have come to a point where I have been here in Allende for 4.5 months, and I just love this area and honestly don't want to leave. It would be so awesome to be here for another few months. We are working with members, and are find some cool people weekly, and its been fun. I love my little pueblecito.

So onto some stories this week. We went to a members house these week for lunch, and she offered us some Chile, and said that they are spicy. But I didn't believe her, so I offered to try one out, and my comp did it too, and indeed it was kind of spicy. i felt find after and well, elder Croxall, not so much. It hurt his tummy, and after a lot more pepto we are back at 100%. But now I have realized a big change in me, if my food doesn't have Chile, it doesn't taste as good. Going back to american food one day is going to be a very very rough transition. but at the moment, I'm going to enjoy my delicious Mexican food.

i also burned a shirt this week, to mark my one year in my mission time. And it burned up real nice. And kind of burned the floor outside our house. Oops... But its ll good. no pasa nada. We are all safe and I cleaned the floor. We also in our house the past few days have had no water pressure. So our showers are kind of funny, because its just a trickle of water, and itsnot the most fun, but I still think its a fun little adventure. 

well I hope you all enjoy the pictures and enjoy the irony of having a pepsi glass with a bottle of coke to put into it. And I love you all so much. I hope you all have a fantastic week!!!

Elder Smith

October 22, Short country + Tall man = Hurt head

Lets just put it this way. People in mexico are generally shorter than they are in the states, and so the stuff he is all shorter. And well Elder Croxall is 6'5. SO last Monday, he WHACKED his head so hard that he wasn't all here the whole week.

So that was the preface of the week. Because Croxall wasn't going to be working because of the head thing, Tuesday I went and did an exchange with Elder Sabey out in Zaragoza which was super fun to work and catch up with him. Then I came back to Allende for our district counsel, and my companion still wasn't doing too well, so we talked with Nurses and tried to get medication to help him, but we didn't end up working really Wednesday or Thursday because his head hurt too much. But we did go to Piedras Thursday night for a health conference Friday morning(it was ironic, because it was about health, and Elder Croxall was not healthy) and then we came back home and got to work. We worked hard all day Friday, and Saturday and Sunday. And we found some super awesome people. So we made the comeback and made the week good.

So I would love the send the pictures we sent this week, but I'm  in not the best Ciber and don't trust sending pictures. SORRY. I will send more next week.

Pero, queria decirlos, que los amo. Ustedes son muy importante para mi, y tambien siempre estoy agradecido por su apoyo. LOS AMO!

Elder Smith

October 15, Brownies are the Best

I ate, one of the best brownies on my life this week. We went to this super fancy restaurant, and holy cow... I don't have basically anything else to say.

Elder Sabey (my first comp) just got moved to my district. so its pretty sweet.

Love you all,

Elder Smith

Oct. 8, 2018 Risk... is a brutal game

And after 2 brutal losses this morning. I dont know if I can return to play again.

Well, this week was a rough one. A lot of work, and not a lot of success, which always makes my companion a little more stressed. But the mission is all stress, and you have to learn to cope with it, because real life is all stress. He will get there, and he will be an amazing missionary. I have faith in that. 

Moving on to a little about the week, the days honestly went by rather fast, but at the same time, they were really slow. Like it was a weird phenomenon(please pardon the english, Im trying) We just spent the majority of the week knocking doors, and doing our best to talk to more people, but its been a little hard. We haven't been having the greatest success in finding, and if you dont find, you dont have success. thats missionary work for ya. So hay que trabajar aun mas. And its pretty rough sometimes, because we think we have time to do stuff, and then all of a sudden, its the end of the week again. 

General conference was honestly pretty great, I would have to say that the best talk would be that by Elder Holland, and I think its something that all of us can learn from. We need to learn to let go things of the past, in order to progress further. We unfortunately didnt have the opportunity to watch conference in english, which made it a little harder. In the sense, I had to think a lot more, because they use some big words. But even still it was great. 

Well I apologize for the sporaticness of my email. Writing is hard. But love yall. Take care and have a great week!

Elder Smith

Oct. 1, 2018 Pinta azul? Si, por favor

So the past two weeks I haven't really written, and for that I apologize. But this week we bought these suckers that are called pinta azul, and they legit turn everything blue. Your mouth, your teeth, your face. You name it. They are the best. So like responsible adults, we bought a LOT of them... I'm so happy(:

So things with Elder Croxall have been getting better. He is adjusting to mission life, and we are having fun and working super hard together. We are teaching better together, and I love this guy. He is so bold in trying new things. He is just an awesome guy, and he is going to be a great missionary. Its all coming day by day.

This week we had the chance to go to Piedras Negras for 2.5 days for a zone conference, in which we stayed with Elder Sabey and his companion. SO, that probably wasn't the best idea to go stay with them, and Elder Sabey is hands down on of my best friends. But we were about to catch up and talk about a lot of things within missionary work that we are working on improving. We also had an amazing Zone Conference. It was such a spiritual and uplifting experience.

This week we are going to have the amazing opportunity to listen to our living prophets and Apostles on Saturday and Sunday. I invite all of you to tune in and prepare spiritually to receive further light from them. I love you all and hope you have a great week!