June 16, 2014- Week 23 in Tehuacan

Buenas tardes!

This week was amazing! I feel so much gratitude to my Heavenly Father for putting me here in Tehuacan. The past 6 months have gone by SO fast...I'm not sure where I'll be a week from tomorrow, but I sure do love Tehuacan!

First thing first. Rosita! So...this is kind of a really long, sad, crazy. wonderful story. So...we have been teaching José and Ana - the parents of Jose that got baptized in March. They recently moved into a different apartment building, that has quite a few different residents. ...The crazy sad part is that both of them are now in prision. I'm not sure if I can give details so I'm not going to. But about 10 days ago, we had an appointment with them (we didn't know that they had been arrested). We got to the apartment building and a little women opened the door, and told us that José and Ana weren't living there anymore. We asked where they went, and she invited us in to tell us what happened. To be quite honest, we didn't talk to about the Gospel in these moments...we were feeling a bit devastated. But we told her we would return the next day, which we did. And every day since. 

Rosita is 75 years old. She lives alone, her husband passed away about 5 years ago, and she hasn't been the same since. About 3 years ago...two missionaries contacted her in her store, and she started listening to the lessons. She went to church, loved everything...then the missionaries had transfers and she never heard from them again. For 3 years, she has seen countless missionaries pass by her store, including us, and every time, she got her hopes up, thinking that finally they were going to talk to her again. But they never did.  And then...10 days ago, we came looking for José and Ana, and found her instead. She has a baptismal date for this Sunday :) At one point this week, she told us "I was like a little lost sheep. I'm so glad you two found me again." 

Yesterday, I was thinkin a lot about my time here in Tehuacan. I started reading my journal from since I've been here, and I remembered an experience that I had about 7 weeks ago. Hermana Gomez and I had a hard week, it was Sunday, and we did not feel ok. We were both upset, and taking it out on each other. During Sunday School, we took a moment to go talk it out in one of the rooms in the church. We realized that we weren't really upset with each other...but just with how hard everything had been. At that moment, the missionaries in our ward passed by and noticed that we were a bit upset. They didn't say anything, except offered to give us blessings. And Elder Pendleton said something in the blessing that I had forgotten until yesterday. He said, "There is someone here in Tehuacan still waiting to be found by you to be brought back into God's fold." ...and I think that person he was talking about is Rosita. 

I know, without any doubt, that God is aware of every single one of his children. I know that He loves us, and He knows what we need. I'm grateful for the Priesthood, and I'm grateful to have the Lord's guidance in my life. And more than anything...I'm grateful to have been an instrument in His hands.

This week was also great because...I made brownies!!! hahahahaha!!!

Thank you all for your love and support :) The mission is the best! I love all of you so much, and I hope y'all have a great week!!! :) I know I will! Haha! 

Love always, 

Hermana Smith

June 9, 2014- Week 10235896 in Tehuacán :)

Happy Monday!!

Well, this week was a bit rough for us. I don't really have a reason why...but we walked a lot, prayed a lot, studied a lot, invited a lot...and nobody wanted to listen. Almost all of our appointments fell through AND...I got sick again. But no worries, I'm all good now! Looks like I'm just going to be one of those missionaries that is sick her whole mission! But all in all, I feel good, because I know that we did our part this week. We worked to be 200% obedient, talked to every one we could...and I know that the Lord is just teaching us to be patient and diligent. And I know that when we do our part, He will do His.

This week was a bit hard in another way as well... I'm just going to say that I absolutely love Hermana Gómez. She is an amazing missionary...and this week was hard because we realized just how little time we have left together. Every Thursday, we have weekly planning and at the end, we have to have a "companionship inventory". Haha...and when we tried to talk about "what we need to do to strengthen our relationship as companions", she turned to me and said, "I have a better idea. We need to try to destroy our relationship so we don't completely fall apart when we have transfers!" She is definitely going to do great things, and I am very grateful that we still have (at least) 2 more weeks together. 

Funny story for the week: We were teaching Luz Janett and her family about keeping the Sabbath Day holy. And I started to ask Hugo a question...and I started with "Hugo..."...but I accidentely said it with the "H" (in spanish, the "h" is ALWAYS silent) and it came out like the word "Jugo" - which is juice in spanish. Poor kid. But he said that he's always going to remember the nickname that "Hermana eSmit" gave him, haha. 

Oh! And there is now a new worldwide rule for all the missions...we can no longer have district or zone activities! AND, if we do want to do something on Mondays, we can only do so with sisters and no more than 4 in a group. Kinda crazy, huh?? But it was kinda fun today, because the sister training leaders invited my companion and I to have a picnic with them to celebrate Hermana Seañez' birthday! It was weird with just us 4... but what could we do?! It was still super fun though :)

Sorry...I really don't have much else to say this week... but we know that this next week is going to be better :) I hope all of you are doing AWESOME and that everything is going well. I love you all so much, and have a great week!!

Love always, 

Hermana Smith

Scripture for this week: Omni 1:26

Pictures: Hermana Analuisa gave us a whole bunch of limes...and we made a little family. :)

June 2, 2014- So I'm pretty sure I've been in Tehuacan forever!

Buenas tardes, everyone!

Well, it was another week here in Tehuacan! We were able to find many more investigators this week...which was good because we lost quite a few as well. But the work keeps moving forward right! And I know that the people that didn't accept right now, that one day they will see missionaries again and give it another shot. The gospel is about 2nd chances after all :)

One of the highlights of this week was a conference with Elder Valenzuela, a member of the Seventy and the 2nd counselor in the Area Presidency. It was a really great conference, and I left feeling a lot more motivated. He talked a lot about comfort zones: how we all have a comfort zone, how our stake has comfort zone and that the mission also has a comfort zone. And he encouraged us - individually, as a zone and as a mission - to get out of our comfort zones and do more. The Lord is accelerating His work, and we need to enhance our efforts and abilities in order to keep up with it. I realized that some days, I reach a point when I think "Well, I've done absolutely everything that I can do today." But I know that those thoughts come from Satan... I know that there is always more that we can do. We can't ever feel content with where we are at - we always need to strive to do more!

Luz Janett and her family are progressing beautifully :) They came to church yesterday, and I think they really enjoyed it! Angel and Hugo are the cutest...every time we visit, they run and grab their Books of Mormon and have lists of questions for us from what they read. They're the best, haha!

My favorite day this week was Friday. We had a lot of plans, so we decided to have divisions with two of the hermanas in the ward. I went with Hermana Dulce (who returned home from her mission 2 months ago and got married 2 weeks ago!) ((Her and her husband are also our new neighbors...but it's ok because they bring us food at night :) Haha)) But we were going around, visit everyone we could, and after about an hour, she asked me if we could go visit one of her old neighbors. She told me that she had been thinking about this woman all week, and that she felt like we needed to visit her. So we went to the woman's house...and she barely let us in. Her name is Cati, and is about 50 years old. We sat down, asked if we could start with a prayer, and she asked us if she could smoke instead. ...bueno. So we started to talk a bit, she was really cordial, almost rude... and then after about the longest 3 minutes of my life, she told me, "I'm Catholic and I'm never going to change my religion, so I don't know why you two bothered to come. I don't even want you here." I don't think I've ever felt that uncomfortable in a lesson before. But I told her that we weren't there to convince her of anything or change her religion, but that the message that we had could help better her life. I asked for 10 minutes of her time. After that...she started to put down her walls. We started to talk about Christ, about his life, about his Atonement.... And to be quite honest, I don't remember what we said, but suddenly she started to cry. That really caught me off guard. She started to explain that she's been an alcoholic since she was a teenager...but that she was able to stop drinking when she was raising her three kids. She was sober for years...but now, all of her children are grown up, moved away, have families...and she has never felt so alone. This week...she started drinking again, and hasn't been able to stop.

In that moment, I forget completely about how rude she had been before, the fact that she was smoking in our faces, the fact that I didn't want to be there... I forgot about all that and it was a moment when I could just see her as my sister, as a daughter of God. I reached out and grabbed her hand, and testified with everything that I had that God loved her, and she is His daughter and that she is never alone. She then told me that she can't imagine that things are going to get better... at that moment, the scripture Ether 12:4 came to my mind. I was about to open to it, when Hermana Dulce grabbed her scriptures...and shared Ether 12:4. ...I know that Heavenly Father knows when every single one of his children need...and I sure am grateful to have the guidance of the Holy Ghost in moments like that. 

We gave her a Book of Mormon. We told her that every time she wanted to drink, to open up the Book of Mormon instead. We told her to read it, to search for answers, and then to ask God if he really is listening and aware of her. We testified of the power of the Book of Mormon, and that Christ has the power to heal and strengthen us. We ended with a prayer and she offered one of the most beautiful, powerful prayers that I have ever heard. She hugged me...so tightly as we left that house. I walked away knowing that the Spirit of God can soften even the hardest hearts, and that every person is searching for something to give them a bit more hope. I don't know if Cati is going to accept the Gospel. I don't know if she is going let us keep visiting her, if she is going to do what we asked, if she is going to be baptized. But...I know that in that moment...we were able to help her in a way that no one else could. We were able to guide her to Christ. And for that...it was an experience that I'm never going to forget.

This week, I've been thinking a lot about Christ, about the Sacrament and what it means to "always remember Him". And I just want to share a passage of scripture that I like a lot.

"Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail... Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven."

(D&C 6:34, 36-37)

...and for me, when all of us made the decision to be baptized, and take His name upon us and remember Him... we promised to be faithful. We promised to keep the commandments. We promised to do good, and to fear not. We promised to seek His guidance, and to "doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith". ...and most importantly, we promised to remember His Atonement. We promised to remember His suffering, His death, and most importantly, that He lives. It's been a good reminder for me this week...to better remember my covenants and why I'm here, and what I need to do to fulfill my part.

I love all of you so much :) Thank you for all you do! I hope y'all have a great week, and that you're happy! Til next week!

Love always,

Hermana Smith

May 26, 1014- Week 20 in Mexico was a GREAT one!

FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

I really don't have words to describe the joy I feel right now. :)

But remember what I said last week about a possible miracle that might take place? Well...it happened! Saturday afternoon, May 24th, Marina, Karla and Daniel were baptized!!!!!!!!! It was such a great, and spiritual experience. Before the baptism, I looked over at the three of them, all dressed in white and...I couldn't help but think of the first time I went to the temple. I was with so many members of my family and I was able to feel the blessings of having an eternal family. And as I looked at them, and thought all of the incredible blessings that are waiting for them now that they've made this decision...my heart was going to burst with happiness. The baptisms were beautiful and Marina's testimony was short, but so powerful. The part that caught my attention most was this: "I wanted to change our lives. I wanted to leave everything behind and start over. And now...that's what we have the opportunity to do, and I'm never going to forget this day." 

Isn't that what we all want sometimes? To change our lives and start over? How grateful I feel to have a Savior, Jesus Christ, who made that all possible. Marina and her kids have gone through more than you and I could ever imagine. They have suffered, struggled and I know that at many different points, she lost hope. But, as she and the kids have applied the Atonement and the Gospel to their lives, they have changed completely before our eyes. They still have nothing...but they are so happy. They are so content, and they have hope again. For me, that is one of the greatest blessings of the Atonement: hope. I love that I was able to witness that moment in their lives :)

The rest of the week was a bit hard... we had to tell Mikaela and her family that we can't teach them anymore as they aren't progressing, living the commandments or showig any desires to do so. We have become such good friends, especially with Mikaela, but unfortunetly, friendship can't convert anyone. But, she told us that she is more than willing to keep reading, maybe attend church, listen to other missionaries down the road...and maybe one day, we'll get to hear about their baptisms. :) It's all about inviting, yeah? And sometimes, we can only plant the seeds, and someone else will have the opportunity to view the harvest. 

But we were able to commit Luz Jannet, her son Hugo and Angel to baptism! June 22! We're really excited about them. Luz is just loving the Book of Mormon. It was pretty funny, because they only had one Book of Mormon between the 3 of them, and when we asked Angel if he read, he said, "I'm so sorry Hermanas, but I couldn't. Luz wouldn't stop reading long enough to let me!" :) I love that everytime we visit them, they have questions. They are earnestly seeking for the truth, and I love their desires to learn. They are a beautiful family, and I can't wait to see what happens with them the next few weeks :)

I'm not sure if I told y'all last week...but we started teaching English Thursday nights. That has been an adventure! The people here just love English, and this last week, there were a lot of people that were able to come. :) We're hoping that more will bring their friends this next week so that we can receive referrals...but if not, it has been great helping the people here learn more.

This week, we also had our first exchanges! (I don't know if that is the word...but yeah!) I went with Hermana Cascante to her area and Hermana Seañez come here with Hermana Gomez. They are the sister training leaders here in Tehuacan. It was a really great experience :) Hermana Cascante is an amazing missionary from Costa Rica, and I learned so much from her while we were together. It was great helping her with some of her investigators, and she helped me discover so many ideas that can help our investigators. It was also kind of crazy...at 5 AM, we both woke up to a pretty big earthquake. But we were pretty calm about it...so that was good. Nothing happened really, but it was just really long. But my companion however...ha! She is so cute sometimes. She freaked out apparently and scared Hermana Seañez to death! So funny. I'm sure Hermana Seañez is going to remember that intercambio for quite a while :)

All in all, this was a pretty fantastic week. I love being a missionary! And I'm so excited for my friends that are going to be serving very shortly! :) It really is the very best experience ever, and you can't help but love every moment. But remember...every member a missionary ;) Search for those opportunities to share the Gospel :) There is always someone that is searching for the truth.

I love all of you so much! Have a great week!!!! :)

Love always,

Hermana Smith

Photos:

-We found a friend during weekly planning....

-The baptism!

May 19, 2014- Week...I don't remember! But I'm still here in Tehuacán!

Heeeeey!

This week was really good! We worked hard, and I'm really blessed to have Hermana Gomez here with me, at this time. I have learned so much from her...I'm not even sure where to start!

We now have 9 investigators with baptismal dates...and we might be able to see a miracle this Saturday! (AKA: The baptisms of Marina, Karla and Daniel) But they were able to go to church with us this Sunday and it was really great :) Our other investigators with fechas are Mikaela, Manuel and Fernando (but we're not quite sure what to do with them), Pedro, Guadalupe and José Luis :) They are all for June :)

Guadalupe kinda has a crazy story with us... we contacted her in the street Hermana Gomez' second week here. She told us that she only has time to meet with us every Monday at 6:00 PM sharp. She is about 60 years old, lives alone, and definitely has her routine :) But...the next week, we arrived at 6:10and she didn't let us in! So, the next week, we went at 6:00 SHARP...and she let us in. But the whole time....we felt very very weird. And she accepted everything that we said about the Restoration, and told us that we could return the next Monday. When we left though, we both felt very very strongly that we shouldn't return the next week, at least, not alone. The Spirit was so strong...and there's no way that we could deny how we felt. We weren't sure if it was her, or something that could happen somewhere around her house, or on the way there...I don't know. So we made plans to go with the Elders from our ward the next week. Well, oddly enough, I got sick, right around 5:00 PM Monday afternoon. So obviously we didn't go. After that, we felt perfectly fine going to her house and teaching her. Last week, she accepted the invitation to be baptized and we'll be seeing her in about....44 minutes or so :) I'm really not sure what would've happened that week that we were supposed to go...but the Lord does work in mysterious ways sometimes. I am grateful to have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and that we can receive guidance, comfort and warnings.

...I realized this week that.... I'm kind of a terrible person. I think that in several different moments in our lives, every person realizes that they aren't as Christ-like as they should be...and I had about 3 of those moments this week. But, luckily, I'm blessed to have a very patient companion...and one who isn't afraid to tell me when I'm not the kind of person that I should been. It was a little hard, but I'm grateful. We can't make changes until we realize that a change needs to take place. And for that, I am thankful for her, the Atonement, and that I can change when I have so many weaknesses.

I am also very grateful for the Book of Mormon. If you haven't read it lately, go read it. You are going to find something fantastic in every page of that book, and if you let it, it can change your life. I could say exactly what I've learned from the Book of Mormon...but I don't want to spoil the surprise of reading it for yourselves :)

Thank you, to each of you, for your letters, your words and especially your prayers. I love this work. I love Tehuacán. I love being a missionary, and I love my Savior. And I love each of you so so much :) Have a fantastic week :)

Love always,

Hermana Smith

May 12, 2014- Week 18 in Tehuacan!

Gooooood afternoon, all y'all!

Well, this week was the last week of the transfer...and I'm happy to report that we're STILL going to be in Tehuacan! Woot! I know that the Lord has a lot of people here who are ready, and I'm glad to be here still to help them out. Yesterday, I was able to talk to my family and it was so wonderful! Definitely the highlight of the week :) Thanks to Sean, I was able to talk to all of them at the same time - with all of us all across North America. So cool :)

This week was a bit hard for us. We had a lot of appointments that fell through, walked a lot more than usual, and no one came to church AGAIN. But...there is always hope for the next week. For your information, our investigator Marina had surgery this last week. She is doing ok, but we're not sure when she will be able to be baptized. But please pray that she will be able to recover very quickly!

 We are really excited about the progress of a lot of our investigators. Pedro LOVES the Book of Mormon. He can't stop reading it. It helps that he is always in his house with nothing to do...but we are glad that he chooses to read it. He has SO much faith, and he has inspired me in so many ways. He finds something wonderful in every single verse, and prays every day that he will have the health and strength to go to church and be baptized. He wasn't able to go to church with us because he was really really sick. We were in the middle of a lesson on Saturday, and he started to shake a lot, couldn't breathe...it was pretty scary. We're hoping that everything is ok. José Luis is also loving the Book of Mormon, and loves how different our church is. He still doesn't feel like he has received an answer that this is the ONLY true church, but I believe that when he comes to church with us, he's going to receive his witness. Mikaela...it's been a long process with her. We have had to work through a lot of..stuff this week with her, but after the lesson we had with her, I think she is ready and willing to repent and change. The lesson we had was absolutely wonderful, and we were able to be direct, but loving, so that she could understand completely. I know that the Spirit guided that lesson, and touched her heart. We're hoping to see her baptism this transfer, along with her sons :) 

This week, we also had a ward activity for Mothers day and Childrens day (Mexico) and the Elders had an idea to dress up for the kids! So they dressed up as Batman and Captain America, and us as princesses. Hermana Gómez was Snow White and I was the person from Frozen. I have no idea who she is, and I don't look anything like her, but the kids loved it, soooo it was all good! I'll send pictures, haha!

This week caused me to think a lot about what it means to be a successful missionary. In PMG, it outlines what it is...but for me, that just wasn't enough. I think I was being pretty hard on myself this past week, with all of the work that didn't result in much, and to think that Hermana Gómez wasn't able to see any baptisms her first transfer. But, I was reading yesterday in the Book of Mormon and I came across Alma 26, which is one of my favorite chapters in the Book of Mormon. And there was a word that caught my attention in verse 30: the word "might". "...and all this that we might be the means of saving some soul." Ammon and his brothers, the greatest missionaries ever, had doubts as well. They weren't sure if they were going to help anyone into the waters of baptism, towards the path of conversion. But they still tried. They still gave their all. And...that's a successful missionary. The Lord doesn't ask us for 50 baptisms. He asks us for our whole heart, might, mind and strength. And...when I realized that, I realized that this past transfer was a fantastic one, and my favorite transfer so far of my mission....because I gave everything I have. And that's what I'm going to keep doing. :)

And in the spirit of Mother's day yesterday(!) I want to share two quotes that I love that are about woman!

"I feel to invite every woman everywhere to rise up to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope you will not nag yourselves with thoughts of failure. I hope that you will not try to set goals far beyond your capacity to achieve. I hope you will simply do what you can do in the best way that you can. If you do so, you will witness great miracles come to pass." - President Gordon B. Hinckley

"Sisters, your sphere of influence is a unique sphere - one that cannot be duplicated by men. No one can defend our Savior with any more persuasion or power than you, the daughters of God, can - you who have such inner strength and conviction. The power of a converted woman's voice is inmeasurable, and the Church needs your voices now more than ever... Only you can show the world what women of God who have made covenants look like and believe." - Elder M. Russell Ballard

I know that the church is true! I am so grateful for every experience that I have had here so far in my mission, and I'm excited to see the many more that are waiting for me! I love all of you so much, and I am grateful every week for your words of love and support. Have a fantastic week, everyone!

Love always, 

Hermana Smith

May 5, 2014- Week 17 en Tehuacan!

Buenas tardes!

This week was wonderful, crazy, sad, happy, so-stressed-out-of-my-mind, and i dont want it to ever end. 

Monday: Monday night we contacted a person that we had talked to in the street. When we got to her house, we ended up teaching her, her mom and her brother! Their names are Luz Janett, Mari Cruz and Angel :) It was a great lesson... Mari feels really close to God, but Luz isn't even sure if God exists anymore, because of a lot of awful things that have happened in her life. And Angel...he is 11, and accepts us COMPLETELY. Really, it is so interesting to see how easily those children accept our message...and how hard it is for us adults to even believe. We had another appointment with them on Wednesday, but they weren't there :( But we're going to visit again, and we're hoping to see them progress!

Tuesday: We started the day out perfectly, with interviews with President Reeves. I'm not gonna lie, I was a little nervous at first! I wasn't sure if I had been doing a good enough job with Hermana Gomez...but we sat down, and just started to talk. And he didn't say much to be honest. ...But after about 2 or 3 minutes, he just thanked me, with tears in his eyes. At that moment, I remembered that the interview was the last I would have with him...and I feel so sad! But, I was so greatful for the things he said, and for the council he gave me. I'm never going to forget it. And I really am so grateful for all that he has done for me, for the short time that I've been here. He is an amazing President. Tuesday was also great, because we had two great experiences that resulted in two new investigators! 

The first story is kinda funny... so two weeks ago, the lady that normally washes our clothes (I would like to say it's because we don't have time to wash by hand...but i really just don't want to, haha!) closed her shop! We were so sad! So we searched for a new one...and found once run by a man. When we picked up our clothes we were a little disappointed...because they smelled like men! It wasn't like flowers or something pretty...just something that a man would say smells ok :P So the whole week, we kept saying that we weren't going to go back... but on Monday, we both felt like we needed to go back. It killed me, because I wanted clothes that smelled like flowers! But it was definitely good that we did, because when we picked up our clothes on Tuesday, we started talking with him. His name is Jose Luis, and he is an alcoholic - but has been sober for 5 years! We went back on Friday, and taught him about God, and he is so excited to read the Book of Mormon and go to church with us this next Sunday :) We're hoping all goes well with him!

The second experience was after we had visited all of our appointments and backups and no one was home. :( We stopped and contemplated for a moment...and we both had the impression to go visit a less-active in her glasses shop! We went there, and found that she had hired a new employee, and her name is Claudia! She listened to misioneras before, attend church, had a baptismal date...but at the last minute, backed out. that was over a year ago. And now...she wants us to start teaching her again! I am just really grateful that we followed that impression. the Lord really knows where we need to go and when. follow every impression from the Spirit, even if you don't know why.

Wednesday: PEDRO. Oh my goodness. So, we went to visit Pedro, a man that we had contacted in the street. He is quite old, can't leave his house (only to go to the doctor) and...is amazing. We sat down, started talking, and he started explaining that he has been searching and searching for "Christ's church" ever since he came to the realization as a young adult that the Catholic church is corrupt, teaches false doctrine, etc. he started to explain that he knows that God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are different beings, that the church needs to have the proper authority...everything. just everything that we believe in. It was a great moment for us, and we just testified that we are missionaries for the church of Jesus Christ, and that we have exactly what he has been looking for. He is so smart, loves to read, so we invited him to read the book of mormon and pray to know if it's true. We went back yesterday, and he knows it's true! And he wants to be baptized! We put the date for May 31...but we have to wait to see what President says, because really, we don't think it's possible for him to attend church. But we're so excited!

Thursday we had the meeting for leaders and new missionaries in Puebla...it was awesome! and Friday, Saturday and sunday were so crazy and stressful. i don't really have time to explain, but i ask for you to pray for our investigator Marina and her children. right now, marina is the the hospital, and to be quite honest, we are not sure what is going to happen :( But please pray for her. 

This week...I've learned a lot about faith. and for the first time, I really think that i'm started to believe in miracles. the lord is blessing this area so much...and i hope that we have the faith to witness the miracles that God has prepared for this ward. I love my Savior. I am so grateful for the Atonement, and I am so grateful for the Priesthood. I reached a point this week...that was hard to get over. But through the help of our leaders and a priesthood blessing, we have been able to continue on. i love this Gospel, and I pray with all my heart for each and every one of you. i hope you all are happy, healthy and witnessing miracles in your own lives. i love you!!!!  Have a fantastic week!

love always, 

Hermana Smith

photos: hermana arcos...this is her last week in the mission! i'm gonna miss her tons! and hermana gomez with her potato chips...she eats them every day! 

April 28, 2014- Week 16 in Tehuacan

BUENAS TARDES!

Well....I'm going to start by saying that this is going to be a very boring, uneventful letter. Lo siento! But we had another hiccup this week....

After we went to the zoo last Monday, I ended up in the house with a fever. And there I was almost all week. The doctors say that it was another stomach infection, but not nearly as bad as the first one. But it was still enough to make me feel a little bit awful, and to make me take about 1,608,483 different pills. That's what it feels like anyway! But the superheroes of the day were definitely Hermana Gómez and the members! Every day that we were in casa, Hermana Gomez called all of the hermanas she could until she could find 2 that were willing to stay with me, and one to leave with her. We knew that this week was too vital in the progress of our investigators to stop working. We HAD to keep going. So every day, my little new missionary left the house with an hermana and I stayed with another. And she was fantastic. She taught lessons, she contacted our references, she contacted in the street, she visited the members...she is a superstar. I am so proud of her, and her courage to go out (practically) alone and share the gospel. 

And those members...this weekend, we had stake conference and President Reeves came as well to speak. And when he began his talk yesterday, he got a bit teary, then said, "Thanks to all of you who take care of our children here in Tehuacan" I know that he wasn't talking about just me, but in that moment, the faces of those members flashed acrossed my mind, and my heart was filled with so much gratitude for them. I love my little family here in Tehuacan. Every day they are willing to sacrifice everything to help build up the kingdom. And I am especially grateful for Hermana Soledad y Hermana Ana Lilia....not a lot of people want to stay in a house with a sick American for 3+ hours, but they did it every day. And it really was a blessing in disguise...I think they needed those chats just as much as I did.

I don't know a lot of things in this world.... But I know that when we ask for patience, Heavenly Father is going to give us trials so we can develop it. When we ask for more faith, He's going to give us trials that are going to make us prove what we really believe in. When we ask for strength, He's going to give us trials that are a little hard to bear, so that we can build up the endurance that we want to have. I don't know a lot of things, but I know that Heavenly Father gives us trials. And everyday, we get to choose to either embrace them and grow, or let them bring us down. ....I remember very distinctly one fireside that I attended last year in March. I don't remember the name of the speaker, but I remember her asking us, "Who is YOUR Heavenly Father? I know exactly who my Heavenly Father is, but to each of you, who is your Heavenly Father?" And this question has been in my mind ever since. Who is my Heavenly Father? Who is he to me personally? ...well, I'm here to tell you that my Heavenly Father is loving, kind, understanding, wise...but not easy. He knows me inside and out, and He knows that I have a lot of self doubts. He knows that I'm not perfect. He knows that I struggle every single day, and He knows that sometimes, it's hard for me to face each day with a smile. He knows that I am growing spiritually, and that the very specific, hand-picked trials that He gives me are going to help me to do so. He pushes me until I learn, but most importantly, He walks beside me in every one of these moments. Through the Atonement of His perfect Son, I can feel His love, His strength, and I can see His wisdom in all things. I don't know a lot of things, but I know who my Heavenly Father is. And I know that He loves me, and each one of you.

This week is going to be a great one, as we look forward to the baptisms of Marina, Daniel and Carla this Sunday :) And it's going to be great because I'm serving the Lord in the best mission in the world, and there is nothing more important or rewarding than that. :)

Funny/Gross/Terrifying story of the week: We found our first cockroach in the house last night. Yeah. It was kind of really awful! I'd like to say that it was the first and last time...but I know that probably isn't true.... Bleh :P

I hope all of you have a great week, and I love each one of you so much :) Thank you every week for your letters, they really help me so much! Adios!

Love always, 

Hermana Smith

April 21, 2014- Week 15 in Tehuacan!

Well, Buenas Tardes Familia!

This week was a busy one. And kinda crazy! So this weekend was Easter weekend and because everyone here is Catholic...it got a little crazy. The week here is called, "Semana Santa" and it's pretty much and excuse to close all of their shops and party in the churches haha. But they have some very interesting traditions, and it was interesting to see all of the different things that they do here for Easter. The hard part was that none of our investigators (who are Catholic) wanted to meet with us Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday....so we just visited a lot of less-actives and members and tried to do the best we could!

We also served in a nursing home on Friday. The nursing home is ran by the Catholic church, and none of the elderly have ANY family that wants to take care of them. It is really sad :( But we were able to work in the kitchen preparing their food, and talk with many of them. It was a really good experience!

Well, we now have 6 investigators with baptismal dates...Marina and her kids and Mikaela and her sons! Unfortunately...once again, none of them came to church yesterday :( We are definitely going to search for something more that we can do to help them attend church. But two other investigators came  Guadalupe and her son, Etson! They have been listening to the missionaries since June, had dates and everything...but her husband didn't want them to get baptized. But I think now, things have changed and they really want to! So hopefully we can see them get baptized really soon :) 

Training has been going pretty well! I hope, haha! I feel like we're learning a lot, and Hermana Gomez is getting better and better every day. It is crazy to think that she's already been here for 3 weeks (and I turned 5 months old yesterday...que loco!) But it's all good. And the ward is really starting to work with us now, so that has been really good. 

So I've been craving brownies a lot...and all of the members want to know what they are (you can't find them anywhere here).... can one of you send me a recipe?! It would be greatly appreciated :) Haha

This week I have been thinking a lot about the temple....I've been studying in Moses the past couple days, and I've been reminded of my experiences in the temple. I know I've only been gone for 5 months, but I miss the temple so much! I miss feeling the peace and comfort that we can only find in the house of the Lord, but I'm glad to be here and help others to work towards going to the temple. I've been thinking about how blessed I am to have an eternal family, to have the knowledge that we have... and I'm so grateful that in Utah, you can turn any corner and find a temple, haha! I am definitely going to cherish every moment that I will have in the temple when I go home. (I don't want to think about that now, but it's true!) So to all of you who live close to a temple...I invite you to go this week! I know that if you do, you will find answers to your prayers, and you will receive the spiritual strength to press forward.

I love all of you so much, and I know that I'm exactly where I need to be! I hope you all have a fantastic week! 

Love always, Hermana Smith

April 14, 2014- Semana 14 Aquí en Tehuacan! (AKA: The Hottest Place in the World!!!!!!)

Hola Familia!

So as you read in the subject....it keeps getting hotter and hotter every single day. I think I'm going to die. Haha, but other than that, it was a great week! We are still working with Elia, Mikaela, Manuel and Fernando! None of them were able to go to church yesterday...so that was a bit disappointing, but there is always hope for next week! The highlight of the week was definitely our lesson with Mikaela, Manuel and Fernando. We taught the Restoration and....Mikaela and Fernando want to be baptized!!! :) Manuel is still trying to wrap his head around everything, but he told us that he is going to pray really hard about it, and let us know. We have a meeting with him tomorrow, and we're hoping that he received an answer to his prayers! 

We are still trying to find more and more investigators... the blessing of this week is that there are many members who have family member who aren't members, and the members are finally starting to trust us enough with their family. This week we have already 6 teaching appointments with these different family members, and I am really grateful for this. I know that it is so much better if the investigator is close with a member in the church...so we're hoping to see these family members progress :)

We also had two conferences this week - a zone conference on Tuesday and then a conference all day on Wednesday with President Reeves. I can't believe that he has less than 3 months left as our president....so sad! I know I'm going to miss him a lot, and Hermana Reeves. Our new president will be President Stellmon from Idaho, and President Reeves says he's really awesome, so we shouldn't worry too much! But the conferences were really great. I feel like I learned a lot, and realized a LOT of things that I can improve! (But that is nothing new!) 

Funny Story of the Week: After I wrote y'all last week, we went back to our apartment, dropped off our stuff and then left to go eat. (Tacos Arabes...I don't know how to describe them, but they can only be found in Puebla and they are amazing. Yummmm.) But when we got back to the apartment...I realized that I forgot something very very vital.... the keys. Ooops! First time here! (But I think we all know that it is a frequent problem that I have!) But it was ok, we only had to wait about 45 minutes for the landlord. And he thought that it was hilarious, of course. :P

I absolutely love Hermana Gomez. The first week, she was pretty timid, and didn't say a lot. But I have come to realize that we are very very very similar, but it is good. We make each other laugh a lot and in general, she is just kinda cooky. But it is really fun! The members already love her, and I love watching her progress more and more every day. But I know that I am learning so much more than her! I hope that I am helping her in the best way that I can, but she is definitely a blessing in my life. 

Sorry there isn't much to say this week... but I'm still loving every moment! The Gospel is amazing, and I am so grateful for it. My heart goes out today for dear family friends who recently lost a loved one....my prayers are with each and every one of you. I love each of you so so so so so so much, and I am so grateful for all of your prayers and support. Have a fantastic week! Til next time!

Love always, Hermana Smith

Photo: When we were locked out of our apartment....haha!