I am practically living in the Land of Nephi!

Letter written March 29, 2010
Hola mama!
Pues, Elder Martinez es un ninja porque he took me and Elder Winkel on at the same time and practically took us out in 5 seconds with his lightning quick moves.

Elder Martinez is in the middle. I miss him and the rest of that first group of latin elders. This next group just isn’t the same, but they are great elders as well.

Yo compre las corbatas de un hombre que viene al CCM cada semana. (I bought the ties from a man that comes to the CCM each week.) We can’t really bargain with him. They are sweet ties though. However, the things I bought at the market, I bargained for everything!

Roberto Cajas – “Bobby Boxes” – esta aqui Pero yo pienso que El no me recureda. (he is here, but I don’t think he remembers me. He was the man that coordinated and received all the white shirts and ties that Jordan sent down to the Guatemala MTC 4 years ago for his Eagle Project.) And he doesn’t speak English, or at least he doesn’t attempt to so I can’t really make too much contact with him. Besides, he isn’t around too often.

The fast Sunday we had yesterday was great! Not only could I feel the spirit, I could understand 90% of it! Probably because I say the same types of things, just much slower.

Being district leader here is a lot different than in Provo. Not quite as much responsibility but it’s great. We conduct district meetings and we conduct one of the meetings each Sunday (zone class a.k.a. Sunday School or Priesthood). But that might not even happen as much anymore because now all our church meetings are with the latinos…everything is in Spanish.

For gym time I had been lifting and doing situps. But now I run on the elliptical like a mad man the whole time and I do push-ups and sit-ups at night between 9:30 and 10:00 (and apparently reads his scriptures while doing handstands). The rest of the day I have class. Class from 9 to 12, then lunch, study time till 5 then dinner, then class at 6 to 9. It’s great….tough….but great. Study time is the best though. I’m almost done with the D&C . I have found many great scriptures that I will share at the end of this letter.

I love it here in Guat. and I am so grateful to be called to such a place where so many Book of Mormon events happened. I am practically living in the Land of Nephi! It is so great and I love it!!

Thank you for the green package mom. I finally got it. I am so happy to have snacks. I love anything sweet! Not many things are sweet here. I guess that is good for my weight in the long run.

I will continue to pray for Dew. Please give him my love and tell him that if he wants to be happy he must come back to the church or he will always be unhappy. And that is a promise! Tell him that I love him and that there are people who have it much worse. Know that his Father in Heaven loves him and I know that he can do better. But he must have faith in himself before he can have faith in Christ.

Thanks for all the support. I will try to keep a positive attitude at all times, but it’s tough some days. That’s how it goes though. Elder Holland said these things about missions: "You will have hard days. If it was hard for Jesus Christ, it has got to be at least a little tough for you."

Here are some of the scriptures that I loved and stood out to me as I read this week from the Doctrine and Covenants:
D&C 105:40:41 Look up the poem “Footprints” – so good!
D&C 103:36, 103:12, 101:36, 95:5, 90:24, 88:6-13 (explains Bro. Campbell’s light deal), 75:10-11, 63:5, 58:2-4, 50:26

Here is my testimony in Spanish:
Yo se que el Libro de Mormon es la palabra de Dios. Yo se que Jose Smith tradujo el Libro de Mormon a traves el poder de Dios. Dios nos ama. Si obdecemos sus mandamientos, El nos bendicira. Yo se que Jesucristo es el hijo de Dios. A traves su expiación podemos tener vida eterna. Yo se que todas las personas son hijos de Dios. Yo se que la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los Ultimos dias es verdadera. Yo se que tenemos profetas en la tierra en actualidad. Yo se que la obra de los misioneros es la obra de Dios. Yo espero que todas las personas leerian el Libro de Mormon para que saber de la verdad. Estoy agradecemos por el Evangelio de Jesucristo. Estoy agradecemos por mi familia. Yo se que podemos vivir juntos para siempre. Yo amo este Evangelio. En el nombre de nuestro Salvador y Redentor, Jesuscristo. Amen.
- Elder Smith