It rained volcanic ash from the heavens!!

HEYLO!!!
How are you all doing! Haha ya that volcano was crazy and it rained like all day on Saturday too! 2 pairs of shoes are soaking wet, and my scriptures still aren’t fully dry, but they aren’t too bad at all. My umbrella that you sent me with broke in the first rain storm so luckily I bought another one or I would have died. Ha but ya on Thursday, it rained sand!!!! It rained volcanic ash from the heavens!! I collected some for sure.

Then Saturday was the huge rainstorm. That night we were told that it was a hurricane and we needed to stay inside all day Sunday and not to leave for any reason!!! They cancelled church and everything. But it was all LIES, I tell you LIES!!! Ha ha!! It was clear all day, cloudy, but no rain, nada. So we got to leave the house at around 2 thank goodness. Oh and yes we did make an emergency kit that night. Ha don’t worry.

This week has been amazing!!! We have had more contacts this past week than in the entire last change!!! 203 contacts in one week!!!!! Whoo!!
Now for the investigators...

First about José and Heidy. They just moved in from Elder Winkel´s area. They are so fantastic. He has problems with addictions and things, but he is completely changing his life for this gospel. What’s even better is that he tells everyone about us and that this church is true and ahhh it’s amazing. He called us angels that helped him turn his life around. They are just so great, filled with inspired questions that we happily answer. I love it.

Next is Roberto Fransisco, his wife, 2 daughters that are under 6, and his cousin Mateo. We found him contacting and taught him lesson 1 (the restoration). We asked him to pray to know if Joseph Smith was a true prophet. We came back yesterday and he said he prayed!!! YAY!! That’s not it though. He said he felt so much peace and tranquility in his heart that he knew that Joseph Smith was a true prophet!!! What’s even better is that he had a dream right after that prayer while sleeping. He was on a mountain side walking along a path and there were many paths. He found one and starting chopping down wood slowly moving forward. Then a man came by and told him to keep moving forward along that path he had chosen and to never turn back. He prayed about that too. And told us that he knows it meant to continue forward in the gospel that we brought to him and never look back at his old life because it has now changed. AMAZING RIGHT!?!?!?! AH I couldn’t believe it!! We are giving him a date to be baptized next visit. So sweet! The Lord has blessed us so so so much!!! It’s unbelievable.

For Yefry, we didn’t baptize him this week cuz he just isn’t ready yet, so we are continually preparing him to be baptized. We put another date for this weekend. I hope our current investigators could attend it. That would be just wonderful.

Familia Larrazabal has been ¨busy¨ this whole week. We have an appointment with them tomorrow. But if they don’t show again we might not be able to go back and teach them. Hopefully they will be there. If not pray that they will be able to accept this gospel into their lives at a later point in time.

Then Jared is an investigator too. He is the ¨husband¨ of a member so we have been teaching him. He still hasn’t prayed and it’s been really hard to help him change and to get him to pray. His dad is a pastor and he is really close to his family so it might be really hard for him to make the choice to follow the one and only true church. So pray for him please?

Then while we were walking between appointments, these 3 catholic girls doing their homework came up to us with religion questions. It was so great. They asked us when our church was formed and by whom. We said before the creation of the world and Christ established it. They asked how many churches Christ established on the earth, we said 1. And they asked which church Christ is guiding nowadays. We told them this one, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was good because those are the questions we ask and what we talk about! Ha so we gave them a restoration pamphlet and went on our way. It was great.

OH MY GOSH!! I am so happy to hear about Jordan Dew. Tell him I love him and I am very proud of him for making the best decision in his life. Tell him to keep it up and never be discouraged.

Good job on the end of the school year guys.

SHOOT, I hope Allison gets better soon. I will pray for her for sure.

That’s cool to hear about Jai. I didn’t know he was that strong in the church so tell him I am so happy for him and excited to hear where he is going on his mission.

SO sweet to hear about Catalina’s dad getting baptized. That is so so amazing!! I am so happy for them WHOOO! Can this week get any better!

OH and we are eating food too. Ha it’s so great!

Well I love you all so much!!!!!!
Keep the Faith.
Stay Strong.
Elder Jordan Smith

Check out this amazing photo of a sinkhole that happened in Guatemala City. It swallowed up a whole house and happened right down the street from one of the mission office elders, Elder Mays. It looks like it goes all the way down to the center of the earth! How much dirt is that going to take to fill and repair?!

Volcano Eruptions, Tropical Storms, and Prayers

by: Leslie Smith
The latest report from Guatemala from the Area Presidency is that EVERY missionary has been accounted for. They are ALL safe, and those serving in Guatemala City - especially those to the south - have been instructed to stay inside their apartments until the areas have been cleared as safe by their priesthood leaders. All of our missionaries are well and out of any danger. They are using this time as an opportunity to help the people of Guatemala to dig out of the ash that settled on everything.

The following photos were taken at the Guatemala City North Mission Home home by President and Sister Torres.

GUATEMALA CITY - "The Pacaya volcano started erupting lava and rocks on Thursday afternoon, and forcing the closure of the international airport. The Pacaya volcano, which is just south of the capital, started spewing lava and rocks Thursday afternoon, blanketing Guatemala City with ash and forcing the closure of Guatemala City's international airport. Airport official Felipe Castaneda told reporters Saturday that the airport would be closed for the next five days while ash is removed. A TV reporter was killed by a shower of burning rocks. President Alvaro Colom declared a "state of calamity." Three children between the ages of seven and 12 were missing and at least 1,600 people from villages closest to the volcano have been evacuated to shelters."

"The work to remove the ash was going forward, but the rain has complicated it," Castaneda said. The first tropical storm of the 2010 season hit the Pacific coastline of Guatemala and Mexico on Saturday, killing 12 people under landslides and rockfall triggered by torrential rains. Tropical Storm Agatha formed early Saturday in the East Pacific and moved over land in the evening along the Guatemala-Mexico border, said the U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami. The hurricane center said Agatha had weakened into a tropical depression by late Saturday evening with winds of 35 mph, and was expected to weaken even further as it pushed inland. Forecasters warned, however, that heavy rains could continue to fall, bringing 10 to 20 inches."

"Agatha's rains caused a landslide in a precarious hillside settlement of Guatemala City that killed four people and left 11 missing, Guatemalan disaster relief spokesman David de Leon said. Most of the city was without electricity at nightfall, complicating search efforts.

Four children were killed by another mudslide in the town of Santa Catarina Pinula about six miles outside the Guatemalan capital. And in the department of Quetzaltenango, 125 miles west of Guatemala City, a boulder loosened by rains crushed a house, killing two children and two adults, de Leon said. "

"The storm will start to weaken and we hope that on Sunday it will be just a tropical depression," said Romero Garcia of Guatemala's Meteorological Institute. "That is not to say that there won't be heavy rains."

"Before the rains, Guatemala already was contending with heavy eruptions from its Pacaya volcano that have blanketed the capital in ash and destroyed 800 homes. Officials expressed concerns that Agatha's rains could exacerbate the damages."

Hermana Torres wrote the following today on facebook, "The 1st hurricane of the season decided to visit us along with the volcano. As a result we are expecting heavy rains, strong winds, power outages, road closures, etc. No meetings today in church. Missionaries staying indoors....con su mochila de emergencia! (with their emergency backpacks) Oh esta....todo bien" (everything is fine.)

Tomorrow will be an interesting day for emails from all our missionaries. I have often worried about Jordan's safety from crime or accidents, but never gave the weather or natural disasters a second thought. What a week this has been for them. I can imagine that they have spent many hours with the clean up efforts all over the city. It will be a good time for them to give service and I'm sure many hearts will be softened and doors will be opened for the Lord's work to be done through his servants in white shirts and nametags. Knowing Jordan, he is excited about all of the crazy adventures he's had. He's definitely never seen anything like this before. I'm thankful for the peace in my heart that my Heavenly Father has blessed me with. I'm a worrier by nature, and though I'll always be a mom, I know that putting my son in the Lord's tender care is the best place he could be. Our love and prayers are with all the people in Guatemala especially those who have suffered so much loss this week. May we unite our prayers, our faith and our efforts for their comfort and well being. May God be with them and may our missionaries be instruments in His hands more than ever.

Ah I just love being out here

HELLO!

It was good and sad to say goodbye to my mission dad...Elder Escamilla. But I am so stoked for my new comp!!!! Ha kinda funny though...Guess what his name is? Bet you wouldn’t have ever guessed that it’s....

Elder Smith too!!!

Ha his first name is Michael. Elders Michael and Jordan Smith!!!! Funny and awesome right?! I have only heard great things about him and that he is pretty much the best missionary in the mission. He is our new District leader too. Elder Dunkley went up to Peten so Elder Richardson is our new ZL still with Elder Winn. Pretty sweet stuff right!? Oh and I bought a sweet leather cover for my planner. I will have to take a picture of it soon. I will probably send a CD in a little bit as well after I get some pics with my new comp Elder Smith.

I spent almost an entire day with Elder Jensen on Thursday cuz both our comps were going home and they had end of mission interviews. He looks a lot like Ocho. He is way cool so that was fun getting to know him a little bit. Elder Winkel is still in the zone too which is fantastic! Ha! I love that Elder!

Spanish is getting a little easier. Well kind of. There have been a few days that I have understood everything. And other days where I have understood nothing at all. So it's getting there I guess. I hope to be able to understand everything, if not by the end of this change, hopefully the next one. But it’s getting better so I'm not too frustrated about it anymore. Plus my companion is fluent and he is so kind and patient and just awesome and he has only been my comp for a few hours now. I’m so excited! He is a really hard worker too. Can’t wait to work hard and actually start having real success in the mission!

This week we really didn’t work that much. Which was frustrating but I can’t wait for the improvement that’s about to happen. We did teach Familia Larrazabal again this week though. It went so great. We taught about the 3 big questions in life...Where we come from, What our purpose is here, and Where we go after this life. It went really well and we linked in baptism with it too! So at the end of the lesson, we made sure they understood everything and we asked them if they were all willing to be baptized. THEY ALL SAID YES!!!! We didn’t put a date yet, but we plan to do that on Wednesday with them. Yolanda (Mom) Darlene (20) Geoselin (17) Mario Rene (14) Juan Jose (12) and Yoli (9)! I'm so excited for them to be baptized. They are so united as a family and it will be great to see them continue in righteousness and to be able to be sealed as family for eternity in the temple! I sure hope that day will come for them!

Then we have a date for baptism this week. His name is Yefry Alonzo. He is 9 and part of his family are members, but some aren’t so it’s hard to get them to come to church. We have taught him all the lessons. We just have to make sure he understands the covenant he is making with baptism before we will be able to baptize and confirm him.

Then with Sandy, we went over for our weekly appointment but only the daughter of her aunt was there and she told us that Sandy no longer lived there and she had moved back in with her boyfriend! I was so sad when I heard that cuz we planned on baptizing her in two weeks. But we will probably go back there to possibly teach the aunt and her husband and the daughter that lives with them. So hopefully we will still find success there.

Can’t wait to get those packages. Those are always way fun!Oh I´m gonna need some more itch cream and more anti fungul cream. haha. Sorry.

Ah I just love being out here. I honestly don’t know why I wanted to go home. They were such pointless excuses. I know why I’m out here and I know without a doubt that this gospel is the only true gospel on the face of the earth and that we have living prophets, and modern revelation and it is the exact same church that Christ established on this earth during his time of mortality. I am so happy to have it in my life and can’t wait to find the people that are willing to accept it into their lives. I hope that I also will be able to know how to teach those people who are not as willing so that I might be able to leave a good impression about this church.

I love you all!!
Stay Strong.
Keep the Faith
Elder Jordan Smith ... signing off

100 days!

by: Leslie Smith

It was just yesterday that I remember being in the Macey's candy aisle shopping for gummy fish and gummy sharks. Next to me stood a cute and funny newly turned 6 year old smiling with anticipation. With candy in hand, he went home, climbed up on a kitchen stool and started the hour long project of glueing his gummy fish and sharks onto a blue posterboard. He then drew and colored in the waves, added a few purple octopuses, and some green swirly seaweed. He painstakingly counted out each gummy to make sure he had exactly 100. It was his very first school project of his life and he was so excited. (Funny how that enthusisam dwindled to non existence by the time he was in high school). It was Jordan's first 100 days of Kindergarten poster (so mad at myself that I didn't take a pic of the poster!)

Fast Forward to today at a speed that is much too fast for any mom. Today we find ourselves wondering how it's possible that we are celebrating this same little boy's first 100 days of his mission!

This is a recent photo from a zone conference that was just posted on his mission president's blog

The years have flown by and yet we have so many fun memories that we cherish every single day while he is gone. He is growing to be a humble and loving servant of our Heavenly Father, having the adventures of a lifetime, and sharing eternal blessings with his brothers and sisters in Guatemala. He isn't home to make his 100 day mission poster. I'm sure he's not keeping track and doesn't even realize what today is. That's MY job as his mom.....

Planting seeds by the sweat of my brow

How do you do your laundry? Do you have a lady to do it for you?
Ya a member. Hna Patty does it for us every week for 100Q per month....about 12 dollars

How is your knee doing this week?
It’s doing better but it’s not too perfect ya know. It still throbs all the time but the stinging pains are occurring a lot less.

How did your follow up go with Flori? I have been praying for her.
Well we still haven’t been able to do a follow up with her. She has been ¨busy¨ so I don’t know what will happen with her. I think she just isn’t ready for change quite yet. Someday she might have that urge though. I sure hope so. I hope we were able to plant that seed.

Did you find out what happened to Sandy?
Sandy is just fine. Ha I don’t know, I guess that’s how she locks her door. But she is still good and progressing as a great investigator. She missed church last week though. So we will see if we can baptize her by the 17th cuz she needs to go to church.

Do you have an emergency backpack ready with clothing, water, flashlight etc? I’ve heard some elders talk about them being asked to have one prepared at all times.
Ya we have water and I have like 3 flashlights...
(Isn’t it great how he answered that question? Typical boy!)

Do you get the Ensign in English? I can’t put down the conference issue. If you don’t get the English version, I’ll send it to you because it has such amazing doctrine that you can ponder and study.
Ya we don’t get anything in English so that would be great. Also a little Book of Mormon in English that is hardcover, the ones for like 5 bucks...I need to mark some stuff in it but I don’t want to do it in my own...

Anyways...

HI ALL!!
OK the deal is that we didn’t have P day yesterday. Its today! Cuz earlier today we went to the temple as a zone. It was great! 3 members of the 70 were with us in the session! I even understood like 90% of it even though it was in Spanish!

So for this week.. . Let’s see. . My comp has gotten a little lazier so that has been kind of hard. I have gotten in a lot of studying that’s for sure! We taught this family the other day, Family Larrazabal. They are great and have so many questions that can be answered with this gospel it’s just so great. We taught the restoration to them and the spirit was so so strong it was so great!! I just know they will be baptized. There is the mom Yolanda, 17 year old girl Geoselin, 14 year old boy Mario Rene, 12 year old boy Juan Jose, and a 9 year old girl Yoli (Yolanda). They are so great and so friendly. I hope I will be able to baptize them next change.

This week on Saturday we went to Metro Terminal, the grocery store complex in our area and contacted people. We split though, me and Elder Bronson (who came out same time as I did) went together. Two gringos going out to preach in Spanish! That’s how we do! Ha!! So there was this man there who begs and has one leg. My comp tried to contact him while passing by but he wanted nothing to do with it saying he was Pentecostes. Later, I wanted to try again with Elder Bronson, but be more prepared. So I took out Alma 40:23 about our bodies becoming perfected! We went up to him and he tried to resist but I started sharing the scripture with him anyway. After starting, I could feel the spirit and he was listening to me read the scripture. I gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet, invited him to church and went on our way. It was great. I doubt anything will come of it because he really didn’t want anything to do with us. But who knows, he might search to learn more about the church....

Well I have been chased by a dog around a tree...there are strays everywhere and you can usually just shoo them away. So I tried and it growled at me and well, chased me around a tree. That was fun. lol. I am pretty much afraid of dogs now.

We have had a few more rainstorms but it has been really hot lately. I don’t think I have gone one day without having to wipe the sweat off my brow. I hope it’s from working hard and not just the heat. I have lost 10 pounds already since coming out into the field. Crazy! I might need a new belt soon with more notches haha!

Magda came to our church on Sunday! It was good to see a familiar face. She gave us some delicious sweet bread! So nice of her! But ya, that’s about the extent of it. (Magda is a family friend that lives in Provo, but is originally from Guatemala and was vacationing down there!)

I am almost done with the Book of Mormon. I am in 3rd Nephi right now. It’s going great, I love it. And then I just finished the Gospels in the bible!! Then I read Jesus the Christ every night too. It’s going so great. I have been marking how many times it says God, or Christ or things like that in my Spanish Book of Mormon too. I am in Alma and so far there are only 5 pages that don’t have references to God or Christ but there has been a total of about 1930 references up to Alma 17 or so. It’s great! And it’s a great tool to show investigators what the Book of Mormon is really about, and not about Joseph Smith.

Well that’s about it for this week! Love you guys! Ah I am so stoked for change conference on Monday. I had a dream last night about getting a white companion. If that happens.... WHOOWEE so sweet!!!. lol.
Stay Strong.
Keep the Faith.
Elder Smith

There's no way Jordan can do that but Elder Smith can!

Hey Everyone!
So about our appt with Flori that we had. It went really well, the spirit was so strong and I was able to say the most things I have ever said in a lesson before!!! We taught faith, repentance, baptism, gift of the holy ghost and enduring to the end. At the end of the lesson my comp extended a baptismal commitment! She said YES!!! So my comp said, "That is so great, Congratulations. We are having a baptismal service on June 5th, we will help you prepare for that date to be baptized and become a member of our church if that date works for you." Then Flori said, "Oh become a member of YOUR church? Nevermind. WHAT?! It was a moment of joy and then a moment of pure disappointment. I don't know what is going to happen with her exactly but we are going over there on Wednesday to talk with her again. She is currently thinking about baptism and the things we have said because she enjoyed quite a bit, as was told to us by a member who is friends with Flori. So we will see what happens there. I hope it all works out.

We talked with another pastor this week, twice actually. Those are always pointless but he calls us over when we see him in the street every time so we kind of have to go over and talk to him. I don't know if his heart will be softened to receive this gospel. I guess we will see.

Oh we met with this lady named Sandy. She had received all the lessons previously before she moved here and was going to get baptized but she was living with her boyfriend so she couldn't´t unless they got married. But she moved here after she split up with her boyfriend. So we can baptize her now! We talked about baptism and set a date for the 17th of June but then yesterday, Sunday, when we went to her house to take her to church there was a lock on the outside of her door. So I am not sure what really happened to her...I hope she's ok.

That about sums up the week!! I love you all so so much!! It was so great talking to you guys. It always helps me push forward to hear your support. Thank you so much for that. I'm so grateful for you guys and how you brought me up with this gospel! I would be lost without this great knowledge of how to be able to return to our Father in Heaven one day.

You guys rock!
Love you, Elder Smith

Higlights of our Mother's Day Phone call:
Elder Escamilla decided to "come out of the closet" and tell everyone in their district that he actually can speak a lot more English than he had led everyone to believe. They all thought it was pretty funny. (Me? Hmm...not so much!) It sounds like he and Jordan are getting along and have been able to communicate a lot more this past week both in Spanish and English.

He said that his apartment is pretty decent. I thought that having my Mother's Day phone call would be the only present I really needed this year. But I think the following photo is even a better present!

A clean room for ONCE IN JORDAN'S LIFE is a complete miracle and a journal opened on his bed that looks like it's been written in is more than I could have ever dreamed of. I seriously wonder what's become of my Jordan. I'm really loving this new Elder Smith guy.

The missionaries have names for certain areas of their mission. Guatemala City and it's surrounding areas (where Jordan is) is known as the Telestial Kingdom because of the number of baptisms that happen. Jordan got a sheet this past week that showed 10 baptisms in his area in the past 3 years. Thankfully Jordan has already experienced a wonderful conversion and baptism the first few weeks in Atlantida with the baptism of Sindi on April 24th

Coban and Peten are the Terrestial Kingdom and the place that most missionaries want to serve. The baptism rate is a lot higher and the people are much more humble. Then there's Polochic..the Celestial Kingdom of the Guatemala North mission. One missionary alone has 6 baptisms coming up this week. It's a little more primitive there and the people speak an old mayan dialect called kekchi. Jordan told us he loves us with all his heart in kekchi last night. It sounded chinese to me! But that is where all the missionaries aspire to go.

He said that because his companion is going home in two weeks, he will most likely not be transferred but he is looking forward to a change. He understands the work is hard and the success rate low. But it will make all their success that much more sweet. He had a great talk with President Torres at Zone Conference and he told Jordan that some of the best missionaries come from those that have been in his shoes.....spanish speaking companions only and in a hard area. He said that he's sure Jordan will be one of the best spanish speaking missionaries in the mission soon.

At the MTC and CCM he was taught that baptism numbers aren't what a mission is about. The main part is that each missionary try his best and work hard. But when he got out to the field, President Torres has told them that their mission is a baptizing mission. Numbers do matter. Especially priesthood leaders and families. It's essential to their area of Guatemala. Jordan has had to make a mental switch with that, but he knows that President Torres is inspired and is leading their mission under the Lord's direction.

The only time Jordan sounded a little sad or frustrated was when he talked about the work. He said that there is a mission rule that a man has to be in the house for them to be able to teach. But in his experience, many men there are pretty horrible. They work all day and get drunk at night and have no interest in their message. They have had to pass up many women and children who would otherwise welcome them in.

For service the other day, they chopped down bamboo with machetes in a jungly area behind some one's house. Jordan LOVES chopping wood. He would do it for hours when we'd go camping, but always with an ax of course. He said the machete chopping was so much better. He described it as having levels 1 to 4 and he got video of level 2 or something. He described almost like a video game. It was quite funny.

Get ready for a little TMI (Too much information) but it's just so typical of Jordan I had to share. He had to use the bathroom the whole time he was talking to us but refused because he was so afraid that he would clog the family's toilet (a frequent occurrence at our house when he was home.) He told us that in their apartment once he forgot that you can't put toilet paper in the toilet. He clogged it bad and so he got the plunger to unclog it. It was kind of freaky when all of the sudden the water started coming up through the shower drain! He and his companion went back and forth plunging the toilet and the shower! Eeeeeeew was said in unison by our whole family. We told him to put a second plunger on his shopping list to help.

His spanish is coming along pretty good. He said there are a few people who speak slow and a pure spanish that he understands 100%. Others he gets about half. And older people and little kids that speak really fast he is able to understand a word here and there. There aren't a lot of slang words in spanish that aren't swear words so he says that a lot of people say "Freak" or "Freaking." We noticed it in his sentences a lot.

We told him of the many blessings that we have had since he's been gone and we told him how much more we have felt the spirit in our home. He replied, "That's probably because I'm not there! Ha ha!"

He told us that the fleas are still a problem but if he sleeps with the fan on, he seems to get less bites, but the mosquitoes are always out full force in the day. He has 7 bites just on his knee. They go on a cockroach hunt each night and stomp on them if they are able to catch them because they are so dang fast.

He told us of some really scary things that he has had to eat and drink. But he has come up with the best little motto for himself when faced with hard trials, challenges, or nasty food. He tells himself, "There's no way Jordan can do this but Elder Smith can!" And he goes for it!!! We're so proud of his attitude.

We were so happy to have just over 2 hours to talk to him! It was still too short though. We would have talked for longer, but it was past 9 pm and they had to get back to their apartment. It's hard to believe that we actually have a son on a mission. A mission in a very far away land. A mission that is helping him in ways that will last a lifetime. A mission where he is forced to turn to our Father in Heaven. A mission that is turning him from my little boy into a man.

I am here for the long run

First, some things I need. . If you can find those same pens that you sent me out with ,will you send them again? Maybe like 5 reds and then whatever of every other color there is with that brand. My red pen is out. So sad. I am using another one but it’s not as good.

Oh if you find any sweet ties, send them. Ha it really doesn’t matter how crazy they are. It is kind of the custom here. So the more awesome the ties the better... pink, purple, whatever!

I really have felt that fast for sure and I have definitely felt your prayers in my life this week. I have had less knee pain than ever before…ever in my life! It has been so great! Thank you so much. I have been happier too. You probably already know that I have had thoughts of seriously coming home after this change. But know that I am here for the long run. I am not going to come home until my time is up. I am determined to stay and serve our Lord and I can’t wait to continue onward in this great work!

Our appt. with Flori went really well on Tuesday and the spirit was really really strong. We told her to read Moroni 7. It is my fav chapter and has so many good things in it. We tried to follow up with her on Friday but she couldn’t, so we are going back on Tuesday. I hope she read and prayed. If not, we are going to read and pray with her for our lesson. We are going to ask her to be baptized too. I hope she accepts. She is really our only investigator right now because everyone has pretty much rejected us. We are with members a lot trying to find people they know that aren’t members. We also teach a lot of the in active members. Yesterday we went to a family’s house. They came with us to church! So happy they came. They live in a completely tin house. It is so sad. But it made me happy that they were willing to come with us to church. They live far away and down this mountain thing with switchbacks so we barely made it in time for sacrament. It was great. I hope we find more people that are willing to accept the gospel into their lives.

I did get both packages....silver and brown. So so sweet!!! Thank you so much!!! I did get that football. I am so excited!! Ha no I haven’t played with it at all really, but I sleep with it at night. Haha!

Zone conference was long. 7 hours. My brain hurt from all the Spanish. I got to see lots of elders from the CCM. It was really good to see them and speak in English to them. haha! No....I don’t really ever talk to elder Winn...

Tell dad good luck for me when he tries out for MoTab! Tell Caleb congrats on his mission call! Oh and also Tanner!!! So sweet!

Are you eating better this week? Kinda, but not really. It’s getting better though for sure. The best food? Hmm….I don’t know, really. It’s all pretty much the same. lol. Chicken, rice, beans, tortillas...but we did have this reallllly gross drink made out of I don’t know what. But I had to gag it down. Almost threw up. Ha it was horrible but I got it down...

No, my bed isn’t comfortable and there are fleas. Haha it’s ok though. It’s a bed. A lot of people here sleep on a whole lot worse.

Jake, that’s way cool about the NFL draft. That really sucks about Harvey Unga. That shows that it can happen to anyone though. Be careful out there.

Thanks so much for fasting for me Jake. It helped so much you don’t even know!!!

Oh and Jake, read Moroni chapter 10 verses 3 to 5 after every time you read. And pray after every time you read. Be ready for the answer. It might not come until you finish reading the whole book, but I promise you that you will receive an answer of its truthfulness. I know it with all of my heart bro. Keep up the great work over there. Love you bud.

I’m not too sure how the calling is going to work though. I think I will call you on Sunday when I have time to talk. Just a few rings....and then call me back cuz it is like 10 quetz a minute or something for me to call you.
Well I love you guys
Keep the faith and have fun!
-Elder Smith