Nice Work on the Q'eqchi' mother face! Yeah that runt (Ryder) is huge! I was looking at some of the pictures of him from right before I left and he was just a tiny guy. Everybody is growing up! It's crazy!!!
I am pretty sure the Guatemala City Temple is closing down soon, but I am not sure when or for how long.
Ha you guys are lazy!! Opening presents at 11! Haha. I think it will probably take me about a week or so until I get back to that though. But I am going to try and wake up earlier now. I can just get soo much more things done. And I will probably end up going to the gym in the mornings. But like at around 8 or so...nothing too crazy early haha.
That is a really interesting quote that you said about prayer! I have always tried to be thankful for things in my prayers, but now I will really think more about the way I thank the Lord for those things. I have gotten in a bad habit of sometimes just going through the motions of a prayer and not directly from my heart. I don’t do it all the time, but I notice it when it happens, and it's not good. I hope to improve. Thanks mom!
For Christmas, the gift giving was really great! Stressful, but great! (More details on this event are below in the higlights of our Christmas phonecall.)
Then for Christmas Eve....I ate soooo much. The first family gave us 2 tamales. So I thought, hey....its not gonna be too bad after all! And then the next house we had a GIANT turkey leg with salad and rice. I was stuffed! And we had 1 more house to go! We went there and they gave us rice, and 3 huge pieces of different types of meat, and pasta salad, AND 1 tamale!! OHHH my.... I was soooo full! But it was great to spend my last Christmas like that. I have now seen 2 sides of Christmas here. 1 really humble Christmas and 1 Christmas full of food. It really has been so amazing experiencing both!
Well it was great talking you all! I hope you have a great New Year mom and pops, even though you will be all alone like old fogies haha. But enjoy it! I love you guys! Have a great one!
Stay Strong
Keep the Faith
Love Elder Jordan Smith
Highlights of our Christmas Phonecall (12/25/11)
*He was able to put together 65 little bags of treats and toys from the things we sent him for the children in his branch. The elders in his district assembled them and gave them out at a branch activity. They had to supplement them with a little bit of candy that they bought there. They made some for the girls and different ones for the boys. It was a highlight of his Chrismtas this year to be able to do that.
*Since fireworks run in the Smith blood, he was thrilled to see so many of them for Christmas. He even did a little mini tank wars in his neighborhood with just a few fireworks that he could afford! The people said, "What are you doing? Are you crazy taping all those fireworks together?" He replied, "Oh this is nothing...you should see what my family does when we get together and do them!" He said that we should start doing our own fireworks for Christmas back at home now.
*He is looking forward to starting up back at BYU and said he is excited that they are one of two schools in the U.S. that offer a class in Mayan studies...definitely one he wants to take.
*With only 7 weeks until he comes home we talked about what family vacation he would like to go on during Srping Break. We decided that it would be fun to go to New York, visit the city and also the church history sites and also venture down for a day or two in Washington D.C. Can't wait!
*Our call got dropped three times so we had to keep calling back. Everytime he answered he did it with a little "Whoop" type sound. It's impossible to replicate with words but it's a silly little sound that he said is how people answer their phone there and greet each other especially in Polochic. Made us laugh!
*He said that if he had the ultimate dream area to finish out his mission he would choose to go to Senahu in Polochic but that it is up to the Lord where he will go and he will be fine if he ends up staying in his current area.
*Jake told him that he really wants to go to South Africa on his mission. Jordan said, "Oh I've heard that South Africa is the most dangerous mission in all the world. But guess what the 2nd most dangerous mission in the world is...Guatemala City North. Oh sorry Mom, but it's true!"
*He is looking forward to zone conference this week and getting to visit with the A.P.'s who are two of his best friends in the mission. He is also excited to be with President and Sister Watts.
*We closed our phone call with our tradition of family prayer. We asked Jordan to offer it this time in English since he's said it before in Spanish and in Qeqchi. It was a perfect way to end our Christmas day. His Grandma and Grandpa Howard had stopped by towards the end of his call and they enjoyed hearing his voice for a few minutes and feeling of his missionary spirit.
Well it was great talking you all! I hope you have a great New Year mom and pops, even though you will be all alone like old fogies haha. But enjoy it! I love you guys! Have a great one!
Stay Strong
Keep the Faith
Love Elder Jordan Smith
Highlights of our Christmas Phonecall (12/25/11)
*He was able to put together 65 little bags of treats and toys from the things we sent him for the children in his branch. The elders in his district assembled them and gave them out at a branch activity. They had to supplement them with a little bit of candy that they bought there. They made some for the girls and different ones for the boys. It was a highlight of his Chrismtas this year to be able to do that.
*Since fireworks run in the Smith blood, he was thrilled to see so many of them for Christmas. He even did a little mini tank wars in his neighborhood with just a few fireworks that he could afford! The people said, "What are you doing? Are you crazy taping all those fireworks together?" He replied, "Oh this is nothing...you should see what my family does when we get together and do them!" He said that we should start doing our own fireworks for Christmas back at home now.
*He is looking forward to starting up back at BYU and said he is excited that they are one of two schools in the U.S. that offer a class in Mayan studies...definitely one he wants to take.
*With only 7 weeks until he comes home we talked about what family vacation he would like to go on during Srping Break. We decided that it would be fun to go to New York, visit the city and also the church history sites and also venture down for a day or two in Washington D.C. Can't wait!
*Our call got dropped three times so we had to keep calling back. Everytime he answered he did it with a little "Whoop" type sound. It's impossible to replicate with words but it's a silly little sound that he said is how people answer their phone there and greet each other especially in Polochic. Made us laugh!
*He said that if he had the ultimate dream area to finish out his mission he would choose to go to Senahu in Polochic but that it is up to the Lord where he will go and he will be fine if he ends up staying in his current area.
*Jake told him that he really wants to go to South Africa on his mission. Jordan said, "Oh I've heard that South Africa is the most dangerous mission in all the world. But guess what the 2nd most dangerous mission in the world is...Guatemala City North. Oh sorry Mom, but it's true!"
*He is looking forward to zone conference this week and getting to visit with the A.P.'s who are two of his best friends in the mission. He is also excited to be with President and Sister Watts.
*We closed our phone call with our tradition of family prayer. We asked Jordan to offer it this time in English since he's said it before in Spanish and in Qeqchi. It was a perfect way to end our Christmas day. His Grandma and Grandpa Howard had stopped by towards the end of his call and they enjoyed hearing his voice for a few minutes and feeling of his missionary spirit.
Guatemala City Time
So glad you got to talk to Jordan, I can't believe he will be home so soon now, if you do go on that trip for spring break you will have to make us a rest stop along the way at least... we'd love to see you all.
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