Inspiration from the scriptures

Hey there all of you!
Yes, it has been mentally hard not to be able to do the work that I was assigned to do. My pain has gotten worse since they did the procedures last Thursday, but it is much much better than last Friday night when it was the worse ever. I will do whatever I can to stay out here. But I will always stay honest to the doctors and everybody to be able to figure out what is going wrong. Right now the pain isn’t too bad, it was worse when I woke up. Sleeping on my side isn’t a very good idea...But that is kind of how it has been. Some days I have low amounts of pain, others I have a lot more. It’s weird to me. Yes they did both an endoscopy and a colonoscopy and found nothing....My next appointment with the doctor is on Tuesday, July 5th. I will tell him about getting a....tomografía....if nothing appears after that we will see what happens. I know everything will be alright and that the Lord's will shall be done. It is just going to take a little bit more time. Hopefully not too much longer though. It has been nearly a month now since I have been sick! But hopefully we can get it figured out here, if not...well it’s in the Lord's hands

Those are pretty amazing stories that you told me about those sicknesses and recoveries happening. I am definitely growing closer to the Lord and realizing many different things about my life and things like that. This week I was prompted a couple specific times to open my scriptures. I have been praying a lot to know the will of the Lord for me and what I must do. The scripture I turned to was Alma 20. As I read, these verses stood out to me.

14Now the father of Lamoni commanded him that he should slay Ammon with the sword. And he also commanded him that he should not go to the land of Middoni, but that he should return with him to the land of Ishmael.

15But Lamoni said unto him: I will not slay Ammon, neither will I return to the land of Ishmael, but I go to the land of Middoni that I may release the brethren of Ammon, for I know that they are just men and holy prophets of the true God.

What I got from that is that Satan has been tempting me to give up and putting desires in my heart to just simply go home. But this scripture helped me understand that I cannot go home, unless the circumstances require. And if I do, I must come back to the land of Guatemala that I may release my brethren from evil and continue to preach unto them this great gospel that they may be saved.

I was also prompted to read D&C 76. I couldn’t sleep from my pain and from thinking too much so I felt that I should read the scriptures. To not wake my companion, I went into the bathroom so I could have light while I read. This is what really hit me as I got to verse 11....This section was written from inspiration received by Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon on February 16, 1832. It wasn’t just coincidence that I opened to read this section. That day is the very day I am scheduled to end my mission. February 16, 2012. Whatever happens I will not have my mission ended until that day. I have really been trying to know what to do. And now, I think I know.

Dad, that is just amazing that you were prompted to read and ponder Mosiah 15 and tell me what it means to you. Because that was another scripture I was prompted to read this week. I opened straight to Mosiah 14 after getting the prompting to read it. Mosiah 14 is all about the Atonement (also in Isaiah). It helped me realize that Christ knows my suffering. I felt prompted to continue to read chapter 15 and then stop. That same scripture came to my mind as well (Mosiah 15:16-18) but I also didnt know what it meant. I am grateful for the Spirit working on you so that I am able to now know what it means for me. Thank you so much for sharing that with me!!

I remember that part of my patriarchal blessing as well. It makes me wonder what exactly the Lord has planned for me to do after my mission. I know this is preparing me for that time right now. It has really made me think...What do you think that could mean?

I have written down little details of what has happened in my agenda, since my journal is sitting on my desk back in Tanchi.

President Watts is truly amazing. The day he came in the Spirit just testified of his calling. He is a great man and perfect to lead the Lord's work in this part of the world. He and is wife are really loving and have really shown their love to me in this tough time.

I am jealous of you guys celebrating the 4th of July. You better make those explosions extra big for me! I hope you guys have fun! Well that is all for this week. Hopefully I will be able to send you a medical update here soon. I love you all and I hope you have a great 4th and a great week.
God Bless America!
Que Dios Bendiga los Estados Unidos
Li Yos Chihosob'tesinq re los Estados Unidos
Stay Strong
Keep the Faith
Love Elder Jordan Smith

I hope I will be able to take advantage of every last minute of that time that I have here

Hey there peeps!
Well there really isn’t too much to say, since I was able to talk to you guys yesterday about what is going on over here with me. I am feeling a little bit better today, but whenever I have been walking my nausea, headache, and stomach pains increase. So that is rather annoying. I really just can’t wait until they figure out what I have. We shall see what happens! The nurses are setting up an appointment for me to get everything done. I am not quite sure when it will finally be resolved, but everything will turn out alright, whatever happens. I just don’t want to leave this mission, even if it means working in the office until I finish my mission. Next change starts the time of my last 6 months anyways, so I will not mind being in the office at all.

Pres. Watts got here last night. I will be able to see him in the office later this afternoon. Pres. Torres leaves tomorrow. So crazy to think that I have a new mission president now. When I first entered the mission and found out when the Torres' would go home I thought about how much time I would have in the mission....Now the time is here and I have a little more than 7 months left of my time serving the Lord. I hope I will be able enjoy and take advantage of every last minute of that time that I have here.

Crazy that Jake is getting old like that, he will always just be the chubby little brother to me, no matter how old he gets haha. And even dating the girls now, that’s weird. And Allison is all old and crap too. What is up with that? When is she going to Florida? Congratulate her for me on her new church assignment.

Hahaha I can’t wait to see this trophy that Brian made and all the pictures from this year's edition of our family Tank Wars! Get some good videos of it for me too ok?

"How Firm a Foundation" is a good one. Here in Q'eqchi'-landia we sing that hymn all the time. However it is called Kawaq lee Paab'al. It’s a favorite among the qawachins (the old guys).

Well I really wish that I had more to be able to write you all but that is about it. I am just chillin in the office everyday. Maybe what will happen is that I just become an office elder, just like dad! We'll see what happens with everything I guess. I will try and keep you updated the best that I can. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!!
Stay Strong
Keep the Faith
Love Elder Jordan Smith

I have definitely not improved since last week.

HEY THERE!
Well this week really nothing happened again. I returned to my area. I have only been able to work a few hours a day taking rests in between and things like that, so the work hasn’t really been able to progress. So that is kind of frustrating. I was going to have to wait another week until I go back to the capital, but I got a call today saying to come back tomorrow! Because Hna. Torres thinks it is better for her and Pres. Torres to be able help me take care of it now than to have the new Pres. and his wife help. Because they will be all stressed out and won’t really know how to help as much. So I am headed back down to the capital tomorrow morning to visit with a real doctor. Haha. So we will see what happens, because I have definitely not improved since last week. When I went to the doctor in Cobán he thought it was my appendix....but I did a urine and blood test, and it came out negative for anything for the appendix. The doctor in Cobán said maybe an obstruction in my liver or my gall bladder. But who knows. I need to get like an ultra sound or something to figure it out completely. The doctor said its nothing too serious, it just needs to get taken care of and I will be good to go. It definitely could be a parasite... but don’t you think I would at least have diarrhea or something like that? And the pain is on the right side of my stomach, not really near my actual stomach at all, so it is super weird...who knows. I am going to a really good medical facility tomorrow to get it all done with. But I think everything will be perfectly fine once they figure out what is going on...So no need to worry.

Sounds like you guys had tons of fun in Colorado! Ha it’s crazy to think that Turek and Larsen and all those guys are home now. I have thought about doing that with all the corte and the huipils (blouse) but it costs a lot. It’s like almost 50 dollars for each thing of corte and it makes maybe 2 skirts, if not only 1. But I will see...maybe. I do want to do it though. But I will definitely get some ties made, for the 3 of us to be matching. I can go in on that with other missionaries because one corte can make like 20 ties...Oh but something better....I am going back to the cap, and if it's possible I am going to try and get a tailored suit made with a vest and everything. They are super nice and only like 100 bucks. So if I do that, could that be my early birthday present? But I will let you know if I order it ok?

I’m glad that you are feeling better mom! And I really like the pics you sent, they are super awesome. Well I love you and I really wish there was more news to tell you. But that’s all for now. I am sending some pictures of the house we live. It’s definitely the nicest out of all the places I have lived in. And it’s really really big.





But anyways, that’s all for now, I will talk you next week! Have a great one!
Keep the faith
Stay Strong
Love Elder Jordan Smith

Wherever we serve we must do it with honor

Hey there crazies!!

I will start off where I am today. I am in the Capital! Why you may ask? Long story. So Wednesday afternoon I started having some stomach pains and Wednesday night it got super bad! I was shaking with pain and I was almost at the point of tears. I wasn’t able to sleep and it was around 2 in the morning when I got up to get some Alka Seltzer, it did nothing. I woke up my companion and he was able to give me a blessing. The pain immediately decreased and I was able to get to sleep. I am so grateful for the power of the Priesthood. So the next day, I still had minor pains. And when we left to work, it just hurt more and I got all nauseated and got a headache and all that yummy good stuff. That kinda went on for a few days. So I called the mission nurses on Saturday to see what I should take or what I should do. They told me to go see a doctor in Coban. Which is the reason why I had to take money out. He is an internal medicine specialist. So I went in with him and after checking me out he determined it had to do something with my liver. So he sent me to get a urine and a blood test so that he could tell exactly what was wrong. I went and got that done and returned with the doctor. He said that something was wrong with my liver, but couldn’t determine exactly what is was from the tests I got because the things that were abnormal on the tests should have affected other things as well he said. So he told me I needed to go the Cap to get some more tests to be able to determine what I needed. So I came down to the cap. We left Coban at 3 in the morning and I went in to see the mission doctor, Dr. McArthur. He didnt do any sort of test and didnt do any check up and barely took a glance at my previous test results and just said it was something with my stomach and sent me on my way to go back to my area. I didnt really like that and didn't trust it at all, neither did the mission nurses. So then I talked to Pres. and Hna. Torres. She didnt really like what Dr. McArthur said, but she told me to take the medicine I had to buy that he prescribed to me, just in case. But she said to just rest here for a few days and if the pain still persists to go see a gastrointestinal specialist. So here I am! Just resting here in the mission office! Ha long story huh?! But as you see I had to buy numerous things that I definitely didn't have mission money for. So I had to use personal money for all of it and it got reimbursed so it’s all good. (Note from Mom: Can I please ask all of his family and friends and blog readers to please remember Elder Smith in your prayers. We know he is in the Lord's care and in good hands. We hope he will be able to resume his work soon.)

So after my long crazy story, I will answer your questions....

I really love both the Q'eqchi language and the Q'eqchi people. The people really are amazing. They truly are Lamanites. The members know it and the non members only need to be reminded. The language is amazing too. Just how it is so descriptive in how things are done and it is just so similar to the old languages such as Greek, Hebrew, and Egyptian. It’s truly amazing!

Tanchi is good, for the short time that I have been there. The branch is great and has numerous returned missionaries that really help us a lot! About 65 people attend church every week. The best thing I like about Tanchi is the members for sure. They are just awesome and they help you sooo much with the language as well. One of the members in our branch helped with the editing of the Book of Mormon in Q'eqchi' and also read parts of it for the Book of Mormon on tape. They are really great humble people and they love the missionaries. Also nobody yells Mormon or Gringo at us. Everyone knows we are missionaries and there is almost no persecution at all here. It is fantastic!!

Ha my shirts? Well awhile ago I got them altered. They were giant sized on me and super uncomfortable. So now they fit nice and good. And yes those perfect pushups are great! Love them! They work you nice and good! And yes I weigh about 170 pounds right about now!

I have not had the chance to see Bronson yet. Since I had to come down to the cap on P day, and they had a zone activity that we had to miss. But I will see him soon! Hopefully! I can't wait!

Elders Bishop and Cheney, Hatch (from my group) and Lemus, and 2 sisters are in our district. I am not district leader. I was going to be but they closed the area of Chicojl which was part of our district before. But since it got closed, we got put in the other district where Hatch was already the DL. Elders Jensen (from Canada) and Fernandez are the Zone Leaders here in Coban right now. For the week of last change it was Jensen and Jennings.

That’s crazy that the Mavs took it. Yeah it is good to see those guys finally get that ring. I think the Heat will take it next year. It did take Wade, Bosh, and Lebron like 30 games to start clicking a little bit. So after some more experience of playing together they will be able to work the ball around and play together as a team. We shall see though.Yeah hopefully the Jazz will take Jimmer, who else do they have that they can put at point?

Ha that’s super funny that Tanner's comp's name is my name. That would have been super crazy if he was coming to this mission! There is another Elder Smith here now as well who just entered the Polochik. Crazy huh!? Maybe I will have another Elder Smith as comp in the future haha.

We seem to always receive all of that persecution don’t we? (Referring to the news we sent him about the new "Book of Mormon" musical on Broadway.) It’s just as bad out here too. It just shows that we have the truth. People are driven by Satan to fight the truth. That is why other groups of people don’t get persecuted as much and as often. They aren’t trying to live God's standards as much and there is not the truth with them. I know that there will be more and more of these types of things until the end...And we know what happens then...

I agree 100% of how our missions are. Wherever we serve we must do it with honor. And do our duty with our might until time is up. And when time is up, take the things you learned and apply them into real life and we will see huge and great changes and blessings that will occur in our lives.

Yes I know how much you love me haha. And yeah I am doing really well, besides my current stomach pain, but it’s all good. It will all get worked out soon. I love you all and I hope you have a fantastic week!

Nekexinra. Kawaq eech'ool. B'exkanab' chixpaab'ankil lix taqlahom li Yos ut texosob'tesiiq! Cheerilaq eerib! Toj li jun chik xaaman....Mexxuwaq chiwix.
Les amo mucho. Que sean firmes. Nunca dejar de obedecer los mandamientos de Dios y serán bendecidos. Que se cuiden. Hasta la próxima semana. No se precupe de mi.
I love you all. Stay strong. Don’t ever stop obeying God's commandments and you all will be blessed. Take care! Until next week....Don’t worry about me.

Keep the Faith
Stay Strong
Love
Elder Jordan Smith
(Sorry if my Spanish isn’t that good. You can have Larsen or Turek translate my Q'eqchi' and correct my mistakes. Haha.)

Even through all the hard times, we receive blessings that outweigh the trial by so much! Plus I have HOT water now!!

HEY YOU ALL!
Yeah we emailed early last week because of the long trip we took to El Estor. I had to get back to our area that same day which is like 5 hours away.

I actually have felt relief with my head and all my stress. It got pretty bad, but now I am doing so much better. Thank you all so much for your prayers. Last change was a long one, but it wasn’t that bad, it was just stressful.

Oh and remember how I said no changes? Ha well about 5 hours after that I got a change. I left on Tuesday morning to come here to Tanchi! So I have been in a trio for this last week with Elder Legua and Elder Lainez.

Legua goes home with Turek and all them. So I am now going to be here with Elder Maxwell Lainez. He is from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. He knows English pretty dang well! Another crazy thing with changes is that the zones of Polochik and Senahú are going to be combined! So there are going to be a lot of changes happening with those areas. Crazy!

I am now in the zone Cobán and the area of Tanchi. It’s where Schone was for 9 months! There is more Q'eqchi' here than there is in Tucuru so I am really happy about that. And being near Cobán means better food! It is really cold here though. I wear a hoodie every day to study. It’s funny though. I am super used to the heat I guess because I am freezing to death and it is always around 70 degrees here! But I still feel like I am going to freeze over! But you can see your breath at night, so I guess it still is fairly cold even though it gets to like 60 to 65 at night. It would be rough taking cold showers here but luckily we have hot water!! WHOOPIE!!! It’s been a super long time since I’ve had hot water . . . ever since I left the Capital forever ago! But the crazy thing with our water is that it is rain water. So if it doesn’t rain a lot, we don’t have water! Good thing we are in the rainy season and it has rained every single day! So I don’t think we will have too many water problems. The members here are really great too! Members left with us to teach 3 times last week! That is 3 more times than I had in all my 6 months in Santo Domingo. It’s really good. I feel that we are going to be able to find success here. I really like it and am grateful to be able to work in this area.

Yeah I am thinking that I could train next change, so we shall see if I get Tanner's MTC comp.

That’s sweet about Aubriel’s engagement and Mandie’s wedding. Will I be getting their invitations too? I hope so. Seeing Nick Roberts' invite was sweet. I didnt know who he got married to. But when I got the invitation I thought it was neat, because I remembered they had dated before he left.

That’s sick about the NBA Finals! I hope James, Wade, and Bosh can pull it off!

Yeah I definitely know that trials are for our benefit, it helps us grow and become better, always. And then the Lord still blesses us with more, its amazing how good God is to us all, that even through all the hard times, we receive blessings that outweigh the trial by so much!!!

Tons of missionaries are going home this change. 26 I think! Crazy right?! I think we just got like 33 new ones though to make up for it! And no I don’t know when the President Torres leaves, but since you said the new President comes on the 26th, then I would guess the 27th. They only have 3 hours to talk to each other and then that’s it! Well that’s all I have for you guys for today, but have a fantastic week!
Love you!
Keep the Faith
Stay Strong
Love Elder Jordan Smith, aj Q'anjorin

I was able to see President and Sister Torres for the last time. I sure am going to miss them!

Hey there all you peoples!!
Today we are in El Estor. We only came here with our district. We came here because it’s the only place to print pictures off! Crazy right? So I am here again in the super nice internet place! Its super nice, A/C and everything. Love it!

So as for this week... Nothing really happened. I have had a migraine all week! The nurses said it was from stress and things like that. It was pretty bad. I couldn’t really walk or do anything without getting dizzy and nauseous. So I was in the house for 4 days this week! Being in a hot house for that long is definitely not the best, but there was nothing else I could really do! My headache is going down a little bit, but it’s still persistent. It started on Tuesday evening. So that has been rough. But that is pretty much it for my week.

We had district conference with all the branches yesterday as well. So I saw some people from Santo Domingo and was able to see President and Sister Torres for the last time. I sure am going to miss them!

I hope you guys have a great memorial day together. Tell Carlos and Julie congrats! Ha that family curse will never be broken!! (He’s talking about the “2 boys and 1 girl” for every family member on my side).

I am super stoked about that law being lifted on the fireworks! Our family Tank Wars July 4, 2012 are going to be insane! I don’t even think You Tube is ready for what is going to hit it in about a year!

To the boys in our ward getting ready to serve a mission I would tell them to just get to really know the scriptures and the doctrines of the church. The more you know, the easier it will be to teach it simply.

The other week we helped carry this old lady's stuff up the mountain and then she let us in the house to teach her! The lesson was not that great but I will still remember helping the people and the feeling it gives me to help others out.

Mom asked , tell us something about Guatemala that we don’t know: Well I'm not sure if I can disclose those things over an email....

Well that’s all I have for this week! But I hope you have a fantastic upcoming week!! Love you ALL!
Keep the Faith
Stay Strong
Love Elder Jordan Smith
aka aj Q'anjorin

A video of Elder Jordan Smith!!!

We are so excited to be able to share a video that Jordan's uncle took of him last week when he was there. To us, he speaks differently and has some quirky mannerisms that are new (like how the ends of his mouth turn downward - weird). But he's still our Jordan and we are so happy to have had the opportunity to see him like this. Thank you Jesse! P.S. Sarah is his aunt by the way.
Click on the link below to view the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-tXQsQ6pa4

There is one more short one that features most of the elders in his zone:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XoPJGBulfmE

I will also be posting new pictures and adding many more to the slideshows as well so stay tuned!

Thank you all for your continued love, prayers, and support for our missionary and for our family. It's an incredibly wonderful journey to be on!
Leslie

I saw Jesse today!!

HELLO!!
I'm doing good! It was a good short week, since we got back so late from Zone Conference up in Senahu. All is well.

I was able to see Jesse today! I thought that I was going to miss him but we got things all worked out just fine! It was super weird to see someone from home, but it was really sweet as well! I think the weirdest thing was to just speak in English again to someone who isn't a missionary. It felt good!

(Jesse is Jordan's uncle from Utah!! As an editor/writer for the Deseret News, he was asked by the Church to accompany an LDS Humanitarian crew working on a project in Guatemala to document the whole thing. It just so happened that it was in Senahu near Jordan's area! One of Jordan's good friends and mission buddies, Elder Tayler Larsen was able to serve as the crew's translator for three days. Jesse got special permission from the area president to see Jordan. This is what he had to say about his visit with Jordan!)
"I saw Jordan for about 10 minutes today. He looks great. The rest of the crew with me remarked on how healthy and happy he looks. I met him in Teleman. It was P-Day and the zone was meeting at a gas station to go up to an activity in another city. A canadian buffet I think. I took some pictures and shot some video of Jordan talking about his mission so far. We weren't able to talk that long because they had to catch the bus. But he looked awesome and it was really fun to see him. I can't wait to show you all the video when I get back."

That big family of 8 that I was telling you about, we found out is actually 2 families that live together. But it was going good until Sunday. We went and passed by their house so that they would go to church with us. With what they said, some of them will never go to church, they don't want to change. But one of them, xCristina, she is 22. I could really tell that she felt the spirit when we taught them. I told her, "I know that you have received an answer that our church is true." She said that I was correct. I then just simply invited her to come to church whenever she could. She wants to, but her family won't really allow that to happen. I know that she will be able to hear and accept this message after this life. She has a willing heart but is not allowed because of the position she is in. We are going to go by again this week and try to figure out what we can do for them. Hopefully it improves. (the x on Cristina's name is not a typo. It is what you put in front of women's names in Q'eqchi').

We did find another family of 8 people though! The parents and 2 of the kids are of age to be baptized. The kids are ages 11, 9, 7, 6, 4, and 3. We have only taught them once. They were out of town this last Sunday, but they said that they don't attend any church very regularly, so that looks promising. But time will tell. They are really nice and cool so I hope we will be able to help them progress.

Just one of the many dusty roads that we travel on each day:

Another shot of Tucuru: (notice the sweat dripping off his arm!)

I will have to take more pictures of the city streets, but here are some that I took today from our zone activity up in Ch'ulak, where E. McPhee is right now. It's beautiful up there! I really miss the mountains. One of the churches up there, as you can see, is really nice!!! It looks like an American chapel, just without carpet. It's so cool to see that grand edifice between all of the stick houses and things like that up there.

If you send me the Conference Ensign, maybe you could also include just a few pics from Jake's prom or something.
Well that's all I really have for you this week! I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week!
Keep the Faith
Stay Strong
Love Elder Jordan Smith

I like teaching in Q'eqchi' more than Spanish now

HEY THERE!
You have probably heard what happened in Peten. Super sad. 27 dead in a chainsaw massacre. Super disgusting. President Torres told us about it and also said that this world will keep getting worse and worse until His 2nd coming. It really is getting bad out here these days. But I know that if we stick to the principles of the Gospel we will be safe and protected from any harm!

The members feed us tons more here! This place is really close to Coban so we get some good stuff sometimes. Its great! I haven't eaten anything too weird here. It's a lot more tranquilo with weird things to eat. I haven't even had q'em ha' yet. That corn dough drink I told you about.

We had a really good lesson with this family of 8 last week. We found them and started teaching them. They seem super amazing! We taught them lesson 1 and one of the family members was super interested and cried when I recited the first vision. They are super nice and great. It's going to be hard to get them to go to church Ii think, but if they can go, they will be baptized. They are pure Q'eqchi' as well. That is also really fun for me. I like teaching in Q'eqchi' more than Spanish now.

I was able to get the 2 other packages! They are amazing! Thank you sooo much!

Allison, nice work on finishing up your Personal Progress and getting your medallion! So you got your first cell phone? What kind of phone is it? Do you like it? You are big now, weird. Yes the time is going by really fast for me too. It never stops flying by faster and faster! Its crazy!

Well everything is going good over here. We are just working hard and just trying to keep finding new people! We also have a ward mission leader! Something I haven't had in a really long time! So we are working with him to figure out some schedules so that we can have members leave with us every day of the week. I hope we will be able to find lots of success with that! Well that's all for now. Sorry that this email is really short, but I hope you enjoy all the pictures! I love you all and have a fantastic week!
Keep the Faith
Stay Strong
Love Elder Jordan Smith

Pictures from Zone Conference:

Last real interview with President Torres


Chillin with my homies: Above Elder Jared Fadel
Below: Elder Tayler Larsen


Pictures of my new home....Tucuru

Highlights from our phone call

By Leslie Smith:
Our very much anticipated Mother's Day phone call was more than we could have imagined! It was amazing to feel like a whole and complete family with all of five of us talking together. Here are a few interesting things we learned:

Tucuru has a population of both Spanish and Qeqchi. Church meetings are a little tricky. The prayers are offered twice (once in each language) and the Sacrament meeting talks are assigned one in Spanish and the other in Qeqchi.

They are going to start teaching an English class to the people once a week. He gave us a short Qeqchi lesson which was fun!

He is used to the weather being in the high 90's most of the time. The other day, it had been cloudy and rainy for about 4 days straight. When they got home they put on sweats and hoodies because they were freezing. They looked over at the thermometer and it said 75 degrees!! He's going to be in BIG trouble when he comes home to Utah in February and the average temperature is in the 20's and 30's.

"Caldo" is the normal meal that he eats at people's houses. But the food there doesn't resembles his grandma's guatemalan cooking at all! Caldo in his area consists of a very spicy broth and a piece of chicken.

His typical diet consists of oatmeal for breakfast, ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch, and a Top Ramen-type soup for dinner. With an occasional can of beans.

He is absolutley in love with the Qeqchi language. He loves how simple the vocabulary is and how things aren't "nouns" but are described. For example, he said there is no word for "coffin." Instead it is described as "the box where you hide the dead."

He feels very comfortable in both languages now and said that he would be embarrassed if he was asked to offer a prayer in English because he can't really remember how to do it anymore.

We talked about college majors and classes, sports ...well, just football really, his mission buddies and activities they've had, the new mission president coming, and so much more.

We ended with a family prayer again. This time, however, Brendan offered it. It's fun listening to Jordan say it in another language, but we felt that he needed to hear his Dad say it and feel of our love and support as he is the one that is far away from family. At the end it was so hard to say goodbye, like always. Especially knowing that it will be 7 long months until we hear from him again at Christmas. We had to be strong, say "Goodbye. We love you" and hang up....Jordan didn't hang up the phone until all of us did first.

We also got a CD with hundreds of pictures, his old scriptures, and some traditional handbags. So cool!! I will post some of those pictures on the blog later this week. For now, we are still waiting to hear from him this week as he had Zone Conference this past Monday and Tuesday.

Time just seems like it doesn’t exist when you are working hard out here

(Elders Smith, Olson, Parry, and Dilworth)
Hey there all you people!
It was just fantastic to be able to talk to you all yesterday. It made home seem a lot more real and a lot less far off. It was great being able to replace in my mind that all you guys still actually exist! Ha ha! There is a big break between now and the next call, but time is going to fly by so fast, at least for me. Time just seems like it doesn’t exist when you are working hard out here.

I am grateful for the gospel too and how we can be together forever. We found a lady named Laura and we taught her a little bit about that great blessing of this gospel. Our next visit she had many questions. Such as, how we know that such a blessing exists and what else happens after we die, and she also had questions about Joseph Smith. I was on a division for that lesson, but she seems still really interested to learn more. Her husband works a lot but we are working to be able to teach him too. She said that she told him about what we had said and he is really interested as well. It’s going to be hard to get them to church because of how much he works, but luckily they live practically across the street from the church, so I can’t wait to teach them this upcoming week and see what happens!!

Yeah I just feel like accounting would be good for me. I really liked it in high school, it’s a good economically safe job, and a degree in it from BYU will be even better. So hopefully all will work well with that. I could even work under dad or something one day and then take his spot when he is old, wrinkly and retired! So I better finish school up fast huh??!! Haha just kidding Dad.

I am lucky to be your son Mom! Thanks for everything. I know you have raised me up right! All the little fights that I had with you were just me being a dumb little kid. I know that everything you have ever done for me has been for my betterment. You rock my socks Mom!

I don’t even know how I can repay the Lord for all of the blessings that He has given to me in my life. I recognize them more and more every day. I am grateful for all of you and always supporting me in everything that I have done. I am having a great time out here and I hope you are all having fun back at home as well! I love you all and I hope you have a great week!
Keep the Faith
Stay Strong
Love you!!!
Elder Jordan Smith

All is good in Tucuru!!

I don’t really have any pics of the new area but those will come soon. Here is just a couple from the last few days in Santo Domingo.

HEY!!!
Ha you write it like this....Ma sa sa' laa ch'ool inyum? I will tell you how to say it when I call you. (I asked him how to say "Hello my son." I often wrote it to him in spanish, but now I know how to say it in Qeqchi too!)

I plan on calling you guys during the week, probably on Friday, to get it all figured out and so that you will have my number to call me. Sound good? Cuz we still don’t know what’s gonna happen since there are 4 of us living in the same house. But we will figure it out!

I really like my new area of Tucuru. There is more Spanish than I am used to, so that will be a little bit of an adjustment for me, but other than that, all is good! The Spanish to Q'eqchi' ratio is probably about 55 / 45 respectively. And the people are so much nicer here as well!! Our branch is good. It’s a lot better than Santo Domingo and the members are really willing to help us out so I am excited to have some help! Tucuru has a city and some bordering hills and stuff. The mountainy parts aren’t like Santo Domingo but I will still be able to experience some hiking and things like that.

Our living conditions are rather cramped because there are 4 of us elders here, but there isn’t another bigger house in our area. My companion is Elder Ethan Olson. He is from Tennessee and he has 13 months in the mission. He was in Senahú earlier but was taken out, so I am reteaching him Q'eqchi'. So far it’s going good together. We haven’t really divided the area so we haven’t had too much time just working on our own, but things will be good.

I am the District Leader.

Does Allison have to use my phone? I really wanted that phone when I get back...it's my favorite phone! I guess it’s ok....kinda.

We saw in the paper today about Bin Laden at a tienda, but the details weren't that great. That is super sick! What a great victory for the USA!!!! The war is not over I'm guessing, but we won a pretty large battle!

Mack X is a pretty sick name (sick = awesome)! It's crazy how many cousins I am going to see for the first time when I get home!

Mom, I got one of your letters and I wrote you back and sent it awhile ago but it really takes a super long time to send letters from out here. I am sending another package tomorrow for Grandma to take home when the Zone Leaders go to the Capital. So I hope you get that. There should already be at least 3 in the office already. 4 in total, the last one has my quad in it and a cd of pics. The others have souvenirs and things like that. One of them you can’t open because I know the stuff will be really used when I get home, and I kinda want it...haha. Hopefully I will get those packages from you soon.

Right now we have an office-like cell phone thing. But I am supposed to be getting a cell phone this Friday at a District Leader meeting with the Zone Leaders so I will figure it out and let you know when I call you on Friday. Sound good? Ok good.

Well I don’t want to make this too long so that we can have a good talk on Sunday. So I will talk to you all then! I am so excited! Can’t wait!!!
Have a great week!
LOVE YOU ALL
Keep the Faith Stay Strong
Love Elder Jordan Smith