Semana 76: ¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!: 12/25/17

Hello everyone! MERRY CHRISTMAS y PURA VIDA!

I hope everyone had a great week this last week and are enjoying your Christmas vacation with friends and family!

This week was a really good one, full of Christmas miracles!

The biggest miracle we had this week was that we had 7 investigators at church on Sunday!! And how many were we expecting to come...? Only 1! The one that we expected to come, Brian, did come and the rest were family of the members of the ward here in Flores! It was a huge miracle for us and we´re super excited to start working with these families! 

Brian is "echando fuego" as we say here in the mission.  He´s just super awesome and a "puro escogido" as we also say here in the mission.  He undestands everything that we teach him super well and is progressing very quickly.  He will be getting baptized on January 6th if everything goes well.

This week we had a Christmas conference with the ENTIRE mission which was super fun but also super tiring haha... We had to wake up at like 3 in the morning and it didn't end until 6pm.  Something that I really liked from the conference was how we need to consecrate (consagrar) ourselves as missionaries and as sons and daughters of God in general. Maybe we do good things, we pray, read our scriptures, go to church; but are we really doing it for the right reasons or getting everything out of it that we can? Or are we just going through the motions? Our Heavenly Father loves us all SO much and wants us to come nearer unto Him.  But we can't do that without an effort from our end.  I invite everyone to come unto Christ, look for Him, and experience this eternal love that our Father in Heaven has for us.  

I hope everyone has a great day! 

Elder Smith

pics: Christmas conference, MTC comp and I, part of the MTC district, other missionaries, our gringo friend Miguel is going back to the states :(

Semana 75: Semana de Milagros: Light the World: 12/18/17

Hello everyone!

This week was the semana de milagros for the month of December and it was pretty great! Our goal was to "light the world" and I think we definitely accomplished it. 

In the church, there´s been a worldwide project going on called "light the world", and our mission actually somewhat focused on it this year, which was nice.  It´s specifically for the Christmas season where you try to serve in 25 different ways, on 25 different days! In our zone, we tried to do a different activity on each day and try to have it relate to the Christmas season.  On Tuesday we contacted people and offered them pancakes and Books of Mormon that we wrapped as gifts.  On Wednesday and Thursday we worked as districts, and on Friday we had a HUGE zone activity.  Friday was my favorite day by far.  We had an open house the entire day in one of the chapels in our zone and it went really well! We didn't get too many people to come inside, but of the ones that did enter, they were pretty awesome! I got to teach someone that we call "escogidos" here.  It was a lesson that lasted 10 minutes maybe, but she accepted everything that we said and told us that she was looking for a church to attend not too long ago but couldn't find one that she felt comfortable in.  Pretty sure she´ll be getting baptized here pretty soon in this area of the zone!

That same night, we had a culture night where we had foods from each one of the countries that we´re from as missionaries.  It was pretty diverse actually! Of the 14 missionaries in the zone, we represent, the states, Canada, Panama, El  Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, and New Zealand!  We decorated the church with Christmas decorations and it turned out pretty beautiful if I do say so myself :)

Well... Widelban didn't get baptized this Saturday, in case you were wondering.  Everything was going great but he didn't pass his baptismal interview this time around.  It was a little sad and frustrating but we´re not giving up hope yet! Continue to pray for him please! 

I know my Savior lives and that He died for each and everyone one of us.  He loves us and has a purpose for us here in this life.  Share the gift, that is His Atonement and help others find the purpose that our Heavenly Father has for us here!

I love and miss you all and hope everyone has a very merry Christmas! 

Elder Smith

pics: one of our zone activities, other zone activity, another pic, the zone!

Semana 74: Baby It's Windy Outside: 12/11/17

Hello everyone!

To explain the subject title, there´s a cold front (not sure that´s correct) that´s coming from up north right now and so it´s "freezing" here right now haha.  We checked the weather last night when we were super cold and it said it was almost 70 degrees outside haha.  There is a lot of wind though so it´s chilly outside.

But this week was a really good one! Don't have much time as always, but to make a long story short, we found a new family to teach, another new investigator, and we´ll have a baptism on Saturday!

Widelban is finally getting baptized on Saturday!  I´m so excited for him and I know he is so ready.  He´s 18 and from El Salvador and we´re teaching his whole family, but it´s just him that´s going to get baptized right now.  He was pretty indecisive, but we sent the bishop to talk to him on Sunday and they had like a 2 hour long interview/talk.  We haven't been able to talk much with Widelban lately, but his attitude is completely different now.  He´s nervous for his baptism, but ever since the talk with the bishop, he has been talking about baptism as if he´s really going to do it and not just a maybe.  It will be awesome and I know the family will follow his example soon!

We also were able to find a few new investigators this week that we desperately needed! And the Lord did not disappoint us.  We have a family of 3 to teach as well as a 17 year old young man that is totally "escogido".  HIs name is Brian and we found him on Friday, placed a baptismal date with him, and he came to church with us on Sunday! Only the dad was able to join us on Sunday from the family of 3, but they have a very strong desire to get married and get baptized and we are very willing to help them.  Their names are Darwin, Elizabeth, and Marvin and they seem really great! 

Something I was pondering about this week is how much God loves us and looks out for us.  Even though we´re imperfect and can be so much better than we are, God takes care of us as long as we try our hardest and try to do His will.  I know that He lives and understands the things we don{t (Mosiah 4:9).  If we trust in Him and put it in His hands, He will carry us and deliver us! I hope you all have a great week this week and are trying to "light the world"!

Elder Smith

pics: planning in the morning, lunch :), the side effects of eating lunch twice in the same day

Semana 73: Gringo Power!: 12/4/17

Hello everyone!

I literally have no more time to write a big, long letter to you all this week, but I could reply to everyone that had written to me so I had to pick and choose.

But I had a great week this week! It has been very interesting being with a gringo 24/7 again haha.  I´m used to latinos that don't speak any English now! We still speak in Spanish 99% of the time but it´s definitely different.  

We have been searching for new people to teach but have not been having too much success so far.  I´m super excited for this week though and know we´ll find LOTS of escogidos and great people to teach this week.  

We had our leadership council with President Laboriel and the other zone leaders this week and it was really spiritually uplifting.  We talked a lot about love, and how it is something we need to show and demonstrate more, especially as leaders.  It is the way Jesus Christ taught, and why so many people loved and respected him.  I invite you all, especially in this Christmas season, to find ways to serve others and show your love for them.  Follow the example of your savior, Jesus Christ and love and serve others as He loved and served us.

Sorry I don't have more time, but I love and miss you all and hope everyone has a great week this week!

Elder Smith

P.s Sorry didn't take any pics this week basically :(

Semana 71: Semana de Milagros: Wall of Salvation: 11/20/17

Hellooooooo!

I´m sorry but I don't know when I´ll have time to write and respond to you all anymore haha.

But this week was crazy!! And I don't have much time to explain it...

This week was the semana de milagros and it was great! We had a carwash, did some service, did some classic door knocking, and also... We had an activity with the WALL of Salvation! It took like all p day to make it, but it was worth it.  It was HUGE and full of Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation.  We were able to find lots of cool people and I´m sure we´ll see lots of success from this activity that we did.  

Also we had a baptism this week!!! Virginia and her daughters (Kimberly y Luz) got baptized on Saturday!  It went really well and they were all happy to be baptized and take this step in their lives.  The Sisters here in Flores also had a wedding and a bapitsm and it was NUTS.  The wedding was supposed to happen at 12pm on Saturday, and then the baptism at 1pm.  But... Mercedes, the lady that got married, had to go to the hospital in the morning and couldn't get to the church until like 4:30.  The Sisters were stressed to say the least haha and it was crazy trying to coordinate everything.  Thankfully, it all turned out good in the end and Mercedes got married on Saturday and then baptized on Sunday!

Also something pretty cool happened this weekend as well.  We had stake conference and they created a new stake!! We were the Heredia Stake, but now we´re the Heredia Stake and the Belen Stake! It was pretty cool and I got to see a lot of familiar faces from Santo Domingo! It was especially great to see Frank, one of my converts from Santo Domingo who was sustained to the office of an Elder! 

Don't have any more time but the Church is true and changes lives.  I´ve seen it first-hand and there´s nothing more important on the face of the Earth!

Love and miss you all and hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!

Elder Smith

pics: walking and talking, wall of salvation!, dead after finishing the wall, car wash!, not sure what they were doing haha, BAPTISM, working with two gringo young men in our ward!

Semana 70: Zone Conference: 11/13/17

Hello everyone!

Surprise! I don't have that much time to write this week either haha.  I still have the same amount of time to write as before, but not as much time to write you guys.  It´s all good though.  I´ll get good at summarizing my weeks and make it the most interesting that I can!

This week was a great one and I had a lot of great experiences.  First off, I had my first zone conference as zone leader which means I had to train the zone for like 45 minutes with my companion.  I was pretty nervous about it to begin with, but it honestly went really well and I feel like it helped not only us, but the zone as well.

This week was also crazy because my son, Elder Parma, did six baptismal interviews for us here in Flores! Now... This doesn't mean that we will have 6 baptisms this week, but that is the hope! They´re all super great and I´m super excited for them.  If everything goes well we should baptize a lady named Virginia and her two daughters named Kimberly y Luz.  And then we hope to baptize three brothers named Widelban, Harold, y Junior.  Harold and Junior are super great but they still don't have permission to get baptized yet.  Their parents are super great people, but the dad just wants to ensure that his kids are making the right decision.  Please pray for them so that the dad can soften his heart and let Harold and Junior get baptized! While all of this was happening, I was in the area of Belen with my grandson, Elder Muñoz! It was super fun and it was great to get to know him better.  Even though he only has 3 months in his mission, he´s a super great missionary and I´m a proud grandpa! I was able to do a baptismal interview for them as well and it was a really great experience.  

For my spiritual thought, I´d like to mention what our training was about in the zone conference because I think it can apply to all of us! We talked about how all of us here on the earth have a purpose, and how important it is that we use our time wisely to complete it.  What is it that God wants YOU to do here on the earth? Why did He put YOU here? I know and testify that all of us here have a purpose, and that purpose is to return to live with our Father in Heaven.  Now, how is it that we accomplish that? I´ll give you a hint, it´s not just being a good person and believing in God and Jesus Christ.  It´s a lot more than that.  At one point, our time here on the earth is going to come to an end.  And we have no idea when that is going to happen.  BUT, if we know our purpose, and are doing everything that we can to complete it, we know where we´re going.  If you don't know what your purpose is, or where you´re going, I invite you to call the missionaries up and find out! You´ll be glad you did!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Smith

pics: shooting hoops last p day, my son and grandson haha, zone conference!, the temple

Semana 69: Halfway Through Transfer 12: 11/6/17

Hello everyone!

I`m sorry but I don´t have any more time to write today either... I promise I`m going to try harder from now on to write more in these things so you know how I`m doing.  But I`ll give you a break this week haha. 

This week was super great! I had my first leadership council this week which we had to wake up at 3:30 in the morning for haha.  It was honestly super awesome and I learned a ton.  I also had the privelege of receiving my "pin". We receive a pin from our mission president when we complete with the goal for baptisms in the month or baptize a family for the first time.  It took me over a year but I finally received mine! 

We also had 9 investigators at church this week!!! It was awesome and it was super great because every single one of them is progressing.  If everthing goes well, we should have 5 or 6 baptisms on November 18th! 

Sorry I don´t have more time to write, but I promise I`m doing good and learning lots and inviting everyone to come unto Christ. I love and miss you all and hope you have a great week this week and come closer unto Christ!

Elder Smith

pics: Eating pizza at Pricesmart (Costco), when I received my "pin", my old comp Elder Canul goes home this transfer, a river here in Flores, saw some kind of lizard in the river

Semana 68: Wedding Bells: 10/30/17

Hello everyone!

Just going to let you know from the start that I don't have hardly any time and most likely won't be able to respond to the majority of you... Sorry.

But... This week was great!!!

The most exciting news from the week is that we had a wedding and 2 baptisms!  Victor y Liliana got married and baptized this Saturday and it was awesome.  Victor y Liliana seem like they´ve been members for a long time and even though I couldn't be here to teach them much, I´m glad I had the opportunity to participate in their baptism.  It was a great day!

I also had the opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Parma, my son, this week and it was a great day! Even though we were only together for a day, he has progressed a ton since I was with him a little over 3 months ago.  I´m a proud dad and grandpa! 

We also had a multi-zone conference this week with half the mission and it was crazy but really good.  Elder Rodriguez and I had to give a 10 minute training which went pretty well I think.  I was pretty nervous but should be well prepared for the next time we have to give a training.  My favorite part was the spirit I could feel while I was there.  I know that this gospel is true and that it truly brings joy to our lives when we consecrate ourselves to live it.  It requires discipline and obedience, but it´s truly worth it for the joy and the companionship of the spirit that we receive in return.  I love my Savior and know that He lives and loves us.  

I hope everyone has a great week this week and I´ll try to write more next week!

Elder Smith

Pics: On the bus with my comp :), a pic of part of our area, Presidente y Hermana Laboriel y my son and grandson, the baptism!, we found Satan!, our zone last pday!, some of the gringos from the mission

Semana 67: Zona Belen: 10/23/17

Hello everyone!!

I hope everyone had a great week this week!

This week was full of new things, new experiences, new people, and new places.  It was a little bit crazy trying to get adjusted to everything, but it was an awesome week full of miracles!

First off, I do have time to write still.  I was just confused last week. Sorry! Since i failed to say much last week, I`ll give a little more explanation this week.  My area is Flores (San Joaquin de Flores de Heredia) and my new companion is Elder Rodriguez from Guatemala.  I`m in the province of Heredia again, but I`m in a different zone than when I was in Santo Domingo.  I`m still super close to Santo Domingo, but I won´t be able to visit :(.  But... Elder Rodriguez and I, the zone leaders from the other zone in Heredia, the bishops of Heredia, the stake President, and President Laboriel had a meeting yesterday and I got to see some familiar faces which was nice. Also... I`m in the same zone as my son (Elder Parma)!! He`s training right now so I`m in the same zone as my grandson as well! Of the missionaries in our zone, I`m one of the missionaries with the most time which is crazy.  I only have 15 months in the mission so our zone is pretty young, but full of energy! It`s going to be a great transfer!

And we`re going to be starting off the transfer on the right note because we have 5 baptisms on Saturday!! We have a family of 2 named Victor and Liliana.  We also have a single mom, Virginia, and her 2 daugthers, Kimberly and Luz.  Victor and Liliana are super awesome and super ready to get baptized.  They`re going to be getting married the same day so it`s going to be a great day! It`s weird because I basically wasn´t here to teach them or prepare them, but I`m super excited for them all the same.  Virginia, Kimberly, and Luz are super great as well but it`s not as sure that they`ll get baptized this Saturday.  For the moment, it looks like they will, so keep them in your prayers please! I have had the opportunity to teach them this week and they are prepared as well, they just had a few doubts and worries.  Elder Rodriguez and I were able to have a few really powerful lessons with them together and clear up these doubts and worries.  I`m so excited to be here in Flores and work with these amazing people that we`re teaching and finding.  

I know that this Church is true.  Not because someone told me it was, but because the Spirit has testified to me that it is.  I would not be here in Costa Rica if I did not know this was true. The Spirit teaches us the truth of all things and I was able to increase that part of my testimony this week.  I invite you to do the same!

Love and miss you all!

Elder Smith

Pics: I`m in the same zone as my son (Elder Parma) and his son, my grandson (Elder Muñoz), my comp and I 

Semana 66: Transfers to...: 10/16/17

Hello everyone!!

This week was crazy and I have no time to tell you about it. But to sum it all up quickly, it was semana de milagros, we had a baptism, and I got transferred!

To start off... I got transferred... And guess where?? I´m going back to Heredia!!! But this time in the other zone that´s in Heredia, Zona Belen (Bethlehem in Spanish).  And... I will be Zone Leader! I´m super excited but also a little nervous.  It will be great and my new companion, Elder Rodriguez, I already knew from before and he´s super awesome.  It´ll be a great transfer :)

But... Since my companion, Elder Islas, finished his mission, they´re going to have to do a whitewash in Naranjo... again haha.  I´m honestly a little sad to leave Naranjo so soon but I´m excited for what lies ahead.  We left 4 baptisms in Naranjo for this Saturday so we´re leaving a great gift for the new missionaries there at least haha.  

But we did have a baptism this week as well! Alonso finally got baptized and it was great! I got to baptize him and everything went really well! The only sad thing is that he couldn't go to church yesterday so he hasn't got confirmed yet, but he´ll get confirmed this Sunday if everything goes as planned.  

Well I seriously don't have any time to write today, and I´m not sure I will for the rest of my mission if I continue as zone leader, but I´m doing well and I hope everyone has a great week this week!

Elder Smith

Pics: Alonso´s baptism, Carlos and Natasha are going to get baptized this Saturday, saying goodbye to the Esquivel family, Hermana Juliana (our cook) and her family

Semana 65: Tropical Storms and a Baptism!: 10/9/17

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a great week this last week!

Don{t have too much time to write today but this week was definitely an interesting one haha.  A tropical storm, I believe, hit Costa Rica this week and it was nuts.  It flooded in a lot of places and did quite a bit of damage. Luckily, nothing happened here in Naranjo.  We have too many hills and things here for it to flood.  But... We still had to stay inside for more than half the day on thursday which sucked.  It was raining super hard, but it rains hard every day during this season so it would have just been a normal day for us haha.  Oh well.  All is well.

During that time, we were on exchanges with the district leader and we were able to have baptismal interviews with 4 of our investigators! Now, if everything goes well, we should finish the month of October with 6 baptisms!! It´s so awesome and I´m so excited for Naranjo!

We also had the blessing and miracle of having another baptism this week! Emili from the Esquivel family got baptized on Saturday and it was a great day! She was going to get baptized on the 14th, but she was ready, so we moved it up to the 7th.  Her and her whole family have come every sunday since we found them and it´s just been super good for them and the branch.  Yorleni, the mom of the family, told us she was sick on sunday, but that she HAD to go to church because she can{t leave the things of God out of her life anymore! That was so great to hear and a real testimony builder to me.  

Alonso also came to church this week, the little brother of Ricardo, so we should have another baptism this saturday to finish the transfer! And then we have 4 baptisms programmed for the 21st! We have transfers though the 16th, so we´ll see what happens! 

I love and miss you all and hope everyone has a great week this week!

Elder Smith

Pics: a famous hill in our area that we call "the iron rod", the view from the home of the Iraheta family, Emili and I at her baptism, comp, Emili and I at her baptism

Semana 64: General Conference 3 of 4: 10/2/17

Hello everyone! Pura Vida!

I hope everyone had a great week and an even better general conference weekend!

I LOVE general conference, it's so awesome. Even though I'd still honestly rather listen to it in English, it's still good in Spanish, I guess haha. But for those who aren't familiar with general conference, in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a worldwide "general" conference every 6 months where we have the privilege of hearing inspired, spiritual messages from the prophet, the twelve apostles, and other leaders of the church. Cool right?? Who wouldn't want to listen? Unfortunately, lots of people haha... We only had 25 people at church with us on Sunday, and my companion and I brought 15 of those 25 people with us haha.

But guess who those 15 people were? The two inactive families that we're helping to reactivate!! The Esquivel family came for the second week in a row, and the Iraheta family finally came as well! It was awesome! I can't remember if I've talked much about the Iraheta family much but they're super great as well. There are 6 of them in the family, but we also found out that David, the dad, has an inactive sister that lives in our area as well. Her son came with the Iraheta family to church on Sunday as well and now has a baptismal date for the 14th of October!! If everything goes well, and I hope and pray that it does, we should have 5 baptisms in the next 2 weeks!!! 3 from the Iraheta family, 1 from the Esquivel family, and 1 from the family of Ricardo (our first baptism that we had here in Naranjo). It'll be a miracle if it all comes together in the end, but God is a God of miracles :)

From this general conference, there were several talks that I liked. But, I wouldn't say there was one, particular talk that stood out to me from the rest. What did stand out to me though was a topic/theme that I felt like was mentioned in a grand part of the messages given. I think President Uchtdorf put it best in his talk Saturday morning. We are here on the earth, preparing ourselves, to return to our "Heavenly Home". Our time here on Earth is only temporary, our real home is up in heaven with our Heavenly Father and His son Jesus Christ. Now, how is it that we return to this "Heavenly Home"? There are many things that we could say to answer this question, but to sum it up from the responses of the apostles and other leaders who spoke: have faith unto repentance, keep the commandments, and follow the "light" and example of our savior, Jesus Christ. We're not perfect, God knows that. We'll mess up from time to time. But that's okay. Thanks to Jesus Christ, we don't have to suffer in our sins forever. When WE, ourselves make the decision to repent and truly come unto Christ, this is when we experience true joy, happiness, and a remission of our sins and imperfections. He simply asks us to follow and TRUST in Him. He has prepared the way, but it depends on us to take to initiative to follow it. It's not the easiest route to take, but it's the route that leads us to eternal life.

Hope everyone has a great week this week!

Elder Smith

Pics: a part of our area called San Rafael, my comp during "exercise" in the morning haha

Semana 63: Baptize and Activate: 9/25/17

Hello everyone y Pura Vida!

I hope everyone had a great week this week and are adjusting smoothly back to school and work after summer break!

Well we had another really great week this week and I'm excited to tell you about it! First things first, Sara got baptized!!! It didn't go quite as smoothly as I hoped that it would, but at the end of the day, she still got baptized so that's what matters. She got baptized on Friday, and then I had the opportunity to confirm her a member of the church and give her the gift of the holy ghost on Sunday! I still can't believe it. We haven't even known her for 2 weeks yet, but she already got baptized. It truly was a miracle and a testimony builder to me that this truly is the Lord's work. I know that the only reason that Sara got baptized is because she had the desire and that it was His will. My companion and I were just simply instruments in His hands. The Lord is preparing people and He promises us that the field is white, already to harvest, we just have to go out and find them.

The other great experience that we had this week was another inactive family that we found here in Naranjo, the Esquivel family. I had previously called them on like 10 different occasions, but they never stayed on the line long enough for me to be able to put an appointment with them and confirm their address. BUT, this last week in the semana de milagros, we found the dad in a park in the area of the hermanas in our district!! We were having a park activity and were inviting everyone we saw to come participate. Near the end, one of the other elders contacted the dad, not knowing who he was, and we were able to get to know him and establish an appointment with him and his family! We visited them twice this week and the WHOLE family came to church on Sunday after not going for the last 5 years or so! There's 8 of them in total and it was so cool to be able to see them walk in the chapel and see the reaction of the other members. They're all super great and I'm super excited to continue working with them. There's also 2 of them that we're going to be working with to help them her baptized as well!

This week I was studying a lot about faith and repentance and it really deepend my appreciation and love that I have for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I know that He lives and that He loves each and every one us.  Because of this love that He has for us, He was willing to die for us.  Without this great and eternal sacrifice, there would be no hope for any of us.  He is the light and the way that we should follow. BUT, something importnant that we sometimes forget or confuse, is that we can only participate of this great and eternal sacrifice when we follow Him and keep His commandments. He wants to cleanse us of our sins, but He doesn{t obligate anyone to follow Him.  We make the choice to follow Him, and He is OBLIGATED to bless us and cleanse us of our sins.  If we don{t want to follow Him or keep His commandments, we have no promise.  He can only bless us and cleanse us of our sins when we follow Him and keep His commandments.  Wickedness never was happiness.  I´ve never known that to be more true than now.  Follow the Savior and I promise you will be glad you did.  

Hope everyone has a great week this week!

Elder Smith

Pics: we went to go play soccer with the Esquivel family today!, the dog of the family that cooks for us had 5 puppies this last week, Sara and I at her baptism, other baptism pic