First off... Happy Mother´s Day to my mom (the best mom in the world)!!! I got to talk to my family yesterday via skype for the 2nd time in the mission but I forgot to say Happy Mother´s Day... But I hope everyone had a great week this week and got to spend some quality time with their families! I really struggled talking to my family in English yesterday, so I take that to be a sign that my Spanish is improving!
This week was a really good one, but had it's challenges as well (like every week in the mission haha). But first off, my son (Elder Parma) is super great and positive and I've already seen a ton of growth in him (apart from him being way taller than me haha). I really enjoy working with him and even though I pretty much have to take the lead in everything that we do, I'm learning a ton and know that this has been, and will continue to be, a huge learning process for the both of us.
I don't really have a ton to report on this week, but we´re really trying to find new people to teach to hopefully have some baptisms this next month in June :). As I´ve said before, we´ve found some really great people here in Santo Domingo, but once it comes time for their baptism, we almost always have problems. Either they can't end up getting baptized for one reason or another, or they just don't truly understand and they lose interest. It´s definitely been a time of patience for me... (I don't have a lot of patience haha) so I´ve been trying recently to be a lot more patient and trust more in the Lord. All is in the Lord´s timing. But I know that if we give it our all every single day, the Lord will see our efforts and will bless us.
Which leads me to my thought for this week. Every single one us faces trials or difficulties in our lives. We can't always control what happens around us, but we can control how we react to what happens around us. I think I talked about this in one of my letters forever ago, but I´ve been thinking about it a lot this past week. Maybe we aren't seeing the results we want or don't understand why certain things happen, but we shouldn't let that affect our happiness or attitude. That´s what Satan wants, not what God wants. Everything that happens to us is an opportunity to learn, and if we can remain happy and positive through these trials, we will be blessed and learn a lot more than if we get down on ourselves or choose to be sad.
I love the mission and the things that I´ve learned and will continue to learn. I know that I'm doing the Lord´s work here in Costa Rica, and that even if it hasn't turned out exactly how I thought it would, I know everything that I´ve experienced has happened for a reason.
I love and miss you all and hope everyone has a great week this week!
Elder Smith
Pics: secret pics during mission correlation, we had supreme french fries for lunch one day (if you know me, you know I loved it), talking to my family yesterday (and when my sister told me she´s engaged/ met my future bro-in-law for the first time)
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