Semana 88: Semana de Milagros!: 3/19/18

Hello everyone!

This week was amazing and full of miracles like every other semana de milagros that I´ve had here in the mission!

I love the semana de milagros because I get the chance to work alongside the other missionaries of the zone for 4 days straight and get to know them better and see miracles together.  This week did not disappoint.  We worked our butts off and were super tired by the end of it, but we had lots of great experiences and laughs along the way.  The coolest miracle that I saw this week was when we were contacting people in a park.  We were contacting people by inviting them to participate in a small activity centered on the faith.  All that we asked them to do was to take a candy that we had in one of our hands, and move it (only using their faith) and put it in our other hand.  When we told them that they could only use their faith, they ALWAYS got confused and thought it was impossible.  They thought that they couldn't use their hands or anything, just their mind.  But then, we would go on to explain that faith without works is dead, and that if we have faith, we have to act.  Then they understood that all they had to do was move the candy like normal. But that´s how faith works, with works/actions. We would go on to explain the actions that God expects of us in this life after having faith and invited them to get baptized :)

But the biggest miracle of all was that Santiago finally got baptized!! It was a great day and honestly one of the best baptismal services I had been to in my mission probably.  There were SO many people there to support Santiago and everything went smoothly.  President Laboriel came as well and helped me teach the Plan of Salvation to everyone there while my companion and Santiago where changing.  I´m so happy for Santiago and I´m so glad I had the opportunity to help him and his family, and for the opportunity that I have to continue to help him and his family.

I hope everyone has a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

Pics: Had to take a pic with my beloved Heredia, Semana de Milagros, Santiago and his family, teaching the Plan of Salvation! 

Semana 87: Alma 5: 3/12/18

Hello everyone!

I hope everyone had a fantastic week and are doing great this beautiful Monday morning! (It´s beautiful here in Costa Rica at least :) )

This week was a good one and I have great news... Santiago is getting baptized on Saturday!! Even though the iron rod activity that we did was a failure haha, we went to visit him during the week and he agreed to be baptized the 17th! He´s actually super excited now too and handed out invitations to everyone at church on Sunday to invite them to come.  That made my day and I can't wait til Saturday.  His mom has been a member of the church her whole life but went inactive after high school.  She just started going to church again this year and hasn't missed a Sunday since :).  Her husband and her 2 step-sons aren't members yet so I´m looking forward to be able to teach them as well and I´m hoping the baptism of Santiago will soften their hearts and increase their desire to listen to us and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

I was studying in Alma 5 in the Book of Mormon this week and I LOVED it.  I hadn't read it in awhile so it was definitely nice to review and learn from the teachings of Alma.  I loved the whole chapter but there were a few verses that I liked especially: verses 14,16,18-19,24, and 27. I´m not going to attach all these verses in this email, but I invite you all to look them up because they are powerful and super great.  Alma asks a TON of inspired questions in this chapter and they really impacted me while I read them. One that I will share is verse 14: 

"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

This verse impacted me greatly as I read it because it made me think and wonder if I really have been born of God? Or if I´ve really received his image in my countenance? Or if I´ve really experienced this mighty change of heart? I think these are great questions to reflect on for all of us and I inivte all of you to do so as I have.  The Lord expects us to be able to respond to these questions (plus all the other questions Alma mentions in this chapter) and I want to be able to respond confidently to each and every one.  I love this Gospel so much and I´m so grateful for the blessings it has brought me.  I truly testify that there is no greater joy than living the true and restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and applying it daily to our lives.  

Love and miss you all!

Elder Smith

Pics: playing with my favorite niño :), "Am I too turtely for your turtle club?", more turtle pics

Semana 86: Un corazon y una mente bien dispuesta!: 3/5/18

Hello everyone!

Not gonna say much this week... Sorry! 

But this week was a good one!  Highs and Lows but all good in the end.  We were very busy this week with meetings and good ole missionary work, but I´m doing good and we´re seeing lots of small miracles here and there.  It was difficult at times this week but I really liked the messages I heard during our leadership council and district meeting this week.  But to sum it all up, there was one thing that our mission president shared that I really liked.  He shared a video from the church about having a "willing heart and mind" (not sure that translated over right but in Spanish it says, "un corazon y una mente bien dispuesta".  I really liked it because it basically means just always focusing on your purpose and doing everything you can to complete it.  Always being willing to do the Lord´s will and forgot yourself and your personal, selfish desires that we put first sometimes.  I had been pondering a lot about this subject in these last few weeks so it helped me a lot and I´m really looking forward to applying it even more these last few months that I have here in the mission.  

Other than that, nothing too big or crazy to report.  Hope everyone is doing well and has a great week this week! Sorry for the short email!

Elder Smith

Pics: Elder Smith coming atcha!, artsy, our investigator William came to church yesterday for the first time!, Sunday lunch with some members, Elder Lake and I did an "iron rod" activity in Flores to challenge Santiago (our 10 year old investigator) to get baptized... He liked it but doesn't want to get baptized still :(, made tacos with the zone today! 

Semana 85: Mini MTC: 2/26/18

Hello everyone!

This was a great week here in Flores but as usual, full of craziness!

The best part of this week is that we had a mini MTC! Basically on Saturday we had a meeting with all of the stake presidents, bishops, ward mission leaders, and zone leaders of the mission.  It was crazy because there were a ton of people there but it was super interesting and I learned a lot.  But... it was the best part of my week because I got to see some familiar faces from every one of the areas that I´ve had here in the mission.  And it was especially great because one of my converts here in the mission was there!!! Frank (Elder Parma and I´s golden investigator from Santo Domingo) was there because he´s already the ward mission leader of Santo Domingo!! I love that man SO much and it was amazing to hear about all that he´s accomplished in the 7 months he´s had being a member of the church. He´s progressing amazingly and I feel so blessed to have met him and helped him in what I could.  

We also had a lesson with an old investigator this week and he committed to get baptized on Saturday! His name is William and he couldn't get baptized before because he wasn't married... But he just got married! We´re having a few problems with the ward and stake so he probably won't get baptized this Saturday :( but it should be pretty soon :)

We also had the chance to teach the plan of salvation to a less active family in our ward and it was a super special experience.  The mom of the family is active in the church, but the majority of her kids aren't.  She organized a meeting with all of her kids and family and told them that we were going to explain to them the plan of salvation (our purpose here on the earth) so that they could truly understand.  It was a super spiritual experience and I'm so glad to have been part of it.  We´re here on the Earth to have joy and serve the Lord and do His will.  I´m so grateful for this knowledge that I have and that I get to share in this time.

Love and miss you all!

Elder Smith

Pics: Elder Parma (my son), Frank (our golden investigator from Santo Domingo), and I at a meeting we had with all of the bishops, ward mission leaders, and stake presidents of the mission, same pic but with the bishop of Santo Domingo, Hermana Contreras (started the mission with Elder Lake and I) finished her mission in New York and it turns out she lives in Flores so she´s in our ward now haha