Our favorite gift this year was to be able to talk to Dallon on Skype for two hours on Sunday. He called us on Christmas Day to wish us a Merry Christmas and set up the call for Sunday. This is the first time that the missionaries are allowed to use Skype and it worked great. It was awesome to be able to see that he is healthy and happy. We also got to visit with his companion, Elder Opazo, and other missionaries in his District. We laughed a lot and cried a little and it was wonderful. He asked for a USB cable, a SD card converter, and a blanket.
Christmas in Chile is celebrated on Christmas Eve and they open presents at midnight. Dallon says that the only thing that would make his mission better is to have his family there with him. He is having the time of his life. He told us his pension address and we were able to find it on Google Earth. Today we received a short email from Dallon that was just a response to some of our questions. He said he was being rushed because the other Elders wanted to go make pasta for lunch. We'll have to remind him that our emails are more important than pasta!
"About the blanket.., yea, I sleep with three wool blankets right now. They are really skinny and I would rather just have one of my own. I am not cold and I am well taken cared of."
The mission Christmas party was really fun! I like hanging out with all the greenies and meeting a ton of missionaries. I think the older missionaries enjoy it more because they know everyone and a lot of them are good friends. I think next year will be more fun in that respect. It was still great to go to Santiago and stay overnight. We got to all get up and play sports together. Our district is getting really close. They had me play futbol americano with them and I totally made a touchdown! ha ha It was cool. Gatherings are a lot of fun and I really enjoy them."
"They don't have food stands on the street. I wish there were pastry stands on every corner! ha ha There are little neighborhood stores everywhere, so it's not hard to find food when you want it."
"Elder Opazo told me that my family is really awesome and that he gets real nervous when he talks to you. He really loved all the gifts you sent and I think it made him feel special. Just to see how excited and grateful he was for the things he received, was a cool gift for me. Thanks again."
"Elena Salinas, the lady from the red apartments, continues to be so interesting. It turned out that her boyfriend, that she had been living with, left her last Tuesday and she was so sad when we showed up last night. She was celebrating Christmas alone. We shared a bunch of scriptures and celebrated Christmas with her. I definitely think that the Lord sent us there for a reason. I hope we can do for her what the Lord intends. Maybe it is to help her through the hard times and give her the gospel of Jesus Christ. I just know we were sent there. It was cool."
"I'll send Christmas pictures next week. I had a blast staying overnight with all the Elders. It was definitely a Christmas I will never forget! I spent Christmas Eve with an amazing family and it was so humbling to eat with them and experience how others celebrate Christmas. I'll have to tell you about it and send pictures. I'll keep my eyes open for the packages you sent. Thanks for all that you do for me. I am so grateful for the family, blessings, and experiences that I have been given. I hope that you will have a great New Years. You are always in my heart."
Elder Dallon Smith
The following is part of a video that Dallon sent home to us for Christmas. He is showing us around his pension and interviewing Elder Opazo. He also sent a video of the beach and a special Christmas Eve devotional where they read about the birth of Christ from Luke in Spanish and bore their testimonies. It is a treasured gift.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Feliz Navidad!
Christmas is Dallon's favorite holiday and he is enjoying spending it in Chile this year. He is having a great experience and loving all of the festivities. Good news is that he and Elder Opazo will stay companions for another transfer and they have 4 baptisms the day after Christmas! He also tells us that he gets to Skype us for Christmas! We are all so excited!
"It's almost Christmas! I can't believe I've been here in Chile for this long. It's been surreal being here during Christmas time. I love all the cool experiences I have had this past week. It's times when I can look back and see the big picture, that I realize I am so lucky to be serving a mission here in Chile. Ha ha, I love it!"
"Yesterday there was a really big stake Christmas activity full of choirs singing and orchestras playing Christmas music. It was so much fun and I loved hearing all the familiar songs in Spanish with lots of people singing who were excited to be participating. I loved meeting all the people that came and seeing how much the people loved celebrating together. There is no doubt that Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. It is the best! There are a lot of really talented people here. The whole stake center was packed and I'd say that half were not members, so it was a great missionary activity as well. We were able to pick up a couple referrals. I love how the church here focuses on missionary work. I think they should do it in every ward and every stake. There is one member named Hermana Luna. She is like fifty years old and was a missionary about 30 years ago. She is still a missionary to this day. She goes and gets referrals and is so involved in the missionary work, even though it is not her calling. She is soooo cooool! I hope I am like her when I am 50. They combined the ward choir with the stake, so it was cool to see our members representing our ward in the choir. I told the Wilchez family, who is like the most talented family in Chile, that I was in High School Musical 3 and they basically told the whole stake! After the activity, I had about 15 people come up to ask me about the movie. Ha ha, it was funny. They were all mad that I didn't participate in the choir, but Elder Opazo and I didn't know that the missionaries were invited. All of the other missionaries were in it, but I enjoyed watching anyways. It was really fun and a great experience."
"I had a cool little Christmas miracle that was special to me. At the beginning of the week, Elder Opazo and I had finished knocking every single apartment door in our sector. We were stoked. Anyways, we had an appointment cancel in the apartments, so we were walking away from them to go contacting at some houses across the street. All of a sudden, I had a strong prompting that I needed to go back and reknock the red apartments. I was arguing with myself trying to determine whether it was a spiritual prompting or not. I stopped in my tracks twice before I finally decided to tell Elder Opazo. I called up to him and told him that I felt like we should go back and knock the red apartments again. He replied exactly what I was thinking, "we already knocked those doors". I told him that I just felt like we were suppose to go there, but felt a little confused as to why. He said we should go. I said lets just knock this street and then go back and try the apartments again. So we continued on. When we were knocking at the first home, a lady came out of the red apartments and crossed the street to walk over to us. She said that we had contacted her door the other day and her husband had answered because she had been sleeping. She told us that she was interested in what we had to share and asked if it would be alright if we came over and taught her that night! Elder Opazo and I looked at eachother in shock. We went to her apartment that night and she was waiting for us. She was so receptive to the message of the restoration and could not wait to hear more. We left her with a Book of Mormon and she couldn't wait to read it. At the end of the lesson, we ended with prayer and she looks up and asks, "Why did you come to my door? Out of all the doors,why did you come here? Did you have a sign or something?" Elder Opazo related our story and she looked at me and said, "So you're the one." I'm not sure what that meant, but it felt good that the Lord had used me. I know it wasn't a coincidence. The Lord will always use his servants if we try our best and be as prepared as we can and are always obedient. It was fun to be a part of this cool little miracle."
"I went on divisions with Elder DeLong. We had a good time together and it was fun. We met a lot of cool people in his sector. He is from Minnesota, played football, loves video games, plays guitar, and went to BYU before his mission. He showed me a bunch of pictures from his mission and it was fun to get to know him better and see how he teaches people. He is a pretty cool missionary. He only has four months left to serve. Unfortunately, I slept at his pension again and got bit by a whole bunch of fleas!"
"Elder Opazo and I found out this morning that we will be companions for another change! That means that we both will be able to see the fruits of our labors and have 4 baptisms next Sunday! It will be so cool and I am excited! Also, I will be calling you on Skype, so have the computer ready! It's going to be fun to talk to you all. I have to cut this letter short, so I can have time to set up a Skype account. Christmas will be a little sad because we don't have any appointments for now. We'll just be walking along the hot streets of Chile looking for sad people like us. ha ha Hopefully we'll find something to do. It's fun to see all the Christmas lights and fun things about Christmas time here. I really love their drink. Instead of egg nog, they have cola de mono, which is like coffee milk. It's delicious! I could drink it everyday of the year! ha ha I love it!"
"I'll be missing you on Christmas day, but I know that everything is going to be great because I will get to talk to you! I have a Christmas activity on the 23rd that's going to be a blast! I'll have to tell you about it. Thanks for everything and have a fun Christmas. I'll talk to you soon! I hope you enjoy my Christmas surprise...ha ha!"
Elder Dallon Smith
"It's almost Christmas! I can't believe I've been here in Chile for this long. It's been surreal being here during Christmas time. I love all the cool experiences I have had this past week. It's times when I can look back and see the big picture, that I realize I am so lucky to be serving a mission here in Chile. Ha ha, I love it!"
"Yesterday there was a really big stake Christmas activity full of choirs singing and orchestras playing Christmas music. It was so much fun and I loved hearing all the familiar songs in Spanish with lots of people singing who were excited to be participating. I loved meeting all the people that came and seeing how much the people loved celebrating together. There is no doubt that Christmas is definitely my favorite holiday. It is the best! There are a lot of really talented people here. The whole stake center was packed and I'd say that half were not members, so it was a great missionary activity as well. We were able to pick up a couple referrals. I love how the church here focuses on missionary work. I think they should do it in every ward and every stake. There is one member named Hermana Luna. She is like fifty years old and was a missionary about 30 years ago. She is still a missionary to this day. She goes and gets referrals and is so involved in the missionary work, even though it is not her calling. She is soooo cooool! I hope I am like her when I am 50. They combined the ward choir with the stake, so it was cool to see our members representing our ward in the choir. I told the Wilchez family, who is like the most talented family in Chile, that I was in High School Musical 3 and they basically told the whole stake! After the activity, I had about 15 people come up to ask me about the movie. Ha ha, it was funny. They were all mad that I didn't participate in the choir, but Elder Opazo and I didn't know that the missionaries were invited. All of the other missionaries were in it, but I enjoyed watching anyways. It was really fun and a great experience."
"I had a cool little Christmas miracle that was special to me. At the beginning of the week, Elder Opazo and I had finished knocking every single apartment door in our sector. We were stoked. Anyways, we had an appointment cancel in the apartments, so we were walking away from them to go contacting at some houses across the street. All of a sudden, I had a strong prompting that I needed to go back and reknock the red apartments. I was arguing with myself trying to determine whether it was a spiritual prompting or not. I stopped in my tracks twice before I finally decided to tell Elder Opazo. I called up to him and told him that I felt like we should go back and knock the red apartments again. He replied exactly what I was thinking, "we already knocked those doors". I told him that I just felt like we were suppose to go there, but felt a little confused as to why. He said we should go. I said lets just knock this street and then go back and try the apartments again. So we continued on. When we were knocking at the first home, a lady came out of the red apartments and crossed the street to walk over to us. She said that we had contacted her door the other day and her husband had answered because she had been sleeping. She told us that she was interested in what we had to share and asked if it would be alright if we came over and taught her that night! Elder Opazo and I looked at eachother in shock. We went to her apartment that night and she was waiting for us. She was so receptive to the message of the restoration and could not wait to hear more. We left her with a Book of Mormon and she couldn't wait to read it. At the end of the lesson, we ended with prayer and she looks up and asks, "Why did you come to my door? Out of all the doors,why did you come here? Did you have a sign or something?" Elder Opazo related our story and she looked at me and said, "So you're the one." I'm not sure what that meant, but it felt good that the Lord had used me. I know it wasn't a coincidence. The Lord will always use his servants if we try our best and be as prepared as we can and are always obedient. It was fun to be a part of this cool little miracle."
"I went on divisions with Elder DeLong. We had a good time together and it was fun. We met a lot of cool people in his sector. He is from Minnesota, played football, loves video games, plays guitar, and went to BYU before his mission. He showed me a bunch of pictures from his mission and it was fun to get to know him better and see how he teaches people. He is a pretty cool missionary. He only has four months left to serve. Unfortunately, I slept at his pension again and got bit by a whole bunch of fleas!"
"Elder Opazo and I found out this morning that we will be companions for another change! That means that we both will be able to see the fruits of our labors and have 4 baptisms next Sunday! It will be so cool and I am excited! Also, I will be calling you on Skype, so have the computer ready! It's going to be fun to talk to you all. I have to cut this letter short, so I can have time to set up a Skype account. Christmas will be a little sad because we don't have any appointments for now. We'll just be walking along the hot streets of Chile looking for sad people like us. ha ha Hopefully we'll find something to do. It's fun to see all the Christmas lights and fun things about Christmas time here. I really love their drink. Instead of egg nog, they have cola de mono, which is like coffee milk. It's delicious! I could drink it everyday of the year! ha ha I love it!"
"I'll be missing you on Christmas day, but I know that everything is going to be great because I will get to talk to you! I have a Christmas activity on the 23rd that's going to be a blast! I'll have to tell you about it. Thanks for everything and have a fun Christmas. I'll talk to you soon! I hope you enjoy my Christmas surprise...ha ha!"
Elder Dallon Smith
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| The Zone |
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| Elder Smith and Opazo enjoying P-day at the port. |
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| Feeding fish to the Sea Lions |
Monday, December 13, 2010
Divisions, Commitments & Fleas!
Dallon tells us this week that he can listen to instrumental movie soundtracks. Already he is asking for an ipod chord and wants to find a way to download music. He enjoyed a few firsts this week with a companionship division, baptismal commitments, and fleas!
"The church announced that they are going to build a temple in Conception, Chile, but for some reason they were going to wait to start building it. Then the earthquake hit, so everyone said that it was revelation. The problem is, after the last earthquake, they still say that they are going to post-pone building the temple. It is freaking everyone out because they think that there is going to be another big earthquake before they start building the temple. I'm not worried. I know my Mom's prayers are stronger than earthquakes."
"This week I went on my first changes or companion divisions. I went with Elder Nielson who has only been in the mission for 4 months. He is from St. George, Utah and is a stud! We had a blast together. Divisions are when you spend the whole day with another Elder and stay over at their apartment and then reunite with your companion the next day. Elder Nielson talked a lot about his home and how he loved Monticello, Utah. His dad passed away when he was 8 from a nerve disease and he has two siblings. He was involved in choir during high school and went to BYU Idaho before his mission. He is really cool and we had a blast. The only problem was that their pension had fleas so I got bit a couple times. It is not fun because flea bites itch! There is another new Elder here that has tons of flea bites. I feel so bad for him. The cool part is that I can speak just as well as Elder Nielson, so I got to participate a lot more in contacts because I didn't have a native speaker to rescue me. It was cool to see how Elder Nielson communicated with the members even though he didn't speak the best Spanish. I learned a lot from him. I think I might have divisions with my district leader, Elder DeLong, on Thursday, so hopefully that will be fun as well. Elder Opazo surprised me with a Christmas tree when I got home from divisions. ha ha It's tiny and we decorated it really funny, but it brings us much joy. It's cool to be spending this Christmas season with Elder Opazo. He just goes and sits on the floor and watches the lights on the Christmas tree at night. It's great."
"My favorite part of the week was that we got two baptismal dates! We committed Guillermo and Norka to be baptized! It was so cool! I am getting better with my Spanish everyday and so I'm getting to know them better. They have been to the states once because they have a daughter in New York. They are in their 70's and have a really good spirit about them. Guillermo wanted one of us to baptize him but the mission usually likes to have a member do the baptism so that they will have a member friend. They had us over for lunch the other day and it was fun to be with them. All four of our baptisms are scheduled for Dec. 26th. I hope I'll be here to see them all baptized, but I think I'm going to be transferred. It is just a feeling."
"We had a Noche de Barrio activity this week. I thought that it was going to be great but it turned out terrible. We were suppose to watch the nativity and Elder Opazo would give a talk and I would share a spiritual thought. Well the person in charge changed everything and had us all watch a video of President Monson translated into Spanish for a minute and a half and then I was suppose to give my thought. I had only prepared something for the nativity, so I got up and struggled to get a different point across in broken Spanish. It was so embarrassing! They also had asked me to play the piano and at the last minute, had another person do it and I had to lead...I don't lead music...ha ha It was horrible!! The piano player could hardly play too, so it wasn't very fun. The man that planned it then got up and told the ward how horrible we all were and that we all need to be stronger. I'm glad we didn't have many investigators come because honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted to join the church. ha ha So what happened to the Christmas activity? Good question...I have no idea? Anyways, the refreshments were really good and we had fun talking and visiting with everyone afterwards."
"I also had a cool experience that brought back good memories. Remember all the times I would get in trouble growing up? Well, I guess I learned something good from them. We are teaching a girl named Maria who is adopted. She is 10 years old and is a little tom boy. She is really kind and is always taking care of her handicapped sister Rocio. She has a big heart and has a desire to be baptized. When we went over to our appointment, she was really mad and wouldn't participate in the lesson at all. We found out that Maria had gotten into trouble and had been on her bed the whole day. The situation was a little awkward. Her mom was cussing her a little as we were teaching. The spirit wasn't there and the whole time I am thinking..."Don't worry Maria...I've been in your shoes!" ha ha Anyways, all of a sudden, I had a prompting in the middle of the lesson to ask Maria to do me a favor. I asked her to go give her mom a hug for me. So she goes and hugs her mom and just starts bawling. Then she went and talked to her father and got everything cleared up. After about 10 minutes she came back and felt better and the lesson went great. It was cool. I guess I'm thankful for you getting mad at me back in the day? Wait no...I love you Mom and Dad. ha ha"
"Yesterday we had the primary program at church. It was so good! It was identical to the ones at home with kids running around and parents trying to help them participate. Some kids got stage fright and others said funny things. It was great and I loved it! ha ha It brought me to tears at one point. I felt like I was back home for a moment."
"I've talked to President King quite a bit. He is really cool. I hope someday in the future I'll have an opportunity to get to know him better. Sister King is really nice too and always does practices with Elder Opazo and I. It's nice when she is with us because we get to do the practices in English and all of a sudden, I take the lead in our companionship. ha ha Elder Opazo definitely speaks English better than I do Spanish. He always wants to try speaking English and I want to speak Spanish, so we just end up speaking English most of the time. Elder Opazo was in the mission office for 8 months before our change."
"One thing I love about Chile is the bakeries! I think I'll come home fat. ha ha I've been working out every morning and I'm so sore! How can people like working out and suffering all the time? I'm trying to be obedient and hopefully I can gain some muscle and fat over here! ha ha"
"There was a picture of temple square in the Liahona. I hope you go see the lights and enjoy it for me! Have a great Christmas and we can cover everything when I call home on the 25th! I'll be thinking of you."
Elder Dallon Smith
"The church announced that they are going to build a temple in Conception, Chile, but for some reason they were going to wait to start building it. Then the earthquake hit, so everyone said that it was revelation. The problem is, after the last earthquake, they still say that they are going to post-pone building the temple. It is freaking everyone out because they think that there is going to be another big earthquake before they start building the temple. I'm not worried. I know my Mom's prayers are stronger than earthquakes."
"This week I went on my first changes or companion divisions. I went with Elder Nielson who has only been in the mission for 4 months. He is from St. George, Utah and is a stud! We had a blast together. Divisions are when you spend the whole day with another Elder and stay over at their apartment and then reunite with your companion the next day. Elder Nielson talked a lot about his home and how he loved Monticello, Utah. His dad passed away when he was 8 from a nerve disease and he has two siblings. He was involved in choir during high school and went to BYU Idaho before his mission. He is really cool and we had a blast. The only problem was that their pension had fleas so I got bit a couple times. It is not fun because flea bites itch! There is another new Elder here that has tons of flea bites. I feel so bad for him. The cool part is that I can speak just as well as Elder Nielson, so I got to participate a lot more in contacts because I didn't have a native speaker to rescue me. It was cool to see how Elder Nielson communicated with the members even though he didn't speak the best Spanish. I learned a lot from him. I think I might have divisions with my district leader, Elder DeLong, on Thursday, so hopefully that will be fun as well. Elder Opazo surprised me with a Christmas tree when I got home from divisions. ha ha It's tiny and we decorated it really funny, but it brings us much joy. It's cool to be spending this Christmas season with Elder Opazo. He just goes and sits on the floor and watches the lights on the Christmas tree at night. It's great."
"My favorite part of the week was that we got two baptismal dates! We committed Guillermo and Norka to be baptized! It was so cool! I am getting better with my Spanish everyday and so I'm getting to know them better. They have been to the states once because they have a daughter in New York. They are in their 70's and have a really good spirit about them. Guillermo wanted one of us to baptize him but the mission usually likes to have a member do the baptism so that they will have a member friend. They had us over for lunch the other day and it was fun to be with them. All four of our baptisms are scheduled for Dec. 26th. I hope I'll be here to see them all baptized, but I think I'm going to be transferred. It is just a feeling."
"We had a Noche de Barrio activity this week. I thought that it was going to be great but it turned out terrible. We were suppose to watch the nativity and Elder Opazo would give a talk and I would share a spiritual thought. Well the person in charge changed everything and had us all watch a video of President Monson translated into Spanish for a minute and a half and then I was suppose to give my thought. I had only prepared something for the nativity, so I got up and struggled to get a different point across in broken Spanish. It was so embarrassing! They also had asked me to play the piano and at the last minute, had another person do it and I had to lead...I don't lead music...ha ha It was horrible!! The piano player could hardly play too, so it wasn't very fun. The man that planned it then got up and told the ward how horrible we all were and that we all need to be stronger. I'm glad we didn't have many investigators come because honestly, I'm not sure I would have wanted to join the church. ha ha So what happened to the Christmas activity? Good question...I have no idea? Anyways, the refreshments were really good and we had fun talking and visiting with everyone afterwards."
"I also had a cool experience that brought back good memories. Remember all the times I would get in trouble growing up? Well, I guess I learned something good from them. We are teaching a girl named Maria who is adopted. She is 10 years old and is a little tom boy. She is really kind and is always taking care of her handicapped sister Rocio. She has a big heart and has a desire to be baptized. When we went over to our appointment, she was really mad and wouldn't participate in the lesson at all. We found out that Maria had gotten into trouble and had been on her bed the whole day. The situation was a little awkward. Her mom was cussing her a little as we were teaching. The spirit wasn't there and the whole time I am thinking..."Don't worry Maria...I've been in your shoes!" ha ha Anyways, all of a sudden, I had a prompting in the middle of the lesson to ask Maria to do me a favor. I asked her to go give her mom a hug for me. So she goes and hugs her mom and just starts bawling. Then she went and talked to her father and got everything cleared up. After about 10 minutes she came back and felt better and the lesson went great. It was cool. I guess I'm thankful for you getting mad at me back in the day? Wait no...I love you Mom and Dad. ha ha"
"Yesterday we had the primary program at church. It was so good! It was identical to the ones at home with kids running around and parents trying to help them participate. Some kids got stage fright and others said funny things. It was great and I loved it! ha ha It brought me to tears at one point. I felt like I was back home for a moment."
"I've talked to President King quite a bit. He is really cool. I hope someday in the future I'll have an opportunity to get to know him better. Sister King is really nice too and always does practices with Elder Opazo and I. It's nice when she is with us because we get to do the practices in English and all of a sudden, I take the lead in our companionship. ha ha Elder Opazo definitely speaks English better than I do Spanish. He always wants to try speaking English and I want to speak Spanish, so we just end up speaking English most of the time. Elder Opazo was in the mission office for 8 months before our change."
"One thing I love about Chile is the bakeries! I think I'll come home fat. ha ha I've been working out every morning and I'm so sore! How can people like working out and suffering all the time? I'm trying to be obedient and hopefully I can gain some muscle and fat over here! ha ha"
"There was a picture of temple square in the Liahona. I hope you go see the lights and enjoy it for me! Have a great Christmas and we can cover everything when I call home on the 25th! I'll be thinking of you."
Elder Dallon Smith
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| Elder Smith and Elder Nielson during companionship splits. |
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| Elders Hans and Frans - We're going to pump you up! |
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| Festive picture with a member at the ward Christmas party. |
Monday, December 6, 2010
One Month Down and Pressing Forward!
The Christmas holiday is approaching and Dallon received his package in the mail this week. Homesickness is showing a little but he's trying to stay focused on the work. He mentioned that he isn't suppose to look like a tourist so it is hard for him to take pictures in public. He sent some of his P-day at the beach. He can't believe that it has already been a whole month.
"This week was really hard. It was the first time that I said...Whoa, I still have two years of this ahead of me. It was still good but I got a little down. I guess I just wasn't working hard enough. The hardest part of the week is when I'm sitting in Sacrament meeting and my mind starts to wander about home, because I only understand about 25% of what's being said. One thing that I am grateful for is that the Church is the same in every country. I feel at home when I am there. I just miss my family. I realized how much work I have ahead of me and how much I need to improve on. I was reading in Alma and came across chapter 26:27. I felt like it was just for me. I know it was an answer to the prayer in my heart about what kind of missionary I want to be. I also read my patriarchal blessing. There is so much in it that I didn't realize. I love my patriarchal blessing. Even though it was a harder week, it was still full of progress and success."
"There is a boy named Nicholas. He is absolutely amazing. He is a handicapped boy that just keeps saying he wants to be baptized in the LDS church. He is small and has stunted growth and he can't speak. He knows sign language, or a form of it, and he is always happy. His smile is one of the best things I've seen in Chile. His family is split on religion, but he is adament about going to the LDS church. He has a truly amazing spirit. The problem is his mother won't bring him to church because she doesn't have her own testimony."
"Another family we are teaching is the Familia al Faro. They are super poor and sell bread to make money. They have a son named Bruno and we just committed him to be baptized this week. He has a strong testimony and really wants to be baptized. The family has two hellion twins about Calli's age. They go crazy every time I am there and it makes me miss Calli so much."
"A funny story is we were teaching a member menos activo and she had a picture of a whole bunch of naked women bodies with no heads on her wall. ha ha Oh my gosh, it was so funny. Elder Opazo and I truly had to choose the right and not turn our heads to the left. Who has a whole bunch of naked all over their family room walls? I almost bursted out laughing in the middle of the spiritual thought. ha ha Oh man, good times."
"Christmas in Chile is so strange. It's hot but people still have Christmas trees. It's funny. I love that they put up lights and have Santa Claus everywhere. It's just not quite the same without snow and hot cocoa. ha ha That reminds me; I can call home on December 24, 25, or 26. I can choose which day to call. Let me know which would be best. I can't wait to talk with you all, but I'll be sad that I'm not with you. Oh, I got your Christmas package safe and sound! I saw all the Virgin Mary pictures you put on it. ha ha I really think it helps. I want to especially thank you for the presents that you sent to Elder Opazo. Thank you for serving my companion. When he was younger, he didn't have Christmas because his family was in a strict branch of Catholicism. He didn't grow up with Christmas and his family still never really celebrates it. He loves Christmas. He was so grateful for the presents and I will never forget the look on his face when I continued to pull presents out of my box for him. THANK YOU SO MUCH! That is a Christmas present that I will never forget. He is so excited now and wants to go buy a Christmas tree, so he can put our presents underneath it. I love it. The sad part is that we might not be together on Christmas. We have changes on the 20th...so hopefully we'll stay together. If not, than I think we will open our presents early. Anyway everything was in it and the chocolate was a gift from heaven. ha ha I loved getting the package but I was sad that there wasn't a letter with it. One thing that you could send that would make me love you forever is a plan of salvation that is laminated. I want it small so that it can fit in my bag. Maybe if all the pieces could fit in an envelope or something. I know that I would use it a lot."
"Elder Opazo is really a cool guy. He is a convert of three years. He was the first to join the church and was kicked out of his house for it. His mom and dad are divorced. His dad is really rich because he supposedly sold videos he captured of alien sightings to the government and to NASA...weird right? Anyways, Elder Opazo converted his little brother and then left on his mission. Four months ago his mom was converted to the church. He didn't even know that she was investigating, so it was a present that he will never forget. He is really smart and learned English in like 4 months! He wants to study medicine. He is really nice and we get along great, except when he tries to correct my English! ha ha"
"This last week we had another meeting with President King. He asked me to play the piano. I tried to play, "High on a Mountain Top", and totally screwed it up! It was so embarrassing. Luckily, I redeemed myself by playing, "Nearer My God to Thee", for the closing hymn. I wish I would have stuck with the piano! The worst part was that there were 4 zones all meeting together and I did terrible...man...that sucked."
"Last night was fun because all of the Chilean teams were playing soccer so there were lots of parties! I got to eat steak with BBQ sauce! Oh man, it was heaven on earth. ha ha We went to the Stake President's home and he gave us tons of food and desserts! It was truly heaven on earth!"
"I'll try to answer all your questions in our phone call in about 20 days! I want to read all the emails but there's too many. ha ha I only have time to write the family and some short messages to everyone else. Anyways, I love you all soooooo much. You are always in my heart. Be happy and I will try to do the same. Thanks for everything!
Elder Dallon Smith
"This week was really hard. It was the first time that I said...Whoa, I still have two years of this ahead of me. It was still good but I got a little down. I guess I just wasn't working hard enough. The hardest part of the week is when I'm sitting in Sacrament meeting and my mind starts to wander about home, because I only understand about 25% of what's being said. One thing that I am grateful for is that the Church is the same in every country. I feel at home when I am there. I just miss my family. I realized how much work I have ahead of me and how much I need to improve on. I was reading in Alma and came across chapter 26:27. I felt like it was just for me. I know it was an answer to the prayer in my heart about what kind of missionary I want to be. I also read my patriarchal blessing. There is so much in it that I didn't realize. I love my patriarchal blessing. Even though it was a harder week, it was still full of progress and success."
"There is a boy named Nicholas. He is absolutely amazing. He is a handicapped boy that just keeps saying he wants to be baptized in the LDS church. He is small and has stunted growth and he can't speak. He knows sign language, or a form of it, and he is always happy. His smile is one of the best things I've seen in Chile. His family is split on religion, but he is adament about going to the LDS church. He has a truly amazing spirit. The problem is his mother won't bring him to church because she doesn't have her own testimony."
"Another family we are teaching is the Familia al Faro. They are super poor and sell bread to make money. They have a son named Bruno and we just committed him to be baptized this week. He has a strong testimony and really wants to be baptized. The family has two hellion twins about Calli's age. They go crazy every time I am there and it makes me miss Calli so much."
"A funny story is we were teaching a member menos activo and she had a picture of a whole bunch of naked women bodies with no heads on her wall. ha ha Oh my gosh, it was so funny. Elder Opazo and I truly had to choose the right and not turn our heads to the left. Who has a whole bunch of naked all over their family room walls? I almost bursted out laughing in the middle of the spiritual thought. ha ha Oh man, good times."
"Christmas in Chile is so strange. It's hot but people still have Christmas trees. It's funny. I love that they put up lights and have Santa Claus everywhere. It's just not quite the same without snow and hot cocoa. ha ha That reminds me; I can call home on December 24, 25, or 26. I can choose which day to call. Let me know which would be best. I can't wait to talk with you all, but I'll be sad that I'm not with you. Oh, I got your Christmas package safe and sound! I saw all the Virgin Mary pictures you put on it. ha ha I really think it helps. I want to especially thank you for the presents that you sent to Elder Opazo. Thank you for serving my companion. When he was younger, he didn't have Christmas because his family was in a strict branch of Catholicism. He didn't grow up with Christmas and his family still never really celebrates it. He loves Christmas. He was so grateful for the presents and I will never forget the look on his face when I continued to pull presents out of my box for him. THANK YOU SO MUCH! That is a Christmas present that I will never forget. He is so excited now and wants to go buy a Christmas tree, so he can put our presents underneath it. I love it. The sad part is that we might not be together on Christmas. We have changes on the 20th...so hopefully we'll stay together. If not, than I think we will open our presents early. Anyway everything was in it and the chocolate was a gift from heaven. ha ha I loved getting the package but I was sad that there wasn't a letter with it. One thing that you could send that would make me love you forever is a plan of salvation that is laminated. I want it small so that it can fit in my bag. Maybe if all the pieces could fit in an envelope or something. I know that I would use it a lot."
"Elder Opazo is really a cool guy. He is a convert of three years. He was the first to join the church and was kicked out of his house for it. His mom and dad are divorced. His dad is really rich because he supposedly sold videos he captured of alien sightings to the government and to NASA...weird right? Anyways, Elder Opazo converted his little brother and then left on his mission. Four months ago his mom was converted to the church. He didn't even know that she was investigating, so it was a present that he will never forget. He is really smart and learned English in like 4 months! He wants to study medicine. He is really nice and we get along great, except when he tries to correct my English! ha ha"
"This last week we had another meeting with President King. He asked me to play the piano. I tried to play, "High on a Mountain Top", and totally screwed it up! It was so embarrassing. Luckily, I redeemed myself by playing, "Nearer My God to Thee", for the closing hymn. I wish I would have stuck with the piano! The worst part was that there were 4 zones all meeting together and I did terrible...man...that sucked."
"Last night was fun because all of the Chilean teams were playing soccer so there were lots of parties! I got to eat steak with BBQ sauce! Oh man, it was heaven on earth. ha ha We went to the Stake President's home and he gave us tons of food and desserts! It was truly heaven on earth!"
"I'll try to answer all your questions in our phone call in about 20 days! I want to read all the emails but there's too many. ha ha I only have time to write the family and some short messages to everyone else. Anyways, I love you all soooooo much. You are always in my heart. Be happy and I will try to do the same. Thanks for everything!
Elder Dallon Smith
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| Zone P-day at the beach. |
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| We knew there was something cool about Elder Opazo. |
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| Looks like a tough mission Elder Smith! |
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| Inside Dallon's pension |
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