"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. |