"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 |