"First off, my companion is a stud! His name is Elder Tialavea. He is from California, Samoan, 24 years old, huge, super chill, and was a defensive lineman for BYU. He is the guy that tries to take out the other teams quarterback! He is really funny and we've been having fun together. I was a little nervous at first and was thinking that this guy is going to be too freakin cool for me. ha ha But, he is actually a really loving guy and we've been getting along great. I introduced him to everyone in the ward this week and we also basically contacted every drunk in Barrancas. He loves contacting people and we have found a lot of new people. Elder Opazo is a zone leader now in Santiago. He taught me a lot and I'm sad to see him go, but I am glad that I have the opportunity to serve with Elder Tialavea. He speaks Spanish about as well as I do, so it has been forcing me to get better with my Spanish. I am finding that without relying on someone, like Elder Opazo, I can say a lot more than I thought I could. ha ha However, there is still a lot of room for improvement!"
"This week I went on divisions with Elder Fearnley to Santiago. He had to do his carnet. When you do carnet, you have to go to Santiago and wait in lines all day. It is like the DMV on steroids! While we were there we ran into some Elders from the East Mission. It was cool because a few of the Elders remembered me as their Zone Leader from the MTC and were excited to meet up again. I also met Elder Bryce Miller, a friend I met before my mission. ha ha It was weird seeing him again. I also got to hang out with Elder Rubert from Idaho. He is so cool and really funny. He kept me laughing the whole day. He seems like a fun person and hopefully, I'll get to serve with him in the future. We had to stay the night with the Assistants again and it just makes me so grateful that I am not suffering in the hot Santiago heat this change!"
"I had a really cool miracle happen to me this week. On Saturday, the brother of Hermano Leon passed away. We had his funeral in our chapel yesterday. We were asked to go to the funeral to hand out pamphlets about the plan of salvation and offer comfort. I love that the Leon family is always passionate about sharing the gospel. When we arrived at the funeral, Hermana Leon asked me if I could play the piano and right away, Elder Tialavea answered yes! I was nervous that they were going to ask me to play hymns that I didn't know, but by some miracle, they asked me to play, "Nearer My God to Thee" and "God Be With You til We Meet Again". There was a lot of people there and I didn't want to mess up playing at something important like a funeral. I used to get so nervous playing at just piano recitals and now here I was about to play in front of 200 or more people in a chapel! I said a little prayer in my heart and then went to play. I played both hymns almost perfectly! Thank heavens that prayer is real! ha ha Afterwards the Leon family came and thanked me. They were truly grateful and I wasn't expecting how much. Maybe this is part of the reason why the Lord kept me here this change."
"We are still working with Margarita and we have a few more people, but no one is close to baptism. We are going to be working hard to see some baptisms this change. The Young Women made a goal to help Maria get baptized next month, so I hope that we can do it. I know her being baptized will help her the rest of her life."
"A cool thing we did was help move a house onto a semi for service on Saturday. Oh my, it was a lot of hard work! We had to carry big walls and floor boards and put them on a semi. It was fun because the ward members like to joke around with me. It was like I was back in Young Mens with Dad again. ha ha Hermano Benavides is always teasing me. We have fun together. Elder Tialavea was funny too because he could do what took three of us to do! ha ha You wouldn't believe it! He is so strong! I think we are going to rebuild the house next Saturday. Talk about work.., shoot, I'm going to die of exhaustion! The ward is really loving and always calls me Hermanito. They are really kind to me. Elder Tialavea said it was cool to see how much they trust me because it helps him out a lot too. He says sometimes it can be hard to earn trust from the members and that a lot of the Elders never really do. That made me feel a little cool."
"Happy Birthday Dad! You're the best Dad in the entire world! Thanks for all you do for me and for the example you set for me. I hope that I will become more like you. I hope you know how grateful I am to have you as my Dad. You will never know how much respect and love I have for you. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve a mission. I hope you enjoy your birthday. Love you, Dad!"
Elder Dallon Smith
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| Elder Smith and Elder Tialavea |
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| The Undaunted! |
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| Elder Smith is somewhere in this picture. |
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| The new Zone on P-day |