"We had another great week in the service of the Lord. I am continuing to learn and progress every day. It has been a good week and I have definitely felt the Lord's love. It's been seriously pouring rain here. I think that all your prayers are falling on us. I'm grateful for the many blessings that I've received."
"On Tuesday, I went on divisions with Elder Tyler in La Islita. We had a lot of fun together. We rode bikes the whole day and holy smoly, my butt was sore! haha We went out into the deep country and had a crazy lesson with a family that lives out in a shack. They didn't want to go to their ward because of some problems they had with the people. They were really nice at first, but then got really rude when they realized that we didn't agree with their side. At one point, I thought they were going to kick us off their farm. I don't think that the missionaries will be going back there any time soon, but I think the Lord wanted us to tell them the truth. It was still nice to get away from the pension and get to know Elders Tyler, Mason and Zanartu a lot better. In the night, they made banana chocolate chip pancakes. It was soooo good!"
"Elder Holton and I have been able to become really good friends and our companionship unity has grown. We have been having a lot of fun and have had some great miracles together this week. We had the baptism of Francisca on Saturday. It was literally raining so much that there were rivers in the streets. You almost couldn't cross without going through lakes. Luckily, my trusty companion and I, made it through with our bravery and flimsy umbrellas. haha The baptismal service was really good. We sang, "Nearer My God to Thee," with the Mom. When I baptized Francisca, the spirit was so strong and everything worked out perfectly. It seriously was a beautiful service."
"Marina wasn't able to be baptized because she has phnemonia and bronchitis. She got super sick and the doctors said that she shouldn't bathe herself. It was sad, but Marina said that whatever happens, she knows that she will be baptized. She said that she is going to give all her strength and faith towards being baptized next Saturday. She has great faith and really does know that what we have taught is true. She has already passed the baptismal interview and now all she needs to do is get better."
"A cool miracle that we had involves a grandma who was really mean the whole time we were teaching her granddaughter. Last week, she came up to us and started sharing. The Lord helped us to find all of her doubts and we helped her out a lot. Now she really loves us. She looked at me during the last lesson and told me that I have such a special spirit. The family is so interesting because there are three couples that all live in the same house. Half of them are members and their partners are not and they are not married. Now that the grandma loves us, they are all listening to us. Elder Holton and I were able to teach them about the law of chastity, the temple and eternal marriage. Each couple said that they wanted that in their lives. We have started teaching them and they all have plans to get married. I think that would be the coolest if we really could get them all married and sealed in the temple. Imagine that! We are praying for them. They always want us at their house and will make us yummy food, so that we will go there more often. haha"
"We also found a friend of Tity's, that you might have seen in some of the baptismal pictures. She has tattoos and everything. She felt the spirit so strongly at a lesson we had with Tity and Bernadita, that she wants to listen to us. It is so cool and we are going to start teaching her tomorrow."
"Yesterday we had a district conference and President King came and spoke. It was really good. It was funny because the whole time, Tity was passing us cookies and milk. haha They take too much care of us and everyone thinks that we are way spoiled. Then we go to a noche de hogar with an inactive family. While we were there, Hermana Claudia announced that she saw a video of me singing on facebook! She got out the laptop and everyone had to watch me sing. Oh gosh, it was so embarrassing! Anyways it was funny too."
"We've been working hard to find more people to teach. This week we have concilio again and I will also be leaving on divisions with Elder Mlazgar on Wednesday. I think everything is going real well with the zone. We just need to get more baptisms. We didn't meet our goal of 5 baptisms. We only had 3, but I know that we will do much better next month. We just had a few complications with the investigators, but they will still be baptized. I know that in our sector, we will have a lot of baptisms in June."
"That's crazy that you're all going to enter summer vacation. Just think that the next time you enter school, I'll be home! Ahhhhh, I'm not ready yet! There is still a lot more people here that need to get baptized and or married before I come home. I hope that time permits me to do all the things that I need to do. President King's son came home from his mission today. Hermana King was so stoked. It's weird to think that I will be following in his footsteps. I'm doing well and am happy. I know that the church is true. I know that the Book of Mormon really does guide us personally as we study it daily and apply its' principles. I know that we are truly happy when we are free from the world and its' chains. I know that I am happy when I am in the service of the Lord and that he guides and teaches me every day. Something really cool is that Elder Holton and I sing in harmony almost every day. We have had some really cool experiences singing the hymns. It really is a prayer of the heart and music can touch people in a whole new way. I love the hymns and the peace that it brings to our lives. Sing a hymn every day and you will never be alone. I love you all."
Elder Dallon Smith
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| Bring on the rain! |
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| Francisca's Baptism Day |
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| Francisca's Family |
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| It's all good! |
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| Biking with Elder Tyler in La Islita |
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| Any food is good food! |
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| Look Mom, we bake! |
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| The faces of determination and confidence |