"I am finding that time here is slipping through my fingers. I think we might actually be closer to the same time now, unless you also switched the daylight savings time. I love daylight savings time! I got to sleep an extra hour and let me tell ya, it was an hour in heaven. haha It's so weird, but those are the only days that I can sleep in and feel no guilt. It's pure pleasure. Things are going by so quickly. I am getting nervous because you love the mission so very much, but then at the same time, I am also excited to be with you all again. I miss you, but I am definitely enjoying every minute that I have. I'm sad that it's all going to come to an end. I am also excited about the new life that I'll be able to lead with all of the lessons I have learned from my mission. It's weird feeling like the older missionary and having everyone always ask if you miss your family or if you are excited to go home. Anyone who finds out that I am close to going home, always bring out the trunkie questions. I guess the good thing is Elder Pena has the same time as me, so we take it together. This will be my last week with Elder Pena. We have worked really well together and I love the way we teach. It is so legit."
"P-days are crazy! I'll be honest and say that I do and do not look forward to them. I get so exhausted on p-days. Usually we wake up, study, and then at 10:30, we clean the pension. At 11:00, we are playing soccer until 2:00. Then we go shower and get out around 3:00 and start running all over the place trying to talk with you and shop and do whatever else must be done, such as, cutting our hair or some other random errand. It's fun because you're with everyone, but it's one of the most stressful days of the week."
"One of the strengths that I have been noticing about myself, for some reason is, people let me say things that they would never let anyone else tell them. I am able to gain their confidence and tell them the truth, even though it might not be what they want to hear. I think it is because they know that I'm not doing it to judge them, but that I want them to progress and do what is right. Last night we went to an inactive members house. He was saying that all the people in the church are hypocrites and that we couldn't see it because we're inside of it. Now that he was outside of the church, he saw everything that was so negative about everyone. So then I said that I didn't want to listen to all of his excuses about why he didn't go to church because he will never have a valid one. I then shared the story of the woman who committed adultery and the Lord, Jesus Christ, forgave her. I then asked if he was prepared to cast the first stone against his projimo, or neighbor? I said that everyone that goes to church doesn't go for the people, but for the ordinances that Jesus established. We take the sacrament not to say that we are perfect, but that we are trying to be better. Every person that takes the sacrament is a sinner. I shared Pres. Uchtdorf's quote, "Don't judge me because I sin differently than you." It was so powerful and the spirit was very strong. His countenance changed and he understood. I told him that I had to be direct because that is how Jesus taught and that is what the Lord wanted him to know. He thanked me and wasn't offended at all. Hermano Briones, the mission leader, shared the story about the debtor that was forgiven and invited him to forgive others because one day he also was going to ask for forgiveness from God. It was a great lesson."
"I went on divisions with Elder Hallstrom in his sector. The day was pretty slow, but it gave us the opportunity to talk and get to know eachother. He is the missionary that went to Diagonal right after I left. We shared some of the same converts, so he told me about all that happened to them. It was fun to catch up about everyone back there. I feel like it all happened so long ago. We had a cool experience. We were out in the country and there was a house way out in the darkness with one light on it. We decided to contact it and the guy would not invite us in. Well, around the corner of this house was another hidden house. We contacted it and and they let us in. We found a family! haha I guess it must be strange to have two gringos come to your house at 9:00 at night in the middle of nowhere, but hey it worked! haha It was really cool."
"We had another cool miracle that involved the lady that we invited to be baptized last week. She received a really cool answer. Her boss at work came up to her and said that he had a dream that she was dressed in pure white and that she was soooo happy. She told her boss that it was because she had decided to be baptized in the mormon church. She is feeling the spirit so strongly and it is exciting."
"This week we also went to a special capacitation with the assistants and two other zones. I got to see a lot of my buds. Elder Holton was telling me that he wants to be my next companion. haha That could really happen. We'll see next Tuesday. I think that I am going to stay and I really hope I don't get changes. We have some new families that are taking way too good care of us. They bring us food, want to drive us everywhere, cook for us, sew for us, wash for us, etc. They want to do everything for us. It's insanity! I think it is safe to say that we will never go without here. Today they took us to a really nice Chinese restaurant and paid for everything. They are helping us with all of our investigators and invite them to participate in their family home evenings. Gosh, they are doing the work for us! haha It's cool. Also Paloma and her family treat us like their kids."
"Anywho...that was my week. I love you all and I have such a great family. I hope you have a great week and I'll be talking to you on Skype in hopefully two weeks. Thanks for all that you are.
Elder Dallon Smith
