"It is getting fun to read your letters and know that I will be seeing you all soon. It's starting to hit me here in Chile. I've only got 4 or 5 more Sundays left and then I am home. I do have mixed feelings about it. I feel that there is a lot waiting for me. I also feel sad to leave a lot of things here, but I feel that I have served my time as a full time missionary and that the Lord is proud of me. I know that my mission in Chile will end, as the Lord wants it to end, but that my mission on earth has only just begun. I think the Lord will lead me to many other of his children and that I will be able to help them in the future. I'm just trying to learn every lesson that I am suppose to here so that I will be ready for anything when I come home. I think more than anything, I will miss the light that you feel as a missionary. No matter where you go, it's like you're so important and what you say comes directly from God. It will be interesting to see how people take me when I don't have my name tag on anymore."
"The ward is starting to freak out that I will be leaving shortly. It kind of helps with investigators because they start thinking that they need to get baptized or else Elder Smith won't be here when they finally do make the decision. However, I'm coming to the realization that I will have to leave a lot of things undone. I'm sad, but at the same time, I know the Lord has a purpose in all things and that if these people really are suppose to be baptized, they will be. I'm happy for the role that I have played in the conversion of many people here in Talagante. It's definitely been my favorite sector. I hope that I'll be able to return. I'll miss being their missionary."
"This week was just full, full, full, of work. I'm really excited because we are kicking trash with family history. We have 13 recent converts that all have accounts with Family Search and are taking their ancestors to the temple on the 26th. That is unreal! What missionary has taken his converts to the temple with their own family names?! haha But seriously, I am so excited to be in the temple with a lot of my converts. It is going to be such a great experience and I am so stoked! It has been really cool understanding Family Search. I think all of their ancestors are grateful that we are getting them to the temple. It has been a really spiritually uplifting experience."
"We have a few investigators that are progressing really well. We are preparing Tomas for his baptism on the 28th He is really excited and is going to primary activities. His Dad is really grateful and it has been cool to teach him. I think I am a professional kid teacher. Maybe I'll be good in the primary after the mission. haha It's been fun to see that God always gives me little kids to teach. They are like little gifts from heaven. I like teaching them in a way that they can understand. I truly hope that every kid that I have taught will become great leaders in the future and serve missions. I hope one day I'll meet some of them and be proud of them. I know the Lord will take care of them and guide them in his path."
"The 17 year old I told you about that just came up and basically said that he wanted to be baptized, is Luis. He is such a stud. He put his baptism date for the 4th of August. I'm almost positive that he will serve a mission. He's awesome! At the end of the first vision lesson, I asked if he had any questions? He just said that he was so grateful that we two chose to sacrifice two years of our lives so that he could learn and feel what he was feeling right now. It was so legit too, because we had two young men with us that bore their testimonies about the Book of Mormon. What they did blew me away. The youth in Chile are so strong. When I was 16, there was no way I would have been able to say the things that they said. One of the young men had the first vision memorized word for word. It was absolutely incredible and for a moment I had an out of body experience where I just felt like this was all just too perfect. I was with three soon to be missionaries. One first receiving the gospel and the other two testifying of gospel truths. It was a miracle that I will never forget."
"There are six other investigators that are all doing really well. I hope that I will be able to see them make their baptismal covenant. That would be legit! We have a lot of work in front of us, but I like it this way. We aren't losing any time. It's funny that after being in a sector so long, you start to realize why changes are so necessary. In this ward, I have 10 converts and it is hard to continue to please all of them at the same time. You want everyone to feel special and know that they are special to you, but it's hard to give each one special attention. I don't want any one of them to think that others mean more to me. Every single one is special to me! All my converts are way active and are doing so well. Yesterday, Tity gave a talk in sacrament meeting on obedience and did a great job. One of the counselors from the mission was there and talked about a lot of the things that she shared. It was cool. It's awesome to be able to feel so proud of the people you have shared the gospel with. My heart is full when I see them move forward with faith and participate in the church. In the beginning you never see them going to church or becoming a member, and then just a couple months later, they are up front bearing their testimony of the Book of Mormon and they know without a doubt that the church is true. It is just incredible. I love the mission so much!"
"Time. There's just not enough of it. There is a lot of pure work every day, but we are also having a good time. I am looking forward to be with you all again. I miss and love you very much!"
Elder Dallon Smith
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| Carlitos knows missionary work is exhausting! |
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| Singing at Zone Conference |