a whole new world

Here are some pictures of Alex's living conditions. She sends these pictures, not to

scare away future missionaries from serving, but rather to help us remember to

count our blessings and realized how truly blessed we are.

The toilet- outside.

The sink used to do everything- wash clothes, dishes, face, brush teeth, etc.

(Not pictured is the bucket used to pour water, notice- no shower head)

October 18, 2010

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX, Here are pictures of her birthday gifts and

celebrations with the Cruz family.

hey everyone!

phew what a week.. glad its over and I’m starting a new one!

We had some funnies this week!
1. walking down the street normally and all of the sudden i saw a car.... with a monkey riding on the hood. no big deal. haha MLIAIH

2. we came home the other night and as i was trying to open the door i looked over and saw a drunk guy sleeping on our patio. hahahahah. it scared the daylights out of me and my companion just laughed. we called papa cruz to come save us. MLIAIH

3. I totally bought a blender last week.. naturally. i miss jamba! MLIAIH

Anyway still dont have much time, but i thought i would share a story with you.. i decided I don’t do that often, just share my boring thoughts .haha.

Anyway so this week we were visiting this inactive sister who lives in a wheelchare because she lost her leg a few months ago. Anyway we were singing lots of hymns because she loves them and i just had the strongest impression we needed to leave and go contact. it was almost the lunch hour but not quite. We could have killed time singing more hymns then entered the house perfectly in time, but i just knew we needed to go contact down this one street. i had to convince my comp a little but finally she gave in. contacted one house. nothing. then we kept walking and i saw this lady sitting outside of her fruit stand. i told my companion lets go talk to her and she said she was about to say the same thing. we gave a quick little lesson outside with her and her nephew who ended up being really interested and excited to learn more. it was such a great experience. its something simple but really got me excited about following the spirit. I’m so grateful for the spirit in this work... Its the only way its possible.

Anyway, life is good. hope everyone who reads this is happy and healthy and praying lots. Thanks for all the support and love!
hermana smith

p.s. moroni 7: 45 to 48

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ALEX

hello family and friends!
i'm happy to be writing you from a place i didnt know i was coming to. haha.

so last week i said some pretty sad goodbyes all monday and tuesday (broke my heart.. but i was strong! :) and on wednesday morning showed up to the transfer meeting and started talking to some of the other sisters... when they informed me that i wasnt going to Jutkalpa because they closed that area like 3 weeks ago... too dangerous for the sisters. but i was going to Talanga! dont know where i heard Jutikalpa, but now all my people in Marcala think I'm there. oh well.

anyway, here i am in Talanga enjoying the same weather as in Marcala but without rain!!!! loving it! its a little pueblo town pretty much exactaly like Marcala. i'm likeing that because i dont like the city at all, but i still miss my little home in Marcala. It was super hard to say goodbye, but i'm hoping to go back.. alot of the sisters here have returned to old areas because there are so few of us, so we shall see.

Talanga is awesome with 2 branchs... and 2 chapels! dont know why they dont just make one ward, but its all good. we are 6 missionaries here, 4 northamericans and 2 latins.. we win! my companion is hermana Cruz from El Salvador.. its her last transfer so weve got a lot of work to do! haha. she's way funny and we get along really well.. even though i think shes the most stubborn and strongest willed central american woman ive ever met. haha. but shes awesome and ive already learned a ton from her.
we live with a family named the Cruz family (mere coincedence) and they are the most wonderful people i've ever met. they insist that we call them mama and papa cruz and their 13 year old daughter is our lil sis. they are so awesome and support us in every way. tomorrow for my birthday we're going to make a cake and ice cream!

okay a few funnies
1. the other day was the best day of my life because i called an investigator. after a few seconds of talking he interupted me and asked if i was me or my latin companion... meaning he couldnt tell because i sounded latin!!!!! i was going to cry i was so happy. haha. mliaih
2. in marcala it was so humid that a lot of times the ink in my journal and my agenda bled through the pages. MLIAIH


anyway just as a quick spiritual thought i just gotta say, WASNT CONFERENCE AWESOME!!!! i loved it soo much. (p.s. mike, tami, faith, grace... you looked awesome!!!.. totally saw you and wanted to give you all big hugs) you know how like every confernce has a running theme? well idont know what you all got out of it, but what i got out of it i loved, that was that we must make CHOICES in all things we do. we must take ACTION to be able to change and better our lives. i loved it and got so many good things out of it. I know that is the way to change. i liked what someone said that we have to LISTEN, LEARN, REPENT, GO AND DO. so awesome! so my challenge is that you all can look back through your confernce notes in stead of just throwing them in a shelf for 6 months like i always do. look back, pray for inspiration, and make a choice to make a change.

thats my challenge for you.. its what i'm doing to!

the chruch is true and lead by inspired men. time is short so lets shout it to the world!

love you all so much!
hermana smith

Sept 27, 2010

Hey family and friends, this is going to be really quick because i dont have too much time, but the biggest news is that I-m leaving marcala this wednesday! Im super sad, but i feel good about whats coming and im glad to know that the Lord is in charge and needs me in another place. Ill miss my little paradise town, but i-ll never forget it.

This week was super hard. Not going to lie, it tried my patience and faith, but I learned a lot and Im ready to keep working.

There was one funny that Id like to mention:

While walking through the market i heard this strange baby cry.. its wasnt normal, but definitely a baby. i turned to look to see what it was and i saw a bright green parrot mocking the sound. hahahahah it totally threw me off guard but it was awesome. those birds have talent! MLIAIH


Well i know this is way short, but let it suffice to say that the church is absolutely true and God loves each and every one of you. He knows you and wants to hear from you always. He's in charge of this work and if you let Him, He'll guide you in your life. The scriptures are His words and how He talks to us these days. I've found numberless answers to the scriptures and i'm so grateful for that tender mercy in my life.

Love you all so much and I hope you're all well and happy. Keep praying for and accepting opportunities to share your testimony and strengthen the Kingdom of God here on earth.

Love,
Hermana Smith

Halo

September 20, 2010

Greetings to everyone north of me! I hope you're enjoying the increasingly cold weather while i'm enjoying the sunshine.. still and forever!

This week was.. interesting to say the least. I came up with another philosophy last night. (¨hermana smith's philosophies¨ are famous here)...that is that the things that are the hardest are usually the most worth it. This week for example, was really hard. My faith was tried and I was doubting a lot. We had some hard assignments that I didnt think I could do. We were working for a baptism and I just wanted everything this week to be perfect. At the beginning of the week I decided I had two options... Say that it wasn't possible and just do the average, or literally put my trust in the Lord, do my best, and hope for a miracle. I'm so glad I chose the second...
Our baptism worked out beautifully, we completed the tough assignment from President Flores, I learned some life changing lessons and we ended up with weekly data that was incredible. The assignment was to find and teach 3 new families (its hard to find a family complete with mom and dad... nobody has dads here).... but we did it! 3 new families and ... get ready.... 29 new investigators. that's absolutely unheard of! but seriously it was a miracle and I learned so many things this week about faith, diligence, patience. basically if you want to know what I learned, read Alma 32, especially verses 40 through 43. awesome!

Okay I dont have too much time, but here are two funnies to make you laugh... i hope!

1. I was directing the ward activity the other day and in to wrap it up i said wanted to say ¨Gracias por su participación¨ (thanks for your participation) but instead I said ¨Gracias por su expiación¨ (thanks for your Atonement...) uhh awkward. everyone was dying laughing.. including myself. MLIAIH.
2. We're recieving this AWESOME new training that is just kicking butt here. One of the things, we have to do is carry a picture of our family and show it in every contact. its awesome and my family is famous because the whole country is meeting them. haha. MLIAIH.

okay sorry times totally up. but the church is true and this work is awesome!

be good, have fun, pray hard.
Hermana Smith

hello, again!

Hello everyone!

Well I'm glad to report we had a pretty good week. I'm learning a lot and seeing a lot of differences in myself and in the work... which i'm grateful for. We had the coolest weekend.. here's why... we had 2 baptisms ready to go saturday morning. but when we went toe he church to clean it we started fillin up the font.... but like what happensa lot in the country htere was no water.. and it wasnt going to come until 8 at night. so after a long afternoon of frustrating arragnements we loaded everyone up in a bus and took them to.... the waterfall!!!!! We totally got to baptise in a RIVER!!! ahah it was the coolest thing.. so pretty. i definteily took some awesome pictures ,but i cant send them today because i have nothing to attach to the computer. i'll try to next week! it was way cool and i'm glad i got to have the experience, but now i'm grateful for a font because we save a LOT of money and a LOT of time that way. hahah.

FUNNIES

1. Turns out the word for stepfather is the same for... hangnail. random. haha. MLIAIH
2. So you know how in stores they always lock up the expensive stuff? well i'm still trying to figure out why they have to lock up the deodorant here... i mean, its expensive... but it just always makes me laugh seeing the cell phones locked up in this cupboard right beside the deodorant. hmm. MLIAIH
3. The other day we were singing with our newly converted family (Kenia and her siblings) and they all LOVEEE the hymns. so they chose to sing There is Sunshine in my soul today... i thought i knew what happiness was, but i realized what it really it is when you can't sing at all because you're smiling too big that it the words dont come out. Oh such Happiness! MLIAIH
4. So every night i put my agenda on my bedstand in case i need to write something down or i get inpiration or something like that... this morning i woke up and looked in my agenda and in a bad but readable handwriting i read ¨Viernes 24¨... (which means friday the 24th)..and in my weekly data i read a sloppy ¨4, 4¨ under persons baptized and confirmed......... it was a little creepy.. okay still pretty creepy and i'm trying to figure out what happened... why i wrote that in my sleep. and how! hahaha. MLIAIH

Anyway, i dont know how time keeps escaping me but i dont have too much time right now to write all that i want to. Let is suffice for me to say I'm so grateful to be here learning all the things I'm learning. I've been absolutely slammed to the ground with humility and patience that it kind of hurts.. but its good, i definitely needed to learn these things. The church is true! and it is the Kindgom of God here on the earth. Let us all be thankful for the blessings we recieve from Heavenly Father every day. Count them and you'll be very surprised how much you have.

Love you all so much! Thanks for the support and prayers.. Go do something for someone.. you'll feel better no matter what your ¨problem¨.

Love, Hermana Smith

week full of lessons and happiness!!

August 30, 2010
wahoo!!! best news ever... we finally were able to see FOUR BAPTISMS this weekend! after a week of lots of praying, a few tears, a fast, and miracles, we were able to thank Heavenly Father for the tender mercy of letting us have these baptisms. it was amazing the spirit we felt after their confirmations yesterday when they all stepped down from the pulpit smiling... really big. I'm so grateful for the hand of the Lord in my life this week. I know he was with me helping me to develop the patience, faith, and endurance that i needed this week.

FUNNIES:
1. This is mostly for my sister, Kate.... we're totally teaching this guy named.. you guessed it, ELDER. hahaha. his dad was a pentecostal pastor and was friends with the missionaries. he liked the name so name his son Elder... and his son named HIS son elder also. hahaha. he's way awesome and totally the future bishop of Marcala! wahoo! working on putting a baptismal date. MLIAIH

2. we have this rocking chair in our apartment that my comp is in love with... so she moved it to our study desk and is constantly rocking back and forth. haha. still makes me laugh. MLIAIH

3. i'm sick of my music so if any of you find any awesome LDS music, i'd love a CD of something new. hahah send it my way! MLIAIH

I'm so grateful for these experiences i'm having in the mission... I'm learning something new everyday and trying to apply it to my life. the scriptures are amazing and absolutely have the words of the Lord. one marvelous thing I've found is that i've been able to get on my knees, ask a specific question to the Lord, go to the scritpures, and find an answer. its something i've started doing every morning and i've had some wonderful experiences. GO to the scriptures and love them. that's my advice.

also, if you're interested i would highly recommend getting a copy of Preach My Gospel. its scripture also and meant for us ALL to study. its totally my favorite book ever.

okay well sorry this is short but time flies and i gotta go. also apologies because i know my english is terrible. literally i can't think in english so my letters i know sound weird and maybe dont make sense. but its super hard. even now I'm translating everythig i write into spanish. hahah.
i hope you're all well and happy and loving life. keep loving and serving the Lord.. and writing your missionaries!!! hehe.

love you all,
hermana smith