Dear family and friends!
Things went a lot better this week. We sure saw a lot of miracles and I'm grateful for the Lord's mercy. We found some really positive families and I'm grateful we'll get to teach them the restored gospel... the best message we could bring!
Funnies:
1. This week we saw another baby chicken almost die.... but the neighbor who was there (and who we're teaching, btw...) picked it up, blew a little in its beak, petted it for a minute, and it came back to life... chirping and happy. MLIAIH
2. I love Honduras because i can buy 5 pieces of new clothing for less than 25 dollars. All from brand name stores. I calculated that in the states i would have bought it for about 100 dollars. guess whos going on a shopping spree this july? MLIAIH
3. Yesterday after the sacrament the elders looked down from teh stand at me, motioning the words ¨can you give a talk after this sister?¨. 5 minutes later i gave a 12 minute talk on baptism. i love being a missionary. MLIAIH
The best news that has been happening is we are preparing a wedding a baptism for our little family, Erika and Henry. They are so great. THeyve gone to church several times and we've been teaching them for a while. And we've been seeing amazing miracles getting their papers ready for the wedding. we're really excited for their progress and for the 15th and 16th to come. its gonna be a great day! I love seeing the changes they are making through this gospel and the simple principles like family prayer, family scripture study, and going to church together.
well dont have too much time to write more details, but I just want to invite you all to take time to prepare this week for general conference. I nkow the Lord will answer your questions and problems... im excited to get answers to mine this week.
Love you all so much! enjoy this weekend and live what you learn!
hermana smith
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
March 7, 2011
Hello family and friends!
Welp, another week has passed by and its been great. We ended the week with lots of success and I know it was pure tender mercy from the Lord. He's really blessing us a lot and letting us see fruit. Its all his work but we're seeing a great change in this area because we've been able to be instruments in his hands. Yesterday we didnt get to write home because we went to Tegucigalpa for a sisters meeting. we went bowling and had tons of fun! pictures attached.
Funnies:
1. I have no idea WHY other than because its really cool, but they sell colored chicks here. As in, newborn baby chickens are dyed in color and sold for 25 cents each. (im talking purple, orange, pink) it is awesome. one day i will get a picture with one. MLIAIH
2. we were walking home from church the other day and i got the best complement ever from a 10 year old kid as he yelled, ¨Adios Barbie!¨ haha. MLIAIH
So our best news is that Henry and Erica, the family who went to church last week and this week accepted a baptismal date! they have to get married first, but I know the Lord will bless us again so they can be baptized this month. they love the church and are seeing great changes in their lives as a result. its amazing what this message does. we've only taught them 3 times but they know its true because of what they feel and the changes they see in their family. That to me is a sign that the church is true and incredible.
I'm feeling a special power in the work we're doing lately that its making me love every day more my mission. Its an incredible gift we have to be able to recieve personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. I know its a real power and its something I want to cultivate and perfect throughout my whole life. I invite you all to think about what things you are doing to invite the spirit more in your life. When was the last time you had a spiritual experience? What did you learn in your scripture study this morning? How are you serving the Lord and others? Where are your priorities?
I testify that this is the work of the Lord and it changes lives. its changed mine. I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father. Thanks for all your support and prayers. Keep them coming!
Happy week!
Love, Hermana Smith
Welp, another week has passed by and its been great. We ended the week with lots of success and I know it was pure tender mercy from the Lord. He's really blessing us a lot and letting us see fruit. Its all his work but we're seeing a great change in this area because we've been able to be instruments in his hands. Yesterday we didnt get to write home because we went to Tegucigalpa for a sisters meeting. we went bowling and had tons of fun! pictures attached.
Funnies:
1. I have no idea WHY other than because its really cool, but they sell colored chicks here. As in, newborn baby chickens are dyed in color and sold for 25 cents each. (im talking purple, orange, pink) it is awesome. one day i will get a picture with one. MLIAIH
2. we were walking home from church the other day and i got the best complement ever from a 10 year old kid as he yelled, ¨Adios Barbie!¨ haha. MLIAIH
So our best news is that Henry and Erica, the family who went to church last week and this week accepted a baptismal date! they have to get married first, but I know the Lord will bless us again so they can be baptized this month. they love the church and are seeing great changes in their lives as a result. its amazing what this message does. we've only taught them 3 times but they know its true because of what they feel and the changes they see in their family. That to me is a sign that the church is true and incredible.
I'm feeling a special power in the work we're doing lately that its making me love every day more my mission. Its an incredible gift we have to be able to recieve personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. I know its a real power and its something I want to cultivate and perfect throughout my whole life. I invite you all to think about what things you are doing to invite the spirit more in your life. When was the last time you had a spiritual experience? What did you learn in your scripture study this morning? How are you serving the Lord and others? Where are your priorities?
I testify that this is the work of the Lord and it changes lives. its changed mine. I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father. Thanks for all your support and prayers. Keep them coming!
Happy week!
Love, Hermana Smith
Friday, March 11, 2011
February 28, 2011
Hey family! Wow what a week! Much better than last week. I think the Lord really blessed us. Okay, I know he blessed us. Last week was a trial of faith, definitely, but we pulled through this week and the Lord really gave us a lot of mercy. We found an awesome new family who went to church yesterday and really liked it. that was a miracle. In like the last 6 months they've brought hardly anyone to church,but this family went and we are so grateful. We'll be working with them very quickly. we need men in our branch... there are only 3 melkezidek. (still dont know how to spell that..) priesthood holders... the 2 elders and our branch president. haha.
FUNNIES:
1. I dont think ive ever really ¨jumped in puddles¨ ...until yesterday. we got completely soaked in a rain storm so on the way home we enjoyed the empty streets and made a few splashes.. and laughs. haha. MLIAIH
2. If someone doesnt know us as sisters but does know the elders they just make things a lot easier and call me ¨Eldera Smith¨. makes sense right? MLIAIH
3. yesterday after the rainstorm and after changing into dry clothes we left again and headed down a dirt trail. wrong. it was red clay... do you know what happens when clay gets wet? super sticky and extremely difficult to walk in. hahahahah. my shoes were no longer their original color or weight because i had 5 pounds f clay on each foot. ha. MLIAIH
We had another cool learning experience the other day... The branch had been planning a talent night on friday, so of course we planned on going. but the day before i ws thinking about it and rememberd a rule President gave us that we couldnt participate in the talent shows. So we thought about it and could have justified it saying that we would go help, etc.. because more than anything the elders had planned it, so we could go and bring investigators and everything. i knew my comp was super excited to go and wouldbe bummed if we didnt go. but i didnt feel right about it, so we decided not to go. it stunk because we didnt even have very many plans so we'd probably just end up contacting all night. anyway but we decided to be obedient. so we left the house,knowing all themembers and elders were heading over to have a good time at the church. about 5 minutes later we happened to run into a girl who we had met before in the street. she was just bored going for a walk, so we invited her to the activity. she said sure she wanted to go! so we took her to chruch, dropped her off with some members and head out to a lessthan productive night. bu turns ou she had a great time, went to church yesterday by herself, and were basically ready to put a baptismal date. hah! It was such a huge lesson to me of the importance of being obedient. Heavenly father blessed us hugely for being obedient tat night. we're so grateful!
anyway that wasa great lesson for me. gotta run for now! love you all!
Hermana Smith
p.s. Helaman 3: 27 to 30... its agood one.
FUNNIES:
1. I dont think ive ever really ¨jumped in puddles¨ ...until yesterday. we got completely soaked in a rain storm so on the way home we enjoyed the empty streets and made a few splashes.. and laughs. haha. MLIAIH
2. If someone doesnt know us as sisters but does know the elders they just make things a lot easier and call me ¨Eldera Smith¨. makes sense right? MLIAIH
3. yesterday after the rainstorm and after changing into dry clothes we left again and headed down a dirt trail. wrong. it was red clay... do you know what happens when clay gets wet? super sticky and extremely difficult to walk in. hahahahah. my shoes were no longer their original color or weight because i had 5 pounds f clay on each foot. ha. MLIAIH
We had another cool learning experience the other day... The branch had been planning a talent night on friday, so of course we planned on going. but the day before i ws thinking about it and rememberd a rule President gave us that we couldnt participate in the talent shows. So we thought about it and could have justified it saying that we would go help, etc.. because more than anything the elders had planned it, so we could go and bring investigators and everything. i knew my comp was super excited to go and wouldbe bummed if we didnt go. but i didnt feel right about it, so we decided not to go. it stunk because we didnt even have very many plans so we'd probably just end up contacting all night. anyway but we decided to be obedient. so we left the house,knowing all themembers and elders were heading over to have a good time at the church. about 5 minutes later we happened to run into a girl who we had met before in the street. she was just bored going for a walk, so we invited her to the activity. she said sure she wanted to go! so we took her to chruch, dropped her off with some members and head out to a lessthan productive night. bu turns ou she had a great time, went to church yesterday by herself, and were basically ready to put a baptismal date. hah! It was such a huge lesson to me of the importance of being obedient. Heavenly father blessed us hugely for being obedient tat night. we're so grateful!
anyway that wasa great lesson for me. gotta run for now! love you all!
Hermana Smith
p.s. Helaman 3: 27 to 30... its agood one.
Feb. 21, 2011
Hey family!!
Wow, what a week… its been, to say the least, interesting. I have to admit, not the best. But there are always things to be grateful for, right?
I’ll just go right into explaining. So after a hard week and a disappointing afternoon we left yesterday at about 2 to go contact and find new families to teach. We got in the house of a family and I was so excited… this was it! Heavenly Father answered our prayers and they are so prepared! The lesson was going great until I was explaining the Joseph Smith story, and the dad turned and looked outside and goes, ¨oh! Good afternoon, Pastor!¨ I just thought, you have got to be kidding me. Long story short he stomped all over us, making fun of our testimony and the way we taught.. everything. It was terrible and I got so frustrated. Finally we figured there was no use so we closed with a prayer… I said the prayer quietly and calmly while he stood up and started shouting and praying that the Lord would save us from our iniquity and blindness. Then he told us He hopes we can one day really convert to the Lord, and find the truth, because our salvation was at stake. Nice of him to worry about us, huh?
Anyway I was super frustrated and angry, I got home and cried and prayed harder than I ever have before. It just hurt so bad to have that happen and that the people just don’t open their hearts and listen. Its hard. But thinking about it, I’ve realized lots of things. First of all, heavenly father gives us these experiences to teach us. Ive learned in just the past 24 hours that the scriptures give us a lot of consolation, I’ve learned that heavenly father listens to and answers our prayers, and that he has a plan for all of his children. People will reject and be angry, but if we’ve done our part, we just have to trust in the lord. I found one scripture that really helped me today and maybe it can help some of you in any problem you may be facing. 3 Nephi 21: 9 to 10.
Well that’s about it. Things are good in Honduras.
Love you all so much!
Hermana Smith
Wow, what a week… its been, to say the least, interesting. I have to admit, not the best. But there are always things to be grateful for, right?
I’ll just go right into explaining. So after a hard week and a disappointing afternoon we left yesterday at about 2 to go contact and find new families to teach. We got in the house of a family and I was so excited… this was it! Heavenly Father answered our prayers and they are so prepared! The lesson was going great until I was explaining the Joseph Smith story, and the dad turned and looked outside and goes, ¨oh! Good afternoon, Pastor!¨ I just thought, you have got to be kidding me. Long story short he stomped all over us, making fun of our testimony and the way we taught.. everything. It was terrible and I got so frustrated. Finally we figured there was no use so we closed with a prayer… I said the prayer quietly and calmly while he stood up and started shouting and praying that the Lord would save us from our iniquity and blindness. Then he told us He hopes we can one day really convert to the Lord, and find the truth, because our salvation was at stake. Nice of him to worry about us, huh?
Anyway I was super frustrated and angry, I got home and cried and prayed harder than I ever have before. It just hurt so bad to have that happen and that the people just don’t open their hearts and listen. Its hard. But thinking about it, I’ve realized lots of things. First of all, heavenly father gives us these experiences to teach us. Ive learned in just the past 24 hours that the scriptures give us a lot of consolation, I’ve learned that heavenly father listens to and answers our prayers, and that he has a plan for all of his children. People will reject and be angry, but if we’ve done our part, we just have to trust in the lord. I found one scripture that really helped me today and maybe it can help some of you in any problem you may be facing. 3 Nephi 21: 9 to 10.
Well that’s about it. Things are good in Honduras.
Love you all so much!
Hermana Smith
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
Hello everyone! Here I am, back in Marcala for a pday activity and its been awesome seeing a few of my people here. I'm not gonna get too long to write, so I'll get to the goods:
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!! I celebrated my one year on the mission this year and it felt great! holy COW its going fast. but the funny thing is what we did to celebrate. Banana Baby food. mmmmmmm. ( i think only my family would understand) MLIAIH pictures to come later.
2. Yesterday we were in relief society and our RS president made a very important announcement... she asked a few of the sisters to give us food. just out right called them out on it. she said they were sick of giving it to the elders so lets feed the sisters.... they are starving. (which isnt true) but i appreciated the shout out. MLIAIH
3. Its FREEZING here. just feels so weird! MLIAIH
4. My companion is sarcastic. it is awesome. MLIAIH
Well I dont have too many more funnies. the work is going well. slow, but well. Im finally getting used to the area, and really liking it. its hard but its a fun area too. we walk A LOT which is good cuz maybe I'll slim down a bit. and the area is HUGE. the good thing is i'm used to pueblos (this is my third one!) so i'm used to it and i love it. i think my companion is havinga little harder time adapting.
We had some cool experiences this week that really helped me realize that the Holy Ghost leads our work. absolutely. If we let HIm guide our words and actions, everything works out the way Heavenly Father wants it to and we see miracles. also I'm learning a huge lesson that should be applied to all of us that is... it all comes down to love. seriously, all you have to do is love and it goes along way. i challenge you all to show some love this week and you'll see a great things happen.
Well sorry theres not much time to write more. know that i love you all and I'm sending LOVE from honduras.
Love, Hermana Smith
1. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!!! I celebrated my one year on the mission this year and it felt great! holy COW its going fast. but the funny thing is what we did to celebrate. Banana Baby food. mmmmmmm. ( i think only my family would understand) MLIAIH pictures to come later.
2. Yesterday we were in relief society and our RS president made a very important announcement... she asked a few of the sisters to give us food. just out right called them out on it. she said they were sick of giving it to the elders so lets feed the sisters.... they are starving. (which isnt true) but i appreciated the shout out. MLIAIH
3. Its FREEZING here. just feels so weird! MLIAIH
4. My companion is sarcastic. it is awesome. MLIAIH
Well I dont have too many more funnies. the work is going well. slow, but well. Im finally getting used to the area, and really liking it. its hard but its a fun area too. we walk A LOT which is good cuz maybe I'll slim down a bit. and the area is HUGE. the good thing is i'm used to pueblos (this is my third one!) so i'm used to it and i love it. i think my companion is havinga little harder time adapting.
We had some cool experiences this week that really helped me realize that the Holy Ghost leads our work. absolutely. If we let HIm guide our words and actions, everything works out the way Heavenly Father wants it to and we see miracles. also I'm learning a huge lesson that should be applied to all of us that is... it all comes down to love. seriously, all you have to do is love and it goes along way. i challenge you all to show some love this week and you'll see a great things happen.
Well sorry theres not much time to write more. know that i love you all and I'm sending LOVE from honduras.
Love, Hermana Smith
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
seek, knock, and ask
Hey family! Welcome to La Esperanza!!!
Wow, what a week. Full of emotions and fears and worries and all that stuff.. but its been fun. And hard. But good. Haha.
So this isn’t gonna be too long of an email because the electricity went out and I had to rewrite my letter to president so now I don’t have too much time.
But basically theres not much to say except we’ve been contacting… A LOT. Haha. Its been good because I’ve seen my faith tried and answered, but theres not too many stories to tell this week. Haha. My new area is way cute… I can tell there’s a little more money here than before. The houses are big and the thing I love the most is they all have big back (or front) yards with grass and trees… which ive never seen before! Anyway its fun.. I know that there is a lot of work for me to do here. I can feel it and then today president told me that when he was doing the changes my change was like a last minute inspiration thought, so that must been it was inspired! Haha.
Anyway so I was thinking in a spiritual thought to give you all and I had an idea. I was reading a little bit of my favorite BOM chapter in Moroni 7 and thought there is so much to learn from this chapter! Its incredible. So my invitation is that you all can read it as part of personal scripture study with a prayer to start, asking for your own personal revelation. Then as you read if theres something that “sticks out” or “hits you hard”.. that’s personal revelation! Remember that part, apply it, and see what changes!
Just an idea, but I know you all can receive that personal revelation as you seek, knock, and ask.
Love you all!
Hermana Smith
p.s. tried to send a bunch of picturs but only one came through and now i have no time. but this is a pic with the Cruz family before i left. more pictures later!
Monday, January 31, 2011
Careful what you wish for
Hola Family!!!
Let me start by telling you a funny story. Okay so when I left Marcala 3 changes ago they opened up a new zone called La Esperanza (combining the areas Marcala and Esperanza). Dont know why but i was so excited about it! It was only elders there, but I just thought that was so cool. A few weeks later I was thinking about it wondering why they didnt have sisters there. I commented to a few of my companions, ¨I think they should open up an area for sisters there... that would be so fun! I love that area!¨
So i get a call last night that goes more or less like this, ¨Hey sisters! We have the changes! Hermana Cutler, you are going to stay here and train. Hermana Smith, you are going to open a new area in La Esperanza.¨ Careful what you wish for, huh?
Ha! But I definitley couldnt be more excited to go. I’m so sad to leave Talanga and the people I LOVE here, but as i thought and prayed about my new assignment last night and today, it just seems so right. Its going to be hard, but I’m excited for an adventure and lots of cool miracles I just know are going to happen.
So yeah that’s basically the biggest news that has happened here. The work is going good, the Martinez family still amazes us more and more with their faith and love of the gospel and it becomes harder and harder to think i have to say goodbye. We are going to have one last family home evening with them tonight and i’m so excited. They should get married and baptized this next month, and i cant wait to see pictures!
Anyway, so i just wanted to let you all know I’m really sorry if i haven’t written you back. The last few months i havent been good at writing back all the time.. its just hard because there’s really not that much time and i hardly ever get a chance to send mail to the office to be sent off. So i just forget about it. Anyway, sorry! But please keep sending letters.. i promised they are appreciated!
Anyway, so this is a short and sweet letter i feel like, but not much time left. Keep working hard and being missionaries! Hard work makes the best joy!
Love you all!
Hermana Smith. Aka Hermana Esmeet. Or Hermana Mix.
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