LOST KEYS

Mom sorry i have no time to write.  I loved conference and hope you
did too.  Im sure the whole family was thinking about you when elder
Stevenson spoke about priesthood keys and how he lost his car keys on
the ski slope.  i still remember kneeling down to pray to find the car
keys at least once a week while we were in elementry school.  haha i
love you so much
Elder smith

GOD LOVES HIS CHILDREN

Me and my companion talk to everybody.  Before i was always trying to be super efficient in working with members to find people and i know that it is where we can find people prepared to be baptized but im having a lot more fun sharing the gospel with Everyone.  We still focus on working with members to find but we also talk to every family we see in the street and we teach them right away.  The day flys by super fast when your always teaching and its a little hard to keep record of everybody, but hey i feel alot happier.  This week we found Deyvid and Jaenz.  2 brothers who are both in their 20s who came to church this sunday.  We found them and taught with a return missionary from the YSA and the next day he took them to an activity with the YSA.  It was super awesome.  We also found a family, Jon and Brenda.  We just knocked the door and it was completly dark.  Brenda opened the door and let us in right away.  Jon was laying in the bed right next to the door with the mosquito net over him and his voice sounded super week.  We taught about faith and asked him sit up in his bed and kneel down.  He did so and we taught him how to offer up a plea to our Father in Heaven.  He did so as well and then layed back down.  Jons fine now.  They said he had Dengue but he is recovered.  We saw the hand of the Lord comfort this man.  it was very special. God loves His children.  I know this is His work.

Elder Smith

ROBERT KENNEDY REWORDED, BUT STILL INSPIRING

The streak is alive! My new companion is elder plaza.  Hes from Ecuador.  The very city of Quito dadio. (Kent served his mission in Quito)  Hes an awesome guy.  Hes very direct with me and is helping me in a lot of things that i need to make better.  This week we had consejo de lideres and we talked about how to increase the faith of the missionarys.  i spoke about how as we experiment on the word, the word grows (we receive more light/knowledge) and naturally the faith grows along with it.  In the mission we are now more focused in teaching our missionaries the doctrine of the restored gospel and helping them in their personal and companionship studies.  We talked also about the famous quote (not sure who said it) ¨we need not worry so much about how, when, and why.  Instead ask the question; why not?¨  It was really rejuvinating this last consejo.  Everyones a little bit more excited to just trust in the Lord and work.  This change is gonna be a good one!  Cuidense todos

Elder Smith

FLOATING BRIDGES

My companion took this picture without me knowing.

Everyone always talks about Puentes flotantes, floating bridges, and i always thought i had walked on those while i was in belen.  But i was wrong. those bridges were stable and firm in the ground.  Floating bridges are actually what they seem. Literally just a planck floating on a log that rises and falls as the water rises and falls.  It feels like your walking in a tiny canoe.  Its so sick.  Its really funny because me and muñoz, being the telly tubbies that we are, cant walk within 20 feet of eachother or the bridges sink under.  haha weve soaked our feet a bunch but havent fallen in yet. 

 As i have mentioned my area, Bellavista, is a flooding area.  And the water is rising.  we got rocked this last week in a lesson out in the boondies when it started to rain and everything flooded and we had to walk out in water up to our shins. (the pics from that day)

LEAP YEAR LEAP OF FAITH

 mom happy leapyear

Yesterday we had stake conference.  It was great.  Elder Lozano and Elder Uceda came and spoke and were fantastic.  Elder Lozano spoke about the atonement and then elder uceda about the sabbath day.  It was so perfect the sequence that they used teaching us the doctrine of the sabbath day and then how to obey the commandment.  Elder Uceda shared only one scripture, Ezq 20:12, but disected it all the way down to the hebrew.  He said the first words "and i gave them my days of rest" (thats direct translation from spanish... i dont know how it reads in english) in hebrew means "Natan Shabath" Shabath meaning sabath day and natan meaning to give.  He told us how natan can also mean to deliver, to gift, to entrust, or encharge.  Helping us understand that the sabath is a gift.  It has been entrusted unto to us and is for our benefit.  He then showed us the word "oth" meaning señal in spanish and sign in english.  But said that the hebrew word oth also means reminder or distinctive mark.  Making the sabbath a distinguishing mark of the saints.  Or of a true believer.  I truly believe you can see the conversion of a person in the way the way that they keep the sabbath day holy.  He then told us the word santifico, in spanish, means cadash, in hebrew, and sanctify in english (im guessing).  He said cadash means to clean, sanctify or to purify.  Helping us comprehend why the atonement is the doctrine behind the sabbath day.  It is a commandment with a promise.  That he willl sanctify, clean and purify us as we do His will on the Sabbath day.  He also said cadash means to prepare.  also giving us the meaning that the sabbath day prepares us for what is to come.  It prepares us to come before the Lord.   Im sure theres a bunch of spelling errors in the hebrew words i wrote and i have no idea how the scripture reads in english but maybe this could help with a good study about the sabbath.

About the work.  Me and elder Muñoz had an awesome experience with a partial member family this week.  Theyve been taught by just about every pair of missionaries that have come through Bellavista (my area) and wilium, the husband has never accepted the gospel.  Weve been teaching them for about 4 weeks and we decided all we would do is go to his house and read the book of mormon and answer ALL the questions that he has.  At first he didnt open up much but at about the two week mark we started finding all his doubts and questions.  He said he had never been taught like how we taught him, that he always felt pressured with everything that the missionaries would say.  instead of talking we just listened.  Talking is not teaching! Finally He said he took his book of mormon to work and in a down time started to read 1 nefi 15.  He said it hit him like a rock, that he was just like laman and lemuel.  He couldnt understand and learn only because his heart was hard.  He said he felt as he kept reading  that his heart opened up and literally said the words "my understanding was enlightend"  O my goodness! we went right to alma 32 and read with him and he was stoked.  It was so rad.  He came to church and will get baptized soon.  The Book of Mormon is the KEY! Its True. I know it.
Elder Smith

WORKING IN UNITY

This week i want to talk about all of my experiencies.  As of right now im sitting here writing like a ticking time bomb.  The last two days i took something called Padrax and this morning i drank magnesium milk with orange juice and a bunch of warm water.  uhhh como se dice Goodbye parasites!!! i hope. well see if i
explode soon.
Anyways this week Maria got baptized and her neighbor Aaron, who gave us the reference and was there with us teaching the whole time baptized her. 


There was a lot of help from the ward and were super stoked to be working in unity with them.

  hope all is well back home 
cuidense todos
Elder smith

SO SPECIAL THEY DESERVE GIANT PARAGRAPHS

This week was an awesome one.  In church EVERYONE showed up.  It was
so awesome to see all  the people that we work with in church.  Even some
brought new friends who are interested in the gospel.  Pablo, from the
family that was receintly baptized blessed the sacrament.  He was very
nervous but did great.  His wife was also in church and their kids are
adapting more and more to the church.  One of our recent converts,
Rider, received the melquesidic priesthood as well.  He accompanied us
at the beginning of the week to go visit Pablo y Kati and we found out
that he had had the same experience as Kati. My goodness 2 of his kids
had passed away as well and for that he was separated from his wife.
He bore such pure testimony of the healing power of the atonement.
Hes only been a convert for 4 months but we study hard core with him
even in Preach my Gospel cuz hes an ex evangelico pastor.  Hes so rad
and is even now working things out with his wife and has asked us to
go visit her this week.  We are super excited about the people in our
area.  Ill write about others next week because theyre all so special
and deserve giant paragraphs to be written about them!  Hope all is
well as home
Always
Elder Smith