December 5, 2011
WOW! Already December! I can hardly believe how fast the time has gone!Sounds like you all had a blast in Mexico. I LOVED all the pictures and I’m glad you are all home safe! I’ve been here over two weeks and I already feel like an old pro. We got some new missionaries in yesterday and watched some of them get dropped off and it made me sick, haha poor saps! But as often as I can, I give them some encouragement cause I know how bad my first day was. Well anyways, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the package! You guys really over did it but that package has just made my week! You are the absolute best. I don’t know why I get to be so lucky to have such an awesome family! And thank you so much for the dear elders! HOLY COW! I got like a million! haha Thank you Chan for your little dear elder campaign, you are such a stud! I didn’t stop smiling that whole day. And I beat the zone record haha! Too bad they were all from my brother’s girlfriends!!!!haha! But thank you all for the dear elders they really do help keep you going everyday. Chan your my most faithful! But Dad, thank you for yours and all the great quotes and advice. It has helped so much! And mom, you are my favorite to get letters from! THANK YOU! And thank you everyone else. You are all so great and I hope I keep hearing from you a lot! And thank you to the YDES for the update on Colter! What a stud! I know he’s just tearing it up in Alaska. Oh, and real fast, Mom I sent a letter of some things I need. I feel bad asking for all of it, but just get what you can. Thank you so much! And there are some letters on your way family, so watch for them!
Ok, so this week was absolutely incredible. . . and incredibly stressful! We have been teaching our progressing investigators (P.I.) which are some teachers that play the role of an investigator, who is a real person they know. The lessons are great and the Spanish is really coming along. But I thought that was stressful until yesterday we went to the TRC (Training resource Center) which is where you go to teach real people. I taught 2 lessons and both of the people were natives from Mexico. I would have never thought I could teach a 20 minute lesson to a native in Spanish, after only 2 weeks. But there is no doubt in my mind that without the Lord’s help I wouldn’t be able to. I have been SO blessed I can’t even tell you. It really is an amazing place here. As far as Spanish class, they basically teach you all day until you are just overflowing with information. My teachers dont speak a lick of Spanish and they talk faster and faster everyday. But for the most part, if they are talking about church related stuff, I know what they are saying. The bad news is, in Texas, when someone tries to talk about something other than church, I will not know what the heck is going on haha! Which may be a good thing if that person is talking garbage on us! But I’m so excited and blessed to be learning this language and I know that as long as I rely on the Lord and stay humble, it will continue to get better. But that’s about it for the class and Spanish report!
My district is awesome! We have a lot of fun and get along really well. Last night we had a story time and I read Oh The Places You Will Go, By Dr. Suess to them. It was a lot of fun, haha I have some pictures to send you of it and I’ll get those sent out asap. And speaking of pictures, today after laundry I am gonna get my pictures put on a CD and send them home, so expect those pretty soon.
So today is the first P-DAY that I get to go to the temple and I am so excited!! That is the one thing that has been hard is I haven’t been for over 2 weeks and I’m so excited to go! The temple is such a blessing. Well, sorry for the scatter brained email. I’m slowly getting used to this timed email stuff. But family I want you to know how grateful I am for all of you. Grandpa and Grandma and Papa and Grammy, I miss and love you! Alex, I love you buddy and hope you know that! And thanks for the Jeep in my package! I love it! You are the man! Addi, you are a stinkin' Cutie and I love ya! Don’t forget who your favorite brother is! (hint: It’s NOT Chan or Alex) even though they are pretty great!. Chan, Sounds like your back to your old self. Dating 3 girls a day haha! Just don’t settle on any of them until I get home haha! But buddy thank you for all the dear elders. I hope you know how much they have helped and how much they mean. MOM AND DAD, I miss you like crazy. I am so so so grateful for you and wish everyday that I had been more grateful because I have been so blessed with a great family and great parents. I love you both so much!! Thank you for everything.
I am so grateful to be here and to be a missionary. It is such a blessing. I am so grateful for all of your support. I LOVE this gospel and can’t wait to share it with others. I hope all is well and I hope you know how much I love you and how hard I pray for all of you. Be safe and take care and I’ll talk to you next week!
Love Elder Smith
