WONDERFUL WEEK IN THE TMM!

Welcoming committee at the Salt Lake Airport

Welcomed by the Grandparents first!

I.V. Fluids and Phenergan, courtesy of Nae and Aunt Jen! 

Family prayer at Payton's bedside

Mama gets first hug!

Corpus Christi

THIS HAS MEANT EVERYTHING TO ME!

Well family this is it...I just finished with my last training and am just getting ready to go out for my last lessons of the mission. This is my last night of teaching because after this is pure transfer madness. Today Elder Stott got his new companion Elder Nino de Guzman. He’s a really good friend and I’m really excited that there’s a great elder taking my place. He will do a great job. It’s getting real now.

Thanks for all your emails. I love your emails. You all have been so great and I’m so grateful for such an awesome family.

As for your questions...

1. YES! Bring church cloths... I’ve got something special planned for yall :) Be prepared!

2. And yes, I’ll watch for the packages. We’ll be around the office here so I’ll keep my eyes peeled.

3. And yes, you can just be here at the office at 10. We may not get back from dropping the elders off at the airport until a little after 10, but you can come to the office and meet the senior couples. Just don’t listen to anything they say;) Jk! They’re great!  We’ll be pulling up as soon as we finish at the airport...unless I decide to flee to Mexico haha!

It truly is a weird feeling. I’ve never put so much into anything in my life, and I’ve never had anything mean so much to me. I though it was scary leaving home for the mission, but this is crazy. I have no clue what to expect and it’s a scary thing leaving this new home and not knowing when I’ll be back. McAllen has stolen my heart for sure.

I’m excited to see you all though. Kinda nervous, but excited. :) I know that you are all excited too and I hope you enjoy your trip and I know you will feel very welcome here in Mcallen. It’s the best!  I think you will feel something special:)

But that’s it for today. I’ve got one last big miracle to share, but I’m gonna wait till you all get here:) Travel safe.

But, I better wrap it up...

So family, as I write these last few words to you, I hope that you can control the tears...Mom..I know you’re crying right now.. Dont cry:) Next Saturday I promise that I’ll tell you all a story in place of an email!

I owe you all so much. Thank you. This has meant EVERYTHING to me. Thank you for allowing me to be here. Thank you for supporting me. I have ALWAYS felt your prayers. Thank you for your love. I think you’re gonna be surprised at just how big of miracles your prayers have brought.

I love being a missionary:)

Love,

Elder Payton Smith

YA'LL ARE TRUNKY!

You guys crack me up! Everyone has been asking me if my Momma has gone crazy yet being this close to picking me up. I think it’s ok for you all to go a little crazy:) Today I was very grateful for all of your emails and the pictures! Especially from Keg and Taylor Walker! Thanks guys!

But I’m excited to see you all. I was wondering if you could come say hi and spend a week here and then leave me? Think that would work? Just an idea:) I feel like the closer it gets, the more attached to my mission I become. It’s been so good this past week, we have been so busy that I haven't even had time to think about it. This week we had a mission wide leadership training and it was AWESOME!! It definitely kept our hands full!

I’ve been thinking about it a lot and I know a lot of missionaries fear and avoid the end, but I’m excited! I think if you have done everything you could, you should be able to go home happy and fulfilled and able to hit the next stage of life just as hard as you hit the mission. It’s gonna be the test of EVERYTHING that I learned on my mission. I say, “Bring it on!” It doesn't however make leaving any easier. It will break my heart to leave this place. But I've come to learn that it’s not always about what Elder Smith wants. It took 21 years to learn that;) I have seen the importance of working up until the last minute. There’s no getting around it, I think you definitely see your true colors in the last few weeks. 

But, I actually wanted to share one of the most special experiences of my mission with you all today. It starts back in Laredo when one of my district leaders invited me to set a mission baptismal goal; the number of people I wanted to find, teach, and baptize on my mission. He then told me, “It’s not about the number, but it’s about being accountable to the Lord and showing him how many people you want to bring unto Christ.” Of course I wanted to bring thousands unto my Savior! That’s why I came! So I set a goal that was rather high. I prayed to my Father in Heaven pleading with him to guide me to that many specific people that I could love with all my heart and bring them to the knowledge of the Gospel. 

The first few months was rough. We didn't find or baptize hardly anyone. I was rather discouraged and quickly put that goal and commitment with the Lord out of my mind. But, as I went through my mission, the success started to come. I began to find people that stole my heart. I loved them SO MUCH! And every time we found them and were able to baptize them I felt the love of my Heavenly Father letting me know that they were some of the ones that he had promised me.  Some of the ones that were waiting. That feeling fired me up a lot. I quickly repented of forgetting that commitment I had made with Him and promised I would do EVERYTHING in my power to reach that goal, that I wouldn't miss a single soul that He had prepared for me. There was a lot of ground to make up, but He definitely began to bless me. 

The months passed and I came closer and closer, until this last month. I was ONE short of my goal and ALL of our baptisms had dropped. I felt an uncomfortable weight on my shoulders, feeling that I hadn't given everything or maybe I had missed one of His children along the way. I spent many nights crying unto Him, asking for forgiveness and praying for a miracle. With 3 weeks left......nothing. Too short of time to find someone and get all the way through the teaching process. It seemed almost hopeless. I couldn't help but feel that if I went home one short, I would feel like it wasn't quite finished. 

Then 6 days ago we decided to give it to the Lord. Elder Stott and I started a special fast for that one person who would finish my mission. We fasted that day and nothing came until the last 5 minutes of our fast. As we stood in line to buy some fruit to break our fast the phone rang, it was Bishop Vargas. "Elder, I just wanted to call and tell you that a new family moved into your area 10 minutes ago and they need some help moving in. Could you come?" ABSOLUTELY! "Oh and just so you know, the mom isn't a member yet."

My heart filled with hope! This was gonna be it!!! We got in the car and flew over to their house to meet the Medina family. The sweetest, most humble family ever. Within 20 minutes we had set a baptismal date for the 24th, one day after I leave. So grateful for the answered fast, but still sad about the goal I set with the Lord, I continued to pray, harder and HARDER. I guess you could say it was selfish of me, but it meant SO MUCH!

I have a testimony that God answered prayers. I have seen it so many times. I know how much He loves us and that He won’t EVER let us down. I really needed a miracle and even though it was a selfish thing, He knew how much I wanted it. Never doubt that he listens.

The second lesson we had a FHE with the bishop and discovered that Sister Medina knew nearly everything and had been to church before in Mexico! In the last 5 minutes, the bishop invited her to be baptized on Sunday - TOMORROW! I must have looked ridiculous cus tears were streaming down my face. She agreed to this Sunday, and she is completely ready! Finding her, teaching her, and getting to the baptism in less than 2 weeks! It was a miracle!

I Love my Heavenly Father so much. He has changed me completely. I never deserved such an incredible mission, but He gave it to me anyway. I feel SO indebted to Him but know that He's expecting a lot of me for the rest of my life. He expects a lot of us:) I know that after the baptism of Sister Medina, I will feel that love just as I always have. That love that He has for these people, His children. It’s more contagious that any feeling that you could ever feel.

I love you all so much and hope you all know that I KNOW that He lives, loves us, and always hears us.

I look forward to seeing you all soon.

Love, Elder Payton Smith

I WANT TO FINISH WITH WOBBLY LEGS, FALLING INTO THE FINISH LINE

Thank you for all your emails. You all are so great! I have the best family ever:) I’ve been thinking about you and just how grateful I am. Never missed a week of emailing me. Pretty faithful I’d say:) Thank you for that! I feel very blessed.

Coming into this last month I’m just so grateful for the mission God has allowed me to serve and for this time I have still to serve. It is SO precious to me. I’ve thought alot about how you can tell someone served a good mission. I know there are alot of missionaries that would say that the titles of District or Zone Leaders or even Assistant are what make you a good missionary. I have realized that that’s not gonna get me anywhere in Idaho or in life haha! I’m grateful for these opportunities I've had to serve with MY Presidents and for all they have taught me and I know that the things I have learned and the experiences I have had are what have made me.  

President Maluenda taught me a big lesson. He said that you can tell how successful someone’s mission was by the person they are when they go home. How they apply the things they learned, how they treat everyone, how they talk, how they carry themselves.  Different scene, different actors, but the principles NEVER change. And then he kinda shocked me when he said, "Elder Smith, everything you have done in these past few years doesn't mean a thing if you go home the same person you were before." I think I've been stressing about the last little changes I want to make in myself before the end, hoping I am changed enough. I truly am so grateful for the Atonement of my Savior and the way it can enter into someones life and change and mold them, scrape of the rough edges, take away the hard feelings, wash away the guilt, and then build you back into something you never could have been without His help.

Sometimes I feel like I’m not deserving of the INCREDIBLE mission that God has given me. It is the best! But I think the thing I wanted to share most today was my gratitude for you all preparing me for my mission, for my whole life. I wish I could express how much that means to me, and how much this place means to me.

For Alex, I’m sooo proud of you. You HAVE to be SO excited for your mission! It is 10000000X better than football or anything else you could ever do! I’m so proud of the football player you are, and the student, and the brother!! I’ll be so proud when we have another Elder Smith out in the field. In this family we serve missions! That’s for you too Addi, we have some amazing sister missionaries here. You will be great.

I feel like I’m getting to that last stretch of the 400x. Remember when I would always bust past Chan in my Skyline speed suit leatart;) The way your legs get kinda wobbly from the long race, but you just run harder and harder. I wanna finish, falling into the finish line! I’m grateful for you all. From sitting in the stands at ever football game and track meet and every basketball game, and now the mission. . . The most faithful fans. It has always made me wanna run harder:)

This is the greatest thing I've ever done. The funnest, the craziest, the scariest, the most magical, spiritual, lovable, memorable, exciting thing I HAVE EVER DONE! I’m pretty determined to finish that way. We are teaching a bunch of families. Unfortunately, they all are looking to get baptized the week after I leave, but the important thing is that they get baptized. We’ll see what miracles God has up his sleeve.

But for my most faithful fans, I love you all so much. Thank you for everything:)

I will see you soon!

Love Elder Smith

VARGAS FAMILY GETS BAPTIZED!

Hows it going family! 

You’re emails are getting shorter every week;) Haha just kidding, they are great I love you all! Thank you so much for the pictures as well they were great! Alex looks like a stud in those football pictures! It’s good to see and hear from the guys as well.

Things have been really good here. Just normal as ever. It doesn’t feel any different and I love every day. I’m so grateful for every opportunity we have to teach, and to serve, and to speak Spanish! You gotta look for a Spanish ward for me up there in I.F. It’s all too good:)

This last Sunday was incredible. After a crazy lesson Saturday, we got the Vargas’ all ready for their baptisms on Sunday. It was amazing! The member that found them (selling pesticides) baptized the dad Mario. I baptized the mom Lorena and Elder Stott baptized Mario Jr. We had Valeria and Cata Maluenda come to perform a special musical number. I donno if I told you, but they are crazy talented with music and it was amazing. It was a very special baptismal service and the whole family was sooo happy. Minus Lori Jane, who was a little sad because she has to wait till December to get baptized. Luckily her dad will be able to baptize her. They are such a fun family and I’m so proud of them. They will be confirmed tomorrow! The picture below is of them!!

So besides that all has been well. We’ve got 3 really busy weeks coming up and we are just preparing and planning so we can hit it hard! Starting next week we have some BIG meetings and then a 3 day leadership training after that. It’s gonna be crazy, but I’m excited! I’m gonna go out big! It’s great to be with Elder Stott he has definitely helped me a lot this last transfer and has been a great assistant. He’s gonna do great when I leave and I’m really proud of him. We are gonna go get lunch with him and Elder Hill and a bunch of my really good friends that are here close by in The Valley, so you can meet some of them. A lot of really great missionaries, and great examples.

This week was actually Elder Stott’s birthday so we took him out to lunch. That was the cause for the money I spent, sorry! But we got to go to Pte’s and it was a lot of fun. I LOVE the Maluendas. They are great. They have a big dinner planned for yall!

Besides that all is well. I’m happy and healthy. I feel just the same as I did my first 3 weeks in the mission. Just with a little bit more knowledge and a bad back from these crappy mattresses. HAHa jk! But I am loving everyday. We’ve still got a lot of people to find and baptize! Sorry for the short email, but I hope you all know how much I love you! You’re all so great and are the most faithful writers. I wish I could explain every single detail, but I think that’s just how the mission is, really personal and unique for each person. But I’m glad you all will get a little taste of it in a few weeks!

Love Elder Smith

P.S. Tell Chan not to die! Go big or go home!

"I FEEL LIKE THE SUN GOES DOWN SO FAST EVERYDAY"

Family, 

You all are so great! Thanks for your emails! It was great to hear from you all! I can’t believe Colt is home. Man he looks great I’m so excited to see him. He served a great mission. Please tell him I say hello. I really, REALLY hope he goes to Rexburg. But if not we will still be hanging out. I love that kid. His family looks good too. As well, I’m happy I got the same tracks as Chandler. That’ll be good. As for the trip, I’ll see what we can come up with. You could probably stay in the same hotel the Trayner’s did the night before they went home. It’s just in downtown McAllen but it was really nice. Kind of a cool spot too. I talked to bishop and he wants to set up an FHE with the whole Spanish Ward for you all so everyone can meet you. Practice your Spanish haha! A lot of them will be able to communicate in English. . . . kind of. We’ll see. They are great, I love our Spanish Ward. 

        

But once again thank you so much for the emails. Alex looks like a beast! I’m so proud of him. He’s an amazing football player and will be an even more amazing missionary. How’s Addi doing? Hope you’re doing ok hun! And I cant believe that little Rose Rammell is 18! I’m sure she’s the most popular girl at Skyline. Tell the Rammells I say hello! As well all the grandparents and Jay. Love you all! We were laughing at the big cone on Chan’s freind’s head. Poor guy. Did his date mind?

This week was amazing! It has been so crazy getting the Vargas family ready for baptism! A lot of ups and downs with the family but finally we got things all figured out and good to go! They are such a special family, I truly love them so much! It’s been crazy cus we are teaching them but they live outside of our area and have been going to another ward. It’s been a bit hard to get the right member support because we don’t know the members too well, because we don’t go to that ward. But everyone has done so well in friend shipping and getting behind this family. They are gonna be AMAZING members! 

           

They are really excited to meet you and I know you will love them. Their 2 kids, Mario and Lauri Jane want to meet Alex and Addi! They will love them! This week has been super great though. I feel like every week the mission gets better and better and I enjoy it more and more. It really is the best time of my life. I just get super happy especially on Sundays to see all of our converts and the great progress they are making! Active and happy :) The Cantu family is doing great as well and the rest of the family is coming up from Mexico so we are gonna try to work some magic with them this evening! I’m so proud of them, they are already making plans for the temple, as is the Vargas family.

Besides that all is well. We have been working hard staying busy every day and it stinks cus I feel like the sun goes down so fast everyday but we are seeing some great miracles. Besides that there’s not much to say. It’s started to get a bit colder here and we are wearing sweaters today. I hate the cold! I’ve been spoiled with sunny days for the past 22 months. The Lord knew that this was where he needed to send me.

But family I love you all so much I’m gonna send some pictures right now. I don’t think you have seen these yet but I hope you enjoy them! I love you all so much and I pray that you are all safe and happy. Love you alot!

Love,

Elder Smith

"IN ALL OF BROWNSVILLE THE ONE PERSON WE STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WAS JUAN!"

Hey how’s it going! So good to hear from most of you;) Haha I love you all so much and I loved your emails. Sounds like not much has changed back in I.F.  It kinda scares me because I know that I have changed and I WON’T go back to the old me! I remember Chan worrying about that and I thought he was just being a girl haha. But I’m so happy that you are all doing well. I loved that picture of the grandparents at Alex’s game. Four of the most faithful fans I’ve ever met. Even when they couldn't even see well enough to enjoy the game, they never missed. I’m so grateful for them! Tell them I love all of them so much!

Glad to hear that y'all are getting everything ready for winter. I can hardly believe summer has already passed. It is still hot as can be down here and I feel like it’s not going away. However, we did feel our first semi-cool breeze a few days ago. There was just one though haha....It was nice.

So these passed 2 weeks have been nuts. We have been all over the place. It’s been a miracle that we even have people to work with but I wanted to tell you about this super special family called the Vargas family. I believe I told you about them a few weeks ago. We received a referral from a young man from Utah that is down here to sell security systems. He ran into this family and got their info and went over with us a few days later. The family was INCREDIBLE. All so ready. There’s the Dad (Mario), Mom (Lorena), Mario Jr (12) and Lauri Jane (7). A COMPLETE FAMILY!  They all accepted baptismal dates and have been solid ever since. They came to church the first Sunday and loved it. Last week they watched every session of conference and took notes! It’s super funny, Mario has a notebook just chuck full of notes, questions, and experiences. He is a great father. They even bought me a late birthday cake because they found out that they missed my birthday haha! Their family has seen so many great changes. Hopefully, I haven't already shared this, but a few days after our lesson on prayer, Mario Jr. got his shoes stolen at school and he remembered that we told him he could pray for ANYTHING. He knelt down on the locker room floor and offered a little prayer. A few minutes later, someone brought back his stolen shoes:) After he shared that in our lesson, his father teared up and admitted, "I know this is what God wants for my family..I can’t deny it." They will be baptized on the 20th of October and Mario already has plans to send BOTH of his children on missions. I really do love them.

Besides that we have been busy busy with Pte. Maluenda. We have done A LOT of exchanges with our Zone Leaders because there are some new ones and that have kept us really busy. I though I would share one more experience from our Brownsville exchange that we had 2 days ago.

The night before the exchange we got to the apartment super late because we went to rescue the ZL’s out on this country road because they had gotten a flat. The next morning we had to plan, because of our crazy night and we took about 30 minutes to plan up a great day. I was with Elder Welker. I opened up the book of formers and said a prayer to maybe pull one out that would get baptized. I told Elder Welker that the one I pulled would get baptized in November and I bet him an ice cream on it. I pulled one out of a Part Member family, the Galvan family. A family of 9!! Juan Galvan was the father’s name who is not a member. I was super excited but then realized that the elders hadn't put an address or a phone number because the family was moving. There was no way in heck that we could find this family. But, it seemed weird because I felt so good about it. So we filled in the rest of the plans and took off.

It was a little bit tough that morning because they had just opened a new area and so we kept getting lost. We were out in the middle of NOWHERE, absolutely lost and we drove past this old gas station and up ahead about 200 yards I saw a man walking. I had a SUPER strong impression to talk to him. He looked rough, but I pulled over and yelled at him (In a nice voice) :)

"Como estan Elderes!" He replied, with a huge smile on his face.

People NEVER call us Elders!!! I asked for his name. “I’m Juan Galvan.”

I couldn't believe it. We jumped out of the car and right there on the side of the road had a 5 minute lesson. The night before brother Galvan had prayed for help. It was answered the very next day. We invited him to be baptized and he happily accepted. We went back that night and set baptismal dates with about half of his family. I was so grateful for that impression. IN ALL OF BROWNSVILLE THE ONE PERSON WE STOP ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD WAS JUAN!! Pretty cool experience.

I love being a missionary. . .I wish it never had to end.

Thanks for everything family, I love you so much! Have a great day!!!

Elder Smith

LAST TRANSFER - NO TIME TO WASTE!

Dear family, 

I’m sorry for not emailing this week, it has been so crazy with transfers. We just sent off another group and are back to work, we’re headed to Brownsville for an exchange. My last transfer just started and it’s game time! No time to waste! I will write you all a great email this Saturday, I promise!

I love you all so much and hope to hear from you all really soon!

Hope you enjoyed conference!

Love, 

Elder Smith

BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

Ok. Thank you everyone SO much for everything! Thank you grandparents for the birthday letters, they were so great! You always give way too much! I love you guys! And Sister Hart, Marivi’s mom got the card to the bishop and he got it to me on my birthday! It was great! Thank you for the package as well, family! It was great, it came right on time!

I loved the emails! Sorry to hear that we lost the Emotion Bowl. I’m still healing from our losses. But I’m glad to see that all the boys are all back together (Kegan, Stevan, Garrett). I love those guys. It will be good to see them all again. Stay out of trouble!!!

So we had a great week here. Starting with Sunday we had Stake Conference and got a bunch of super great new people to church and they loved it. That night the Thompson (He is a counselor in the Stake Presidency) family invited us over for dinner like they do every Sunday. . They are so great! Sister Thompson felt she needed to do something big for my birthday, so they made my favorite dinner and my favorite mango salsa. Man they are great.

That Monday morning we decided to play basketball early before studies because we canceled our pday because of the incoming missionary. When we got there, there were a bunch of missionaries and they had brought party hats and the little blowy things and a bunch of treats for after the game, for my birthday. It was super funny and I was really grateful for them.

That morning we spent driving around to police departments getting finger prints and everything signed to send a Sister Missionary down to Argentina and got back just in time to go to lunch with brother Traynor. What a boss!  I really love that guy. He bought us a super expensive meal of buffalo chicken pizza and made a chocolate cake with vanilla frosting (Mom’s recipe), that was great! He had candles and the whole 9 yards. I’m really grateful for him.

After that we found out that the new elders arrival had been canceled and so President Maluenda commanded us to go play soccer with all the missionaries haha! We were obedient:) We had a great time and finished the night at the Maluenda’s for some planning. Well, I thought it was planning, but when I got there the whole family was there with a great cake and chileano hot dogs. It was the most amazing birthday ever. They tried so hard to make it really special and I was really grateful. Then we got on the computer to do the BYUI endorsement and couldn't find it and President was like, “Call your Mom and ask!" I said, “Can’t Sister Maluenda just text her?”  “NO CALL!”

Haha, so I did! He was so happy that I got to talk to you! And it was sooo good to hear Addi’s voice! I wanted to talk more but couldn't. You guys are great!

We finished out the week finding a super great family of 4 that are looking really promising for October and we have a pm (part member) girl that will be getting baptized tomorrow! The lord has been blessing us a ton! And here we are today just about to go help Sister Tovar. our recent convert, move apartments!  Wish us luck!

Besides that, all is well! It’s starting to turn bitter sweet! Haha I’m just super happy with everything and love being here. I love my wards. I love the members, my area, the missionaries, the Maluenda’s. All is so great. And I really love the Lord.. He's the greatest. He definitely knew what he was doing when he called me here. It was definitely meant to be my mission!

Thanks for everything and tell everyone I say hello!

ELDER SMITH'S 21ST BIRTHDAY!

So, it is done and I'm returning with my report. We just finished with lunch at BJ's, the place they had chosen (coincidentally one of my favorite places too). They make excellent pizza at BJ's with a lot of specialty ingredients and we had a go at recreating "The Payton". It wasn't quite the same thing as the one he makes at your home, but I think it was close enough to at least remind him. We had a fun time going over where he's served so far, what he's up to now that he's in the office, etc. You really have a great son. From the way he talked, I could easily see that he loves what he's doing and that he "gets" what missionary work/leadership is about. We finished it off with the cake, which seemed to be a happy surprise for him. Thanks for letting me be a part of a fun mission memory for your family. I think things like this are great. 

William Traynor

P.S. Forgive me for not taking a ton of pictures. I don't often take pictures so I didn't remember until nearly the end. The one with the candles turned out a bit blurry. 

ORLANDO AND STACY GET BAPTIZED!

So we had an AWESOME week! But first off, thank you all so much for your emails!  You’re all the best! Glad everyone is doing well. Alex, you need to get that shoulder better buddy!! Go get ‘em this week! Sounds like everyone is doing well! Tell all the grandparents I say hello! I received a letter from Gpa and Gma Smith! Thank you so much! And I sent that email for Sister Hart. Please read it to her! Glad to see the pic of all the Westside boys again (Garrett, Kegan, & Stevan). I hope Keg puts on more weight! I loved hearing and seeing from everyone!

So where do I start? The baptism on Sunday was incredible! I got to baptize Orlando and Elder Stott baptized Stacy! They are SO sweet! Man, I love them to death! They are all excited to meet you! It was a very special service and we made it interesting because there was only like 2 1/2 ft of water. We got LOW!

Monday was so much fun! It was our first time having P-day with all the other missionaries! Pte Maluenda changed our P-day so we could hang with the other missionaries and spend more time around them! We will still email on Saturdays though. So Sunday night I had a dream about playing mud soccer, so Monday morning I woke up and we called all the zone leaders in the valley and told them to meet at 2 for mud soccer. Unfortunately, it wasn’t raining, so in our prayer leaving our house, I prayed that God could make it rain. When we got to the field it began to pour! It was incredible! 95 degress and beautiful rain!  All my buds were there! Best P-day ever! Afterwards we went to a place called Free Birds so Elder Hill could try to eat the 5 1/2 lbs burrito. Let’s just say he painted the walls with 5 lbs of pure Mexican paint. Haha He lost it all!!! Pretty bad.

So on Tuesday we had a Zone Conference here in McAllen and after we went and found a new sweet part member family which was a referral from bishop. It was a real blessing because we have only had a few hours in our area because of conferences. Wednesday we got a good full day of work and as well went to the Maluendas to celebrate the Chilean Independence Day. We ate delicious Empinadas. I love them!

That night we took off for Corpus and arrived at like 1 in the morning. We had conference that next morning and it went really well. I hate giving my “dying testimony” because I’m not dead yet! Not even close! That night we went to dinner before going home! Fuddruckers - tough on the pocketbook.

Yesterday and today we are just working away and finding peeps to baptize in October. Pray for us!

I’m excited for Monday. We were going to have a huge birthday party because there are a lot of birthdays next week, but we just found out we have a surprise Elder coming in, so we will be busy with him all day. But Brother Traynor (OUR Brother Traynor’s brother) Thats confusing.. He is taking us all to lunch so it’ll be good!!! (Me Elders Stott, Hill , and Grant) What better way to spend my birthday than with a new missionary:) It’ll be fun!

Besides that, all is well!! I’m excited for what’s to come this week and know that we are gonna find some new families to baptize! I LOVE BAPTIZING! And I love all my converts so much!

Thanks for all you do family! Remember how much I love you!!

Love Elder Smith

MY LAST ROUND OF ZONE CONFERENCES and GREAT UPDATES FROM SAN BENITO

Hey guys! Man another week come and gone! This week has been ridiculous haha! It was good to start the weekend with some great emails from you all! You’re the best! Y'all are starting to speak trunky. Stay with me family, you can make it! Let’s just say, it really set in this week giving my dying testimony at Zone Conferences. It was the worst. Because these are the last Zone Conferences until December. It felt like a waste because I don’t feel like I’m “dying” so it was just a normal testimony. But I have to give it 5 times, once at each Zone Conference. The good news is, it doesn't ever set in so I’m doing great! We are still baptizing!

I was happy to hear everything went so well with Marivi and her family. I’m glad her Mom still loves me. We were pretty close, but our last lesson was kind of a throw down, and I wasn't sure how she felt about me. Sometimes it’s tough to be firm with people you love, but sometimes its necessary. Glad all went well, thank you so much!!

This week has been pretty wild. We spent as much time as we could with O. and S. Cantu getting them ready for their interviews, which are today and their baptisms tomorrow! Unfortunately, we had almost no time in our area, not in Mcallen. Monday was our only day of proselyting and then Tuesday we headed to Laredo for Zone Conference. It was super funny because we almost ran out of gas and I got pulled over but I put on the puppy dog face and he let me of. I put on my Nacho Libre voice and told him that “this is the Lord's car”. He bought it:) It was strange being in Laredo. I gave a testimony there about 20 months ago as a new missionary and then this week I gave my last one. Kinda bitter sweet. Conference went really well though. We got back pretty late and the next morning we woke up really early to head to Harlingen for Zone Conference. It was a GREAT day and it was really special for me. I talked to the Sisters who served in part of my old area in San Benito....They told me the family that I found and taught that couldn’t get baptized (Minerva and Ramiro) are finally getting baptized. They got everything figured out for their marriage and wedding. It was the best news I’ve heard almost my whole mission. They asked if I could come down for the baptism but Orlando and Stacey get baptized at the same time Sunday. I donno what I’m gonna do, but it'll work out. The other cool thing is a guy I taught there that got baptized 2 weeks after I left, has received the Melchizedek Priesthood and is gonna baptize them all. SO COOL! The other cool news was another family we found in Brownsville got baptized last Sunday. Super cool stuff!

So after that, we booked it back and had an awesome lesson with the Cantu family. They are soo amazing! I know I always say this, but literally, they are the most prepared family I have ever taught. SO PREPARED! They are in Mosiah and read as a family every night. They are super excited about baptism. When I asked Stacey if she was ready for her interview, she said "I’m just nervous because sometimes I forget Nephi’s 3 brothers’ name. "Don’t worry Stacey, they won’t ask you that.”  haha! They are great. I really love them! I am willing to bet that in 2 years Orlando will be an Elders Quorum President. He's a boss.

Then late that night we left to go to Rio Grande City for an exchange. We got called half way through the exchange on Thursday and had to go pick a missionary up and drive him to Laredo, then take another to the airport in Laredo Friday morning. I was SO sick of the car at this point haha! But we made it alright. We got to play some Laredo volleyball early Friday morning after about 4 hours of sleep and then got him to the airport and got on the road back to McAllen. It was our P-day so we spent half of it driving and the other half napping haha! Then last night we went to a fiesta to celebrate Mexico's Independence! It was boss!! Man, we had a ton of fun. We had a bunch of investigators there! Santi (Santiago), Orlando and Stacey’s son was the star of the Primary’s dance and they loved it. I was so proud! It was great to see the Aguas family perform too and Emmanuel got up and danced haha! Brother Rodrigues was there with the priesthood putting everything together. ALL boss members! I was so proud and we laughed and sang and had a great time with the ward. I really love it here:)

So today we are running all over with the interviews, a training, and lessons, and it’s good to be back home. I’m not looking forward to next week’s Zone Conferences a ton, but we are ready to go. We will hit up Corpus next week and then be here in McAllen for the other. IT’LL BE GREAT!

It’s good to stay busy, but sometimes I wanna slow down to just enjoy the mission. Unfortunately, the only way you can really enjoy it, is if you’re running around crazy teaching, chasing people down, yelling at them, and baptizing. Unfortunately that’s what makes the time go faster. But I do love every moment. The mission is the greatest thing that has every happened to me. I realized that this is very much home for me now:)  

But, we are gonna hit it hard next week once again! Finish this week with 2 amazing baptisms and keep them coming! There’s too many prepared people and not enough time! I love you all so much and I pray that you are all safe!

I LOVE YOU! So much!

Elder Smith

TESTIMONY OF FASTING AND PRAYER - THE CANTU FAMILY

So good to hear from all of you! You all look great in the pictures! Especially Alex, what a stallion. I’m so proud of him! And you all looked good on your first day of school! Los guapos! Hope your loving school! It’s good to see Chan back! I feel like the only time I get pictures of him is when he wants to show off the pretty girl that he's dating. You'll have to fill me in boss! Thank you all for your emails and everything you do! I love you all a bunch! Tell the grandparents I say hello and that I love them! Jay as well and all the friends and family!

So this past week was nuts! So I’m gonna start with my testimony of fasting! I have never experienced such an obvious answer to prayers and fasting as I did this week. We had been working with a few families and all had fallen off. Elder Stott had gotten here and we decided to do a special fast so God would provide us with a prepared family that would get baptized in September. It was the last week to find for September so the pressure was on. We fasted that day and worked super hard and . . . nothing.  That night we came back here to the office to finish up somethings and Elder Hill was here with his comp Elder Grant. They are the ZL’s in Hidalgo and they ran over to us super excited. They told us they had been teaching a family that moved into our area and they had already been to church and been taught like half the lessons. They handed them over and we have had some of the most amazing lessons with them. The cool thing is it is the son of a member and I had been working with that member (the mom) when I first got to this area, so we could baptize her son when he got here from Mexico! Well, he got here and they are gonna be baptized on the 15! They literally are one of the most prepared families I have ever taught. It’s the Cantu family! Please pray for them!

So, on Wednesday we had MLC and it was super good! Man I feel like my mind just gets blown by Pres Maluenda. Every time he takes us aside and teaches us, I feel so blessed. It’s funny, but he always talks about being great fathers and husbands, more than great missionaries. He has made a HUGE difference in my life, I can’t even explain it.

Yesterday we went up to Robstown with Pte. to do a special zone conference. It was REALLY good. I got to see some members too and I saw Sabrina! She's doing great, and so are all my other converts! I love that place!

I really have been reminiscing a lot on my mission and all the great people I have met and miracles I’ve seen. It’s amazing how big a part of me it all is. It really has changed my vision. I know exactly what God expects of me now :) Thanks for giving me up ;)

I love the mish! And I love you guys! Thanks for all you do! Be safe and smart and don’t get too trunky!

Love Elder Smith

DRIVING LIKE RICKY BOBBY!

Hey Everyone,

How’s it goin?? Thank you so much for all of your emails and pictures! I’m so happy to hear that Alex's game went so well! Alex your a beast! I’m also so glad that Chan gets to come home! Drive safe!

Good to see that you’ve been out on the river to do some fishing! A lot of good memories out on the drift boat! You guys are the great! I love you!!!

Well, this week has gone by so fast I don’t even know what happened! Looking back at it, I can’t really remember what we did!  Sunday was super good, we had a bunch of confirmations!  Monday we received 17 new missionaries which was super crazy! We picked them up around noon-ish and brought them to the capilla for their orientation! It was a fun night with the Maluendas and we ended up heading back to the airport later that night because we had a 2nd group come in. It was a wild day and we didn’t get to bed until really late. Tuesday was transfers and just like always the craziest day ever. I lost my voice from yelling so much and right at 10:30 me and Elder Stott got in the big transfer van and took off for Corpus! It was super fun to go back up to Corpus and I got to see a couple members! We picked everyone up and got them back down to McAllen by 7ish and then got over to dinner with President! It was sad sending so many good friends home! Elder Sanchez was in that group and it was hard to see him go, but he was excited! We were almost late for the flight and had to drive like Ricky Bobby, but it all buffed out!

Yesterday we got to tour Brownsville with Pte and Sister Maluenda and it was super fun! We made our way down early in the morning to check out some areas and got to go out to lunch. It was so good to spend more time talking with Pte and Sister Maluenda. They are sooo fun and love our American sarcasm. Sister Maluenda has been picking up on it little by little. They truly are so great!

I feel so bad that I don’t have much more to tell you all but I hope you know how much I love you! I pray for all of you! Be safe!

 Love Elder Smith

BROTHER RODRIGUEZ'S MIRACLE BAPTISM IN THE RIO GRANDE

First off, I want to talk to Alex! Man your a boss!!! I can’t believe how yoked you are getting man. You look as strong as an ox! I’m so proud of you and what you’re doing right now! This is gonna bless you for the rest of your life, the decision you are making to not only play, but to be the best! It’s good to have that drive! President Maluenda always talks about developing our talents and he always makes me and my comp sing in front of everyone, (even though we are horrible) and know that God gives us all talents and you have many!! I know that football and leadership is one of them so keep playing hard and being a leader and good example in all you do! So many times I reflect on football and it helps me with struggles I see during my mission! I love you buddy and am so proud! Keep me updated!

So thank you all so much for the emails and pictures! I’m excited for you to go see the Trayners and all my buddies that have gone home! Say hello to all of them for me, especially the Trayners. I miss them alot! Today was weird sending home Elder Munsey and Stevens. Both great missionaries! We put them on the plane this morning. The good news is my new comp is a boss! His name is Elder Stott from Washington state! He was trained by Elder Munsey so we had a father son reunion last night in the Maluenda home. It was a lot of fun!

This last week has been loco!! I sent you the story of brother Rodriguez’s miracle baptism and as well we had another miracle baptism on Thursday night. Someone Elder Munsey had taught at the beginning of his mission and we found him again about 2 weeks ago and he had been so prepared. He had been praying the night before asking for help and the next day we found him! Pretty cool story! Elder Munsey got to baptize him right before he left! I’ll send pictures! After the baptism we performed a special musical number with the Maluenda girls. They are incredible with music. Good enough to make us sound not half bad:)

So that’s pretty much a summary of the week. I am so excited about my new comp and this coming transfer. It’s gonna be crazy, but we are stoked!

So I wanted to say thank you for the license extension Mom, and I’ll call Sister Maluenda and tell her to watch for it! You’re the best mom!

I love you all so much and hope you have an awesome week!! Take care!!

Love Elder Smith

BAPTISM IN THE RIO GRANDE