HAPPY EASTER! BROTHER LIMONES GETS CONFIRMED ON HIS BIRTHDAY

Hey guys! Thanks for your email and Happy Easter!! hope you had a great one! We definitely had a busy one! I’m glad to hear everyone is doing so well and that Chandler is just as consistent as always in his dating trends haha! I though the mission was a roller coaster ;)

Glad to hear Alex is slugging the ball as good as ever and that everyone is staying busy! Just wanted to say hi to the grandparents and friends! And Addi of course! I’ve been getting emails from Colter recently since the email policy changed we are allowed to communicate with friends as well, so it’s been good! Sounds like he is doing well! Tell them I said hi and as well all the other friends and ward members!

So this was a wonderful week! We have been teaching some great people! We have been stuck in a mess because the 2 missionaries who were living in our apartment with us moved down to Brownsville to open a new area and we got new sisters! (not in our apartment) haha! So now we have a huge apartment just for me and Elder Rodriguez and we are enjoying it! We have quadruple stacked beds and a giant study room! But we have been super busy cleaning up the mess they left behind and helping the new sisters get settled into their new area. They are living with a member, so we have been painting, moving furniture, nailing, hammering, and just about everything else to get their rooms ready! But we finally got them in and settled!

So yesterday was Brother Limones birthday....what a great week to be confirmed a member of the church and get the Holy Ghost, right? It was a really special day and we had Bishop Nelson confirm him, who did a great job and they are real good friends! I’ll send a picture today! But after church we went over to the Garza family (Sister Limones family’s) house for some Easter food throw down, which was super good! We get fed too much haha!! Surprisingly I just always stay the same weight. Guess some things never change!

Overall I just love my time here in Robstown. I feel it’s that one area that I’m gonna be in for a really long time. Well, it already is. But it really is home. I feel like I grew up in the ward here, haha I feel like I know everyone really well. It really is a BOSS ward. You all are gonna love it!

So one last funny story, last night it was super late and we were in this really rich neighborhood and we decided to knock just one door. It was like 8:30 and those aren't the best conditions to knock a door. Rich, late, Easter....haha the odds weren't in our favor. . . but the Lord was!

So we see this super cool truck and so I decided that was the one we were going to knock. We knocked and this mom opened the door and looked at us like we were the plague. Haha We started talking to here and she was not down at all. So we said, "Listen Sister, it’s Easter...you can’t even allow us to say a prayer with you?" haha you can’t say know to that. So she called her 3 kids out, 2 boys came out and then this little girl....I thought it was Addi! haha. She looked SOOOOO much like Addi, I couldn't believe it. I have a picture of the family that I always show people and I was like, "Ok lady you gotta look at this picture, that’s super weird.." She looked at it for like 4 minutes straight and couldn't believe it. Who knows why, but it really softened her heart. Then I offered just a simple prayer for her family and prayed for each of her kids individually  and closed it. The Spirit just rocked them. Her countenance completely changed. She just said, "Wow, I feel good."

We offered to come back and show her family how to have more of that feeling and she happily accepted. So who knows what will happen with that family, but it really strengthened my faith in the Spirit. It can soften anyones heart. . . . and so can Addi’s face! Haha I love you guys!

Thanks for everything and I hope you have a great week!

Cuidense!

Bye!

Elder Smith

BROTHER LIMONES GOT BAPTIZED!

Man, what a week! This week was amazing! Probably the best I’ve had up here! The Lord just destroyed us with blessing haha! So I don’t know where to start, but I better just say my thank you’s first! Thank you for your great emails and for being so awesome! I love you guys! I, as well enjoyed the pictures and stories and I’m glad everyone is staying busy. 

So where to start! Man, me and Elder Rodriguez are having way to much fun! I can’t really say we are tearing it up because really it’s the Lord, but we are seeing a lot of miracles. So many!

So I’ll start here! We went over to the Ysassis to teach their daughter Natalie who is doing great and Margie had big news. According to the test they just did recently, the cancer is gone!  Oh man, it was so amazing, she was just glowing and so happy. And Brother Carlos was super upset that the doctors had said it was never there. He said, "The cancer was there and God took it away. I don’t know how they could not give God  credit for that!" haha They are one amazing family!

The other great news was the wonderful day we had yesterday...Brother Limones got already to take the dive and his father in law was going to baptize him but the night before, he had a little health scare and so he called me that morning and asked me to baptize him. I was super honored. You always just feel so grateful and I really was. He is an awesome guy! And he’s small, so he went down - peace of cake. I really do love that guy! I’ll send a picture soon! After the baptism, Brother Limones and his wife and me and Elder Rodriguez went over to bishops house for supper. All I can say is bishop is a boss! It was an awesome day!

So on top of Brother Limones baptism, we had a great new family come. And I had to give a 20 minute talk about the Resurrection. I can now say my fear of speaking is gone! At least as long as I’ve got the tag on, but I don’t know if you remember Lou Lou and all her kids we were teaching...(the family of like 9). But we got called back over and the grandma and brother now have baptismal dates and came to church with all the same grandkids, who are all more than ready to be baptized. So maybe it was meant to be that we have already taught them all, but we will see what happens! Pray for them!

Besides that, not much has changed. The Robstown ward is growing and we are getting sister missionaries into the ward after we met with President Brown (the stake president of the whole Corpus Stake, who lives in our area) and President Trayner, so we are excited about that. More than anything, we are just ready to go at it another week! This truly is the best and most important work to be done! I feel very inadequate and unqualified for it, but I am blessed to still be a part of it.

I love you all and pray you all have an amazing week!

Love you all!

Elder Smith

ADIOS ELDER SANCHEZ. . . . HOLA ELDER RODRIGUEZ

So great to hear from all of you! I was depressed all week thinking I would have to go through this St. Patty’s Day without seeing Preston in his green suit coat. Haha So thank you:) It looks like you guys had a blast and I’m glad you’re getting some better weather up there. It’s already pretty hot down here and we are all gearing up for another South Texas summer. They aren't to be taken lightly!! I love all your emails and I just wanted to tell you all how much I love you! And as well, hello to the grandparents and grandpa Jay! They are all such great support.

So this was a pretty wild week! I don’t know where to start; Monday night would probably be the best place haha! Last Monday night me and Elder Sanchez felt inspired to go by a former investigator, who wasn't there, and we felt we needed to walk down the street. We ran into a guy named Robert and he's a pretty "deep dude". Very intelligent and very confused. So we threw down some Book of Mormon scriptures, gave him the good ‘ol 1 - 2 and invited him to be baptized. It was an AMAZING lesson. So as we left, we picked out a chapter for him to read and he said, "If it’s ok I’ll just read it all."  Ok Robert, you talked us into it :)

So we left that night. We were up early Tuesday morning to put Elder Sanchez on a bus at 6:30 that took him to Laredo, flying solo. Later that day we went and had lunch in Corpus and then went over to the stake center to get our new companions.  Elder Channel Rodriguez from Queen Creek, AZ . He is a boss. No questions asked, he is SUPER funny and way fun to be around and we get along super well. It’s nice to be around missionaries that have fun and are themselves and I’m really grateful for Elder Rodriguez. He's great. So Tuesday afternoon we went to meet Robert. He had read all the way to the end of 3 Nephi! My mind was blown, And he loved it! He said he even kneeled down and prayed and asked God. He was on fire. So fast forward to Sunday... He came to church with his whole family and liked it. The only thing is he's a pretty unique guy and has a hard time being part of a group, so the church thing is a little hard. But if he truly does have a testimony of the B.O.M. he will stick around.

So that was miracle one... #2

Brother Louis Limones passed is baptismal interview yesterday and is ready to rock and roll next Sunday. He is SUCH a special investigator. I love that guy and he has an awesome family.. But I’m grateful to be a part of his "conversion story".

But besides that, all is well in good ole Robstown. Sister Margie will go in for radiation and chemo pretty soon but luckily the cancer hasn't spread, so keep her in your prayers. 

And we have been teaching their daughter Natalie, who just moved back in and she is doing great. Only problem is there are some legal problems we gotta work out but we are willing to be patient because they are such a special family.

But besides that all is well. We found out today that we have 60 minutes to email instead of 30 and we can email friends and family, so you can tell our "close friends" that they can email me, BUT I still wanna keep it just for you guys. I don’t like extra email time, I don’t know what else to say. haha!

But I want you all to know that I love you! And I’m sorry for dropping 20 bucks on that new pillow last week. I PROMISE IT WAS WORTH IT! I haven't slept so good in 2 years!! haha I love you guys!! Have a great week!!

Love Elder Smith

THIS IS MY MISSION. . . UNIQUE AND SPECIAL TO ME!

Hey Family! 

Thank you for the amazing emails you all sent! You are all so great! I enjoyed hearing of the fun you all are having and I hope you enjoy this week! It’s spring break here in Calallen/Robstown too, so things are pretty crazy. Everyone takes off for South Padre Island (or north, if you can’t swing the south) but it’s pretty fun here!

Thank you for the updates and I hope all is well with the whole family! Tell the Grandparents all I say hi and that I love them! As well, say hi to Jay, Bishop, and brother Nyborg if they are still around! I thought of him this week! I have thought a lot of all the great examples I have had that helped me prepare to get here! And Alex, I just sent your package so wait for it in the mail! Hope you like it!

So this was an awesome week! But first I will give you transfer updates! Elder Sanchez is actually going to be the ZL in Laredo (lucky dog) haha and I will be getting a brand new Zone leader, Elder Chanel Rodriguez. And yes, he has a girl name, but he is an awesome missionary from what I hear!! hah! And I get another native! I love having native companions! He is from Arizona and will get here tomorrow morning.

 I decided that these past 2 transfers have been the biggest test for me. God has a specific mission set for everyone of his missionaries. Each with different people, experiences, and even trials I’ve come to realize. I’m grateful for those trials because they always make us grow!

So I wanted to share the special experiences that I had this week. Almost all happened yesterday, believe it or not. We FINALLY got Brother Limones off work and got him to church. He loved it but got called in half way through. It was a good start though. But as I was running around making sure people introduced themselves and getting him seated with some members, I turned and saw brother Carlos Ysassi seated at the Sacrament table. Oh man! I almost fell apart. I don’t know what it was, but I just got hit with all these crazy emotions. I was SO proud of him. To see him break the bread. . . it meant the world to me. It has been such a blessing to see their progression and I don’t know if I’ve given Bishop Nelson enough praise, but he is my hero. He takes such good care of our converts and is a really great friend of mine. Definitely one of my favorite Texans haha!

After church Sabrina came running down the hall with more exciting news. She was about to get interviewed to get her Patriarchal Blessing! Man I definitely should have brought a handkerchief, because I was having a hard time keeping myself composed. I don’t know what it is that just makes me so proud of them. I guess that must be what parents feel when their kids do these things, but it’s amazing.

But with every proud moment with your kids, I guess there is always the sad ones too. Sister Margie called us out to their house and wanted us to come soon. We had known that she had stomach problems, and kept telling her to go get checked but she wouldn't. Finally, she went and they found out that she has colon cancer. It was a big blow for us as it most definitely was for them. We all cried together and then had an amazing lesson on the Atonement.  It just hurts to see those that you love so much going through these trials. But Sister Margie is bound and determined to beat it. And she is just stronger than ever. We really have been through alot with them. I feel like we are just part of their family. But I hope you keep them in your prayers. We gotta get them through this trial of their faith.

But I could never be more grateful for the mission that God has given to me. This is MY mission. It’s unique and so special to me. I’m grateful that you are all apart of it and I thank you all for everything that you do. It means the world to me. I know that this is HIS work.. this is what we live for. I know without a doubt that He loves us and He loves every person here in South Texas as he does in Idaho or anywhere else. We are His children.

And I know he loves you as I do! :)

Take care family!!

Love Elder Smith

ZLC IN MCALLEN & HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

Hey guys! So good to hear from you all!! First off, I just wanna say right away that I got Alex a SWEET gift...the bad news...It’s gonna be late. Forgive me hermanito! But I hope you like it!! Second I love all of you so much! You are all so great!  Glad to see you had a wonderful week and that everyone is healthy and happy! Chan and Al...thank you for your emails! I’m always praying for you 2! As well, Dad...thank you always for your great emails. They always touch me and I always get a boost from them. Mom, thank you for the pictures and updates and for doing EVERYTHING for me haha! (You thought you could get away from that for 2 years....guess not haha!)

So this week was great! Another ZLC in McAllen and the 2 1/2 hour evening drive home! It always calms the nerves just to drive haha! And sorry I didn't answer this last week but we have transfers a week from tomorrow. We will know Friday, but I’m fairly sure I’m staying! Hopefully....My guess is Elder Sanchez will go to be an assistant because our other one Elder De La Fuente is going home. But who knows!!!! Maybe I’ll get shipped back to Laredo haha!!! The transfers have gone too fast up here and we always joke that the time goes fast as a ZL cus you deal with so much crap! I think that’s why Dad might be aging on us so quickly haha! But I love every minute of it!

I received a letter from Bishop a few weeks ago, so assure him that I will write back REALY SOON! I am not really a writer at all! As well I received one from Keg and it reminded my to give a shout out to all my old buds and their families. The Machens, Freis, Meyers, and of course the Ydes! I’m so proud of all of them and it sounds like Keg has been doing well! As well want to say hi to the Grandparents! (I LOVE YOU!!) And JAY! I need to write him!

So this week has gone too fast! I feel I have spent any free time in my journal trying to gather all my memories from the mission. It becomes real at this point that it won’t last forever and I don’t want to forget a single thing! Today I talked to President and I told him that the mission is sacred ground for me. The mission has changed me more than anything. I feel like I have done 30 years of growing in a year.. Haha luckily not physically. Even though the Elders make fun of me because they say all the weight goes to my pompis. (butt) haha But luckily, I’m roughly about the same size!!

My time here really has been great with Elder Sanchez. "We are way too much alike." he says "Only you’re white and I’m..well....brown!" haha So that either means we get along way too well or we get frustrated with each other haha! But I love him to death! I’ve learned alot about myself and as well about revelation. He has taught me so much about receiving revelation through prayer, scripture study, and even dreams. He really is a special kid.

But I am always ready for my next challenge and trial. I like the growing it makes me do. haha maybe not at the moment but afterwards I am grateful.

So to finish I wanted to just spent a few minutes on a little birthday paragraph for Alex.

I always tell Elder Sanchez, “No offense but Alex is still my favorite brown kid! And the most handsome!” HAHA! The only problem is he likes to outdo me and Chan in about everything! I decided we will have to pick up the pace! But Alex really is kinda like the glue that holds together the family. From the first time we saw him we couldn't get enough of him, and not to brag, but he couldn't get enough of me haha! At least back then!  But Alex, you are a very blessed spirit if you didn't already know. God had planned from the beginning for you to be part of the SMITH CLAN! Without you, we wouldn't even be the Smiths! And I am very grateful that you are MY brother. I’m grateful that you are my best friend and even though you might be able to take me out by the time I’m home, you will always know that your "big" brother loves you more than anything. And that without you, I wouldn't be who I am.

The MOST important part of the Gospel to me is the knowledge that our families can be together forever. And the knowledge that you and Addi and Chan and I will be together with Mom and Dad forever is the thing that makes me wanna be a missionary. And you’re what makes me want to be a missionary, buddy!

Happy birthday and I hope you all have a great week!!

LOVE,

Elder Smith

SORE KNEES BUT WORTH IT!

Hey guys! It’s great to hear from you all this week. My email will be shorter today because I emailed Chan. But I wanted to tell ALEX that his email meant the world to me. That’s the best one I’ve received my whole mission. No offense guys :) I’m so proud of you Alex you don’t even know! Keep up the good work buddy! I’m sorry to hear about Dad’s back and I hope he gets feeling better. And Addi...HI!!! I love you! Tell Papa and Grammy thank you for the V-day card and tell Gpa and Grandma thank you for their letters!

So it sounds like an eventful week. We had a crazy week here. We had leadership training in Corpus Tuesday through Thursday and it was super good. Because we are up north here, we only did it with 3 zones, instead of the whole mission. Laredo, Sinton(us) and Corpus. We had to give alot of trainings, so it was hectic but super good. We found out that our new mission president is from Chile. Born and raised! He has only lived in Utah for the past 2 years and was an Area 70 for Chile. Looks like a great guy. It will be weird because he has 6 kids all 16 and younger.  The mission home will be hopping.

So I wanted to share a cool missionary experience with you all. We have a couple here and there. We ended up following a bunch of referrals until it lead us to the house of a member who wasn't on the records. We got there right in time and helped her unload her washing machine and dryer from the truck. Which was easy because we were in a threesome because of trainings. Right then her husband Louis pulls up. (not a member) And we finally get into the house just to offer a prayer. He had been taught a little before but hadn't wanted to be baptized. We get talking and all the sudden Elder Sanchez says "Brother, you need to kneel down and ask God if this is the path he wants you to take for your family. So we kneel down, explain prayer, explain how the Holy Ghost works and ‘fuga’. He prayed...we waited and listened....and then we asked..."What is the answer God gave you?" He started crying and said "He wants me to go. I’ve waited too long." Then the Spirit said "Elder Smith...invite him to be baptized..." We hadn't even taught baptism. But I figured I couldn't argue with the Spirit, so I invited him. Haha he said “yes” before I even finished the question. The good news is it’s a great part member family. Bad news...We all had pretty sore knees haha. But it was worth it.

The lord is slowly taking us out of this drought, so hopefully it happens soon.  We feel that things are changing.

But that’s it for this week! We were super busy and I hate it because the time goes too fast. But I guess that’s just the way it goes. Thank you all so much for everything! I love you all so much and I pray you all have a great week.. Hang in there!!

Love you all!  BYE~!!

TIME ON A MISSION IS LIKE 'THOSE CHINESE FINGER THINGS"

Man another week come and gone. Sounds like a lot happened there! Haha not too much happened down here this week.

I’m glad everyone had a great Valentines Day and I wanted to thank you all again for the great V day package! It was great! I wore the tie on Thursday and I got a lot of compliments! Thank you for the pictures and emails though. They really made my day today.

So, today we found out that next Monday we will know who our new Mission President will be. That’s super weird.  I never thought the day would come that I would have to worry about a new President, but it’s approaching quickly. President Trayner has done a lot of amazing things for the TMM. Up here in the North we are just kicking along. We had a little bit better week. We were able to get some things going with members and found some good new people. We had a pretty cool experience, we went out with Sabrina and Alex Cavasos and met them at a potential’s house that Sabrina had known. We talked to her on her door step and Sabrina “threw down” haha! She bore testimony and invited her to church and then offered a prayer before she left. When we were walking away she's like, "who knows, maybe I could do the whole missionary thing. That felt pretty good." haha The only thing she says is holding her back is she thinks if someone rejected her or said something mean, that she would beat them up! hahaa. I guess I can’t say that it hasn't crossed my mind. haha

But it really is weird. The further you get into your mission the harder you wanna work and the more it means to you. But the harder you work, the faster is goes. Then the faster is goes it makes you wanna work even harder. It’s a TRAP!!  It’s like those Chinese finger things that you put your finger in, then when you try to pull it out, it’s got you and there’s no way out. haha! The more you struggle the worse it gets!! I’m really am so grateful for every day though.

Carlos and Margie are the hot family now and everyone wants to take them out to lessons haha. They are too funny. Remind me a lot of you guys! Just the brown version :)

But other than that, there isn't much to report so I want to leave you with a story:

I went on an exchange with one of our District Leaders up in Beeville (Elder Port) he actually came out with me. But in there area they have struggled finding and so for those 2 days we were determined to find some new peeps. We sat down with 2 families and neither was too down for anything. But then we got invited into dinner with a super great family. They fed us and we slowly transitioned into a lesson. Before they knew it, the Spirit had just rocked their world and the mom and dad were both tearing up. We set baptismal dates with all 5. It was a big testimony builder for me and I was super lucky to be there to witness such an awesome miracle. Really as missionaries we are the luckiest because we get to be a part of all these miracles that God works in their lives. Not a bad gig I’d say :) I just wouldn't mind one of those family of 5 miracles in my area!

But we are  learning. We are in the “refiners fire” so we will see how much he can push us to grow.

The mission is great! The greatest, really.. I love it.

Thank you for everything you do and I pray you have a great week!!! BYE!!

Elder SMITH!