CROCKETT SISTERS GET BAPTIZED & 2ND BABY BOY ON THE WAY!

Hello family,

Wow, I am so heartbroken to hear about Ethan. I don’t think I’ve ever had a bad thing to say about Ethan. He was such a great kid and I really feel for his family and the Moss family. I really love that kid. Please, if you talk to his family or the Moss family, make sure they know how highly I think of him. I’ll keep them in my prayers.

AND HUNNY!!! Be careful!!!! I freaked out when I saw that picture! Man I hope you’re doing ok! Sounds like a pretty cool break story though. A zip line, eh? I Hope you’re feeling better hunny, I love you. And I hope you’re milking it too! Mom and Dad will do anything for their broken bone children, haha! 

So, I wanted to say thank you to the Jones family for the package I got and as well Grandpa and Grandma and Papa and Grammy for the letters. You guys do too much. Thank you!

So this week was incredible. So many miracles. But I will start with my favorite. Remember I told you A. Crocket was getting baptized yesterday. And the younger one Kayla decided not to. She was the one that just killed me when I was there because she knew the b.o.m. was true. But I got a call on Saturday from Elder Hill and he said Kayla got interviewed as well, and was going to be baptized on Sunday! And she had asked if I could baptize her. Man, I was so excited and grateful and super humbled. So I got permission from President and made it down to Brownsville with some members from San Benito.

So when I got there Elder Hill was outside talking to a member and it didn’t look like a nice talk. When I got over I kinda got into the conversation cause I knew the member and he knew the Crockett girls. He’s kind of an apostate guy and had taken Kayla out during class and told her she wasn’t ready for baptism. And just fed her a ton of doubts and just freaked her out. And he’s an active member! So, she was super confused and sad and we found out and just tore into this guy. Then the Zone leaders tore into him. It was pretty ugly. So, we went in to see the girls and found out she had doubts about the Plan of Salvation, because she had gone to the Jehovah Witness church before. And she said "I want to learn it right now and pray about it." So like 30 minutes before her baptism, Elder Hill and Nino went in a room and taught them both. And I was dying!!! Haha I wanted to go in and teach them so bad but they weren’t my investigators anymore and so i just sat outside and waited. And they taught for like 45 minutes and the baptismal service had already started and everything. Finally, they came out.

She had received an answer in the room. AND she had the biggest smile on her face. So, we got in our whites real fast as they stalled for us. Snapped some pictures, and we got in and they were both baptized.

I wish you could have seen them after the baptism. haha They were walking to the car, spinning circles saying "I feel sooooooo goood!" Nobody can tell me that those girls weren’t ready for that because I had never seen them so happy. haha Man they are the best. Definitely a big heartache, haha but worth it! Such a great family, and one of the best days of my mission. And it was good to be there with my first born again, Elder Hill.

On Saturday I also got the news that I’ve got a new baby boy on the way, fresh from the MTC. He gets here on Wednesday. I kept thinking of your birthday letter Mom, when you said when I was born, "I don’t know how I could love another as much as the first one!" So we will see if I can. But I am super excited and humbled to get the chance to mess up another one:) haha

Things are just crazy here, but the last of my good news is that we found a great family and got them to church this week, all 7 of them. Lots of little kids, but a great family. A lot of hurdles to jump, but after the Sunday we had I feel like we are getting better and better at making it over them.

I love being a missionary and I thank my Lord everyday for the life I get to live right now. What a blessing. I love you family. Take care!

Love Elder Smith

MOLE & CHOCO FLAN CAKE FOR MY 20TH BIRTHDAY!

How are you family? Thank you for your great emails today and all the great thoughts and pictures. It looks like you partied a lot harder there, than we did here haha! So glad you had a  great week! Thank you so much for the wonderful birthday packages, Mom and Dad and Grandpa and Grandma too! I loved the fudge and the wonderful uplifting cards I received haha:) You guys are the best! As well, I got Sister Hart’s birthday card on Saturday night and it made the birthday. She is the best! I hope you gave her a big hug for me. And I hope everyone is doing well. I feel super bad because I just got back from the mail and I bought a watch.... haha but I will take it back when I get Chan’s gift. Love you Chan! And tell Monty and his wife congrats! Sounds like a great day.

So this week was kinda crazy. haha Unfortunately not the most amazing week I’ve had out here. My district struggled a little bit and had some baptisms fall through on Sunday. So we were a little down, but we went to the Leal family’s house for a birthday dinner before we went out to work. They didn’t make menudo, unfortunately. They made Mole, which is super good as well. And a choco flan cake, which was great. I was gonna send a picture, but I lost my camera cord. haha ooops! But then we went out to work. We met with Gaston and found out he won’t be able to get divorced, so we won’t be able to teach him anymore. It’s really hard when you love someone so much and they are doing all they can, but it just can’t get done right now. He has a great testimony and one day will get things done. So we’ve got some rebuilding to do this week, but we are all feeling good today.

So this week went pretty well, besides a couple end of the week let downs. We were able to leave our area to go visit our branch president and start trying to win him over. He’s a tough cookie, but we are working on him. We also had a Zone Conference on Friday and Brownsville came up as well, so I got to see Elder Hill and it was great.There’s something special about a missionary you train. You feel so proud of them, but have that nervous feeling about them being out on there own without you, haha! But he had some good news as well... A. Crocket is getting baptized next Sunday!!!  IT’S CRAZY! I was so excited. I got permission from President to go down so we will see what happens. Those girls do like to mess with the missionaries haha! But I love them and she has been interviewed and is ready to go! It will be so good to see her baptized. I feel like I’ve loved too many people and seen too many people ready, for the amount of baptisms I’ve actually seen. Which sometimes can be a little discouraging but I am so happy that they are making that choice. I’ve thought a lot about things like that and I think it’s so amazing how the Lord gives us our own mission. And it’s different than every one else’s. We serve in the places we serve and we meet the people he wants us to meet, and have our own unique experiences. And sometimes we are tested and tried so we can grow. So, I feel like we’ve been growing big and strong here in San Benito, but we know that the Lord’s got someone waiting for us. He just leaves it up to us to work for them. 

I’m so grateful to be here right now :) But I feel like it’s slaughtering my Spanish. San Benito speaks some dirty tex mex! haha.

 But family, I wanted to say thank you again for everything. I love you all so much and am so grateful for the support. I’m so blessed to have such a wonderful family and friends and I hope you all know that. The last thing I wanted to ask is that you tell Colter Happy Birthday for me. I wrote a letter, but lost his address. I love that kid and I’m pretty sure he’s on the 19th? haha! I love you all so much and I hope you have a wonderful week! Take care! With much Carino :)

Elder Smith

WE TALKED TO EVERY MEAN PERSON IN SAN BENITO THIS WEEK

Man, what great emails!! Thank you so much for your stories and pictures! Before I forget I have to say that Rose is way to young to be going to prom!!! But I bet she was the prettiest one there! I loved the picture of the marshall kids too! And that you got to go to Coeur d’ Alene. Looks super pretty!

This week was a little bit of a rough week for us though, haha. They happen every once and awhile. Gaston has been doing so well and has read like 60 pages in the Book of Mormon but we found out he is living with someone who isn’t his wife. And he doesn’t think he can move out. So we hit a pretty big road block. We still got him to church but he is hitting those hurtles that always come in the conversion process. All we can do is keep helping him overcome them. He is a great guy and I really love him.

It seemed as if though we talked to every mean person in San Benito this week. Haha we had a pretty good streak of talking to a lot of people who do not like us! haha. And I could tell Elder Merica was a little discouraged. I know I was a little bit haha. Sometimes it’s tough to be so connected with this people and then have to watch them struggle and make bad decisions. It almost feels as if they are your mistakes and sometimes you feel pretty weighed down with them. Especially doing interviews for baptism and things like that. But at the same time, the Lord always just wipes off your plate every day and you go back for some more. I am just very glad we are moving on to a new week and I am so excited that the Lord blesses us with 2 years of this. Cus right now I feel like we are just getting started! haha.

But I want you all to know that I feel so blessed to be here. I hope you are seeing the blessing, because they are so obvious here. I love you all and I’m so proud of you! Especially you Dad! Always am!  And p.s. Alex yes I did have Ms. Harris. haha those art ladies are very unique, but she is awesome! Take care family I love you all. You too, Addi and Chan!

Take care!!! :)

P.S. I know you already sent the package, but I would love if you could send a little picture of the I.F. temple for me :) Thank you!!!

!HOLA!

Man I love you guys! Such great emails!  Addi, you look too stinking old! And so beautiful on your first day of school !:) Alex, you’ve got some sweet shoes man and are looking fresh as always! Chan, you look really happy in all the pictures haha. I can tell you’ve been reenergized by the female interaction up at school. And Mom and Dad you guys are the best! I love reading your emails and it’s a treat to hear from you every week. It sounds like a great week getting back into school and work and all that fun stuff. So glad you are all loving it. And that’s super cool that Elder Stevens saw Brother Traynors brother. Haha man I love Elder Stevens. He is a stud!

So I feel like I just emailed you all yesterday, but here I am again. I wanted to say hello to Grandpa and Grandma and Papa and Grammy. I haven’t been so good at writing anyone lately, so I feel bad. And as well, all the family and the Rammells! AND JAY!!! Love you all! Your all so great and I’m sorry I haven’t written! I’ll write soon!!!

So this week was SOOOOO great! We worked our butts of this week. haha This was probably the fastest week of my mission for sure cause we just had so much going on. We are working with the members here a lot and it has been super great. It’s amazing how easy the work gets when you work with willing and loving members. We have focused so much on just getting to know them and their families and now we can’t keep them away! haha. I have met so many amazing families and I feel like that blessing that President Goodman gave me paid off because this week I fell in love with so many of our members. And the referrals and success just naturally came. We met a man through one of my favorite families the Perales family. And we all instantly hit it off with him. After our first 2 days of teaching him he had read like 25 pages in the BOM and he made it to church yesterday, and it’s like we don’t have to do anything but show up and teach haha! Well we do a little more than that...but the Pereles are just taking care of everything else haha and it’s been great. But the Lord has just blessed us so much. I really feel like I’m finally figuring out how this work is supposed to go and that’s when you put it in the members hands and more importantly in the Lord’s hands. I feel like in your mission, right when you figure things out, they change or you get moved.  Haha so pray I stay here! And pray for Gaston! That’s his name! I’ve been singing the song from Beauty and the Beast about how “nobody fights like Gaston” haha!

The elders in my district are all doing so well and the Lord is blessing us a ton. I just feel super blessed to be in this area now. I feel like we are starting to connect with the members and with the branch.

We are all so excited and happy.

So I want you all to know that I love you so much. I’m sorry for such a short email haha. I took a long time emailing President, but I hope all is well. Remember I love you all and that I’m freaked out how fast time is going, so you better not take advantage of it.

Have a wonderful week family and I will hear from you very very soon!!!

LOVE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!

ANOTHER WEEK IN SAN BENITO

Thank you for your emails! They were all so good! I’m glad everyone is back safely and doing well. Especially you Chan. Good work! I’m super proud of you. Now you gotta go find a wife to spend all that money. Otherwise you won’t know what to do with it! Haha And it looks like a fun trip to the cabin! Glad you had fun. Man Dad that’s crazy that Taysom played! Elder Hill is pretty good friends with him and he said that Taysom is like the most freak athlete on the team and that he wouldn’t be surprised if he started soon. That’s super cool.  It’s crazy that it’s already that time of year again. My favorite time of the year. Football and Fall and Cool evenings. Unfortunately, I won’t have any of those this year haha! It’s stinking hot here! In the middle of my area there is a Jr. high and they have football practice everyday after school, when we drive by. Man, I wouldn’t mind dressing down, haha, even in this heat!

Things have been going pretty well here. I’m feeling more and more at home. It’s sad because the Elders before me never worked with the members, so we are going to meet all of them for the first time. Some missionaries just miss the whole boat that, that’s how the work gets done. But as well, that’s where those great relationships come because I’m already  falling in love with these members here. And word already leaked about my birthday and so some members are making me menudo for my birthday. I’ll let you look up what it is, but let’s just say it’s not very good haha! But as well they are making Idaho potatoes to compensate! haha! I can hardly believe that September came around so fast.. I keep telling the elders that the first quarter of life is already over. How sad haha!! Just kidding, but I have been thinking about Sister Hart.. I feel so bad that I won’t get to visit her this year, but I’m gonna send something good for her!

So we have had a pretty great week but we’ve struggled with flakey people. It’s tough because my area is just soooo poor and either people don’t have a car or they have to work at the Pulga (flea market) on Sundays and so church is tough. There’s a lot of urgency and maybe even anxiety when you just start from nothing and you start going but continue to lose people. But we know there are people here waiting. It’s just all part of the hunt, I guess haha.

But it’s so good to hear from all of you. I love hearing of all my friends that are out serving. I’m so proud of all of them. It just strengthens my testimony to be reminded how big the church really is and really all the support that we have as missionaries. Especially me. I’m so lucky to have such a wonderful and supportive family. SO thank you all so much!

I just wanted to tell you a pretty cool story real fast. We received a referral for a family that lives clear out in the middle of nowhere. So we headed clear out there on our bikes because we were out of miles. We got to this house and the Dad was just leaving. He was a pretty big, brawny looking guy, haha.  Didn’t really want to talk at all and just wanted us to leave. But we started talking to him and something just clicked. A total change of heart and he let us in and called his whole family. They had a beautiful family. He said he was actually leaving out of town for work right when we pulled up, but felt like he should spare a few minutes to sit with us. Said he didn’t really know why he felt it. So we got to know him and asked questions and they were the sweetest family. Especially the dad, who started asking really good questions. And the more we talked, the more he just had this puzzled look on his face. He kept saying, "I’ve never thought about that, but it makes sense." Everything was just clicking and the Spirit was so strong. Then he looked at me and asked, "Does this make you happy?"  And I was like, well yeah! That’s why I’m here, haha! And he said, “I can just see it in your faces.. I know there’s something different.” Man the Spirit was soo dang strong. He had to leave for work so we didn’t have time for a lesson but we knelt down and left a blessing on his home and family. He was crying after the prayer and we got up to leave. As Elder Merica went to shake his hand, he handed him a big wad of money. And Elder Merica didn’t really know what to say haha...because all this was in Spanish. I told him we couldn’t take the money. And it was alot! haha But we left and Elder Merica was like "Why did he try to give me money?” Haha I was like I don’t, but we gotta do it more often haha!

So many funny, cool experiences that just rock my world and strengthen my testimony.. As I look back, the experiences I’ve had out here are starting to change the way I act and feel towards people and towards myself. It’s crazy how you just get molded, even when you can’t really feel it. But I’m so grateful for those experiences.

Well I better go, but I love you all and pray you have a good week!!! Love YOU!!!

Love Elder Smith 

HERE IN SAN BENITO

Hello Family,

Thank you so much for your emails and pictures. I am super, super impressed with the new hot tub setup. Looks pretty good Mom and Dad! But I’m was super sick looking at that picture and realizing how big Addi is! She is stinkin’ tall!! But I’m so glad to hear that all is well with Aunt Camy. Tell her I’m thinking and praying for her and I love her and her family. As well that’s crazy that Justin is already back. Before you know it, Garrett will be back to! I was just thinking about that the other night, haha. Pretty crazy. So Chan, it sounds like your doing so well. Just finish up this last week and then go home! Haha! I’ll be praying for you, bud. And as well I wanted to tell the grandparents and Jay Hi! Love You!

So San Benito.....San Benito is the neighbor area to my old one. We split the country road that the Hernandez family lives on, but I can’t go see them. We are in the Harlingen Zone, so we don’t ever see anyone from Brownsville. My area is a lot alike to my other one as far as the country area. But in town it’s really, really old and run down. There’s not any "nicer areas" here but I love it cause it seems that people are a little more humble. When I got in they had just had 2 baptisms but didn’t have any other investigators, so this week we began the search and it was a GREAT WEEK! My companions name is even whiter than mine. His name is Elder Merica. He’s from Utah and is literally like a Jonny Merrill in missionary form, haha. Super, super funny kid. I like it because he’s got that same sense of humor and Jordan, Jonny and Tyler and that group. I’m convinced they knew each other in the pre-existence. He’s been out about 4 transfers and he’s a great missionary. Doesn’t speak really any Spanish, but we are working on it! My district is just a four man district and we all live together. We all cover our own Spanish Branch and then all the missionaries in Harlingen cover the English one which is in Harlingen.

It’s been kinda a tough week with leaving my old area and coming in with nobody to teach, but I feel like we have got the ball rolling. After the first 2 days we hadn’t found anyone and we were working hard but just nothing was going. We had a meeting and so we went to Harlingen to meet the Branch President. I asked him for a blessing just to kinda get a relationship with him and start off on the right foot and man, he said exactly what I needed to hear. I had, had those feelings of missing my other area and wondering if I could fall in love with this new one and in the blessing he said, "Elder Smith, the Lord knows that you have loved many people on your mission...But I bless you at this time, with the ability to love these people more than you have loved before." And at that moment I felt like I kinda checked into San Benito for good.

We began to find some great people and get to know more members and I have already received so much love and support from them. I’m so excited to serve with them, especially in the Spanish Branch. I may be kinda biased but I play favorites with Spanish branches. And I already am starting to feel at home. I may search for a Spanish Branch in I.F. when I get home, haha! But I love it because now I get to be part of the Priesthood Exec. meetings in the branch with all the presidents and leaders of the branch. And I would like to bear my testimony that, the church is the same no matter where you go. And no matter what language or area, they are just as random and unfocused as any others, haha!

SO San Benito is really warming up to me and we have a lot of great people now. I just keep praying for our success and for that love, but i feel it coming quickly!!!

It’s such an amazing time in the mission. I feel when the tides change so to speak, and I start looking forward instead of back. When a shirt and tie are called "normal clothes", and I feel more naked without my tag then I did without my cell phone. This is just life. I feel like I don’t know any different, haha. But it’s a pretty good life I’de say.  And such a blessing to be here in San Benito.

I love you all so much and a pray for all of you day and night. I love you all a bunch and I’m so grateful for everything you do! Take care this week. Kids have fun at school. And I will hear from you soon. Take care :)

Love, Elder Smith

NOS VEMOS BROWNTOWN!

Such great emails family! Thank you so much, I appreciated all of your stories and pictures. Chandler.....I’ll let it slide this week :) But just this week! Haha, man I loved Alex’s story about Bart! That’s super funny. It brought back memories of Bailey sleeping out on that Lazy Boy. And I’m glad that Mom and Dad and the Rammells had fun in Sun Valley! I got your post cards and I loved them. Especially Renee’s horse joke. haha We all laughed pretty hard. And Addi’s letter was so sweet! Thanks hunny!

So on Friday we got transfer calls. I was shocked and felt like I got my heart ripped in half when I heard that I would not be finishing training Elder Hill or staying. Tomorrow I am being transferred to San Benito. It’s about 20 minutes north of Brownsville. I couldn’t believe it! We were all shocked because we thought for sure I would be staying. But I guess the Lord has other plans. Even though I feel like the kid that had the fire cracker blow up prematurely in his hand. It has been a tough couple of days. A lot of tears already...and I’m not looking forward to tonight. Tonight the branch is throwing a little party in the church for my going away so it will be tough to say goodbye. Now I know what Chan meant when he said it’s almost worse than leaving home. (I put the "almost" in just for you Mom :)) But I have had a pretty hard time with it. I love this area and these people so much that it won’t be easy. But I’m gonna be positive because I know the Lord has someone else waiting for me. But Brownsville has a big piece of my heart.

So this week was a pretty great week. We found a lot and taught a lot. Probably one of the best weeks here, of course right when I’m about to leave. But there are a lot of great people that will be baptized in September that hopefully I can come back to see. We had quite a freaky incident with the Hernandez family because we went out there for a lesson and Lizbeth had just cut her foot open really bad, and it was pretty gruesome. But there’s no one else that lives out by them because they are in the middle of nowhere so we kinda had to scramble and play doctor and get it closed up. I was pretty woozy by the end because you know I don’t like blood much. But we got it taken care of finally and got Presidente de la Llata out there and a doctor in our branch as well. It was bad enough to go to the hospital but she couldn’t go, so the branch was taking care of her. Luckily we’ve got some doctors in the branch. But that took up almost all of our night being there with her and keeping her calm until we got some help out there. But that night we had half the branch there with my injured recent convert, and I saw how protected she felt and it was just amazing. They couldn’t even fit half that branch in their little house. But I could tell it was the first time that she just felt like they all had her back.

But I kinda realized that night, I reached the pinnacle of just LOVE. Just so much love for all those people there and for the Hernandez family. And realizing how hard it would be to leave haha. And having to write out "I’m leaving" on the white board for Andrea. She just shook her head and said “nope”! That’s what I felt like saying when I was told, but I didn’t! But that family is in such good hands with the branch and with Elder Hill. So I’m not worrying too much.

As well we had a super fun service project on Saturday where we gave out 900 free backpacks and it was super fun. We had all the branches and wards in Brownsville together and it was a huge project and huge success. I put a picture on my email of it. But a great way to end my week here.

But other than that, not too much happened this week. I am just so grateful and humbled to have been able to serve here and I have learned so so much. I hope that you will all be able to be with me for a Sunday in the Casa Linda Branch someday. It’s quite a treat:) haha! So family I hope all is well and that you enjoy these last few weeks of summer. Live it up. Be safe. And remember that I love you! And you can wait for my email from San BENITO Next week! Love you!

Love Elder Smith