Monday, June 28, 2010

Cinco Bautismos!

James, Hanz, Francini, Lidieth, Suyen, Elder Smith, Elder Vallejo, Hermano Conejo, Sergio, Presidente Sanchez
Hello Everyone! This week has been really awesome! Yesterday we had 5 baptisms!!! So we baptized Hanz and his wife Francini and the mother and sister of Hanz, Lidieth and Suyen. It was really cool because we have been working with this family for about 2 months and when we first started teaching them only Hanz wanted to get baptized, but then the other members of the family started listening to us and they all made the decisions to get baptized. It took a lot of work on our part and theirs to be ready, but we all did it and it was a way awesome experience. So our branch president baptized Hanz and Francini, my companion baptized Lidieth, the mom, and I baptized Suyen, the sister. It was way cool!
Our other baptizm was Sergio. He was a reference from a member in our ward and we have only been working with him for about a month. It was a little harder to teach him because he is a timid person and he forgets things easily. But he is super cool and after we taught the word of wisdom he immediatly stopped drinking coffee. The member who gave us the reference, Hermano Conejo, baptized him. So yesterday there were 9 people dressed in white and it was super cool. Also I did the confirmation of Lidieth and that was super awesome too. Its the first confirmation that I've ever done.
So yeah, this week was super awesome! Also we are working with a couple, Jose and Melania, they are super cool and we have been teaching them for awhile now and the only thing they need to do is get married. Jose wants to get married but Melania had some bad experiences in her last marriage. So we went to their house and only Jose was home so we asked him if he really wants to get married to Melania and he said "yes". Then we told him that he needs to start showing her that he really loves her. We gave him some good pointers of what he could do, like buy her flowers or chocolates, ask her how her day was or just tell her "you love her" everyday. Jose told us that Melania wouldn't like any of that stuff and then my comp was like, "Are you telling me that a girl wouldn't love getting a rose?" and Jose said, "I don't think girls like that stuff anymore". At that moment a girl walked passed the house, we were sitting outside, and my comp stopped her and asked her if she would like it if someone gave her a rose. She said, "I think every girl in the world would like it if someone gave her a rose". It was funny and Jose said he would do something to show Melania that he loves her.
So its awesome to hear that you all had fun at trek and that Spencer had fun at EFY! I love you all. Elder Smith P.S. I find out if I have changes on Friday.

A Day of Baptisms

Elder Smith, Sergio (new member), Hermano Conejo, Elder Vallejo

Elder Vallejo, James, Hanz, Francini, Lidieth, Suyen, Elder Smith, and Lidieth

Elder Vallejo, James, Hanz, Francini, Lidieth, Suyen, Elder Smith, and Lidieth

Monday, June 21, 2010

Package Week -- Hooray!

Dear Everyone, Hi, It sounds like you all had a fun week. I finally got both packages thank you very much for the food its almost all gone. Haha! So this week I hit 7 months in the mission, but who´s counting. Haha! It feels good to finally have some time in the mission cause I'm no longer a newbie.
So this week has been really good and we have been working really hard with the 5 investigators that we have with a baptismal date set for this Saturday! Thats about all that has happened this week.
We have visited Hans and his family everyday this week. They are super awesome! Also we have passed by Sergio a bunch this past week.
This week we also had interviews with President Galvez and mine was really good. Also he asked me if I wanted to stay in my area for another change or leave and I told him that I want to stay because It´s way awesome here so hopefully Im here a little longer.
So yeah not much else has happened this week. Oh also there was a fathers' day activity in our branch and we played games and ate food--it was really fun. Hope you had a happy fathers day, dad and good luck with your school board campaign. Thanks again for the packages and thank you for the letter Grandma and Grandpa. I'm glad to hear that while you all are eating hot dogs and hamburgers and watching fireworks I´ll be eating rice and beans. Haha! Love you all and I´ll try to write more next week. Elder Smith

Monday, June 14, 2010

A Week of Bad and Good News

Dear Everyone, So first the bad news, my camera broke. We were at a members house and one of the daughters was taking a picture and another daughter was dancing around and she knocked the camera out of the other daughter's hands and it broke. We are going to the temple on wednesday and I wanted to take pictures. Also we have some baptisms coming up on the 26 of June, I´ll talk about them in just a second. So the same thing happened to my companion and he got a camera in Heredia for like 60 mil, $120, which is a good deal cause here all the electronics are way overpriced, but there are tons of places in Heredia that have used ones. I don't really care if its used, just as long as I can take pictures. So I was thinking that if you put money in my account I could buy one tomorrow or on Wednesday before we go to the temple. Yeah this week I had bad luck with things breaking. I broke a light bulb and the toilet seat, so thats why I checked my bank account cause we´re not supposed to use mission money to replace things we brake.
Now for the good news about the work--this week was really good. Also I forgot to tell you guys that last Sunday I taught the Principles of the Gospel class that we have for our investigators all by myself in Spanish. It was way awesome. So yeah, this week we have been working really hard with the investigators that we have.
First Hans and Francini: We have been working with Francini a lot because she likes to drink coffee, but on Saturday it was kind of funny because we went and visited them and she was telling us that every time that she drinks coffee she always thinks about us and she also feels guilty. We told her that is the spirit telling her that she needs to stop drinking coffee. If she can stop drinking coffee, we are going to baptize them on the 26th. YAY!!!
Sergio: We have been teaching him in the house of a member and its going really good. Its kinda hard to teach him because he forgets stuff easily, but he has the desire to be baptized and change his life for the better. The only thing he needs to do is stop drinking coffee, but he is willing to do it. We also have a date set for him on the 26th.
Jose and Melania: We have been teaching them for a long time and the only thing they have to do to be baptized is get married. The only problem is that they are from Nicaragua and usually they would have to go back to Nicaragua to get married or become legal citizens here in Costa Rica but there is a lawyer from the church who can get them married and all he needs is their passport. We are going to help them pay for the wedding, I talked to President and he says its okay if we help pay a little. My companion and I are going to pay 20 dollars each and Jose y Melania are going to pay the other 40 dollars -- that will happen next month.
So yeah we are working really hard and I Love you all!!! Elder Smith

Monday, June 7, 2010

Zone Conference

Dear Everybody, Hey how's everyone doing? I hope you all had a good last week of school. Now its summer vacation, YAY!!!!!!!! Guess who doesn't have summer vacation this year (or next year)... me YAY!!!!!!!!!! So hope you all have a good summer and that all of you get in shape.
So this week has been pretty busy. On Tuesday, I had to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to be in San Jose by 6:00 a.m. so that I could do stuff to get my residency here in Costa Rica. It was fun though 'cause all the Elders from my MTC district were there. So that took all morning long and afterwards I was super tired. Then on Thursday we had Zone conference with 3 zones, my Zone Alajela, Zona Atlantica and Zona Toyopan. I love Zone Conference 'cause I get to spend time with all the cool Elders in my Zone and also President and Sister Galvez always give a good lesson. Also there is really good food there too. It lasts all day so its like another P-day, yay!
So we have some really cool investigators right now. I think I mentioned Hans and his family--they are super awesome. Hans is a way awesome guy who is super ready to be baptized. His wife Francini is also really cool too. She just has a problem with the coffee so we are working with her on that. We have a baptism goal for them on the 26 of June. Also we have a new investigator who is awesome too. He is a referral from one of the members here and he has come to church the past two weeks. He is really timid but way cool and we are going to put a baptismal date for him on the 26 of June also. Also we are working with a less active family and trying to reactivate them--they have a 9 year old daughter who isn't baptized. So we have the possibility of having 4 baptism this month.
Also we are working on trying to get the members to do their Home Teaching and Visiting Teaching 'cause not very many people do it here and I´ve heard that it's a big problem here in Costa Rica. In my area there are a ton of less active or inactive members and we have found that one of the reasons why they became inactive is that none of the members ever visited them. So thats another thing we are working really hard with.
Also this week I finished the Book of Mormon in Spanish and now I'm reading it again. This time I'm marking specific things as I read. First I'm marking all the scriptures about Faith, Repentance, Baptism, The Holy Ghost, and Endure to the End. Also I'm marking everytime it mentions one of the names of Christ. So yeah, that's what I´ll be doing for the next couple of weeks. Also I´ll start sharing scriptures that I like every week.
Well I hope you all have a wonderful summer vacation, I know I will!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!!!! Love Elder Smith