Stake President Saves a Life

Elder King, Bishop, Flory, and Elder Smith, September 2010

Dear Everyone,

Hope you all had a good week. Thank you for the pictures, it´s really cool to see how everyone has grown. You all still have a year before the "ipod for a 6 pack game" ends. When Spencer got of the plane at the Jamboree was Julia crying? Haha Can't wait to see how much you cry once I get of the plane. Also Mom, it will be easier to send a package the way you have done it in the past because I´m actually pretty close to the mission office so I can go pick it up on a P-day. Also send it through the US postal service because my comp. is having touble getting his package that was sent through fedex.

So this week was really awesome because we had the baptism of Flory. Yay!!! It was super cool and she is such a cool person. Another thing that was cool was a family friend of Pablo, who is Flory´s husband, came. They assist a Christian church and are not very happy with some of the things that are going on. Well Pablo talked with them a little bit about the church and they really love how we are very focused on the families. At the baptism during the talks there was some emphasis on the family and also when a couple people shared their testimonies, they talked about famlies. So we are probably going to start teaching them and we will see what happens. 

So yesterday in church was crazy. Well the stake presidency came today and the Stake President Esperanza was going to talk. Well, after the sacrament an Hermano got up and gave a talk. Right in the middle of his talk he closed his eyes and said, "I'm sorry, but I have to stop." Then he paused for a couple seconds and then he said, "I need to stop cause my pressure just went down." Then he paused again and was about to fall over, but President Ezperansa caught him. Well all the people on the stand got up and helped him to the ground. Then a couple members got up and closed the curtains that are in the front, but before they closed all the way we heard a big thud and Elder King saw Pres. punch the guy right in the chest. Then a couple min. later they took him to the car and drove him to the hospital. Well what had happened was that the Hermano´s heart had stopped and President Ezperansa is a really famous cardiologist here in Costa Rica. Well when he punched him in the chest that started his heart back up and if he had not been there, than the Hermano would have died because nobody else would have known what to do. So it was a miracle that the Stake President was there and one of the members got up and said that President Ezperansa didn't come here to give a talk, he came to save a life. Well the Heramno is alright now so that's good.

Well other than that not much has happened this week. Tonight we find out who has changes and I think my companion is going to have changes which won't be great. This has definitely been the best 6 weeks of the mission. Also I'm super excited for General Conference this weekend. Yay!!! Three day vacation!! Haha! Have an awesome week!!!! Love Elder Smith

Celebrating 10 Years in the Field!

Happy Birthday Elder King!

Dear Everyone, Hope you all had a good week. This week I hit 10 months in the mission. Yay! In two more months I will have a year and then its only downhill from there. I honestly never thought that I would have a year in the mission, but time is flying by super fast. There is only a week and a half left in this change. I think Elder King is going to have changes which will be sad because he is definitely the coolest missionary in Costa Rica and he has been my favorite companion. I don't think there has been a day where we haven't laughed our heads off.

So this week, not much has happened. On Tuesday and Wednesday I did divisions with an Elder named Rodriguez. He  came to our area while my comp. was in Hatillos with Elder Malen. It was a long two days because this Elder Rodriguez is a little different and I basically had to teach the whole time during the lessons we had for those days. I was very excited when Elder King came back.

So Thursday was Elder King's 21st birthday. We celebrated by buying food and we also bought these chocolate bunt cakes that are soooooo good. One of the members also made him a cake and we had a little party at their house. Elder King also hit 21 months in the mission the next day. That's pretty crazy because I remember meeting him my first day in Costa Rica. It's crazy how fast time flies.

This past Saturday we had the wedding of Pablo and Flory. They were going to do it next Saturday, but they suprised us and decided to get married this week. They had a small wedding with a few family and friends, but it was really awesome and they even had a buffet style meal afterwards. It was really fun! Flory is going to baptized on Saturday and I'm really excited about that . . .We are still working with German and he is progressing. He is working on quiting smoking and is reading the Book of Mormon. We also started teaching his mom which is really good. The only problem is that German works at McDonalds and he has to work on Sundays a lot. He is looking for a new job--if he finds one, that will be good.

Well I hope you all have an amazing week. One more week and we will be in October--my second favorite month of the year. Love Elder Smith

Never Chug a Gallon of Milk on an Empty Stomach

Dear Everyone,

Hey I hope you all had an awesome week. Thank you very much for all the emails--I hope I got all of them. So this week has been pretty good. We´ve been trying to find new people to teach every day which means knocking door. But it's not so bad especially when you have a super awesome companion. Yes, we are having tons of fun together and I love every day. When we are walking, we joke and laugh a lot. On Saturday which was Patriot Day, can't believe its been 9 years since 9/11, we spent like 4 hours talking about how great America is and all the things that are there that aren´t here. haha! Also since it was a holiday we bought pizza, which is super expensive here.

We currently have three new baptismal goals with investigators. The first is with German and he is super awesome. He is reading the Book of Mormon and he really wants to change his life around. His mother told us about how he is a lot kinder now. We also set a goal with Mariano, who is the boyfriend of a member. He is a little timid and it's hard to get him to pray at the end of lesson, but he´s reading and saying his personal prayers. Then we have Flory, who is the girlfriend of a member. They are getting married on the 25th and then she is going to be baptized on the 26th.

Also we got a reference from a recent convert. His name is Julian we had a really awesome lesson with him yesterday. So today I hit 300 days in the mission. Only 65 till I hit the year mark. This has been the fastest year of my entire life and from what everyone tells me, the second year goes by even faster. Tengo que aprovechar el tiempo entonces.

I've been working out every day with Elder King. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays we do weights. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday we go running and then we do the p90x ab ripper--try it 'cause its hard. We have gotten to the point where we can to all the moves--we just have to take breaks in between.

Today we had a fun P-day activity. We went with a couple of other Elders from my district to the park. Before we went, we went to a store and each bought a gallon of milk. Yep, that's right--we did the "gallon challenge" and let's just say that a lot of people threw up. Haha it was so funny. I started drinking really fast and I was the first to puke. Haha it was funny and right now I smell a little bit like milk. Well I hope you all have a good week and I love you all! Elder Smith

Short but Sweet

Visit to the Temple -- Elder Smith and King

Dear Everyone,

Hope you all had an awesome week! Today isnt P-day because we are going to the temple on Wednesday. So  I will probably write you again on Wednesday if we have time. We are going to the temple at 11 a.m. and then we are going to play soccer for a bit. This week was really good. We had the baptism of Michael and it was super awesome. He is 18 years old and after he got baptized he stood up and bore his testimony and said he is  excited to move forward so that he can prepare to leave on the mission  in a year. It was super cool. So I love you all and hope everything is giong good. Love Elder Smith