The Key

Hola mi Familia y Amigos,

Okay well I dont have much time. But I would like to share a short story with you all.

Me and my companion got home to our house one night and realized that we still had 30 minutes left before 9 PM. We were tired, hungry. did I say we were tired? Because we always are. Ha ha.

But I really felt like we should still go out for the last bit of time to contact in the streets near our house. So we did.

We were just walking around... nobody was in the streets. But I saw a glimmer in the street for a second and realized that we had passed a key. (Honestly the streets here arnt clean and we pass a lot of things. Ha ha.) But then I got a strong impression to pick it up. Shoot we passed it. But I stop and told my companion "I just saw a key." I know it sounded odd. And if she would have said it to me I am sure I would have thought. "And your point is..." But I told her, lets find it. So we took out our ghetto little cellphone and started searching for it.

An old man passed by and asked what we were searching for. We told him. And he kind of laughed like good luck finding it. But then my companion saw it again. And then old man pointed to the sky and said, "God helped you find it!"

Okay we had the key... now what?! I said, "Lets just knock at this house infront of where we found it and ask them if it is theirs... We knocked, they quickly replied that it was not their key. But that we could ask her neighbor. So we went to her neighbor and knocked... nothing. Then with PERFECT timing. They drove up in their car. With I'm sure the though of "Oh great! The Mormons." But before giving our we are the Missionaries speil. We told them we found a key and were wondering if it was theirs. They were SO excited! They said they had looked everywhere for that key. That they drove like an hour to search for it in another place also.

After being super greatful and before we could even ask them. They told us that we could come by to share our message with them. They are super great!

God works in mysterious ways sometimes. But just imagine if they get baptized all by picking up a key! (Well listening to impressions of the Spirit.)

I love you all and I hope you have a very fantastic week!  :)

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith   

Photos!

Me and my Companion

Aw I love her. She is a sweet convert in our ward, she has less than a year from being baptized. But she always has the coolest jewelry and fashion. Hoping to be able to rock some fashion when I am her age. Ha ha. 

​Well, sometimes you just have to be friends with the bugs here. Friend of the week... this caterpillar. 

Other photos

​¡Que Viva Mexico!  :)  Mexico is off centered. you know that bothers me. But the picture has been taken. Dealin with it. 

​Lovin Mexico. Lovin Guaymas. Lovin my Companion. Life IS GOOD.  :)

This is how the people here react to us. Ha ha. They think we are GIANTS.

Photos

Infront of a members house that we ate at this week is an old jail... that looks like a castle. 

My lovely District  :)

Random

Hola,

​This is when I was in Cuauhtemoc still, and we put together an Easter Egg hunt for the kids in the Ward. I feel like I look distanced in this picture. But this is right before we opened the doors. And they were getting Crazy! Ha ha.

Random Cool Fact:

I was reading some older Liahonas that we have in our house here and I came across an article where they were discribing service that the church had done in the last year. (This was in one from 2013) And in one paragraph it just focused on an Earthquake in Haiti, Flooding in Thailand, and Starvation in Africa. And how the church aided these disasters.

BUT HOW COOL. Because if we remember right now from Conference they announced three temples, where? HAITI, THAILAND, and AFRICA. What?! It is amazing to see how a lot of times God humbles us before he blesses us.

P.S. When I came to Mexico I used the Dictionary to look up what were English words in Spanish. My companion and me and now to the struggling point of where we space out some English words sometimes and search in the Dictionary for English. Ha ha. Spanglish Struggles are real.

Okay, love you all!

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith  

Guaymas! :)

I FINALLY HAVE A TALL COMPANION!!! :)  Whoo the tallest with the second tallest of the mission. Lovin it!

Me and my companion eat with Hermana Gentry and Hermana Obando every day in Guaymas with members. They are amazing. 

I LOVE Guaymas! I have to sign off now, but you will here more of Guaymas in the coming weeks.  :)

Photos

These are the three daughters of Mayra. (In Cuauhtemoc) I LOVE THEM! It was hard to get them all looking/smiling in the picture. And well it seems as if the littlest one looks squished. Ha ha.

I LOVE THIS FAMILY!!! And look, we seem to be nicely color cordinated.  :)

Okay it took me awhile to win Valentina over. With her older sister Camila, and her little sister Annette it wasnt too hard. But with diligence we did end up as buddies.  :)

Happy Birthday Jesus

Hola Familia y Amigos!  :)

Well today is the Birthday of Jesus and the Anniversary of the Church. 

Aw this week was great!!!

Conference. Woah, a different email altogether for that.

But as Missionaries we have been currently sharing this video. It is BEAUTIFUL! So stop reading this for literally 2 Minutes and WATCH IT!  :)

​Helives.mormon.org​

Here are the words from the video:

 

Wherever He walked

Wherever He taught

Wherever He healed

He changed everything

Then everything changed

The man they called Master, Messiah, Friend, was gone

but the greatest miracle was yet to come.

He is not here, He is risen

He lives, And because He lives, If your reach out, call out, cry out, He is here

Then, Now, Always

He is here

during the good, the bad, the in-between

No matter who you are

or who you were

He is here

No exceptions, no lost causes

At all times, in all places

He is here

He rose on the third day

He lives today

Find him

Now that you have seen it and enjoyed it... share it with others!

I put together these eggs for a Family Home Evening we did in my last ward. There are 9 eggs and they each tell part of the story of Easter.

Read these Scriptures they are super delightful. 

1 - The Purpose Heleman 14:15 (A picture of Christ Praying)

2 - The Sacrament Luke 22:19-20 (A Sacrament cup and bread)

3 - The Atonement/Suffering Matthew 26:39 (A picture of Christ suffering in the Garden)

4 - A crown of Thorns John 19:2-3 (Thorns)

5 - Clean Linen Matthew 27:59 (Linen)

6 - Closing the Tomb Matthew 27:60 (A rock)

7 - He has risen Matthew 28:6 (Nothing, he was not in the tomb)

8 - Marks in his hand and feet 3 Nephi 11:15 (A nail)

9 - Carrying a Cross Doctrine and Covenants 112:14 (Wood)

All I can add is my sincere testimony that I KNOW that JESUS IS THE CHRIST. I have never seen the marks in his hands. But I didnt need to. He is our Reedemer. Let him Reedem us. Turn to him. He suffered for our sins. We should not let it pass in vain. We must act. We are not perfect, that is no secret. To speak of Christ is Sacred, but not Secret. Let us tell all those who cross our path. That they may witness of his love through us.

We dyed Easter Eggs today as a zone. Super white girl - Hermana Smiths idea. Ha. But it was way fun. And most of the Latins in our Zone had never even done it before. They were like "You can eat these after?!"  :)

I LOVE YOU!  :)

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith

P.S. Jose Ramon was baptized!!!!! (Cynthias Dad, from my old area in Sahuaro.) Ah I was SOOO Happy to find that out.

Baptism of Adrian!!! :)

Hola!  :D

Well this week has been kind of crazy, but great.

Adrian had his Interview, and when we were exiting the District Leader told me he didnt even seem like an investigator when he asked him the questions.

Well Adrian is super great he searched and watched a lot of church movies. I think he has seen more church movies than a lot of members of many years have. They were super excited to watch Meet the Mormons in theaters.

When they clean the house they listen to hymns.

Friday we had the baptism of Adrian. He is the Dad of Carlos and the Husband of Ana. He was baptized 4 months to the day after his first contact with missionaries.

All friday I was thinking. This day has been so calm for a baptism. Usually we have difficulties of some sort. But how great that we havent. Latty datty dah. We went to the church to fill up the font, we were running a little late. But we were sure the font would be a quick clean. Nope. The trial was hidding in the font.

Our new key didnt work. But it was easy to open it by shoving a key in the slit of the door. 

But when we started to walk down the steps of the font we found not one but TWO dead mice in the baptism font. Gross. You know my first reaction, I called the Elders to come do a quick service project for us. They said they would, but it would take a bit because they werent that close. Whatever, we sucked it up and did it on our own.

​I HATE MICE.

Yay! :) I told Adrian we should mix it up and go to the other pictures in the chapel for his picture. (Yes I think about these things.)

​As his baptism was great!  :)  He and his wife also sharred their testimonies. Their family holds a special place in my heart.
​

I love the gospel with all my heart. And there is no better place to apply it than within the walls of our homes with our loved ones. Trials will come, they always do. But the blows will be easier to handle and uphold.

I love you all and I hope you can help invite FAMILIES enjoy the Gospel. 

A good goal would be to invite someone to General Conference this weekend. 

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith   

I LOVE THEM!!!

​I LOVE THEM!!!

They all progressed at different paces, but the trail was beautiful to walk with them.

It was a special experience Sunday when me and my companion sat behind Familia Barrera in church. That we got to witness them as a Family take the sacrament TOGETHER for the first time. That they were ALL able to renew their covenants. (And the bonus was that right infront of them was sitting Mayra and her family.) It was a great last Sunday in Cuauhtemoc. I felt fulfilled in my time spent in their.

Also Adrian received the Preisthood, menor of Preist.  :)

I have now been transfered to Guaymas. 

New place, new people, new blessings.

AND my companion is pretty much my height - YES FINALLY. I will try to improve my posture. Ha. ( I will try to send a picture of us next week. )

A Family Complete! :)

The first day we got to Cuauhtemoc we had a lot of things we could have done like unpack or make the excuse that we didnt know the area etc. But with the things that were left behind we knew there was a visit planned with Familia Barrera at 8 PM. So we knew it would be an important first impression that we went to go meet them. I know that going the extra effort in life does make the difference.

Carlos -  13 of Feb.

​Ana - 27 of Feb.

Adrian - 27of March

How firm a Foundation

HOLA!  :)

Well there are several hymns that I love. But I think with time what I have found to be my favorite is How firm a Foundation. And I especially love verse 7.

"The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I'll never, no never, I'll never, no never,

I'll never, no never, no never forsake!"

“Al alma que anhele la paz que hay en mí,

no quiero, no puedo dejar en error;

yo lo sacaré de tinieblas a luz,

y siempre guardarlo, y siempre guardarlo,

y siempre guardarlo con grande amor.”

And in Spanish I love that it ends saying I will always guard it with great love.

If we focus on where are we firmly grounded, when the trials come pounding in they will be easier to handle.

We had a Multi Zone Conference this past week. AND we finally saw Meet the Mormons (Conozca a los Mormones).

This movie was first released in the United States, then Canada, then MEXICO!  :)

We encouraged people we were teaching to go and watch it. It was amusing because we were telling people to watch it before we had even seen it. The mission ordered one for us to see, but it got stolen or "lost" in the mail system here. Well hopefully lots of people are enjoying it once it is "found".  :) 

​Ah I love this sister! Hermana Martinez, from the Dominican Republic. She is one of the sisters that I click with best from our Zone.

​We had cake with Ana for her birthday. It will be hard leaving this area, because I have come to love her and her family so much!  :)

I love you all and hope that you have a fabulous week! Remember or recheck where is your foundation of who you really are? Or where should it be moved to?

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith   

Ooh...

Hola,

Well dont be hating... but. I dont really have time OR pictures. So enjoy this randomness I will send.

- Mayra who was batptized mid Feb. got a calling yesterday, she is the new Nursery Teacher. And her husband Adan got a calling as the Sunday School Teacher. And Carlos will be passing the sacrament next Sunday. More success from the recent converts!  :)

- A man pulled his car over this week just to get out and ask me if I played basketball and where I am from (not as uncommon as you would think.) The fact that I am a tall white girl is a screaming fact that I can not hide, and people note it and throw english words at me ALL the time! Anyways... he asked me where I am from. And I replied Utah, so he then began to talk about Karl Malone and John Stockton. I am a Utah Jazz fan, so its all good. But then he started to say that he played for the national Mexican Basketball team in 1992. And that his wife played professional Volleyball in Europe. I tried to share the gospel with him. But instead he wrote his name in my agenda with his phone number and told me to Google him. And that he wants to teach the children of our church basketball. Then he asked if as missionaries we can get married. I said yes. He said good, I have a son who is a lot taller than you, so you can marry him. So he then wrote his sons name down for me to Google him. Ha ha ha. Also not the only talk of marriage on the mission. 

- There is always an old man that rides by in our area in his moto/scooter and he shouts to us "ANNNIIIMMMOOOO!!!" It basically means excitement/energy. But it is nice of him, and it does make us feel better.

- While I was writing the mission offices called me to ask where I want to fly in when I go home. Say what?! It is getting a little more real people!

Well I love you. Sorry so random.

Have a great week, full of happiness and dont let random people in the street choose your husband. ;)

Love Always,

                     Hermana Smith

"Con el Favor de Dios"

Hola Plebes,

The title of this email refers to a VERY common phrase here. When you ask people if they will go to church, or read, or pretty much do anything. A ton of people simply respond "Con el Favor de Dios." Which translates to mean "With the favor of God."

But really saying it so many times... it does tend to get old. Ha ha. Because we as sons and daughters of God, have AGENCY. The will of God will always be there. But our efforts and actions will determine the blessings we will receive. Are we worthy of them?

God doesnt complicate things, we are the ones who complicate things.

D&C 132:8 "Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion."

His commandments, and his expectations are very clear. It is the excuses and pretexts that we as humans put that complicate things. If we apply more faith and less fear we will be happier people, and better prepared to return in his presence.

In our current area  there are times when thousands of birds pass over us singing all nice, they have yellow heads and look pretty also. Obviously this picture doesnt even begin to do it justice, and they wouldnt all fit. But I wanted you to get the gist of it.

​Fine fine... we finally gave in and got Zone Jerseys (just the majority of the sisters from my Zone representing in this picture). I havent had one my whole mission, so I was pushing for it in this Zone. Ha ha. On the backs it has our last name and a number. As you should all well know. Mine says Smith with the number 5. Best number ever.
​

P.S.

AND Ana who was confirmed a member last week, was called yesterday as the Young Womens Secretary in our ward. WHOO!!!  :)

ALSO we ate with Mayra and her family Saturday. They signed up to feed the sister missionaries (us). 

Check these converts out, I am SUPER proud of them!

I love you all, and I hope you have a Fantastic week. And dont just leave it up to the favor of God, DO something about it!  :)

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith   

Baptism of Ana! :)

My Darling Family and Friends,

So if you remember the story of Carlos two weeks ago. I am pretty sure I mentioned how the missionaries contacted him. That his Mom Ana works in a Salon and that when Elders went there to get their hair cut, they got her information and some Sister Missionaries passed by their house to teach them.

Well this past Friday was Anas Baptism, whoo!!!

Fun Fact: Her baptism was 3 months (to the day exactly) after the missionaries first visted her and her family.

People (along with other prerequisits) can be baptized after 5 times in the church. Ana had 10. She stopped drinking Alcohol, Coffee and Smoking. It was hard, but she knew it is well worth it. She is a strong one.

We didnt overflood the font... well because we struggled getting into the font. Ha ha. We have keys to the gate outside of the church and the church doors. But not to the baptism font doors. Crazy right. So there are two door infront of the font. Locked. One door that leads to the mens bathroom. Locked. One door that leads to the womens bathroom. Locked. And we were cutting it close. Our ward mission leader had to unexpectedly leave the state for work. So we went to the chapel to clean the font. 

But as we couldnt open the doors, I told my companion "Lets just cross the street to buy a knife and knife the door." "And if other people see us knifing the door?" .... Well they will just know that we really want to baptize someone. Long story short, we didnt use a knife, but I did open it by shoving other metal to open it. We didnt break anything, but we were sucessful.  :)

I LOVE HER!!!  :D

​After her baptism she said "Lets go get hotdogs to celebrate!" I dislike meat, she evens knows that. But... I sucked it up to celebrate. It was a hotdog, wrapped in bacon, with ground meat ontop. Meat. Meat. Meat. I surived.

Sitting next to her is her husband Adrian. We are working with him to get baptized in March.

I LOVE YOU ALL and I hope you have a week FULL of Happiness!  

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith  

Livin in the Deseret

Hola,

Dont mind us... just living among the cactus and dirt. Oh you better believe that the hot weather is starting up again. I wish for less freckles and more tan-ness.

Mmm... what else. Well we are looking forward to a baptism this Friday. Holla!

Well I have to go. Sorry not much to say today. 

But... I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!

P.S. I will finally tell you all my coming home date. Drum roll please.... June 23rd.

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith   

Baptism of Mayra!!! :D

Okay the story of Mayra...

Her husband is Adan. He is an ex Missionary. They have been married for 7 years. They have three beautiful girls, Camilla, Valentina & Annete.

Mayra heard from Elderes and Sisters throughout their marriage. And I know that each person that visited her and her family made a difference. When we visited her for the first time we zoned in on her needs. And one thing that we noticed was the importance of her family for her. So I think the first three lessons we gave were about Families. She had heard about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon many times. She even believed these things. But when we focused on her family, temples, and family history is where it changed. It all clicked more, and she excepeted to be baptized!  :)

​We made sure that the family picture was under the Hermosillo Temple, which is their next step!  :D

​She is someone who is very sincere and kindhearted. I want to be more like her.

At her baptism is was SO beautiful! Her husband was able to baptize her. And on Sunday he was able to confirm her also.

They both shared their testimonies at her baptism. Her husband Adan had shared how he had been praying their whole marriage for the day that his wife could be baptized. He got very emotional when he expalined that everything is in Gods timing. We dont always get what we want, exactly when we want it.

And when Mayra shared her testimony she talked about how she knew for these things to be true. And then when she makes a decision in her life, is because she means it. And she talked about entering the temple, AHHH!!!  :)

I hope that I can return to the mission in a year to be a witness of their special day all 5 in white!!!  :D

I love you all, I know that God has a plan for each one of us. A specail plan or how we can find a greater level of Hapiness through obedience.

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith   

 

Baptism of Carlos! :)

Okay... where to start.

Carlos and his parents (Adrian and Ana), are super Golden. Ana works at a Salon. And one day some Elders were getting their hair cut. Long story short some sister missionaries before us we visiting them also but were transfered.

This family reads their scriptures frequently and pray constantly. And that is harder than it seems like it would be for investigators. But they are great. Carlos kept asking when he could be baptized.

We asked him more of why it is important to be baptized and he replied, "I want to learn more about Jesus Christ". And his desires to follow him. His parents are still preparing for their baptisms in the near future.

Well on Friday the 13th we had TWO baptisms WHOO!!! So that was really good luck. But then our Ward Mission Leader went to fill the font in the Chapel at 5AM, for the Baptism that was at 8AM. And well... it overflooded. So we spent about 40 minutes or so pushing water out of the church. But luckily here (unlike Utah Chapels) it is all tile. So no pasa nada.

​Here is a picture of the pre-baptism clean up crew. Me and my companion, the Elders from our Ward, Carlos and his parents, and our Ward Missionary Leader.

Sometimes it is harder than you would think it is to get people here to smile in pictures. So I try my very best to encourage them when I am behind the camera.

​Future Missionary?! I think so!  :)

Con Amor,

                Hermana Smith     

La Chamba en Cuauhtemoc

Hola!

Well the Chamba means work. There are several words for work in Spanish - Trabajo, Obra, Chamba etc. But I am liking Chamba more right now. They have different times to use them best. But for today CHAMBA CHAMBA CHAMBA.

I have been SUPER busy. So sorry for the blah email this week. But I thought I would just give a shout out to the world.

One person can make a difference in the world, that one person can be you.

Speaking of the world, and culture. These are two Hermanas in my Zone right now who I adore! They are both so sweet. They are currently companions. Hermana Martinez from the Dominican Republic and Hermana Zeyala from Honduras.

​There are amazing people in every country, state, and city. Culture is a beautiful thing. The world is meant to be traveled, explored, experienced.

I love you all. I hope you find great culture and adventures in your daily lives this week.

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith 

P.S. I dont know how I worded it in my last email, but Sister Briggs isnt my new companion. I forgot the English word for exchanges. So it was exchanges not transfers. Ha ha.

P.S.S. I heard my emails arrived super slow last week or the next day. Sorry. Ghetto computures on my end sometimes. But the good thing is that it eventually arrived, eh?  :)

Tamales!!!

When I sent home the photos of the Rosca (the bread where you find the little plastic baby Jesus). Well it means that you make Tamales on Feb. 2nd. Aw well we are lucky that it fell on a p-day.  :)

We spent part of our p-day making Tamales Oazaqueños. And well they are done with Banana leaves. In this photo is Mayra, one of our lovely investigatores and the youngest of her three daughters. 

​We made some with Chicken and and salsa, & potatoe with jalopeño, salsa and cheese.

P.S. I had Intercambios (transfers) this week with Hermana Briggs. It is the first time in Mexico that I have walked with another white girl down the streets. Ha ha. So... the people ALWAYS assume that I dont know Spanish or that I am FOR SURE from the United States.

But when we were together it was funny because people thought well there cant be two of them here. So some people asked us if we were from Spain, and others asked us if we are from Argentina. AW yeah feeling a little more cultural!  :D​

Come Back to the Fold

Hola mi Bonita Familia y Amigos,

This week I would like to focus on returning to the church. Everyone of us can look at it from a different prospective. One who has left, one who has thought about leaving, one who has watched someone leave, or someone who has returned. And you pridefully ponder, I do not fit in any of these categories. But yes, you fit in one of them. Nobody is perfect, so maybe you left or faltered in one area.

But the greater focus is. We can RETURN. We can IMPROVE. We can FORGIVE. We can SERVE. 

If we thought less about ourselves, and more about others, we would be a happier people.

To any and every group I invite you to Pray constantly. If it isnt currently a habit, practice it, and make it one. It is one of the very best ones you can have. It is essential.

I invite you to Read The Book of Mormon. Read it, ponder, and ask only Heavenly Father if it is a true book. He wont lie to you, that isnt his job.

Go to Church. "Nope not doing that one!" Okay, I get it. Maybe that seems like the hardest one. But it is NEVER to late to return. We dont go to church for the members. We dont go to church for the Bishop. We dont go for the things that our neighbors will or will not say. We go to renew a covenant we made with God. The church is not for the perfect. The church is for those who realize they arent perfect, and want to improve.

The scriptures constantly talk about how Jesus Christ is the good shepard, and we are his sheep. We know his voice, and when we follow him we are happier and safer. If there are 100, he will go for the one who has wandered. He teaches us how to come back to the fold through his example.

As his representative I am shouting to you for him. "The grass is greener on this side, join me!" 

If you arent praying, arent reading the scriptures, or arent going to church. I invite you, come follow him.

If you are praying, are reading, and are going to church. Well psh still not perfect. Do we judge? Do we gossip? Do we think things we shouldnt?

There are a thousand more things to say about this topic. But I would like to share a quote...

BY ELDER HARTMAN RECTOR, JR. (OF THE FIRST QUORUM OF THE SEVENTY)

"The Lost Sheep

In the parable of the lost sheep it appears that the sheep got lost because he wandered away. He probably didn’t intend to get lost but became distracted and did not pay attention to where he was going. How do you get a lost sheep back into the fold? You go out and find him, turn him around, and bring him back into the fold. Usually the sheep is so glad to be back safe in the fold that he runs and jumps for joy."

Okay now we are going to give a shout out to Elder Richard G. Scott and his words of wisdom.

I love you all. I wish you the best in every aspect of your life. Dont only come back to the fold, but bring someone else with you.

Love Always,

                     Hermana Smith    

 

Random Laughs

Dearest Family and Friends,

This email is going to be short and random.

There is a grocery store close to us and it is kind of part of the closest thing I have seen to a mall since I have been in Mexico. And in the mallish part I saw "Aerocrombie". Maybe I am out of the loop... but I didnt think the Aeropostle and Abercrombie got together. Maybe who know. But a lot of people wear Hollister here, like any where from 5 years old to 80 years old. It is a liked brand along with Aeropostle. Random yet funny.

​Sometimes in the grocery stores here they will tape items with other items as like to buy something and get something else free. I found this to be one of the more random combos. If you buy Mayonnaise, you get a roll of toiletpaper for free. 

Sometimes you just need an elbow rest....

Well I love you all, and I pray and hope that you have a week full of happiness. And look for the little things to make you happy. Sometimes it isnt about asking for new happiness in your life. But to be willing to search for it in the things that are already around you.

Love Always,

                     Hermana Smith