Welcome to Caborca!

Hola,

Here is a picture of me and my companion Hermana Rodriguez, standing in the thirsty dirt of Caborca. Im not sure that I am meant to have a companion taller than 5"3. Ha ha. I think Hermana Rodriguez is about 5 feet.

Today our Zone made Empanadas.

(I inserted a picture of it, but it was too big for the email, opps. Maybe I will send it in a seperate email next week.)

Oh Caborca, it has a lot of Potential. If we stick with it, and our heads held high. This area can have GREAT success. Yesterday was our first Sunday here in Caborca, and we are in Branch 1. I like to think there were less people than usual. There were about 35 people who attended our Branch Sacrement Meeting. I told my companion that I think it is about the size of my Home Ward Primary, and then I thought about it again and replied... actually I think my Home Ward Primary is bigger. Ha.

But we have a great Branch Mission Leader. And there are a ton of people here in Caborca who I am certain are ready for our message. So I am excited to continue in the work here!  :)

And before I was like woof 22, the old woman of the misson. But, in Caborca their are two Hermanas who are 25 and one who is 26. But really it doesnt matter your age to join in Gods work, and it doesnt matter if you have a missionary tag or not. It is time to invite!  :)

Sorry it is so short, I will try to write more next week.

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith     

Your Point of View, is Up to You! :)

Hola Little Darlings,

Well my next area is... Caborca! My companion was mad at one of the Assistants, "Why would you send her there?!" And he said that they have trust in me, and because I had baptisms. Etc. Because when I first got here to Mexico, Caborca was closed for Hermanas. So me and my new companion, Hermana Rodrigez, are going to open an area there.

Well, Caborca is basically the joke place of the misson. Its like count your blessings, at least you arent going to Caborca. And a member asked me where I was being sent, after I told him, he said "Just remember that the church is true, just remember that the church is true." People always call it "Calor-ca". Which calor is heat, so in Cabora, apparently it is the most hot area in the mission. Which I didnt think hotter than here existed, but it does. It is like the armpit of Mexico, and like walking on fire. Tuesday it was 127° here in Hermosillo. Yet somehow the member still fed us boiling hot soup for lunch. Ha. So I will be heading to Caborca tomorrow with my new companion. So lets walk on fire with a smile then, shall we?!  :)

Because your point of view, is up to you. You determine your outlook and your attitude. I mean its not like I love to prove people wrong. Okay fine, if you know me... I sometimes love to prove people wrong. So I will be greatful to be in that beautifl place, and at least I will not receive frost bite there. I want to help make it the cool place to serve, people should come running for baptisms! I didnt come on a mission thinking "Oh THIS should be EASY. And Ive got a year and a half to burn up some time." I came to WORK. And I would sleep in the dirt if it meant more baptisms.

You cant just BE someone, you have to BECOME someone, it is a process, a life-long journey.

Are you what youve always imagined you could be? Or have you EXCEEDED it?!

Random Photo = These were cards that I put up in my last apartment to help me learn Spanish, okay maybe I am a visual learner. Ha.

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Love You all TONS!!!  :)  And I hope that your week is filled with happiness and success.

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith    

100° sounds nice to me! :)

Hola,

Well it is getting HOT here! It is sad that we get excited when it is 100°, because today was 115° and tomorrow is suppose to be 120°

Yesterday after sacrament meeting, the Relief Society President told me and my companion that we were giving the lesson. Okay... no time to REALLY prepare. But, it was amazing to me in the fact, that I was able to say everything that I needed to say in Spanish. Me and my companion switched off on ever other point, and I did better than I thought I would to express to these woman the importance of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and how it is intertwined in our lives in every aspect. Which that isnt to pat my own back, that is to say that I know that the Lord helped me, and made up the difference where I falter.

This morning we went on a hike, and it translates to "The Hill of the Bell". You can knock on some rocks there and it sounds like a bell. Some people didnt think it was as cool or as fun as I did. But I was just knocking away, making songs, and having a blast.  :)

Here is one of our current investigators, her name is Yo Hany. Ah I love her SO much! Her life has been FAR FAR from easy, but she is still so sweet.

I Love you all TONS! And I hope that you realize that God is in the details of your life. When you have a doubt or a question, turn to the man who created it all.

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith     

Vejito Favorito

Here is a picture of me and my companion with our investigator Francisco. But when me and my companion refer to him to each other we say our "Vejito Favorito", which just means favorite oldman. But he buys us coke, and is just the nicest oldman.

Limes are Lemons, Lemons are Limes

Hola,

This week I will just tell you a little bit of random. For example, the title of the e-mail "Limes are Lemons, Lemons are Limes". Here in Mexico, the little green citrus translates to be lemons, and the bigger yellow citrus translates to be limes. When I first got here I was confused by it, now Im like eh, call it what you want. Ha.

I went on exchanges this week with a sister training leader, Hermana Aguirre (she is currently companions with my old companion Hermana Juarez), so Hermana Juarez came back to our area and was on exchanges with my companion Hermana Lopez. I spent the day working with Hermana Aguirre in her area of Cuauhtemoc, I spent the night at her house, and we switched companions back the next morning. 

But when I had lunch with her at a members house from her ward, it was a little old lady. And while I was there the member called her daughter on her phone and said, "Yes, the prophet Joseph Smiths grand daughter is in my house RIGHT now. She looks a lot like him! And she is SOOO tall!" All I could think was, you are talking about me right in front of my face, and yes I do know what you are saying. And in reality, I am just a tall white person, with the last name Smith. Ha ha.

Here is a rock that is outside of the mission home, "Regresa con Honor" = "Return with Honor".

This week we didnt have a ton of lessons, but we still worked hard, and received a ton of nos. But yesterday we found some solid people that we can teach this week. So YES, hard work always pays off, you just need to be faithful and diligent with it. And the hundred nos are okay, because it makes the yes that much more special.

Love you all TONS, and I hope you have a fantastic week!  :)

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith    

Racist Mosquitos & Gerardos Baptism! :)

Hola!  :)

This week honestly flew by. In the words of Ryan Erwin from his mission "A day feels like a week, and a week feels like a day!"

But it is true, somedays feel forever long, but then looking at the week, I wonder where it went?!

Okay "Racist Mosquitos"! Is because I have several Mosquito Bites, and with my former Mexican companion she didnt have any. And my current Mexican companion, also doesnt really have any. Same apartment, same room, those little, selective, Racist Mosquitos! Ha ha.

Okay this past Saturday was the baptism of Gerardo.

He has three sons who are all members, but me and Hermana Juarez started teaching him in like March. He had to leave for almost a month for work, but we set a baptism date with him before he left. Then when he came back me and my companion Hermana Lopez taught him. And he was baptized this past Saturday. Yay for Baptisms!!!  :)

This is an older photo from like two months ago maybe. I dont know what other photos to send home. Here is just a photo from a night in Mexico, the sky was prettier in person, hopefully it still looks somewhat cool in this picture.

Love you all tons, and I hope you have a fantastic week!  :)

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith    

Faith isnt a friend of Fear, & Blanquitas Baptism! :)

Hola,

Hmmm... where to even begin?! This week was kind of a blur with a whole bunch of random thrown inbetween. But obviously the best part was Blanquitas Baptism!!! Whoo finalmente! Oh yeah, and Mothers Day was good also, to talk with my family on Skype.

If you remember from emails before, the process for Blanquita wasnt a quick or easy one. Her husband was gone because he is a Solder (that doesnt look right, but I honestly dont remember how to spell it, it is a person in the Army, it is Soldado in Spanish). So first they had to get married, and yadda yadda, a million other details.

But the day finally came for Blanquita! (If you remember her son Aldo was the first baptism I was blessed to be a part of when I came here. And her four other children were baptized before.) Ah the day of the baptism was just one crazy thing after another. And it was a long story but we didnt know if the baptism was going to happen on Saturday due to schedule isses and blah. So my companion said do we fill the font or wait for an official yes or what? And I said fill that puppy up! Faith first, miracles second. A baptism was going down! And then after we made the decision to do all that we could with our part to make the baptism happen that day, then we got the phone call with in minutes that it was happening!

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With other baptisms I was in the crowd, watching in a chair in front of the font with everyone else. But with Blanquita I was waiting at the door at the top of the stairs for when she exited the font with a towel and a hug. And it was such a sweet experience. I gave her a hug when she came out of the font, and she began to cry. She had waited so long for this day. And in that moment, all the sweat, tears, and work was worth it. She said "The best, right?!" She said "Que rico, no?!" People here say que rico when they have a good experience or food that they like, and they say no after alot of things as if for you to agree with them in a form of a question.

And a missionary I am well aware that the baptisms arent about ME. The work isnt about ME. It isnt for Melanie to be completely comfy cosy in all that she does. The work is hard, and the no"s come fast and frequently. But when the yes comes, it makes it worth it. And as I think yay me, look how hard I have worked. God has always been working on their hearts longer and harder. So it is my job to find the people where their will meets Gods will, and that is the miracles.

Okay, love you all tons, keep up your own personal missionary work as well. How long has it been since you shared your testimony with someone? How long has it been since you have invited someone to join you in the happiness of the gospel? What are you waiting for? Push your fears aside, and fill that font!

Love Always,

                    Hermana Smith    

Here is a picture of me, Blanquita, and my current companion Hermana Lopez. It was hard with the baptism clothes because Blanquita is SUPER small, and we only had one dress as an option to use. So I took a white mens church tie, and tied it tight around her waist with a bow in the back, and folded the extra length part of her dress over the tie. So it just ended up being a shorter dress, so she didnt completely drown in all of that extra fabric.

And here is a photo of Adolfo, Aldo, Hermana Juarez, Me, Marta with Gorda, Adolfo and Blanquita. It was a Sunday after church. It is the best when the people you work with make the choice to come to church and learn more of what God has to offer for them in thier lives.