December 15, 2008

Hello Famiy,

Well this week was really good. and it sounds like you week was pretty good too. ya so it is still weird to think that jenna has a kid. weird. but cool at the same time. but it sounds like he is healthy and doing good so that it awesome. so ya chads mom is really nice. she is always happy, kinda scary but cool. so hows the christmas preparations coming? the christmas decorations here are lets just say, they are not like they are in the states. most houses only have like one strand of lights. but at least they are trying. but it really doesnt feel like christmas. yesterday it was almost 100 degrees. we were going to watch the christmas devotional last night at the stake center but we decided to work. i am glad we did. we went back to juan and hugo to give them a book of mormon. they live a really boring life. hopefully us coming by will livin it up a little. they are like 55 they have worked construction their whole lifes and they work monday through saturday. and that is it. but we set a goal for baptism with them on the 3rd of january. i hope they are going to progress. but for the people that we are teaching right now. ricardo, the one who´s house burnt down we are going over there tonight to see if he is really interested. i know he has a lot on his plate. but he just isnt keeping committments. we cant get him to church or read, so we will see how it goes tonight. i want him to see how important it is. but we also have an amazing family. la familia marón. Marcelo, Araceli and their baby Fernanda. they are amazing. they came to church yesterday and i think they really liked it. i will tell you more about them latter.

so bryce to answer your question about the food here. some stuff is just weird to get use too. for one the milk and yogurt come in a bag. so to eat yogurt you pour it in a cup to drink it. it was weird at first but now i love the yogurt. the milk is just weird in bags though. the food is just really not that flavorfull. i guess even pepper is to spicy for them. on saturday we have blain noodles with cheese sprinkled on it. so ya not the best food but it will do.

ha ha i think you will think this is funny. so there is this lady in our ward, hermana marañón. she has this cat that she really likes and she doesnt want it to run away. so she tied a rope to the cats collar and then tied the rope to a bycicle seat. so the cat just drags the bike seat around the yard. they cat looks so depressesed beacuse it cant run or do anything. oh argentina. but it is kinda funny.

oh emily i think it like all of south america who dont obey traffic laws. dont worry you get used to that it a little bit.

so mom can you do my a favor and ask tanner judd the areas that he served in. maybe i will serve in some of them. so i am really excited for the 23rd. i think it will be a pretty fun christmas party. i will get to see the elders from the mtc so that will be fun. and i think we are going to be with like 60 other missionaries so i cant wait. i guess they celebrate christams on christmas eve here. so i guess that night is going to be a little slow for us. but oh well we will try.

so something a little funny that happened this week. so one night i was sleeping and i got woken up by elder lewis. he jumped out of his bed really quick so i thought he had to go the the bathroom. but he just stood there. kinda hovering over my bed. swaying back and forth. it kinda creeped me out so i said, elder you ok??. he was just trying to get rid of a charlie horse. but it was way creepy. he didnt know i was awake. but it was just creepy to have him standing up kinda over me in the middle of the night. but know we joke about it. but ya it was pretty funny. we didnt have anything to funny this week like when the dog peed on that guys leg but it still was a good week.

so bryce when are you done with school. how are you friends and everything going. i still want to hear about call of duty five. and everything.

mom i dont know for sure when we are calling but i will hopefully know next week.

well family i love you so much and thanks for everything you do. grandma and grandpa i love you thanks for everythingk you do too. well i guess i will leave off with like a missionary sprititual thought thing for all the little cousins and brother.

everyone of you boys needs to serve a mission. it is hard but it is such a big blessing too. but you wake up every morning and study for two hours. you walk a lot. alot. alot. you get rejected a lot. you get people who really just dont like you. you get mocked. you get made fun of. you start to chaff. you feel like you shouldn´t be there. like you arent good enough. ya all these things are hard. and all these things have happened to me already and i have only been here a month. you go throughout out the day getting rejected getting lied too. getting some really good contacts too. but all of these bad things disappear when you are in a families house. when you are teacing them the gospel of Jesus Christ. and when you ask the dad to say a prayer. to know whether or not Joeshp Smith was a prophet of God. whether or now the bood of mormom is true and if this is the true church of Jesus Christ. and when he prays you feel the spirit in that little house so strongly. and you look at his eyes after the prayer and you know with our a doubt that he recieved an answer. i looked into marcelos eyes and it was the best feeling i have ever had on the mission so far. he felt the spirit so strong and i knew he knew it was true. when something like that happens you forget all the rejection, all the people mocking you and all the hard times of a mission and it is just so worth it. to have that family sitting with you in sacrament meeting getting a little close to baptism. it is just so amazing. you have no idea the feeling that was in that house. i want everyone of you to feel it. missionary work is awesome and hard. but it is so rewarding. i love you all so much. keep studying the scriptures and say your prayers. i love you.

elder smith