Mission Log - October 31, 2016 - T1, W2 - Week of Miracles

Dear Loved Ones -

Que pasa, calabaza?

Second week in the field, still going strong!!

So much has happened this week!  Feel truly blessed, because this week, we met and exceeded our goals!!

But allow me to expand: so, this Tuesday, we met an old man by the name of Jose Salvidar.  He didn't believe in any one church, saying that all churches claim to have all the truth, but none of them do.  He said that all these people in the street say "Yo soy profeta, yo soy profeta," but none of them really are.  We told him, "Exactly!  You know, in 1820, a 14-year old boy named Joseph Smith had the same questions you do."  We then had a very good Restoration lesson.

We then went to see a long-time investigator of Hermana Martin's.  She told us she'd found an apartment in El Paso, but that she wanted to visit her family in Juarez first.  Her visa's expired, so we're not sure if she's gonna make it back across the border.

We went to visit the Sidas.  Hermana Sida was cooking fish.
   "You sisters want some fish?"
   "No, we're good, Hermana."
   *hands us each a heaping plateful of fish, veggies, and chile*
   "Here's your fish."
   "...Thanks, Hermana."

I fear something may have gotten lost in the translation, there. :)  Hermano Sida is less active, and they have two deacon-teacher-age sons, Jose and Seth.  We asked Hno Sida what he did for work.  He told us he fixes motors on trailers.  We asked how a motor works.  I asked for him to explain in VERY SMALL WORDS, palabras mas pequenos.  He complied, explaining the principle of combustion.  We listened for understanding, then challenged him to come up with an analogy of how faith or other gospel principles were like a motor.  He laughed, but I sure hope he takes the assignment seriously.

Because P-days were switched to Mondays the Day I got here, Hermana Martin thought it was Wednesday. We went to our usual wednesday lunch appointment with Linda Harper, a funny old lady.  It turned out to be a blessing, because of the following:

Wednesday, we had two hours of Service in the morning and couldn't make it.  We did service at a food pantry, (it was a get-back-on-your-feet-style pantry), stocking shelves and refrigerators.  Turns out Hna Jackson from another district actually worked a similar job before coming out to serve her mission.  She became the leader.

We took Hermana Reza, a YW leader, and went to visit Nancy.  We read 2 Nefi 9 with her, and testified of the power of reading every day.  We then went to visit Marta Sanchez.

Let me explain a little about this house:  you walk in the door, and the first thing you see is a glass table secured atop a shiny black stone jaguar.  Your eyes travel up to see that this table, along with the back wall, is covered - covered - with porcelain figurines.  There were many more little jaguars, of different shapes and sizes.  There were angels, cats, flowers, you name it.  And what I thought was a giant mirror on the wall behind the couch?  Was the other room.  With just as much porcelain figurines.  I thought to myself, go figure! :-)  That was a little joke.  Chiste!

Because service was in the morning, Language Study and Training were in the afternoon.  We went to a park.  We then went to see Nalleli, pronounced N-eye-ell-ee.  She was very sweet - as we taught the message of the Restoration of the Gospel, the spirit strongly testified to her that it was true.  She'd already read the scriptures, up to 1 Nefi 4.  We challenged her to baptism, and she said yes!!!

Wednesday night was the Ward Missionary Activity, a monthly occurance.  All the members went out to less-active members' houses to confirm 1) that they still lived there, and 2) that they could come to church on Sunday.

Thursday was a day of MILAGROS porque I kid you not, EVERY DOOR OPENED TO US!  Every investigator or potential or less active we sought was home!  We were able to make appointments and make contact. It was awesome!

We visited Jahayra.  Her dog was a crazy ball of Energy, bouncing of the walls, literally, and bounding from person to person in a happy frenzy.  He reminded me of an Elder Slaugh I knew in the MTC, especially when he growled, burrgh. (the dog equivalent of pouting) :-)  We taught a lesson on Chastity.  She agreed to be baptized on Noviembre the 27th!  The reason it's so far out, is that she needs to get married before she can be baptized.

After dinner, we met with Cynthia, a woman with four kids who smokes.  We wanted to teach the Word of Wisdom, but didn't end up having enough time.  We were only there for 7 or 8 minutes, so we simply testified of the blessings of attending church, reading, praying, and being baptized, and challenged her to do all those things.

We then had another Milagro.  Valeria, who has a baptismal date set for Diciembre 17, told us that she and her less-active boyfriend, Nefi, had started to read the Book of Mormon together as a family!!!  We were overjoyed and as we went over Lesson Three with them, they basically taught us, they were so in tune with the Spirit!  It was awesome!

At the end of the night we visited Mariana.  She's a less-active member; she's 30, but looks 18.  She works as a nurse practitioner in the Hospital Del Sol, literally right next door to the church.  She expressed to us how much she missed going to church, and promised if her work schedule allowed, we would see her there!  We didn't end up seeing her, so I guess it didn't allow, but at least she has that desire!

Friday was Zone Training. It was awesome- really motivated us to work harder.  As it happens, Jose Salvidar believes in reincarnation.  We testified that we have a purpose, and being recycled lifetime after lifetime was not it.  He hasn't agreed to be baptized yet, but he did agree to a return appointment.

AAAAND that's all we have time for this week.  Tune in next time to hear more adventures from...
The Mission Log!  Mission: Baptize!  The Final Countdown! . . . (Name suggestions would be awesome. :)

Love, love, love,

Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - October 24, 2016 - T1, W1 - El Paso, TX!!

Dear Loved Ones -

Hellooooo from Texas!!!!

By way of clarification, T1 W1 means Transfer 1, Week 1.

So much has happened this week!  First of all, my new companion's name is Hermana Martin.  She is the sweetest companion!  She's 5'9'', with straight blonde hair.  She leads mostly by example, so I've learned to pay attention when she does anything, and learn by doing.

My very first day, I arose at the fresh hour of 1:30 AM to go to the airport.  We arrived in the Dallas airport, where I was given the opportunity to call my parents, which was a huge blessing.

We arrived in Albuquerque at 10:45 AM.  We went to see the temple, and to take a picture.  President Guffey and his wife were very nice.  Sister Guffey told us she has a Facebook Page for the New Mexico Albuquerque mission.  We lunched at the mission home, and were oriented into the mission.  I learned a lot about New Mexico, including the significance of the symbol "Zia."  I had an interview with President Guffey.

We spent the night at the apartment of the Sister Training Leaders.  The next morning, we had a Transfer Meeting at 9 AM in a parking lot near the mission home.  There were so many missionaries there!

I was assigned to labor in the El Paso Chamizal Area.  We drove for four hours and finally made it to El Paso.  We can see the border of Mexico from our apartment complex!  There's a huge red X that lights up at night.

Here's a day for you:

Every morning, we've been arising at 6:30 for 30 minutes of exercise - just like real missionaries! :)  Hna Martin is ripped, and she and I do crunches every morning as part of the routine.  We also do jumping jacks, to get the heart rate up.  At 7 AM we have an hour to shower, dress, and eat breakfast.  Breakfast has varied greatly this week, but Hna Martin's favorite breakfast is parfaits, so I've been making hers while she showers.

Then, every morning at 8, we have an hour for personal study.  As we study, we think about our investigators, their needs, chapters we've assigned them, and chapters that would be good to leave with them next time we visit.  Then, at 9 AM, we have companion study.  We read out of Predicad Mi Evangelio, and out of the white missionary handbook, and we read out of several other church-provided materials as well.  We then share what we learned slash read in personal study, then we talk about our investigators that we're going to visit that day.  We often role-play lessons to practice asking and answering inspired questions.  This transitions nicely into language study, because we practice in Spanish.  Then, at Noon after lunch, we go out to teach, to contact, to find, and to talk to people.

I have met so many people since I've been here, it would take forever to tell you about them all.

One super cool experience I would like to share is this: Our 4 o'clock, Jahayra, cancelled on us.  Following a backup plan, we went to contact some former investigators, the Familia Piedras.  We knocked, and the door opened right up (this is not common).  Hno Piedra smiled and asked us to come in.  We came right in to the back of the house, where his wife was.  We got to know them a little, and asked what they remembered about our church.  Hno Piedras left the room and returned with two copies of El Libro de Mormon, which looked well-worn and read.  We began to share Lesson three, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, (see 4th article of Faith).  We challenged them to be baptized, and they accepted!  They haven't agreed to a date, but we have another appointment with them next week!!

The gospel truly is restored on earth once again.  Jesus Christ is our Savior, our Redeemer, and our Older Brother.  Through Him we truly can live with our Heavenly Father again. Of these things I testify.

How could anyone ever get bored of this?  How can anyone forget how amazing this is?  How could we possibly take it for granted?

Love, Love, Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - October 18, 2016 - Arrived in Albuquerque

Dear Mom and Dad,

I am allowed to email you briefly to let you know that I arrived safe.

I love you guys so much!  You guys are the best parents in the world.

My new companion is really sweet.  Her name is Hermana Martin.

I thought I was going to serve in New Mexico, but no!  I've been sent out to El Paso, Texas!

I will tell y'all more about everything on P-day, which has recently been changed to Monday in this mission.

Love, Love, Love,
Hna Smurthwaite


** Email Received from President Guffey **
Dear Brother and Sister Smurthwaite,

Hermana Smurthwaite has safely arrived in the New Mexico Albuquerque Mission!  Here is a picture of her with President and Sister Guffey.  Later this week we will send you a hard copy picture of the arriving group of missionaries which we took yesterday in front of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple.

We are grateful for you having worked with your daughter to prepare to serve at this wonderful moment in their life!

Best always,

President Guffey

 

Mission Log - October 12, 2016 - Last Week at the CCM!!

Dear Loved Ones,

This week is my last week here at the CCM!!  I'm a bit sad to leave, but super excited for the next step.

The Mexico City Temple is amazing!  This is kind of amazing: there are escalators.  Escalators!!  Inside the Temple!!  It gets me every time.

We had an assessment on our Spanish speaking skills recently.  It was basically a timed response - for example, "Recite your favorite scripture in Spanish.  You have thirty seconds to prepare, go!"  It helped me to see that one, I've learned a lot, and two, I have a long way to go.
 
Four days ago, a little grey bird flew into the window of our classroom so hard it broke it's neck.  It twitched for about thirty seconds, then died.  As you can imagine, it was quite distracting, and our District congregated at the windows, standing on chairs and almost falling on top of one another trying to see.  (Understand the windows are about 5'5'' off the ground.)  Per Hermana Karren's request, Elder Bohn and Elder Slaugh volunteered to go outside and dig a little grave for it.  They did a good job of burying it, and they put two twigs in the shape of a cross over the grave.  It was very cute, and a bit sad.  I felt bad because this experience really traumatized Hermana Karren's tender heart, and she cried a little.  The reason I felt bad was because everyone else in the class was fine, and started up a lively conversation about hunting, pests, and whether animals had literal souls.  Hermana Leavitt took her to the bathroom, and I followed, and after they began to walk back, we tried to help her feel better.

Out of earshot of Hermana Karren, Elder Ficklin and I joked that this could be a Windex commercial.  "Windex - so clean, you can't even see it!"

This past Sunday, we had the opportunity to perform a special musical number for the entire CCM before Devotional.  We performed La Oracion del Profeta, Joseph Smith's First Prayer, in Spanish.  We sang it to the tune of Come Thou Fount, which worked out nicely.  The first verse was sung by the Hermanas, the second by the Elders, the third we sang together with a five- or six-part harmony going on, and the last verse was in unison for the verse, and harmony for the chorus. . . alright, we may have overthought it, but nevertheless, we sounded good, and more importantly, we brought the Spirit.

After the Devotional, Elder Bohn shared a simple thought which I really appreciated.  He said, "It's the Plan of Salvation, not the Plan to Punish the Wicked."  I feel like many view the Plan of Salvation as a make-it-or-break-it deal, but it's really not.  It is a gift.  It is a plan by which we all can be happy, and it was given to us by our Father Celestial because he wants us to have joy.  (See Elder Nelson's Talk from Gen. Conf.)

As we played volleyball one day, an Elder with a hurt hand spiked the ball with his head.  He began to play the ball with his head more, and though it was impressive, is was comical to see the excitement on his face as he expressed the joy of playing with his head to his athletic comrades.  "DUUUDE!  Try hitting the ball with your head, it's so fun!  Hey, man!  Chuck the ball at my head.  Do it!  Doit, doit, doit!"

Ah, fun times.

Well, that's all for now, folks. Tune in next week to hear more adventures.

Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - October 5, 2016 - Pics from the CCM

Dear Loved Ones,

My Compañera let me borrow her camera, so:

Here's a snapshot of the performance we saw on the Grito de Independencia.

Here's me and Hermana Loescher, taken this morning, actually.

Here's a pic from the big city (Mexico City - Distrito Federal).

Here is me and Hermanas Karren, Leavitt, and Loescher, takin' a pic.



Here's me and Hermana Loescher, in our room.



Here's us in front of our house.



So here's a true story: One day, while we were waiting to go to dinner I drew everyone in our district, by request of everyone in my district. (Leavitt, Karren, Bohn, Carrizales, Me, Loescher, Ficklin Schaefer, Anderson, Petersen, Slaugh, and Nielsen).



Here's all the Hermanas in our Distrito: Me, Hermanas Loescher, Leavitt, Karren, Petersen, and Anderson.



Here's some fine, upstanding Elders in our District.  Legs of the church, right there. (Carrizales, Bohn and Nielsen).



Here we are, pictured with Hermanas Keller on the left and Art on the right, from District 8A.



Here's lunch and dinner pretty much every single day - except Tuesday, Pizza Night.



And here are Elders Nielsen and Slaugh, being goofy.  Elder Slaugh is our District Leader.



Here's our District when we visited the Temple.  From Left to Right: H Anderson, H Karren, E Nielsen, H Petersen, E Slaugh, H Loescher, E Bohn, H Leavitt, E Ficklin, Me, E Schaefer, E Carrizales



Mi Compañera, looking cute in the rain.



Some real Mexican goodies.



Here's us on Temple Day!



Us on the bus (on Temple Day).



Here's Elders Schaefer and Ficklin.



And that is all she wrote for today!

So there y'all are!
​
​Love, 

Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - September 30, 2016 - CCM Adventures

Dear Loved Ones,

So this week, Preparation Day is on Friday because my Compañera needs to go get her visa.  I wasn't allowed to go with her, so today I'm paired with a sister from another district, Hermana Richardson, whose companion also needed to go get a visa.

There is a native Mexican Hermana named Hermana Gonzales who, on her first day, stayed with me and Hermana Loescher because she couldn't find her district or her companion.  Now, every time we see each other we say Hola! and smooch each other's cheeks. It's a cultural custom here in Mexico, I think.

We had a teaching Practice session.  One-on-one with district 5A, and my 'investigador' said that my Spanish was good, and that I just needed to back down a little.  After he explained that he did drugs, I said to him in Spanish, 'The Church has an addiction recovery program you can go to in order to clean your sins!' and 'Through the power of the Atonement, you can overcome your sins!'  I guess I was just really excited to share the Gospel! :)

This past Friday we had a substitute teacher, Hermana Sanchez, because our teacher was getting married!  On Monday we all congratulated him as he came in.  His name is Hermano Valencia, and he returned from his mission about a year ago.  He's very humorous, mostly with facial expressions.  He's awesome, and his testimony really picks up the District when we're feeling down.  He served his mission speaking English, so he relates to us.

During gym time earlier this week, Elder Ficklin and I were both waiting to play tennis on the side, and we began to pitch the extra tennis ball back and forth.  He played baseball before coming out into the field (ha ha jokes), and he said that it brought him a lot of comfort to pitch back and forth because he used to do that for hours on end at practice.  He was a catcher, and though I have NO skills, he seemed very happy to have a tennis ball repeatedly chucked at him. :)

This past Sunday was Fast Sunday (ha that rhymed).  The way they do Fast Sunday here at the CCM is they have all the missionaries fast from dinner on Saturday night until lunch on Sunday.  Our district did a district fast for Elder Bohr, who literally got his face smashed in by a goal post and had to leave for three days for intense surgery.  He's doing a lot better now; we see him walking around, conscious, with bandages wrapped around his head.

We taught a lesson to 'Matea', or Sister Sanchez.  She was a suicidal teenager, and we were able to share with her what her purpose in life is, and why she's important, and that God loves her, and we love her too.  It was a very good lesson.

We watched the John Tanner video for devotional!  I was reminded of his story, and his strength.  I felt closer to my ancestor (on my bonus Mom's side) than I ever have before. It was awesome.

You know that feeling you get when you carefully plan a lesson, study it out in your brain, prepare scriptures to answer anticipated questions, and practice saying it all in Spanish with correct grammar and pronunciation?  And then you completely switch lessons once you get there?  This was our experience with Alfredo the third time around.  He opened up a little at the beginning of the lesson and talked about how he didn't have much time for his family because of work and school.  When he said that I grabbed Hermana Loescher's arm and said, 'We need to teach Plan of Salvation!' and my poor companion was like, 'AAAHH!'  But only briefly.  The lesson differed from our previous lessons in that he seemed genuinely interested in what we were saying and paid attention the whole time.  Afterwards, as Alfredo still, he told us he was interested in learning more about the plan of Salvation.

OOOH guess what?  This Tuesday, Elder Caseñera of the Seventy walked into our classroom while we were singing a hymn and asked us to sing that same one in a meeting at 10:30, 15 minutes later!  We went to this meeting, and there was President Call, President Eves, the Executive Secretary, the manager of all the teachers, the audio-visual boss, the maintenance manager, and a few other general managers over the entire CCM!  Elder Casañera said to sing, and the twelve of us all sang Yo Sé Que Vive Mi Señor (I Know That My Redeemer Lives).  It was awesome!  We all got to shake all of their hands too!

We had our first TRC session yesterday, which stands for Teach Real Citizens.  Just kidding. ;)  I actually don't know what it stands for, but it's this little building off to the side of the CCM where real people (investigators, members, whoever) come in to be taught the gospel.  We taught two people.  Isaac was 15 and less active, because his dad wasn't a member.  We shared about church attendance.  The other was also 15 and preparing to go on a mission.  We just shared a spiritual thought on prayer.  It was very good practice, and I'm glad we went!

Well, that's all for this week.  Tune in next time to hear more CCM Adventures.

Love, Love, Love,

Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - Sept. 21, 2016 - Mexican Independence Day

Dear Loved Ones,

Thank you so much for your words of love! I love you guys, sincerely. 

This past week has been loco! 

September 15th was the Eve of Mexico Independence Day.  I've been hearing fireworks every night since I've been here, but that night I actually saw some!  A man who works at the CCM actually shot off three from the roof of the Gordon B. Hinkley building!  

There was a huge assembly where they had a show.  There were 5 dances and many songs performed.  They dressed like Aztecs and danced with shaker devices on their legs, and one held fire in his hands.  Then the ladies put on skirts that were very, very twirly and the men put on sombreros.  They all had handkerchiefs that they twirled like a baton the whole time.  Then they changed into cowboy/cowgirl attire and had the equivalent of a rap battle (I didn't understand a word of it), and they danced quite sassily. 

Just a little background.  I could be wrong, because all of it was in Spanish, but I think that Mexico Independence Day is called the "Grito de Independencia" and it represents what happened on September 16 in 1810.  This priest or bishop named Miguel Hidalgo rang the church bells in a city called Dolores.  He then brought together the people in the town, and gave an inspiring speech, basically a pep talk to take up arms against the Spanish rule.  That event is what started the fight for independence, and every year, they celebrate it with colletos, or cuellos, I'm not sure (fireworks).  So that was cool! 

That day they served real Mexican food, dulces, (which are these really cultural candies), Mole and Bistek . . .  Actually, that could be inaccurate, but regardless, it was delicious. I was so full! 

The next day was a difficult day for our district. At the very moment when we were ready to sink into despair and abandon ourselves to destruction, Hermano Valencia, our Maestro, gave a beautiful testimony of the Gospel and the Gift of Tongues. He encouraged us all and told us that our hearts were in the right place, and if we just work hard, the Lord will bless us.  We just happened to be listening to spiritual music and it played in the background as he spoke, inspiringly. :)

Our Elders have native Mexican "primos" or cousins in their house.  They are very kind and loving, and they only speak Spanish, so it´s really cool to speak with them.  They always say, "We are homies!"  They have FHE every night at their casa, according to the Elders. 

On Sunday, Elder Slaugh, our district leader, was feeling really down.  My companion was the first to notice, so she and I went to talk to him.  Everyone eventually joined us, and working together, we were able to get him back to Slaugh mode. 

Let me explain a little more about our district.  There are six Elders and six Hermanas.  Hermana Loescher I´ve already told you about; she's also a classically trained opera singer.  Hermana Karren I've mentioned, she´s our district ´mom'.  She likes cute quotes and craft tape and she's from Virginia.  She's going to Salem, Oregon.  Her companion, Hermana Leavitt, is from Las Vegas and is going to North Carolina.  She has blonde hair and kind of looks like Mallory Everton, but she acts like (and these are her own words) a 'sassy black woman'.  She and my companion share a love of volleyball, and that's been pretty much the only sport our district has played since we got here.  Hermanas Karren and Leavitt share a room with us.  

Hermana Anderson is from California and she's going to San Diego.  She's a gorgeous California blonde with a pretty, raspy singing voice.  Her companion, Hermana Petersen, is from Alaska and she's also going to San Diego as well.  She's the slimmest, shortest little thing, but she's super fast and surprisingly spicy.  She is very punctual and kind of keeps everyone in our district aware of the rules, which I love. 

Elder Slaugh, from Philidelphia, is the district leader, as I said, and he's awesome.  Once or twice a day, he'll express his love for our district, his testimony, or a spiritual thought.  He also beatboxes. His companion, Elder Nielsen, is very patient with Slaugh's exuberant personality.  He was a tennis player, and when he laughs, his eyes roll back in his head.  Elder Ficklin was a baseball player and in drumline in Iowa.  He can talk about baseball all day long.  His companion, Elder Shaefer (Shay-fer), quotes movies with incredible accuracy.  His Spanish is very good, as well, and he wants to be an actor in the movies.  Elder Bohn is the tallest Elder in the district.  He's a character.  His companion, Elder Carrizales, is the sweetest.  Whenever he says something, it's always positive and humble.  We joke in our district that Elders Carrizales and Bohn kind of look like Pedro and Napoleon from Napoleon Dynamite, as I said in my last Mission Log. 

We had three awesome Devotionals this past Sunday, one after the other.  A part of Elder Bednar's talk that stood out was that it's not about you.  He mentioned  the Cookie Monster and admonished us not to be like that.  "ME WANT COOKIE NOW!"  "ME WANT BAPTISMS NOW!"  It was humorous, but the message was powerful.  Also, Elder Holland talked about the Breakfast on the Beach that Jesus and His Disciples had, where he asked Peter, "Do you love Me?" "Then feed my lambs."  Elder Holland encouraged us to follow the example of Peter and leave our nets behind.

On Monday, I was Spotlighted.  Basically, our district started doing this thing where each night, we all go around and say something we love about the spotlighted person.  It's awesome - and I felt really humbled after mine.  Then, when we, the Hermanas, got home, we had a jam session where we all sang some songs.  Hermana Art and Keller, who are in our ward in a different district, heard it and complimented us the next day.

Today we went to the Mexico City Temple. It was beautiful! Inside and out. I felt the Spirit very strongly there.

After the session, we went to the tienda, a little Deseret Bookstore next to the temple. It was fun! Everything was in Spanish.

Happy Day before your Birthday, Toko! I love you and you're gonna be an awesome 5 year old!

Love,

Hermana Smurthwaite