Mission Log - November 14, 2016 - T1, W4 - Service Softens Hearts

Hola!!!

This week was a doozy...of AWESOMENESS!!!  So first of all, Jahayra and Oliver are getting MARRIED on the 26th!!!  We are super excited for them - the whole Relief Society is in on the planning, which is a Relief. :)  It was so cool, because they were so excited to tell us.  Jahayra really showed us that she understood how important her covenants are going to be when she said "I'm not going to get a really nice dress for it - I'll wait til we get sealed!" :)

On Tuesday we had a service project to rival Hermana Karren's ceiling fiasco - (Hermana Karren is a super awesome lady serving in salem, and she helped someone clean their ceiling when the microwave melted)

We showed up at the Reynold's house, a privately owned and cared-for homeless shelter. The owner of the shelter told us not to talk to any of the families we saw - they were homeless, she said, and didn't need to worry about religion right now.  Which was silly, because times of trial are when you need your Father in Heaven the most!  We respected her wishes, however, and went inside. 

There was grime.  There was gunk.  There was gum.  We were Game! 

The walls, the ceiling, the floors, the dressers, the bed frames, the windows, the doors, the blinds - everything, everything was covered in a greasy layer of suciedad! 

So we scrubbed.  We scraped.  We struggled.  We Sang!, until they told us to stop. :)  I found the chisel very handy.  I'm pleased to say, once we got done with our two hours of service, the place looked livable.  The lady who was the janitor - mind you, there were 16 rooms made for families of 5-8, and the 5 unoccupied ones were the ones we cleaned - she looked at the rooms and began to cry.  She asked us for a pamphlet, because she recognized our nametags.  The 4th ward sisters got themselves an appointment with her for the very next day! :)  Service softens hearts.

We visited Hermana Valles, a cute single mom in the ward.  Before we could ask if there was anyone she knew that we could talk to, she asked, "Do you guys have any of those pamphlets in english? I have this friend..."  And she proceeded to tell us all about her friend whom she had been wanting to share the gospel with for some time! :D  It was awesome!

We stopped by with Alma Villela, a referral from the Lower Valley Elders.  She'd just gone through surgery, and they had given her a priesthood blessing by request of her husband.  She was pretty out of it on pain meds, but her husband, her daughter (13) and her mother all sat in on our lesson.  We taught them about Joseph Smith and invited them to read the Book of Mormon.  They said they would!

So...food.  Yes, food.  "Hermana Smurthwaite, you're in the United States!  You have it easy!"  Ah ha, ha ha; that, my friend is where this story begins.

Once upon a time, we had dinner with Hermana Granados.  "Vamos a tener Caldo!"  She said to us on the phone.  'Caldo,' I thought, pulling out my dictionary.  It translated directly to Soup.  Helpful. :)

We arrived, unsuspecting, to discover she had concocted a seafood stew.  It had crab legs and oyster shells and tiny tentacles in it - it literally looked like she had taken a colossal ladel, dipped it into the ocean, heated it, and served it as-is.  For background, I'm not a huge fan of seafood.  It smelled good - like heated brine mixed with saltwater - and as I looked at it, and at this sister who had lovingly prepared it, I began to appreciate all the meals that we had hitherto enjoyed.  As we ate, she asked if we liked it.  With tentacles in my teeth, I smiled and said, "Muy rico!"  Because I made a goal before I came out here to love and scarf down anything and everything that was put in front of me.  Goal still unbroken!! :)

In our district council, Elder Jones gave the Parable of the UPS guy.  He said, "Imagine a UPS guy walks up to your house.  You know who he is - you see his uniform, and you see he has a box under his arm.  You know the box is for you.  The UPS guy then says, "So how's your day going?"  You reply "fine."  You wait for him to give you the box.  He sits and talks to you for twenty minutes.  He talks about the box, about his job.  Then he says, "Is there another time I can come by with this box?"  No!  You want your box!"

"We're like the UPS guy.  People know who we are - they see the name on our chest.  If we go through a lesson and don't extend an invitation to baptism, we're no better than the UPS guy!  They want eternal salvation, but they're never gonna get baptized unless we ask!" 

It was a good perspective.  I liked the analogy.

We had our first real lesson with Cecilia and Fam!!  Because they had so many questions, our half-hour lesson plan stretched to two hours!  We talked about Joseph Smith, and they asked about keeping the Sabbath Day holy, the Young Womens program, the Second Coming of Christ (we promised to explain more the next time,) the Word of Wisdom, and infant baptism.  We tried to answer concisely, using scriptures wherever possible.  We invited them to be baptized, and they said yes - all five of them!

A Spanish joke: An American, a Mexican, and a Chinese man were parachuting together for the first time.  They were trying to decide who would jump first.  They decided whoever had the shortest name would.  The Chinese man said, "It's me- my name is O."  The American said, "Well, mine's shorter- it's Casio. (Casi O, which being translated means almost O)"  The Mexican said, "Well, my name is even shorter than that, it's Nicasio. (Ni Casi O, translated as 'Not even almost O')"

Tune in next week for more....

El Paso: the Final Frontier. :)

Love, Love, Love,

Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - November 7, 2016 - T1, W3 - Teaching Awesome People

Helloo Loved Ones, 

Huge Shout out to my Mother, who had a Birthday this past Thursday!! Love Love Love!

So, I must apologize for the lack of pictures - I promise to send lots next week!

So this week, was one of the best weeks I've had on my mission thus far!  Last Monday was Halloween - which made it difficult to find people at home, but the costumes were awesome to see! 

On Tuesday, we went to see Linda, the Familia Ballesteros, and The Familia Campos. 

Let me tell you a little bit about the people we teach. 

VALERIA - she's so awesome.  Her fiancee, Nefi, was less active for many years, and they are returning to Church!  Her testimony of the Restoration and of Joseph Smith are so strong.  Whenever we go over, I honestly just feel like she's teaching us.  

JAHAYRA - Similar situation; she's also so solid, we love visiting her.  She and her intended, Oliver, are getting married within the next two weeks!  We get to go help plan her wedding tonight, because we already had an appointment with her, and we're bringing Hna Reza from the Ward to help!

LUCY - Super cute young college student - a bit hard to find; everytime we go knock on her door, a different family member of hers answers - her father, her mother, her older brother.  Soon we'll be able to teach the whole family!

CYNTHIA - She's a smoker; she's got four little kids and her husband works a LOT - her mom lives with her as well.  She's really interested in the message, and evidently has been sharing it with her husband and mom after our visits.  We're working with her!

FAMILIA BALLESTEROS - So get this: this family owns a Bouncy House business!!  Ever wonder how to say bouncy house in Spanish?  It's brinca brinca - which comes from the verb brincar, which means 'to jump' or 'to frolic.'  Very Catholic family, but they - Mom, Dad, two teenage sons, and Uncle - all seem to have a real desire to know the Truth, esp. the Dad.  He told us he wants to know what God's will is concerning his family.

FAMILIA CAMPOS - Ah, what fun! They are a rambunctious, fun-loving family, and we have an appointment with them this friday.

NALLELI - Pronounced Nayellie.  She's very nice, and she's got a cute little daughter.  We taught the Restoration as our first lesson, and she really seemed to know it was true.  It was awesome to see that light in her eyes!! 

JUAN MANUEL - Oh, Juan. :)  He already wants to be baptized!  The only problem is we haven't taught him any of the lessons yet - but we will!

CECILIA - Finally, we have Cecilia.  She has three YW-age daughters, so we brought with us the YW president on our first visit.  Though we had planned to teach Restoration, we ended up doing a Word of Wisdom lesson - they had a ton of questions!

...And that's just the ones who have yet to be baptized!  I sometimes think our investigators - the sons and daughters of God that we have the privilege to teach - are like American football.  When they're baptized, we act as the quarterback, tossing them towards Eternal Salvation, the 'End Zone'.  We can't just walk off the field - the touchdown can't be made unless there is a receiver to catch the ball.  That's where the members come in - with their help, we can run the ball into the End Zone, which is the Temple.  There's gonna be opposition - Satan's players are some of the biggest, meanest players out there: namely, fear, doubt, hopelessness, and loneliness.  We must muscle our way past these big guys with the football tucked securely under our arm, never fumbling.  Only then can we raise our fists and voices in victory.

Whoa - that was a pretty sweet analogy. :)  Pretty sure I've heard it somewhere before, so don't quote me on it. 

So it was actually this week that Valeria received her rock-solid testimony.  We went in as usual, and showed her the 20 min Restoration video.  We then asked Hna Mendoza, who had come with us, to share her own testimony of Joseph Smith.  She did so, powerfully.  Hna Martin and I then testified briefly.  We then challenged her to pray for a personal witness of the truth of these things.  We told her we would all be silent for some minutes afterward.  She offered a very heartfelt prayer, telling God she had the same question that Joseph Smith had, and asking if this Church was the true one.  Afterward, she began to cry.  The Spirit was so ridiculously strong in that room, it was awesome.  I have felt the truth of the restored gospel, and now I have seen that Spirit of Truth work through another daughter of God!!

Last experience: so the other night, we randomly decided to visit the Familia Granados, less active members.  Hna Granados is a truly amazing woman - she breaks her back every day in a laundromat to help her husband support their family.  She is a convert of ten years - before her baptism, she drank, smoked, did drugs, you name it - but after, she never touched any substances.  Amazing.  My companion was inspired to share a scripture with them - Alma 34:40-41.  My comp asked me to read it, because we'd been practicing reading scriptures in Spanish.  I did so, sounding like a broken record, with many pauses.  When I finished reading I looked up and realized that Hna Granados was crying.  She told us that she's been praying and praying to know how to handle life, and how busy it is - she testified to us that God had answered her prayer through this scripture.  It.  Was.  Amazing. 

Love, Love, Love,

Hna Smurthwaite

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