Week 28 - Another transfer in Federal

Hello everyone!

I Just found out that I am staying here in Federal....again.. I like it here but I am just wanting a change of scenery because I have knocked every street here. Oh well, there is a reason why I am here.

This week we went to Concordia for a district meeting and then returned to Federal. The very next morning we received a phone call telling us to go to the mission home for my companion to do his paperwork. So we ran out and canceled our appointments for those few days that we would be gone and took off for the 10 hour bus ride to Rosario.

While there I received a package from my loving mother. Thanx for the PMG MINI, everyone was way jealous. It is in color which is amazing because I have only ever seen it in black and white. It is the best gift you can give a missionary.(thanx) Also I was there at a good time because I got to eat pizza with President Giuliani and the other Elders in the mission office. It was cool. We spent the night at the mission home and then left the next morning for the 10 hour ride back home. It was pretty hectic having to pick up and leave to Rosario but it was OK. In a terminal I contacted 3 kids who have 20 years and are from England. It was really sweet.

I just received some horrifying news that I am going to have to stand next to president Giuliani's wife and translate here talk from English to Spanish at a zone conference next

week . yikes... pray for me.

My companion said our pench is the worst living conditions he has been in since being on his mission. We are basically camping, but I am used to it by now.

Thanx for all the support.
Love,

Elder Smart

Week 27 - 6 Months

Hola familia y amigos!

I hope that all is well in the states. Here in Federal things are good! This week we found alot of new people to teach and one man that we found is great from the moment we were in his house. He said he wanted to turn his life around. He is reading the Book of Mormon and is very sincere with everything he says. When ever we leave he thanks us and begins to cry, the spirit is always so strong with him. I love teaching him. It is amazing to see how the gospel fits in perfectly with peoples lives like a missing puzzle piece.

We went to one of our part member families and when we got there we could tell that the husband who isn´t a member didn´t really want us to be there that night for what ever reason. Then we had a great activity with them where we told the whole family we were going to go on a trip to where ever they wanted to go. They chose places like Utah, Hawaii, and of course Las Vegas ha ha. Well we said that we are all on the plane heading to where they wanted to go when all of a sudden the plane starts to have difficulties and we are going to crash. We hand out pieces of paper and tell them to write their last words to who ever they want. They had 5 minutes to do so and then they folded there papers in half and handed them into us, and we put them in a box. We then explained that some how the box opened up and all the papers got destroyed. My companion tore all the papers up!! They all said they felt said that they couldn´t say what they wanted to there families.

We told them that we can´t put things off in this life because we don´t know what will happen. Then my companion gave them back their papers to them because we didn´t really rip them up. We invited them to read and many of them cried doing so. I then bore my testimony and I used James 4:14 "Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow For what is your life It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth." At the end of the lesson the wife asked her spouse who he wanted to pray and he said "Vos mi amor?" and she said "Si mi vida" Sorry I had to describe it in Spanish because it is just so much cooler ;)

When we left the spirit was so strong there.The next day at church the hermana bore her testimony of the experience and said after we left they sat around the table and spoke just like an eternal family. When usually on a Saturday night they are off doing separate things. It was a great experience to be apart of. It is amazing that I have been gone for 6 months already. I love my mission and every experience I have had, the difficult ones and dangerous ones too ;)

I want to end with a quote by mother Theresa. Hope you like it!

Love, Elder Smart

People are often unreasonable, Illogical, and self-centered; Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, People may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, You will win some false friends and some true enemies; Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, People may cheat you; Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, Someone could destroy overnight; Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, They may be jealous; Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, People will often forget tomorrow; Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, And it may never be enough; Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, It is between you and God; It never was between you and them anyway.
– Mother Theresa

Week 26 - The Testament with thirty kids!

 This week in Federal we did divisions and I was with an Elder from Chile who is awesome. On the way with him back from Concordia to Federal we were just sitting on the bus and we had just gotten on the freeway when all of a sudden CRACK CRACK! We were sitting toward the back of the bus but we found out that someone had thrown two rocks the size of my fist at the bus and shattered the two huge windows in the front right size of the bus! They card boarded it up and we were on our way. haha Then the next morning we were studying when it sounded like someone was throwing rocks at the house and then it got louder! We went and checked the window and went outside and hail the size of quarters was coming down. It was so funny to see all the animals running around for cover. haha

We went and found some great new people to teach it was a really a spiritual day. Three people during three different lessons cried during the message we gave. People all have there different problems but they all find one common remedy in our savior and Father in heaven. It is amazing to be one of these people to deliver the good news that people search for.

We had an activity in the rama. (Ward) We watched The Testament with 30 little kids we invited from the neighborhood. It was chaotic but really good also. Then on Sunday I taught the priesthood lesson about keeping the Sabbath day holy and how our Savior has prepared the sacrament for us and I compared it to how our mothers make meals for us and how they feel when we don´t show up ;)

A member in our rama told us her conversion story and what happened. When she was working at a building rental office a coworker told her there was an Elder at the church who looked just like Leonardo DiCaprio from The Titanic, so all twelve of them went to church to see him. She liked the ward but didn´t get to see the missionary because he got transferred. The ward invited her in though with open arms and now I would say she has one of the strongest testimonies in the rama. So always keep an eye out at your wards    because you never know what will happen with one of the people you choose to befriend :)

Thanx for all the love and support!

Con amor Elder Smart

Week 25 - Protect Your Family

Hello!

This week I spent alot of time on a bus going to Rosario to fill out some paperwork. It was great to study and listen to conference talks. While we were in Rosario we ate at McDonald's which I have never been so excited to do because there are not alot of them in Argentina and it was a very rare opportunity! While at the offices I helped do a little paperwork and talked with the Elders there. I Got to see the President of the mission also which is always great. I was there with just my companion. Usually more people would be there but we got there late because we had to travel so far. So I just missed seeing my old companion Elder Winger :(

Then when it came time for us to go we couldn´t say no to going to Burger King :) (food is my weakness) Once back in Federal we had a Family home evening with some members in our ward. The dad however is not a member, we had homemade pizza and at the end I shared a scripture about protecting your family (Alma 43:47) We closed with a prayer and he asked us when we could come back which his spouse later told us never has happened! Then the next day he showed up at church with his family :) It is great to see the way that scriptures can effect people.

Thanx for the support.

Love, Elder Smart

Alma 43:47 – And again, the Lord has said that: Ye shall defend your families even unto bloodshed. Therefore for this cause were the Nephites contending with the Laminites, to defend themselves, and their families, and their lands, their country, and their rights, and their religion.

Week 24 - Ice Cream for the kids!

Hello,

Man it is hard to think about what to write because so much happens in one week. This week we had a family night with a member family. We watched Prophet of the Restoration. I have missed watching that ever since I left the MTC. We have been working with the members alot this week and it is so fun to talk to the little kids. ha ha They are so funny. They think of us missionaries as people from different worlds, but then when I start to sing along with them a song they laugh and start to love us back as people ha.

Me and my companion bought two young member kids ice cream this week and they were so grateful for it! It was like we took them to Disneyland! It reminds me of how fortunate we are in the states with the things we have.

Spanish is coming along but the thing I don´t like is that I cant express myself exactly how I want because they have different kinds of sayings here. I am learning them though but I feel like an old man trying to learn the slang of young kids hahaha.

Well love you all Thanx for everything!

Elder Smart

Week 23 - Meeting Pres. Giuliani

Hello everybody!!

This last week has just been full of excitement! We had transfers and so literally the whole week I was running around because after transfers we had a meeting that was 5 hours away in Santa Fe. It was with our new mission President. He is amazing and so is his wife. At the conference I got to see a lot of my friends from the MTC, which was great because I miss them a lot.. We traveled back home that night to Entre Rios and all 9 of us Elders where standing on the curb waiting for our bus. All of a sudden an Elder took of running, and yelling saying "that´s our bus!" ha ha We all ran 200 yds in our suits to catch the bus and we did. People in the streets probably thought we were secret agents ha ha.

Every single day I pray that some one will come and ask us about the gospel because that means they are ready to listen. Well, what happened yesterday after church is that we were cooking and we got a knock on the door and I answered it. It was a young man and he asked me in English about what we believe! In English! Ha A miracle for me because I was more then happy to do it in English. We have scheduled to teach him this week and it is going to be cool. He is here in Federal studying medicine and has learned English from students who came here from the states. He is from Brazil.

Things are really great here and the Spanish is coming along :)

Thanx for the support Love you all!

ELDER SMART

Week 22 - Farewell Elder Black, until we meet again!

Aw man this week felt very long with the cold weather here and all the walking we did. It has been very rewarding though. With one of our investigators that Elder Black and I have been teaching we had a wonderful experience with teaching him about priesthood authority. Elder black taught it really well and it was like a light switch of understanding that showed on our investigators face.

He accepted a date to be baptized and he is working towards it :)

In church on testimony meeting all of the young kids got up and bore there testimonies in the way that cute little kids do. Well then this young boy named Facundo got up and bore his testimony. He is 9 and you couldn´t even see him standing behind the pulpit. He bore his testimony of his love for his savior and started to cry. The spirit in the room was incredible. It is amazing the power of the Holy Ghost, it resides in whatever place that people have a heart to feel it.

Today I found out that I am staying in the same area and that my companion Elder Black is going to a different area. I am not sure who my new companion is yet, so I will let you know that next week in my email. Elder Black is a great Elder that I have learned so much from. I am lucky to know him and I believe he will be one of my life long friends. We fought sheep and dogs and preached this gospel together. These are great memories that I will always remember. "Prepare now for the stories that your kids will one day ask you to tell them."- Elder Holland.

Thanx for all the love and support and Happy 4th of July..... I love AMERICA!