It seriously brought tears to my eyes

Hello there!

Well I heard the weather has been all over the place over there. It's been crazy here in Tijuana too. Last weekend was super hot. The worst day was definitely Tuesday. That day we had a zone meeting and in the morning they called us and told us that we didn't need to wear a suit, so that was super sweet. It was in the capilla de Lago, which is like one of the super nice capillas that has air conditioning in stead of fans, but since we're only missionaries and we don't have keys to the air conditioning we went to the salon bautimsal, which is the only room that has ceiling fans. The whole meeting, everyone was screaming over the sound of the fans and the cars passing by next to the church. Anyways it made it to 39 degrees [102 degrees Fahrenheit] on Tuesday. The rest of the week has felt cold. I think it actually is starting to cool down but I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

Well Juan and Blanca's daughter, Briceyda got baptized this week! That was super great. She really has changed. First of all, she actually wanted to get baptized. That in itself is a huge miracle. But she also has a pretty great testimony. I don't even know what's going on with her brother but we'll keep trying.

We found a family! They were super great when we contacted them and they invited us over to eat. umm yeah! haha when we went with them they gave us mole made with chile de arbol, which is super spicy. Let me tell you, I've gotten pretty proud of my ability to eat peppers. Jalepenos, Habaneros you name it, but THAT was spicy stuff. By the way just so you know I have learned that there is no other way to eat a hotdog than with jalapenos. anyway that was an interesting experience.

Anyway I know I say this every week but our converts are just doing so well! They seriously are what keep me going. Yesterday, Camilo taught the lesson in Elder's quorum. He taught about laws and ordinances and the importance of obedience. It seriously brought tears to my eyes. Frida and I have a race to see who can finish the book of mormon first. We are both in Mosiah, but She's winning. I'll have to do some catching up later today. Juan and Blanca are staying strong, even though they are having a lot of difficulties financially. Briceyda's baptism has really helped them have more hope for their son. 

Hah! Yesterday when Juan found out that I wear a back-brace, he made me lie down and he did weird stretches and exercises and stuff. Umm haha! He also cracked my neck.

well I still have no idea what I'm doing as a district leader. I think like it says in Ether 12:27, the Lord has definitely shown my weaknesses unto me. I'm trying to act positively so that these weaknesses can become strong instead of just getting depressed. Moroni really got it right when he said humility is key. It's been a really big splice of pie. Now I just need to focus on correcting these things.

I love you so much, I'm glad you are having fun! take care
Elder Smalley

HUGE SHOUT-OUT TO MEGAN REMUND FOR THE MISSION CALL I AM SO DARN EXCITED FOR YOU!!!

There, I said it! (Now Mom is going to cry)

Hola There!

Oh my goodness, time is seriously flying by. I feel like just yesterday I was with Elder Morgan and now two weeks have gone by!

Before I forget-good news! Last month we broke the zone AND mission record for baptisms which is super awesome because for years la zona Otay has been famous for being the worst zone in the mission. So I'm super glad that we have improved! So basically Juan and Blanca's kids keep on giving me grief, haha, well really just the son. Their daughter is pretty excited to get baptized. On Thursday we decided to just focus on her because he wasn't progressing anymore and then later that day we visited them and he said he wanted to get baptized. Cool. Then Sunday came and he didn't want to come to church and now he's back to not progressing. GAH! People and their agency!!! We also have another investigadora who is super excited for her baptims, and can I just say she is a mexican version of Grandma Erb? She's great!

Well this week I am just so darn grateful for the atonement. I have been forced to learn how to apply it so much, in new ways this week. I've had to learn a LOT of paciencia, mostly with myself. I have made a lot of mistakes, and it's really hard to keep my perfectionism under control. At least once every 24 hours I've had like a mini panic attack, but I can always feel the peace of the holy ghost after I calm myself down, and allow myself to. Haha don't worry, I'm fine, but if I have no hair left, please just love me anyway!

This friday we had a conferencia especial with elder Valenzuela, a counselor in the Mexico Area Presidency. He said a lot of what I needed to hear. It was good. 

The converts here just continue making me so darn HAPPY!!! Frida is through the Isaiah chapters. When I asked her how it went yesterday, she said that she loved them and got a lot of insight from them. Camilo is just a rockstar. They are reading every night as a family, and he has such a powerful testimony of the Book of Mormon. yesterday he participated in the ordination of a priest and tonight he is hosting a ward noche de hogar. WHY ARE MY CONVERTS BETTER THAN ME??? :)

Last night we ate shrimp tacos. Guys, you have no idea how much I love the food. I love this ward. I love being a missionary, I love this work. I never want to come home. There, I said it.
Well I love you guys all so much! I hope you guys are loving whatever it is you are doing!

Elder Smalley!

Please Pray For Them

Hey there guys!

Wow this week has been a super interesting week. For a lot of reasons. First off, my new companion's name is Elder Aleman, which is hilarious because Aleman means German in Spanish so now Juan says that we are both campeones haha. He's from Cuernevaca, Morelos which I guess is close to the federal district of Mexico (Mexico city). Well I definitely am super lucky because he's pretty great. He's SUPER intelligent and he's not afraid to take initiative sometimes. He's an extremely deep sleeper, haha! We're talking like worse than Erinn, so we're working on that, but it's going pretty good! Also, he's my first companion that will go running with me in the morning so I'm super glad about that! 

It's been a rough transition for me really. I've gotten so used to having a senior companion to answer all the hard questions and stuff like that. Now I just don't have that option anymore. It's been a good learning experience. and the good thing is Elder Morgan left all his packages full of candy so the sugar has helped me cope with the stress haha!

Our week actually didn't go that bad, not as much as I thought it would. We were actually doing pretty alright until Sunday. We were waiting for a member to help us with a ride and he showed up extremely late. The investigators said they weren't going to come to church. I was super sad. Well we showed up to church, very late, and there was only one investigator. Even the people that have been coming by themselves for weeks didn't show up (even though I called them that morning). That's when I lost it, emotionally of course. I became convinced that I just wasn't good enough and I don't even know. It was just a bad time. I think it was just hunger [fast Sunday] more than anything haha. I was seriosuly about to faint! After I calmed down, I could feel the peace of the testimony meeting so that was great. 

Well Juan's kids are still causing me a lot of grief. They both didn't come to church yesterday. There son took it pretty hard when Elder Morgan left and hasn't really wanted very much. He still listenes to us but has stopped progressing. His daughter is doing better but even still - just please pray for them. Juan and his wife are still going strong!!!! 

Well I can't even remember what else happened but |i know a lot did. sorry. love you all so much!

Elder Smalley

PS. okay this is a super cool picture! At the transfer meeting I saw Elder Coutino for this first time since he left Reforma, and his trainer was there too. So here it is: 4 generations of trainers. Pretty cool, if you ask me. Also it's hilarious that the name of Elder Coutino's trainer is ELDER TALL!!! ahahaha pretty good, right?

I'm terrified!

Hello Familia!

Wow this week went by super fast! Today is transfers. I have some terrifying news. Elder Morgan went to Ensenada as a zone leader, so I'm staying here in Casa Blanca. I'm going to be the new district leader, and I'm going to be TRAINING a Latino. I'm terrified. When we got the call, I started like hyperventilating haha I thought I was going to have an asthma attack. I'm so darn scared. Well this should be an adventure. I'm super nervous but just trying to keep a positive attitude! 

Well now that that's out of the way let's see what else happened. We've visited Juan's kids every day this week. and FINALLY they both accepted to be baptized yesterday!!!! It was super bittersweet because we all knew that Elder Morgan wouldn't be there :( 

Other than that we've been having a really hard time finding investigators for a couple weeks now, so we tried something new on Saturday. Here they have what are called sobre ruedas, which were people set up tents and stuff to sell stuff in the street. It attracts a lot of people. Anyway, we set of a table of pamphlets and copies of The Book of Mormon and just started contacting the people that walked by! It was great, we made a lot of great contacts so we should have a lot more investigators this week! But i got super sunburned so my face is really red right now.

On Tuesday they cut our electricity. We never payed the bill. oops. It's back now :)

Well this Sunday was stake conference and we got a new stake president. President Hoyos (the new area Mexico president) came down and I got to meet him so that was cool! We were worried about getting investigators there but somehow it all worked out. 

Ugh something else happened this week but I can't remember what. I'm sorry, I just can't really focus very well today. OH! I remember now! CAMILO WAS ORDAINED AN ELDER YESTERDAY!!!! He is seriously doing great. All of our converts are. Frida is in 2nd Nefi and LOVING it!!!!

Love you all! Please wish me luck!!!!!
Elder Smalley!