Wednesday, October 21, 2015

See yall in a week!

October 19,2015
Hey there family!

so on Monday we visited Cristina and her family. She talked about how happy she was and how good she felt. We invited her family to get baptized again. Delia said that she still wasn't ready and then turned to look at her other daughter Karla. Karla doesn't say very much and is kinda shy. Delia said that she didn't think Karla wanted to either but Karla just looks up and said "ya me quierobautizar" WHAT! We were all a little bit surprised. She said that she felt that it was something she should do. For the first time, she agreed to pray in front of us! What an amazing experience!

Tuesday nothing really happened. Wednesday GRACIELA GOT MARRIED!!! Thursday we did both interviews and I almost killed Elder Huie because I got lost in sauzal at night and I had no idea where we were and then I realized that we were in a cemetery. oops! Friday was the baptism and everything went well. A really great service! We stayed the night in the zone leaders house.

Saturday, oh my goodness, we woke up at 4 to get ready. At 6 the bus was supposed to pass by the stake center. It finally got there at 7. Then the driver took us to the wrong part of Tijuana. Literally everything that could have gone wrong went wrong. We finally showed up. We walked in literally seconds before Elder Holland walked in. 

Speaking of, ELDER HOLLAND IS AMAZING! It was amazing! He is seriously the funniest person! He came down off the pulpit and said "I'm gonna talk down here so I can be with you...and scare the living daylights out of you!" as he grasped the face and neck of a sister in the front row. haha! 

He started talking about how much he loved his mission and how much he always talked about it. Then, in his voice of thunder that only Elder Holland has, shouted "I want you to talk about your mission for the rest of your life"! he went on saying that he goes absolutely ballistic when he hears of returned missionaries that go inactive. He said that on a mission  there are lots of variables that affect how many converts we have, but we need to come home with at least one: ourselves. It was unreal. I actually got to hear his voice! My prayers were answered perfectly with what he said. I loved every single minute! 

On the way back to Ensenada, Elder Hesterman and I talked about all the good times we had in the MTC and things that exist in the US that we had forgotten about, like dishwashers and chick-fil-a.


I cannot even believe that this is the last email. It makes me sad to think that such an amzing part of my life (the greatest part of my life) is shortly going to be over. I truely love this work! it has been a great blessing!

see yall in a week!

mucho amor, Elder Smalley!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

What would have happened if I had just given up?

Oct 12, 2015 
Hello Family!

It sure has been a fantastic week!

First off, Cristina got baptized! I cannot eve tell you how amazing she is. She is going to do great things! Her Mom and sister have been super supportive, but I am not really sure what else they need to join Cristina! Everyone keeps telling us that they are both ready as well. So we are going to keep working on that.

The baptism was going to be at 7 on Saturday, but these darn rehearsals for the temple celebration are
getting in the way! The youth are practicing 10 hours a week. We barely had time to even visit them! I was getting worried that Cristina wasn’t going to be baptized not because she wasn’t ready, but because we couldn’t find a time! We finally decided it would be Saturday at 4:30 right before the rehearsal in the Valle Dorado building, which is on the other side of the city. (I don’t know if I've mentioned it, but we don’t have a font in our building because it's just a casa de oracion.) Well, the font leaked, and when we got there the font was less than half way full and the water was freezing cold. But everything turned out alright in the end because all the youth from the stake were there to support her!

This week has really just been such a blessing. It has been incredible how the spirit has guided us to where we needed to be. I also had a really trying experience. I got sick again. I was up all night and when morning came, I didn’t have ganas to do anything! I was so tired and my whole body felt weak. My mind was begging me to go back to bed. I really really really wanted to just lay down and do nothing but I felt so strongly that I should not. All through studies, I was SOO tired. Then the greatest miracle happened, we left the house and it was like nothing had ever happened. I still felt weak, but I had just enough strength to keep working! It was incredible. At the end of the day, I thought about what would have happened if I had just given up.

Don’t worry mom, this time it was my fault for getting sick. i really need to check the expiration dates before I eat things... haha! Well I think that is all I can remember for right now. Hope you have a great week! Oh, guess what! This Saturday, ELDER HOLLAND is coming to Tijuana! We are going to have a special conference with him!

Love you all! Elder Smalley

I really tried to change that, and not complain

Oct 5, 2015
Hello Familia!

This had to have been the fastest week of my life! So many just amazing things have happened. Where to even start.

So we have the greatest investigators ever, but one of them is Graciela. She has wanted to get baptized for so long and it looks like she is finally going to be able to get married this week! I wish I could tell you just how many small miracles we have seen on the way! Also This week Cristina is getting baptized. She is Delia's daughter. We were a little worried about her because she still seemed a little unsure.
Well zone leaders asked us to participate in a fast of all the missionaries in Ensenada for our investigators. But here's the thing, I really have not been able to see the blessings of fasting because I will do it, but I just complain about how hungry I am the whole time. Well this week I really tried to change that, and not complain. What a drastic difference! I felt the spirit so strongly during those 24 hours! But the fast was during a ward activity and there was LOTS of food haha. At the activity, we talked with Cristina and she said she had come to know for herself that the Book of Mormon was true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that she really wanted to get baptized!!
When we went to visit them yesterday her mom started explaining that she wanted to get baptized in the last church they went to and she wouldn't let her. My heart sunk. But then she said that if she wanted to get baptized, she would allow it! I know that Cristina's example will bless that whole family! They LOVED conference, and Cristina and her Sister Karla go to seminary every morning!

Friday was my last zone conference. It was super spiritual. The two other Elders that were there from my generation were Elder Hesterman and Elder Cerhde. It was super special because us three were in the same zone conference when we first arrived and shared our testimonies and now we are going to finish together!

Oh my goodness conference was amazing! i wrote a very specific question down before conference started, and it was just like every single person got up and gave their talk just to answer Elder Smalley's question specifically! The spirit was just so strong! I am so grateful for their inspired words! I just felt so much peace and i felt the calm assurance that Heavenly Father has given we everything I need to keep moving forward! I just really love this! I love this sweet work!

Well I hope you all have an amazing week! Take care! Love you all!

Elder Smalley!

p.s. Mom I was amused with your story about cold showers [while the hot water heater was being replace]. Haha, I don't think you would appreciate living in Mexico.


Sunday, October 4, 2015

She felt the same peace in the temple

Sept 28, 2015
Hello there Familia!

This week sure has been magnificent. This work just brings so much joy! Last week I remember talking about how my personal testimony of the Book of Mormon has grown, but this week, I got to see the power of the Book of Mormon in other people's lives. It's amazing how that works, isn't it? 

We are still working with Delia. She is hesitant to commit to being baptized, but her 16 year old
daughter has committed to a date and we really excited for her. She has been getting up every day to go to seminary and the whole family is actively participating in the church activities and programs. Well Delia has really started to read the Book of Mormon diligently and it shows! She is more receptive and more excited to learn every time. 

We had another interesting experience with the Book of Mormon with Amparo. I'm not sure if I've told you guys about her yet, but we found her in a really amazing way and everything was going really well until she visited another church and decided to go there. We decided to read the Book of Mormon with her. I was hoping it would testify to her of the restoration. We read Alma 36. After we finished she said that no passage of scripture had ever impacted her as much as that. It was a really spiritual experience. It didn't exactly end up how we wanted to, but it was just one more testimony for me of the power of the Book of Mormon. It brought the spirit so strongly, but I guess it is still up to each one of us and our agency.

Oh yeah one more: we were teaching the familia Mar, just an amazing family in the ward. We asked them about what they were learning in the Book of Mormon and the both responded so profoundly, but i loved Hermano Mar's response. he said that as he was reading 1 Nefi again, he realized just how "justified" Laman and Lemuel were in their murmuring! They had to go through a lot, and they had to try again and again when it hadn't worked the first time. That's when i realized that i am not that different from them. A pretty humbling thought!

So this weekend Kimberly went to the temple in Hermosillo! she was asked to share her testimony in sacrament meeting and she said that she felt the same peace in the temple that she felt when she was
baptized! it was perfect because of all the investigators that were there! 

Speaking of the temple, we have invitations that we are supposed to give out for the open house. I have really enjoyed it. People get really interested when we invite them and then we tell them it's in
Tijuana and they either burst out laughing or just look at us strange. Kinda a far trip but I like inviting everyone. It definately sparks their interest!

We had interviews this week. Pretty good!

well I love you all so much,
Elder Smalley

The Lord put people in our path

September 21, 2015
Hello Family!

wow this week has just been great, real great and I am so sorry I don't remember what I have done all week! I just feel like my testimony has been strengthened so much, in so many areas! First of all the Book of Mormon. I just cannot deny that that is an inspired book and Heavenly Father has given it to us to help us endure in these last days. The teachings are just priceless and exactly what we need!

Well Elder Hernandez [new companion] is really great. He is really good at talking to people and just a really good missionary for how much time he has! We have been able to meet some awesome people. And as always, i am just amazed at how the Lord put people in our path! Saturday night we met Miguel looking for another investigators and he came to church the next day! It was his first day living in Ensenada and he is just super cool! We have seen a lot of miracles and progress in all of our
investigators it has just been really great!

I really do love this work! I love the gospel! I heard a suggestion that before we take the sacrament we should review the baptismal interview questions to make sure we are ready to renew our covenants and question 3 struck me a lot. How amazing is it that we have an accurate understand of what true repentance is. It is not just a feeling it is an action. It made me think: have I really done everything I can to restitute my actions? hmm Sometimes I look at repentance as this hard and unfavorable process, but it really isnt that way at all! It is a joyful process! In fact, it is what brings us REAL joy!

well I really apologize that this is short again! Just know that I love you all so much!

Elder Smalley

Saturday, September 19, 2015

WHAT? NO, NO. NO!

Sept 14, 2015
Hello Familia!

The title of this was how I reacted Saturday 
night when I got the call with the transfers. It wasn't the transfers, just the fact that they had crawled up on me. I am officially on my last transfer. Unreal. I think I just expected the mission to last forever. This is not even funny anymore.

Well Elder Argueta left to Mexicali and I am here with Elder Hernandez from Veracruz. He has 4 months in the mission and is officially my last companion, which reminds me. SISTER CAMPBELL THIS IS THE FINAL COUNT!  17 transfers, 5 areas, and 9 companions. 

Last monday the zone leaders took us to a place here in Ensenada where they make the glass windows for the temples. There are currently working on the Paris temple, and let me tell you, they are going ALL OUT! pretty cool!

Well I am just so happy! The Mexico City temple was rededicated yesterday and the session was so spiritual! I have missed the temple so much! I loved it! also the celebration was so good! It was really
amazing because Delia and her daughters came and it was centered perfectly on faith and the Book of Mormon!

Okay so in the bus station Elder Cerde saw me and said that I look really skinny! What? Okay, its the whole Ensenada thing. My stomach has been holding up like a tank my whole mission, but recently I have been getting sick a lot. It is really teaching me to give everything I have.

I wish I could tell you more, but I just dont have time today! LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

Elder Smalley!

Monday, September 7, 2015

"You still work with lots of animo"

Hello there family!

I would like to start of with a quote of the week. A new bishop was  just barely called and I was talking to him while waiting to get my special recommend for the temple dedication. I told him that I was going home next month and he said something like "really? I would have never guessed that you are about to finish your mission. I wouldn't give you more than a year" I was kinda hurt and offended until he explained further. "because you still work with lots of animo" umm I think that was a compliment, but I'm not sure haha. [animo = valor, courage, zest]

This week sure has been such a blessing. We talked as a district about how we need to change because of Elder Pipers visit. Here's the thing, in the last year we have baptized enough to have 2 new stakes, yet the attendance every week is barely increasing. We really need to make sure that we are not just getting people to the waters of baptism, but really teaching in a way that these sons and daughters of God will be converted! We have really tried to adapt our teaching method, to really let the spirit be the teacher and not to impose our will on them when we invite commitments. It really has worked really well! One thing that Elder Piper said that really impacted me is that we should only speak when the spirit AUTHORIZES us to speak. haha i am learning to do a lot less of the talking.

I have also learned a pretty profound lesson this week. This whole transfer, I have been trying to help my companion the best I can. Every morning, we had been studying a part of chapter 10 of PMG andpracticing and re-practicing and I was just not seeing improvement. I was starting to really wonder what else I could do to help him out.

Well this week i was able to realize that before going to chapter 10, we need to go back and spend a little bit more time on chapter 3. So I learned a profound lesson this week - to not be so stuck on doing things "my way"! I had a similar experience a few weeks ago. As missionaries we use the  formal "usted" form instead of speaking in the familiar "tu" form. Well he was always speaking in tu and i kept reminding him to speak in usted but he just kept speaking in tu all the time.
I finally found out that he never even learned that conjugation! So there I was getting frustrated over something I didn't need to be. Now that i understand the real problem and am able to help, we are seeing some real progress :)

Kimberly got baptized! What a great service! I love this ward! they are so supportive! Also a Hermana bought me a new pair of shoes. She noticed how worn out my mr. mac ones are that dad and I bought 3 years ago. they are the only ones that have held up, but i was starting to get worried. haha a nice thought. They are size 11.5 though haha so they are huge, but very needed! love you all! have a great week!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!
Elder Smalley

Monday, August 31, 2015

needless to say many prayers on her behalf have been answered

Hello family!
Well I sure did have a great week! I dont even know where to start!

On Friday Elder Piper of the seventy and Mexico Area Presidency came to Ensenada on a mission tour. It was amazing! That morning, I was feel a little frustrated because of everything that was going on and I hoped and prayed that what I learned would be able to help me...and it sure has! Our leaders are such inspired men! One of my favorite things he said is that we need to change the way we do things now that the work is hastening if we don't want to only achieve the same results! I lovedit! 


That day all the missionary leaders had to be at another meeting with him at 7 so I spent the day on special exchanges with Elder Sowards. He is from my generation but I haven't really gotten to knowhim until know but we had a lot of fun! One of Elder Piper's main focuses is letting the spirit be the real teacher and letting people be the agents. It was amazing how he was able to teach us in such apowerful way! I hope that I can apply it all! Overall, my testimony of Christ's restored church has been strengthened this week.

Well yesterday in church I sang, gave a talk, and taught 3rd hour! They asked me to speak about how we can be better members, which is a pretty wide subject. After thinking about it, I decided to base it on the Apostle Paul's teaching in Romans, because it really teaches how we as saints should be! I focused on Romanos 15:1. It is so important that we find a way to help others became strong in thegospel instead of letting them fall away. If we notice that somebody needs help, we need to HELP them! haha Not sure I got my point across, but I enjoyed studying it. Also, I sang. Yikes. Can I just say that my whole mission, some force has been trying to make me not sing. in the MTC, after  begging my whole district for 5 weeks, someone finally agreed to come with me to be in the choir. 


Too many people had shown up and we were dismissed. then last Christmas I got put in the missionChristmas choir and then got transferred to Mexicali so i couldn't be in it. hmm. so I don't know. One last thing. You can let Georgia know that I am signed up again for when I get home because I have gotten pretty horrible. haha.

We met a really cool new investigator named Amparo. She had a a really deep question the first time we went with her and we were able to answer it simply with the doctrine of the plan of salvation. It was an amazing experience for all 3 of us . We saw her hope in Christ increase immediately! 


ALSO Kimberly got permission to get baptized this week! I am so proud of her! She stood up to her dad and told him that she was going to get baptized this Saturday. Amazing! And to think that when Iwas her age, my parents were still dragging me...needless to say many prayers on her behalf have been answered.

Oh! We actually had water this week after almost 2 weeks without it! Thank goodness that summer is almost over and all the american tourists are finally starting to leave and letting us have the water. It comes and goes every day. Well I'm gonna go. Love you all so much! Hope you have an amazing week!


Elder Smalley!

Tuesday, August 25, 2015

The future is still looking pretty bright

August 24, 2015
Hello there Familia!


Wow, literally everything has changed in just one week! But it has all been a joy. On Tuesday, they announced a mission fast this week for all the baptismal dates of August, because if all those who have set dates are baptized, we as a mission will break the record. So we have all been really excited about it. 

Everything was going really well until Thursday. Esteban passed the interview and we were filling out his baptismal record and then ... he refused to sign it! What? It was the strangest thing. We tried to explain the purpose to it, but he wouldn't even listen, and refused to sign it. I was extremely confused. Well the zone leaders said that they wanted to come and talk to him the next day.

We prayed all morning that it would go well. I was reminded of Hermana Smalley's super awesome baptism story and I knew that we would be able to know what to do and say and then .... it went awful. It could not have gone any worse. We tied to peacefully explain the purpose of the church having records and he wouldn't have it. He started yelling promising that he would never sign the paper and just saying the craziest stuff ever. okay. so that was that. I was super confused. Why did that just happen? I didn't even know what to think. 

I felt the strongest impression that I shouldn't let it get me down and that I should just keep working, which we did. Then next morning, I read Alma 8. Can I just say that Alma 8 is like seriously the best chapter ever? Alma is, has been, and will always be my hero, but when I read verse 10, I remembered that Alma did everything he could to help the people, but ultimately, it was up to them. That doesn't mean that he was a failure. In that moment I realized that it wasn't anything that I had done, or that God wasn't punishing me. I honestly still don't know what to think of it all, but I hope and pray that I can be like Alma, and respond immediately when the Lord calls me back to work. 

Okay, now that i have that one out of the way, Kimberly isn't getting baptized this month either. Her dad said it was too soon, so we are still waiting to see with that one. Even with all this, I still just feel so happy. Working hard is so hard, but it is so fulfilling, and it just makes me so happy. I have no idea how, but 9 investigators came to church yesterday, including Delia and her daughters so the future is still looking pretty bright.


Oh! I got my new temple recommend this week! Yep, pretty exciting! Well I just feel so blessed. Every day I feel a deeper understanding of God's love for his children. I know that this work is not easy, but it brings so much joy! Yesterday I had a major breakdown when I was talking to the zone leaders on the phone. I realized how much time I have left. Oh how I wish I had more time but I guess I'll have to make the most of it because they won't let me extend.

LOVE YOU ALL! 

Elder Smalley
PS. last night a family brought us a cake! members are awesome!

Sunday, August 23, 2015

If you want different results, do not do the same

August 17, 2015
Hello Familia!

What a marvelous week it has been! Okay so last week I reported probably the worst numbers I have ever reported on my mission, and this week has been a complete change! Time has just flown by!

Well on Tuesday we had a zone meeting and we decided to put new baptismal goals for agosto y spetiembre. An investigator has to go to church 5 times before he can get baptised, and we basically had nobody to get baptized this month in Universidad so I was wondering how we were ever going to be able to help the zone out. Well directly after that I went to the zone leaders area on exchanges, and I learned a ton! I was reminded of how faith and diligence work together to make miracles happen! Well so after that, Elder Argueta and i left Wednesday morning and came back that night with 6 new baptismal dates, two of them being for August! It was crazy! we just saw miracles all day long! The first one

was with kimberly. She is 15 and has gone to church with her mom all her life. Her dad wouldn't let her get baptized. Well this week her dad finally gave her permission! Then there was Esteban. He was going to get baptized a while back, but he was going to need to d have to repent of a couple things first and he wasn't willing to go through the process, so he just kept going to church. Well we went and talked with him. He finally agreed to do what was necessary and then we realized that he hadn't actually done what they thought he had done! Not sure to call that a miracle or what but the Lord is definitely putting the way for us to meet our zone goal! So they both have fechas for this month.
the amazing ensenada food

We also met a woman named Delia. We were looking for someone else, but when she saw us she told us to come and teach her. wow. we met her and her two teenage daughters and they are awesome. they came to church

yesterday. You wanna know the best part? Delia is a baptized TESTIGO DE JEHOVA! That is SO cool! She knows the bible like extremely well which is awesome but has really been challenging. She says that she is looking for a church that goes exactly along with what the bible says, which makes me really grateful that this is the true church! I am seeing the promises of Doctrine and Covenants come to life as we teach her. Just when I think I'm stumped with one of her questions, I remember something I learned in seminary or something and we are able
to answer it! We promised her that we are more than willing to help her answer all her bible questions, but more importantly, she needs to receive an answer from the holy ghost that the message of the restauracion is true. That was a pretty powerful moment. She just sat there thinking for a while.

It was a really great week. Every day, we talked about what we can do better, and looked for ways to be more obedient. but Saturday was a long day. we had appointments for every hour, and every single one of them fell through. I was so tired, and getting baked in the  at seven o'clock, we had to climb up this mountain to get to the middle of nowhere, and the man wasn't there. At that point, I sat down on a rock, just really confused. Why wasn't my diligence paying off? We were right outside someones house and there was a man feeding ducks.

Elder Argueta said "lets go contact him" ugh, fine. Well we went to talk to him, and we barely said a word, before he motioned for us to come over and teach his family. His name is Jose, and he had been investigating a few months ago and wasn't sure why the missionaries had stopped coming. He and his family easily accepted a fecha! crazy how the Lord lead us to him!

So I realized that I haven't told you anything about my district. It is all hermanas. two from Mexico, one from Honduras, and one from the Dominican Republic. It is interesting, and I have the lider capacitadora in my district, so that has been nice.

well I hope you all enjoy these random fotos! 
Congrats Hermana Smalley on your first transfer!
look! Rocha, like Hermana Rocha!





It breaks my heart to see these living conditions

August 10, 2015
Hey there Fam!

Last week as we were walking out of the internet, I received a call that literally made me burst into tears. It was Elder Morgan. He was calling about a few questions about the weekly totals. Then he told me that Elder Hadley was the new district leader! and TRAINING!!! I honestly couldn't help myself. When we first became companions, he had just barely finished his 12 weeks of training, but his trainer really hadn't taught him very much, nor given him very much time to study. It has been a privilegio to watch him grow these last couple of months. I really tried hard to teach him everything I have learned, but it was easy because he was always so eager to learn!


seriously miss him so much! I know I talked about it last week, but he literally changed my life! A few months ago I was discouraged because I was afraid I wasn't really changing! What I didn't realize is that God put us together so that I could learn from him, and his selfless love. Now, God has given me the opportunity to put what I have learned into practice. Let me explain. Transfers are always really hard, but this one especially has been pretty tough. Its been a rough week. I tried to stay really positive the whole time, but I kept finding myself wishing that things could go back to the way they were before. You all know how I get, I freak out and dont allow myself to be receptive to the spirit. 

Well Sunday I was able to come down and feel the peace of the Holy Ghost come back to me. I felt
such a warm sense of God's love and awareness, but it was different than what I expected. Maybe I was waiting for some kind of sympathy or something, I don't know. But what I felt what a little "tough love" haha. I was gently reminded that it is not about me! I know that while God has a plan for me, and that plan includes me being here right now, what is more important is that God has a plan for his sons and daughters that are here in Universidad. He is preparing them to receive his gospel. THAT is what is important! Very apropriatly, I studied el Rey Benjamin's sermon today. I LOVED 4:21. How is it possible that I can be content unless I focus on serving others. It is not. I liked your email Mom, about studying the scriptures. Most of the time, I don't learn too many new doctrines in the scriptures, but more often I have things brought to my remembrance. I feel like the adversary works so hard to make us forget sometimes. One of my MTC teachers pointed out to me once that the Book of Mormon uses the word REMEMBER. Interesting, eh?



Well so our ward is called Universidad. Where we live is close to the shore, but we walk WAY back up into the mountain. It is all dirt roads and the humblest of homes. It breaks my heart to see these living conditions. Oh yeah, another thing, en Ensenada, there is no water. In the last week, we haven't had water 4 days. Our apartment is covers in giant plastic bottle that we hurry and fill up every time the water comes back. I am getting pretty good at taking conservative bucket showers.

Last week Elder Coutiño, Elder Torres and Elder Lier returned home. They are my first ex compañeros to have finished. weird to think they are gone.

I love you all so much! Wish you all a very happy week!
Elder Smalley