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!

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!

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!

I 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

guess where I am! ENSENADA!!!

August 3, 2015

Hello there family!

Well today are transfers and guess where I am! ENSENADA!!! yes haha I am so excited. I am in the north zone, so its not anywhere near Estero Beach, but still. I love this place already, even if it isn't my sweet home TJ. Where I live is called Pedregal Playitas, in case you want to look it up. 

It is way different here. In Tijuana, there are house literally piled up onto each other, but here everything is very spread out. I haven't seen any paved roads yet, just a lot of dirt! The drive from TJ to Ensenada is absolutely beautiful! I probably should have gotten some sleep, but I just couldn't stop looking. Also, I am really glad that this is my last time having to pack. I hate it. It is so stressful. haha Elder Hadley helped me get rid of my hoarding issues and throw away things that i really don't need or use,so that made it easy. All I want to say is dad would have been proud if he could see how I fit everything in my suitcase! 

My companero is Elder Aguete. He is from Puebla, but he was raised most of his life in Dallas, so English is actually his first language. He seems like the nicest person ever and I am really excited! 

ELBA GOT BAPTIZED! after 30 years of investigating, it was finally just the right time! Her and her daughters were very emotional during the service. One of them was giving a talk, and then she just burst into tears and said that her prayers have been answered. She is leaving on a mission in September! It was seriously the greatest baptismal service ever! she has changed so much! 4 months ago, when Elder Hadley and i first met her, she told us that we could try all we want, but she would never get baptized. it has been such an honor to see the changes that have occurred in her over the

last month and a half. I remember mom wrote me once, and said she knew that she was going to be baptized. When I read it, I was seriously doubting it but it has all really been a testament of faith to me. Not of my faith,but of the faith of others. I am seriously going to miss Elder Hadley. Him and I are like exact opposites, in every single way. He is always so positive and has a heart of pure gold. I have no doubt that the I was put with him for a reason. I have only been here for a few hours, but I am already starting to see why. Anyways, over the last few weeks, I have been thinking a lot about Grandma Smalley. At first it didn't hit me that hard. I got Dad's letter last week. I loved how positive it was! I love how the gospel can do that for us! Well that is all I got this week! love you all so much!!!!

Elder Smalley
p.s. I can't see any pictures from icloud or online albums, I can only see them if they are sent in a message! Thanks! I give the same challenge that Hermana Smalley gave!...and for sister Campbell, this is 16 transfers, 5 areas and 8 companions.

I deserve nothing

July 27, 2015

Hey there!

Wow, this week has been crazy. I have learned a lot, and am full of gratitude.

To start off, you all know I am pretty bummed that I won’t be here for the temple dedication, but I just heard that the Mexico city temple is getting rededicated in September and is being broadcasted though all Mexico!

This week I have had a lot of spiritual moments. My favorite was during the district meeting. I talked about accountability, which is just an amazing topic to begin with, but we analyzed Mateo 25:14-30. As we analyzed it, one of the Elders raised his hand and commented that with the servant who had 10, and the servant who had 4, the answer was the same. How cool is that! It really doesn't matter the quantity of our results, but the quality of our work! I LOVE that insight!

Wednesday I started to get a really bad headache, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I called the mission, and they told me to take migraine pills. Well that night I couldn’t sleep at all. Just 8 hours of complete restlessness. It was horrible. Then the same thing happened the next night and the next night. I obviously stopped taking the pills but I just couldn’t sleep. Well turns out that the pills had caffeine in them, which makes a lot of sense why my body freaked out. Well it has been so hard this week to just keep going on because I have been sooooo tired, and in a lot of pain, but it has been a good lesson about perseverancia!

Yesterday in priesthood we talked about President Uchtdorf’s talk on grace. I just love it! I learned that I need to get rid of the mentality that I work to EARN blessings. That is just ridiculous. I deserve nothing. We need to work out of love for our Heavenly Father. I have seen so many miracles, but it has not been anything I've done, or earned, it has been Heavenly Father preparing these people! I don’t know how we as human beings can find ways to be prideful but we really do. Okay, I’ll just speak for myself... haha

LOVE YOU SO MUCH,

ELDER SMALLEY!!!