COW LUNG! It was super good!

Hello!

So I don´t have a camera. I took it to get fixed and they returned it without doing anything so that´s a bummer. Guess WHAT! The other day I tried tacos de bofe (I think it´s called that) and guess what that is. COW LUNG! It was super good! I just really love Mexican food. The corn tortillas here in Mexicali are so good too! they are a little bit different that the ones in Tijuana. 

Well guess what, it rained and there was a lot of mud. My area has a lot of dirt roads so that was fun, I guess haha. Good news! We got approval to get bikes in our area!!!! They are already bought, we are just waiting on the helmets now. whoooo!

Well this week I did exchanges with the Elder´s in a branch outside of Mexicali. It is two hours in bus so that was interesting. While I was there we had a super awesome spiritual lesson where an investigadora who had investigated 8 months finally accepted a baptismal date. It was really amazing. A lot of my prayers have been answered this week but that was definitely one of them. I feel like I have been working a lot more effectively now that all the problems from the last transfer have past. I realize that I never really told you what happened [Dad edit: sadly, a missionary needed to be sent home] so if you want to know, ask Erinn cause at this point I just want to forget it all.

I have been so excited about the "He is the Gift project". We have to distribute at least 10 pass along cards each day and it is just so fun! I LOVE CHRISTMAS! tell everyone you know to go to navidad.mormon.org and then SHARE THE GIFT! I hope you all saw that the church was the main advertisement on youtube yesterday! I didn´t but they told us that it would happen.

Well on Saturday the missionary choir came to Mexicali and I was super sad cause I missed being a part of it. It was a choir of only 7 missionaries because I couldn't participate anymore. Oh well. They were really good! Well that´s all I got for this week. Not really sure why I´m such a boring writer but oh well. LOVE YOU!

Elder Smalley

p.s.  I am grateful for Erinn for writing me consistently.

Everything is so FLAT

Buenos Dias! Well I have one week down in Mexicali! It has been an adventure, a little difficult, but I can honestly say that I have LOVED every minute! It has been a huge culture shock. I don´t think I have every been in the same city for so long before, and everything here seems so...foreign. I don´t even know how to explain it. For starters, everything is so FLAT. I don´t really like that. It makes walking really boring. I don´t really know why it effected me so much, but everything just seems different here. BUT I LOVE IT!

I don´t know if I told you, but my ward is called Baja California, in the Mexicali stake. It is right up against the border. It´s been interesting finding our way around because our map is incomplete and only shows a small part of our actual limits. This ward has so much potencial. Our bishop is seriously awesome. I´m really excited about this ¨He is the Gift¨or Ël es la Dádiva¨ thing the church is doing this month! The work is hastening!!!! There are 4 other Elders and two Hermanas in my district. They are all great, but we really need to work on finding more. 

I´m sorry, but two teenagers are playing world of warcraft right next to me and it´s really distracting me. I can´t even think. I´m really sorry I can´t think right now, and my time is running out. Please don´t complain because my letter is short again. I´ll try to get a letter off.

LOVE YOU ALL!
Elder Smalley

PS. Here are pictures of our zone back in Tijuana

Adios Tijuana!

Hello Familia!

Well today are transfers and it's a big one! Greetings from MEXICALI!!!! That's right, I left Tijuana. Mexicali is the capitol of Baja California. It is also the hottest inhabited place in Mexico. I've also heard that it is the 3rd hottest city in the WORLD, but I'm not sure if it's true or not. But it gets hot. We are talking 130 in the summers. It's pretty hot right now, but I've heard that it's actually colder that TJ in the winter, so I got really lucky. 

Because I am/was in the Christmas choir, I wasn't supposed to leave Tijuana. Not sure what happened there, that's kinda a bummer but oh well the Lord wants me here so I guess it's okay. What's more, I am district leader, and my companion and I are BOTH NEW to the area so this should be very interesting....we both have no clue where anything is! My new companion is Elder Cruz, he has 7 months in the mission and is from the state of Mexico. He seems really great. The truth is I am just so darn excited! 

It was so hard to leave Casa Blanca, especially the converts. You all know. The converts in that ward are seriously awesome. They have been just incredible examples to me. Yesterday we visited Camilo and basically he explained 50 reasons why he loved the church and was never going inactive. That was just so amazing.  Every time I realize how far they have come, it just amazes me. 

You know what I love? Seeing the gospel change people. Seeing how it changes me! I am so grateful for this amazing opportunity to serve. It has been so rewarding, so challenging, and the food is just so good!

Well not sure what else to write. My new camera broke yesterday so I hope that I can take it back and that the warranty covers it....sorry no pictures this week :( I'll try to send them soon! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I LOVE MEXICO TOO!
Elder Smalley
p.s. please pray that I can find my way around, and pray for my camera too! sorry it's so short today!

Please pray for her parents

Hi there!

This week has been long, and short, I can't decide. Oh well. Well anyways we are in the semana 11 of training which is the greatest week ever (for the trainer not for the trainie) because they have to take the initiative in all the lessons and planning situations. Literally just the best thing every. My poor companion. It was kinda a rude awakening for him. I guess I haven't been delegating enough to him, so it was a rough transition. I don't know WHY I didn't do it earlier cause it was seriously such a relief for me haha!

Also I just need to say that i am tired physically. 2 or 3 weeks ago was Mexican daylight savings only it makes no sense how they do it here. We gain an hour in winter which makes no sense cause it gets dark at 5 now and when we wake up at 6 it's completely bright. I seriously don't get it but whatever. I am tired because my body has still not adjusted to the time difference. How am i supposed to sleep another hour in broad daylight???? I'm done now. sorry.

Well our converts are seriously just so awesome here. Yesterday in church Juan raised his hand in gospel principles [Sunday school] because he had a comment. I got super nervous cause he is still adapting from coming from another christian church and we are still working on fixing his false doctrine haha. Don't get me wrong, he has an AMAZING testimony of the restored gospel but yeah anyways so i was nervous for what he was going to say. Well his comment was about the importance of coming to church EVERY WEEK to partake of the sacrament. I was seriously on the verge of tears. It was just so beautiful. If there is one thing I want every convert to understand it's that. So Juan gets a giant golden star this week. 

The converts in this ward are just so great. The bishop always tells me that they are the ward's strongest members. I think it's true! Frida is constantly struggling to have her parents let her come to church but she has been able to come every week so far. Literally every week it's a miracle. She went to the temple for her 2nd time, but she went to Hermosillo cause she didn't want to wait for the next trip to San Diego :) Please pray for her parents, that they will let her keep coming to church! Also we had an appointment fall through this week so I called up Camilo to see if we could stop by. He said that he was busy trying to help his daughter finish her homework (it was Saturday night) so they wouldn't have to doing it on the Sabbath day. I know I ask this all the time but WHAT ARE THEY BETTER THAN ME???

Also I've learned a great lesson about not procrastinating updating the area book. The lesson is simple-don't procrastinate it! haha I've had to do some serious catch up this week cause I might get transfered this week- but hey! who knows. I was absolutely positive I was going to get transfered 3 months ago and look what happened haha. The bishop says he's considering giving me a calling. 7 months....wow.
LOVE YOU ALL TAKE CARE
Elder Smalley

I believed him: my first mistake!

November 10, 2014

Hola Hola!

Oh my goodness. I am really in denile. I feel like time just ticks away so fast. The Elders that had a year when I got here are getting ready to go home! This is ridiculous.

Well I'm going to start with the good stuff today! I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of people! Wednesday morning, I went to CHOIR PRACTICE!!! They are doing a Christmas choir of missionaries and Elder Lier told them that I sing (sang) and they invited me! It was so much fun to sing again!!! And it was nice to finally see Elder Lier! I miss him so much! We really had so much fun, and so much success together, after I finally got over a few things. We really didn't see the results until after he left. It was a nice break from all the DRAMA that has been going on.

I did exchanges on Wednesday, and when I came back that night, my companion told me that a family had a referral for us and they were going to meet us on Thursday at 7. I believed him: my first mistake! Well Thursday morning came and it hadn't really sunken in that I had one year, or it was my birthday. We found a family of 5 new investigators, so that was a nice present.

Also that day I got a call from the president and his wife. I was really reluctant to answer because I was almost sure that it was relating to the incident that i mentioned from the last week. But no, they called to wish me a happy birthday! Well we went to the church at 7, and the family hadn't showed up yet so we were waiting (it was a ward activity night) and the sister missionaries told everyone it was my birthday so then everybody was congratulating me and everything oh well. Well finally the family showed up, but they didn't bring a referral - they brought a CAKE! I was super confused at first!


Turns out my companion arranged the whole thing the day before. Well the bishop's family had invited us over at 8 so we were walking to the bishops house when we ran into the sisters and a few members waiting for us. they also has a cake. I was wondering what I was going to do with one cake, haha that was nice. Then us 4 missionaries went to the bishops house, and what did we find? ANOTHER CAKE. haha I really can't complain. 

The bishops wife had made us pineapple tamales as well. I was really surprised. Well here in mexico on someone's birthday there is like this really weird song you sing before you blow out the candles and then you take a bite and they push your head in. sometimes. haha well I was just really surprised.

I love this ward, even if I have been here for an eternity and a half. Everywhere i go everybody asks "you're STILL in Casa Blanca" yep, still here! We had a zone conference on Friday and that's when I got the package! Thanks so much!!!! Speaking of packages, the policy is changing in January so quick! EVERYBODY SEND ME PACKAGES BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!!!!!!!

Apart from that it's been another tough week. More problems in the district. more emergency calls to the president and the zone leaders. Just trying to keep on swimming - figuratively of course because that goes against the missionary rules. 

Love you all so much!

hmmm I can't send the pictures from this week from the computers. I'll send them through wifi tomorrow I guess.

Elder Smalley!

He explained exactly how I felt without me saying a word

Nov 3, 2014

Hey there Family!

Usually I start out every letter talking about the date and how time just flies by but today we are not even going there today. i am in denial.

This week has probably been the most memorable week of my mission, and my life. I wish I could explain exactly why, but i can't. But I'll get to that.

Well Monday we had special exchanges because Tuesday morning we had a special training for all the district leaders. The other district leader came here to work with me in Casa Blanca. I learned that his companion, Elder Pearson played water polo for Kearns so that was cool and he also did ODP. Anyway I was super grateful for that training because I learned so much and I had a lot of prayers answered. 

This week I have really tried to be very motivated and it has really payed off! I've seen so many blessing, and we are finding so much! But there have been a lot of hard things. T

here was an incident that went down on Thursday. One of the missionaries in my district is going through a very hard time and I have been aware of it for some time now, but this week it has been particularly worse. Let's just say I have never had to make so many calls to the President in one week! It has seriously been a very odd experience. Well I don't really know what else to say about it but we've all just been super uncertain about what is going to happen next. On Friday, Halloween, I had to visit the house of the zone leaders, because of what went down and we couldn't go home because we all had to be indoors after 6 cause I guess Halloween is super dangerous here or something like that. Well Elder Aleman and I had to stay the night in the zone leaders house. So there's my only Halloween on the mission for ya. 


With everything that has been going on, I've just felt really distracted. I feel like these problems are taking my focus away from the work. We also had interviews with the Presidente this week. That was something that I really needed. To my amazement he was able to explain exactly how I felt without me saying a word. He helped me realize how these experiences would help me grow and will be a blessing for me and this missionary. He made some pretty awesome promises to me. I left feeling even more motivated. Well that's what's gone down. Sorry if I left you all with a lot of questions but oh well. 

The only picture that I have made me laugh because everybody pronounces my name wrong. Because of the double L, they pronounce smiley haha but I don't complain! I like being the Elder Smiley!

Love you all so much!

Elder Smalley

shoutout to Spencer! congrats on getting your Eagle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He literally changed my life

Hola Familia!

Gah! Can you believe it??? This is the only October 27th that i will be a missionary! What! That is so weird to me. hmm let me think what happened this week...and last week haha sorry about that it´s not my fault it´s the zone leaders fault but oh well. 

Things have been going a lot better here! We are finding new investigators (I would like to be finding MORE, but we´ll keep working on that) and seeing progress. So this transfer our new zone leader is Elder Mejia and he is AMAZING! This is him on the bike. It made me laugh because he´s a little Elder - on a little bike. It was just funny. He was here in Casa Blanca and trained Elder Hesterman, then went to Ensenada. When Elder Morgan went to Ensenada they were companions and now he is here, in the ward again! SMALL WORLD! He literally changed my life in one exchange with him. He is so great.

These past few weeks we have really worked hard with an investigadora that´s 15 years old. Her parents can´t get baptized in this moment but they are working on it. She has been super back and forth. I really thought that we were making good progress with her when she didn´t come to church yesterday. Right now things aren´t looking too good. Not really progressing very well but that´s okay. I can´t make people use their agency. gah!

Other than that we have been super blessed, even if i did get sick again this week. But I deserve it for making fun of Elder Morgan´s horrible immune system all the time. BY THE WAY I´m super mad at Elder Morgan. He never would go running with me. Every day I begged him and he refused but Elder Mejia said that they went running in the morning. that´s all. Other than that I´m really happy right now but my memory is failing so I can´t remember what else has happened. oh well.

LOVE YOU ALL

Elder Smalley

p.s. big shoutout to ERINN for being the only one to write me last week! that was a great surprise. as for the rest of my siblings I´m doubting if they are still alive or not. That´s okay, I deserve it cause I like never wrote Mckay. 

p.s.s haha okay so I had to take a picture of what I saw in the calafia [taxi bus] the other day. interesting eh...

Mom & Dad, don't freak out

Oct 13, 2014

Hey guys!

Guess what? I'm staying in Casa Blanca with Elder Aleman! Maybe I'm not as horrible of a trainer as I thought! haha anyway there werten't very many changes. But Hermana Price went to San Luis Rio Colorado, and Hermana Meledez is going to train!!! That will mean 4 of the 5 companionships in our district are going to be training. wow.Anyway, this week has been a whole lot better. Still not where I want it to be, but the Lord has blessed us so much. General Conference has given me the strength that I needed to keep going forward. Especialmente President Uchtdorf's talk from priesthood session. Sometimes I get so caught up in thinking about how all the other circumstances could change, that i forget about the only thing that I can actually change-myself. That is such a true concept. I love it! Just trying to remember to siempre ask the question "Senor, soy yo? That has really made all the difference. We actually found new investigadors this week. So it's been a huge blessing.This week is gonna be a short one because I need to go. Sorry I hope that that can just be okay and that Mom and Dad won't freak out about it. I'm fine :)I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH.
Elder Smalley

"When my body begs for rest"

September 29, 2014

Hey There!

I am just so glad this week is over! I´m sorry I know that is a very hard way to start off, but it has been tough. Haha I´m still loving this and everything, so don´t worry.

First of all. I am sick. It all started friday morning. For 10 months, I have prided myself on my immunity to what is known the ¨Tijuana Experience¨. Well let´s just say I spent a lot of time in the bathroom Friday morning. It was the worst day possible to do that because that morning we had to be at a meeting with the president for all the trainers and trainies at 9. We showed up late. Starting at about 11, my whole body just felt weak. Everything hurt. 

All I could think of was a quote from President Eyring that goes ¨...and when my body begs for rest...¨ yeah my body begged for rest. I called the Mission nurses. They told me to drink lots of suero. I have no idea what it is or how you say it in english but it tastes really weird [best translation I can find is saline solution]. So saltines and crackers were all that i ate. 

We walked around the whole day, without finding anyone to teach. Then at 7 we went to a baptism for the sisters. It was GOING to be a double baptism for us too but yeah that didn't happen. I´m not sure how to even explain it and I don´t even know the whole reason. Our investigadora made it passed the interview and everything. Well I decided I really don't want to give you guys the whole story, she just needs more time, which will turn out to be a blessing.

We stopped by Frida on Saturday. She anxiously asked me where I was in the LDM and I said Mosiah 17 and she was way too excited to let me know that she was now in Alma 5. ¿¿¿¿HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???? Well when we got there she and here mom were making sopes [traditional Mexican dish] so we helped them. It was a good time to get to talk with her mom a little bit more. We taught a quick lesson and the left. 

That night we had a noche de hogar [Family Home Evening] with the JAS [Young Single Adults] and Frida told me that her mom wanted to invite us over to eat the sopes. I was very excited for the chance to help her mom be more interested in our message. Well we showed up and my body decides to be sick again. I felt so bad. I could barely force down the sopes, and I made 3 urgent trips to the bathroom in the process. I was mortified. I hope I didn't ruin everything.

Well I just need to put this week behind me and keep on trying. The work has been kinda slow recently. I hope I can figure out what the Lord wants me to change, and SOON. I love you all so much. have a great week!

Elder Smalley

To my complete astonishment

October 6, 2014

Hey there!

Wow can you believe it? Exactly two years ago today the prophet announced the change of age of eligibility for missionaries! Also today I have 11 months. This is ridiculous. I feel like my time is being taken away from me and I can't do anything about it. I need more time!

Well I am just really super happy after general conference. IT WAS PERFECT. Exactly what I needed. I was just so happy all weekend. I wish I could tell you my favorite part but literally every single talk was the greatest so I won't. But I do have to say, President Uchtdorf's priesthood session talk was PERFECT! Absolutely amazing. A life changer. I feel like he was talking exactly to Elder Smalley on that one. So good. Also it was such a special moment for everyone when Elder Gavarret started speaking in SPANISH over the pulpit. I will NEVER forget that moment.

Maybe the conference really hit me because these past two weeks have just been especially hard. I don't know with everything that has been going on, all this new added stress and just the trials I've been given (blessed with) have just really left me asking "why me?". "What have I done wrong?" I have even been so mistaken as to ask "why is the Lord doing this to me?" 

I love this work, I love being here, but it's just been hard. At one point my zone leader told me to go read Alma 38:3-5. Alma 38 is one of my favorite chapters!!!! I use it all the time with my investigadores! I feel like I can relate a lot to Shiblon (as we say in Spanish). Ya know, we are both like the forgotten middle child of our families haha. How could I have forgotten something so basic??? The Lord gives trials to even the righteous. It doesn't mean He isn't proud of us, or that he doesn't love us. He lets us show our faith and patience 

I received even more insight in conference. From the minute it started Saturday morning I just felt the strongest peace. It was probably one of the most powerful experiences of my life! It just felt so good to finally have the spirit back! I had been missing it. And of course, from that moment on, I literally could NOT control my emotions. That was super embarrassing.

I had written down 3 specific questions that I wanted to find the answer to and to my complete astonishment, not only did I feel the answers through promptings, but they were bluntly answered in the words of the talks. All of them! Sorry guys, this was a conference for Elder Smalley. So cool. 

I would really just love to tell you that we are having tons of success and all that but this is all I got for right now. gimme one more week :)

Love you all so much!

Elder Smalley!

Catch'en up on Pics

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!

Extreme Highs & Lows

Hey Family!

Please pray that the computer doesn't freeze today. I think we'll be okay. Well this week has had some extremely high ups, and some extremely high downs. First of all, Juan's wife got baptized this week! That was awesome! Yesterday was the first time I've ever confirmed a new member, so that was a fun experience! We were super pumped about her baptism because we wanted to have the kids get baptized too. 

On Monday, when we went to visit them their son said that he wanted to be baptized. That was a MIRACLE, because before that day he didn't really show much interest so we had kinda backed off and focused on his sister. Their son couldn't be baptized this week because he hasn't gone to church enough, and their daughter could, but she didn't want to. it was really a tough situation. Their son wanted to get baptized with his mom and he didn't understand why he couldn't. We tried asking for special permission but we didn't get it. At the same time, we were trying to help the daughter to feel ready for baptism. It was just a big mess. Oh well. They are a great family. 

Also, one of the most interesting things about Tijuana are the drunk people, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. The other week, we saw a woman dancing like a Jeanie in the middle of the street and in front of store windows, with a piece of cloth tied around her forehead. 

On Saturday however, we had a not-so-hilarious experience. We went with a less active member. She told us that her husband wasn't a member so of course we set up an appointment to come back when her husband would be there. Well he was extremely drunk. He spoke English to us, half screaming half shouting about random things for about an hour, with the worst vocabulary I have every heard. I have never heard so many F-bombs in such a short period of time and that says a lot because I went to Summit High school haha. Don't worry, he wasn't dangerous or anything, it was just a really hard experience and we couldn't even leave because he was in he way of the door. Oh well. 

Well yesterday was pretty cool at church. We had a great turnout of investigators and all of our recent converts were there as well. Life is good. Hard, but good. and can I just say that I still just LOVE MEXICAN FOOD!!! I  might just never leave :) big shout-out to Jenn and Clara! I LOVED getting your letters!

muchisimo amor,

Elder Smalley

p.s. good luck at school Erinn don't gain the freshman 15!

p.s.s. congrats Spencer on your race. you are going to ROCK it this season!!!!

It's all okay, you know why?

August 18, 2014

Hey there fam! 

How's it going? I'm really sorry about last week. My computer froze for the majority of the time and we only have 1 hour to use the computer. Really frustrating. I finally just tried sending an email without any picture. Not sure if the picture made it. I'll send it again this week.

These last few weeks I have really come to understand a little bit better how Heavenly Father puts people in our path. There were so many instances of that these past couple weeks. I have really learned to ask myself "why am I here", because there have been so many times where we are looking for a direction (address) that doesn't exist, or nobody's home and "BOOM!", we find someone to teach. It's been really cool. 

I've really noticed that because this week has been tough in several ways. first of all, IT IS EXTREMELY HOT AND HUMID. I am just always sweating. I'm not sure what really happened, and I don't really know what we did wrong, but we did not come even close to reaching our goals. oh well! 

It's all okay you know why? Cause FRIDA WENT TO THE TEMPLE! she went to the San Diego temple and did baptisms! she said she really liked it. The bishop asked her to share her testimony in sacrament meeting and she did it! that in itself was a huge miracle because she's super shy, but the spirit was SO STRONG! I tell ya, sometimes I think that the converts have a stronger testimony than I do because they are all just so great!

Well this week we planned an open house in our church, a time for people to come in and get to know the church, and the organizations. on Thursday, we went with the youth and handed out invitations to people on the street. Each organization got their own room in the church to decorate and prepare a brief presentation. it looked awesome! Unfortunately, we didn't quite get the turnout that we expected but I'm super proud of the ward because they did their part. At least we got them working!

So yesterday we had a cool miracle. We went to go get a family and walk to them to church. Well we were running late. I didn't think we were going to get there on time when suddenly, a taxi driver that Elder Morgan and I had contacted the week before pulled over and gave us a ride because he was going to church too!!!! that was so darn cool!

Well that's all i got! love you all have a great week!

Elder Smalley

p.s. happy birthday grampa! I would try to send you a letter but I have no idea where in the world you are!

2 for the price of 1 - "Cheezy bread"

August 11, 2014

Hey there! I´m sorry I don´t have very much time today. my computer froze and now I have like 2 minutes.

I´ll try to be quick. We had a double baptism with the Hermanas! It was super awesome. After receiving a blessing, our investigator went from drinking 10 cups of coffee a day to zero. I still think that is awesome. The priesthood is REAL! He really has a great testimony of that,and the rest of the restored gospel. yesterday he asked us to give school blessings to his kids. Hopefully they will get baptized here in a couple weeks!

Really funny storyj: On Wednesday night I ordered pizza. We were feeling some cheezy bread, so I ordered "pan con queso" the guy on the other line said corrected me saying that it was called "cheesy bread" only with a Mexican accent. hahahaha we almost died laughing. I don´t think he realized he was talking to a NATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKER. Yeah, don´t teach me my own language please. haha it´s an inside joke between us now. Cheesy bread haha so funny! This week has been great and really, wish I could tell you more about it but I guess not. I need to go.

LOVE YOU ALL

Elder Smalley

p.s.mom I need a new journal

August 4, 2014

Wow you guys, 
I am just sitting here typing and sweating like crazy. Well this week might just be a quick one, because I don't even know what happened. We have just received a lot of blessings. A lot of people have been put in our path this week and it has been real fun! Okay I'll just skip to the best day. Sunday. Our most recent convert, who is very very timid, got up and bore her testimony yesterday! It was so powerful! even though she was really nervous. But it gets even better because she told us after that she invited her mom to listen to us. Her family has really not wanted very much to do with us, so it has been a super huge blessing!!!

Sorry this is really short. I'm out of time.

Love you! 

Elder Smalley!

12 cups of coffee a day to ZERO

July 28,2014

Hola Familia!

Okay it's just like really hot here. I can't even explain it. So jealous of everyone that went to the lake. 

After the roller coaster of trying to put a baptism together in 2 days everything kinda just slowed down. This Friday we planned a talent show, as an opportunity for members to invite their friends. A lot more people showed up than I thought would. For my talent, I walked on my hands. I only made it 26 seconds pathetic. 

I sure do love mexican food, but it is making me REALLY FAT! well there was a pretty good turn out. we were pretty late leaving and so we were walking pretty fast to get back to the house on time. I saw something in font of us and I couldn't quite figure out what it was because it was already dark. I didn't realize what it was until I was practicaly stepping over it. A BODY. I freaked out pretty bad for a second, and then we kept walking. DON'T WORRY, we are pretty sure it was just a drunk guy cause the next morning it wasn't there. 

We have a pretty awesome investigator who has gone from 12 cups of coffee a day to ZERO!!!! Also our converts are doing super awesome. We just need to find more investigators! I say that every week.

Well I took no pictures this week except for this morning. hah Elder Morgan and I thought we were pretty funny haha. also I think I sent the blurry picture of frida's baptism so here's the good one.



LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH,
Elder Smalley
p.s. big shoutout to mckay fro actually writing me and for the music. happy birthday and sorry about your stuff