Why we serve

Hi There!

I need to apologize in advance because this is going to be another short one. I just can't remember anything that happened. I think this week it slowly started to sink in. My little sister is going to Spain. I am still in shock. haha at least we will be able to talk about everyone else in Spanish without the rest of you understanding us, although we did get really good at the whole brother-sister telepathy thing, didn't we? Also, I am pretty sure that is where Preston Sharp is serving right now. 

I am super proud that I just remembered a big word like telepathy in English haha

We had a zone conference. The president showed us a presentation based on a book that an apostle (I can't remember who) wrote. he talked about 6 reasons why we serve. The highest was charity. I realized that I am seriously lacking in that department. I learned that its not always about WHAT you do, but WHY you do it, after all, we will be judged for more than just our actions.

Also, Elder Morgan is in Mexicali now, and is a zone leader in the other zone! It was fun to see him again!

I seriously don't know what happened this week. I went to Delta, which is still really far away. We had 3 baptisms in the district this week so that was awesome! We should have 4 more this week. Now I just need to get my OWN sector going! One of the families we met came to church again! And the less active family is doing well! Their son in SO excited to get baptized already!  

Basically we went to a lot of places and nobody received us but that's okay. I am so happy, just really happy!

LOVE YOU all,
Eldr Smalley

"Patience means waiting for the blessings to come"

January 12, 2015

CONGRATS ERINN, OR SHOULD I SAY HERMANA SMALLEY!!! 
THAT IS SERIOUSLY TOO DARN EXCITING!!! 
YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE IT!!!!

Well that seriously doesn't compare to all the great things that happen to me but haha that's okay. 

Well this week we tried to do a ward missionary activity. We did the activity with the cups, where we built the church of Christ and knocked it down and built it up again, but it didn't have as much success as it did in Casa Blanca because almost nobody brought a potential investigator. Oh well. 

This week I have really tried to be more patient. Sometimes I get discouraged because I feel like I am working hard and not seeing the results that I want in the time that I want it. "Predicad Mi Evangelio" says that patience means waiting for the blessings to come. well I tried to keep working, even though it was hard to find motivation to keep going, and sure enough, the blessings came! 

We found three families on Friday that are all super awesome. We found a husband of a less active member that came to church on his own, and came up to us and said he wanted to get baptized. WHAT? I now. he's not married so it will be a few months but that was pretty cool. Also we are teaching Angelo. He's a nine year old and we are really enjoying teaching him and reactivating his family. they all get super excited to learn I just love it. 

Its been hot this week. On Saturday my body was just ready to collapse because I was so exhausted. We are still the only ones who are not getting sick. I'm seriously running out of time again haha! 

love you all!
Elder Smalley

Happy New Year & Dia de Reyes!

Hello!

Guess what! I got the package!!! I guess Presidente just got so overwhelmed with all the Christmas packages coming in that he made a special trip to Mexicali just to deliver them. I LOVE the blanket! I absolutely LOVE it! And the stockings were really cool and I like the camera and everything thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!
This week seriously went by so darn fast. just a lot of cold, really. I am seriously freezing every day. It rained on Tuesday which made it even worse. Well this week we have just gotten blessed in so many ways: 

1. We haven't gotten sick from the cold yet, like all the other missionaries 
2. We found TWO different less active families this week with kids that aren't baptized 
3. We are staying together for ANOTHER transfer!!!! 
4. The neighborhood kids still haven't managed to beat us at some street futbol. My companion and I make a pretty good team. 

We did exchanges with the zone leaders on Friday, and the zone leaders house is even colder than ours. Oh yeah, it was new years, which reminds me of blessing number 5:
      5. None of our immediate neighbors thew a party and we could sleep in peace! haha. 

So Thursday, we had a complete p-day. The stake played basketball, but nobody let us know about it, so I was pretty sad about that. oh no! it's time for me to go!

LOVE YOU ALL! BYE!
ELder Smalley

FELIZ ANO NUEVO

December 29, 2014

Hey There!

It was so great to see you all! I was so happy! Its always super hard to hang up when it ends but that's okay. I just realized, 5 more months until the next video call, and then after that 5 more months and then I come home. That is just so sad.

Well this was a really slow week, because nobody was home and if they were home they were busy. On Monday we had a partial p-day, until 2 pm. Tuesday I did exchanges and went to Nacionalista. Wednesday we had to be home at 8:30 pm. Here the 24th is celebrated WAY more than the 25. Actually, most people here think that Christmas IS the 24th. Basically all they do is make food all day and then they party all night long. When I say party all night, I mean all night. Well I love this time of year. Everybody makes all the really good food, like pozole and tamales!!! LOTS of tamales!!!!!! On Wednesday we ate with a hermana who made pozole with pigs feet in it. She asked me if i wanted a foot in my plate. I just couldn't. But guess what I did eat this week-cow heart and pig liver!!! The heart was good. Never eating liver ever again.  

Well Wednesday night we went to go celebrate with Jose and Esmeralda's family. They are brother and sister recent converts. Their parents aren't members, but their sister, Lupita is getting baptized this Saturday!!! They are basically my favorite people ever. I was going to teach them all how to make smores, but 8:30 crept up on us and we had to leave before we did. Darn. Basically on Christmas eve everybody blasts their music so the whole block can hear - but all at the same time. haha. All through the night we just listened to banda playing from all 4 direciones. It was still going at 10:30 am the next morning, when we left our house. haha. 

Well after Christmas eve everybody just reheats leftovers for a week. everywhere we go, people offer us tamales. I AM IN HEAVEN. except the morning of the 26 I got really sick. I was running to the bathroom every ten minutes until about 12 o clock. haha

I am just so happy to see you all. I love you so much! have a happy new year!

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!! Like riding a roller-coaster

December 22, 2014

Hello there!

I am doing fantastic. This week I am just so happy and really excited for my second Christmas in Mexico. I am really grateful to be a missionary and to be able to realize what Christmas really means.

I LOVE the message of He Is The Gift and i just want everyone in the world to hear about it. I am freaking out because the month is going by so fast and there are still so many people that need to hear this message and how they can embrace the gift through applying the restored gospel to their lives!

We are officially on bikes, which is not as great as I thought because after a while it gets really uncomfortable, and it makes it harder to contact. I seriously love talking to people. I've decided that contacting is like riding a roller-coaster, you are always afraid to do it before and then you have so much fun and are really glad you did it and then just want to do it again and again!

I had an interesting experience this week. We got on a bus to return to our area after doing exchanges with the zone leaders. I sat down next to this lady and started talking to her and gave her a card and invited her to visit navidad.mormon.org and the whole shebang. She said that she was on her way to work (it was about 6pm) and that on the weekends she worked during the night. I didn't think much of it because there are a lot of factories that work during the night here and in Tijuana. Well she thanked me for the card and for not judging her which I thought was a weird comment. It wasn't until she stood up, that I realized just what kind of work she did. I guess ignorance is bliss!

Good news! The baptismal date that I put in Delta got baptized on Saturday! It made me so happy because they didn't think they were going to baptize this month. I went back on exchanges this Tuesday for her interview. It rained a lot. I don't know if i mentioned this the last time but Delta is in the middle of nowhere, two hours outside of Mexicali. There was a lot of mud.

Well I am just so happy. One thing that I've really tried doing is improving my prayers. After studying "Orar Con Fe" in chapter 4 of Predicad Mi Evagelio I decided that that was something that I should work on. Its just been really hard because I finish the day SO TIRED and sometimes it feels like my mind is not able to function as I try to pray at night. As I have worked to change this, I have found that i have strengthened my relation with my Padre Celestial and been able to realize all the blessings and tender mercies that i receive. Sometimes when I account to Him the activities of that day, I feel unworthy to ask for things in return. I have learned from the scriptures that it is a commandment to ask the Father for things. I have been able to recognize lately that EVERY prayer has been answered. It has really been amazing. It has really been amazing because there are things that need to be done, but that i can't do alone! I am so grateful for prayer, I'm grateful for the atonement, and I'm grateful for the gift that our Heavenly Father gave us, the savior Jesus Christ and this special time that i have been given to testify of these things!

I hope you have an amazing week and a very merry Christmas. I know I will! I love you all so much!

Elder Smalley

PS. I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU ERINN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are loosing a LOT of missionaries

December 15, 2014

Hey there family! 


I have just had a very odd week! It has gone by so fast! I am LOVING my time here so much!

On Tuesday we had our zone conference and our Christmas dinner. After the conference ended we ate and watched the mission slide show.

After that we started the zone skits. Can I just say, ours was the best. WE did Elder Scrooge. Haha it was about a dead missionary (which basically means lazy) who saw his Christmas past, present, and future. My district was in charge of his future. in our scene, we showed him in the airport getting dumped by his girlfriend. It was really funny. Like I said, ours was the best. There was the other zone from Mexicali there, as well as the zone from San Luis Rio Colorado as well.

I did think the idea of San Luis was pretty clever though. They did a skit on what wouldn't have happened if angels that weren't very punctual in the setting of stories from the scriptures. It was pretty funny, even if the scene with Abraham and Isaac was a little graphic hahahaha.

Well every conference they always have the missionaries that are going home this transfer get up and share there testimonies. Well the first generations of 19 year old sisters and 18 year old Elders are starting to go home now so we are loosing a LOT of missionaries this transfer. One thing that I really noticed this time was the difference between the missionaries that had been diligent and obedient, and those that had not. It was striking the difference. That really impacted me. I'm gonna try to not come home being an Elder scrooge. haha.

Well on Wednesday we had a baptism! 10 year old Jesus. I was so impressed with the ward. The ward missionary leader actually filled up the font and took care of the program and everything which is the first time in my whole mission that that has happened. The primary president arranged a special number with all the primary children and that was really cool as well! I am just in shock. I literally had to do nothing, just show up. weird.

Right after Jesus went in the water, I got a call from the zone leaders. They told me that I had to be in the bus station at 630 the next morning because I was going to Tijuana. They played it off like it was a special transfer and I freaked out because I had just barely fallen in love with this ward but then they said that it was only for one day, because I had to go do stuff for my visa.

Well the next morning I went with 3 missionaries from San Luis to Tijuana. I was so happy to be back! I seriously LOVE that city. We got to the mission offices a little bit early so we went to a place called burros and fries and brought it back to the mission offices. While we were eating President Garcia walked out with a paper that had instructions of what to do if we have diarrhea and in English said Just in case. haha I laughed so hard. Our president is so funny! On Friday I did exchanges so I just basically never was in my area this week.

I am super happy because Delta is going to be baptized this week! Also the sister of some recent converts in our area has really started progressing, and is going to get baptized on new years eve! Just loving it here!

I hope that everything is going really well for you and that you have a merry Christmas season!

Elder Smalley

PS. BIG SHOUT-OUT TO MEGAN REMUND I AM SO EXCITED FOR YOU AND YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THESE NEXT 18 MONTHS!!!!

PSS. Also please remember that they changed the package policy and the packages have to be a certain size from now on so please don't get me in trouble! thanks! love you!