Of Baptisms and Bashing

¡Hola familia amada!

How is the united states? I'm doing alright, but oh my goodness this has been a long week! It started off really well. A lot of our investigators are progressing and keeping commitments! I was so excited! I didn't realize how many investigators we actually had until we held our weekly planning session on Thursday. Lots, and it has kept us really busy! 

If everything goes well, we will have a baptism this Sunday. If she can keep the word of wisdom it will happen! Also we have another baptismal date that hasn't fallen yet, but she needs to get married first. She has been in un unión libre por 14 años and has two kids, and her husband doesn't want to get married, and is very catholic. She has a very strong testimony of the Book of Mormon and wants to get baptized. Well we had a great lesson with her about faith. How the Lord will always provide a way. Well she took that promise very well, and completely changed from discouragement to excitement. I have never prayed for something harder in my life. Still waiting to hear from her.

The flu is going around really bad here, so the President made us all get flu shots. That was really funny. All the american missionaries had no problem with it, but a few Elders and Sisters really didn't want to get vaccinated. Hahaha one Elder kept running away from the needle haha!

Well I had two kinda bummer experiences as well. First, we received a referral from the district of someone who spoke English. All we got was a name and number. I called the number and spoke to the guy. He said that we could come in 30 minutes. We had an appointment that had just fallen through, and I was really excited to teach someone in English, so I said that would work. He gave us directions. When we got there, it was a church. There were two men waiting for us. For the next hour, they began attacking Mormon doctrine and trying to use the bible to discredit us. It was completely a rehearsed  monologue. They did not allow us a second to get a word in. After a while, we just left. That really hurt me, that people could be so contentious over something so sacred as the bible. 

Also, I REALLY tried to get our investigators to church this week - like REALLY. I thought there was no way the same result would happen. Only two came. That kinda sent me into an emotional breakdown. Why is this just so darn hard? Haha well I've pretty much gotten over it by now. The scriptures really are great at comforting me!

Well I need to apologize because I didn't take a pictures this week and I know that nobody likes an email without pictures. I promise to do better this week.
Con mucho amor,
Elder Smalley!

A Roller-Coaster ... and the Duck

Hola muchachos!
If I had to say one thing about this week - its been a roller-coaster. There have been a lot of little things that have been tough. Every day I ask for comfort, and lots of it. The Lord has not given me everything I've asked for, but He sure has given me everything that i need! That is such an amazing blessing, I wish I could go deeper into that, but I don't have very much time haha!

BTW, you asked if we've had any more tangles with the duck ... actually yes. We walked by this week and he (the duck) was directly on the path. My companion wanted to go all the way around through the other side of the complex. But instead we crept by really slowly. I was terrified :)

Our progression with our investigators has also had its up and downs. Again, we made arrangements for all of them to come to church, we sent reminders and everything, but once again, only one investigator actually made it. WHY IS IT SO HARD TO GET PEOPLE TO CHURCH??? I'll keep working with that one. We were teaching a lesson to two hombres that we contacted in a store. One of them owns the store so we teach him there with his friend. While we were teaching, a man walks in, he asked a bunch of questions that I answered and I invited him to listen to the rest of the lesson. He then went on for about 30 minutes about how he was Catholic and a bunch of stuff trying to discredit Jose Smith as a prophet. That was fun haha. Even after he left, we had a good rest of the lesson. I hope so anyways. 

So last día de preparación we played volleyball and it was really fun! Tuesday was my first Zone conference. It was a huge slap in the face of things that I could work on. Walking out of that meeting I was so excited to do better, but I found out it is MUCH more easily said than done. That's what missionary work is in general! 

On Friday we had a training with the President. The Area presidents of Mexico have really stepped up the expectations. They expect each companionship to teach 40 to 60 lessons a week, not leave a members home without a referral address, 2 new contacts every day, and to baptize every week. My first thought was that it's impossible. Oh me of little faith!!! How could I forget that the Lord ALWAYS provides a way to accomplish His commandments??? So there, I KNOW its possible, now I just gotta do my part. 

Oh! and I got to see Elder Hesterman again! That was fun! I've been kinda sick this week, but all the chilies that I'm eating have really kept my immune system kicking. REALLY haha! Today we are going to play basketball as a district. I'm excited. Well take care and know that I love you guys. Like a lot!

Con muchisimo amor,
Elder Smalley

Teaching is Growing ... Like my apartment?

Hola mi familia amada!

This week has been a lot better! Not nearly as many appointments have fallen through, and we have 14 new investigators this week,  yeah! (Granted we received a referral for a family of 9....haha, but we taught them L1 last night and it went really well!)

I've been studying the Isaiah chapters this week. Is it just me, or are they all about missionary work??? So how do you like my apartment ... well at least the front of it from the street?

We have taught a lot more lessons (a lot for us, a little compared to any other companionship) and they have been some pretty powerful lessons! It feels so good to recognize the spirit again! I think all the fear and anxiety I was having was driving it away. In one lesson we introduced the Book of Mormon. We read with her Moroni's promise and I'll never forget her reaction. She said they were the most beautiful words she'd ever read. She explained how she felt. It was perfect! We were then able to explain to her that it was the Holy Ghost. Gah! It was just awesome!

We just had stake conference. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake. A president of the 70 spoke, also Elder Christopherson, and Elder Hales spoke too. Who knew Elder Christopherson could speak such good Spanish? I was really excited to invite our investigators, since we teach about the restoration of Prophets and Apostles. We arranged rides and everything for the 4 investigators we had at that point, to come to the conference. But only 1 came, darn. It's really a bummer because the president just changed the rules. Now investigators have to come to church 5 times before they can be baptized. So basically all our baptismal dates fell this week. darn.

On a better note, our ward has resolved to do a better job at working with the missionaries, and it's really been amazing! Everyone is getting excited about it and has really been helpful. Well, everyone except our ward mission leader, but i won't get into that....

So my trainer always makes me talk at least 50% of the lesson. Most trainers don't do that, but I'm glad he's been pushing me. I haven't struggled with that, I just need to develop my teaching skills. I've noticed however, that speaking gets so much easier when the spirit is there. hmm... :)

I just gotta say, I LOVE MEXICAN FOOD! I am in heaven! I really am! Even though it's super spicy. McKay would be proud. I LOVE spicy food now! I don't know why I hated it before. basically, the more salsa, the better! Every time I eat I just think to myself, Dad would be so jealous! haha


Well my district is going to play VOLLEYBALL today - yeah! Can't wait. So my companion hasn't worn shorts since he was 12 ... I know! But I am letting him borrow some, and he's super excited about it. Love you guys!
Con mucho Amor!
Elder Smalley

Feliz Año Nuevo!

Hola mi familia!
Happy new year!!! How did it go? Mine was pretty fun! Guess what my district did. Guess... BOWLING. We went bowling! I was so excited. And guess what else. I won haha. that never happens! Bowling isn´t very popular here. (Note: new years eve-day bowling became a family tradition of ours, years ago with dear New Jersey friends.)

Today I have been out here for 2 months. I´m not gonna say it´s flown by, but two months! That´s a twelfth of my mission. It´s interesting, I have really gained a lot of excitement this week. I´m really trying to learn to care less about myself and more about these people, and it´s really helped me get over all the discouragement! But the adversary is not cutting a break. This week has been tough. Almost every visit we have scheduled has fallen through. We barely taught a few lessons this week. It´s been hard because we don´t know what to do when our plan falls through, and so does our backup plan - for almost every hour. I hate feeling like I´m wasting the Lord's time. 

We have however seen SO MANY miracles, it´s unbelievable! I wish I could tell you about all of them. I am just so happy here! I love this work, and I love this opportunity! One of them was on Saturday. We had intercambios because my district leader wanted to see how our area is doing. I was sent to the Area Pacifico with my district leader's companion, who has been here the same amount of time, and speaks NO Spanish. yeah. While I am understanding more and more each day, I was still pretty nervous about it. I asked the Lord for a miracle, and I definately recieved one! I had almost no problems communicating. I don´t know how, maybe they just talk slower in Pacifico. There was one time, where a woman asked if we baked with wheat in the US. But I could not understand "wheat " from her description until she showed it to me haha! 

Well that same woman asked us for a blessing for her mother. A blessing of health. Elder R anointed in English and I sealed it in Spanish. Way cool! Yesterday was pretty cool as well. Never have I sat in a more powerful fast and testimony meeting. Even though the ward has so many struggles. These really are great people, who serve the Lord so faithfully! I cried, really hard haha.

The Spanish is coming pretty well. Like I said, they can understand anything I say, and I can express almost everything I want to say. I´m still struggling to hear and understand what they are saying, but it is getting a lot better. I´m becoming more and more involved in conversations. I´ve had some problems being timid-imagine that! But I´m working hard to get over that!

I don´t have anything else to say other than it is really hot here! Can´t wait for summer.
Con mucho amor,
Elder Smalley

Duck dynasty - Tijuana style

Hola mi famila amada!

Well I don't remember what day it was but we were visiting a less active family that had been really offended at the events of the ward party I told you about. I sat there for over an hour, listening to them complain. My heart ached. I didn't know what to do. I hated to think that this would keep them from coming back to church and returning to live with Heavenly Father. The only thing I could do was wait. After they had finished, my comanio said a few words and then I started to bear my testimony. I don't remember exactly what I said but I told them that Heavenly Father loved them, and wanted them to return to him. I told them there wasn't anything that the Savior hadn't already overcome. I ended with "'por favor, regresen'' which is the command form of ''come back''. Well what I witnessed next was a complete miracle. 

"the gospel must be preached
unto every creature" D&C 58:64

All the sudden they became...nice! Not that they were mean before (NOBODY is mean to missionaries here ... except for this crazy duck!) but it was a complete turn around. They said that they would come back to church, and let us teach their 9 year old son! I don't know if I explained this well enough, but THAT was a miracle. I don't feel like I have a lot to offer, almost nothing. All I have is my testimony. I KNOW this doctrine is true. I know that there is power in the Holy Ghost. I am so grateful to realize these things!

I've been getting a lot of comfort from the scriptures. It's funny, study is supposed to be to learn how to help others, but its sure been helping me. Before I talked to you on Christmas day, I felt a lot like Nephi in 1 Nephi 15:5. The difference is Nephi got over it before verse 6! Amazing. The next day I found  1John 4:18 I think it is. I found it on "accident"', I was looking for another scripture but I had highlighted this one a few years back. It really hit me hard. Love is the answer, as cliche as that sounds - it is true. The next day, I found 1 Nephi 19:9. That one hit me even harder. The Savior sufered everything out of love. I'm not "suffering" out here, but it is hard. So it became obvious what to do. I need to focus on loving the people. Duh Elder Smalley ;)

Anyway, about the duck. It was seriously about to attack me. Too funny. Thanks so much for everything.
Con amor,
Elder Smalley

Mailing Address

The Tijuana Mission uses a PO Box in the states for all mail for its US missionaries:

Elder Christopher Joel Smalley

MISIÓN MÉXICO TIJUANA

PO Box 439056

PMB 157

San Ysidro, CA 92143-9056

The mission office will cross the border routinely to pick up the mail. We also learned that if you want to send something to the mission's Tijuana address, you'd better tape all the seams and place an image of the virgin Mary or the Christus on or near the seams, in order for it to actually arrive.

That might be worth testing sometime!

Love Jon & Deb

A Skype Christmas

Our family was very blessed yesterday that skype, the internet and everything else in between work well enough for us to have video calls with our missionary.

We learned a lot about his first week. First, He LOVES the food (no shocker there). His companion is Elder Coutiño from Chihuahua Mexico, and has been in the mission field 4 months. Interestingly however, from Tijuana's Reforma district, where they are located, Elder Smalley might be the one who is closer to home than his companion as the capital city of Chihuahua is 937 miles away, while Herriman is just 762 miles away.

Cerro Colorado in the background,
which has a sign atop that reads
"Jesus Christ is Lord"
(in Spanish of course)

We also learned that his first week has been quite stressful and very frustrating for him. He did not expect to struggle with the language at all because of his success with Spanish in the MTC and prior. But the speed, the figures of speech, the slang, and all of the abbreviations common to the local language have really thrown him for a loop. So, he has become pretty stressed because he wants to reach people now! He doesn't want to lose even a week of his mission because he can't understand what people are saying. He received many words of encouragement from all of us yesterday. And as he was told, we could not be more proud of and grateful for him.

Perhaps most of all, we are grateful and humbled that a loving Father in Heaven knows exactly what He "seeth fit to inflict upon him", in order to form Joel into the servant the Lord wants him to be.

All our Best,
Debbie & Jon (Joel's parents)

PS.
The other interesting geographical fact we've since learned is that their apartment is only about 3 miles from the site of the Tijuana Temple now under construction. (See map below)

A is the location of the mission home, B is the Temple site, and C is their area in Reforma.