Monday, May 23, 2016

Following the Spirit and Loving the People

What a week. It went by fast too. This week I learned the importance of following the Spirit and loving the people. I've found a lot of counsel in the scriptures and comfort in prayer. Sunday night we had a really inspired lesson with nuevos that we found. It was getting to the end of the day and we had been praying to find people to teach all week, and that day especially. We saw a man coming home from work and open the door to a child running into his arms, and we felt we should talk to them. They let us in and it turns out the man is single and lives with his sister who is a single mom. They said they'd been looking for God in their own lives and had been praying to get a Bible to study. They knew we weren't there by coincidence and were really interested in the Book of Mormon. And they have a baptismal date set for 2 July.

Yo sé que el Espíritu Santo es real, y es por medio de Su guía que podemos encontrar las personas que Dios está preparando. Es cierto que como un misionero de tiempo completo, es mi papel hacer este obra todos los días, pero sé que también Dios está preparando personas en sus caminos, y que al seguir ese mismo Espíritu, pueden ayudar en apresurar la obra de salvación. Estoy tan agradecido por este Evangelio verdadero que cambia vidas, y nos acerca más a Dios y Jesucristo.

Gracias por todo su apoyo, amor, y cartas. Les amo muchísimo. Que tengan una buena semana!

Elder Evan Smith

Monday, May 16, 2016

Interviews with Mission President

This week we had interviews with our mission president, and it was super helpful for us to improve with our investigators. We learned the importance of teaching things the way they really are, when it comes to investigators that are just kind of there in between making a commitment and not.

We really have the truth, and baptism is literally the door to entering the path to the celestial kingdom, and the investigators have to really understand that. There's no reason to try and extend commitments in a comfortable or persuasive way, just follow the Spirit.

Have a great week everyone! Love you all tons

Elder Evan Smith

Monday, May 9, 2016

Mothers Day on Skype


There's not a whole lot that's changed between last night and today, but I just want to say I love you guys. I love what Dad shared with me about listening to the Spirit. As a missionary we are always asking the Lord to help us find families. But that doesn't have sentido if we don't act on the impressions we receive. It's also true what Mom said that everyone is different and has their own situations in life, but the Gospel is for everyone, and everyone can be healed by Christ's Atonement.

I love you all. It was nice to see everyone yesterday. I hope you had a great day Mom. Thank you for all your support, advice, counsel, and prayers. Have a good week!

With love,
Elder Evan Smith

Monday, May 2, 2016

An Answer to Prayer to Find an Investigator

This week we had a really spiritual experience last Monday evening. My companion and I were doing one of our maneras para encontrar (contacting approaches) at 7 and we had a couple citas (appointments) at 8, but no one we talked to wanted to hear more, and our citas cayeron (appointments fell through). So at 8:30 we were knocking on doors without much luck, when I said to my companion, well we're here for a reason. We wouldn't be walking around for an hour and a half for nothing, there's got to be someone who needs us. So we said a short prayer and waited a moment. We crossed the street to knock on a door and a man was walking by. We contacted him and he was pretty receptive. We asked him how his day was going and he started to get a little emotional and said he's going through a rough time with his wife, and their on the road to divorce. He has a little 1 year old son too that he doesn't want to lose. We talked about eternal families and asked if he'd like to hear more. He led us to his house and we shared the Restoration and the Family Proclamation and he said he felt really good and wants us to teach his wife too. Like our mission president says, la obra misional es espiritual (missionary work is spiritual), and the power of prayer is real!

This week I've been studying from Alma 5 a little and there's a part I really like.
6 And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, you that belong to this church, have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them? And moreover, have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance that he has delivered their souls from hell?
Alma is talking to us too, about our ancestors that were pioneers, that gave up everything to follow the prophet and establish the Church. And because of them, today I'm on a mission in another country bringing the gospel to more of God's children.

Estoy tan agradecido por ser un misionero. Estoy aprendiendo muchas cosas que sé que van a ayudarme por el resto de mi vida. Más de todo, estoy ayudando otras personas a hacer lo mismo por sus propias vidas. Tengo un testimonio del Espíritu Santo, que Él es el maestro, y solo soy uno de los instrumentos. A veces tenemos dificultades y pruebas, pero sé que es para que aprendamos a través de oposición. Sé que Dios nos da debilidades para que tengamos humildad y cuando mostramos a Dios este humildad, vamos a fortalecer nuestras debilidades a fortalezas. Gracias por todo su apoyo y oraciones.