Temple Trip!

President Stauffer and his wife with me at the temple

So this week I got to go to the temple! It was such an amazing experience. It was my first time going since I left the MTC, and honestly there's so much I've learned since that made the temple a whole different experience for me.

It was funny because the zone leaders didn't tell me when I was going to go, or if I would be able to at all (since we're in the zone farthest away from mission offices) so they literally called me with like 15 minutes notice to get on the bus to Lima. We left a little late so I think it made the joke on them a little because we got the the offices at like midnight and the mission secretaries were there just waiting for us.

This week we were working super hard to receive member referrals and contact them as fast as we could. We had a big ward referral activity a couple weeks ago that has given us a big head start but the task now is to go out and find out where the referrals live. But anyways on Thursday while we were walking around looking for an address we contacted a young couple, Jonathan and Diana, with their baby in the street, and they were really shy but they accepted us to come over after lunch.

We went over and taught them and it was a really smooth lesson. It was interesting because Jonathan had grown up believing that the sabbath day is Saturday, and when we taught about the Restoration and the need to pray to know if it's true, he just accepted it. I honestly don't know what we said that was so special to convince him, but I know it was the Spirit that persuaded him.

On Sunday, they came to church! It was so awesome having our Gospel Principles class so full of investigators. It is such a sweet joyful feeling because when we started working here a couple months ago we had between 0-1 investigators coming to church each week. Now we have at least 4-5 each week. I know this isn't my work, but I know that the Lord really wants His children to have the truth in their lives and that's when we come in to be instruments in His hands.

Yo sé que ésta es la Iglesia verdadera. Yo sé que Dios es un Dios de milagros y Él llama profetas en nuestros tiempos. Él mandó Su Hijo Jesucristo para sacrificar Su vida por nosotros voluntariamente. Jesús es nuestro Salvador y Redentor, y Él vive. Estoy tan agradecido por Él porque yo puedo levantarme cada día con confianza de que Dios me conoce, me ayuda, y me perdona mientras me esfuerzo por vivir el Evangelio. Yo sé que los convenios que hacemos con nuestro Padre Celestial son eternos. Amo tanto este Evangelio, pues es un evangelio de GOZO!!

I love you all so much!!! I hope you have a stellar week!

Until next time! 

Elder Evan Smith

The Longest Week

Well, let me just start off by saying that I think this was one of the longest weeks in my mission. But I learned a lot.

Perhaps it felt very long because I was hit with a lot of trials. I love the pride cycle for that reason. I have been trying to work as hard as I can and we've been having a lot of great results with my companion. I have also been striving to be more humble in my mission.

As each day passed last week, however, I felt my patience growing thinner and thinner, and my companion and I could feel ourselves becoming a little like Laman and Lemuel. It was on a then-gloomy wednesday night that we received some bad news over the phone that we were ready to throw in the towel when I remembered the Book of Mormon.

How many times do we read in the Book of Mormon that the people are blessed when they're righteous, then they become prideful and wicked, and the Lord chastises them, and then comes the critical point.

The people either repented of their sins and turned to the Lord or rebelled completely against the Lord and continued murmuring and making excuses.

I felt like we were at this point, and this analysis hit me so hard, I couldn't deny it was the Spirit. We talked it over as a companionship and we decided to pray and repent of our sins and hope for a miracle.

Mormon 9:19 "And if there were miracles wrought then, why has God ceased to be a God of miracles and yet be an unchangeable Being? And behold, I say unto you he changeth not; if so he would cease to be God; and he ceaseth not to be God, and is a God of miracles."

Over the next days I cannot explain fully in words how things changed. In one aspect we were eased of the burdens which were put upon our shoulders, that even we could not feel them upon our backs, and in another aspect we were blessed with what we lacked in the first place to fulfill our purpose.

I do not believe in coincidences, and I know that this refining helped prepare me spiritually for the general conference we had. I am so grateful for the blessings we have from a loving Heavenly Father that knows perfectly what we need. I know that the prophet and apostles are called of God to give us His message and guide us in these difficult times. I testify that the Book of Mormon is true and really has power.

I love you all so much! I hope you all have an excellent week!!!

Elder Evan Smith