Cada pulgada (Every Inch, as in “Fight for Every Inch”)

Hello all. 
Another week here in the land of the dead.  So this week has been really slow.  The food finally caught up with me, so I was sick for the first time.  All I will say is...diarrhea fuego.  But I’m over that now, and back on track.


It still rains buckets every day, and busses fill up with water, so they get slow. This means that the trip to Confité, to drop off carpetas de miembros (member files) took like 3 hours instead of 30 mins.

After this is when I was feeling super sick.  Double headed dragon.  I told Hmna. Martha this, and she said she would make me something really good for my stomach the next day.  Well, the next day rolled in, and what did she drop on my plate?  A fish head.   She thought that was real funny. Haha no.   All I could do was look into the gooey eyes and turn green.  I’m happy to say I did eat it, but it took a while.

We also got to play soccer for mutual in the little soccer arena. That was way cool. Scored 2x on Elder V, which is a real feat, because he is a giant.

Oh ya, scary story of the week- The Elders in Confité got robbed this week in the middle of the night, while they were sleeping in the members house where they live.  They woke up to gunshots.  (The banditos shot and killed the guard dogs before entering).  Then the door broke down, and they were face to face with the masked faced men who then robbed them of all they had, microhonda, ropa, dinero, todo (microwave, clothes, money, all).  One of the Elders then recognized one of the masked men, and said, I know you, why are you doing this? He then was beat up.  Please pray for these valiant young men.

Oh ya, we ate iguana this week as well.  That was a trip. But then after was Hermanamiento, where I gave the lesson on oración (prayer).  I think it went well. The people seemed to think so to. I was definitely feeling the spirit that day, I could just... feel it. I don’t know how to describe it...and it definitely wasn’t Hmna Martha’s fish head.

Oh ya, today is Elder M’s birthday today.  He’s a stud and a half.  Sorry my email is all over the place this week.  I live in Hondo, so I think that’s a pretty good excuse.
Anyway, the scripture of the week and one I really need to capitalize on lately is Mosiah 23:21.  It talks about how God tries our patience and faith.  This is one of the most real verses, and it applies to everyone, especially me.
21 Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chasten his people; yea, he trieth their patience and their faith.

Here is a picture of Hmna.  Martha and her swag. Gafas de sol (sunglasses) credit- Elder Runyan.
Thanks bud, I miss the Goonies back in the states, along with 8-ball and scoot 801.  There’s my shout out for this week.

I know you all are real busy, but I would appreciate it if you all took the time this week to kneel down and thank God for what he has provided for you. Everything comes from him, most importantly the greatest gift of all, the plan of salvation.

Oh I’m sorry one other thing, our next baptism is for the 6th of December- Hermana Reyna. That should be a blast 100.

Thanks for todo (all)
Con Amor+
Elder Smart

Wowzers

Elder Smart's mailing address is at the top of the blog if anyone wants to send a letter or package.

This week was a thrill. I don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll keep it quick. So, to start things off, one of my companion’s investigators was shot and killed the day before he was supposed to be baptized. He’s going straight to the celestial kingdom I’m sure.

Ok, now, some things that happened. Haircut, English class, tons of contacting, Jehovah’s Witnesses, rain for days, hamburgers, faux missionaries, service, La Ceiba, Trujillo, soccer, beach, bedbugs. 

Story of the week. We were contacting, and we decided to talk to this older lady. We found out she was loco. She started kissing our hands, and she called my companion black Jesus, and me white Jesus. This was apostasia (apostasy), so we tried to teach her that she needs to stop kissing our hands, we are certainly not Jesus, but that he does live. But she kept mumbling something about shoveling sand on the beach, so we left right quick. Like 3 minutes later, My Friend (literally his name) the town bolo asked me to sing Feliz Navidad with him. So I happily obliged, and joined in.

Next. Two missionaries were spotted in La Masica. Fake missionaries.   Name tags, and all. There are only 4 missionaries here, and they certainly weren’t us.  Raro.

Next... TRUJILLO!!!!!!

Zone pday was on Monday, and we all got to go to Trujillo. It was so beautiful. We played soccer on the beach, toured the ruins of a fort, and just hung out on the beach. Chill fest 100. Anyway it was so nice to see all the guys from the Mexico CCM again. Oh and Elder Criddle is the man.  Such a help.

The scriptures of the week are, Mosiah 4:9

9 Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.

The next is Mosiah 4:16-25.

16 And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need; and ye will not suffer that the beggar putteth up his petition to you in vain, and turn him out to perish 

17 Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just 

18 But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. 

19 For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? 

20 And behold, even at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain? Nay; he has poured out his Spirit upon you, and has caused that your hearts should be filled with joy, and has caused that your mouths should be stopped that ye could not find utterance, so exceedingly great was your joy 

21 And now, if God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the substance that ye have one to another. 

22 And if ye judge the man who putteth up his petition to you for your substance that he perish not, and condemn him, how much more just will be your condemnation for withholding your substance, which doth not belong to you but to God, to whom also your life belongeth; and yet ye put up no petition, nor repent of the thing which thou hast done

23 I say unto you, wo be unto that man, for his substance shall perish with him; and now, I say these things unto those who are rich as pertaining to the things of this world

24 And again, I say unto the poor, ye who have not and yet have sufficient, that ye remain from day to day; I mean all you who deny the beggar, because ye have not; I would that ye say in your hearts that: I give not because I have not, but if I had I would give. 

25 And now, if ye say this in your hearts ye remain guiltless, otherwise ye are condemned; and your condemnation is just for ye covet that which ye have not received.

They basically say, we need to believe in God, and help and succor the weak in need.

Oh and if you want a machete, look up Alma 5:16-21. Intenso.

16 I say unto you, can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? 

17 Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you? 

18 Or otherwise, can ye imagine yourselves brought before the tribunal of God with your souls filled with guilt and remorse, having a remembrance of all your guilt, yea, a perfect remembrance of all your wickedness, yea, a remembrance that ye have set at defiance the commandments of God? 

19 I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? 

20 I say unto you, can ye think of being saved when you have yielded yourselves to become subjects to the devil? 

21 I say unto you, ye will know at that day that ye cannot be saved; for there can no man be saved except his garments are washed white; yea, his garments must be purified until they are cleansed from all stain, through the blood of him of whom it has been spoken by our fathers, who should come to redeem his people from their sins.

Love you all, con amor+

Elder Smart    

Bautismo y peligro (Baptism and peril)

And it's not even the rainy season yet...

This week, this week, this week...

I now have to teach my Comp English by December, direct orders from Presidente Klein, because of some bumps in the road from his previous area. I am not going to elaborate.

Elder V

My companion is a very hard working, loving, spiritual giant, and he is an excellent missionary. He does, however like to have fun.

This week, I was able to calm down quite a bit. I wasn’t worried about Spanish at all. Even through the lesson with two Geipers, I was able to pay attention with ease.

We ate armadillo at a less active member’s house. He caught it in the mountains while he was looking for firewood. Que raro (odd). They say it’s really rico (delicious) here, but I thought it was a little gamey.

On the 7th, we went to Ceiba for reunion de districto, and I found out that Hermana Bennett is Dakota Cobbler’s cousin! That is so cool, I remember him telling me about her, but it just didn’t click until she asked me. Wow. What a small world. The connections are ridiculous. P.S. Bill is still crazy! (Dakota’s dad and Andy’s Cross Country coach).

I taught a lesson in English! It was to Gringo Dan who lives here; pero (but) he is atheist, so that was a trip. Elder M and I went on splits and contacted 8 people in like 2 hours, which it pretty impressive for La Masica.

  Oh ya we had a baptism!!!!!!!! 
Madgiel was his name. In the river again, of course...  After that we had pelicula noche (movie night) and watched Rey Leon (Lion King) and that was super cool because we tied it into a devotional about families being together forever and the levels of glory.  Then, the lady whose house is attached to the awning we use for church asked me to give her a blessing because she was feeling really bad physically.  I gave it in English, unfortunately, but the spirit was definitely there.

My Comp has had a trip of a week also. This includes a face full of thorns from a hide-and-go-seek youth activity, kissing a pig and licking a turtle. Yes this is the truth. We had a bet that he couldn't teach the entirety of the first three lessons in less than 10 minutes. The consequence was kissing the pig. He failed, and has a chancho novia (pig girlfriend) now. He then insisted to try again, and failed tambien. Thus the turtle novia... He’s a goober and a half. He then had to dump a 10 liter drum of ice water on Hermana Rubi’s hijo (son) because she failed the challenge too. We probably should stop this stuff, but it was real funny. Reir (laugh). 

We get to go to Trujillo for our next zone p-day. It’s going to be a blast and a half.  

Also, I would encourage you all to watch the temple dedication ceremonies for the Tegucigalpa, Honduras Temple, by any means you can. It’s incredible.

Tegucigalpa Temple article: https://www.lds.org/church/news/president-uchtdorf-dedicates-tegucigalpa-honduras-temple?lang=eng

Dedicatory prayer: https://www.lds.org/church/news/dedicatory-prayer-expresses-gratitude-for-christ-gospel?lang=eng

The scripture for the week is 2nd Nephi 31:20-21. For me this helps me know that i need hope and love of god in my life, so press forward and endure to the end.

 20 Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.  

21 And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen. 

 Jesucristo es vida (Jesus Christ is life)

Elder Smart

Con Amore

RIO...

cantando el rio blues

Okay, so the turtle story was 100% true.  I live in Honduras... (Note: The Smarts had a family dispute over the truthfulness of this story).
And some other questions...
We are teaching some familias. We don’t have very many progressing investigators, but we are teaching. Me and my companion get along fine. Que raro.  Anyway, my companion is the new district leader. That’s going to be fun.

On Halloween, we played indoor soccer (just soccer under a lean-to). That was way fun playing with all the little kids. Ha ha, they would all try to take me out! Oh, also, I bought 100 lychees for like 15 lempira... Candy. So good. They are the red things and are a fruit. However, it flooded again on Halloween, and the power went out tambien.

We baptized a little girl named Astrid in the river, because we are in La Masica. That was way cool. The only time it stopped raining that day was when the baptismal service was taking place (God’s work).
The power has been off most of the days, so I’m really glad it’s on for me to email!

We had P-noché last night. Ha ha--a pajama party at our casa for the missionaries in La Masica and played UNO. Sorry my email is short this week, it has been action packed.
I am beginning to love it more and more each and every day.
My scripture for the week is D&C 84:106. Bueno.

106 And if any man among you be strong in the Spirit, let him take with him him that is weak, that he may be edified in all meekness, that he may become strong also.

Tub and laundry 

Road or river- depends on the day

Con Amor,  

Elder Smart