My week = Waterfall trip, soccer jerseys, BYU fight song and a baptism!

Hey Family (:

It sounds like you all had such a fun week and I am so glad to hear about all the memories you are making!

I am sorry this is so late! But today we hiked to Gocta! It is a huge waterfall and it took about 3 hours to get there in a stinky old hot van with no air conditioning! The hike was incredible and it took about 3 hours both ways! But it was complete Jungle! The waterfalls were just so amazing, huge,  and refreshing to feel the mist on our faces! 

Last PDay Elder White and I bought Peru Soccer Jerseys (real ones). It just so happened that I bought one that has the number 5 and he got one that has the number 13! Which is our months that we have been out right now! It is kind of crazy to think I have only been gone 5 months. It feels a little longer, I don't know how to describe it!

This past Thursday we had a baptism of a great lady named Mirella.  I never got the chance to teach her and so I barely know her, but I could feel of the strong testimony that she has. It was cool though because she read all of the Book of Mormon in a week! That is what Elder White told me. We will be having a baptism on the 14th of September for sure with a little boy named Cristian who is 9 years old! His older brother just recently got baptized about 1 month ago. Cristian is very cool and such a little stud! We will also hopefully be having a baptism on the 21st of September. His name is Jose and he is 17 years old and so the problem is, is that we still need to get permission for his parents so please pray for his parents hearts to be open. That is the main deal right now. We have about 4 other strong investigators who are kids and they are just dying to be baptized but their parents won't let them.

My stomach is all better! Also, I really felt the Lord's hand in my life this past week. Of course my Spanish was far from perfect but I did feel His impact and could express myself a little better. Thank you so much for praying for me because it really did help me out a lot! I went on splits with an Elder from Argentina this past week and he only spoke Spanish and it was really hard to understand him. But when it came time for the lessons, I was able to understand everything! Crazy right?

That story about Chris Biggs happened to me too! I heard the exact same things every single night. There are always loud pops. Elder White at first told me that they were just fireworks but then he told me the truth and said half of them are gun shots! Haha but don't worry. They don't touch us! This past week we were in a little sketchy situation. We were walking home at about 9 at night and a drunk dude approached us and told us everything about his life! But we both realized that his hand was in his pocket the entire time he was talking to us and so we both kind of backed up a little bit! After we were done talking to him, a member approached us and said we were lucky because that guy is always in trouble! Another blessing! But yeah Mom that is a great idea to count and write down our blessings. I actually heard about that idea but I forget to tell you guys to do that!

Man how I have missed you all!  Especially this week because I really wanted to just be a part of the BYU football game crowd! But dangit! Why does BYU always have to just make these stupid little mistakes! Better luck next game.  On Saturday Elder White and I were a little sad because we knew that there was a BYU game going on and we weren't able to attend obviously. So on the way to an appointment we started singing the BYU fight song and it made us so pumped up!! Haha it was legit!

By the end of the days here I am just so exhausted! Right after we plan and pray I plop myself on my bed and call it a day! Missions are so tough, but they are so worth it! I feel so blessed to represent the Lord and help in this great work!

Dad thanks for that scripture (2 Timothy 1: 7-8 :"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of  love, and of a sound mind.  Be not thou therefore  ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.")  That is exactly how I was feeling this week. I just felt fear of speaking Spanish because I don't want to be embarrassed in front of all these natives.  That was my goal this week to improve.  So far I have felt a huge improvement.

 P.S. Oh hey Mom, So I have a little bit of a long time till I come home, but I am NOT going to want to have rice, chicken, or potatoes for my homecoming dinner. I eat that every single day with a cold drink that takes like ice cold postum. groooosss haha I love ya mommy (:

Thanks Mom and Dad for all of your support. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for the great family I have! I really do miss you all and it is hard for me sometimes to be away from you. but I have been doing a lot better and have been staying focused on the work. I really do see the blessing every day (:

I love you all so very much (: Until next week!

I love you. He loves you.

Elder Smith