I enjoyed the phone call muchisimo and only another 5 months till the next one

Hey what is up guys, I enjoyed the phone call muchisimo and only another 5 months till the next one. It was great to hear y’alls voices and to hear that all was going well. I had a good Christmas week, it is a little weird going into full gear after the Christmas week and talking to y’all, but I got to do it.

This week was fun, but the past 2 weeks have been some of my more spiritual weeks of my mission so far. I have fasted 3 times in the past 10 days, and I have learned the power in the fast, and I have seen the Lord’s hand in my work for the past couple of weeks. We are really working hard with the families we have, and especially with Raulin and Andeti. Monday we put a baptismal date for them in February, but if all goes well they could do it in a couple of weeks, but you know how people are about picking their baptismal dates. But one of the things I have fasted for especially is that they can give up their drinking habits, and they didn’t drink anything during the Christmas week and they have a desire to get rid of it, so it is cool to watch them as they overcome this. We are still working on finding people and contacting everyday so we can continue to have a pool of people to teach. This week I think I came to the conclusion that Satan has power over little children and little dogs. During our lessons this week it is so frustrating and hard to teach when kids go out of their minds and way just to test the patience of their parents and us. Oh well, everything else seems to be going good.

Things are pretty chill around here now as normal, but we will see what happens in the New Year. I just know right now I can’t feel my body, we went over to the other side of Cotui and played some basketball with all of the elders in our district and some members from their side. It got pretty intense as it usually does with Dominicans. Dominican Ball is something else, but I made it out alive. We played for like 3 and a half hours and I thought that was demasiado - too much.

I hope all continues to go well at home and that y’all are enjoying y’alls vacations.

Love, Elder Smith

Since I couldn't send him Dr Pepper in a package, he got a DP shirt for Christmas

Family he is teaching. They had Christmas Eve dinner with them

Pride of the Dominicans.

They like their loud music 

Won't complain about road around here again

Glad that's peso's and not dollars!!

Companionship Study- Lehi's Dream

It is probably just another drill!- Christmas!

Hey what is up guys, and how is the swimming? Right now I’m freaking tired, I got about 5 hours a sleep last night and we had to wake up before 5 to get to Santiago for the Mission picture of all of the missionaries, and I just got back from helping somebody move for the past 2 hours. They decided that I was the biggest one there and that I should be the one to carry all of the appliances and bed frames so I got my workout in today. It was cool I got to see a lot of my friends in the mission that aren’t in my district so that was fun.

So for Christmas it should be like a normal day, but it won’t because everyone will be partying and we will keep in the house and the chapel for most of the day. Usually people celebrate their Christmas festivities on the day before, so that day we will eat at a members house, and we have some plans with a family that we are teaching. So we can’t really do what we want, but the schedule is flexible. For the call I will call anywhere from noon to about 3 your time, and it will be an 809 or 829 number. So I will call the home, and have y’all call me back so I don’t have to pay for it, and we will get to talk for awhile so I am excited to see how y’all are doing.

So we have had quite a bit of branch activities this week, so we have had some fun with the branch the past week, which means a lot of food and gift exchanges. I got a tie and some socks for my gift exchange. But it has been sweet this past week we are working hard with a family with parents named Rauline y Adneti and two kids Larisa and Ryme which are just awesome. We are spending Christmas Eve with them, to make sure that they don’t have their wine to celebrate Christmas. We taught the Word of Wisdom this week, and the only problem they have with it is that they drink a little on special occasions so we are working with this because that is the only problem they seem to have. They are reading and praying as a family and coming to all of the church activities and practically our whole branch knows them so we are lucky! They are the only couple in the whole neighborhood that is legally married where they live so we had luck contacting. So hopefully all goes well with this family.

Today we had a fun day in Santiago, we didn’t get to go to Chili’s because it is wayyyy expensive here and we didn’t have time, so I took Elder Franco to Taco Bell for my Christmas gift to him. I almost had a close call today, the store I usually buy my Dr Pepper was out of it, but luckily we found another store that had it but it was like a dollar a can, but when I had the craving I bought the last 8 they had so I can celebrate my Christmas the right way.

But guys I am way stoked for Este Sabado, I can’t wait to hear y’alls voices. Take care and only a couple of more days, I hope y’all enjoy the pics!

Elder A-Smeet

Navidad Tree and Cards

Family moving from the Branch.

Do you see what movie they watched at the Branch Party?

Toy Story 3 (Matt needs to keep his Uncle Kent employed) 

Kids from the Branch

Matthew's buddy is to the right in the Nike shirt

Some of the Branch members

Elder Remington and Elder Smith(aka Matthew)

Matthew and the Relief Society President.

She drew his name for the gift exchange and got him the awesome yellow tie!

Matthew with the Branch President and Ward Mission Leader

Matthew and Elder Miller

He was Matthew's MTC and CCM Companion

They meet up in Santiago today

Santiago, Dominican Republic

Monumento de Santiago

 

Elder de Los Santos

Matthew's favorite Dominican!

American Elders

Tex-Mex, translation=Taco Bell

Elder Franco and Matthew

Ward Activity Planner

Hey what’s up guys? How is it in the Christmas season, here its been great and the weather has been bomb, actually got cold last night for the first time on my mission! And yeah, I have a big 5 months in the mission, and I feel somewhat older because we got 4 newbie’s in our zone and it made me feel better about my Spanish big time. But yeah, I got both of your packages this week, thanks so much! I took everything out of the Dearelder package and took certain things out of the other so I am going to see if I can wait for Christmas to open them, I saw the shirt and shorts and they look sick.

So for ward activities the branch president looks at us and says we should have a ward activity this week and every week. And it is always okay, and then he looks at us and says again we should have a ward activity, and we say okay, and then he says you’re in charge. So every Friday night we put on a movie and play domino's, so this past week we watched Up, so it’s fun, and it was good because we had a lot of investigators show up.

Yeah, I bet it is fun to talk with the Johnson's, I usually get an email from the twins every week and it is fun to compare the missions and talk about the stories we have had. But yeah good old Andrew, it will be fun to hang out with all of us when we get home.

But I sent a CD home this week with most of my pictures so far this year so you should get those in a couple weeks. And yes, we still have water and it makes life so much easier. They have washing machines here but they are semi automatic and are like nothing back home, so of it is still by hand. Elder Remington is from Nevada so he is good to have in the house so I can speak English often which is easier for me. But yeah, Bebiembre is just a huge party and everyone drinks every day which is not very good.

For Christmas I will be calling from a cell phone so I will call y’all and have y’all call me back so I still don’t know what the plan is for Christmas. So I will let y’all know next week.

Hey dad I actually used the understanding Isaiah CD that you put on, I had some questions about some of the things and it had what I needed so thanks for that.

This week was pretty good, we are doing good as a companionship and we have 3 great families, and our best one we found out this week that they are legally married so if all goes well with them we could have at least 4 baptisms this transfer which I would be way happy to get. So we are starting to turn the corner with our area, which I hope we do. We had our interviews with president this week and it was great to get some advice from him with our area, because he knows how it is.

I am learning patience more than ever this transfer, Elder Zouti the Haitian elder in our house is starting to push my buttons, and I will just leave it at that. But I am getting along great with my comp, he has got a good sense of humor and even though we are working hard we have fun.

But guys, 10 days and I will be on the phone with y’all! I hope all is good and that sports go good for y’all. I love and pray for y’all every day, take care!

Love,
Elder Smith

Good News! WE HAVE WATER

Hey what is going on guys, I bet it is great with the Christmas season and some cool weather. Good News! I got my pics off of my memory stick so there will be pictures today. I can’t wait to get y’alls package- Thanks so much! And it will be nice to be able to talk to y’all this month. So it sounds like we got some good news in sports with a little bit of bad news with Jacob’s team.

But yeah I got to watch the devotional thing so the talks were in Spanish but the music was in English so it was great! So Makenzie gets to speak this week, congrats. I have gotten over the fear of giving talks in Spanish and talks in general but it isn’t so bad when you only have 30 to 50 people listening, it seems like nothing after speaking in our ward at home. So they love their Christmas hymns here, and that is all we have sung since the beginning of November, this week the branch president tried to have me play Silent Night for the Sacrament Hymn, so I was like you really can’t do that so I had to change it.

So today was transfers, and I am safe I still have Elder Franco and we are staying in our Area and we are looking to turn it up this transfer, it looks like I will probably have 6 months here unless they close the area which is a possibility. But yeah, Morrison went home this week, so we have a new American in the house which is sweet and he is a football junkie so it should be fun. So I will have another pizza buddy, my companion likes it a lot too so we usually go there or Pica Pollo for dinner every night which is kind of hard on the budget.
So today is a huge holiday and all of the Internet places were closed but the other elders in our house have an investigator that owns an Internet place so we got him to let us use his for the day, so we got lucky today. The past week and for the rest of this month is something called Patronal, which is just a huge party in the streets at night and the main part is just around the corner from our house so it is annoying with the noise until 2 in the morning. These festivities is just where everyone gets wasted out of their mind and fight each other in the street to celebrate a religious holiday, doesn’t make sense to me. And also at 6 every morning there is either a group of people marching around singing Christmas songs or some type of strike which is really annoying but oh well.

I am not going to lie, this past week was a little disappointing we had 6 investigators for sure coming to church and none of them showed up which was really lame. We have just been trying to find a new person through contacts which is not always the most fun way to do things, but if you don’t have people to teach you can’t teach. We have probably a good 8 to 10 solid investigator but we need to continue to find more. This week we had a zone conference with our zone, La Vega and the San Fransisco zone with President Lee which was awesome. It was how we could really apply what faith is in our mission and what faith actually is. Also how we can get Investigators to increase their faith through action. There is a lesson we teach which is called the Triangulo de Fe, which is prayer, scriptures, and attending the church. So I haven’t had to much new news in the past couple of weeks for the most part. I am getting better at teaching, so I can tell because usually my companion doesn’t review the principle I just taught and he just continues.

So I hope all goes well this week, and y’all enjoy the pics, I have a somewhat fast internet connection today so I should get a good number home. Also WE HAVE WATER, I took my first shower in 2 months today, and it was awesome. They finally fixed it yesterday so my Christmas wish came true.

Con amor, Elder Smith

House roommates

District 

Matthew and his companion Elder Franco

Thanksgiving in the Dominican Republic

Thanksgiving Feast

Scenery

Matthew's birdie

Teeing off

On their way to go golf

This is the actual car they drove in to the golf course. Yes it runs!

The critter he found in the shower. It was a foot long.

What’s up guys?

What’s up guys? Are y’all doing this week? This week was a pretty good week for me. Thanksgiving was the freakin' bomb, we had an actually turkey and mashed potatoes and it was delicious. A member in the others Elder’s Branch cooked it for us, it was a little pricey but it was worth it. It looks like y’all had a good thanksgiving with sports and smores. To bad for football this past week, BYU would lose the game with a blocked field goal.

So it is getting time for Christmas, here they call December, bebiembre, just because it is the month where everyone just drinks.

So my camera memory cards, both have a virus on it is what is sounding like because it happens all the time here from other elders, so I think I found a program I am going to buy to fix it, so hopefully I can send stuff home today.

So someone finally came to check our water pump but we didn’t have power so they couldn’t fix it, we haven’t had power since last Friday, apparently the power line fell or something. But at least they fixed it this morning so hopefully we can get our house fixed for next transfer. Also I got a letter from Andrew this week, which I was waiting for, for a while.

This week there’s not really too much that is new, my comp has been fighting with a sick stomach so it has been hard to stay out all day because we have to keep returning to the house. We don’t really have too many new investigators because in the time out we have to pass by the ones that we already have. We have 2 families that are progressing right now, so hopefully they will keep on progressing, and we have a couple of other individuals that have some interest. I continuing to improve my Spanish and getting to the point to where I can say whatever I want to say if I need to, which especially helps while I am teaching because I can use stories and analogies which makes me a more effective teacher. Elder Franco is really helping me out a lot, and corrects me when I say something that just doesn’t make sense in Spanish. I have gotten over my fear of speaking in contacts and in lessons. I would rather be the one teaching. Nothing really has changed too much in our area, just a lot of walking and getting to know people.
It sounds like the Makenzie and Jacob are doing well in basketball, and that is good to hear, keep on working!

This week we have a multi zone conference, and I should be able to see the Christmas devotional, it starts really late here though.

Have a great week guys! I will try to get my memory card figured out, so hopefully I should get some pictures home.

Love, Elder Smith

The gospel blesses families!

Hey what’s up guys, how is it going? I am doing pretty good today I got over my sore throat so I am able to speak this week. Today was a pretty sweet day, I did an intercambio with Elder Morrison and we went to go play golf with Elder Parker and walker in Bonoa. So it was a great day, at first it was pouring rain and then it turned out to be a beautiful day. I have pictures but for some reason I cant access them from my memory card so if y’all could come up for a reason why I cant get them to show up on the computer that would be awesome, I have a lot I want to send home but I cant. But hey today I got a birdie on the 4th hole of the day so my day was a success and yes it was a true birdie no mulligan’s with a chip in. But I’m not with my companion today but Elder Morrison is dying so he is ordering his video games so he will have them when he gets home.

But for tomorrow the plan is to go to Fantino where they found turkeys so we are going to cook turkeys and mashed potatoes so it will be good to have a good American holiday tomorrow.

But this district conference was way good, and it was funny trying to see all of the ward members and leaders trying to suck up to President Lee. But out of the three branches there, President Lee slammed our branch and complimented the others. The members in our branch talk the talk and never walk the walk. So our members got bochead (lectured kind of it is a Dominican word), it was funny and something our branch needed. My favorite part of his bochea to our district was is comparison of Mexico to the DR and said Mexico is Mexico and for that they have 12 temples and we have one and they continue to grow, if you want to become a stake y’all have got to work. So my comp loved that one.

But teaching wise this week, I think went pretty well other than I had a sore throat and was barely able to speak, I did an intercambio and went to another part of Cotui this week so I got to work with another Haitian for the day. But the boy that we taught is progressing but we have a family of gold right now who are reading and understanding everything and going to church too. It was funny we left 3 Nephi 11 for them to read and when we came back to talk to them about it they labeled every point of the chapter and the significance of it, so it was like our job here is done. But the mom of this family, the person that baptized here into the Catholic Church, is our ward mission leader so that would be funny if he baptized her into the true church. So the whole family is great they have 2 kids that are always offering to say the prayers and have interest too, usually kids are a distraction but these kids pay attention and are great. We have others that are somewhat progressing but not much so we will see how it turns out.

Also this week I saw the biggest insect thing I have ever seen in my life, there was this centipede thing that I thought was a snake at first that came into the bathroom when I was taking a shower so it freaked me out a bit, I have pics but I can’t send them.

But yeah I did get y’alls card yesterday and it was nice to see y’all wit those shirts, do I not get one? Yeah I will miss spending thanksgiving with all, enjoy the food and football for me. We really have so much to be thankful for, I would make a list but I don’t think I could fit it in this email. The gospel blesses families!

Yeah take care guys, and have a great week!

Elder Matt Smith

"we need to be good so this doesn’t happen"

Hey what is up guys, how are y’all doing? I am doing pretty well for the most part, I have been a little sick this week but nothing really bad.
So is Kirk going to start or what, or did they get him for a back up?
It doesn’t matter if the razor is powered or not, you can surprise me.
So it sounds like Makenzie and Jacob are doing well in basketball, so keep up the good work guys.
No, they haven’t fixed our water pump yet, but President Lee is coming out for the District Conference, which is like stake conference for branches, so he will probably check our house and he can get onto the office for us. Speaking of that we probably need to clean!
Yeah I got an email from Johnny saying he sent a letter, so I gave him my pouch address today, but thanks guys.

Where to begin for this week, so what is going on down here, lately it has been a lot of contacting and trying to get references so we can find some new cheese to start to teach with better situations. Our area is improving, when we came here for the first time the area was closed so we are building it up pretty good now. We have had investigators attend church every week this transfers so that is good. We have found some good families from references and we have a 16 year old guy that is golden. His dad died a year ago, and so after the plan of salvation lesson he was way pumped. And at his job he has plenty of time to read so he has been reading all of the time so that is way good, and he has got a desire we just have to wait and continue to work with him. So there are some great people that we are teaching now, one of our families we have been teaching for a while they have a daughter who is 7 years old and just had her birthday so I gave her a Libro de Mormon with a Milky Way, and all of her other friends started crying because I only had one, so everyone thinks I am the candy man now, so I feel bad when sometimes the kids cry because I don’t have anything. But the family was way appreciative and it was something they needed to give their family a boost. So we had some more apostasy taught this week, when we were teaching the resurrection the member said only those that go to spirit paradise get resurrected and everyone else is condemned to hell, so that was just one of those moments you put your hand in your face and say help me!!! Also we have spent some time with our ward mission leader visiting less actives, but every time he shares the message for the night it is like a fire and brimstone damnation scripture that he leaves up to me and my comp to apply to them, so it’s kind of like, “we need to be good so this doesn’t happen.”

So I am having some fun down here, we didn’t get to play golf this week but I think we are playing next week, and the Americans in our district are going to have an American Thanksgiving next Thursday. So that should be fun.

Keep up the good work guys, and have a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

"...that is hilarious that you would even think that we have a car"

What’s up guys? I am doing pretty well this week. And yeah we got pounded this past Thursday to Saturday with rain, so the streets were packed with rain, and it was hard to get out and teach much because of it. And of course we walk, that is hilarious that you would even think that we have a car. That is why I am so feakin skinny now, I sweat so much walking around. If we have to travel we take a ruda- 1990 Toyota Corolla with 8 people piled in a car.

That sounds like fun that family is coming out in the next couple of days, and that sucks about not going to the Texas/A&M game though I would be bummed to. I don’t need the Ensign we usually get here during the month so we haven’t gotten November yet but we should get it pretty soon. Dang, Cinco got womped on, just like Utah got wrecked by TCU this week. Its funny there is a guy that gets all of the sports updates way fast in the mission and he is good friends with Elder Morrison in our house, so we got a phone call Saturday night saying that Utah got worked.

I guess you asked what I would like for Christmas for right now I would like a new Gillette pro glide razor with refills for the razor, and a cheap little hair trimmer. That is what I would like and whatever else you would like to surprise me with would be great. Thanks in advance, also rechargeable AA and AAA batteries with a charger.

This week has been pretty good for the most part. The weather has been great when it is not raining; it has cooled down a little bit. Teaching has been good this week to, yesterday was my best teaching day in the mission we taught 7 lessons and I got to give another blessing in Spanish so I actually know the words know unlike the first time that I had to do it last transfer. We have found some good people this week from some references, we are teaching a 16 year old kid that just lost his dad, and also we have some guy that had problems with drugs wanting us to help him out so we will see how that goes. Also we have a great family but the parents aren’t married, the dad is inactive but the wife and their kids that are above 8 want to be baptized but we can’t do anything until the dad divorces his other wife and they get married. The wife and kids have tons of excitement but they can’t do anything until they are married, which sucks! There are coming to church every Sunday and they have changed so much since Elder de la Cruz and I entered the area. Of course I have plenty more of member teaching experiences, it has gotten so bad that this week my companion is training  members for this week. So we are pushing forward day by day the time flies fast when you are teaching, it is quite the opposite when you are walking from house to house to find someone home.
But yeah, I hope all is going well at home. Enjoy hot water and A/C we are supposed to get our water pump fixed this week so we will see how that goes. All four of us call the office everyday to remind them. The office elders are sucking it up, so we laid it on them when we were in Santiago last week. I was going to send some pictures this week but I think the computer deleted the photos I have had for the past 3 weeks which blows but I didn’t have to much on there so it is all good.

Take care, Have a great week, I think next p day we are playing golf at a par 3 course in Bonao so I am looking forward to that. Don’t do dumb things!

Love su Elder favorito, Elder Smith

"...we really do have a lot to be thankful for"

Hey how is it going guys, I am doing great and I am doing well with my companion. I think we are getting that storm that you are talking about it has rained straight for the past two days and when it rains here it rains. I spent my P day in Santiago today, so I got some good old Taco Bell and I don’t think it has ever tasted so good in my life. I spent some money today on a custom scripture case so I can carry my scriptures and pamphlets without using a back pack for like 36 bucks or so, it is way nice so I thought it was worth it. In the picture you can see a sweet Astros hat I bought for about 10 bucks so there is some cool stuff here. And no we do not have day light savings time here, so sometimes I don’t think this country is the smartest, especially in a lot of things but oh well. I found a USB adapter so I don’t need one of those anymore, but yeah I am always willing to take money in my account, money goes a long way here. It is definitely nice to have an American in the house, but he is going home after this transfer so he talks about home a lot which sometimes sucks but it is nice to speak English after a full day of Spanish. I love my comp, especially his Spanish; Mexican Spanish is so much easier to understand than Dominican Spanish. Elder Franco is the district leader of my district, and also he was in my area a year ago which is weird because missionaries never repeat areas so oh well. He is a good missionary, even though he likes to bible bash here but it’s not very hard to win because the people here are not very smart and it is funny when they admit they are wrong, and usually they get all excited but then do nothing after that.

This week I learned why mom doesn’t like playing the piano for the primary during sacrament meeting. The first hymn went good then the second one was there and the third one was a train wreck but oh well it is good practice and they can’t complain because they can’t play either. This week I think I became a fan of not teaching lessons with members. When I was teaching about the Spirit World in the Plan of Salvation lesson the member went off on ghosts, the spirit world being on earth, and the evil spirits that follow Satan so that was interesting. I was like what the freak are you talking about man, shut up! Also when we were teaching the Restoration our member went off on the Word of Wisdom and Chastity and his testimony of the Book of Mormon while I was talking about Prophets and the time of Christ. Members usually just confuse the crap out of our investigators, so we need to figure something out. At least we are getting some references this week because the theme of church was on the members helping out with the work, contacting is something that I haven’t seen work yet but oh well. This area is difficult because most of the people we teach aren’t married so we have to get them married before we can baptize them. There are families we could baptize right now but they just have to get married first. Also drinking and gambling is a huge problem here even with the members. The branch here is alright, but they have so many inactives that we have to work with that it is insane. Many missionaries baptize for numbers which you could do here easily, but it is no good unless they are actually converted which is something my first companion taught me.

I am glad to hear all is going well at home, I bet y’all are excited for basketball. Yeah I got the baseball news that Texas lost pretty fast here. I can tell basketball started because they are watching the games in the colmados- mini grocery store on every corner.

I will finish in another email- Elder Smith



I told Matthew that it looks like all Taco Bells look alike,
He said yeah, but they had french fries and they were out of bean burritos. 



Yeah it was weird to think this week that it was Halloween, I didn’t now that it was Halloween until the next day. The people here treat every Saturday and Sunday like Halloween when the just get drunk out of their mind. I love the costumes guys, especially the penguin. I guess my sport teams aren’t doing to well this year so they got two years to get better before I get home.

I am going to try to start sending pictures home every week with my new cable, so that should make y’all happy. Also I will make a Christmas list for y’all next week, I really don’t know what I want, and you can only do so much here. The mission just came out with new rules that many people in the mission aren’t too happy with, I see this mission tightening up a lot while I am here.

I hope all is going well at home, we really do have a lot to be thankful for. There are so many things I wish I had here that I don’t have now, things that I thought I would never be able to live without. Cuenten sus bendiciones! Have a great week guys!


Love, Elder Smith

New Pictures

Hey my new companion is Elder Franco from Mexico and I have an American in the house now!

So he is using the internet because he didn't have a chance so I will send some pics.



Matthew and Elder De la Cruz
Elder De la Cruz went home today 



What medicine are you taking for your throat, you are sick.

Hey guys how is it going, I am doing great and I just killed my Dad (sent his companion home, didn’t really kill anyone), so I am still in the same area, but I am not sure right now who my next companion is. I think it is Elder Franco from Mexico, so I will really have to use my Spanish this transfer. So this week my Spanish, I think, became fluent, which was weird because I can say what I want and understand almost everything now, it is like a switch that just turned on! I am glad because my next companion will not know English. But yeah I got the letters from the Relief Society a week or two ago. And that is sick that Dad got an iPad, I can’t even remember what an iPod or iPad even looks like. But you have no idea how trunky I feel hearing that y’all are going to the Texas / Texas A&M game. Trunky is the word here in the mission when you start to think about things back home, so it was hard not to do it this transfer because my companion was always talking about home. The last two weeks has been a struggle for me, my companion was dying so it was hard to be patient with him sometimes. But we did teach 120 lessons this past transfer which seems like a lot but we could have done a lot more. Also Makenzie I have some postcards I found so I am going to send them this week so they should be there in a bit.

But our area is finally progressing which is nice so hopefully we can get some people in the water next transfer. The thing about the area here is there are so many inactives so the focus is usually almost on strengthening the branch here because it really needs it. The branch leaders here are not the best and church sometimes feels like going to the Catholic Church across the street because everyone is wearing jeans and t shirts. We have our work cut out for us next transfer so we will see how it turns out. We have to get some people married, and we’ve got to get others to go to church. But it was cool this week we had a family that has an inactive dad and the rest are not members that came to church so that was way sick. We have to get them married though and the dad a divorce from his wife in Cuba so it will be a fun transfer. We also have another family that is progressing so it is cool to watch them as they have started reading, praying, and going to church, and you can see a change in them every next visit. So I gave a talk this week in church, which it is something that is easy to do. I remember before my mission if I made 10 minutes in a talk I was happy, but now I can just walk up with my scriptures and give a talk in Spanish without notes for 15 minutes, so it is a sign I am learning Spanish and more about the gospel. Piano playing was a little difficult because the chorister and the whole branch were singing the wrong notes and the chorister had no idea what she was doing. But funny story this week we were at a baptism of someone in our district, and I was singing the opening song and the lady next to me was like what medicine are you taking for your throat, you are sick. So I had to explain to her I just sucked at singing and she kept trying to tell me I was sick. So an example of how I suck at singing still, I think it is even worse in Spanish.

Culture Fact of the Week- Every house no matter how bad it is has a huge sound system in there house and car if they have one. I miss being able to sit at home with windows and enjoy the peace and quite. Here there is no such thing as peace, there is always loud music playing no matter where you go which makes it hard to teach sometimes. The worst part of it all is the Justin Beiber plague is now here and I always here that baby song. I hate that song so freakin much.

So yeah Dad we have told the office a thousand times that our pump is broken, so the office elders are sucking it up right now. There is only so much that you can do sometimes.

So I am excited for this next transfer, I think I get an American in the house so I am excited for that. Also the haircuts here absolutely suck. They don’t know how to cut hair like mine so I had to get a buzz because they screwed up. I am sorry I haven’t sent photos in a while I don’t like carrying my camera around here so for Christmas one thing is an USB adapter so I don’t have to use my camera. I will make a list of things for Christmas, there is not really much I need.

I hope all is going well, I bet Jacob and Makenzie are excited for basketball season, it will be fun. Here there is no such thing as basketball only Dominican ball.

Take care, and have a great week

Love Elder Smith

October 20.2010 Cotui

Hola la Familia, Feliz Cumpleaños Padre, happy birthday dad! I saw the pictures with the sombrero so I guess y’all went to Pappasitos or something. So I got your package on Friday! Thanks so much, the pictures are nice to have so I can see all of your smiles during the week. The DP jelly beans are delicious and they are almost gone and it is weird to see garments that are actually white so thanks so much. So yeah the milk here sucks really badly, so I don’t need protein powder I just eat peanut butter after I work out. I can see that Dad is getting his 6 pack from the picture of y’all at the beach. But yeah our water pump is broken so I have taken bucket showers and used the bucket to wash my stuff so it sucks I have just kind of getting used to it. All of our water comes from a hole in front of our house.


So this week I had a lot of meetings and stuff so we had a meeting and interviews with the Mission President on Friday so I got the package way fast. So I have had like 4, 8 hour meetings in the past week, and church feels like nothing now. So I am becoming the branch piano player this week so we will see how that goes. So in my interview I asked the Mission President what I could do to adapt better to the culture in a house of natives and his answer was well your Spanish is good, so he really didn’t answer my question so I was like aright then. But he is a great Mission President. So it is my companion’s last week so I got to try to keep him alive, right now he says he is a translated being. So there were a couple of times last week were I wasn’t sure if we were going to go out, but he is more alive this week, so he is making me do everything now which makes me learn. So my companion is great and volunteered me for everything in every meeting which I hated doing. He was an office and zone leader for over half his mission so he told me he wants me to be a leader so he says I have royal blood because of him and I need to reach my potential. So he is pushing me in everything that I do, which is making me learn faster. So I usually am the one teaching in the lessons and doing that contacting which sucks just because he is so much better than me, but he says this is my area now so I will probably stay here, actually I am staying here. So I had my best lesson I have ever had this week when I was doing an intercambio with another American who didn’t know Spanish well. We have one guy who is pretty close to being ready to be baptized, so I can tell when I really have a need to understand or teach something the words sometimes just come to my mouth which is cool how I can use words that I barely remember. So I am to the point where people don’t look at me weird and ask my how long I have been here and I can somewhat speak the language and understand. There are a couple of things that I can talk about fluently in Spanish, the gospel, sports, family, and other things like music. So I need to work on expanding my vocab the most.

Culture Note of the Week- So my favorite music here is some Christian group that I hear in the streets named Tercer Cielo, so y’all should look up the songs Cada día oro por ti, and musica por dentro. These are my favorite songs here. Also the juice here is amazing, and I absolutely love jugo de ceresa - cherry juice. IT is the best! Also the food here is rice, beans, and chicken for the most part. Here when you eat chicken you don’t waste anything. So chicken legs actually aren’t that bad, they have Dominican burgers called chimis that are pretty good, also empanadas’ are good for breakfast.

But this week we went to go pick up a member to come and teach with us so when we showed up he was watching college football on Saturday, and who was it, it was Michigan and Iowa I think. So he was like oh, I am glad you are here you can explain this game to me and my companion was like yeah you and elder James and Foster are always talking about it so I want to know to. So our quick message with him was how the game of football works for half an hour, which I felt really bad afterwards, I was just helping them learn my culture. So while I was explaining the game to them, I checked the bottom line, they have ESPN here, so I see Texas was beating Nebraska 20-5 at one point and BYU was losing 17-0. Also I have another question did Brett Farve pull a Tiger Woods?
I got your Dear Elders this week Dad, that is cool that Max Hall is starting I didn't think he was that good. Thanks for the update.

I am doing great, I learning to adjust to a life without power or water but it’s all good it is humbling me. I hope all is going well at home. I am continuing to grow and change here and I hope all is good at home, school, work, and sports. I have y’all in my prayers everyday, so I can't pray in English anymore so it will be interesting when I get home.

Cuidense,

Love Elder Smith

Cotui Continued

What is up family? I hope all is going well back in the states. I am doing great and I starting to figure out how the mission is run and how all of the different things work together. But yeah, I have 4 letters waiting for me at another house in our district I need to go pick up sometime this week. Thanks for the package that I will get in a couple of weeks, I need all of the garments I can get, we haven't had water or electricity together in a while so I haven't washed my clothes in like 2 weeks so it's kind of gross re-wearing clothes especially because I am sweating all of the time.
So I found out this week we live in pretty much the worst house in the mission, so oh well, only place is to go up.


But this week has been pretty hectic with traveling to Bonoa and to Santiago for meetings this week. This week is pretty much dead teaching wise because we have to travel all the time. We had a zone conference in Bonao this past Monday and a New Missionary meeting/ training in Santiago yesterday. I am not going to lie I am not a fan of 8 hour meetings at all. But the meetings are good, so if you think staying awake in sacrament meeting is hard try a meeting in the mission. But the church has come out with 8 new lessons that are brand new added onto Preach my Gospel, which I like a lot because they are mini lessons that make the investigator focus on commitments and baptismal dates. The thing I like about them is that they are simple and easy to teach in Spanish. So yesterday all of the new missionaries had to teach about the principles and how to teach that principle in front of the mission president and all of the other greenies and their trainers. So I was nervous before the meeting a little bit, but I prepared a lot for it and I was able to speak without thinking in English which was sweet. I can pretty much speak fluently when I am talking about things like I know the vocab for in Spanish which is pretty much the gospel and sports right now. I guess I taught well and spoke Spanish well of enough because President Lee stood up[ and said Bien Hecho( good job), and then after meeting pulled me aside and told me that my Spanish was great for the time that I taught. Also my companion told me that the President was talking good things about me to him which made me happy! So after the meeting my companion said he was glad that I was the American companion he had to train, because in the meeting sometimes it took patience to listen to the others. Although living in an all native house is difficult my Spanish has skyrocketed since I have gotten here. And my companion helps to because he likes to volunteer me to do practices and participating in district, zone, and mission meetings which is not always something I like to do.

But teaching wise this week was mas o menos (so-so), I had one day where I taught seven lessons in an afternoon when I was on an exchange with a Haitian that new Spanish a little bit, and that day was my best teaching day by far in the mission. So every time now an investigator asks a question Elder De la Cruz makes me answer, so sometimes it takes longer to answer than others especially when it is a question I am not sure how to answer in English. We have a couple of investigators that are progressing, and we had a lot we had to drop which was really hard to do but the Mission President said if they aren't progressing to drop them and find others that are ready.

Culture Note of the Week: Baseball is always on either in the Colmados or in the houses of our investigators. Why is Roy O pitching for the Phillies, and why is Berkman hitting home runs for the Yankees? Also the public transportation here is fitting 8 people in a 1995 corolla, when I get out of the car I can't feel my knees or my legs.

I don't know Dad if you remember Brother Van Leuven who used to be the stake young men's president, his son is in my zone. So I have someone from Katy in my mission, he was looking really familiar and I remember now playing basketball against him.

Brittney thanks for your undercover mission, I found a pattern among other missionaries so thanks a lot, my companion taught me this pattern I just don't follow it because my name is way common. Makenzie and Brittney have fun at homecoming. Sorry about you getting cut from the team, have fun with all of the free time that you will now have. Makenzie what team are you on?

Jacob keep up the good work on the field bro, it sounds like y’all are doing well and you are having fun.

I hope that all is going well with y’all, so take care, I am praying for y’all everyday!


Love Elder Smith

Cotui Week 2

Hola, it is great to hear from y’all this week. It looks like Jacob can play a little football that was a nice pop on the guy, keep up the good work. It sounds like everything is going good at home other than football. Oh well there is more to life, but it is fun when your team wins. This week has gone pretty good especially with conference this past weekend and I was in Bonoa for the past couple of days because my companion had a leadership meeting in Santiago.

I’ll start out with conference this past weekend. I think it is the first time that I have ever watched all of the sessions and it was way good. There were a lot of good talks and I think that my favorite quote of the conference was from President Eyring when he said, ¨when we ponder we open ourselves to revelation by the spirit¨. Before the mission I never really studied the scriptures in the way that I do now. I just kind of read words just to do the reading for seminary or for class at BYU. Now when I actually study and think about whatever I am studying I learn so much more and I can see how it applies in the grand scheme of things. There are so many things in the scriptures that I have not noticed until now and they are so cool. I love having discussions with my companion because he knows so much because he is dying this transfer. So I challenge y’all at home to actually study the scriptures and not just read the words and try to apply it to your lives.

But this past week teaching wise has been mas o menos. We didn’t have much time to teach because of conference and our trip to Bonao. We have had some good lessons and I am teaching a lot for most greenies. I was with an American this week for an exchange so I get to teach a lot which I like because it helps me stay awake during the lesson. The mission is very tiring and that 20 minute siesta after lunch is awesome. At lunch we have someone that cooks for us so I usually eat rice and beans which I love and I don't know how I don't get sick of them. Here they really don't eat breakfast or dinner so I get hungry quite a bit, so I night I usually start cooking. So usually it is ramen and eggs. But back to teaching, I enjoy teaching because that means we aren't outside walking, and we are doing something productive. We have had to move on past some of our investigators that weren't progressing so hopefully we can get some good references soon. We have a good pool of people to teach, but a lot of them are women and teenagers so I have to wait until next transfer to get them in the water because of the mission rules for them. So it is good that we have some people that are progressing which is good and you can tell that they are changing when we teach them. They are starting to ask lot harder questions to us which my companion just looks at me and says I am dead, so he makes me answer all the questions for the most part which helps me with the language. My companion is dying a little bit but he is working hard and we are having success for the most part. The members in our branch are good and they like to go out with us and teach which is really helpful for the most part, unless they won't shut up. So one problem is that we have really long lessons sometimes and when members go off I get lost and start to dose off.

I have had a bad cough for the past week because of the rain and humidity afterwards and the oils and trash that get in the air, but oh well, its not bad enough to keep me in the house. I am getting used to the culture for the most part, and my companion and I have been messing with our water pump so we can usually have water as long as we have power which is half of the time. My companion has a degree in civil engineering so he knows what he is doing most of the time. I think other than the spirit my fan is my best friend. That fan makes a huge difference especially at night.

It sounds like school is going good for the kids, Brittney enjoy senior year! It goes by to fast! I hope that you have fun at HC regardless if you have a date or not. Do you have Mr. Eaton for BC? Continue to work hard Cinco prepares you well for college. Makenzie continue to work hard in school and in basketball and you will have success. Jacob continue to do work and continue with the sport updates (could you give more info than who one and who lost), but continue working hard and having fun. That is what is important, have fun jacking guys up. I don't have any advice for mom other than to keep the vacuum lines straight, jk, I love you and am thankful for all that you do. And dad I am thankful for all that you do and for the work that you do to support our family. President Monson talked about gratitude, and I feel like I should thank y’all for all that y’all do and have done for me. I have a great life thanks to y’all. I love my family and I can testify that the gospel has blessed our family very much.

I got to go, so cuidense, and take care. Lo tu saben

Love Elder Smith

P.S. I love email, because I get to hear and talk to y’all. And they play American music especially rock, and all of the new stuff so the ZL just said to enjoy it because there is nothing you can do about it.


A note from Mom...Matthew's companion is not actually dying, he gets to go home in a few weeks

Pictures from DR MTC and Cotui

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple



CCM (DR MTC) Companion- He was also Matthew's companion in the Provo MTC




CCM Roommates




Elder Parra from the CCM



Street where Matthew is in Cotui



Cotui Companion



Random picture of Matthew and a light saber???

Matthew In Cotui

Week 1

Que lo que familia? So yeah I didn't get to email last week that was a huge bummer because we are out in the campo and it takes a while to get to from Santiago. We left and went to the mission house last Tuesday where we went out and did splits with the elders around the area and we got to have pizza, and had our interviews and meetings. My P day is usually Wednesday but we have a zone conference so it is today instead. I hope everything is going great back home, and I hope that no hurricanes are getting y’all. I am serving in Cotui right now and I live in a house with 3 natives for Santo Domingo so it is tough at times. My companions name is Elder De la Cruz and he knows pretty good English which is nice, and the others are learning English as well. My Dad is a vacano(stud) and it is last transfer so I am killing him, and so he is a great teacher and is very spiritual. I am not going to lie the living conditions are killer, no a/c, power half of the time and water for a couple of hours in the morning, so I am always wet from sweat which is gross because I can't take a bath when I want. The living conditions are not important though, they actually help because the people are humbled and are ready to be taught which I like, like the poor Zoramites in Alma 32 I think or so. It was really hard to adjust cultures just like that, and I was super home sick because I didn't get to email at all. None of the others really feel what a change it is for me, and I’m just figuring things out on my own because they just don’t know that I don't know how to do anything here. The bucket showers are great though, nothing like a cold bucket of water to wake you up in the morning. I think someone at some level saw that I was struggling with the culture quite a bit, because usually you have another American to help you out but I didn't have that. So last night and today I did an intercambio with the zone leader to help I think adjust me to the culture and teaching. The people here really don't speak Spanish, they speak Dominican which is really hard to follow sometimes. I can usually understand what is going on when people are speaking though. My dad makes me teach quite a bit even when I nod my head he makes me force my way through it which helps me learn. It is really easy to teach lessons here and the people here are great! Church is definitely a lot different here, I will just say that. So of course it was my first Sunday here and they made me give a ten minute talk which went mas o menos I think. When I read what I had written, it was hard to pronounce and a lot slower. I could feel the spirit come when I put down my notes and just start speaking from my mind, and that is when I didn't stutter and started to catch peoples teaching. The ward members are great and we pay 3000 pesos a transfer for our food to be cooked for lunch everyday. The culture here is killing me in some aspects such as they eat a small breakfast and dinner and a huge lunch which is really hard for me to get adjusted to. But good news we were able to be in Santiago today and I found Dr. Pepper! So I loaded up and I had McDonald's for lunch and it was like a feast. There are just a lot of things about the culture here that are extremely different for us but I am not going to go into it. I am being humbled everyday, and I am learning patience more than ever. There are just some things back home I just don't think I will ever complain about again. I know when I am teaching with the spirit and when I am trying to use my knowledge and logic but that is not the way that you can truly convert people. Logic a lot of the time just leads into arguments, which just brings in the spirit of contention. So my companion and I are blanketing the area, so it is kind of a maze as we try to make our way through the town. Soda is way cheap here, I can by a 20 oz Pepsi for 40 cents which is nice during the day because my throat gets sore from speaking Spanish all day and we don’t have any cold water at home. I love the guys in my house and it is fun to learn there culture, but it is hard when we are talking and they are talking about there culture and I have no idea about what they are talking about. Last night I stayed up till 1 with an American elder because I needed to learn how the transitioned and it was fun to talk about things in America in English for once. So it says to be in bed by 10:30 but that is not possible with all of the planning and stuff going on. So I am pretty tired most of the time but it is for a good cause, 6:30 comes really early. When it rains here it rains hard and for along time which is fun to sit and watch and have some cool air come through. Its funny when people listen to American music here and they do all the time, when the Branch President picked us up he had California Girls playing the whole ride and it was just funny to see a 40 year old guy listening to this song by himself.

 

I started writing this letter in Santiago but now I am continuing in Cotui.
Tomorrow’s going to be tough because we have to get up at 4 30 for a zone conference with President Anderson because we live so far out. I am glad everything is going great at home and that Jacob’s team is doing well, just continue to work and you will be fine. Let the game come to you and don’t try to dominate the game, continue to work hard and show up the guys above you. You have tons of talent and ability and use it to be a leader to others throughout the year. Yeah girls, sounds that everything is going good so continue to work hard. Have fun at HC no matter if you have a date or not, and enjoy your senior year, and Makenzie the DR is way different especially with the cops they just carry shotguns and if you try to steal something you get blown to pieces. I will work on that postcard next P day we just had a 1 trip to Santiago for the transfer today so next week I will try to get that to you. You better be good at Spanish so when I get home we can speak some Spanish.

I hope that all is going well at home, work, school, and sports and I am praying for you everyday, and hope that I am working hard enough so that y’all can receive the blessings of my work. The internet here is really slow so I will try to send some pics every time, so I don’t know how that will work. These are my roommates, companion, and mission president. I have a lot more I will have to send some more.

 

Yeah, if you get some garments get some Large, crew drilux and some M drilux bottoms por favor. Also, could you a photo album with photos of our family from the vacations and of our family that would be great.

It sounds like BYU isn’t doing to hot then I guess, I was getting some pretty detailed reports from some elders in our zone, I guess like half our zone checks ESPN on their P days so hopefully I don’t get drawn into the trap, if you could also tell me how Texas is doing that would be greatly appreciated. Its funny when we go eat lunch sometimes they will have football on the TV so I got to watch a part of the Colts Giants game and I saw Peyton throw a nice pass to Dallas Clark for a score, so I don’t know if that was this week or what but I think it was this season.

 

But yeah I am enjoying the mission now, the first days were way rough but I have a great companion to help me out. He is a native from Montecristi and he is planning to go to BYU in the winter so hopefully he gets in. He is really intelligent and has much knowledge I can learn from. He is a convert and the only member in his family, but he enjoys this gospel so much and teaches incredible. It makes me afraid to teach sometimes because how well he does it. When I did the switch with the American I felt much more comfortable because I can understand and he teaches in such a more simplistic way. I am learning so much everyday and it is incredible. We have some really good investigators, but for the most part we are meeting people because we are new to the area. I hate doing contacts but it is something we got to do to find people to teach. We have a keyboard in our house so I can work on my piano skills quite a bit, I had to play a lot in the MTC in Santo Domingo because I was one of few people that knew how to play. My companion is pretty good at it to so he is the ward pianist, I hope I don’t have to play in sacrament meeting I hate playing in front of people.

I will give more info next Wednesday. I love y’all a lot and have a great week.

Con amor, Su Elder Smith


Week 2:


So I guess my email didn’t send last time because it was too big, and I am really sorry about that. I wish that it did and it sucks because I don’t have anything today. But yeah I got two dearelders from Jacob and a dearelder from your sister Becky mom. So I will get on later today, I really want to talk to y’all and it sucks I just don’t get much news out here out in the country about what’s going on back home especially because I am the only American in my house. I hope all is going well at home.

But from last Wednesday, we had a Zone conference with President Lee and Anderson about how the spirit works and how we can invite the spirit by asking inspired questions that allows the Spirit to work. They are incredible teachers, and people. They are super spiritual, and it is cool to have guidance from them constantly. It was great, the spirit works in the mind and then in your heart and then in your soul. But it was great even though it was like 6 hours long, so if you think church is long try sitting for 6 hours. But there was an elder in the CCM that had TB, so I had to get tested for TB again so I got another needle stuck in me which I was not to happy with especially how he didn’t stick it in all the way the first time so he had to it again. Oh well, so I don’t have it so that’s the good news.

This week has been so much better than the first week, I can somewhat understand people unless they start going off in Dominican then I just look like a deer in the headlights. I have had a couple of dreams in Spanish this week so Spanish is really starting to kick in, and my companion Elder de La Cruz makes me teach and just stares at me until I say something which is good because it forces me to teach and the next time I teach it is so much easier. At first I had fear of talking and contacting, but now I am excited for it because I can see how much my Spanish has improved and I enjoy using it. My companion is great though some times he is tired because he is on his last transfer. But the thing that makes me learn the most is that twice a week my companion does an exchange because he is the DL so I have to teach a lot of the lessons because I am the elder in charge. President Lee asked me to read the Libro de Mormon aloud and that if I did this my Spanish would become so much better. I have only read 100 out of the 650 pages and I can tell that my Spanish has dramatically increased. I can speak pretty fluently when we are teaching for the most part but out on the street I’m lost. When I need to say something, usually the words come to mind, I can testify that the gift of tongues is real! I can speak to the people in my house with ease most of the time. I have had other elders ask me at the zone conference how long I have been out and when I said a week they were surprised and thought I had been out for 3 transfers or so. Spanish is going pretty well and the investigators can understand me pretty much all the time which is a goal accomplished for me for now. I have learned more in two weeks here than I did in the MTC.

This week was somewhat successful for the most part, we had some of our investigators come to church, and we have a good number progressing which is fun to watch. You can tell that they are changing just in the lessons, by the answers and questions they have for us. This week we found a less active named Melvin and we got him to come to church, and I am playing basketball with him later today so I am excited for that. I love this area teaching wise just because the people are so ready, and we will have people get mad at us when we miss an appointment that we have with them. The area might be different from what I am used to but, I would rather be able to teach than have A/C and water. I enjoy teaching, now I get excited to teach and can't wait for my turn when my companion is speaking. And it is getting a lot easier to teach because I can somewhat understand their answers, and I can carry on a somewhat lengthy conversation. But it is hard sometimes, I am probably the most tired in my life but I am the happiest I have ever been in my life. You can find happiness no matter what situation you are in.

But more about my companion, he is way smart. He joined the church when he was 20 and started his mission when he was 25 so he is 27 now, so I finally got it out of him. He wants to go to BYU this winter and has the English too. Its funny he told me that he has 2 businesses, and for the first 6 months of his mission he was running them on his P day, which shows how smart he was and is good at making decisions, but he realized he shouldn't be doing that and is one of the most spiritual people that I know and is a great help and comfort when I get discouraged. He is just a great guy and we get along well even though he doesn't like sports, which was a little difficult for me at first. He knows the scriptures from front to back and he teaches me so much.

But yeah I hope to get on later and hear from y’all, it sucks being this far from y’all and not being be able to talk to y’all whenever I want, but I know I am where I should be. I am being more and more humbled everyday and it is for my benefit.

Remember to study the scriptures constantly and pray both day and night. This is something that is really important, and I can't express the importance of it in words. There is so much to learn, and I wish I had more than the couple of hours a day I have to study them. I wish I could just read them all day, but I have to go out and teach. Sometimes it feels like I am learning the gospel all over again when I am studying it in Spanish. I have a lot of vocabulary to learn that it is insane.

But yeah the funny part of the week is we were walking down a street yesterday and these Dominican girls where yelling at my companion and I in Spanish of course, so I have no idea what’s going on, so my companion turned to me and said they wanted my body, so I was just like I am good in Spanish and continued on.

Have a great week!

Love Elder Smith

Matthew and his companion



Matthew found DR.Pepper

 Pizza!!!

House Mates



Higher quality picture of Matthew with President and Sister Lee