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.
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| Matthew and Elder De la Cruz Elder De la Cruz went home today |
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
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
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
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
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
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
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| Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple |
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| CCM (DR MTC) Companion- He was also Matthew's companion in the Provo MTC |
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| CCM Roommates |
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| Elder Parra from the CCM |
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| Street where Matthew is in Cotui |
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| Cotui Companion |
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| Random picture of Matthew and a light saber??? |
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