A lot of times I miss home but I know that this is where I need to be.

Hey guys how are y’all doing? Peyton is a Bronco!!!!!! That just makes me so much more excited for football when I get back home. That is crazy, I never saw that coming. So what are they going to do with Tebow then? I’m glad that y’all survived trek and glad that y’all enjoyed the rodeo. Training is rough but it is fun. It makes me remember how little I knew when I started the mission.  

We pulled a little prank on the new guy last Friday and it was so funny. We went with our 1st Counselor to go to a reference that he gave us (Richard a member). So we get to the house and we knock on the door and his wife answers the door and lets us in. So we hear Richard in the other room and his wife tells him to come out. So he starts saying that he is drinking and doesn’t want to come out. So I get him to come out and he comes out with red eyes and a sweaty face with a huge beer bottle in his hand (filled with sprite). So we are doing the best to keep from laughing. So he starts saying that he doesn’t want to share with us and just wants to drink. He then asks us if we can drink in the church and our first counselor said no and he said he still didn’t want to share with us. So I tell my comp that we are going to teach the word of wisdom so my comp is freaking out and pulls out a pamphlet. So Richard tells us that he will share with us if we take a drink of his beer. So Christian (1st counselor) tells Elder Carrasco and I that we have to take a sip or there is no chance with him and takes a big gulp. So my comps eyes got big and started sweating a starting thinking wow what apostasy there is here in Mao. And then I take a big gulp and Elder Carrasco really starts freaking out. And I give the bottle to him and I said hey man you got to take a drink, just a little bit. And he sat there for about a minute thinking about it and finally went and took a sip to find out that it was just sprite and we busted up laughing. So he was really worried for a moment, but it was a good prank, haha 

Elder Carrasco is a stud and his working hard. The first day our working he got a blister on his foot so that wasn’t fun but he kept fighting. He isn’t afraid to open his mouth but sometimes that’s not a good thing either but at least he is talking and teaching even though he does teach a lot of apostasy. He just doesn’t know how to explain things sometimes but he is learning. It is difficult having to be a perfect example in everything. Whatever I do he does. But I’m learning a lot from this experience as well. It is helping me be the best missionary I can be. 

Our family that we are teaching has a date to get married the 6th of April and get baptized the next day so they have time to raise 3000 pesos. We might have Niño’s baptism during the sections of General Conference which would be cool. I have always wanted to do that. He is the first counselor's brother. We will see if we can teach him everything before that date. We are contacting like none other and we are finding new people. We kept the people that are progressing and the others we dropped and we are working like crazy. I have never been so tired in my mission. 

I hope everything keeps going well at home. A lot of times I miss home but I know that this is where I need to be. Take care and have a great week!!! 

Love, Elder Smith

The Zone last transfer

Rice fields between Navarrete and Mao