It was awesome to get to talk to y’all on Sunday!

Hey guys, it was awesome to get to talk to y’all on Sunday! And yeah my comp got to talk to his family. Well after an awesome Sunday when it hit midnight I got really sick and started throwing up every half hour until 6 in the morning. So that was not a very good way to top off my Christmas. I spent all of Monday in bed, and at least yesterday I was able to leave in the afternoon. I’m still feeling kind of sick, I just feel really weak seeing how I haven’t eaten much the past couple of days. At least it got me out of a meeting Monday.

But we had a solid day yesterday, and we are making progress with one of the families we are teaching. The dad of the family needed to get a social security number and he was finally able to get one yesterday and we are working with a lawyer in our ward now so they can get married and baptized. I might actually marry a family on my mission!!! We weren’t able to pass by a lot our investigators because I was sick but we are going to pass by tonight and tomorrow.

I really don’t have much to say seeing how we talked for a while on Sunday, but thanks for everything that y’all do and the love that y’all show me. I hope y’all have fun at the football game! Take care guys and enjoy y’alls vacation!

Love, Elder Smith

Four More Days

Hey guys, only 4 more days till I get to talk to y’all! I hope y’all are enjoying your Christmas vacations together. I didn’t get transferred today, but my comp did so now I have a new comp named Elder Leiva and he is from Honduras so another tally for a Latin comp...... I guess the Lord really wants me to learn Spanish or something. That’s scary what happened to Grandpa Brink, but I am glad he still has his sense of humor.

We are working hard here and we are overwhelmed with the work that we have to do here. The area here is so big and we have so many people to teach that we are just getting lost in it all. We are not going to do our baptism this weekend, it is just too crazy here on Christmas Eve and Christmas to do it, but we have plans to do it soon. My companion is a little chunky so I am sure he will lose some weight walking up and down the hills here. We will see what we can do this week, Christmas time here in this country is the worst time for missionary work unlike the states.

I can’t wait to see y’alls faces this Sunday on Skype. I will work on getting everything squared away this week so we don’t have any problems here. I really hope the power doesn’t go out that could be a real bummer but usually it doesn’t go out on Christmas day. The package got held up because they can’t deliver packages that are worth over 200 bucks to the office so they sent in a copy of my passport but as of yesterday they still hadn’t taken care of it as of yesterday, so I am hoping that it gets taken care of.

I hope that y’all enjoy the week, and we will talk on Sunday!

Love, Elder Smith

Last Friday was a crazy day, I had to do 5 baptism interviews in 3 different cities

Hey guys how are y’all doing? We had a pretty good week for the most part, it was really busy and hectic with a lot of work and traveling.

The Texans won the AFC South! Wow that’s crazy and the Broncos are doing well, where have I been for the last 17 months?

Hey thanks for the package and I’m sure my comp will love what y’all sent him! We have transfers next week so I hope the package gets here before Wednesday, it will be weird having a transfer during the week of Christmas.

We were going to have a baptism this week but we moved it forward to the next Saturday on Christmas Eve, so we will see if we will be able to do it on that day. We are working hard here trying to find new people and trying to fish out some references from the members. This time of year is really hard for the mission work in this country. I saw a statistic the other day that said the DR has the lowest marriage rate in the world! So that didn’t surprise me when I saw that stat. We have a lot of families that we are teaching now so we are trying to get them up and going and progressing. It just seems like every family has problems that are getting harder and harder to resolve.

Last Friday was a crazy day, I had to do 5 baptism interviews in 3 different cities. It was weird being on the other side of the table during and interview but it was a cool experience. Some of the candidates were part of a family and it was cool to hear their conversion story and how the gospel has blessed them in their own lives. My District had 6 baptisms this past weekend and this District is one of the Districts that baptize less in the mission but they are working hard.
On Saturday we had a joint ward activity in Mao with the Elders Quorum and they had a dominoes tournament to invite all the less actives, members and investigators. So they did a random pairing for the tournament and my partner and I won the tournament! I beat the Dominicans in their own game. Instead of a fellowship activity it was an activity filled with contention kind of like church ball back home. It was funny to see the faces of the people when they got beat by a gringo. So I got a cool medal, I was lucky that I was playing with someone who knew how to play.

I hope that y’all enjoy y’alls vacation coming up and I can’t wait till Christmas to talk to y’all! Take care!

Love,
Elder Smith

Santa Clause came for a visit and I won a sweet tie in a scripture mastery contest.

Hey guys how are y’all doing? I hope that y’all are having a good week and surviving the cold weather. It’s getting pretty cold here in the morning, it’s kind of like camping when you go to bed it’s hot and when you wake up you are freezing. I’m glad that Jacob and Makenzie are doing well in basketball. Today kind of sucked, the power was out all day so I couldn’t go get my hair cut or do anything else so we just played dominoes all day. Yesterday we had a zone conference and I got to see a lot of friends in the mission and it was a spiritual experience. Santa Clause came for a visit and I won a sweet tie in a scripture mastery contest.

It looks like next week we will have one baptism with an investigator named Arturo. He was a contact we did my first day here. He has two friends that are less active and they are starting to get active as well and we are starting to work with their families as well. It’s getting harder and harder to find people to teach and teach the people that we have. The good thing is that we have a lot of families, but the only problem is that none of them are married so we will see if we can pull of a Christmas miracle. I am enjoying the area here and it is definitely helping me keep skinny.

This weekend I get to do 6 baptismal interviews so it will be cool to get to interview people and help them make the covenant of baptism. My district is working hard and we are getting a lot done.

I’m counting the days down as well until we can Skype on Christmas day, I hope I stay here and don’t get transferred 4 days before Christmas. I can’t believe we are already in December it still feels like it is summer. I hope all goes well in work, school, and sports. I love y’all a ton, take care and have a great week!

Love Elder Smith

Thanksgiving in Mao, Dominican Republic

Hey guys, I hoped y’all had a good Thanksgiving. It looked like it from the photos from Disneyland and the dinner. We had a good Thanksgiving, we had a ton of turkey and mashed potatoes so we ate really well. It was a normal day for the most part other than what we ate for lunch. We had our p day today in Santiago and it was a fun day. We didn’t do much but when we went to the mission home almost all of my old comps and many of my good friends in the mission were there so it was fun to talk with them and chill with them for the day. Elder Montepeque had to get an ingrown toenail taken out at the mission home, and Elder Reyes was there with his comp so it was cool. Today I got to hang out a bit with my trainer and his wife and was weird seeing him outside of the mission. He has a lot on his hands right now, he has a great job, and was just called as Bishop in his ward, and his wife is now pregnant so it looks like I will have a little bro or sis before I leave the mission. We got Papa Johns for lunch so it was good to have some American pizza.

This past week has been really busy with being district leader and having to travel a lot and having to do exchanges with the missionaries in my district. It was cool to be on an exchange with Elder Jimenez who was my old comp out in Sabaneta and work with him and the families that they have. I walked in front of Wandy Rodriguez’s house, he lives out in Santiago. When we were passing by his house, the member with us asked me if I knew who he was and was like yeah he is on my team. So he lives out here in the off season. Our area is keeping us busy and especially my legs moving. We are continuing to work hard with the families that we have and other investigators that we have. It looks like we are going to have to start working on trying to marry people which will be a pain but we can do it. I am hoping that this transfer we will have 2 baptisms and the next transfer we should have quite a few. There are a lot of people that have needs and we have to teach them to help themselves out to overcome their weaknesses.

But yeah we are now into the Christmas hymns, here in the DR they start playing Christmas hymns in the middle of October so I am still working on getting the rhythms down on all of the songs. The mornings and nights are really nice here now, I actually wake up cold here in the mornings. I love sleeping with my big blanket with the fan it feels great with the cooler weather. My comp has been a little sick this past week but now he is feeling a lot better. That’s funny that Coach Miller was reffing Makenzie’s game, that must have been a joke. But hey I hope y’all have an awesome week! Love y’all a ton!

Love, Elder Smith

Thanksgiving feast in the DR

Matthew and a past companion, Elder Jimenez. They were doing exchanges together in Sabaneta.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hey guys, Happy Thanksgiving! I hope y’all had a safe and good trip to California. We just got done buying our turkey for tomorrow, and man are they expensive it was like 40 bucks! Good thing there is four of us. But I am glad that y’all are doing well in basketball and I hope that y’all have a good season.

Everything here is going pretty well, my legs are a little worn out but there is a lot to do. Elder Castillo and I are working hard and we now have a lot of people and families with baptismal dates (fechas) so we are working hard to focus on their needs and help them in everyway possible. We have some special people that we are teaching and people that are actually reading and praying so that makes the work easier. We can tell that our investigators are feeling the spirit and we can tell with the comments that they make and how they express to us the way that they are feeling.

We have a guy name Dany that is working really hard to overcome his addiction to drinking, he is struggling but we gave him a blessing and he has the desire so we have the faith that he will get over the hump soon. Also we have a guy named Richard whose wife is a member and now he has more desire to do the things than her. We also have a guy named Wildi who was a reference and has come to church quite a bit and we have a date with him to get baptized in a couple of weeks. The work here is fun. Our Bishop is a funny guy and is lying down taking a nap during sacrament meeting. At least his counselors and some other guys are strong leaders.

I hope that y’all have a good Thanksgiving dinner with the family and have some fun watching some football. Have a great week and a safe trip home.

Love, Elder Smith

I have a little more responsibility now.

Hey guys how are y’all doing? I'm doing great, I really like the area out here in Mao. It is huge! I really would love to have a bike or my truck back again out here. But yeah I guess y’all know that I am DL now, so I have a little more responsibility now. We have a really young district and I have Elder Jimenez who was my old comp in my district as well. Well I kind of have hot water. It is a zapper that only works half of the time but it is nice when it works. And I do have to play the piano here as well so I need to start working on the Christmas songs. That is cool that Britt made it on TV, it looked like BYU scored a quite a few points in the game. Congrats to Makenzie and Jacob in basketball.

On Monday there was another strike (huelga) so we couldn’t leave that house at all so it was kind of lame. Good thing the other elders in Mao live a minute from our house so they came over and had some fun. When I got here I asked my comp for the area book and he didn’t know what it was, and we found it underneath a pile of junk. So my comps trainer was really lazy and they didn’t get too much work done. But Elder Castillo is a stud and is a great teacher and a funny guy. This transfer should be awesome. There are a ton of people in my area and it is a relief after being in my last area. We got some awesome references from the members this week and we have a lot of good people now.

The ward here is kind of small, there was only like 75 people in church Sunday, but the members here are awesome and we are going to start working with them. We have a lot of young couples and families that we are hoping will progress. So I have a lot of excitement to work here and I have a feeling we will have a lot of success. We have an awesome ward mission leader and Elder’s Quorum president and they will help us out a lot.

So thanksgiving is coming up and we are going to buy a turkey in the district and we have someone with a huge brick oven in our ward and we are going to cook it there. It is awesome here there is a member that has a bakery around the corner so we get fresh bread in the morning. I hope that y’all have a safe trip to California and enjoy y’alls vacation. Take care and have a great week!

Love, Elder Smith

Here are a few pictures from Puerto Plata

Almonte Family and Carlos

Felix, the stud investigator 

Matthew and his last companion, Elder Garcia

Good news about your missionary en Santiago, D. R., please open the attached item.

LA IGLESIA DE

JESUCRISTO

DE LOS SANTOS

DE LOS ÚLTIMOS DÍAS

November 14, 2011

Dale and Marti Smith
Katy, TX 77494

Dear Brother and Sister Smith;

Your son, Elder Matt Smith, continues to progress and is becoming an effective missionary. He has demonstrated dedication, obedience, and love of his companions and the people here in the Dominican Republic. He is respected by me and by his peers.

Now the Lord has called your son to be a District Leader. In this position he will have a responsibility for several other missionaries. He will also conduct interviews to determine if baptismal candidates are prepared to make sacred covenants with their Father in Heaven. In my opinion, this is the responsibility we place on these young men that is most beyond their natural abilities; they must come to know the hearts of those they interview. These interviews can only be done well if the interviewer seeks and receives help from the Lord. This responsibility will stretch your son in a good way. Please continue to pray that he will fulfill his responsibilities and expand his abilities.

We truly feel a great love for your son. We pray for the Lord’s blessings upon you for all you have done, and are now doing, to help him be an effective servant.

Sincerely,
Miguel Lee
Mission President

I got transferred to Mao.

Hey guys how are y’all doing? It sounds like everyone is doing good and hanging in there. It sounds like basketball season is going to start up here pretty so that is exciting. I didn’t know that y’all were going to go to California this year for thanksgiving that sounds like it will be a lot of fun.

Today I had to say goodbye to the Plata and I got transferred to Mao. They left 2 missionaries in my last ward instead of 4 so I got transferred. My new companion is Elder Castillo so I get to add to my list of Latin comps. He’s from San Jose de Ocoa, Dominican Republic. Here it is way hot during the day but at least it is a dry heat and not as humid. At last I got put into a house that has a hot water zapper, so I can take a hot shower in the mornings this winter so that will be awesome.

I was a little sad to leave my old area especially with the number of investigators we had that were going to get baptized in these coming weeks. It was one of my hardest good byes, but I had to do it. Felix and the Polanco Family were about to get married and were getting the paperwork done to do it. We had some other families too that I didn’t want to leave either but oh well.

I really don’t know how things are here and we will see how it is. Looking at the area book it doesn’t look like there is a whole lot but we will get to work.

I hope all goes well in basketball for Makenzie and Jacob this year and that they play as well as they usually do. I love you guys, take care and have a good week!

Love Elder Smith



Mao is where the "A" marker is



Monkeying Around

Hey guys how are y’all doing? I am definitely excited for next week so we will see what will happen in transfers. From multiple sources I have heard that instead of 4 missionaries in our ward there will be 2 so I might stay or maybe leave. For P-day we went to the driving range on the golf course here seeing how it wasn’t too expensive. We did a potluck as a zone so we had a big Dominican lunch of rice beans and meat. I like the Cinco shirt a lot you got to get me one.


I am definitely excited to have a normal missionary as a companion so only one more week. My comp doesn’t want to be here at all so I have to drag him around and he is just killing me. I keep trying to get him going but he doesn’t know anything and during lessons it is just me teaching. We are trying hard to work with the members seeing how President Lee put the goal of 20 lessons with a member a week so it is something that is helping us out more with their testimonies and friendship. We had a great lesson with Felix last night and we put a baptism date and a plan to get married in detail. We are just trying to do the impossible and trying to get one of our many couples married. Victor is doing well and is continuing to learn and is being blessed already.

We have a family that we are teaching and they have a son that is 12 that has come to church for over a year and just started going to deacons quorum, So during Sacrament I was up front playing the piano and trying to spot him in the crowd and I thought he left, but during Sacrament I looked up and I saw him with a water tray passing the Sacrament. So we had one of our investigators passing the Sacrament and the thing that ticked me off is that after the meeting the Young Men’s president told him thanks for his help during the Sacrament. So the church here never stops surprising me.

So I hope all is going well at home and that everyone stays healthy and is doing well in school, work, or flying. I love y’all so much and hope that y’all are having a good week. Take care!

Love, Elder Smith

He kind of looks like the monkey 

I've always wanted a pet monkey, I wonder if he can bring it home.