PRAYING FOR A WHITE FEBRUARY ON THE ISLAND

This week has been incredible. Manuel is going down!!!! We got the permission of his wife and it sounds like she is coming around too. He came to church the last two weeks. He just needs to know that José Smith era un profeta. He is so good! 

Mica. We had to push her fecha back but she is going to receive her answer of the Book of Mormon this week and then be baptized like it´s no ones business! I am so excited!!! She is in 2 Nephi right now. I will try and get a picture with her to send it to y´all!!! 

We found this champion rich Spaniard who is so pumped and wants to listen to our message. He has been looking up info on the Mormons on the internet before and he is loving all that we teach! He is incredible! 

We found another Spaniard that asked us when she could be baptized. Yeah, this is hard!   She just has to work on Sundays so we will work on that until baptism comes!!! Wooooooo!!!

We found another Spaniard who loves reading the book of Mormon. He hates religion but he likes it when we come over and explain about the book of Mormon. He is so funny and super posh!!! haa

We are finally teaching!!! We don´t just have to go out and find now! I love teaching!!!!   It is incredible!!!

We had 4 investigators at church this past Sunday!! It is a miracle!!! If we can get all of our fechas and this African less active family there we could have 15 people at church!!! I am so fired up I could catch fire!!!

It has been something truly incredible!

We have now seen our finding miracles.

I hope this next week they are teaching miracles.

And then weeks to come baptism miracles!!!

Prayer list:

Mica. Recieve her answer. Get baptized 8 of February

Manuel. Comes to know that José Smith is a prophet. Get baptized 8 of february.

Jose Luis. Reads and comes to church. Get baptized 15 of February.

Paco. Prays to know the B.O.M. is true.

Laticía. Gives up smoking. Reads the B.O.M. 

WE can keep finding people ready to be baptized!!!

I love all of you and thank you for your prayers and your examples! I love y´all and hope you can help someone get baptized. Keep on!

Elder Smiley

Go baptize someone today.

We assume this is the view from his new  "piso"

THE MISSIONARY LEARNING CURVE GOOD LUCK DAVE!!!!

Right now we are good as far as staying dry, I think I am going to buy a jacket here though. The reason my e-mail is all weird this week is because we are here in Mallorca for interviews with president and I didn´t want to waste another day out of our area. We are going to do a little shopping here. I might go a little crazy but I need some stuff. I get so cold sometimes, but it will all be fixed.

This week we saw some crazy miracles. First things first, kind of funny, I am a little bit like Dad was. I got nailed by the senior missionaries because I have skipped lunch a few times and I don´t focus too much on eating. They said that I have lost weight. I don´t know about that, but it is kind of funny. They told me I can´t skip lunch to teach anymore and now Elder Alder is hounding me about that.

This week the straw broke the camels back. We were in a hurry to an appointment and it started pouring and Elder Alder wanted to go back to piso and get our umbrella and jackets. I told him we didn´t have time, nor was it necessary. We talked it out and I think the issue is fixed for at least now. It was bad.

Now for the good part. We found a girl on the street and she told us her name was Laura and that she wanted to read our book. We set up a couple of visits with her and it was incredible. She loved all of the stuff that we taught. She has a fecha and all. When we went to our third visit with her she told us to sit down and listen. I was flipping out inside, I was so scared she was going to drop us. She told us her name was actually Mica. She just didn´t trust us when we first met her. We had a super good laugh about it. She has had a super rough life and I feel for her. I hope she really finds the peace that this gospel brings. I pray for it.

Manuel!!!!!!!! He´s back. I was super strong with him last week. He came back to church. He read more than we assigned him. He accepted a fecha. He is going to talk to his family today and tomorrow, which was the big roadblock the last time.  It is all coming along super well.

Elder Alder and I are on better turns and we are going to keep it that way. We have figured out a system. It is getting better. We just got to go baptize.

These last weeks have been cold and wet and I love it. It makes me feel like I am working hard when I am wringing out my clothes at the end of the day. I love it. I love this work. I love all of it. I have learned patience and now applying it. I can feel the difference. It is something incredible.

Thanks for all of your prayers and help. Thanks for everything.

One thing. I lost my oil vial. Can you send me one ASAP. Thanks so much!

I love all of you. We just got to go baptize!!!

Prayer list:

Mica: baptized the first or 8 so she can go to the temple at the end of febrero.

Manuel:  baptized on the 8th.

Jose. Keep reading and listening to us.

Find the people on Menorca prepared for us.

I love all of you. Thanks!!!!!

Things are looking up!!!

We moved. I have a bed!!! Wooooooo!!! I slept!!! It is different, but I am not on the ground!

This week. Here we go! With all the investigators sucking we dropped them. We dropped them like egg drop soup. I said things that were very bold and I might have offended some people but we move on.

This week we found 13 new investigators. We have almost completely changed our investigator pool. It has been such a miracle. Now onto a little bit of the weird. We met a man on the street and he was super amiable and wanted to learn about our message so we set a visit with him in the church and he loved it. He came to church on Sunday and loved it. We met with him after and he told us he is gay. A bit weird! I think he can still be baptized because he likes to read the Book of Mormon and wants to come to church. He can change. He will be baptized. 

Another miracle. Remember Fernando? We set a fecha with a girl and we went to where she lives, and they live in the same piso!!! He had found work and doesn´t have money on his phone so he couldn´t call us. He is back on track!

We found 3 different families this week. We are going crazy!!!! I am so fired up!!!

I am trying so hard to love people more. That is my goal for the year. Love! It is super hard because if they don´t accept a visit they are like walking meat to me. Now I am trying to love everyone more, including myself, my companion, and the Lord. I think we will see miracles from it.

This week we had around 10 people in English class! All investigators!!! It was incredible! We told them all to come next week with a friend. I am so excited.

We have 2 guapa members here and they now have a little time to accompany us on visits and we are teaching lots of teenage boys. Game over!

It´s all looking up. I am really excited for this week. I am hoping we can see some miracles and some baptisms!!!! We’ve got to get that baptism fever going!!!!!

Prayer List:

Jose

Isabel and her family

Fernando

Blanca and her family

Andres

Menard and his family

That this week they can accept a fecha and all COME TO CHURCH!!!!

I love you all and thank you for your prayers. I feel them in every moment and I feel you all helping and love and respect each one of you!

Side note. Dad, did you know an Elder Hardy that served in your mission around the same time as you? His son is here in the islands conmigo.

Moses and the ten commandments!!!   Finally eating the Christmas chocolate

Here is a baptism on the island!!!

NEW YEAR ON THE ISLAND

We are done with the year 2013. That is the end. We are no more living in that year. Now we are here in 2014. We have set new goals as a mission as a zone, as a district, as a companionship and for myself. This year is going to be very different than the last. We baptized 580 this last year and with all the new missionaries we are going to baptize 1500 sons of our Heavenly Father. This last transfer was hard. These holidays were hard. This Island was hard. But no more!  It is all new. New year, new month, new transfer. It´s all going to change and we are going to see miracles and baptisms here in Menorca. That is my deepest desire.

I want to love people better. I have been really bad about that and I think I might get a little of that from Dad. When someone tells me no on the street i usually just walk away and say nothing. This year I am going to love everyone more. My companion, my leaders, my branch, and my God. That is how we are going to see more miracles and more bautismos. 

This week was super hard. All the holidays that no one could see us. For New Years Eve we ate with an investigator and Elder Alder was stuck with diarrhea for 2 days and I almost went crazy!!!! It was a “loco syndrome”. I almost started contacting from the window. I cleaned the apartment one hundred times over. This week we saw a miracle! We had had a super rough day and week. Everyone had fired on us and we had no visits. I went contacting crazy and we found a girl. She invited us to her apartment to share the message but there wasn´t another man (mission rule. Missionaries cannot enter into an apartment with out another man.) so we went to a bar and ate pastries and invited her to read the Book of Mormon and be baptized. She accepted.

New year! New miracles! New start!

We are dropping almost all of our investigators. This new year will only have the people who are going to progress and be baptized. That is what is going to happen. I am very excited and I will keep you updated on my goals all year long.

Prayer list

1.Blanca, keep her baptism date

2.Margarita, Pedro, Rene. They can just find time for us to pass by and we can help them read and come to church. Baptize families!

3.Manuel. Just get back on his horse. He fell off.

4.Christian. He can keep on praying, reading, coming to church, and accept a date.

( I want a picture or an explanation on how you do this prayer list. I´m fired up!)

I love you all and  I THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! YOU ARE THE BEST FAMILY IN THE WORLD!!! WOOOOOOOOO

BAPTISMS!!! 

Much love, Elder Smiley!