Christmas in Mexico! Great wether, great Skype with family!

WHAT A FANTASTIC WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Talking with you guys was just so great!!!!!!! Made my day!!!!!!!!!

Ok story time!!!!!!  Elder Magaña and I eat lunch at members’ houses every day.  We were served this great big ole soup for lunch so we ate it.   Then the member gave us a big ole plate for more food!  We looked at each other and just went oh no! He could not eat any more food it was so bad and funny!!!!  So the member left.  He wrapped his rice in his napkin and hurry and threw it down the toilet!!!!  I was trying to hold my laugh in it was so funny!!!!!  Then I had to do the same!! But I actually went to the bathroom then threw my rice in but the toilet got clogged!!!!! So then I grabbed the rice (while there was P in the toilet) flushed one at a time down!!!! Luckily the member did not see a single thing!!!!!

For Christmas day I did not get the package.  WHO CARES!!!!!!! Elder Magaña and I went to church took a lot of photos (Can not send them because this cyber sucks) Visited our favorite family (Family Marine).  Gave them the toys we bought them and played with them for hours!!!!!  I have the coolest video of us.  I will try and send it to you guys soon!!!!  Then we Skyped in the coolest members house!!!!!!!!!!!

There is so much snow in the states right not it is not even funny!!!!! Here in Mexico I am in short sleeves still!!!! But in Zacatecas there is snow so we will see if I go there!!!!!

Elder Magaña told me he feels like he is part of our family!!!!! Because he is exactly like us and we are so nice to him!!!!!!!!  

Family Marine was able to attend church and was able to teach them a lesson and get Luis and Gaby a baptismal date for the 14 of January!!!!!!!!!  Lets hope it goes through!!!!!!!

Prayer list:

Gaby:  Listen to us and know this is the right church!

Luis: Same as Gaby

Sandra ( maja Maine): Figure stuff out to go to the temple!!

Papa Marine:  Same as Sandra!!!

Jiserla: Try her best to get married!!!!!!

Elder Smiley: Gift of tongues!!!!!!

HAHAHA I know I need to improve my Spanish a whole lot more!!!!!!!!  Ok that is good mom is trying to send him a quilt.  It does not need to be a favorite, just like a heavy blanket would do!!!  I am gaining a little back but not much I weighed myself and I have 150 pounds!!!!!!!  I bought three pairs of pants today so that was good!!! I do not want to look sloppy at all!!!!!!  I loved talking to you guys!!!! Elder Magaña talked to his family 25 more minutes than I talked with you guys.

I love your guts too!!!!!!!

New Companion - New Effort - More Language

This week was pretty sad.  The little girl who took the book of Mormon to school is going to a different church.  So that was pretty sad. 

My companion is Elder Magana and is from Mexico city.  Likes soccer and football!!!! Needs a quilt. He is like my brother here already!!!!!

We have 2 investigators that are progressing.  Jiserla is ready to be baptized, but she needs to get legally married.  Monica needs a response from God.  I personally think Jiserla will get married soon.  I do not know if I will get wet, but I think my investigators will.  We found an amazing less active family!! Like you said a reactivated family is as good as a baptism!!!!!!!!

Getting used to Elder Magaña is really hard.  Only because we work so much harder than Elder Pazmiño and I did!  Timing is not on our side, we struggle with that, but it is all good for now!

Elder Magaña and I just love each other, and my gosh he is like my best friend!

The first thing he told me this morning (P day) “I hate being in the house” and I just jumped and said VAMOS! 

We went to the mall! I heard Christmas music and all this stuff.  I got kind of homesick..........So I thought what Dad told me to do, SERVICE!!!!! I asked Elder Magaña what he wanted for Christmas? He said A Mexico soccer jersey.  We walked in the first store and bought him a soccer jersey!!! HE LOVES IT!!

Language!  Yes, its coming along slowly.  I just have to remind myself I only have 3 months in the mission.  So I think its coming along good, not great but good.  Elder Magaña and I walk the streets and he tells me something in English I translate it to Spanish so that’s good!

We had lunch with the young women's president and she gave us a list of the ward in our area!!!! We visited everyone I loved it!

This week on Tuesday we are going downtown Aguas and contacting and singing to everyone. I am kind of excited!  I know, kind of excited about singing?  Cody smiley?  Yes, I am!

What do you mean no good bowl games, I would kill to watch those bowl games!

I am starting to love the other missionaries here!!!! They are so cool!  One missionary in my zone was the companion of Elder Sermerseim, I saw pictures and freaked out!

I have a million pictures for you guys but the cybers here do not have places I can plug in my memory so I hope next week!!!!! 

I am very excited for Christmas and cannot wait to skype!!!!!!!

Loving Mexico!!!

Prayer list: Elder Smiley- the usual

Jiserla- Her husband will get baptized

Monica- She can get an answer

Morelos Ward- They can start helping me more 

Joaquin- He can go to church!!!!!

Short e mail, but it is transfers

This week was not the greatest, but we were busy!!!!

Tuesday: We had a district meeting and started to work at 6 because of comida and other stuff, but it was just crazy!!!!!

Wednesday:  The sisters needed help finding a house so we spend all day looking for a new house, did not find one! 

Thursday:  We had weekly planning and comida and didn’t work until 6 again!  And did not teach a single soul!!! It was pretty sad!!!!

Friday: We had a meeting with a member of the presidency over Mexico, so that was all day!!! 

Saturday:  We taught a few people and said goodbye to some members!!!!!!

Sunday: Only said bye to members and waited for the call for cambios..........

The cambios story is nuts!!!!! 

District leader calls us and says “Elder Pazmiño - no change.” and “Elder Smiley - no change.”

So we start jumping and hugging and my district leader says just kidding guys!!!!! 

“Elder Pazmiño  -  San Luis Potos and Elder Smiley with Elder Magaña”

The best part is Elder Magaña and I are really good friends from the Mexico MTC, he is a native speaker from the MTC, know a little English so I should be able to keep my goal of good Spanish by March.  

Talked to one of Bill Swann's baptisms Small world!!

Craziest thing, so my ward mission leader served in the Mexico Leon mission.  I asked him if he knew  an Elder Swann? He said no, but his wife said she did if he has curly hair. I said yes!!!!! 

She went on to say that he baptized my father!!!!! I was so happy, it was the coolest thing ever!

I officially had a favorite moment in my mission!!!!! We are teaching Jiserla.  We asked her if she had been reading the Book of Mormon.  She said she could not find it, so we asked her daughter who told us it was in her school locker so she could read it.  SO COOL!!!!  Now we just need to get her to church, and we can get her baptized.

We have transfers this week and I am freaking out!  Everyone tells me I will stay in my area and lose my companion, my gosh I do not want to. If anything, I want to leave or keep Elder Pazmiño for one more transfer!

Glad to hear about Thanksgiving, unfortunately Mexicans do not celebrate thanksgiving or black Friday.  Imagine that, not celebrating the American colonization, nor the excess we call black Friday.

Dad, you asked if Elder Pazmino and I can have conversations.  Yes we do, they are still basic, but I can get the jist of a sentence, even if I do not know every word.

Funny story: so I was walking with my companion, and asked if my Spanish had gotten better since the first time we met. He just laughed, “Oh my,  Elder I don’t think anyone could understand you the first month.”  So we laughed and he commented that my Spanish will be very good by January or February, so relax.

Dad, you asked if Elder Pazmino and I can have conversations.  Yes we do, they are still basic, but I can get the jist of a sentence, even if I do not know every word. 

Ecuadorian missionary with "girlfriend" in Idaho Oh, so goes the mission!!!

I gave Joaquin the $100 and gosh I wish you guys could’ve seen his face.  He said "Elder Smiley you are my second favorite missionary, because my first favorite is the one who baptized me."  I laughed pretty hard at that!!!!!!!

Elder Pazmiño and I set a goal for 50 words this week for weekly planning.  I’m already done with my fifty words and he is still working on his!!

Sandra (my first, like half baptism) went to the temple on Friday, so that was pretty great news!!!!!!!

Elder Pazmiño told me the funniest thing!!! So we were walking and he just says

            “Do you like Idaho?” 

            “Yes, kind of why?”

            “I have a girlfriend that lives there.”  

            “What, are you serious?”  

            “Well she doesn’t know that she is my girlfriend yet, but ya, she’s my girlfriend”

            I laughed pretty hard at that!!!! 

My other funny story this week is that I tried to contact this lady and she told me to go to hell!

So later, I saw her and I told my comp to go contact her, but she was running and he started to run and talk and he tripped!   I literally fell laughing at him, oh my gosh it was the greatest!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our investigator that is closest to baptism was sicker than ever so we gave her a blessing but she was too scared to go to church. 

So I had an ingrown toenail.  It was so bad, it was like Dad’s where he could barely walk.  Elder Pazmiño called the zone leaders and they came over and looked at it and they told me to cut it or go to the hospital!!! 

I thought I have a knife so I popped it out and stuck it in to pry out the nail and puss just shot out!   When Elder Pazmino came back through he said “Elder Smiley did one of the zone leaders sneeze on your foot?”  Kinda gross, but I can walk better now.  It still hurts though!

Prayer list:  

Elder Smiley so he can progress a whole lot faster in Spanish

Jiserla so she can get baptized already

Irma so she can get a response so she can get baptized!!!!!!