When in doubt buy a croissant.

Elder Smith Study time

Ice storm in Barrie at Zone Conference

Zone Conference in Barrie, photo from President and Sister Clayton's Facebook page

The dream car...

Mr. Math...geeking out about the car....

Oi Tudo Bem familia Feliz Páscoa!

    I know that is like the most cliche language missionary thing ever but hey I am a cliche language missionary sue me.  Anyways the title this week comes by demand of our own beloved Elder Madrigal.  We were walking in the rain yesterday down Queen St. and he really wanted to stop at a bakery that we were walking past so we ended up buying some croissants.  They were alright not the best croissant I have ever had.  This past week has been crazy!!!  We had zone conference up in Barrie which for those of you who don't know is like an hour and a half away from downtown.  We spent the night in New Market on Wednesday and then spent all of Thursday at the Barrie Chapel for Zone Conference Weekly Planning edition.  Got to say it was the best zone conference yet.  It was a party with us (Ossington) and the Barrie and Sudbury Zones all up there together and I learned a lot.  Only downside is crazy things like ICE STORMS happen in Barrie.  So after our 8 hour conference our car was encased in like an inch and a half of Ice.  After finally scrapping it all off our dear friend Elder Gibb had managed to lock all the doors on the car with the key in the ignition and our car on.  This week let us just say I learned a lot about patience and that lock smiths are the biggest waste of money on the planet.  Other than that the week was a bomb! Lots of cool things went on. 

 As for amazing spiritual experiences that I had this week starting on Wednesday I decided to do some study out of the Liahona during language study to pick out some words as well as see if I can actually read those yet. Luckily I can and the revelation was just flowing and I was really intrigued by the talks Find your life and The light of the Perfect day. I got some pretty great insights out of those and have implemented their teachings more into my missionary work. Best of all though was yesterday. Elder Madrigal and I are regularly teaching an Investigator named Is. We had prayed and planned and I was impressed that we needed to share with her about faith and the blessing of the Holy Ghost. We were confident that she would accept a baptismal date. We went through with it all yesterday and it was a wonderful lesson and the spirit was there. At the end she didn't accept the invitation to be baptized but we left her some scriptures to answer her questions then today. We woke up to a message from her that she resolved her own concern about the sacrament and that she is going to come to church on Saturday and Sunday and if she feels that she is truly growing closer to God she will be baptized! (Insert angelic choir here) It was the best wake up we could have received. Yeah This is why we blitz.  

    Anyways on to the only part you all actually read.  

Now for some questions.

1. What did you do for Easter?

I went to church and that is about it.  

2. What are your pday plans?

Getting a hair cut some black market sports jerseys and pretending to be a zone leader for a day.  We swapped cars for the day so today I get to drive a big white soccer mom van.  

3. How are your investigators doing?

AMAZING!!

4. Did you have another successful Portuguese only day at church?

Yep I bore my testimony and everything.  

5. How are your ESL classes?

Fabulous I found myself a new grandmother at ESL so I can have 4 now.  She is this cute little old chinese lady from Brazil and she is just awesome.  Also we had a big huge ESL conference on friday and we are changing everything about ESL and I am pretty excited.  

6. What is your funniest experience of the week?

I don't know it is all pretty great. 

7. What did you do this week that took you out of your comfort zone?

We had to Instruct at Zone Conference and I had to go running this morning and wake up early.  That was really rough.  

8. What are you looking forward to this week?

BAPTISMAL DATE!!!! Also it is going to be sick(great) to go to general conference this week.

9. How was Zone conference in Barrie? How was it to be more then an hour away from Toronto for a day? It was weird to see places with trees and not just big buildings.  

10. How much would one have to pay you to get you to eat a Peep?

I would need more money than the US treasury can print in 4 years and maybe a good bit of magic.  Also enough to pay for all the cancer treatments that I will need from eating that devil candy.  

Well it has been another great week and I can't wait to talk to you all again next monday.  Same Bat time same Bat Channel

Loves,

Elder Smith

PAPUSAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Papusas!!!!!

Oi familia tudo bem,

    I am sorry that this computer can't put the amount of Exclamation Points that Papusas deserve, however, all you need to know is I am fairly certain they deserve to be exalted at the last day.  Especially the papusas that we made yesterday.  All in all yesterday was just one of the greatest days ever and I am super excited because of it.  Also papusas... ooh.  Anyways, attempting to move on from papusas, we have had a very good week.    We were able to start back up with teaching Is again and now she has told us that she is very serious and interested in investigating and started just reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning she also says that she has been thinking a lot about baptism and what she needs to do in her life.  GOLDEN.  Also we were able to finally go over and meet with our investigator R who is from Minas Gerais.  He is super cool as well and is willing to learn more about the church as well.  He has become super good friends with our Member Aric and that has helped a lot as well.  Turns out he is a professional chef that was trained in England then worked in Brazil and needless to say I had the best food of my life at his house.  I mean the best food that wasn't papusas.  We were also able to meet with a new investigator who is 18 and from Brazil his name is M and he has some pretty big dreams.  He is super cool though and we are pumped to talk to him more this week.  

   Now finally on to Sunday what you all have been waiting for.  It was super cool.  We had the first ever only Portuguese Sacrament meeting of the Portuguese Group of the Christie ward. It was super cool and the support was phenomenal.  We had two investigators there as well as one of the three new returning members we found in the past two weeks.  To top it all off we went to the Chavez family's house after the Baptism on Sunday and made our own hand made papusas.  It is super cool and we ate them all and now you can all have some papusas when I get home they are amazing.  

   Anyways questions,

1. What are your plans for pday?

Shopping and Volley ball.

2. What are you teaching about in your ESL classes?

Last time it was Emergencies.  The lessons change every time.

3. Do you have many repeat students in your classes?

yeah we have some that come pretty consistently.

4. How are your investigators doing this week? Hopefully, you had a few at church.

They are doing absolutely Fantastic!!!!  Both Is and L came to church and L even stayed for the Baptism and she wants to talk about it. 

5. How are the members that you are working with? Glad to hear many of them are feeding you guys. That helps build trust and friendships.

The Members are awesome!!!  We have a solid bunch of them that we are working with and it hasn't turned into much in the way of getting them out finding people for us yet but the relationship is definitely there. 

6. What are you looking forward to this week?

We have zone conference in Barrie on Thursday that will be cool.  It will have been the furthest I have ever been from Toronto.  

7. How have you used the new #Hallelujah video this week?

Yeah like 3 or 4 times. We actually got a referral from it today that was a miracle and a half.  It was my first official head quarters referral ever!

8. What are you doing as a district right now to meet your goals?

TONS of district challenges.  The winning district gets a trophy and it is pretty lame but we have already won it once. 

9. Do your exercise plans change with the spring weather?

yes we are working on doing it more.

10.What is your favorite part or thing about Easter?

Definitely the Savior's resurrection and the promise that because of that act of love all of our families can be together for all time and eternity.  For more on that check out the video at SigaO.mormon.org/por or for those of you that still don't speak Portuguese followhim.mormon.org.  Also D&C 138:1-4

   Also if you want to experience celestial glory papusas man I am telling you.  

Loves,

Elder Smith

Cleaning the apartment.

Twinning

Swag,,

Elder Madrigal in the dryer?

Cleaning up!

Cleaning up and reorganizing the apartment

Elder Gomez new member baptism 3/20/16

This is why we Blitz!

Me, Elder Patrick and Elder Shaffer

From left to right: Irmã Verdasca, Irmã de Jesus, and Irmã Pereira

Gifts from ESL students

Elder Madrigal just chilling in the corner waiting for our dinner appointment

Oi Familia!

    Well it is the end of another long week with some great miracles and revelation received.  I hope that you are all doing well and that you are enjoying the wonderful spring weather!  We have been super busy this week and have been truly blessed because this week looks even better.  Our dinner appointments are definitely fewer and farther between however we have more teaching appointments and are looking forward to some great work over the next few days.  This week we were only able to meet with I  and P  however, both of those lessons were very good.  We need to definitely work on time management with all of our appointments,( by we I mean me, like father like son I guess, I really just like to talk to them.) however they are starting to come closer to Christ.  So 2 really quick experiences then questions.

1) On Thursday this week during our weekly planning I identified that I wasn't openning my mouth as much as I should and because of that I decided to really start sharing that light with the people we see everyday. My favorite Miracles of the week came the next day as I went on exchanges with Elder De Peiza. I had informed him of these concerns and had asked his help as we went out that day to be able to truly open our mouths and find everyone we could. Miracles followed. We were blessed to talk to over 60 people together and about another 10 or so individually through the day. We were able to find people that spoke both of our mission languages that are interested in learning more on another day. Best of all because of our dilligence we were blessed by one of our returning members calling us. She said that she had just quit her job because she feels she needs to come back to church. We are going over today to meet her and her son with their member friend and give them a blessing to help them come back to church next week.

2) So this one comes from like three days of pondering and a super revelatory stake conference with Elder Dudley of the 6th quorum of the seventy. On exchanges Elder De Peiza shared with me the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehi's and burying their weapons in the ground.  I have been thinking about it ever since and the question that he shared of what more can you burry for the lord?  It addresses those personal and deep covenants that we make personally with the lord unlike the covenants that we all make such as Baptism and the Temple Covenants.  This fit in perfectly with our stake theme this year "Make and Keep Sacred Covenants".  Elder Dudley addressed this and how making these covenants increases our faith that we are able to remove the mountains and sycamore trees in our lives to become purified in Christ.  So I want to leave you all with a verse from this chapter and this same question.  What more can you bury or what personal covenants can you make to strengthen your faith to move the mountains in your life.  We read in Alma 24 verse 16

 16 And now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall go to our God and shall be saved.

Now Questions

Now for some questions...

1. What are some of the service projects that you have worked on during your mission?

Pretty much only food banks.  I also painted the bishop's house once but that was it.

2. How are your investigators?

Good

3. How are your ESL Classes and students?

Amazing

4. What do you have planned for pday?

Three hours of Cleaning and rearranging things

5. Have you been invited to speak in church yet?

Nope

6. What are your plans for Easter?

Nothing.  Probably just regular missionary stuff

7. General Conference is coming up, what do you do to help get your area ready for this event??

Teach about prophets and make sure that investigators understand that it is important.

8. What is the healthiest thing you have eaten lately?

I don't know we eat really healthy.  Elder Madrigal is a health freak and wants to be an Author/Personal Trainer so we eat healthy as a rule.  To be honest we have a larger diet than he would like because he only wants to eat weird Spinach smoothies and zero calorie chicken and I told him if I did that I would die so....

9. How is the $60 for the month budgeting going? 

Good, we got reimbursed this week so we are back at like 320 for the month.

10. Any new adventures to share with us?

So we got some super cool presents from one of our ESL students from Japan and we finally found the right Maria de Jesus.  We have been visiting the wrong one since November.

Yeah so that is all folks!

Loves,

Elder Smith

Hallelujah and 300 dollar hot chocolate!

OI FAMILIA!!!

   Well it has been an amazing week and sadly I lost my camera for all of it so no new pictures.  Luckily I found it today so I can repent and sin no more.  I am going to try and take more pictures from now on.  I mean not like a crazy get back to work amount but a good healthy amount.  This week was full of miracles and I am so Pumped for next week! We were blessed to find a wonderful Portuguese family this week. They have two young kids and are very precious. They are a little bit put off by our beliefs and scared of the change but Elder Madrigal and I have been teaching them simple doctrine and bearing powerful testimony and the spirit has been able to really quiet most of their fears. They are still a long way from perfect however they are willing and preparing to progress and make changes in their lives. That was really the Highlight of our week as we were able to go and teach them twice this week and help them go from uninterested and scared to willing and excited to learn more. All of this happens because of the Spirit that was there.  It was super great.  We were also able to find a new investigator through ESL this week who is super cool as well.  She has been super busy so we haven't been able to teach her again yet but she is super willing to learn more and keeps apologizing for not being able to meet with us.  As for the other investigators more Miracles,  L was able to move into her new apartment which frees up a lot more time to meet with us.  Iv after we taught him the true meaning of repentance and the blessings of Baptism set himself with a wedding date and a baptismal date will follow.  I was flaky all last week but today sent us a message apologizing and set up her own appointment to talk to us.  We are going to set her with a Baptismal Date as well.  Everything is going super great this week and it has all come from a conversation that Elder Madrigal and I had about what we needed to change.  One of the things that came from that was that I wasn't allowing myself to see that I truly have potential and that God loves me and that I need to Love myself.  That has really made all the difference. It definitely came at the right time too as I have been sick almost all week.  It has been pretty rough but nothing a little cold medicine couldn't fix.  The best test of the new outlook though was the 300 dollar hot chocolate.  So a couple of weeks ago we switched cars with the zone leaders for the day and when we got it back there was a hole in the reverse light cover.  We were blessed to have to go get it replaced last week.  So 300 dollars of our mission money later we have a new car basically and we got so much free hot chocolate from the Subaru dealership that it was almost worth it.  Until we get reimbursed we have about 60 dollars left for the rest of the month so that will be fun.  Wish us luck. 

Questions...

1. How are your investigators?

AWESOME!

2. What is one thing that you love about Elder Madrigal?

He is the funniest thing in the world.

3. How is the teaching of your non English speaking ESL class coming?

challenging but definitely worth it.

4. Are you working with many members right now? 

yeah we have 8 dinner appointments this week.

5. What do you have planned this week that you are looking forward to doing?

Those 8 dinner appointments are definitely nice.  Also we have a new Easter Video releasing on Sunday the hashtag is Hallelujah and it is about how through Christ and the resurrection we can find new life and be together with our loved ones forever. 

6. What is your plan for pday?

going to the mall and sports.

7. What movies are you allowed to watch? (Henry thinks this is a very good question)

Anything with the Church logo on it. 

8. What do you do for exercise?

well this week pass out from the residuals of a Nyquill induced sleep.  I am better now though so back to running and push ups.

9. From Michael: What is the strangest food you have tried?

Pulvo.  Bonus points for who ever translates it.  Really though nothing has been that bad.  I mean who would have thought that pork neck is so delicious.  (hint that is not what pulvo means.  That is called simply carne de pourco.

10. Do Canadians celebrate St. Patrick's Day? 

Apparently.  They are advertising it like crazy.

  Well Loves,

Elder Smith