Week 50!

Happy 4th of July Everyone!

Week 50—July, 4, 2016

Believe it or not, I have gotten to celebrate the 4th of July here in Patos! So this week we met with some of the Elders investigators. They have a school that teaches English and they wanted another American Elder and me to speak English to their 3 classes. We talked about how Independence Day was coming up in the USA. The lady who owns the school decorated the entire school with 4th of July decorations and had a Barbecue...it was sooo American and awesome!! We got there and they told us we couldn’t speak Portuguese, only English because the students need to practice English, and if they know you speak Portuguese, they won’t speak English. We were special guests at the school and sat there and spoke in English while the students asked us questions in English. It was hard, I forgot how to speak English! I was concentrating really hard and sometimes Portuguese would just slip out haha. We taught 3 classes. The first class had all little kids and that was fun. The 2nd class were young adults, and the last class had 3 people who were in their 20’s, they were pretty good at speaking English. The lady told us to speak fast with the 3rd class because they were more advanced and because they had a test coming up. So I spoke with these 3 and they asked me questions about Independence Day, about life in the US, and this one kid said I want to know about the Mormons and your church. The teacher lady had told us ahead of time that we couldn’t talk about our religion. But this kid had tons of questions and, the lady wasn’t there, so of course I wanted to talk to him and answer his questions in English, what could be cooler!! So he says, "I read a lot of websites that talk really bad about your church and I want you to clear up some of these ideas and questions I have." I was like, “Okay, first of all, go the website mormon.org and read what’s there. I explained how lots of people that don’t understand our church like to say rude things about it and things that aren’t true. Then he said, I read that you guys don’t like to associate with anyone outside of your religion. I looked at him and was like....well, what are we doing right now? We are talking to people outside of our religion, then we all started laughing and he´s like, "Yeah, that is true." I told him that all we do everyday, all day, is talk to people who aren’t from our church. We invite them to church or ask them if we can say a prayer for them and their family in their home. I told him that our purpose is to help people come unto Christ and to serve others. I said, “What did Jesus Christ do when he was here? He didn’t just hang around all the members of his church, no, he went out and taught the sinners and the people who needed help. He loved and served the people who sometimes didn’t want anything to do with him." I asked him if he has heard of The Book of Mormon and I invited him to read it and to ask God if it is true. Then the girl that was there said “I don’t know how to explain it, but you´re different, your not like the regular teenager, there’s a light about you.” I got super emotional and I said, “something changes in you when you serve others, and you feel the love God has for them.” I bore my testimony that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is the true church on the earth today and its changed my life and I’ve seen it change other peoples lives. They asked about my mission and I said its been the best decision I have ever made.....you guys the spirit was soooo strong it was sooo special. My sweet companion was sitting next to me the whole time and she said she didn’t know exactly what we were saying but she said she felt the spirit so strong and it was a special experience for her too. The 3 hours were worth it because I got to talk to these 3 people and share my testimony and after he said, “Wow, thank you, I understand so much more about your church than I did before.”


I want to challenge each of you to share your testimony this week in one way or another. Spread the good news of the gospel! Share the happiness that we feel in our lives with others! I promise you, you won’t regret it!!

I love you all! Have an awesome week!! xoxoxo



- Sister Smith

I curled her hair and she said never in her life has her hair held the curls!! I love her xoxox

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