PEOPLE it's so hot here hahaha

Hi people I love :)

Wow! Things have gotten extremely better from last week and extremely
hotter as well! In fact as I write this, I'm soaked in sweat! haha!
Our piso is a consistent 87 degrees Fahrenheit and outside, we hit 98
this week!! And apparently it's only supposed to get hotter from here
so please pray for me that I don't die :) we had an awesome week and
like I said, mucho mejor! And before I forget... HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE
OLD MAN ON THURSDAY... gonna hit the old HALF CENTURY mark :) party
hard!! I love you so much and you are the greatest dad in the whole
world :)

So this week, we hit the streets hard with contacting. We kinda took a
look at we have and realized it's nothing to be completely honest, and
so we decided to go hard in the street and find some new people. One
funny story, we were about to go in for the night, but I felt like we
should talk to one more person so I said the next human I see, I'm
going for it. Next guy I see, he was on his phone and as soon as he
looked up, he must have seen how pumped I was to talk to him and he
was so not happy to see us, so he swore and turned directly around and
walked out into the middle of the street. The dude almost got hit by a
car trying to avoid us! I was a little mad but also had to laugh
because some people here just avoid the Mormons like the plague!
Another cool contacting story... I felt super prompted to talk to this
somewhat younger guy in English, which was weird because when I have
tried that before, people just look at me like I'm from Pluto!
Anyways, this guy ended up speaking fluent English and lives here and
now wants to come to English Class and has some interest in the
gospel! We will see where that goes :) moral of the story, talk to
people and follow the spirit! And some people still don't want to hear
what you have to say so they just walk into the street instead
hahahaha.

On Thursday, we had a zone conference up in Madrid and President Pack
came up with a new system to measure our progress. We have to check in
every day with our district or zone leader and report to him if we
have been exactly obedient, met our daily contacting goal, had an
effective daily planning session, and prayed for ourselves and others
often throughout the day. At first, I thought it was a little childish
that we had to do it every day but I then found myself trying to go 4
for 4 every day, even if it means staying out a little late to get the
last few contacts! As a mission, we are trying to focus on obtaining 3
Christlike attributes that will help us with the work... Diligence,
Obedience, and Faithfulness. I have noticed a big change already in
all aspects of the work, and I am so competitive with myself! It's
been great and I'm soooo excited to keep it going :) Elder Baerwaldt
has been pushing me too and I'm so grateful to have him by my side! He
is a great support and huge energy boost to me :) he's ecstatic about
the work and full of love for these people! Things are looking good in
Talavera :)

Yesterday during sacrament meeting, I bore my testimony to all 15
members that were present and the spirit was so strong! I love that so
much about this church, it doesn't matter where you are in the world
or what your conditions may be, the church and spirit are exactly the
same :) funny story... Yesterday our power went out and we were
without light or hot water (it's not like we need hot water, you could
leave a cup outside on the cement and 2 minutes later it would be
boiling) and we didn't know what to do, so we knocked on our neighbors
door and she came over and helped us so much! She called the electric
company and demanded that they come right now to fix our light
situation hahahaha. She is probably the greatest, sweetest Spanish
neighbor I could ever ask for! She stayed with us the whole time while
we were waiting for our landlord to get there and then she asked us if
we were hungry, and brought us over a whole tray of food! So we ate,
showered, and did everything else with 1 flashlight and 1 candle! It
was definitely a night I won't forget anytime soon! They came early
this morning and literally flipped one switch and it fixed everything.
But it was a fun experience and I got to know our neighbor a little
better :) her and her husband are literally Gordon and Roma Thomas,
just the Spanish versions. Such great people :)

Well that's all there is for this week :) just out here loving
everything and everyone. And sweating my guts out. But it's all good!
Next week we are headed to the temple, so my p-day will be changed to
Wednesday. Happy birthday again to the greatest old man of all old
men!! Hope you have a great one :) I'll talk to you all next week, YOU
ARE ALL THE GREATEST PEOPLE ON THE PLANET AND I MEAN IT :))

Con Amor y calor,
Elder Smith