Closed on Sunday

March 30th, 2026

¡Feliz Pascua! 

This week flew by. First, allow me to address something: I don't actually like Burger King. It just feels very "american" to me. Hours after sending my last email, I went to Chick-fil-a and then I felt at home.

And real quick, as always, please please send emails through out the week if you're ever bored, I love hearing from yall :)

On Wednesday, I did an exchange (24 hour period where missionaries switch who their comp is) with Elder Santana, it was supa fun! Elder Santana is from the DR and I was worried at first that he wouldn't speak enough english (and I KNOW I can't speak enough spanish) to communicate very well. But I need not fear, his english was great and we had no problem communicating (beyond some humorous moments). Santana is actually on his last transfer, so in a couple weeks he'll go home. We're in very different stages in our mission.

Most of the week, finding was super slow. Monday-Thursday, we found 2 people that agreed to meet with us again. Especially in Puerto Rico, where people are typically more than happy to say "yes" (even if they don't mean it) this was very discouraging. After talking with Elder Henderson thursday afternoon, and then some of the best personal study I've ever had, we bounced back. The Spirit was present, our trust was in the Lord and His timing, and we knew we would work hard.

Friday arrived and we found 7 people. Over 3x the rest of the week combined. We met some super cool people and some families. We met an awesome joven, Luis. We asked "if Jesus Christ was here right now, what would you ask him?" After pausing and thinking for a minute, he said "I would ask 'how can I be a disciple?'" What?? Needless to say: we extended a baptismal invitation. Keep him in your prayers, this kid is special (I say kid, we're the same age). And he came to church on Sunday which is a good sign.

We had to clean the baptismal font (also a good sign as a missionary) and a giant tarantula crawled outta the drain, it was horrible. I won't include the video I took since my aunt Natalie is on these and I don't wanna rewatch the video anyway

The baptism was great though! It was for Jared, an 11 year old who started going to church with his aunt. Supa cool kid, I got to do the confirmation (in english, Phew!) He's gonna be a great missionary someday

The members of the Guayama ward are great. We've gotten so many rides (which is a life saver when we're walking 40 minutes in the rain on sidewalk-less busy windy steets (with puerto rican drivers )), and we've felt so much support. Very grateful for those jits.

I felt proud of myself because I correctly suspected a person we were teaching has BPD. I suspected this because he was acting exactly like Kanye West. Except this guy is an unemployed 40yo who lives with his mom, not a succesful billionaire musician. He's super great though, he's gonna get baptized, on everything. I digress.

While walking in the rain, a homeless man took off all three of his shirts and tried to get us to wear them. Luckily a member of the bishopric drove by at that moment and offered us a ride, so we escaped.

The work is hastening!! And especially in Puerto Rico! In missionary work, we track several statisic for church attendance. In every single one of those, as a mission, this week we beat our previous records. Amazing. Everyone reading these emails that isn't a member, give it a try. Go to church. See what all the hype is about

Spiritual Thought

Hate to admit, but this is probably the first time I've felt anticipation for Easter Sunday leading up to it. For all Christians, I really encourage you to make Easter a bigger celebrarion in your lives!! 

To paraphrase a talk I remember hearing: if you take the first several chapters of Luke out of the bible (birth of Jesus -> Christmas), Christianity largely remains the same. 

However, if you remove the last several chapters of the synoptic gospels (the Resurrection of Jesus -> Easter), the New Testament doesn't work. Without the resurrection of Christ, Christianity as a whole ceases to exist. Jesus was a phenomal teacher, sure, but He was also the Son of God. The teachings of Chirst were revolutionary and we should strive to follow His teachings, but the claim Christianity makes isn't "listen to this impressive philospher." 

Christianty pleads, "Listen to and follow the Son of God, who suffered for the sins of the world, was killed, but rose again after three days, thus breaking the bands of death and allowing us all to return to God the Father."

So celebrate Easter with the same excitement you do for Christmas!

I'm so grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ, and the gift he gives each of us of resurrection, salvation, and exaltation. 

I'm also so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve Him and help bring His children back to Him.

Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised."

Saludos,

Élder Smith