Junya
April 20th, 2026
Ayyy,¿qué paso papi?
Happy twentieth day of April, I hope today is just like any other day and holds zero significance for you. This week was pretty solid, I got to do an exchange up in Juncos with Elder Guzmán, and since he's Guatemalan and doesn't have a license, I got emergency driving privleges!
So, after no driving for about 3 months, I dove into the deep end and drove through a mountainous rainforest full of Borricua drivers at night with torrential downpour and the Tabernacle Choir blasting in our 2026 Camry. I'm still learning spanish and Guzmán is still learning english, so a slight laguage gap existed and conversation was a bit sparse. After 15 minutes of silence, I ran over a frog and he just said "Adios Coqui". I've never felt more comp unity.
Then the next night I ran over a cat (genuinely felt terrible but the cat shouldn't have jumped under my wheel if he didn't wanna get run over) and that was the most I saw Elder Guzmán laugh the whole time. He's pretty chill.
Me n the guzmáestro
We got an increase in our biweekly grocery shopping budget of over 40%!!! I can buy so many Sam's Club rotisserie chickens
Somehow, I've already been here for almost 6 weeks. For those not in the know, every 6 weeks on the mission we have "transfers" which means the missionaries get reorganized. I could either:
A) stay in Guayama with Henderson
B) stay in Guayama with someone else
C) go somewhere else
We get transfer news tomorrow night but I have the insider scoop on transfer news and I know Henderson will be leaving (so I'll very likely be staying here). I know I've complained about Henderson a lot, but he has grown on me, and I've learned a lot from him. And it's always possible your next companion will be even worse!
But as long as my next comp is even slightly familiar with Jayz (not even his songs, just knowing the name) we should be okay. Seriously, everyone should at least be aware of the names "Jayz" and "Beyonce". Being homeschooled in the Netherlands for 3 years is no excuse, Henderson!
Here's something I'm learning more about, as of late: Having complete trust in the Lord
Please, consider the following:
That is a bold claim. Not "a moment more of difficulty than absolutely needed"? Really??
Here's how I look at it more logically. I can't say I have a powerful testimony of this, but I do know it to be logically true. If you accept that God is a perfect, omnipotent being that loves us perfectly, then you have to believe that His plan for us is just as perfect.
Classic Christianity has (respectfully) a weak understanding of God's plan for us. The Plan of Salvation allows us to understand our purpose here with much more clarity and trust in God. Below is a link explaining it a bit more, but seriously, the Plan of Salvation is one of my favorite restored truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng
I'm still working on trusting fully in God, but I have seen how doing so has blessed me with more peace and I am motivated to keep working on this.
Hebrews 10:31 "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
I will keep you guys updated on who my new comp is next week, as always send me an email if you want. If you are on this list, assume I would like to hear from you :)
Byeeee
Élder Smith
Ayyy,¿qué paso papi?
Happy twentieth day of April, I hope today is just like any other day and holds zero significance for you. This week was pretty solid, I got to do an exchange up in Juncos with Elder Guzmán, and since he's Guatemalan and doesn't have a license, I got emergency driving privleges!
So, after no driving for about 3 months, I dove into the deep end and drove through a mountainous rainforest full of Borricua drivers at night with torrential downpour and the Tabernacle Choir blasting in our 2026 Camry. I'm still learning spanish and Guzmán is still learning english, so a slight laguage gap existed and conversation was a bit sparse. After 15 minutes of silence, I ran over a frog and he just said "Adios Coqui". I've never felt more comp unity.
Then the next night I ran over a cat (genuinely felt terrible but the cat shouldn't have jumped under my wheel if he didn't wanna get run over) and that was the most I saw Elder Guzmán laugh the whole time. He's pretty chill.
Me n the guzmáestro
We got an increase in our biweekly grocery shopping budget of over 40%!!! I can buy so many Sam's Club rotisserie chickens
Somehow, I've already been here for almost 6 weeks. For those not in the know, every 6 weeks on the mission we have "transfers" which means the missionaries get reorganized. I could either:
A) stay in Guayama with Henderson
B) stay in Guayama with someone else
C) go somewhere else
We get transfer news tomorrow night but I have the insider scoop on transfer news and I know Henderson will be leaving (so I'll very likely be staying here). I know I've complained about Henderson a lot, but he has grown on me, and I've learned a lot from him. And it's always possible your next companion will be even worse!
But as long as my next comp is even slightly familiar with Jayz (not even his songs, just knowing the name) we should be okay. Seriously, everyone should at least be aware of the names "Jayz" and "Beyonce". Being homeschooled in the Netherlands for 3 years is no excuse, Henderson!
Here's something I'm learning more about, as of late: Having complete trust in the Lord
Please, consider the following:
That is a bold claim. Not "a moment more of difficulty than absolutely needed"? Really??
Here's how I look at it more logically. I can't say I have a powerful testimony of this, but I do know it to be logically true. If you accept that God is a perfect, omnipotent being that loves us perfectly, then you have to believe that His plan for us is just as perfect.
Classic Christianity has (respectfully) a weak understanding of God's plan for us. The Plan of Salvation allows us to understand our purpose here with much more clarity and trust in God. Below is a link explaining it a bit more, but seriously, the Plan of Salvation is one of my favorite restored truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/plan-of-salvation?lang=eng
I'm still working on trusting fully in God, but I have seen how doing so has blessed me with more peace and I am motivated to keep working on this.
Hebrews 10:31 "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God."
I will keep you guys updated on who my new comp is next week, as always send me an email if you want. If you are on this list, assume I would like to hear from you :)
Byeeee
Élder Smith
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