Late

March 16th, 2026

Ay chacho, it's been quite the week

Tuesday night I stayed up until 1am, chatting with the homies and getting excited to head out to the field. Then we got to the buses and discovered our flight was cancelled. It was quite the buzzkill. But then, right before the bus drove off, they said 'everything is fixed, get on the bus!'

I sat down next to Elder Vega and we were grinning ear to ear, cuz "We're going to Puerto Rico!!" And then someone got on the bus and told us, "just kidding! Flight is cancelled, get off the bus." Hearing it a second time was an even bigger buzz kill.

Because the CCM loves us, they allowed us to get ~40 minutes of sleep, before hopping on another bus at 4am We arrived at the mexico city airport at 5am, which is good because our flight was at 10:30, so we were cutting it close. Only got to wait around for 4½ hours. 

 Arriving in the Charlotte airport was weird, I was much closer to home than I ever thought I would be for the next two years (only 6 letters away!*). Nice to see the East Coast in its early spring glory. 

Our next flight wasn't until 7am on Thursday, so we got shipped to a hotel. It was pretty sick. Since American Airlines had messed everything up, they got us the rooms, and we all got our own rooms. Nice! I made sure to appreicate the moment since I'll have a companion 24/7 for the next two years.

Since I like testing my luck, I thought that sin un despertador I would still totally wake up at 4:30am to catch the shuttle back to the airport. Imagine my surprise when I slept in

With divine help, we made the flight to PR. We arrived at 10:30am, and by 1pm I had met my comp and left my previous district members behind. I'll miss all those jits. 

A couple hours later, I'm walking the steets of Guayama with Elder Henderson (majority of PR is driving, but my lil area specifically is walking in the pueblo), shouting out to houses "Hola hola! Buenas tardes!" until they respond. Puerto Ricans talk fast, and I understand ~maybe~ about 1% of what exactly they're saying. Maybe 3% of general topics and conversarional flow.

Puerto Rico is beautiful. The people have been genuinely so nice, my east coast self doesn't know what to do. The weather is as expected, and my comp is pretty cool, I think I'll learn a lot from him. I definitely miss my family and home and the general comfort I had there. Staying focuses on my future potential has been helpful. I'll learn spanish with time, I'll adjust to the schedule, I'll make friends and so on.

I just wish the future would hurry up and get here.

Spiritual thought

I just want to bear my testimony that, as I've looked, I've identified the Lord's hand in my life so much. The fact that I made it to PR was amazing, I've already had moments with my comp where we could see the Lord guiding us to people. Even in the difficult moments, I've seen how God blesses us.

D&C 122:7 [revelation from the Lord, given to the prophet Joseph Smith while he was unjustly held in Liberty Jail] 

"if thou be cast into the deep; if... all the elements combine to hedge up the way; and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good."

 All** trials are for our good. Candidly, I haven't always believed this. I still struggle with the idea at times, but I try to put my trust in God, believing in His perfect goodness and omnipotence. If we believe God has those two attributes, we must believe all trials are for our good. I encourage you to do the same, and recognize when your trials have helped you. Something to think about. 

Genesis 50:20 "God meant it unto good"

Have a great week, totally email me if you want, love hearing from everyone. Love y'all!

Nos vemos la próxima semana,

Élder Smith

* charlotte S-V-I-L-L-E

**or because we are stupid but trials can still benefit us if we learn!