Real Friends

July 6th, 2026

"Real friends, how many of us?" - Ye


If you happen to find yourself in Guayama, Puerto Rico (it's been called the ugliest place in pr!) and you swing by the plaza on a Saturday evening, the odds are in your favor that Pentecostal preachers will be out in full glory, shouting into a cheap mic, plugged into a cheaper (but louder) speaker. 

We always make sure to thank them for their faith and their work before we go elsewhere. Anyone preaching their beliefs (for the right reasons) is admirable, and we thought we had quite a friendly relationship going! We love to see interfaith relationship building around here :)

Well, a reliable source told us that when we aren't around, they tell everyone "don't talk to those white guys with the ties," and make fun of us. 

In all honesty, I'm disappointed. Because that is not what Christ would do. If Jesus Christ knew I wasn't going to the "correct church" (a concept they ironically don't believe in, because they wouldn't have a leg to stand on; They just "know" the LDS church CAN'T be it), Jesus would lovingly correct me. Not mock me behind my back.


Our God is a God of order and creation. He organized the universe and everything we see is thanks to Him. The Adversary, and men following him, seek to destroy and tear down. Christ said "he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil," (3 Nephi 11:29). I still love anyone from any religion that is trying to get closer to our Lord and Savior, there is literally nothing more important you could be doing in this life. I hope other religions can have that same view someday.

In Acts 5, the apostles are brought before a council and shamed and persecuted for their beliefs. I've always really liked the last two verses, 41 and 42.

"And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ."

Luckily I am very stubborn and have determined to love them more and be even kinder to them.

"We smile at each other, but how many honest?" - Ye


Cuídate,
Élder Smith

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

We Major

Image
April 27th, 2026 "Feelin better than I ever felt before today" It sufficeth me to say: I'm staying in Guayama and my new comp is super cool and a breath of fresh air  He is both a super good and spiritual missionary, while also being relatable and fun to be around. And hes like 6'4 so I'm basically hanging out with a less-country version of a-a-ron (shout outs) So excited for this transfer. The ward really is special and now that I'm not with someone set on avoiding member meals (for whatever reason), we can actually build relationships with the members and unite our faith together    Luis, the joven I mentioned a few weeks ago, got baptized this sunday!! He is bien chevere and he doesn't know it yet but he'll be a great missionary. And his mom was there and bawled her eyes out the whole time, we're gonna get her next, promise. She's so sweet, everytime we come over she says "Luis! Los mormónis!" Something about being called "m...
Read more

Yikes

Image
Another transfer has come and gone, but for this one I won't be staying in Guayama. Honestly, I'm a sucker for a toxic relationship and kinda miss that place. Come back, Guayama, we can work through this  The good news is Caguas is going to be just as toxic. My second night, I had a gun pulled on me! Well, maybe not pulled on me, but just "brandished" in my direction. Very quickly declared my missionary purpose (I am here to help you get closer to Christ, NOT vice versa, if you catch my drift), and he wasn't even interested. Tranquillo, tigre! July 20th, 2026 Saying goodbye was hard, I spent the last 4 months in Guayama and met some pretty cool people. I did have the privelege of being invited to Mario's birthday party on my last day, we got to sing happy birthday and his mom even got him a cake. It was a very exclusive party, just us missionaries, him, and his mom, were invited. And they got me a Borricua hat, so it's official now.  I'm in a trio now....
Read more

Junya

Image
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 Guzmá...
Read more