Wk 86 - actividad de zona

Companion: Elder Stallings

Area: Tome´

a member from my last sector( pablito) made us empanadas!
and i got sand all over my face after playing football on the beach

(the black spot isn't a bug or anything- it's a spot on his camera!)

today we had an activity between 3 zones and the other 2 zones came to tomé to play soccer and play on the beach. (our church is really close to the beach) it was way fun we played football on the beach and i was covered in sand by the time i finished playing! haha i had a blast! we also ate empanadas and they were super good!!! 

the provo city center temple looks incredible! i am excited to see it!! 

with the investigators that we had last week they still didnt get baptized.... diego WILL be getting baptized this week! he past his interview on saturday and i am way happy for him. 

watching taytons video made me laugh pretty hard!!! and i loved the birthday video to mom. I want to wish a happy birthday to talia and mom. you guys are so special to me and thanks for all you do mom. you literally are THE BEST MOM IN THE WORLD!! talia i am so happy i am your brother and i wouldnt want it any other way!! your little family(well not so little anymore) brings so much happiness in our lives!! i am sooo grateful that i get to be with you guys the eternity of time!!

elder smoot

Wk 85 - Compañero nuevo

Companion: Elder Stallings
Area: Tome´

New comp: Elder Stallings

my new comp is pretty cool and it was a great first week!! this next week should be good as well!! 

manuel and diego are planning being baptized so i am excited for that. manuel is the person that was going to be baptized and then got in a fight with is wife because his wife is evangelical so he didnt get baptized but a while ago his wife gave him permission to be baptized and yesterday she was leaving to her church when we came by and she kinda seemed bothered again which is a bummer but oh well. we will see how this week goes. its weird because she doesnt like him leaving her alone at the house to go to church but she does the same thing when she goes to her church. she leaves him alone at the house! haha i dont know i dont get it!! 

i am going to tell you a little bit about diego. he was going to be baptized this past week but he hadnt received an answer yet so he didnt want to do it. we have tried a few things just to help him recognized his answer. he always says he feels good as he shares with us and goes to church so its like well there is your answer buddy!! haha but he needed something more real according to him but he did receive an answer saturday night. he went out to a party with his friends. (he has stopped drinking with his friends and doesnt drink tea nor coffee) he was at this party and wasnt drinking or anything but his friends were. he said he doesnt even like going to parties that much but his friends convinced him to stay for the after party thing and not really wanting too with it being like 6 in the morning he went anyway. the police showed up and were looking for drugs and stuff and he said right there is when he realized that it wasnt his thing that what we taught was good and that is how he received his answer. it was definitely in a weird way but he took that as his answer which is awesome!! the most impressive thing is even through he got home at 7 or 8 in the morning he still went to church yesterday and loved it! haha diego is sick!! he was telling us this when we went by yesterday and i am way happy for him!! 

well  i love you guys and have a great week!!

elder smoot 

Wk 84 - el bautismo de carlos

Companion: Elder Anderson
Area: Tome´

the construction of the concepcion temple

 the baptism and carlos´s girlfriend that is a member

so this past week we had a baptism and it was sick!!!! it was a great experience. my companion baptized him and it was the last weekend before he left. i confirmed him a member at church yesterday. it was a very spiritual experience. 

i am going to be staying with some elders from another sector so i am not alone!! haha i will go get my comp tomorrow at the bus station. 

this week we had diego who is planning on being baptized but is having a hard time recognizing his answer. i know he has felt the spirit and we have shared scriptures to help him but i know we will help him out this week so he gets baptized saturday!! 

i am so excited for this week. i had to learn the sector of tomé in one transfer and it is a big sector but ill be able to do it!!! but my new comp is as well from idaho and his name is elder stallings. he is a good kid and i am excited for this transfer. this is his first transfer being a zone leader but he will be finishing in 2 transfers more!! 

i did want to give a shout out my boy brayden cox for going back on the mission today!! that was the best news i received today!! i got two letters today one from the blackhurst family it was their christmas card and then from grandma and grandpa smoot. they sent their testimony in a letter and boy did i feel the spirit as i read it. 

i love you guys and i am doing good! honestly i love it here!!! it is hard and very exhausting at times but it is soooo worth it!! (by the way these 2 past weeks we have had a record high of 41 lessons in a week and this week we topped it and got 42 lessons. most of the lessons are to a convert or less active and investigator so it was a great weeek!!!!!!!!!!!!)

have a great weeek!!

elder smoot

Wk 83 - un año nuevo 2016

Companion: Elder Anderson
Area: Tome´

walking in the street 

on new years eve

 in the bishops car in the back with his kids

our apartment

albert enstein dog!

carlos the investigator that is going to be baptized this week

well this past week was way sick!!! we had 2 investigators in church that have a baptismal date and they both are way cool! carlos is going to get baptized this saturday and Diego the next saturday! carlos is 20 yrs old and diego is 26 yrs old or something like that. they are way cool. i am loving tomé and its a really good ward!! 

the new year we went to bishops house at 9 and we had to be at the house at 11 and we went to bed a 11 30 as always and i just stayed awake till 12 and at midnight people threw confetti from the building and we saw outside confetti falling from the sky it was pretty cool! 

right now is perfect weather outside. i am enjoying the summer in tome and in concepcion. it never gets too hot. at times i get hot just because i got a collar shirt on and we have to walk up hills a lot but other than that i cant complain! 

well thanks for all you do mom and dad and family. i will be seeing you guys later!! 

elder smoot


(Part of an email I got last week!:

Your missionary, Elder Smoot, is scheduled to complete his mission on Tuesday, 31 May 2016 .

Approximately six weeks before this date I will send you a copy of his flight plans.)

Wk 82 - ¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Companion: Elder Anderson
Area: Tome´

some decorations they had of the temple that is going to be in Concepcion

some friends from the mission as well

the shovel used in the ground breaking for the temple

a crazy member in our ward named fito

some of my gifts and the dinner on christmas eve

we went to chillan so my comp could buy soveniours
and this is just a big catholic church there

well first of all it was good to see you guys on christmas day. I think that is one of the greatest gift one can receive is to be able to see their family on christmas. It is always fun to see you guys!! 

I am doing so well here. i love all the good times and the hard times as well! This past week as you know we had a christmas conference with the whole mission. it was good to hear a talk from our mission president and his wife. one thing they talked about that i just loved was when they were preparing to come on the mission they had an apostle visit them. I cant remember which one it was but they told them how they could measure their success as mission presidents. they said they will know if they were successful not in a few years after but decades after when the kids of those missionaries they served are sealed in the temple. it was pretty cool to hear that and that was something that stood out to me. the conference theme was a temple theme and they had a shovel from the ground breaking there and we were able to take pics and it was a really fun experience! 

it was  a good last christmas in the mission. we ate dinner and christmas eve with the peñailillo family. i know it is a crazy name!! haha they are way cool! they gave us some little gifts and that was really nice of them! 

i will be sending pics of the week but i love you guys!! have a great week!!

elder smoot

Feliz Navidad

Elder Smoot is on the left side- back row of Elders- 3rd from the left :) 

Wk 81 - la semana de la navidad (Christmas Week)

Companion: Elder Anderson
Area: Tome

most of the tomé zone. we have 4 elders that are missing that are from sectors that are far away so they weren't there that day. we made a temple for the christmas conference. every zone had to make a little temple to decorate the conference! we did the salt lake temple!!

just so you know real quick we had a member that went kayaking in the ocean and no one has heard from him since. he was a member of the church but thats why i have a crab in my hand is we were on the beach looking for him and so we got together as a ward to go search for him but still he isnt found. it is kinda crazy and sad. i hope they will be able to find  him.

it is pretty crazy that the week of christmas is here. i am pretty excited to talk with you guys. this week we have a lot of things we got to do!! 

tomorrow i we will meet of with all the missionaries in the mission to have a christmas conference so that will be fun and then friday on christmas we will be in an activity playing games like soccer or dodge ball or something like that!! i will for sure be a blast!!! thats why we got to do skype a little bit later! it will be fun though!!! 

this past week has been a little bit a of roller coster as we have found some new investigators that are golden and our baptism fell through this past week at the last minute.. it was pretty crazy... manuel is the person that was going to be baptized and he had past his interview and everything. we had the baptismal font filled and as we were walking to the church he had been waiting outside the church and told us that he had gotten in a fight with his wife because she is from another religion and so he decided to avoid conflict he wasnt going to be baptized... it was very sad to hear that but he will be baptized another day. we will have to talk with his wife a bit. she is a very nice lady but i know satan works hard so people dont get baptized!!! 

right now we have claudia, diego, and carlos that are all golden and diego went to church and will be baptized in january and claudia got sick at the last moment and couldnt go so that was a bummer but carlos will be baptized the 5th of January so i am way excited for that. he is a members boyfriend but he is way cool as well. he is 20 yrs old. 

well there is my week and a lot of good and bad things happen but all in all i am very happy to be here. this is the best decision i have made to serve a mission!

elder smoot