February 24, 2026

 ¡Hola amigos y familia! 

I hope you are all doing wonderful! This week was pretty typical as far as CCM goes. However, I am headed into my last week of training which means next week I should be headed into the field!! It's honestly so crazy I feel like I got here yesterday but that I have also been here for 4 years. 

Que padre: technically it translates to "what dad," but when the Mexicans use it, it means cool. 

Tuesday was P-day, we played pickleball with our district for a while and watched a devotional from Elder Uchtdorf.

Wednesday I hit one month being set apart as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ! We also started "solo español" which means that I have 6 hours of class everyday in only Spanish. I feel like I am learning a lot  but I also know that I am about to be humbled when I get to the field next week. 

Thursdays are always busy. Hermana Scott and I taught a lesson in Spanish and it went pretty good! We also had a service project were we dug up weeds in the sun for a hour. ( It gave me a small glimpse of what service might look like in the field). 

Friday was very normal. We read a chapter of el Libro de Mormon outside as a district. Muy divertido. 

Saturday the mountains were on fire three separate times and I am so grateful that I got over my fear of wild fires a couple years ago otherwise there might have been an issue. 

Sunday was wonderful perusal. We had a great relief society lesson. Shoutout Hermana Hartman and Jacobson. We also had watched a devotional by Elder Gong.

Monday was also great! Our district was randomly selected to have our spanish class recorded for the Provo MTC to see how we do things at the CCM. We ended up teaching the first 3 lessons in Spanish and I'm actually pretty proud of myself. :) 

Pensamiento espiritual: 

Being on my mission has been a bit of an emotional roller-coaster every day. I can go from being so happy and excited to serve to feeling homesick and wondering if I can really do this for a year and a half. I was talking with and Elder in my district yesterday and he said something that really shifted my perspective. I was telling him about how I am having a hard time dealing with change. He said 

"Hermana Smith, the one thing that is always going to stay consistent in your life is change." 

This made me realize that throughout all my life (but especially as a missionary) I will need to learn to change and adapt. Its not always going to be easy and sometimes God is going to give us challenges we can't handle on our own. He gives us these challenges so that we have to rely on Him and rely on Jesus Christ. It is in these moments that our relationships with God and Jesus are strengthened the most. 

I love you all so much! 

Hermana Smith