Hey everyone!

Well this week has been hard. All of my classes are now in Tagalog. Most of the class I sit there just trying to figure out what our teacher is saying. We are supposed to reply in Tagalog but that is so hard. Most people give up after a few words. This week we also had to teach the first lesson in Tagalog. I did a lot better than I thought I would but it's still far from being half way okay. During one part of the lesson, my companion was teaching and I got so lost because he speaks so fast. I thought I knew where he was at so I started to teach. Afterwards, I realized I had skipped everything about Christ and His apostles.

Teaching the lesson this week is going to be even harder. All of the Elders got new companions this week. My companion and I are still together except now it's a three person companionship. I don't know how well we are going to teach if there are three of us. Even though it's hard, I know the Lord is really helping me a lot. At times I understand what is being said even though I don't really know the words.

A really cool experience I had this week was in the referral center. I talked to a guy who doesn't think he believes in our church. His brother is learning about it so he got on to ask questions to better understand our church. I talked to him for about 45 minutes answering questions and telling him about Joseph Smith. At the end, I asked him to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. He said he would! I was so excited to hear he was really going to try and find out if the church is true.

Well that was my week. Only three more and I go to the Philippines and I can't wait! Love you all.

Love, Elder Smith