Day #8 Check out la familia Smart

I had to do this post after the post about my mission so, in case it was unclear before, it would be pretty clear now how much my experience in Argentina changed my life. My time in Argentina was really the start of Life Part 2 for me, and the steps that had to take place in order for it to happen revolve so much around one family that I have to involve them in these fourteen days of love posts.


These are the Smarts


The story starts first with their son Jake when I was 15. (He's the one to the left of his graduating mama above.) He was one of 2 of my first simultaneous Mormon encounters. I had never heard of the church prior and had no idea what it was all about. Since I had a huge teen crush on Jake at the time I watched his every move. I knew he had very strong beliefs and I knew he owned them. I mean, I knew they were completely independent of his upbringing. I had no beliefs of my own and I definitely didn’t know of one thing I stood for at age 15. It was very intriguing to me to know someone my age so smart who could tell me what was important to them and what they wanted out of life, when the only thing on my radar at the time was the next party on Friday night. I eventually started going to the LDS church and soon after I was baptized a member of their church. Best decision I've ever made in my life. Thank you Jake.

Then came Ryan..(see above with the sunglasses on)

For years after I joined the church I struggled trying to juggle both my normal party/lazy lifestyle of staying up late partying and sleeping in late(i.e. never making it to church), and trying to keep up with my desire to be a part of my new found faith. I always knew I had found truth in this church and that it made me happy, but I really had a hard time changing my lifestyle. Ryan came along at just the right time. When I was 20, he had moved back to San Diego the same time I did and the two of us had no other friends there. We actually weren’t even really great friends before moving back to San Diego. We ended up working together at Jimbos’s every day and became the best of friends. I’m pretty sure he was an angel sent to me personally to help me gain the will power, strength, and vision to change into who I wanted to become. Ryan taught me how to not just talk about change but to make it happen. He taught me the meaning of hard work, sacrifice, selflessness, commitment, love, and most of all faith. He’s one of the most faithful people I know. He was the crutch/angel I needed at that time to help me to stand on my own two feet. Ryan was someone who saw good things and potential in me I had no idea were there. He was the one who would let me share with him how I wanted to do what the girl missionaries that taught me did: go away for a year and a half somewhere and teach people these great things I had just learned.

That’s where David and Brenda come in...



I guess the conversations Ryan and I had about me dreaming about going on a full time mission for our church had been passed along to his parents David and Brenda. They talked without me knowing and one Sunday night these conversations Ryan and I had been having came up at the Smart dinner table . They asked what I thought about going on a mission. I told them how it sounded wonderful , like the greatest thing I could do to be able to give back to someone what I’d been given. They asked me why I wasn’t pursuing it. Now, you have to know that at this point, I knew a decision like this would be completely unfeasible for me. It wasn’t even ever something I thought seriously about doing because, just like any other humanitarian experience, you have to be able to support yourself financially up front in order to be able to go and be without a paying job somewhere for a year and a half. I knew how much it would cost, and knew there was no way for me to even consider doing it. I just thought Ryan and I talked about it kind of like how you talk about a really luxurious vacation you know will never happen, like “wouldn’t that be nice if we went?” I finally responded and I think I said “I don’t know.” They started talking and saying things like “We only have four boys and we always wanted to send a daughter on a mission,” and “We really need blessings right now.” I understood where this was going and started to cry. The rest of what was said is kind of a blur because I was so happy and cried so much. These weren’t comments in passing, this was a real life offer. I told them I couldn’t accept this and, knowing my demeanor , they denied me the opportunity to reject their offer. I had never been so grateful for someone taking control of my shyness and demanding me to accept such an offer.

And that is how I got to spend the happiest year and a half of my life in Argentina which started the beginning of a new me, and a new life for myself. That experience was the starting point for the wonderful life I have now. Thanks to my mission I have so much love in my life and couldn’t feel more complete. I’ve said it plenty of times before, but I cringe to think of what would have become of my life had I not went on a mission. I have the Smarts to thank for the greatest happiness I've ever experienced and I gained the Smarts as an awesome second family in addition. Thank you Smarts, I love you all.