Friends and Family,
Hey! First off, you are all amazing!! Uncle Doug, Aunt Jen, Kaylee, Kortney, and Taylor, I LOVED the Christmas present! I’ve had cookies or brownies every night this week! I’m getting a double chin!! You are so amazing! And Whitney Dansie, your present was also great! (It was a Christmas ornament with a recording). I was so excited that I pushed the wrong button, so I never heard the recording! haha I did it in front of my whole district and they were die-ing laughing! I didn’t think it was that funny!! I was actually pretty mad, but thank you anyways! I’m sure that whatever it said, was inspirational! Now all it says is “Ahhhh I’m soooo stupid” haha I thought that would be great to listen to in a couple years! Heidi and Nicole, your present was great too!! The guns were a blast on P-day!
Also thank you to Jensens, Bergers, Stewarts and especially my amazing family!! You are the best!! Dad I loved your quote!! I actually have a couple for you! Tim Jackson (our recent convert) said the Winnipeg-er winter motto is “Bundle up, hunker down and complain!” haha It’s so true!!
Now for my favorite quote of the week, it’s from my hilarious companion! He’s the best! There were some really rough looking natives down the street that we chased down when it was really dark, right before we came in for the night. Right when we got close to them they turned down a dark, spooky alley! My comp stopped dead in his tracks and said, “I know God loves those children, but I know he loves me too!” haha I died because it reminded me of Dad telling me not to be stupid because missionaries aren’t invincible! My companion is so funny and he says a lot of funny stuff that reminds me of Payt and Dad! Oh and I have one more funny quote! Daniel Dang, a great investigator from Sudan, has been doing great and he finally said that he believes Joseph Smith is a prophet and the B.O.M. is true! He is amazing and we are helping him work towards a date but the other night I was talking to him on the phone and he said, “Good night and God bless you.” And I said, “You too.” And then he said, “May Joseph bless you in your sleep.” And I said, “Uhhhhhhh........ yah, Joseph was a great man, bye!” We definitely have some more teaching to do, but he is great!
So this week honestly was going amazing!! I was so excited to tell you about how great everything was and then Saturday night at 10:30 Akon called and she was all upset and she said that she had called her husband all excited about the church and their baptism that was coming up and he said that he didn’t want them going to the church anymore. This was a dagger to the heart!! I have never been so upset on my mission! Me and my companion hit total depression mode and had a rough night trying to sleep! It was horrible and so sad! I can’t tell you how much I love this family! They are so amazing!
After church we went over to there house and knocked on the door. Nyandeng (who is Addi’s age and also missing her 2 front teeth and is sooo cute!!) looked through the spy whole and screamed with her missing teeth lisp “ITH ELDER THMITH!!” My heart melted, and my comp said, It’s only because my name is too hard to say.” haha because she is his favorite. Oh, they are soooo amazing!! We walked in and all the kids were pretty down because they love church and they had missed it. But we just left them a little message to cheer them up and then we left! I am so sad but I am so sure that things will workout! They are so amazing and so prepared for the gospel! Please keep them in your prayers and hopefully I will have better news on them for next week!!
Other than that downer with Akon and the kids, the rest of the week was amazing! We found another family of 9 that is from Sudan as well and I love them so much!! We taught them once this week and they wanted to go to church but we had already used pretty much everyone in the ward that had a car. So we called up President, haha! He and Sister Paulson showed up in two cars to get their whole family to church!! It was amazing!! At church I had a 4 year old a 6 year old and an 8 year crawling all over me! haha It was so crazy but so fun!! I didn’t catch a word of the meeting because I was juggling kids!! I loved it and I regret ever loosing my temper with Alex or Addison in church, or ever!! I was such an uptight jerk, so I am sorry!! But I love being around all these kids. It feels so great!!
So we had their whole family at church and Derek and Evone! Akon dropped the news on us the night before so they weren’t there and Sacapo’s Mom was in the hospital, so their family was with her. Daniel’s daughter was also in the emergency room so he missed his ride too! These people never miss an appointment, but this week everyone had problems with stuff on Sunday! We had rides for all of them, and we will next week too. But if they all make it, it’s going to be crazy!!! We’ve sent the primary into shock the last couple weeks! They have double the kids and if they all show this next week, I don’t know what’s gonna happen!
We also had Deon, who set a date and he has a wife and a bunch of kids, too. But he’s kinda flaky, but he wants us to keep teaching him and he said he wants to come to church next week too, so who knows!! It is crazy, and we keep finding new people!! It’s funny because street contacting can get addicting!! We are rushing between lessons but it’s hard to pass people up! I love this area and these people so much and if I get moved this transfer, I’m gonna be so disappointed!!! We have been so blessed in this area!! This transfer went so fast it is insane! I will know if I’m staying or going next week! As for baptism dates, we have a lot, but they all are next transfer and Akon, Deng and Ien’s will all depend on their Dad. Akon is still in debate with him about it, so hopefully that will work itself out!
Robert is a man I haven’t even talked about but he’s been taught a lot and set a date but its so hard for him to get Sundays off! The whole mission is doing great right now though! As a mission we had 72 to church this week, which is a record! 67 was the most this mission had in at least 2 years and probably longer!! I’m loving it here so much!! Some days are hard, for sure, but somedays are sooo good!! I’ve decided that any day can be the best day if you have that attitude!! It doesn’t matter what happens.. you should love everyday!! Everyday is such a blessing!! I have days when I get down and its so ridiculous because I am so blessed!! If you want to be happy, you can be happy! It’s just how it is!! Life is great!!
Everyone, I love you and miss you so much! Oh Mom, and we have had days with prayers where we do just give thanks, and they are the best!! That was a great idea, keep up the great work!! I love you all so much, be safe, be smart and good luck with everything!!
Love Elder Smith
