Hey!
First off, tell Payt I’m keeping track on when he doesn’t write! hahahahah Just tell him I love him and hopefully he’s liven’ it up! It sounds like you’ve been chatting a bunch with Edilyn! She really is a ball! She is super smart and so I’m sure it’s frustrating for her to try and pick up on English! I hope she isn’t expecting too much for the food. I’m just sharing some waffles, bacon, and eggs, covered in coke cherry syrup! Luckily that’s one recipe I’ve got down! Dad and Alex, it sounds like the baseball camp was a blast! A-rod, keep working hard and you’re gonna be an all star! Mom, it sounds like you are doing all kinds of neat fun stuff and really magnifying your calling! You’re great! Oh and guess what! This week Sister Baronins was called as the Waverley Relief Society President, too! She said she wrote you and hasn’t heard back in awhile. She loves you and hasn’t even met you! She is super great! You two have a lot in common. It’s kinda crazy.
So this week was another crazy one!! First off, I’ll start with some bad news. We went over to teach Mattie this week and when we called before we came she said she had bad news. We were super nervous and when we got there she told us that she had some disease or infection or something crazy. She was sobbing and so we couldn’t completely understand the whole situation, but the doctors told her that she can never have children and that they don’t know how long she will live. They are doing tests on her and stuff but it is super bad, super scary stuff. So when she told us we were just shocked. Their whole family was all messed up and crying and mad at each other and it was honestly like the craziest, saddest, hardest lesson I’ve ever been in. We all walked out with tears in our eyes and super confused. I honestly didn’t know what to say. . . like it was such a weird thing! I’m super frustrated because she doesn’t even know the details of it. Like if it was in our family we would know everything. We would be seeing specialists and all kinds of stuff, but because of their situation they barley know anything other than that she has problems and the doctor told her they don’t know how long she will live. It’s just crazy! When we left that night she was depressed and confused. We put together a lesson plan for a couple days later though and talked about getting through trials with the gospel. After her bad news she stopped reading and praying and she said she wasn’t up to coming to church, but after her lesson she started reading and praying again and she made it to church this week! It’s just so hard though because we don’t know how to handle the situation. It’s so confusing and frustrating. For now her baptism is on hold. This next week will hopefully help us all figure things out. It’s just all so crazy!! She is such an amazing girl and hopefully it will all work out! Please keep her in your prayers.
Well this week was honestly loaded with ups and downs! Sounds like Edilyn already spilled the beans with the exciting stuff. haha But I’ll still tell ya the whole story with Maritess. We had a lesson with her and Elder Leonard and I were together on exchange. We told her we would all fast and she would go and talk to her boss to ask for her Sundays off! She had been to afraid to get work off for months and it’s been a big thing holding her back from getting baptized! It was so neat because their whole family, Brother Rico in the Waverly Ward (who is amazing and has been great help in teaching her), the Assistants and the other companionship in our ward, all fasted! It was so neat because we all fasted, she talked to her boss and that night we called her and she said she was getting baptized on the soonest Saturday that she had work off! Her boss said she could get every other week off, which wasn’t as good as every week, but it was what she needed to pull the trigger. It really was such a miracle! The funny part is that before we talked to Maritess, Edilyn called us all super excited to tell us! haha Edilyn is an amazing missionary!! Maritess's interview went great and she is good to go! She has a super solid testimony and she is hilarious!! That whole Filipino crew is amazing! They feed us some wonderful food!
The Canada Winnipeg Mission is the best!! When I get home I will be able to one up everyone because I’ve gotten a taste of the best things of every mission! haha Here we get all the good experiences of an Africa mission, Philippine Mission, Mexico Mission, Thailand Mission. You name it, we got it all! And we don’t have to sleep in huts or ride bikes or fight off critters or face tornadoes or even walk up hills! We get nice cars and apartments and fast food! Nothin’ tops the Canada Winnipeg Mission!!! It really has been a wonderful week and we have been so blessed!! I can’t believe how blessed we are!
Amie and Godwin are doing well. A new kid named David is great and he should get baptized next month! There really are so many amazing things happening! Missions are the best! Sunday went great and we had a lot of people show! It’s so funny how many ups and downs there are!
Last night I got way sick and was on the John perfecting the turn around jumper!! haha I really have learned to love the ups and downs. Because the rough patches in life make you so grateful for the gospel!! I still stress so much with so many things and I’m super worried about Mattie but I know that the gospel is the cure all for every situation!! I have such a strong testimony that no matter what trials we face, the gospel can help!! Life is so great! Missions are the best and the gospel is soooo true! MARITESS IS GETTING BAPTIZED!! I love you all a ton! Have a wonderful week!
Love Elder Smith
