Hey!
Wow! Weird week, eh!? haha Man this call was definitely the weirdest! I felt so out of the loop and I didn’t know what to say or think or do about it!! From the second I heard Addi's woman singing voice and Alex’s manly voice and Payton’s fat kid voice, I was way thrown off. I loved hearing from you all and I love and miss you so much, but it’s weird that it was kind of a relief that it’s over because it’s such a weird thing!! haha That picture of Payton is hilarious! I’ve spent most of my email time staring and laughing! I feel so bad for you buddy!! It’s definitely the first time in your life that most girls wouldn’t want to kiss you! hahaha I use the word “most” loosely because you are PAYTON SMITH! haha But thanks so much for the call and emails and pictures and everything!! You guys are so great!! Well, I know I talked about a lot of this stuff in my call, but since this IS my journal, I’ll say it again!! Ronald was baptized!!! It went so good (I heard)! His brother in law Grundig baptized him and his brother Joefer and his sister were supposed to speak, so all of the members of the church in his family had a part! But Joefer slept in and didn’t prepare a talk, so Elder Woods was nominated to speak. Elder Woods spoke using Ronald’s new scriptures and then at the end said “Well, I couldn’t find a lot of the scriptures quickly because these are Ronald’s scriptures that Elder Smith’s mom sent!” So he went and handed them to Ronald! Ronald was so excited and gave Elder Woods a big hug. After the baptism, Ronald called me and he was so happy about everything!! He told me all about the baptism and he was excited to tell me that Bruce (a great investigator that had been taught everything and scheduled his interview right before I left) had passed his interview and he had asked Grundig to baptize him too!!! It was so neat!! I love Ronald and his family so much!! It was a big jump for him to make because all of his other family are really strong in the Catholic church! He will be such a wonderful member!!! But after talking to him for a little bit he ended by saying, "Ok, I’ll see you and your family in 6 months." haha After you told me you were coming I kinda told a couple people, so hopefully all works out so we can go and see em!! But all of that is so exciting and I can’t wait to hear about Bruce’s this week!! It should be great!!
Now as far as this ward goes... honestly, it’s a little overwhelming with all of the new stuff and how different things are but I am so excited for it! I want to do everything I can to make sure it is the climax of my mission!! Right now we are working with some super great people! First off, a man named Maricio that is amazing! He married a member in Chili and they just moved here about a year ago or something like that and wow, they are so wonderful!!! When I got here, he had been taught the first 2 lessons and a bit of the 3rd. We are now going through the commandments and it is so great!! The Spirit is always there and it is so great to teach them!! He has a couple concerns but I am so excited to see what happens!!! He made it to church again this week and he has been a couple weeks in a row. Hopefully he will receive answers soon! He is so great!!
Also April is really great! She is a single lady that has been investigating for a while and I think she is finally ready!! We are meeting with here tonight so hopefully all goes well! I did have some questions for you guys that it would be great if you could give me your ideas!! In this area there are a ton of Atheists that are humble and wanting to learn but they have been brought up without a believe in God. Any tips? It’s weird how hard it is to teach it!! Ammon makes it look way easier than it is! haha Also there is a lady with a Jason Brown/ Ken Despot situation! Part member, with calling, and fully active, but won’t get baptized!? Any ideas??
Well my times up, but I love you all so much! Thank you for all that you do!! Sorry I was kinda out of it for the call!! haha You are all the best!! Have a great week! Payt...... ice up and don’t go on any dates! haha The church is true! Missions are so great! Payt I’m so proud of you and excited for what is to come with exciting mission news!! Keep up the great work!! I love you all soooooo much!! Have a great week!
Love Elder Smith!!
