Monday, September 26, 2011

JOHN GETS BAPTIZED!


Hey Family!!
What a week!!!! So this week was super crazy! haha but super great!! It looks like Payton’s week was super great too! hahah Tell him to tell all his girly friends that he’s gonna be gone for 2 years but I’m single and and an RM (: I sent a birthday package to him! Hopefully he got it by his b-day! I kinda doubt it though because he didn’t email this week! But tell him I love him and I’m soooooooooooooooooo proud of him!! He is such a champ! He is going to be a power house missionary!! This week has been great though. District meeting went well and it was off to a good start! We have knocked every door in this city and many of them a couple times to try and get everyone at home! So this week we didn’t look at our records and we went around inviting everyone out to the fries, dogs, and movie night! On Wednesday President Vahovick just shows up at our apartment at lunch time and pulls up a chair and ate lunch with us! hahah He is such a great guy! He had to do our apartment check and we had a great chat with him! It was weird cus you’re not allowed to have members in your apartment, but since he had to do the apartment check he was ok and it was neat! We had a good little correlation meeting for the Baptism and movie night and everything! It was fun and then he gave us his cell phone # haha and he is like “don’t tell anyone in the branch! No one knows that I have it but you and my wife!” haha I love that guy to death! He is such a country fishen’ hunten’ hick! haha so of course he loves Elder Mcdanel and me! haha But that was great! John called us up on Tuesday before our apt with him and asked if he could take us out to McDonalds! So we went over and had a great lesson with him and then we piled into his Jeep and he took us to McDonalds! It was a blast! He bought us a bunch of food! It was funny though because I didn’t tell you this but when he took us to Pizza Hut after we went golfing, he ordered an iced tea. So it was really awkward and we had to talk to him about it. haha But then at McDonalds I ordered a water and the water thing comes out of the same thing as the iced tea! hahaha So he called me out and I’m like hold up man! It’s just water! haha McDonalds really needs to change that! haha It was pretty funny though!! He is such a great guy! He is a man of hilarious quotes! haha This week we reviewed the Spirit World and he said " If the Spirit Prison doesn’t have a jail keeper, it’s gonna be a lot worse than prison here!" Then he gave his goofy chuckle! hahaha After we taught him about the Priesthood and temples he looked a little over whelmed and he looks at me all serious and says, "Well this is gonna take a lot more than the 10 to 15 minutes a night!" haha I love this guy!! haha Oh while I’m on quotes, I got some new ones from Elder Mcdanel. He always says, “Oh man that’s a BO (Bad Ordeal) haha But my favorite for the week is "Man! Some people’s kids!" hahahah Golden! But the fries, dogs, and movie night was a great success! Gerrald came early and helped get it ready!! It was great to see the light in his eye as he helped with it! He was loven’ it! He was even serving people and then he did most of the clean up! He’s a great guy!! John got his mom there and she loved it! He was a great help with clean up too! Then we watched the movie Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration. It is soooo great and John’s Mom was crying! She tried to blame it on a cold, hahah It was sooo great!! It was a great night! Very stressful! hahaha Oh!!!!! I almost forgot! So the church as been stinky ever since I got here and they can’t figure out what it is! But we went in on Wednessday to clean the font! We got all of the storage stuff in there moved out and then lifted up the wooden thing over the font and this terrible smell comes up!! We look down in and there are spiders and beetles everywhere and a thick sheet of mold and nastyness covering the whole bottom of the font and it had climbed up the walls a ways! We tried scraping it off and it wouldn’t budge! So we go and get some brand new things of toilet bowl cleaner and just coat it!! The smell went crazy, so we got masks and went to town! haha Let me say that I have broken the Word of Wisdom more on my mission than I ever have before I came out! haha From people’s weed and cigarettes, and toilet bowl cleaner mixed with mold! haha We were way sick when we were done, but oh man that baby was shinen’! haha So that was a fun adventure!! So we were all locked and loaded for the baptism! John and President Vahovick both showed up an hour early! We had to fill the font and it took forever and the pipes were all rust so it looked like lake water or worse! haha We were mad after all of our hard work! haha But then we went to practice what would happen! They both looked nervous, haha And we go to practice and President Vahovick doesn’t know how to do it! hahah So I had to show them and they practice some more! haha President Vahovick is so great and he has a rock solid testimony but he definitely wasn’t raised in Mormonville! haha He has such a neat conversion story and has been a convert for like 30 or 40 years! He and his wife were baptized when they were young and she was pregnant! It’s neat stuff! You will definitely have to ask them about it! But after I showed him and John how to do it John asked him, “So how many people have you baptized?” President Vahovick said, “Well not that many and then he starts counting ‘um with his kids and then some friends in the church.” haha It was just funny cus they were both pretty stressed! haha But the meeting starts and it is going great!! We go in for the Baptism and President Vahovick starts and says the prayer wrong like 3 or 4 times! haha then he got it and it was golden!! after he was like " come on it was off by like one word" hahaha i love that guy! haha it was super great though and the spirit was super strong! johns mom kept saying "its so peaceful here! There’s something about this place, it just has a different feel than anywhere that I have been before! We have got to meet with them and get them to set a date!!! They are excited to meet you guys!! It was a great night though! The ward was super supportive and the food after was great!! It was golden! It was funny at the beginning because Elder McDanel had to conduct and he messed it up pretty good! I smirked and he was still in baseball mode. He lifted up his hands and gave me the “Oops, I missed the pop fly” look! It was great! But things are so good! Missionary work is great!! As for details, you can come to Dryden on Wednesday the 12th.  I will probably meet up with you at the Vahovicks or something. So get a room in Dryden for the night of the 12th and then Winnipeg for the 13th, 14th, 15th,  and 16, because we are leaving Monday right? But that should be great! Thanks so much for all that you do! If there are any questions give Sister Polten a call(: I love you! You guys a great!! Have a great week!! Love Elder Smith!!