RONALD IS GETTING BAPTIZED!

Hey!!

Well it’s been an interesting week! First off, thanks so much for all that you do for me! And Dad thank you so much for checking that out for Elder Woods!! Man I have the best parents in the world!! I’ll talk to you about it more on the phone in a couple weeks! Elder Woods is just a great kid and we’ve become super good friends and so I wanna make sure he gets a good hook-up when he gets home! Thank you so much though!

That’s exciting about the new bishopric! It’s gonna be weird to have everything different! Sounds like everybody is doing great though! Tell Addi to get something ready to sing to me on the phone! But thanks again all of you for all that you do! So I have lots of bad and good news, so I figure I’ll get the bad out of the way and then repent and hopefully cheer you up with some good. So first off, the stupid photo cop got me again...... I hate these things soooooo much!!! 13 k's over again, it’s like 7.5 mph over and it’s the slowest that they give out tickets. I’m soooo frustrated because I’ve tried hard to go slow. But I’m done driving! I’ll just have my comp drive the rest of my mission, because this is terrible!! I’m super sorry and I think I had for sure better get a job right when I get home. It’s so frustrating and I’m super sorry! I wish Dad was here to get it off! haha But I’ll see what I can do. It’s $240 again, but I’m gonna go talk to them again. SORRY!!! I get to clean the dog kennel all of 2012!! haha

Alright, now to some funny news. Edilyn moved out from her family and she and Maritess got an apartment. So I had my mattress double stacked with 2 not so good mattresses put together and they made a good one. But Elder Paulson (President’s brother) is over our apartments and so he was helping her move. She didn’t have a bed so we told Elder Paulson we had double stacked and he was game for us to give one to her. So we gave it and all is well, till it’s time for bed. It’s a terrible mattress! So I woke up super sore! But, we also have this beater couch with tons of cushions. haha So the next night Elder Lovelace and I stuffed all the couch pillows under the bad mattress and I’m sleeping wonderfully once again! It looks hilarious, but man I might sport it for the rest of my life! It’s pretty comfy! But Edilyn moved safe and sound and she is doing great!! She and Maritess now have a place to themselves and it’s pretty nice. I just hope she got a better mattress than me!

But this week was super busy! I got to go on an exchange out to Selkirk and it was a blast!! I saw Sarah, Karl and Chris! Sarah and her mom are doing so great! It’s crazy because her mom didn’t let me come teach the first 5 months I was there and she was on the “do not contact” list! She had even filled out the papers to get her records removed!! Now she is a super Mormon Mom that is teaching the crazy kids in primary and she gave a talk last week! And Sarah is still amazing!! Karl is doing great but he hasn’t been making it to church as much as he should. He’s a great kid with a super testimony, but he is just at kind of a crazy time in life! He’s so good!! I loved seeing him! Chris is just doing ok. He has such a good heart, but he’s been missing church a lot!! It’s a really hard thing to see!! He wants to do the right thing though so hopefully he will pull out of the slump he’s in!! Man, I love all of the people up there so much!! It’s such a great little city!! It was fun to go back!! It’s hard to see people struggling though!

We are teaching so many amazing people right now though man!! Nathan and Maria are so amazing! I gave them your email!! He is in medical school and she is a stay at home mom! They look like a Mormon family and they have such strong faith and they are really searching!! We have taught them all of the big doctrines of the church and they are so smart!! I love meeting with them!! Mom, if they email, you and Dad gotta get em converted. They are so searching!! I hope it clicks for them! Man I love em though!!

Bruce is doing great!! He was out to church again and he is great!! He’s excited for his date and he just needs to get off coffee! He’s so close!! Laury is amazing!! She was out to church again this week!! She has a super nice house and she is also really searching! She is now in like Mosiah 20 or somethine!! She is cooking! And this week she made it to church and it just went amazing!! She got eaten alive with fellowship!! It was so great!! She went to a fireside with some members without us and a member gave her some nice scriptures! Hopefully she will set a date this week!!! Church was sooo wonderful though! Laury, Bruce, and Ronald all made it and they all had a great time! So now for the best part of the week! Ronald was only able to meet with us once a week, so we taught him once and then cheated the system. We were like "Ronald, Elder Woods is coming on exchange and he really wants to see you again." hah So he made the time and his family fed us! It was so good! We had crab and we ate the whole crab guts and all and we picked it over with our hands! haha I love filipino food! It was a blast and super good!! I think Payt will go to the Philippines, or Africa, or if he’s really lucky, Canada! But we finished all the commandments and ended by teaching fasting. We invited him to fast about being baptized on the 14th and us, the assistants, the Henderson Elders, the whole Avila family and Ronald all decided to fast on Sunday!

So, I obviously got Dad’s jeans (ha ha) because the next day after crab, I found myself in a nasty McDonald’s washroom for like 30 mins haha but then we went up to Brandon. We had 2 great kids that got interviewed and are being baptized next week! We drove back and had some good lessons and a lot of tracting. Then Sunday rolled around! It was a great service! Everything seemed to go so good! Ronald had a good day and it just went great! So we told Ronald we wanted to come see how the fast went that night. We told him we wouldn’t have time to teach but we would just come see how it went and chat for 5 or 10 mins! We got there and he had just finished watching The Restoration with his family! Man, they are great!! So we came in and said, “So, how’d it go?” haha He said, "well good." So we were like, “well how do you feel?” And he’s like "good" haha and were like, “sooo?” haha and then somehow something happened with the family, so they got off topic! Elder Lovelace and I were looking at each other. haha So we say, “Well, you were fasting about getting baptized, so how do you feel?” He smirks and says "good." haha So we are like, well so are you gonna be baptized?! He sat there awhile and then looks with a big grin and says "Ya." So we are like, “Well when?” It can be any Saturday between now and the 14th! And he says the 7th! hahaha Man, it was so good!! Like, we didn’t know what to expect or how to go about it but he had already made up his mind! He is so great!! I love that kid so much!! So we were super excited!! The only bad news is that transfer calls are this week! And I’ve been here like 7 months and Elder Lovelace goes home next transfer, so if I did stay, it would be for 2 transfers, which is kind of unlikely! I love this area so much and I really hope I get to be here for it! Either way, he’s getting baptized though and its soooo exciting!! He is such a great kid!! It has been so fun to teach him!! He is such a humble, smart, loving, kind man!!! He will be a great member! It’s been so fun to see him grow!! I met him for the first time like 6 months ago and he wasn’t even willing to listen to us! When we started teaching him he was too busy to read the scriptures, but I knew he liked power aid. haha So I bought a bunch of Power Aid and crossed out the Power and wrote Scripture aid. So every time we’d go over I’d toss him some Scripture Aid. He has read every night since! He is such a hilarious kid and it’s a big joke in his family with the Scripture Aid. Man he is so funny and so great! I wish I could tell ya all the great stuff that has happened with him! But to top off the night, after he set the date, his sister that he is living with was so happy! She is actually a convert as well! But she and her husband got out the guitar and sang to us with Ronald. It was great and then they got us to end by singing a hymn! it was so great!! The Spirit was so strong there!! It was such a great night!!

The church is so true!! Missions are the best!! I love you all so much!! Have a great week!! Love Elder Smith

oohh!! ps!! John Nordness, the excommunicated member, gets baptized on Wednesday!! I can’t believe I forgot! He has an amazing story!! Elder Leonard is baptizing him!! Super neat stuff!!! Love you!!

JUST LIKE A SCENE FROM A MOVIE!

Hey!!

Man, it sounds like it has been a crazy week!! I can't believe the news about Jayson Ralph's Mom! That kid has always had such a good spirit! That’s so crazy to me! I was in the MTC with him! It sounds like he has grown a lot. It’s hard to hear things like that because I know their family will be ok, but I wish there was something I could do to help!! Please keep me updated on how they are doing!!

It’s also crazy news about Bishop Russell!! He is such a great man!! I wrote him a short email, but I feel bad because I haven’t written him like at all, my whole mission!! Tell him I love him and I’m so grateful for all that he does!! As far as guesses on who will be the new bishop, I don’t even remember who all is in our ward! haha um... ya, I don’t know. I’ll look forward to the news next week!

I DO know the Roldans, they are in the Waverly Ward! They are a great family and I have eaten in their home before! Great food!

Sounds like A-rod is still an all star and I think we all knew that him growing up dealing with Payt and Dad, he would end up with a sense of humor! haha I expect some homers out of him this year and some big plays in the field!

Payt Heather Hill said she saw you at the party the other night.... she said you’re like me except I’m funnier! haha That made me happy, mostly the part about how you’re like me! I love and miss ya a ton buddy, and I think we all know you are funnier. But she wasn’t gonna go so far as to say I’m better looking! hahaha YOU take the cake on both!For sure! I’m so excited about you working on your papers! That’s such an exciting thing!! Just make sure that you don’t leave before we hangout for a while! Well thanks for the update! You guys are so great!!

Mom, I wanted to ask you a favor? It’s Edilyn’s birthday soon and I was wondering if you could get that lotion for her? Also, Elder Woods comes from a family where no one has gone to college. He wants to go, but he doesn’t know how and his family doesn’t know anything about it. I can tell he’s a little stressed and we would love to room together at Utah State, or wherever. It’s forever away, but he didn’t take the ACT, but he did have like a 3.8 GPA in high school. He’s a super smart kid and I was just wondering if you could do some research and see if he could even get in anywhere with out the ACT, and see what he would have to do. I don’t think it’s a rush, but I was wondering if you could just check it out. He’s such a good kid and I don’t want him getting home and getting stuck in his little town, if there’s a way out. Sorry, I feel like a lot of my email is just asking you to do stuff. Some things never change! haha You’re amazing Mom!!

Well this week was great! First off, I went on an exchange with another Elder Smith. It was great! I’d knock on a door and say, "Hi, I’m Elder Smith and this is Elder Smith...” We had interviews and Zone Conference this week and so we got out early to go and get stuff set up, and we got a flat tire! So we had to put on a spare. Let me just say, if you wanna bad tire off and a spare on, in under 3 hours, Elder Lovelace and I are the guys to call! hahaha Just kidding! It wasn’t quite that bad, but man, it was a pain! We were in our nicer suits out in the mud, trying to get to interviews. Luckily, Elders Leonard and Woods bailed us out, got everything set up, and it all went smooth. It was a funny morning for sure!

We are working with so many great people right now! Like they are all such golden investigators who sincerely want to know the truth!! Laury is now in Mosiah 8!! It’s crazy! I think she knows it’s true, but she is just nervous to pull the trigger and she wants to finish the book first. Ronald is so good, but his family didn’t come to church this week, so he didn’t either! aaahhh! So frustrating! The Spirit is always so strong when we teach him! He has to know it’s true!! We will see what happens this week! Bruce is doing so good! He is supposed to have an interview this week, but he is still struggling with coffee, so we will see what happens. Karla is good, but she is living with her boyfriend, who is a member, and who doesn’t want to move out. Teaching the Law of Chastity to people that you love (one of which is a member and already knows it’s wrong) is super .....hard, interesting, and frustrating! I have such a testimony of the Law of Chastity though!!! Man it make so much sense!! JUST LIVE IT!! aaahhh!! So that lesson didn’t go too great and so hopefully we can make a recovery with them this week!!

We also are teaching this Baptist/Menanite family and all I have to say is, WOW! They are so good!! They know the bible so good, but they listen to us!! They read the Book of Mormon. He even came to Conference. Their names are Nathan and Maria!! If they get Baptized they with be the next Chris and Rocky Baronins! Like wow, they are so great! They are so kind to us and they feed us homemade pastries every time we go over. Man, it’s crazy how many great people we have to teach!

I did have a question for everybody this week for the entire fam, Jay, G-pa, G-ma, Papa and Grammy, Aunts, Uncles and cousins included. What are some ideas to bring the Spirit into the lesson and help these people get answers to their prayers? I know that’s a super broad question, and one that I’m sure we would all like the perfect answer for, but I just wanted to hear your ideas? I really would just love to try any ideas you have so that the Spirit can play a bigger role in our teaching!

I’m so grateful to be here though, and I’m so grateful for all that you all do for me!! I am so blessed!! So I had a really neat experience a couple days ago that really topped off the week. It started out with bad news. The bad news is that Amie and Godwin are moving soon to BC. The good news is that they threw a going away party. haha We got there and it is Elder Woods, Leonard, Lovelace and me, Edilyn, Amie, Godwin, and Brother Lord! It was sooo much fun!! Great food, great Christian-African music, that I didn’t understand and great company! haha Elder Woods leaned over to me and said, "Man, did you ever think this would happen!?” haha Then he said, “This is like the last scene in a movie!" haha He cracks me up! But it’s so true! It was so neat! I love these people sooo much and it’s such a neat thing to see the Gospel change them!! I’m so grateful to be a missionary! There are a lot of frustrating things, but the blessing out weigh the hard times 1,000,000 to 1!! I’m so grateful for how blessed I am!! I’m so grateful for the gospel!! Time’s going way too fast!! I’m sooo grateful to be here!! I love you all so much! Have a great week! Love Elder Smith

WE ARE GETTING A TEMPLE!!!!!

WE ARE GETTING A TEMPLE!!!!

Man! I can’t believe it! It is sooooo exciting!!! Everyone here was so caught off guard!! It was so great because we were there for conference and we had Ronald and Laury there for the first session!! We sat down and all was going good. President Monson started and I was excited about the Idaho one and then they announced the Winnipeg Temple and the place just went crazy!!! hahaha It was so wonderful! It was the first time I’ve ever heard so much gasping, clapping, screaming and crying in the chapel!! The Spirit was so strong and I was trying not to bawl and trying to explain what was going on to Ronald and Laury! I don’t think what I said made any sense and I’m pretty sure they still had no idea what was going on, but I don’t think there is any way that they didn’t feel the Spirit!! I LOVE CONFERENCE!!! IT WAS SUCH A WONDERFUL WEEK!! I just can’t believe that we are getting a temple!!! I haven’t been to the temple in a year and a half and I love and miss the temple so much!! We take the blessings of the temple so for granted in Idaho!!! It is such a wonderful thing to have a temple close by! There are members here that for years have driven 7 hours to Regina, at least once a month. They are all so excited!! It’s such a neat thing to be here for!! It really just re-excited everyone for the work!! It is such a neat thing!!

But man, this week all around was great! Our meetings in both Brandon and Winnipeg went great! We put together a fun object lesson - relay race thing and it went great!! I love teaching!! It is so fun when it goes well!! We had some wonderful lessons and we are working with so many good people right now!! Ronald is amazing and so ready!! I hope he pulls the trigger soon!! He is so ready!! The Spirit is so strong when we teach there!! His sister makes us amazing food too!! And Mom and Dad, I’m so sorry but my table manners have gotten worse while I’ve been here! hahah In the Philippines the only table rule is enjoy your food!! The last couple meals we have eaten with our hands. We had fish and rice the other day and my hand smelt fishy the rest of the week! My manners have gotten worse, but I’m getting really good at eating with my hands and eating with a spoon in my right hand and a fork in my left! Double fisting is suggested!

Ronald came to 2 sessions of conference though, and he seemed to really enjoy it! He is so great! We have a ton of great people we are working with!! We had 9 different investigators that came to conference!! It was so great!! Bruce and Karla are still working towards their date but they both have some things to get over before they will be ready! Ronald is ready, but he just needs to decide to take the leap of faith! I feel that he knows it’s true, but he’s just scared of the reaction of his family! They were hard on Sister Avila (his sister) when she was baptized so hopefully he can make the leap!

We have been so blessed and I’m so excited to see what’s to come in the next few weeks!! So I had a funny story for ya! We were teaching Karla and Keri the other day. Keri is a less active member that is great and his GIRLFRIEND is Karla. She’s the one investigating and she’s great but we decided to go through the baptismal interview questions and talk about what all we still had to teach and what she had to do to be ready for baptism. We knew she was all good except the law of chastity issue because they are living together. So it gets to that question and we read it and briefly describe it and sit there in silence! Keri says, "awkward silence......" He turns to Karla and says, "We need to get married!" haha It was so funny. Me and Elder Lovelace were both trying to not laugh! haha They are way good and I think all will workout, but we have to wait till there married first. Hopefully all goes well there! But man, missions are the best!!! I learned so much from conference and I’m so excited to go crazy applying it all!! The gospel is so true!! It’s such a neat thing because no matter where you go, the gospel is still true!! I am so grateful for how blessed I have been to have always had it in my life! It’s so crazy how much we take it for granted. We have church, the scriptures, prayer, the priesthood, prophets, apostles, the temple and more and so often we don’t take advantage of it all! I’m so grateful for all that I have been blessed with and I’m so grateful for all the love and support that you all give me! Thanks for the wonderful emails and the vacation update!! You are all so wonderful! Be safe and smart and have a great week!!

Love Elder Smith

P.S. Mom, definitely schedule in being here for the dedication!! hahaha Man it’s sooooo exciting! Love you!!

"I FEEL LIKE I DON'T HAVE TIME TO TAKE A BREATH!"

Hey!

First off, Dad I hope you don’t feel bad about last week! i knew you wouldn't miss! haha i figured the computer was being dumb! Edilyn is sooo great! haha She had it to me like the next day! She said it made her happy to know that you could rely on her. Payt, thanks so much for the missionary and life update! I can’t believe everybody is on a mission and getting home from missions! I’m so sad that I wasn’t there for Chet’s homecoming! I love that kid! He is a spiritual giant! It’s soooooo weird that he is home though!! Like he just left!!! Tell him I say hello!

Mom it looks like you had a blast in Cali and I’m glad to hear that everybody survived!! Your California adventure stories made me laugh. I loved the pic and singing with Farley story! You guys looked like some classy, happnen young mothers! Mom and Dad thanks for the email last week! I really liked the advise! You are all so wonderful!! Dad I love the quotes you send!! I love and miss all of you so much, thank you so much for all that you do!

So this week was another good one!! The last couple weeks have been ridiculous! I feel like I don’t have time to take a breath, and the week is over!! We are working so hard, but a week just isn’t enough time and it comes and goes so fast! It’s ridiculous! We had ZLC this week so we were out of our area for a day. This week we are in Brandon Monday and half of Tuesday, and then we have another meeting in the city on Wednesday. It takes a lot of time, but it’s super fun to teach missionaries! We are excited about our Zone meeting this week! Hopefully it goes well! We also had Stake Correlation this week which was good!! I love the Stake President! He is a great guy and it’s been fun to get to know him!! You definitely need to treat is son good, if you see him because President Robison had the hookups here for us when we come to visit! He is a great guy! So that’s all the crazy, odd stuff we have going on! We also went to a fireside last night and I saw the Baronins there! They are sooo great!! I love and miss them a ton! Also, I talked to Belatu the other day!! She is doing sooooooo good!! She hasn’t missed a day of church since she was baptized! I love and miss her and her kids soooo much!! It’s sooo good to hear that she is doing so well!

This week was good though!! we are teaching so many good people right now and something’s got to give!! We invited Ronald to be baptized for the 3rd time this week! He knows it’s true and the Spirit is always so strong when we are there teaching him! But he just won’t pull the trigger. We had some great lessons with him this week. He has finally been reading and praying everyday and he was super committed to church on Sunday and then he stayed up till 4 AM on Saturday night talking to people in the Philippines!! aaaahhhh He slept in and missed church! So frustrating! haha We will get him next week though!! There are four sessions! haha Good luck thinking up four excuses in 2 days! I love Ronald so much though and his only hold up is that his family is almost all Catholic! He’s ready though! Hopefully all goes well! Keep him in your prayers!!

Laury was sick all week so we haven’t seen her. Michelle and Derick are so good! We had a great lesson with them and they said they would be to church! Edilyn has been amazing fellowship! She invited them to church and she was there ride and it was gonna be so good, she was so excited!! And they bailed Sunday morning! I felt so bad and mad because I wanted them there, but mostly because Edilyn was so mad! haha She takes missionary work seriously! She was not happy! That family is so great!! Oh and you were wondering what you could send her? She likes a lotion from Victoria Secret called Sweet Temptations hahaha I know that’s kind of a funny request, but they don’t have Victoria Secret in Canada or the Philippines haha So I don’t think she even knows what the store is! hahaha But she likes the lotion! She’s funny! But you will definitely be her favorite if you send her that.

But hopefully this week Michelle and Dereck will come! They are so good! This week we taught a member and his girlfriend. The member is great and we set a baptismal date with his girlfriend, but they have to get married first. Her name is Carla and she’s really good and they made it out to church! We also set a date with a great man named Bruce! He is way good but his wife. . . . not so much! haha He came to church by himself because she bailed!! We will have to see what happens there. We have so many good things going and so hopefully we see some more baptisms soon! I feel super rushed because I don’t think I will have another transfer here! Hopefully I will, but I’ve been here a long time so I probably won’t have more than just over a month left here! Hopefully everything starts falling into place for all of these great people! We really have been so blessed with great people to teach! Hopefully all goes well!!

Missions are the best! Oh Dad, to answer you and Gpa and Gma’s questions, Elder Lovelace is from Georgia! He says “yawl” a lot! haha He’s great! He did a year at BYU before his mission and that’s where he will be when he gets home. He was the youngest in his family, so since he left, his parents moved to Utah for a job and now they are just moving again to London!! Crazy! I’m glad you aren’t going anywhere crazy! He has no home to go home to! But he does have a future wife and his parent’s old house in Utah! hahaha He’s a funny kid and a super hard worker! It’ll be a great transfer!! Well I gotta go, but I love all of you so much! I’m so grateful for all that you do for me!! I have the best family ever!! Stay safe and keep me posted!! Love ya lots!

Love Elder Smith!

ON EXCHANGE WITH A GREENY FROM IDAHO!

Hey Family!

Man! Mom leaves town and Dad and Payt don’t email!! I see how it is!! Well, I know who loves me most! hahahaha It looks like you guys had a great week! Man, Mom you are like the crazy fun Mom! haha Ditchen’ the fam to go to Cali!! You should do it again with me next year! haha I love the pics! Be safe and don’t drive home late at night or Dad won’t be happy!!! Kinda like someone else you know did a few years ago!

Well, first off, I am wondering if Alex ever got his b-day package... I haven’t heard anything and I’m hoping it made it there!! Let me know. Second, so who IS Payt dating?? I can never tell! Marissa is a funny girl! I’m glad he’s such a champ, with such good friends!! Payt and Dad please don’t have nightmares because I didn’t get your emails. I know things are crazy and I’m sure you probably sent them and they didn’t come through! Just give Edilyn a shout out and let me know your all good and you didn’t get thrown in jail because of a crazy bachelor party or something! Let me know!

Well this week was interesting! We worked super hard and had a wonderful week!! We thought we were gonna have 7 amazing people out to church, then Sunday came and not one person showed! It was soooo frustrating!! Going to church without investigators is like going to a dance without a date. It just feels terrible!! It was just kind of a lame ending to a great week!! We are working with so many great people right now. This week we found a new Filipino house! We brought Edilyn and Roel over with us and had such a great lesson!! Edilyn is so amazing! Like she does more than you would ever dream of expecting her to do! She is the fellow-shipping champ! Whatever she touches, wants to get baptized!! It is just so neat to be around members who have that missionary work fire! We taught them again and Edilyn brought them food and committed them to church! They are so good! They had to bale on church because friends were over till 5 in the morning and Edilyn was so upset. She won’t let them miss next week! THEY ARE SO GOOD THOUGH! The two we are teaching are Derrick and Michelle and I’m super excited for them! We also found a great family and older couple this week! We are super excited about them!! Ronald and Laury still don’t have baptismal dates yet, but the are both amazing! We are teaching both of them tonight! Ronald lives with the members and he is so good!! He didn’t make it to church because the members he is living with, slept in! How ridiculous! They have a family member with them that wants to come to church, that is investigating, and they sleep through church!! aaahhhh!! Tonight we will be teaching SABBATH DAY! Fun stuff! haha Laury’s family came to her house so she couldn’t come either! She is so good! She is struggling through 2 Nephi right now and I don’t know how to answer her questions!! I just keep saying, "Um, I think that’s talking about the Savior or Second Coming, or something...." hahaha Just kidding! Man, I wish the Isaiah scriptures weren’t so close to the beginning!

We are also teaching two super smart Baptist families! Man, they know there bibles! Roger and Dana are having us over for supper this Friday and I’m nervous! He is a Baptist pastor, but he has Mormon family members. They have hard questions!! We also are teaching this couple that have his parents on a mission for the Baptist Church in Ethiopia! He grew up there! He’s a white guy, but he is so nice and humble! Like both of the young couples look like Mormon families! They are so great, and really so kind to us!! I don’t know why they are meeting with us though??? They are pretty set in there ways, but they aren’t trying to convert us, and they are really trying to learn. I have learned a ton from teachig them!! It really has strengthened my testimony, especially teaching the Plan of Salvation because it really makes sense to them! You see the wheels turning and it’s neat! Very intimidating too though, because they know the scriptures well!! It’ll be fun to see what happens with them this week!

So it really was a great week! We are teaching a lot, and this area is so wonderful!! Amie and Godwin rolled up to church in there own rig again this week! haha Seeing all the recent converts there, makes me so happy!! They are SO on fire!

So it was a great week, but the end was kinda dumb! On Saturday we drove all the way to Brandon for a baptismal interview. We got there and it didn’t work out! We didn’t get to even do any interviews! It’s so frustrating! So we turned around and came back!! We were mad, but it was ok because since we were going, the night before, on Friday, we left and went to Portage where there is a young missionary in our zone that is training. We went on exchange for the night, and I got to go out with the new Greeny and it was a blast! His name is Elder Bodily and he’s from Westen Idaho! It was his second day in the mission and we went out tracting! We set a goal to set 4 appointments and get in and teach a lesson in the 2.5 hours that we had. He was so nervous!! We have really been pushing our zone to invite more people to be baptized and so I told him to do it on a door approach! He was so nervous! I invited a couple people but it just wasn’t working out for him. But then finally he did it! It was hilarious, but sooo good! Then we got invited in and we only had 15 minutes so I told him that we would teach the first half of lesson one. We got it started and we prayed. Then the first principle in lesson one is ‘God is our loving Heavenly Father’ so I set is up perfect and say, "First, we want talk about how God is our loving Heavenly Father.” I turn to him, and he totally just says everything he knows about lesson one, in like 60 seconds. haha Seriously! In 60 seconds he said prophets, apostasy, restoration, Joseph Smith and Book of Mormon. haha It was hilarious! The investigator was a great guy and a little caught of guard, but I’m like, hey let’s roll with it! So I kinda tied it all together and we invited him to be baptized! He said yes, and set a date! hahaha It was soooo great!! We got our 4 appointments and taught our lesson! We also found a new investigator and set a baptismal date! It was so great and so fun!! I love the fire that new missionaries have! So that little exchange made our trip to Brandon (for a candy bar) all worth it!!

Missions are the best!! I’m so grateful for how blessed I am! I love all of you so much and I’m so grateful for all that you do!! Mom, I love you so much! Stay safe and have a great trip!! Payt and Dad... I still love you!! haha Please don’t have nightmares!! I didn’t wanna tell ya tha I didn’t get them, but I wanted you to know so I didn’t miss any info you sent! haha I love you all so much! Tell A-rod Happy Birthday again! Hopefully he got his package! Tell him and Addi I love them! Have a wonderful week!

Love Elder Smith

UNCLE DOUG IS SO LUCKY - FOR ONCE!

Hey!!

First off, tell Uncle Doug that if BYU gets into the big game I’m sure President will let me leave for a couple days and it’s only right that Uncle Doug invites his favorite nephew to go with him!! That’s crazy that he won! Man, Uncle Doug does have some good luck come his way, every once in awhile!! Man I miss him and his fam!! Tell them I love and miss um! It looks like you had a fun week cleaning! Dad and his new toys gave me a good chuckle! Don’t burn your eye out! haha And sounds like Jimmer is crazy good!! It’s too bad he plays for BYU because they will get your hopes up and loose the second game of the tourney! haha At least they are consistent! I can’t wait to hear the news! Payt and Dad why aren’t you going to the tourney? Or are you!? We need to keep that tradition going! And Mom and Dad, don’t stress!! I’m doing great!! My nose just hasn’t stopped running all week!! Edilyn shot me up with some homemade lemonade and I’m feeling great!! I have been so blessed to stay healthy on my mission! Hopefully it stays that way! I really am doing great! DON’T WORRY!!!

So this week was really weird! I lost another comp to the office. haha Elder Woods and Elder Leonard are the Assistants and they will do sooo great!!! It’s crazy because when I got to this area, Elder Woods had just became a district leader! I’VE BEEN HERE A LONG TIME!! I love this ward and the people here and I’m super grateful to be staying another one! I had such a great time with Elder Woods and I had a feeling he’d be headed for the office! He is such a great missionary and I’m super glad I got to serve with him!! We have big plans for a road trip back up here after the mission! We will have to see what happens. There are so many great missionaries here!! Missions are the best!!

This week was great, but crazy! We had exchanges and then Elder Woods had to go to the office so I was with Elder Felix for a day which was a lot of fun and then I got my new comp Elder Lovelace! Elder Lovelace is a champ! He only has 3 months left!! He is a humble giant and a ton of fun!! He was a LaCross star back home so I’m gonna come home one! haha We were messen around with his sticks today for p-day and it was a blast! I’m sad I never played!! He’s had a crazy mission! He was a district leader like 6 months ago, but then the last 6 months he’s just been a normal missionary, put with some of the missionaries with issues!! He is so patient and humble!! I’m super excited to work with him and he will be a great zone leader!! He’s a champ and it should be a great transfer!! I have been so blessed with great companions!!! Oh, get this! Elder Platt is the other new zone leader this transfer! haha He’s a champ!

So this week was weird but sooo great!! Ronald is gold!! I’m sooo excited for him! We taught him another couple times last week and he is doing so good!! He came to church this week and his sister, that he is living with, spoke! It was a great talk and I’m so excited for him! We are hoping to set a date with him tonight! Hopefully all goes well!! Church went great except for priesthood meeting! haha I love the ward, but there are some crazies and they got into an argument about what all is included in the Word of Wisdom!! Man it was hilarious and terrible! It’s funny because the missionaries here play such a different role! haha Like back home, they are the bystanders, but here we are the referee and the ones that stop the false doctrine. haha It was a combined Elders and High Priests for the class and the argument didn’t end until I spoke up and set everybody straight! It’s soooo crazy!! Hopefully it didn’t set Ronald back too much!! The church is still true!

Laury came this week too and she had a great time! We talked to a member before and she fellow shipped her so good! We hope to set a date with her this week, too!! Ronald and Laury are kingdom builders for sure! Keep them in your prayers and hopefully all goes well!! Bill made it again this week too but he has a lot going against him right now! He wants to get baptized, but he’s going through some crazy stuff right now! We have been so blessed in this area!! I love it so much and I’m super excited for another 6 weeks!!

It’s sooo crazy that Riley is home and time is going so fast!! It’s all so crazy how much some people have progressed while I’ve been here! I got an update on the Waverly Ward this week!! All the recent converts are doing great! Tim Jackson’s girlfriend is baptized and they are a cute super hilarious couple! haha Obengs are doing so good! Akoth spoke in church a couple weeks ago and I guess it was great! Belatu doesn’t miss a week! They all are doing so great! And get this!!! Pious is the 2nd counselor in the Elders Quorum! It’s so great! I love him so much! Just over a year ago he wasn’t active and after the Obeng family, he is one of the most solid members in the ward! He is so wonderful!! This week he gave a talk and I guess the speakers to the satellite thing got turned on, so the speakers in the chapel were saying ENGLISH in the funny computer ladies voice. haha They eventually fixed it but when he was speaking and it said it in his African accent, he said “Oh, I must be really good at english.” haha I guess the ward lost it laughing! He is such a funny guy and a spiritual powerhouse! I love and miss that ward a bunch! I’m super jealous that Elder Woods gets to go to the Waverly Ward! But I can’t complain, I was there a long time! There are so many wonderful people here and I have gotten to see so many miracles!! And I’m sure there are many to come!! I’m so nervous and excited for Laury and Ronald! I hope all goes well! I will keep you posted!! It should be another great week!!

I love you all so much and I’m so grateful for all that you do! I did have a question for all of you! I feel bad because I really haven’t used you enough for advise and help!! I’m gonna try and ask for more help and advice from now on but this transfer Elder Lovelace and I really want to work on being more charitable and we want our investigators and missionaries in our zone to know that we really love them and care about them? So I was wondering if you have any advice on things to do to gain people’s trust and help them to know that we really love them and want the best for them! Sorry I know that’s kind of a hard question, but I’m sure you will have some wonderful advice! haha No pressure. But I love you all so much and I am doing so great!! The church is sooo true and missions are the best!! I love all of you a bunch!! Have a great week!!! Love Elder Smith

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

Happy Birthday Alex!!

It looks like it was a fun party!! But Mom, you’re supposed to get after kids for door bell ditching, your not supposed to be the get away car! hahaha You are the best Mom ever! I showed Elder Woods the picture of Riley and he’s like, man is your Mom just involved in everything!? haha Yep, she sure is!! She’s the best! Edilyn loved what you sent her! She is obsessed with lotion so that gift was wonderful!! She also loved the apron! You are all so wonderful!! Dad, sorry about yet another holiday incident! That stinks! Hopefully all goes well with Al’s bow! We all know how much you care! You’re amazing! But Alex buddy!! Happy Birthday!! Man it’s your B-day, you haven’t gotten a gift from me and you didn’t even write me!! Bold move!! haha I sent your gift last week, hopefully it gets there soon! I put in a card but it’s hidden between the 2 boxes, so make sure you don’t throw it away!! Buddy I’m so proud of you! I can’t believe how big and handsome you are!! Hopefully you can get around school without all the ladies getting in your way and following you around! Just make sure you don’t invite any of them to your baseball games because then they will really be after you! I’m so proud of you and all of the great decisions you are making!! I can’t believe you have the Priesthood!! That is so great!! Keep being a great example to all of us and hopefully you had a wonderful week!! I love you a ton buddy!! Keep being a stud!! Mom, thank you so much for the package!! I loved the chocolate stuff! And the zit stuff is great! Thank you so much!! You are wonderful!! Payton buddy, I miss you! Please give me more updates and more pics!! I want some skiing pics please!!!! Love ya!

Well this week was a good one!! We have been very blessed with finding wonderful people!! Edilyn is like the referral champ! She is always doing missionary work!! We also have been blessed with some great people through finding and part member families. Right now I am most excited about a young man named Ronald. He lives with the Avila family that are wonderful members. He just moved in with them 9 months ago from the Philippines! I love Filipino people!! The missionaries have tried to get in to teach him before, but he wouldn’t have it, but he started playing b-ball with us on p-days and we got to know him better. During the course of the last couple months I asked him a couple times if we could come and teach him, but he kept saying I donno. And then just dodging the question. Finally he let us in! We had a wonderful lesson with him!! We then got invited back and ate supper, with our hands, Filipino style! And Dad thought I’d learn table manners on my mission!!! hahahah It was a blast! Then we told them that the next time we’d feed them some Idahoan waffles with choke cherry syrup! It was a blast and we had another great lesson with him!! We are meeting with him again on Tuesday!! His family here, that are members, are wonderful!! I love all of them so much and I really hope things work out! Ronald is a champ!! Please keep him in your prayers! He felt the Spirit in the lesson and I think he already knows it’s true, he just has lots of family that are Catholic, that live here too! Hopefully all goes well! He is so great!

We also had a lesson with Laury this week but I couldn’t go because I was on kind of a last minute exchange. Elder Woods said it went good though and she was even planning on church, but she bailed last minute. We had to go on exchange because we have this 3-some in our zone and 2 of them have been at each others throats. So we went on exchange and I got to be Mom with the two that were fighting. It was a lot of fun. They both are great kids, but very different and both of them have there own way of going about things. It was an interesting exchange, but a lot of fun. Hopefully it helped. They got along great the whole day, but then at the end they were fighting over something ridiculous. It was funny because it helped me to realize that most of the time if people don’t get along it’s because of both of them. My mission has made me feel terrible about not being better friends with Payt, and others!! Payt is the best friend a kid could have though!!! When we are both home, we will be inseparable! But it’s fun to go on exchanges because hopefully I help, but I always learn a ton! I’ve found that the Gospel, and cookies, are the solution to every problem! haha After they were fighting, I whipped out a cookie mix before bed and everyone was friends again! Hopefully they can get along for the next week before transfers! I am so grateful for the chance to serve a mission! Missions are the best! I really have met so many amazing people and I have been so blessed with so many wonderful opportunities! I feel selfish a lot because I’m so happy all the time! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is so wonderful and as we live it, it can really change us and make our lives better!!

This Sunday we had some good people out to church but the climax of the day was that Amie and Godwin got their car going! They had us go over so they could follow us to the church because it’s a good 10-15 minute drive from their place to the church! We have wonderful members that are willing to give them rides, but it was so wonderful to see their little family roll up to church in their own rig! haha That made my week!! It’s been so wonderful to watch them and Marites and Edilyn change so much!! It is so great to be a missionary! The Gospel is wonderful!!

I love all of you sooo much!! I’m so grateful for all that you do for me! Tell Gpa and Gma thanks again for the wonderful letters!! I feel terrible about never being able to write them back! I love their letters! I love you all so much! Have a wonderful week and love everyday! Love Elder Smith

Oh, I got time for one more story because I’m too lazy to write in my journal and I don’t wanna forget it. We found a man named Dennis that is so prepared! We taught him 3 times in about a week and a half and he left on Sunday for the Philippines. Edilyn came with us and our lessons were so great! He said he wanted to get baptized, but he is moving back to the Philippines for a year! He gave us all of his info though and he promised he’d keep investigating there. He is such a wonderful man and I’m so sad that he is moving!! Hopefully I get some pictures of his baptism in a month or so! I guess we will see! But I love you all a ton! Have a wonderful week! Happy Birthday Alex!

Love Elder Smith