MUSLIM FAMILY CAME TO CHURCH!

Hey Family!

Thank you so much for the emails! You are all so wonderful! Mom and Dad you never cease to amaze me! I can't believe the papers that you got here so fast! I have felt bad about it since I got them! haha I feel like the second I ask for anything you all drop everything you are doing and do what I ask. You are amazing and I’m so sorry that all my life I seem to be asking!! Thank you so much though! I’m so sorry to put you through the hassle! I got the papers to the doctor, but I feel bad cus I hope he doesn’t think I’m just trying to take advantage of him. At this point I have given him all I can and now it’s just kind of a waiting game because I don’t wanna be to obnoxious about following up with him! haha Man if you thought I was annoying with following up with doctors before my mission, you should see me now that I have followed up with people everyday for the last year and awhile, hahahah. Hopefully he will get on it but I have a feeling it might take awhile. But thank you sooo much for all of the help! You are so wonderful!! I love and miss all of you a bunch! Sister Poulton called me and said "Your mom is a great lady and she misses you a lot." I just smiled and said "I know" haha You are all the best!!

Well first off, I have a funny story!! So this week we tracted A TON again and we were tracting and I street contacted a guy on the road and he walked by me quickly and yelled, "In a better world all Mormons would be hung for heresy." I grinned and said “Have a good day sir." In the sweetest voice I could muster. He then yelled back, "Go to H***!" I don't know why situations like this have become so hilarious, but man they keep ya going after hours of tracting. And I can honestly say I am a proud Mormon! I think I like the situations cus they give me a little adrenaline and I’ve learned to keep my temper a lot better! Missions are such an interesting thing! haha They are the best!!

So this week once again started a little slow. Transfers came and went. Elder Duncan is a good ol’ Virginia boy. He’s a good kid and hopefully we will see lots of great things happen together! We worked so hard this week and tracted soooo much and it was so frustrating because we seriously were finding no one!! We went and taught Jelena and the lesson blew up! Her mom had gotten into more anti or something but she was all fired up! Eventually her mom left, after getting into it with us and the lesson went ok! It was definitely frustrating! So I was a little down about that and about the fact that we hadn't found anyone new the whole week!! But then on Saturday, we had a great lesson with the Hiddoddi's (the rich muslim family). They are soooo amazing and I love them to death! We then had a great lesson with Maricio and he committed to fast on Sunday. Then that night we tracted into a wonderful Filipino family! I whipped out all the Tagalong that I had and they loved it! haha They let us in and we had a great lesson with their family and we are teaching them next week! It was so great! Then Sunday morning rolled around and everything fell in to place perfectly! Jelena made it just by herself and had a great time and she got fellow shipped like crazy by all of the members and a lot of the single girls and guys that are here from Alberta selling security systems. She had a great time and is going to the young single adult FHE tonight! Maricio fasted and had a good time at church and get this!!! The Muslim family followed us to church in there brand new SUV Infinity, leather interior and all! It was sooooo great!! They got eaten alive by fellowship!! Hopefully they liked it!! haha They are sooo great!!

So Sunday was wonderful! But after church we had no appointments and we were fasting, so we tracted till supper! It was a tiring stressful day but it was soooooo great!! I sure hope that things workout with all of these people! they are all so amazing!! Things here are going so good though!! Everything is a little different than any of my other areas but I think I’m finally getting into the groove of things here! I really hope these people all continue to progress because I love them sooo much!! It’s funny because in every area I say, wow if just this person would come to the knowledge of the fulness of the gospel and be baptized, my mission would be worth it all just for them! haha And then that person gets baptized and it’s so wonderful and you meet someone else that you love just as much and you say it again! haha Sharing the gospel is sooooo wonderful!! And it’s so great to see people keep commitments and receive answers to their prayers and get baptized! It is the best!! These people here are so great and I want it for them so bad!! Hopefully all works out!! Please keep them in your prayers!!

Things are going so great here though!! Thank you for all of your love and support!! You are so wonderful!! Don’t worry about me or my zits at all!! haha everything is under control and everything will work out the way that it should!! I love you all a ton! Have a great week!

Love Elder Smith

TRANSFERS AGAIN! I'M STAYING!

Hey family!

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful emails! It sounds like it was a great week for all of you! Payton, I can't believe you are graduated! That’s just crazy! It sounds like all of the parties were just a blast! I loved all of the pictures! But what was wrong with Papa's eye?? Is everything ok? Fill me in if ya can please. Also thanks for all you do with the doctor stuff! The bishop in our ward is trying to get me the medication. Tuns out that there are only two dermatologists in all of Saskatoon, so they are both backed up like 6 months. But Bishop Ledding said he will find me a good doctor that will prescribe it, but I am kind of at his mercy, so hopefully he will get on it. But I will keep you posted.

So this week was a good one. It started out really slow but it picked up a lot in the end of the week! The district meeting went really well. It was a lot different and a little crazy but it went good and hopefully it helped! It’s fun to get to teach missionaries every week again.

We found a lot of good people this week! One of which is an amazing artist! Her stuff looks like the real thing and it is done with colored pencils! But she is super good! Also we got to teach Jelena's mom Nina and it went super good! We finished doing service for her and she has softened sooo much! Jelena is doing soo good and she and her mom and her daughter Isabella all came to church! They had a great time! But, haha Isabella is only 2 and she ran up across the stand in Sacrament meeting! aaaahhh! She is crazy!! We figured if the people her want make fast and testimony meeting normal and super great then we will bring crazy investigators to make it crazy! It just wouldn't be normal if crazy stuff didn't happen! HAHA THIS WARD IS SOOO AMAZING AND SO SUPPORTIVE!!! They just eat up investigators and they are so much help!

Maricio made it to church, but he was to busy to meet with us this week! aah! So frustrating! He is so good! I wish he would just get baptized already! Courtney made it to church too! It felt great to have people come!! Hopefully they keep coming!!

We have been tracting a ton still! haha We tracted like 22 hours this week! haha We have definitely seen blessings from doing it though!! We taught a wonderful Muslim man for the first time this week and we taught him in the church! It went great and he should be at church next week! Also, get this!!! Remember the wonderful, super rich Muslim family I told you about last week!? So this week we confirmed the appointment the night before and then we showed up and JEHOVAH WITNESSES are in teaching them!! aaaahhh! haha So we walked in and sat down next to them and it was super awkward! haha The Muslim family is so nice though and they asked us if we want tea and we said no thanks, water is good, and the J Dubs smirk and giggle a little, haha I wanted to say “No, but we'd love to donate blood or come to your birthday party!” haha But I held my tongue! haha They were really nice though! haha And they left quick! Turns out they don’t have a closing prayer! Or maybe they were nervous because we were there so they just got out fast! They were a pretty old couple and all the ones that knock doors that I have ran into have been super nice! But after they left, it was great because the investigators questions set up the Apostacy and Restoration perfectly! We had a wonderful lesson and they committed to coming to church next week! woop woop!

Also on Friday, because we helped Nina, she had us over for supper and a lesson! IT WAS SOOOO GOOD AND SHE WENT FROM BEING SUPER ANTI, TO REALLY LOVING US AND COMING TO CHURCH!! It was neat because we had been struggling to get people to church and we fasted for it and lots came! It was a great ending to a great week!!

Oh, and transfer calls came!! Elder Porter is going to PA and I am staying here! I am getting an Elder Duncan. I’m super nervous because he is only a transfer younger than me and kind of a rebellious kid! haha Hopefully we will hit it off good! He seems nice and funny. I guess we will see what happens! I’m nervous but really excited! Hopefully I will grow a lot! I’m sad to see Elder Porter go! He is a diligent beast!! He is such a hard worker! He will be senior now and he will tear it up!! Funny story! haha He is actually senior with Elder Turner! The same one I was first senior with over a year ago! haha Elder Turner is great though! They will do good!!

Well things here are going great! The ward is wonderful and we are teaching some great people!! Elder Leonard and Elder Lovelace go home in 4 days and it is sooo sad! haha He’s called a ton this week, he is such a good missionary and friend! I will miss him a ton! He saw Akon this week and promised her that we would be there in October, haha so we are on lock! It’s stressen’ me out! I love you all a ton!! Thank you so much for your love and support! Have a great week!!

Love Elder Smith

ELDER PORTER IS TEACHING ME TO SING!

Hey Family!

Thank you so much for the wonderful emails!! You guys are all so great! Payton I’m so excited for you! TURN YOUR HEAD AND COUGH! haha Once that’s over, your papers are on the way, woo woo!! You are a champ! I can't believe you are so old! You are such a stallion! I loved the pictures! Mom don't feel bad about the senior pictures, I’m pumped for the super senior pics when I get home! We should definitely send out announcements again and see if I get more money!! Just kidding, don’t worry about the pics! I definitely wouldn’t have lasted longer than your pictures took and they were all pro, anyways!! Thank you so much for sending Payt’s though! That was neat! I love all your emails!

So first off, Elder Porter is like an all state singer! haha Like he was in these competitions and stuff and he has a beautiful voice and as you all know, I do not! haha So, he has been teaching me to sing while we drive to appointments. It’s been hilarious, but I think I am getting better. So Dad and Payt, I’ll have you know that one day I will sing and it will sound ok!! haha But Elder Porter is a great kid! We have been working super hard and things are going well. This week we had a lot of great stuff happen and a lot of frustrating stuff happen! We set a date with Jelena on Monday and I think I told you about it last week! She is doing great! We taught her 3 times this week and she is way good but then she bailed for church! aaaahhhh So frustrating! But hopefully she will make it this week!! She has a ghetto apartment downtown, but we always teach her at her Mom’s house and her Mom is loaded! The house is way nice. This week on exchange Elder Porter and Elder Clarine did service for her and it went great, which was really good because she had some serious polygamy issues! She has softened a lot and we even got to teach her this week! Hopefully some great things happen there!! It’s crazy because our area is so rich! We don’t get to teach as much and tracting is hard, but man we teach some wealthy people!! This week 3 of our new investigators were from Iran!! They live in this huge house with an indoor pool and everything! Like man they are so loaded and they are Muslim! We had such a good lesson with them, like wow it was the best lesson I have ever had with a Muslim!! It’s funny because back home the Muslim people from Iran are catagorized as terrible people but it is just the opposite!! Muslims are way nicer than the a lot of the self-proclaimed Christians in our area! It’s super interesting and to me it’s been a testimony strengthener of the apostacy. People can be so cruel and rude when they meet us on the door and they claim to be Christians. I have committed myself to never talk down on other faiths or group people because of there faith or culture! haha It’s still a work in progress though, because I think I just barley bashed on self-proclaimed Christians! haha I’m working on it! It’s so interesting though because there are good and bad people in all faiths! I just hope I can always live my life in a way that is in line with the way the Savior would have me live. I have also met some wonderful Christian people that are very kind! You get to learn and experience so much on a mission! It is so great!

So as for the update on Maricio, it was kind of a downer week! He is so good and we gave him 3rd Nephi 11 to read this week. He had big issues with the animals it talks about and the grapes and chandels and all this stuff that he says he knows wasn’t apart of the culture there. He said other than that, he feels really good about everything we have taught and he is still reading and praying about it, but it is definitely a struggle for him! We had a great RM with us (it was actually at his house so we were with him and his wife) haha But he was tons of help and we had some good answers for his concerns, but he is definitely still struggling with it! I sure hope he gets over it!! We had a great lesson plan and we were hoping to set a date, but it all kind of blew up in our face because of his concern. But hopefully this week will be good!! It is so different teaching people here. Like I have had to change my teaching a lot because the people we are teaching know so much! They are so great, but it’s just different than a lot of people and they are so ready for baptism!! ahahhh Just pull the trigger already! And I am getting super tan. My skin went back to its old ways, so I’ve got more zits, but I don’t burn! haha I have a nasty farmers tan and it’s only been summer here for like a week! But things are great! The ward here is so wonderful! It is like a young married ward with a ton of cute young couples, fresh off missions and struggling through medical school!! I love them a ton and it’s way fun teaching with members that are RM’s because everything goes right!! All the lessons are way fun but more stressful too because you feel kind of inadequate sometimes. I have learned a ton!!

Well it’s crazy, but transfers are this week!! It’s insane! I’ve got bets that the next assistant is Elder Platt!! He’s a champ and one of the only ones still young enough, that is a still Zone Leader. We will see what happens! I’m also super interested to see who gets sent out this way because I think Elder Porter is gone this transfer. I guess we will see, but things here are so great! You all are so good to me! I am well looked after and I feel that there are some great people here that I am supposed to find. Please continue to pray that I can find them! I love you all so much and I am so grateful for you all! I am so grateful for the Gospel and for the joy that it brings!! I sent you a package this week so keep an eye out for it! It should be there in a week or two! Payton I am so proud of you! "keep getten’ better everyday!" (The legend Scott Berger) haha

Love Elder Smith

oh ps: I got to talk to Elder Lovelace! He and Elder Leonard go home in like 2 weeks!! aaaahhhhh!!! Gut punch!! But Ronald and Bruce are doing great!! They have callings and are passing the Sacrament and everything!! Good stuff!! Edilyn is doing well and Belatu emailed me and said she has been trying to email you! You will have to see if she writes. Her emails are more broken English than Edilyn’s! haha I love it!! But have a wonderful week!! I love you all a ton!!

TRACTING IS LIKE A BOX OF CHOCOLATES. . . .

Hey Family!

Thank you so much for the wonderful emails!! I can't believe what a wonderful family I have! I am so proud of all of you and I love you so much! Your emails make me so happy because you are all so great!! Thank you for the pictures! I can’t believe how old everyone is! haha I know I say that every week, but it’s so ridiculous! I love Payt’s Grizzly painting! The Smith legacy will hang in Skyline for years to come! Man, I am just so proud of Payton!! He is such a great kid and I love and miss him a ton! I also am so proud of Addi and Alex! It looks like they are both healthy, happy and doing all the right stuff! Thanks for all of the things you all do! You are so great!!

So I’m gonna start with a hilarious story!! So this week was just ridiculous because we tracted soooooooooo much!! All in all we tracted over 25 hours!! haha That’s just knocking doors...... for 25 hours!!! haha I am already looking pretty dark. The weather has been great! But we have had a lot of appointments fall though, but even with all the tracting, we still taught 17 lessons. So it was good, but back to my story. When you knock this many doors, you have lots of hilarious stuff happen! I’ve walked in on door-to-door salesmen, family parties, immodestly dressed people, crazy people, mean people, drunks, nuns, the list goes on. But most of the stuff just becomes old news and so you don’t really pay much attention to it. But a couple days ago, I knocked on a door and a large man came to the door. Picture the Brother Landon (Barry) that pulled up on the four wheeler after Payt hit the skunk, except picture him with a lot rougher haircut, and beard and a really hairy chest and a huge beer belly and completely and thoroughly butt naked!! Like, no kidding, this guy flings open the door with one hand on the door and one hand on his hip completely naked! hahaha So instantly my head shoots up and I say “you wanna card?” I gave him the card I don’t even know if he said he wanted it! Then we took off. He stood in the window waiting for a reaction, and he got it! I made it like 10 steps before losing it laughing! It was pretty good. But the week was good! We tracted a bunch and found some super solid people!! The tracting is hard though because there are a ton of wealthy people that won’t give us the time of day. It’s good though! We have been having some amazing lessons! The members here are so amazing! Like man!! It’s a ward full of powerhouse returned missionaries! Our ward mission leader is so great!! He has been the ward mission leader just a couple weeks now and he had Maricio and Angelica over for supper with him and all the couples they are friends with in the ward. Maricio and Angelica had a blast with them and they are doing so good!! I really hope he sets a date soon! He is so great!! This week’s lesson with him went good! We’ve tried so hard to meet with him more than once a week, but they are just too busy!! But we have now taught him all of the commandments and he pretty much agrees with everything! Tithing is hard, but I think he will do it!! Hopefully this will be the week!! They are great though!

Cleavon gets married this week and hopefully after the honeymoon he will be getting baptized! He has a testimony, but a really hard situation. Hopefully all goes well there! We also just started teaching a part member family that is super great! The guy has been less active for years and his girlfriend grew up with no religion. They have come out to church and she really likes it and we finally got to teach them last week!! It went well and they fed us! It was great!! We were supposed to meet with them tonight, but they just called and bailed! aahhh! So we will probably teach them in a couple days. More tracting time I guess (: haha

We are teaching a lot of Atheists still and I don’t no how to teach them! It gets a little frustrating because it’s just hard to know what to say! It’s hard to teach faith and when they struggle to understand God and faith its hard to get them to read, pray, and come to church, so they will get faith.

But things in the area are good. It’s getting super high stress because the time is just going so fast! I feel like I just got into this area and I still feel clueless with a lot of the members, but the transfer is already more than half over! It’s ridiculous!! Things are going great though!! Being a district leader is really fun! It’s funny because I was really hoping to be done being a zone leader and get the chance to finish my mission as a district leader. So even though it was hard leaving Winnipeg, it was exciting, but I thought all my meetings would just be amazing! I thought it would be way more stress free and I’d do everything right! haha But it’s not that way! I have loved teaching district meetings but it definitely isn’t as easy as I thought it would be! I miss teaching meetings with a companion, even though before I was wishing I could go back to teaching by myself! ha ha And, motivating district leaders is a lot easier than motivating districts! It’s been really fun though and I have learned a ton!! The meeting today went pretty good! All in all, everything is going so great!!! I love being a missionary so much!! These last couple weeks have been super weird and stressful! It feels like my senior football season with like 4 games left, except like 10 times worse! I have worked SO hard and done my best, but I feel super pressed for time. I wanna make sure I do everything that I was sent here to do! It seems like the more I stress it, the faster it goes and I’m loosing my mind! It’s just a really weird thing!! Missions are so great! It’s just weird because every time I hear about Payt’s papers or that stuff I just get a stomach ache! I can't believe how blessed I have been and how many miracles I get to see out here!! Everyday as a missionary is such a blessing!!

Well I’m just rambling but I wanted to tell ya one more story! Yesterday we taught this young single mother and it went sooo well!! She lives in this huge house with her mom and her kid. She is so good!! We had an amazing returned missionary with us and he was so great!! The Spirit was really strong and she was eating it up!! We taught the lesson one and she had great questions!! At the end she was excited about reading and praying and church and so we invited her to be baptized. She said yes and set a date in June! Like man it is so great! haha It’s just crazy all of the wonderful experiences there are on a mission!! I’m so grateful for you and all the love and support you give me! I have the best family ever! I love you a bunch and have a great week!

Love Elder Smith

I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE CHANCE TO BE STRETCHED!

Hey!!

First off, before I forget, here is my address: 303-215 Kingsmere Blvd the problem is that I don’t know the zip code ): It’s Saskatoon Sask......... haha um.... hopefully you can figure out the rest hahaha Thanks so much for the wonderful pics and updates! You guys look like you are just liven’ it up! And Payton is definitely your more attractive son! Wow! That kid looks good!! And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more attractive group!! I’m so proud of you for the great kid that you are Payt!! You are a beast!! I love you guys all sooo much!! It made me super happy to see all of the grandparents doing so well! They also are some gooood looken’ couples!! It definitely runs in the family! (: Mom and Dad you look so healthy happy and proud! haha I love you all a bunch!!

So this week was a good one for the most part! Things are really warming up and it’s great! It was like 18 celsius the other day and I was dying! I’m worried for what the actual summer will do to me! Canada weather really messes with ya! But Bruce got baptized!!! I have been way out of the loop with everything, so it has definitely made me Winnipeg homesick!! Elder Woods still calls me every once and awhile to give me updates, but other than that I’m way out of the loop! I’m really starting to love it here though!! We are working with some really great people! Finding people through tracting has definitely been a little more difficult, but we are still seeing some success with it! There are some wonderful members here though and some great part member gold!! Maricio is sooooooo golden!! He was gonna set a date this week for sure! haha But they had to bail on our appointment because of family! ahhhh!! Because of work they can only meet on weekends and so missing the one appointment for the week kills!! They made it to church though and he is so ready!! We have a new ward mission leader and he is fantastic!! He is a RM of a couple years and I love him!! This weekend he is having Maricio and Angelica over for supper and games with a bunch of other RM's and their wives! Half of which speak Spanish! And we are meeting with them the next day!! The members here are amazing!! We get fed more than we should and there are so many people willing to help and they know how because they are all RM's! It’s sooooo great!! Super intimidating too, though!! It’s just a way different atmosphere!! It’s so good and I can’t wait to see what is to come!! We also finally got an appointment with a less active member and his fiance! They have been trying to come back out to church and they have made it a couple times and they finally are letting us come and see them this week!! Her name is Courtney. We are teaching tons of Chinese people that are Atheist, Indian people that are Muslim or Buddist or some other crazy religion and they are so hard to teach!! They are so smart and kind, but everything that we teach is so new and different that it makes it so hard to teach them!! Any ideas?? The hardest are the people from China because they really have like no faith and they are so smart and humble and kind! It’s super difficult!! Any ideas!?

But things here are so great and I’m really starting to love it! It’s been frustrating because I haven’t got to settle into the area because I keep having to leave it. This week I had to go up to Prince Albert with one of the Zone Leaders to do a baptismal interview. It was a frustrating experience all the way around!! First off, the zone leader is a punk! I’ve tried super hard to get to know and love him, but he is so undignified and disobedient that it is so frustrating! He is also very talented and funny and he can do great things when he wants to! He isn’t the worst ever, but he definitely is a very poor example for the other missionaries and it makes me mad! It’s been really hard to love him and respect him when he is doing such ridiculous stuff. But it’s been good because when I’m able to look past it, I really do learn a lot from him! I think a big part of it is just my pride makes it hard to do stuff that a disobedient missionary tells me to do! haha It’s been a good learning experience to be around him. But the missionaries who needed the interview are not the most obedient either, so the interview was poorly planned and it had to be done at her house with her dad there, who is a non member, so it was a super odd experience. I was really frustrated and outnumbered three to one, with less diligent missionaries. But the interview went amazingly well!! She is so prepared! She has a good friend in the church and her friend had taught her everything. It was so great, minus all the odd, weird, bad stuff going on around. Oh, then the night was filled with missionaries being dumb, staying up and then all three of them slept through studies. aahhhh! I was ready to pull my hair out!! It was so ridiculous and then I feel like trash because they’re all being dumb! Man, I was sooo glad for it to be over. It’s funny though, because you learn so much with stupid things like this. I hated the experience because I felt so powerless, but I learned a lot and it made me want to do even better myself! It’s funny because since this is my journal I wanted to put this story in, but just talking about it is making me feel bad. It’s funny because in life, and on your mission, you have so many opportunities to make decisions and every decision has a consequence. You can waste a lot of your mission and life doing stupid stuff and we all do! But it’s been so good to see how important time is and how much you can do when you do your best to take advantage of every minute!

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to be on a mission! It is the best! I have never ever been so stretched! I am sooo grateful for my great family and the gospel of Jesus Christ! And I’m so grateful for the chance to be stretched, tried, and the chance to make right and wrong decisions! Agency and trials are the best!! I love you all a bunch! Stay healthy and happy and keep me posted! Have a great week!!

Love Elder Smith

WEIRD PHONE CALL, EH?

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!!

I MADE IT TO SASKATOON!

Hey!

Man, all kinds of crazy news this week eh!? Alex you are a beast!! I want more pics of you playing!! Mom and Dad you are amazing! Thank you so much for the package this week and thank you for sending that stuff for Ronald!! You are sooo great!! Man I love and miss you all so much and I can’t wait to talk to you!! I’m so excited for Kegan!! He will love it there so much! I’m so jealous that he gets to learn Tagolog! Edilyn tried to teach me and the little that I learned is gold for getting into Filipino’s homes!! He will love the filipino people!! Family, you are amazing!! Thank you so much for all that you do!! I love you a ton!

Alright, so this week was another crazy one!! I guess Mom looking at my credit card spoiled the good news of the first crazy thing! hahaha Elder Lovelace was behind me listening and he joked about how the trick to getting tickets off is to have a broken heart and a contrite spirit! In the middle of my explanation, the lady said "It looks like you already got a photo cop here?" and I said "Well mam, this is actually my third... but......" hahaha I was super lucky and blessed, I guess! She knocked it from 216$ down to 75$! I was pretty happy. But the rest of the week was pretty hard! It was so hard to say good bye to Edilyn and Maritess and Ronald! It was way hard to say goodbye to everyone, but they were the worst!! Please email them all and tell them I miss em!! They are so great though! They all fed me and Ronald and the Avilas bought me a bunch of Canadian stuff and Ronald gave me fresh mangos that came fresh from his friend in the Philippines! haha They were sooo good!! I love mangos!! But it was really hard to leave!! I’m so excited to hear news of his baptism this week!!! I’ll probably get to call him on saturday and I can tell you about it on Sunday!!

So the day before transfers we went to and appointment with Brother Gibson (one of my favorite members) and he took us out to eat fish and chips at this nice restaurant!! It was way good but it the middle of the meal we get a call and then a text from President Paulson that says call asap. So we went into the washroom and called him and got word that a missionary isn’t coming and so I wouldn’t be in a threesome. It was good and bad news. President said the other missionary was the one he wanted me to work with the most, but it wasn’t going to work out, so I’m not in a threesome anymore. So I finished saying good byes to everyone and we took off on the long trek to Saskatoon!! Man it was terrible!! Such a long, painful drive! And I have to drive back this week for a day for a training meeting for all of the district and zone leaders. It’s terrible!! It was fun and different though, but sitting for so long makes you lose your mind!! haha I got to stop and sleep in Regina with Elder Platt and Elder Bileu and that was a blast! It was fun to see Elder Platt! He is doing a lot of great work! But we finally made it to Saskatoon! I am soooooo Winnipeg home sick!!! haha Like man, I didn’t know I was so attached to that city. I was just so comfortable there because I knew my way around the city and I knew so many amazing people! It felt a little like being in the MTC again! But it wore off fast!! This city is wonderful and this ward is amazing!!! This ward functions so good!! It’s kind of like an Idaho or Utah ward because there are a ton of RM’s and there wives here at school!! It is just such a great atmosphere!! Our area has the University in it and so we talk to a ton of young couples that are great!!! And there are some great people here that are super prepared!! One of them is a man named Maricio! He just married his wife and she is a member and great!! We taught them a couple days ago and they are so good! Hopefully we can set a date with him soon!! There are lots of great things going on and the ward is so supportive!! I still miss Winnipeg sooooooo much but I’m excited to see what will happen here! I’m hoping this is my last area so I can just work it to death for the next 6 months!! It’s a great place! My companion’s name is Elder Porter. He is from Northern Arizona and he is super diligent, humble and quite! I’m so excited about what will happen here! But my times up! I love you all so much!! You are wonderful!! Good luck with everything!! I love you all a ton!!

Love Elder Smith!

P.S. I don’t know what will happen with the call! I’ll try and call just before supper! And I think you will need a phone card because we won’t be at a members, sorry, new area.

Love you