Gabriel is Amazing!

Hey Friends and Fam!

Another crazy week!! Thank you so much for the email! Payt congrats (on the Hillcrest Game)!!! Man, your a senior! That’s sooo messed up!!! I feel like I just left, and I’m still getting updates from the junior year football games! It’s soooo scary how fast this last year has gone!! You can’t be a senior and you can’t be more ripped than me!! This is dumb! haha haha Mom and Dad thank you so much for your great emails too!! Sounds like all is well in River City!! haha

So this week was honestly the fastest week of my life!!! It’s sooo crazy how the weeks keep clicken’ by!! So first off, I got to do a baptismal interview and it was so neat!! I interviewed a young man named Kerry. He is in Y.S.A. (Young Special Interest) and he has been taught by Elder Willardson and Elder Ewell! He was so nervous for his interview!! It was such neat experience though!! He was definitely ready!! It’s so amazing that people my age and older look up to me so much, because I am a missionary!! Serving a mission is such a great blessing!! I have gotten to see so many amazing things!! But that was so neat and the rest of the week was pretty crazy!! We are teaching a lady named Belatu and she is so great!! We found her my first week back to Agnes and she has been to church the last 2 weeks with her kids!! She is amazing and she set a baptismal date for the 24th of September!! I love her and her kids so much and get this! She’s from Sudan, too! haha She is amazing though and this Sunday the Baronins had her and us all over for supper!! The Baronins are so great!!

District meeting this week went really good!!! I finally feel comfortable with how I want to teach them and now they are a lot of fun!! I did a neat object lesson and it worked out really good!! I am so tired all the time though. I’m glad I got used to not a ton of sleep back home! Because the district is pretty big and there is a ton of stuff to talk with them on the phone calls at night!! It’s way fun and I really feel like I am helping, but I don’t get off the phone with them and the zone leaders until 10:30 and then I have to get ready for bed and then back up again at 6:30. It’s hard because I don’t have the time to study before bed, that I used to. But, it’s been a great experience to try and help people in the district! I love the way things are and I wish they could just stay that way!!! I love where I am and the people I’m serving around so much!! I wish I could have the same love for everyone that I have for Akon and Belatu and the other great people that I have taught. I’m working on it, but man I love the people here so much!!

So, crazy story this week!! We had an appointment with Gabriel and we went over to his place and he was running across the street looking all scared and he told us to have the bishop call him, fast!! We end up going in with him and he told us what was going on! He had a cousin in Regina in a bind with bad stuff so Gabriel and another member of his tribe borrowed money from another Sudanese tribe so that they could buy out their cousin’s apartment in Regina. Gabriel thought he had enough to pay them off with his upcoming paycheck so he went and paid for repairs on Akon’s van and he paid his rent! Without Gabriel knowing, his tribe and this other tribe have a conflict in Africa and so the tribe went after Gabriel for the money! He didn’t have it, so they get in a little brawl with Gabriel and his uncle. Gabriel’s uncle got his eye pretty bashed up and Gabriel has a bruise on his neck!! While Gabriel was telling us this he was really shaken up, which was super scary because Gabriel is an under cover cop and he has some crazy stories already! But he said he couldn’t go to the cops because he was in the wrong and he owed money, so he called Bishop Baronins and Bishop came and wrote a $475 check on the spot to help get Gabriel out of the hole! So Gabriel gave them the check and all is well! haha But Gabriel couldn’t go to the tribe for money, because he helped the man in Regina against Daniel’s will (Akon’s husband). There meeting about the church was that very night!! So Bishop helped him out and the meeting about the church went through that night until 5 in the morning! Akon in north dakota, Daniel in Texas and Gabriel and part of the tribe in Canada and the rest of the tribe in Africa, were all on the line!! Gabriel said that the meeting went good but Daniel is still against it!! Everyone else is for it, but Daniel, and he is the oldest brother and kind of the head honcho!! It’s all so crazy and it sounds unreal!!

Gabriel gave us a list of the people that want to learn more from his tribe here in canada and there are 25 names!! All of the names are just heads of households!! A lot of them have families!! It’s hard to get one referral in Canada from a member, let alone 25 families! Gabriel is second oldest and he seems kinda like the rebel who doesn’t play by the tribe’s rules because he got baptized and he’s trying to convert all of these other people!! Man it’s insane!!!! haha Like it’s hard to believe all this stuff, but I’ve seen a lot of it happen myself, and it’s so crazy!! Gabriel has been helping us teach a ton of people though!! He’s so great!! But Akon still isn’t home!! She has to get back within the next week because school starts and with Gabriel and her both here I think some crazy stuff is gonna happen!! Because they both are trying really hard to get their tribe on board with the church!! I cant wait to see her and the kids again!! I’m happy, healthy, and safe!! I am just gonna definitely NOT borrow any money from people from Sudan!!

Church was great! Tons of people came again, but I don’t know what to do because we don’t have enough rides to get everyone there! Bishop Baronin’s asked for a downtown branch and his request is going up the ranks. We will see what happens!! Life is so great but so crazy! I love it!! If Daniel cracks, I think we will have a ton of baptisms here!! Oh, and Akon has told the whole tribe that Mom and her are close family friends!! Akon is amazing! Mom, you are amazing!! haha It’s so weird to know that people in Sudan listen in and hear about the missionaries and there family, that are their family friends. haha Crazy stuff! haha But Payt, don’t get your Eagle!! It’s a crazy cult you don’t want to be a part of!!! hahahaha Just kidding! Just get it done so you don’t have to worry about it!! Tell Heather hello and sorry that I haven’t written back for forever! Tell everyone you see I’m sorry I haven’t written. I pushed it back and I don’t know if I wanna try and catchup with everybody. I love and miss you all a ton!! Have a great week!!!

Love Elder Smith!

"I FEEL LIKE I'M IN A HUGE, CRAZY, AMAZING DREAM!"

Friends and Fam!

I’m back in Agnes!! Man, it has been an amazing week!! Dad, how is your back!!? Did you drink water? haha Mom, you are the greatest! Thanks for the pics! Al and Addi, you look huge. Payt you are a champ!! Stay healthy and fill me in on more football details!! That’s crazy that the first game is here already! Time is going way too fast!! I’m so stressing because I’m worried I’ll only have five and a half weeks in Agnes!! It’s crazy the urgency I feel, but I love it!!! I loved Selkirk, but I love the fast pace of Agnes!! I have been sooo busy I haven’t had time to even think!! I get up at 6:30, workout and then I’m either on the phone or studying until studies because I don’t have time to study for all the investigators and the district! I have four companionships in my district and so we teach all day and then we come in and make plans and I’m on the phone with people in my district and the zone leaders until 10:30. We haven’t been getting to bed until 11 and then we wake up and do it all again! I’m always tired, but man I love it so much!! I love street contacting so much and I got in contact with some good people that got dropped a bit after I left. Oh man! It is so great here because there is no down time between anything! We have a ton of appointments and when we ‘find’ it’s all street contacting so there is no time wasted waiting at doors or walking between doors! You are always talking to people!

The ward is doing so good!! Tim Jackson is a super solid member! Emmanuel moved to the north zone and he’s doing good. The Obeings are doing amazing! They gave us some great referrals this week and Juliet is as good as ever, too!! The Waverly Ward is the best and oh man I just love it here soooo much!! They haven’t been getting the usual #s out to church lately, partly because of shortage of rides!! But since I got here, we found 2 more amazing families and we had to get them there with the other people they were teaching!! We found 23 rides for church this week!! haha 8 were for the Obeings and then one for Gabriel and the rest were for investigators!!! hahaha It was insane!! The crazy thing is that a lot of the investigators we have now, I was here when they were found or taught! Sacapos family came and I so think they will get baptized soon! Then there are a couple of other families that we found this week!! It was so great because I feel like I haven’t missed a beat coming back because I pretty much know all of the solid investigators and all of the members!! I love it here sooo much!! And get this!! The night before I left Agnes we taught Akon and here brother was in the house! He said he wanted to be taught and then I left! Turns out he got baptized about 3 weeks ago and he is the most amazing member ever! He comes out with us all the time and get this! He has been talking to his whole tribe including Daniel (Akon’s husband) and a ton of people here in Winnipeg and his tribe in Sudan! He sent Book of Mormons to Sudan and we have been trying everything to figure out how to get the gospel to them!! President Paulson has met with Gabriel and we are sending their tribe all kinds of info and they read the Book of Mormon every week on Sunday as a tribe! Gabriel is going to Sudan in a couple months to teach them all more!! There are no missionaries there and the closest branch is 9 hours away from the tribe! We are trying to get ahold of the mission president there and hoping and praying that things workout! Gabriel is soooo amazing! Akon is in Texas with Daniel now, but she gets home in a few days. She had been gone most of the summer!! Gabriel was baptized while she was gone and we are hoping if he stays on his brother Daniel that things will workout!! It’s been so crazy!! Like I feel like I’m in a huge, crazy, amazing dream!! I love it here sooo much and I am sooo excited for Akon to get back!! I am definitely feeling pressure! President said he is planning to see Akon baptized! Everyone keeps telling me that she’s the reason I came back to Agnes. I sure hope things workout! He is so amazing and it will be the best thing ever if things workout! Please keep her in your prayers and pray that Daniel’s heart will be softened! The last 4 days have been so amazing though! We have found so many good people!! We have been so blessed already!! Oh and get this, when I left, Martha got dropped, but I talked to her and we are gonna start teaching her again!! Oh man it is so great!! The Obeings are so amazing and Pious is the greatest! Pious finds all of our investigators and he always knows whatever language they speak. He is soooo amazing!! I love the people here so much!!!

I had a question for you! I was wondering if I could get more scriptures for people? But I know they cost a ton so I might hold off until the end of my mission. I know they are spendy and I feel so bad asking you to do it so fill me in on how you feel about the whole idea and what you think I should do because if I give them to all the people I want to we are going to be poor! I just look at Pious's old trashy scriptures and I hear his amazing testimony in every language you can think of and it’s hard to not want to get him some. He will be a bishop one day I am sure of it!! Same with Gabriel. And the Obeing boys will all be amazing missionaries!! They are all kids and they are already better missionaries then I am! All these people are so amazing!!! Also, I am sooo sorry about the speeding ticket!! Should I pay for it from the savings account? I’m driving slower now and I will do my best to not let it happen again! They have those stupid photo cops everywhere!

Oh, my new comp is a champ!! He is from Rigby as I’m sure you know and he was trained in Agnes by Elder Felix last transfer, who is now a zone leader that is serving with Elder Leonard now!! I love Elder Felix and he is a great missionary!! He trained Elder Skinner well!!! Elder Skinner is a champ!! He is working super hard and it will be a great transfer!! I love this area so much and I love my mission so much!!! It is the greatest!!! The church is soooo true!!! I love you all so much!! Payt, stay healthy! Dad take care of your back!! All of you stay healthy and safe!! I love you sooo much!! Alex and Addi, I wanna hear from ya! Give me an update on life!! I love you guys a ton!!

Love Elder Smith!!

P.S. Elder Zoner and Elder Skinner are both from Idaho and Elder Zoner is from Idaho Falls and he said that a ton of people asked him if he knew me. It was soooo weird talking to him today because I don’t really understand the concept that life is still happening there! haha Also, it was so weird going back into the Agnes apartment because it felt like getting back to the house after a week at the cabin! haha Except like 10 times better! It was so neat and it was so great talking to all the members and investigators again! I am so excited for Akon to get home! Get this!! A couple days ago Gabriel was on a mass speaker phone call with a bunch of people from his tribe that are here in Winnipeg, Akon’s family in Texas and the tribe in Sudan!! The call started at 9 PM and ended at 5 AM! Most of it was talking about getting the gospel to Africa and getting Daniel to back off! Gabriel is the best ever! I don’t know him that well yet but I love him so much!! He is a champ and we are teaching with him again tonight!!! Welp times up!! Love you guys a ton and talk to you next week!!!!

YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE IT. . . I'M GOING BACK TO AGNES

Friends and fam!!

What a week!! Aaaaahhhh!! Dad, you look miserable! Elder Platt’s Dad was about to go for surgery for his back a couple years ago so he went crazy and drank insane amounts of water and it really helped! I know it sounds crazy, but I’m a believer! Pound the water! Like carry around a gallon with you and just force it down, and get off the pop!! Just try it for a week and let me know how it goes! I’ll be following up and I should hope my Dad would follow through and keep commitments! haha Love ya and get feelin’ better!

Payt, you are a champ! Keep tearin’ it up and stay healthy and don’t take out teammates! hahah You need Glaser!

So transfers!! You will never believe it...... I’M GOIN BACK TO AGNES!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahha I know it’s insane!!! I’ll be the District Leader in Agnes with an Elder that has only been out one transfer, and get this, his name is Elder Skinner, and he is from Rigby!! Also, I think they are planning on Akon getting baptized! Her cousin Gabriel, that I taught forever ago, just got baptized! And he’s working on her husband! And, I’M GOING BACK TO AGNES!! Aaaahhh! She’s still in Texas though, so hopefully she gets back soon! I will have spent 1 year in just 2 areas, the 2 best areas in the Canada Winnipeg Mission!! Oh and get this! My Zone Leaders are Elder Willardson and Elder Ewell!! hahaha It’s soooo crazy!! Elder Schulte, the Assistant, talked to me and he said, "ya, we hooked you up!" Man, I am so excited! It was probably the only thing that could take a lot of the sting out of leaving Selkirk!

I’m so excited, but the goodbyes have still been pretty hard! Mom and Dad, thank you so much for the scriptures! It was so great to give them to Chris and Karl!! Chris was way excited and he said the closing prayer after I gave them to him and after we taught him! I said my goodbyes, and he had grabbed his hat and put it on and he was looking down and way quiet when I was saying goodbye. I shook his hand and said good bye and walked out, not really thinking too much. When we got out Elder Platt was like "Why didn’t you hug him!? He was crying, I never thought Chris would cry!" I was totally clueless to it, but man I love Chris!! He is such a humble, amazing man!! I can’t believe how far he has come!! It’s amazing how the Gospel of Jesus Christ can change people! Missions are the best!!!! It was way fun to give Karl the scriptures, too! He was shocked and he didn’t know what to say! Man, I love the people here so much!! President Anderson announced that I was leaving on Sunday and talked me up a bunch! I love him!! He had us over for steaks the other night and then when it was time to say goodbye (he’s such a funny guy) he was shaking my hand, said, “Is it weird for guys to hug?” haha I was like, “naa” and he grabbed me in a big awkward hug. I’m gonna miss him and his family a ton! Since the branch heard I was leaving, we have had big dinner appointments every night this week! This branch is so amazing and I love them all so much!! I love branches!!! aaaahhh Missions are so great!

So District meeting this week went well, but it was kinda nerve wracking because the Zone Leaders, Assistants, and President and Sister Paulson were all there! It went well though, but it’s weird teaching with them there! When President Paulson called and told me about transfers I felt pretty dumb because I screamed pretty loud! I don’t know that it was the most dignified thing ever. But it’s so weird because I’m so sad to leave, but so excited to be back in Agnes!! It’s so funny because I always talk about Agnes and everyone always told me I’d never go back. I’m sooo excited.

As for Selkirk, Elder Platt is staying and going Senior! He has only had one companion and one area and he is going senior in that area! It’s pretty crazy, but he’s way excited and I’m sure he will do great!! There are some good things going here! We set a really solid baptismal date with Brother McKay the other day! His wife is less active and he isn’t a member. They live an hour from Selkirk and the first 4.5 months I was here they never went to church and I hadn’t met them! A couple weeks back we made the trek out there with her home teacher thinking to just try and get her active. But we met Brother McKay and I smelled fresh blood! hahaha I kinda took charge and figured out that he fly fishes. I whipped out my fly fishing pics and it just got better from there! We mainly just taught him and she even bore her testimony! That lesson went well and he’s made it out to church 2 weeks now! We went and taught him again this last week and he set a date!! Hopefully Elder Platt does some good finish work!!

But it has been a great week, until about 3 minutes ago! I just got a call that I got flashed by a photo cop and it’s like a $200 fine! No affect on my insurance or anything because they can’t prove it was me driving, so it won’t be anything on my record, but the mission got the letter and they DO know who was driving! So I guess you can pull that out of the money for my college. haha Man this stinks! Sorry to end on a bad note for the email! All is well here! Opposition in all things, eh?! haha Missions are the best!! I love you guys so much!! So sorry for my poor driving!! Have a great week!! You are the best! Thanks again for the great package!! Love ya a ton!

Love Elder Smith!!

"COMMON LAW" COMPANIONS

Friends and Fam!

Man, I loved your emails this week! You are the greatest!! Dad, you are a champ! I have seen so many nice bikes up this way and I always think of you!! Two years from now me, you, and Uncle Kellan and Jordan should go on a long ride up this way! Me and Jordan could rent bikes and make a great week of it! haha deal!?? You guys were looking good! I like your new helmet, definitely helps you pull off the beautiful bike! You and Uncle Kellan were looking great!!

Mom, you’re the best and I’m sure you are the best Relief Society Pres. ever!! The package isn’t here yet, but it should get here in plenty of time. Transfer calls are this Sunday, crazy! Transfers are going by like weeks lately! It’s insane! I hope you enjoyed the pictures. Elder Platt is a goof! I love him to death, but man he’s fun to scare. haha We’ve been up here in Selkirk together forever, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens this next transfer! It’s funny because since we have been together so long we are now “common law” in Canada and we are considered “Eternal Companions”! Let me just say, I’m glad I get to pick my real eternal companion!

Payt, you are a champ! Keep tearing kids up, but don’t over do, please!! Man it is insane! We are going into the fall! I’m soooo excited for football stats and for it to cool off! haha With humidity, it was 40 degrees C, yesterday. The humidity is insane here!Keep me updated with football and give me more details, please!

So this week was interesting, for sure! We have been working so hard and right when you are super excited about things you run into trials. Hah! It’s crazy how many ups and downs there are! This week Kimberly and Matthew both dropped us! We have worked with them so much! The branch has done so much for them and they all of the sudden say its not for them! They both have told us how much it has blessed them in their lives and how they know it’s what they should do, but they just aren’t willing to live the commandments! It’s amazing how you can care about someone so much and try so hard to help them, and they can just quit. It was super hard, but man I have learned a lot! It’s just so crazy!

It’s amazing how many ups and downs there are out here! Stuff like that can get you so down, but then you get to see Karl and Chris and it can make things all worth it! Karl went to a lesson with us to teach Lauren. Lauren is a real interesting guy and he loves to talk your ear off with crazy stuff. I was worried what Karl would think, but he wanted to come because he had met Lauren at church. He came and the lesson was amazing! Karl made Lauren feel so good and he was so patient with the whole situation! On top of that, he bore a solid testimony!! I love Karl! He is sooooo great!! Chris is also doing great! I have been so blessed with so many amazing experiences, and I have met so many amazing people! It stinks when bad things happen, but man I have been so blessed and I love my mission!! The area still has some good people to teach, so we will see what happens the next week or so and it’ll be crazy to see what comes with transfers! I wish that I could do so much more for the branch but I’m grateful for the growth and good things that have happened here! Selkirk is the greatest!

As for other things, I am loving being District Leader! It takes a lot more time away and it’s pretty stressful, but it’s so neat to see missionaries take advice and have it work! I’ve had some great exchanges and I love the missionaries in my district, even though some are not the smartest or most obedient. haha District meeting went great this week and I stayed conscious the whole time yet again! haha I used a neat analogy with Dad and is “sacred (stereo) speaker system” to teach this week! It went really good and I’m so grateful that Dad gave me the advice to use personal experiences to apply to the gospel! It has helped me teach so much! I will never be as good at it as Dad, but it really helps when teaching! I don’t have time to write what I said but maybe one day I’ll share some of the analogies I’ve used with ya.

Things are going great here, though! Thank you so much for your love and support! You are the greatest family ever!! I love and miss you so much! Stay healthy and safe and keep me updated!

Love Elder Smith!

THE CANADIAN "AWKWARD ROOM"

Friends and fam!

Wow! Another week gone by already! It’s crazy how fast they go! First off, it looks like it was a great party for Kegan! What did he do to his arm and what was Madeline doing there? haha Payt, stay healthy! I’m so excited for 2 a days to be here! It’s unreal that it is that time of year! Did they start early this year? You and Kaasa tear it up and give the news papers something to talk about! But stay humble! Mom, you are amazing! Thank you so much for those scriptures! I hope they didn’t cost a ton! And thank you sooo much for the pictures! I definitely got a shot of trunkiness! Man, you guys look good on that boat! Dad, you need to tighten up the seat! It looked a little saggy! You’re looking great however! You pulled of the hat nicely! Thank you so much for the great up date every week! I love and miss you all so much! You are the greatest!

So this week was pretty crazy! It was zone conference week! It was nice because I didn’t have to prepare district meeting, but I spent half the week in Winnipeg with meetings and exchanges. I got to exchange with the Portage Elders. I went with Elder Green from Australia and it was a great exchange!! They have a man from Sudan that was a brother to the Obeng family, but he has a big language barrier so they haven’t been teaching him because they struggle with him understanding. I said I wanted to meet him on the exchange and so we went and taught him and it was the best!! I SOOOOO miss teaching people who are learning English! They are so humble and patient and it is so fun teaching so simply! The lesson went great and they are going to start teaching him more and he said he would start coming to church! It was great! It got me pretty Agnes trunky!!

Zone conference was great! Interviews went really well too and President talked to me a lot about stuff to try with stupid missionaries! It was a great week! Chris went teaching with us this week too!!! He did sooo great! I love him to death! haha He also gave us his white shirt to wash and it was nasty! haha We scrubbed it down in the shower and then washed it with our clothes. It is so amazing that Chris comes from such a rough background, but he has such a strong testimony and he has grown so much! He is such a champ!! The branch loves him too and Tyler has become good friends with him! It’s great and Chris and Karl are doing great! We are teaching Matt Lefort a lot now and he is doing really good! His brother and grandma have kinda backed off, but Matt is doing really good! He even bore his testimony this week! haha Due to what all Mormons seem to do at testimony meeting, he asked us, "So do we just go and tell people what’s going on in our life?" haha We said, “No, we talk about our testimony of Jesus Christ.” He got up and did a mix of the two! But it was great! Man, it’s so funny to get a missionary/investigator view of the church! We are a peculiar people! But it went great and it was good that he bore his testimony because we were way short on numbers because half the branch went on a temple trip to Regina! The Elders quorum president had to preside! I think if a couple more people would have been gone, I would have been in charge! I don’t know how I will be able to function when I’m not in a branch anymore though! I love this branch! They are all so great and I have learned so much! The members and missionaries here have to carry such a large load! I’ve taught the Gospel Principles class almost every week and this week we combined and taught the Gospel Doctrine class. I’ve had a lot of great teaching experiences! We speak like once a month in the branch and I’ve even taught priesthood before too! It’s going be weird to go to church when there aren’t a 1000 things to do!

Things are going great though! Still working with Lauren, Ben, Kimberly and some new people, things are good! The district is doing well but one companionship is really struggling (probably because they are disobedient!) But I have an exchange with them this week so hopefully all goes well!

I had a funny tracting story for you this week though! So we have like 2 or 3 appointments a day that usually go through and the rest of the time we are usually tracting. So we get a lot of tracting in! But in Canada they have little middle rooms that then go to the front door, so it feels like you are walking into people’s house already when you ring their door bell! It’s really weird, but its good for winter and mosquitos! So anyways, we are in a trailer park out in the boonies and they all have these, we call ‘um (awkward rooms) haha Now some people get mad when you don’t come into the awkward room and some people get mad when you do. So it’s always a little sketchy, but eventually you stop caring and just walk in. Well, we walk into this one and we ring and then look around. Turns out there is like a couch and TV and table, it was an addition to the trailer, so the doorbell was still there and we were in this guy’s new living room! haha And it was to late to get out because he was at the door, which I don’t know why it was there, but he went crazy! f-bomb this and f-bomb that! haha He was a very big man too! haha

But I’m outa time I love ya! Have a great week! You’re the best!

Love Elder Smith!!

ANOTHER HOT ONE IN SELKIRK

Friends and Fam!

Hey! Sounds like you had a great week!! Thank you so much for the catchup! It’s great, but man it’s gonna be weird when I realize that you guys are still living a life too! haha I kind of forget that new stuff is happening there too! Payton, please stay healthy! Don’t overdo at the camp!! Wait and mess up the kids at the game! Your favorite line should be, “I’m a gamer!” haha Everyone knows you’ve worked hard, so just stay healthy and be a (former player’s name omitted) at practice! haha Also, great pick for the dance she’s cute! I’m glad your dating around! You’re a champ!! Put on more weight so I can wear your clothes when I get home! You are looking good!! I want your shoes! Man I miss you Payt! I love ya a ton! The Jeep is looking good! You’re a champ!

Mom, Dad, Alex and Addison, I miss you a ton! Mom thank you so much for the pics! They were great and they cracked me up! And my birthday is still a ways away! But I was wondering if you could send me some cd’s. There is a great one called Nearer. It should be at LDS bookstore. It is so good! It’s church hymns sung a little different. I think you all will really like it! Also, if you could send all of the EFY cd’s 2006-2010. I like having good music for all of the driving we do. Also, the jump drive is on the way! It’s got like 600 pictures on it and a couple videos! Enjoy! That’s all I wanted but I was also hoping you could get Karl a set of scriptures. I love that kid a ton and I want give him one before I go. I know they are spendy, but I really want to give it to him! His full name is Karl Harry Helbig, if you could get them engraved. I don’t care which one you get but if you could do that it would be great!! You’d probably have to send it pretty soon because transfers are coming up again! Also, let me know if you can get one for Chris, too. He isn’t priority, but I just have gotten really close with Karl.

This week was kind of frustrating, but good! No district meeting because it’s Zone Conference week! Kimberly didn’t come to church and she has kinda been giving us the cold shoulder, so we don’t know what to do! We will give her a couple day break and see what happens! Ben is doing good and still working for his date in September, but he has some issues with tithing. But he’s been taught everything and he still wants to work for his date! He’s great! Chris didn’t make it to church because of work this week! Since his baptism he has been up and down and it’s been pretty hard, but he’s a champ! I feel like I’m never in my area anymore! There are so many meetings and exchanges, which gets hard when Winnipeg is 30 minutes away! Elder Platt has been great at picking up the slack though! I bet he goes senior next transfer and all he will know is me and Selkirk!

I got to go on exchange with Elder Leonard, who is my Zone Leader now and it was so great! He has a heart of gold, and no home to go back too! haha His parents are now serving in St. George as the Mission Presidents and his brother leaves on his mission soon, crazy! The exchange was so great and get this, Emanuel moved into their area, so we got to teach him! aaahhhhhh! It was the greatest! I love that man soooooo much!! It was the best and it felt like good old times in Agnes! Emanuel is a solid member with such a strong testimony! After seeing him. . . just that was worth giving up two years!! It was the best!! Elder Ewell’s brother also leaves soon, so he will end up not seeing him for like 40 months, insane!

My district is good, but I’m sooooo sick of stupid missionaries! One companionship went to a Priesthood meeting that they weren’t supposed to and had a sleepover with other missionaries and then they got caught, which I don’t get because there’s no way you don’t get caught! ahhh! Their stupid! But I had to deal with that! That’s fun, especially when both of them have been out over a year!

We are teaching some other good people but one of them is crazy. He has a heart of gold and his name is Lauren. He’s way good but he says some crazy stuff! He came to church and liked it, but he really is a little crazy! Any advise on how to handle slightly crazy people? I love him and he set a baptismal date, and he is keeping commitments, but he says some crazy stuff!! Fill me in if anyone has ideas.

We are teaching some other good people, but I’ll fill you in on them another time. I’m out of time but I love you all a ton!! Grandpa and Grandma, thank you so much for your letters! You are the best! Grandpa, thanks a ton for your letter and the history you sent! It was great!! Grandma and Grandpa I sent you a package and I hope it got there! Let me know if you can. I love all of you guys sooo much! I have the greatest family ever! Everybody stay safe and healthy! AND KEEP PAYTON HEALTHY! Less time with the ladies and more time stretching! haha Alex, I wanna hear from you! Let me know if you are playing football and what your plans are for the fall!! Addi, I need a gymnastics update! Love you guys!

Love, Elder Smith!!

HAVE OFFICIALLY KNOCKED EVERY DOOR IN SELKIRK!

Friends and Family!

Hey! Thank you so much for your great emails! Sorry I’m emailing so late in the week! Things have been crazy and this is the first time I’ve had a chance to email! Just remember that no news is good news! Addison, you are such a beautiful girl! You look so old and I’m really nervous for when you grow into those cute teeth! haha Payton, you are a punk! Hopefully you are having a blast at Lake Powell!! Be safe and smart! Football is coming up! By the way when do 2 a days start? Mom, before I forget to tell you, that is so neat that you got the package from Akon! I knew you’d like it! Just so you know that wasn’t the greatest lesson or talk on the video. But after she recorded that baptism talk they started making the announcement at baptisms that no video cameras are allowed. Funny stuff! Also, I was gonna tell you not to be offended that the clothes she sent you were huge. They wear all of there clothes super baggy. So just be offended that she thought you were taller! hahaha Also, the kid from Rigby did make it. His name is Ben Skinner. I don’t know who’s training him though. There was also a kid from Idaho Falls too but i didn’t meet either of them!

As for other updates, this week was good, but we had to drop one of our baptismal dates, but we set another one. And EVERYONE bailed for church this Sunday which was super frustrating but Lauren (the new baptismal date we set) made it. Kimberly wasn’t ready and she just can’t quit smoking. It’s so hard! Ben was doing good but we taught him tithing and he has really thrown on the brakes. He hasn’t been to church in a couple weeks and he hasn’t had time to meet with us. We are meeting with him tonight though, so hopefully that goes well! Karl and Chris are doing great! So that’s good news! Karl has even let us teach some of his friends in his house! Matthew Leforte is doing well and so hopefully things with his date in September workout!

So, I have officially knocked every door in Selkirk! Some even 2 or 3 times! haha If you look on the Selkirk map, every street that it shows I have tracted every door. haha It’s kind of insane. We have found so many great people! But now I don’t know what to do. It’s hard to have faith to go knock them over again! We have been tracting in other towns and on the outskirts but we have limited kilometers, so it makes it interesting! Any ideas?

District meeting went great this week! And I stayed up for the whole meeting! haha We talked about and practiced extending a baptismal commitment in the first lesson. I love doing it, but most missionaries have never done it. Elder Green, in my district, has been out 6 months and he has never extended a baptismal commitment. PERIOD! Which is crazy, but I committed everyone to try it and, get this! That night Elder Green and Elder Morris did it in a first lesson with someone and they accepted! They called me and they were so excited! It was really neat!!

I also went on an exchange with Elder Brown yesterday. It went well, but he has been out 18 months, so it’s really hard to find a way to help him because he has been out double what I have. Any ideas? It was a good exchange and he worked hard but there were things I wanted to tell him but didn’t just because I didn’t know how to go about it. It’s so hard to help people without coming off as self righteous or cocky! But it went well. If you do have any advise, let me know.

Family, I love you all so much! sorry my email is all over again, but I gotta go! love ya a ton and best of luck with the week! Love Elder Smith!