THE MIRACLE OF MATTIE

Hey!!

Mom, thanks for answering all of my questions! Please don’t send me to many sweets though! I have tons and no self control! I think my eating habits are causing the zits! The Cutlers are here! They are great, but they got shipped out to a little outlying city so I don’t get to talk to them much. As far as the weather, they say it’s a mild Canadian winter again but man I must be soft! It should be below negative 30’s with wind chill this week! All I know is that it’s cold! Luckily, we have been teaching a ton, so we don’t have much to complain about!! Payt, I’m glad to hear that you are having so much fun! Be safe!!

So this week was so great! We saw so many miracles!! Ediline is amazing! She helps us so much and I think her friend, that lives with her, Marites, will be Baptized very soon! She knows it’s true, she just has to pull the trigger! Ediline went with us to Amie and Godwin and they set another baptismal date!! Hopefully they will be ready!! THEY ARE GREAT! We also saw tons of miracles with finding new amazing people!! We found a couple great families this week that I’m super excited about!! The best thing of the week was Mattie though!! We fasted for the area at the beginning of the week and things just went crazy this week! We have been so blessed!! But let me tell you about Mattie! She is 17 years old and the translator for her Mom because her mom doesn’t speak English. She has been investigating since I got into this area. She had come to church a couple times but things weren’t clicking for her and she wasn’t reading the Book of Mormon. But we taught her last week after giving her a couple week brake and invited her to read again. Her mom wasn’t too thrilled about the whole thing and when we had talked about baptism in the past, her mom was really put-off because she was a preacher in Africa and they have a church here! Since Mattie came to church, she made friends with a girl in the ward and so we were excited about it, but she wasn’t progressing much because of her Mom. So after inviting her to read again and telling her she would get answers and know that it was true, etc. We kind of forgot about her through out the week. So this week Elder Woods said, “Hey, we should call and see how Mattie is doing.” We called her and the first thing she says is, "I’m getting baptized!" haha I’m like, what? She said, "I know its true, I’m getting baptized!" I asked her about her mom, and she said "Well, she had a dream the other night that she should let me do what I think is right and she wants me to get baptized!" So I’m like, “Ok, we are having a baptism on Feb 12th, will you prepare yourself for that day?” and she says, "Sign me up!" I say “OK” and set up an appointment and hang up. Then me and Elder Woods jumped around in confusion and excitement for a couple minutes! hahahah It was the best!!! It was soooo amazing and such a miracle! We went and taught her with the family that she made friends with and she is so ready!! She was in Jacob when we went over. I was shocked!! She kept saying I LOVE THIS BOOK!!! She knows 8 languages and she has been reading it in Swahili. That’s what the Lion King stuff is haha! “Akuna mattata” really does mean no worries! hahaha She said that everyone at school was asking her what was wrong because she is usually loud and really sociable, but all she has been doing lately is reading in her spare time at school! At church she answers all of the questions and she is so great! We talked to her on Sunday at church and moved her date up to Feb 5th. She is so ready and her interview will be in 2 weeks! We are teaching commandments tonight and it’s gonna be great!! She already has such a strong testimony and she is willing to do anything because she knows its true!!! Hopefully all goes well and I can’t wait to tell you about it all next week!!!

It really has been such an amazing week with so many miracles!! Missions are the best!! I love you all so much and I know that the church is true! I know that God answers prayers and I know that his hand is in everything!! I really have learned this transfer more then ever that I really am nothing! haha I have seen so many things that have strengthened my testimony so much that if we turn things over to the Lord and do our best he makes up the big differences and blesses us in so many ways! I can’t wait to apply this in so many other things in life, school, work, friends, family, everything! In life I often have relied on myself or others more than God. As we do our best and push forward in faith and rely on the Lord, he will help us to get through anything! I love and miss you all so much! I’m so grateful for all that you do for me! Have a great week!

Love Elder Smith!

CONGRATULATIONS ADDISON!

Addison Congratulations!

That is soooo exciting and I am sooooo proud of you!! I can’t believe how big you are!! It’s ridiculous!! I can’t believe how fast life goes! It’s scaring me out of my mind!! I remember my baptism so clearly it is ridiculous to think how long it has been!! Mom would you please send a picture of Addison’s baptism quilt! I remember how important my quilt has always been to me! Even till the day I left on my mission, I wouldn’t let anyone touch my bed because I didn’t want anything to happen to my quilt!! You are amazing Mom! But Addison, I am so proud of you!! You are the best!! Dad, I am some what concerned though... does a “commando confirmation count!? hahaha That cracks me up!! I just can’t believe that I didn’t hear about it until now! I just remember you helping me get my wet clothes off. It was one of those neat experiences in my life where it was just me and you together!! It’s funny now to think that you were probably stressing. It’s also fun to think back to all of the great amazing experiences I’ve had in life where it was just me and you! Good times!! It made me laugh to hear that some things never change with you though! Even when I’m on my mission, you can’t follow through with working out every day! Payt, I’m so glad that you are enjoying life! It sounds like you are having a blast! Keep tearing things up and love every day!

Well, honestly this week was so great!! We re-evaluated what we were doing and the area and this week went great! We fasted at the beginning of the week and things really just went so much better than they have been going! We have been working so hard, but this week really helped me to realize that I have been relying on myself way to much and not enough on the Lord! It’s so easy to get prideful in life when we see success, but after looking back on the last year and my mission, even my life this far, I can say that every good thing that has happened on my mission and in life has been because of the Lord. I cannot believe how blessed I really am! I have gotten to see so many miracles and met so many wonderful people and it is all because the Lord has blessed me with these wonderful opportunities. It’s so hard to realize sometimes, but man I am so blessed!! But this week we really tried hard to rely on the Lord and be more grateful for the blessings we receive everyday and it really made the week so much easier and so much less stressful and so much better!! We taught tons of great lessons! We were let in 3 days in a row while tracting to teach people and all of the lessons were great! Maritess has a rock solid testimony and will get baptized once she gets a new job so she doesn’t have to work Sundays! Amie, Godwin, Dominique, Mattie, and this less active member we have been teaching and her daughter, all made it to church! We found some amazing people and are so close to getting others to come to church and set dates!! We were honestly so blessed!! I got to watch Robert Hase (the man I interviewed) get baptized and Mattie was there to watch it and it was the same day as Addison’s! It was just such a great week and for a cherry on top Emmanuel was called and set apart Sunday as a Ward Missionary!! And get this!! He spoke on Sunday!! hahahahah Also, in Waverly Ward, Celia’s sister in law was baptized and Belatu gave the closing prayer. She also spoke at the last baptism because she has been helping fellowship people like crazy!!! Emmanuel’s talk was so great! (for those that could understand his strong Nigerian accent! haha He has such a strong testimony and I love him to death!! Funny thing is that his tardiness never changes! He is always fashionably late to everything (usually over 10 mins. late) haha Wether it’s his baptism, confirmation, church or EVEN church when he is speaking! The Bishop was messing his pants! In all, this sunday morning we pounded down doors waking people up for church and then I threw together a talk in 10 minutes. Emmanuel, Brother Crezsenzi, the ward mission leader, and I all spoke! It was all so great!! I love being a missionary!!

I love you all so much and I’m so grateful for all that you do! Addison, I am so proud of you!! Have a great week! Oh and hello from Brandon! We are here for a Zone Meeting again already! Crazy!! Oh, also one of the 70 spoke to us this week and it was so great. (Elder C Smith) I didn’t get called out or nothin! haha But I got talking to his Assistant and he fly fishes and he lives in Montana. He gave me a card and we are hitten’ up the Missoula River in Montana in a year or so... you game Dad?? haha He wants to trade trips! I think he said the Missoula??? I don’t know, he said the best river in Montana to fish in a drift boat. I told him the South Fork was better, so we will see! haha I love and miss you all so much! You are the best! Have a great week and I’ll talk to you next week!

Love Elder Smith!

SHOUT OUT THANK YOU'S & HAPPY BIRTHDAY ADDISON!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Man, this is just craziness!! Blackout year is over. It’s just ridiculous! First off, I have some shout out thank you’s! Grandma and Grandpa, thank you so much for the letters and the money and everything!! You do WAY TO MUCH! Mom, thank you for all that you do! You are amazing!! Moss family, thank you so much for the package!! Crezee family, thanks a ton for the package!!! Tell Tanner he has a BEAUTIFUL wife! hahah I also got a letter from Uncle Bob Andrus! Tell him thanks a ton for keeping me in his thoughts and prayers! Well, I think that is all! I feel so bad that I don’t have time to write thank you letters for everybody, but please let them know I’m so grateful!

So, it was an interesting week!! I welcomed in the New Year sick! The night before New Years Eve I was up puking all night. So I got up on the 31st and felt horrible! We got up and Elder Woods did a baptismal interview and then we tracted all day in the cold! haha At 5PM we were locked in for the night!! I ate some junk food mixed with ibuprofen, my happy pink sleeping pills and a Martinelli’s Apple Cider (I had to keep some of the tradition alive!) and I passed out to welcome in the New Year unconscious! It was the best because we were allowed to sleep in till 8, so I got a ton of sleep and felt like a new man the next morning!

Addison, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I can’t believe you are 8!! It’s sooo exciting! I can’t wait to see pictures of your baptism! It will go great! Also, congrats on giving up the waawee!! That is so great!! You are such a big girl! In your pictures you look like a teenager!! I’m so sorry your B-day present isn’t there yet!! It is in the mail though!! I couldn’t find a hockey jersey yet though, but I will find one and send it soon!! Hopefully you like what I did send though!! I love and miss you so much and I’m so proud of you!! I love you so much! Also, Mom did the hats make it there safe and sound? Do they fit? Well I love and miss you all a ton!

I’m short on time today so I’m typing fast but I have a neat story for ya!! so this week I interviewed a man for baptism that has been investigating for well over a year and he is super smart! He has done tons of schooling and he has written a couple of the math books used in the schools. He also is a writer and like an English major and he knows his bible really good!! It was such a neat experience to do his baptismal interview!! We got in the room and I could tell that he was pretty nervous so I explained the interview and just tried to make him feel comfortable and get to know him for a couple minutes and man, does he know a lot!! He has a super neat, long conversion story too! But it was just so neat to see how he had humbled himself and really sought after the truth and acted on it when he found it! He has such a rock solid testimony and I felt the Spirit a ton throughout the interview!! It was a really neat experience!! It was funny because after the interview we he was so excited and he really opened up! He was a University professor here in Winnipeg for a good 30 years and so he was really interested in what my plans were after my mission and he had some great advice. It was just a super neat experience!! Interviews are so neat and such a great opportunity. You talk to someone for an hour and you get to hear their life story, there conversion story, and there testimony and it is so neat!!

Elder Woods is great! This transfer will be great and this year will be great!! Life is such an exciting thing because we have so many opportunities to reevaluate where we are, set goals, and do better. That man was in his 60s and yet he was able to recognize his shortcomings, recognize the truth and make the needed changes to bring him closer to God!! The Gospel is so amazing because we are given so many opportunities to repent and make steps to work towards perfection and the opportunity to return to live with God again!! I’m so grateful for the Atonement, for repentance, and for the gospel of Jesus Christ! It’s so true and it makes so much sense!! I love you all so much! I’m so grateful for all that you do! I’m sorry because I have a ton of other stuff I’d like to say, but I got to go! I love you so much!! Love Elder Smith!!

"THE CALL MADE YOU ALL REAL AGAIN, JUST FOR A LITTLE WHILE"

Hey!

Thanks so much for the great emails and the wonderful Christmas call! It’s crazy because Christmas out here is so great, but so exciting to get over because you can get back into the routine of things! Even with having permission to call home and play wii and hangout at member’s, you just feel like a disobedient pile! haha By the end of Christmas day I was twitchen’ and sniffing my hands and making funny noises, hahahah! It will be so great when transfers are over today and we can just get back into the swing of things! It’s so funny how weird things are on a mission!

It was so great to hear from all of you though!! I loved hearing all of your voices! I felt bad I didn’t get to hear from Papa and Grammy! Please tell them thank you for the great card and tell them I love and miss them and they better be there for the next call! Please thank Gma and Gpa for all that they do for me! Their packages and letters never stop! Tell them I was so grateful to hear from them! Man, the call made you all real again, just for a little while. I saw the pictures today and I just can’t believe how big everybody is!! I can’t wait to go talk to girls with Payt and Alex! haha Those two are studs! I’m so grateful for all of you! You are the best and I love and miss you so much!!

I don’t have much to update you on! Church was lame this week because it was Boxing Day and no one came! There were just over 60 people there. . . IN A WARD! It was ridiculous! And no investigators came! Kind of a shot to the face right after Christmas. But I’m excited for this week! It’s gonna be crazy though! We have Zone Leader Council tonight that we still aren’t ready for, we have Stake Coordination on Saturday and Elder Woods has never done it and we haven’t even started! We have transfers in about an hour and we have to get this area going a little bit better! It’s ridiculous. It’s the best though!! This area is in a little bit of a slump, but I have learned so much and I’m so excited for the potential of this next transfer!

Addison, I will do my best to find you a hockey jersey! Your present is gonna get there late though! Sorry! I already got ya some neat stuff though, so it will all be there soon! Mom, Dad, Payton, Alex and Addison, you are all the best!! I love and miss you all so much! I have the best family ever!! Sorry I don’t have a ton of time to write today I gotta get going! I love you all so much though!

Oh, and Mom, just for the heads up, the Canadians hate January and February too, so they throw in like a ton of Monday holidays! haha So if I don’t write, don’t stress because it’ll just probably be later on in the week! I don’t know when all the holidays are though. So just keep writing before Monday!!

I love you all a ton! Be safe and have a great week! Payt, live it up skiing, but please be careful and safe driving and skiing!! love ya all! LOVE ELDER SMITH!

Szypkowski Visit

Hey!!

Man it’s Christmas time already! This is ridiculous!!! haha Payt, be safe skiing!! And be careful on the ride there!! I can’t believe how old you all look! Was A-Rod in my old snow board boots!?! You all look way too old!! I can’t believe that the Szypkowskis came and saw you!! I love their family! They are sooo great! And so upfront and they are work- aholics! I hammered 10 to 1 of Elder Platt’s nails and one of them hammered 10 to 1 of my nails! haha They are sooo great! And Miki is gonna be going on his mission soon!! Their family is the best! Tell them I miss them a ton! You can also tell them I’m better with a nail gun! They hammered all of the chicken wire up for the walls, by hand! haha They are crazy!! It was a blast though!! Tell Chris I can’t wait for the hunting trip to try out his over-under! I had to turn him down when he handed it to me at his place. hahaha I got so trunky then! He took a shot, reloaded it and then handed it to me! I wanted to shoot so bad! They are great though! Mom, make a filling meal! All of the food they eat is super heavy and filling!! I loved it but after just a couple bites I was stuffed! haha They know how to eat, but they are super skinny! I don’t know! But tell them I miss em!!

So this week was a gooden!! We are teaching a ton, but really having struggles getting people to progress and come to church! We are working through it, but we got transfer calls this week and I’m staying again!! Elder O'Driscoll is headed for Regina! I think I will break the record for longest time spent without breaking the Manitoba border! I love it! Winnipeg is the best! Elder Woods was a district leader and so I get to be with him for his first transfer as Zone leader! He is a champ and I am super excited! I’m sad to see Elder O'Driscoll go, but super excited to be with Elder Woods!! I will learn a ton from him! He came out with me and he is a champ!! Also Elder Leonard is the new assistant to the President!! So he’s back in Winnipeg! This is definitely the hardest area I think I’ve served in, but I’m super excited for this next transfer because I think a lot of great things will happen!

I had a funny story for ya this week though! We went out teaching with Emmanuel and I

gave him his scriptures!! He was way excited!! Mom and Dad, thank you so much!! Emmanuel just kept saying "thank you! Tell your mom thank you so much!" haha He is such a great man with a rock solid testimony! The funny part though was that we took him to an appointment and he is a great teacher! He always helps when we ask him to. He is a great member to bring out! But after coming with us he has learned to be pretty bold with invitations to church! We were teaching and we invited a lady to church and she said she couldn’t because of work. Emmanuel jumped in and said do you have to work every sunday? And she said yes and he said "OH SH**" haha I think we were all caught way off guard! The funny thing was that we had taught repentance earlier in the week and one of the girls there said, "Oh well that’s why there’s repentance, he had better repent!" haha Elder O'Driscoll and I were shocked and holding back from bursting out laughing! And then just a couple minutes later Emmanuel almost did it again! He barely caught himself. He is a great guy, but could definitely use some help with the dignified language. And none of them made it to church, but they are committed to be their this week!

We taught Jamie this week but he is definitely having struggles! He likes his girlfriend and I think he is thinking about getting married, but his testimony is struggling because he isn’t doing what he should be doing! He’s a great kid, but right now things aren’t looking too good.

Some good news is that we are teaching Amie tonight, and Ediline (an amazing recent convert that is friends with Amie) is coming! Hopefully all goes well! Setting up appointments has been a pain because everyone says, "after the new year, we are too busy until Christmas". It’s getting frustrating, but all is well! I’m way excited for this week! We have some good lessons planned and the members have really pulled through! We have supper appointments like all week and a fun day planned for Christmas! We will be with missionaries in the morning and then we are eating at Ediline’s for lunch and the Garcia’s for supper! We got permission to watch “The Best 2 Years” and play WII Tennis. Brother Garcia talked trash about being the best and asked us to ask for permission. President didn’t have a problem with it so we will see what happens! We will call from the Garcias too! We will probably call around 3 or 4 in the afternoon, if that is ok with you? I’ll call ya in the morning to see what your schedule is, but plan on that. Just buy a calling card for an hour because Brother Garcia has a phone with calls to the states for free and we will probably switch off with his phone so we can both make calls at the same time! If you don’t want to buy a card that’s fine too. I can just wait till Elder O'Driscoll is done, I just don’t know what our timing will be like. It’s sooooo crazy that it is here again already! I just called for Mother’s Day! I’m way excited, but kinda nervous too! It’s been a LONG time since we’ve talked. It’s gonna be sooo great! But I guess if you want anymore updates you can remind me when I call!

I love you all a ton! Your package should be there sometime this week! It might be a day or two late for Christmas!? I don’t know for sure! Hopefully you like it though! Oh, Happy Annaver....... I donno how to spell it. hahaha Happy ‘that thing were you remember when you were married’! haha My mission has helped me with many things but spelling isn’t one of them! Grammer niether! HAHA But I feel way bad for not remembering! haha Sorry!! I love you all a ton!! Oh Dad, I sent your letter and B- day stuff with the Christmas stuff!! I’m so sorry! I know that’s lame! Bonus is that you are the only one that gets a letter! Welp, times up but I love you all a ton and I’ll look forward to talking to ya soon!!

Love Elder Smith

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM PRESIDENT AND SISTER ROBISON

As President of the Winnipeg Manitoba Stake, it was such a privilege for me and my wife to have your missionary in our home last night for a Christmas Dinner. You'll never know how much it means to us to have these missionaries in our home, as we currently have a son currently serving in the Idaho Pocatello Mission.

We have attached a picture and hope that you are able to find your missionary ; )

We want you to know how much we appreciate you for doing such a great job raising a chid willing to serve a mission. Thank you.

We hope you have a wonderful Christmas.

President and Sister Robison

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

I’m sooooooo sorry that I didn’t get a gift to you in time! I bought you a cheesy little gift, weeks ago, but I kept putting off your letter!! I am going to try and send it today! I’m so sorry that I am so far behind! I might just send it with the Christmas stuff! I found some neat stuff the last couple P-days, but it’s gonna cost an arm and a leg to send home! I hope that all is well there so I can afford to send it! haha. Please let me know if my account is getting low!! I’m living a pretty high roller life here in Canada, so I can always cut back, if needs be! haha Dad, I love and miss you so much!! I can’t believe that you are 45! Right? haha That’s insane!! That like looks close to 50!! You’re SO old! Now you aren’t allowed to use the “mid-life crisis excuse” anymore!! haha No more Harleys or house changes or helicopters or nothin! Dad, I am soooooo grateful for you and the amazing example that you are to me!! I love and miss you so much and I’m so grateful for you and all that you do!! I’ve got the best Dad ever!! Have a great day and week!! Oh, and get this! I begged and pleaded to call you on your birthday and they said I could, but just a couple weeks late! I did it that way because I wanted your gift to get there before. hahaha Love you dad! Thank you so much for all that you do!! I loved your joke! Hey, please tell Grandma thank you for the Christmas stuff! Those chocolates are so good! I only opened what wasn’t wrapped! And Mom, thank you for the syrup!! I’ve eaten waffles for supper two days in a row! You are all amazing!!

So this week was crazy!! We taught a ton and even taught a couple rich families! We also had zone conference!! It’s so crazy how things change!! Last year I was depressed out of my mind for the Christmas Zone Conference! It made me so homesick and it was way hard. It was funny this year because we were just stressed! haha It was a Bi-zone conference and we had to get everything ready and put together for both zones! It was a great relief to have it go smooth and it was a blast! We watched “It’s A Wonderful Life” and it was the best! We also did Sister Paulson’s Christmas bells and it was so fun. She loves those things and it’s so funny to watch President roll his eyes at the whole idea! It was just so fun!! This month will be a blast! It’s such a great time of year!! It’s just funny to think how last year I could find the negative things about being on a mission for Christmas, but man it is the best!!!!

Shopping, however, has not been fun! I spent some of the last 2 P-days looking for Christmas stuff and it has been a pain! There just isn’t enough time! But I got some stuff. Hopefully you like it! I don’t have any details on the call yet but I will give them to you next week!

So this week was interesting because we taught a ton, but everyone bailed for church! Amie and Godwin are still doing ok, but they won’t make their date and they are moving very slow! Jamie moved out but now he isn’t in our ward and we’ve had troubles staying in contact with him. Hopefully things will work out there. We found an amazing African family that is way good and they should be to church next week! And we taught like 3 different rich families this week! It was crazy. Like I’m talking big houses! It was sad though, because one of them we taught everyone but the dad and it was a great lesson with a member and everything! The Spirit was really strong, but then the dad called and cancelled the next appointment! He’s loaded and owns 2 pizza places in town!! They all said they would get baptized on the first lesson and now we can’t even teach them!! We taught another wealthy family that said they know they should listen to us and come out to church, but they are too busy and another family we taught the whole family the first lesson and they were great but they stood us up for the second one!! It’s intimidating teaching rich people, but it’s neat because they generally are full families with both parents there and the kids. So it’s really fun to teach! The finding is slow in rich areas though! Any ideas on helping rich people progress!?

Also, we are teaching some loaded people who are “Seek”? It’s some weird religion that has only been around for like 300 years and they have like 12 gods or something? Do you think you could check it out and let me know what it’s all about and any helpful approaches because there are lots of rich “Seek” people! It’s a religion from India!

But things are going good!! It has been freezing here! A couple days ago it was -40 with wind chill!! That’s when Fareinheit and Celcius are the same. Sorry I can’t spell it I just know either way it was cold! We threw boiling water out the door and it all turned into steam and disappeared! haha It was pretty neat. It’s funny to tract because my mind moves faster then my lips in the cold so some funny stuff comes out! hahaha It’s been fun! Especially on exchanges with newer missionaries who haven’t seen a winter here before! Transfers are this week too and so we will see what happens! This is definitely the hardest area I have ever served in, but I have learned a ton and if I end up staying, I know there is a ton more to be done here!

Elder O'driscoll is a blast!! I have learned a ton from him and gotten a lot more patient and I don’t stress as much. I still do a lot, but it’s hard to be stressed when you’re around someone who is never stressed! He’s really helped me to look and learn from others strengths, rather than dwelling on a couple weaknesses! He’s a great missionary and I’d love to go another transfer with him!

Things here are great and I’m excited to talk to you on Christmas! We have some fun stuff planned with members and other missionaries, so I’ll let ya know what’s going on soon!! Dad Happy Birthday!! I love ya so much!! Thank you for all that you do for me!! Have a great week!! Payt thanks a ton for your emails! I love them! Sounds like you are doing great!! I’m so grateful for you and the great example that you are to me!! I love and look up to you more than you know!! Keep having a blast with life and keep being such a great kid!! I love all of you so much! Tell A-rod he is huge and he needs to buy a bat to keep the ladies off! haha Tell Addi I love her and that she is beautiful!! I love you all a ton! Have a great week! Love Elder Smith