Monday, January 28, 2013
Hey Family! It's been a long week to say the least. But thanks for the emails and the pictures of Charlie, he's so cute. And I'm so happy to hear about Lexie and Mason and how their doing. I'm missing the snow right now since it's snowing a lot there, but I'll see it eventually ha. Well Elder Naranjo is great, he's from Bogotá Columbia and didn't know much English at all when he came, but he is doing really good for only being out 6 months. It's hard to understand him once in awhile but not often. He's very obedient and I think he'll be the next AP haha. One thing that I have taught him so far is how to drive haha! He had never driven before in his life so he asked if I could teach him and we've been working on it the past couple nights, it's fun. I'm trying to learn a little Spanish while I teach him better English, so we'll see how it goes haha. The baptism on Saturday went really well for Sara and I had the privilege of speaking on the Holy Ghost. But it was scheduled to be at 2 pm and they changed it to 1 pm without letting us know, so Pennington texted us when it started asking where we were. Well we got there right when they were getting into the font. So I was there just in time to talk. It was pretty stressful but it worked out. Things with Kristin are really hard because of her Dad but she's pushing along. Because of the influx of missionaries, our mission is growing so much! They split one zone this transfer and will split ours next transfer. This transfer is 5 weeks instead of 6 because they are aligning the transfers up with the MTC for some reason. And every ward will have their own set of missionaries pretty soon. So there's a lot of changes but it's all because the church is true and there needs to be a lot more missionaries around the world to share the truth. This is a great time to be on a mission right now and I'm grateful to be here. The work in our wards is slow right now, we have been through almost every name in both area books, but I know someone will come along soon. Thanks again for the emails and all the news from home, I'm glad everyone is doing well, and hope everyone enjoys the snow! It has been rainy the past couple days but it's sunny today. Love Elder Smith
Monday, January 21, 2013
It has been an amazing week!! First off Mom, thanks for the package, I got it pretty fast. And I'm glad you got the new computer and email to work, we are able to email today because the computers at our apartment complex are open and that's where we go every week anyways.
Now for the exciting things, haha. Kristin was baptized on Saturday!! So on Thursday we met with her and she had a lot of questions from the anti-Mormon class, but we answered them all pretty easy and cleared up some things. She mentioned she regretted cancelling her baptism last week but she was just trying to make her Dad happy. She had not made any decisions though so we just keep praying and hoping she would come through sometime. Well, Friday night we were going about our business and had a lesson with someone else when we got a ton of calls and txts from her and Sis McArthur (the family we always go to for lessons with she because Sis McArthur is her personal trainer and fellowshipper) and she said she wanted to be baptized on Saturday. We were shocked but so excited and got the whole baptism set up in less than 12 hours. So Saturday noon was her baptism. There weren't very many people there because of the short notice but the Spirit was so strong as Elder Pennington baptized her. She didn't tell her Dad about it yet because he would have kept her from leaving the house but she knew it was the right thing to do and she's so excited that she went through with it. We were so grateful for everything that happened and for the Lord answering our prayers. We also have another baptism set up for next Saturday from the singles ward, although we lose the singles ward today in the transfers, but we get to count it since we taught her. Talking about transfers, I am staying her in this area and getting Elder Naranjo and Pennington is going to the Lakes stake. I'm going to miss him because we had so much fun together and were like brothers, but I'm excited to have a change and get to work to find more people. I came out with Elder Naranjo from the MTC but I don't know much about him other than he's Spanish speaking, so I'm going to have him teach me Spanish. haha! Other than that everything is going well and I'm glad things at home are good too. Thanks again for everything you guys do for me. I wouldn't be here without you. I loved the story about Charlie and can't wait for more pictures. I love you all. Elder Smith
Now for the exciting things, haha. Kristin was baptized on Saturday!! So on Thursday we met with her and she had a lot of questions from the anti-Mormon class, but we answered them all pretty easy and cleared up some things. She mentioned she regretted cancelling her baptism last week but she was just trying to make her Dad happy. She had not made any decisions though so we just keep praying and hoping she would come through sometime. Well, Friday night we were going about our business and had a lesson with someone else when we got a ton of calls and txts from her and Sis McArthur (the family we always go to for lessons with she because Sis McArthur is her personal trainer and fellowshipper) and she said she wanted to be baptized on Saturday. We were shocked but so excited and got the whole baptism set up in less than 12 hours. So Saturday noon was her baptism. There weren't very many people there because of the short notice but the Spirit was so strong as Elder Pennington baptized her. She didn't tell her Dad about it yet because he would have kept her from leaving the house but she knew it was the right thing to do and she's so excited that she went through with it. We were so grateful for everything that happened and for the Lord answering our prayers. We also have another baptism set up for next Saturday from the singles ward, although we lose the singles ward today in the transfers, but we get to count it since we taught her. Talking about transfers, I am staying her in this area and getting Elder Naranjo and Pennington is going to the Lakes stake. I'm going to miss him because we had so much fun together and were like brothers, but I'm excited to have a change and get to work to find more people. I came out with Elder Naranjo from the MTC but I don't know much about him other than he's Spanish speaking, so I'm going to have him teach me Spanish. haha! Other than that everything is going well and I'm glad things at home are good too. Thanks again for everything you guys do for me. I wouldn't be here without you. I loved the story about Charlie and can't wait for more pictures. I love you all. Elder Smith
Monday, January 14, 2013
Family,
This has been a tough week, I'm not going to lie! But it's been a learning experience. Thanks for the letters and emails, it always relieves stress. It's crazy to hear all the things that are going on at home and I hope and pray everyone's job is secure. I know the Lord has his hand in all we do and if we have faith and trust in him things will work out.
So the baptism that was scheduled on Saturday didn't happen. She had her interview on Tuesday and everything was good, but her father is anti-Mormon and basically forced her to go to a Mormonism class at another Christian church named Canyon Ridge on Wednesday. I guess they talked a lot about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and told a lot of lies to her. We thought she was solid in her testimony but that class brought up a lot of confusion and she doubted things we had taught. So the baptism was cancelled and she hasn't been talking to us much. But we have an appointment with her on Thursday so we're going to be answering a lot of questions and helping her find the truth that she is looking for. It was a tough time for us but I know everything will work out. There's a reason that Satan is trying so hard to get her away from the church, and it's because the church is true and he knows it. Every person that is preparing for baptism has an increase in challenges presented by the adversary. They are on neutral ground at that time and have not yet committed to serve Christ for the rest of their lives, so Satan does all he can to push them away from the truth. I've already seen this so much on my mission but nothing like I saw this week. Faith and prayer is the best thing we can do at this time, but for the good news, Sarah set her baptism date for the 26th of this month so we are looking forward to that. But she is in the singles ward and this next transfer we are giving that ward over to the sisters. We will still be able to go to the baptism though. Transfers are next Monday and I'm expecting some big changes here--after an interview with President Black I had on Saturday, but I'll know next Monday. haha
I pray for all of you every day and hope this next week goes well. Thanks again for everything and I'll talk to you later.
PS. This is a story done about our missionarys and our mission on the Las Vegas News 8. Search for it on the internet and search "Mormon" and it'll come up.
This has been a tough week, I'm not going to lie! But it's been a learning experience. Thanks for the letters and emails, it always relieves stress. It's crazy to hear all the things that are going on at home and I hope and pray everyone's job is secure. I know the Lord has his hand in all we do and if we have faith and trust in him things will work out.
So the baptism that was scheduled on Saturday didn't happen. She had her interview on Tuesday and everything was good, but her father is anti-Mormon and basically forced her to go to a Mormonism class at another Christian church named Canyon Ridge on Wednesday. I guess they talked a lot about Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and told a lot of lies to her. We thought she was solid in her testimony but that class brought up a lot of confusion and she doubted things we had taught. So the baptism was cancelled and she hasn't been talking to us much. But we have an appointment with her on Thursday so we're going to be answering a lot of questions and helping her find the truth that she is looking for. It was a tough time for us but I know everything will work out. There's a reason that Satan is trying so hard to get her away from the church, and it's because the church is true and he knows it. Every person that is preparing for baptism has an increase in challenges presented by the adversary. They are on neutral ground at that time and have not yet committed to serve Christ for the rest of their lives, so Satan does all he can to push them away from the truth. I've already seen this so much on my mission but nothing like I saw this week. Faith and prayer is the best thing we can do at this time, but for the good news, Sarah set her baptism date for the 26th of this month so we are looking forward to that. But she is in the singles ward and this next transfer we are giving that ward over to the sisters. We will still be able to go to the baptism though. Transfers are next Monday and I'm expecting some big changes here--after an interview with President Black I had on Saturday, but I'll know next Monday. haha
I pray for all of you every day and hope this next week goes well. Thanks again for everything and I'll talk to you later.
PS. This is a story done about our missionarys and our mission on the Las Vegas News 8. Search for it on the internet and search "Mormon" and it'll come up.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Well, I'm so glad to hear the blessing for Charlie went well and that he was such a good little boy during the whole thing, wish I could have stood in. And I'm not surprised that Blaze had a accident during the night, he is getting older and can't control his bladder as well haha. Sorry you have to clean it up Mom, just don't kill him! Yes the weather is awesome down here compared to Idaho and I'm glad it's not below zero here.
This week's been all right. We've just been setting up the baptism on the 12th. We have another 2 investigators coming up, but the one owns a gun shop and business has been so busy and all of his guns have been selling, good for business, but crazy as well! Elder Pennington also had a run in with a cop Friday night, he got a speeding ticket for going 35 in a 30....That's right, 5 over haha. The guy was a Mormon hater, he was a motorcycle cop and was also making smart alec remarks, but we took it to Bishop Rasmussen of the singles ward and he's going to take care of it, but Pennington will still have to pay for the fine. Along with the door he broke also, he's just raking up the bills. haha
We are excited for the baptism. Elder Pennington isn't the hardest worker so I have to have enough energy and drive to go do the work for the both of us, hopefully this week will be better. I think the member trust is getting better as well in the area.
Hope this week is a safe one. Love Elder Smith
This week's been all right. We've just been setting up the baptism on the 12th. We have another 2 investigators coming up, but the one owns a gun shop and business has been so busy and all of his guns have been selling, good for business, but crazy as well! Elder Pennington also had a run in with a cop Friday night, he got a speeding ticket for going 35 in a 30....That's right, 5 over haha. The guy was a Mormon hater, he was a motorcycle cop and was also making smart alec remarks, but we took it to Bishop Rasmussen of the singles ward and he's going to take care of it, but Pennington will still have to pay for the fine. Along with the door he broke also, he's just raking up the bills. haha
We are excited for the baptism. Elder Pennington isn't the hardest worker so I have to have enough energy and drive to go do the work for the both of us, hopefully this week will be better. I think the member trust is getting better as well in the area.
Hope this week is a safe one. Love Elder Smith
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