Dear Family,
I am so glad to hear that your weekend was great. I hope you had a great birthday Janell. And thanks for the letters, especially to Taylor for the package she sent, I love the shoes! You all do to much for me and I really appreciate it all. That's crazy to hear it was a blizzard up there, because it's summer here! Not to hot, not too cold, I love it. Just not looking forward to the blistering heat in a couple of months. Tell Preston that he needs to be as tall as me when I get home! That would be cool.
This week has been really hard because of the amount of work in the ward, we have gone to almost every home in the ward to teach the family mission plan, so now the task is to have patience! We're also in the middle of getting a new ward mission leader, so there's not much support from the leadership at the moment, but I know it will soon come. No new investigators this week but hopefully soon. We had a "mini mission" that the stake put on, on Saturday, so the youth from the stake sign up and then go out and spend a day with the missionaries. Se we had a young man come with us most the day Saturday and take part in the work that we do. I thought it was a really good idea and awesome for the youth to have that opportunity to learn what we do and prepare themselves for a mission, I just wish we would have had something like that back home before I left.
President Black was able to come to my district meeting last Tuesday, which was good. He just shows up randomly to meetings to see how we are doing once in a while. The bad part was that my videos didn't work, for the second time, but he was able to show some on his ipad that I needed, so that turned out good. I'm grateful for the time I have to teach, learn and grow, and always strive to become a better teacher and servant of our Lord. Mom I appreciated the thought you gave from your school work, I look forward to hearing how things go and what your learning about.
Thanks again for the support and stories from home. I always love them! I love you all and hope you have a great week!
Love Elder Smith
Monday, March 25, 2013
Monday, March 18, 2013
Family!
It's been a great week and I appreciate all the support of you guys. I was laughing when I heard Lexie busted the lamp downstairs, because I have hit that thing so many times and it never broke, so yeah she did have to take the blame for something me and Jordan should have taken the blame for haha. But I'm glad everyone's doing well. We have been having the best time the past few weeks on pdays, playing ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, kickball, etc, and re run every morning, which is perfect because it's in the 60's in the morning. Can't complain!! Dad thanks so much for the advice and testimony you shared last week, I was able to bring that subject up in district meeting and was thankful that you had shared that with me the day before, and thanks for the scripture references, I'm excited to study them out and maybe use them while teaching. Mom thanks so much for the book, I'm half way done already, it's such a great book, and I love it. I would recommend that every member reads it! It's all about helping members share the gospel in normal natural ways, which is what we are helping the members do right now in the ward, with the family mission plan to every active member. I like having one ward, even though it's a very small ward, but we are able to get to know the members a lot better and gain their trust. We were able to attend the baptism on Saturday of a man in the ward we just gave to the other missionaries. We had set him with a baptism date right before we lost the ward, so I was happy to be able to go to that and the small part I had in helping him be baptized.
This month we are learning all about Christ in our training meetings and I have been so grateful for that, we had a great time last week in District meeting, (even though my videos didn't play, so I had to come up with something else haha). The spirit was so strong as we learned more about Christ and strived to become more like Him in all that we do. I wanted to share a short thought that President Black sent to us: With the Easter season in mind, zone leader council, zone training meetings, and district meetings this month have all been planned to focus upon "The Living Christ". The cross is used in many Christian churches as a symbol of the Savior's death and Resurrection and as a sincere expression of faith. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we also remember with reverence the suffering of the Savior. But because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith. Your life must be the expression of your faith. As you were baptized and confirmed you covenanted to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ. As you serve with your companion and others, they should be able to sense your love for the Savior and His work. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary learned on that first Easter morning, "Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen, he is not here: behold the place where they laid him".
I want to express my gratitude and love for the Savior as well, that I know He is the Living Son of God, who came to this earth not only to establish His gospel, but to perform the "great and last sacrifice" which needed to be done to provide for all of us a way, a way to become clean from sin and live with our Father in Heaven again. I am so grateful for that, and for the love and support I always get from all of you. I'm grateful for a wonderful mission president who leads this great mission and knows what's best for us at this time. Thanks again for all you do.
Talk to you later.
It's been a great week and I appreciate all the support of you guys. I was laughing when I heard Lexie busted the lamp downstairs, because I have hit that thing so many times and it never broke, so yeah she did have to take the blame for something me and Jordan should have taken the blame for haha. But I'm glad everyone's doing well. We have been having the best time the past few weeks on pdays, playing ultimate Frisbee, volleyball, kickball, etc, and re run every morning, which is perfect because it's in the 60's in the morning. Can't complain!! Dad thanks so much for the advice and testimony you shared last week, I was able to bring that subject up in district meeting and was thankful that you had shared that with me the day before, and thanks for the scripture references, I'm excited to study them out and maybe use them while teaching. Mom thanks so much for the book, I'm half way done already, it's such a great book, and I love it. I would recommend that every member reads it! It's all about helping members share the gospel in normal natural ways, which is what we are helping the members do right now in the ward, with the family mission plan to every active member. I like having one ward, even though it's a very small ward, but we are able to get to know the members a lot better and gain their trust. We were able to attend the baptism on Saturday of a man in the ward we just gave to the other missionaries. We had set him with a baptism date right before we lost the ward, so I was happy to be able to go to that and the small part I had in helping him be baptized.
This month we are learning all about Christ in our training meetings and I have been so grateful for that, we had a great time last week in District meeting, (even though my videos didn't play, so I had to come up with something else haha). The spirit was so strong as we learned more about Christ and strived to become more like Him in all that we do. I wanted to share a short thought that President Black sent to us: With the Easter season in mind, zone leader council, zone training meetings, and district meetings this month have all been planned to focus upon "The Living Christ". The cross is used in many Christian churches as a symbol of the Savior's death and Resurrection and as a sincere expression of faith. As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we also remember with reverence the suffering of the Savior. But because the Savior lives, we do not use the symbol of His death as the symbol of our faith. Your life must be the expression of your faith. As you were baptized and confirmed you covenanted to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ. As you serve with your companion and others, they should be able to sense your love for the Savior and His work. Mary Magdalene and the other Mary learned on that first Easter morning, "Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: He is risen, he is not here: behold the place where they laid him".
I want to express my gratitude and love for the Savior as well, that I know He is the Living Son of God, who came to this earth not only to establish His gospel, but to perform the "great and last sacrifice" which needed to be done to provide for all of us a way, a way to become clean from sin and live with our Father in Heaven again. I am so grateful for that, and for the love and support I always get from all of you. I'm grateful for a wonderful mission president who leads this great mission and knows what's best for us at this time. Thanks again for all you do.
Talk to you later.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Family,
Thank you so much for the emails and all the words of encouragement. Dad I really appreciate all the advice you give, it really helps. And it's funny because all the things you talked about was just what we talked about in a church lesson we had yesterday. I was grateful for it because we had the Calley's at church yesterday, and it was a good lesson for brother Calley to hear as he has been less active his whole life. And then I had the opportunity to bear my testimony of prophets, priesthood authority, and the restoration to a guy while tracting last night. I'm grateful for all the Lord does to help all of us continue on in the faith and help us spread this gospel to the world. Mom I can't believe someone from Ucon was called to China for 3 years. It's been a joke in our mission for awhile that we are all going to be called to serve 1 more year in China after our missions. I don't think it would happen but it's cool to see when someone gets called there, there will be sooooo much missionary work to do in that country when it opens to us to proselyte.
Well I an enjoying my responsibilities as a Leader here, we had zone training last Tuesday so I didn't actually get to do the training last week, but I will tomorrow. I'm excited for it and I know the Lord is preparing me for future callings. We had a lot of good experiences this week while tracting and many opportunities to bear testimony. We have been sharing the new family mission plan that we came up with to all the active members of the ward and trying to help them with their missionary efforts. Then we will start teaching all the families in the ward the missionary lessons, because the stake has set a goal for us to teach 20 lessons a week. Now that is a lot considering how many we are teaching now, so we will involve the members a lot more now. I'm excited for it and know it can only strengthen the member's testimonies, and our ability to teach anyone. I though I'd share something cool about some members in our ward. Elder and Sister Pratt just left our ward to serve as the MTC president in Mexico City. He has been a general authority for years and watched over South America and India area and now is in Mexico. His daughter is also in the ward and we were over there for dinner last night, they are such a great family. But she told us that they are expanding that MTC to accommodate about 1500 Spanish speaking, such as Alex French, they will go to Mexico City for training. I thought that was so cool! And President Pratt will be in charge of that, and is from our ward! haha cool little fact for you.
Thanks again for the love and support, I love you all and hope everyone has a great, safe week!
Love Elder Smith
Thank you so much for the emails and all the words of encouragement. Dad I really appreciate all the advice you give, it really helps. And it's funny because all the things you talked about was just what we talked about in a church lesson we had yesterday. I was grateful for it because we had the Calley's at church yesterday, and it was a good lesson for brother Calley to hear as he has been less active his whole life. And then I had the opportunity to bear my testimony of prophets, priesthood authority, and the restoration to a guy while tracting last night. I'm grateful for all the Lord does to help all of us continue on in the faith and help us spread this gospel to the world. Mom I can't believe someone from Ucon was called to China for 3 years. It's been a joke in our mission for awhile that we are all going to be called to serve 1 more year in China after our missions. I don't think it would happen but it's cool to see when someone gets called there, there will be sooooo much missionary work to do in that country when it opens to us to proselyte.
Well I an enjoying my responsibilities as a Leader here, we had zone training last Tuesday so I didn't actually get to do the training last week, but I will tomorrow. I'm excited for it and I know the Lord is preparing me for future callings. We had a lot of good experiences this week while tracting and many opportunities to bear testimony. We have been sharing the new family mission plan that we came up with to all the active members of the ward and trying to help them with their missionary efforts. Then we will start teaching all the families in the ward the missionary lessons, because the stake has set a goal for us to teach 20 lessons a week. Now that is a lot considering how many we are teaching now, so we will involve the members a lot more now. I'm excited for it and know it can only strengthen the member's testimonies, and our ability to teach anyone. I though I'd share something cool about some members in our ward. Elder and Sister Pratt just left our ward to serve as the MTC president in Mexico City. He has been a general authority for years and watched over South America and India area and now is in Mexico. His daughter is also in the ward and we were over there for dinner last night, they are such a great family. But she told us that they are expanding that MTC to accommodate about 1500 Spanish speaking, such as Alex French, they will go to Mexico City for training. I thought that was so cool! And President Pratt will be in charge of that, and is from our ward! haha cool little fact for you.
Thanks again for the love and support, I love you all and hope everyone has a great, safe week!
Love Elder Smith
Monday, March 4, 2013
Family!
It's been a great week! I've really appreciated all the support from everyone and the letter from you Mom and Dad, it really helped. Dad, I can't tell you how thankful I am for your example you have been to me and the experiences you've been able to share with me from your mission, and all the words of advice that have helped so much already. I'm so fortunate to have come from the family I did and the parents and grandparents who have set that amazing example for me. I apologize for not writing home as much as I need to and I will try to do better. Mom, I know school is tough right now but I'm remembering all the things you taught me while growing up, and I remember I would always give up on things or not do my homework, but you were always there to say, Do it! You would push me through those hard times I had and it would always work out. So remember, don't give up. I know you never would but that's my advice right now haha. This week we have been covering one ward as I have said before, so there's not much work at all. But we have been working hard to get more investigators by first, tracting a lot every day and second, working with all the members and sharing the ward the ward/family mission plan with them. We're trying to help them become better member missionaries and get them more comfortable with sharing the gospel to friends/acquaintances. I know that it will pick up soon and we will start seeing the fruits of our labors. I'm enjoying the calling as District Leader so far, my district is pretty small, us and 4 other missionaries, 2 of which are sisters, and I think the zone leaders are in mine as well. One of our zone leaders is Elder Parker who is from Rigby, Idaho, which I served around in my first area, and I love him, he's so cool! We have district meetings every Tuesday, so my first is tomorrow in which I conduct and teach, I know the Lord is with me as I take on this calling and Dad I appreciate the advice that yes, some callings will seem overwhelming, but I know it only prepares us for the future and there's nothing so big in which we can't handle if we handle it with prayer and humility before the Lord. I'm also grateful for Ryan Taggart for his example to me as well. He told me he's District Leader right now and I know he's a great one.
It sounds like the house is coming along! I can't seem to picture burnt orange and tan looking good for the kitchen so you'll have to send me some pictures when it's done haha! I'm sure it's great. Tell Lexie and Mason I said Hi! I miss them so much and hope they are all doing well along with Matt and Ashlie and Jordan. I loved the video of Charlie laughing, he looks like a healthy, happy, and chubby baby! From our bedroom window we can see some of the city, like the stratosphere, and Nellis Air Force Base, and for the past 4 days the Thunderbirds have been practicing their air show, so I watch it every morning haha! Coolest thing ever, I just wish I could be in one!
I pray that everyone's week is a great, safe one. I love you all and I'll talk to you later! Elder Smith
It's been a great week! I've really appreciated all the support from everyone and the letter from you Mom and Dad, it really helped. Dad, I can't tell you how thankful I am for your example you have been to me and the experiences you've been able to share with me from your mission, and all the words of advice that have helped so much already. I'm so fortunate to have come from the family I did and the parents and grandparents who have set that amazing example for me. I apologize for not writing home as much as I need to and I will try to do better. Mom, I know school is tough right now but I'm remembering all the things you taught me while growing up, and I remember I would always give up on things or not do my homework, but you were always there to say, Do it! You would push me through those hard times I had and it would always work out. So remember, don't give up. I know you never would but that's my advice right now haha. This week we have been covering one ward as I have said before, so there's not much work at all. But we have been working hard to get more investigators by first, tracting a lot every day and second, working with all the members and sharing the ward the ward/family mission plan with them. We're trying to help them become better member missionaries and get them more comfortable with sharing the gospel to friends/acquaintances. I know that it will pick up soon and we will start seeing the fruits of our labors. I'm enjoying the calling as District Leader so far, my district is pretty small, us and 4 other missionaries, 2 of which are sisters, and I think the zone leaders are in mine as well. One of our zone leaders is Elder Parker who is from Rigby, Idaho, which I served around in my first area, and I love him, he's so cool! We have district meetings every Tuesday, so my first is tomorrow in which I conduct and teach, I know the Lord is with me as I take on this calling and Dad I appreciate the advice that yes, some callings will seem overwhelming, but I know it only prepares us for the future and there's nothing so big in which we can't handle if we handle it with prayer and humility before the Lord. I'm also grateful for Ryan Taggart for his example to me as well. He told me he's District Leader right now and I know he's a great one.
It sounds like the house is coming along! I can't seem to picture burnt orange and tan looking good for the kitchen so you'll have to send me some pictures when it's done haha! I'm sure it's great. Tell Lexie and Mason I said Hi! I miss them so much and hope they are all doing well along with Matt and Ashlie and Jordan. I loved the video of Charlie laughing, he looks like a healthy, happy, and chubby baby! From our bedroom window we can see some of the city, like the stratosphere, and Nellis Air Force Base, and for the past 4 days the Thunderbirds have been practicing their air show, so I watch it every morning haha! Coolest thing ever, I just wish I could be in one!
I pray that everyone's week is a great, safe one. I love you all and I'll talk to you later! Elder Smith
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