Hey family!
Wow it was great to see all of you! And yes it did seem like a pretty crazy time at home. I appreciate what you did on Skype, it was nice to see that with Blaze (burial of our dog) so I can have a memory of it. I love all of you so much and appreciate all the things you do for me. It was hard this Christmas, 2nd Christmas away, but I know it's worth it. It was great seeing Britni and Kinsley -two new people in our lives that I'm excited about! And Congratulations again on the engagement. Dad I hope you continue to get better and hope you can get around on your leg alright. The family I am staying with gave each of us a quilt for Christmas. Elder Parker has a wolf quilt and I have a Lightning McQueen quilt. Awesome. haha They do a lot of things for us that make us feel as home there. They had almost all their family there to open presents, and with a bunch of little kids running around it make me feel at home.
Well this past week all most all of our appointments fell through because of the holiday. And then on Saturday I got sick from who knows what, but I'm 100% better now. Church has been pretty cool the past couple weeks, the week before Christmas they had a bell choir come and play songs with bells, which was so cool. I've never seen that before. Then yesterday they just had basically a testimony meeting, except people just got up to say what their favorite hymn was and we would sing it, so a meeting full of music, pretty spiritual! Tony was there and picked out a few hymns he wants for his baptism. Things are going well with him, he just needs to stop smoking this week for things to work out for the 11th.
Thanks again for all you do for me. I was so happy to see everyone and I hope you all have a great safe week. I love you and I'll talk to you later.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Monday, December 23, 2013
Merry Christmas!!!
Well I want to thank all of you for the packages and letters I received this week. I'm looking forward opening them on Christmas! I hope all is going well this week and that everyone is ready to Skype with me soon! haha. So I'm not sure what time exactly but it will probably be noonish or afternoon. (Las Vegas time). The Rosequists are going to Skype with their son first, then we will take our turns. I'm planning on calling Mom Dad and Janell. President said we can't call anyone else, sorry Taylor. But you can go to the house if you want. Even though it was a little weird last year ha. And Mom, I sent a letter a couple days ago with a short thought for the dinner, So I hope it gets there today or tomorrow, if not, it'll be late and oh well haha. That's so cool that the ward had prime rib for a ward party. I should've expected that from Bishop haha. sounds great. And I hope Dad is getting better. I can't imagine how that would feel to have all those torn things in his knee, I had a fast for him on the day of his surgery, so things will get better.
I was able to go over to the Hamptons yesterday to see them and wish them a Merry Christmas, and they said Thank you so much for the package, they enjoyed it. They are leaving to New Mexico today to go to her parent's house, and they are getting baptized on Friday together, which is so awesome! It's so great to see that from someone we taught.
The baptism of Dorian was great on Saturday! The room was filled with his friends, non-member and member. His friend Avishay baptized him, who was baptized himself only about 2 years ago. The spirit was strong and it was just a cool experience to be a part of. We are looking forward to January 11th where we will have two more baptized!
Thanks again for all the things sent to me, I appreciate all the thoughts on my behalf. I love you all, and I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. I'll SEE you on Wednesday!
Well I want to thank all of you for the packages and letters I received this week. I'm looking forward opening them on Christmas! I hope all is going well this week and that everyone is ready to Skype with me soon! haha. So I'm not sure what time exactly but it will probably be noonish or afternoon. (Las Vegas time). The Rosequists are going to Skype with their son first, then we will take our turns. I'm planning on calling Mom Dad and Janell. President said we can't call anyone else, sorry Taylor. But you can go to the house if you want. Even though it was a little weird last year ha. And Mom, I sent a letter a couple days ago with a short thought for the dinner, So I hope it gets there today or tomorrow, if not, it'll be late and oh well haha. That's so cool that the ward had prime rib for a ward party. I should've expected that from Bishop haha. sounds great. And I hope Dad is getting better. I can't imagine how that would feel to have all those torn things in his knee, I had a fast for him on the day of his surgery, so things will get better.
I was able to go over to the Hamptons yesterday to see them and wish them a Merry Christmas, and they said Thank you so much for the package, they enjoyed it. They are leaving to New Mexico today to go to her parent's house, and they are getting baptized on Friday together, which is so awesome! It's so great to see that from someone we taught.
The baptism of Dorian was great on Saturday! The room was filled with his friends, non-member and member. His friend Avishay baptized him, who was baptized himself only about 2 years ago. The spirit was strong and it was just a cool experience to be a part of. We are looking forward to January 11th where we will have two more baptized!
Thanks again for all the things sent to me, I appreciate all the thoughts on my behalf. I love you all, and I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas. I'll SEE you on Wednesday!
Dorian
Santa and Elder Smith and Elder Parker
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Counting the Days till Christmas!!
Hey everyone! It's been a great week. Thank you for the letters and Christmas cards. I appreciate the ones I've received. I sent mine out today as well so I hope you get those. By the way Mom, can I get the address's for Jordan, Curt & Kris and Parker's. Thanks. So sorry I didn't get an email off yesterday, we were really busy, plus all the computers at the library were taken, bummer! We had a BBQ for the zone at the Rosequists yesterday for the last day of the transfer, it was really fun. And Elder Parker and I are staying together for another 6 weeks! The night was pretty crazy with getting everything sorted out with the changes in the zone. We received 3 new brand new missionaries to the zone and had to take one of them home to their new place. Our zone is turning into a little Hawaii too! We have 5 missionairies here from Hawaii, so don't worry, it's not just desert here, we have some tropics too! Last night we had a lesson at the Bishops house with one of his friends that wants to learn more. Lately we have just been getting a lot of people to teach which has been awesome. I don't remember how many things I told you last week about our investigators, but as of now we have 3 people set for gaptism! Dorian is getting baptized on Saturday, and yes Mom it's at 6! Your second guess was correct haha. Kaumaka is on the 11th of January, and Tony, who we just started teaching is getting baptized on the 11th of January as well! That will be a great day! So things are going really well in the zone area right now, and the zone. Today will be full of running around getting supply's for everyone in the zone, we go to the office every Tuesday to get supplies for everyone, but today our car will be full! Good thing the new 2013 Fusion has a lot of room in it haha, we are really blessed here!
So something really cool that happened this past week, we had zone conference last Thursday, but we were privileged to have Elder Steven E Snow from the quorum of the 70 come and speak with us and give us training's! (and no he didn't bring 'snow' with him haha) On Thursday morning all the zone leaders were able to get together with President Ahlander and Elder Snow and have a special leadership council with them. It was really cool to be there. Elder Snow is just the most awesome guy, we just felt so comfortable around him, and he just has the best spirit about him. I was grateful for that opportunity we had to listen to him train us. Tomorrow is an exciting day as well because we are having a mission Christmas party. We get to watch Ephraims Rescue! We're so excited, it's not too often we get to watch movies, of course!
So about the nativity that I saw Bruce Crowley at. It's kinda funny that I saw him again because it was a year ago that I saw him at the same place. It was cool to talk to him again. But anyways I don't think I mentioned the Nativity yet, but it is an amazing program that they put on. It's put on by a Stake in Vegas and it's at this place called Opportunity Village, which is a learning center for people with learning disabilities. The facility is actually in my last ward boundaries, But they have like an outdoor auditorium that they use to have a 25 minute presentation of the Nativity. They use actual animals too, there's horses, shepp, donkeys, and a real baby for baby Jesus! It's the coolest thing I've seen. So it was of course a great thing to invite people to that we are teaching. We had a part member family come with us and they loved it. Vegas is a really cool place sometimes. There's a lot of diversity and a lot of cool activities going on.
Well thanks again for all you do and the things you have sent me. I hope everyone has a great week!
I Love You
Hey everyone! It's been a great week. Thank you for the letters and Christmas cards. I appreciate the ones I've received. I sent mine out today as well so I hope you get those. By the way Mom, can I get the address's for Jordan, Curt & Kris and Parker's. Thanks. So sorry I didn't get an email off yesterday, we were really busy, plus all the computers at the library were taken, bummer! We had a BBQ for the zone at the Rosequists yesterday for the last day of the transfer, it was really fun. And Elder Parker and I are staying together for another 6 weeks! The night was pretty crazy with getting everything sorted out with the changes in the zone. We received 3 new brand new missionaries to the zone and had to take one of them home to their new place. Our zone is turning into a little Hawaii too! We have 5 missionairies here from Hawaii, so don't worry, it's not just desert here, we have some tropics too! Last night we had a lesson at the Bishops house with one of his friends that wants to learn more. Lately we have just been getting a lot of people to teach which has been awesome. I don't remember how many things I told you last week about our investigators, but as of now we have 3 people set for gaptism! Dorian is getting baptized on Saturday, and yes Mom it's at 6! Your second guess was correct haha. Kaumaka is on the 11th of January, and Tony, who we just started teaching is getting baptized on the 11th of January as well! That will be a great day! So things are going really well in the zone area right now, and the zone. Today will be full of running around getting supply's for everyone in the zone, we go to the office every Tuesday to get supplies for everyone, but today our car will be full! Good thing the new 2013 Fusion has a lot of room in it haha, we are really blessed here!
So something really cool that happened this past week, we had zone conference last Thursday, but we were privileged to have Elder Steven E Snow from the quorum of the 70 come and speak with us and give us training's! (and no he didn't bring 'snow' with him haha) On Thursday morning all the zone leaders were able to get together with President Ahlander and Elder Snow and have a special leadership council with them. It was really cool to be there. Elder Snow is just the most awesome guy, we just felt so comfortable around him, and he just has the best spirit about him. I was grateful for that opportunity we had to listen to him train us. Tomorrow is an exciting day as well because we are having a mission Christmas party. We get to watch Ephraims Rescue! We're so excited, it's not too often we get to watch movies, of course!
So about the nativity that I saw Bruce Crowley at. It's kinda funny that I saw him again because it was a year ago that I saw him at the same place. It was cool to talk to him again. But anyways I don't think I mentioned the Nativity yet, but it is an amazing program that they put on. It's put on by a Stake in Vegas and it's at this place called Opportunity Village, which is a learning center for people with learning disabilities. The facility is actually in my last ward boundaries, But they have like an outdoor auditorium that they use to have a 25 minute presentation of the Nativity. They use actual animals too, there's horses, shepp, donkeys, and a real baby for baby Jesus! It's the coolest thing I've seen. So it was of course a great thing to invite people to that we are teaching. We had a part member family come with us and they loved it. Vegas is a really cool place sometimes. There's a lot of diversity and a lot of cool activities going on.
Well thanks again for all you do and the things you have sent me. I hope everyone has a great week!
I Love You
Monday, December 9, 2013
Hey everyone!
Snow in St George! That's crazy! I had heard from a couple people that there was about 6 inches there. And actually it did snow here as well, we had clouds and it was cold, like in the 40's, and there were a couple rain drops, that's snow right? At least for Vegas it is haha. We were looking forward to snow so bad but oh well. I appreciate the videos of Charlie and the snow. Also thanks for the letter Mom; I hope you get mine today. To answer your question, I haven't been here very long so I will be staying. You don't have to worry about that. Transfers are next week, but I think Elder Parker will stay as well.
There have been a lot of good things happen this week! We have two, almost three people set for baptism! The first one is Dorian, he's 19 and been taking the lessons for years now, he's really good friends with the Rosequist son who just left on his mission. Well we hadn't taught Dorian at all since I've been here, but he just came to the Rosequists on Wednesday and said, "where's the missionaries, I want to be baptized!" so we set him for December 21st! We have been meeting with him and making sure he's prepared for that day. The second person is Kaumaka, we were teaching him last night and we hadn't even thought of setting him with a date yet, I don't know why, but I was prompted to do so, so we set him for January 11th. He's a great kid and I'm excited for him. The 3rd person we are really excited about is Tony. I think I told you about him, maybe not. But he was just a referral we received a couple weeks ago from this guy that lives in St George and works in Vegas, and he works with Tony. Well we taught Tony the Restoration last Monday and it was one of the best lessons I've had! When we got to the point of the Book of Mormon, we pulled one out and handed it to him. He grabbed it and just gripped it so tight with tears in his eyes. He kept saying, Thank you, Thank you while wiping his tears. It was a very strong moment for us of the spirit bearing witness to him that this is the truth. He is reading reading it a lot and was even at church yesterday, which he loved. He accepted baptism, but we will be setting a date for it today. After sacrament he made another cool comment, he said something to the effect of, "I feel I've been wandering in the woods lost, and I have just found the way." I know he has found the way as well. I know this is the truth, the way to find happiness and joy in our lives. Like you said Mom, there are so many bad things in the world right now, seemingly terrible to raise kids in, and it would be without the truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people don't understand it, they don't understand that by living a certain way can actually bring them TRUE happiness. Not the happiness that lasts a couple days or weeks, but it will last FOREVER. And it is available to every person on earth. Those things that may look bad in our lives--with guilt and shame, those feelings can be taken away by Jesus Christ. And our purpose is to bring that knowledge to them, and I'm so grateful for that opportunity I have to be part of it. That's my testimony to you, and I thank you for all your support and love.
I'm looking forward to Christmas, it's coming soon! And I hope everyone has a great holiday season leading up to it. I love you all and I will talk to you later!
There was a salad dressing that we had at a members house not too long ago and I thought it was really good and thought I'd share it with you!
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp poppy seeds
shake together and add:
1 pkg salad pecans
1 pkg crasins
mozarella cheese
Also, if you haven't looked on the mission blog, there are pictures of our turkey bowl on there too!
http://thenevadalasvegaswestmission.blogspot.com
Another thing I forgot haha, so Krystal and Robert seem to be doing great, but I have a cool story to tell. When we were teaching the, she told us to refer her parents to the missionary's, they live in New Mexico. So we sent in a referral and the missionaries started teaching them as well. Well now they are baptized! Also Roberts little brother got baptized already, and his other brother is getting baptized. It's been so cool to see it just spread among their families!
Snow in St George! That's crazy! I had heard from a couple people that there was about 6 inches there. And actually it did snow here as well, we had clouds and it was cold, like in the 40's, and there were a couple rain drops, that's snow right? At least for Vegas it is haha. We were looking forward to snow so bad but oh well. I appreciate the videos of Charlie and the snow. Also thanks for the letter Mom; I hope you get mine today. To answer your question, I haven't been here very long so I will be staying. You don't have to worry about that. Transfers are next week, but I think Elder Parker will stay as well.
There have been a lot of good things happen this week! We have two, almost three people set for baptism! The first one is Dorian, he's 19 and been taking the lessons for years now, he's really good friends with the Rosequist son who just left on his mission. Well we hadn't taught Dorian at all since I've been here, but he just came to the Rosequists on Wednesday and said, "where's the missionaries, I want to be baptized!" so we set him for December 21st! We have been meeting with him and making sure he's prepared for that day. The second person is Kaumaka, we were teaching him last night and we hadn't even thought of setting him with a date yet, I don't know why, but I was prompted to do so, so we set him for January 11th. He's a great kid and I'm excited for him. The 3rd person we are really excited about is Tony. I think I told you about him, maybe not. But he was just a referral we received a couple weeks ago from this guy that lives in St George and works in Vegas, and he works with Tony. Well we taught Tony the Restoration last Monday and it was one of the best lessons I've had! When we got to the point of the Book of Mormon, we pulled one out and handed it to him. He grabbed it and just gripped it so tight with tears in his eyes. He kept saying, Thank you, Thank you while wiping his tears. It was a very strong moment for us of the spirit bearing witness to him that this is the truth. He is reading reading it a lot and was even at church yesterday, which he loved. He accepted baptism, but we will be setting a date for it today. After sacrament he made another cool comment, he said something to the effect of, "I feel I've been wandering in the woods lost, and I have just found the way." I know he has found the way as well. I know this is the truth, the way to find happiness and joy in our lives. Like you said Mom, there are so many bad things in the world right now, seemingly terrible to raise kids in, and it would be without the truth, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Some people don't understand it, they don't understand that by living a certain way can actually bring them TRUE happiness. Not the happiness that lasts a couple days or weeks, but it will last FOREVER. And it is available to every person on earth. Those things that may look bad in our lives--with guilt and shame, those feelings can be taken away by Jesus Christ. And our purpose is to bring that knowledge to them, and I'm so grateful for that opportunity I have to be part of it. That's my testimony to you, and I thank you for all your support and love.
I'm looking forward to Christmas, it's coming soon! And I hope everyone has a great holiday season leading up to it. I love you all and I will talk to you later!
There was a salad dressing that we had at a members house not too long ago and I thought it was really good and thought I'd share it with you!
2/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp dry mustard
1 tbsp poppy seeds
shake together and add:
1 pkg salad pecans
1 pkg crasins
mozarella cheese
Also, if you haven't looked on the mission blog, there are pictures of our turkey bowl on there too!
http://thenevadalasvegaswestmission.blogspot.com
Another thing I forgot haha, so Krystal and Robert seem to be doing great, but I have a cool story to tell. When we were teaching the, she told us to refer her parents to the missionary's, they live in New Mexico. So we sent in a referral and the missionaries started teaching them as well. Well now they are baptized! Also Roberts little brother got baptized already, and his other brother is getting baptized. It's been so cool to see it just spread among their families!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Hey Y'all!
Wow it has been a great week! First off I want to thank everyone for the great packages and gifts. Thanks for the cupcakes Mom, they were so good! I was able to take them around to some Elders in the zone and we left some of them on their doorstep, knocked and ran, kinda fun, but they were really good! Thanks Grandma Smith for the package of treats, it is all really good as well, and it was so good to see Aunt Gloria. It was the middle of the day so usually we would be out of the house, but we were up in our room planning for something when the doorbell rang. The Rosequists son brought up the package and said, "There's an older couple at the door for you"...haha I knew immediately who it would be. That was nice of her to come and see me, I appreciate it. And Grandma Birch, thank you for the letter and the gift, that's very nice of you! So our thanksgiving was great, the Rosequists smoked a turkey, which was the best turkey I've ever had in my life! haha I need to learn how to do that. They had all their family there, so there have been a bunch of little kids running around all week! It's been fun. The Turkey Bowl was really fun, we didn't win, but we won 1 of the games we played. It was fun either way so that's what matters. A member brought a pizza oven and cooked a ton of pizza for all of us. Over 250 missionaries and there was still a lot of pizza left, pretty crazy!
So about some of our investigators, we have a lot of people that are close to baptism, but they all just need to take that final step and commit, Bobby, Erik Mega, Kaumaka, and Mike and his daughter have all been taught all the lessons or have a good understanding of them, but each one of them have specific things keeping them from taking that final step right now. So thats what we are doing right now, trying to resolve concerns and keep meeting with all of them. We also have Tony who was a media referral, meaning someone else referred them online or through the mission office, is someone that we just started teaching. He is great! He's from the Philippines and works here with a lot of members. We are teaching him again tonight and hopefully bring up baptism and see how it goes. I feel like him and Kaumaka are the closest right now to baptism. Kaumaka is the 13 year old whose mom is recently returning to the church. They just need to start going to our ward instead of the ward in Henderson, and then we can set him with a date. So as you can see, the work is progressing, slowly, but it is progressing and we are trying our best to teach Gods children in this part of his vineyard. I'm so grateful to be here right now and I'm grateful for this holiday season we have to remember the things we should be thankful for and remember Christ our Savior as well. I'm excited for Christmas and to be able to talk to everyone as well!
I hope everyone has a great week and remember I love all of you!
Love Elder Smith
Wow it has been a great week! First off I want to thank everyone for the great packages and gifts. Thanks for the cupcakes Mom, they were so good! I was able to take them around to some Elders in the zone and we left some of them on their doorstep, knocked and ran, kinda fun, but they were really good! Thanks Grandma Smith for the package of treats, it is all really good as well, and it was so good to see Aunt Gloria. It was the middle of the day so usually we would be out of the house, but we were up in our room planning for something when the doorbell rang. The Rosequists son brought up the package and said, "There's an older couple at the door for you"...haha I knew immediately who it would be. That was nice of her to come and see me, I appreciate it. And Grandma Birch, thank you for the letter and the gift, that's very nice of you! So our thanksgiving was great, the Rosequists smoked a turkey, which was the best turkey I've ever had in my life! haha I need to learn how to do that. They had all their family there, so there have been a bunch of little kids running around all week! It's been fun. The Turkey Bowl was really fun, we didn't win, but we won 1 of the games we played. It was fun either way so that's what matters. A member brought a pizza oven and cooked a ton of pizza for all of us. Over 250 missionaries and there was still a lot of pizza left, pretty crazy!
So about some of our investigators, we have a lot of people that are close to baptism, but they all just need to take that final step and commit, Bobby, Erik Mega, Kaumaka, and Mike and his daughter have all been taught all the lessons or have a good understanding of them, but each one of them have specific things keeping them from taking that final step right now. So thats what we are doing right now, trying to resolve concerns and keep meeting with all of them. We also have Tony who was a media referral, meaning someone else referred them online or through the mission office, is someone that we just started teaching. He is great! He's from the Philippines and works here with a lot of members. We are teaching him again tonight and hopefully bring up baptism and see how it goes. I feel like him and Kaumaka are the closest right now to baptism. Kaumaka is the 13 year old whose mom is recently returning to the church. They just need to start going to our ward instead of the ward in Henderson, and then we can set him with a date. So as you can see, the work is progressing, slowly, but it is progressing and we are trying our best to teach Gods children in this part of his vineyard. I'm so grateful to be here right now and I'm grateful for this holiday season we have to remember the things we should be thankful for and remember Christ our Savior as well. I'm excited for Christmas and to be able to talk to everyone as well!
I hope everyone has a great week and remember I love all of you!
Love Elder Smith
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