Well I am very sad to say that this might be the last official email! Next week I will be able to email but maybe not say much. I have such a busy week. I am so grateful that many things have happened. We had such an awesome week. The water fight was the most fun I've had in awhile! I can't even describe it. One of the only time I can throw water balloons and dose people with a water hose without getting in trouble, especially as a missionary haha. We even got special permission from President Ahlander just because we serve in Bunkerville. I wish we could do that every month of the summer! Then on the night of the 4th we had to be in a members home and we had permission to watch Frozen and How to Train Your Dragon, so we did that at the Bunkers house with 2 other missionaries. It was great because we watched it with them on the Bunker's Theater screen, but it was really weird to watch a movie again. We felt like we were breaking rules even though we weren't! This morning we went out in the country to see petroglyphs on rocks and some other things. That was really cool as well. So as you can see we have had some good fun lately.
The baptisms are still good for Saturday. To end off, I just wanted to say how happy I am that I have been able to serve these past two years. And that I have had all of you right along with me giving the support I needed. There are no words to describe my feelings and the many things I have learned. It has been hard, there's no doubt about that. But I would not take this experience back for anything in the world. I am truly grateful for what my Heavenly Father has provided for me and helped me with. I am looking forward to a new chapter in life, yes it will be stressful and hard, but I know I will still continue to be guided and helped. I look forward to seeing all of you and hope you have a fantastic week! I love you. Elder Smith

5 K Run that we did

Family!
Wow, where to begin, so many amazing things have happened this week I don't eve know where to start! So to make a long story short, we will be having 2 baptisms on July 12th! They kind of just came out of nowhere. First off I don't know if you have heard, but it's public now so I am allowed to tell you. Starting on July 14th, my last day in the mission, Mesquite is getting taken over by the St George mission, no joke haha. So what they are doing is kicking all of the Las Vegas missionary's out of here and back to Vegas and bringing in 3 sets of missionaries from St George. We have 5 sets here now, so they will be pretty busy! Elder Woody has been pretty bummed about this cause he was going to finish his mission here but now has to go back to Vegas for his last 6 weeks. So we have been working hard to try to build up the area, and the Lord has blessed us with 2 people to be baptized the Saturday before we leave. The first one is one we have been teaching, we have been trying to teach him the past month but the past week has been awesome. We already had 3 lessons with him and he received an AMAZING answer to his prayers. Because of time, I will save that story for when I get home, sorry. You'll love it though, we sat there when he told us what happened and we just looked at each other like, did that just happen!?  So after he told us the story I immediately asked if he would be baptized and he said yes. He's been coming to church every week now and is really preparing himself. He's giving up smoking this week as well and we have faith that he won't have a problem with it any more after that.
The second person is a friend of a girl in the ward. They just graduated from high school. She invited him to listen to the missionaries and so we've taught him 3 times this week too. He is such a great kid and already has a strong testimony of the Gospel. He is tearing through the Book of Mormon too just reading a lot and learning from it. His mom and sister don't want to learn along with him so he was telling us how he's the Nephi in his family and has to set an example for them. We set his baptism date for the 26th but he's been progressing so well and wants it so bad that we've moved it to the 12th, right before we leave. We are so excited for them both.
Also something cool that happened this week, there was a girl that Elder Parker and I taught in Vegas that finally got baptized on Saturday so we were able to go down to see that happen. It was so cool to finally see her take that step in her life after all she went through when we taught her and  all the doubts she had.
We had a missionary musical fireside last night that we had been inviting everybody to the last month. We sang as missionaries of Mesquite and then a few other members of the stake sang and played the piano and the there was a video performance, there were very few dry eyes in that chapel.!! It was so good. It's been such a great week.
As for the 4th of July, I have been waiting for this week since the day I got to the area! The reason why is because on July 3rd of every year, the town of Bunkerville turns into a huge water fight. We will be in the water balloon battle of 2014 with everyone here haha! We will be teaming up with a family, or a couple of families here and having fun. You can look it up on Youtube. They always include the missionaries so we are going to have our own outfits we are making that will be pretty cool, so expect some pictures next week, if my camera stays safe from the water balloons! I hope you guys have a great 4th of July. Love Elder Smith

Hey family! I appreciate the email and love from ya'll. In about 3 weeks I have to start being a good member missionary, not just a full time missionary. This is a harder thing to do because you don't have that mantel on your shoulders anymore as a full time servant of the Lord. Life will get in the way of sharing the Gospel. But I have a goal to do my best to be the best member missionary I can be, and Mom and Dad I hope you stay on me about that and push me to do it when I get down. I am happy and grateful that you are trying to be missionaries also. Once we are converted we have a responsibility and duty to share this with others. It has eternal consequences. I love D&C 18: 10-18. Please red it and make sense of it in your lives and how it can apply to you.
This week has been kinda crazy but we have had some great experiences. Elder Woody was sick for a couple day so we spent some time in the Quick Care and in the hospital trying to figure out what was wrong with him. The interesting thing about it is that the doctor we went to in the Quick Care is a member in St George, but is going through a lot of hard things. He opened up to Elder Woody in the room and he was able to help him out a little bit and become a really good friend. So the doctor hooked him up and ran him through lab work, an ultrasound, and a CT scan for free all in like 4 hours flat. He is doing a lot better now though, I guess it was just an infection. So it was cool to see that the Lord allowed Elder Woody to get sick and sacrifice his body so he could meet this man and help him out. The Lord is truly watching over everyone of us and knows and loves us all.
We also had a very cool experience with the investigator we are working with. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and has prayed. He was raised as a Mennonite, and he worries about his family in Kansas who have not heard of this new church.
Since Elder Woody is doing better we are hoping to hit it hard this week and work the best that we can. I just hope to find every person that I am her to find before I go home and pray that I will accomplish what I need to . I love and appreciate you all and hope you have a great week. Love Elder Smith

Golfing with a Semi Pro that is in our ward. It was fun!

Loved Ones!
First off Happy Fathers Day Dad! I hope it was a great day. I love you and appreciate what you have done for me.
Second, thank you for the news from home! I was happy to hear all of it and glad that things are going well. Send Jordan and Brittney and Matt and Ashlie my love. And good luck to Jordan with the house. That was funny about running over the skunk, the other day the family I live with's dog was sprayed by a skunk and she came inside at night, so all night we smelled that terrible smell. The next morning the family were scrubbing her for awhile to get the smell out ha ha. They are great people I'm thankful that I get to live with them for awhile.
This week has bee great. We just got done playing about 12 holes of golf at Falcon Ridge and next week we get to go to Wolf Creek. So that was really fun.Something cool that happened this week was the ability to exercise the Priesthood. We went to the home we go to and asked them if they would like a blessing. They said they already had one earlier, but would not turn down another one. So my companion was able to bless the husband and I blessed the wife. The spirit immediately filled the room to where their eyes were not dry and we were just so happy to be able to be there. Despite all that has gone on with them, they are still a great family that have great faith and live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We are working the hardest we can and trying not to think about home and how long we have left right now. Elder Woody and I kind of feed off of each other to work hard, and have fun too. But sometimes he reminds me of how long I have left, so I remind him of how long he has haha. He's great. I hope you all have a great week and I sent my love to each  one of you. Oh and Grandma Smith, thanks for the money, and I'm sorry I haven't written faithfully to you and Grandma Birch. Thank you both for your support and love.
Love Elder Smith

We walked in our house and found this little guy laying on our floor, I thought it was fake but then it started moving and scared the crap out of us haha

Optical illusion, I really hit the ball!

Petting and caring for the calf

Shoeing the Horse

Family! It sounds like it's been a very good and uplifting week for you all with the welcome home talks and the funeral. Dad first off I want you to know how happy I am to have you as a father and the great example you have been to me. You have touched lives and I know that the Lord looks over families.
I'm also so happy that you got to see Elder Parker's talk and everything you said about him is so true. I was privileged to spend 18 weeks with him and we learned so much together. I look up to him and hope to do things with him when I get home. I am also happy to hear that Michael did well. I'm sad to hear that his mission was difficult in the sense of finding people and working with members. But each mission has their difficulties and theirs something to be learned from each.
Anyways, this week has been absolutely great! I love Elder Woody! We are getting along great and working hard. He goes home 6 weeks after I do so he'll send me home then someone will come and send him home. He is from Huntsville Alabama. I knew him when he came out and he had an awesome accent, but he's kinda gotten rid of it during his mission. Yesterday we were able to go out and give some service at Bundys and teach Patrick and Buddah, two of the guys who are there and reading the Book of Mormon. They have some pretty cool stories  on how they were led to Bundys and feel it's where they need to be. And I think its cause they can learn the Gospel here. A couple days ago we went out and put new horse shoes on one of the horses, and yesterday we fed little calf's and brushed  horses. It's been pretty great to get to know the family, they are great people.
Well I love you all and am grateful for the many things you do for me and the support you give. Have a great week and stay safe. Love Elder Smith

I needed some new clothes, and this is all I could find. Do you like them?

Hey Mom and Dad, thanks for the email and the funny stories about the kids. I love hearing about them! I got a video from Ashlie that I really appreciate, they are getting so big! Dad, thank you so much for getting my bikes fixed up and ready to go, that makes me really excited, I see bikes and four wheeler s and razors all the time here so, I can't wait to go soon.
I have learned so many things especially from Elder Beddoes, and my entire mission. I am super grateful to have been his companion, yes we have had bad times but we have had some really good times and it has been a great 3 months. He is getting transferred today and my new companion is Elder Woody from Alabama. He was in my district in my first area so I know him pretty well.
We haven't been able to teach anyone out at the ranch this week but we hope to go out tomorrow and get to know some people. They switch out so often that you never know who will be there. Yesterday 2 new guys came with Cliven to church and one of them was a member because he actually participated in priesthood meeting. I know it will pay off. We are preparing the members to be better missionaries ant then eventually there will be more non members to teach. I love this area and I will be sad to leave it.
I'm glad Jordan has moved back and that was cool to hear that his friend was a returned missionary. I love you all and hope you have a great week. I hope you like the snake we found while we were milking the cows!!
Love Elder Smith

Family!
Thanks for the great email, I'm glad things are good back home. Wow Dad, that was a great story, I'm super happy to hear about that. I have thought about the Muellers multiple times throughout my mission but still haven't had any contact with them. I hope they are all doing well and hope Tim's mom get better and that it can bring a missionary opportunity. Also congrats to Katlyn, I hope they do well together. And that's crazy that Michael will be home this week, I guess I am the next one, unfortunately.
So this week has been great! Pretty crazy too as you will see from the picture. We once again went out to Bundy's ranch and got talking to the security guys who stay on Clivens front lawn. There were some new guys this time and they are all ex military and super nice. They all have a Christian background, except for one named Buddah who believes in a lot of things. Well we were sitting there talking about military and things like that and then one of the girls that was there says, well you guys are like ministers right? So are you going to share something with us? We were like, perfect, you got it! So Elder Beddoes shared a scripture that brought up some good conversation, then I shared a different scripture that brought up some really good conversation. And they were just itching for more, so right there we taught the whole 1st lesson to 6 of the people there. We kind of felt like we were standing on a box preaching to a crowd haha. But they accepted it well and half of them took copies of the Book of Mormon and said they would read. It was a cool experience because they are feeling the spirit at Clivens house like they have never felt before. And they have literally seen the Bundys prayers answered as they have gone through this whole experience. I know there's a lot of bad talk about the Bundys and everything going on, but if there is anything good that's coming out of this event that's taking place, it is with the people who have came and seen how an LDS family handle hard situations and have faith in God. It's cool to see. They are also having a big BBQ tonight and invited everyone at church (half of Bunkerville ha) so we hope we can go to that if it doesn't conflict with our appointment.
One last thing, we are super sore today because crossfit was a really good workout this morning! We show up and had to do the following:
first off run 1 mile, 100 pull ups, 200 push ups, 300 squats, then finish with another mile. So as you can see, it keeps us in shape!!! Well I love you all and hope your week is great. Love Elder Smith

Hey family!
Thanks for the email and the love and support. It was great to see you on Mothers Day and I hope it was a good day. I'm so glad that Dad is feeling better. I'm also glad that Grandpa didn't hurt himself while cutting down a tree. Janell, no stress, and Alex get better with your broken arm.
So this week we have been doing the usual teaching members and things like that. But we have also been introducing a program that Sister Ahlander has been teaching us, and getting all the members familiar with it. It's called the "Willing and Brief", and it's meant to help us do missionary work a lot easier. Simply, the members need to start using the term, "Will you be willing to listen to a brief message about-------------- (something pertaining to the Gospel)?" "There's two missionaries that can come by and talk to you about it". That's the basic gist of it, but we've already seen success from it since we've been teaching the members about it and we are talking about it in Sacrament next Sunday. The guy that we taught a couple of times that's here for Bundy came back after leaving for awhile, so we will start teaching him again. And we went out to talk to a guy nick named 'little dog' that we gave a Book of Mormon to a couple weeks ago. He's been reading it so that's exciting. We're still trying to meet with some of the security team that lives in Brother Bundy's front yard, who are interested, we just need to catch them at a good time. So the work is going well here and progressing.
We had zone conference last week and it was probably the best one I have had on my mission, along with my last one: (the training's really hit us and taught us a lot of things). I also had to give my departing testimony, which was not something I wanted to do, because I don't really want to leave ha. But life goes on right!
Well thanks again for all you do for me and I hope things go well this week for all of you. I love you.
 Elder Smith

I want to wish a Happy Mothers Day to my Grandma's, aunts, and cousins, etc. I am grateful for each one of you for what you do for me and all who are around you.
This is truly Jesus Christ's gospel here on earth that we have to bless our families and give us the strength and comfort we need in life. I know that by living it will bring a greater sense of direction in one's life that will allow the spirit to guide at all times. We have been studying the Atonement more the past couple weeks in preparation for zone conference this week and it has brought a better understanding of what Christ really did for us individually. I would challenge each one of you to study the Atonement more and see how it applies to your life right at this time in life. I am grateful for the time I have to be here doing this great work. I love you all and thank you again for all you do for me. Have a great week! Love Elder Smith

Hey Familia!
Wow, so many emails and pictures to respond to this week! Thank you so much for all of them. I appreciate the pictures and videos especially. The kids are getting so big I barely recognize them, and congrats to Lexie for riding with no training wheels! And Jordan ...keep it up ha, hope it gets better.
So on Saturday we did have 2 baptism's and I was able to baptize one of the people. It was a great program and the spirit was strong. The confirmation went really well too at church, which brings me to my next point. So Mr. Bundy has been bringing his guards with him to church every week, some different ever week. And this morning we got a call from one of the ward members telling us that one of the guys that was at church yesterday with him wants to be baptized. He also said that a lot of the guys out there are Christian and want to learn more about our church. So we are planning on going out to the ranch tomorrow and trying to talk with all those Militia guys out there, we are super excited!!! There has been a total of about 4000 people out there supporting him throughout the whole thing, and the militia have their own camp that they all stay at, so we are hoping we will have some success out there. And don't worry, we will go out with a member of the ward so we're not alone and we know to stay out of trouble, just in case you were wondering haha. So we are hoping that it will give us more things to stay busy with. We have been scheduling member lessons like crazy and also some other programs we're introducing to the members, just to stay busy and get the ward involved in the work. Things are going well, I love it out here, no need to worry.
Mom, I want to wish you happy Mothers Day and hope you have a great day and can rest a little bit. When we skype, please don't make me watch another funeral ha...
On Wednesday we get the opportunity to attend the temple again, which we are excited about as usual. I just wish we could go to the St George one, but that might be bad for Janell haha. We have been studying the atonement a lot this week, directed by President Ahlander, preparing for Zone conference. It's been so good to study it and gain a better understanding of it and how it applies to all of us. I encourage you all to study it more as well, and as we better understand it, our desire to share the Gospel will increase. Thanks again for everything. Your love and support is felt and appreciated. I love you all and hope you have a great week! Elder Smith

The cops let us ride on their trick bikes.

Hey Family!!
Well your hopes came true...it was a great week and amazing birthday! Thank you so much for the letters and packages and good wishes. The members here made it one of the best birthdays I've had. In a small town, word gets around quick, so people knew it was my birthday because Elder Beddoes told like 2 people. Dinner on Monday was really good with the Hughes, they even got me balloons, cake, and caramel apple poops haha! Then the Bunkers on Tuesday made giant cupcakes and steak, thanks to you mom!! They are such a great family. And I can't forget about Chandler and Payton coming to see me, that was so good to see them and chat at lunch. The little prank we did was funny, Payton didn't know what to do when he thought they got the wrong Elder Smith to lunch, then I walked in and there wasn't a person in Taco Bell that wasn't staring at us, because we were so excited to see each other and the noise level rose haha. It was great. As for the work, we have been teaching a lot of active members lately just because we don't have many investigators. But the ones we do have are doing well. We are just waiting for President Ahlander to see if he can come interview them. If he can this week then the baptism will still be good for Saturday. So we are kind of on pins and needles in a stressful situation, hoping he can this week. But it'll work out for the best as always. This week we had an awesome experience; Brad Wilcox came to speak to our whole mission. If you don't know him, he's the author of "The Continuous Atonement, the  BYU devotional talk "His Grace is Sufficient", he's been a mission president, and a professor at BYU. That was one of the best meetings I've been to in a long time! He has a way of speaking that captivates everybody and draws them in to what he's saying. Nobody was asleep during that meeting! But he really gave us a better understanding on the house of Israel and the importance of that in our own lives today. And then he let us ask any questions we had about anything. I really wished I could of recorded it, but my recorder was dead. But I'll send a picture of us with him. If you haven't read his talk "His Grace is Sufficient", I recommend it too.
Well, sounds like some crazy news from home with all the surgeries. The thing that matters is how we go through them and what we can learn from it. There's something to learn from every single thing we go though, the hard part sometimes is realizing what that is.
We've been working with a deaf member that I told you about, and he really has a tough life. His parents don't even know sign language so he has no one to communicate with unless he's with us or a lady in our ward who signs, and his deaf friends. It's interesting to see how everyone deals with the trials that they have and learning from them. I've learned a lot from him and the deaf community. I can pretty well understand most things they sign, I'm just not proficient yet, so I still need a lot of practice, but I love it. I hope to continue to learn it after my mission too.
That's cook to hear about Ashlie and how good of shape she's in. I'll have to introduce her to crossfit, it's the best! But I hope she doesn't make me run because I'm not a fan of running! Well, have a safe week, Love Elder Smith

Brad Wilcox with us

The famous town of Bunkerville

I made it into Arizona on my mission!

It turned out that Elder Smith had the heads up that his cousins Chandler and Payton were coming to visit him at Taco Bell on his birthday as they were passing through on their way to California. They thought it would be a surprise to Elder Smith. But Elder Smith surprised them by sticking his name tag onto another Elder and so Chandler and Payton thought the wrong Elder Smith had shown up!! Joke was on them until the real Elder Smith came in! HaHa :)

The Fantastic Awesome Handsome Smith Boys!

Happy Easter!
I want to say Thank you so much to everyone who has sent things to me this week for Easter and my birthday. My only regret is not being in Las Vegas while I turned 21.....but Mesquite is good enough. Not like I could do anything anyways haha. So it was great to hear how the weekend was and I hope everyone enjoyed themselves and had a good time. My Easter was great!! First off, the mafia was at church, literally. Mr. Bundy now has crazy mafia guys guarding him (trying to guard him) and metro police had to come in the middle of the meeting and tell them to leave. Religion and politics do not and should not mix! So that was a fun time haha. Then we went to our sign language class last night, which was good, then just figured out the logistics behind transfers today. We are both staying here by the way. But president is giving another Elder here a change to be district leader, so I'm happy to relax from that a little bit this transfer. There are so many missionaries going home this summer and a lot of them are in leadership, so President is dropping a lot of them so younger missionaries get the chance to do it. But something exciting, we get a truck today! haha, it's just a Chevy Colorado but it'll be good to have cause of all the service we do around here.
The two baptisms are still set and good for May 3rd so we are excited for that.
Dad, I pray that things will go well with your surgery and that you'll be able to recover quick, you need to be better by July! And Jordan I pray for the same thing. Sounds like a pretty intense surgery but I know it'll work out, we just have to have faith and the Lord will take care of you, no matter what the outcome will be. I'll be praying for you as well.
Thanks again for everything and all the birthday wishes. Today will be a good day. Some youth in Bunkerville even made a cake for me! And mom, the cake was great! Thanks for sending it. The only bad part was some of the chocolate bars had melted and gotten the money chocolaty haha. Oh well. Love you all, Have a great week!

PS. I got a phone call from the stake presidency here and he told me to be at Taco Bell at 12:00 for lunch with somebody.....hmmmm I wonder who it is....haha thanks for the heads up mom. I'm looking forward to seeing Chandler and Payton. The whole weekend I was thinking, they are not gonna find me, I'm gonna get away with it and there's no way they can find me....I guess I was wrong haha.
And yes Idaho Falls airport, Be there or be square haha

Guns, Cows, and BLM Rangers!

Wow, who would have known that I am so popular, as soon as I arrive in Bunkerville, it becomes national news, haha just kidding, but really, it has been pretty crazy here with all the things going on as you have herd on the news. To answer some questions, we are OK and safe Mom, don't you worry! We haven't been told to stay inside or anything so things are pretty normal for us, other than every person we speak to informs us about the situation ha, Yesterday morning we were driving to church and we saw the NBC network truck parked and filming, so we wanted to go walk down the street behind it but we didn't have time haha. Hanity was also in town this week for the news report, but we didn't see that one. But there has been a ton of people driving through Bunkerville, mostly from Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. And there were a tone of Rangers as well, before they left town. A set of missionaries in Mesquite spoke to one of them in the gas station and he said that none of them wanted to be there and they were just doing their job, a job that made them do things against their own morals. All of them stayed in the same hotel and nobody else was allowed in the hotel but them. The police even guarded the hotel. And there were police escorted out of town so all the people here wouldn't do something stupid. As for Mr. Bundy, he is a member in our ward who we saw at church yesterday. Good guy. But it was a little different because yesterday he had personal body guards with camo and everything. I understand that, but maybe not too necessary at church. Anyways, it's been an interesting week and we hope things calm down and begin to be peaceful again.
As for the work, we set two people with baptismal dates! They will be getting baptized on the 3rd of May. A husband and wife we've been teaching since right before I got here. The wife had her doubts and struggled with accepting baptism, but we went over there on Saturday and she said, "I have gotten my questions answered and I want to be baptized"! Those are my favorite words ever! She said that General Conference cleared a lot of things up for her and answered the questions she was having problems with. So we are really looking forward to that.
Also yesterday something cool that we did was a musical program for all of Mesquite. Same type of thing that we did in Vegas since this is something President Ahlander is trying. We're having these missionary musical firesides about once every 2 months, once a month in Vegas. But it's a great tool to bring non members to the church and have them listen to music and testimonies of Christ. We've been practicing for the last few weeks and the practice paid off, I think it was a great program. Too bad you couldn't come to see it Janell! haha. Elder Beddoes did a solo, another missionary did a solo, and we had a missionary choir that sang two songs, then some other performances by members of the stake. It was a great night.
Things are going great here, no need to worry, Mom. At least I'm not on the Marshall Islands with no electricity and no way to email, like a boy from our ward.
Have a great week, Love Elder Smith

Hey loved ones!
Well it's been another great week, other than some set backs, but conference came at just the right time! I'm sorry to hear about the medical problems with Dad and Jordan, and I pray for their health and safety. Something that I am reminded about this week is the fact that just because people live the Gospel and commandments, doesn't mean they won't have trials. They will have trials just the same as everybody else, but the Gospel gives us the extra strength and knowledge to get through it. That's why we need it so bad, because without that extra strength it's hard to find peace in life.
So like I said, general conference was great as usual, but this was the first time I fell asleep so much during it, but there's a reason behind it haha. So in the middle of the week Elder Beddoes got sick, just a cold, and so I had to stay in the house all day and do nothing, which is like the worst thing ever when you're on a mission. But I did accomplish a few things like clean the house, catch up on my journal, read some Doctrine and Covenants, play with the dog, shoot some hoops, etc, everything I could think of. But then I got sick a couple days ago and the tables switched. But the difference between Elder Beddoes and I is when he gets a headache or doesn't feel good, he has to stay at home and rest. Well my mindset is I'm not staying in unless I'm severely sick. So I kept working as much as I could and when it got to conference time, I was so tired I fell asleep for like 4 or 5 of the talks, haha. But it's OK cause in my notes I put, ":read this talk, fell asleep". Good thing we have the Ensign! So I hope you guys stayed awake for most  of them, but if not, you can read the Ensign!
Last Monday was so fun when we went golfing, reminded me of all the times I went with Preston. Tell him hi for me and sorry I haven't gotten a letter to him. I've been doing bad at writing anyone lately, just been really busy, (except for the day I had nothing to do, I didn't think about writing letters, haha), I love you all and hope your week goes well. Love Elder Smith

Great Day for Golfing!

Another week in paradise!
So I failed to mention something last week that was pretty important. We had a baptism on Saturday! He was being taught before I got to the area but he was having trouble with smoking so he couldn't be baptized. He didn't think he could do it and had a lot of doubt because he had been trying to quit smoking for years and years, he's in his 70's. But we promised him he would be given the strength to do it. Last Sunday we fasted for him so he would be given the ability to quit from now on, and he did it! It was such a great experience to see the change in his heart and mind and to see the Atonement of Christ truly work in his life. It reminded me of 3 Nephi 9:14 that states that Christ will accept everyone who desires for his help, and he will grant it unto them. I love this Gospel and the blessings that it brings!
This week in Bunkerville has been great. The work is progressing and things are good. I appreciate the news from home. I can't believe you got so much snow! We only got a few sprinkles and some wind. Today we are actually going golfing at FAlcon Ridge golf course. I'm pretty excited about that. Dad, to answer your question, Mesquite is its own zone in the mission so in this general area itself, there are 2 districts, and a district in Logandale, and a district in Panaca, all within the zone. So for meetings we meet at the stake center in Mesquite and the others meet in their respective places while the zone leaders rotate to go to different districts each week. So we have the biggest zone in the mission just because it's spread out so far. There's even a set of Elders in Littlefield, which is Elder White right now haha. I love it here, it's so nice and I'm glad to finish my mission here!
I love you all and hope all is well and that you keep up the health and safety. Love Elder Smith

Mesquite zone

I Udderly Love Milk

It is going great here in Bunkerville and Mesquite. Yes, I am actually milking cows every Tuesday, and yes we drink it after it's strained, haha. I know it seemed kinda weird, but it's pretty good with the cream in it still. And that's what we need since we're going to cross fit 3 times a week, their good workouts!
So as far as the work here goes, it's great! We have a lot more work to do then I've had in most my areas, so you do't have to worry about it haha. Covering 3 wards makes it pretty busy, and we have a few investigators and a LOT of inactive members to see. I guess Mesquite is the place to go if you are inactive, but that's OK because we will find them! When I got to the area, it wasn't organized at all and there wasn't even a ward list for Mesquite 5th, so I have been working hard on getting the area organized, getting lists of people, going to the bishop to see who is active or not. So things are looking a lot better with the ward and we are doing our best to split our time equally between the wards, because it wasn't that way before. We also got to speak in sacrament yesterday in one of the wards so that was really good for the members to hear.
This week we have had some crazy experiences with some people that we hope will get resolved. The first experience is with an investigator who we are teaching who is in his 70's and has some major health problems, such as cancer and hip replacement surgeries. We were inspired to go over there one day in which we did and he told us he was suicidal and didn't want to live. We sat down with him and talked with him about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and why we need it in our lives. He argued with us throughout the lesson until we got to baptism and the Holy Ghost where he started to gain a small light of Hope. We went over the next day to see how he was doing and talked to him about overcoming his addictions he has. It was a really cool thing to be able to see the spirit work with him and change his desire. We hope things continue to progress with him.
The next experience we had was with an active member of our ward who is also in his 70's and lives with his wife and step dad. We go over to their home every week to do service and then they feed us lunch. Well, we started to notice things were a little different lately with him, and last night as we drove past his home we were prompted to stop and see them. So we did and we quickly found out why we were prompted to go. He sat down with us and basically told us that his whole life was a waste and that he doesn't know if the church is true anymore and why he is even here. He had completely lost faith in God and everything that he had believed throughout his life. He expressed that he regrets everything and every accomplishment he had done in his life. We were overwhelmed with this conversation as we had definitely not expected it from this wonderful Christlike person we have come to know and Love. Elder Beddoes was able to relate to him an experience he had in his life that was similar and help him understand a few things. At the end he accepted a blessing and I was able to assist the Lord in blessing this wonderful man. I have come to love him so much and care for him and his well being and look forward to continually working with him.
These two experiences I have had this week has shown me a few things. First and foremost, how real Satan is. He tempts us and throws things at us we would never imagine throughout our lives. He targets not only people who don't have a knowledge of Jesus Christ's gospel, but even more he targets those who know of His Gospel and have made a commitment to follow Christ. We know that even after you are baptized and are following the commandments, you will still be put through so many hard things that sometimes you will want to quit, you will want to give up on everything you know to be good and find the easy way out. But the Lord promises us that if we endure the affliction and persecution we are put under, we will be exalted on high in His kingdom along side of Him. And that is definitely something that I want and desire for all. The things we go through will only prepare us to be stronger in the future, just like any other thing. If we work out a muscle, it's torn down, but then becomes stronger. Same principle. I know that God loves us with all his heart and wants the best for all of his children here on earth. I 'm sorry for the rambling but I hope things are will for all of you and hope you have a great week ahead! I love you all.

Well Howdy Ya'll!
How's everything going? Thanks so much for the emails and letter mom. I also really appreciate the work you are doing on my motorcycle. I could really use it where I am at now, oh, I guess I will tell you where I am, Bunkerville, just outside of Mesquite. Janell, remember the time you took me bowling here, who would have guessed I would serve there one day haha! They have a sweet motocross track right by the Eureka that has a zip line going over the track, paintball course, and courses for remote control cars. It's driving me crazy seeing all these dirt bikes everywhere! I'm managing though. Bunkerville is great. It's the only place that I've seen four wheeler s in the church parking lot for Sunday meetings! But the majority of the town is LDS, so tracting is pretty much just visiting members. The members are great and they do a lot of missionary work. We are working a lot with the youth because that's where we get all the referrals. Elder Beddoes is from Ohio and has been out a year now. He knows sign language and is teaching me. We have a less active guy that is deaf, and I am trying to learn as fast as I can so I can help teach him.
We also go to Tough Country cross fit three times a week to work out, now I don't know if you are familiar with cross fit, but it's a crazy work out program that makes you super sore! So this past week I have been the most sore that I have been on my mission I think haha, but it's great I love it.
I hope everyone has a great week, Love Elder Smith

A little bit different than Vegas!

4 Wheeler, transportation to church!

Elder Smith joined us for dinner tonight in his new area. He made me swear not to tell you his location, he wants to tell you on his P-Day. I will say that he is in the best place in the mission!!

I made them Chinese Chicken Salad. I thought I would have a little fun with the elders. I only gave them chopsticks to eat with. t thought that they would be awkward and fumblie around. I was planning to make them sweat for a few minutes and then give them a fork. It turns out that the joke was on me. They both knew how to operate the chopsticks quite well. After dinner the Elders left us with a beautiful message about the grace of Christ. He taught that when times are hard we should ask the Lord to strengthen us to endure instead of asking Him to remove the trial. When Nephi was bound, he didn't pray to have the Lord loosen his bands; rather he prayed for the Lord to strengthen him so that he could loosen them himself.
 You have a wonderful son! I can tell he has been and will continue to be a great missionary! Have a great night! Sister Bunker

Elder Smith and Elder Bedoes, eating Chinese Chicken Salad in somewhere Nevada

Hey Ya'll!
So I know I have put you in suspense wondering where I am getting transferred, and I think I will keep you in suspense because I'm not ready to tell you...haha just kidding, but when I tell you (especially Janell) don't get any ideas! ha. So I will be a District Leader and in my new area I will most likely be milking some cows and working on a farm!! haha, I'm super excited. I'm not going to tell you a specific place yet, but it's not in the city. So I hope that holds you over for awhile, maybe until next week and then I'll tell you more about it! Just know that I'm safe and happy and very excited for my last area of my mission! My companion will be Elder Bedoes, I don't know too much about him yet. I'm sad to leave the Rosequists and Elder Barton, I've had such a great time living there and being with Elder Barton.
This week has been really good, with a couple crazy things happen. The craziest thing was on Friday night. We were at the ward auction night watching all the members spend thousands of dollars on cabin stays and trips haha, a little more then just cookies. But we got a call from one of the District Leaders companions, Elder Jett, in the zone and he said, can you guys come to our apartment ASAP, Elder Goldens not breathing too well. We were like, What! Call the ambulance if it's bad! He said, it's not bad, Elder Forred told us to come to his house. Elder Forred is the mission nurse. So we were driving to get them and Elder Jett called back and said it's getting worse so we drove him to the ER. If there's a time I can justify speeding on my mission, it would be this haha, because we got there and he was numb and couldn't breathe too well. So we got to the hospital pretty fast thanks to my driving skills, haha joking, but in the car Elder Barton and Jett gave him a blessing which was a cool experience. They checked him out and did some tests. After awhile he got better and could breathe fine and started to walk again, without any medicine or anything. We're not sure what exactly caused it but he was sick a week ago which was one of the causes, and anxiety was another reason. So Friday night we were sitting in the ER with him from 8:30 pm to 2 am. While we were sitting there I started talking to a girl that was waiting for someone else and we had a pretty cool missionary moment there where we told her a lot about what we do and things like that. So the whole night was a good experience to see the power of the priesthood and also be able to do some missionary work as well. Don't worry; Elder Golden is doing fine now. Everything happens for a reason and it's cool to try to figure out what that reason is, but sometimes we don't know for a long time.
Thanks for what you do for me and I hope you all have a great week. Don't worry about me I'll be having fun out in the country! Yeehaaawww!
Love Elder Smith

Thank you so much for the emails, they were especially good today. This morning we had a great hike at Redrock, again. We did a fun hike so I will send pictures. And then after that Tony took us out to a Philipino restaurant and we had Calamari and Ox tail soup. Surprisingly it wasn't that bad at all haha. But I'm so grateful I didn't serve out of the country where there is weird food all the time! Elder Barton is a great companion and I'm so glad to be with him. Transfers are next week so I have mixed feelings because I want to stay with him and the Rosequists, but I would like to see a new area as well. We will see!
We had some fun things happen this week. On Wednesday we were able to go to the temple which is always amazing. And then yesterday we had the privilege of ushering an event at the Smith Center down closer to the Strip called Zion's Youth Symphony and it's an orchestra and choir of youth directed by Rob Gardner, and the show was called Lamb of God, all about Christ's ministry. They had about 20-30 missionaries from both missions there to volunteer, watching doors, scanning tickets, etc. It was a really good night and a great program. So there have been some fun things happening this week. We are excited about tonight, we will be teaching some friends of Dorian, the kid that got baptized in December. He's been an awesome missionary already and refers all his friends to us haha. Thanks again for all you guys do for me. I appreciate it. I love you and hope you have a great week!
Love Elder Smith

Elder Smith and Elder Barton

Good day for a hike

MMMM..Calamari (squid) 

Thank you so much for sending a package. We really enjoyed it.
This week has been really good, we had zone conference which I will write later about, and on Wednesday we get to go to the temple, I'm really excited about that! And also last night we had a missionary musical fireside that we put together with 2 other zones. It was something to invite all of our investigators to and something that we are trying to do every month. It was really good, we had some families sing and some missionaries sang as well (all the Polynesians in our zone from Hawaii) so it was really cool. But the thing that has made the last part of our week really good is we decided we needed to rely upon the Lord and try to follow the Spirit throughout the day even more than we had before. When we decided to do that, we took the map and tried to feel which house we needed to go to at that time. Elder Barton choose a couple and I choose a couple and we were off. We were able to talk to a lot of people that accepted our message or a return appointment. At one point we were walking down a street an saw this lady sitting in her garage so we started to talk to her. We found that she had a crazy amount of kids, probably around 8-10, with no husband or father for any of them at the time. She eventually started to open up to us and expressed how she is really struggling and she is trying to quit drinking and cussing. So we told her how we can help her with those things and we can teach her what to do to improve her life. She also mentioned how she wants all her kids baptized. So we are looking forward to meeting with her tomorrow to start to teach her. Another guy we met let us in and fed us cake and we gave him a Book of Mormon and he was excited to learn more about it. Just a few experiences that we had that proved to us that if we listen to the Spirit the best we can and be the most consecrated missionary's we can be, we will be led to those people who will accept Christ's Gospel. I'm so grateful for this time I have to be here as the Lords Servant. Love Elder Smith

Hey!
Thanks for the Valentine package. Elder Barton and I enjoyed it and appreciate it. To answer a question Mom, I know I might look pretty skinny, but I have been eating so much lately! It seems like every dinner we go to I just get so full. And I've been working out, so I have com to the conclusion that my metabolism has sped up even more and there's nothing I can do about it! Pretty unique problem that I have, right! haha. But its fine with me. And while on that subject, one of my past companions, Elder White, txted me last night and said he was craving some huckleberry cordials and would do anything for them! So Mom do you think you could send a few to me?
I want to share a couple short thoughts on what we've been doing this month. This month for district and zone meetings we are studying Christlike attributes, chapter 6 in Preach My Gospel, and tomorrow we will have zone conference about it as well. I love studying about this topic because it is what truly changes us. All the attributes that Christ has are things we need to try to emulate to become better people. Not only better followers of Him, but better husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, kids, etc. Trying to become Christlike can be, and will be a painful process because we have to change our thoughts, behaviors, and actions. But we shouldn't just change our behavior, we need to change out nature. If we are able to change the way we think about things, and be more loving, more patient, more humble, that's what will change the world. This is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us, and I'm so grateful for that. This is a Gospel of change, it will force you to become a better person, not because someone else wants you to become better, but you will want to become better on your own. And in turn, we are promised comfort, joy, peace, love and eventually eternal life. Why wouldn't somebody want that? I love this work and I love teaching this to people. May we always remember what God does for us.
Thanks again for everything, I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Hey! Thanks for the emails, it's good to hear everything is going well for you this week.
So Saturday morning was such a cool experience we had with Kaumaka's baptism. I was privileged to baptize him, but he is a big kid, 14 and almost as tall as me, well I didn't have the best hold on him so I almost dropped him in the water, but I didn't, so it worked out! haha That would have been embarrassing! Most of his immediate family was there to watch the baptism and that was a good experience for them. His father is not a member, but he really enjoyed the ordinance. Kaumaka will be the light in that family to help strengthen them and bring them closer to the Savior and I'm grateful for that.
Elder Barton is a great missionary and I really look up to him. I would love to stay with him for awhile longer, but I've already been in the area for awhile, so I have no idea what will happen at transfers, but that's still 4 weeks away so no need to worry about it now! Today has been a little hectic already, we had some changes in the mission and the zone. We drove to the mission home to pick up a new elder for the exchanges, and then back to email, then lunch, and shopping before we go play some football! And had to plan for tomorrow where we will be giving a training at Zone Training meeting, a once a month occurrence. We were able to give a training at Leadership Council with the President and all the Zone leaders too, and that went really well. Next week is Zone Conference where Elder Barton and I will be able to conduct the meeting, so we are excited about that too. I'm so grateful for all the experience and training I'm receiving that will help me throughout life, it's a great opportunity that we have to serve!
Well, have a safe week, and congrats to Jordan and Brittney on the date of their marriage.
I love you all, Elder Smith

Hey ya'll!
Thanks a lot for the news from home and the letters sent to me. You all are awesome!
This week has been so good, really long, but good. The first of the transfer with a new companion always seems like it takes forever, but we have got some really good work done. Elder Barton is great, I love him already. Elder Parker is in Redrock stake and he's on bike, and his new companion is someone I lived with for 4 months while I was in South stake, Elder Jarman, so they will do good together. But like I said, Elder Barton is from Baton Rouge Louisiana, yes, good ole southern boy haha! He has a pretty amazing story. He was baptized about 5 years ago after getting fellowshipped by friends in the church, and he is still the only member in his family. He has 1 brother and 1 sister and his mom, who are supportive of him but are not interested in the Gospel. It's inspiring to hear about people like him that have such a strong testimony and are the pioneers in their family to lead and do what they believe is true, even without too much support. I look up to him a lot. This week we had a cool experience, we were trying to think of who we could go see, sitting in the car thinking. And he suggested these people that Elder Parker had talked to briefly before and written on a paper. So we drove to their neighborhood and I parked down the street. I had a feeling that we shouldn't go there at that specific time, so I just told him what I felt, pulled out the map and pointed at a street in the next neighborhood that we could go tract. Immediately we went and started knocking. Well the first door we knocked on was Crystal, a member of the church that we didn't know lived there and she hadn't been to church for 7 years. She stopped going because her dad passed away and was mad at God for taking her father. We stood on the porch for 30 minutes while she cried and told us her feelings. We talked about how the Gospel can help her and expressed that we wanted to help her and teach her family. We have a return appointment for this week and we are looking forward to it. This was another experience for me, out of many, that lets me know that the spirit is real and can guide us to where we need to be. I am so grateful for that and for the Gospel of Jesus Christ that gives us comfort and joy in life so we don't have to hold on to feelings of regret and pain like she has been doing. We also spent a couple days on bike in our area so we could talk to more people on the street and that was very productive too. We had one day where we set up 5 return appointments just from street contacts and visiting less active members. I've grown to love talking to people on the street and learning about who they are and how we can help them, its very rewarding.
So Kaumakas baptism is this Saturday and I will have the privilege of baptizing him. He is a great kid and I'm excited for him. It will be a great experience for him and his family. Thanks again for all you do, I love you all and hope you have a great week!!
Love Elder Smith

Another Day At Red Rock

Hello Loved Ones!!
     Thank you for the letters and emails. I enjoyed hearing about what's going on. I hope that Monty's baby will be fine, and I send my love.
So as for us, Elder Parker is getting transferred and I am staying here and getting Elder Barton, not the Barton that I've already been companions with, I'm getting a black companion!! I'm so excited for it. I don't know much about him, but he's from Louisiana. It should be a good time. When I first got into this area there were a lot of potential investigators we were trying to meet with and they were all black. We haven't had any luck with them, so I'm going to give them another shot with my new companion and see if that changes anything. We hope so. As of this past week, things have been great, we have had a lesson everyday, which was my goal for the week and we made it. Even if we didn't get to teach a non member one day, we would teach members just for practice and trust. I hope it continues on this next week. There will be a lot of changes in the zone, 5 missionaries will be leaving and getting replaced, and it's hard to see them go, but I'm excited to see the change and work with different Elders and Sisters.
There was one thing I wanted to mention that happened. A couple Sundays ago we were greeting at the door at church and this guy walked in with a heavy accent and asked where the coat racks were. Well Elder Parker and I looked at each other like "coat racks? They don't have coat racks in church buildings" And told him there wasn't one. Then it dawned on both of us, we were in Las Vegas and duh, it doesn't get cold here so they don't have them. haha just a funny thing that we had not realized until now. So there are not coat racks in every church building, just in case someone wants to know that in the future!
Anyways, I thank you all again for what you do. I love you and hope everyone has a great week. Oh and by the way, Kaumaka's father said that he could be baptized, so February 8th will be that baptism. We're excited for that.
Love Elder Smith

Bruce surprised us by bringing us a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, 

how did he know those were my favorite?!

Hey Mom and Dad!
So yes, the holiday changed our email time, but we also spent the whole time at the park playing rugby and frisby. It's been a good week, Dad thanks so much for the papers you sent, they were really good and I already was able to use one of the examples from that in District Meeting today. So for Kaumaka, he hasn't been baptized yet, we're still working towards it. First off, it didn't happen that first Saturday because they were having family come into town for it and had to push it back a week, but now his Dad is having second thoughts about wanting him baptized, because he's not a member. We haven't been able to talk to him too much so I don't know all of his concerns. But we are hoping it will work out soon so he can be baptized. Tony is still doing really well, he txted us last night and said, "I just finished reading Mosiah 18, verse 18-28 is very interesting to me, Alma has found some followers after fleeing from King Noah!!!" haha he's a funny guy, we love him. We've been trying to meet with a few less active members in the ward and have had some success with that. Last night we taught Starr and his family, he played football for UNLV for 4 years so he's pretty ripped. Awesome guy though, we hope to meet with him more. Eric, the guy we helped move, is finally able to move into his new house next door, so we might be helping him with that today. He was without a place to stay for the past 4 or 5 days so he's been sleeping in his repo truck and couch in the storage unit, poor guy. But now he has the house so things will get better. Also transfers are on Monday but we don't know yet what will happen. I'm pretty sure I will stay and Elder Parker will leave, we've been together 3 transfers so it's about time, I will miss him though. So that's pretty much the most of my news for the week haha. I'm happy to hear that things are going well for Matt and his job and also Janell and Bruce and the new dog! I hope all is well with everyone and thanks again for all you do and the letters you send to me. I love you.

Zone Pictures

It has been a great week! Thank you for all you do and for the letters. Mom, thanks for getting on top of the things for college. So this will be a short email because we have to go help an investigator, Eric, he is struggling right now and he needs us, so I will email you on Wednesday with more details. But I did get to baptize Tony on Saturday, which was a great experience, and this morning we had a great time hiking at Redrock Canyon. Anyways I love you all and thank you again for everything.

Tony

RedRock Canyon

Hey all! Well here's the rest of my email from Monday, haha. It was a busy day, so for the story of Eric, the guy we have been helping to move, he has been living in this house by himself that his girlfriend owns, she moved out awhile ago when they broke up, but she evicted him the other day and he has to have everything out by tonight. He is buying the house next door so you would think it would be easy to just move everything over, well it's not haha. He can't move in until the 20th for some reason, so he had to get a storage unit to move everything into for 6 days. And he only had a moving truck for 2 days, so there is still a lot of expensive things in his house he couldn't get moved over that he will lose when he's evicted tonight, along with his dog. Plus on top of all that he's a full time repo guy and is on call, so he's been working in between moving and hasn't gotten any sleep since Monday! It's been a tough situation and we've been helping him a lot and calming his nerves. I've been grateful that we have been able to help him because he has really needed it. But on a better note-Tony's baptism was soooo good, and like I said, I was privileged to be able to baptism him. He had a couple of his boss's come down that live in St George cause they are members so that was cool to have that support. Yesterday we taught him about Temples and the Priesthood so he is really excited about having both those things in his life now. He was already assigned a home teaching companion, who is our ward mission leader, and he's excited about that too. The pictures I sent you of our hike in Red Rock Canyon remind me of home because of the cool weather and pine trees. I hope everyone is well and thank you for all you do for me. Love you all, Elder Smith