I Believe

(He sent pics!  Yay!  They are at the bottom after the letter)

So this has been such a hard yet fantastic week. Susan wasn't able to get baptized because something came up but she will be this week! Also on saturday some of our investigators, Rondell and Simone were married and it was a super humble wedding but they were so happy! So that was neat. Simone gave me this huge hug and it was kinda awkward... But she was happy i guess! 

One thing that I wanted to really focus on was coming out of my shell around new people better. Now that it's happened I'm not necessarily sure it was for the best... Because now more people just get to see me be out of control and see the "Shawn-ness". So it might actually not be the best thing... Ha so i might not be mature and know how to bring in my sarcasm when i get back. Ha but it's made it more enjoyable for me! I have really started to love the people and the area here! It has been really great!

I sweat so much though! People tell me all the time that I look like I just got out of the shower. And I'm just like "yes I know I sweat like Kevin Garnett. Sue me!" But jeepers creepers I am just used to being wet constantly now! It is absolutely unbelievable!

So as far as the Indies weight loss program goes I am still losing a lot and my clothes are starting to become ginormous! So because of the size of my clothes it makes it really hard to see the ripped beast that I am becoming :).  So even though it might be tough to see it in the pics it is very much happening. :)

Something else that I noticed is how in the baptismal interview questions it keeps asking "Do you believe..." So that got me thinking about Elder Hollands talk in the last conference "Lord, I Believe" it talks about how even the smallest amount of faith can work miracles. So stay true to that faith! Elder Holland says:

"When facing the challenge of faith, the father asserts his strength first and only then acknowledges his limitation. His initial declaration is affirmative and without hesitation: “Lord, I believe.” I would say to all who wish for more faith, remember this man! In moments of fear or doubt or troubling times, hold the ground you have already won, even if that ground is limited. In the growth we all have to experience in mortality, the spiritual equivalent of this boy’s affliction or this parent’s desperation is going to come to all of us. When those moments come and issues surface, the resolution of which is not immediately forthcoming, hold fast to what you already know and stand strong until additional knowledge comes. It was of this very incident, this specific miracle, that Jesus said, “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.” The size of your faith or the degree of your knowledge is not the issue—it is the integrity you demonstrate toward the faith you do have and the truth you already know."

I realized how important that is this week. I may not know it all and may only be 18 years old but I do know know that The Book of Mormon is true and it blesses and changes lives! And because of that knowledge I know that Joseph Smith saw our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I know that he was called by God to restore Christ's church in it's fullness. And I know that through Jesus Christ's atonement people can change, And the only way we can return to live with our Heavenly Father is through him. I love ya and miss ya! Keep it real!

-Elder Smith

The Beach!

The Wedding. They really were happy. I promise!