Barbados

Man this place is the best! It is a lot hotter than St. Lucia but it is good. I am in a driving area and I am the designated driver. So I drive everywhere! It is weird driving on the other side of the road but I am getting used to it. Ha also guess who was the first person to meet me at the Airport, Elder Beck! I also had my first appointment in Barbados with him because I had to go to a baptism interview for someone that he was teaching. So it has been great talking and hanging with him again. Man I love that guy! I love serving with Elder Bechan too. He is a great missionary and I am growing a lot with him. I feel like this is going to be a transfer that we things are just going to take off for me. I am so excited! We went to the beach today and it is beautiful! Oh man i am definitely going to come back here at some point after my mission!

Leaving St. Lucia was kinda tough though. We went to O'Brian's and Sylvia's on tuesday to say goodbye and I cried at O'Brian's. I miss that guy. Then we went to Granny's on wednesday before I flew out. That was another really tough goodbye. But I loved those people. They changed my life and I really hope to see them again.

I don't have a ton to say this week because it is such a new area but Barbados is great! I love it! I am so grateful for the opportunity that I have to serve here with Elder Bechan! I love you all and will have more details next week! 

Love,

Elder Smith

I will send some more next week!

 1. It's me and Elder Beck

 2 Me and Elder Bechan party hard on P Day eve.

 3. The Beach

Transfer Calls

So this is the moment you have all been waiting for, Yes transfer calls! Alright I am going to Barbados to be a District Leader with Elder Bechan! I am so pumped! Elder Bechan was the ZL here in St. Lucia for my first transfer back so I know him really well! He is going home in 6 weeks and is a dang good missionary! I am going to learn so much from him! He is from Holland and is just a boss! I couldn't be happier about it! am way excited! I will get to see Elder Beck also so that is going to be sweet! So yup I fly out on Wednesday afternoon! I am excited!

So I don't really know what else to say here other than I am going to miss St. Lucia a lot. This has become my home. I am going to miss so many people! Elder Glade and I are now referred to as the Primary Elders so we got pretty dang tight with those lickle kids. I am going to miss them. I am going to miss Granny an awful lot. It was funny when we told her about how I was leaving and she said, "Is it President Mehr who is sending you away? I hate him!" Ha so I am going to miss her! I am going to miss O'Brian and his family a lot too. They were a little crazy at times but they are amazing! I am going to miss them. I am going to miss so many people it is going to be tough. St. Lucia has really changed my life.

I was also asked to talk on sunday since I was leaving. I decided to just tell about my journey to St. Lucia and how I got there. I almost teared up so many times because I was there because Heavenly Father put me there. All of the things that happened were not just coincidences! I know that this is where I was supposed to be and that I am supposed to be in Barbados for some reason! I know that we are put in places for a reason and that people are put in our life for a reason! I know it! I have seen that so much in my life. It has been a real blessing. I also know that Heavenly Father loves and is always mindful of us! I have loved seeing that in St. Lucia! I am going to miss St. Lucia but Barbados is going to be great. I love you all! Keep smilin'!

Love,

Elder Smith

“Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father [in Heaven] and how familiar his face is to us.”

Ezra Taft Benson

Just Keep Swimming

Ok, so this letter was actually written on June 2nd and I forgot to blog it.  Sorry.  So, this one goes before the last one, "Looking Up"!:)

So i don't even really know what to say about this week. It has been kinda tough! Sylvia has been sick all week so there goes about all of our member work! Oh it has been nuts! But we do have a baptism date set with a lickle girl named Phoebe. She is the Granddaughter of a member and she wants to get baptized so we are excited about that! We watched the restoration movie with her and she picked up on some of the cutest things. We asked her what she got from it and she said, "He saw a light and it was brighter than the sun." It was just one of those adorable, innocent little child and answers. As a missionary I have really come to see why Christ loved the children so much. It's been one of my favorite parts! 

Shannon has basically dropped off the face of the earth... It breaks my heart! She is so prepared but has just really struggled lately and we never can meet with her. What really kills me though is seeing her cousin Maria have to deal with it. You can tell that it is tearing her apart inside. She is one that doesn't show a ton of emotion but we've just noticed that it's hurting her. Maria is a member of about a year who struggles with coming to church regularly because she doesn't really have a way to get there. Shannon was a light of hope for her and she had started coming more with Shannon but now since Shannon has stopped progressing it has hurt her progress too. It's tough.

This week has just been hard. I don't know what else to say. But I had a neat experience this week! I had just been thinking about what I can do better. It has been tough lately and our area has been struggling. So I worked hard at focusing on exact obedience and then I really focused on the finding section in Preach my Gospel. I read the "talk with everyone" part and then I kinda had to check myself a little. I realized I wasn't talking to even close to everyone. I also thought of Elder Hatch. That guy is my hero! If I could be like any missionary it would probably be him. I remembered how Elder Hatch literally talked to EVERYONE. Ha so on saturday we had a tough day and I was just like "I am sick of this! I am talking to everyone!" So I did! It was neat! I don't know exactly how many of those people will progress but I got to bear my testimony on the Book of Mormon to them. It was a great experience for me! Ha and Mom I know you're probably like "I tell you to do that every week!" Ha but I guess I didn't really take that to heart until this week. But I will consider my ways, repent and do better! :)

This week I realized that I just need to do my best to share the gospel. People have their agency but it's just up to us to share the message. I know that this is the Lord's church. I testify that He is at the head of it. I know that it was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith and that we have a Prophet on the earth today. Do all you can to follow them and you will be blessed! I love you all! I'll talk to you next week!

Love,

Elder Smith

"You may wonder if it is worth it to take a courageous moral stand in high school or to go on a mission only to have your most cherished beliefs reviled or to strive against much in society that sometimes ridicules a life of religious devotion. Yes, it is worth it, because the alternative is to have our “houses” left unto us “desolate”—desolate individuals, desolate families, desolate neighborhoods, and desolate nations.

So here we have the burden of those called to bear the messianic message. In addition to teaching, encouraging, and cheering people on (that is the pleasant part of discipleship), from time to time these same messengers are called upon to worry, to warn, and sometimes just to weep (that is the painful part of discipleship). They know full well that the road leading to the promised land “flowing with milk and honey” of necessity runs by way of Mount Sinai, flowing with “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots.”

-Jeffrey R Holland

Looking Up

Randon said he will be getting transferred next week but he doesn't know where yet.  I will post his new address as soon as I know it.

So this week was crazy but good! We talked to a lot of people and really just had a pretty good week! We found out that Granny might be going up to New York so that she can have better care so that's pretty crazy! I also don't know how much longer I am going to have on ST. Lucia so I am enjoying my time here as much as I can!

So this week I was able to put my seminary experience to use and teach institute! Sylvia is the teacher but since she is still sick I took it upon myself to teach! It was really pretty cool and I had a lot of fun doing it! 

We have been working a lot with O'Brian to get referrals because he literally tells EVERYONE about the church and the Book of Mormon and just bears pure testimony on it! I love him! He is so amazing! But anyway we have been teaching one of his friends named Gavy and he really has been progressing an awful lot. So we are excited about him! 

Another person is Jazzy. Jazzy is Sylvia's son who we have been working with a ton and we jsut haven't really been able to get through with him. So last night we taught him and had a huge breakthrough. We talked about how Heavenly Father has already provided a way for us to return to live with him. The debt has already been paid! All we need to do is our part! So we asked him, "What are some things you need to do to return?" We were just expecting him to say the usual, "Church, read my scriptures.." Type answer but he was just like, "I need to repent and be baptized." So I'm not going to lie, I was caught off guard a little. And by little, I mean lickle. But I was just like, "Yahtzee!" Ha so he nailed it! He is now praying about a baptism date and so I am pumped about that!

We have two baptisms hopefully this week. One is Phoebe, the nine year old girl and then the other is Michael Paul. MP has been meeting with the missionaries for a while but wasn't willing to change to get baptized. But on sunday he came up to Elder Day and said I want to be baptized as soon as I can! So we are going to go make sure he has made those changes and baptize him. We're excited!

This transfer has been one that has forced me to really endure to the end. It has been tough but I have seen many blessings. Thanks so much for your prayers! I feel the influence of those everyday! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Smith

"We are Heavenly Father’s children. He wants to be a part of our lives, to bless us, and to help us. He will heal our wounds, dry our tears, and help us along our path to return to His presence. As we look to Him, He will lead us."

-Carl B Cook