Life Comes at you Fast!

Well things are getting a little crazy here in St Lucia for my last transfer! My mission has been full of surprises though so why would I expect anything less to finish it! So on Friday we got our transfer calls and Elder Dixon and I are actually going to be splitting up and he is going to be going to a new area in Castries to train a new Elder and I am going to be finishing another missionary's training. This missionaries name, Elder Smith! Ha when President told me I was just like, "Wait, what?" Ha he then assured me that I had heard correctly and said that we should make quite the team! Which in all reality I can believe! Two Smiths together has to be a good thing! There have been a lot of really great Smiths in the church. Joseph, Hyrum, Joseph F, Joseph Fielding, the list goes on and on! Ha so we'll see how this goes!

I am going to really miss serving with Elder Dixon though. Training him ( I guess it would be better to say being his first comp. He came pretty trained already.) has been such a blessing to me! He has helped me so much and i am really grateful for the friend that I have in him! I am really going to miss serving with him!

So this week Yuandia got baptized! We felt like she was good to go and so we did it! She was really happy and excited! IT was a neat experience to see her make some changes and she is recognizing some changes that she still wants to make! It's cool how the spirit works that way! We are now shifting our focus to her family as they are also pretty receptive!

Terry and Victoria have been a little frustrating lately because they won't come to church but we are just going to keep praying and keep trying!

We had some really good lessons with our boy Alfred this week as we were preparing him for his surgery that he is having today. He is so close to the spirit and the Lord. To be honest I don't know if I have seen a heart that has been so prepared for the gospel my entire mission. He is so ready. Every time we ask him if he has questions he just says, "No, I just want to get baptized." So after he is healed from the surgery we are going to make that happen! Teaching him really just shows how much this truly is the Lord's work! 

Lately I have been thinking back on my life and just some changes that have occurred over my mission in my personality and stuff, I have realized that I have made some dumb decisions at times. Maybe not dumb but not very smart. Or in other words, not very consecrated decisions. I wish I knew then what I know now and could've been like, "Is this going to bring me closer to the Lord?" I could've saved myself so much trouble if I would've thought about that before I made the decision. I should have understood the why. I am so grateful for the experience of my mission and all that it has done for me! I have grown a lot and probably been blessed by others so much more then I have blessed others. It has been a wonderful experience! I owe the Lord so much and so that's why I am going to change some of my thinking when making decisions!

Well it's crazy how fast time is winding down! Last transfer here I go! I am going to finish strong and sprint through the finish line! We still have some more saving to do! I love you all! Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

Living with real intent means understanding the “why” and being aware of the motives behind your actions. Socrates said, “An unexamined life is not worth living.” Ponder how you spend your time, and ask yourself regularly, “Why?” This will help you develop the ability to see beyond the moment. It’s far better to look ahead and ask yourself, “Why would I do that?” than to look back and say, “Why, oh, why did I do that?” If the only reason why is that God wants you to, that’s reason enough.

Randall L Ridd

Yuandia's Baptism

P-day Eve