Granny

So this week was nuts! We had another huge scare with Granny this week. It is getting so crazy. We were at a baptism on saturday at the church and I get a call from Neesa. (Granny's grand-niece who lives with her) She calls us and tells me that Granny is not breathing well and she can't talk. So me and Elder Day just hauled to get to Granny's as soon as we could. We got there and gave her a blessing and helped take her on a stretcher to the ambulance again. We were freaking out. She could not even lift her arm to shake our hands and it was just bad. We thought she was going to slip away right then. So she goes to the Hospital and we were just super thrown off the rest of the night. We went over to see her yesterday and she is doing much better and they just had to get her blood sugar back up but it was just sad. She is doing better though. Oh man it was crazy.

So this week was good but tough. Shannon didn't come to church so we were heartbroken about that. She is so prepared! She told us that she wants an eternal family and she isn't going to settle for anything less! So we are just going to continue to work with her because she has some real divine potential! We also picked Jeanette back up and she is progressing again so that is really good! We have been blessed to have some really spiritually led days that have been great! We have seen blessings as we have been really trying to rely on the spirit lately. I love it!

O'Brian is doing really well still as well as the rest of the fam! His brother Valentine is getting the priesthood next week and in his own words he said, "I've just put it off to long." I loved that! It got me thinking about how a lot of times in life we "Put it off to long." Whether it be living a commandment, or magnifying a calling or just simply doing what we are supposed to be doing! We read in Alma 34 that we shouldn't procrastinate the day of our repentance and Joshua tells us to choose this day who we are going to serve! So why do we "Put it off?" By putting it off we are only hurting ourselves! So whatever it is don't "put it off" any more! Remember the Nike slogan! "Just Do It!" I know that Heavenly Father is just waiting to bless us! So choose NOW to come closer to Him! I love you all!

Love,

Elder Smith

Pictures:

1. I won Monopoly!

2. I was really happy

3. The crew in the ZL's apartment

4. Me and Elder Morrison aka the Jamaican

  

Skyping!

Oh man it was so great to talk to you guys yesterday! Ir was just a boost that I really needed! Not going to lie though... My heart did kinda sink a little at first when I didn't see Kaitlyn. Ha same with Elder Glade's! Ha he told me when he looked in and didn't see her he was really bummed because he wanted to meet her! Ha but they got to meet her and he says he approves! Ha but it was great to talk to you! You guys haven't really changed and I am sure that you saw that I haven't a whole lot. Ha I am still Randon! Oh but I sure love you guys!

This week was kinda tough because we had to drop Jeanette... It absolutely breaks my heart. I really hope that she picks it up so we can go back again! This week was full of drop lessons which is really tough but it was also full of some amazing experiences.

We recently opened up an area in Bocage. We have some sweet people up there! One of them is named Shannon. She is probably about 20 and she has so much desire to know the truth! It is so inspiring! She is going to be baptized soon! I am really excited for her! Another person that we had a lot of success with up there is Sister Agatha. She is kinda crazy but so amazing! I love meeting these humble people that are just so warm and Genuine. But Agatha is married and has a 20 year old daughter and a 10 year old son. And the other day we went by her and after the lesson she told us that her husband wanted to tell us something but he was at work so she was just going to tell us. She went on and told us how her husband had this vision of a man leading this sheep and so he told her that it was time for them to get baptized. Agatha then asked us, "Can you help us with that?" Ha so that should be going down soon! Yes Father led family! Man I am super excited for them! 

Everybody else is doing well! I sure do love this work! I don't really know what else to say because I talked to you last night but just know that I love you a lot! Looking back at things coming home was a huge blessing! For multiple reasons... :) Ha but i got to get a lot closer to you guys and it was a major blessing!

My thought today is on Forever Families. That's something that I am so grateful for! I love my family and I can't wait for my future family! I really am kinda excited... Ha but I know that as long as we do what our Heavenly Father asks and have a Temple Marriage. Notice it's not just a Temple Wedding. But as we have a Temple Marriage and honor those covenants that we make, we make it possible to be with our families forever! How great is that?! I am so grateful for that knowledge! I love you guys and I'm grateful for you!

Love,

Elder Smith

 OCTOPUS STEW

 FISH CAUGHT IN THE OCEAN AND COOKED ON THE BEACH

 O'BRIAN BAPTIZED DOROTHY/DOROTHY'S STORY IN PREVIOUS BLOG POST

 ELDER FIAME AND ELDER SMITH/ELDER FIAME GOT TRANSFERED/RANDON MISSES HIM

"Dewno"

So yes I played dewno last night with Elder Fiame and Elder Morrison and Elder Day! I thought I was going to die! I probably ended up drinking a liter and a half of Sprite and a liter and a half of Coke! (That's the only two liter flavors they had here!) I was so sick though! So I guess you could say that I did not exactly do the smartest thing last night but we had to because we got transfer calls and we found out that Elder Fiame is leaving to Trinidad on Wednesday. Yes I am going to miss that guy! He has become one of my best friends! But he still has about a year left so hopefully I will get to see him again. But me and Elder Day are staying for another transfer! It is weird because it will be my third transfer here. I have never spent that long in an area so it is certainly a new feeling! 

So I know what you are wondering is "Was Dorothy Baptized?" The answer is yes! It was so cool because O'Brian got to baptize her! He was so happy! I love that guy so much! He struggled a little when he was saying the prayer but he was finally able to get her in the water! I was so proud of him! Dorothy is someone that is rarely happy but she was smiling from ear to ear! That made my day! She was so happy and excited! I am so proud of that family! They are now turning their focus to another brother who they want to get baptized! He is a great guy and he was there on Saturday so we will just have to see what happens! 

This week O'Brian also had a beach party thing for us missionaries where he went fishing and then he just cooked the fish right there on the beach! So yeah I have eaten fish that is basically straight out of the ocean! Pretty cool! O'Brian was so happy that we all came and that he could do that for us even though he doesn't have a whole lot himself! That man could definitely live the law of consecration! He "gives it all to da fada!" (His words, not mine!) Ha but he is the best and is one of my heroes! I have loved being able to see him get baptized, receive the priesthood and then exercise it by baptizing his mom! He has really come a long way!

Right now we are having some trouble with some people and so we are going to have to start making some changes in the area and have a grand old time doing some tracting! I am ecstatic! Ha so we will see what this next week is going to bring!

Granny is doing ok but I just don't know how much longer she is going to hang on. She needs a pacemaker but can't afford it so yeah... She just says that she will just go home when she is called. It makes me sad but it has been a real privilege to know her! She has blessed my life so much! I love that lady!

This week I have been thinking a lot about how our Savior wants to forgive us. It is something that brings a lot of peace to me. I have been able to see Dorothy who had smoked for about 50 years go from smoking cigarette after cigarette to not smoking at all! That is all because of the love of our Savior Jesus Christ! I know it! He wants to forgive! No matter who you are and no matter what you've done you can be forgiven and make it back! I know it! So turn to Him and let Him heal you! It may be hard at times but it will ALWAYS be worth it! I love you! Take care!

Love,

Elder Smith

"We are told to “cry unto [God] for mercy; for he is mighty to save.”The Savior commands us to repent and to forgive. And although repentance is not easy, as we strive with all our hearts to obey His gospel, He gives this promise: “Verily I say unto you, notwithstanding [your] sins, my bowels are filled with compassion towards [you]. I will not utterly cast [you] off; and in the day of wrath I will remember mercy.” The Savior wants to forgive"

-Craig A Cardon

Jeepers Creepers

So this week was kind of a tough one. Dorothy's baptism had to get movedd because we were just over there going through the baptism interview questions with her and we got to the word of wisdom and we asked her what it was and she said she didn't know. (She suffers from memory loss) So we talked about it and she told us that she still drinks coffee and asked us why we never told her about the coffee. We told her a million times! It killed me! She was devastated! But she has now quit coffee and will be baptized this saturday! And guess who got the priesthood yesterday? O'Brian! So he is going to be able to baptize his mom! I am so excited for that! He also gave a talk in sacrament meeting yesterday. It was about a minute and a half but it was so powerful! I am so proud of that guy and the faith that he has! It is so incredible to see his faith work miracles! I decided that I came to St. Lucia so that I could have the privilege of knowing him! I look up to him so much and his faith is so inspiring! I love that guy! He also made us some octopus stew! Ha he is a spear fisherman and so he had some octopus and wanted us to try it. It tasted ok but the texture was so weird! Nothing like getting a little suction cup thing stuck in your teeth! Ha but I can add that to the list of weird things I've eaten! Oh he also gave us sting ray! That was way good!

Paul who is the one with one leg was in the hospital this week so we spent some time helping him and he is stable. He is struggling with his health too but he is remaining faithful! That makes me so happy to see! 

Granny is doing alright but her health is just scary... "Prayer from the Heart" is becoming her favorite song! Ha she has me sing it every sunday! She loves it! We had a really neat meeting with her yesterday. We talked about a lot and unfortunately it seems that she is going to be leaving us soon... That is going to kill me. We listened to the talk "Waiting Upon The Lord: Thy Will Be Done" by Robert D Hales with her and she started to cry. That hit her so hard. It is a great talk and I recommend reading it. But it talked about why trials come and how we need to handle them. He nailed it and Granny loved it! I just hope that she sticks around with us! Listening to that talk kinda set the stage for my little spiritual thought at the end though. I loved this talk by Elder Hales! I know that trials are ultimately for our benefit and that we usually can't see the Lord's hand until after we are through them. But I know that His hand is there! I testify of that! I have seen so many blessings come from recent trials and I know that they will be for our good. So whatever it is, just turn to the Lord. He is there! I love you and hope that whatever comes your way you will find strength!

Love,

Elder Smith

"I express gratitude that “in my Gethsemane” and yours, we are not alone. He that watches over us “shall neither slumber nor sleep.” His angels here and beyond the veil are “round about [us], to bear [us] up.” I bear my special witness that our Savior’s promise is true, for He says, “They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” May we wait upon Him by pressing forward in faith, that we may say in our prayers, “Thy will be done,” and return to Him with honor."

-Robert D. Hales

Holidays!

So this week was absolutely crazy! We had a ton of stuff going on plus people here love their holidays! They celebrate good Friday more than anyone I have ever even heard of! On Friday Castries was like a Ghost town! Everything was shut down! It was so weird to see St. Lucia like that! Then everything was shut down for Easter Monday too! I had never even heard of Easter Monday! Then we were at institute on Thursday and all of the members were like "Oh everything is going to be closed on Monday!" So apparently Easter Monday is just a huge deal! So that is why I am emailing today!

Granny is doing pretty well but they are thinking about putting her in a nursing home in Vieux Fort... So that means that we would not be able to see her anymore. That would be so hard! I love Granny! So I guess we're hoping that she won't be leaving us. She doesn't want to go either. When we went over on Sunday she was telling us, "If they make me go there I will make so much trouble for them. I will cry and scream and they will not want me there! I am the Village Ram so I have to make trouble!" Ha and yes she does call herself the Village Ram! Ha she is the best! But yeah I will keep you posted on that!

This week was a great week in church though! We had a talk by a recent convert named Silas and he is a boss! He got baptized in January and he just got called as the 2nd counselor in the Branch Presidency! He gave a great talk on the Priesthood and then the Gublers spoke on the Atonement. I loved their talks! I might have started to leak during Sister Gubler's talk. But yeah it was great! I also got to sing! It went really well! They all clapped at the end.... Ha so I guess that means it went pretty well! I was actually pretty grateful that Sister Gubler volunteered me! It was really a neat experience! After the meeting Brother Marquis (1st Counselor in the Branch Presidency) pulled me aside and told me that he was going to manage me. Ha I thought he was joking but he was dead serious! He laid out his entire business plan! Ha Elder Fiame told me that Brother Marquis told him that he could make some serious money off me! Ha oh man! It was funny!

Dorothy is getting baptized this week! She is doing so well! She had been smoking for 50 years and we had tried to help her quit many a time but it finally happened after both of her sons were baptized! They have been such a great strength to her! I love that family! I will send you some pics of that baptism next week! 

Probably my favorite experience this week came from when we had a birthday party with Jeanette! She is a super sweet lady and we were meeting with her and we found out it was her birthday last Sunday. I was super upset that she didn't tell me! So I asked her how it was and she said it wasn't the greatest. I asked if she had a party and she was like, "I've never really had a birthday party.." So I told her we were going to have one for her! Ha so on saturday we made her a cake and bought 38 candles and had a party! It was great! We only had Me and Elder Day, Jeanette, her daughter Lily, and her cousin Sariah but it was great! Jeanette and Sariah both told us that our wives will be lucky because we know how to make a girl feel special! It was great fun!

One thing I have been thinking a lot about is how in life we are always searching for Peace. Even during our times of trouble it is available by living the Gospel. That is the only way. When hard times come always remember that there are good things to come! Our Heavenly Father loves us and He knows what we need! Please trust him. D&C 19:23 says "Learn of me and listen to my words, walk in the meekness of my spirit and you shall have peace in me." That is a promise! Learning and listening is easy, but the blessings only come when we walk! When we follow him and live the gospel we find peace! That is when the blessings come! I love you! Take care!

Love,

Elder Smith

"Don’t give up, Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead.You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come. Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come."

-Jeffrey R Holland

 Jeanette's Birthday

 Look at that awesome cake, made by those awesome Elders

 Elder Smith and Jeanette

Elder Smith and the Monsons (Sr. Couple that was in Trinidad when he was there, and now they got moved to St. Lucia!)

The Hospital

So I know you freaked out as you read the subject for this email so please hold the tears and just let me explain! So this week was super crazy because Granny had to go to the hospital! We were in Bisee (where Sylvia lives and about a 20 minute walk from Granny) and Granny just calls me in tears! She tells me that she is going to the hospital and that she doesn't want to go to the hospital! I was on a trade off with Elder Juchau (Zone leader) and I asked her "Would you like me and Elder Juchau to come and give you a blessing?" She then said "Yes! Yes my Grandson! But hurry because the Ambulance is coming!" So we hauled to get there and made it in about 10 minutes! We were really moving! We got there and gave her a blessing. It was such a hard blessing to give because I wanted to say she would be healed but the spirit just didn't prompt it... But we finished the blessing and then helped carry her out to the ambulance. Jeepers that was tough... Granny was released the next day though and is doing really well. I still sing for her every time and she has me sing "The one your Mom likes" also known as "A Prayer from the Heart" Every time! Ha she loves that song! Ha so I am learning that really well!

Also speaking of singing I got volunteered by Sister Gubler to sing in sacrament meeting this week! So I will be singing "Savior, Redeemer of My Soul" with Sister Gubler on the piano! I am so excited yet nervous at the same time! It is a beastly song! So hopefully it goes well!

So probably the highlight of this week was with O'Brian and Valentine's mother, Dorothy! We invited her to pick a day to quit smoking and a day to get baptized! She chose the 10th to quit smoking and the 26th for baptism! She hasn't smoked yet and is just doing really well! Her family is also really excited about her progress! They are so great! I love them so much! I am excited to keep working with her! She has seen the hope of God's light come into her life and I love seeing the changes in her and her family. I testify that God's light is real! No matter what we are going through he is constantly there! I love seeing that in everyone's life and also in my own! I am so grateful for the trials that I have been through and for the opportunity that I have had to see the Lord's hand in my life. Even though at times I will admit, I felt a little lost. But looking back He was there every step of the way! I know He never leaves us! I love you all! Make yourself a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

"As we seek to increase our love for God and strive to love our neighbor, the light of the gospel will surround and uplift us. The darkness will surely fade, because it cannot exist in the presence of light. As we draw near to God, He will draw near to us.6 And day by day, the hope of God’s light will grow within us, “brighter and brighter until the perfect day.”7

To all who feel they walk in darkness, I invite you to rely on this certain promise spoken by the Savior of mankind: “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Conference!

Man this week was so crazy! Termites are under control, we had conference with a baptism in between sessions and we also had a crazy and kinda rough week teaching! Needless to say though it was a good week! 

We had a cool lesson that we got to help Sylvia with for institute! We created our own "Tree of LIfe" vision! We had the great and spacious building and everything! It was so sweet! It was tough because we don't have very many resources at the church but we pulled it off!

We also had Valentine's Baptism.He is O'Brian's brother and is super solid! He was so excited! Plus O'Brian gave a talk at the Baptism! It was super short and basically just his testimony but I was so proud of him! He is so excited about the church! We are going to start taking both of them out teaching with us just now!

I am so grateful for conference this week! There was a lot of talks that were on the importance of commandments and I just loved it! Jeffrey R Holland nailed it in his talk! I loved it! It was such a great conference! I loved the Priesthood session! I like watching it here on my mission because I am actually on time for it! I was never on time for it when I would go back home! Ha love ya Dad! Ha but I do really miss seeing it with the fam! Those are some of my favorite memories! I missed watching it together as a family but I will be able to just now! Time is flying by!

Also this morning for a P-day activity we went to the ship that was in Pirates of the Carribean! It was sweet! I will post some pics of it!

So this week we taught a girl named Malana. She is about 18 years old and she was dropped by missionaries because she wasn't really progressing. But me and Elder Day decided to try and teach her. It was a sad lesson to say the least.. She told me that she knew one day she needed to be baptized but she wants to live life first. That was hard to hear. I asked her what she meant and she said, "I want to do some worldly things first." She knew that wasn't necessarily right but she thought it would be hard... Well of course it is! I really get fired up about things like that but I thought of what Christ said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." And it isn't! We must understand that and do all we can to Stand in holy places! It is hard but it is always worth it! I testify of that! I love you and I hope you have a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

Pirates of the Carribean ship