He's in the details!

This week was really good but also pretty crazy! We were just running errands and stuff for hours! So that took up a lot of our time! Things are going really well though and the Lord still prepared people for us as we worked  Let me tell you some of those miracles. 

The other day we were trying to get some of the new missionaries a phone. As we were just waiting around and trying to figure it out this guy walks up to us with a Book of Mormon. Turns out he had just found it and started reading it and he really enjoyed it. He was a young guy and wants to make changes in his life. So we are going to see what we can do to help with that!

Another guy stopped us and asked us about the Book of Mormon. Turns out that he met with missionaries in Canada. So we are going to start meeting with him! Those are just a few that I am going to share due to my lack of time.

Terry and Victoria are really causing us a big headache because they won't come to church! I swear they are compulsive liars! They tell us every week they are going to come and make it sound so convincing and then whenever sunday comes they are nowhere to be found! They're killing me! I feel like Coach Boone in Remember the Titans when Petey keeps fumbling the football. I just want to go up to terry and be like,  Or "How many feet are in a mile? How many feet are in a mile? 5,260 feet! Now you're going to pick this ball up and run every last one of them! You're killing me Terry! You're killing me!" But the work goes on...

Alfred's surgery didn't take place but it should be this week! We are really excited about his progress! He is a really shy guy and we are doing his best to help him come out of his shell and pray and do stuff like that! the other day we had to push him a little bit but after a while (20 minutes) we were finally able to get him to say the prayer. IT was wonderful! It was so powerful and you could just tell that he was having a conversation with his Heavenly Father! It was so neat! 

Oh Odellia is back from New York and she is all ready to get going on missionary work! She missed church a lot and was happy to be back! 

Things are going well! I am enjoying serving with Elder Smith! He is a great Elder who has a lot of desire to be good! We have had some good times as well so far!

I am loving it! I have come to see how much the gospel blesses people and I have decided that I am never going to do anything to live outside of God's blessings. If we want true lasting happiness it is going to come from Him. Don't kid yourself and be deceived. Have a great weekend watching General Conference! I am so excited for that! Go with a prayer in your heart and be ready to learn! I love you all! Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

"One of the remarkable characteristics of young wild sunflowers, in addition to growing in soil that is not hospitable, is how the young flower bud follows the sun across the sky. In doing so, it receives life-sustaining energy before bursting forth in its glorious yellow color.

Like the young sunflower, when we follow the Savior of the world, the Son of God, we flourish and become glorious despite the many terrible circumstances that surround us. He truly is our light and life."

Quentin L Cook

 Here is the flyer for our Dinner and Devotional! It went great! First thing for the new missionaries right off the plane!

Me and Gordy 

 P Day eve! We were in a four man for a couple days!

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

Everyday, Everyday, Everyday!

I am behind a couple of weeks, sorry--Elder Smith's mom

Well this week was really good! We were able to see a ton of success and I am stoked about the area right now! It looks like I am going to have a great last month of my mission! We are looking real good right now!

We are meeting with Yuandia's sister, Hannah and she is also doing really well! We went through the restoration and Yuandia basically taught the whole thing! It was really good! Plus she brought another one of her friends to church! 

We are meeting with a couple, Terry and Victoria and they are crazy! Ha but we love them! They really want to get baptized but they have to get married first so we are working on that! They have already planned a ton of it and it's kinda funny! I hope it all works! I will send pics of them that just say it all!

We also are meeting with a man named Alfred! He is super humble and we have had so many spiritual experiences with him! When we first met him we had a really great spiritual lesson as we talked about the Savior and towards the end I asked him what he wanted right now in his life and he just said really quietly and with a ton of real intent, "I just want to get baptized." It was so neat. He is super sick and has to have surgery so we have to wait for that but then after that we are going to see what we can do to grant his wish. It was so cool to see how he simply just wants to come closer to the Savior. I just hope that we can do everything we need to so we can help him with that! Amazing experiences though!

Well things are going really well! I am loving it! I am also going to really miss all this! Time is going by fast! It is crazy! The last week I have been reflecting on how blessed I have been. I have grown a lot. The best thing though has just been making the Book of Mormon a big part of my life. It brings peace everytime! I love it! I know that really is where we find safety for the soul. IF you haven't read in a while, pick it up and give it a read. I promise that you will be able to feel the Lord's love for you and be able to come closer to Him! I love you all! Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

"If you are struggling, confused, or spiritually lost, I urge you to do the one thing I know will get you back on track. Begin again to prayerfully study the Book of Mormon and live its teachings every day, every day, every day! I testify of the profound power in the Book of Mormon that will change your life and strengthen your resolve to follow Christ."

Kevin W Pearson

DESCRIPTION OF PICS BELOW:

1. Zone Lunch

2. Chips Ahoy! I'm trying to diet while Elder Dixon is tempting me with Chunky!

3, 4 MLC With Elder Malyon and Dye!

5  I got to see Jarad while I was there!

6  Cheffette milkshakes with Elder Sackley and Savard. Elder Sackley and I had both already had ice cream and a huge meal when Elder Savard hadn't had anything to eat so we went to cheffette's in the bados and me and Sackley were super sick! So full! And Elder Savard goes and orders us large oreo shakes! We were dying! But we finished them! 

7  Me and the french missionaries before our flight together!

8,9 Beach Day with Elder  Moli and then Elder Dixon

10 Elder Dixon wore his boise state tie and I wore my BYU one on the day of the game! Great win Cougars! Gavin, you can't win them all!!

11 ME and Elder Cox 

12, 13 Terry and Victorias wedding invite

14 Rain storm PDay Eve

  

PINEAPPLE P-DAY

 Rainy Days! Thank you for the tip Mr. Burt! I hope it pays off one day!

 Terry and Victoria. This says it all!

 More of Terry and Victoria! Notice how Elder Dixon and I are doing our best to stay away from Victoria! Ha

To Bados and back!

This week was sweet! I got to go to Barbados for a couple of days to have a Mission Leadership Conference! It was awesome going back there! IT was kinda weird because I didn't know anybody because they were all young missionaries! Ha so that was kinda crazy but it was fun to meet new people! I got to be really good friends with Elder Sackley and Elder Savard. They are both on the french side so I have never really met them! But let's just say we limed! It was sweet! They crack me up and we became pretty good friends! I have a story to tell but I will send it with the pics because it will make more sense then!

The Conference was cool though because Elder Cornish of the Seventy was there! He is incredible! He taught us and it was a great experience! Then yesterday he was at our branch for church and then we had our Zone conference! It was wonderful! He taught us about member missionary work and he gave us a lot of great new ideas! It was so cool to have him there and it was neat because I got to work with him and Pres. Herrington as a ZL to help conduct and direct it. It was neat. I loved hearing him bare testimony of such simple truths! It was so neat to just see the emphasis that he put on the basics. In question and answer session someone asked a crazy deep doctrine question and he just kinda smiled and told us how he finds questions like that kinda humorous. He then went on to tell us that right now he is really just trying to understand faith. And then after that he will move on to repentance and hopefully be able to grasp that. Then if he has time in this life he hopes to be able to understand baptism. And then he said that if he's really lucky, one day he will understand the gift of the holy ghost. It was a really eye opening experience! I know I have sometimes gotten carried away in deep stuff that really doesn't matter a ton right now! But the fact of the matter is, the gospel is so simple! WE just need to remember that! Focus on the Savior and his Atonement and it will all work out! I know that. He loves us and He will take care of us. Don't worry so much about where heaven is or what color of skin the Savior has. (That's a common Carribean concern.) Ha but just remember that when questions arise don't make it more complicated then it needs to be. Simplify the gospel and live it. It will work. I love you all! Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

Possum Hunters!

This week was a really good week and I have a lot to talk about! I hope that I can get it all out! 

So this week we went over to Angies one night and as we are walking up her crazy steep hill that kills me every time, we see her husband Conroy just chucking rocks up in the air as his family is watching him. So I'm sitting there just thinking, "Conroy has officially lost it!" Ha but as we got closer we see that he is throwing these rocks at these possums that are climbing around on the electrical wires between the poles! Ha we obviously wanted in! So we went and killed some possums! It was kinda scary but we got the job done! Ha it was sweet though!

Also we were able to get Yuandia to church again and she brought her sister and she is pretty cool as well! We are really excited about their potential! We are still working though! She has some things to overcome.

We were able to teach Eve's friend Bernadette and we had an amazing lesson with her. It was crazy! We got talking with her about her family and we found out that her and her husband have been married for 24 years! It was crazy and to be honest it caught me off guard! People here really struggle with getting married! Let alone staying married! So we were able to share a little with her about forever families and she really liked it. We are working to meet with the whole fam so that we can teach them all about it. The doctrine of forever families is such a great teaching and it just makes sense and answers so many questions. I know that through temple marriage we can be with family for time and all eternity. That has brought so much peace to me to know that. I love my family and I know that no matter what happens, as long as we are faithful we will always be together! I love you all! I hope you have a great week!

With Love, 

Elder Smith

Oh Danny Boi!

So this week was a pretty crazy week! On thursday we got a call from the senior couple and Elder Horne told us to be ready because tropical storm Danny was heading our way. So we were like "Holy cow! This is crazy!" And the lucians were obviously the same way! So we are just bracing for the worst! Then later on in the day it was pouring! It was nuts! So we're thinking how this thing is for real! That storm will come into play later on. But anyway friday was nice weather, saturday was the same, and sunday was burning hot! So we are still waiting on Danny right now! But I don't think it will be coming because it is burning hot right now!

This week was good though! Even though we had so many appointments fall through! It was unreal! So we were just finding the entire week! But we got out and worked and we found some cool people! One of them was Eve. She is a Lucian but she has been in New York for 8 years and just moved back last month. But we were just walking down this crazy steep hill and we had a lot of doors slammed in our face but then Elder Dixon wanted to keep heading down! So we went down this road and talked to a lady who was pretty cool and was fairly interested. Then we start walking down the road some more and I see Eve making a run for her door! So I used the Elder Smith waving trick. What that is, is you wave super obnoxiously and say hello loud so the people can''t possibly act like they didn't see or hear you! So Eve is opening her door to go inside and I do the trick. She starts laughing and waves back and comes and talks to us. Turns out she thought we were salesman and just didn't want to talk to us. We joked with her quite a bit about how she was running from us but we found out that she recently stopped going to church because she just didn't feel lke her church was giving her the whole truth. She was really interested in the book of Mormon and also the restoration. She felt like it answered a lot of questions! It's amazing how the Lord works sometimes! We are really excited to work with her because she is super smart and really searching with real intent! But after this lesson is when it started pouring and so we took cover for a little bit but then decided we just needed to go for it! "Rainy Days!" Right? So we got so soaked as we ran up this hill back to our car! It was crazy but it was a super cool experience! 

Well elder Dixon is still killing me in the workouts! I have now vowed to eat healthier so I don't die everytime! Ha he is a great missionary and we have a ton of fun! He is growing a lot as well! 

Well fam things are going well here! We are going to keep finding, teaching and baptizing! I hope all is well back home! I love you guys!

With Love,

Elder Smith 

1 Goodbye picture with Odellia. Just in case I get transferred before she gets back from her trip!

2. Me and Colby Smith and his parents. They came to pick him up and came to visit our district meeting! I sure do love that guy!

3-6 I stepped on something funny and it ripped my already struggling shoes up. Mom i do not need another pair! I repeat: I do not need another pair. They are super glued beautifully! :)

7=8 Ocean

9 Me and Angie at her shop!

10-11 P day eve!

Out with the old, and in with the new!

Well Elder Beck rode off into the sunset this last week and is home and to be honest it was weird saying goodbye since I have been around him a lot of my mission! However he is very happy at home and doing well! I miss him though! 

My trainee came late wednesday night and he is a great missionary! i am loving serving with Elder Dixon! He is from Mapleton, Utah and he played football and Basketball. So we get along great! He works super hard and is kicking my butt in the morning workouts! I am still sore from my friday  ab workout! Ha and mom I went running! Like I ran! Ha I never do that but Elder Dixon is going to get me into shape! Ha training is going really well though! I am enjoying it!

Also Yuandia came to church! We have been trying to get her to church for so long! Ha so I decided to break out my art of negotiation! I told her that if she didn't come she would owe me and Elder Dixon a candy bar! (I can hear elder Beck in my head saying "NIce diet!") But anyway it worked she came! Now we owe her a candy bar but we did it! She enjoyed it and said she would come again! 

We are also going to be saying goodbye to Odellia tonight because she is going to be going to New York for a month! But guess what she is going with... A temple recommend! She is going to be going to do baptisms for the dead! She is really excited and so that is going to be really cool! She also has referred us to her neighbor named ALMA! Yeah how about that! Ha so she is doing great!

My favorite part about this week and training though has been seeing Elder Dixon come in and notice so many things that I as an old missionary, don't pick up on. He sees things that really are pretty incredible that I don't simply because I am used to them and so they aren't that wonderful to me anymore. This happens a lot in missionary work but it also happens a lot in the gospel as well. To often as seasoned members we get used to things and they don't mean as much as they once did. So my challenge to each of you is to ask yourself, is this still wonderful to me? And then pay attention to the little things and try to notice them! The gospel is always wonderful and amazing. Think about it! I know that as we remember things we will be blessed and will love the gospel even more! I know that it is true and that blessings are waiting for us! I love you all! Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

"To marvel at the wonders of the gospel is a sign of faith. It is to recognize the hand of the Lord in our lives and in everything around us. Our amazement also produces spiritual strength. It gives us the energy to remain anchored in our faith and to engage ourselves in the work of salvation."

Gérald Caussé

 Here is the last time I saw Gavin and Colby

 Me and Elder Dixon

 I tried on my suit and this is a pic of our role play for elder Dixon! Gotta give him as close to the real thing as possible! ;)