Transfer call and baptism Saturday!

This week was really great! We had Alana get baptized and she was so excited! She is Vanira's cousin and Alicia's sister. So they are quite the crew! She has made lots of changes in her life and we are really excited! She is like a different person now! When we first brought up baptism with her she wanted nothing to do with it! But then she started reading and coming to church and she had a hole in her lile filled by the gospel! It has been amazing to see! 

So now for the transfer call part. We were at the baptism and we were waiting for those that got baptized to change and Elder Pierson gets a call from President Mehr. Pres then tells him that he is going to go to Guyana and then asks if Elder Bingham happens to be there! So then he hands the phone over to Elder Bingham and he talks to President for a little while and then he walks over to me and says, "Give me a hug companion!" Ha so Elder Bingham is going to be coming down to St. Georges to be a ZL with me! It is going to be great! I love that guy! Even though it is going to be weird because I have learned a lot from Elder Leany and I am going to miss him. He is a good missionary!

Also today we had a zone activity at Hog island! (Small Island just off of Grenada) We crossed a bridge and limed there for a couple of hours! It was great! (See Pics Below)

We are working with some great people here and we have recently started to work with some more less actives. One is named Janice, (I know weird, she has the same name as Grandma) But anyway, It is sad sometimes to see how much they could be blessed if only they would come to church and stuff like that! They are missing out on so much! But the most amazing thing that I have noticed is that no matter what they are doing now or how long they have been away, they are always going to have the Lord there with open arms to welcome them back. All throughout the scriptures we read about how the Lord is willing to let us into His rest as long as we will come. The thing that we need to remember though is that "Come" is an action word. It requires us to do something! But as long as we do our best the Lord is willing to let us in! I love the Lord! I am so grateful for Him and the fact that no matter how dumb or complacent I have been at times in my life, He has always been there to welcome me back! I know that is the same with all of us! That is our plea to the world right now! Come to Him and He will give you rest! I know that! I love each of you and I just pray that you will all do whatever you need to do to Come to Him.

With Love,

Elder Smith

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”

Matthew 11:28

Yes Baptisms!

This week was so great that is going to be really hard to fit it all in here! But I guess that's the best way to have it! So buckle up!

So Vaniria and Alicia (Vaniria's cousin who we have been working with) got baptized. It was great! They are both really shy in front of people but when we just meet with them you can't get them to be quiet! So they were both really quiet and shy at the baptism but it was really good! We are going to be baptising Alicia's sister Alana this saturday and she is really excited for that! I love teaching Member referrals!

So Abieshur wasn't able to get baptized because she was helping with some investigation at the Police Station most of the week so we weren't able to teach her everything she needed. So I can definitely add that to my list of firsts! Ha you gotta love it!

We met a super cool lady named Hazel and we were able to meet with her this week a couple of times and she came to church and loved it. She is working towards the 31st for baptism. She is so prepared!  She has a couple of kids also that seem pretty cool so we are going to be working with them as well!

We also are meeting with a 22 year old girl named Ameena, that lives a ways away but we taught her about baptism the other night and she said that she really wanted to be baptized and to have those mistakes washed away. Then we were like great and asked her when she wanted to and she was just like, "As soon as possible!" So we are going to help her work towards the 7th of February! 

So this morning we were able to have the opportunity to go to town and do some souvenir shopping with the Matthew's. It was great! Ha so to start off we parked in this crappy parking lot next to an Ace hardware store and it's like empty so we're just like "Sweet!" But anyway we go, we shop and it is just a fine and dandy time! I had some people try to rip me off and it was just great! But then we get back to the car after we are done and are car has like 2 cars parked behind it and so there is no way for us to get out! Ha so we were all just like you have got to be kidding me! "Then one of the cars moved so we were just like sweet! One down, one to go! Then Matthew Francis (The one with one leg) walks up and he just gets vexed! Ha He is just freaking out! He goes on this rant about how if he had a key and some rotten eggs he would scratch up the car and smash the eggs all over it! Ha so we're just trying to calm him down and I am just dying! Ha it was great! So after a while the car finally moved and all was well but it was just funny! 

Well that's about it for this week! It was great though! I love this work! Things here in Grenada are going really well! I love it! 

I know that the Lord loves us and He will always welcome us back to Him! That has been something that my mission has really taught me as we have seen so many people change their lives. In all reality that couldn't come without the Lord's love! So I know that it's real! I love you guys! Make yourself a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

Remember Lot's Wife

I had a great week this week! It was great being able to skype and talk with you and see you guys again! I am glad to hear that things are going well back home as well! I cannot believe how big everyone is getting! I miss you all. Lots! But I know that I am doing what I am supposed to here!

Things here are going well! Our girl Abieshur is getting baptized this week and she is super excited! Now let me telll you a little bit about her. She is 20 or 21 and she already has 3 kids under the age of 4. It is so sad that she has so much on her plate already. But ever since she started coming to church you can just tell that there is a peace in her and it is amazing! I have loved being able to see the Lord work a Miracle in her life.

Another one that is ready is Vaniria. She is a daughter of a recent convert, Margaret. She is really quiet but she is excited and ready for her baptism. My favorite part was yesterday at church Margaret came up to me and was like, "Elder Smith! All of my family is starting to join the church! Vaniria is getting baptized this saturday!" Her faith is amazing and has been huge in getting her family to follow her example!

Something that has been on my mind alot lately since it is about time to start a new year is the hope that comes from starting a new year! I love it! I hope that each of you really realize how great it is that we can have fresh starts in our lives year round! I know that the Savior suffered and died so that we could all move on from our mistakes. It has been such a blessing! I am going to share a quote that I love at the end but I hope that we all remember Lot's Wife and DON'T LOOK BACK! Whatever mistake we've made it's over and done with! We can start now and have a better future! I know that as we turn to the Savior He will help us become who we need to become! I love you all! 

With Love,

Elder Smith

"There is something in us, at least in too many of us, that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life—either mistakes we ourselves have made or the mistakes of others. That is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes—our own or other people’s—is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist...When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal."

-Jeffrey R Holland

Tis The Season!

Wow I can't believe that it is Christmas already! I am so excited! We are going over to the Senior couples for Christmas dinner today so that is going to be great! 

We had a great week and we met some really cool people! We met this one guy named Lee who has just been through an awful lot! He is originally from England but he lived in San Diego for 26 years and things just kinda took a turn for the worst and now he is kinda stuck here... So we met him and he is super receptive! He came to church yesterday and really enjoyed it! So we'll see where that goes! 

We are working with great people right now and we had 8 investigators at church so the work here is really moving forward! I am so excited about it! We are expecting plenty baptisms coming up so that is going to be fantastic! Time is flying here!

I don't have much else to talk about but we had an amazing week filled with miracles. We met so many amazing people that were put in our path and it's been neat!

This week we have been thinking and teaching about the real meaning of Christmas a lot! It has been really great! Unfortunately we have met some Grinches and a couple people with the last name of "Scrooge" ha but all in all it has been really great to be able to teach about this! It got me thinking about how a lot of the time we exclude the Savior from our lives and most of the time it's not intentional! Now that's sad! So my invitation this week is to focus on Him! Find times in your life that aren't that effective anyway, or it's just down time and fill it with the Savior! I promise that you will see more peace in your life and you will see his hand more often! I know that! I love each one of you and we can all do better and all need to do better with that! I love you and have a Merry Christmas!

With Love,

Elder Smith

"Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!"

Neal A Maxwell

Here are some Pics from my last day in the bados and some from this week! 

Yesi!

This week was wonderful! I love Grenada! We had the Christmas party and it was sick! Also we had a Baptism and this morning we went and played American football with some med students! I am terrible now! Ha it was kinda depressing! But it was great to get out and play some ball!

So Christian got baptized and it was so special! His mom was so happy and his Dad came and we was so supportive. Christian is so kind and innocent and he said that he felt good after the baptism. I am so proud of him! Unfortunately Jaheisha's dad withdrew permission at the last second... So we are going to try and work on that! 

This week was so fantastic though! The Christmas party was great and the branch here is so unified and I love it! It really is so incredible! I want our ward back home to become like that!

We had a really neat experience with an investigator named Abieshur. She had kinda dropped off and wasn't progressing and was really hard to meet with. But as we were walking back to our apartment for lunch one day we ran into her and were able to talk with her. We taught her about prayer and the love that Heavenly Father has for us. It was really neat! The spirit was really strong there! She came to the Christmas party and church and she loved it! She has been through so much and I am so happy that she is feeling like she belongs somewhere now! She really needed that! She wants to be baptized at the beginning of January so that will be so neat!

I don't have much more to say but I just want everyone to know that I know that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I know that without a doubt. I know that He loves us and wants to bless us! We just need to let Him. So at this time of year Let Him In! He can heal any wound! I testify of that! I love you all! Have a Merry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Smith

“Whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives. If Jesus lays his hands upon a marriage, it lives. If he is allowed to lay his hands on the family, it lives.”

-Howard W Hunter

Zone Conference

Wow this week was great! So I realized that last week I didn't even let you know about transfer calls I am staying with Elder Leany until he finishes his mission this transfer. I am really excited about that because we have a lot more to accomplish! The work here in Grenada is fantastic! I love it here!

So last week was Zone Conference in the Bados! It was so great to go back there! I loved Barbados so it was really cool to see the missionaries there and to see how the people are doing there! I found out that Everet is getting the Aaronic Priesthood and has been solid ever since I left! That is the best news ever! I am so happy for him! He is sweet!

I also got to sing at Zone Conference with Elder Harding. He is a ZL over in Barbados and a good friend of mine! We started the mish together so that was really cool! We sang Away in a Manger and it was really cool. We just sang Acapella and it was simple but it was neat to be able to sing a Christmas song at Zone Conference!

That was the big news from this week! Christian's baptism got moved because his sister had a baby so it should be this week! Ha so that will be good!

We also will be having a baptism for Jaheisha on Saturday! She is a super smart ten year old girl who is the Daughter of Kecia who is a recent convert! We're loving these part member families! Ha but we are super excited for her! She reads the Book of Mormon a ton and so she will be great!

At Zone Conference I learned a lot! President Mehr taught about covenants and how in a way we build our own mansion in heaven. He was a big time contractor back home and so he compared it to that. He told a story (fictional) about him building a house for someone and how he found tile that was a little bit cheaper than what the person wanted but it looked really similar so he decided he would get that to save a little money. So he put it in and then he took the couple through and the husband saw it and was like, "Marge, look! This isn't what we ordered!" So because he cut the corner he had to tear it up and had to go back and fix it. So he did that and even got something nicer then what they originally wanted. He also threw in some extra things free of charge to make it nicer! So then when he was done he took the couple threw again and they just loved all of the extras and were thrilled! So he handed them the keys and everything was great! Then he walked off and he heard the husband yell, "Dan!" (That's President's name) So he turned around and then the husband tossed him the keys and said, "You just built your own house. Enjoy it!"

President then said that this is what we are doing In this life. And at the end of this life we'll get whatever we put into "Our Mansion". So why would we cut corners? By keeping our covenants we are adding in all of those extra things to make our mansion nicer! Think of what each of you can do to improve your mansion! And if there is something that needs to be taken out because you cut corners, get it out of there and start new! I love each of you! Build up your mansion!

Love,

Elder Smith

"Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice but a continuous commitment and way of life that applies at all times and in all places"

Dallin H Oaks

What's Up?

So this week was a good one! My birthday party fell through but it was still a great day! We had a great thanksgiving with some members and it was sweet! Reminded me of home! I love thanksgiving time! 

So this week was interesting! We had Christian's baptism get postponed because his mom Cecelia (recent convert) Had lots of errands to run! Ha when she told me that I was like, "If?" Ha I asked her if she was serious! She was just like, "Yeah I have to go to the supermarket and pay bills and stuff. But I prayed about it and God understands!" Ha that was killing me! I don't know what was going on! But we are having it this week! Jeepers Creepers.... 

Also Linkcy changed her mind so we are going to have to drop her for now since it is just not really going anywhere... 

We are working with some sweet people though! I love this area! We found some really great people and are going to see much success! I am so excited! We are just working to separate the wheat and the tares right now! I am so excited to be here though!

Yesterday we had a cool experience because there is a Grenadian missionary leaving for the Dominican Republic and it was his farewell! He is going to be so great! I am excited for him! 

I don't have much to say but I love you all and the work is great! The field is white here! Thanks for all of your support and B day wishes last week! I love you all and stay cool!

Love,

Elder Smith

 1. With Elder Bingham

 2. Gift from Linkcia

3. Thanksgiving at the Wing's!

4. Me and Ryan (The Elder) (My head hadn't come up yet but it's still a good one) 

5. My head is up!

6. Great grenadian view!