"He won't be here in two weeks!"

Finally caught up, this is today, Oct. 19, 2015

I got the subject line from President Herrington when he visited this weekend. As we were talking with members of the branch and he was talking about how missionaries come and go he kept pointing at me and saying, now he won't be here in two weeks! Ha it was so funny. He kept reminding me! It's not like I ever think about it or anything! ;) Ha but it really has been hitting me that I "won't be here in two weeks!" ish. ha it's weird! I am just trying to get a new ZL, Elder Moli trained up a little and then I am going to be riding off into the sunset!

Things are going really well here though! Our member work has been phenomenal and I am so excited about it! Odelllia went to go teach her neighbor, Alma with us and it went really well! She is really open! It was so cool to teach with one of my recent converts! She was so excited about it! We are going to try to meet with Alma again tonight! Things are going great there!

Also we have been working with Sara a little bit and this is actually a really cool story! She became friends with a lady named Tessa and one day she got talking with Tessa about the church and it turns out that Tessa is a member! She got baptized 16 years ago in Canada and before she talked to Sara she had been thinking how she really needed to go back to church. Then Sara introduced us to her and we started meeting with her! She is really cool and has an 11 year old that she wants to get baptized! Crazy! Member work is really working miracles for us right now! I am loving it!

Well I am still sprinting! My endurance is paying off right now! I just hope that I can continue to endure well! I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

"Our ability to endure to the end in righteousness will be in direct proportion to the strength of our testimony and the depth of our conversion."

Richard J Maynes

We had a birthday party for Elder Stephens today! Here are some pics! Sorry about no Pday eve pics. I can't find them on my camera... Maybe next week! 

Time's running out!

The date on this email is October 12, 2015

This week was another pretty good week! We had a lot of really good lesson's with some members and we have been really trying to prepare them to go and teach and it has been really great! They are really excited about it! Odellia is so ready and excited to share the gospel! It has actually been really cool to work with her and to see her excitement about the gospel grow! I've really enjoyed that! The church is true!

We had some disappointments this week though. We had to drop Terry and Victoria because they just wouldn't come to church. That was really hard... Also Alfred still hasn't had his surgery and so he can't get baptized because he can't really leave his house because of his sickness. So that has been really hard as well. To be honest it has been a little bit troubling. I have wanted nothing more than to just go out with a bang and now we don't have any baptismal possibilities before I go home. I have been pretty upset about it! I've even voiced my opinion in my prayers a couple times! Only to be chastened a little and to realize something that I really should've learned a long time ago. That is that sometimes it isn't all about me. Maybe Heavenly Father has a different plan for Alfred and some other missionary needs to be blessed with the opportunity to baptize him. And as far as Terry goes, I learned that as hard as it is for me, it's probably a lot harder for Him to see His children not progress. His children that He has done absolutely everything for and provided every opportunity for and they still won't come. This week I got to see in a very small sense the way God sees and the way He feels. And through all this I came to realize that maybe i should think about that a little bit more. That these are His children. And He loves them too. To say I have been spoiled over the last couple years probably wouldn't be the best way to put I have sure been blessed. The Lord has taken care of me so much and if this is the way it's got to all go down at the end then so be it I guess. I am so grateful for the lesson I am learning right now. We are going to keep working and this area will continue to progress and grow. I know that. This is the Lord's work and He is hastening it. I am so grateful that I have been able to experience that over the last couple of years. I love the Lord. He has been so good to me. I love His work! I just gotta keep running and then turn the page. I'm also always going to remember that the Lord knows best. I love you all! Have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

ps I loved this thought and thought I would share it!

"I had done everything I had been taught to do. We had prayed and received a strong impression to select this doctor. We had fasted and prayed and felt certain that our infant son would be healed through faith and through the power of the priesthood. Yet the Lord had not intervened. Our faith it seems had been no more than vain hope. I began to question everything I had ever believed. As I walked, I felt betrayed and angry. I was overcome with pain.

I am not proud of the conversation I had with Heavenly Father as I walked and wept that morning. After a time, I got hold of myself emotionally. I remember the words of a children’s Primary song coming into my mind. “Heavenly Father, are you really there? And do you hear and answer every child’s prayer?” Because you clearly haven’t been listening to mine or maybe you just don’t really care about me and my son. (“A Child’s Prayer,” Children’s Songbook, 12.)

In that moment, a tender mercy came. In my mind and heart, I felt these words: “Kevin, he is my son too.” The clarity of the prompting was unmistakable. I realized in that moment that I had not understood the purpose of prayer at all. I had assumed that, just because I had a righteous cause, I could use the priesthood and fasting and prayer to change the will of God."

-Kevin W Pearson

As you can see I'm starting to take the diet very seriously. Also you gotta love the sign!

"I'll be at home!"--Coach Boone

Sorry, this mom is late in posting last few emails.  They are all coming now!:) The date on this one is 10-6-15

So let me explain the title of this email a little bit. First off this week was nuts! It was unbelievable! But the climax was definitely on wednesday. So let's reason about this. On wednesday I had a meeting that I skyped into from the church and it was a great meeting on the Book of Mormon! I loved it! Then we went over to Elder Dixon's new apartment and it was delicious! He prepared a great meal! Parmesan chicken that was to die for! Then it was time for me and Elder Smith to go and run some more errands and we walk out to our car and Elder Smith is like, "Dude your bag is gone. Our window is shattered and your bag is gone." I thought he was joking! So I walk up and my backpack is gone and so are my scriptures. It was nuts! So In my backpack was my study journal, preach my gospel and some pens and random stuff. Luckily I took my camera out before we left that morning. Tender mercy for sure. So those things are gone and they took my scriptures that I had since I was 8. I hope they read them. It was definitely pretty upsetting. So I guess I am going to be needing a new set when I get home. The one positive to all of this is I get to quote Remember the Titans again. This happened after someone threw a brick through coach Boone's window. He responded in an interview by saying, "You can tell whoever threw this brick through my window, 'I'll be at home!' " That was what I actually said to Elder Cox (the AP) to tell him that my car had been broken into. Ha so that basically sums up a lot of the week!

I loved conference though! It was so great! I felt the spirit so strong so many times. Particularly when the new apostles spoke. That was a strong moment for me! I tried something that I remember Elder Beck talking about whenever we taught about Prophet's he talked about how we would pray when a new one was called. I'd never done that before but I liked the thought! So I did it with the apostles. The second they opened their mouths I knew that they were called of God. The spirit hit me so hard. I also loved the talk by Elder Holland. I could just picture my mom crying as she was watching it. Ha it was very well put. I know that this really is the Lord's church. It's perfect. Absolutely flawless. I know that the Lord is still at the head of His Church and guides and directs it. So stay in old ship zion. I love you all and I hope you have a great week!

With Love,

Elder Smith

Here are some pics of the incident and our window cover we put in. Also we helped angie move so I snapped some pics of me with some stuff we moved. Also her little son at conference! Gotta love the pineapple shirt! Ha

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