Grenada

New address:

Elder Randon Smith

Po box 3804 Lagoon Road

St. Georges

Grenada

West Indies

Wow this place is great! So I must say that I love it here! I miss the bados an awful lot and it was certainly hard leaving but I am really enjoying it here! I love serving with Elder Leany and I am learning a lot from him. He only has 3 months left so I am probably going to be with him until he finishes. He's what they call a straight-shooter and he teaches the gospel well. It has been kind of hard picking up where the other missionaries left off but we are getting it down. I must say though, the field here is real white! It is amazing! I am just loving the branch and the members here. It is nice to have so many recent converts that are still just pumped about the gospel! It is a huge blessing. There is one whose name is Ricky and yesterday he asked one of our investigators at church, "So when are you getting baptized?" Then bore his testimony to her about how making that step has blessed his life. It was wonderful!

I don't have much to say this week seeing that we are just kinda trying to figure out the area but something I've been thinking about a lot is the love that the Lord has for us and His tender mercies. I got thinking about this because it was about a year ago that I had to go home. I was just thinking about how the Lord was always there through all of that. I'll be honest, there were times where I struggled and where I wondered why these things were happening and what I did to deserve this. I sometimes even wondered if He was still there. But I know that He was. I saw so many tender mercies and through those it was like He was telling me, "Hey, I'm still here." I just want you all to know that whatever it may be that we are going through, the Lord is always there. He loves you! Put your trust in Him and I know that He will always lead you to where you need to be! I love you all! Make yourselves a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

"If we have faith in Jesus Christ, the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing. In all conditions, we can choose the right with the guidance of the Spirit. We have the gospel of Jesus Christ to shape and guide our lives if we choose it. And with prophets revealing to us our place in the plan of salvation, we can live with perfect hope and a feeling of peace. We never need to feel that we are alone or unloved in the Lord’s service because we never are. We can feel the love of God. The Savior has promised angels on our left and our right to bear us up. And He always keeps His word."

Henry B Eyring

It's Been Real

Wow so this week we got our transfer calls and I found out that I am
going to be heading to Grenada to be a Zone Leader with Elder Leaney!
I am really excited yet really sad as well. I am going to miss
Barbados a lot and I have just really grown to love the people. They
are so great! I am going to miss them dearly. I have just been saying
goodbye to people and stuff and that's what my next couple of days is
going to be filled with before I fly out on wednesday morning.
So Everet did get baptized and it went so well! I am so proud of that
guy and how far he's come. He was so prepared and ready and I am just
glad that we were able to find him! We met Everet when we were walking
home one night to our old apartment, we saw Everet and Elder Barlow
just started talking to him. We found out that he lived next to a
member and he had a copy of the Book of Mormon. We set up a time to
meet with him and when we went over we found that the Book of Mormon
had been really used and studied and that he had a pretty good
understanding of it. We talked to him about baptism and church and
after some persuasion he agreed to set a date for the 19th of October.
He told us he couldn't come to church the first sunday after meeting
with him but that he would come to conference. We kept teaching him
and answering questions and then when conference came about 20 minutes
into it Everet comes walking in. I'm not going to lie, I was kinda
shocked! He ended up staying for both Sunday sessions and loved it!
Elder Bednar's talk answered a lot of questions he had as well. After
that everything just fell into place. Probably my favorite thing he
told us though is that "I've met with other missionaries and I
wouldn't commit to do anything. But there is something about you guys,
you are my earth Angels." It was really cool to see how his testimony
grew and how that all came because we just opened our mouths.
Well that's about it for this week! I love you all and continue to
share the gospel!
With Love,
Elder Smith

 Everette's Baptism

 Sister Lovell

 Brother Mayers

 Sister Cadet

 Crazy Elders

 I love this picture!

Yes, Baptism!

So this week we will be having Everett's Baptism! I am so excited for
that! Everett is just really excited and he told the members yesterday
that me and Elder Barlow just reeled him in like a fish! Ha he is a
funny guy!
Grantley and Roger didn't make it to church so theirs are going to be
postponed unfortunately but at least the Lord has blessed us with
Everett! He has truly been a tender mercy here!
So this week we had interviews with President and that always is a
spiritual experience and I really enjoyed that! I love and look up to
him a lot!
In all honesty I don't have much else to put in here but I am just
really glad that I have the opportunity to serve here! I love the work
here in the Bados and I really love the members! They are great! We
had a lesson in Elders Quorum yesterday that Brother Mayers taught and
it was so powerful to just here him bear pure testimony. I love that
man! He has had a tough past but he loves the gospel and it has
changed him! Something he said really hit me! He said, "This church
shows you how good you can be!" I loved that! I might've shared that
quote from him before but it's ok! I'll share it again! It shows you
how good you can be and your real potential! No matter what! I have
seen that in my life and I wish people would be more willing to see it
in theirs! Share the gospel and let your light shine! I love you! 

Love,
Elder Smith 

"Come and see if the restored gospel of Jesus Christ enlarges and enriches that which you already believe." David A Bednar

Unfortunately Elder Smith did not give me any info. about these pics, so.....use your imagination!:)

#LDSConference

Wow conference was wonderful! I loved it dearly! What a wonderful
opportunity that was to listen to a Prophet's voice. I also loved how
that was a big theme for this conference! We must follow the Prophet,
don't go astray. Follow the Prophet, He knows the way! :) But anyway I
loved Elder Robbins talk on saturday morning! That was so powerful! I
liked how he said, "Pilate was merciful until it got risky." It got me
thinking about how sometimes we are like that! We live the gospel
until it gets risky or threatens our social status or something like
that! As Heavenly Father watches that He is probably just like
"Serious?" We can all do better with that!
Also Grantley had a set back so his baptism is getting moved back but
we will work to get over that!
This transfer I have been really focusing on using scriptures more and
have seen many blessings come from it. I remember hearing Elder Hatch
say "When we use the scriptures we don't have to say, 'Now don't take
my word for it'. Because we are not using our words but we are using
the Lord's." That stuck with me and has helped me a lot. The other day
we were teaching a first lesson and got talking about baptism and the
lady at first felt like she didn't need to be baptized. I then quoted
some scriptures and talked about those and she asked, "So what you're
saying is i need to be baptized to enter heaven." Then this was my
favorite part! I was able to tell her that because I quoted Christ, I
wasn't the one telling her. The Lord was. So that just really opened
my eyes to see the power of scriptures and it was a really neat
experience.
Oh I also loved Elder Bednar's talk to finish it off! Wow! That was so
powerful! Now I am going to ask are we sharing our "band-aids and
neosporin"? (I hope that's spelled right) We have something that
brings so much comfort and peace but we don't share it with others!
There are people out their that are spiritually wounded yet we keep
our medicine to ourselves! That cannot happen. We can do better!
Something that President Mehr says is "I love it when people get up in
testimony meeting and say, 'The Gospel blesses me so much' He said his
response to this is, 'That's great! When's the last time you shared it
with someone?' " We can do better at sharing it! So please share your
band aids! We all need them! I love you all! Let us all have the
attitude of Khalil. He says in every one of his prayers, "Help
everyone to get to the Celestial Kingdom together." I love you! Share
your band aids! :)
With Love,
Elder Smith

ps. President Mehr shared this quote by Gordon B Hinckley and I loved it!
"The Church has a host of critics and an army of enemies. They mock
that which is sacred. They demean and belittle that which has come
from God. They pander to the desires of others who evidently enjoy
seeing that which is sacred made to look funny. I cannot think of
anything less in harmony with the spirit of Christ than this kind of
activity.
"We are pained by the desecration of that which to us is holy. But we
need not fear. This cause is greater than any man. It will outlast all
its enemies. We need only go forward, without fear, by the power of
faith. Said the Lord in an early season of this work: 'Therefore, fear
not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell combine against you,
for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot prevail. . . . Look unto
me in every thought; doubt not, fear not. Behold the wounds which
pierced my side, and also the prints of the nails in my hands and
feet; be faithful, keep my commandments, and ye shall inherit the
kingdom of heaven.' (D&C 6:34, 36-37.)" (Faith, The Essence of True
Religion, p. 16)

Here is a pic of the Zone at our activity!

That's What I Said!

What a week! We had a ton going on! We lost our car to the sisters again and are walking, we moved apartments and Roger and Grantley came to church and loved it! I was stoked! They will be getting baptized just now!

But anyway one thing at a time! So we don't have a car once again and are walking for good so that kinda stinks! But that brings us to our next point!

We have a new apartment that is so sweet! I feel like I checked into a hotel! it is sick! But we had to get that because our old one is not in our area and is terrible for the walking. So yeah this week we spent a lot of time moving!

Last but not least, Our boy Grantley came to church rocking his suit! IT was sweet! He loved it! So Grantley is this guy we contacted a while back but he wasn't super interested until this week. We went buy on monday night and he told us about how he has issues with dizziness and memory and so we felt prompted to give a blessing. We did and Grantley has since been feeling much better and it was a real faith building opportunity for him! He has been reading the Book of Mormon and knows it's true! He should be getting baptized on the 12th!

Now onto our boy Roger! He is great! We only got to see him once this week because of our schedule but he is doing great! He is reading lots and is just doing really well! He loved church and is ready to go for the 19th. I am so excited for him! He is doing so well! he is like our little brother! 

All is well in the Bados! I love it here! I am so lucky to be here and wouldn't rather be anywhere else! I am stoked for conference! Everybody better be watching! We will be watching at the church! I love you all! Have a great week!

Love, 

Elder Smith

 Sister Armstrong's food

 Happy to give the car back to the sisters!:)

 Turning the car keys over to the sisters

 Cliffs of St. Lucy

Mini Zone Conference

9/22/14

So this week was really good! We were super busy but it was a great week! We met a lot of cool people and have had to move on with some of our other ones who are struggling... We haven't been able to meet with Adrian since church last sunday and so we're not sure what is going down there and so that's kinda sad but all in all it was a good week!

Roger is still doing super well so I am pumped about him! We just need to get his family more involved because it is hard for a 14 year old to just take this step on his own without family support. I mean just think about what would've happened if Joseph Smith's family wasn't supportive at all. That would have put a real damper on the Restoration! 

We met a cool lady on saturday in her early 20's and she has a one year old daughter and we shared with her how the Book of Mormon can bless her family and read 2 Nephi 25:26 with her and then she told us that she only has work off on sundays and so she asked us if we could come back that sunday. No one ever does that! Ha but unfortunately we weren't able to meet with her because we had a meeting on sunday with President and Sister Mehr come up. But we called her and she said she had already planned a time to really dive into the Book of Mormon! So I was pumped about that! The Book of Mormon is so powerful! 

The meeting with President and Sister Mehr was sweet! We talked a lot about the work in the Bados specifically and it was just great! I love meeting with them because President teaches Doctrine so well and he is just a great leader!  i look up to him so much! We talked a little bit about the atonement and how it had to be done. We also talked about how Christ wouldn't have just gotten off the cross if we didn't want to go through with it because well it was outside of His character! HE was the Savior because of His perfect obedience in the premortal life and so He couldn't just throw that all away when the pressure came and in a sense the "game was on the line"! We owe Him for that! He loved us so much that He went through that! Now pay him back for that by keeping His commandments! I know that my Savior lives and that He died for each one of us! Now it is up to us to step up to the plate. As President always says, "Exaltation is not cheap and it is not easy." But it is well worth it! Make the changes today and get on that road to exaltation! I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Smith

As we approach this holy week—Passover Thursday with its Paschal Lamb, atoning Friday with its cross, Resurrection Sunday with its empty tomb—may we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear. This Easter week and always, may we stand by Jesus Christ “at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,”  for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone.

Jeffrey R Holland

Zone Conference

So this week was sweet! We had a good week and Adrian came to church and loved it! So he should be good to go in a couple more weeks! I am really excited tor him!

We also met a 14 year old kid named Roger who is sweet! So a little back story on Roger is he is from Guyana and has lived here for most of his life but when he was 7 he actually was going to church with a member friend for a couple years and after a while his whole family was going to church. They progressed and were about to get baptized and then they went back to guyana for a little bit and didn't get baptized. So we are going to work with his whole family and see what we can do there! I am so excited! But anyway we taught him about the Book of Mormon and the Restoration on Thursday and he just dove in and started reading it! Then we went back on Sunday and he was like, I want to tell you guys something. So he goes on to tell us that he prayed about the Book of Mormon and it was raining (Like pouring!) while he was praying so he asked Heavenly Father, "If the Book of Mormon is true make it stop raining and if it's not then let it keep raining." He told us that as soon as he said that the rain just stopped completely. So then he was like, "I know this is true!" So that was sweet and he was just a real tender mercy!

So Zone Conference was great! Me and a couple other Elders sang, "Brightly Beams our Father's Mercy" And it was really cool! Then having Elder Zivic there was great! I loved it! Something that he said that really stood out to me was, "For us to reach a new level, we must break our old mindset." I loved that! It applies in so many ways! If we want to reach a new level of joy, success, love towards one another, etc. then we have to break our old mindset! We are not going to get better by just doing the same thing! If we want more joy in life than we have to change something up so that we can be able to receive it! So that really hit me because I want to see more success here in Barbados so right now I am just focusing on what I can do better! I invite all of you to do the same! If you want something than make those changes necessary and allow the Lord to make a miracle happen in your life! I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Smith

 ME and Elder Barlow

 Saying goodbye to Viktoria

 With Elder Pierson, Bingham and Day at Zone Conference

Me and Elder Hatch