Hey everyone! How are things going? Everything sounds like it is going great! Dad I hope you are doing alright with your treatment. That does not sound fun at all. Well like mom always says, "Come what may and love it"! That is a tough one though having your feet shocked everyday for 45 minutes. Have you noticed any improvements? I sure hope you are starting to feel better. Mom I am glad you had a great week and were able to go down and watch Jacque play in her match. That really sounds like a lot of fun! I remember when we did that last year and we got that sweet hotel room that had a wrap around balcony. Oh the girls loved it! Tell Jacque good job for me alright? Also speaking of tennis there are 6 tennis courts right across the street from our library and my companion and I really want to go play! I think that is what we will be doing for P-Day next week. Well how are all of my little nieces and nephews doing? I sure do miss them. I am sure they are loving life and doing the very best in everything they do! Jen and Dave how is everything going? I sure am glad you are safe Jen with that whole airport thing last week. That is crazy! And Dave I have heard some of the scores of BYU and they aren't doing too bad this year. I guess on Saturday they had a tough loss. Down here in our branch there are so many BYU fans. They really keep us missionaries updated! I love it. Ryan and Heidi I hope you guys are doing great. I miss those little boys that is for sure! Ryan dude I am getting really good on my bike. I can't wait to go up riding when I get home! All of us are going to have to go up and do the night riding! Bryson and I did that a couple weeks before I left and it was one of the funniest things I have done in a long time! And Dan and Brit I hope you guys are doing great! Hey Brit how is the mouth? I hope that new medicine is really helping you out. Well I want you all to know that I pray for you guys everyday. I know that Heavenly Father will watch over all of you while I am gone.
Well I am doing GREAT!!! I love my new companion! Elder W. and I have so much in common. He loves sports and I love sports! He loves to work and I love to work! We really have kicked it off good. The work here in Algiers is really starting to pick up. We have been tracking and handing out a lot of pass along cards and Book of Mormons. I really like it. We also have a lot of fun together. It is not serious the whole time. Yes we are working the whole time, but we are joking around and having a good time while sharing the Gospel. I don't remember who said this, but we need to have moderation in all things. Even missionary work. HaHa Hey so yesterday was our P-Day and it was one of the best P-Days ever. We all went up to Materie to the Stake Center to play basketball with the spanish zone. It was so much fun! We had full games of 5 on 5. We all were so rusty, but it was so much fun! I played pretty good and I kept up with all of them! My companion is a really good basketball player. He is going to be playing for a junior college back home when he is done with his mission. So it is fun to play.
Well last week we did a lot of work. Non-stop the whole week. We only had 4 hours of service this week, because of how cold the weather got. Oh yes... It gets cold down here in LA! The low was like low 40's with humidity so it just cuts right through you. So we did a lot of contacting. We received 5 or so referrals this week and we got in contact with all of them. Oh guess what! We picked up a new investigator and he seems really interested! It was kind of a funny story how we met him. It was a few weeks ago Elder W. and I were about to ride our bikes to the church for a meeting. When we went outside we saw two guys trying to carry in 2 couches that were really big. They looked like they needed some help. So we asked them if they needed help. It was tough to ask because we then would probably be late for our meeting, but we did it anyways. So we help move all of the couches in and we say our goodbyes. I gave him and his brother a pass along card. The one with the Book of Mormon on the back of it. Then we left because we needed to get to our meeting. Then a few nights later we were going to go over to some appointment and as we were leaving he flagged us down and wanted to talk to us. He told us a little more about himself and how he is trying to find a church to go to. So we gave him a Book of Mormon and the Restoration pamphlet and gave him directions to come to church and our phone number. Well Sunday rolls around and he didn't show up... Kind of a disappointment, but we are going to be going over there some time this week to talk to him and teach him the lessons. I was soooo excited!!
So on Sunday we had 3 investigators that we left with commitments to come to church and guess what.... None of them showed up.. One of them is a guy in a wheel chair and is hard of hearing. We have been teaching him the lessons and he is really interested, but just didn't have a ride. So we found a ride and we had a member come and pick us up and take us over to pick him up for church. So we knocked and guess what.... No answer... So he didn't come. And then with Sister M. (the lady we have been working with for baptism) She hasn't been to church in 2 weeks. She said she would come, but she didn't.. That was kind of sad. So with her we went over there with the Spanish Elders to mow her lawn. Afterwards she fed us some good Jumbalya and Dirty Rice. It was really good, after we sat down and had a lesson with her. We talked about how we need to follow Christs example and be baptized. I then asked her again if she wants to become a member of our church again and she said that she still does not know. She loves us missionaries, but we can't make the decision for her. So she still doesn't know so the only thing we can do for her is love her and pray for her. She is a great lady and I know she will find the right way again it is just a matter of time.
Well there were a lot of really cool things that happened this week. A lot of little miracles. I saw a lot of prayers answered this week. Not just mine, but the members. A member was going through a really rough time and he went into his bedroom and prayed to Heavenly Father to help him out. And an hour later we showed up. And the thing is we never would have gone over to this members house unless I didn't have the prompting to do so. Also Heavenly Father put us in his path because we were tracking and no one was listening or answering their doors. I had a feeling to go see this person, but I didn't think anything of it and he lived a really long ways away. I hate to say this, but I just put it to the back of my mind and I said we would do it tomorrow. Then we went and knocked on some more doors and then the prompting came back and so we decided to act on it and then come to find out this member had prayed for help and then an hour later we showed up at his door step. It was soo cool and such a neat experience.
Well I am doing great! I am loving being able to teach more people. I love teaching them about the Gospel. The cool thing is all of us can be teachers. All of us are teachers everyday just by the Example we set as members of this church. I love that! I love this work. I have been doing really good these past few weeks. I am not homesick any more! Yes I still miss you guys like crazy, but this is my home now. I love it here. I am really excited to serve in the bayous one day though! It is going to be so sweet! Oh yeah and guess what! I get to go to the temple again on Saturday! We are going to try and do 2 sessions this time! I am super excited! Also tomorrow we have our interviews with President. I am excited to be able to speak with him and hear all of the advice he has to give.
Well My family and friends I love you all! This Gospel is true. Prayer is real. And one thing I have come to appreciate out here is our trials. I read a scripture today that says "we are never given a trial that we can not over come". So no matter how hard this life can be, we always can make it through it with the help of Jesus Christ. I know the Book of Mormon to be the word of God as well as the Bible. I love to study all of the scriptures. It helps me feel closer to my Father in Heaven. Well Everyone keep up the good work back home! Tell everyone hi for me! I love you guys!! :)
Love Elder Nick Smith AKA Nickalaka
Alright mom so I have your answers to your questions. Thank you so much again for the Packages! I love them! It is like Christmas every time I get one! Hey speaking of Christmas it is just right around the Corner!!!! :) :) :)
> Alright so with the whole iPad thing. We are going to be getting iPads in January!! We also are going to be becoming a Technology mission. This means we are going to start working through FaceBook to contact people and share the Gospel. This is going to be super nice during the dead hours of the day from like 1-4. It is going to be really cool!
> So with my Groceries... Man this is a tough one! haha Some times we get the van to go get groceries, but when we do not have the van then we have to ride our bikes. It is about 2 miles to the Walmart. That may not seem far away, but on a bike with groceries everywhere then it really is a long ways away! I bring a bag and try and stuff as much of the things I can in it.
> I love my bike! It is so nice out here. 29ers is the way to go for sure! I cruise! I have not had any bike troubles these past couple of weeks so that is really good.
> Do I cook much? Yes I cook almost every lunch and dinner about 4 times a week. I cook quesidillas. I have a lot of oat meal. I bought one of the huge things from Sam's club. Instead of getting regular milk I now get Silk Milk. It last a lot longer and stays good for a lot longer. I eat mac and cheese and pb&js too. I don't eat too badly. We eat out quite a bit too. I am trying to eat healthy, but it is super expensive to.
> Well that is about it! Hey I hope you don't mind, but I went and bought me some protein. I have been working out hard and staying in shape. This has been super nice! Also I am wondering if I can get some sweat shirts and some brown shoes and a brown belt. It is getting colder here and I am going to be needing those for sure! Is that okay? If so can you put some more money on my card just in case? Thanks sooo much mom and Dad! I love you both so much. I hope you have the best day ever! I will do the same! Well until next week! Peace out!! :)
> Love you guys!
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