Elder Nicholas West Smith: Service and a lot of Rain

( A Forest For Grass )

Hello my wonderful family! How is everything going in Utah?? I love getting to read all of the emails and letters everyone has been writing me! So first off before I forget, I received Jill’s package and the package with all of the pictures in it. Thank you so much for them. I love them! Pictures are the best out here. All of the missionaries love to look at different pictures. Everyone likes mine because I have so many of them! I love it. Well it is great to hear all of you are doing so well! Dan keep up the good work on the golf and maybe when I get home you will actually be able to beat me! :) Jacque, Jaycee, Jane, and Sophie I love the pictures Jen sent me. They are growing up. Keep up the good work with Tennis and school. Boston, Carter, and Drey stay cool and keep kicking your dads butt in soccer! And little Brielle, keep on dressing up like a little princess at grandma’s house! Jen and Dave I love hearing from you two. Dave thanks for the great emails. They really help me out. Heidi and Brit I miss you both. I think I covered everyone! haha.

( Me & My Laundry )

So I really like hearing what is going on at home with everyone. Since I do not have a whole lot of time to email I would love to get letters because I can read them whenever I have free time. Then on my P-Days I can write more emails instead of reading! Well last but not least Hi Mom and Dad! How are you both? Dad, mom tells me you are not loving playing cards with her because she is always winning… What is up with that? Since I am gone we cannot let mom get the big head! :) Mom I have been doing great! So with the dinner appointments we only have about 3 a week if we are lucky, so yes I have been cooking! My meals the first couple of weeks were just PB&J sandwiches. I had to change that up so I went and bought some really good food like deli meat and frozen pizzas and a bunch of different good foods. Let’s just say I know how to make a mean bowl of rice! Down here they have a seasoning sauce called Tony's. You pretty much put it on everything you eat. I am going to get some and send it home! I had some great Jambalaya this week. We went over to this ladies house and she is a professional cook. It was some of the best food I have ever had. I ate so much and then right after that we ate again at Brother Johnson’s house. It was a great night for food. The members down here try and feed us as much as they can, but it is hard because they are working and stuff like that. The members are great down here. It is hard to get their names down because they’re French, but I am starting to get it down. There is one older lady in the branch that absolutely loves me! It is kind of like Sister Hiliason. :)

Alright so now I will tell you all about my week. It was very eventful. It started off by all of us missionaries going over to New Orleans again. I had some of those amazing beignets! I like it over there. We have a good time. Well after that we had some appointments set up. We went over to this kid named Daniels house. He is in his 20's and has been an investigator for awhile now. We had a really good lesson about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I taught a lot of it which was really cool because I found out how much I knew from heart. Well at the end of the lesson we both felt really inspired to invite him to be baptized. So I asked him and he said Yes! It was the coolest thing that had ever happened to me. The only thing is he said he wanted to talk to his mom about it. So he asked and she said NO... We were really sad and we are trying to figure out what to do about it. We asked him to come to church and he didn't so that was tough. So we are hoping this week we can talk to him.

This week my companion has been sick. He has had a pretty bad cold. So we didn't do too much on Tuesday. I was hoping that I wouldn't get sick and I didn't until Saturday... So I have been recovering from a cold. I feel a lot better today though. Well the rest of the week was great. We had our first exchanges so I went with Elder Olsen on Thursday- Sunday. It was really fun to be able to get to know him better and experience a different missionary life. That was cool. His area is a car area, but we didn't have the car our first day so we rode the longest I have ever road on a bike. It was soooo long. I was on a bike for probably 4 hours that day. We had a lot of appointments and a lot of service opportunities. I liked being with him. We had some good talks too and he helped answer some of my questions. The only problem with staying over at Elder Provost & Elder Olsen’s place is they keep the air on at 58... It is freezing cold! So I have a mountain of blankets on me to stay warm! It is funny. Elder Scarlet and I had a great week together though. We taught 14 lessons which for down here is A LOT!! I have really come to find out and realize that a mission down here is not about how many baptisms you get. It is about Loving the People and serving them. And as you do that you have opportunities to teach and plant seeds. That is what President Wall really hits on. So I have had to change my attitude. At first I was bummed because I came out here expecting to teach so many people and to have people flock to the font, but that is not how it works. It takes some really hard work. I like that though.

( Me & My Companion )

This week has been a huge building week for me. The first of the week I was pretty homesick because we didn't do anything the whole day, but once I get to work and I love and serve the people I feel really good. I like that. Our service this week consisted of mowing some forests of lawns. This lady hadn't cut her grass for a month and it was up to my knees! I have pictures and I'll send them home when I can. We did not build a fence this week because it has been pouring on us every day. On Friday we were riding from the church to a less actives house and on the way a huge rain storm hit us. I was more wet than if had jumped into our swimming pool! It was crazy... I put all of my things into a plastic bag so they wouldn’t get wet and ruined. So the rain down here is crazy! If you have seen the movie the notebook and that one scene where they are dancing in the rain... Man just come down here to Louisiana! I told my companions that I am going to bring my wife down here when I am married and dance in the rain! haha

So everything down here is going really well. We have 2 new investigators that we are excited to teach. The mission is HARD. I won’t lie. But at the same time it is SO rewarding. When you feel the Spirit work through you it is incredible. We have given a couple of Priesthood blessings and I have felt the Spirit so strongly in them. The Mission is a Sacrifice. That is something I have learned. It is so great to know though that Heavenly Father loves us and wants the best for us. My testimony has been strengthened in so many ways. My prayers have become so much more sincere. It is so great! Well I love you all so much. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Mom I love you to death. I think about you every day. Thanks for being the best mom a kid could ask for. Dad I love you so much too. You are the best example to me and I am so thankful for everything you have done for me. The rest of the family I love you all! I cannot wait to write you all letters! I like letters! They are fun! Well that was my week. May the Lord bless each one of you this week. Our Heavenly Father loves each one of you. He loves us all. We are all children of him. I love you family! Until Next week! Peace Out!

Love Elder Smith AKA Nickalaka shish boom firecracker! :)

P.s. I am going to send letter to everyone just to our house because I do not have everyone's addresses so mom will you give them to everyone?