Merry Christmas! 12/22/14

Hey family! Merry Early Christmas! :) Can you all believe it is already Christmas? It seems like just yesterday it was last Christmas. I am so happy for this time of year and I am so excited to see you all in a couple of days! Thank goodness!! :) Well it sounds like you all are busy as usual. This is the best time of year because it is a time we think of others. It is a time where we remember Christ. Now we just need to figure out a way to always keep Christ in our lives even when it is not Christmas. So if you all have any ideas on how we can do that please let me know because it is something we are going to be focusing on this next year while we are out teaching. Mom I am glad you and grandpa and grandma are safe from that flight you went on. It is always a little uneasy when they have to do maintenance on a plane you are about to fly on. Tell Jason good job in his tournament. That is so sweet he went to the championship game. Keep up the good work buddy! Dad that is awesome you are doing book signing and all of the donating. I know those kids are going to love it! I remember my senior year when we did the service project and we donated your books the kids faces just light up. That is how it is out here too! Oh and dad your dance moves just made my day in the video mom sent of everyone dancing to the song happy! It was nice seeing you up and about moving around. I hope your next surgery goes really well too!

Thank you mom and dad for the amazing email you both send every week. I must say I have had the best support from my family while being out here. I am so thankful because there are a lot of missionaries out here who don't have the support from their families. It is really tough and hard on them. There are missionaries in my district right now who are struggling. So mom I just wanted to tell you thank you for sending a package for one of these kids out here. I really wish you could have seen his face. He was so happy! He was also confused because he honestly had no idea who it was from. He looked at the address and then he looked at the letter you wrote to see if he could recognize the hand writing. It made his Christmas! So thank you for that! :) I know our family does a lot of things like that. Thanks for always setting the example to me of having charity. Those are some of my favorite memories is things we did as a family with helping others out. Well I am glad you all had a great week! And I hope both of you mom and dad get feeling better!

Well this week has been a crazy, busy, hectic, and even more crazy week. I haven't been this stressed in a long time. I know part of the reason why I stayed here in Houma is for this District. There have been some things that have been going on and I have really had to crack down on some things. There are some little things that have been going on I have had to try and fix. So that has made me a little stressed out, but thank goodness for my awesome new companion Elder Jones! He is an awesome kid. He is from Glendale Arizona. He is 18. He is a good kid. He will be an easy person to train. Every missionary out here keeps asking me how I get such good trainies. It is true though I haven't had any elder Calhoun from the movie the best two years! "Should I write that down Elder?" haha. He is really motivated to work hard and also work out. So we will get along great. We both are strong kids as in being bold and doing the Lords work. SO I am very thankful for him. 

(Awesome New Companion)

Well we have already seen some awesome things together. On Thursday we decided to go out and do some tracting. I wanted to break him in a little bit and give him a taste of the south. So we went to this street and we were in a pretty rough neighborhood and we locked our bikes on one end of the street and I told him alright. We are going to knock every door on this street. So we started going. I did the first couple to give him some ideas. We were using the He is the Gift pass along cards and were just asking people what they do to keep Christ in Christmas. We had a really good response from everyone. We only had 1 person say no and didn't give us the time of day. Then we came to almost the end of the street. We knocked and it was Elder Jones turn to talk. He started and it was going pretty good. The man was a black guy in his 50's.  Then Elder Jones asked if we could come back another day to teach him. But I chimed in right there and asked if we could come in right now and teach him. He said yes. So we went in and had a great little talk about the Gospel and about Christ. It went so well. Then we made a return appointment. After we were done with him since we decided to knock the whole street there was just 1 more door left. I said alright Elder lets do this last door! So I knocked on the door and this little old black lady came out. Her name is Ms. R. I went on to tell her who we were and what we were doing. She then opened up to us and told us how she used to volunteer somewhere where the missionaries volunteered as well. She loved the missionaries, but they never brought up the Gospel with her. So I set up an appointment with her for the following day which was Fridaym since it was getting late. She also asked us if we wanted to eat. So we said of course!! Alright so Friday roles around and we go over to her house after District meeting and she has a full course meal set up for us. She had Chicken. Red beans and rice. Corn bread (Which is my new favorite thing in the world) she had sweet potatoes, and then some amazing veggies. We ate so much food and then we had a great lesson with her on the Restoration. It went so well! We could feel the Spirit so strongly testifying to her. Then after we taught her we invited her to come to the Christmas party that night. She said she would love to! So she ended up coming to the Christmas party, and she also brought us left over food from her house. It was such a good night! So tracting does work. And I am a firm believer in it. It was awesome. So we now have 2 new investigators and a bunch of potentials from just that one tracting experience. It was pretty awesome. 

Then we were able to go to the Temple. We got up at to be able to make it to the session then at 12 we helped out with Baptisms. It was a great day and so nice to be able to feel the Spirit so strongly again while being in the Temple. I am so excited to be able to go so much more when I get home. I am excited to go through the new Ogden Temple too! That is going to be sick!! Then was great as well! The Ward Choir sang and did a good job. Then after we went and did secret Santa and delivered a bunch of presents to people. I love that so much! So this week was really fun and exciting. I am very thankful for this time of year. Even though sometimes it is stressful but when we are able to just take a step back and think of the reason behind Christmas it is the best thing ever. I love this time of year and I love being a missionary during this time of year. Everyone seems to have more love and charity in their hearts. Now we just need to change that to have that same love and charity throughout the whole year. I love you family and I am so excited to see you in just a couple of days! It is going to be the very best!! Well I hope you all have a wonderful day and a wonderful week! Be safe and have a ton of fun. Please give everyone a hug from me and tell them I love them. You all are awesome! See you in t-4 days and then after that t-7 months! :) Love you guys!

Love Elder Smith

(You Spoiled Me Again... ha ha) 

Another Great Week! 12/15/14

Hello everyone! It sounds like another great week! Man it feels like

every week I start my letters off the same exact ways. Oh well. How

are you all?? Mom and dad thank you both for the great letters this

week. It was very nice! Thanks for letting me know everything that has

been going on. It was a very eventful week! Starting off on Tuesday.

With Dave's birthday and then having a new birthday baby with sweet

like Kate. She is so cute! I already love her so much even though I

haven't met her haha. I am so happy everything went so well. I am

excited to meet her when I return. That is awesome about Dan as well

with that sweet opportunity to use his Priesthood and give that baby a

blessing. That a boy dan! You are the man. Then on Wednesday you all

were able to go up to Logan and eat a good dinner and watch some

basketball. Keep up the good work jason! You are the man! And I am

excited to see this new house of ours! Dad told me you went and saw

some sweet houses to get ideas. Mom we for sure need to do that when I

get back! I remember going to the parade of homes with you. That was

always so much fun! I hope the weather will continue to hold up for

the house building. Keep up the good work with that! And send me some

more pics please. Then Friday I bet you had a great time with Keelie

going shopping until you dropped! Then Saturday was another very

special day. With Jane going through the Temple! She sent me a pic and

she said she loved it. That is so cool. I wish I could have been there

too, but in 3 years we will. Man that is a long time! Oh well time

flies. I am glad all is well back home and everyone is doing so well.

Keep up the good work at home and tell everyone I miss and love them!

Well I know you all are dying to find out what is going on with

Transfers. So I will be nice and tell you today. Well to start it off

it really was a huge surprise to me and to everyone in our district.

So last night at 9:00 we got the calls. Instead of the zone leaders

calling I looked at our phone and it said President Hansen... So I was

a little nervous for that. It is always uneasy when your mission

president is calling and it seems like it has been happening a lot

lately!  Haha Well he started talking to me and then he asked if I

would be District leader again. And also if I would Train again... So

I am staying here in Houma and I am going to training again for the

3rd time! I thought for sure I was leaving, not Puefua.. I am very sad

about Puefua leaving. He has been one of my favorites for sure, but I

am excited for this new companion.  So that should be fun! I will find

out who my new companion is tomorrow and then I will also find out

then where elder Puefua is going. Pretty crazy stuff! We are the only

ones in our district who are getting a transfer.

 This transfer is going to be pretty small I would imagine with it

being Christmas and all. I am pretty happy I don't have to pack all of

my presents to a new area haha! And I know for sure we have a place to

Skype home! I will find all of that out this week and let you know

what time we will be doing that. SO that is the transfer news! I am

pretty happy and a little shocked! I thought I was going for sure, but

I guess I need to stay longer here. Who knows I might beat the

westbank with how long I will stay in an this area. Who knows.

Well now for this week. It was a pretty busy week with 3 meetings. The

first meeting was Specialized Training with President Hansen. It was a

multi zone meeting. Then the day before the meeting he called and

asked if I could do that same instruction I had giving to our zone the

week before. So I had to instruct for all the missionaries for a good

20 minutes. It was fun! I brought kit kats for everyone to eat. I

think they loved it! So then after that meeting I went on exchanges

with our zone leaders. Elder Matsen a good friend of mine in the mish

came with me back to Houma. It was a great exchange. We saw a ton of

people. He served for 6 months in Thibodaux so we went up there and

hung out with some cool members and visited a ton of people up there.

Then we ended exchanges the next Nickday at 5 and Elder Puefua and I were

invited to attend a play for one of the members in the ward. It was

the Christmas Carol play. It was funny and good. It reminded me of the

place we would go to watch that play back home over by Bonneville. Are

you guys going to go to that this year? Then after that we had a

meeting with our ward mission leader. Then the rest of the week was

full of Christmas lessons and giving service. We helped with 2 moves

this weekend and man It was heavy stuff! I am thankful I work out

because if not I don't think I could have made it through one of the

moves. We were moving someone into an apartment which was on the 3rd

floor. So that was fun! Then on Saturday night we headed up to New

Orleans again for the stake Christmas Party. That was a ton of fun

being able to hang out with all of the missionaries. I sure have made

some life long friends.

Then Sunday was a very nice day. We saw some nice people and church

was really good! We had one of our investigators there. He will come

to church every week, but he won't meet with us. I don't get it. We

don't have any real progressing investigators right now. We are trying

to find more people to teach. It is good though. Our area is doing

really good right now. And I am doing great! I am excited for tomorrow

and I am remembering your saying mom. "come what may and love it! Also

I love jills quote. Fake it till you make it! Haha! I am thankful for

this time of year. I have really felt closer to the Savior this month.

I have shifted my studies to be more about him. I love the Savior and

am so thankful for everything he has done for me. I am thankful for my

mission and the things I have learned. Dad to answer your question

about if I can see a change in myself since the beginning of the mish

I for sure can see a huge change in myself. Not my personality, but

more so my view on life and the way I react to certain situations. I

am excited to learn more and to have this new opportunity. I am

thankful for all of you back home. I miss you everyday and prayer for

you constantly. Keep up the good work back home! Only a few more days

until that wonderful phone call! Sorry this letter is alitte shorter,

but Yall have an amazing week! I love you!!

Love Elder Smith

PS the house looks sooooo good mom and dad!! Thanks for the pictures!!

:) I love you both so much! Have an incredible week and dad I am so

happy your feet are feeling better!

PSS Tell Jacs good luck with her Tennis that is coming up!

Very Busy Week! - 12/8/14

Hey there family! Well can I just say how amazing your letters were this week. Thank you so much for filling me in on everything. Dad your joke you made about moms email is priceless! That must be the reason why our computer at home is slower than a handicapped snail! It sounds like you all had a great week and enjoyed church. It is so crazy how Emilee is home. That means Jake is getting close too. Then right after is going to be Bridger and I. To crazy how fast time is flying. I am glad dad is back to 2 shoes. Can you tell a big difference in the foot you had surgery on and the other one? I hope you start to feel better and that the next surgery will go really well. Let me know how it all goes. It sounds like your last trip was way fun! And that is so good Jacs is feeling better to where she was able to go and play up in Portland. How did she do up there? Trust me all of the little ones are always in my prayers. As well as the rest of the family. Man it sounds like some pretty crazy church news. Especially with the Kofords kids. Hopefully Alex and Gracie both get feeling better. Man I miss that family! Tell them all hello for me. I miss our ward in General. There is not a better Ward out there. It is like we all are a big family. It is going to be sad the Christensen’s are moving. Bridger and Ethan and all of their kids are good kids and good friends. Wish them all good luck for me. And tell them thank you for being pretty much my second parents. Awesome family right there! Oh so last night I watched the Christmas devotional and it is always so great seeing someone you know singing up in the Choir! Tell Sister Florence she is awesome and thanks for inspiring others by using her talents. Man just tell everyone I say hello! :) That Christmas devotional was so good last night. I hope you all had the chance to watch it. If not it is on LDS.org. Super good talks, which get you into the Spirit of Christmas. This is the best time of year by far because everyone seems to be more charitable. We now need to change this so it can be year round not just during Christmas. And man that is some very exciting news about Dan and Brit. Hopefully they will be able to decide on the name soon because it is coming up!! :) I am so excited to have another Niece. I must say we have the cutest family by far. :) Good luck Brit and don't forget your Try-Actin ;) Also tell Jason to keep up the good work and go to town with his basketball skills! He is going to tear it up this year. Good job buddy! Well I think I covered mostly everything. Y’all are awesome! Thanks for the love and support out here! And have the best Christmas ever! Because next one is only going to be going down hill when I get back haha just kiddin! :)

Well now for my week. It was very eventful! Full of teaching and instructions! President Walls promise about becoming a master teacher was probably a safe promise because he knew how many instructions I would be giving throughout this mission and lessons being taught haha! So to start this week off I am going to take you day by day so you can kind of get a feel of what my life is like right now and on the way I will try and help you get to know some of the amazing people who will always have a place in my heart. 

Monday: As you know it was P-Day so we got up did some studies and work outs then came straight to the library. Emailed then after that we went and picked up a fun member who is our age named Clarence. We then went and ate at a Chinese buffet and he paid for me since he thinks it is my last transfer here. Pretty nice! After wards the sisters asked if I could fix their toilet. It wouldn't flush so I went and did that really quickly. I had to Jimmy-Rig it. But got that working. Afterwards we went bowling again! This time I was on my game! We had a great time. The only bummer was on the way over the other Elders from Thibodaux got into a little fender bender. Someone ran into them at a red light. Not much damage happened and no one was injured! Blessings right there. It just goes to show how careful we all have to be while driving and staying alert. I do like the mission rule of who ever is driving you have to give the phone to the passenger in the front. So no texting and driving or even calls. After bowling and helping with the accident we ran and got some Ice cream at a little hole in the wall place called Scarlet Scoop! Super good! Then Clarence came with us that night to visit 3 people. 2 of whom were in the hospital. We visited Melodie (which she pretty much is like my sister now. We are so close. She is the one who just went to the temple for her endowments. I will send pictures.) We shared a little lesson with her about charity and love. Then we ran to the Hospital and saw Bro Hayes and Bro Munson. They both are doing better and hopefully will be out of the hospital soon. Bro Hayes is the crazy guy who thinks he was upducted by aliens. He is the man! Then Brother Munson is the nicest man and most genuinely friendly person I have ever met. He has a super deep voice and is pure Cajun. Love him to death! 

Tuesday: I woke up feeling sick with a sore throat and pretty much like my head was going to fall off. But you can't let sickness stop you from doing the Lords will. After studies we had district meeting where I really had to be bold with this District. We are so unified with each other that we sometimes loose focus and get off track. I have been thinking for the past couple weeks what I could instruct on. I decided to use Lamen and Lemual as our examples. They were both soo unified in everything they did. But if they were so unified why did they fall then? Well in 2 Nephi 1:21 when Lehi is giving his sons his last advice before he dies he tells them to arise from the dust, and be men, and be determined in one mind and in one heart, united in all things, that ye may not come down into captivity. So it shows they forgot the last part of that verse. They didn't have a worthwhile purpose or cause. They were not united with the most important person, which is Jesus Christ. I then told our district this is how we are right now and that we need to change it asap!! So I then took them to a verse in 3 Nephi where Christ is saying how he is united with his father and his father with him. How they are both one in Spirit and one in mind. So we set some goals on how we can improve our relationship with God and Christ and putting him first and then as a consequence we will become united with those around us. It was a great instruction because I know the Spirit was there. That is all I could ask for. So it was a very productive and meaningful District meeting. After I did exchanges with Elder Gordon and went up to Thibodaux.. It was hard because I felt like crap, but we were able to see some very amazing people and had a great night. 

Wednesday: I am still on exchanges with Elder Gordon. We went and did some service and saw some more awesome people. Then that night we had ward coordination with our ward mission leader brother Tabor. He is the best mission leader ever! It was a great night and some great Cajun food!!

Thursday: I am back in Houma with Puefua! This day is always our most hectic day of the week because we go to Cut Off which is 60 miles south. Blessing of having a car!! ;) Before we went though we had an assignment from Bishop to go out and see an older man and lady out in Raceland. This was very difficult for us because we don't have a ton of miles. So I gave them a call in the morning to set up an appointment, but no answer. So I was getting nervous. We were about to start driving out there, but I had a feeling we should go to the library first and get some better directions instead of our map. So we acted on that prompting and boy am I glad! We met an awesome member from Layton Utah who was here just for a couple of days and he was very friendly to us and told me about how amazing the Ogden Temple is now. Really cool well he wasn't the reason why this was so cool. So we got the directions and they were the same as what I had mapped out so I was just a little confused so we started our journey out there. Right when we got there the people we were going to see pulled up as well. We were then able to meet with them both. He has a lot of health issues and she is not a member. She is very strong Catholic, but she brings her husband to church and sits through the meetings and really enjoys it. She is an incredible lady. Well this man probably has the most faith out of anyone I have ever known. It is the kind of faith where if he asked for a blessing he will be healed because of his faith. It has happened before back in 1993. He went into the hospital and was diagnosed with Cancer. Well he had a blessing that night and then 2 days later the cancer was gone. Most incredible story ever! Well he asked if we could give him a blessing and specifically me. I was so honored. Afterwards I asked if the wife would like one as well. She accepted and I know she felt the Spirit because I for sure did! So awesome. Well we said our goodbyes and right when I got into the car I turned to Kingsley Puefua and said you know what... If we hadn't have acted on the prompting to go to the library we would have been 20 minutes earlier and would have missed them. So it just goes to show how important it is to listen to the smallest promptings even if they don't make sense. Afterwards we made it to cutoff and saw 4 families down there. Then raced back because the Kennedy’s invited us over for dinner and invited a friend to listen to the discussions. We used an awesome little thing. We told her since Elder Puefua is new to the mission we go over to the Kennedy’s to practice teaching and asked her to ask us questions and to give us a report back afterwards. Well it was supposed to be a 10 minute lesson on the Plan of Salvation.. Well it turned into an hour lesson with deep questions. She said she wants to learn more. It was so awesome! A great lesson! So she is a new investigator. That is how missionary work should be. Members inviting people to be taught! So much easier when the people have an instant friend in the Gospel. It was a great night!

Friday: We had Zone Training meeting down in NOLA. The ZL's asked if I would give a 20 minute instruction on our purpose as missionaries. It was very good and I kind of likened it back to the instruction I gave at District Meeting. I brought candy to get people involved by throwing them a piece if they would answer questions. It was a ton of fun! And the Spirit was there thank goodness. After ZTM we ate at Canes and then since we never get to go to NOLA anymore we ran downtown and went to the French market and walked up Canal street. I bought me a sick hat from the New Era store. It is a Saints hat which will be my new boating hat! Then all of the missionaries in our district did a hot sauce challenge. It is the hottest pepper in the world. That was fun. Then we drove home and had a good night!

Saturday: A member invited us to lunch at a mexican restaurant. It was sooo good! I haven't been to a good mexican place in a while. So that was fun. Afterwards we ran and got those pictures taken. And before one of the sisters gave me a haircut. She went to cosmetology school so she hooked me up! Then afterwards we went and saw a few people. Our plans with some investigators fell through. It happens every week. Hopefully not this week though!! 

Sunday: We get to the church at 8 for the ward council meeting. That lasts an hour. It is where we talk about members who may need help or investigators. We then get assignments and make our weekly report. Then church starts at 10. It was a very good service. I had to teach gospel Principles. So I taught about repentance. It went really well. Afterwards we were slam packed with appointments. We had one new investigator who of course didn't answer... The TV turned up after we knocked. Love that... not! Then we ran out to the Voisions house for some lunch and talked about her trip she had just made to Utah. That was fun. She went to a bunch of temples. Afterwards we took the Sacrament to Sondra and Brother Munson at the Hospital. Then we ran over to the Munson house where they had made some of the best chili with corn bread!! We watched the Christmas devotional over there. It was amazing!! I love that family. They are someone I for sure want to come back down to visit! Then I did some numbers and made my calls to all the missionaries to see how they all are doing the week and if they need anything. I then report the numbers to the ZL's. Then they called me at 10:25 and I didn't get off the phone until 10:50. It was another busy day! And guess what!! I get to do that again this week!! :) Being a missionary is so fun and so rewarding. Even though I was sick the whole week and still don't feel that great it was a great week. I know I was blessed and I know through me others were blessed too!

Well I just want to close this letter with my Testimony of our Savior Jesus Christ. That is was Christmas is all about y’all! Lets keep Christ in Christmas. I know he lives. I know he loves me. I know he will always be there for me. As well as for everyone who makes an effort to get closer to him. I have changed my studies for this month on strictly the Savior. I am so thankful for his sacrifice for all of us so we can live again as perfect beings with our families for eternity. I love him and I love you all. Mom and dad thank you for all you do. I love you. You all have the best week ever!! Good luck Brit! Love you sis! 

Love Elder St. Nick

Happy Thanksgiving! - 12/1/14

Hey there family! How is everyone doing this fine day? it is crazy it is already December! Only 25 more days until that amazing phone call! :) Well It sounds like you all are doing great and having a great time down in Arizona. Tell Jane and Jacs good job on the great tennis and please let me know how the match goes today for Jacs. Hey by the way Happy Thanksgiving! I'm glad you were able to get together with some family and go to Little America and play a bunch of card games. It sounds like fun. I'm sorry the food wasn't the best.. That is unusual for there. Usually it is so good! I am surprised you didn't go down to Scottsdale for Thanksgiving at the Country Club down there. That is always so much fun and easy because there is no preparations there! :) SO is anything else new going on back home? I am excited to see some more pictures of the house. It is really coming along fast. And I bet Dan and Brit are so excited to be in their new home now. Hey she is almost due! That is so weird to think that that was already almost 9 months ago. Time is just flying by. It is weird how some of my friends are already coming home. Like Nate Erickson he got home this past week. Same with Emily Sheffield. Pretty soon that will be us! But we won't wish this time away. It is too much fun being a missionary, but I am excited to see you all again! :) Well I hope this next week is a great week! Keep up the good work all of you and remember the true meaning of Christmas. It is a great time to stop thinking about ourselves and turning to Christ and also serving others. 

Well this week was a great week as usual! :) It all started out Monday when I got a concussion... haha yup you heard me! SO you know how we went to New Orleans for Zone P-Day? Well while we were there we played some football and frisbee, but that was nothing. It started getting intense when I started playing Soccer! First off I have been practicing like crazy for soccer and have become a lot better. So when we started to play I was the forward since no one else really was good. I probably had 15 good looks and good shots, but none of them were going in and the goalie was freaking good. He might play college when he gets back. But anyway the ball was in the middle of the field and I started sprinting to it, well the Goalie for their team decided to come out and play as well and I didn't see him. So right when I got to the ball he was there too. Both of us sprinting. Well the sad thing was is this kid probably has 70 pounds on me so right when we hit I went flying! I landed on my side and got some mad whip lash. After I caught my breathe again I jumped right up because you know how competative I can get. Well I ended up getting the ball back and dribbled down that time and freaking scored on that kid. Upper right corner. Best feeling ever! haha then we ended up winning 1-0 after playing for a good hour. So yup i'm going to go pro in soccer when I get back haha. It was a ton of fun and made me wish I would have played soccer in high school. Oh well. So that night I was just not feeling too hot. Had a massive head ache and my neck hurt pretty badly. So once I got home I crashed for the night. The next day I couldn't move. It was so hard getting out of bed. But I just forced myself. I told myself I had to get better by Thursday since we had a turkey bowl and then a soccer tournament afterwards. So Monday was a pretty good day haha! :)

The rest of the week was very solid though. Not as many lessons as last week, but still way higher than average. This week was very nice with it being Thanksgiving. I had a great time visiting some of my favorite members. We had a really fun service project we did as well. It brought back memories of home. We washed some cars! :) Speaking of that how are your cars looking? I hope they are in tip top shape! If not make Ry and Dan clean them! haha. I am excited to do that again. Then we were able to see W. again this week and he came to church again this week. He is a stud. He has so much faith. He loves church and always makes sure to bring his son. He wants his son to go on a mission and do what we do. That was pretty awesome when he told us that. I totally agree with him on that one! :) Then on Wednesday to open up our stomachs so we would be able to eat more food the next day brother Kennedy took us out for a big chinese buffet. It was soo good that we are going back today again! :) Then this week also we were at the hospital a ton again. I feel like I work there. There are 3 members right now in there. We go over whenever an appointment falls through since no one likes to be in there and they get lonely and love to have a spiritual uplifting experience. I love visiting people. It is so nice to be able to brighten someones day. I would encourage you all to go and visit someone this week. It doesn't matter who, but just go visit someone and tell them you are thinking about them. You never know how big of an impact it can be on someones life. 

Well now for Thanksgiving! It was a great day! We started off by getting to the church at 8 in the morning. It was a beautiful day. Probably in the 60 then got up in the 70's later that day. WE had about 20 people show up for the Turkey bowl,. We started playing and the very first play one of the members busted his pinkie while trying to catch the ball.. Poor guy. It looked gnarly. But anyway we were getting destroyed and it was the first team to 10. Well it was like 5-1, but then we made a huge come back and tied it at 8's. Then at 9's. I scored a couple of those!  Well we had a chance to win the game. I was wide open in the inzone and I had some mad butterfingers. The ball was a perfect pass. It hit my hands and bounced right out of them... SO we could have won the game right then and there.. Well I blue it! since it was our last down it was turn over and the very next play they threw a bomb down the field and a kid caught it... So we ended up loosing... I was pretty sad, but oh well! It was still fun! Then after that we had a good 2 hours before we were going to go play soccer so we decided to do a little act of service. We cleaned the whole church since it hardly gets cleaned. I was incharge of the bathrooms and man do they look good now! haha just kidding.. I think I need to start working on Humility this month hehe just kidding! :) But anyway we did that and got the church looking great. It was really fun! Then after we went over to the Voisins house to play soccer with a bunch of hispanic guys. Well we didn't know it, but she had made a huge feast! So we ate our faces off and it was some of the best food I have had. She owns a oyster company so she gets the freshest fish ever. She had fried oysters.. Man mom and dad you guys would have died with how good they were. Then we had the traditional turkey, but we also had queso. WE need to start that up because it was soo good! Then we all just sat and talked for a good little bit and then played soccer. That was a bad idea! WE all felt sick from how much food we ate and then going non stop in soccer. It was fun. They showed me up though that is for sure. At least I scored twice :) then after we had to hurry home and shower so we could get to our next appointment at 3. We went on to eat there as well.. It was hard, but so good. We had some great Pineapple Ham. Then after we ended up staying there all night with the Marlatts and some other members and played some fun games like killer bunnies, Bang, and some other fun board games. I am excited for next Thanksgiving and having the best food ever and being able to watch football! :) So that was pretty much our thanksgiving. Really fun and relaxed. The rest of the week went well. A few good lessons. This week flew by just like every other week. So that was good.

Today we are going to just hang out as a district. Probably go to the mall after we eat and then to the church to play some games. It is a good day. Not too much else is new. Church was really good yesterday. Oh they did ask me to prepare a talk on Gratitude so if you have any ideas I would much appreciate it! It is going to be a back up talk incase no one shows up the next couple of weeks. Which Happens a ton! Then on Friday at ZTM I have to give a 20 min instruction on the missionary purpose. So that should be fun too. Oh well! You never can get too comfortable in Life because that is when things get through into your life! :) And Next transfer is in 2 weeks and I have a feeling I will be leaving. I would like to stay 1 more with Puefua for Christmas, but who knows. Come what may and love it! Well I hope you all have a great week this up coming week. I am sorry there was nothing too spiritual this week. I will think of something good for next week! Just know I am doing great! Striving to be the best I can. I am loving life and loving having a car! ;) I love you all so much and am so thankful for each of you in my life. Love ya!

Love Elder Smith

ps So I wasn't able to bring any of the decorations with me. It was hard to take them. But if you do send me some don't spend too much! :) Because I probably wont be bringing them home with me haha. I don't think I will need to with how many decorations we have at our house! Are you guys doing christmas lights this year? Just think! It is the last one!! :)

pss Hey dad how is your foot feeling? I hope a lot better! 

PSSS Love you guys! :)

( B Day Party) 

( Poison Ivy ) 

32 Lessons This Week! - 11/29/14

Hey there family!! Happy early thanksgiving! You all are looking great! It sounds like it was another great week. Dad how are you doing? How do you feel from your surgery? I really hope your trial can be over. I hope by the time I get back you will be able to run and jump like you used to. That will be awesome! :) Oh and thank you mom and dad for the amazing Hawaii package! I fixed me up some of those pancakes with the coconut syrup this morning. It was so good. I am glad you had such a great week and a fun trip. The house sure is looking nice! I can't believe how fast they are putting it up. That is pretty crazy. I bet you are getting excited. I know I would be. So I have been sending those pictures to Bryson and he said he is moving in with us when he gets home haha! Well I am going to miss your amazing turkey dinner this year mom, but like you said next year will be even better!! :) It also sounds like utahs weather is freezing right now. I am sorry to hear that! If it makes you feel any better our weather is getting pretty cold as well. Last week it got down to freezing. That wasn't fun at all, but guess what.. We got a car now so it doesn't matter!!! :) That is the biggest blessing for me! :)

Alright now for my week. Well as you can see from my title it was a great week! WE taught the most lessons I have ever taught in a week! 32 lessons! My last highest was 20 and that was with Elder Mellor. It just goes to show when you have a car you can teach so much more. We can get to appointments in literally only 10 minutes when biking it would take us 45 minutes you know? And also this week was huge. We now as you know cover Cut Off and down in the bayous. So one day a week we go down there and teach people. It is a ton of fun! That is where all of my stories are going to be coming from. So you know the movie water boy? And how for his car it is a lawn mower? Well we visit a guy who is just like water boy. He only has a lawn mower and he drives it everywhere! They live in the Ghetto in the swamps. The longest trip he has taken his lawn mower was to covington... So from cutoff to covington is probably a good 300 miles or so... It was ridiculous! I feel like I am living in a movie right now with some of the people we visit and teach. Also we passed some of the people who are in the TV show swamp people. I thought they would live in really nice houses, but I was wrong. They live in 2 trailers which are not that nice. A ton of people live in trailers down here.

But as I said this week was great. A ton of miracles happened. 2 of our investigators came to church. We were able to meet with W.D.S. again and teach him the restoration. He is doing so well. I am so very glad I was able to stay in Houma for one more transfer. I don't know how next transfer will be though. It is coming up in 3 weeks. I hope I stay with Elder Puefua so we can have some fun plans for Christmas, but who knows.

Everyday we have been so booked up from the morning until the evenings. It is really nice! This has never happened before for me. We don't have time to do a lot of things. Sometimes we have to skip lunch and dinner to get to all of our appointments. Thank goodness for Elder Puefua who is willing to work hard and to give it his all. We get along so well and teach very well together. Well I don't really have any cool experiences this week except for the lawn mower guy. That was pretty funny! Other than that everything has been going really well!

Oh yeah the most important thing that happened this week was on Saturday. A lady I have been working with ever since I got here went to the temple for her endowments!! SO Saturday morning we meet at the church then us missionaries rode up with some of the members. The temple is such an amazing place. Talk about putting the cherry on top for the week. We went through the 1 oclock session and it was amazing. She was so happy and excited. When she came into the celestial room she did some huge fist pumps! it was halarious. It was so cool to see someone who is such a good friend be able to make life changing choices to become closer to God. Also the video was one of the new ones I have not seen yet so I absolutely loved it. The temple truly is the house of the Lord. You can go there to get peace. Any hardships you are going through you can go and just forget about it and become closer to your Heavenly Father. I love it! I am jealous for you all with having a temple so close now to go to whenever you want. Mom I am planning on joining you with your weekly temple visits! :) We also should make it a goal to where ever we travel in the world we should get to the temple on every trip. That would be really cool! Well on our way back from Baton Rouge we stopped and ate at Cracker Barrel... man that was good!! We had a great time. Then when we got back we had a few appointments. IT was great 

This past Sacrament Meeting was one of the best Sacrament meetings I have been to. First off it was one of my favorite families in the ward who spoke. Brother and Sister Kennedy. They have only been married a couple of years, but they are so fun. She spoke first on how to be totally miserable... They say that in life suffering is mandatory, but misery is optional. We all have problems, but we also have choices. We can choose to be happy, or we can choose to be miserable. Being miserable requires effort. Then she went on and said how we will learn to be miserable, and on the way, we might also learn how not to be. Then she gave us 5 steps to be miserable, but how with our attitude we can change that and be happy. It was a great talk. Then Brother K got up and talked about things we are grateful for. He asked some people on facebook to tell him what they are thankful for. It was the usual answers like my mom and dad and family and work. Then he said he made a list for himself, but he could only come up with a list of complaints. Like his grandfather who is very sick right now at age 94. And different hardships. Then he gave us a new perspective on how we view things. So for his grandfather he told us how he was able to spend 30 years with him and now this trial has happened. So we need to get a new perspective and look at things differently in a positive way. So it made me think of you dad and with your hardship right now with your feet. No matter how hard it is or gets we can always be thankful for the time and love we have been able to show to each other and that is something I will never forget. Hopefully that all made sense! I am paraphrasing haha.

Well family happy thanksgiving! I am so thankful for you all. I am so thankful we have a loving family. I am thankful for trials and hardships because they make us strong and bring us closer to our divine potential. Thank you for your love and support. I am thankful for this Gospel. I am thankful Heavenly Father hears and answers our prayers. I am thankful he leads us in these latter days with prophets and apostles. I am thankful for Scriptures and the teachings in them. I am thankful for my older Brother. Jesus Christ. Who died for all of humanity so one day we will be able to live again as a family for the eternities. I am so thankful for the atonement for when I mess up i'll be able to repent and be forgiven. If it wasn't for Jesus Christ none of us would be able to enter into Heaven again because no unclean thing can be in the presence of God. So whenever you are having a hard day just take a step back and realize the things you are thankful for and I promise you, you will find peace and happiness. And always rely on our Savior. He can help us through everything. I love you guys and have a great week! Talk to you soon! :)

Love Elder Smith