Hey Family!
It
was another great week down here in the South Valley. We are working hard
right now out here, and I sure do love being with Elder Chamberlain. I
have learned a lot from him, and it is great to be with him. We had some
adventure this week out in Alamo, and I will write about that in a bit, but it
was a crazy time. We had MLC this week, and we had to give Zone Training
this week. Those went well, and I really enjoyed it. We managed to
set 2 more baptismal dates this week, and that was really good. The work
is moving forward out here, and it is great to see that. I love this
work, and it is something I wish I could do forever. You truly find out
about yourself and this gospel. It is the only true church on this
earth.
Our
investigators are doing really good, and we have 3 really solid ones right
now. One of our miracles of this week was with Claudio. We have
been working with him a lot lately and just pushing him on a date. It has
been hard at times, but he has been truly seeking for the truth, and he was at
the stage where he was finding for himself. Saturday night we went over
and had a super awesome lesson with him. We answered his questions and
taught him the word of wisdom. We also
invited him to be baptized on the 7th of February and he said
yes. It was awesome, and what was even cooler is that he came to church
the next day and loved it. We are just continuing to work away with him
and eventual get him baptized. He is a stud, and I love him. The
other investigators we were able to set a date with is a guy name
Gustavo. He has been investigating for about a year, and he has trouble
coming to church and having the desire to go. He is only 20 and is in a
band, and he is pretty dope. We went over this week and he
expressed to us that this church is true and he knows it to be. We
committed him to be baptized the 31st of January, and he set
yes! It was another miracle we had, and it was great to see that
happen. We now have 6 on date. But
we are scared that Magda, Osvaldo, and Tonya are going to drop because they
have no desire to do anything right now and it is just a head case.
Hopefully we will get them back on date or they do something to progress
because they aren’t really doing anything right now. It is sad to see that happening. They
are awesome, but they have no desire to really progress.
On
another note, we had an adventure out in Alamo this week. Alamo is like 2
½ hours away from us. It is a Navajo Reservation, and the missionaries
out there are studs. They needed us to come out there last Friday after
Zone Training for a baptismal interview. We told them we would, so we
took off and drove for a while. Alamo is up in the mountains, so as we
were driving the snow started to pick up and pick up. We got there, and
it was just dumping. We did the interview and finished with that around
6. By then there was a lot of snow on the ground. I felt like I was
in Utah again, and I really didn’t think I would ever see snow like this.
We deiced to stay the night because New Mexicans don’t know how to drive in the
snow nor plow the snow. We did missionary work with them, and we slept
the night. We woke up the next day, and there was a lot of snow
everywhere. We learned the road was closed to go home but they were just
warning people not to drive it. We woke up and took off at 7 and plowed
our way home. When we got to the freeway there was tons of snow on it as
well. It was crazy, and there were tons of accidents everywhere. We
made it home in like 4 hours, and I was very impressed by all the snow that had
come down. We had an adventure out there, and we have to go this week
again for an interview. So hopefully we
don’t get stuck out there.
We
had MLC this week, and that was by far the coolest meeting I have ever been
in. It’s just for the Zone Leaders and STL’s. We set a new
baptismal goal, and that was awesome. For 2015 the mission is going for
850 baptisms. It was super inspired, and it was cool to see President
Miller instruct on attitude. We have had some problems with that in our
Zone, so we are hoping that it helps out our Zone with that. We planned
the night away that night and did get to bed until 1, and then we woke up the
next day at 5:30 and got ready for Zone Training. I am super tired right
now, but that is ok! Life is good, and I am enjoying being a leader. It is a growing opportunity, that is for sure,
and I am blessed that the Lord called me to do this. I love it, and I
love serving people.
Our
less actives are doing well as well. We didn’t have much contact with
them this week because of everything that was happening this week, but
hopefully we will regroup with them this week. I love the less actives
and serving them.
I
am really sad Grandpa Fryer passed on. I was hoping and praying he would
make it so I could see him one last time, but I knew inside when I was leaving
it was probably my last time seeing him. He is truly a great man, and I
loved him to death. I will never forget the times weeding his yard, and
he would come out and tell me that I had to do it better and that I missed
spots. I would go back and work harder and try and get it the way he
would like it. He would then give me 5 dollars for 2 hours of work, and I
would just laugh. It wasn’t about the money or the time it took. It
was about the time I got to spend with him and Grandma. I loved when Grandma
would come out and ask me, “Do you want a glass of lemonade?” We would go
back to their porch, and Grandpa would go off about the things he would talk
about. It was such a great time, and I really enjoyed it. I
loved him, and I will miss him. But what
is so great about this gospel is that death has no sting, and there is a life
after this. Jesus Christ overcame our weaknesses, problems, and death so
that we could live forever with God. His atonement makes us free, and
through him we can live. He is a lighthouse guiding us to the
shore. There is no doubt in my mind right now that Grandpa is up there
teaching other spirits about the gospel. He is also probably telling him
that he misses his BMW and he wishes he was skiing. I loved Grandpa, and
I am going to miss him.
It
sounds like everything is in one piece at home with everything that has been
going on. I bet it is going to be an awesome funeral this Saturday, and
the spirit will be strong there. I hope Grandma will hang in there,
and I would be happy if she came and lived with us. That would be fun to
have here along. I am sure going to miss
Grandpa, and I hope you tell grandma how much I love her. Mom, hang in there
and you’ll be great! You are going to be seeing me in a few short months,
and I can’t wait for that. Dad, the message you shared in your testimony
is one of my favorite parts of the bible. I love Peter for some reason,
and I feel like we can always relate to him. He always had the desire to
follow the Lord, but at times his heart wasn’t there. I love this
gospel and the blessing we have to have it here on the earth. It is
a blessing. I know everything is crazy at home, so don’t worry
about the Packers Calendar nor the quotes. You can worry about that when
things settle down. Love you all, and Go PACK GOOO!
Love
-Elder
Smith
P.S.
I want to share my favorite scriptures. It has helped me a lot out here in the mission
and has become my favorite. “Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have
many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days.”
–D&C 24:8
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