Week 35

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Kapele 

Monday: Much needed Pday... Super tired from all the work from the
week before. Really good pday though. Got my guitar fixed, there was
some issues with my suit so I brought them to men's wearhouse and
they're replacing them for free:) After all the pday things we went to
the sister missionaries apartment to give one of the sisters a
blessing.
Tuesday: Today was Foodbank day, we did that for accouple hours, went
home, changed, and then went though a huge list of potential
investigators that we have. Today I bought a bike that another
missionary is selling. I'm not in a biking area but I could be in the
next coming transfers. Thought I would take advantage of the good
deal. Had a lesson with Lee today that went really well. Helping him
to prepare for his baptism on the 29th. He has an interview set up and
everything, it's really amazing to see the progress that he has made
in the short amount of time I've been here.
Wednesday: Temple trip #3. Was pretty amazing, you always get more out
of each temple trip you make. On the way to the temple we stopped at
the trailer to pick up some stuff I left and on the way back stopped
at Shannon's auto to get a tire leak patched. Had dinner at Roy's
where I cooked chicken again. Super funny, we fed some of the leftover
chicken to Roy's chickens. Really messed up but something about it was
extremely entertaining. Roy was nice enough to bring us out for frozen
yogurt. We then went to a lesson that didn't end up showing up... Went
home after that.
Thursday: I've been trying to get back into the habit of waking up and
working out in the morning and I finally did it! Woke up and went on a
1 mile run and then did some 7 min workout from this app I have. Did
all of our studies and then went to district meeting. Learned more
about obedience and the importance of it. Feel like I have been doing
pretty good with that, pretty proud of myself there. We then went to
the food bank and had a blast making boxes. The worker at the Foodbank
was pretty cool, his name is Travis, he isn't a member but I feel like
he could be one day... Seems like a good potential. Went to our Lee
with lesson and helped him prepare for his baptism more. Planning a
baptism is fun. Went and saw some more potentials, have a good lead,
his name is Hiram who said we could come back sometime. We were about
to head home for the night but instead Elder Kapele said we should go
see a part member family who ended up being home and we taught the
Plan of salvation and set a baptism date with Jason a 9 year old kid.
Great night.
Friday: Pretty good day today for weekly planning. This morning we
went on a run again and did a little workout. After doing our weekly
planning, since we share a ward with another set of Elders we met up
with them and went over our plans for the week. Went and visited some
people after that but sadly nobody was home.
Saturday: This morning we woke up, worked out, did studies, and were
able to visit a lot of the potential investigators on our list. Sadly
not a lot of people lived at the places the lead said or they were
interest but we are getting closer to finishing the list of people.
There was some people that we did meet with who were less active and
invited them too church and they came! It was great to see them at
church. We set up a meeting with the ward mission leader to discuss
the work in the ward. Things are getting better with him. Went to
Roy's to drop of a list of people he gave us and ended up eating at
his house again. Drove to a recent converts we have been trying to get
a hold of to find out she wasn't even available.
Sunday: Feels like I haven't taken the sacrament in a long time
because of General Conference and Stake Conference. Was weird to go
two weeks without it but a good experience at the same time. Makes you
more appreciative of it. After church we went home for lunch and then
went out to visit more potentials. Lee's wife Amber wasn't feeling
good so we went to their house to give her a blessing. Went to a
recent converts house who is a ward missionary leader and he talked
with us about some ideas of what we can do to get more investigators.
Things in the area are slowly starting to progress and I'm excited to
see where it goes.
Spiritual thought for today comes from the scripture Mathew 5:16
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good
works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
This week when we met with the recent convert Joe while talking about
ideas of how we can get more investigators and it was by doing just
this. Sometimes as missionaries we feel like what we say is more
important than the things we do. As servants of the Lord we are to be
as much like our savior as we can. We are representatives of Jesus
Christ. If we follow his example by not just teaching but serving
people and let our light shine forth before men, then we will be able
to more successful with the work. Doing this is not just important
when it comes to full time missionary work but to daily life in the
"real world". I invite you all to look for selfless acts of service
you can do this week and I promise you will be happy with the
blessings you receive from doing so. Love you all!
Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Smith

Went on a hike today, will tell you more about it next week.

The desert landscape

Elders Smith and Kapele at the temple