Week 45

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Kapele 

Monday: pretty fun Pday... This morning we got all of our big stuff
done by 7:30 so we just kinda hung around until we went to 4th ave to
walk around. It's a street with a bunch of little shops on it. While
we were in one of the stores a big 7'3 guy walks up to us and asked us
if we were Mormon missionaries. Conveniently we were so we talked with
him, he has been less active since he was 12 and his dad kicked him
out and wants to get back in contact with the church.
Tuesday: Had Foodbank this after noon and had a blast. Beat the record
of boxes made which was 1200. Now someone has to beat the record and
make 1303 boxes:) After Foodbank we went to Costa Vida which is almost
the same as cafe rio and then we had a lesson with Sister Cherry and
her Fiancé David. Lesson went well, wasn't planning on David being
there so we taught the plan of salvation. Had dinner with Travis from
the Foodbank which was fun. Watched some of the south elders
investigators kids while they were in a lesson. Roy helped us out so
it was all good, showed some of the children bible videos which went
really well.
Wednesday: Had district meeting today which was good and then went to
a Sanoran dog stand with the district. Had a lesson with Carrie Hudson
which went well, and then went to Roy's to help prepare dinner and
stuff. Roy also bought us some fish tonight:) they're awesome:)
Thursday: Went to the food bank this morning and boxed some food. Had
a lesson with the Tafoya family and it was great:) they are a part
member family who wants to start coming to church. The wife and 9 year
old son are not members. We taught the restoration and they both
accepted a baptismal date for the 23rd:) super exciting:) we then had
a lesson with Carlos and had a very good discussion on the Book of
Mormon. Really gave him some things to think about regarding it.
Friday: CRAZY DAY... This morning was great, did all our weekly
planning stuff and had lesson in the evening. The lesson was with
another part member family, a mom and daughter who is 12. Get to their
house and she immediately starts cussing us out... Haven't heard that
bad of language in awhile. The situation is complicated but she was
just angry at the church, not necessarily us. Went from that to her
inviting us in her home to teach a lesson. Lesson was ehh... She loves
to talk. New investigator... We will see how things go with that. P.s.
She has cancer, bipolar disorder, and a bunch of anger issues that she
is currently getting help for.
Saturday: Crazy day again... This morning we cleaned a family in the
wards neighbors place which was pretty gross. The neighbor was a heavy
smoker and smoked in his house so we spent most of the time cleaning
the walls with a mop. After cleaning they bought a bunch of pizza and
then we went home. On the way home we gave some of the leftover pizza
they gave us to a homeless man sleeping on the street. Went to U-swirl
with Travis and then contacted a referral which went well. It was
super windy and part of their fence blew down so we helped out with
that and then they told us to come by again later. They're a super big
family so that's exciting :) went to Joes for alittle, went to a block
party in Jason's neighborhood, and then went to go drop off some food
at that part member families house and got cussed out again... Found
something else to be mad about... 20 min later thanked us for the food
and apologized for screaming at us.
Sunday: Pretty good Sunday... The Tafoya family made it to church, we
taught the youth,  and we had a pretty good end of the day. Visited
the Williams and their new baby:) Roy made us dinner and had some fun.
 This week something that I really had to put to work was love &
charity. As you know from reading Friday and Saturday me and kapele
got cussed out for no reason at all. Yet we still listened to what she
said, invited her, and help her in any way we could. Through these
experiences on Friday and Saturday. Tyna really learned to know that
we care for her and want to help her. She trusts that we know what she
needs to do to get back on the right path. We would have never been
able to earn that trust if we didn't talk with her and show love for
her and her daughter.
  1. As I have loved you,
Love one another.
This new commandment:
Love one another.
By this shall men know
Ye are my disciples,
If ye have love
One to another.
Love you all!! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Smith

Forgot to mention this, elder kapele is getting transferred to silver
city and I'm getting an elder cox. Should be great!

Kapele saying goodbye to the Williams

Isaiah Williams. Lee and Amber's baby.

Roy bought us fish

 

Week 44

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Kapele 

 

Monday: Roy made us breakfast this morning which was nice. We then did our normal pday activities and after that we went over to Jason's for his final lesson before he is baptized this Saturday:) everything is set. The Nymeyers were awesome enough to come with us and after the lesson bring us to sonic for shakes. 

Tuesday: I hate pianos... This morning we moved a huge piano. It wasn't a baby grand or a grand piano, it was in between. We had no dolly or anything, it was the heaviest thing ever. Ended up taking 3 hours to move it from one house to another. We then went to Foodbank, Joe (recent convert) came with which was fun. Had a lesson with a less active named Nacho which was pretty good. Taught him the restoration and he seemed to really love it. He hasn't been active since the 80's and I feel like he doesn't remember a whole lot. 

Wednesday: This morning we had zone meeting which was super long and kinda boring. Got some stuff out of it but not as much as I have in the past. Had an appointment with a less active named Mike and had a blast getting to know him more. Roy came to the lesson with him and they got along great. Both Navy guys and are practically best friends already. After the lesson Roy invited him to dinner, he came, and then invited us all to drive up to the temple site. 

Thursday: Roy invited us over for breakfast this morning. Mike was there installing some ceiling fans for Roy to make a couple extra bucks. Had Foodbank again which was fun, tried stopping by some less actives, ended up stopping by Joe's house and had a very intense conversation about how he is not coming to church anymore and going back to meeting with the Jehovah Witnesses because of issues he is having with doctrine. That was very stressful and made things pretty difficult the rest of the day. Ended up having a lesson with an investigator named Carlos. The lesson went very well, we taught the restoration with Roy he had heard it before but he learned some new things. 

Friday: Pretty good day... Weekly planning. After weekly planning we went over to Jason's and finalized some things for the baptism. Jesse, (Jason's mom's boyfriend) was there and we had a really good discussion about the gospel. He is somewhat interested in taking the lessons. Felt like we should go over to Joes again, went over there and he talked about how he is sorry about yesterday. He knows that this is the true church and has since he heard the restoration lesson for the first time and felt the spirit overtake him. He is going to coming to church from now on, he has to work through some things but he is doing better. Hearing that relieved a bunch of stress. 

Saturday: started off a good day, turned into a horrible day, and then back to a perfect day. This morning we went to the church again to clean it. We had a lesson with a potential investigator Hannah and her less active mom Tina but Tina ended up having a seizure and being brought to the hospital. She has a bunch of medical issues so I guess it wasn't a big deal according to her. Roy was with us so we drove around with him trying to visit some less actives. He wanted to go to this tropical pet store to look at some birds he might buy and had a lot of fun. He brought us to lunch and then we get a text from Jason's mom that the baptism is off... There was a trifecta of horrible things that happened it wasn't going to happen. First thing we did was went over to their house and talked with her, calmed her down, and talked her into potentially doing the baptism still. Can't tell you exactly what the trifecta is but just know that it was pretty crazy bad... We gave her some time to think about it, went to the hospital to give her sister a blessing who had just been rushed into surgery for internal bleeding, and then we got the word that the baptism was on. One of the best baptisms I have ever been too, the spirit was so strong, summer was crying, we had a musical number preformed by an elder and sister in the mission who are amazingly talented and everything went perfect. With all the crap Satan tried pushing on Jason that day... He must be one special kid. 

Sunday:  Happy Fathers Day! Church was pretty good,  Jason came and got confirmed and received the Holy Ghost. Bishop Curtis did it which was pretty cool. A family at church has a 9 year old son that has not been baptized yet and wants us to teach him:) Nothing too exciting happened the rest of today other than it has been extremely hot. 

I want to talk about the Book of Mormon today. More of the logistics of the book and how it has to be true and the word of God. I was reading a book for studies and they have a challenge for us. If you can find someone that can do this without the help of God, let me know:)

1. You must be between 23 and 24 years of age.
2. You cannot be a college graduate; in fact, you can have only three years of formal schooling during the 1820s and yet be able to translate a language which is no longer part of any language on earth known or unknown.
3. Whatever you translate and record must be on the basis of what you now know; no research is permitted.
4. You must write a book with 239 chapters, 54 of them about wars, 21 about history, 55 about prophecy, 71 about doctrine, 17 about missionaries and 21 about the mission of Jesus Christ. Your record must be 522 pages with over 510 words per page, 266,220 words.
5. You must include in your writings the history of two distinct and separate nations, along with histories of different contemporary nations or groups of people of which no one ever knew existed. The main group of people is also divided into two groups and covered a period from 600 B.C. to 421 A.D. The second group covered a time 1000 years earlier yet lived in approximately the same place of which the latter group had the records of the former group and had translated their record into their language and included it in their history. And as if that is not complicated enough, there are also single and double overlapping flash backs included without breaking the congruency of the story line. All three nations will have artifacts and complete cities discovered by modern archeologists which will prove and will bear record of their existence down to the minutest detail.
6. Your writings must describe the religious, economic, social and political cultures, the manner of their written and spoken languages, types of buildings, geographic locations including their topographies, tools and materials used, the monetary system, which was a base 8 system of math completely unknown to the world in 1830, and many other facts completely unknown to the rest of the world in 1830, yet subsequently discovered.
7. You must include three independent dating systems that are all maintained accurately throughout over 800 years and are consistently accurate and include their various government types. The well known ancient Aztec calendar stone, found many years after this publication, is just one of the many discoveries which have proven these civilizations existed, of which Joseph wrote.
8. You must weave into your history the religion of Jesus Christ and the pattern of Christian living and not have it be in conflict with the Bible or within its own record.
9. When you start to produce this record, covering a period over 2000 years of these two groups of people, you must finish it in approximately 80 days. Of course it is known by man today that the bible was translated by a group of 52 scholars from a known language and it took them 16 years to complete the work and it has numerous contradictions.
10. When you have finished you must not make any changes in the text. The first edition must stand forever not withstanding punctuation or changes in modern day grammar and typos in type setting from 1830 to now.
11. After pauses for sleep and food, if you are dictating to a stenographer you must never ask to have the last paragraph or last sentence or even the last word read back to you because you are translating not creating. Without watching what your scribe is writing, you stop and correct his spelling of many of the new proper nouns and other mistakes that come up and still do not go back to read what was written by your scribe.
12. You must add 180 proper nouns to the English language. William Shakespeare added only 30. Some words and names are used in a way that is contrary to known applications at the time of translation. Time has proven them accurate. As an example, the proper name Alma has only been used as a female name throughout history, yet in this translation it is a mans name. Recent discoveries show that it was originally a man's name. How could Joseph Smith had known this? Also the use of many words and phrases in his translation were unknown in his time or anywhere in history outside of the time period of the record. Such is the case with the use of the word “precious” to describe a metal. The only other place in literature it is found is in the Bible about 600 B.C., the same time period it is used in “The Book of Mormon”, and the word valley being referred to as “steady and immovable”. Lehi, a prophet in the book, was referring, of course, to the sand deserts where sand dunes move but valleys stay the same. There is no way Joseph could have known these things. He had never even seen a sand dune.
13. You must announce that your "smooth narrative" is not fiction but true, yes, even that it is an ancient sacred record of history.
14. In fact, it must fulfill the Bible prophecies; even in the exact manner in which it shall come forth, to whom given, its purpose, and accomplishments, respectively--Psalms 85:10-11; Isa. 29:2-4; Isa, 29:11-14; Ezek. 37:18-21, etc. 
15. You must publish it to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, declaring it to be the Word of God at your own expense and persecution.
16. You must include, in the record itself, this marvelous promise recorded in the book by a prophet; "And when you shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, He will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."
17. Tens and hundreds of thousands must bear record to the world from then on that they know the record to be true, because they put the "promise" to the test and found it to be true, the truth manifested to them by the power of the Holy Ghost.
18. Thousands of great men, intellectual giants, and scholars must subscribe discipleship to the record and its movement even to the point of laying down their lives for it.
19. There can be no flaw whatsoever in the entire record. No contradictions or inconsistencies, yet you must not make any absurd or impossible statements.
20. Even so, many of the facts, ideas, and statements given us including where they lived, you must profess as true in your record and must be entirely inconsistent, even the direct opposite of the prevailing beliefs of the world where very little is claimed to be known about these civilizations and their 2,000 years of history.
21. You must invite the ablest scholars and experts to examine the test with care. You must strive diligently to see that your book gets into the hands of all those most eager to prove it a forgery and who are most competent to expose any flaw in it.
22. Thorough investigation, scientific evidence, and archaeological discoveries for the next 150 plus years must verify your claims and prove even the minutest details of your history to be perfectly true, even to the types of roads they built.
23. After years of extensive analysis, no claim or fact in the book is disproved, but all is vindicated. Many theories and ideas, as to its origin, rise and fall, leaving your claims as the only possible ones.
24. Internal and external prophecies must be confirmed and fulfilled from time to time.
25. Three honest, creditable witnesses must testify to the whole world that an angel from heaven appeared to them and showed to them the ancient records from which you claim your record is translated and the voice of the Redeemer declares to these three witnesses that your record is true and that it is their responsibility to bear their testimony of this truth. And they do it. Eight other well know public men must also testify that they have seen the gold plates from which this record was supposed to have been taken. They must handle and feel the engravings on the record as did the other three witnesses.
26. Shortly after the Church is organized, 12 Apostles are called along with the first presidency of the church and all of them testify that they saw the Father and the Son. This they do for the remainder of their lives.
27. The first three, the second eight, the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, and the First Presidency must all witnesses and bear their testimony not for profit or gain, but under great personal sacrifice and severe persecution, even to their death.
 28. You must find someone to finance the publishing of your book with the understanding that neither they nor you will ever receive any monetary remuneration from it. You must sell the book at cost or at less than its production value or cost.
29. You must tell the world that the written record from which you have translated was engraved on gold plates, even though at the time you make this claim, no one has ever found anywhere in the world of past history, any civilizations using gold as a method of keeping records, and not until about 100 years later were any similar engraved gold plates found thereby vindicating your claim.
30. Finally, after suffering persecution and revilement for 20 years after you finished the book, you must willingly give your own life for your testimony that the record is from God as a mob breaks into your jail and kills you and your brother.
Sorry it is so long but I love this challenge and after I read this it makes me laugh to think that people even question the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and wether or not Joseph Smith was a true prophet of God who was a tool in restoring the true church of Christ on the earth today. After you read this I want to invite you all to read the Book of Mormon daily, pray about it daily, and share your testimony with others about it as often as possible. I know the Book of Mormon is true because I have read and prayed about it and received a witness from the Holy Ghost that it is the word of God. 

Love you all!! Have a great week and happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. Especially my Dad:) Love you so much and everything you have sacrificed for me. Really appreciate it all and love you to death. Thanks for everything:) 

Love,
Elder Smith

I put a bird on Kapele's head haha

Jason got baptized!

Look at the birds

From left to right: Sam (recent convert), Roy, and Mike

Temple site with Mike (less active)

Week 43

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Kapele  

Monday: Pretty fun pday, did laundry and everything at Roy's and then
he made us breakfast. Went to the church for sports to find out none
of the English missionaries were actually there. They went to the
institute to hang out and none of them told us they were going there.
Kinda lame, so we left and just hung around our apartment because we
didn't know where they were till later. Found Kat tonight after
dinner! She is a person we found a long time ago and kinda blew us
off. Gave her a Book of Mormon and our card so hopefully she calls us.
Tuesday: This morning was pretty good, after working out I hate a
pretty healthy breakfast, did studies, and then went to an appointment
with Jodi. Lesson went well for the most part. Went to the Foodbank
after that and had a blast as usual. Talked with Travis about the word
of wisdom after he offered me a cup of coffee and really seemed to
find it really cool. Had a lesson with Sister Cherry a less active.
Things with her are going good and she has been coming to church
rather consistently. Had dinner with a Brazilian guy and he told us
some crazy stories about his mission in England. Went over to the
Nymeyers and had a great time talking with them and shared a good
message with them.
Wednesday: Woke up this morning and realized that we had left our
phones at the Nymeyers on accident so we had to go over and pick it
up. We came back to the apartment and did our normal thing and then
left for meetings. Meetings went well, after meetings we went to lunch
with most of the zone at In and out. Had a lesson with our new
investigator Carrie which went great. Wanting to increase her faith in
Jesus Christ and she called the right people to help her with that
haha. Went on exchanges tonight after dinner.
Thursday: Had a meeting this morning on family history and the members
that taught the meeting brought us to chick filet which was nice.
President recently invited us to find two names to bring to the temple
to do their work. Had some fun with Elder Taylor visiting less
actives. Saw a less active named Nacho who is very nice. All our
appointments for today canceled so we pretty much just did finding all
day. Had dinner with Lee and had a good lesson with him afterward.
Went to U-Swirl for desert.
Friday: Kapele had a Dr. Appointment this morning. Ric and Robin from
my first area brought us out to lunch which was awesome of them. Jason
had his baptismal interview which took forever but went well. We then
went home and weekly planned until dinner. There was a baptism tonight
that we went to for a kid named Damion. The other elders in the ward
taught him, we then went to U-swirl with a group of missionaries.
Saturday: Helped clean the church again this morning and then went
home to get ready for another baptism. The baptism went well, it was
for the other Elders in the ward. His name is Sam. Roy brought us to
Costco for pizza afterward. Went and visited a less active after that,
he has an alcohol addiction that we're going to be helping him with.
Sunday: Sunday was pretty good, had PEC which went well. Sacrament had
a good turnout, 3 investigators came. Jason, Jesse(moms boyfriend),
and David(sister cherry's boyfriend). Had a good discussion with a
recent convert Joe on tithing. Has a hard time paying it especially
with all the financial issues he has been having. Any suggestions??
Since he has been having some financial issues its been hard for him
to buy food so we took all the canned food from our cabinet and some
other little things. Dropped it off on his doorstep, knocked on the
door, and ran. Pretty fun to do it:)
Just want to reemphasize the importance of reading the Book of Mormon
and praying about it. It's the only way that we can ever know that the
Book of Mormon is true. There is no other way. Moroni 10:3-5
3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if
it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember
how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the
creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these
things, and ponder it in your hearts.
4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye
would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these
things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with
real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it
unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.
5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
It works. I promise you that.
Love you all! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Smith

Cheesy smile pic

Arizona Tucson Mission

Hanging out at Costco with the other missionaries, Roy, and Sam who was just baptized

Temple

Went back later and the Book of Mormon was gone!

Eating healthy

Week 42

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Kapele  

Dear family and friends,

Monday: P-day was pretty good, this morning we had our carpets cleaned
because they were so filthy. Did all our shopping and everything and
then hung out at the church with all the other missionaries. The rest
of the night we tried to get stuff done but wasn't very successful.

Tuesday: This morning we did service for a potential investigator. She
had a few things that she needed moved into her place and a member was
able to help us with that as well. We have an appointment with her
next Wednesday to teach the restoration. Went to the Foodbank to
volunteer and then had a lesson with a less active and her non member
boyfriend. Taught the restoration to him and invited him to read the
Book of Mormon. Really liked the restoration and was excited to read
the Book of Mormon. Thing that is difficult is that he lives in
Connecticut and only comes down to Tucson every few weeks. We had no
idea what we were going to do tonight because our plans fell through
so we got on our knees and said a prayer for us to find something
constructive to do. We felt prompted to call a potential investigator
and ask if we could come over and he said yes. Had a very good gospel
discussion and he invited us back. I know that without that prayer we
would have not even thought of calling Carlos.

Wednesday: Zone conference today which went really well and I really
got a lot out of it. Really tried my hardest to stay focused, take
notes, so I can apply it into my teaching. After the conference we had
a lesson with Lee which went well. A member came with us and was able
to add in a few things. Been really stressed lately trying to find
people to teach and so I somehow developed 3 canker sores that have
not been helpful. Keep pushing forward though with a a smile... :)

Thursday: This morning we went to the Foodbank again and had a blast.
Had a really good gospel conversation with Travis one of the workers.
Had dinner with Brother Burke tonight and his family. He is awesome!
And tell the best stories ever. Brother Burke served his mission in
South Carolina and had so many amazing experience. He knows the bible
so good and it's crazy. Using the bible he determined the exact year
the restoration of the gospel would happen! Blew my mind! After dinner
once again we didn't know what to do so we said another prayer and
went through the ward directory trying to find some less actives to go
visit. We accidentally picked a member of the bishopric and decided
even though he is active I felt that the name was inspired so we
stopped by anyway and had a very good discussion on the area
initiative that our mission is trying to implement and is having a
hard time doing so... After explaining it he really loved it and is
going to do what he can to get it rolling.

Friday: Really good weekly planning session today. Really hard to
focus and stay motivated about staying in the apartment all day
planning for the week in a way you know what is going to happen and
nothing you plan actually happens. This week we tried really hard to
stay focused, call and set appointments, have the lesson topic picked,
figure out who is coming, etc. hopefully none of our plans cancel and
it will be exactly how we planned it. Chances are that won't happen
though sadly. For dinner some members brought us to this Chicago
Styled Pizza place and it was not bad for being in Tucson. Not as good
as the real thing though.

Saturday: This morning we helped clean the church building which was
alright... Really unorganized which was stressful. After doing our
normal routine and everything we went out looking for less actives and
had some success. We also went to stop by some previous investigators,
while doing that we did some street contacting and gave out two Book
of Mormons. Neither of the people lived in our area sadly but hey,
we're still fulfilling out purpose.

Sunday: Had a really good Sunday. Bore my testimony about the light of
Christ. Had that huge urge to go up and doing it and it felt nice to
follow that prompting. One of our potential investigators was at
church. After church we did all our studies and then went on the
search for less actives again. Had some success finding people which
was nice.
Visited with an older brother that joined the church in the 80's and I
don't know if he has been to church since. Had a good conversation
with him about the gospel and invited him to meet with the bishop. Had
dinner with the stake president tonight which was cool. He gave us
these coins that he had custom made for our mission. Super cool.

This week while I was doing my personal study I came across a
scripture in Mosiah 16:9

9 He is the light and the life of the world; yea, a light that is
endless, that can never be darkened; yea, and also a life which is
endless, that there can be no more death.

If you look in the Topical Guide, Light is referring to Jesus Christ
and how He is the light of the world.  If we allow the light of Christ
into our mind and heart at all times, we will be blessed in so many
ways. Being that the light can never be darkened means that "where
there is light, darkness must depart", quote by Elder Richard J.
Maynes. If we strive to Endure to the end by living up to our
baptismal covenants, we will be able to stand up to the darkness or
Satan. I promise that as you strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ and
Endure to the End, you will be happier than you can even comprehend.

Love you all!! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

Week 41

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Kapele  

Friends and Family,

Monday: This morning Roy was awesome and made us breakfast. After that
we did laundry and all the other normal pday stuff. Then we went to
the church and hung out with all the other missionaries. Had dinner
and then went to a members house to hang out and talk about missionary
work.

Tuesday: Day that was supposed to be very busy but turned out to be
boring because everyone canceled on us. Had a good time at Foodbank
though still. We did have one lesson that didn't cancel. It was with
our investigator Olivia, thing is though she doesn't pay attention
much it seems like.

Wednesday: Had district morning as usual, that went well. Been having
a difficult time finding people to teach. Super stressed about it and
when I'm stressed I clean. After a day of feeling rather useless I
deep cleaned the whole apartment. After cleaning me and Kapele set
goals on how we are going to get out of this whole that we are in and
then we went to bed.

Thursday: Today was better, had Foodbank this morning and we went
earlier than normal and ended up staying for 4 hours. Packed a lot of
boxes... Something like 500+ boxes of food that goes all over Arizona.
After Foodbank we went home for lunch and then went out to visit some
potentials. They didn't know English though... Had dinner at Roy's and
then Bishop Curtis invited us over to get some leftover food from his
sons grad party.

Friday: Today was weekly planning which went alright... Had a lesson
with Jason that went great. Jason was a lot more involved in the
lesson. He asked questions, answered questions, and was showing his
desire to be baptized a lot more than other times that we have visited
with him. Pushed his date back just alittle to help him better prepare
for his baptism. He will now be getting baptized on the 18th instead
of the 4th. Excited for him to get baptized:) After his house we went
to a less actives, got to know him better, and shared a message.
Really cool guy, has to work on Sunday's so can't come to church even
though he really wants too.

Saturday: had another lesson with Jason today which went great again.
Had Sister Price the primary president come and fellowship the lesson
which went well. Tried to find things to do between lessons and had
lesson with Esmeralda our investigator. She has been having a hard
time finding the time with meeting with us but luckly we found time
and had a great lesson and reset expectations.

Sunday: Church was pretty good, Jason came which was good. After
church we just did our studies, gave a blessing to a member in the
ward, and then went to dinner. Dinner was pretty fun, lots of people.
Then we went to a park near our apartment and walked around to find
people to teach. It's a beautiful park but was unsuccessful. We did
run into the bishop while we were there and talked with him for awhile
which was good.

Today I would like to share a scripture out of the Book of Mormon its
in Alma 17:2-3

2 Now these sons of Mosiah were with Alma at the time the angel first
appeared unto him; therefore Alma did rejoice exceedingly to see his
brethren; and what added more to his joy, they were still his brethren
in the Lord; yea, and they had waxed strong in the knowledge of the
truth; for they were men of a sound understanding and they had
searched the scriptures diligently, that they might know the word of
God.

3 But this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and
fasting; therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of
revelation, and when they taught, they taught with power and authority
of God.

We are commanded to be share the gospel with those around us. We
should be praying for opportunities to share the Gospel with others
but a lot of the time I feel like we fear we don't know enough to
share anything. First I want to say you do know enough if you can say
something as simple as "I know I have a loving Heavenly Father". Even
though that might be enough we should continue to diligently study the
scriptures to have a better understanding of them so we can be more
prepared to testify with more power. I love the scriptures and this
gospel. Love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

Members from Kapele's old area bought us ice cream