Week 49

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Cox

 Monday: pretty typical pday... Nothing real interesting.
Tuesday: didn't go to Foodbank today, had a lesson with Olivia which
ended up just being with her family. Lesson went well actually, set
expectations with them, they promised to be at church, and they did
come. Decided it would be more affective to drop Olivia and focus more
on the whole family in general. We then went over to joes for a lesson
to help him quit smoking.
Wednesday: had district meeting which went well, learned some
interesting things about dropping people and helping them progress.
Had a lesson with Hannah and Tyna in the evening which was stressful.
Tyna loves to talk, a lot...
Thursday: Had a lesson with Jodi this morning. We mostly talked about
the temple and helped her prepare to do baptisms for the dead. Went to
Foodbank, had some fun there and then went to the apartment to prepare
some more for our lessons this evening. First lesson was with Hannah,
since Tyna talks so much we invited her to stay in her room. Lesson
went a lot smoothing this time. We then had a lesson with Carlos,
awesome lesson. We taught practically the whole restoration lesson
using only the Bible. After that lesson I feel he has a lot more
understanding of things. He isn't all the way there but close☺️
Friday: weekly planning day... Spent most of the day weekly planning
which went well.
Saturday: went out of my mission boundaries for the first time in 11
months. Had a temple trip with Jodi this morning to do baptisms for
the dead at the Gilbert temple. It was a wonderful experience to see
her do it for the first time. She literally could not stop talking
about it afterwards and was so happy. She said the spirit was non stop
the whole time. I love the temple and I love that we can do ordinances
for people that didn't get a chance to do them for themselves while
they were here on earth☺️
Sunday: crazy day... Hannah wasn't able to come to church today
because she was with family so Tyna came by herself. Tyna wouldn't
stop "whispering" during sacrament meeting. And what I mean by
"whispering" is talking at a volume of voice most people talk in. Oh
Tyna... Gotta love her haha. That less active family we have been
teaching came today finally! They tried to skip out before sacrament
meeting ended but we directed them to class. They did slip out after
that though, it is a big improvement from previous times they have
come. After church the bishop of the ward gave Tyna a blessing. The
blessing went well and I pray it will help her with her rage and
cancer. We then went home and did studies.
During my studies this week I did a focus on the Atonement. The power
of the atonement that Christ performed is infinite. Most people are
familiar with the Redeeming and cleansing power of the atonement
rather than the strengthening and enabling power of it. Through the
atonement we can be blessed with the strength to overcome trials.
Nephi is a perfect example of someone who was strengthened by the
atonement, literally. Nephi in this part of the Book of Mormon was
tied up by his brothers, and through this simple prayer he was able to
free himself. He said,"I prayed unto the Lord saying: O Lord,
according to my faith which is in thee, wilt thou deliver me from the
hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength that I may burst
these bands with which I am bound" (1 Nephi 7:17).
We can learn from his example. Heavenly Father isn't just going to
give us what we want if we don't work for it. I testify that through
the atonement of Jesus Christ we can be strengthened to overcome even
our hardest trials. I've seen how I have been given the strength to
work when I'm exhausted on my mission and that through my prayers he
gave me that strength to push through. I invite you to apply all
aspects of atonement. Love you all! Have a great week!

We got Cafe Rio!

Only in Tucson

Gilbert AZ Temple

Elder Cox, Jodi, and Elder Smith

Jodi

Week 48

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Cox

Family and Friends,
Monday: Pretty typical pday... Didn't do a whole lot. Just did normal stuff.
Tuesday: today was alright... Had Foodbank which was fun, had a lesson
with Olivia which could have gone better. Had a lesson with the
Tafoya's. Finished all the lessons with them, one more visit before
they're baptized. Finished the day off teaching Tyna and Hannah which
was crazy as usual. She has gotten a lot better than the first time I
visited with her.
Wednesday: District meeting today, went well. Hung up some quote
posters and pictures on the wall in our apartment. Our apartment looks
sick now haha. We saw Mike today and spent most of the time talking
with him about life. He served in the Navy for about 7 years and told
us some of his war experiences. Some of them were really crazy.
Thursday: Had a doctor appointment in the morning which went well. Had
a lesson with Olivia but when we got to their house she was asleep...
Ended up just teaching her mom about faith. Had dinner with Tyna and
Hannah tonight and it went really well. She is getting a lot better
with her cussing, only cussed about 3 times. Cooked us a fantastic
meal. Had our final appointment with the Tafoya's after that which
went really well! Everything for the baptism is all planned and ready
to go. They just need to show up now:)  Final appointment of the night
was with Carlos which was awesome:) brought a member that before he
joined the church was about to go to school to be a baptist preacher.
He was converted while trying to prove the church wrong haha lesson
went well, left Carlos with questions I feel like.
Friday: Weekly planning day, didn't get all of it done but close. Went
on splits with the assistants to the president elder Elton. Ended up
spending the whole time trying to figure out the programs for the
baptism tomorrow. We did teach on lesson on addiction recover to a
recent convert who is trying to give up smoking again. Went really
well.
Saturday: Happy baptism day! This morning we had the opportunity to
witness the baptism of Ammon and Silvia Tafoya:) The baptism was so
great! Couldn't have gone any better:) After the baptism both Silvia
and Ammon went up and bore their testimony. Never have I heard a more
powerful testimony from a 9 year old kid:) It was unique and special
and I know he meant what he said. After the baptism we had interviews
with the president which was really good. Ended the night with a
district blitz which was fun. Helped a companionship find two new
investigators:) that was exciting.
Sunday: Pretty good Sunday. Ammon and Silvia were confirmed and we got
to perform the confirmations. I did Silvia and Cox did Ammon.
Performing an ordinance it's an amazing experience:) Tyna and Hannah
made it to church today! They almost didn't because the person who was
supposed to pick them up forgot. He had to rush over their right
before sacrament meeting. They got to church though and had a great
time. Finished weekly planning today, ready for the week.
Spiritual thought:
Psalms 20:7
7 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the
name of the Lord our God.
What this scripture is talking about and inviting us to not focus  on
worldly things. Remember the importance of remember what's really
important.
Love you all!! Have a great week!
Love,
Elder Smith

Week 47

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Cox

Dear Friends and Family,

Monday: Happy 4th. There was a pancake breakfast at the church this morning and almost all the people we invited actually came which was exciting. While at the breakfast we handed out two Book of Mormons to non members who came. The night before we set a goal to hand out one BOM. Had dinner at Roy's which was fun, I cooked everyone burgers. 

Tuesday: Had a lesson with Jodi this morning, went to Foodbank, had a lesson with David, and talked with Travis from the Foodbank about the gospel! Travis brought us to Chick-fil-a for dinner and ended up sharing pretty much the whole restoration with him. Went really well, it's a lot easier to share something you really love and care about with someone you really love and care about. We had a great lesson after that with the Tafoya's, we had an amazing experience of helping Silvia recognize her prayers have been answered. She started to get emotional as we talked about how we know when the spirit talks with us. Something I have really noticed since teaching the Tafoya's is the Gospel truly does bless families. Through our invitations to them they have progressively come closer as a family and been more happy. Also met with Tyna tonight which went a lot better than previous meetings, she didn't swear once and was modest:)

Wednesday: Zone meeting was today which was good. Sister Passey gave a really good lesson on baptism. A lot of our lessons fell through today, did see Nacho and the Mulleneaux's. That was fun. 

Thursday: Awesome day! One of the most busy days of my mission. Well... It started out rough, my ring was stuck on my finger, and kinda started to hurt. Other than that it was great. Today we taught a total of 5 member present lessons, 2 Less active/Recent convert lessons, found 2 new investigators, and set one baptismal date! Great day! All of our appointments went great as well. Feel like we really made a difference in people's lives. 

Friday: Weekly planning day as usual... Roy was awesome and brought us to Costco for lunch.

Saturday: Great day! Had a fantastic lesson with the Tafoya's at the temple site this morning. After that we went to the church for there baptismal interviews! They went great and are ready for baptism on the 16th:) The rest of the day we finished weekly planning. 

Sunday: Tafoya's were the only one who showed up today. Brother Tafoya passed the sacrament today which was really cool. After church today we brought Tyna and Hannah a bunch of furniture that a really nice lady who isn't even a member donated. Had a lesson with Selena, Sister Martinez's sister on the restoration. Going back over today to teach the plan of salvation.

Today I would like to share these awesome 17 scriptures with you. The story behind the scriptures are pretty cool as well. They all come from the bible and these selected were selected by a group of friends in college who had a question. It was, "If Christs church was on the earth today, what qualifications must they have in order to be really Christs church." These college students were not members until years later after years of searching for a church that had those qualifications in their doctrine, they all showed up at the same LDS church the same day, unplanned. 

I'd like to bear testimony that I know there was a Apostacy and that the church needed to be restored to the earth through a prophet. It was prophesied in the Bible in 2 Timothy 4:3-4 in the Kings James Version which says:

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

A lot of people do not want to believe that people did not "endure sound doctrine." Many people today still do. Many people having "itching ears".  “itching ears” meaning those who choose to listen only to those things that they wish to hear. 

These scriptures do need to be studied to understand but I promise you that these 17 points are qualities of Christs church he had on the earth and we have it on the earth today.

17 points of the True Church

1. Christ organized the Church. Eph. 4:11-14

2. The true church must bear the name of Jesus Christ. Eph. 5:23

3. The true church must have a foundation of Apostles and Prophets. Eph. 2:19-20

4. The true church must have the same organization as Christ's church. Eph. 4:11-14

5. The true church must claim Devine authority. Heb. 5:4-10

6. The true church must have no paid ministry. Isa. 45:13 1 Peter 5:2

7.  The true church must baptize by immersion. Matt. 3:14-15

8. The true church must bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Acts 8:14-17

9. The true church must practice Devine healing. Mark 3:14-15

10. The true church must teach that God and Jesus are separate and distinct individuals. John 17:11 and John 20:17

11. The true church must teach that God and Jesus Christ have bodies of flesh and bone. Luke 24:36-39 and Acts 1:9-11

12. The officers must be called by God. Heb. 5:4, Exodus 28:1, Exodus 40:13-16

13. The true church must claim revelation from God. Amos 3:7

14. The true church must be a missionary church. Matt. 28:19-20

15. The true church must be a restored church. Acts 3:19-20

16. The true church must practice baptism for the dead. 1 Cor. 15-16 and 29

17. By their fruits ye shall know them. Matt. 7:20

Why are these things important?? Hebrew 13:8

I love this gospel, I love the Joy and happiness it has brought into my life and my families life. Love you all! Please take the time to go through these scriptures and study them:) It could change your life. 

Love,

Elder Smith 

Week 46

AREA: Central Tucson 
COMPANION: Elder Cox

Monday: Typical pday other than the fact that Elder Kapele had to
pack. Other than that.. Sports, shopping, emailing, and Roy's. Also
said goodbye to a few families in the area.
Tuesday: Said goodbye to kapele today:'( gunna miss him. Left for
silver city. Waited for Elder Cox to get here and while waiting went
to Foodbank and helped other missionaries unload their stuff into
apartments. Met Elder Cox and he's pretty cool, have a lot of things
in common with the type of work we want to go into. So far getting
along well. Had a lesson with the Tafoyas and it went well.
Wednesday: Meetings today, met all the new people that came into the
zone. Didn't do a whole lot of things today, a lot of the plans
canceled. For backup plans we saw nach(less active) and Joe(recent
Convert)
Thursday: Tracting today... Still not a huge fan of it. Saw a few
members and then had a lesson with the Tafoya's on the plan of
Salvation and it went great:) They are such a great family.
Friday: Weekly planning day. Who knew you could find a companion that
likes to weekly plan?? Haha spent a lot of time doing that, got what
we could done before going to visit the temple site to plan for a
lesson we are going to be having next week with the Tafoya's. We're
bringing them up to the temple site. Roy brought us up there then
dragged us around to a bunch of other places. Got home and did some
more weekly planning. Still didn't finish though.
Saturday: Had a lesson with Tafoyas this morning and taught the Gospel
of Jesus Christ. Lesson went really well. During the lesson Ammon the
9 year old made up an awesome analogy for sin which I will share
later. We then went home and planned pretty much the rest of the day
until dinner. Met with bishop today to introduce Elder Cox.
Sunday: happy sabbath, church went really well. Before church we had a
short lesson on the sacrament with the tofoya's. Really helped them to
understand the importance of it. Also talked with them about moving
their baptismal date up a week so Brother Tofoya's mom can be in town
to witness it. They were excited to hear they had the option and
decided to go with it. Church was good, Lee's baby was blessed and We
got to stand in the circle. After church we went and saw some less
actives and even found a new investigator.
So the analogy Ammon jr. Came up with was about sin. How sin is like
eating some really good food, but then getting food poisoning. Except
if we were to know before eating the food we were getting to get food
poisoning. The devil tricks us sometimes into thinking that sin won't
have a punishment, and sometimes when we sin we enjoy it temporarily
but end up regretting it. I want to invite you all to be conscious of
that and watching it for the food poisoning. Sinning might be "fun"
while you're sining, but there is always some type of a negative
affect from doing it. Love you All!! Have a great WEEK!! Happy 4th of
July!
Love,
Elder Smith

Temple site again

Saying bye to Kapele. He went over to silver city.

Travis and us at u-swirl