Week 26

AREA: Benson, AZ
COMPANION: Elder Rasmussen

Monday: We went over to Brother Barney's junk yard today and broke
some cars looking for something to do. Something about throwing a
rotor disc through the windshield of a car is super fun. While we were
their we found a stereo to replace the one the we have in the trailer
already. This one has an AUX cable which is what we were going for.
Our phone was still broken today which made contacting people really
difficult. After all that we went to dinner then Al's to hang out. We
have a pretty close relationship with Al and he is very talented at a
lot of things and I asked him if he would be able to help me make a
leather journal cover and so we made one. Turned out super cool.
Tuesday: We did a lot of service for Brother Barney today... It was
kinda one of those things where there was so much stuff to do we would
feel bad saying we should probably go. We didn't have any appointments
or anything but we stayed there till about 3:30 doing service. We got
a lot done though which is good, he has to be off his property by Saturday I think is what he said so he needs the help dramatically.
While we have been doing service one of the guys we have been working
with Cody is a less active member and I feel that since he has been
working around Barney and us, he has become more interested in the
church and he's been asking some questions.
Wednesday: Zone meeting was today which was pretty fun... We talked
about companionship unity and how important it is which was nice to
hear about, feel like it's something me and Elder Rasmussen can work
on more. Zone meeting went a lot longer than planned which was not
good for us because we had an appointment we had to make it too. We
had to call and reschedule but they understood and were very nice
about it. Next was dinner and then we had an appointment with Kristina
but Richard wasn't there so we had to reschedule. She had her friend
Becky over who I had seen a few times around town and felt I should
talk to her but never did. It was pretty crazy that she was there...
We talked a little. Didn't schedule any appointment but I'm sure we
will see each other again.
Thursday:  Today was a really good day. This morning was pretty
typical... This afternoon we went to Sierra Vista with Dona and Steve
to help them pick out a new computer and printer. Elder Rasmussen is a
complete computer geek and led them to what they need. Went home,
hooked up the stuff, and then we had dinner. We then went to our
lesson at Kristina's which was probably the best lesson I have ever
been in. The spirit was so strong, she bore her testimony to us about
how she truly believes that this is the true church. We invited her to
think about a date she would want to be baptized. There still is a lot
of stuff that has to go down before that can happen but it's still
super exciting. Kristina is so ready to be baptized :) she is so happy
to have the gospel in her life and I know wouldn't change having it in
her life for anything.
Friday: Weekly planning day... That was a blast... Sat inside doing
that most of the day. Went to our appointment with Dianne at 3 which
went really well. We brought her a big print Book of Mormon because
she has bad eyes and read the introduction pages. Read it with her
daughter and son in law and invited them to read as a family at least
one chapter a day. The rest of the day was dinner and we tried to stop
by and see Harold but he was in Sierra vista with Jose. Talked with
someone there named Tim and invited him to meet with us and so we are
stopping by on Tuesday to teach him.
Saturday: Super exciting day! This morning we drove out to Tucson for
Aimee's baptism! So amazing to see the gospel make such a huge
influence in her life. She was so ready to be baptized and I'm so glad
I could be there to see. The spirit was so strong at the baptism it
made me want to cry. Elder Ames gave a very good talk on baptism and
the Holy Ghost, Ric performed the baptism and could not have done a
better job. While at the baptism I got to see the Broadbent's and some
other families from my old ward. Such a great day, after the baptism
Me, Ras, Ames, and Cunningham went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. We then
went back to Benson, went home to Change out of our suits then had
dinner. Calls were tonight for transfers, were staying together for at
least another 6 week... Weren't really expecting a change so it's all
good.
Sunday: Happy Valentine's Day! First Valentine's Day on the mission.
Went well... Felt like a normal day for the most part. This morning I
opened up a package from Savannah, got ready for church, went to get
into the truck and couldn't find the keys so we were late to church,
that was kinda embarrassing. Church was pretty good today... Still
feels really long, because it is... 6 hours. But the lessons were
really good and I'm learning a lot. Went to Kristina's after church
for a little, went to dinner, and then stopped by Dori's.
I'd like to bear my testimony on baptism and how grateful I am to have
this ordinance available to us on the earth today. This week I had the
opportunity to see Aimee enter the waters of baptism and come out
cleansed from sin. After the baptism I talked with her about how she
felt and she said she felt calm, relaxed, peaceful, and clean. This
feeling will be able to stay with her for the rest of her life. As she
continues to repent, go to church and partake of the sacrament, and
renew that covenant with our Heavenly Father.  We all can feel the
peace Aimee feels if we take upon us the name of Jesus Christ and are
baptized, and endure to the end. I have seen how this ordinance has
blessed my life and I can promise anyone I meet that through the
Gospel of Jesus Christ we can return to live with our Heavenly Father
and be the happiest we can be. I love this Gospel and I am so thankful
to be a part of it.
Love you all!
Love,
Elder Smith

Week 25

AREA: Benson, AZ
COMPANION: Elder Rasmussen

Monday: Just your typical p-day... It did snow today which was pretty
cool but it was not an enjoyable snow... It was extremely windy and
cold. This morning we had to go get our car fixed because it was
leaking oil. We later found out some idiot didn't put the oil filter
on all the way and it almost fell off the car. They had to put in 4
quarts of oil after fixing the filter. We then did some emailing and
spent the rest of day chilling. Didn't have any appointments tonight
so we went home and hung out with Aaron. Aaron doesn't have a phone or
anything just a 1st gen. iPad that is super slow and old. Elder
Rasmussen had an iPad mini 1 back home that nobody was using so he
decided to give it to him. Never have I seen a smile so big on his
face. It was really awesome to see that.

Tuesday: This morning we read with Aaron as usual and we were reading
D&C 131:6 which said "It is impossible for a man to be saved in
ignorance". This really I feel spoke to him and we discussed it for
awhile. After that we went over to Bro. Barney's for some more
service. Then we went to a less actives and talked about how she wants
towards working to the temple. Had a great discussion their, had
dinner, and then had an appointment at Kristina's. That was great for
the most part and then Kristina cut my hair:)

Wednesday: Today was district meeting as usual, then we went and went
through potential investigator lists and stopped by Dianne's. She's
technically a part member family since she is living with her daughter
and son in law who are members. While there we had a discussion on The
Book of Mormon and invited her to read the introduction. We scheduled
a return date which is exciting:) New investigator. Then we went to
Jonathan's and through around a football until Ras kicked it into a
cactus... Stupid cactus... Haha gave a lesson on The Book of Mormon
which I feel went well for the most part. Still isn't super interested
but we're still having fun and he's opening up more and more each time
we meet with him. We finished up the day at the Curothers house where
we had a great time.

Thursday: Today started out really good but then went down hill... All
of our morning  appointments canceled so we had to go look for stuff
to do. Just went around checking on people. We tried to stop by
Harold's to see how he was doing because he was sick and he wasn't
home so read with Jose. After reading with Jose we went to a less
actives which was super spiritual. The Boyce family has had some
pretty difficult trials in their life which led to inactivity so we
showed him the Mormon Message "Mountains to Climb" it is one of my
favorite Mormon messages and makes me want to cry every time. We
talked about the video a little and how it talks about how we can make
it through any trial we going through, through the help of Jesus
Christ. His daughter Jessica was crying and he kinda was awkward but
still responsive knowing what we were saying was true.

Friday: Weekly planning day... This morning we did have to drive over
to McDonald's to meet up with some other missionaries to drop
something off. Came back did studies and then weekly planning. That
lasted practically all day but we're already for our upcoming week. We
then went to dinner, tried to stop at a members to read but she wasn't
home, and then went home for the night and talked to Aaron some.
Something stupid happened with our phone today, we tried calling and
texting people but it wouldn't let us for some reason so we called
AT&T and someone suspended our phone line. It was so stupid...

Saturday:Today we did a lot of service. Went over to Bro. Barney's and
at around 10:30 and stayed there till about 3, we spent the day
helping him pour cement for his new garage. After service we stopped
by the house to change then went over to dinner hoping they knew we
were coming. Since they didn't know which time they needed to start
making dinner(because our phone wasn't working) we showed up then they
started making dinner. After dinner we went over to the Merrils and
had a great time talking to them. They're a part member family we are
going to be starting to teach. Should be a lot of fun:)

Sunday: Getting used to having church so long is going to be
difficult... People complain about church being 3 hours long, try
going for 6. Other than the constant sitting in church... It was good.
Testimony meetings were good and I went up and bore my testimony in
Benson Ward. After church we went too dinner which was super far from
where everyone lives, stayed there for a little too long getting to
know them and then went to the Kitelingers to give Sister Kitelinger a
blessing of comfort.

This week I would like to talk about the power of the Atonement of
Jesus Christ. The Atonement it something we use in our daily lives
every time we say sorry... I don't know about you but I feel like I
say sorry a million times a day. Through the atonement we don't just
have the ability to be forgiven of our sins but to be comforted during
our trials. While Christ was on the earth he suffered for all our sins
and afflictions. He knows and experienced every pain and suffering you
have felt. Down to the stubbing of your toe. Through sincere prayer,
priesthood blessings, fasting, and many other things the atonement of
Jesus Christ can comfort us in more ways than one. I've seen how the
atonement has blessed my life in so many ways. I would not be here
today if I didn't use the atonement in my life during the trials I've
been through. Love you all! Thanks for all the prayers:)

Love,

Elder Smith

Elder Rasmussen driving with his teeth...

Huge turkey a member has...

You know it's cold when the pool freezes in Arizona...

Thank you so much to the Activity Day girls :) how did you know i needed new socks? Happy Valentine's Day!

After a long days work, kick back and drink a tall glass of... cranberry juice.

Week 24

AREA: Benson, AZ
COMPANION: Elder Rasmussen

Dear Friends and Family,
Monday: P-Day was pretty good for the most part. For pday we did
normal p-day stuff which was pretty good. We are so far away from our
zone and we thought we had an early dinner so we didn't drive down to
Sierra Vista. Turns out after it was too late our dinner canceled on
us so the member gave us $20 so we had lunch and dinner with it. Taco
Bell and McDonald's... It was fantastic. Then we did our usual Monday
thing of going over to the Curothers house which was fun.
Tuesday: Today was full of service for Brother Barney. It was really
fun until I thought I broke my finger. We were adjusting the blades on
a fork lift and accidentally smashed my finger in between the tractor
and the fork lift blade. It didn't hurt that bad but was kinda a shock
at first, luckily I was wearing gloves otherwise it would be a lot
worse. It swelled up pretty bad but I could still move it. Got it
checked out by a member who's a paramedic who said its fine... Just
put some ice on it. Already back to normal for the most part. After
all that we had a lesson with Harold on the Word of Wisdom which went
very well other than Jose was going crazier than usual... I mean he's
in a mental institute but he wasn't acting like himself. The lesson
went great, he accepted to live the Word of Wisdom and work to quit
smoking. We did have a lesson planned with Kristina but when we got
there Richard wasnt home so we couldnt go in, we rescheduled so it was
all good.
Wednesday: District meeting was pretty good today, we discussed the
broadcast last week and learned a little more that I missed. After
district meeting we went to Bob Longs, a member in our wards house
where we sat and listened to him ramble on for two hours... Wish I
could say what it was about... But he talked the whole time. Our
lesson with Kristina had to get rescheduled again but it's all good.
Dinner was fun though and the member might be getting us some custom
wood pens. He makes the wood features on them.
Thursday: Today was a pretty good day:) This morning we had interviews
with mission president and he said I have to go home. Jk. Haha
interviews went great... Nothing exciting happened. After interviews
we went to Brother Barney's again so we could help him with the
building he is building for his car shop. After we helped him with
that we had an appointment with a recent converts/recently
reactivated/ PMF's house the Kitelingers, which is always fun. Went to
the Dovers to dinner, we cleaned out their chimney before we ate so
that was fun:) After dinner we went to the Da La Cruz house for a
lesson. They're a recent convert/ recently reactivated family.
Friday: Today was weekly planning which is what we did most of the
day... That was fun as usual... Not. After planning we tried to go
visit some people, then had dinner. After dinner we had our lesson
with Kristina which went well. It was on keeping the sabbath day Holy
which they were already doing great at so it wasn't a too difficult of
a lesson. Something cool Kristina told us though is that she had two
amazing missionary moments! One was a family that just moved to Benson
who is looking for a church to go too, and another was her sister. So
happy when she told us about that:)
Saturday: Today we started out with our daily routine but then went to
service at the Barny's again. He has been needing a lot this week
because he has to have all this stuff done by the 17th of this month
and there is still a lot to be done. After service we went to
Tombstone on a district blitz. The problem with going to a tourist
town on a Saturday to go knock doors is that nobody is home... Because
they're all working. So we only talked to about 3 people and only one
showed some interest and invited the sisters who's area it was to come
back and share a message. After doing that we went to dinner  then
went to try and visit some people then went home for the night.
Sunday: This morning we had church which was pretty good. After
sacrament meeting for Benson ward we had Ward council in Butterfield
Ward which was a two hour special Ward council were we talked about
every single member in the Ward to find them home teachers. After our
meeting went home for lunch then went back to church for gospel
doctrine and the 5th Sunday meeting which was really good... It was on
technology and how we should use them in church. After church we went
to go check on Tim our investigator and ended up not realizing we were
breaking the sabbath day when we got there started helping him work on
his car... Haha Didn't even think about it till after we were done.
After that we had dinner, and then went to Dori's house and had an
amazing lesson on Temples. She is a recently reactivated member and we
told her about some of the ordinances we can do in the temple and it
really got her excited and gave her a desire to get sealed to her
husband who passed away from cancer in 2011. Super awesome lesson that
we didn't expect, we went over to read scriptures. We then went home
and Elder Rasmussen had end of the month calls to do... Super fun for
him.
I want to bear my testimony of the importance of loving one another.
President Monson says, "Love is the very essence of the gospel, and
Jesus Christ is our Exemplar." As a missionary if I didn't atleast
attempt to love everyone I taught things would not work out at all.
This is something I struggle with sometimes... Whenever I teach
someone I try to speak to them... I don't just teach a lesson. I've
seen how by teaching people not lessons has touched the people I'm
teaching and know that if we all love one another we will all be
happier. We're all brothers and sisters, no matter what people have
done to us we need to try our best to love them. I want to invite you
to all "love one another as He as loved you." Just like in the primary
song.
LOVE YOU ALL!!
Love,
Elder Smith

Week 23

AREA: Benson, AZ
COMPANION: Elder Rasmussen

Dear Friends and family

Monday 1/18: Pday was okay today... What we did was emailed, shopped,
went to zone sports, and then went on exchanges. Exchanges was pretty
fun honestly, I went to a Spanish area with Elder Wilstead. Elder
Wilstead is pretty cool and a good missionary. Something cool about
him is that he has a full ride scholarship to B.Y.U. To play as their
quarterback. For dinner we went to a Spanish Ward members house and it
was probably the best carne asada burritos ever. I ate four big
burritos and was soo full when I left that place.

Tuesday 1/19: Exchanges with Elder Wilstead was pretty good. One of
the best thing about the exchange was that I was able to take a shower
longer than 3 minutes long. Plus I didn't have to squat down to get my
head in the water. The shower I am currently using has a 3 gallon
water heater, the shower head is about up to my shoulders, and if I
were to stand on my toes my head would hit the ceiling in the shower.
So showering in their shower was great. The Wilcox missionaries live
on a members property like I do except they live in a little house.
Bro Davis the member is a very talented woodworker and leather worker.
He offered to make me a leather knife case with my initials in it. Now
with the teaching, they don't just cover a Spanish Ward so we went
around and visited a bunch of people and taught them about service. We
found two new investigators from a part member family and it was such
an amazing experience.

Wednesday 1/20: Today district meeting was "canceled" because there
was a global broadcast from Salt Lake to all the missionaries. There
was a lot of stuff that I got out of it and I used some of what I
learned later. We went and visited a less-active member Darlene and
read scriptures and asked her if she knew anyone that would benefit
from a gospel message. She got excited and told us her neighbor had at
one point been meeting with the missionaries a long time ago and said
to go over and talk to her. They weren't home when we went over but we
have plans to track her down and see if she would be interested in
meeting with us. The thing that was brought to my attention in the
broadcast was that most likely less active members have non member
friends so ask them for referrals more directly instead of asking
straight up for a referral. The rest of the day was kinda a buzz
kill... All our appointments canceled including dinner so we went back
home and ate then went into the house and talked to Aaron the Garners
less active son.

Thursday 1/21: Today was kinda a disappointment... Everything we had
planned got canceled. So we decided to go and stop by a potential
investigators house Jonathan. This was probably the most exciting part
of our day. Jonathan is 12 and is living with his grandparents because
of some issues back home. He took the lessons awhile ago but doesn't
remember them at all, right now we are trying to earn his trust before
we really start teaching him the lessons. For now we're hanging out
with him and showing him Mormon messages. This week we're going to try
and find a fellowshipper for him so he has a friend at church. We
invited him to smash a tv that we found in a dumpster on Saturday and
he's really looking forward to doing that. After his place a member
bought us some subway. When we were done eating we headed over to the
ward mission leaders for a meeting then went home to a smelly house.
At first we thought it could be a propane leak because propane is the
only thing we could compare the smell too. Turns out it's just a dead
mouse in the walls that we can't do anything about until it dries up
all the way and stops smelling on its own.

Friday 1/22: This morning we did some service with the sisters for a
member in their ward. She was helping her brother move out of his
place because he's going to prison. His place was really
interesting... It was really hard to figure out what he went to prison
for... Jk he had lamps, marijuana magazines/signs, and a phone book
with dried out weed leaves all in it. Something funny Elder Rasmussen
said was when we found the phone book with the leaves drying out he
just says "is anyone else really hungry right now?" Haha it was funny.
We spent about 3 hours there helping her out and after that we did
some weekly planning then headed to our lesson with Harold. His lesson
went really well, we invited him to be baptized February 27th which is
my birthday. He accepted the invitation and is looking forward to
working towards that date. We then had a lesson with Kristina which
went pretty good, taught the commandment of following the prophet. I
thought it went pretty good.

Saturday 1/23: Today we broke the TV with Jonathan which was super
fun. Jonathan is a pretty cool kids and he is really starting to warm
up to us. After breaking the TV we went over to a members house to see
if he would like us to do some service for him. We scheduled a few
service times with him this week so that should be fun. One of our
appointments canceled which sucked so we went to a recent converts who
wasn't home. Then we went to dinner at the Dovers which was
interesting. They have a fire place in their house and they didn't put
the wood into the fire all the way so smoke filled the entire house
pretty much. Now my jacket smells like smoke and I don't have the
money to dry clean it so I'm just going to have to go around and smell
like mesquite.

Sunday 1/24: Today was the first time I went to church for 6 hours in
one day... Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Felt a little bit
like déjà vu... Kinda interesting but I'll just have to get used to
it. After church we had a meeting with the ward mission then went to
dinner. Dinner was super cool and after dinner we tried to visit
people but nobody was available so we went home for the night.

Today I would like to share my testimony about the gifts and talents
we are given. Everyone has gifts and talents that we can choose to use
or ignore. With missionary work I come across this problem all the
time. Whether I feel like using my talents or not... Opening my mouth
and staying something or just keeping quiet. There is a scripture in
D&C 60:2-3
2 But with some I am not well pleased, for they will not open their
mouths, but they hide the talent which I have given unto them, because
of the fear of man. Wo unto such, for mine anger is kindled against
them.
3 And it shall come to pass, if they are not more faithful unto me, it
shall be taken away, even that which they have.
When I read this scripture it really opened my mind to the fact that I
am givin a lot of talents that I choose to hide because of my fear of
what people will say or do. We should not be afraid to be ourselves,
express our testimonies of this restored gospel, and invite and help
others come unto Christ.

Love you all so much!! Thanks for all you guys do!

Love,

Elder Smith

Week 22

AREA: Benson, AZ
COMPANION: Elder Rasmussen

  

Monday 1/11: Today was my first p-day in the new area. Wasn't bad for
the most part... First thing we did really was got up and got ready
and did the normal stuff then went to the library around 10:00. After
emailing some we went to lunch with a member that was at the library
and offered to take us out. After lunch we went to Walmart to do some
of our shopping then went to the church to hang out for the rest of
our pday. I've been practicing my guitar a lot lately and I'm getting
a lot better. After all our pday stuff we went to Kristina & Richards
for a FHE. Kristina is our investigator and Richard is a member. Then
we went over to the Carruthers house.

Tuesday 1/12: Temple trip Tuesday!! Today I got to go to the Gila
Valley temple and do an endowment session. The temple is so amazing
and if you haven't had the opportunity to go yet work towards it
because it is one of my favorite places on earth. Well... After the
temple we went to zone lunch at this Hawaiian restaurant that was
super good. We then went back to Benson for dinner... Wasn't very
hungry but still had to down a burger, fries, and drink... Ugh. Wish I
could have canceled on dinner, I was stuffed before even showing up.

Wednesday 1/13: Today was zone meeting so you could imagine how long
and boring that was... Learned some good stuff about companionship
unity and the importance of it and some other stuff that I learned I
need to work on. After zone meeting we went and got the truck washed
because it looks like we went mudding in it. We don't have a good car
wash in our area so we had to wait to go to Sierra Vista. We then went
to our investigator Jane & Ron's house and talked then shared a
message on the importance of the small and simple things. Dinner was
pretty crazy... Just a bunch of kids running around all over the
place. We then had a lesson with Kristina and Richard on the Book of
Mormon which was pretty awesome.

Thursday 1/14: Long day of a lot of service. Literally all we did was
service... First service that we did was for Bro. Fenn. We helped him
chop a bunch of wood with this hydraulic wood splitter. After doing
that for awhile we helped him fix his 1998 Silverado that just had the
engine rebuilt. That service was great and we were able to help him
out and get to know him and his non-member son out. We then went over
to Brother Carruthers house to help him move a bunch of stuff around
at another one of his properties. After we helped him out he showed us
a bunch of the stuff he has sitting around his property. It's pretty
cool what he has, he's a welder and just collects a bunch of medal
stuff everywhere.

Friday 1/15:  Today was a typical Friday on the mission... Spent
almost all day planning and studying... We went and tried to find some
people but wasn't very successful. Kinda a rough day.

Saturday 1/16: Today was a pretty good day, we did district blitz
which is when everyone is our district goes to one companionship a
area and knocks doors to help them find some new investigators. We
found them 3 potentials that might go somewhere but we will have to
see when they follow up with them. After lunch we went to go visit
some people and scheduled an appointment with GG for next Sunday. GG
is a recent convert in another wards mom. Then we went over to Tim's
for a lesson on the Book of Mormon which ended up being awesome for a
random stop by. He is kinda flaky and doesn't stay on task very well
but we really got him interested in the Book of Mormon which was
exciting. We then had dinner just so you know... Pizza for the third
night in a row. After dinner we stopped by the Tiltons which is a less
active family to invite them to church. Sadly they didn't make it
though.

Sunday 1/18: Today was really awesome! Woke up got ready and went to
church. Today was stake conference so it was only 2 hours. After
church we went home for lunch and then set out to change lives. While
we were out visiting people we met a previous investigator that was
wanting to meet with the missionaries again. His name is Joshua
Benton, we have an appointment with him next Saturday and Can't wait
to teach him:) After visiting with him we stopped by another
potentials and he wasn't really interested... He said he was but just
asked for our phone number and said he would call when he had time to
meet with us. Tonight we got a new investigator which was awesome! We
went to go visit Jose and while we were there someone that lives in
the same apartment as him started asking questions about the Book of
Mormon and asked us if we would help him quit smoking. We told him for
sure and then ended up teaching him about the Book of Mormon and
prayer. He said the closing prayer and it was amazing. Can't wait to
see him again on Tuesday!

This week I really noticed how important it is to bear your testimony.
As a missionary I bear my testimony practically every day. Everytime I
do it my testimony gets stronger and the spirit speaks to the people
I'm bearing my testimony too stronger each time. This week I bore my
testimony of the Book of Mormon and how I found it to be true. My true
conversion I wouldn't say happened till I was in college. This week I
was really thinking about how I found the Book of Mormon to be true
and I really remembered clearly how it happened. I remembered all my
friends were being such a good example to me and gave me a desire to
be like them. I was also taking Book of Mormon 1 for school and to
pass the class I had to read the Book of Mormon. While reading I
recognized how I felt and how much of a difference it made in my life.
This is when I really got down on my knees and asked God if the Book
of Mormon was true. The answer I got was yes... Not only was it just a
solid yes but it was a more my mind was opened and I realized how much
the book had changed my life after reading it for just a short amount
of time... This book had to be the word of God, no way a normal man
could have just written this book and changed the lives of Millions of
people. I want to invite you all to read and ponder the teachings of
the Book of Mormon and when you feel ready and have a true desire to
get an answer get on your knees and pray to know of its truth. Even
though I've done that already and I know of its truth I still ask to
know if the church is true on a daily basis. Moroni's promise in
Moroni 10:3-5 doesn't say ask once to know... Ask and you will receive
an answer. I promise you that.

LOVE YOU ALL!! Have a great week thanks for all the love and prayers

Love,

Elder Smith

 

Week (19, 20, &) 21

AREA: Benson, AZ

COMPANION: Elder Rasmussen

Everyone,

So sorry that I have not sent out an email for two weeks. It's has been a busy two weeks, I will try my best to continue to send one out to everyone so you have an update one what's going on here in the AZ Tucson Mission.

Christmas week summary: Went pretty well, our investigators are progressing, some more than others but they are making their way towards baptism. Christmas Eve was pretty awesome, we had two dinners, one was with the Marcys where I won a Panera bread gift card and the family gave me and elder Ames a Christmas present. It was a nerf blow dart thing, a nice flashlight, and an Arizona tshirt. Christmas we woke up and saw a meridian flare I think is what it's called in the sky. Brother Broadbent loves astronomy and we went and saw them in the sky. They're satellites going over us and the sun reflects off their solar panels and  so you can see them light up in the sky then fade away. After we opened presents we got to FaceTime home which was really fun. Nice to see everyone's faces. After doing all that we cleaned up some of the stuff from Christmas, played some board games, and then had dinner at the Tates which was crazy but really fun. They don't have a normal Christmas dinner there, what they do is dress up like shepherds, put blankets down on the floor of their living room, and eat the food the shepherds would have eaten while on the floor. That night I ate a lot of cheese, crackers, and berries.

New Years week summary: This week was a pretty fun week... I taught some people, bought a guitar, got a hair cut, taught some more lessons that went well. Nothing really amazing! Aimee is having a difficult time trying to quit smoking but is still cutting back a lot compared to what she used to smoke. She really wants to get baptized but she wants to make sure she is done with her old habits before she does because she doesn't want to get baptized and then go back to her old life. That's the update with Aimee since I left... We also did quiet a bit of service at Rics, trying to get the Windows done. New Year's Eve was probably one of the most exciting New Years Eve's of my life... Haha jk I slept through midnight... Haha woke up and went to work as usual. Had a lesson with the Barton's a less active family and tried to set some goals. They want to work towards getting sealed in the temple which is awesome and I hope they make it there. They have been married for 41 years and want to get sealed. Also taught Doris about Baptisms for the dead and I think she actually understood almost all of what we tried to teach her about it. Went on transfers with my MTC comp. Elder Jackson which was fun to see how much better we work together since we got out of the MTC. Found out where I'm getting transferred which was fun. I'm here now but it was Sierra Vista Stake. Benson, AZ... That's pretty much it... I'm living in a dump.

Monday: Literally spend all day packing... I have a lot of crap already and I've been out 4 months. But it will be okay... A lot of the stuff is stuff I just need for the mission that I can throw out when I leave to go home. After almost finishing up my backing I went to zone sports for alittle where my guitar got hit by a dodge ball while it was on the stage and got tipped over and broke one of the tuning pegs but it was all good. I got it fixed for free and then I went home for dinner with the Broadbent's:) they made me steak:) That was awesome!
Tuesday: Transfers... Today we woke up extremely early to get to the transfer site which was supper fun! Not:/ I still had alittle last minute packing that I had to do and was up till about 12:00 packing... Woke up at 5:30 and I wanted to die. We got to the transfer site and said my goodbyes to Elder Ames. Got into the transfer van and we drove to Benson where I met my new companion. Elder Rasmussen is quiet but cool haha Excited to learn from him, he's been out for 17 months. After we met at the transfer site we went to the trailer where I took one look and was like "I WANNA GO HOME!" Jk haha but it was kinda shocking at first. Went inside and was like okay... I'm cleaning this place before I even unpack. So I cleaned like crazy for probably an hour and then started to bring my stuff in slowly. I filled 3-4 garbage bags with random crap that was in the place that Rasmussen said I could toss. Then we went shopping and stuff, went to dinner, and then came back where I cleaned some more and went to bed. I've noticed that when my anxiety acts up I clean... Haha
Wednesday: Today felt like a really long day to me... We stayed busy all day but it still felt like it dragged on a lot. District meeting was today and Elder Rasmussen is the district leader which is kinda cool. Went and visited some of our investigators Jane & Ron. They're originally from Virginia and they talk like it which is kinda was entertaining. Jane is pretty solid and I could actually see her getting baptized soon. She has a hard time transitioning to a different religion after being a baptist for 70 years. After them we had dinner then stopped by the high priest group leaders house and he showed us some of his cool toys he had. Sand rail, ski boat(why he has one in AZ idk??), quads, and razor. He can haul it all around with his huge 5th wheel toy trailer that is about a billion times nicer than ours haha. He gave us a list of names to try and find and then we went home.

Thursday: Today seemed long too... We spend a lot of time driving places in this area because it's huge and we cover two wards. We get to the people's house were trying to visit and they're not home. We only get 2000 a month and things like that keep up we're going to run out fast haha. It snowed today which was super cool:) wasn't expecting that in Arizona. The flakes were huge too and they stuck to the ground for about a day. About the time it was starting to snow we met Darlene who is a recently reactivated member and we just hung out and talked and she told her life story which is pretty crazy...

Friday: Today was lame as usual... Weekly planning is kinda a pain in the butt and I'm sure that it will be till the end of the mission. I love the results of doing weekly planning, I just hate doing it. After planning we attempted to see some people then went to dinner. Dinner was in a nice RV which was kinda cool. Pretty sure I'm close to killing the rat in our trailer which is good.

Saturday: today was alright... The finding methods are kinda different
compared to what they were like I'm my last area. We went around and read with some less active/recently activated members. Our has a very high member population but a lot of them are not active. Benson is known as the place where members trying to hide from the church go. It's kinda sad but it gives a lot of opportunities to teach less actives. 

Sunday: Today was kinda different than a normal Sunday... It wasn't stake conference but was at the same time. A General Authority was in town for some meeting with Elder Oaks and they asked him to come and speak to our stake. So we heard from Elder Garrett W. Gong from the First quorum of the 70 and he gave an awesome talk. After church we went and visited some people. We visited a mentally handicap member Jose and read scriptures which was fun:) Jose is cool. We also read some scriptures with Dori and talked to her about how her Patriarchal blessing went. It was a pretty cool to hear experience with it. 

I just really wanted to bear my testimony of the truth of this Gospel. This Gospel is so amazing even though sometimes some of the things were commanded to do can be difficult... Not once have I ever regretted or felt bad about making the right choice. Joseph Smith did translate the Book of Mormon. It is the Word of God and I know the only way you can know that is by Reading from it and praying about it. If the Book of Mormon is true then this is all true... This is Christ's church restored to the earth and I love how perfect it is. In Moroni 10:3-5 it says

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.

I know if take Moroni's promise and read and pray about The Book of Mormon we will get an answer and we may know the truth of all things. I love you all so much!! God bless you all!

Love,

Elder Smith

Me jamming out on Ric's Gibson Les Paul Custom $3500guitar

Saying my goodbyes to Ric, Robin, Remie the dog, Killian, and William 

Me and my MTC comp. Elder Jackson after 4 1/2 months of being in "the field"

Week 18

AREA: Northwest Zone, Tucson (Catalina, AZ)

COMPANION: Elder Ames

Friends and Family,


Monday: Just your typical pday for the most part at the beginning of
the day... Went to sports and did some shopping... After all that
stuff we had dinner at the Madsen's which was fun, they invited a
Sister in our Ward who was widowed and can't have us over for dinner.
After dinner we had a lesson with William at the Barnes on the Gospel
of Jesus of Christ. William is such a cool little kid. He asks so many
questions and gets super excited about everything we have to say.

Tuesday: Rather interesting day for me today... Started out our day
pretty normal. We had a lesson with our investigator Rachel who is
always fun to teach. She always brings up stuff that she read off the
internet... We have to really be prepared for whatever it is... I
really is a bit stressful... But we're answering her questions and
things are actually getting better with her.  Later we had dinner at a
members where it happened... We ate some Cuban Pork bean stuff over
some rice... It was very good until later... Elder Ames lucked out but
after dinner we went to basketball and then when I got home I puked my
guts out.

Wednesday: This morning I woke up feeling horrible.. I even threw up
again... so I slept... I had to make the decision to go to district
meeting or to stay in... I decided to go which was miserable. I texted
sister Passey who is in charge of medical stuff and said to try to
sleep it off. After district meeting I went to sleep till about
Tuesday: I already slept in that morning and after sleeping more...
It added up to be about 13 hours of sleep. I felt bad because I had
slept practically all day so we went to the Barnes, came home and went
to sleep about 10:30ish...

Thursday:Woke up late again... Today I felt alittle better but not the
best... Woke up and then went to the Barnes to do service. I tried to
help but they ended up making me lay down on the couch while Elder
Ames did the work. Haha After that I went home and slept some more...
It was an exciting day.

Friday: Slept more... Woke up feeling extremely nauseous but went and
did service at the Chandlers. Tried to shovel the goat poo and hay but
was about to start puking so I decided to back off a little. After
Helping out the chandlers we went back home and I slept some more:/
Felt kinda like a sloth this week...

Saturday: Woke up, still feeling rather nauseous actually ate
something for once... Didn't puke it up... We had another lesson with
Rachel which was fun again. Brother Broadbent fellowshipped this
lesson which could not have been better.  Brother Broadbent knows the
Gospel inside and out and answered all of Rachel's questions with no
hesitation. It was awesome. We kinda sat back and watched him blow our
minds with some pretty deep doctrine. After that lesson we had a new
member lesson with Kim Pierce. That went well and then after her
lesson we dinner and then we went home and relaxed and went to sleep.

Sunday: Was a lot better. Felt a lot better, still felt bloated and
stuff but alright... Church was really good today. We had our
Christmas program thing and I had to participate in the choir... :/
wasn't to happy about that but it's whatever. After church we did some
finding.. No luck there, then went to dinner. Dinner was good... We
then went to the Barnes and talked for a bit then went home for
dominion.

This week was very difficult and I hope will be better next week. I am
feeling a lot better and am ready to make up for lost time. It will be
a great week. Friday is Christmas, one of the most exciting days
of the year. Christmas music, presents, smiles, family, and the best
of all is to remember our Savior Jesus Christ. Every Christmas my
family always would put a stocking over the mantel with Jesus's name
on it. Every year for family home evening we would write a gift we
would like to give to the savior. Something that would make him happy.
So I would like to invite everyone to do just that. You don't have to
get a stocking for him... But give a gift to Jesus. It's kinda like a
New Years resolution but it's not for you... It's for Him. Give Him a
gift and put some thought into it before you give it and commit to it.
Love you all so much! Have a Marry Christmas!

Love,

Elder Smith