Elder Smith has got behind on journalling

Elder Smith was transferred to Bon Air Virginia and has a new companion Elder Caskey.

Not enough time though, I do love being a missionary though. Super, super great. Recently with transfers, I am in the Bon Air Ward with Elder Caskey. What a great guy, really really inspiring. Being a Zone Leader though...honestly isn't too different, of course it has only been 3 or so days. It has been a really wonderful 3 or so days too, the first day we talked to a lot of pretty cool people...and just in a tiny square! Really cold square-Jamisha, Kay(t)lin, Diego, and Steve! They were all pretty cool. It really has been a wonderful past few days here in the new area...sleeping wise...well I don't want to complain...but the things I thought would be here(a pillow, blanket, nice hangers for my suits, stuff like that...well it wasn't here)...so I have adjusted and figured different things out. It has improved since which is good.

I most definitely enjoy being able to spread the message of Christ this Christmas season. It truly has been wonderful. We recently met this really cool couple/family that has talked with missionaries and has a member friend from up north. They are named Chassidy and Richard. They are...well making great progress.
We again...not sure if I mentioned before...but raked lots and lots of leaves. A few weeks ago we collected 50 or so bags. This week we went to a house and did 40 bags or so...it was a lot. Good fun though.
Look forward to skype,
Love ya
Elder Smith

Zone and Christmas tree

Zone conference

New companion Elder Caskey from Arizona.  What a nice tree they decorated

Simple and humble

Well everyone, it was a pretty good week. Hope yours was splendid.
One event sticks out in my mind for the week. We were going to meet
with a recent convert who I will call Jane. Her son Kyle who is 12
hasn't been baptized and she was baptized in August. We were planning
on talking about faith with Kyle and why that is important. As we went
we taught, and then we asked a question to Kyle, he responded, then
instead of us following up with teaching his Mom further explained the
principle in very simple and wonderful terms. She was very humble, and
simple, but it went really well.

This taught me a few things, one that we over complicate the Gospel of
Jesus Christ too often(at least I do). It isn't meant to e something
only the most knowledgeable people should understand, but all. Prior
to the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there was a lack of
information regarding the teachings of Jesus Christ, which led to lots
of confusion and contention. Nowadays, it is somewhat the opposite,
there is an immense amount of information in the world. This vast
amount of information can distract us from that which is most
important. Elder Faust counseled that we need to filter out the static
generated by Satan. As we have a bedrock understanding of the Gospel
of Jesus Christ(Faith, Repentance, Baptism, Receiving the Gift of the
Holy Ghost, and Enduring to the End) we will be able too withstand the
trials, and tests that will come to us in life.(President Nelson)
Second is that Gospel of Jesus Christ is best taught within the home.
For those that understand the Gospel of Jesus Chris, seek to see it
more in your life. For those that feel they are lacking, turn to the
scriptures, primarily the Book of Mormon and as you learn and live the
Gospel of Jesus Christ you will find peace in this life and eternal
life in the world to come.

No crashes this week which was good to report. Hope things are going
well for each of your where ever each of you are. Your Heavenly Father
is looking over you, look for his hand in your life.
Love
Elder Smith

Does a sleeping member still count for a member present

Happy Christmas sock day! We also had district meeting, which in preparation for...I learned a lot about Accountability and what it is really about. That was definitely good to learn...it was a little different of district meetings...but I think it went good. Everyone is good at participating, which I am grateful for. After that we planned the day and it was kind of hard because Elder Davis couldn't really ride his bike because of his leg hurting. We also got Shun Xing for lunch...and I think they are from Hong Kong there...because the characters are traditional, and they were speaking...and it sounded like Cantonese...but I still need to ask. Regardless I got GongBaoJiDing it was really good(thanks for the Halloween treat mom =))

That afternoon we were able to go out with Brother Heck, tried to visit the Cunninghams, they weren't there. So we went to visit Cynthia...we were a bit early...but it was a weird lesson. Started with Brother Heck describing living in an 1832 house...and then saying how it was haunted by little girl ghost...and they discussed that for a bit...which was weird. However, we eventually got into the lesson. Which was really good, focused on faith and the Word of Wisdom, and Cynthia(without us really pressuring her) has been decreasing the amount of her coffee intake...and she sees in the future never drinking it again. Which it pretty cool. We discussed how to be obedient, and know when we are off the right path. We then showed the Patterns of Light video part II. She really really liked that, it touched her when it talked about thoughts of her mom or grandma telling her when she is going astray...it was quite special...she is really great and a special person.

We were able to talk a bit about her daughters and bringing them to the trunk or treat, and she is willing to do that so hopefully that will help them. Oh also...in the middle somewhere...Brother Heck fell asleep for a good amount of time...and I wasn't really sure what to do...but he woke up and things worked out. We returned home, Brother Heck shared some taxi driving stories that were kind of crazy and funny...he definitely has an interesting life...a great man though.
-Elder DoesASleepingMemberStillCountForAMemberPresent?

Well, it was an exciting week. However, the only thing that everyone
reading this probably wants to read goes as follows.
(Sorry if it sounds weird... wanted to make it sound kind of
exciting...but it might sound a bit weird.)

This was Friday
After that we returned home, finished up weekly planning, and then planned to bike over to the church. From trying to fix our bikes yesterday...it didn't work too well...but we were on our way. We got to the light before Route 1 I was in 1 and 7...and realized I would have to pedal pretty hard. So we start going Elder Davis is in front...soon before the grassy part that we get to...well I was pedaling pretty hard and really don't remember the events preceding it. Something happened, whether the bike seized up or I was clipped by a car I'm not sure. My bike and body twist as the ground leaps up towards my body. Then I am sliding backwards on my shoulder, the bike clenched between my legs suspended in the air. Realizing I am on the ground, throw my arms and legs in the air so that I don't get run over. I gather that I am safe to go, and grab the bike and run onto the median and stand there shouting a faint "Elder Davis" as he pedals away. Standing there on the median cars with their windows down start shouting "Was it the green car?"-"Are you ok?"-"Was it the green car?"-"Your water bottle is in the road"...I go grab that..."Are you ok? Are you dizzy?"-"Was it the green car?" This was coming from both sides of the road I really didn't know what to do...some of the cars stood there for awhile. I remember the guy that kept asking if it was the green car...he asked that so many times...and the nice lady that informed me of my water bottle. Elder Davis eventually came back, realized I was decent...we ran across the road over to Weis pedaled back to the apartment...which I wasn't feeling too bad at that moment...and there wasn't any blood...which was surprising...I could tell my shoulder on my shirt was beat up pretty bad...other than that though I couldn't tell of any immediate wounds.

I actually came out if it very well off. My shirt isn't usable anymore, but other than that all my other clothing is basically fine. My right hip hurt a little bit, but nothing major.
After this we went to the trunk or treat for our ward.

After this experience and pondering it, I was very grateful for the Lord's protection. Which comes a lot as we are obedient to the Lord's commandments and our covenants. I know that I was protected that day because I am striving to be obedient and keep my covenants.

“The discipline contained in daily obedience and clean living and wholesome lives builds an armor around you of protection and safety from the temptations that beset you as you proceed through mortality.”–Elder L. Tom Perry

Love

Elder Smith

It was a good, somewhat interesting day. In the morning we went and did service moving stuff out of the Johnsons crawl space. That went well. After that we finished studies which were pretty good as well. After all of that, we got to go and work. We tried visiting some potentials in the area...as well were able to talk to some people that were out and about...it was definitely scary....but I have learned after you start...it doesn't feel too weird...typically. Which is a blessing I am grateful for.  

After that, we tried getting to the church...took a wrong turn or two...and wow...biking was really hard today especially after working out our legs most of the week and starting biking after not doing it for such a long time. It was good though. We got to the church, met with Brother England and he took us to his house for dinner. It was really good.  We had pulled pork and chicken salad sandwiches...both really tasty. As well their kids are pretty funny. We talked about some pretty cool things with Church history, Brother England knows quite a lot...it was cool to hear from him. They also are inviting people to the trunk or treat which will be cool. He helped me invite boldly and directly. Then we shared an interesting spiritual thought...after he gave us one....but it went kind of well..a little interesting though. He explained some cool thing about things that are passed through DNA to posterity because of certain events, which he related to our Heavenly Father which was cool. 

After that we went back to the church for our bikes and...We went to Fountain drive, we were both a little hesitant...but went regardless. The first two people were confused why we were knocking so late...we kept going while saying "4th floor last door!" was a little freaked out by the halloween decorations on some places...anyway. We met Marshall Tucker who was really nice and said he could read the Book of Mormon and compare and contrast it to the Bible. Which always reminds me of the story that I believe a general authority shared where he would read a chapter of the Bible for every chapter of the Book of Mormon....and was converted. After that the Spanish Elders picked us up, mainly because it is a little frightening riding our bikes on route 1 when it is so dark. It was definitely an interesting day...but good. Elder Davis says that I am always happy which is definitely not true...but I try to be.


One thing I learned, is that over the past week the idea and principle of family/group prayer has been reiterated throughout this week. As I tried to apply it this evening, it really helped me feel lots of Charity for the people...even if I don't know them very much. Grateful for that blessing.
-Elder GladForTVSubwayNightsWithDad
Elder Smith

Elder Davis and Elder Smith and their new trusty steeds

Hello all!

I will start with a phone call we had last Monday around 9:00 just getting home for the evening when the Sister in our ward called.  

Them: "Hi Elders"
Us "Hello, how are you"
Them: "So...we are coming tomorrow morning at 8:00...and we are taking your car to Richmond to give to another area."
Us "Oh..."
So just like that we didn't have a car! We since have learned more, obtained bikes from very kind members of the ward. However it as a very different week due to the largeness and geography of our area.
With the transition, as well as actually getting bikes, the week has been slower than most, there is one event that sticks out to me. We met a woman named Maame, she is from Ghana, and has heard many many weird and false things about our church, however she is really interested and wants to know which church is true. The next week we stopped by, she had read the Book of Mormon each night, and was a good ways into it. Then she flew to Canada for her mom who was sick, then we recently got back in contact with her. This week when we stopped by we met her husband, Johnny, who twenty or so years ago met with Sister Missionaries, read the Book of Mormon, went to church, and hasn't drank coffee since! It was really surprising, but also really cool. However, he is an Elder in his church in Africa, so that is more of a struggle. Later in the week we gave Maame a call, and we set up a church tour this Tuesday with her, so needless to say I am both grateful and excited for that.

Back to the bike situation, the story that I probably learned most was it was Saturday, we wanted to try to get to some of the farther parts of our area. The way our area is, there is a road(Route 1) which is the main highway, and the residential areas all connect to Route 1, but not to each other, so we have to take Route 1 to get to anywhere. However, Route 1 isn't bike friendly, there is very little shoulder, and so, the only way we felt safe is walking our bikes on the side of the road, walking through small brush and dirt, ditches, and trying to not be hit by cars. We almost got to where we wanted to go, however the side of the road got impassable, so we turned around and decided to go to a different neighborhood. It had been about an hour since we left the apartment when we turned around to go to the other neighborhood. Then Elder Davis's tire starts leaking air...and the Spanish Elder recently passed us, so we were able to call them and get a ride. Regardless, through the whole experience of walking for a long time on the side of a major highway, just to turn back and get where we started. It reminded me of two Mormon messages which you may have seen "The Will of God" as well as "Good Things to Come". It was an up close and personal experience with that. I learned many lessons taught in those two videos, however this letter is already quite long so I won't go into more detail. However everyone should watch those two videos! They teach very important lessons. Then when you watch them, you can think of me instead of the people in the video ;) It has been a different experience though.

I do know the Lord teaches us through our experiences, for good or for bad. The trick is being Humble and teachable. You can have joy in life as our focus is on Christ. That is one of the purposes of us being here!(2 Nephi 2:25, "Happiness is the object and being of our existence"-Joseph Smith).

Focus on Christ, find joy, learn from experiences for easy or hard. Then seek correction to learn more.

Sorry if the letter is long. However, another cool thing the day I explained with the bikes that was the day we called Maame and found she had continued reading the Book of Mormon and set up a church tour. Another lesson as taught in Ether 12:6.

Love

Elder Smith

Missionaries of Stafford County

Well, sorry I have been bad at emailing my wonderful experiences here
in Virginia...I have committed to being better so I hope you enjoy!
However my emails may be kind of short.

Some background, I am currently in the county of Stafford Virginia(for
some reason there are no cities in Stafford county...just the county.
It is home to many civil war sites, and some other historical things.
It is a really great area.

Recently I have learned about patience. Which simply, is the
ability to wait, without getting upset or frustrated. Which applies to
many things, roller coasters, dinner, toast, television shows, people,
as well as blessings from our Heavenly Father, and other things.
So often in life today it is about the here and now. Many inventions
and technologies are built so that people don't have to wait, so they
can accomplish more during the day. These things are good, but
sometimes in life, we simply have to wait. Keep putting forth the
effort, but wait.

One experience this past week, we planned to visit a woman who we
hadn't seen or been in contact with for awhile, regardless of her initial
warm welcome and great desire to learn more about Jesus Christ. After
many failed attempts to contact her via phone or visits to her house,
over the past two to three weeks. We were standing on her doorstep,
and I thought to myself that maybe we should stop visiting, I guess
she must not be interested. That was until she opened the door, and
once again welcomed us warmly. She had to emergency fly to Canada for
her sick mother, and had been gone the whole time we been trying.
It was a great blessing to see her again.
Be patient, whether or not things may seem rough, keep trying, keep
exercising faith, the promised Heavenly Father gives us are always
fulfilled.

For greater light and insight in this subject, read Elder Uchtdorfs
address in the general women's session, or see Mosiah 24. It will be a
great blessing to you.
Love you all! Hope things are going great.
Love
Elder Smith

Helpful Sheriff

Elder Smith, Elder Davis and helpful sheriff

New area and new companion

Elder Smith was transferred to Scofford County in Virginia. He was quite excited to see another part of Virginia, and he is training a new elder. Elder Davis from Spanish Fork, Utah. Elder Davis just graduated this year. Derek said he reminded him of Skyler Powell. The area is more rural and has country type roads. They are with the Aquila Ward and there is lots of military in the area. On his 2nd day he got to meet the local sheriff because he locked their keys in the car. He said the sheriff was really nice about it. He didn't have time to send journals so I didn't get any stories hopefully more next week. But as he wrote all is good.


Elder Derek Smith's Mom

Photos recent baptism

Elder Schellenberg  interesting meal

Elder Schellenberg, ? and Beverly-newest member-Elder Smith aa wonderful Baptism

All is Well, no its great

Well. I know it has been a long, long time since I have written an
email to all of you...for that I apologize. However, the past however
long time has been amazing. Missions are truly so, so wonderful.

In other news....I am being transferred! Which is big news for being
in this area for ten months now...in basically the same Ward. It is
exciting. I should be returning to Charlottesville after a few
transfer...this is to get a different experience, learn some things.
Stuff like that. But right now I don't know where I will be going,
but I will be training! That is also quite exciting, so most likely I
will end up going to a brand new place, with a brand new companion. I
guess new is good! So we will see how that goes. It will all be good
though.

Also, last Saturday(20th) a friend we had been teaching for three
weeks was baptized! Her name is Beverly, and is super faithful. We
invited her to stop drinking coffee and tea, and she hasn't drank any
since(well she was confused one time we came over she asked us about
something she was drinking, found out it had tea in it, so she dumped
it down the drain. It was really awesome).

So that is how things have been recently, they have been great! I hope
all is going well for you keep improving, loving
others, and serving as described in D&C 4(which typically is focused
towards missionaries, but the principles apply everywhere!) I know
that doing so brings the Spirit to our lives, and allows us to have so
much joy during hard times.
Love
Elder Smith
Beverly's baptism

Excited to see the Changes in people as they come to know Christ

Well, happy 11th month mark. It was a good day for the 11th month. The morning went well, then in the afternoon I know something came up…I don’t know what it was…but something. If I remember I will write it down again. Then we went and met with GuanYunFei…and it was alright. I think we will see if we will continue to meet with her. After that we drove out to Reasford road with our bikes. Biked around there a little bit. Talked to a really nice guy named Eric, not ready right now but hopefully will be ready later to receive the Gospel! Then we talked with an Eric…who was super, super nice(and this is bad but by his first appearance I wouldn’t of thought that it would go that way) but he was really nice and we had a good conversation with him. Then he agreed that we could come back next week!(after being surprised, confused, and a little amused about how we ride bikes around and what we do and stuff). The we went over to the Quillon’s for dinner…(well before that I ran off the end of a cul de sac because the brakes on my bike don’t work very well. SO then Elder Schellenberg messed with them, thought he solved the problem…but it was basically the same, and now the handle is just harder to pull…but oh well.) the Quillon’s was good. They had really good tasting bread, it was a little awkward…however most dinner’s with members is awkward for me…oh well…then we had dessert which was..interesting. They had lemon sugar cookie ice cream..that was super super tasty, as well as Cranberry orange cookies or lemon cookies…those were less tasty. Then we shared a thought, after admiring their giant copy of the Book of Mormon. As well their mini library. It was good, shared the story in Alma 20, as well a bit about Sammy’s experience right now. It was good, I guess Sister Quillon is also a convert so she could relate a bit to that. Then we left, and we left on time! That was cool. The Quillon’s were a big help with that. Then we went and did some Chinese finding around Forest Lakes, ran into a Korean member with the last name of Hong…other than that found three other Chinese houses…but weren’t able to talk with any of them. Also YangliJing canceled…oh well. It was an interesting night.

Went to Beverly with Brother Johnson(Troy) and his nephew Hadyen, who is visiting him. It was really, really good. Wow, was it amazing. So this past little bit we have been worried about her son Justin, who isn’t interested in reading scriptures with us, nor talking to us….and so we have been praying about that a lot how to get things worked out. So after the lesson, Brother Johnson brought up the idea of taking Justin to Boy Scouts…and that is when the Spirit really testified to me the importance we need to pay to Justin more. It was a very special moment. I am really really grateful for Brother Johnson being there, he also suggested for her listen to conference which is great as well. He is super awesome. After that Beverly said a really, really sincere prayer. After we left, there were many miracles that we can feel, however a really awesome one is that Brother Johnson’s nephew Hayden is considering the idea of a mission…and our lesson tonight with Beverly…well it was probably one of the most ideal lessons to encourage that. Yeah, that was great. I always love going out with Brother Johnson.

Sunday August 7, 2016
Well the morning was really good. We went to church, and…wait for it…Beverly bore her testimony!!!! She was the second one too!...wow she is super, super amazing. The rest of church went well. We were able to have Gospel Principles with WangZheng…we basically just taught the Restoration…however it was good. Then during Priesthood Raider Mendenhall was able to be with Justin throughout Priesthood…it was really quite great. After church, we basically just went over to the Heaths for an early tasty dinner of smoked baked beans, pork, and rolls..with Sweet and condensed milk and coconut milk…wow those were both really good. They are a really cool family. Also they have a salt gun…to kill flies. Then we tried Ahykiya. Not home. Then talked with an old potential named Christian, real nice. Not too willing to do much right now. Then we met a super awesome lady named Joan (not pronounced Joan of Ark) and she is moving in a week, however, this happened to her in Pennsylvania. Which is kind of crazy we had a good conversation of God being in our lives, having faith, and joy, and being guided she was super nice and awesome to talk with. I loved it a lot, we gave her a Book of Mormon and will stop by tomorrow. After that it was a little late so we headed home.

-Elder BothBeverly&JoanMadeItAnAmazingSunday

Summer is flying by for Elder Smith

Elder Smith has been busy so has only been send his journal and is a little behind here's some of the latest news of Elder Smith in Virginia still in Charlotteville but now is doing the YSA ward and a Family ward until the students

come back to UVA

Friday July 15, 2016
Well we did weekly planning for most of the afternoon, so that was pretty simple. Then we went out with Robert for some time, we stopped by Ernest and were going to look in his area for a bit. Then it turns out we talked with his daughter Misha, who was really nice, and intersted. Actually got a card from the YSA sisters a few days before. She has a few interesting ideas, and is studying Egypt of something. However, she is really intersted and willing to look into the Book of Mormon. It was a really great lesson. Robert invited her to come hear him sing in the choir haha. He is awesome. After that we sang in the car with Robert for a bit...none of us sing super well, and not really sure if we even sing the right notes. However it was still really good. After that we went over by Inglewood drive area...tried talking with some people. We knocked on Jay's door haha, he was busy, but made us eat some watermelon first haha. Then we checked his number...and it was Liu's number...so we were really confused. We may have talked with Ahkiya a bit...don't really remember. If so her friend was there who doesn't think authority or any of that is important in any way for a church and stuff. She didn't like us very much, and I don't think Elder Schellenberg appreciated her very much. We talked with Ahkiya a bit afterwards though. It was good, other than that nothing much. It was pretty decent though.
-ElderJayLikesToForceWatermelonOnUs


July 16-Saturday
Well, service went well.(we went to Loaves and Fishes) I was a client guide this time...I don't enjoy it very much. I was scared someone would ask for more food than they can have...and it happened. Only once I think...but she squandered me for some more food...however I messed up on her applesauce as well....hopefully it will go well. Then we taught Chen, he is funny. George couldn't meet today. We were able to meet with Ernest, he is super super nice. And noticed that we aren't as pushy as the Jehovah Witnesses. Other than that nothing much. We met with Jackie at Four Seasons, rained a little bit. Then we tried to meet with Illuminee, she wasn't home...went up to Roy's neighborhood for a bit, then we were able to meet with Roy again! We met with Brett Parker one of the newer recruiting coaches or something(he is really young and from Texas) he is really cool though. We had another really really good lesson with Roy. She read 6 chapters too! It was great. Then, the Spirit gave me really good idea of how to teach. Our plan was to focus on the Plan of Salvation, but also read from the Book of Mormon. So instead we mixed them! Taught the Plan of Salvation through the vision Lehi has of the Tree of Life. Again, it was really, really great. She loved it all, the time flew by. Wow, is she ever wonderful. Also super grateful for the awesome idea the Spirit was able to give me to teach in that way. it was such a blessing. She is again excited to come to church, is getting extra sleep so she can for sure make it tomorrow. It was great. Oh one more little tidbit, we mentioned making baptism a goal...and she was totally willing to do that! We set a date for July 30th(kind of selfish looking for a baptism on my birthday, however I was corrected with that pretty quick...wait and see.) she is going back to her home country for vacation in a few weeks. So we decided on August 30th instead. However still super great news.
-Elder ManNoIdeaHowToExpressTheMiracleThatIsRoy

A day in the life of Elder Smith

Friday July 1, 2016
Well, well, well. I must say it was quite the fantastic day. Wow, it was great. Woke, up at 6:30, that went well, the morning was alright, studies weren't terribly great. However, the prayer beforehand was good, it was fervent and uplifting. The rest went well, then we headed up to the airport building for Zone conference. Unfornately we were late...however, the meeting was really, really amazing. Answered many, many questions. Learned a lot, and really, really grateful for the experience. Heavenly Father knows me so much. Very grateful for that. After Zone Meeting, we got, lots and lots of Panera Bread. We took a picture of it, and it was real tasty...well hopefully it will be. It filled up our freezer a lot. So that was exciting, I really enjoy Panera bread...and we were running out so that was swell. 

 Then we were able to go to Ruby Tuesday with George. That was quite tasty, I got shrimp and tilapia...it was good, figured I would try something newish. George is cool, I enjoy being around him. However, he does have crazy ideas sometimes haha. After that we returned home and had a good Weekly Planning Session, ate some dinner. Then headed out. I believe we first went to Copeley talked with two really cool Chinese people, the girl really loves us. Elder Schellenberg had talked with them before. They thought we were kind of crazy for living the Word of Wisdom...but oh well. They were cool, then we went and picked up Robert, tried to talk with Shirley...her mom or something wasn't interested in us at all...a little confused by that. 

Then we saw a lady gardening. Robert is super good at talking to people, so that was useful, because I was kind of scared to. Anyways, her name was Erin, she was nice, and fairly interested, and likes to read, so hopefully will follow through with her commitments, there was a cool moment though as Robert was bearing his testimony. That was cool. Despite he was sitting on the ground comparing his sunflower tie with her flowers haha. Gotta love Robert. After that we took him wherever it was he needed to be dropped off at. Before that we talked to him how the Temple would go. It was super amazing, to teach him about the Temple. I have a great love for the Temple, I was super excited for the wonderful time that he will have there. After that we tried talking with Molina...she wasn't home. Then we had to head home, it was good, a normal day. Well except for Zone Meeting was wonderful, Robert was wonderul, and so yeah.
-Elder MissionDaysAreWonderful

The Miracles of a Mission

Well, so I guess I decided to do something different for this journal. I am a little behind, and want to catch up, so I can record all the the blessings I have received. I am catching up, however still behind. I had this idea come to me during Church, so it may be inspiration. Elder Holland gave an MTC devotional called "The Miracle of a Mission". So I want to label this journal entry that, it will encompass the following days(Thursday 23, Friday 24, Saturday 25, Sunday 26. Hopefully I will be able to get my point across.
The Miracle of a Mission(Elder Smith edition)
As a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, you have many, many different and unique experiences. You also have a lot of hope that certain things will happen.(ok I didn't think it would go this way, however we shall see hehe). You have the same schedule, each day, for 2 years. Personally I don't like schedules. I like to figure out my own schedule. Also you have to be with someone, you never met before, all day every day. Then learn how to work effectively with them. You must learn to love them, serve them, and again be with them all the time. I also personally like keeping to myself, and not having to be with someone all the time(excluding the bathroom of course). Thirdly(possibly the strangest) you talk with strangers (it kind of goes against the big childhood rule right?) about religion, God, their family, and things very personal to them. As well you are expected to talk with everyone, yep everyone. People walking down the street, on the bus, in the store, knock door to door and talk with them. Talk. Talk. Talk. That is what you do. Preach the Gospel, and how you do that, you talk.(I really don't enjoy doing this, with people I don't know at least. I would make up excuses to get away from people, so I would be able to stop talking with them. This was a frequent occasion. That was a bad explanation. However the point is, I don't like talking with people). This just provides a little background for the story to help provide emphasis and understanding. Oh, I should also mention this is what you do everyday, from 10:00 to 9:00. Going out, and Preaching the Gospel(Excluding an hour for lunch and dinner).


Now I will go on to explain in more detail some of the activities I have mentioned. On thursday(typically) we have what we call "Weekly Planning" also referred to as "Weekly Pile" "The 2nd P-Day" and other funny names(that is something to mention missionaries tend to have their very own vernacular and language). In this session we talk about people we are teaching, seek inspiration and revelation on what we should do to best help them build their faith in Jesus Christ and His Restored Gospel. We obviously plan our activities, plan lesson, plan our appointments. We plan a lot. Partway through this we had an appointment with a nice Chinese Girl named GuanYunFei. We have met with her for awhile, shared some things with her, however for the most part she has just helped our Chinese(Oh yeah, I forgot to mention many missionaries are called, or asked, to learn a foreign language as part of their missionary responsibilities). We arrive at the designated spot, wait a little bit, and she is not there. We send her a text, and turns out she sent us a text earlier saying she could not come today. This was all because she sent it in a picture message, and our phones are too old for new technology(haha there is a another thing that for a big part is a no, technology. No TV, radio, movies, internet, newspaper, or headphones. This purpose is to keep our minds centered on our work, to have no worldly distractions, and to keep us safe from temptation). So we drive back home, this is a common occurrence that someone will cancel our appointments, or not show up at all. We continued our Weekly Planning session. A bit later, this day was actually quite, quite special. A previous missionary that had served where I am currently serving(his name was Elder Short, is currently Mark Short) had returned to visit his place of ministry. We were able to meet him at a local favorite, Cookout, and take him to visit a bedridden member of the Ward we serve in. Her name is Casey Andreas, and the moment we walk in she is almost surprised out of her bed to see Mark Short again. They caught up, and we all were able to share a short message from the scriptures how to better live the way Christ would have us live. This whole time, Casey was so amazed how different Mark was from the time he first came on his mission. All the changes, how much wiser and mature he was. She was amazed, as she is with all the missionaries she has known throughout the years. This is what a mission can do to someone.


Later we picked up Jared a 19 year old from the ward then went knocking. Most everyone we were able to talk with was very nice, they didn't want to listen to us, however they said it in a nice way. WE actually met someone who is a member of our church, however through some experiences in life has stopped living her faith. At the end of the street we met this younger fellow named Kyle, who was actually sleeping when we knocked on his door, and he still answered. He was very nice, and interested, and really wants to make the world a better place. As well, in the future is very willing to talk with us more, learn more and hopefully build his faith. it was quite a blessing to talk with him. We are walking back to our car because it was roughly time to head home, before getting in, I say "lets knock this last door(this was the one I felt we should knock earlier). Then Jared says, "oh we should knock this other door as well, it looks like they have a family"(we like teaching families because they are central to God's eternal plan). So we knock it, the man looks a little annoyed when he answers because he had just put the kids to bed. So we plan to come back tomorrow afternoon. Then we knock the next door, a man opens and we get talking with him. To be honest I cannot remember very much of anything that he said All I know is that it went well, he was really nice and interested. I do remember that his uncle is a pastor somewhere. However, Chad, was you could say, a miracle. He is very interested, and wants to meet with us next week. He was a really awesome man, super nice, and a good friend.


So that is a very small glimpse of what a mission is like. A miracle I must say. I mentioned that word a lot for a reason. I like to relate a mission to tithing as did President Ezra Taft Benson. We have lived for roughly 20 years, then we give 2 to the Lord. That is 10%. That is what the Lord has asked of us. Then the promise is that He will pour out so many blessings that we will not be able to receive it. That is the shortest way I can describe a mission. I try each day to write in my journal all the blessings and miracles I receive on my mission. I am never successful. It makes me more and more grateful each day. That is the miracle of a mission.
-Elder Smith

Note from Elder Schellenberg

*Hey Everyone that is reading this!!! I am Elder Schellenberg, and I just want to say how awesome of a guy and missionary and person that Elder Smith is. He is one of the kindest person on earth. I was in the MTC with him and he was super cool to be around 24/7. He also writes in this journal a ton. I don't know what he says but I am sure it is good and interesting. Speaking Chinese in Virginia as a missionary. Anyways. Simi Zhanglao is the best.*

Another good week

Well, it was another good week, it was a little slow, however it was
still quite wonderful! This week I tried focusing on Patience, which
was cool considering the miracle at the end of the week.
This was a really,  really wonderful and miraculous thing. We wer knocking
on a door, when a car a little bit away to us motions to us. She asks
what we are doing, and we say "we are missionaries!"(we may have said
more...but I don't really know) then  She said, follow me around the
corner and we can talk! So we follow her, then start taking with her.
Turns out she loves missionaries, or at least the idea of spreading
the word. We explained who we were.  Then taught her and she understood it all, was
very, very impressed/excited about the 1st Vision. At one point while
we were talking she said "this is fun!" Or something good like that.
It was all so great. She is really excited to read The Book of Mormon.
After the whole thing she explained all of what we said to make sure
she understood. She explained it perfectly. Wow, it was so, so, so
amazing. She will be coming to church next week(which is convenient
because she goes to the church across the street from ours!). Wow, and
this happened while my companion and I were fasting for both us and
our zone to baptize this month. The Lord definitely works miracles in
our lives.
So yeah, that was a really big highlight of the week, other than that
everything is good.
Love
Elder Smith

missonaried month

Well, there are some bit things that have recently
happened...especially since I haven't wrote a bit email for a long
time.

This past month(May) well it was kind of crazy, in the month of May,
my companion and I were Missionaried to at least 5 times, I have been
invited to become, well a lot of different religions, which I don't
think it would be appropriate to name them specifically, however, all
of them are Christianity, which some of the people we talked with,
didn't think that we were Christian, so they wanted to help us out. To
be honest, in the moment, it was frustrating, some of the people most
of them actually were much much smarter than I am, and told me so many
different ideas, and things, that say I am wrong for what I am doing.
That I really need to look at things, and look at the Bible, and
figure out what is going on. The arguments range from, brainwashing,
ancient Hebrew, genetics, Russian, German, and much more. To be
honest, I know very little about the things they brought up, the
questions asked, and other things. It was pretty hard, and tiring, and
annoying.

However, clearly I am still a a missionary for the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints! All because of the goodness of our
Heavenly Father, I giving us the wonderful Restored Gospel. We have
all been blessed to be able to be lead to truth through the Holy Ghost
that can testify to us the truth of all things. Man of the people we
met with, that Missionaried to us, always used logic or smarts to
convince us of the truthfulness of their message. However, none of
them relied on the Spirit, no one directed invited me to pray and ask
God, the source of all truth, to be lead and guided. Just as no one
can prove through physical means that Jesus Christ rose from the dead,
that the Bible is true, that Jesus is the Christ. These things can
only be known by spiritual means, through prayer, scripture study and
faith. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says "Wherefore I give you to understand,
that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and
that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost."

I am so grateful for a living, loving Heavenly Father that has
provided us a way for each of us to personally know the love that He
has for us, that Jesus is the Christ, and any other truth. That I
through this same power, know that our Heavenly Father lives and loves
each and everyone one of us, that he gave His son Jesus Christ to die
for us that we can become clean from all the mistakes and sin we have
in our life. And that this knowledge has been restored to the earth by
a prophet, the first being Joseph Smith up to the current time. The.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true. All of you can
know this as well, or strengthen you testimony of it as we rely on the
gifts Heavenly Father has give us, which are so, so plentiful.

-Elder Smith

P.S. In other news, well it is transfer this week, and....the
unthinkable happened! Two of the mandarin missionaries got
transferred!..well they will tomorrow. It will be weird, Elder
Schellenberg, my MTC companion, and I will be taking over both areas
we are currently in. At Least we think so. To be honest, it is quite
intimidating, however I am trying to have faith, that things will go
well. However, it is definitely going to be hard, and a little lonely
this next little bit. The other elders are expected to
return...however we do not really know, we think they are going to see
if there re other Chinese people elsewhere in Virginia. We shall see.
However, I fully believe the promise in 1 Nephi 3:7 "And it came to
pass that I, Nephi, said unto my father: I will go and do the things
which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no
commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for
them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them." As
well the same goes for all of you in your respective callings and
assignments!
Love you all!

A Day in the LIFE of Elder Smith

Tuesday May 17, 2016

Well, it was a really good day, as well, during my prayer, I mostly thought that it was a normal good day, however, I was corrected in that, it was quite the miraculous day, so many blessings. Personal Study was good, I wanted to know why Christ sometimes has the title of Father, and the answer came very clearly, and it was an amazing experience. "..seek and ye shall find.." it is a true scripture. The rest of studies were good, lunch was quite tasty, had some pasta. After that we went out, we first went to Chris Eby's place to learn about Family History Work so that we can help teach it to others. It was good, a little funny though, we were at his apartment, then Elder Snow didn't think we could use members wifi, so we walked down to McDonalds to use that wifi, then Elder Snow texted the Zone Leaders, and found out we could use members wifi. So I bought an ice cream cone, then we headed back to Chris's apartment. Found out that lots and lots of my family history has been done. It was kind of crazy. However, that was good. Then we headed to grounds and surprisingly there wasn't a crazy amount of people however there was a good amount. We met this one girl that we are meeting tomorrow! Then we ran into this Chinese girl she was really nice named XiaoYu, while we were teaching with her, Paul walks up!!! haha it was kind of a crazy miracle! Especially since we needed a pen, he had one! It was pretty cool haha.


Later, we had to give the Sisters an Arabic Book of Mormon. Later we went to Two Guys Tacos, Alex gave it to us for free which was pretty crazy. We both got Loaded Nachos, those were good, actually quite good. A little too salty though. As we she gave us this super big packet of stuff that she wants answers to and discuss next time. I little intimidating…we shall see how it goes…However the nachos we got were quite tasty! Then we left, gave a Book of Mormon to some homeless men that asked for one, kind of got lost walking back to grounds at one point haha. Saw a dead snake on the ground. Talked to a really nice girl named Christina, she said we could talk tomorrow! Went back to grounds, there weren't too many people, haha ran into Paul again! As well apparently he was on the Virginia swim team! The club team, however that is still way cool! Then ran into this one girl, don't remember her name, however she was really really cool, and really nice. Doubted a lot of things that we talked about, however recognized that we have to have a sort of "leap of faith" which was good. She was super cool, knew a little bit about us, met a Mormon in Italy actually, kind of crazy haha. We talked to her for a long time, actually turns out that she is from China, that was pretty cool, she is also Christian. She is leaving very soon though, so we gave her a card, and how to get a Book of Mormon. We ended up talking with her for quite awhile, too long I guess because we actually missed our bus haha.

We got home, planned some stuff, then headed to bed!

-Elder SnakeMan(SeePictureForFurtherDetails)

Day of Miracles

We head out of the apartment, and there is a Chinese looking girl walking up the road. Elder Snow talks to her, she was super nice, and crazy thing, she got baptized last week!(by some other church..but it is still great!) We talked some more, shared the message of the Restoration with her, she really enjoyed it, and wow, she complimented our Chinese so, so, so, so much...wow. She said it was phenomenal (haha that is not phenomenal english hehe) she said we sounded like a Chinese person, haha she was super nice. Her English was fine, but she spoke in Chinese with us which was cool. I was really grateful for the entire experience, it was such a miracle. She is heading to China tomorrow, but she wants to meet and talk more when she gets back in August!! Wow, we walked away from that so ecstatic, and surprised. It was such a miracle. Wow, such a miracle. After that we got on the bus. Heading to UVA, then Elder Snow gives me a really, really worried look...then he tells me he doesn't have Yumin's email....we were frantically trying to figure out what to do, thinking if we should go back and knock all of the apartment buildings to find her, then we get an idea(thanks to the Spirit) to text Gan Wei and ask if his roommate is named Yumin...we text him. Then he responds and it is her! We rejoice in gratitude. What a miracle, we then ask Gan Wei if he can send us her email or something...he has yet to reply, but still a great miracle!

We get to UVa...wow, it was very dead...there were very, very few people there. We walked around a bit trying to decide what to do....we head into a bathroom temporarily(and turns out the water bottle filler upper things work pretty good as a water fountain!...only got a little wet hehe) after that a surprise storm shows up....and I realize I didn't have my umbrella...so we start walking to Clark while it is sprinkling a bit. Then it starts going harder, we get out of the down pour, trying to share Elder Snow's umbrella, hopping from tree to tree. Then eventually hit Clark. Then boom. It started raining crazy hard, there were waves going along the ground, we were standing next to the door by Clark, and occasionally get hit by some rain. It was a lot of rain, really exciting to watch. We stood there and watched if for some time, it even started puddling up on the ground...it was really crazy. After that we headed into Clark to clean up our Area Book a bit. It went good, halfway through the Zone Leaders gave us a text, and turned out to be in the room next to us. It continued to rain a lot.

After that we met with Lindsay, it was really good, kind of crazy that she had a final today. But it was a good lesson with her. She mostly had issues about becoming like God, we shared our point and how it makes sense, also talked about faith and works and grace and stuff. It was similar to most other Protestant Christians, it was good though because she was super nice and other things. It was a good lesson, we think she has some good things to ponder. It was quite the miracle though.

Later meet Amir, really soft spoken, has a belief in God and has relied on Prayer to get through it. We talked with him, it was a really spiritual lesson, Elder Snow and I taught quite well in unity, it was a super good lesson. Which is why I say it was a miracle that God gave to us. He really like the 1st Vision, and some other things. He agreed to work towards June 6th for baptism! As well he really liked the idea of coming to church! It was...wow he is so cool. It was seriously just like Ether 12:6 that was such a miracle. We walked away very much stupefied. It was such a miracle. Then we went to the Bench at Brown college to record out two lesson, we look out into the grass, and there is a really small super cute bunny. We were watching it for a second, get back to recording the lesson. We are BOOM!!!! The tiny bunny sprints at me, turns a foot away then speeds off never to be found again....it was kind of crazy. We decided crazy things sometimes happen on the Bench at Brown college.
-ElderDayofMiracles

Use the power of Fasting

Super cool thing this week! On Sunday two of our
friends(investigators) were able to come to church! We went to the
ward at 9:00 because that is the only one he was able to attend, it
was really good. He is pretty shy so it is a little hard, but said it
was good!(also accidentally went to high priests group haha). Then we
were able to go to church at 12:30 with our regular Ward! Our friend
Mike came, really enjoyed it and learned a lot! He got to know quite a
bit of members and it worked really good for him. It was a great
blessing to have them both come! Also they are pretty much the first
investigators that have come to church while I have been in my
mission! It was super cool and grateful for it.

Also had a really awesome experience with fasting this past weekend.
Then the next day at church, wow so many amazing things happened. So
many of my questions, concerns, were answered. It was really, really
amazing. It really helped me overcome a spiritual plateau I felt I was
on. The power of fasting is so real. If any of you are stuck in any
sort of spiritual rut, need a little extra help in any way, I invite
you to take a day, and fast with a prayer in your heart, and I promise
if you do so with a willing heart you will see miracles in your life.
The power of fasting is real! It is sooooooo great!
Have a great week!
Elder Smith

-Elder WowSuchAWonderfulDaySoMuchToBeGratefulFor

Well, the days are really flying by, it is pretty crazy, halfway through April...wow. Anyways, today was great! Got to wash my white shirts, had an awesome breakfast....well I ate way too much...5 pieces of french toast, 2 pieces of regular toast, and a bagel...went a little crazy I guess haha.So we go to grounds(UVA)...met Tierre, she was going to come with us. She is super cool, also a graduate student which I did not know! Wants to teach Russian to college students. Pretty cool. Jessie ended up coming...only 15 minutes late this time haha. She is still pretty much the same, but some of her questions about Justice and Mercy are better!! Tierre helped out a ton, also I realized whenever she would asked a question, I would look at Elder Snow haha. I didn't answer tons of her questions. 

Anyways, we met with Ian after that, at first he looked a little off so I was worried a bit. but we got talking and things worked out better like they normally do. He also said that he feels like the Book of Mormon is true...which is super awesome...still working on the Prophet Joseph Smith, and other Prophets, but going real well.

 Then we met with Mike!! It was super great as well! He is a funny guy, I know I have said this before, but he is so much so the CHinese version of Skyler Powell, it is super awesome. Anyways, Johnney came quite late, but it went really good again, he is super great, says has felt God in his life before which is awesome, just not 100% which is totally fine. He doesn't really understand the Book of Mormon a whole lot...so we will work on that, definitely need to get better at teaching with the scriptures in every sense. Either way, he is still doing super great. After the lesson we were casually talking, mentioned how missions worked, and said after he was baptized if he wanted to he could serve a mission, and he said he would think about it!!!! AHhhhhhh! It was pretty cool. Nothing set, but cool that is is open to the idea. Also his girlfriend is in England so he is still trying to talk to her about God and religion and stuff. We are hoping that will get figured out. After that...well we were pretty much out of time, we recorded other lessons, then met Scarlett because she wanted to feed us! It was super nice of her, honestly and always super impressed when members feed us. Super cool and nice of them. We went to Roots, it is a salad place, and like most salad places, was really good tasting, just not the most filling, if that makes sense.

 So yeah that was really good, unfortunately we weren't able to eat with her for very long because we had a lesson at 6:00 with Kelly we met yesterday. Wow, it was super super great, it was a really simple teaching of the restoration, nothing really special. However, it was super spiritual and super awesome. She is super awesome, super willing to learn more. Didn't really have any questions of any kind, and she is willing to prepare for baptism May 7th!!!! It was super crazy. Super super awesome. After that we got to our weekly planning, it was good...didn't have tons of time to do a whole lot because of different things. So yeah, that was the day.

 However before I close there was a cool experience when planning my study for the next day. Started reading a conference talk by Elder Christofferson, then was thinking about a lot of things, then led to certain scriptures, and other things, then read in Ephesians 4:11...and then really felt to study about Why the Church(which is the talk I was reading) it was really cool. Always, really cool and amazing seeking out revelation and then being given it. It is really an amazing process that you get a lot as a missionary. One problem is recording that! Grateful for Journals.
-Elder WowSuchAWonderfulDaySoMuchToBeGratefulFor

Loved Conference

Hello all! It was a pretty normal week, but that means it was great!
So, don't really know what to mention. 

Ok, I will mention this really cool guy named John.
We ran into him on grounds, at first he wasn't interested at all, but
we got talking(in Chinese!) and had a good talk with him, then planned
to meet Saturday!

We met on Saturday, and he was super awesome, way more interested this
time. He has a lot of questions, which makes sense. So we tried our
best to answer those, while also not teaching to much, it was a little
struggle. However it all worked, the best part was at the end, he
was willing to try to prayer. Wow, it was a real special prayer,
probably the simplest prayer I have heard. But really heartfelt too.
It is always really special to see someone with no background with God
to say a prayer. It was really cool.

Don't really know what else to mention about this week, however I do
want to say how real the power of prayer is. It can be a two way
communication between us and our Heavenly Father. It is such a
wonderful blessing that I think we take for granted all to often. I
invite all of you to do what you can to make your prayers more
sincere. You can really feel the love our Heavenly Father has for
each and every one of us.
Love you all! Look back over conference and you can feel the same
way you did when we watched conference!
Elder Smith
斯密长老

Happy Easter ""He is Risen"

Well, the only thing the Lost Bread has to do with is the fact, we bought bread on Monday...and searched for it throughout the week and could not find anything...it was quite disappointing.

Sorry, I do not have very much time this week, so it will be quite short, however I have one really cool story to share with you!

We were waiting outside a library waiting for people to talk with, then we decide we need to give one of our investigators a call (His name is Kevin we have been meeting with him for about 3 weeks) so we give him two calls, no answer to either...then we look down the road, and in the darkness of the night we see Kevin!!! We yell his name(maybe too loud...but we were excited) then we end up walking and teaching him while he heads back to his apartment. Earlier we had taught him the Word of Wisdom, so we were kind of following up on that, asked him how that was going. Then he shared an experience where one of his "friends" tried to get him to denounce Christianity, and smoke some sort of drug with him, so he turns to his friend, and roughly says, No way man! Then leaves the apartment made me really happy to hear about him doing that and standing up for what he knows to be right. It was really cool.

But yeah, that was one of the many highlights this week of being a missionary! Another was definitely Easter, it makes me think of the hymn "He is Risen" probably one of my favorite songs, I VERY, much suggest that you check it out.

Love you all!
Happy Easter!
Don't ever forget about Christ!
As well prepare for conference!(think of questions, ex: What does God want me to do in life right now? How can I better do...)
Again Love you all!
-Elder Smith =)

Photo fun text

Hello! My family is visiting UVA and we just met your Elder.  
He was nice and friendly and we thought we would send a picture.  
My husband and I both served missions and our tall son currently
 has his papers in. It was a real treat to for us to
 see the missionaries.  I hope you are having a great day! 
Love, Stephanie Nelson (sugar house, Utah)

Photo

Teach all the World

Sweet Power of Prayer

Hello,
This week was really great, my companion is amazing, the area is
great, and yeah. Everything is wonderful. Had a really amazing miracle
this week.
So a little background last week we walked past some people speaking
Chinese, Elder Snow stopped them, asked if we could sometime practice
Chinese with them, one said ok! Then we meet with him next week,
practiced Chinese discussing different things, then got to the end, talked
about when we can meet again, what we will discuss, and he asks if we
can discuss religious things next week! We of course said ok!
We meet this past week, start talking about the Bible, the beginning
of everything kind of. We explained that a bit, then he wants to know
about the New Testament because he doesn't really know about it. We
explain that, then get to the end, and ask him if he is willing to say
a prayer. We first say an example prayer for him, then he thinks for a
long while...then he says he is ready to pray. Then he proceeds to say
one of the most heartfelt prayers I have ever heard. Especially from
someone who doesn't really have a belief in God, and for his first
prayer. The Spirit was so strong. It was an amazing miracle, so
grateful that Heavenly Father let me be a part of that experience.
Then a little added bonus, it was all in Chinese.
And there you go for my week!!
Love you all!
Elder Smith

Transfers and new companion but move wasn't far

Well, not sure if I told anyone, but I don't really get transferred
being a Mandarin missionary here, however things have changed!!! I
didn't get transferred, however my companion did, he just went to the
other ward here in C'Ville, and Elder Snow came over with me to the
YSA ward. So things are kind of different. I moved over to the other
side of our apartment! Other than that...not much change....also one
of our Zone Leaders that is a great friend(Elder Albrecht) got
transferred and is now an Assistant. Real sad to see him leave....but
that is the story of transfers.

The week was real good, we talked to lots of sweet people, it was a
little slow because of Spring Break...but still really good! Met this
really cool guy named Mike, he doesn't have any belief in God, but he
is super willing to look into it! We is willing to put in the work to
be baptized April 9th!! It was super cool...met with him twice this
week, he has a lot of questions seeing he doesn't have a background
with God, but he is super sweet!

Other things that happened during the week...were filling up our water
in a library, some guy stares at us and says..."you know you could
come back to reality" Elder Snow:"why would I do that?" Guy walks off
without a word....comes back stares at us...says "ever find an
arrowhead?"...."No"....."Ever find a sword?"...."No" man walks
off.....so that happened.

Also were about to stop two ladies on the street they say "oh,
hey....well we won't try to convert you today...." Yeah weren't really
sure what that was about. But one of them Used to be a Mormon...then
changed her mind I guess...it was weird.

But other than that it has been a great week! One cool spiritual thing
thing, President Wilson came to our sacrament meeting and said
something like "The way we eliminate the unnecessary distractions in
life defines who we really are" James E. Faust said "We need to learn
how to filter out the static generated by Satan." In this modern world
so many voices compete for our attention. However, because we can have
the Gift of the Holy Ghost. This Gift can always lead and guide us in
our life, if we are listening. And one suggestion I have found that
helps us hear that voice, is setting aside specific time for Heavenly
Father each day, through prayer and scripture study. As we set aside
time for the Lord, we feel the Spirit more abundantly in our life,
which can lead and be our guide in decisions in life, that we need a little
extra help on. The power of the Holy Ghost is real, this Gospel is
real, you can feel the power of it in your life ever day. So grateful
to be a missionary right now, spreading this message here in C'Ville
Virginia.
Love you all, keep doing good things!
-Elder Smith

6 month mard

Well I hit my 6 month mark this week, and all I can say is I am so
grateful to have had 6 months to be a missionary. It is truly a great
experience.

This week was good, one cool thing that I will mention is we were
about to meet with this kid named Brendon, but he gave us a text
pretty much saying, that "nothing really has changed since we last
met, and I am not quite sure what I am looking for, so I don't think
it would the best if we met today"(this initially got me sad...he went
on to say)"I am heading out to Utah to visit so,e of my Mormon
relatives over arming break, I will see the Temple, talk with them,
and hopefully that will give me a better idea of what I am looking
for. When I come back the we can hopefully meet." Then I got quite
happy. So this week while he is in Utah, we will be praying for him a
lot. What made this special to me was he was very sincere, and honest
with us, which is kind of rare around UVA. This kid, his name is
Brenden, is really sincere and seeking out what God wants for him. I
see a lot of potential in him, it makes me really excited for how his
week in Utah goes.
Other than that the week has been normal, so it is quite great! =D
Love you all hope all is well!
The only thing I have to share is a quote from Preach My Gospel
"Enjoying the gifts of the Spirit should be one of your most earnest
desires." We need to look at our life, are we seeking the gifts of the
Spirit in our daily life? The Spirit is in a foretaste of eternal
life, as we seek the spirit, we can taste a little bit what eternal
life will be. What a great gift Heavenly Father has given us. We can
have that with us always. If we keep our covenants to the best we can,
always remember Jesus Christ and His Atonement for us. We can never be
grateful enough for that. How ver, as we do our best, the promise is
that we will always have his spirit with us.
Love you all! The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored! Look for
opportunities to share this message in action and by mouth!
斯密长老

Elder Smith

Don't eat the fish

Well this week was great...and as usually I don't remember much of
what happened...Tuesday went out with Elder Schellenberg(MTC
companion) and that was super fun being with him for the day) as well
met some pretty awesome people.

Wednesday it rained a lot...it was pretty cool.
Thursday, pretty normal, nothing too notable.

Friday Elder Richter was sick,  we made lunch together as an
apartment, so awhile ago I bought some Alaskan Pollock(fish) and
decided to eat that! Also made some fried potatoes and rice! So the
whole meal takes awhile, and we have like ten minutes to eat it all
before lunch was over.  I  take a bite of the fish(before this we could see
that it was much over cooked) take a bite.....wow....it was real bad.
Never eaten anything that salty in my life. Would have rather drank
ocean water....wow....not sure why but ate one of my filets...felt
kind of sick the rest of the day....we threw away all of the
fish....it was so bad. One of the notable quotes was (won't mention who
said it) "I wouldn't give this fish to a homeless person" regardless
it was really bad....the potatoes were good, but the best part of the
meal was probably the plain rice....bleah....probably won't make fish
for awhile, or just not cover it in so many spices.

Friday was a good day, not tons of people on grounds, Saturday was
similar, but it was college game day! And some student won $18,000 for
a half court shot! Pretty exciting for him. Also found out in 2011 UVA
was ranked the #1
party school in America....
However, a few really cool things happened, actually a lot happened,
but I will write about two.
On exchanges Tuesday, we met with this woman named Shelli Quick, she
has been meeting with missionaries for about a year, and her whole
story is quite the miracle. It was amazing to see how the Gospel of
Jesus Christ has given her hope through her husband's death, raising
two kids, all while overcoming smoking. She has learned to rely on the
Lord, and has felt the peace the Gospel can give us. It was really
amazing.
2nd experience(also on Exchanges just Friday) knocked on a door, met
this woman named Tess, taught her the restoration, she shared her
experience of getting to know God, and relying on him through
different health issues. We shared about Joseph Smith feeling the same
way through his persecution, especially in Liberty Jail. It was an
amazing experience, willing to be baptized as she comes to know what
we shared is true, and also coming to church! Words can't describe it,
however it was amazing.
This is the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ! The scriptures open the
window to revelation! Go to them for support in easy and hard times!
Love you all!
斯密长老
And here is a picture of that nasty fish and what not...

photo fish

Wouldn't feed this to a homeless person

Spreading the Word

Short but with a miracle

So cool miracle I want to share. UVA had a snow day Monday, so
unfortunately all our appointments were canceled. However, when we met
this this guy named Chang a few days later, he read 15 chapters of the
Book of Mormon because of the extra time he had! The Lord doesn't
always work in the way that makes sense to us, but he works in the way
that works.
Love you all! This is God's church restored to the earth! Learn of
that for yourself!
斯密长老!

Elder Smith

On Grounds UVA

Elder Smith companion Elder Richter and
Zone leaders Elder Sundh and Elder Abbrecht on
University of Virginia campus they call it grounds and is where they do all their contacting.

Well this week fortunately I remember the things that happened, usually that doesn't really happen but anyways, it was a really great week.

Well our Chinese district is official now(the four Chinese missionaries here) we had our first District meeting last Tuesday, it was pretty good, all in Chinese too so that is pretty cool. But yeah nothing much more to say about that.

On Wednesday one of the Assistants to the President, Elder Walton, came down to stay at the Mandarin house for 4 days and go out with us! It was pretty cool, a little weird having 5 people instead of the usual 4, but it was good! Had a good time with him, learned a lot, oh and when the other Assistants(they are currently in a trio) came to pick him up, it was night time, so then we had 7 people staying over! It was a little crowded, we had to share the beds that we have, and ended up getting pushed onto the floor sometime in the night...but oh well, it worked out ok.

So first on Tuesday(sorry for going out of order) two random people come up and say "what are your names?" and we were confused, but starting talking to them a bit, and found out they met the 1st ward Elders, then somehow met the Zone Leaders and were eating dinner with them on Thursday...and then invited us to come to dinner! They were super nice, then after they left, we sat there really confused, but also excited because they were taking us to dinner! It was weird, butThursday comes, and we are waiting outside the dining hall, and one of the people we met(John) came up, swiped us in(basically paid for our food) and then told us to follow him to the back and he said "we all normally sit in the back" so this made me a bit confused, because I thought it was only going to be us, the Zone Leaders, and John and Kevin(other guy we met Tuesday). But we get back there and there are 6 other people!....yeah that kind of threw us off guard...but turns out they were all super cool, and nice, and we super awesome people....then 15 or so minutes later....they all leave for a Chi Alpha(Christian Fellowship on Grounds) event(they invited us, but it was all about relationships and dating and stuff....so we decided not to go) and they invited us to dinner next week, and yeah.....really have no idea why they want to feed us, or talk with us....I sat there super confused the whole time. They were all super nice though!

Now we come to right now, it is snowing again(by the way the snow that swallowed cars, and grounded the missionaries, it all disappeared after about a week....it was kind of nuts) but it is snowing again! It is only supposed to be a little bit(probably 5 or so inches) but still cool!

And a few cool things happened this week besides the things mentioned before. We met with Bryan again, he is super interested in what we teach, is willing to seek out a testimony for himself, and is doing all the right things. All we need is time, and hope he continues to seek out the truth, and to feel of it. he is super awesome, really grateful to have met him.

Also this girl we met once, had a mutual friend(Elder McGowan met him in the MTC, he is from C'Ville, and he knows this girl Kate! Crazy conncection) and so we got her number, but we got it wrong and she never responded....but then we saw her again! Pretty crazy...and got the right number(may have already mentioned this...sorry if I did) and then we met with her and her friend on Sunday! She is super cool, and nice, and sincere about all that we taught. Pretty sweet.

Also ran into this guy named Kyle we met with awhile ago, he got sick, and no he is doing better! Still super cool and happy to see us! Which is always a good sign!

(and now for a little spiritual something from Elder Smith) This work(missionary work) of spreading the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. This Church is directed by Jesus Christ through the Prophet Thomas S. Monson. Joseph Smith said "You know no more concerning the destinies of this Church and kingdom than a babe upon its mother's lap. You don't comprehend it...This Church will fill North and South America--it will fill the world." Yes, this was said a while ago in the beginnings of the church. Which means this is now coming to pass, 80,000 or so missionaries, almost everywhere in the world, spreading the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. This work will move forward, continue to progress, and grow. Nothing can stop it. Like Elder M. Russel Ballard taught us to stay on the Old Ship Zion. We all choose whether we are going to stay on the ship, or not. Choose to stay, the course it is on is the only way to peace in this life, and eternal life in the world to come. Look for those around you that you can help onto the ship, show the happiness, peace, and joy this gospel brings. In the words of Elder Ucthdorf(well paraphrased) "Share the gospel at all times(through example, actions) and when necessary use words." I know this is God's Church on the earth today, led by Jesus Christ through a prophet. Discover these truths for yourself, then help others find their way.

I love you all! Thanks for everything each of you have done to affect my life!(sorry this seems really general, and not to caring....well it is a general email....)

-Elder Smith =D

Found some Pretty Sweet People

Well I promised to write a good email this week....at least I think I did, but either way it will be a good email this week!
So between us and the Zone leaders this week we made a goal to teach 100 lessons....which is quite a lot. However...we were not victorious. Yeah kind of started out in a sad way. And it is unfortunate when you aren't able to accomplish a goal, but we learned a whole lot. Also early on in the week we decided to make it about people, and not lessons. Which is probably the most important thing. We made each lesson a lot more meaningful, which was real good. And.....WE STILL FOUND SOME PRETTY SWEET PEOPLE!!! Who are: Brenden(he is really chill guy, who originally wanted to talk to us because he is related to Porter Rockwell! And when we met, he was super interested in it all and really willing to try it out!) Bryan(We originally met this guy my first day here in Virginia....wow....and we gave him a call[Elder Richter was feeling inspired to do so] and he was totally willing to meet again! We met with him twice and he is even better than he was before!) Marissa(met her on grounds, started teaching her the Restoration while we were walking, we got to her bus stop, kept teaching her then her bus came.....it was a little scary I admit, then she said "oh no I don't have to go I can take the next bus"....WOW super cool.) It was really awesome.

Other things that happened in the week....WE HAD INTERVIEWS! With our Misson president, it was real great talking with him seeing how I can improve.

IT WAS ELDER RICHTER'S BIRTHDAY! So to celebrate, we went to Peter Chang's which is this Chinese Restaurant, which according to one of our Chinese friends is the most authentic....it was really good. And fun to celebrate with him and some other members.

Um....sorry but unfortunately, I am not that great at writing things like this. But it was a great week! Also I have been a missionary for 5 months! Kind of exciting I suppose. Everything is going wonderful here! Being a missionary is great! Also for all you in Lehi, may have mentioned this, but Elder Galloway(Brady Galloway) is in my Zone! pretty exciting.

Spiritual scripture sharing time thing.
So not sure the exact scripture reference, but it is in 1 Nephi 8, 11, 12 or somewhere. It is when Nephi is receiving the interpretation of the vision of the Tree of Life. And the river represents the depths of hell. And an interesting twist, or different way of thinking about it, is because Lehi is from Jerusalem, it is pretty dry, so you can think of the river being caused by a flash flood(by the way I didn't come up with this, this happened during church) and sometimes in life we are holding to the iron rod, and life is going swell, and we don't see any immediate danger, and we become complacent, and slack off, and kind of hold to the rod sometimes let go, grab on again. And then the flash flood comes, and if we aren't everyday clinging to the rod, the river will carry us away. Pray everyday. Read everyday. Everyday strengthen your relationship with God, and when the river does come, you won't be swept away. However we all fall away at times, and that is why we have Jesus Christ.(check out Alma 36 18-20) Jesus Christ is always there as our lifeline when we need him. All we have to do is reach out and grab it.

Love you all! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is restored! Look and pray for missionary opportunities everyday, and I promise you that you will see them!

-Elder Smith =D

-Elder GodReallyChangesTheHeartsOfMeAndThoseIMeet

Well, there is still lots of snow, but it is only giant snow piles in the parking lots(including one larger than my house! It is real big....it is more of a mountain than a pile) but here are some things from the week!!

There were also lots of people on grounds today! But yeah feichang leng a!!!! But it was getting close to dinner when the Zone Leaders were called to the hospital to visit this one guy....but Elder Andersen didn't have a visiting clergy pass. So Elder Richter went with him and Elder Andersen and I stayed on grounds. And it was a really sweet time, we met this awesome girl named Shreya, and when we first talked to her she immediately said she didn't believe in God, so it didn't seem to good at the beginning. But we kept teaching her, taught her a bit about prayer and God, and then she really opened up to the message. It was really cool to see the Holy Ghost help her out with that. And after we asked if we could meet again, and she said "for sure!" she was real cool. Later started talking to another Atheist....she didn't like us as much, talked to us for a bit, said she went to her first communion and then never went back. And asked how can so many bad things happen in the world if there is a God. And from what I could tell from her she just didn't want to listen to us, and came up with some excuse. Then we got to a point where her friends were nearby...and then she just said goodbye...yeah definitely not that great. After that we went with Chris to 5 guys and that was super good, he is real cool, also went through the temple last week which is awesome!!! Ok ran out of time, Untill tomorrow! And that was super fun with Chris and stuff, after that the Zone leaders picked us up, we went to grounds, and there we met this super awesome girl!!! Her name was Ashton and she was from Utah!!!! She was real cool, not a member because of some things in her family but she went to young womens and stuff and now doesn't really believe in God because she never really tried. Which makes sense but it was super fun meeting someone from Utah, she was real cool. After that we basically returned home, but met this cool girl named Lauren! It was a real good day, especially the end, it ended real well despite the begining which wasn't so great. But taught lots of people today which was real cool. Also took hot chocolate to grounds.
-Elder GodReallyChangesTheHeartsOfMeAndThoseIMeet

Ok...not really sure what else to say this week, but it was good! Sorry I am real boring, but Elder Galloway came to Rivanna in our Zone!!!(he is from Lehi) he is super cool. Also during Zone Meeting was asked to play some prelude music...so I did, then was asked to play for the meeting! And then asked to share a short spiritual thought about our purpose! That was a surprising Zone Meeting....but definitely learned a lesson about preparation because, the songs I played for the meeting.....yeah not good.
This week was good though! Next week's email will be better! Sorry for being so lame! I Love you all!

Here is a little spiritual thought for the week
Acts 17:27(JST)
27: That they should seek the Lord, if they are willing to find him, for he is not far from every one of us;
The Lord truly is not far from us, we live in a time when He is very close to us. I hope we are close to Him, and always try to stay close to Him. Then when we do mess up and degress a bit, we go to Him humbly, seek what we need to do, do it, then continue to progress towards Him. Heavenly Father is very real to me, I know He loves each and one of you, He wants you to get to know Him. The Gospel has been restored for each and every one of you! Embrace it!
Love you all very much! Be every day Missionaries wherever you are!
-Elder Smith

snow videos

snow snow snow photo

Elder Richter, Elder Smith, Elder Snow and