 |
Photo of all the Mandarin Elders l to r: Elder Raty (new)
Elder Schellenburg, Elder Snow & Elder Richty, (leaving) Elder Smith and Elder Miller( Elder Smith's new companion) |
Monday, June 26, 2017
New and Old Richmond Virginia Mandarin Elders
Elder Raty is from Sandy. He is now with Elder Schellenberg in Richmond, and I am with Elder Miller from Ammon Idaho. He has been out for 5 months now and will probably be the one to train the new Taiwanese Elders that come in. I am kind of his Chinese tutor and things are going well. Some other information on him, he really likes playing the trumpet and is pretty good at it I hear. He also sang and did some theater in high school.
Update on the elders coming in, so we are actually getting three Elders from Taiwan, but one of them is also an american citizen and he will come in September and there will be no visa problems, but we are still waiting to know when the other two Taiwanese Elders will come.
Love
Elder Smith
Update on the elders coming in, so we are actually getting three Elders from Taiwan, but one of them is also an american citizen and he will come in September and there will be no visa problems, but we are still waiting to know when the other two Taiwanese Elders will come.
Love
Elder Smith
Monday, June 19, 2017
New Elder and the Mandarin work continues
Just for information 2 mandarin Elders will be going home in the next week and Elder Raty from Utah is coming out, but 3 Taiwanese Elders are to come, but are having visa issues so hopefully will be in Virginia in the next 2 weeks then Derek can help train them until he and Elder Schellenburg come home Aug. 16th.
Tuesday June 13, 2017
We woke up and the other Elders were heading out for the temple trip. We eat the Breakfast that was left for us from Sister Smith One thing for Elder Raty is that he isn't really going to have a home for the first week of his mission, which is kind of wild. Hopefully not too big of a problem though. First thing we did was go and meet with Yuan Peng at the Bailey bridge building. It was a really good lesson, and Yuan is doing well. We had a really good lesson with him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon, and found out that he actually is going to church, but only stays for the first hour because of his mom's church that he also attends. It felt really good tooo see him again and look at all the progress he has made since the first time we skyped with him. After that we went and ate at Subway really quick at the wal-mart off of Hull Street before we went and taught English to Sun ShanShan that lives in the Meadowbrook area. It was good, Elder Schellenberg did most of the english stuff because he had things planned with her. Following that we went and did some studies at the Manchester Elders apartment, well actually before that we went to the blue Fish Grill to talk to the owners about starting a Chinese group in one of the wards. It was their typical response, she was really nice and said she would be willing to help and things, but it seemed like she was just saying things to kind of pass the time and that nothing concrete would come from it.
Elder DayTwoInTheMissionHome
Wednesday June 14, 2017The morning started off well, that was until I stubbed my toe on the trundle bed that Elder Snow was using. I was talking with Elder Schellenberg and I realized that my toe was bleeding pretty bad, and the bathroom was occupied. I went up stairs with Elder Snow to the other bathroom, and started dressing my wound. Elder Schellenberg came up and notified me that there were many spots of blood on the carpet leading to the upstairs bathroom, which is the second time I have made a mess on the mission home carpet. As I was getting the bleeding to stop, Sister Smith came out and got some Neosporin for me, and the other Elders went down with her to clean up the mess. It actually took a decent sized little chunk thing out of my right pinky toe. So after that, I think breakfast started, President did bring up marriage and talked to Elder Snow and Richter if there is anyone waiting for them and things. Then surprisingly he asked me next, and so I said something like "anyone that will take me" or something like that. In response he said "well, you should be really particular about this" which was really good counsel from him, kind of at an unique moment.
We had our mandarin meeting which was really, really good. President started out with teaching us about being on time even if our car doesn't start and things like that. Then we talked about where we are at, and what we are going to do from here on out with the new Elders coming in, and how to train them, and if we have to close an area which will it be and things like that. It was really good, the Spirit was definitely present, you could feel it guiding present and what we needed to do as a program. I felt a little humbled to be there. There was one moment when President specifically asked for me input, I don't remember what I said, but mainly focused on how I felt that we really need to work with the members if this is going to go anywhere.
After that meeting we did interviews, and I started off and got my new temple recommend as well as a really good interview in which President made me feel really good and gave me confidence in that going home and going to school are good things that have to happen in life. He joked about if I would be willing to extend for a year, but then talked about the need to go home and things. He talked about his tomato plants and helping their roots grow deep.
Then we drove back to Charlottesville with Elder Raty. Lots of driving this past few weeks. We will struggle to stay near our allotted miles.
-Elder WonderfulWoundedWednesday
Thursday June 15, 2017
We tried some doors before Wang, but then end up going over to Wang which was really good. It started in an interesting way, and I'm not sure she understood why we came over. Anyways, after she sat down and agreed to listen we taught the Restoration, and then gave her a Book of Mormon, and she had really good questions, but I think more important than the questions, the way that she asked the questions seemed that she wanted to know, wasn't sure and maybe a little doubtful, but I felt there was real intent. It was really good, we invited her to pray, which she didn't because she felt weird, even after each of us offered a prayer, which was the first time that method hasn't worked. Regardless we set up a lesson for Saturday to skype with her, and planned to meet sometime next week as well. It was really good. After that, the hill across from North 38 apartments was filled with fireflys...it was kind of unbelievable, there were so, so many. It was like something from a movie, unfortunately our cameras aren't good enough so my memory is going to have to do. It was really cool though. Then we went to sleep, which is the third place for Elder Raty this week, and all was well.
-Elder LightingUpHarrisonburg
Tuesday June 13, 2017
We woke up and the other Elders were heading out for the temple trip. We eat the Breakfast that was left for us from Sister Smith One thing for Elder Raty is that he isn't really going to have a home for the first week of his mission, which is kind of wild. Hopefully not too big of a problem though. First thing we did was go and meet with Yuan Peng at the Bailey bridge building. It was a really good lesson, and Yuan is doing well. We had a really good lesson with him about the restoration and the Book of Mormon, and found out that he actually is going to church, but only stays for the first hour because of his mom's church that he also attends. It felt really good tooo see him again and look at all the progress he has made since the first time we skyped with him. After that we went and ate at Subway really quick at the wal-mart off of Hull Street before we went and taught English to Sun ShanShan that lives in the Meadowbrook area. It was good, Elder Schellenberg did most of the english stuff because he had things planned with her. Following that we went and did some studies at the Manchester Elders apartment, well actually before that we went to the blue Fish Grill to talk to the owners about starting a Chinese group in one of the wards. It was their typical response, she was really nice and said she would be willing to help and things, but it seemed like she was just saying things to kind of pass the time and that nothing concrete would come from it.
Elder DayTwoInTheMissionHome
Wednesday June 14, 2017The morning started off well, that was until I stubbed my toe on the trundle bed that Elder Snow was using. I was talking with Elder Schellenberg and I realized that my toe was bleeding pretty bad, and the bathroom was occupied. I went up stairs with Elder Snow to the other bathroom, and started dressing my wound. Elder Schellenberg came up and notified me that there were many spots of blood on the carpet leading to the upstairs bathroom, which is the second time I have made a mess on the mission home carpet. As I was getting the bleeding to stop, Sister Smith came out and got some Neosporin for me, and the other Elders went down with her to clean up the mess. It actually took a decent sized little chunk thing out of my right pinky toe. So after that, I think breakfast started, President did bring up marriage and talked to Elder Snow and Richter if there is anyone waiting for them and things. Then surprisingly he asked me next, and so I said something like "anyone that will take me" or something like that. In response he said "well, you should be really particular about this" which was really good counsel from him, kind of at an unique moment.
We had our mandarin meeting which was really, really good. President started out with teaching us about being on time even if our car doesn't start and things like that. Then we talked about where we are at, and what we are going to do from here on out with the new Elders coming in, and how to train them, and if we have to close an area which will it be and things like that. It was really good, the Spirit was definitely present, you could feel it guiding present and what we needed to do as a program. I felt a little humbled to be there. There was one moment when President specifically asked for me input, I don't remember what I said, but mainly focused on how I felt that we really need to work with the members if this is going to go anywhere.
After that meeting we did interviews, and I started off and got my new temple recommend as well as a really good interview in which President made me feel really good and gave me confidence in that going home and going to school are good things that have to happen in life. He joked about if I would be willing to extend for a year, but then talked about the need to go home and things. He talked about his tomato plants and helping their roots grow deep.
Then we drove back to Charlottesville with Elder Raty. Lots of driving this past few weeks. We will struggle to stay near our allotted miles.
-Elder WonderfulWoundedWednesday
Thursday June 15, 2017
We tried some doors before Wang, but then end up going over to Wang which was really good. It started in an interesting way, and I'm not sure she understood why we came over. Anyways, after she sat down and agreed to listen we taught the Restoration, and then gave her a Book of Mormon, and she had really good questions, but I think more important than the questions, the way that she asked the questions seemed that she wanted to know, wasn't sure and maybe a little doubtful, but I felt there was real intent. It was really good, we invited her to pray, which she didn't because she felt weird, even after each of us offered a prayer, which was the first time that method hasn't worked. Regardless we set up a lesson for Saturday to skype with her, and planned to meet sometime next week as well. It was really good. After that, the hill across from North 38 apartments was filled with fireflys...it was kind of unbelievable, there were so, so many. It was like something from a movie, unfortunately our cameras aren't good enough so my memory is going to have to do. It was really cool though. Then we went to sleep, which is the third place for Elder Raty this week, and all was well.
-Elder LightingUpHarrisonburg
Monday, June 12, 2017
Feeling love from above and 3 new Mandarin speaking Elders arriving in the next 2 weeks
That is really cool to hear about all the care and stuff you are getting mom. Last week as I would pray and seek peace and comfort both for you and concerning you nothing particularly special came, so I continued to pray and go about working.
This past week has taught me some things. Wednesday morning I woke up with a partially swollen eye, and that was basically it. Then they next days it continued to get worse, and I thought a bug had bit me there. Then I starting getting more red itchy spots in different places and after calling the medical adviser he determined I probably had poison ivy. The next few days it spread more and got more itchy so I got some stuff for it. So all in all it hasn't been fun and it has been hard these past few days. Lots of different things have happened between teaching lessons and going on exchange and things. However as I have closed each day in prayer, I have felt very close to Heavenly Father. I have felt he is very mindful of my circumstance, and that He is supporting me during this bought of poison ivy and still going about missionary work. Elder Snow also gave me a blessing that was powerful and meaningful. Through this as I have pondered and thought about it, Elder Curtis and Elder Clay of the 70's came to our stake conference this past Sunday to call a new Stake Presidency, as I sat in the meeting, I felt that if I was being supported in this manner by my Heavenly Father, and how much more is my mom being supported and helped with her cancer. It was a special answer that came to me. I am very grateful for this knowledge and testimony that there is a God and He indeed love us because we are His children.
Yeah, so we got more information on the new mandarin Elders, there are three called to come so far, one from Utah and two from Taiwan. Two were going to come today, but the one from Taiwan didn't get his visa, so only the one from Utah is coming, and today all of the mandarin Elders are going to the mission home to welcome him and then stay the night there.
Tomorrow is the temple trip for departing missionaries (Elder Richter and Elder Snow) so I will stay in Richmond with Elder Schellenberg for the day with Elder Raty(The new mandarin Elder from Utah) and we will work in Richmond for that day, and then stay in the mission home another night when Elder Snow and Elder Richter get back from the temple.
Then Wednesday we have a mandarin meeting with President Smith, and then we all have interviews with him since we haven't had that yet for the transfer. Then we will return to our respective areas and Elder Raty will come with Elder Snow and I for the remainder of the week (President wants Elder Raty to be with Elder Snow for the remainder of his time) and then until next Tuesday (when the end of the transfer is, all the other new English and Spanish missionaries will come in). we will go down with Elder Raty to Richmond, drop him off at a new missionary meeting with President, and Elder Snow and I will do stuff with Elder Richter and Elder Schellenberg in their area. Then we will stay the night, go to transfers and Wednesday, Elder Snow and Elder Richter will go home. Elder Raty will go with Elder Schellenberg for the rest of the transfer and I will receive an English speaking missionary as my companion, but we will still be focusing on mandarin work.
Then next transfer, the two Taiwanese missionaries will hopefully come, and Elder Schellenberg and Elder Raty will train one of them till Elder Schellenberg leaves on the 16th of August, and the English Elder that comes with me, will be with the other Taiwanese Elder till I head home and the English elder will continue to train the Taiwanese Elder in the mandarin area.
That I think is where we are at right now. Hopefully you understand all of that.
Thanks for the love, support, letting me know how you are doing and the encouragement.
Love
Elder Smith
This past week has taught me some things. Wednesday morning I woke up with a partially swollen eye, and that was basically it. Then they next days it continued to get worse, and I thought a bug had bit me there. Then I starting getting more red itchy spots in different places and after calling the medical adviser he determined I probably had poison ivy. The next few days it spread more and got more itchy so I got some stuff for it. So all in all it hasn't been fun and it has been hard these past few days. Lots of different things have happened between teaching lessons and going on exchange and things. However as I have closed each day in prayer, I have felt very close to Heavenly Father. I have felt he is very mindful of my circumstance, and that He is supporting me during this bought of poison ivy and still going about missionary work. Elder Snow also gave me a blessing that was powerful and meaningful. Through this as I have pondered and thought about it, Elder Curtis and Elder Clay of the 70's came to our stake conference this past Sunday to call a new Stake Presidency, as I sat in the meeting, I felt that if I was being supported in this manner by my Heavenly Father, and how much more is my mom being supported and helped with her cancer. It was a special answer that came to me. I am very grateful for this knowledge and testimony that there is a God and He indeed love us because we are His children.
Yeah, so we got more information on the new mandarin Elders, there are three called to come so far, one from Utah and two from Taiwan. Two were going to come today, but the one from Taiwan didn't get his visa, so only the one from Utah is coming, and today all of the mandarin Elders are going to the mission home to welcome him and then stay the night there.
Tomorrow is the temple trip for departing missionaries (Elder Richter and Elder Snow) so I will stay in Richmond with Elder Schellenberg for the day with Elder Raty(The new mandarin Elder from Utah) and we will work in Richmond for that day, and then stay in the mission home another night when Elder Snow and Elder Richter get back from the temple.
Then Wednesday we have a mandarin meeting with President Smith, and then we all have interviews with him since we haven't had that yet for the transfer. Then we will return to our respective areas and Elder Raty will come with Elder Snow and I for the remainder of the week (President wants Elder Raty to be with Elder Snow for the remainder of his time) and then until next Tuesday (when the end of the transfer is, all the other new English and Spanish missionaries will come in). we will go down with Elder Raty to Richmond, drop him off at a new missionary meeting with President, and Elder Snow and I will do stuff with Elder Richter and Elder Schellenberg in their area. Then we will stay the night, go to transfers and Wednesday, Elder Snow and Elder Richter will go home. Elder Raty will go with Elder Schellenberg for the rest of the transfer and I will receive an English speaking missionary as my companion, but we will still be focusing on mandarin work.
Then next transfer, the two Taiwanese missionaries will hopefully come, and Elder Schellenberg and Elder Raty will train one of them till Elder Schellenberg leaves on the 16th of August, and the English Elder that comes with me, will be with the other Taiwanese Elder till I head home and the English elder will continue to train the Taiwanese Elder in the mandarin area.
That I think is where we are at right now. Hopefully you understand all of that.
Thanks for the love, support, letting me know how you are doing and the encouragement.
Love
Elder Smith
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)