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
Monday, June 26, 2017
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
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
Monday, May 22, 2017
We went to grounds (UVA) to contact, which felt really good with Elder Snow, for some reason going out with him is so great. It was also good there was a good number of Chinese people there. Then, a really cool thing happened. A family was taking a picture, so we asked if we could help. After the picture Elder Snow heard them speaking Chinese and asked if they spoke Chinese, and they did. Then one of the first things the daughter asks is if we are from the Mormon church. We say we are and she explains she did an exchange in Utah for a year and attended the Mormon church. Then we ask where...and anyone reading this might not believe it, but she was in Lehi!!! Wow, I didn't react too crazily, but writing this down it is hard to believe. She went to Rockwell charter school, which I'm not sure where that is, but it was really, really lol. She said that she had some friends that went to Lehi High. The parents were really nice too, and she had a Chinese Book of Mormon, and it was home. We pulled one out and the parents said it was the same book they had at their house. Wow, it was really cool, then we talked a little bit more about our church and what we do, then we gave them all of the pamphlets, which was pretty cool. They are visiting for graduation, which made sense to give them all the pamphlets so they can read them on their own. Wow, it was really cool, then we got a picture, even though I'm not sure we ever got their name. Too bad she is moving to San Francisco, and the parents go back to China, but it was cool to talk with them.
-Elder FoundMyLaoXiang
We went out with Wang Laoshi( she taught at MTC, now lives in Statford). We went to grounds and met lots of people. We showed her some things as well. It was really good. She is cool, it was kind of unique because Elder Snow loves to talk, as does Wang Laoshi...so I didn't say much as we contacted. We tried going downtown as well which was good. Then we went to meet with Young, however he didn't show up. Our Gezi was fanged...or however you say that. It is an idiom in Chinese meaning you got stood up, Wang Laoshi taught us that. She definitely really, really loves doing missionary work. Elder Snow says she is addicted to it.
-Elder WangLaoShi#YrrtInSouthernUtah
-Elder FoundMyLaoXiang
We went out with Wang Laoshi( she taught at MTC, now lives in Statford). We went to grounds and met lots of people. We showed her some things as well. It was really good. She is cool, it was kind of unique because Elder Snow loves to talk, as does Wang Laoshi...so I didn't say much as we contacted. We tried going downtown as well which was good. Then we went to meet with Young, however he didn't show up. Our Gezi was fanged...or however you say that. It is an idiom in Chinese meaning you got stood up, Wang Laoshi taught us that. She definitely really, really loves doing missionary work. Elder Snow says she is addicted to it.
Went to teach Yangli Jing, which was really exciting because Aldous really likes Elder Snow (Aldous is her son that last December wanted to join a church so Elder Snow was teaching him however he was transferred soon after.) So we get there, and both Yangli Jing and Aldous are there, and she has this really good lemon, mint and honey drink.wow it was really tasty. So because of Aldous's homework, we decided to share a message/teach him before helping Yangli Jing with her English. So we ask kind of what he believes, and he says something in Chinese I only understood parts. Something like there is an Ultimate truth, and that different religions can be true even with different beliefs, and that he wants a religion with the ultimate truth. It was somewhat confusing. Then Wang Laoshi and Elder Snow kind of co-teach, after a long discussion we get into the Plan of Salvation. Wang Laoshi leads and the other two of us help teach. There was a cool part where Yangli Jing was really amazed by the resurrection. She was surprised, because she hadn't heard yet that everyone would be resurrected. She also hadn't heard any of Aldous's beliefs either. It was a good Plan of Salvation lesson. Aldous understood it. Then he said he believed it, but he said that he believes many things can be true. Which was interesting, not exactly what we wanted. However, Wang Laoshi gave him two really good invites, one to pray every day and two to read the Book of Mormon every day and that would help him find truth. We gave him 2 Nephi 2 and Alma 40-41. As well to look at mormon.org according to his curiosity. It's was good. After that, well it was good because he wants to learn. However Yangli Jing was a little saddened we couldn't help her English, so we answered a few questions about some idioms.
-Elder WangLaoShi#YrrtInSouthernUtah
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Mandarin Work progressing in Virginia
We had district meeting, and I gave a training on teaching simply, not sure how simple it was though. Kind of like President Uchtdorf's simplify talk in 2015. I didn't do it very simply. Then Sister Ruffner trained which was good.
Ate lunch, did some maps and talked more about Fit for the kingdom with the Zone Leaders. We found out that each zone will have a Elder companionship winner and a Sister companionship winner...so that definitely boosts our odds of winning which should be fun for Elder Schellenberg and I.
Well today was kind of interesting. Had a really good meeting with President Duane Snow, it was a pleasant surprise. As we talked about the Mandarin work. I kind of felt like he was our missionary and we were his investigator. It was pretty special. I hope we can be the same missionaries to our investigators.
Ate lots of noodles(three bowls)
Taught Yangli Jing English, and the gospel. She is interested, but it is hard for her to make place in her heart for a portion of the word.
Then we went to dinner, Lu invited us via Brother Williams. Lots of people.
Way too much food.
-Elder ChineseFoodRound2
Next day Lu Jiemei, this was definitely the highlight of the evening. We were able to go over and talk about fasting this Sunday to help her friends be open to the Gospel. We shared Alma 17:9 with her, which talks about the sons of Mosiah and what they did before going to the Lamanites (fasted). It felt kind of like we were the sons of Mosiah, especially since LU Jiemei kept saying her friends are busy drinking, smoking and don't like rules from church and lots of different problems. She was nervous they won't change. However, as we talked I felt strongly that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is there to help people change, whether or not we all sin(Roman 3:23) it is about building people.
In the end she was willing to fast with us and President Snow. It was pretty special. Then she gave us corn, apples, and crunchy Reese's cups(mini)
Then we reported to Elder Snow and talked about things, we were able to talk how we all felt good about this, and as we go it is getting better. Seeing different things fit together like a puzzle(Elder Neil L. Andersen, October 2016 General Conference). We are meeting with President tomorrow to talk about the maps. As well President mentioned possibly having the mission fast for the mandarin work. It does feel good.
-Elder EndingOnAGoodNote#Dream
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