Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Family,
It was a great week for us here, but we were pretty busy with meetings. We managed to sneak in some time at the dairy, a Branch Christmas party, and even some lessons ;) The dairy was pretty good this week. We helped out with vaccinations and deworming, hopefully we were more helpful, than we were in the way. We were trying to see the First Presidency Christmas devotional last night but when we showed up to the church we found out it wasn't going to be turned on. Quite a bummer. I had brought brownies I made and some ice cream so we ate that instead. A pretty good end to the week. We have our mission Christmas party next week so that should be fun as well. Hmm I dont really know what else to say! If yall are getting snow and you dont like it send it my way! :) Merry Christmas

Love Jeff

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Dear Family,
This week we had a really good time in Slaughter. We had a great time on Thanksgiving and managed to eat just enough and then some. It was super tasty. Thanksgiving was pretty good but honestly wasn't anywhere near as good as being at Grandma and Grandpa Welling's. This year I was really missing those thanksgiving rolls and Grandma's pies. We have been doing about the same as usual except a little less since we couldn't drive everywhere we wanted to. The end of every month are always tough. We aren't good at conserving both our miles or our money and by the end of the month we usually can start to notice. The weather has been way too nice and I'm really praying for some snow. If it snowed on Christmas day I would be a pretty happy camper. So far it looks like that's not going to happen. Well thanks again and I really loved the poem from great Grandpa Welling. Im going to hang it up above my desk. We had a great lesson with a young man who has been an atheist his whole life and just has started to believe in God. He prayed for the first time on Saturday night and it was just a really simple heart felt prayer. Well that is it, for us, this week! Me and my companion have been getting into the Christmas spirit. We have one Christmas Cd that we listen to over and over again and we have one 4 foot long strand of lights hanging around our door its pretty festive :) Well I love yall and have a good start of the Christmas season.

Love Elder Smith

Monday, November 24, 2014



Hey Family,
This week has been much the same as the past few weeks but it has still been exciting. The family that we have been working with is coming to church every week and are progressing! The wife and oldest daughter are getting their patriarchal blessings, the sons and father are advancing in the Priesthood so things have been really exciting. We have been doing some more service this week helping out at the dairy and in a few weeks we will probably be helping even more because he is going to be going in for a hip replacement. Its been fun to learn all about the dairy business and the perks of fresh milk has been great! Im really excited for Thanksgiving because we are going to be with a great family! Have a great week and eat lots of yummy food!
Love Elder Smith

Thursday, November 20, 2014

Dear Family,
This week has been really great! The highlight of the week was seeing a family we have been working with come to church again! After church was over we set up another appointment with them and then they told us that their neighbors want to get baptized! We're really excited and can't wait to go see them again this week and continue to teach their neighbors. Another good thing about this week is that we were able to do a good bit of service. We helped a less active family at their dairy and will probably be helping them out a bit more since the Dad is going to be having hip surgery next month. And then just a few days ago we helped a family split a tree that they cut down into firewood. It was pretty disgusting to see huge grubs inside of the wood pop out as we were splitting the wood. We got a trailer full of wood and nobody lost any fingers so I would say we were pretty successful. I love doing service because it helps to remind me that every little thing that we do helps. Well this week it has been getting cold ( for here anyway) and everyone thinks we are crazy for walking around in short sleeved shirts. :) I just think it feels good outside. Plus this cold weather will probably not last very long, maybe a week. Well that's all for this week! Yall have a good week and remember the simple things. Prayer and scripture study are the only way to start a day if you want it to be a great day.
Love,
Elder Smith

Monday, November 10, 2014

Dear Family,
This week has flown by. I have a new companion Elder Condie from Springville UT. He has been out about 7 months and was companions with my companion Elder Mills while they were both in the MTC. We have been able to stay really busy this week with teaching appointments and service. The service was a highlight of the week as we got to work on a dairy farm, for a part of a day, helping to fill milk. It was pretty interesting to see how it all works. The chocolate milk that they make is soo good. The whole milk is super creamy and probably really fattening too. We also got to help them on Saturday at the Farmers market in Baton Rouge. For teaching we get to teach a couple that lives in Wyoming, so that was really awesome. The husband was the son of one of the less active members that we check up on. We have also continued to teach the less active family that we found last week and we saw them at church on Sunday! Wooo I was so excited. We have dinner with them tomorrow so that should be great as well. The weather still really hasn't changed much and I'm hoping for some cooler weather! Well I love yall and hope things are going great wherever you are!
Love Elder Smith

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

Hey family!
How is everyone doing? Things have been really great here in Slaughter! I didn't realize last week that I was back in Kenner for a bit :) haha. Well it has been a pretty interesting week for us here. We have two missionaries from our district going home and then three more getting transferred, so next week its going to look quite a bit different. My companion is getting transferred, so tomorrow I will find out who comes here next. The best thing about this week was meeting two new families. We have started teaching one less active family and then their nonmember neighbors. It has been really good to be able to share the gospel to these two families. They are both really receptive to us teaching them and now we just hope that they can make and keep the commitments that we give them. The part of it which brightened my spirits most was when we were leaving and their daughter who is nine offered the prayer for us. She ended her prayer asking Heavenly Father that they could see the missionaries more often. Sometimes it's easy for me to forget the impact that I can have in others lives.
Love Elder Smith