Monday, November 25, 2013
Happy Thanksgiving
Dear Family,
Well I hope everyone has some good plans for Thanksgiving! I know that it's definitely going to be the highlight of my week. Hmm, to be honest our weeks go by much the same every week. We teach roughly the same people and see a little progress every week. So, instead of an account of my week, it's going to be more things I have felt or learned this week. One thing that stuck out this week was just yesterday. We have about six people that are investigators and we only get to see about one each week. So we went by one of our investigators house (and he had the greatest potential) He answered the door and told us that we can't come by anymore. His attitude has changed 180 degrees and it was just tough to see that he had been led a stray by someone or something. There are a lot of ministers of different churches that will tell their congregation anti Mormon things and it's just something we have to deal with down here. I have been thinking quite a bit about the things that I am grateful for, as have, I'm sure, most of you. From reading talks and just day to day experiences I have been struck by how grateful I am for my Savior. The church makes bible videos of Christ's ministry and they are very well done. I would suggest that you watch a few of them and just think about how they make you feel.
I really don't know what to talk about because this week hasn't been very exciting. It has been super cold and most of the ward is leaving for the Holiday. I think its going to be a tough week to see members but I'm hoping that a lot of the less actives will have all of their families at home so that we can see them and strengthen their families.
Well, I guess that is going to be it, this week, sorry I don't have much to say. Next week, I will write some things down that I can talk about. We are going to see how cold we get this week and see if we are going to break down and buy jackets. Thanks for everything you all do and remember that I love and miss you. It is going to be really hard not to be home for thanksgiving dinner! Make sure you all eat plenty of Turkey and just enjoy the little things this weekend. I'm doing good here and have nothing to complain about.
Love Elder Smith
Well I hope everyone has some good plans for Thanksgiving! I know that it's definitely going to be the highlight of my week. Hmm, to be honest our weeks go by much the same every week. We teach roughly the same people and see a little progress every week. So, instead of an account of my week, it's going to be more things I have felt or learned this week. One thing that stuck out this week was just yesterday. We have about six people that are investigators and we only get to see about one each week. So we went by one of our investigators house (and he had the greatest potential) He answered the door and told us that we can't come by anymore. His attitude has changed 180 degrees and it was just tough to see that he had been led a stray by someone or something. There are a lot of ministers of different churches that will tell their congregation anti Mormon things and it's just something we have to deal with down here. I have been thinking quite a bit about the things that I am grateful for, as have, I'm sure, most of you. From reading talks and just day to day experiences I have been struck by how grateful I am for my Savior. The church makes bible videos of Christ's ministry and they are very well done. I would suggest that you watch a few of them and just think about how they make you feel.
I really don't know what to talk about because this week hasn't been very exciting. It has been super cold and most of the ward is leaving for the Holiday. I think its going to be a tough week to see members but I'm hoping that a lot of the less actives will have all of their families at home so that we can see them and strengthen their families.
Well, I guess that is going to be it, this week, sorry I don't have much to say. Next week, I will write some things down that I can talk about. We are going to see how cold we get this week and see if we are going to break down and buy jackets. Thanks for everything you all do and remember that I love and miss you. It is going to be really hard not to be home for thanksgiving dinner! Make sure you all eat plenty of Turkey and just enjoy the little things this weekend. I'm doing good here and have nothing to complain about.
Love Elder Smith
Monday, November 18, 2013
Visiting with members and less actives
Dear Family,
Well this week has been a really good time. It was kind of interesting because we didn't meet with any investigators or do service. All of our time was spent visiting with members and less actives. Quite a few of the less actives have family that are active and I really hope we can help them in getting these people to get back to church and praying. On Tuesday night we had another dinner with the brother Ferrell and we went with the zone leaders. They happened to be on exchanges that night so the new Elder was Elder Murula from the Congo. He had only been out for about a week so it was pretty fun to be around a new missionary. After the dinner Bro Ferrell took us into his cousins room and showed off a collection of LOTR swords that his cousin had. I thought it was pretty great so i took some pictures. Wednesday we bought some sweaters since I have been getting a little cold and then we went to see some members throughout the day. Thursday was a really good day because we had interviews with President Wall. In my interview we talked a lot about how the mission is and then just life stuff. President Wall is a great guy and just makes you feel like a million bucks when you talk to him. Near the end of the day we went to see a less active who just complained to us about Republicans and Romney. I had a really hard time but I had to just grin and bear as he lectured us for about an hour and a half. It was quite the lesson! The rest of the week we just went around to a lot of member and less active homes and tried to find more people to teach. We were excited to see progress in some of our less actives since they had started to read the Book of Mormon more regularly and start to see their desire to come back to church grow. Quite a few of them were nervous about coming back to church mainly because they just feel like the people who are active will look down on them for not having come to church for so long. We are trying o get members in the lessons with us but is kind of a struggle. We got a call from the second counselor on the Bishopric on Saturday night asking me to talk on Sunday so I gave a talk yesterday about member missionary work. It made me really glad I did speech and debate so that I can talk without much preparation. We went home teaching with the bishop last night and it is just funny to be around him. Bishop Brown is only 28 and is studying to be an actor so ya. Today we are planning to go out to eat with the missionaries in our district so we are looking forward to that. Things in Kenner are going really good and Elder Porter and I are having a good time!
Love Elder Smith
Well this week has been a really good time. It was kind of interesting because we didn't meet with any investigators or do service. All of our time was spent visiting with members and less actives. Quite a few of the less actives have family that are active and I really hope we can help them in getting these people to get back to church and praying. On Tuesday night we had another dinner with the brother Ferrell and we went with the zone leaders. They happened to be on exchanges that night so the new Elder was Elder Murula from the Congo. He had only been out for about a week so it was pretty fun to be around a new missionary. After the dinner Bro Ferrell took us into his cousins room and showed off a collection of LOTR swords that his cousin had. I thought it was pretty great so i took some pictures. Wednesday we bought some sweaters since I have been getting a little cold and then we went to see some members throughout the day. Thursday was a really good day because we had interviews with President Wall. In my interview we talked a lot about how the mission is and then just life stuff. President Wall is a great guy and just makes you feel like a million bucks when you talk to him. Near the end of the day we went to see a less active who just complained to us about Republicans and Romney. I had a really hard time but I had to just grin and bear as he lectured us for about an hour and a half. It was quite the lesson! The rest of the week we just went around to a lot of member and less active homes and tried to find more people to teach. We were excited to see progress in some of our less actives since they had started to read the Book of Mormon more regularly and start to see their desire to come back to church grow. Quite a few of them were nervous about coming back to church mainly because they just feel like the people who are active will look down on them for not having come to church for so long. We are trying o get members in the lessons with us but is kind of a struggle. We got a call from the second counselor on the Bishopric on Saturday night asking me to talk on Sunday so I gave a talk yesterday about member missionary work. It made me really glad I did speech and debate so that I can talk without much preparation. We went home teaching with the bishop last night and it is just funny to be around him. Bishop Brown is only 28 and is studying to be an actor so ya. Today we are planning to go out to eat with the missionaries in our district so we are looking forward to that. Things in Kenner are going really good and Elder Porter and I are having a good time!
Love Elder Smith
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Trying our best to be good examples.
Dear Family,
Lets see where to begin! Well first off I just want to say a little bit about my companion.Well my companion and I are like best friends. We get a lot of looks from the other missionaries like we are crazy and we just have a good time joking around with each other. We went bowling on Monday and I surprisingly didn't do too bad. That night we had good visit with a less active who told us of a missionary moment she had, which was really neat. She said that she was talking to one of her sons friends and shared her testimony and just let him know about the church. We didn't get to meet him but we are excited to hear back from her about him.
The rest of the week went by as normal, visiting most of the regular people and trying to get them to come back to church. We had some good lessons with members and did some service for another member. We are working hard and trying to help the ward get back to where it needs to be with active members. I hope we can help them feel comfortable and have that desire to come back to church.
Today we had a really good district meeting and it is just really good to be able to feel the spirit and share what we have learned. Overall it has been a great week and since its pretty late the email is going to have to be pretty short. I saw two alligators in the canal as we were driving to the church and it was kind of funny because the rest of the Elders who have been out for quite a while haven't seen one and I have already seen two. I love being here and am glad to serve the people in Kenner. We are trying our best to be good examples and to give hope to people.
Love Elder Smith
Lets see where to begin! Well first off I just want to say a little bit about my companion.Well my companion and I are like best friends. We get a lot of looks from the other missionaries like we are crazy and we just have a good time joking around with each other. We went bowling on Monday and I surprisingly didn't do too bad. That night we had good visit with a less active who told us of a missionary moment she had, which was really neat. She said that she was talking to one of her sons friends and shared her testimony and just let him know about the church. We didn't get to meet him but we are excited to hear back from her about him.
The rest of the week went by as normal, visiting most of the regular people and trying to get them to come back to church. We had some good lessons with members and did some service for another member. We are working hard and trying to help the ward get back to where it needs to be with active members. I hope we can help them feel comfortable and have that desire to come back to church.
Today we had a really good district meeting and it is just really good to be able to feel the spirit and share what we have learned. Overall it has been a great week and since its pretty late the email is going to have to be pretty short. I saw two alligators in the canal as we were driving to the church and it was kind of funny because the rest of the Elders who have been out for quite a while haven't seen one and I have already seen two. I love being here and am glad to serve the people in Kenner. We are trying our best to be good examples and to give hope to people.
Love Elder Smith
Monday, November 4, 2013
Seeing some progress
Dear Family,
This has been a really good week and we have seen some progress in people we visit.
Wednesday we rode our bikes all over the place trying to contact referrals weren't very successful but did get one person who we might be able to teach.
Thursday we were able to meet with quite a few people and had a couple of lessons with investigators.
Friday we started exchanges with the zone leaders did service most of the day moving bricks from a members yard and then visited a less active man.
Saturday we did service continuing to build the barn shed we have been working on and this time we pretty much got it finished. We heard lots of stories from the member we were doing service at about his days in Vietnam about being a helicopter pilot.
Sunday i bore my testimony in church and was strengthened by all of the other members testimonies the spirit was just really strong and I was glad to see how much the members have gotten the spirit of missionary work!
So overall it was a pretty good week and I learned quite a few things. One that Elder Porter is a great companion and I really appreciate him and that by small and simple things we do as missionaries bring great things to pass for the people we visit. Whether its just a simple question or invitation to pray. I love it and love serving a mission! It is the best thing that anyone can do other than raise a righteous family. I'm loving it here in Kenner and am excited to serve her for another five weeks.
Love Elder Smith
This has been a really good week and we have seen some progress in people we visit.
Wednesday we rode our bikes all over the place trying to contact referrals weren't very successful but did get one person who we might be able to teach.
Thursday we were able to meet with quite a few people and had a couple of lessons with investigators.
Friday we started exchanges with the zone leaders did service most of the day moving bricks from a members yard and then visited a less active man.
Saturday we did service continuing to build the barn shed we have been working on and this time we pretty much got it finished. We heard lots of stories from the member we were doing service at about his days in Vietnam about being a helicopter pilot.
Sunday i bore my testimony in church and was strengthened by all of the other members testimonies the spirit was just really strong and I was glad to see how much the members have gotten the spirit of missionary work!
So overall it was a pretty good week and I learned quite a few things. One that Elder Porter is a great companion and I really appreciate him and that by small and simple things we do as missionaries bring great things to pass for the people we visit. Whether its just a simple question or invitation to pray. I love it and love serving a mission! It is the best thing that anyone can do other than raise a righteous family. I'm loving it here in Kenner and am excited to serve her for another five weeks.
Love Elder Smith
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
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Working with less actives
Dear Family and Friends,
Well, it has been a great week here in Kenner. We have been working really hard and have seen some neat progress in some of our less actives we teach. All the progress happens when we aren't there, so its really exciting to show up and see their enthusiasm and increased love for the Savior. We have not been able to meet with our usual investigators but this week have seen lots of progress in a couple of the less active people we teach. When we visited with them the were very excited about the Book of Mormon and really wanted to continue to read from it and learn more. The weather has been really good and we have been trying to serve everyone we see. Yesterday was proselyting Monday since we were having transfers this week. I wanted to stay here in Kenner with my companion and that's what happened, so I am very excited about the next six weeks. One thing I have learned this week is that it is by small and simple things that great things come to pass. We don't have to do or say wondrous things to bring about this work of salvation. It really is as simple as teaching about prayer, daily scripture study and the miracle of the Atonement!
Elder Smith
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