Sunday, December 27, 2009
Christmas Eve photos
The Stake President and his wife from Tim's area had the missionaries from Tim's zone over for brunch and then sent us these photos :)
Monday, December 21, 2009
Merry Christmas!
So this past week was pretty awesome. We started teaching someone brand new named Mannie. We set him for baptism on 23 January. And now he isn't returning our phone calls... it happened to JJ too for a bit, so not to worry!
Chris got confirmed on Sunday, so that was great! We were happy for that. He's doing awesome.
Elder Naatjes and I are both staying this transfer... We'll see how that goes. I had a dream the night before we got the transfer email that I talked President into sending me back to a campus area and I kind of thought it really happened. So when I saw the transfer email it was a bit of a let down until I realised it had just been a dream... Dang.
We had a Christmas Devotional for all the missionaries this past week in the south half of the mission. Elder Naatjes and I put it together, I got roped into conducting the chapel session at the last second... and... I even sang in one of the special musical number. There were five of us. We sang O Holy Night. Kind of scary, but it was cool. And now it is unfortunately spreading that I sing. WRONG! Oh well, it was fun.
We have three meals lined up for Christmas Eve and three more lined up for Christmas. So that should be great!
And Maria is praying about a new baptismal date. :)
Elder Smith
Chris got confirmed on Sunday, so that was great! We were happy for that. He's doing awesome.
Elder Naatjes and I are both staying this transfer... We'll see how that goes. I had a dream the night before we got the transfer email that I talked President into sending me back to a campus area and I kind of thought it really happened. So when I saw the transfer email it was a bit of a let down until I realised it had just been a dream... Dang.
We had a Christmas Devotional for all the missionaries this past week in the south half of the mission. Elder Naatjes and I put it together, I got roped into conducting the chapel session at the last second... and... I even sang in one of the special musical number. There were five of us. We sang O Holy Night. Kind of scary, but it was cool. And now it is unfortunately spreading that I sing. WRONG! Oh well, it was fun.
We have three meals lined up for Christmas Eve and three more lined up for Christmas. So that should be great!
And Maria is praying about a new baptismal date. :)
Elder Smith
I love Arvada (14 Dec. 2009)
So many frustrating people here. Between Friday and Saturday, we had 7 investigator lessons scheduled, and 7 members came to those lessons. But only 1 investigator decided to be there. So that was frustrating, but it happens. I am a missionary after all.
Maria is doing well. She's not getting baptised this Saturday because she hasn't been to church enough times. A friend of her's just dropped her kids off and was like "Here, Maria, babysit my kids for me for a couple of days. I don't know when I'll be back, could be today, could be tomorrow, but be here when I come." So Satan is really using his resources. She'll get baptised soon.
And Chris is just dying to get confirmed now! So that should be happening this Sunday.
JJ and Thomas are doing great and are really excited to share the gospel. It's awesome. JJ's 21 year old sister, who also never got baptised when they were younger, is now really interested, so we're going to start teaching her this week.
We found four investigators on the same night earlier this week. Elder Aston and Elder Gross gave us a referral for a girl named Michelle, and we called her and set up an appointment and she was super excited and said "And you need a guy here so you can come in right?" And before we could say that we would bring one (thank goodness) she said, "I'll bring one of my friends. I'll make sure someone is here." So she brought two guys and a girl and all of them are investigators now. Michelle, David, Josh, and Laurie. We tried to set them for baptism, but David and Laurie are very vocal and very religious, so it'll be interesting to see. This week we're going to try and set them again, but we're going to single each of them out, starting with Michelle, then Josh, then Laurie, then David.
Stake Conference was amazing this weekend! Chris came to the adult session, but then his car broke down so he couldn't make it to Sunday. Sunday, President Forbes gave an amazing talk that I have titled "The Path to Conversion." I've asked him for a copy of it. (I love being friends with sons of two members of the Stake Presidency, they're super excited to see you and do things for you and give you copies of their talks.) President Jones laid the smack down on pornography, infidelity, and playing video games alone on Saturday night, and then gave on awesome talk on holding family councils in the Sunday Session.
Anyways, this week should be pretty awesome!
Elder Smith
Alma 17:11
Maria is doing well. She's not getting baptised this Saturday because she hasn't been to church enough times. A friend of her's just dropped her kids off and was like "Here, Maria, babysit my kids for me for a couple of days. I don't know when I'll be back, could be today, could be tomorrow, but be here when I come." So Satan is really using his resources. She'll get baptised soon.
And Chris is just dying to get confirmed now! So that should be happening this Sunday.
JJ and Thomas are doing great and are really excited to share the gospel. It's awesome. JJ's 21 year old sister, who also never got baptised when they were younger, is now really interested, so we're going to start teaching her this week.
We found four investigators on the same night earlier this week. Elder Aston and Elder Gross gave us a referral for a girl named Michelle, and we called her and set up an appointment and she was super excited and said "And you need a guy here so you can come in right?" And before we could say that we would bring one (thank goodness) she said, "I'll bring one of my friends. I'll make sure someone is here." So she brought two guys and a girl and all of them are investigators now. Michelle, David, Josh, and Laurie. We tried to set them for baptism, but David and Laurie are very vocal and very religious, so it'll be interesting to see. This week we're going to try and set them again, but we're going to single each of them out, starting with Michelle, then Josh, then Laurie, then David.
Stake Conference was amazing this weekend! Chris came to the adult session, but then his car broke down so he couldn't make it to Sunday. Sunday, President Forbes gave an amazing talk that I have titled "The Path to Conversion." I've asked him for a copy of it. (I love being friends with sons of two members of the Stake Presidency, they're super excited to see you and do things for you and give you copies of their talks.) President Jones laid the smack down on pornography, infidelity, and playing video games alone on Saturday night, and then gave on awesome talk on holding family councils in the Sunday Session.
Anyways, this week should be pretty awesome!
Elder Smith
Alma 17:11
Monday, December 7, 2009
Wow... It's cold.
First of all, the First Presidency Devotional was awesome. Way cool. I definitely love hearing from the prophet!
Chris is doing a lot better. Ever since I had that phone call with him he has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying every day. He's really a lot more humble and a lot happier too. We're excited for him.
JJ and Thomas are still doing great as always. And Maria is still progressing towards baptism. She doesn't recognise how much she has changed and progressed, so we explained it all to her and we're really excited because she's starting to see it I think.
Exchanges with Elder Aston were great. He's awesome. I learned a lot from him.
We had a district leader council that President Jones (the Stake President) came to and we learned a ton from that. And ZLCs were great and oddly enough that made it so I am really excited for the rest of my mission. More excited than I was to begin with, because I've always been excited to be a missionary!
We have some good appointments lined up for this next week, so get ready for some new investigators and investigators with baptismal dates!
Also, we're starting a mission preparation class with the ward. It starts tonight, so that should be really good. We're going to remind them that the best way to prepare for missions, is to be missionaries now!
Elder Smith
Chris is doing a lot better. Ever since I had that phone call with him he has been reading the Book of Mormon and praying every day. He's really a lot more humble and a lot happier too. We're excited for him.
JJ and Thomas are still doing great as always. And Maria is still progressing towards baptism. She doesn't recognise how much she has changed and progressed, so we explained it all to her and we're really excited because she's starting to see it I think.
Exchanges with Elder Aston were great. He's awesome. I learned a lot from him.
We had a district leader council that President Jones (the Stake President) came to and we learned a ton from that. And ZLCs were great and oddly enough that made it so I am really excited for the rest of my mission. More excited than I was to begin with, because I've always been excited to be a missionary!
We have some good appointments lined up for this next week, so get ready for some new investigators and investigators with baptismal dates!
Also, we're starting a mission preparation class with the ward. It starts tonight, so that should be really good. We're going to remind them that the best way to prepare for missions, is to be missionaries now!
Elder Smith
Monday, November 30, 2009
Oh The Blessings and Frustrations!
First of all, Thanksgiving was good. I hope it was good for all of you as well.
So I'm going to start with the frustrations so that I can end on a high note of all the blessings.
So our investigator, Maria Navarro, who was set for 19 Dec, was visited by the Spanish Elders (they're teaching her and her family, and we're just teaching her.) We set her for baptism first visit, and she had some reservations but she still wanted to set that as a goal. So the Spanish Elders are over there and she expressed some of her concerns to them and they called us and told us that we shouldn't have a baptismal date for her. Oh they are so lucky I'm not their zone leader because I would have ripped into them! So we visited with Maria, talked through her concerns, and she is so ready! She goes above and beyond on the commitments we leave her! She answered all the questions we left her (without be asked) and she had underlined a bunch of stuff in her Book of Mormon. So much so that it was hard for us to find a chapter we wanted her to read that she hadn't already read!
Also, we had 3 people set for baptism on the 28th, and then it dropped down to 2, but then went back up to 3 again. So we had an awesome baptismal service and JJ, Thomas, and Chris all got baptised. I got to baptise Thomas, so that was pretty cool. Definitely a good experience. But I'll get to that.
Well Chris didn't show up to his confirmation on Sunday. He actually called his fellowshipper, Dustin, in the middle of Sacrament Meeting, and Dustin talked to him and came up to me and told me about his conversation and that he didn't know if it would be any time soon that Chris would get confirmed. So I called him after church and had an absolutely INTENSE conversation with him. I felt a little like Jacob in the Book of Mormon, and pretty well called him to repentance. It was insane. But I felt the Spirit's guide through the whole thing and by the end of the call, I knew I had done what Christ would have had he been on the phone, and I just felt drained. I finally got Chris to at least agree to meet with us. I won't go too in depth on what happened in the phone call, but I'll say he has a lot to change before he can make progress in the gospel. We are very worried about him.
Now, on a high note. Baptising Thomas was great. Unlike Heather, I only had to dunk him once. I made sure of that. He didn't plug his nose, so his hands were sticking straight up and almost didn't go under, so I pushed him until he was all the way down, and then brought him back up.
And JJ is a total stud! He was all smiles after his baptism and confirmation on Sunday. After his baptism, there were refreshments (not my idea mom), and I saw JJ through the crowd, and with his nice shoes, pants, white shirt, well tied tie, and missionary haircut, complete with a big smile, I saw a missionary. So I walked across the room, pulled off my tag and put it on him to complete the picture. Turns out, at that very moment, his dad (a member of the church) had been talking to him about the possibility of going on a mission in a year. SWEET!
Oh, and I finally got Elder Naatjes to stop avoiding tracting. I hope it lasts because I love it!
And that was pretty much our week!
Elder Smith
Jacob 2:8 (a nice verse in the midst of his awesome rebuke of the people)
So I'm going to start with the frustrations so that I can end on a high note of all the blessings.
So our investigator, Maria Navarro, who was set for 19 Dec, was visited by the Spanish Elders (they're teaching her and her family, and we're just teaching her.) We set her for baptism first visit, and she had some reservations but she still wanted to set that as a goal. So the Spanish Elders are over there and she expressed some of her concerns to them and they called us and told us that we shouldn't have a baptismal date for her. Oh they are so lucky I'm not their zone leader because I would have ripped into them! So we visited with Maria, talked through her concerns, and she is so ready! She goes above and beyond on the commitments we leave her! She answered all the questions we left her (without be asked) and she had underlined a bunch of stuff in her Book of Mormon. So much so that it was hard for us to find a chapter we wanted her to read that she hadn't already read!
Also, we had 3 people set for baptism on the 28th, and then it dropped down to 2, but then went back up to 3 again. So we had an awesome baptismal service and JJ, Thomas, and Chris all got baptised. I got to baptise Thomas, so that was pretty cool. Definitely a good experience. But I'll get to that.
Well Chris didn't show up to his confirmation on Sunday. He actually called his fellowshipper, Dustin, in the middle of Sacrament Meeting, and Dustin talked to him and came up to me and told me about his conversation and that he didn't know if it would be any time soon that Chris would get confirmed. So I called him after church and had an absolutely INTENSE conversation with him. I felt a little like Jacob in the Book of Mormon, and pretty well called him to repentance. It was insane. But I felt the Spirit's guide through the whole thing and by the end of the call, I knew I had done what Christ would have had he been on the phone, and I just felt drained. I finally got Chris to at least agree to meet with us. I won't go too in depth on what happened in the phone call, but I'll say he has a lot to change before he can make progress in the gospel. We are very worried about him.
Now, on a high note. Baptising Thomas was great. Unlike Heather, I only had to dunk him once. I made sure of that. He didn't plug his nose, so his hands were sticking straight up and almost didn't go under, so I pushed him until he was all the way down, and then brought him back up.
And JJ is a total stud! He was all smiles after his baptism and confirmation on Sunday. After his baptism, there were refreshments (not my idea mom), and I saw JJ through the crowd, and with his nice shoes, pants, white shirt, well tied tie, and missionary haircut, complete with a big smile, I saw a missionary. So I walked across the room, pulled off my tag and put it on him to complete the picture. Turns out, at that very moment, his dad (a member of the church) had been talking to him about the possibility of going on a mission in a year. SWEET!
Oh, and I finally got Elder Naatjes to stop avoiding tracting. I hope it lasts because I love it!
And that was pretty much our week!
Elder Smith
Jacob 2:8 (a nice verse in the midst of his awesome rebuke of the people)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Oh no! There's snow on the grass!
Mon, November 16, 2009
They cancelled church here yesterday, which was absolutely ridiculous, because by the time church started, the only snow around was the stuff on the grass. So all three of our investigators that were going to be at church... yeah...
Despite that, this week was pretty much amazing! JJ is reset for the 28th and he's super excited, Thomas is set for the 28th, and also excited, and we had an amazing lesson with Chris where the Spirit was so strong he couldn't say no! So he's set for the 28th as well, and just as excited as the others!
The zone went from 1 new investigator two weeks ago, to 10 new investigators this week, so we're excited about that. We had 4, and we have a few more lined up for this week, so we're seeing so many miracles!
Love,
Elder Smith
They cancelled church here yesterday, which was absolutely ridiculous, because by the time church started, the only snow around was the stuff on the grass. So all three of our investigators that were going to be at church... yeah...
Despite that, this week was pretty much amazing! JJ is reset for the 28th and he's super excited, Thomas is set for the 28th, and also excited, and we had an amazing lesson with Chris where the Spirit was so strong he couldn't say no! So he's set for the 28th as well, and just as excited as the others!
The zone went from 1 new investigator two weeks ago, to 10 new investigators this week, so we're excited about that. We had 4, and we have a few more lined up for this week, so we're seeing so many miracles!
Love,
Elder Smith
Monday, November 2, 2009
Dang snow...
So there really isn't much to report on this week. Snow ruined a couple of days because apparently Coloradans don't know how to drive in the snow. The first day of snow, we had seven lessons scheduled for that day, and only taught one of them. People! It's really not that bad!
We had interviews this past week, so that was really good as usual. President told me what he expects from me with my companion and a couple other Elders. He said I'm the mature one in the group and need to help the other ones mature as well. ... Me? I think he meant to say that to someone else, but I'll sure try!
So last night was pretty awesome. The CES broadcast was SWEET! President Uchtdorf is the man. He gave me some great ideas for the zone meeting that we're planning on doing this week, but the highlight was when they flashed a scene of the audience, and I saw Elder Stone! I mean Garrett Stone. That was pretty cool. He was laughing at something President Uchtdorf had said, but we were pretty excited that Elder Stone just happened to pop up on the screen. And the BYU stake president who was conducting the meeting, was my stake president when I was there.
Anyways, have a good week everybody! And stay tuned for next week's update on the amazing life of the one and only Elder Smith... actually... I think there's lots of those around.
Elder Smith
We had interviews this past week, so that was really good as usual. President told me what he expects from me with my companion and a couple other Elders. He said I'm the mature one in the group and need to help the other ones mature as well. ... Me? I think he meant to say that to someone else, but I'll sure try!
So last night was pretty awesome. The CES broadcast was SWEET! President Uchtdorf is the man. He gave me some great ideas for the zone meeting that we're planning on doing this week, but the highlight was when they flashed a scene of the audience, and I saw Elder Stone! I mean Garrett Stone. That was pretty cool. He was laughing at something President Uchtdorf had said, but we were pretty excited that Elder Stone just happened to pop up on the screen. And the BYU stake president who was conducting the meeting, was my stake president when I was there.
Anyways, have a good week everybody! And stay tuned for next week's update on the amazing life of the one and only Elder Smith... actually... I think there's lots of those around.
Elder Smith
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
