Hello Family, how is everybody doing?
We've had a truly inspiring week. I don't even know where to start. First of all, after months of trying to contact a less-active, part-member family, we've finally been able to teach Christina and her 10-yr old son, Ethan (who isn't yet a member). Once we got smart and realized that a couple in our ward knew them and had a great relationship with them, it was a cinch to just have the member couple invite them and us over for dinner and a lesson. We had a good discussion (and meal) and committed Ethan to be baptized. We will continue teaching them at the members' home. They committed to come to church this week (they had an unavoidable family function yesterday), and when we followed up with them the other day they had been reading and praying daily.
Lisa was quite ill yesterday and thus unable to attend church. We had a good lesson with her last week, though and committed her to baptism as well. She enthusiastically agreed and, grabbing her calendar, wrote down the date. She had been taught by missionaries before, but doesn't seem to have talked about baptism with them. She has difficulties with WOW, which is why she was dropped by previous missionaries, but has had some awakening experiences with liver problems that are giving her more motivation.
Finally, Saturday we fasted for help finding new investigators since we've been struggling in finding for a while and at church Sunday we were approached by one of the young women who asked if we could come to her home later and teach one of her friends who has questions about the church. Her friend was way prepared and open and has a great relationship with the member friend as well as other members. It was a great lesson and she's excited to read, pray, and come to church. We've got really high hopes for her.
Overall, I'm doing great and so is Elder O'Donley. We're seeing a lot of miracles and having a lot of success. I've got nothing about which to complain.
Over the past year I've learned a lot, and my testimony and conversion have grown in ways that I never before imagined. I have come to see by experience and feel by the Spirit that the gospel of Jesus Christ as restored through the prophet Joseph Smith are true and that exercise of faith always yields blessings.
Got to go quickly, sorry, I'll write a letter.
Elder Matthew Smith
Monday, August 9, 2010
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Letter from July 27
Dear Family,
Hello everybody! I received your hump day pckage with excitement today and am pleased to report that it wasn't half bad. It looks like a lot of effort went into it - thanks very much to all who contributed. It means a lot.
Lo siento for an unacceptable short email on Monday. P-day got a little intense. We started out with a zone service project - we went shopping for supplies for the mission office, which was broken into last week. (ONLY in the Kirtland zone would you ever find missionaries going shopping, of all things, for a service project!) After that, the elders in the zone (all 8 of us) stuck around at the stake center to play some sports since none of us had been able to afford to use the miles to go to zone p-days recently. So we played dodgeball (in the pitch dark of the cultural hall - it was super fun!) and indoor soccer. The soccer game got pretty intense and we kept on going for 'just fifteen more minutes'. We all had a lot of pent-up energy from a month without any sports on p-days. After that we shopped and went to an early appointment who hadn't been able to meet with us any time except during p-day. Then we emailed briefly, and now here I am writing about it. Kind of a long spiel about p-day...oh well.
Last week was transfer week. Sorry I forgot to give you some heads up that transfers was coming up. Elder O'Donley and I are both staying here in Perry. (as are all the other elders in the zone-none of the elders were transferred. The guidelines from the brethren are that missionaries should be transferred as infrequently as possible.) As for the rest of my districe, Sister Carter and her greenie sister Hill both stayed in their area; Sister Golightly's two companions got transferred and she got a new greenie named Sis. Decker (which, coincidentally, was also the name of one of her companions last transfer.); and Sister Lee got a new greenie named Sister Maughn. So basically, half of my district is green. I guess going green is the popular thing to do these days anyways.
Well, we had a really awesome week this past week. A couple highlights:
-Two Saturdays ago we took Steven on a tur of the Kirtland sites between Bro. Andres' baptism and the Kirtland play. Siss. Golightly, Wirig, and Decker gave us a tour and it was a really powerful spiritual experience for everybody. This was emphasized last week as we asked Steven to give the closing prayer at the end of the first lesson we had with him after that tour. He prayed with a lot of faith, sincerity, and gratitude to Heavenly Father for allowing him to be where the prophet had been and see even more evidence that Joseph Smith really was a prophet. It was so cool to hear him pray like that. (He's had a lot of very heartfelt, uplifting prayers with us in the past as well.)
-Roleplaying is the key to revelation. One day last week we were preparing during our studies to teach the Elliots. As we roleplayed the lesson we had planned to teach them, it was flat and something just didn't feel right. So, we knelt down and sought further guidance about what to teach them. After our prayer we both felt the distinct impression that we needed to teach them the law of tithing. We had tried to teach them about tithing a couple weeks ago and it didn't go very well. Even though we had a member with us and invited the Spirit, they weren't willing to commit. But, we felt impressed to reteach the principle so we followed the prompting. We taught them again about tithing and this time they were ready. They had prayed about it and felt that it was the right thing to do. I am grateful that the Lord let us know exactly what they needed to hear that day and that we were in tune enough to recognize and follow that prompting.
So yeah, last week was inspiring. There's been a lot of miracles happening in our area and elsewhere. I've been having my district report every week on some of the miracles they've seen and that is very inspirational as well. It sounds like y'all have had a good week as well. There was lots of exciting news and I was glad to hear that no one ended up in the hospital from the family reunion this year. Funny story - our stake and the Cleveland stake had their pioneer trek last week. It was super hot and humid and the youth started, for lack of a better phrase, dropping like flies. They didn't walk the last day because the hospital told them that if one more person got sent in they were going to notify CPS and file charges against the church. I'm glad our trek was a little less realistic than theirs.
So we've been teaching members about member missionary work recently and the other day we roleplayed with a member couple how they could invite one of their friends to hear the gospel. It was a pretty cool experience. I'm sure you've been working diligently to find some referrals for the sister missionaries back home.
How has teh hometeaching been going? Have you tried teaching the PMG lessons yet? I can't think of anything that would better help Cody prepare for missionary service than following the smae process missionary companionships use to prepare to teach: planning, personal study, companion study, teaching, and companionship inventory. (Unfortunately, you don't really have the luxury of district meetings and zone conferences, which are also part of the process.) Prayerfully plan what lesson to teach, study it alone, study it together and discuss who will teach what part of the lesson and how you can tailor it to their needs, plan what commitment you will leave, teach the lesson, and evaluate what went well and what could have been done better. Sorry for that little bit of preaching there, but it's something about which I feel strongly.
Well, good job everybody on your great accomplishments of this week like mastering the Spanish language, captivating a congregation during a sacrament meeting talk, going back to school after summer vacation, or not getting sliced up at the family reunion.
LYMNB, Elder Matthew Smith
Hello everybody! I received your hump day pckage with excitement today and am pleased to report that it wasn't half bad. It looks like a lot of effort went into it - thanks very much to all who contributed. It means a lot.
Lo siento for an unacceptable short email on Monday. P-day got a little intense. We started out with a zone service project - we went shopping for supplies for the mission office, which was broken into last week. (ONLY in the Kirtland zone would you ever find missionaries going shopping, of all things, for a service project!) After that, the elders in the zone (all 8 of us) stuck around at the stake center to play some sports since none of us had been able to afford to use the miles to go to zone p-days recently. So we played dodgeball (in the pitch dark of the cultural hall - it was super fun!) and indoor soccer. The soccer game got pretty intense and we kept on going for 'just fifteen more minutes'. We all had a lot of pent-up energy from a month without any sports on p-days. After that we shopped and went to an early appointment who hadn't been able to meet with us any time except during p-day. Then we emailed briefly, and now here I am writing about it. Kind of a long spiel about p-day...oh well.
Last week was transfer week. Sorry I forgot to give you some heads up that transfers was coming up. Elder O'Donley and I are both staying here in Perry. (as are all the other elders in the zone-none of the elders were transferred. The guidelines from the brethren are that missionaries should be transferred as infrequently as possible.) As for the rest of my districe, Sister Carter and her greenie sister Hill both stayed in their area; Sister Golightly's two companions got transferred and she got a new greenie named Sis. Decker (which, coincidentally, was also the name of one of her companions last transfer.); and Sister Lee got a new greenie named Sister Maughn. So basically, half of my district is green. I guess going green is the popular thing to do these days anyways.
Well, we had a really awesome week this past week. A couple highlights:
-Two Saturdays ago we took Steven on a tur of the Kirtland sites between Bro. Andres' baptism and the Kirtland play. Siss. Golightly, Wirig, and Decker gave us a tour and it was a really powerful spiritual experience for everybody. This was emphasized last week as we asked Steven to give the closing prayer at the end of the first lesson we had with him after that tour. He prayed with a lot of faith, sincerity, and gratitude to Heavenly Father for allowing him to be where the prophet had been and see even more evidence that Joseph Smith really was a prophet. It was so cool to hear him pray like that. (He's had a lot of very heartfelt, uplifting prayers with us in the past as well.)
-Roleplaying is the key to revelation. One day last week we were preparing during our studies to teach the Elliots. As we roleplayed the lesson we had planned to teach them, it was flat and something just didn't feel right. So, we knelt down and sought further guidance about what to teach them. After our prayer we both felt the distinct impression that we needed to teach them the law of tithing. We had tried to teach them about tithing a couple weeks ago and it didn't go very well. Even though we had a member with us and invited the Spirit, they weren't willing to commit. But, we felt impressed to reteach the principle so we followed the prompting. We taught them again about tithing and this time they were ready. They had prayed about it and felt that it was the right thing to do. I am grateful that the Lord let us know exactly what they needed to hear that day and that we were in tune enough to recognize and follow that prompting.
So yeah, last week was inspiring. There's been a lot of miracles happening in our area and elsewhere. I've been having my district report every week on some of the miracles they've seen and that is very inspirational as well. It sounds like y'all have had a good week as well. There was lots of exciting news and I was glad to hear that no one ended up in the hospital from the family reunion this year. Funny story - our stake and the Cleveland stake had their pioneer trek last week. It was super hot and humid and the youth started, for lack of a better phrase, dropping like flies. They didn't walk the last day because the hospital told them that if one more person got sent in they were going to notify CPS and file charges against the church. I'm glad our trek was a little less realistic than theirs.
So we've been teaching members about member missionary work recently and the other day we roleplayed with a member couple how they could invite one of their friends to hear the gospel. It was a pretty cool experience. I'm sure you've been working diligently to find some referrals for the sister missionaries back home.
How has teh hometeaching been going? Have you tried teaching the PMG lessons yet? I can't think of anything that would better help Cody prepare for missionary service than following the smae process missionary companionships use to prepare to teach: planning, personal study, companion study, teaching, and companionship inventory. (Unfortunately, you don't really have the luxury of district meetings and zone conferences, which are also part of the process.) Prayerfully plan what lesson to teach, study it alone, study it together and discuss who will teach what part of the lesson and how you can tailor it to their needs, plan what commitment you will leave, teach the lesson, and evaluate what went well and what could have been done better. Sorry for that little bit of preaching there, but it's something about which I feel strongly.
Well, good job everybody on your great accomplishments of this week like mastering the Spanish language, captivating a congregation during a sacrament meeting talk, going back to school after summer vacation, or not getting sliced up at the family reunion.
LYMNB, Elder Matthew Smith
Monday, August 2, 2010
Email from 8/2/2010
Hello all,
Sorry last week's email was rather subpar. I wrote a letter, but then I kept forgetting to put it in the mail, so you'll probably get it today if you haven't yet. Sorry, Mom.
I'm glad that Mom's having dreams about elk hunting. That's a very good sign.
What with all the candy I've recieved in this past week the horses probably aren't the only ones who will be gaining a hundred pounds. Thanks, everybody!
Sorry you had a tough lesson experience, Mom. We get that a lot. I love it when investigators or others we are teaching share comments and experiences, but some of them have bad habits of going WAY off-topic really fast. Some of the members we take teaching with us do the same thing, but not really anybody in this ward, now that I think of it. That was really nice of the Kanistaneauxs to bring cookies, though.
Was it worth eating the tootsie-roll wrapper, Delaney? You didn't have to walk all the way to the secure trash area. You could have just put it in somebody else's tent instead. That way the bears wouldn't bug you. Note: Delaney and another tent mate ate a tootsie roll wrapper instead of getting shoes on and taking it to the locked trailer which held the garbage.
So as we were finishing up our weekly planning session on Thursday we heard somewhat of a commotion in the entry hall of our apartment. (You have to understand the layout of our apartment complex. There are four apartments - two on the 1st floor and 2 on the 2nd floor. The parking lot is around back and every apartment has a porch and a sliding glass door in the back. That's how everybody comes into their apartments. In the front of the building is one door that leads to a shared entry hall that has the front doors to each apartment. I'm not sure if we even have a key to our front door because we never use it.) So we heard a disturbance (whispering, giggling, etc.) and were curious since nobody uses that entrance. We started unlocking the door and heard an "oh, crap!" and the sound of people rushing down the stairs. A look out the window revealed a U-haul with two not-so-unfamiliar personages climbing in. They left candy and doughnuts. Thanks, Lori & Katie!! Good job escaping fast - that was a close one.
Don't feel bad, Mom. I still love you. Note: Hearing that Katie & Lori were so close to Matt made me cry.
I got your package, yes. It was 'halfway decent' - very clever. I especially liked the pictures of everybody holding the sign. I think we're going to have to bike a lot so I don't turn into a big blob of chocolate, considering how much candy we got this week. There was your package, the Lawrence's package, Lori & Katie's package, an investigator gave us a bag of chips ahoy! cookies, and to top it off, we were contacting at a fair this week and after it was over a pastor from another church in the area gave us a grocery bag filled with cookies his church hadn't been able to finish handing out to people at the fair. It's like being in candy heaven. (but probably enamel hell.)
answering questions:
were there changes to our district during transfers?
yes, Siss. Lee and Golightly have new greenies they are training - Siss. Maughn and Decker. So now half of my district is greenies and the other half is trainers.
who came to church, etc.
We had a new investigator at church today named Lisa. She was a former investigator a couple years ago but stopped investigating so we stopped by to see if we could teach her again. She accepted and even came to church for the first time. She had a great experience and had nothing but good comments - especially about Relief Society. She hit it off really well with a couple of the sisters and said she would be coming back next week.
Steven hasn't made much progress with smoking - we're still working on it.
I got your postcard today - it's funny. I love that artist. Thanks for writing!
The church is true, the book is blue, and I'll see you in 2...I mean 1. Kinda kills the rhyme, though.
lemonb
Elder Matthew Smith
Sorry last week's email was rather subpar. I wrote a letter, but then I kept forgetting to put it in the mail, so you'll probably get it today if you haven't yet. Sorry, Mom.
I'm glad that Mom's having dreams about elk hunting. That's a very good sign.
What with all the candy I've recieved in this past week the horses probably aren't the only ones who will be gaining a hundred pounds. Thanks, everybody!
Sorry you had a tough lesson experience, Mom. We get that a lot. I love it when investigators or others we are teaching share comments and experiences, but some of them have bad habits of going WAY off-topic really fast. Some of the members we take teaching with us do the same thing, but not really anybody in this ward, now that I think of it. That was really nice of the Kanistaneauxs to bring cookies, though.
Was it worth eating the tootsie-roll wrapper, Delaney? You didn't have to walk all the way to the secure trash area. You could have just put it in somebody else's tent instead. That way the bears wouldn't bug you. Note: Delaney and another tent mate ate a tootsie roll wrapper instead of getting shoes on and taking it to the locked trailer which held the garbage.
So as we were finishing up our weekly planning session on Thursday we heard somewhat of a commotion in the entry hall of our apartment. (You have to understand the layout of our apartment complex. There are four apartments - two on the 1st floor and 2 on the 2nd floor. The parking lot is around back and every apartment has a porch and a sliding glass door in the back. That's how everybody comes into their apartments. In the front of the building is one door that leads to a shared entry hall that has the front doors to each apartment. I'm not sure if we even have a key to our front door because we never use it.) So we heard a disturbance (whispering, giggling, etc.) and were curious since nobody uses that entrance. We started unlocking the door and heard an "oh, crap!" and the sound of people rushing down the stairs. A look out the window revealed a U-haul with two not-so-unfamiliar personages climbing in. They left candy and doughnuts. Thanks, Lori & Katie!! Good job escaping fast - that was a close one.
Don't feel bad, Mom. I still love you. Note: Hearing that Katie & Lori were so close to Matt made me cry.
I got your package, yes. It was 'halfway decent' - very clever. I especially liked the pictures of everybody holding the sign. I think we're going to have to bike a lot so I don't turn into a big blob of chocolate, considering how much candy we got this week. There was your package, the Lawrence's package, Lori & Katie's package, an investigator gave us a bag of chips ahoy! cookies, and to top it off, we were contacting at a fair this week and after it was over a pastor from another church in the area gave us a grocery bag filled with cookies his church hadn't been able to finish handing out to people at the fair. It's like being in candy heaven. (but probably enamel hell.)
answering questions:
were there changes to our district during transfers?
yes, Siss. Lee and Golightly have new greenies they are training - Siss. Maughn and Decker. So now half of my district is greenies and the other half is trainers.
who came to church, etc.
We had a new investigator at church today named Lisa. She was a former investigator a couple years ago but stopped investigating so we stopped by to see if we could teach her again. She accepted and even came to church for the first time. She had a great experience and had nothing but good comments - especially about Relief Society. She hit it off really well with a couple of the sisters and said she would be coming back next week.
Steven hasn't made much progress with smoking - we're still working on it.
I got your postcard today - it's funny. I love that artist. Thanks for writing!
The church is true, the book is blue, and I'll see you in 2...I mean 1. Kinda kills the rhyme, though.
lemonb
Elder Matthew Smith
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
And you thought last week's letter was good....
Hola,
We had a truly AMAZING week. A little background: Brother Andres in our ward is the only nonmember in his family. I think he has four daughters, two of which have been married in the temple. His wife is a strong member as is everyone else in his family. He's been taught on and off by missionaries for the past 26 years or something like that, with the sisters in our ward making a renewed effort on him during the past year or so. He comes to church just about every week and holds a calling even though he's not a member. He just never felt like he had recieved a strong enough answer about the BOM to leave behind his Catholic roots. Well, every year the Kirtland stake puts on the musical theatre production "This Is Kirtland!", depicting the life and times of mormon settlers in 1830's Kirtland. Bro. Andres' wife and 2 daughters that live at home were in the play and it was suggested that he participate as well since he had to drive them down to the stake center every day for practice. He conceded and played the part of Elder Green, one of the 12 Apostles. Everyone was so sure that the play was going to be a great, powerful, spiritual experience for him and it definitely was; so much so that last Sunday morning as I was talking to the sisters in our ward (Sisters Wirig, Golightly, and Decker), they were very confident that he would commit to baptism during their lesson later that day. By all accounts the lesson was powerful and compelling - the spirit was palpable and the sisters were guided by the Lord's hand in presenting their lesson. Finally, the time came, and with the Spirit's piercing flame bearing witness of the truth, they comitted Bro. Andres to set a baptismal date. Time stood still. Every breath was bated. The seconds of silence could audibly be heard ticking by as they waited what seemed an eternity for his response.
Finally he spoke
And his answer crushed their soaring hopes into oblivion. His wife broke down and left the room in tears. The sisters were devastated. They had been so sure that he was ready-the cast of the play and everyone in the ward had friendshipped him so well, the spirit had been so strong...how could he persist in his obstinance? Sister Wirig's dream had been to see Bro. Andres baptized before she went home from her mission just a week and a half later, and now she knew that her vision was not going to materialize...
We talked about it at district meeting that Tuesday (a week ago today). They were crushed.
Later that day, the sisters called me, ecstatic. At 3:00 am that morning, Bro. Andres had come to a conclusion: stopping haltingly between two faiths wasn't getting him anywhere - he had witnesses enough and he needed to follow them. He decided to be baptized that very Saturday.
The rest of the week is a whirlwind from that point - On the way back from a leadership meeting in Cleveland we stopped at Kirtland where he had arrived early for the play and I interveiwed him for baptism. The major factors in his decision to keep moving forward were the spiritual influence of playing one of the 12 in the play, the love showed for him by the cast and crew of the play, as well as the rest of the ward, and the amazing diligence, persistence, and love showed by the sisters in teaching him.
He was baptized this past Saturday at 4:00 by Bro. Hay, one of his longtime friends from the ward. We brought Steven to watch it and it was a great experience. The Spirit was strong throughout the baptismal service, the attendance of which overflowed the chapel at the Stake Center. The cast of the play payed to fly in his two daughters and their husbands so they could witness his baptism as well. He was confirmed by one of his sons-in-law right after his baptism, and ordained a priest the next day by his other son-in-law. After the baptism, we went with Steven to the historic Kirtland sites and Sis's Wirig, Golightly, and Decker gave us an amazing tour - another opportunity to feel the powerful spirit. After that we went back to the stake center (only about 1/2 mile away) to watch the final performance of the play. In one scene of the play, Joseph Smith, standing on a table at a feast in the N.K.Whitney store, says "we rejoice with the Snow family in the baptism of Brother Lorenzo". That night he added in, "and we also rejoice with the Andres family in the baptism of Brother Lawrence." The overflow crowd went wild.
(please note: By necessity, literary license has been exercised to help the reader feel more intimately and accurately the mood and atmosphere of the account. The writer has drawn from several sources including personal interviews with many of the involved parties to ensure the maximum possible fidelity of the present narrative.)
Anyways, that's Bro. Andres's story. I hope you liked it.
On Sunday we took Bro. and Sis. Elliot to a musical fireside at the Kirtland sites and again had a powerful experience. They both felt the spirit and we were able to identify that with them. A couple weeks ago Sis. Elliot fasted with us that she would be able to get Sundays off from work so she could come to church. She asked her employer about it and things are looking good at this point. I think we will be able to set a baptismal date with her pretty easily once she is able to consistently come to church.
Steven and Bro. Elliot came to church on Sunday.
Sounds like you guys are doing lots of fun things back home, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
Congrats on being DQP, Cody. One of my first experiences with recieving personal revelation that I can remember is feeling impressions as I prayed about who should be my counselors in the Deacons' Quorum Presidency.
The new duty to God program seems pretty cool. I was SO sold when they pitched it in conference. Cody and his peers are going to be the most prepared missionaries EVER.
Unfortunately, Steven isn't making much progress with the Word of Wisdom. He reads and prays every day, comes to church, and keeps comittments, but I don't think he has a very strong desire to quit smoking at this point. We're working on it. Prayers are greatly appreciated.
More loosening of the rules: Now we can listen to anything in the hymnbook, childrens songbook, or any mormon tabernacle choir.
lymnb,
elder matthew smith
We had a truly AMAZING week. A little background: Brother Andres in our ward is the only nonmember in his family. I think he has four daughters, two of which have been married in the temple. His wife is a strong member as is everyone else in his family. He's been taught on and off by missionaries for the past 26 years or something like that, with the sisters in our ward making a renewed effort on him during the past year or so. He comes to church just about every week and holds a calling even though he's not a member. He just never felt like he had recieved a strong enough answer about the BOM to leave behind his Catholic roots. Well, every year the Kirtland stake puts on the musical theatre production "This Is Kirtland!", depicting the life and times of mormon settlers in 1830's Kirtland. Bro. Andres' wife and 2 daughters that live at home were in the play and it was suggested that he participate as well since he had to drive them down to the stake center every day for practice. He conceded and played the part of Elder Green, one of the 12 Apostles. Everyone was so sure that the play was going to be a great, powerful, spiritual experience for him and it definitely was; so much so that last Sunday morning as I was talking to the sisters in our ward (Sisters Wirig, Golightly, and Decker), they were very confident that he would commit to baptism during their lesson later that day. By all accounts the lesson was powerful and compelling - the spirit was palpable and the sisters were guided by the Lord's hand in presenting their lesson. Finally, the time came, and with the Spirit's piercing flame bearing witness of the truth, they comitted Bro. Andres to set a baptismal date. Time stood still. Every breath was bated. The seconds of silence could audibly be heard ticking by as they waited what seemed an eternity for his response.
Finally he spoke
And his answer crushed their soaring hopes into oblivion. His wife broke down and left the room in tears. The sisters were devastated. They had been so sure that he was ready-the cast of the play and everyone in the ward had friendshipped him so well, the spirit had been so strong...how could he persist in his obstinance? Sister Wirig's dream had been to see Bro. Andres baptized before she went home from her mission just a week and a half later, and now she knew that her vision was not going to materialize...
We talked about it at district meeting that Tuesday (a week ago today). They were crushed.
Later that day, the sisters called me, ecstatic. At 3:00 am that morning, Bro. Andres had come to a conclusion: stopping haltingly between two faiths wasn't getting him anywhere - he had witnesses enough and he needed to follow them. He decided to be baptized that very Saturday.
The rest of the week is a whirlwind from that point - On the way back from a leadership meeting in Cleveland we stopped at Kirtland where he had arrived early for the play and I interveiwed him for baptism. The major factors in his decision to keep moving forward were the spiritual influence of playing one of the 12 in the play, the love showed for him by the cast and crew of the play, as well as the rest of the ward, and the amazing diligence, persistence, and love showed by the sisters in teaching him.
He was baptized this past Saturday at 4:00 by Bro. Hay, one of his longtime friends from the ward. We brought Steven to watch it and it was a great experience. The Spirit was strong throughout the baptismal service, the attendance of which overflowed the chapel at the Stake Center. The cast of the play payed to fly in his two daughters and their husbands so they could witness his baptism as well. He was confirmed by one of his sons-in-law right after his baptism, and ordained a priest the next day by his other son-in-law. After the baptism, we went with Steven to the historic Kirtland sites and Sis's Wirig, Golightly, and Decker gave us an amazing tour - another opportunity to feel the powerful spirit. After that we went back to the stake center (only about 1/2 mile away) to watch the final performance of the play. In one scene of the play, Joseph Smith, standing on a table at a feast in the N.K.Whitney store, says "we rejoice with the Snow family in the baptism of Brother Lorenzo". That night he added in, "and we also rejoice with the Andres family in the baptism of Brother Lawrence." The overflow crowd went wild.
(please note: By necessity, literary license has been exercised to help the reader feel more intimately and accurately the mood and atmosphere of the account. The writer has drawn from several sources including personal interviews with many of the involved parties to ensure the maximum possible fidelity of the present narrative.)
Anyways, that's Bro. Andres's story. I hope you liked it.
On Sunday we took Bro. and Sis. Elliot to a musical fireside at the Kirtland sites and again had a powerful experience. They both felt the spirit and we were able to identify that with them. A couple weeks ago Sis. Elliot fasted with us that she would be able to get Sundays off from work so she could come to church. She asked her employer about it and things are looking good at this point. I think we will be able to set a baptismal date with her pretty easily once she is able to consistently come to church.
Steven and Bro. Elliot came to church on Sunday.
Sounds like you guys are doing lots of fun things back home, but I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
Congrats on being DQP, Cody. One of my first experiences with recieving personal revelation that I can remember is feeling impressions as I prayed about who should be my counselors in the Deacons' Quorum Presidency.
The new duty to God program seems pretty cool. I was SO sold when they pitched it in conference. Cody and his peers are going to be the most prepared missionaries EVER.
Unfortunately, Steven isn't making much progress with the Word of Wisdom. He reads and prays every day, comes to church, and keeps comittments, but I don't think he has a very strong desire to quit smoking at this point. We're working on it. Prayers are greatly appreciated.
More loosening of the rules: Now we can listen to anything in the hymnbook, childrens songbook, or any mormon tabernacle choir.
lymnb,
elder matthew smith
Monday, July 12, 2010
"Your mothers would be proud" 7/12/10
Hello!!
We had a really good week, thank you very much. Yes we did go to "This Is Kirtland!" on Saturday. It was really cool, and very professionally done. I didn't see the Butterfields there, but we sat by President and Sister Sorensen. It was in the cultural hall at the stake center (which is only about a mile from the Kirtland sites). I have introduced myself to the Butterfields, but I didn't remember to tell them that I live by the Britos.
I had meetings in Cleveland Thursday and Friday (and will again this week Wednesday and Thursday) with the rest of the mission leadership. It struck me over and over again that I will likely never again be able to associate with people of the same caliber as the elders and sisters in that room again in my life after my mission. First of all, where are you going to find a group of 20-year olds who can sit through a 7-hour meeting (with an hour-long lunch break) about teaching the gospel and be scribbling like crazy and hanging off of every word for so long and wish that it would not have to end? Not to mention the great, inspired comments, questions, and testimonies. The meetings were about some changes that the missionary department is making and what we need to do. Zone Conferences and Interviews will now be quarterly instead of every 6 weeks, which is good. I always feel like we have too many meetings and not enough time to work. Also, the MTC is changing it's curriculum to simplify it and focus on some more important points of PMG next year in May and the missions have to make some changes to be prepared. It's amazing how it seems like even the church and the missionary department seem to always be learning about Preach My Gospel. It was definitely written on the other side of the veil, and it is as multilayered as the scriptures and the 2nd most correct book on earth.
So Elder and Sister McQueen, a senior couple, came to our place this morning for an apartment check. Sister McQueen, a very motherly individual, said "Well done, Elders, it looks great. Your mothers would be proud." How's that for a mighty change of heart? I thought you'd like that, Mom.
Well, have fun at the cabin. Careful with the chainsaws. You can see the scarring on my pinky finger but the only really blatant scar is the one on my wrist. haha...thanks for keeping me up to date on all Delaney's 'social engagements'. Isn't it so cool how you have an instant network of connections as soon as you join the church? That's pretty cool how the guy from Mark & Lori's ward had someone from the church here waiting to pick him up at the airport. I love hearing the cool stories about that stuff. Mormons rock at coordinating!
That's kind of weird to think of Delaney driving by herself or driving Cody and Peyton. Is she nervous at all? Probably not, huh. What is "mission"? I don't know if I've ever heard of that game before.Whatever, Delaney, you probably aced the AP Spanish test. I'll bet you got a 6!
So Elder O'Donley's parents sent him this:
The Way It Is
A Mission President:
leaps tall buildings in a single bound
is faster than a speeding bullet
is more powerful than a locomotive
walks on water
associates with God
An Assistant to the President:
leaps short buildings in a single bound
is just as fast as a speeding bullet
is more powerful than a switch engine
walks on water in calm seas
talks with God
A Zone Leader:leaps short buildings with a running start and favorable winds
is faster than a decelerating bullet
is slightly less powerful than a switch engine
walks on water in indoor swimming pools
talks with God if special request is approved
A District Leader:
barely clears a mud hut
can fire a speeding bullet
loses tug-of-wars with locomotives
swims well
is occasionally addressed by God
A Senior Companion:
makes high marks on the wall when trying to jump buildings
can usually handle a gun without inflicting self-injury
gets run over by locomotives
doggie paddles
talks to animals
A Junior Companion:
runs into walls
is not issued ammunition
can recognize a locomotive 2 out of 3 times
can stay afloat with a life jacket
talks to walls
A Greenie:
trips over doorsteps
says "look at the choo-choo!"
wets himself with a water pistol
plays in mud puddles
mumbles to himself
A Sister Missionary:
lifts up buildings and walks under them
catches bullets in her teeth and eats them
kicks locomotives off the tracks
freezes water with a single glance
knows God
I thought it was funny
Steven's doing alright, but he's only made a little progress on smoking. He came to church yesterday, though, and he's been reading the book of mormon and praying. His baptismal date is no longer July 31st because you have to be clean from smoking for 3 weeks to get baptized. We haven't reset his date yet.Bro. and Sis. Hanny don't have callings yet, but they're active. Mission accomplished. Now it's mostly up to the ward to support them. We're not going to actively teach them anymore - they don't need it and their home teachers can take care of them now. (We took their hometeachers with us for several appointments to help them get started.)
Great news! It has been revealed to President Sorensen that we now need to wake up at 6:30 instead of 6:15. It may be a tough adjustment, but I will go and do what the Lord hath commanded. I know that the Lord will provide a way for me to accomplish this thing which He hath commanded and give me the strength to sleep for 15 extra minutes every day.
Patty Wrote: "When you said last week that it was your fault everyone slept in because you didn't get up one morning until 6:40 - I don't believe that the Lord would use your investigators to punish you for that! And since when do you use a cell phone for an alarm clock? I know we bought you an alarm clock! Wow - did that sound like a typical mom comment or what?"
No, the Lord wasn't punishing us, we just didn't exercise the faith to be obedient to the law upon which the promise in Malachi 3 and 3 Nephi 24 that He will "pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to recieve it." is predicated. Keeping the Morning Schedule is how missionaries pay tithing. And yes, that is a typical mom comment! It is just the mission culture that everyone uses the cell phones to get up, I guess. It's just what you do.
Well, now that I'm not serving in Cleveland and can't just go into the mission office whenever I want, I don't see as much of President Sorensen. I saw him Saturday at the play, Thursday and Friday at leadership meetings in Cleveland, Tuesday when he had a meeting with the ZLs at the same time and in the same building as our district meeting, and a couple weeks ago at both interviews and zone conference.
I'm kind of surprised you know what hump day is, Mom. Yes, I will be burning a shirt for hump day. I'll take some pictures for you. I'm guessing the tradition is to burn it on that exact day, but that doesn't always work. Yes, I'll burn an unusable shirt. I had to slice up one of my old long-sleeved shirts to make some "tie-buddies" so that's the one that will burn. A tie buddy is made of two button-holes of a shirt and it goes through the loop on your tie and keeps it from flying over your shoulder, etc.
Yeah, I am pretty scared by how fast the time is going. I feel like I just got to this area last week, Toledo was a two or three day blur, and I left Cleveland about a month ago. The MTC experience and civilian life just seem like a vague dream.
LYMNB,
Elder Matthew Smith
We had a really good week, thank you very much. Yes we did go to "This Is Kirtland!" on Saturday. It was really cool, and very professionally done. I didn't see the Butterfields there, but we sat by President and Sister Sorensen. It was in the cultural hall at the stake center (which is only about a mile from the Kirtland sites). I have introduced myself to the Butterfields, but I didn't remember to tell them that I live by the Britos.
I had meetings in Cleveland Thursday and Friday (and will again this week Wednesday and Thursday) with the rest of the mission leadership. It struck me over and over again that I will likely never again be able to associate with people of the same caliber as the elders and sisters in that room again in my life after my mission. First of all, where are you going to find a group of 20-year olds who can sit through a 7-hour meeting (with an hour-long lunch break) about teaching the gospel and be scribbling like crazy and hanging off of every word for so long and wish that it would not have to end? Not to mention the great, inspired comments, questions, and testimonies. The meetings were about some changes that the missionary department is making and what we need to do. Zone Conferences and Interviews will now be quarterly instead of every 6 weeks, which is good. I always feel like we have too many meetings and not enough time to work. Also, the MTC is changing it's curriculum to simplify it and focus on some more important points of PMG next year in May and the missions have to make some changes to be prepared. It's amazing how it seems like even the church and the missionary department seem to always be learning about Preach My Gospel. It was definitely written on the other side of the veil, and it is as multilayered as the scriptures and the 2nd most correct book on earth.
So Elder and Sister McQueen, a senior couple, came to our place this morning for an apartment check. Sister McQueen, a very motherly individual, said "Well done, Elders, it looks great. Your mothers would be proud." How's that for a mighty change of heart? I thought you'd like that, Mom.
Well, have fun at the cabin. Careful with the chainsaws. You can see the scarring on my pinky finger but the only really blatant scar is the one on my wrist. haha...thanks for keeping me up to date on all Delaney's 'social engagements'. Isn't it so cool how you have an instant network of connections as soon as you join the church? That's pretty cool how the guy from Mark & Lori's ward had someone from the church here waiting to pick him up at the airport. I love hearing the cool stories about that stuff. Mormons rock at coordinating!
That's kind of weird to think of Delaney driving by herself or driving Cody and Peyton. Is she nervous at all? Probably not, huh. What is "mission"? I don't know if I've ever heard of that game before.Whatever, Delaney, you probably aced the AP Spanish test. I'll bet you got a 6!
So Elder O'Donley's parents sent him this:
The Way It Is
A Mission President:
leaps tall buildings in a single bound
is faster than a speeding bullet
is more powerful than a locomotive
walks on water
associates with God
An Assistant to the President:
leaps short buildings in a single bound
is just as fast as a speeding bullet
is more powerful than a switch engine
walks on water in calm seas
talks with God
A Zone Leader:leaps short buildings with a running start and favorable winds
is faster than a decelerating bullet
is slightly less powerful than a switch engine
walks on water in indoor swimming pools
talks with God if special request is approved
A District Leader:
barely clears a mud hut
can fire a speeding bullet
loses tug-of-wars with locomotives
swims well
is occasionally addressed by God
A Senior Companion:
makes high marks on the wall when trying to jump buildings
can usually handle a gun without inflicting self-injury
gets run over by locomotives
doggie paddles
talks to animals
A Junior Companion:
runs into walls
is not issued ammunition
can recognize a locomotive 2 out of 3 times
can stay afloat with a life jacket
talks to walls
A Greenie:
trips over doorsteps
says "look at the choo-choo!"
wets himself with a water pistol
plays in mud puddles
mumbles to himself
A Sister Missionary:
lifts up buildings and walks under them
catches bullets in her teeth and eats them
kicks locomotives off the tracks
freezes water with a single glance
knows God
I thought it was funny
Steven's doing alright, but he's only made a little progress on smoking. He came to church yesterday, though, and he's been reading the book of mormon and praying. His baptismal date is no longer July 31st because you have to be clean from smoking for 3 weeks to get baptized. We haven't reset his date yet.Bro. and Sis. Hanny don't have callings yet, but they're active. Mission accomplished. Now it's mostly up to the ward to support them. We're not going to actively teach them anymore - they don't need it and their home teachers can take care of them now. (We took their hometeachers with us for several appointments to help them get started.)
Great news! It has been revealed to President Sorensen that we now need to wake up at 6:30 instead of 6:15. It may be a tough adjustment, but I will go and do what the Lord hath commanded. I know that the Lord will provide a way for me to accomplish this thing which He hath commanded and give me the strength to sleep for 15 extra minutes every day.
Patty Wrote: "When you said last week that it was your fault everyone slept in because you didn't get up one morning until 6:40 - I don't believe that the Lord would use your investigators to punish you for that! And since when do you use a cell phone for an alarm clock? I know we bought you an alarm clock! Wow - did that sound like a typical mom comment or what?"
No, the Lord wasn't punishing us, we just didn't exercise the faith to be obedient to the law upon which the promise in Malachi 3 and 3 Nephi 24 that He will "pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to recieve it." is predicated. Keeping the Morning Schedule is how missionaries pay tithing. And yes, that is a typical mom comment! It is just the mission culture that everyone uses the cell phones to get up, I guess. It's just what you do.
Well, now that I'm not serving in Cleveland and can't just go into the mission office whenever I want, I don't see as much of President Sorensen. I saw him Saturday at the play, Thursday and Friday at leadership meetings in Cleveland, Tuesday when he had a meeting with the ZLs at the same time and in the same building as our district meeting, and a couple weeks ago at both interviews and zone conference.
I'm kind of surprised you know what hump day is, Mom. Yes, I will be burning a shirt for hump day. I'll take some pictures for you. I'm guessing the tradition is to burn it on that exact day, but that doesn't always work. Yes, I'll burn an unusable shirt. I had to slice up one of my old long-sleeved shirts to make some "tie-buddies" so that's the one that will burn. A tie buddy is made of two button-holes of a shirt and it goes through the loop on your tie and keeps it from flying over your shoulder, etc.
Yeah, I am pretty scared by how fast the time is going. I feel like I just got to this area last week, Toledo was a two or three day blur, and I left Cleveland about a month ago. The MTC experience and civilian life just seem like a vague dream.
LYMNB,
Elder Matthew Smith
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Email from 7/6/10
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Pictures above:
Matt & Elder O'Donnley on his first day in the mission field
Bro. & Sis. Hanny
Hello, happy 6th everybody
It sounds like Rupert and Burley were hoppin' this weekend! That's pretty sad to hear about the mortar exploding, though. Is Paul going to make a new one? I imagine he has all sorts of connections with people who can get him 6-1/2" steel pipe with 2" holes drilled in it. Where did he get the original one?
We've been doing well around here. We don't get to watch fireworks since we have to be in by 9:00 and neither Madison nor Geneva had fireworks anyways. Ohio's fireworks laws are even stricter than Utah's - they can only have things that smoke, but no flame or sparks - not even fountains or ground-bloom flowers are legal. So, the big thing to do at parties and barbecues here in Ohio is cornhole. Everybody is crazy about it. Basically it's a beanbag toss. It's fun and all, but I don't understand why it's such a big thing.
You say "Cody and Dad got to shoot Paul's AR-15 yesterday". Did he not let you shoot it? Why just Cody and Dad? It seems like everybody has an AR-15 around here, too. When "Red Dawn" goes down, I can think of at least three different members' homes that are basically armories. Since when does Paul have an AR-15 and why didn't I get to shoot it?
Who is Rich that Delaney was texting?
I guess Elder O'Donley's family has been reading my blog - you guys should email them or something and tell them how to set up a blog for Elder O'Donley as well. Is his mom on the email group? We had a pretty slow week. A lot of our appointments canceled, and two of our investigators are out of town. The 4th of July doesn't help much in missionary work, I guess. Anyways, here's the update for investigators and LAs:
Steven: We had a great lesson with him last week and committed him to baptism on the 31st of July. We've been maintaining daily contact with him by phone on the days that we don't teach him, which is definitely helpful in getting him to remember to read and pray daily. He's working on quitting smoking. We taught him about fasting and then he, Elder O'Donley, and I fasted with him that he would have added strenght to quit smoking. Prayers would be appreciated, as he's struggling with it. I think he can do it, though - his daily reading and prayer, as well as fasting are a whole lot of faith being exercised. He didn't come to church on Sunday - he slept in, I guess.
Bro. and Sis. Elliot: We taught them about fasting, too, and they fasted that Sis. Elliot would be able to get work off and come regularly on Sundays. They are reading and praying together daily and doing great. Bro. Elliot should be at church Sunday, but Sis. Elliot is working, as usual. Bro. Elliot slept in on Sunday also. I'm pretty sure that everybody slept in because one day this week we left our phone in the kitchen when we went to bed and didn't hear the alarm, so we didn't get up until 6:40 and didn't fully keep the morning schedule. We've repented.
Bro. and Sis. Hanny: Are basically active now. We're ready to not actively be teaching them anymore and just let their hometeachers (Bro. Talbot, who we brought with us to several appointments to help him establish a good relationship with them, and his son) take over. They are working towards the temple. They were at church on Sunday (just like the last 6 weeks)
Bro. and Sis. Nelson: Haven't been active for a while, but we've been working with them and they came to church on Sunday. That was really exciting. They have strong testimonies and are really great people. They are feeding us this week!
That's about it...Todd and Sis. Dautartas and Ethan are all out of town, so they're temporarily on hold. Hopefully we can start teaching them again this week.
We've been having great lessons with a lot of members of the ward about member-missionary work. We have committed several families to do the activity on p. 172 of PMG, which asks them to pray about who they can prepare to hear the gospel and set goals of what they can do to help prepare them. We've been following up to make sure they did the activity and set goals, and now we're making appointments with them to discuss their people and goals and roleplay with them to help prepare them to effectively invite others to hear the gospel. We've been struggling with trying to motivate members and get them excited about missionary work, so hopefully this will help. Today in district meeting we roleplayed roleplaying with members.
On a related note, one member was coming teaching with us and on the ride to our appointment we roleplayed with him how he could talk his wife into letting him buy a four-wheeler. I thought that was funny.
On Saturday we're going to "This Is Kirtland - a musical theatre production depicting the life and times of mormon settlers in Kirtland". Sis. Hanny is going to bring her nonmember father, which is our ticket in. We're trying to get Steven, the Elliots, and another family we're working with, the Barths, to come to it also. It's a really big deal to the people out here - like as big as the pageants (or at least they think so).
Sorry about not labeling the pictures. Here's a couple explanations
sanyo105.jpg is bro. and sis. hanny
sanyo108.jpg is elder baxter
sanyo111.jpg is me and elder o'donley at transfer meeting his first day
sanyo102.jpg and 103.jpg are taped to the door of a sister in our ward who is one of the armories i might have to head to on d-day
lymnb, Elder Matthew Smith
It sounds like Rupert and Burley were hoppin' this weekend! That's pretty sad to hear about the mortar exploding, though. Is Paul going to make a new one? I imagine he has all sorts of connections with people who can get him 6-1/2" steel pipe with 2" holes drilled in it. Where did he get the original one?
We've been doing well around here. We don't get to watch fireworks since we have to be in by 9:00 and neither Madison nor Geneva had fireworks anyways. Ohio's fireworks laws are even stricter than Utah's - they can only have things that smoke, but no flame or sparks - not even fountains or ground-bloom flowers are legal. So, the big thing to do at parties and barbecues here in Ohio is cornhole. Everybody is crazy about it. Basically it's a beanbag toss. It's fun and all, but I don't understand why it's such a big thing.
You say "Cody and Dad got to shoot Paul's AR-15 yesterday". Did he not let you shoot it? Why just Cody and Dad? It seems like everybody has an AR-15 around here, too. When "Red Dawn" goes down, I can think of at least three different members' homes that are basically armories. Since when does Paul have an AR-15 and why didn't I get to shoot it?
Who is Rich that Delaney was texting?
I guess Elder O'Donley's family has been reading my blog - you guys should email them or something and tell them how to set up a blog for Elder O'Donley as well. Is his mom on the email group? We had a pretty slow week. A lot of our appointments canceled, and two of our investigators are out of town. The 4th of July doesn't help much in missionary work, I guess. Anyways, here's the update for investigators and LAs:
Steven: We had a great lesson with him last week and committed him to baptism on the 31st of July. We've been maintaining daily contact with him by phone on the days that we don't teach him, which is definitely helpful in getting him to remember to read and pray daily. He's working on quitting smoking. We taught him about fasting and then he, Elder O'Donley, and I fasted with him that he would have added strenght to quit smoking. Prayers would be appreciated, as he's struggling with it. I think he can do it, though - his daily reading and prayer, as well as fasting are a whole lot of faith being exercised. He didn't come to church on Sunday - he slept in, I guess.
Bro. and Sis. Elliot: We taught them about fasting, too, and they fasted that Sis. Elliot would be able to get work off and come regularly on Sundays. They are reading and praying together daily and doing great. Bro. Elliot should be at church Sunday, but Sis. Elliot is working, as usual. Bro. Elliot slept in on Sunday also. I'm pretty sure that everybody slept in because one day this week we left our phone in the kitchen when we went to bed and didn't hear the alarm, so we didn't get up until 6:40 and didn't fully keep the morning schedule. We've repented.
Bro. and Sis. Hanny: Are basically active now. We're ready to not actively be teaching them anymore and just let their hometeachers (Bro. Talbot, who we brought with us to several appointments to help him establish a good relationship with them, and his son) take over. They are working towards the temple. They were at church on Sunday (just like the last 6 weeks)
Bro. and Sis. Nelson: Haven't been active for a while, but we've been working with them and they came to church on Sunday. That was really exciting. They have strong testimonies and are really great people. They are feeding us this week!
That's about it...Todd and Sis. Dautartas and Ethan are all out of town, so they're temporarily on hold. Hopefully we can start teaching them again this week.
We've been having great lessons with a lot of members of the ward about member-missionary work. We have committed several families to do the activity on p. 172 of PMG, which asks them to pray about who they can prepare to hear the gospel and set goals of what they can do to help prepare them. We've been following up to make sure they did the activity and set goals, and now we're making appointments with them to discuss their people and goals and roleplay with them to help prepare them to effectively invite others to hear the gospel. We've been struggling with trying to motivate members and get them excited about missionary work, so hopefully this will help. Today in district meeting we roleplayed roleplaying with members.
On a related note, one member was coming teaching with us and on the ride to our appointment we roleplayed with him how he could talk his wife into letting him buy a four-wheeler. I thought that was funny.
On Saturday we're going to "This Is Kirtland - a musical theatre production depicting the life and times of mormon settlers in Kirtland". Sis. Hanny is going to bring her nonmember father, which is our ticket in. We're trying to get Steven, the Elliots, and another family we're working with, the Barths, to come to it also. It's a really big deal to the people out here - like as big as the pageants (or at least they think so).
Sorry about not labeling the pictures. Here's a couple explanations
sanyo105.jpg is bro. and sis. hanny
sanyo108.jpg is elder baxter
sanyo111.jpg is me and elder o'donley at transfer meeting his first day
sanyo102.jpg and 103.jpg are taped to the door of a sister in our ward who is one of the armories i might have to head to on d-day
lymnb, Elder Matthew Smith
Email from 6/28/10
Hello all,
Sounds like youth conference was good. What kind of service did they do at the hospital? I love hearing people talk about agency (especially myself). That's definitely among my favorite principles to learn about and/or teach about. It's just so inspiring (and more than a little bit intimidating) that our agency and ability to choose what we will be and become is so absolutely up to us.
Good job driving Delaney! How many books can your nook hold at once?
How did you do golfing, Cody? Ready for the PGA yet? Who did you 'really accidentally' hit with a rock?
Good luck with los cavallos diablos. Now that you mention it, I don't seem to recall the airplanes ever punching, kicking, or bucking people off...I don't get why you don't like flying, mom.
So tell me about Crystal's husband Kyle. Where is he from, what is he like, what does he do, etc. Is he a member of the church? We've been invited to a couple barbecues on the 4th, so we'll probably get stuffed at a couple of them. Other than that I don't know what we'll be doing. We probably won't get to email on Monday so it will probably be on Tuesday.
Was Sister Elliott able to come to church today?
Yes, she and Bro. Elliot both came. I was disappointed that they had to leave for a doctor's appointment after sacrament meeting, since we wanted them to come to priesthood and RS. I think Sis. Elliot will have a great experience at RS once she comes, so hopefully next time that will work out.
How is Steven doing?
Well. We took Bro. Hall teaching with us yesterday and talked about Bro. Hall's experience quitting smoking and the blessings he received from living the word of wisdom. It went well. He had to work in the morning, though, so wasn't able to come to church. Hopefully this week he will be able to come.
Have you had more contact with the newlyweds?
Not much, unfortunately. We came to our return appointment and tried to talk to the old Chinaman that answered the door but he didn't speak English and just waved his hands at us.
How about the guy with all the questions?
He's still in Colorado - no updates
Any new people?
nope, no luck this week. Not for lack of trying, though.
Is the greeny dinner that you sent pictures of a mission-wide phenomenon?
Yeah, I think a lot of people do them. It probably just depends on which ward you are trained in.
Did you have one?
No, I don't think so. I can't remember much from my first couple days, but I'm pretty sure I didn't.
Sweet! 2nd Nephi is the best!!! Jacob's sermon in 9 and 10 is timeless!!! And Nephi's exposition of the Doctrine of Christ in 31-33 is just about unmatched! Only the Savior's own words in 3 Nephi 27 can compare!
Oh yeah, and Isaiah is good too, I guess.
Loveymnb, Elder Matthew Smith
Sounds like youth conference was good. What kind of service did they do at the hospital? I love hearing people talk about agency (especially myself). That's definitely among my favorite principles to learn about and/or teach about. It's just so inspiring (and more than a little bit intimidating) that our agency and ability to choose what we will be and become is so absolutely up to us.
Good job driving Delaney! How many books can your nook hold at once?
How did you do golfing, Cody? Ready for the PGA yet? Who did you 'really accidentally' hit with a rock?
Good luck with los cavallos diablos. Now that you mention it, I don't seem to recall the airplanes ever punching, kicking, or bucking people off...I don't get why you don't like flying, mom.
So tell me about Crystal's husband Kyle. Where is he from, what is he like, what does he do, etc. Is he a member of the church? We've been invited to a couple barbecues on the 4th, so we'll probably get stuffed at a couple of them. Other than that I don't know what we'll be doing. We probably won't get to email on Monday so it will probably be on Tuesday.
Was Sister Elliott able to come to church today?
Yes, she and Bro. Elliot both came. I was disappointed that they had to leave for a doctor's appointment after sacrament meeting, since we wanted them to come to priesthood and RS. I think Sis. Elliot will have a great experience at RS once she comes, so hopefully next time that will work out.
How is Steven doing?
Well. We took Bro. Hall teaching with us yesterday and talked about Bro. Hall's experience quitting smoking and the blessings he received from living the word of wisdom. It went well. He had to work in the morning, though, so wasn't able to come to church. Hopefully this week he will be able to come.
Have you had more contact with the newlyweds?
Not much, unfortunately. We came to our return appointment and tried to talk to the old Chinaman that answered the door but he didn't speak English and just waved his hands at us.
How about the guy with all the questions?
He's still in Colorado - no updates
Any new people?
nope, no luck this week. Not for lack of trying, though.
Is the greeny dinner that you sent pictures of a mission-wide phenomenon?
Yeah, I think a lot of people do them. It probably just depends on which ward you are trained in.
Did you have one?
No, I don't think so. I can't remember much from my first couple days, but I'm pretty sure I didn't.
Sweet! 2nd Nephi is the best!!! Jacob's sermon in 9 and 10 is timeless!!! And Nephi's exposition of the Doctrine of Christ in 31-33 is just about unmatched! Only the Savior's own words in 3 Nephi 27 can compare!
Oh yeah, and Isaiah is good too, I guess.
Loveymnb, Elder Matthew Smith
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