Elder Smith
Santa Clause came!!! |
Santa Clause came!!! |
Elder Smith and Elder Larsen |
Elder Larsen and his Christmas tree |
The Elders had a visitor! |
Elder Smith and his Zone at the Temple. |
Elder Smith putting the Star on The Christmas tree. |
Tyson showing us that it is starting to feel just a little like Christmas! |
Elder Smith and his new Companion Elder Larsen from Utah |
This week was good we met some great people and I was so excited for
them to go to Church. But when sunday came We were at church and
nothing... nobody came and I was kinda sad and I kept thinking about
how maybe I could have helped them to be there and about all my
weaknesses and I was kinda bummed. and I was taking the sacrament I
thought about what the sacrament meant to me and I decided I´d write a
hymn, so I took out my daily planner and I wrote this . I havent given
it a title and Im gonna have to give it music but I Wanted to share it
with you guys.
What a horrid man I am
Who sins repents and sins again
Perfect like Christ I could never be
My fathers kingdom never to see
Jesus Christ Paid the price for sin
So I can change who Ive been
If with him my sins I lay
I can become perfect one day
As I partake from this tray
I see not bread but a chance to change
and this water given In love
Is my chance to live above
This is my chance to change I know
So forward with faith and hope Ill go
And try my best to be more like thee
Until I find myself here again next week
I Wrote this and I tought it expressed my feelings well on the
atonement. I had and still have a difficulty in understand how the
atonement works. But one thing I do know is that I am not perfect and
that the atonement is my chance to become a better person and not face
the consequences of my past actions. I hope that I can become a better
person than I am now and I know that this is possible only through the
atonement. Thats why its so Important that we do whats right cuz the
atonement will not erase our desires and thoughts just erase our past
errors if we let him. Im thankful to be a part of the true church I
know its true and That it brings us happiness when we live it
correctly :) Love you all
Elder J. Smith
This was a good week. Week by week im getting better haha Ill probly only be a really good missionary when Im about to go home haha not because Ill be close to going home but because ive been here a while now and im still learning a ton... Ive decided that my biggest weakness is that i hesitate to act. when I see someone i think Ill talk to him and then I question myself and then before I know it.... its too late. but one day I was real happy with myself cuz I decided that instead of thinking ´´im gonna be annoying`` i decided to think ´´im just going to act`` and It was real good its funny to think that im more than 3 4ths of the way through my mission but im only starting to get used to and be comfortable talking to people right now... haha I was at the house of a member eating lunch and I didnt feel that strange feeling that I had always had eating lunch at anothers house. Im really starting to get a hang of this missionary thing. And Im so happy that i came to the mission. I have become a man that Ive always wanted to be for sure im not done growing yet Ive still got a long way to go but i feel a lot more confident in who I am and what I want. And being free from worldly cares Ive lost that want for money and big things and lots of cars.... ok maybe I still want lots of cars haha but I know whats more important. Its a great joy to be living in a way that you feel clean and free from outside influences. heres a picture of our zone haha Sister Dana still here also haha did you know shes related to us she has the Jesse N Smith book too haha but ya Im happy And Im gonna try and just enjoy these last months because its becoming real obvious that its not gonna last forever. Love you all and have a good weekP.S. I still dont miss the snow and cold hahaha Im actuallly enjoying the hotness haha Love you all, Elder J. Smith
Hey everybody! This week was good we talked with lots of people and had some good experiences saturday we were knocking doors before lunch cuz our appointment fell through and I saw a lady pulling weeds in front of her house and I felt I should talk to her but I also dont like to talk to people who are working haha but we talked to her and we marked an appointment to talk to her family on sunday night and Sunday we taught them and They are very good people :) And afterwards Elder M. Ribeiro said That on saturday he felt like we should talk with that lady. so I was happy to see how the lord is guiding us to the people he is preparing :) so ya Im really happy with the progress we made this week, but it wont stop this week were getting into a good groove and working hard so Im really happy we also have started working more with the Members and weve got an activity for halloween its gonna be called Tricks or Treats haha I think it will be fun haha I just hope it works out well :). Other than this not much new we did get a new ZL hes not as cool as the other that left the one that left Was a great guy and he likes cars too :) the new one Is kinda annoying and Guess what!! were gonna have splits with him this week and guess who stays in the area with the new ZL? Thats me... haha I wasnt too happy bout that looks like he wants to try and mark the baptisms of a boy whos parents wont let him be baptized and a couple of girls that we stopped teaching cuz they dont go to church and when we teach one of them just plays with her phone. so ya Patience!!! I know I should get upset about something little like this I just hope it turns out to be good. Last Pday after lunch we went and flew kites haha it was fun here when you let out all the string you give your kite a name and I named mine blue cuz its red haha I think were gonna go fly our kites again today well I think thats a good enough letter thanks for everthing for the package and the support and the prays have a great week!!Elder J. Smith
Hey everyone This week has passed way too fast but hey thats what happens when you like your companion This week Is conference and Im Just PSYCHED haha I love conference I was studying about conversion this week or the week before it and I remebered of a conference talk I think from october that Elder Bednar gave and I was able to go back and listenb to his talk cuz I had dwnloaded it so I was happy to have downloaded it and the Talk about the Tomato plants Ive practically got memorized haha I really enjoyed that talk It lines right up with what we learn in the Temple and It helps open my eyes nd my mind to the concept of Eternity wich I still think is impossible to comprehend haha got my shoes resoled this week I spent R$30 ($15) and got some new shoes haha heres picture of my approval . haha Its been about 2 and a half transfers since I last baptized someone And Im not to happy about that especially cuz Elder Quinteros filled me with high expectations saying they had baptized 15 people in a short period of time but thats ok One of these 15 is Luis and Luis like various other of these 15 became inactive I only saw him in the church 1 time when I got here when Elder M. Ribeiro got here I decided That I wanted to work with Luis being a man with about 28 years old (already something thats needed in the church) and an aaronic priesthood holder. And I was happy to see him back at church last week and this sunday we didnt have anyone who went to church and I was kinda bummed cuz I didnt see Luis but about 10 minutes after starting Luis showed up :) I was so happy I sure Hope I can help him and get him a friend :) Thats awesome to hear about Joann I bet Bryan and Jake were happy to see that baptism :) Its gonna be a great blessing in her family :) I think this next week Ill be knocking lots of doors and talking to lots of people cuz the people were teaching are pretty soft haha as in not firm in their decisions. haha so I need to meet lots of new people!!!! other than this Im doing good :) Im happy to be here Im starting to relax a bit and enjoy my time here haha so ya transfer is getting here quickly and for once Im not wishing for a change haha well have a good week everyone I love you all Tchau!Elder J. Smith
Elder Tyson and his re-soled shoes. |
Elder Tyson and his Group outside the Recife Temple. |
Tyson and His "Son", and his "Grandson" |
Elder Smith and Sister Dana |
Elder Smith with one of his "Sons" and a "Grandson". |
Ty ironing his shirt with a pot. |
Elder Smith and Elder Reed from Oregon (Was on a Split that Day) |
Hey everybody Im here with some more time so I hope I can make up for what I didnt write last week and send some pics too. This week was good Im loving the area and my comp. Like you said Its alot of dirt roads and hills But its good. Im just wishing I had my Shoe shine kit haha But Its coming maybe It'll get here this week. haha Heres a pic of me and my comp and also of Recife from a steep hill. haha This week flew by seems like yesterday I was writing my letter and running out of time haha Not much new has happend just a lot of teaching haha and I got Kissed by a drunk guy. haha but luckily it was on the cheek haha I got a story for you guys that gave me a kick (probably cuz it involves a car) haha so The story is about Knowledge and Wisdom) Knowledge was riding in his new honda civic after his graduation from law school and was passing through a rural city when his tire blew he quickly stopped the car and removed the flat tire and called for a repairman when the repairman came Knowledge put the lugnuts in his pocket so that he wouldnt lose them when they got to the repairshop Knowledge took the lugnuts out of his pocket because they were bothering him and set them on the table when the repairman left knowledge at his car and left Knowledge remembered the lugnuts and became desperate when he remembered that he had left the lugnuts in the repair shop that was now closed and started to cry.. wisdom(an elderly cowboy) asked the lad why he was crying and Knowledge explained about his horrible night and his problem Wisdom started to laugh and that made knowledge angry. but knowledge was soon on his way after wisdom took one lugnut of each tire and put them in place of the missing lugs haha well Times Up Love you guys and Tell Kobe to Be Careful and to stop at stop signs... ThcauElder J. Smith
Elder Smith and Elder Quinteros in their apartment. Gotta love those big BLUE eyes!!! |
This is Recife from atop a hill in Ty's new area. Still pretty close to the big city! |
Ty packing up with a favorite picture of his! :^) |
Elder Smith and Elder Rios trying out their "Moleskin Mustaches". Ha Ha |
Hey everybody this week was a decent week we met some new people to teach and so thats a little less time knocking doors haha were stillhaving problems with getting people to church but well get through it.Today were goin to the temple and that makes me real happy I really love the temple and its been like 4 or 5 months since ive gone haha Im happy here and our mission is turning into the mission that I always wanted it to be. :) I had a not so profound profound thought the other day while i was laid out in my hammock going to sleep. I was thinking about how another day had past like a blink of an eye and thought about Life how its separated by many days and I startd to think about the purpose of Life and How we could be happy. My conclusion was this. we will all be immortal we have always existed and we will always exist so we will always have three things A yesterday, A today, and A tomorrow. so the Key to an Eternity of happiness is to live in a way so that you always have A yesterday full of good memories, a today that you live to enjoy, and a tomorrow that is full of Hopes. I also decided that the time we have on this Earth is the perfect way to Learn and to measure growth. every day is a new situation always changing we never have two days exctly the same and we can according to days, weeks, months and years measure our growth This thought goes a little deeper but im out of time! I spent it all talking to you guys haha :) Love you All and have a good week :)
HEY EVERYBODY!!!! What a week!!!! Im still runnning in a rut but Im more excited! This week we made history in the mission. Every since I got here we have been fighting to have 200 baptisms in the month and this week we did It! Our mission has become alot better than it was when I got here and we are growing in strength. Im sad to say that I didnt help much in this number but im still proud haha ill have to send some pics of my shoes haha the pair that dad chose is getting thin but the ones that i chose are falling apart by Chunks haha but they did make it a long way. you may have noticed my account is lacking about 50 bucks its cuz i bought new shoes i tried to get shoes that remind me of my boots haha I didnt have dad here to help me out so I hope I chose wisely haha This week we knocked alot of doors with little results and still nobody went to church but Ill get through this. one day we knocked on a door and two children came to greet us and we asked if there parents were home and they said that they werent so we marked a day to come back and when we were going to the house I was expecting the Parents to reject our message and when we got there It was just after the soccer game between Brazil and Uraguay and There was a drunk that answered the door and he told us that he knew the church and invited us in haha he was pretty drunk as he explained that he didnt drink very much, but that he was drinking because he was watchin the game haha... He told us about his family problems and I left a message with him about how god blesses the People who Obey his commandments and he told us that he doesnt drink much again and help up his cup and said this isnt whiskey its... its... vodka with..... LEMON!!!!!! and Said Ill go get the Lemon and came back with a sprite open and half gone and poured us some cups haha so my companion is worried like me and smells the cup I smell the cup but I dont smell anything differently. but I dont want to drink it and I watched my companion and he too did not drink the drink so we talked a bit more and I told the man that we need to Leave but that I wanted to Hug him and My companion looked at me like Im crazy haha and so I gave him a hug and threw the drink that he gave me through the window that was open haha my companion caught on and said I want one too and told me too hold his cup and while they hugged I threw The other drink threw the window haha It was pretty funny haha. Just another experience that I gained here on the mission haha. This week Im hoping Ill relax somemore and just do my best Its kinda hard to relax when Im trying to do everything that the Zone Leaders want but Ill get there one day. Thanks for alll you guys do and have a safe week up on the mountain and next year Ill be there too :)
Tysons District in Casa Forte |
!/2 of Tyson's Mission. Can you Find Him? |
Meet Elder Rios, Tyson's New Companion. They are showing off their Suit Coats that they hardly ever wear. |