Week 35: Memorial Day

(These are excerpts from our family chat on Monday)

I won't be sending a regular email because of an activity we have today for Memorial Day. We're having a bbq with the central conference of the mission. The mission is split up into three parts, so we're going to be doing games and stuff with a third of the mission.

So we got transfer calls on Saturday,  and I'm leaving BLT. I'm going to the Buena Vista ward in Tacoma. So it's going to be a way big area. I'll be covering about 4 stakes. My companions will be Elder Clay and Elder Bradley. E. Bradley was my trainer my very first transfer in the mission, and now I might send him home. I'll be Spanish speaking. It's going to be way fun. I can read and pronounce Spanish, but after 3 transfers in an English area,my conversational skills have gone down the dump. I'm super stoked. Also I'll have a better car too. Instead of a Toyota Corolla, I'll be in a Nissan Rogue. And instead of 1000 miles per month, I'll have 1500 miles.

Last night we baptized those two UBC's, Tanner and Hazel Campbell. There were over 90 people at the baptism that night. It was pretty incredible. I didn't even get to see the baptism happen because I was stuck behind a piano. Mostly the ward coming to support. Those two kids were very involved in the ward. But that was the first baptism in that area in about 2 years. It was a good note to leave on for me.

Also Lori, who we've been trying to work with, told us that she's moving to Port Angeles because her daughter's dog got stolen and killed, something happened with one if her kids, and she got assaulted by someone at the food bank.

Spending time Sunday evening with Anne Bennion's family

Memorial Day activity

Week 34 - Weekly titles are hard to make

This week has gone by very slow. Not much has changed, and most of the people we're teaching haven't progressed very much. This week we've done a lot of service for different people, but we haven't been able to teach many people. Lori wasn't able to come to church this week. She's been having it rough lately. She got her patches to quit smoking, but she got nicotine poisoning from it, because she never had too many cigarettes and the patches had too much for her. Also her son has threatened her that if she gets baptized then he will stop talking to her. So she's been getting pressured quite a bit as of late, and it's all stressing her out.

As for the Campbell kids, we taught them again last week, and our last lesson with them is tonight. They're still on date for this Sunday, so they'll soon be baptized and the week after that they'll be confirmed. We're all super excited for that. Also transfer calls are this Saturday, so we'll soon see who stays and who leaves the area.

Other than all the service we did and those few lessons, the only things that happened were exchanges with the district leader, and we've done a lot of member lessons to help us improve our teaching skills. We also had interviews with the mission president on Tuesday morning. But that's all for this week. Love you!
-Elder Smith

The beautiful view of Tacoma and the Olympic mountains in the distance.

A late birthday cake from a senior couple.

Me being soaked from the rain.

Elder Larsen posing as we did service on one of the islands.

Interviews with the President

Week 33: Just Happily Working

This week has been really eventful it seems. We've had a lot of success, and our numbers looked good by the end of the week. Of course, numbers aren't the reason we do it, but that's what people see. Throughout this last week we've been working with Lori and we've had our ups and downs with her. On Tuesday afternoon, we did service for her in her yard again, and we were able to answer many more of her questions that she's had. She also committed to go get patches the next day to help with her smoking problem, and we set up a church tour with her for Wednesday.

On Wednesday, she canceled because she wouldn't be back home in time after running errands so we scheduled for the next day. When she did get home, she texted us that someone had broken into her house and ransacked her home. They also stole all her medicine including pain killers. So by the time Thursday rolled around, she had to cancel the church tour because she didn't sleep at all that night. She had been working with insurance and getting her home back in order. Friday morning we had service at the food bank where we talked with her some more, and she surprised us by asking if we could just go to the church right after service, so we were able to finally bring her to the church, show her around, and teach her a little bit. She told us that she was going to come to church this Sunday, and she always talks about baptism as it being a sure thing. She always says "when I get baptized."

The next day on Saturday we volunteered at the food bank again, because they needed help with doing a garage sale. So while we were there, we got to work with Lori some more and she said that if we didn't drink anymore soda, she would stop drinking coffee. So since then we've gotten rid of the soda that we did have back at the apartment, and she hasn't had coffee so far. That night, we dropped by her house and gave her some flowers and a happy mother's day card, and we were able to teach her even more. The next day she came to church early, met and sit with some of the members, and she told us she loved it. Since then she has been texting us about how she has been reading the Book of Mormon, and about how much she's needed these changes in her life. She's also getting her adult kids involved with some of the church programs and she has total faith in it.

This week has really been amazing, and I'm so glad to be able to see the hand of the Lord in this area and how it's changed for the better. But that's all I'll share for this week. Love you!
-Elder Smith

The progress of my pepper plant.

The view at a member's house (they live on Snagg Island)

P - Day playing volleyball at Bonney Lake

Week 32: Zone Conference

This week has been really great, but not a whole lot has happened other than zone conference so I'll just share some of the highlights.

We've been teaching a UBC named Tanner, and on Monday night his mom told us that his sister, Hazel, also wanted to join in on the lessons and be baptized. We were way excited, because we thought that she already was a member, but we came back later that week and taught both kids. They're super excited to be baptized, and they're already really active in the church. The only problem is that their dad has been cold to us. He's a member of another church, and whenever we come he doesn't say a word to us and just goes to another room. We're not sure what his deal is, but we're just glad to be teaching the kids.

On Thursday we had zone conference which was way good, and that night we taught someone named Albert. He's been pretty open with us coming over, and we asked him if we could teach his family too, and he said that he thinks it would be fine, he just has to talk to his girlfriend/wife (we're not sure).

As for Parker who we put on date the week before, he fell off date because he didn't come to church this week. That was a little disappointing. So the odds of him getting baptized this transfer are pretty slim since he needs to come to church 3 times and his dad's birthday is the last Sunday, so he said they're probably doing something for that.

Even though our success has gone down a bit this week, we're still enjoying ourselves as we do the work. And it's hard not to be when the sun's out up here. But anyways, that's all for this week. Love you!!
-Elder Smith

Pulling out the shades for the first time.

Week 31: Someone's On Date!!

Hey everyone!! This week has been fantastic! The beginning of it was a little bit of a struggle (mostly because we were on bike for the first half). However, yesterday Elder Salisbury and I put Parker on date for baptism on May 19th!!! He's a fifteen year old freshman that we've been working with for a couple of weeks now, and he's been steadily progressing through the lessons, and when we were teaching him yesterday, both me and Elder Salisbury got the prompting to invite him to be baptized. It was way awesome!!

Also for this week we've been doing a lot of service. We did some on Tuesday, Wednesday, double on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We were weeding, painting, working at the food bank, hauling rocks, so on and so forth. It was pretty great. And one of the people we did painting randomly brought up the church while we talked and said, "So what would I be called if I joined the church? Would I be called a convert?" It was so out of the blue, but he's really self motivated and he knows that he needs to go to a church at least for some grounding for his twin daughters (he's a single parent). We're way excited for him, and he loves talking with us.

Also, on Wednesday after doing service Elder Larsen had to take some prescribed medication for his terrible migraines that he sometimes gets. He calls them horse tranquilizers because once he takes it, he's out for 4-5 hours. So I stayed in with him while he slept and cleaned out the apartment and organized everything. It didn't stay that way for very long.....

But that's mostly everything for this week. Love you all!
-Elder Smith

Opening my birthday package with awesome socks from another sister and her husband and a nice suit and tie from my parents.

Cookies my sister sent for my birthday

One of the best sunsets we've had overlooking Puyallup, Tacoma, and the Sound

Shopping with one of my new ties that my other sister gave me