Week 82 - Transfer Calls

Hey everyone!

Looking back, this week seems to be the same as all the rest. They've all been blended together and I struggle to remember if events that have happened were during this last week or during some week prior. However, one thing I do remember and that is that we got our transfer calls this Saturday! Elder Kirkland will be staying and getting a new Zone Leader, Elder Parker is going him (RIP), and I'll be heading up north to Silverdale with Elder Johnson! I'll be covering both the Silverdale 1st and the Brownsville wards. I'm pretty excited to be going up there and getting a change of scenery. Also transfers are going to be working a little differently this time. Usually they have all the missionaries meet at a centralized stake center and then switch with your new companion. This time if your new area is on the way, they want us to be dropped off there instead, and the remaining missionaries come to the same building, but it's going to be at a much later time than usual. Also there's specific parking at the stake center, probably so we don't look like too big a crowd. But that's all for this week. I'll be sad to leave Lacey and all the people I got to meet here, but I'm excited for what's ahead! Love you all!

-Elder Smith

Week 81

Hello everyone!

We're still alive and well here in the Pacific Northwest. Last P-day seems like it was 2 weeks ago and yet the week passed swiftly. We were able to teach Pam again this week and helped her understand the Creation and the Fall of Adam and Eve. It's been awesome to see her progress and begin to pray more sincerely. Things are still moving quite slow with her, but it's slow and steady.

We're also teaching a guy named Adam who has quite a bit more religious experience than Pam and our conversations with him (over the phone of course) are really in depth and he understands a lot about the scriptures. So right now we've left him a commitment to read and pray and we'll continue to work through some of the lessons with him.

Also this Saturday we get transfer calls and I'm mostly likely going to be transferred to my last area...RIP. Anyways, one thing that I've been grateful for since being quarantined is the amount of time we now have to get some extra studies in there. That's probably one of my favorite things that I've learned on my mission is how to learn from and study the scriptures. Also each week we now are taking an institute class and this last week the topic was on the Atonement of Jesus Christ. One of the things that I loved that our teacher really emphasized is how Jesus loved us so much that he didn't just want to hear about our pains and sufferings from some second hand account, but He wanted to feel everything we feel so He can empathize with us (Alma 7:11-12). But that mostly sums up the week love you all!
-Elder Smith

Getting food dropped off by some Samoan investigators
(there were ribs, corn bread muffins, rice, baked beans, Sam's Cola)

Week ....something

Hey everyone!

Today's been pretty busy, so I don't have a whole lot of time to email. The days have all been sort of blending together, but we were able to have interviews with our mission president this week which were good. Also we're continuing to work with Pam and help her understand the scriptures. It's awesome because she really has a desire to learn and understand. We've also been getting masks to wear when we have to go out in public so here's a picture of the ones my mom made for us.

Week 79 - Day 19 of Quarantine (I think that rhymes haha)

Hello everyone!

This week has been fairly good. We had a virtual zone conference where we were told that we are going to start doing finding on Facebook. What we have right now is each zone in the mission has a Facebook page that we're going to be putting uplifting messages on daily so that we can get people coming to us with questions. The key part is just getting it out there so we're just trying to invite everybody possible to like the page so more people can see it.

Also our mission president sent out an email this week that shows which groups will be going home when. So instead of coming home the 3rd of September I'll be coming home July 23rd assuming things don't clear up and we still have more missionaries from the foreign countries coming back.
This week we were able to teach an older woman named Pam. We've been teaching her over the phone and it's been super awesome because she's so invested in learning, but the problem is that she doesn't understand the scriptures because of the old way in which it speaks. So right now we're just trying to help her understand the scriptures and gain a testimony of them.

You could also say we enjoyed conference. I mean it was pretty amazing. The speakers were so powerful and the presence of the Spirit was super strong. I got some good notes from it, and I'm anticipating the time that they release the written talks so I can go back and look at what I missed. I don't know if I can say that I have a favorite talk, but I definitely noticed an emphasis on how we Hear Him. Many of the speakers talked about ways we can more effectively Hear Him and how important it is to know how He speaks to us and to remember the times when He does speak.
I hope you're all staying healthy out there.

Love you!
-Elder Smith

Me eating the lunch that my dad ordered for my companions and I

Watching conference from our apartment on a TV a ward member gave us to use

Week 78 - week 2 of quarantine

Hello everyone!

This week was pretty... uneventful seeing that we stayed in our apartment the entire week. However, it's been cool to see all the miracles that have happened throughout the mission. Honestly it's been a little hard to adjust since we're having to learn to work in a different way than we're used to. But it's been good. We've actually found some people that we wouldn't have if we were still working as normal. Anyways, love you all, and I hope you have a great week!

-Elder Smith

~ this is mom: after asking Jared more about some of the things he alluded to in this short note, we learned that the missionaries have now had more time to go through their area books and call numbers they didn't have time to before. In doing so, they've found new people to teach. Jared's companionship began teaching a person named Pam over the phone.