Week 61

Hello everyone!! This week has been pretty long. On Tuesday we had zone conference, and the night before the AP's asked me to play the piano and asked us to put together a musical number for that next day. So that was a bit stressful since I had never taken a look at the music for some of the songs that our mission sings together.

As for the rest of the week, we didn't have a whole lot of progress with our investigators, because we don't have much of a teaching pool anymore. However, we've been putting together a bunch of 8-9's (practice lessons with members), so we've still gotten to teach a little bit this week. We've been doing a lot of tracting though, and this Saturday Elder Jensen and I gave out 8 or 9 copies of the Book of Mormon. It was probably the most I've given out in a few weeks. It was pretty cool. But that's mostly all for this week. Love you all!!
-Elder Smith

Just some things we found while knocking this week

My pepper plant is still somehow growing in winter!!

Zone Conference

Week 60 - Transfers!!

This week has been kind of crazy. We had transfers on Wednesday, and then the rest of the week felt like it was almost a month long. It was a crazy mix of emotions for me mostly because I was trying to figure out how to work with a new companion, I was the only one who knew everything about the area (which was the first time that's happened to me), and we were losing a lot of people in our teaching pool. So I was a bit stressed out and I didn't really know many other people to go by, so we've been doing a lot of knocking.

One thing I really like about my new companion, Elder Canon Jensen, is how diligent and obedient he is. Despite losing work in some areas, we've seen a little bit more progress in other areas. He's really helped to push things forward instead of just letting them happen. So that's been pretty good. He's from Orem, Utah too.

This week, Mike messaged us and told us he didn't want us to come by anymore since he's felt pressured, but he wanted us to message him on Saturday to remind him about church since he still wants to come. We haven't had much opportunity to talk to Alena this week, and Donna told us on Friday that she had developed her own opinion of the Book of Mormon as she just flipped through it so she didn't want to meet with us. So overall it was kind of disappointing and discouraging for me. However, we've started getting more 8-9's (that's where we just have practice lessons in members homes for 20 minutes). That's mostly all for this week. Love you all!!

-Elder Smith

Week 59

This week was pretty good. We met with Alena at the beginning of the week and reviewed the baptismal questions so she could see what she needed to do to be ready. That was super helpful since we weren't sure what to do to help her progress towards baptism. She's going to be working towards building her testimony and trying out the word of wisdom. So hopefully things will get moving with her again soon.

Also this week we went by Mike's mom to see if she's gotten in contact with Mike at all and if we would be able to visit him somehow. To our surprise, Mike answered the door saying he got kicked out of treatment for passing notes to girls haha. So we'll be meeting with him again soon.

This Saturday we got our transfer calls. Elder Borsky is going to be leaving and going to Bremerton, and I'll be staying and getting Elder Jensen. I'm super excited to be working with him this next transfer.

I think those are the main things for this week. Love you all!!
-Elder Smith

MLC

 The Wolfley's invited us all over to their beautiful home for dinner.  They live right across the street from the church. Alena is the sister pictured here in front. Sister Cindy Robinson took this picture and sent it to mom.

Week 58

Hey everyone!! This week has been pretty great. We've been working through a few different lists of members that our Bishop gave us. We've found a few families that we'll be working with in the future. But for the most part it's been a grind to work through those lists and to try and find people and where they live.

On Thursday we had a blast with Halloween. It was also Elder Scott's birthday so he bought us pizza and that night we watched The Other Side of Heaven 2 with the zone. It was an awesome day. Then on Friday night our ward had a Halloween party, but it was a little disappointing since not a lot of people showed up and it was mostly the Trunk or Treat. Also none of the people we had been inviting throughout the week came. But we still had a good time.

Sorry it was a shorter email this week. There wasn't much to talk about, but we've been having a good time serving the Lord and sharing the gospel. Love you all!!

-Elder Smith

Week 57

Hey everyone, this week has been super great!! Starting with Wednesday we were able to talk with Alena some and we brought fellowship with us, and so far it seems like they get along well. Later during the week we were able to talk to her again and show her some of the Book of Mormon videos. It's been cool to see her progressing, and she's shown more interest in being baptized.

Thursday was Elder Borsky's birthday, and his parents ordered us three pizzas and a cake from Safeway. It was a pretty good day. Then on Saturday we met with an older lady named Donna. She rescues parrots and has four right now. She told us that she's been looking for a church, and that she's prayed to God for help. She thought it was so amazing that we just happened to come by and knock on her door. She was telling us that this just might be the one. She agreed with everything we had to say, and she wants to learn. It's super awesome.

On Saturday we had a cool experience. It was 6:59 and we were about to finish up knocking, and so we knocked on the last door (it's super dark at this point and most people were telling us to go home and go to bed). This old woman answers the door and almost shut the door on us, but on second thought she let us in. She told us that she was taught by the sister missionaries about a year ago, and we were able to resolve some of her concerns right then, and we're going to be going back to talk to her some more and answer more questions. Anyways, that's all for this week. Love you all!!

-Elder Smith

Week 56

This week has been pretty great. We had zone conference this last Tuesday, and that was pretty good (even though I started falling asleep during it). President Leishman challenged all of us to start reading the Book of Mormon from the beginning and try to finish before the end of the year. So I've started to do that and it's been pretty good so far. It's helped me to focus my studies a little better so they're a little more effective.

On Wednesday we were able to put Alena back on date. We're not really sure how to help her progress since her baptismal date is more of a goal with her, and she's not sure if she actually wants to be baptized. She likes the support of the ward, and she's been coming to church for a few months now, so we're not exactly sure what her hold up is.

Thursday was pretty rough because literally everything we had fell through. On Friday we had an 8-9 with a member which was super nice, because it's getting dark around 6 to 6:30 so after 5-7's not a whole lot of people want to talk with us since their bedtime is at 7:30. It's a little ridiculous because we stay out until 9. On Saturday we also had an 8-9 and dinner with members. It was pretty awesome since we haven't had member dinners for over a month now. It seems like the stake leadership meeting last week had a positive impact on our ward mission leader since he's been stepping up his game recently.

Well that's mostly it for this week. Love you!
-Elder Smith

We carved pumpkins last Monday as a zone activity so here's my pumpkin and the rest of the zone.

We carved pumpkins last Monday as a zone activity so here's my pumpkin and the rest of the zone.

Week 55

This week has been pretty good, and fortunately we've been pretty busy. On Tuesday we had lunch with Kimberly. She's been taught for a while now, and she is kind of all over the place. So out of nowhere she said "let's get this baptism thing over with." And so when we were with her on Tuesday we went over the baptismal interview questions. We also set a day for her baptism. However, later in the week her husband got on her phone and started texting us and was super upset. We decided to go by to talk to Kimberly and her husband, and it seemed like everything was going to be fine. Then this weekend she texts us again saying that her husband didn't want us to come by anymore and that she was done with "this baptism thing." So that was pretty crazy.

On Wednesday we met a guy named Caden in his early twenties. We were able to teach him most of the restoration. It was pretty cool to talk with him since he doesn't really know if there is a God out there or if it was just a vain hope that people give themselves. We gave him the commitment to read the Book of Mormon and follow Moroni's promise to pray and have your own witness about the truth of it. We were able to meet with him again this Sunday and we read some with him, and we're going to try to give him a church tour this next week.

On Friday we had MLC, so we had to go all the way down to Tacoma and have some trainings and then come all the way back up. It was a pretty long day, but it was good.

Saturday night we had the adult session of stake conference and a stake leadership meeting where President Leishman came and talked about how we're trying to get the ward and the missionaries to work together. The leadership meeting was really good, and I'm hoping that all those that were there will jump into action to try to help move along the work in the stake. On Sunday we had the rest of stake conference, and we were able to teach some investigators that were just visiting the area. It was pretty cool to talk with them and hear about their conversion story. They're getting baptized this weekend and they'll be sealed in the temple after that too.

That's mostly it for this week though. I hope you all have a great week!!
-Elder Smith

The ice cream social with our zone after stake conference.

Elder Borsky and I on our way back up to Port Angeles after MLC.

Week 54

This week has been pretty good. I finally got over my cold so I've been doing better. On Wednesday we had transfers, so we had to take the Forks elders down to Tacoma and also to get some medication for Elder Borsky. Leading up to General Conference we invited a bunch of our investigators to watch. As far as we know, both Mike and Alena watched the last session of General Conference but we're not sure if anyone else did.

In preparation for conference, I prayed about some of the questions I had. As I was watching, I was having a super hard paying attention and staying awake. There were some talks that I felt like I needed to go back and study and ponder, but overall I didn't seem to get much out of it. Then later in the day Sunday night I got an answer to one of my questions. I had asked God what the one thing that I needed to do to help me in the work right now. The one thing that stuck out to me at conference was when Dale G. Renlund was talking about commitment, and he said, "Commit to a lifelong process of discipleship." As I thought about that I had some thoughts come to mind about how I need to recommit myself to the work and give it all my heart, might, mind, and strength. I realized that I got comfortable where I was at to the point where I've found myself basically just going through the motions. It was cool to see how God answered my prayer in this way, and it's strengthened my testimony.

Anyways, that's all for this week!! Love you!
-Elder Smith

Week 53

This week was pretty good. Not a whole lot happened. We got transfer calls, and we'll both be staying. We weren't able to teach a lot of people this week, but we had a good time. It's already gotten cold here, and there's snow in the mountains now. I've gotten a little sick with a cold starting Sunday morning, so I'm having trouble thinking of things to talk about. Sorry it's a short email this week. Love you all!!

-Elder Smith

Going up one of the roads in our area to see the cool view and the snow.

Our zone

This lady was super excited to share her parrot, Charlotte, with us. It was a funny bird.

Week 52 - Baptism!!

This week was super great! We had interviews with someone in our mission presidency since President Leishman has been recovering from hip surgery. Also Jennifer got interviewed for baptism, and it went super great!! She hasn't smoked for over a week now which was amazing!! She's still living in the same Oxford home and didn't get kicked out. She was baptized this last Saturday, and everything went perfectly. A couple  people who were part of the program didn't show up, but others who were there stepped right in and filled the position. It was such a tender mercy. On Sunday I was able to confirm her, and it was so amazing to have words just suddenly pop into my mind and go out of my mouth as soon as they came. It was a pretty great weekend.

The rest of the week was pretty rainy, and we weren't able to work with most of our investigators so we did a lot of knocking. We found some frogs, there's always tons of deer, and we even found a small bat. Hope you all have a great week!! Love you!
-Elder Smith

 The little bat that we found in the middle of the road,
so we moved it so it wouldn't get run over.

 Elder Borsky, Jennifer, and me at the baptism

Week 51

This week was pretty good. We've been getting a lot of rain lately and we've been working pretty hard to keep some of our investigators on date.

Jennifer has been having some trouble lately with the Oxford/halfway house that she's been living in. They've been threatening to kick her out and it seemed like they actually did this week, but then someone higher up came and made it so she could stay there. So she was pretty stressed out and had a single cup of coffee, but she didn't smoke at all!! So we will be having the baptism this weekend.

Alena is also on date for this Saturday, but we're not sure if she's super committed to it yet, but she's been coming to church every week and seems to like everything. She's been taught almost everything now, we just don't know if she believes or has the faith yet.

This past Thursday we had a church tour with Mike. He's an interesting guy, but he's super interested. We knocked into him a few weeks back, and we've only had one sit down lesson with him so far, but he was open to a tour of the church so we brought fellowship for him and he wants to be baptized. He loved everything about the church tour, and he's looking forward to the support system that the church has. He came to church this Sunday and loved it!! There were a lot of members that came and talked with him, and he kept saying how comfortable he's been feeling with everything. Everything seems to be going smoothly for him, so we're pretty excited for him.

We also had a good lesson with Rhiannon. She's been super busy so this was the first time that she was able to meet with us since last transfer. We were able to teach one of the lessons with her, and she also wants to be baptized. She also said she wanted to quit smoking before she gets baptized, and that was even before we told her about the Word of Wisdom!!

All in all, I feel super blessed to be up here in Port Angeles working with all these people. Love you all! Have a great week!
-Elder Smith

Elder Pratt (one of the missionaries down in Forks)
and I while knocking on Monday.

Week 50 - Temple trip

This week was pretty great. On Wednesday we had our temple trip which was super great, and we had an hour of zone conference after where I had to give my first training as a Zone Leader. It was not the best since it was sort of a weird topic, but it went alright since I didn't have to do it alone. The topic of our zone conference was about how we could improve our knocking and door approaches. I can't remember a whole lot about this week, but we've been going by Jennifer pretty regularly to help her stop smoking. We had to move her baptism to this next Saturday since she's been struggling with smoking, but she's super determined to quit which is really good. We were also able to get Alena put on date for the 21st and she's praying about if she should be baptized then, so we're super excited about that. Other than that I can't remember anything else happening this week. Love you all!!
-Elder Jared Smith

Elder Borsky playing with magnets

Us at the temple

Knocking

Week 49- Half way there

So a year from tomorrow I'll be home. It's so weird to think about. Next week will be my halfway point, and the week after is my year mark. It's all coming way too fast. But this week has been really good.

We've had a few good lessons this week. Jennifer is still on date for this Saturday, but we're worried she won't make it because of Word of Wisdom issues. She keeps saying that she's going to stop smoking, but she hasn't yet. We've talked with Alena a bit more and talked to her a bit more about baptism and the importance of it, so she said she'll have it as a higher priority for things to pray about.

This last week we had combined district council and mission leader conference (MLC) both of which were pretty good. In district council all I had to do was help the zone pick a goal for the month of September of how many baptisms we want to try to get, and at MLC we had a good training about how to have better doorsteps which was pretty good. So this next week at our temple trip/zone conference Elder Borsky and I have to give a training on a part of it, so I hope that goes well. Surprisingly, I haven't been too stressed about it. We don't have too much time because of the temple trip, and both Elder Borsky and I will be doing it, so it'll be pretty easy.

There's deer everywhere up here.
They let you walk almost all the way up to them.