Hey everyone,
We had a transfer announcement this week, but I'm still in the same area with my companion. At the end of this transfer, I will have spent 14 months in two areas, but I prefer it this way. I've seen some elders transferring all the time so they can never learn to love the area or the people they are teaching. We also have a lot of really great investigators in this area that I'm hoping to see get baptized this December.
I wrote a while ago about a guy named Marton who we found while my companion was in the hospital. We taught him and his family this week and it was an amazing lesson. The spirit was directing everything we were saying. I was teaching and I knew everything I should do and say to help them, and then I felt prompted to have my companion speak about Joseph Smith. I didn't say anything to my companion about what I felt, but he started speaking in exactly the way I felt the spirit wanted us to teach. We knew that the spirit had touched them and at the end of the lesson, Marton told us that he knew Joseph Smith was a true prophet.
We taught him a second time later in the week and he accepted a baptism date without any hesitation; along with his wife and sister. He has really strong faith in this church and he is so excited to learn more. He has a few things he has to take care of before he gets baptized, but I know with the Lord's help, he will be able to overcome his trials and weaknesses.
My companion and I are sure we have found the reason Elder McGowan got Dengay. If my companion wasn't in that hospital, I don't know if we ever would have found Marton. I’ve already seen the gospel begin to change his life. I know this church is true and I'm so grateful to be out here serving the Lord.
Love, Elder Smith
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Monday, November 8, 2010
Hello family,
This week has been a little harder as far as getting work done. No one was home but I think it was just because it was a big holiday; so hopefully, things will go back to normal next week. Most of our investigators are doing really well and the Lord keeps providing new people for us to teach after we have investigators get baptized. I was talking to one of the people I baptized last week, and he told me he had an interesting experience when I baptized him. He said that as I was saying the prayer to baptize him, he heard a voice confirming that I was doing the Lord's will by the Lord's power. I didn't hear anything or feel anything different, but I know that the Lord does testify to our investigators of the things that we teach. I know that if He wasn't doing that, we would have absolutely no success in this work.
We got to go to the Mall of Asia today to go bowling as a zone which was a lot of fun. There is so much stuff up for Christmas already; I can’t believe that it’s almost that time of year again. The time is really flying by; I almost feel like I can’t keep up with it. There is so much to do but only a little time left. I feel like my companion and I just got assigned together like a week ago, but this could actually be our last week together if I get transferred. But I’m hoping we can work together one more transfer. That’s about it for my week. Thank you for the letters and the prayers.
Love, Elder Smith
This week has been a little harder as far as getting work done. No one was home but I think it was just because it was a big holiday; so hopefully, things will go back to normal next week. Most of our investigators are doing really well and the Lord keeps providing new people for us to teach after we have investigators get baptized. I was talking to one of the people I baptized last week, and he told me he had an interesting experience when I baptized him. He said that as I was saying the prayer to baptize him, he heard a voice confirming that I was doing the Lord's will by the Lord's power. I didn't hear anything or feel anything different, but I know that the Lord does testify to our investigators of the things that we teach. I know that if He wasn't doing that, we would have absolutely no success in this work.
We got to go to the Mall of Asia today to go bowling as a zone which was a lot of fun. There is so much stuff up for Christmas already; I can’t believe that it’s almost that time of year again. The time is really flying by; I almost feel like I can’t keep up with it. There is so much to do but only a little time left. I feel like my companion and I just got assigned together like a week ago, but this could actually be our last week together if I get transferred. But I’m hoping we can work together one more transfer. That’s about it for my week. Thank you for the letters and the prayers.
Love, Elder Smith
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Hey everyone,
This has been a crazy week for us! First thing, we have been working on getting two of our investigators married so they can get baptized but that’s actually a pain to do. They have laws here that you can't get divorced, so we had to apply for papers to make sure that they didn't have a previous marriage even though we were sure they didn't, but that’s just what you have to do. They told us it would take 2-3 weeks to get the paper work back, but if it was later than two weeks, we would have to move their baptism date; so we had a fast that it would get done in time. The Lord really blessed us and the papers got done in less than two weeks, but after that there is still a lot to do. All the time added together, I think I spent about a full day of work just running around trying to get this stuff done. To make matters worse, my companion got so sick he couldn't leave the house. We got all the paper work for the marriage and their interviews done in time for them to get baptized. I was blessed enough to be able to baptize four of our investigators last Saturday :)
Before that however, I ended up taking my companion to the hospital because it had been three days and he wasn't getting any better. We took him in for a check up and found out that he had Dengay Fever from a mosquito bite. He is ok now but I was in the hospital for four days with him while he recovered. We were stuck in the hospital but the work of the Lord still moved forward. We gave out several pamphlets and two Book of Mormons during our stay at the hospital.
At one time during our stay, I was going to my companion’s room after getting him some water when I saw a lady sitting outside of her room reading the Bible. I had a strong impression to talk to her about the church. She was very interested in the things I told her and she accepted a Book of Mormon and said she would read it. I thought that was awesome and then she came back a few hours later with her 21 year old son who had questions about the Book of Mormon. I taught him also and answered the questions he had and as we finished our conversation, he had tears in his eyes and I knew the spirit had touched him. I was so happy and excited because he has such a strong desire to know if it is true. He said he feels like there is something missing in his church.
I thought the day couldn't get any better but it did. An hour later, he came back with his sister who wanted to hear our message. When they left they gave me three different numbers to contact them so we can teach them again. I was really sad that my companion got sick, but I think through that the Lord has taken us right to his children whom He has prepared for His gospel. I know this gospel is true and it is so great being a part of it.
Love, Elder Smith
This has been a crazy week for us! First thing, we have been working on getting two of our investigators married so they can get baptized but that’s actually a pain to do. They have laws here that you can't get divorced, so we had to apply for papers to make sure that they didn't have a previous marriage even though we were sure they didn't, but that’s just what you have to do. They told us it would take 2-3 weeks to get the paper work back, but if it was later than two weeks, we would have to move their baptism date; so we had a fast that it would get done in time. The Lord really blessed us and the papers got done in less than two weeks, but after that there is still a lot to do. All the time added together, I think I spent about a full day of work just running around trying to get this stuff done. To make matters worse, my companion got so sick he couldn't leave the house. We got all the paper work for the marriage and their interviews done in time for them to get baptized. I was blessed enough to be able to baptize four of our investigators last Saturday :)
Before that however, I ended up taking my companion to the hospital because it had been three days and he wasn't getting any better. We took him in for a check up and found out that he had Dengay Fever from a mosquito bite. He is ok now but I was in the hospital for four days with him while he recovered. We were stuck in the hospital but the work of the Lord still moved forward. We gave out several pamphlets and two Book of Mormons during our stay at the hospital.
At one time during our stay, I was going to my companion’s room after getting him some water when I saw a lady sitting outside of her room reading the Bible. I had a strong impression to talk to her about the church. She was very interested in the things I told her and she accepted a Book of Mormon and said she would read it. I thought that was awesome and then she came back a few hours later with her 21 year old son who had questions about the Book of Mormon. I taught him also and answered the questions he had and as we finished our conversation, he had tears in his eyes and I knew the spirit had touched him. I was so happy and excited because he has such a strong desire to know if it is true. He said he feels like there is something missing in his church.
I thought the day couldn't get any better but it did. An hour later, he came back with his sister who wanted to hear our message. When they left they gave me three different numbers to contact them so we can teach them again. I was really sad that my companion got sick, but I think through that the Lord has taken us right to his children whom He has prepared for His gospel. I know this gospel is true and it is so great being a part of it.
Love, Elder Smith
Monday, October 25, 2010
Hello everyone,
These weeks are just flying by; I can’t believe it. We really cracked down this week to get a lot of work done and of course the Lord is blessing us. We’ve had several times this week where we were just walking by some people or a house and then felt prompted to stop and talk to them. One of those experiences was with a guy named Alex whom we have only been able to teach twice. He told us during our second visit that the second he saw us he felt like there was something special about us, and he had a desire to come closer to the Lord. We have a lot of great investigators who are accepting baptismal dates. We have two investigators that are ready to be baptized, but they never got married so we are just waiting on their papers then they can be baptized in about a week.
Whenever we work, I learn about gospel principles and the importance of obedience. This Friday morning, I started thinking a lot about obedience and how important it is for us to do this work. Later that night, we went to an appointment, but there was no male that was 18 years old so we aren’t supposed to teach. The situation seemed really innocent and both my companion and I had the thought that it wouldn’t really be bad, but I remembered the thoughts I had earlier that day about being obedient even when you don’t understand why. We decided to go ask someone to sit in the lesson with us as we taught. We found someone who was willing and by the end of the lesson, he was very interested in reading the Book of Mormon.
So that is what is going on with me; I know this church is true, and we are blessed when we are obedient. I love you all and thank you for your letters and prayers.
Love, Elder Smith
These weeks are just flying by; I can’t believe it. We really cracked down this week to get a lot of work done and of course the Lord is blessing us. We’ve had several times this week where we were just walking by some people or a house and then felt prompted to stop and talk to them. One of those experiences was with a guy named Alex whom we have only been able to teach twice. He told us during our second visit that the second he saw us he felt like there was something special about us, and he had a desire to come closer to the Lord. We have a lot of great investigators who are accepting baptismal dates. We have two investigators that are ready to be baptized, but they never got married so we are just waiting on their papers then they can be baptized in about a week.
Whenever we work, I learn about gospel principles and the importance of obedience. This Friday morning, I started thinking a lot about obedience and how important it is for us to do this work. Later that night, we went to an appointment, but there was no male that was 18 years old so we aren’t supposed to teach. The situation seemed really innocent and both my companion and I had the thought that it wouldn’t really be bad, but I remembered the thoughts I had earlier that day about being obedient even when you don’t understand why. We decided to go ask someone to sit in the lesson with us as we taught. We found someone who was willing and by the end of the lesson, he was very interested in reading the Book of Mormon.
So that is what is going on with me; I know this church is true, and we are blessed when we are obedient. I love you all and thank you for your letters and prayers.
Love, Elder Smith
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Hey Family,
It has been an amazing week! The first thing that happened was Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and spoke to use at our mission tour! I was able to go up, shake his hand, and tell him where I live which only took about 15 seconds but it was still a really cool experience. That night we had an amazing, spiritual conference. Off the top of my head, I can't recall everything he said to us, but I felt his love and testimony of this work. One of the things that stood out to me the most was when he testified of Jesus Christ. He said simply that he has had so many witnesses from our Father in Heaven that he knows Christ lives and then he said "and I know that you know it too." It made me think about how many spiritual witnesses I have received in my life and how blessed I am to have knowledge of our Savior and Redeemer. When Elder Cook spoke, he didn't say anything mysterious or new, but with the spirit, he testified boldly of what he knows is true. I know he is an Apostle of our Savior Jesus Christ and he is a special witness to us of Christ's divinity.
I've thought about how, as members or missionaries, we have received many special witnesses of the truthfulness of this gospel and we need to stand with boldness and testify of its simple truthfulness. On top of all that, I have had many spiritual and uplifting events happen this week; during Zone conference, our Temple trip, and on Sunday when we had stake conference and had the opportunity to listen to Elder Jensen, who is in the Presidency of the Seventy.
The work is really moving forward in our area and the Lord is leading us with His spirit and helping us find the people whom He has prepared. My companion and I had a really good day this week where we were really in tune with the spirit. While teaching, I opened my scriptures to share a verse and when I looked over at my companion's scriptures, he had already opened to that scripture without me saying that was what I was looking for. Also, while given reading assignments to our investigators, we would both think of exactly the same scriptures.
So that was my week; sorry there aren’t a lot of details, but I don’t have time to write everything that has happened this week. I love you all and thank you for your letters and prayers.
Love, Elder Smith
It has been an amazing week! The first thing that happened was Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles came and spoke to use at our mission tour! I was able to go up, shake his hand, and tell him where I live which only took about 15 seconds but it was still a really cool experience. That night we had an amazing, spiritual conference. Off the top of my head, I can't recall everything he said to us, but I felt his love and testimony of this work. One of the things that stood out to me the most was when he testified of Jesus Christ. He said simply that he has had so many witnesses from our Father in Heaven that he knows Christ lives and then he said "and I know that you know it too." It made me think about how many spiritual witnesses I have received in my life and how blessed I am to have knowledge of our Savior and Redeemer. When Elder Cook spoke, he didn't say anything mysterious or new, but with the spirit, he testified boldly of what he knows is true. I know he is an Apostle of our Savior Jesus Christ and he is a special witness to us of Christ's divinity.
I've thought about how, as members or missionaries, we have received many special witnesses of the truthfulness of this gospel and we need to stand with boldness and testify of its simple truthfulness. On top of all that, I have had many spiritual and uplifting events happen this week; during Zone conference, our Temple trip, and on Sunday when we had stake conference and had the opportunity to listen to Elder Jensen, who is in the Presidency of the Seventy.
The work is really moving forward in our area and the Lord is leading us with His spirit and helping us find the people whom He has prepared. My companion and I had a really good day this week where we were really in tune with the spirit. While teaching, I opened my scriptures to share a verse and when I looked over at my companion's scriptures, he had already opened to that scripture without me saying that was what I was looking for. Also, while given reading assignments to our investigators, we would both think of exactly the same scriptures.
So that was my week; sorry there aren’t a lot of details, but I don’t have time to write everything that has happened this week. I love you all and thank you for your letters and prayers.
Love, Elder Smith
Monday, October 11, 2010
Hello,
It has been a really busy week for us here with transfers and General Conference. I loved watching General Conference this week. I could tell that all the talks were inspired by the Lord and the first few talks answered all the questions I had. We are so blessed to have a living prophet and apostles that can lead and guide us to do what is right.
Things are going really good with my new companion. My companion is American from Utah and his name is Elder McGowan; he is a really hard worker. This week was very short because of the new missionary meeting, but we were still able to get a lot of work done. My companion is always really excited to work and I've already learned a lot from him. Everything is exciting to him and he just wants to get out and talk to everyone with no hesitation. We were at the new missionary meeting where I first met him, and before the meeting was over, he was asking who we would go to and teach that night and what we were going to teach.
So our work is going good here and I feel like we will be able to do a lot this transfer to help move the Lord's work along. That’s about it for what’s going on here just busy everyday :) I love you all and thank you for your letters.
Love, Elder Smith
It has been a really busy week for us here with transfers and General Conference. I loved watching General Conference this week. I could tell that all the talks were inspired by the Lord and the first few talks answered all the questions I had. We are so blessed to have a living prophet and apostles that can lead and guide us to do what is right.
Things are going really good with my new companion. My companion is American from Utah and his name is Elder McGowan; he is a really hard worker. This week was very short because of the new missionary meeting, but we were still able to get a lot of work done. My companion is always really excited to work and I've already learned a lot from him. Everything is exciting to him and he just wants to get out and talk to everyone with no hesitation. We were at the new missionary meeting where I first met him, and before the meeting was over, he was asking who we would go to and teach that night and what we were going to teach.
So our work is going good here and I feel like we will be able to do a lot this transfer to help move the Lord's work along. That’s about it for what’s going on here just busy everyday :) I love you all and thank you for your letters.
Love, Elder Smith
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Dear Family,
May anak na ako (I have a son)! I found out on Tuesday that I’m going to get to train a new missionary this transfer. He is brand new from the MTC, and I'll be his first companion so in the mission we call that your “anak” or son in English :) I don't know anything about him, because I won’t get to meet him until tomorrow for the first time. I don’t even know if he is American, Filipino, or from somewhere else. We had transfer meetings earlier today, but I just got put with another Elder who is training and we are going to work together today and tomorrow. Then, we will go to the mission home to meet our new companions. I think it would be fun to get an American companion, but that will probably mean everything depends on my Tagalog...
We still haven’t been able to watch conference, so I’m really looking forward to that this Saturday. We are so blessed to be able to listen to a living prophet speak to us. Right after conference, we are going to have someone really special come and talk to us; I will write about that next week. We are really seeing the Lord bless this mission. People are really willing to listen to us and I know it’s because the Lord has prepared them. That’s about it over here; Ingat po kayo :)
Love, Elder Smith
May anak na ako (I have a son)! I found out on Tuesday that I’m going to get to train a new missionary this transfer. He is brand new from the MTC, and I'll be his first companion so in the mission we call that your “anak” or son in English :) I don't know anything about him, because I won’t get to meet him until tomorrow for the first time. I don’t even know if he is American, Filipino, or from somewhere else. We had transfer meetings earlier today, but I just got put with another Elder who is training and we are going to work together today and tomorrow. Then, we will go to the mission home to meet our new companions. I think it would be fun to get an American companion, but that will probably mean everything depends on my Tagalog...
We still haven’t been able to watch conference, so I’m really looking forward to that this Saturday. We are so blessed to be able to listen to a living prophet speak to us. Right after conference, we are going to have someone really special come and talk to us; I will write about that next week. We are really seeing the Lord bless this mission. People are really willing to listen to us and I know it’s because the Lord has prepared them. That’s about it over here; Ingat po kayo :)
Love, Elder Smith
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