December 22, 2011
Hey family!! Man what a great week! First off, thank you so much for all the packages and letters! Mom I got the package! Thank you soooo much! And thank you everyone else, too who has sent stuff. I won’t have time to write you right now but thank you!! And Mom and Dad thank you for the suit, I love it! So family I hope you got my Christmas package. I know it’s not much, but I hope you enjoy the letters! Oh and I loved the pics you sent me!! That Frank Price Santa picture never gets old! Oh and I’m glad Chan in hanging with Kenzie and Michele!!!
So this week was crazy! On Sunday I got called as our new District Leader, so I have had meetings during every bit of my spare time haha! It’s kinda stressful, but it’s good. I am definitely learning a lot! I went from worrying about keeping myself afloat to now I have to keep my district up. But it’s easy because they are all great! I’m pretty sure they help me more than I help them! I have meetings during all my free time on Christmas day though haha. So that will be a new experience!! But I’m still super excited! But we get Christmas movies, Christmas Eve and day and also get to hear the MOTAB for both and get a general authority for Sacrament on Sunday and word on the street is it’s Elder Holland, so fingers crossed! But I want you to know I am gonna have the best Smith Christmas I can here in Provo.
Well, I wanted to spend the rest of my time talking about Christmas. And you can read this to any of the family on Christmas Eve if you want, it’s up to you!!!
But this time of the year I really realize how much I love and miss all of you. I hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season so far. I’m grateful to all of you for the letters and dear elders. I can feel all of your prayers for me, so thank you. I love this time of the year because we have to opportunity to celebrate our Savior’s birth and do it with all the people we love the most, which in our case, is our amazing family. My best Christmas memories are of Christmas Eves with our family and eating and watching movies and doing white elephant gifts and just building up the anticipation for Christmas morning. I have a lot of great memories of caroling with the Smiths and Christmas day dinners with the Clarks as well. But I have really realized how blessed we are to have such a tight knit family to spend this wonderful time with. We have been so blessed by our Heavenly Father. It’s sad because almost every missionary in my district has problems in their families. Some have parents who have passed away. Some have inactive families who don’t support them on their missions and send them anti emails every week. Some just aren’t close to their families at all. I have really realized how blessed the Smith family and Clark family are to have such great relationships with one another. I am so grateful for all of my blessing that my Heavenly Father has given me and I hope we all can recognize those blessing. Along with those blessing, I know he expects a lot out of us. My new favorite hymn since I have arrived here is #219 "Because I Have Been Given Much" and like the hymn says, “because I have been given much I too must give.” We have been dealt a pretty stacked deck. Our Heavenly Father has given us so very much because he knows that we have the ability to make a difference in the lives of others. I hope we can take what he has given us and be the answer to the prayers of another. I am so grateful to be a missionary and serve my Savior, especially during this wonderful time of year. I would not be out here if I didn’t know that this gospel is absolutely true. I have a testimony of this work. I have a testimony of my Savior Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father and their incredible love for each one of us, regardless of our circumstances. I love you all soo much and hope you know how grateful I am for all of you, and I wish you all a very Merry Christmas.
Love,
Elder Smith
