Thank you for all your emails. You all are so great! I have the best family ever:) I’ve been thinking about you and just how grateful I am. Never missed a week of emailing me. Pretty faithful I’d say:) Thank you for that! I feel very blessed.
Coming into this last month I’m just so grateful for the mission God has allowed me to serve and for this time I have still to serve. It is SO precious to me. I’ve thought alot about how you can tell someone served a good mission. I know there are alot of missionaries that would say that the titles of District or Zone Leaders or even Assistant are what make you a good missionary. I have realized that that’s not gonna get me anywhere in Idaho or in life haha! I’m grateful for these opportunities I've had to serve with MY Presidents and for all they have taught me and I know that the things I have learned and the experiences I have had are what have made me.
President Maluenda taught me a big lesson. He said that you can tell how successful someone’s mission was by the person they are when they go home. How they apply the things they learned, how they treat everyone, how they talk, how they carry themselves. Different scene, different actors, but the principles NEVER change. And then he kinda shocked me when he said, "Elder Smith, everything you have done in these past few years doesn't mean a thing if you go home the same person you were before." I think I've been stressing about the last little changes I want to make in myself before the end, hoping I am changed enough. I truly am so grateful for the Atonement of my Savior and the way it can enter into someones life and change and mold them, scrape of the rough edges, take away the hard feelings, wash away the guilt, and then build you back into something you never could have been without His help.
Sometimes I feel like I’m not deserving of the INCREDIBLE mission that God has given me. It is the best! But I think the thing I wanted to share most today was my gratitude for you all preparing me for my mission, for my whole life. I wish I could express how much that means to me, and how much this place means to me.
For Alex, I’m sooo proud of you. You HAVE to be SO excited for your mission! It is 10000000X better than football or anything else you could ever do! I’m so proud of the football player you are, and the student, and the brother!! I’ll be so proud when we have another Elder Smith out in the field. In this family we serve missions! That’s for you too Addi, we have some amazing sister missionaries here. You will be great.
I feel like I’m getting to that last stretch of the 400x. Remember when I would always bust past Chan in my Skyline speed suit leatart;) The way your legs get kinda wobbly from the long race, but you just run harder and harder. I wanna finish, falling into the finish line! I’m grateful for you all. From sitting in the stands at ever football game and track meet and every basketball game, and now the mission. . . The most faithful fans. It has always made me wanna run harder:)
This is the greatest thing I've ever done. The funnest, the craziest, the scariest, the most magical, spiritual, lovable, memorable, exciting thing I HAVE EVER DONE! I’m pretty determined to finish that way. We are teaching a bunch of families. Unfortunately, they all are looking to get baptized the week after I leave, but the important thing is that they get baptized. We’ll see what miracles God has up his sleeve.
But for my most faithful fans, I love you all so much. Thank you for everything:)
I will see you soon!
Love Elder Smith
