I KNOW IT'S TRUE. . .AND THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!

I’ve got a ton too tell you all today haha! So we will see how fast I can type. First off, I LOVE YOU ALL! I loved your emails and appreciated the pictures and stories. Especially about Alex. Man that kid... What a stud!  And Chan and Kenzie... YOU’RE BOTH STUDS:). My plan has come together perfectly haha!! So Mom, I did get my memory card back and I’ll send you the other one for Christmas. As well, I just got your Hawaii package and it was great! THANK YOU sooo much.

I’m glad to hear that you are all ready for Christmas. Last night we got invited to go to the stake president’s house to watch the devotional and it was amazing. Amazing the things you can learn when you actually listen to those, right? :)  I thought a lot of Dad when President Eyring spoke about the barometer that didn't work. That’s nothing compared to the incidents that we've had haha!!! But our apartment looks pretty festive as well! Too bad we don’t spend much time there haha! We have been soooo busy! We were down in Mcallen on Thursday and Friday for a ZL conference, then a big mission tour with the whole mission and a General Authority from the 70 came. It was super super good. I got to see everyone and hear what’s been going on with all of my families!  On Tuesday and Wednesday I was in a small town called Alice on an exchange and it was super good. I got to work with a super great elder who is really new and he whipped me into shape. I always learn the most from the young missionaries. But it was a pretty crazy week and we didn't have a ton of time to work, but with the time we did have, we found some great people and had some awesome lessons. On the exchange we found a super prepared family and they spoke puro espanol! It was the biggest blessing I received here haha! I LOVE teaching in Spanish.

So the cool story for this week...

Linda was confirmed on Sunday and it was super spiritual. She was in tears, like always haha she is a super spiritual lady. But she went and sat down and testimony meeting starts...next thing I know Linda's up at the pulpit... She gave probably the most powerful testimony I have heard on my mission. She spoke of how she was lost and praying for help, and the Elders randomly knocked on her door, while she was praying. She shared her whole conversion and then said, "And that is why I am here. And so I’m here today to testify that God is our loving father. That Jesus Christ is MY Savior, and that Joseph Smith was his chosen prophet to guide this church. AND I KNOW THAT IT’S TRUE."

I looked at Elder Porter and we both had tears running down our cheeks.  IT rocked my world... and THAT is why I’M here.

There is just WAY too many blessing that come from the gospel. I know I was never too good at math, but counting them almost seems just impossible. I Love this... I love every minute and I love you all too:) 

I hope you have an awesome week and I will talk to you soon!

CON MUCHO AMOR!

Elder Smith

THANKSGIVING WEEK OF MIRACLES

YA BUNCH OF BEACH BUMS!

Looks like ya had a great week in Mexico! So good to see the pictures and know that you are all home safe. I was worried about you being there haha! It’s pretty ugly on this side of Mexico. Looks like Alex took one for the team from a sting ray. OUCH! haha hopefully he didn't cry like me and Chan did.  I’m so glad you had a great Thanksgiving together and that we have such an awesome family to celebrate it with. We had an awesome Thanksgiving here. We ate at like 4 different houses and it wrecked us! Haha By the last house we were both walking so gingerly and we felt like the Grinch in the ‘Chair of Cheer’. Everyone was shoving food into our mouths. Haha Luckily no one threw up and died. We ate with a young family early in the day. The Flores family se llama and the wife is from Utah and the guy is from Tamulipas Mexico, so the live smack dap in the middle. They are an awesome family with a lot of young kids. One 13 year old named Alejandro. Reminds me of my Alejandro! But it was super good. We as well taught a couple great lessons that day which made us feel a little better about not wasting time.

So this was a super great week full of a lot of miracles. First off yesterday Linda got baptized, which was awesome. She is going to be a great member of the church. As well, we found an awesome new couple who came yesterday for the first time and loved church. We had an amazing church tour lesson with them on Saturday and we had them kneel down and ask God if they should be baptized. They both received super strong answers and are super connected. I love them. As well we have been working with the family in a homosexual relationship. Man I love that family. The 2 girls are such good girls. Just so confused. We had some "throw downs" (we call them) this week and we are just praying for a miracle with them. I have never had to be so bold before on my mission. It’s such a tender subject. But please keep them in your prayers.

Another cool experience we had (hopefully I didn't already tell this last week) We were working and it was dark outside. We went by a less active’s and they weren't there so we were walking back to the car and saw this lady out smoking, and I thought "NAH..." and walked right passed. But of course by the time I got in and turned on the car the Spirit had wracked me with guilt haha. So I looked at Elder Porter and he's like, "I know...I feel it too." So we got back out and walked back to her. As we approached her she looked nervous and surprised. But as we talked with her, we realize why God sent us back. Her dad had passed away just 3 days earlier. She had just gotten home from his funeral, and she was pretty scared that God actually sent someone haha... Who knows what will come of it but it’s good to know that our Heavenly Father’s always in control.

So all in all I’m loving my new area. This is the first "on the ball" ward that I have served in. Well actually the first ward period. But it works so well. We have an AWESOME bishop named Bishop Nelson, who reminds me a lot of Dad, just not as studly. But he's great. I got a blessing from him last night and he said just what I needed to hear.

But this week we will be down in Mcallen for a ZL Conference and then something called the mission tour where a General Authority comes to the mission. It will be fun but stressful. We are super excited. But that’s it for this week. I hope you are all in the Christmas Spirit, We definitely are! So don’t be mad if I spend a little dough today on some Christmas lights haha. I can’t go through this time of year without them!

I love you all and hope you know how much I love you! Be SAFE! LES QUIERO!

Elder Smith

OH ROBSTOWN

Hey party animals! You guys gotta stay outta the sun! It seems like that’s all you do anymore!!! haha Just kidding I’m super happy you get to have some relax time from work and school and the strenuous dating schedules some of you are on. HAHA! Thank you all for your emails and the pictures! I’m glad you got to fly the Texas flag for my one year. WE had a fun time here. Thank you to Chan and Kenzie for their emails. You guys are the best! Man, so there is so much to tell you all.

I’ll start with Robstown. Robstown is like the Ghetto Gotham city of Texas haha! A lot of missionaries say its the worst of one of the worst in the whole mission. A lot of.....things of the world around and lots of temptations all over. A tough place to raise kids for sure. It’s a super poor place as well and we cover a lot of country area about 15 to 20 miles each way of Robstown. Our zone is super spread out. Everyone lives like an hour or more away from us, except for one other companionship that lives in our apartment. We are surrounded by fields and I don’t think the sun has shined since I got here. It’s actually been pretty chilly. There’s like no Spanish here and I am always looking for people that speak it. I’m super worried about maintaining it and I may leave hear saying y'all. Its pretty "Texas". This week it has kept me on my toes. I’ll tell you a funny story at the end.

My companion’s name is Elder Porter from Ogden. He is a STUD! haha We have a ton of fun together and it’s a super new thing to be with a companion that knows what’s going on. It’s super cool and we had an awesome week. He's a tall kid. Like 6’ 4” and is hilarious.  I’ll send you a picture soon. But all is well here in Robstown.

We have a bunch of great peeps that we are working with, one of which is getting baptized next sunday. As well we are teaching a family of 4, but the problem is, there’s 2 moms. They are both sooo sweet and we are working hard to help them be baptized. As well, we found a "great" lady on Thursday that was so sweet and we set BD’s with her and her 2 kids. The next day we came and she had bought us doughnuts and was just loving us, at first. We had brought a young couple with us and we prepped them for the lesson. But I guess we didn't realize how strong Catholic this investigator was, because we started teaching about how we shouldn't pray to saints and she got pretty upset. And the member would not leave it alone. He just kept harping on it and she began to raise her voice and the member raised his as well. He was just trying to relate to her, but she felt pretty offended. We kept jumping in but they were going at it and the wife of the member (who hadn't said a word the whole time) just shot Elder Porter the "Holy Crap" look and the investigator saw it and freaked. She asked "IS SOMETHING FUNNY?" And the sweet little member’s like “no...” and then the investigator just starts screaming "YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY?? GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!! And just flies off the handle. There was screaming and crying and me and Elder Porter are trying to hold it together but it got bad. She screamed at them until they left and they she kept telling us to leave. We stayed by the door and tried to apologize, but it didn't work to well. She wasn't mad at us, but was furious at the member. It was crazy. We felt soo bad and apologized to the members and she was just out in the car bawling. She is just a super innocent, sweet lady and it broke her heart. We felt super bad.

And all Elder Porter could say was, “WELCOME TO ROBSTOWN” haha. It has been a wild week but I love it here. It’s keeping me busy and on my toes. But as well there hasn't been much time where we haven't been smiling. It’s funny how happy you can be in such a sad place. We've seen it in the members as well. The gospel just makes us happy. What a blessing.

Well I hope you have fun in Mexico. Don’t get stung by stingrays of scammed by the beach venders. They’re sly as a fox. Haha I love you all! Be SAFE and have fun!! BYEEE!

Elder Smith

THERE'S NO CHANGE IN THE COMFORT ZONE AND NO COMFORT IN THE CHANGE ZONE!

Sounds like a lot of fun this week! I’m so glad that you guys had fun in Hawaii, you bums! haha I hope you got to enjoy your birthday Mom and I have birthday letters that should be there by now! Hope you get/like them! It’s all I could find! And Chan, I’m glad you had a great week of shinanigans! Sounds like a lot of fun. Kenz is an AWESOME girl! And I am glad that the kids got to send a week with the Rammell’s and the Young Republicans! haha! You can imagine how much I have to hold my tongue around all these Utah boys since the election haha! Dad ingrained more in me than I even realized! Or corrupted me (however you wanna look at it haha!)

So, pretty crazy week! Super humbling week, too. We spent Tuesday through Thursday in McAllen for leadership training, which was so good. I love being able to spend time with the Trayners and we always go home with sore stomaches because President always keeps us laughing. At the end of training I was informed that once again I would be taken away from my child in training. I’m being transferred once again. My stay seemed so short here in San Benito. But I was super humbled because President told be I would be heading up to Robstown to be a Zone Leader. You can search it on a map, but I guess it’s up above Corpus. So I’m saying my farewells to Spanish, at least for now.  I always feel like right when you feel like you kinda got ahold of one thing, things get changed. And it seems that you always feel insignificant or not up to the task. But I think the Lord enjoys keeping us in that change zone. There’s not change in the comfort zone and no comfort in the change zone. So tomorrow morning I’ll be taking a group of "youngies" in the transfer van up to the great north. So wish me luck haha! I’m super excited!

So the bad news for this week is that Dulce fell through yesterday on the day of her interview. And it broke my heart. She had such a strong testimony, but just fell back into the things of the world. And it’s super hard to understand how people can receive answers from God and go against them. But I’m sure the Lord would ask me the same question. But it hurt to see her fall off. It was pretty amazing though because her brother and sister in law, who I taught, told me that in January they would be able to get baptized and told me that one day they will go to the temple and want me to be there. That would mean the world to me. But it always is such a testimony builder when you get to hear their testimony. They are the best.  So that’s about it for this week; Ups and Downs always. But it just wouldn’t be the same if we didn’t have them. Haha I love being here and I am so scared of time now. I pray that it slows down, and that you all stop praying for it to speed up! You can’t afford it either! I love you all and hope you have a great week! And Mom....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! TE QUIERO Y ESPERO QUE SEPAS QUE SIEMPRE ESTOY PENSANDO EN TI! LOVE YOU!!

BYEEE!!!!

"WHAT I NEED IS DISCIPLES...FOREVER...SOMEONE TO DEFEND MY FAITH"

HELLO EVERYONE!!

So great to hear from you all and see pictures of the family!(and Kenzie) haha Looks like a blast up in Yellowstone! Glad you got to go up there and I’m glad Bart’s in hunting school. Now when are Dad and the boys gonna learn? haha jk! You can take the old Remington pump. She’s got the dried blood of some Osgood rabbits on her. It looks like the weather is really changing there and suprisingly, it is a little bit here too. The mornings are a little chillier and you can feel that change in the air. I’m just looking forward to Christmas so all the Mamas can break out tamales. I love tamales.

So, I haven’t asked in awhile how is Addi’s arm doing? How are Grandpa and Grandma and Papa and Grammy? Tell them thank you so much for the letters. As well, Uncle Paul and Aunt Nene. I hope they are doing well. And JAY as well! I hope he got the mowers winterized!!! haha So good to hear from all of you.

So I’ll write short so I can write Chan. Sorry if this is too short!!

This week has gone by way too fast. Yesterday Joey got confirmed and is on his way to the Priesthood at the end of this month. He is so great, I love his family. They are super country and Sister Montez always prides herself on being redneck. I LOVE THEM! Yesterday she leaned over and began to hassle me about bearing my testimony in Sacrament so I got up and took a  few minutes. She followed right after me and bore such a sweet testimony. At one point she said, "Since I was baptized, I have had the hardest year of my life, full of problems, sicknesses, and surgeries...but I would not take back this new life I have for anything!" She carries the whole family on her back and she is such a great mom. And I hope that even when things get really tough, we can be steadfast and immovable like Sister Montez. And I hope you meet them someday soon. And they’re like our only members that you can talk to because everyone else speaks Spanish haha!!

So Dulce is doing well. She got her interview put back because she still has some doubts, but we pray that she will be ready this Sunday. Please keep her in your prayers.

This week I’ve been thinking a lot on the talk that Elder Holland gave in conference. Hit me pretty hard and I hope you have been able to watch it again on the website. He spoke of the remaining 11 apostles after Christ’s death and resurrection. How after their time with the Savior during his ministry, after seeing all those miracles, and being a personal witness of Christ, they could return to their "former lives" and things of the world. And the question that Christ asks in Elder Holland’s words is "Did my life not touch you more deeply than this?" That’s the question I have had on my mind. Did his life not touch us more. Did the life he freely gave for us really CHANGE us? And I’ve thought of the changes he has made in my life and in the lives of our family. I know that the Savior has touched us deeply. And it does everyday. So i would echo the words of Elder Holland who echoed those of Christ: "WHAT I NEED IS DISCIPLES... FOREVER... SOMEONE TO DEFEND MY FAITH.” So I thank you all for showing me how to be a disciple of our Savior. And I would say, “Just keep on keepin’ on family:)”

I love you all so much and I miss you and enjoy hearing from you every week. I hope all is well and you have a wonderful week. Take care and be good!!!!

JOEY GETS BAPTIZED!

Hey everyone! 

So good to hear from you this week! I loved your emails and your pictures. Especially the one of Jake and Brit in their Halloween costumes. HAHA, made me laugh pretty good. I’m guessing that Jake came up with that?? haha.

So first off Chan, YOU GOTTA RISK IT TO GET THE BISCUIT BOY! Do not procrastinate the day of repentance or it will be TOO LATE! We are all praying for you here haha! So it sounds like Dad is adjusting well to his double life as Bishop Lawyer Smith. I knew you would Dad. Proud of you!  And I can’t believe you guys are going to Hawaii! That’s awesome!

So we had a pretty up and down week. BAPTISM weeks are always pretty crazy! So first off, this week we could not find a single soul to teach. We literally talked to soooo many people this week and taught not a single one. Pretty rough.

But the great news was that yesterday Joey was baptized. He was SOO ready and it meant the world to his Mom. The sad part is that the mission is really struggling right now. Not many baptisms at all. So we were VERY blessed to have been able to have taught Joey. My little boy, Elder Hobbs, got to get in the water for the first time and I was so proud of both of them. They did great. The thing that touched my heart was after the baptism our branch President got up (President Goodman) who is a STUD-MUFFIN, and started asking Joey questions in front of everyone. He said, “This is all great Joey, but WHY? What does this even mean??? Why did you do this?? What does all this even lead to?”

 Oh man pressures on.

Joey just looked at him and said, "I did it to be cleansed of my sins and get the Holy Ghost."

Phew!

Then Pres. Goodman asks again, “WHERE DOES THAT LEAD?”

Again I was trying to remember if we had gotten that far with him haha!

“TO THE PRIESTHOOD.” Joey says.

2 FOR 2!!

“And then what?” President Goodman asks.

And Joey looks at him and says without hesitation, "I’m going to be a missionary!"

TOUCHDOWN!! haha!

And I realized really how great his faith really is. And how he's willing to follow God the rest of his life. I hope we can have the faith of Joey to let the gospel change our lives. . I know it has and is changing mine. 

I am so blessed to be here and so happy to finally break that “Sanny B - Baptism Barrier” that I’ve been facing since I’ve been here. The Lord really blessed us with Joey. And we are so blessed to have witnessed the Spirit work in his life and to have been a part of the change that the Lord is making in him.

Well that’s all the time I have for today. Sorry for the short email but I hope you all know how much I love you!! You’re the best!!! And I pray that you have a HAPPY HALLOWEEN!! We will be studying Spanish and handing out candy on Wednesday night! I’ll think of all of you!! BYE!!!!

ALL IS WELL IN THE SLUMS OF SAN BENITO

Man, thank you for all your emails. So good. Sounds like a great week for everyone. . . except Bart, haha. I remembered my favorite line from Marley and Me. I’ll let you decide which part it is haha! Sounds like an amazing week for all of you. Dad, I’m super proud of you and so grateful for your example. You are going to do so well. Those kids are super lucky to have you as their Bishop. Man those pictures you sent of me are out of control! That one of my wisdom teeth brought back a lot of memories. haha Super funny. As well, some evidence of all the times I goofed around while Dad did all the work. I’m sorry Dad haha!

So first off, Rose and Addi need to stop growing up! That picture makes me sick haha! I can’t even believe how old they look. And Chan, I hope you can land one of these girls. I feel as if you’ve been doing the old "Uncle Kelvin touch and go" haha! Whether it’s on purpose or the landing just didn’t feel quite right, we no not. But keep trying!! haha!

So this was a pretty crazy week! It went by way too fast. I feel like I just emailed yesterday and my fingers haven’t even recuperated. We had a great week here. I feel like we are on that up hill after a downhill of trials. J. Montez passed his baptismal interview and will be baptized this Sunday!! I’m so proud of that kid. He is soo excited. It really has touched me because his Mom was the only one that joined the church and the dad was soo mad. He didn't support her at all and when the first kid wanted to get baptized the dad wouldn't let him. But Sister Montez just stayed active and kept praying and finally her husband softened his heart. So Joey will be her second son of age to be baptized. Now there’s just one more!! But it’s amazing to see her loving prayers for her family being answered. She is sooooo happy.

As well, to update on Dulce, she is coming to church and still progressing for the 11th. But had a little bit of a bad experience at church. Someone had said something inappropriate (one of the teenagers) and she was really offended and at the end of church she ask me a question that just broke my heart. She said, "Don’t they teach the children here how to respect their parents?" It really hurt me. I thought of all the times that I haven't respected my parents. Even though I knew that I should. But it really made me sad to know that someone felt that way at church. It really made me realize how careful we need to be with the things we say. People expect a lot from even the least of us. But we have a FHE with her tonight, so hopefully all will be well.

I feel the Lord is really blessing us and I am so grateful for those blessing. My Verdecito is doing great. He is getting better at the Spanish and I’ve been trying to help him talk more. I’ve developed the bad habit of talking a lot. That’s kinda how people are down here, haha, but for some reason in Spanish I just talk way too much. But I’m working on it and he's doing great. He's a great missionary and I’ve got high hopes for him. He comes from great stock haha! (Elder Stevens) But all is well here in the slums of San Benito. We are happy, healthy, and very blessed and I love you all so much. Take care and have a great week!!!

Love Elder Smith