"a very special experience..."

Date: Mon, Nov 25, 2013 at 7:14 AM

Hello! 

I am way excited for Natalie! Sounds like she is really keeping busy! I loved being busy too. She is becoming quite the young lady! 

I forgot that thanksgiving was this week! I will have to see if I can make some mashed potatoes or something to celebrate. There is no thanksgiving here so everyone is already excited for christmas and the stores and streets are decorated with Christmas stuff. It is getting hotter, that mean christmas is close! 

Things are going really well in our area. We have some amazing people to teach who are truly looking for the truth and want to know what to do in their lives. One guy this last week who is a recent-convert's brother said, '' I learned that in our days there will be false prophets, i don't want to attend the wrong church and follow one of these false prophets.'' We explained to him how he could receiev an answer and he has been doing his part. One day we went to his house and he said that the night before he couldn't sleep well. He has been pondering what to do and as he tried to go to sleep, he couldn't sleep well and sat reflecting in their living room about what should be done. I have seen him change so much. He plays lots of instruments and is really interested about the church music and stuff. he took his girlfirend to church sunday and they both loved it! I am excited for them.

There is also another we are teaching who has changed alot. he was a referral from a member from another ward. When we first went there he was drunk. Almost everytime we went there we only got to talk to his wife because he was never able to talk to us because he was always drunk. His wife said there wasn't much we could do but we kept trying. After a while we thought maybe we would be losing our time with him and so we didn't really go back. Then, President Soares asked me to go on splits with some missionaries from another zone and so I went there. during the companion exchange, i went to their ward mission leaders house. it turns out that he was the guy who gave this referral and he asked me if I had gone there. i told him what had happened and then he said that i should try again and if he wanted he could go with me. I thought, okay! So i called me companion and told him to go there again. He went there and they guy was fine and they talked to him and found out he was interested. Long story short, after working with him a little more, he has been sober for a while now and truly has repented and has changed. When we went by the other day he was reading the Book of Mormon. He has already read more than 100 pages. He prayed the other day and asked forgiveness for his sins and said that he has never been so happy in his whole life than he is now. When I opened my eyes I looked at my companion and he was crying. Although i am not a cryer, i felt like crying! It was a very special experience. One i will never forget. he is very excited to be baptized. he keeps asking questions baout baptism and will be baptized this next sunday. His wife is also interested in the gospel and is hearing our messages.

Well things are going great! I love my mission and I love the simplicity of the gospel.

Love you and miss you all!

-Elder Smith

"I literally LOVE my mission.."

Date: Mon, Nov 18, 2013 at 6:02 AM

Hello Family!

I am glad to hear things are going well at home. I am sure you are the best seminary teacher in the world mom! I am a little jealous of that cold weather! Luckily I am in Natal and so it is pretty chilly to me after being in one of the hottest cities of the missino for almost 5 months! Tell Nat good luck on the basketball tryout! I am excited to hear how it goes. I too can't believe she is in 9th grade. This is way crazy! She looks so different. Almost everytime I meet a young woman who is 14 I think, " there is no way Natalie can be this big already! " It will sure be a shocker when I get home! I really don't feel like my appearance has changed much. just a little balder and blacker. 

This last week was a great one! I love being a missionary and I love my area! I worked until friday morning in an area here in Natal close to where I started my mission. It was really fun to remember my first area. During the week, we had to go to my first area Nova Republica to do a baptismal interview for another missionary. When we we walking back we passed by a convert I had worked with when I got here. She really had grown alot! I asked her if she had her baptismal picture and she grabbed it and brought it to me. It was all framed and nice and I wanted to cry I was so happy! I think of the joy I feel when someone is baptized, but I know that here in ten years i will be so happy to talk with those I worked with and to see their growth in the gospel. I am so ecxited to see them in the temple, or on missions, or raising their children in the gospel. I literally LOVE my mission and I am so grateful to be here serving the Lord. I am so grateful that the Lord helped me serve a mission. it is the best thing ever!

This last week we were teaching a member's friends who are very awesome! One of them is one of the young women I said got a very strong testimony of the Book of Mormon last week and wanted to be baptized. Well we were preparing them for baptism this week and her sister seemed a little uneasy about her baptism. So, the missionary that was with my companion talked to her and simply asked if she had received a testimony of the Book of Mormon yet. She said she wasn't really sure. He simply asked her to read and pray and she would have an answer. the next day she was a whole new person! She had read and prayed and truly knew that this is the true church. It was so awesome. Their brother is now very interested in the church as well, he is really awesome and I am excited to teach him. 

Well I miss you all and I love being a missinoary! I can now say that I know that miracles have not stopped. this is the Lord's work and he wants us to help EVERYONE return to his presence.

Love, 

Elder Smith

"I prayed for a birthday miracle..."

Date: Mon, Nov 11, 2013 at 9:06 AM

Hello my wonderful family!

Thanks for all the wonderful birthday wishes and pictures and videos. I got a bunch of the people here in the office saying ohhh!!! with the video of Nolan saying happy birfday uncle Isaac! Mel sent some awesome pictures as well. 

Well I just confirmed with my president that my last day here in Brasil will be the 27th of February and most likely my plane will arrive on the 28th of February. Sorry it took so long to confirm things. But now it is certain! 

Well things are going well here, actually they are going great! This last week was awesome. On tuesday I prayed for a birthday miracle and it was such an amazing day! We went to teach one of the members friends who went to church. We got there pretty late because we had a mission leadership training thing but we got there and we shared the first lesson with her. She had a lot of great questions and when we were getting done I asked if she had any questions about what we taught and she said, '' when can I get baptized... I know it's true''. She had an amazing experience at church and also after we challenged here to read the Book of Mormon, i asked how she felt and she said, '' i don't really know how to explain it but I just know that I need to be baptized sunday". I know the Lord is truly in front of this work and I love being a part of it. This investigator also stopped drinking coffee simply after i had told her not to drink it anymore. 

Also, we are a teaching an awesome family that went to church 2 weeks ago, they had an amazing experience and our bishop is very excited about helping them join the church. We are going to work alot with them this week and help them do what they need to to be baptized in the church. 

The elect of the Lord are all around us. Sometimes we don't recognize them as the elect at first, but if we truly look for the potencial in others, we can help them change their lives. We were teaching a young lady who goes to church everyweek with her aunt and we started to teach the plan of salvation. After, we started talking about baptism. I knew she wasn't baptized but I didn't know why because she is so awesome and loves the church. I asked her if she would like to be baptized and she said yes! Then I gave her a Book of Mormon and she got super excited and read it at night and prayed about it. She was simply awaiting the invite I think. We simply need to listen to the Spirit and do what he tells us to do.

Well I love you all and I miss you alot! I am excited for the upcoming Christmas season! I love Christmas! We are trying some new programs this christmas season to try and find more people who are looking for the restored gospel!

This last birthday was the best I have ever had.

Love,

Elder Smith

"The members are the key to the growth of the church."

Date: Mon, Nov 4, 2013 at 10:35 AM

Thanks for all the pictures and the letter. I got my box yesterday! I know my birthday isn't until tomorrow but I was just very excited! Thanks for all the candy and coool things you sent! The nerf ball shooter is pretty awesome. Also I gave some pop rocks to my mission president here in the office and it was pretty funny! He had never seen pop rocks before. 

This last week was really great. We went to a zone called potengi to work with some missionaries there. We found some great people to teach but I really enjoyed being there. We had some awesome investigators at church here in our area as well. One thing that I thought was cool is that the members here really are doing lots of work! We didn't have to pcik anyone up and we had 7 investigators at church. Also, when the bishop opened up the pulpit for people to bear their testimonies, all of a sudden like 20 stood up and went to the front to speak! It was so awesome! There are so many strong members here. They are trying to get a new chapel because the chapel is really starting to fill up and without air conditioning and so many people it gets really hot in there! It was a great meeting though and I really love these people. 

We are teaching an awesome family! They have 4 kids and the ward is really becoming involved in their progress. I love teaching families. I was so happy when they showed up to church sunday! I have really been thinking alot lately about how we need to do more and work with more efficiency. The time we have is so short and we need to use it wisely! 

Well thanks to everyone for all the birthday wishes! It is pretty crazy that I am 21, it really hasn't hit yet. Age on the mission really hasn't meant much to me. I guess when I get home and see all the little kids like bently all grwon up I will feel old. seriously I thought he was like 6 years old. I can't believe he is 8 already!

Well I love you all and I hope you have a great week. 

Just to end, i was studying this week about how we need to work with the members of the church. In the october liahona it said that the missionaries need to help the members in their efforts to preach the gospel, and not the other way around. The members are the key to the growth of the church.

Miss you guys!

Love, Elder Smith

"When we work together..."

Date: Oct 28, 2013 9:54 AM

That is a cool story about those missionaries! I love seeing missionaries try new ideas. Here our mission president is starting a new program where every member needs to give a Book of Mormon to a friend before the end of the year. In Elder Russsel's talk he said that every member should reach out to at least one member before the end of the year and I am excited to see the fruits of the new program. We are really trying to help the members work alongside the missionaries. When we work together, we find more people to baptize and those that are baptized have a much higher chance of staying active in the church. 

This week we will be traveling to a different part of Natal to do some companion exchanges with another zone. I didn't used to like copmanion exchanges to be honest but I have learned to love them and they can be a very powerful tool to help missionaries who are needing help. 

This last week I got to work alot with my companion in my area, Elder Olsen. he is from Las Vegas and is a very awesome missionary! He really is inspiring, he talks to everyone and invites everyone to church! We found some really cool new investigators just by simplying going to some of the recent-convert's houses and teaching the people that were there or visiting their neighbor's with them. Our ward is amazing! The members are all excited to do missionary work and they love inviting people to go to church. This sunday while we were waiting to catch a bus to church, one of the members starting doing contacts with the people on the street inviting them to go to church with us! It was really awesome!

Well I am loving my mission. I know this is where i need to be and I know my time is short so I will continue doing my best! I love you all and miss you!

Love,

Elder Smith

Nike Flip Flops

Date: Wed, Oct 23, 2013 at 6:32 AM

Hello family! 

This last week was alot different for me. There were alot of changes but it is exciting and I like being busy. 

Monday night the assistents called me and told me I needed to do a companion exchange in a certain area that was having trouble. I was to stay there until things got better and until we had results. It took a few days but by friday I went back to my own area and got home around 9. Then, President Soares called me aroun10:20 and said I needed to leave the next day to Natal. It was pretty crazy but everything worked out and now I am here in Natal. We have been pretty busy this week. We helped pepare some trainings for the new missionaries that got here this week. It was really fun to see them all get here and to talk to them. There are alot of new sisters! There seems to be more sisters every transfer! The new missionaries seemed really nervous but also excited to serve! I cantell they are being well prepared and really have strong desires to serve. 

This last week when I was in an rea called Pombal, there was a member that visited some investigators with us. One day he had visited people with the sisters and at the end of the day I asked, how was your day? He said, "it was great! I bore my testimony three times about the Prophet and I said two prayes in the lessons." We should all be excited to share our testimonies. Also, when he was with us his flip flop broke. I felt bad because he walks with the missionaries almost every day and he was using like a 8 reais ( 3 dollar) flip flop. He said it was alright and grabbed a little nail off the ground and tried to fix it. I said let us buy you a new one but he didn't want us to. But me and the other missionary I was with bought him a new nike flip flop that was only like 12 reais( 5 or 6 dollars) and he couldn't stopped thanking us for that even the next day he was thanking us. I love these people and they are such a great example to me. 

Well I love you all and I hope everything is going well! The fans are great mom! They are nice when you have to travel and stuff! 

Well I am really loving my mission and I really grew alot this last week. I was praying alot and doing all I could to help that area I was in and we had success. I know that this is the Lord's work and I love being a part of it. 

Thank you for everything you do. I love you all! 

Love,

Elder Smith 

Moroni 9:6

Date: Mon, Oct 14, 2013 at 10:22 AM

Sounds like a great week! Oh I thought mom said that you and Jake went hunting! My bad! But that's awesome you can see the streets of Sousa. My address is djaci marques pinto #16 - centro. I think if you put this in you should find it. It is a nice apartment complex. or put in ''ribeirão hotel'' because my house is right next to it. I am excited to get some of those pictures. 

Well I haven't seen any dinosaur footprints yet. They have a cool historic site about the dinosaurs here but i haven't found the time to go there yet. And yes I have been traveling for leadership things like interviews and mission conferences and other assignments that President gives to us. But it is fun. Sometimes i think i get more tired traveling than walking on the street all day. They pack a whole bunch of sweaty people in the cars and take off on the freeway. it is weird because even some of the cars that have air conditioning it seems like the brazilians here don't like it because it is too cold or something and they prefer just rolling down the window. I always get so sweaty. I think the record of sweaty people we have had in a car with us is 14. and the cars have about 9 seats. Good times!

 We have had a few dificulties lately with the work. I have learned that the work of salvation is not easy and never will be. But we cannot let up because it is our obligation to do our part and invite everyone to come unto Christ. ''Moroni 9:6'' But I love meeting new people and seeing the desire of the people we teach to learn more and be better. 

This last week the sister here in Sousa asked if Elder Paul and I could give one of their investigators a blessing. Before the blessing he was telling us about how he is bothered by the past and how when he has free time he keeps thinking about the things he had done in his life and how he just wanted relief. My companion gave the blessing and it was perfect. I know he is on the right track to feel free from his sins and return to Heavenly Father. I love being a missionary and helping people repent and feel clean again through repentance and baptism. Also in sacrament meeting a recent-convert said that when he entered in the church he felt relief. he felt like the scripture that says if you are burdened, Christ can make your burdens light and carry them for you. He told about his conversion and about how now he is on the right path. It was really a powerful testimony and he was baptized about two months ago. 

Well I love being on my mission and I know that this is where i need to be right now. I love you and miss you all. Thank you for everything you do. I feel so grateful to have the family that I have.

Love,

Elder Smith

P.S. Hey thanks for the package! I got it this last week and i loved it! 

"I love waking up everyday with a great purpose to be fulfilled..."

Date: Mon, Oct 7, 2013 at 7:23 AM

Hello family,

Dad went hunting! That is awesome! Did they get anything good? This last week was really crazy here in Sousa, I actually only worked three days in my area and I will be traveling again today at 1 PM to Natal. Lots of traveling and lots of work to be done but we are staying busy and the work is rolling along. Thanks for checking into the license for me. 

Conference was awesome. I really loved how they focused on missionary work. I agree with President Monson that it was one of the best conferences I have seen. I think almost all of the speakers cited Preach My Gospel and talked about how the members can be more involved. The members really felt inspired here and I could see a desire to work more. We had a meeting with the district presidency and they talked about ways we can work together to rescue some of the people who have fallen away and baptized those who have not yet accepted the Gospel. I love this work and I can't imagine anything better I could be doing right now in my life. I love waking up everyday with a great purpose to be fulfilled and big obstacles to overcome. Every day I meet new challenges which help me grow and become what the Lord wants me to be.

I was reading an awesome talk by Elder bednar about the atonement and how through the atonement we can become who the Lord wants us to be. I realize that as I  gain a greater understanding of the Atonement, my desire to do more and be better increases. I loved President Utchdorf's talk about how we should not be hypocrits and critize other leaders or members of  the church. It is so easy to find faults in other but usually we fail to find faults in ourselves. I also loved a talk from the preisthood session that said we need to humble ourselves, be obedient and listen to the Spirit if we want to have success in missionary work. It is so true and I have seen so many examples of this on my mission. I feel a desire to be more humble, obedient and willing to act on the promptings of the SPirit because I know if I do, i will be able to help more people become converted to the gospel.

Well I hope you all have a great week. I miss you and love you! Time is flying by way too fast, I can't believe I will be 21 here in less than a month! 

Love,

Elder Smith

"I almost don't like air conditioning anymore..."

Date: Sep 30, 2013 7:18 AM

Hello Family,

I am glad you got my box! Ya the juices are really tasty, i love the brown sugar candies too, they are so good! My tastes buds have really advanced Dad, you will be so proud of me when i get back! I eat mushrooms, cabbage, lettuce, onions, beets, and whatever you put on my plate! I feel like I really missed out on a lot of tasty foods over the years because of how picky i was. 

Nat seems like she is doing great now, she said she is playing volleyball and is loving seminary and everything. and thanks for the pictures of the kids, they look way cool in their costumes! I think we are going to have a halloween thing here at the church. 

Well it has been heating up here in Sousa! This was the hottest week it has been here, and there is no escape! I feel pretty used to it now though, I almost don't like air conditioning anymore because it is really cold! We had interviews with our mission president and a district conference this last week. They reorganized the leadership here of the district. I think it will be good for them here. We are pretty close to turning into a stake and so we just need to continue working hard so that our dream can become real!

Our mission president spoke at the conference and said that 50 years when he was baptized, there was only one small branch with 23 active members in the whole northeast of brasil. Now, there are over one hundred stakes and a temple in that same city where he was baptized and had that small branch. It is so great to see how the church can grow and how miracles really happen when we work hard and follow the promptings of the Spirit. These 100 stakes that were created are certainly due to lots of efforts of missionaries and members. 

We are teaching a young man who has changed his life completely. He went to church with his friend who was also an investigator and ever since that first day he has changed completely. after the first meeting that he went to he asked us,''how can i get baptized in this church?'' and ever since that day he has made huge changes in his life and very quickly. I know that anyone can change and follow the gospel if they will just be humble and have a desire.That desire I know comes from the Spirit and I have seen the Spirit work on this young man during these few weeks we have been teaching him.

Well we are working hard and constantly looking for more people to teach and convert. I love it here in Sousa

I love you all and hope you are having a great week.

Papá, voy a hablar mucho español contigo cuando yo llegue en casa por que quero hablar perfectamente. Estaba assistindo una pelicula de la iglesia en español e estaba compreendiendo cuase todo!

Hey Mom,

 Well my license expires on my birthday and so do you think you could check into that to see if you can renew it or get an extension for like 6 months until i get back?

Eu os amamos! Tchau for now!

Elder Smith

"There is no greater joy that I have felt in my life..."

Date: Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 7:23 AM

Dear Family,

Sounds like things are a little crazy there! I remember that I loved food during seminary. Even though I have the best mom in the world and always made me a travel breakfast in the morning, it was nice to eat even more when i got to seminary. Safeway bagels are the bomb. Also I liked to watch videos and do activities in groups. Also I liked to get up and move around a little bit because it is pretty hard to sit for an hour after you just woke up. For example we would do like a scavenger hunt in the chapel or play a basketball scripture mastery game or run around with wheelchairs in the gym. It is nice to do more physical activities because early in the morning it is hard to concentrate! These are something that I liked to do in seminary.

This last week was pretty hard for a lot of missionaries. Elder Paul and I are working well and we are seeing miracles. We are teaching a young man who has really impressed me this last week. He has so much desire to be baptized and to live the commandments. His past life was really different but he is showing a lot of desire to follow Jesus Christ and I just love teaching him and watching him grow. There is no greater joy that I have felt in my life than seeing others embrace and live the teaching of our Savior Jesus Christ. I love being a missionary. 

Well I am short on time but I just wanty to tell you a story of the other two missionaries that live with us. on saturday, they had a lady and her two kids at the church, the font filled and everyone had been interviewed and everything was ready for the baptism. her husband called and said that he would not let his wife and kids be baptized. it was really sad. the missionaries did everything they could so that they could be baptized but he wouldn't let them. so they left the church and continued to work hard doing contacts on the street and what not. during this time they were rudely rejected and called Satan and other horrible things. when we got home they were in the living room praying together and asking Heavenly Father to forgive these people because they didn't know what they were saying. it was a strong example to me and i know that we need to love everyone even if they don't love us.

Well I love you all and i hope you have a great week! Thanks for everything! My mission is awesome and I am very happy!

Love, Elder Smith

pictures...

Pic 1 The first week of our English class

Pic 2 Me with someone elses's glasses

Pic 3 Other pictures on the first day of the English class

Pic 4 Playing Frisbee on Pday

"We need to act and use our good intentions to bless the lives of others."

Date: Mon, Sep 16, 2013 at 7:21 AM

Hello Family! Well the deck is looking great! I am excited to see the finished product. do the stairs get in the way of the garage? do we still have a trampoline? Everything will be so different when i get back! You guys have done some great remodeling. But there are other missionaries who have parents in other countries now so i think i am grateful that not much has changed! 

This week we worked alot. We have been having a few dificulties in our mission and so everyone needs to work harder! I really love the missionaries that I get to work with and also the members in our area. We had some pretty cool investigators at church this last week. We are trying to work better with the members so that recent converts have friends and everything. It is important because if not, when the missionaries get transfered, usually the converts that don't have friends leave as well. We are also working with some less-actives. We visited a young woman who was less-active and she went to church! It was amazing. It seemed like all she needed was a visit. She looked really happy at church and we are going to continues to work with her and ask her to help more in the missionary work. I want her to serve a missoin! I have gained a strong testimony that there are alot of people who just need to know that they are missed at church and that we love them and want to see them at church. My mission president showed me a quotation that says something like if all men had actoins as good as their intention, they would be amazing men. Really there are alot of people with good hearts and good intentions, but we need to act or else these good intentions just stay in our hearts and no one is really blessed by this. We need to act and use our good intentions to bless the lives of others. 

Well I am really enjoying m mission and even though there are a lot of dificulties, it is exciting to be on a mission and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

I love you all and miss you so much!

-Elder Smith

Pic 1: We bought some fancy looking chapeu's!

Pic 2; Papagaio

"we are seeing lots of miracles in our area..."

The first two are a picture of our breakfast on staurday

and the other is a picture of my feet when i get home because my shoes are started to wear out and and dust enters my shoes

Date: Wed, Sep 11, 2013 at 7:33 AM

Hello family!

That's too bad to hear about Aunt Patsy. I hope the family is alright. 

Sounds like everything else is going good there in the states. I can't believe Natalie is already starting seminary! Well Mom, its kind of funny you said ''not to make you trunky'' because lots of people are starting to say trunky things in their emails to me! But I am scheduled to leave on the 16th and probably get home the 17th (of January). But... my mission president emailed me and said he was going to talk to the mission department to see if I could stay longer on my mission so I am not sure. If they don't let me stay longer I will be home the 17th   of January but if I stay longer I think it will be at the end of February. I will talk to my mission president to try and see if he has already talked to them or not so that I can let you guys know as soon as possible.

This week was transfers. I will be staying here in Sousa with Elder Paul! I am really excited about that because I love my area and my companion. Things are really going well with the branch and we have some really cool investigators we are working with. Quite a few missionaries in the zone got transferred so it will be a fun experience getting to know other missionaries and working with them.

This last sunday was great. I went to go an investigators house to go with them to church. As we were walking there they called me and said they wouldn't be able to go, but I felt like we should still go to their house. I really wanted them to go and was determined to get them to church! So we got there and one of them was sitting outside and said, oh my sister got home late and is really tired and went to go buy something at the market and i don't thnk we can go today. SO we waited a little and then his sister called and said she would be getting home soon and would be going to church! I was very excited! Well she got back and then she got ready and her boyfriend who is a member of the church was supposed to go to her house and pick her up but didn't go, so i stayed there waiting and after a little we started walking with her to meet up with her boyfirend who would talk them to church. Meanwhile,her brother who was also going to go went somewhere and I didn't know where he went! So we went with her and her byfriend and when we got to the church we called her brother and then he showed up! Well long story short, after about an hour and a half every one was at church! I was so excited and they really liked the meetings. I am grateful for the chance I had to watch them follow the commandments and go to church!

Well we are seeing lots of miracles in our area. We are also helping a really awesome family. he wife is going to go with us tomorrow to the courthouse to start the divorce so that she can remarry and be baptized! We are really ecited for them. Yesterday, we went there and she said they like fight over who gets to carry the Book of Mormon, She puts it in her purse and reads slowly because she doesn't read too great. They are a great exanple to me. They are loving some of the church films we have brought them I love seeing whole familys embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Also, saturday was a holiday so instead of having engilsh class we had a breakfast! We made pancakes and french toast and muffins and maple syrup! Lots of people liked it, some didn't! I think we made around 100 pancakes! It was funa nd it was a chance to shw some of our culture!

Well all is well here! I am staying healthy and eating lots of açaí! I love you all!

Have an awesome week!

My mission address is :

Missão Brasil Natal

Ave. Interventor Mario Camara No. 2066
Dix-Sept Rosado
Natal, RN
59062-600

"It is really awesome teaching families"

Date: Mon, Sep 2, 2013 at 7:13 AM

Hello!

Thanks for all the pictures this week! Looks like everyone is doing well and I really like Laurel's new car! I hope the trip goes well. 

This last week was pretty busy but we were able to get a lot done. Our branch seems to be getting more excited about the work and have more union every week! Our branch president taught with us this week a really cool family. They were a referall from another member. Sadly, they aren't married and the wife has been trying for 8 years to get a divorce so that she can re-marry! They are an awesome family though and I feel the Spirit really strong when we are at their house. They have two kids, one daughter who is 10 years old and another boy that is 7. He is really shy and hides behind the door when we go to their house! It is  really awesome teaching families though. I love seeing families embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We are trying new ideas to find new people to teach always. I am playing piano at the district conference that will be on the 30th of september. It is crazy how it is already september! I don't really like thinking about how close i am from coming home! It's a little scary! 

One of our recent converts bore his testimony yesterday! I must admit my heart sunk when I saw him going up to the pulpit because I was afraid he might say weird things because he is so new in the church but it was really an awesome testimony! He is a really humble man with a strong desire to serve Christ. He only has one pair of sandals and he has to have a cord on the sandals from not falling off his feet because he can hardly move his toes because he injured his leg. He is a strong example to me though and I love seeing his faith.

Well I will start trying to note things down that happen during the week because I forget alot of things when it comes to send email!

I hope you have an awesome week! I love you and and miss you so much!

Love,

Elder Smith

"my faith continues to grow..."

Date: Mon, Aug 26, 2013 at 7:31 AM

Hello Family!

Congratulations to Mel and Jake on the new baby! He looks great. Jake sent me a picture of the whole family together. It is crazy how fast their family is growing! At least I know that I will be home for the next neice or nephew that comes! I bet Jake is excited to have a boy in the family! Maybe he will be like me and have all sisters! 

Well this last week went well. I really felt like we fulfilled our purpose and that we are working hard each day. But I am seeing the promises of the Lord being fulfilled in my mission and my faith continues to grow. 

The end of the month is always a little crazy but it also a time when we see the most miracles. We are teaching an older man named Gilvan who really has been interested in the church. When we started, I kind of thought it would be really hard for him to gain a strong testimony of the church because he has already gone to so many churches and thinks all have authority and so on. Well we started teaching him and he likes to talk alot!!!! It was really hard to teach sometimes because he just wanted to talk and didn't let us say much! But we had patience and kept working with him. We read the beginning of 3 Nephi 27 with him and explained that the church of Christ needs to have His name and what not. We thought he didn't really pay attention but later in the week he told his nephew that to be the church of Jesus Christ, it needs to have His name! It was really awesome. He is progressing well and I really saw the power of the Book of Mormon. 

Our branch is really excited about missionary work and we have some great new ideas to involve the members more. The key to success in missionary work is the members! There is no better way to find new investigators and help investigators stay active in the church than working with members. Luckily we are having sucess with this and we hope that it continues.

Thanks for the pictures of Henry. Does he have a nickname yet? Do they call him Hank?

Well today the whole zone is getting together to have lunch and spent a few hours togther on p-day and maybe play football or ping pong, etc. It should be lots of fun. I will send some pictures next week!

I love you all and miss you alot! Tchau!

Love,

Elder Smith

" We are really seeing lots of miracles here in Sousa"

Date: Mon, Aug 19, 2013
Dear Fam,

This last week was great! We are really seeing lots of miracles here in Sousa. Our english class continues to go well and strong and the students are starting to become more curious about the church and what else we do there. Also, we are working alot with recent-converts to try and find more new people to teach which has been working really well for us. This week we are going to continue these efforts and also try to work more with less-actves to help reactivate them and also find more people to teach. I love this work.

Well I am writing you on tuesday beacuase yesterday we had a mission conference with Elder Claudio M. Costa from the quorum of the Seventy. He is also the Brazil Area President. It was such an awesome experience. He talked about some things we need to do to better our work here on the mission (planning better, teaching with the Spirit, etc.) It was really inspiring and I loved hearing his ideas on new things we can do her ein Sousa. The work is really being sped up and we need to react! We need to open up our minds and believe more and try new things. I have seen that we really have more potencial than we think. Not just missionaries but every child of God has so much potencial, sadly we limit this potencial because we don't believe enough in ourselves and the help we can receive and we need. 

Elder Costa ended the conference talking about his testimony, mainly his testimony of the Savior. It was the most powerful testimony of teh Savior that I have ever heard. It seemed like he actually was there when Christ was on the earth the way he described Him and His suffering. I now understand that the apostles and quorumn of the Seventy are truly special witnesses of Him. It was an amazing experience that I won't ever forget.

After the conference, they chose a few missionaries to have a personal interview with Elder Costa. Well, surprisingly I was one of them! We had an interview at the mission office. It wasn't too long. He just asked a few things about my family and things I learned and we talked a little about my mission. It was really a cool experience though to have an interview with a genral authority! 

Well the work is going great and I am happy. Time seems to fly by faster and faster as I feel like I am becoming busier and busier everyday. But every minute is rewarding and I know this is the work of the Lord.

Well I love you all and miss you guys a lot! I don't know how I got so lucky to have been born into the family I have but I am very grateful!

I miss you guys!

Love,

Elder Smith

"I love being a missionary"

Date: Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 7:09 AM

Hello Family!

Thanks for the letter! Sounds like your rafting trip will be great! I was talking to a missinoary who lives with me about our rafting trips because he lives in central oregon. I loved those rafting trips! atalie will like it too. Speaking of Natalie, I feel like I don't even know who she is anymore! Laureal sent me a picture of the family this week and the picture started loading and before it got done I had to close it because I was so weirded out about how Natalie has changed! She is like Mel's height and super skinny! She is running cross country? I still remember when we would go on vacations and she would walk super slow because she said her legs were hurting and now she is running cross country! Wow what a change!

I am glad everything is going well though. I miss you all! 

This week was really great! We went to Natal to a meeting we had. It was really awesome. I love President and Sister Soares. They are very inspirational. President Soares talked about how we need to have more faith so that we can convert more people. He said we need to change our vision and open up our minds! I really noticed a change in our zone after that meeting and everyone seems to have fire in the bones now! I am very excited to be here at this time! Also, we had a couple of students from our english class get baptized so that was an amazing experience. One of the young men's mom that was baptized and who we are also teaching, spoke at his baptism. She said that her son had gotten to know the church through the english class and that the church has changed their lives so much. She basically bore her testimony about how she is so grateful for the church in their lives now. It was a very strong experience. I love being a missionary. 

We also had quite a few trials this week. But my companion Elder Paul is great and when times get tough we just kind of have fun and laugh abut the things that are happening. I have really learned that the few trials we hav e are nothing to compared to the happiness and good times we have on the missoin. Looking back o my mission I really don't remember much the hard times, just the good times! We are moving forward here in Sousa with a positive atitude and a strong desire to work!

I was studying alot about faith this week after the training that President Soares gave us. One scripture I really like is Moroni 7:37. I learned that if we aren't seeing miracles in our mission or our lives it is because we don't have enough faith. Another scripture that I love is 2 Nephi 24:24. What we think, will happen. If we are negative about our area or copmanion or the members, we will have negative results. ut if we are positive about our area, companion, etc. and keep working with a positive atitude, we have positive results and miracles happen! I have seen many miracles in my mission and every day my faith continues to grow.

Well I miss you alot! Everything is going good here in Sousa, things are starting to heat up (literally)! Winter is about to end (it almost seems wrong calling it winter) and summer is just around the corner! I am actually getting used to the heat! I felt weird when I turned off the air conditioning one day at the church, it was probably only like  60 degrees but it was super cold! 

As far as the backpack, I think I would really like it! My bag that I have now I have already had it sown  like two times and relined and everything with new cloth and it has a big whole in it again already. I would really appreciate a new bag! Other than that, I guess just some candies is always fun, if you have any more little Book of Mormons too they are really a hot item here. and maybe some ties! I have given a lot away and they are kind of winding down! 

Well I love you all so much and miss you tons! Let me know if ther eis anything you want me to put in letters that I am not doing or types of experiences you would like to hear! And yes I got a letter from you mom like a month or so ago, did you send another one?

Love,

Elder Smith

P.S. Hey noodles, stop growing so fast!

Pic 1- All of us with our cool english class shirts we made!

Pic 2- Our zone meeting this last week!

"Why didn't you tell me about this Book before?!'

Date: Mon, Jul 15, 2013 at 6:45 AM

Hello family!

Thanks for all the great news! Sounds like you guys will have a few fun weeks ahead. Too bad a few people won't be able to go to the renion. Family reunions are the best! I am excited for Laurel aswell. 

Well Natalie sent me some pictures from EFY. I am feeling a little weird, I feel like I don't even know her anymore! I hardly recognized my own sister! It's a good thing she put a caption saying that it was her and Abby because if not I think I might have doubted! Ha just kidding but really she is way different! She looks like she has lost some weight, congratulations Nat! I am glad she had a great time at EFY. I loved EFY!

Well this week was pretty awesome, like always, some of the highest of highs and lowest of lows! But we had an awesome experience with a recent-convert, we went to teach him about missionary work and how now that he is a member he needed to help out and introduce his friends and family to the gospel. After leaving a little message with him we did what is called '' Noah's Ark '' where we ask people to say the names of people who they would save if they were Noah and only had like a few minutes to choose the people they loved most to be saved. Then we explain that the church is like the Ark and everyone needs to get in to be saved! So then we go and visit these epople. He put down the name of a friend called Flavio and I asked if we could go visit him and he said ok and so we walked to his house and started teaching him. We invited him to be baptized and he accepted our help. He explained to us how his life has changed because of alcohol and ciggarettes and his expressed his desire to change and get his old life back. That same day we passed by his house going to another appointment and he was sitted outside of his house reading the Book of Mormon. The next day we passed by and he had read like 20 chapters and started explaining everything to us with great detail. He really understands the Book well and his very excited to continue.

Also, while on splits, my companion went with a member to teach some family members of a member of the church who aren't members yet. They had just decided to go there and see if they maybe were interested even though we thought that they probably had already heard about the gospel. Well they went there and started explaining about the Book of Mormon to them. This member's mom is really catholic but on sunday I went to talk to the member about her mom like if she was going to go to church or not and she said that her mom will go next week! Her mom said to her, '' why didn't you tell me about this Book before?!'' The member said she had already tried explaining the church to her mom but it is just now that she is interested and has decided to investigate more. I have gained a really strong testimony that all of us have friends or maybe even family that would give the same response, '' why didn't you ever tell me about the Book of Mormon before?!" if we chose to share this message with others who haven't heard it or accepted it yet. There are so many people who are waited to hear about the gospel. If there weren't, Heavenly Father would be calling so many new missionaries like He is doing. We all need to be a little more diligent in sharing the gospel with others.

I am really enjoying the experiences I am having here on my mission. I know I was called to serve here in Sousa for a reason and that as I try hard to find out that reason and am obedient Heavenly Father will be able to use me as an instrument to bring this work to pass.

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week. I miss you tons! 

Natalie stop changing so fast! It's scaring me!

Love,

Elder Smith

"I really love my mission."

Date: Mon, Aug 5, 2013 at 7:27 AM

Hello Family!

Well That's exciting that Josh is home now! But is he okay? Is he having problems with his heart? I am very excited for him. He looks like he is doing great! Give him my email please I want to hear from him!

I am glad the reunion went well and all. Looks like it was a pretty good time. When is Mel going ot have her baby? Have they decided on a name yet? If she wants I will let her name him BIZIK. Its a pretty cool name. Here they use a lot of nicknames and so sometimes people ask me what my nick name was at home and they usually think it is pretty weird.

This last week Elder Paul came in to town to replace Elder Staheli. He is an awesome missionary just like Elder Staheli and I am really excited to work with him. We have some great plans and we are excited to get to work. It is a litle wierd because we both know we don't have too much time left on the mission but we really are trying to make the best of it and make every minute count!

Yesterday we had a couple of the students from our english class at church. It was really great to see them getting interested not only  in english but also the church as well. Our meetings were really spiritual. I think I only rememebr a few times that I felt the Spirit so strong in church meetings. I am really grateful to be serving here in Sousa. I just thought to myself yesterday how much I love these people and this culture. I really love my mission.

Well I love you all and hope you have a great week. I am doing well and I miss you guys!

Bye!

Love, 

Elder Smith

"We need to strive to have Christlike attributes"

Date: Wed, Jul 31, 2013 at 7:16 AM

Hello!

I'm glad to hear that everything went well with the graduation and all. I hope the reunion is going good! That's cool that Jeremy and Jonah are getting their eagles! How old are they now? 

Well this last week went pretty well. We had our patience tested alot and it was my last week with Elder Staheli. I really liked Elder Staheli and it was way fun being his companion. He left last night and I am staying with the other elders that live with us. My new companion is Elder Paul. We were in the MTC together so we are already great friends. He is from Washington too. He will probably get here around 11 tonight because Sousa is far from everything!

This last week our english class got even better. People are starting to ask about the church and are very interested in recieving our visits. We contacted a refferal from the english course yesterday. They are a really great family and they said they would go to church sunday with us. We are very excited.

This last week I learned alot about how we need to strive to have Christlike attributes. If we are like Christ,we will be able to live with Him again. ALso, if we are like Christ we will help others feel His love and want to be like Him. I love being a missionary and having this oppurtunity everyday to improve and try harder to be more like Him.

Well today is transfers so things are going to be a little busy but I am excited for the new missionaries to get here. Well I love you all and hope you have a great week! Drink some slurpees for me!

 Love, 

Elder Smith          

pic 1 - The people who make the English class happen!
pic 2 -  A cake we made to welcome the new president and his wife

pic 3 - Doing the helicopter at the talent show

                  

Rexburg is the dream city!

Date: Jul 22, 2013 8:47 AM

Hello!

Everyone is looking great! I am glad you all got to Rexburg safely. Rexburg is the dream city! Nat is still looking super old to me. I hope the graduation goes well.

Well this last week was one of the best on my mission so far. 

First of all, the district president here in Sousa gave us the idea to start an english class. He was an english teacher and has lots of materials and stuff and was willing to help. Well we talked to our branch missin leader and he helped us organize some things and get the word out. We visited some schools to invite students and people signed up through facebook. Well Saturday we had our first class. Until now, all the enlgish classes I have taught have just been like 15 people or less. Well saturday we had around 150 people in the cultural hall wanting to learn english from us! There are all very excited. We are going to divide the classes by their skill levels and it is going to be legit. Next week will be the last chance for people to join. It is a 24 week course and there are some really great people there. I am excited to teach them all english! The members are there as well and will invite the people to church and to learn more about the gospel. We are doing lots of fun activities to find new people and help integrate them with the members. Saturday night we had a talent show. Elder Staheli, a young man and I did the helicopter thing Cort taught me. It was a hit! The members stated shouting, de novo, de novo, de novo! (Again, again, again!) My neck is still hurting but it was definitely worth it.

Also, we have this awesome recent convert who really showed alot of faith. We went to visit him this last week and we noticed a whole new person. His house had a bunch of alcoholic drink bottles and his appearance was a little scragly. This last tuesday when Elder Staheli went to visit him with another missinoary (we were on companion exchanges) he had cleaned his house and cut his hair and shaved and everything! I hardly even recognized him! Where there used to be a bunch of drink bottles, he now has a bible, The Book of Mormon and church pamphlets. It was miraculous. And the great thing of all, is that ever since the first time I went to his house to start teaching him, (we were also on splits that day) he never drank or smoked again. He completely left his old life behind him to follow Christ. It was amazing. He is already well integrated with the ward and the members. Also this week, we taught him about the Sabbath day and taught him that we don't work on sundays. He has been struggling to find work and so we promised him, that he would find a job if he would tell his boss that he can't work sundays and only accept a job that allows him to do that. The very next morning at 8 AM, a man knocked on his dorr and said he had work for him to do. He told him that he would accept but that he can't work on sundays. The boss said that he too doesn't work on sundays and that he wouldn't need to work on sundays. It was a miracle.

I love being a missionary of Jesus Christ. I have lately been trying to lose the habit of saying that I am a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and instead just saying, I am a missionary of Jesus Christ. 

Well I love you all! I will try to send pictures next week!

Love,

Elder Smith

"I love having a name-tag with the Saviors name..."

Date: Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 7:20 AM

Como é que vocês estão?

Well this week I met our new mission president! He is so great. He was the manager of church maintanence or something here in Brasil and Sister Soares is a psychaiatrist. (wow my spelling skill has taken a turn for the worst) They are super nice people and I can tell they really have a love for us and for missionary work. They both are a little lost because they just got here and hardly know anything about our mission. But I am excited. We now have to do 140 contacts everyweek while reaching the other standard of excellence goals we had. It is exhausting but fun and I love working!

This last week we saw miracles. We have an investigator who literally let go of all the things he was doing wrong and had a strong desire to be better. We taught him the word of wisdom and the law of chastity on monday and that was the last day he had problems with any of those things. I was him becoming happier and happier each day that he was living the gospel of Jesus Christ more fully and I am excited to see the rest of his progress. 

Sadly we had quite a few investigators who got sick this last sunday and so not too many investigators went ot church. Our musicians we are teaching had to play in two shows saturday night and didn't get home until like 7 in the morning and so things didn't work out well. But we are excited for this upcoming week. We can't let distractoins get us down because this is the Lord's work and we need to always be ready to be His instruents here in Sousa! The work of the Lord is truly hastening. I can feel it so much as a missionary. The memebrs are getting more excited and I feel a greater urgency to talk to everyone I see about the restored Gospel I love having a name-tag with the Saviors name and being able to share my testimony that He lives and His church is here on the earth today. I feel like all we have to do as missionaries is be good examples of Christ and speak the truth. Sure people will mock you and say things but that's okay. At least we are doing our part! 

Well I love you all! Have a great week! 

Sorry I ran out of time and didn't even realize!

MIss you all!

-Elder Smith

My new address is:

Missão Brasil Natal

Ave. Interventor Mario Camara No. 2066
Dix-Sept Rosado
Natal, RN
59062-600

Happy fourth of July week!

Date: Mon, Jul 1, 2013 at 7:31 AM

Happy fourth of July week!

Thanks for all the letters. The picture of Kadyn and Mary was really cool. It sounds like they are at the MTC at a pretty exciting time! Our new mission president got here saturday and tommorrow Me and my companion are going to Natal to meet himand his wife! I am way excited. I am sure they are just filled with ''fire in the bones'' after their trainings with the apostles this last week. It is truly a great time to be a missionary.

We have seen some amazing miracles in our area this week. We really didn't get to spend a full day of work in our area until thursday because of companion exchanges and showing new areas to new missionaries but still we were able to get alot of work done. One less-active introduced us to a few of his friends who are really awesome. They are both musicians and they play in a band It was so cool because on sunday, we have a goal to always have at least 3 investigators at sacrament meeting. We were frantically trying to get people to go to  church and it just seemed like no one would go. We walked with a guy named adriano to church and then we contniued to search for people! Well Sacrament meeting started and I was pretty sad. fter I played the sacrament hymn though I looked in the congregation and these two musicians had gotten to church and were there in the congregation. I got so happy! Really I never thought I could feel so happy to see people at church! They are really awesome and we are going to continue working with them and their families.

We are teaching a guy about 28 years old and we went to his house and had a mini-lesson with him. We talked to him about hte Book of Mormon and it was really cool to see his desire to read and learn more. Then my companion asked if he had read and he said yes. Then he asked, did you ask if it was true? and he said yes. Then my companion asked, and what was the answer, and he said, ''the answer was yes''. I felt so good inside. He went to church sunday and has a baptismal date for this sunday.

I am really lovng my area, companion, and everything else about the mission. My companion and I get along really well and it really helps in the work! It1sjust too bad he will be leaving at the end of this month! But I have gained a really strong testimony that everything that happens to us is for our personal growth and well-being.

Our mission is split now! I am no longer a missionary in the João Pessoa mission. I am excited and I know that many great experiences still lie ahead. 

Today for P-Day our district is going to do a fourth of july picnic at the chapel and play some frisbee. I'm sureit won't be as fancy as the picnic's back home but that's alright! The fireworks have already started! although they don't have fireworks specially for the fourth of july, last night Brasil beat Spain 3-0 and the was sure a good number of fireworks going on. It was pretty funny because like right after the sacrament meeting we heard,  ''goooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll!'' and a few fireworks went off. It is crazy how when Brasil is playing, there is hardly anyone on the roads. Everyone is at home watching the game! I love the Brazilian culture. 

Well I love you all and miss you lots. Sounds like alot is going back home and I am excited for you all. Natalie will love EFY. I really am happy I went. She is growing up just way too fast!

Well I love you all! Have a great week!

Love,

Elder Smith

"I have a strong testimony about the elect."

Date: Jun 25, 2013 10:34 AM

Hello family,

Yes there has been lots of riots lately in Brasil. They thought it would just stay in the big cities but incredibly we see a little here too but it is not nearly as bad as it is in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. Here it is just like a few people on the streets with pickit signs. It is pretty sad sometimes to hear about these things, but I hope it will clear up soon. 

I am really liking my new area. We are very very busy but I really like being busy. I feel like many good things are happening and I am glad to be a part of it. Tell Mel Happy Birthday! I can't believe she is 30. It's weird to think I have a sister so old. I feel like time is moving back home but my life isn't changing much! I will be 21 this year though and that is pretty weird to think about as well.

This last week I was working with another Elder in the city and we starting talking to a guy that was sitting in like a park thing. After talking a little I realized he was drunk. He told us about his desire to stop drinking and started crying with us. This actually happens alot with us so it wasn't anything new. But I felt that we should get his address and go to his house when he was sober. So later in the week we went there and he accepted us really well. He hadn't forgotten much from the time we contacted him on the street and we set some goals with him including a baptismal date. He is excited and we are too. Sadly we switched areas this week with the sisters and so I won't continue working with him but I am excited to see him progress and I know he will succeed in trying to overcome his drinking habits. The Lord is preparing His children to hear the message of the Restoration. I have a strong testimony about the elect. I know they exist and they are truly being prepared by our Heavenly Father.

Well I hope you all have an awesome week. Thanks for the letters and everything. Thanks for the video Dad! I miss you all alot and I hope everything is going well.

love,

Elder Smith

P.S. Hey if you want anything from Brasil let me know because my companion is heading back at the beginning of August and so if you want anything (bracelets, rings, brazilian flavored juice packets) i can send them with him in a box and it will be very cheap to send. 

"it is stinking hot here!"

Date: Thu, Jun 20, 2013 at 10:56 AM

Hello family!

Sounds like you guys had an awesome week. Tell dad happy late fathers day I have a bunch of cards to send (inlcuding oneot dad for fathers day and one ot grandma thanking her for the package she sent me). I hope to get them in the mail this next week or so. Things have been crazy around here this last week.

On Friday, my mission President told me to pack my bags because I would be leaving in the morning to a city called Sousa. I left saturday morning and got here around 5 or so.It is way far from everything and it is stinking hot here. The other city I was in was pretty chilly (75 degrees). I am pretty sure I have changed because I was getting cold and I was studying with my suit jacket,socks and a blanket and it was 75 degrees Here it is much warmer. Luckily it is the winter. If not it would probably be around 120 degrees every day. 

We had normal transfer yesterday ( my transfer was out of the normal). My new companion is Elder Staheli from springville Utah. He is really awesome. We are both excited to get to work! This is his last transfer. Our area is really awesome and the members are super cool. We got a whole bunch of new missionaries here in the zone but I know it will be a fun transfer. Monday night, I had to go to the bus station around 1130 at night to drop off a missionary, then tuesday night we had two missionaries leave around 11 from the house, and last night we went to the bus station two times, the second time we stayed till around 1230 at night. Transfer here in this town are kind of crazy because it is so far but luckily almost everyone has gotten here safely, tonight there will be one more companionship getting here. Lots of new areas have been opening. I think 31 new missionaries got here this week. It is an exciting time to be serving a missionary for the Lord. I really feel the Lord is hastening His work and it is so fun being a part of it and am very excited for Kadyn and Mary.They will be great missionaries. I am excited for Becca too The more missionaries the better! Sunday there is going to be a world wild conference for missionaries and mission president's and President Monson is going to speak to us I am very excited to hear what he will say.

Well this week I had a cool experience with a family we are teaching. The husband has had some great experiences already praying and reading the Book of Mormon. During a leson, we asked him if he knew that Joseph Smtih was a prophet, he said he didn't know yet. Then we asked him if he knew that the Book of Mormon is true. He replied, '' I know that the Book of Mormon is true.'' right when he said that I got so happy! He has already stopped drinking coffee ad now he just is having trouble because he works on sundays.It is really hard to find work here and when you find it, it is hard to not be on sundays. He said he would talk to his boos though. I know that the Lord will help himfind a way to be able to keep the Sabbath Day holy and go to church with his family. His wife as well has a desire to be baptized.

Well I don't have too many experiences here yet. Things are going well. I feel like I get busier and busier with each transfer but that is okay. Time is flying by and I want to take advantage of every minute!

I am officialy a missionary in the Brasil Natal Mission now, well at least in 15 days when the mission opens I will be. But I won't be going back to João Pessoa. Now I can say I served two missions!

I had a funny experience this last week. Two fridays ago our leader came to our area to do an interview and while he was walking super quick on the road he tripped on this rope thing and fell pretty hard on his face. It was funny because when he got to the church He was kind of dirty and so that way funny. But the funnier part was last tuesday when he went on companion exchanges with me in my area and around 8:30 we went to an investigators house and while we were talking to them the wife that lives there said,'' hey aren't you that guy who fell down last week on the street?'' It was hilarious. I think he felt a little embarrassed but it was funny.

Thanks for all your support. I love you guys a lot! I hope everything goes well this week. I'll talk to you guys on monday Miss you

Love,

Elder Smith