Hello! So sorry for the lack of updates. It's been a crazy month with lots of changes for Elder Smith. Here is the second email I received from him. He tends to not be the best at writing emails so I've started to ask him direct questions and have him answer those. My questions will be in blue.
12/11/12 Email #2
Dear Jessica,
thanks for writing. Just know that I am going to be in Tampa next Monday, so
your letters after then will take longer to reach me. Just to let you know. I
will also be calling home sometime that day from the airport. be expecting a
call. Mom will be at work, so will you. I'll be writing her a little later
today to inform her on stuff.
1)
What is a typical day in the MTC like?
Wake at 6:30 get
ready, and breakfast is at 7:20. At about 8 I get study time for about 2 hours.
Then it's different everyday, but everyday consists of TRC ( when I teach
investigators), Classroom (6 hours a day, I also teach my teachers) Zone
Teaching (teaching other missionaries, and role playing), companion study,
personal study. Gym time. Lunch is at noon. dinner is at 5. That's a typical
day.
2)What time of the day do you receive mail? Do the DearElder
letters come at a different time?
All the mail is
received at 9:30 when we go back to residence before bed. So I have almost no
time to read it all. haha. I am only suppose to write on p-days, but i like to
write during personal time.
3) Where is your companion serving his mission and when does he
leave the MTC?
He is going to
the same place as me, on the same day. About half the guys in my district are
going to Tampa, and the other half is going to Little Rock Arkansas. When I
leave on Monday next week, all the Tampa Elders will be on the same flights.
4) Are you still for sure leaving the MTC on the 17th?
Yes the 17th is
the day!
5) You miss me most right?
Haha, I'm not
picking favorites. I miss everybody like crazy!!! It's the hardest part. Also
that today is probably the last time i get to go to the temple for 2 YEARS!!
But I promise you I have missed you on many occasions. Tell everyone I love and
miss them.
I will be
emailing mom a little later today, so be looking for that.
Love you! Elder
Smith :)
12/17/12 Fly to Tampa!
We received a phone call from Braden at 6:30 in the am! We loved it so much and it was rather emotional. He borrowed the phone of a member that lives in SLC but was headed home to Tampa for Christmas. So grateful for members all around the world that let missionaries use their technology to contact family. It is such a blessing! Braden was nervous to fly but happy to be out of the MTC. My mom sent a text to the guy who let Braden borrow his phone and asked if he could get a picture of Elder Smith. By the time he received it they had already boarded and he had lost Braden. However, a little miracle occurred and when they landed in Tampa, they ran into each other again and snapped this picture.
12/25/12 Christmas Day!
We were able to Skype with Elder Smith for an hour and a half. It was SOOOO much fun! We found out that he was moved to Palmetto, FL the day after he arrived with his new companion Elder Crowell from Bountiful. It is referred to as the ghetto of the mission. He was teaching a girl named Erica who was really close to baptism but they had just found out she'd had an abortion awhile back so that was going to slow the process down. We also learned about Braden's flight to Tampa. For those of you who don't know Elder Smith has a gene for motion sickness thanks to our dear mother. He also has Amblyopia. He had a miracle worker for an eye doctor when he was little who pretty much cured it. Braden can get along without glasses, but his eyes still see a little differently. Why am I telling you this? They make a dangerous combination. Braden hasn't flown since he was 18 months old... so this was pretty much his first time. We sent him some Dramamine before the flight but apparently he didn't take it soon enough. You know where this is going... :( So the flight began, he was sitting between two other Elders. Everyone on the plane began saying "This is the most turbulent flight I've ever been on." And the boy got super sick. The seat in front of him and his pants got the worst of it. The nice flight attendants took him to the back of the plane, tidied him up a bit, and gave him eight barf bags for his flight from Atlanta to Tampa. Thankfully he didn't need them! He slept that whole flight. What a way to start a mission!?!? Poor soul. Anywho, here are some pictures from our Skype conversation.
He made a funny face and none of us can remember why.
I snapped this pic a little late but it's still cute.
Look! He has a name tag and everything!
12/31/12 Email #3
Okay, let's see
here. Thank you for sending letters, they really help like no other. I will try
to do hand written letters, but it's kind of hard to find time. Thank you
though. It means a lot. Okay on to the questions,
1) List your investigators and tell us a little bit about
them and how close they are to becoming members of the church!
Oh boy, okay I will try.
Um. There is Matt who is 15. We are teaching his older brother Chris who is in
his twenties. They are looking pretty close to getting baptized. Chris should
be getting baptized on the 19th of January. We are also teaching Matt, and his
sister Jana who is 12. They don't have a date set yet, but hopefully soon. We
are teaching an old black lady named Miss Willy. She has a deaf daughter who
sat on me and hugged me...she is like 25. And heavy set. It was very awkward.
Miss Willy is like 60 to 70 years old. She says she believes, and reads the
Book of Mormon every night...but every time we pray she is still
always like Thank you Jesus to everything we see. And last time we asked her if
she read the Book of Mormon while we were gone she said she read to Jobe...which
is in the bible.(?) Um...so yeah. She is not reading we've decided. I told you
about Candy and Kendall on Skype. And there is a whole family of girls, The
Moore's. There mom is a member, but dad is not, and does not want them to get
baptized. Taylor is 16, Ashley is 14, Katelyn is 12, and Bubba is 8.(Katelyn
and Jana are great friends). Yeah, so I can't remember every soul, but I
promise to keep you up on people who are progressing well. :)
2) Anything new with Erica? Has she met with President
Summerhays yet?
Erica has decided that it just isn't for her right now. :( We
are still working with her the best we can, but last time we went over she
didn't answer, but she was home. Sooo, we'll see.
3) How was the remainder of your Christmas Day? Where did you
end up having dinner?
Haha, Christmas was hard.
I missed everyone all day. We just went and talked to a ton of people, and no
one signed up for dinner. I ended up have Mcdonald's with Matt and his fam that
night. Hahaha Which was actually okay, because I hadn't had it in a month.
I thoroughly enjoyed it actually.
4) Did you take some pictures of those awesome grown men on
tricycles? I would like to see that :)
Haha, I will try to take
some pictures, but they are all Gangster's, and I don't want to get shot. haha
5) What did
you think of Pres. & Sister Summerhays?
They were great. I had an awesome interview will Pres. The
night i came, so I really like them.
6) Who is your
companion? Where is he from? How long has he been out? Are
you liking him?
His name is Elder Crowell, He is from Bountiful, and his dad
is the CEO of the Joseph Smith Memorial building. Well his Step Dad is. But yeah, he's a great guy. Kind of weird
sometimes. He really likes his hair. He looks like James Dean. haha Bike week
is hard for the two of us. haha (Braden is also a little hair obsessed).
7) Did you go buy some cold cereal?
Not yet, haha. I bought some strawberry jam for toast though.
But i promise I'm planning on it. SOON!
8) Did you find out if your mission goes to
the Temple?
Yes, I did find out......we don't. And it doesn't help that my
Christmas present from Pres. and Sis. Summerhays was a temple recommend holder
that says Florida Tampa Mission on it. Not cool. :(
9) When is your first zone conference? All my missionary
pals always raved about those. Lots of great advice.
Probably in Feb. I think your friends lied. I just told the
other Elder's that you said it was awesome...and they laughed. haha. We'll see
on that. I'll let you know.
10) Please don't wear the suit you flew in until you get it dry
cleaned. That would be REALLY GROSS!
Luckily for this i was sitting on my Jacket, so that's clean,
and the suit had 2 pairs of pants, so I can still wear it. haha. I promise to
clean them Asap.
Wow 2 whole lines. Crazy. Well I love you all, and promise to
write soon!
Love, Elder Smith
The "2 Whole Lines" was in reference to our cross off chart... see almost two whole lines filled up!!!
That's all for now! Hope you all feel caught up! Remember to write him!
Love -Jess
