Dear Sam,
My most exciting news of the week is finally running a half marathon with Shannon and Stephanie. We trained for four months and I really appreciate how my body slowly responded to the steady exercise to be able to go for 21.1 km. We're pretty sore, but we did it! We arrived the night before in the dark and drove to the beginning of the race the next morning also in the dark so it was really fun to run in a beautiful new environment as the sun came up and got brighter and brighter. Plus, it's really warm here compared to home. Dad drove me to the airport in the snow and it's +23°C in St.George. I know it's even hotter in Lilongwe but I'm enjoying the sun here. We're in for a long winter at home. It was so cold in September and October that everyone is already sick of winter even before it started for real.
It's fun to be with her and Tyler.
Also, Halloween happened this week! Mia and Abby convinced Ben and Cody to go trick-or-treating with them one last time and they got the haul of their lifetime. The big boys decided it was a good year to end on. I overheard this conversation:
Abby: "Cody, you HAVE to come with us! It's tradition!"
Cody: "... but I have facial hair!"
Hahaha. The boys were good sports and went with them even though they were feeling too old. Pretty fun.
We also ramped up our family scripture study this week, starting at 6:30 a.m. and we're looking forward to a bit more time on Sundays for discussion. We had a good one about how study should change a person in some way ... hopefully to improve, progress and be a better person through our relationship with heavenly sources. I like the new direction the Church is going.
I have a testimony that this Church is led by a living prophet. I read what the critics say and then I compare it to what I actually hear him say and I have to admit that I'm not willing to give up the peace of the Gospel regardless of what ANYONE says. I know that God hears us when we pray and watches over us in everything that we do. This brings me such comfort. I had a cousin tell me that I've decieved myself into thinking these things and I would sometimes wonder if I imagined all my experiences with the Spirit. As I age and get more life experience, the answer is a resounding "no." The Gospel of Jesus Christ is where peace and direction is found. I love it more and more as time goes on. It's a true path; a joyful path and a confidant one.
I love you! Have a good week!
Mom
From Dad - Winter's Coming
Hi Sam,
A quick comparison of the weather between you and us shows hot on your side and snow on ours :’) Surprise surprise :)
Normally Mom would be writing you today, but she’s off on an adventure running half marathon’s with Steph and Shannon in beautiful St. George (Update: Mom wrote you too 😊) . I took her down Friday to Calgary amidst a snow storm to catch a plane to Vancouver, then to Las Vegas, then to St. George with Steph. The next day they ran the race (22 km) and by all accounts it was a huge success. Mom ran it in 2h 32 min, Shannon ran it in 2h 2 min and Steph in 2h 40 min. So proud of them!
Here are a couple of video links from the race:
Halloween was this week and the haul was bigger than ever. Too much candy in the house for sure! Pretty creative costumes this year too!
Yesterday was a chill day with me and the kids. We read books, did some cleaning and stained the closet door for the back entrance. On Sunday, we had a regional conference for the North America Central region and were privileged to hear from the General RS President, Elder Holland and others. Good reminders on the importance of visiting our ministering families, gathering Israel and keeping the Sabbath day holy. Classic story of a grand father who when farming chose not to work on Sunday while his neighbor did and work up Monday morning to find his crops spared from a frost that hit his neighbor’s right next door. The neighbor said to his grandfather “I’ve seen some frost do strange things, but I’ve never seen it follow a fence line”. Good reminder to honor the Sabbath day and trust that Heavenly Father will honor us.
I’m grateful for all the many blessings the Lord has given me, most of all for my family.
Have a great week, Sam. Love you lots.
Dad.
From Sam - Out With the Old, In With the New
Hello Everyone!
This week flew by so fast. Time is crazy on a mission. The biggest thing that happened this week was Elder Ellsworth(My MTC mate) was transferred to Blantyre, and Elder Funaki(The one he trained) is training a new missionary from Idaho. It's really fun to have a new missionary around. It reminds my of when I was trained. Except i'm not the new one, I'm the old one in his sight.The fun part is i'm his zone leader and every new missionary will always remember his first zone leader.
In terms of missionary work this week was amazing. We are starting to find serious people and some of them are even finding us. It's been great.
This week was also hard for me, It was almost like I hit a wall. I realized that missionary work had to become a conscious choice every hour of every day. Missionary work is called work for a reason. It's not easy, but it is worth it. This morning I was playing soccer with the other missionaries and those who know me know that I am a 10 second sprinter. I'm faster then everyone for the first 10 seconds, then I am dead tired. So, for the first 10 or so seconds of the game I was so tired. I had to choose to continue. The thought came into my head: "Only the weak stop when they are tired". And I thought back to myself: "I'm not weak". So I kept going and it was so hard, but I did it. It made me think about my mission. Only the weak stop when they are tired. The blessings of doing things come when we "Endure it well" even when it's hard. To keep pushing forward in faith even though you may not know the outcome.
One fun thing that happened is while we were driving to buy bread one morning, my companion took a turn that would get us there faster. Just as we made the turn a police officer took of running from where he was sitting and stood in front of the truck and pulled us over. The worst thing was my companion forgot his wallet at the flat and when the officer asked for his licence he didn't have it. We were so close to home that he said he would go get it. But the officer said we had to go to the station to pay a fee. The thing is, my companion forgot his wallet at the flat. The officer got into the vehicle and told us to drive to the station. When he got in we got a wall of the smell of beer. He was super drunk. And me and E.Williams both have experience with how to deal with drunk people. We were really nice to him and started driving to the flat and while we drove we talked to him about how what we did wasn't bad because there was no sign that said we couldn't. When we got to the flat we got his wallet and payed the officer 2000 Malawian Kwacha, then drove him back to where he stopped us then went to get bread like we planned from the beginning.
This was my Drunk experience of the week.
One cool thing my companion said that was so inspired by the spirit during a training meeting was: "You can't learn in Pride". One thing I know is that what he said is true. Pride is the great stumbling block for all mankind. It takes a daily, conscious effort to keep pride from coming into your life. And sometimes it takes the pride of another person for you to realize how much pride is in your life. Humility is not weak, Humility is Power because only the humble have God on their side.
I love you all,
-Elder Smith
Pictures:
-Malawian spelling
-Teensy-weensy lizard
-Beautiful sunset
-Squad dinner
-Chalk board attacked my missionaries
-Funny sign in the area
-Squad pile
Pictures with E.Ellsworth before he left
Funny kid videos
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