Hello everyone,
This week was great. In church yesterday I had the opportunity to sing with my companions and the branch mission leader. We sung "We thank thee o God for a Prophet". I sang the melody, Elder Kane sang the tenor, Elder Bendixsen and the branch mission leader, Brother Samson, sang the bass. It was powerful, I had the performance jitters for the first verse and I was finding it hard to sing because of that. By the time we were halfway through the second verse I found my footing and received answer to prayers and finished the song powerfully. In the Branch i'm serving in has a lot of members, though when sacrament meeting starts only 15 or so are present. But by the time sacrament meeting finishes there are about 60 members there. I hope if you are late to church there is a legit reason for it. Like Elder Holland said in his talk last conference "If the ox is in the mire every week you need to either sell the ox or fill the mire"
Bishop Kapema, from Lusaka, made some announcements concerning seminary. Something he said stood out to me and resonated within me. He said"The Why you are here now is more important than the What you are doing today." Dad would always talk about the 5 Whys. You can't ask why more than 5 times without going back to where you started or you can't ask anymore. Something you should ask yourself about the sacrament.
Talking about the normal activities that go on through my week. On Monday I do shopping. The place where I go shopping is called Shoprite or Pick'n'Pay. Both are located in town which is a 5 kwacha bus ride away. We catch a bus from our flat and it takes about 10 minutes to get to town. We do our shopping then catch a bus back from the station. The bus back to our flat is 7 kwacha 50 ngwee. The nice thing about this bus is it takes us right to our gate. I have tuned my ears to the word "Azungu" I can hear that word a mile away and I know they are talking about me or my companion. My eyes are tuned to see people staring at me. I spot it from everyone. I catch people staring at me by staring right back. I especially do it with kids and it gets to the point where the kids feel awkward about it and avoid my gaze. I don't think it help the fact that when I stare at kids I do it in the same way they stare at me. My ear is also tuned to the beep of my phone. My companion is not yet tuned to its sound. I always have to remind him about the fact that the phone beeped while it is still in his pocket.
I had a funny revelation that I should have had a long time ago. I was reading about dispensations and I found out that it's called a dispensation because a prophet dispenses the gospel. I had a laugh about the fact it's so obvious but I never got it until this week.
One challenge I faced recently is how I'm training a new missionary, we are on week 9 right now. I am also in a trio with Elder Bendixsen, who wasn't trained very well and is only 6 months on mission. They are also both only 18 years old. I feel like I'm training two people at the same time. I am getting burnt out. It's a small challenge. I learned how useful a 5-10 minute nap at the end of the day can be. Never underestimate the power of a power nap. Other challenges I'm facing is because of how young my companions are on mission I am consistently reminded about home. I still have 6 1/2 months left and the last thing I want to think about is home.
My goal right now is to start my journal entries without saying "Today" and instead have a phrase that talks about the highlight of my day.
I love you all,
Elder Smith
Pictures:
-Hard school name
-Book of Mormon Study
-Waiting for lunch
-Middle of the Day treat because I was very hungry
-Some groundnuts from an investigator family
-My planner(Each mark represents a transfer in my mission)
-My companion taking pictures without me knowing. (Elder Bendixsen is on the left)
From Mom - Sanity Check
Dear Sam,
Everyone in our family is really kind, so I don't think anyone has told you how tired and cranky I've been lately. Like, really cranky. As a result, this past week, I've said no to as many things as I could and tried to stay home. It turns out all I needed to do was catch up on some cleaning, do all the laundry and get in a nap or three. We were so busy I was behind on everything. I feel MUCH better now. There is certainly something to be said about identifying what is most important and using your energy for only those things. This was my discovery (again):
1) Our environment matters. When the house was tidy and we were eating nutritious food, everything was better.
2) Family time at the end of the day is so important. When we were too busy to talk or share what was going on in our lives, we started to feel disconnected, but when we could sit around the table and have a laugh or two, or have meaningful family prayer together, it made all the difference.
3) Early to bed and early to rise is the best bet. We were getting to bed so late and having a hard time getting up in the morning, everything else seemed to suffer.
4) If there seems to be no time for personal prayer and scripture study, then you are TOO BUSY! I really suffered when my personal study and connection with heaven slipped away.
Here were the most important events of the week:
1) Ben's Year End Concert (second to last one). We were at Hawrelak Park as usual. It was a chilly night but such great entertainment! The girls were dancing on the hill. The choir pitched in and bought Ben a tambourine as a going away grad present, I guess. Dad will post the videos.
2) Taking time to enjoy spring and green, growing things. The dug-out has thousands of tadpoles and a little family of ducks. I saw a little fluffy baby swimming by itself.
3) Working on the garage. It's now mostly insulated, thanks to the help of Josh and Ben.
4) The girls went to Devon Days with Emma Driessen and saw the fireworks and went to the fair. Me, Dad, Ben and Josh stayed home and watched a movie called Hacksaw Ridge. It's a WWII movie about a man who refused to touch a gun. He went to war to save lives instead of take lives. It was certainly a thinker. I can't remember any time where it was just us four and it was really nice. (I don't have a picture.)
5) Seminary grad. Ben is officially done Seminary and Abby achieved her goal of 100% attendance. (I wonder where she got that idea from 
).
And an extra picture of Stephanie, who has a month to go but no more room for growing a baby.
Her body is miraculously making room to create a new life.
Also, Ben's seminary grad photo at the temple:
And life is going on as usual. We ordered your sandals and we'll wait for them to arrive before we send your package. We'll let you know when we send it.
And the last thing I was going to say is that we love you and pray for you everyday. We're really proud of the choices you've made and the example you set for your family. Keep going. Keep striving. The Lord is on your side.
Love forever,
Mom
From Stephanie - Week 36: officially in month 9
This week starts the 9th month of being pregnant! The baby is the size of a bunch of kale or buzz lightyear from toy story apparently. :) She weighs about 6lbs and is about 18-19 inches long. Her growth is slowing down a bit, so that she doesn't get too big to come out! The bones on her skull aren't attached, so they are flexible and able to squeeze through the birth canal in about 4 weeks. Crazy, right?
I took a breast feeding class this week, and learned that the baby's stomach is the size of a marble the first day she is born, and by the third day after she's born it's about the size of an egg. I think it is so interesting to learn! It's amazing what women's bodies can do. Not only can my body grown a tiny human, I can feed the baby with my body too! I learned that when the baby drinks breast milk, her saliva tells my body what kind of nutrients and antibodies she needs, and creates the perfect milk just for her. How cool is that?
My body is feeling big and sore lately, and when she moves it doesn't always feel very good. She kept me up most of the night with all her movements the other day, and because she kept punching my bladder and making me have to get up to use the washroom. Even some of my maternity shirts are getting tight, even though I keep thinking there's no way I can get any bigger. Haha.
I hope she waits until Mom gets here to come, but I also hope she doesn't wait too long! In 6 weeks or so you guys will be here and can meet her!
Love you,
Steph
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