Dear Sam,
It's been a good week here at the homestead. We've enjoyed a new app called Marco Polo that shares video chats back and forth. It was fun when Mom and the girls were in St. George to get updates daily on how everyone was doing in video form. It's especially fun to watch Bowie grow up and get fatter every week!
This week Ben and Lindy went on a choir trip to Busby, AB for a retreat and intensive practice session to get their choir up to speed. It is a pretty serious choir. Ben's scheming how he can make it work to go on the choir Europe trip in the summer and still earn money for rent, food and mission savings.
We saw them off and went and did some shopping for Josh. He and Mom spent some time in a high quality shoe shop and bought some nice quality shoes. Good thing for your Mom or you'd all be wearing Walmart shoes forever :)
One insight I had this week about Mom and I's relationship. I'm always preaching and emphasizing "First things first" and how it is important to not sacrifice the meaningless for the meaningful. I don't always succeed but it is what I strive for. Mom is different. She is less about efficiency and more about people. For her, it is more about "first people first". Slowly over 27 years we've been learning how to leverage that into a great team work. I'm grateful for that slow steady progress that has grown into something wonderful.
I might have mentioned that I've been listening to a book called "Atomic Habits" by James Clear. It is an outstanding book that articulates the principle of small and simple things in every day language. I liked it so much, I bought the hard cover and want to read it with Mom and the girls. One of the analogies he speaks about in the book is the analogy of the ice cube. In a cold room, below freezing, an ice cube is placed on a table. The room is slowly heated up one degree at a time. E.g. starting at -15 C. Degree by degree it creeps up. At -10 the ice cube remains the same, then at -5... still the same, then -1.... still the same. Then amazingly it moves just one degree to 0 deg C and it starts to melt.
He compares this to our efforts to build up good habits, or on the flip side the effects of bad habits. At first, it seems like it isn't making a difference. Exercising for a week doesn't seem to make much different. Still can't do 5 pull ups! But over time, every repeated habit build up potential towards that melting point and what suddenly seems like overnight success is really a build up of daily routines and habits that lead to results, in time. Same with bad habits. Eating a chocolate bar or drinking a pop every day, or watching movies with undesirable content, at first doesn't seem to matter too much, but over time it shapes and molds our bodies, characters and thoughts and results in unfulfilled potential at best and misery and regret at worst. So here's to consistent habits, whether physical, mental or spiritual that may not seem to make a difference in the short term, but make all the difference in the long term.
Jared deVries talked in church today. He is heading to Portland, Oregon mission this week! Exciting for him. I was also really excited to see Sam Bates at church and to talk with him. I rejoiced to hear he is attending YSA and is preparing for a mission. Another really good talk in church today was given by our High Councilor brother Hill. He talked about the topic of "How can we be useful". He encouraged us to break out of our comfort zones, put down our screens, expand our circle of influence and to lift where we stand in building up the kingdom of God both with fellow members and with our friends and neighbors. I think we all want to be useful and make a difference in others lives.
Mom and the girls got back on Wednesday night and the girls have been busy cleaning out their room and taking over the boys rooms downstairs. painting, moving beds, dressers, toys, stuffies etc. Things are bit chaotic but will come together soon. It's fun watching the boys figure out living on their own. We had Mia and Ben's birthday's this week. Thursday morning we kept the breakfast in bed tradition alive for Mia, then went to Ben and Josh's place on Thursday night to make pizza and funeral potatoes (Ben's birthday meal request). Mia got a gallon of glue (to help make slime) and fabric paints. Ben got a popcorn popper and popcorn and bugger. Hard to believe Ben is 18 and can vote in the October election and Mia is now a full fledged teen ager!
This evening, Bishop Purnell held a fireside and fed the youth and their parents. Then we had a fireside on "Resilience". It was a good reminder and principle for the youth to understand. Life will always hit hard at some point and take us down. Our ability to get back up and learn from it is a measure of our resilience and will determine our level of happiness in the long run.
Life is good and full of challenges and the joy of overcoming them.
We love you lots, Sam. Here's some links to videos taken on Marco Polo this week!
https://drive.google.com/file/
https://drive.google.com/file/
https://drive.google.com/file/
https://drive.google.com/file/
https://drive.google.com/file/
https://drive.google.com/file/
https://drive.google.com/file/
Love Dad.
P.S. Looking into the Grant Macewan application, in order to get into the Bachelor of Science program which includes computers, you'll need to likely do some upgrading like Josh is this semester. Math, 2 sciences and English. are pre-requisites. I'll try and call and see how much the SAT helps but that is probably the route you'll have to start off on.
From Sam - Stepping Outside the Comfort Zone
Hello Everyone,
This week I fell out of my comfort zone. I'm working in the office as the mission secretary. Me and my companion have replaced the senior couple that used to do what I'm doing now. I'm in the office almost everyday. My responsibilities in the office are 1. Travel 2. Immigration and 3. Water and Electricity in Malawi. When the Jones were here it was like I was dipping my toe in the water to test it. I was sort of outside my comfort zone. They left to the States on Tuesday and from Tuesday to today I have realized that it is more work than I expected. I thought I was good until I was put behind the wheel and now I have to be the one driving. It was a little bumpy to start but now it's leveling out, at least until next week when 10 new missionaries arrive in this mission. As soon as the Jones left there was no one to support me and I fell out of my comfort zone. The cool thing about falling outside your comfort zone is that your comfort zone gets bigger so that the growth zone becomes your comfort zone. That's the importance of learning new things. Improvement and progression is one eternal round. Because I'm in the office I have been more member orientated now. I'm focusing on working with members and that has blessed my area so much. I have really been able to see how God is the one that is moving this work forward. I'm just here to provide support. He's the one doing the real work.
Sorry it's short, next week will be better. I love you all. The church of Jesus Christ has been restored and is true,
-Elder Smith
Pictures
-You'll have to figure these ones out because I'm out of time.
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