Sam's Mission To Zambia Blog: September 9, 2019

From Sam's Mission President and Wife - Return Home Travel

Hello Brother and Sister Smith,

Greetings from Lusaka, Zambia.

Elder Smith will be returning from his mission in the Zambia Lusaka Mission on Thursday, December 17^th.

His flight itinerary is attached.

We want to confirm someone will be there to greet him and take him to be released.

Thank you so much for sending us this wonderful elder! We will miss this great young man.

Please reply so we know you have received this.

Warm regards,

President and Sister Whiting

From Mom:

Thank you, Brother and Sister Whiting!

Most definitely we will be at the airport to pick up our son. His return home will be a joyous occasion.

(Also, we are appreciating the Facebook page. Thanks for that!)

Jen (and Chad) Smith

Reply

We are sure enjoying having your son help us in the office. He is a great missionary.
Fully committed to serving the Lord in whatever he is asked to do. He is a great blessing to our whole mission.

Thanks for sharing him with us!

President and Sister Whiting

From Sam - Nameless faces become fast friends

Hello Everyone,

This week was amazingly crazy. There was an MLC(Missionary Leadership Council) that lasted a day and a half. I'm also working in the mission office pretty much every morning except for Saturday. But this weekend we also had Stake Conference in Lusaka which means two things. 1st, I'm going to be super busy worrying about other missionaries and also we did a pilot run of busing to the stake center for the first time with all the missionaries in the Matero District. and 2nd, I got to meet with all of my favorite members from the wards I have served. This Stake Conference all the missionaries were also asked to sing two special numbers. Called to Serve and If You Could Hie to Kolob. It was a great experience. One thing my mission president said while speaking was "For the Gospel of Jesus Christ to bless your life the Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to become your life" That was something that really stood out to me because heaven is not just a place we go to but it's more of a person we become. The best part of the conference was being able to meet all by best friends from Libala ward as well as Woodlands ward. Some of those I know have received mission calls, others I've seen be baptized and are soon preparing to go on a mission, there was also someone named Milan that I found when I was with Elder Hansen then was baptized after I was transferred out of that area. He was there and is a super powerful member and holder of the Melchizedek priesthood. It was so amazing to see those that I love still be strong in the gospel.
The joy of the gospel comes from the people that you're with.

I also received my long awaited package. It got to me still intact and full of Life Saver mints. I got a lot of letters from lots of my favorite people. My cousins and uncles. In a few of the letters I received questions, of which I will list and answer:

1) What are somethings your looking forward to doing when I got home? A) I'm looking forward to spending time with Josh and Ben. I only had 5 hours with Josh before I left for my mission. I'm looking forward to have a washing machine. I spent an hour and a half washing my clothes this morning. the biggest thing is spending time with family.

2) What is your favorite scripture? A) My number one favorite scripture is found in D&C 45:3-5, then it's Alma 37:6-7, then Helaman 5:12.

3)What foods do you eat? A) I eat something called Nshima. It's a maize meal food that I eat with relishes like beans, chicken, soup and my favorite, Visashi. I also eat rice, Shawarma and potatos.

4)What is my favorite color, animal, thing, person and country? A) Color: Sun Yellow. Animal: Monkey. Thing: Food. Person: (This is an easy one) Jesus Christ. Country: Ever since I've been in Zambia and Malawi I've taken a lot of pride in being Canadian, so my favorite country is Canada.

5) Do you have a mustache? A) No. (At least since my companion lets me use his razor) Just kidding.

I love you all,
-Elder Smith

Pictures:
-Zambian hut
-The two Canadians in the mission
- Canadian Tag
- My package
-The difference between my old sandals and my new sandals
- Me eating "Dads Cookies" for breakfast
- Traveling to the stake center with the district

- Pictures from Stake Cenference (One of them is my companion, then me, my trainee Elder Kane and his trainee, Elder Smith)

Pictures:

-Zambian hut