Rain storms...

1-25-12

How is everyone doing today? Thank you to the Howard's for those drawings and letter. Those pictures are awesome. Once I leave here, I'm hanging them up in my room.

Mom, I would like it if you could send me a copy of that CD, also music from "Vocal point" or "Inside out Capella" is allowed, so if you have songs from them that you could send that would be awesome. I wish I had a bigger music collection on my ipod.

I don't really have much to write about, all the weeks here are almost exactly the same. One thing that I’ve been meaning to share for a while now is that for the past three weeks it has been rain and lightning storms here. But the storms can come and go so fast. One moment you will be studying in the sun then seriously, five minutes later, rain is pouring everywhere, sometimes these only last about 10 minutes but it’s crazy how heavy the rain is every time. But my absolute favorite part about these storms is the lightning. The lightning here is the most powerful lightning I have ever seen and heard, and it’s so close, it literally rattles all the windows of the MTC. One time during devotional a group of ten guys and ten girls were singing the EFY medley and a lightning storm was brewing up just as they started singing. By the time it got to the men's part, the loudness of the thunder was at its peak. And for the choir to be heard, they had to lift up their hearts and their voices to try to drown out the distracting noises of the sounds like a battle raging outside. But it sounded so good and powerful, to hear all the young men sing with all their souls. And that's exactly what missionaries are going to have to face every day. We will be fighting with Satan every day trying to bring people to the rod. He will try to distract us with all his might, but if we will lift up our hearts and lift up our voices and rejoice in the gospel, we can withstand anything that is thrown at us. And that goes for everybody.

I also heard that Brazil is just simply having a lot more rain than usual right now, and Belo Horizonte is experiencing floods. Hearing this actually made me excited to go there because even though I don’t know the language, service is a universal language, and that is something I can do.

Later today I will be listening to Elder Anderson and Elder Ballard; hopefully I will get the opportunity to shake their hands too. That would be pretty cool. I love you all!

Sincerely,

Elder Smidt X

Walking in the dark...

1-18-12

Dear Family and Friends,

How is everyone doing? Thank you so much for the Doritos, they were delicious. Also, thank you for sending me that news article and the picture of the Howard family. It was also good to see Jon Carrick again. Also, it was really nice to receive that letter from Brittany. That's awesome to hear that Lucy is doing so good and how much she is growing. I was also pretty surprised to read about how calm that bunny is. I wish I could see this in person! :) I hope all is well with the families in Colorado; also, my wishes go out to Arianne during her first week in Ghana. She'll do great things there! Somebody needs to tell J-Baum that I'm waiting for my monthly issue of "Jess-tice". By the way, mom, did you ever get my letter about the three pics I wanted? Could you also send me Elder Vanwagenen’s mailing address? Thanks!

So something very cool happened this week. Well I’ll first back up a little bit.

Boyd K. Packer once talked about how he didn't see a solution for a problem he was having. He asked about it and one of the other apostles told him that his problem was that he was trying to see the end from the beginning, and he mentioned a scripture from Ether 12:6 saying "... Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

When I first got here, I felt as if I was taking steps into darkness. I had no idea how I was going to learn Portuguese, how I was going to teach with the spirit and how I was even going to earn the trust of the Brazilians here. But I soon realized that I wanted to see the end from the beginning. From then on I learned to walk with faith, know that it’s always darkest just before dawn. As I have started walking in this dark path in faith, I’ve started to learn to enjoy the journey and I'm starting to see the light. I'm finally starting to testify with the spirit rather than just some memorized phrases. I got teary eyed last time I bore my testimony to a mock investigator and after my companion and I finished our lesson and prayed, the mock investigator was crying, the room was full of the spirit and it was such an awesome experience. 

Anytime you guys feel like there isn't any light in the direction you are going, but it’s the right choice, continue on with perseverance and faith. I know that you will start to see the light. "Dispute not because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith."

I love you guys!

Sincerely,

Elder Smidt X

Letter home...

1-11-12

Hello Family and Friends,

So this week I definitely faced a personal trial. I accidentally deleted all of my photos off my camera. That was the angriest I have been in a long time. Some of you are probably thinking, "How could anyone possibly delete all their photos on their camera by accident?" Well, the answer is simple. All you have to do is let a curious idiot named Elder Smidt get his hands on a camera and, Walla! THEY'RE GONE! It’s better than magic! I hated myself for doing that. Luckily some other elders here have the same photos that I deleted, so I will at least kind of have something.

Again, sorry I can’t read the emails from this past week, but I did read the emails from last time, and I loved all of them. I really liked all that info you gave me about the "yoke" mom. I was able to also read the first paragraph of an email from dad from this week. I couldn't stop laughing. Let’s just say, I see good things coming in the future. Thank you so much for your letters mom and dad. When all you do is work and feel stress all the time, it’s so nice to hear from my parents. Also, thank you Heidi, Spencer and Jayden for the letters. I started using the jump rope Coley and Jason gave me, and I love it. It’s a lot harder than I remember, but it’s really nice to work out with. Thank you for sending me those emails from Elders Smidt, Jacobson, and Van Wagenen.

We did our first T.R.C. this last weekend, and it went really good (We’ve been lucky because our district got out of T.R.C. for three weeks due to various reasons). But recently my companion and I have been trying to teach what the investigator needs to hear, and it’s kinda hard to teach that way when your Portuguese knowledge is very little; but we try regardless.

It was awesome to hear that the Ducks won the Rose Bowl. I love my ducks.

Right before I came in the computer room to send my email, I picked up my three "mission ties" letters from Nana and Pops, Mom, and Dad. I haven't gotten the opportunity to read them yet, but thank you for those. I did actually read the last sentence in dads, and I agree, I do like the way this is going.

So, I've been craving some Raffi music, do think that is church appropriate? I almost just need some change around here. I cannot WAIT to get out to the field. Elder Smidt IX was right; being in the MTC is like really rich cake, it is SO good, but I can only handle so much. At least I'm just now getting over the hill, which is nice.

I'm sorry I don’t have more to write about, not much really changes around here, so it’s hard to find new things to write about. Anyways, I love you all!

Love,

Elder Smidt X

Happy New Year!

1-4-12

Hello family and friends,

      I want to let you all know that since I’m short on time, I won’t be reading my emails during my emailing time. I will be taking pictures of every email and them reading them later on my free time. So for every email I get, it will be a week until I respond. I’m sorry, but this way I have more time to email.

      Happy Birthday Coley!!! Sorry I’m late in saying that. I’ve been so preoccupied I totally forgot, but I still love you :) 

New Years was very good here, way crazy and a little wicked, but still fun. The whole city was lit up with fireworks, it was insane. We also saw from our room window, a fight break out in the street. It was pretty funny because it was two girls kicking one man’s trash... so yeah, I had a good new years. It’s been kind of a sad week though, because the Brazilians on our floor that we all loved, left for the field. I hope I get the chance to be companions with some of them.

    

      On a happier note though, our district probably had the coolest idea ever. Let’s just say, people refer to us as the avengers now,(even though I’m batman and he has nothing to do with the avengers). Each person in our district took a role of a super hero for a night and we battled the Brazilians who each took on super villain names. It was probably the coolest thing I’ve done since I’ve been here. I made myself a pretty nifty little bat-a-rang thingy... who knows when I’ll need to use it on these Lamanites. For those of you who may have thought I was being serious, I was totally joking. I wouldn’t ever do that, and I don’t refer to the Brazilians here as Lamanites.... sometimes.

      Thank you so much, Tiffany, KJ, Britt, and Mom for your letters, they mean a lot to me. I sent each of you a more detailed letter as far as thanking goes, but I forgot to say to Brittany, that the noise putty she sent me was probably one of the best and worst gifts ever. Its great because of how funny it is and endless joy it brings our entire district; bad because we can’t stop playing with it, even when we use the restrooms.... But thank you again everyone, I love getting stuff from you all!

      We got some new roommates that are actually Brazilian and they are really nice. Hopefully they will help me learn the language better.

     I’m starting to get the hang of teaching lessons but I feel like I’ve hit another barrier in the language. It can be really frustrating at times. Thank you all so much for your prayers. I keep saying this, and I will keep saying this forever, I have the best family and friends EVER! 

    I’m glad to see that I have some emails in my inbox from missionaries. Those Elders are Spiritual giants in my life. I often think to myself what they would do in certain situations I am in. So thank you for forwarding those emails to me.

     I think my body has finally adjusted to the humidity here. I didn’t even realize it, but some new missionaries came today, and they were all sweating and I felt totally normal, so that’s good I guess.

     Ok! That’s it! I love you all! And remember, if you ever think to yourself, "I wonder how Elder Smidt is doing?" please write me! If you want to...

      Sincerely,

          Elder Smidt X