One February down...

Hello Family and Friends!

       So first off, thank you Nana and Pops for the card. I´m so grateful for the support that I get from the family!

       I forgot to talk about this in my last email, but yes, my first baptism here followed through. It was a really neat experience, even though I didn’t get to perform the ordination, I still felt extremely blessed to be able to witness something that special. But just this past Sunday, I was able to perform a Baptism and it was such an awesome experience. I see a lot of potential in that 11 year old boy that I baptized. He says he wants to go on a mission, he reads his book of Mormon everyday, and marks his favorite scriptures, it just feels good to know that there is change happening in his life for the better and that I was able to play a small role by being the Lords instrument. Really neat. Of course though, I pulled a classic "Jesse", and messed up my first time in saying the Ordinance; took me a second try to get it right in Portuguese :)

       So I had my first two encounters with drunk people this week. There are drunk people everywhere here and it’s actually pretty funny, but this week I had to actually interact with two. Its kinda sad because they are both new investigators and we are trying to teach them that drinking is not the right thing to do, and it’s very disappointing to see them drunk. But the first interaction was with a lady last Friday. We went to the couple’s house and they weren’t home. The man living above her (his house is built on hers) said she was drunk. So we decided we would try to find her. We left the house and started walking down the street and finally found her and her husband, who is a member walking down the street towards us. He was helping her walk because she was REALLY drunk. But anyways, we started walking with them and talking with them when all of the sudden the lady passed out in her husband's arms. Then she started to have like a seizure attack, it was freaky. I had no idea what to do in that situation. Eventually we got her back to her home.

      The other encounter I had was with an investigator we came in contact with two days ago. Yesterday he was drunk, and is was so hard for me not to laugh, because of the way he was talking and trying to keep his balance. I kept having to turn my face away when I started to laugh. But this encounter was also scary because he started to get angry and was pointing at me and saying things that I had no idea what he was saying. While he was pointing at me his hand was so close, every time he wobbled because he was drunk, his finger poked my face. I was scared he was going to attack me. Later my companion explained that he was just talking about how Americans thought they were the head of Zion and now they don’t think so anymore. I don’t know, it didn’t really make a lot of sense.

      Anyways, sorry this letter isn’t very spiritual. I just wanted to kinda let you know what was happening this past week. Love you all!

Elder Smidt X

Another One Bites The Dust...

22-2-12

Hello Everyone!

    Well, I officially finished my first week in the field, maybe the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I do just want to say thank-you to anyone that prayed for me. I have felt so much comfort this week during some of my trials, that I will be eternally grateful for. I’m definitely starting to see some changes in my language as well as my skin color. I now have proof that I have been wearing the watch that the Howards gave me :)

    I will definitely keep Jack and Olivia in my prayers. I’ve always known that praying is extremely important, but just this past week, I’ve really started to understand and appreciate the significance that the role of prayer can play in our lives. George B. Tullidge said, "Prayer is the key that unlocks every door of difficulty. But a key is not to be used only once a day, it is to be used every time we come to a locked door." For me this is a direct literal quote; every door I come to, I pray. I heard about some troubles back home, I will be sure to pray. 

    For those that care, yes I have a Brazilian companion; he is very nice and very helpful. He knows a little English which is very helpful. I have such a bad accent! I don’t think I will ever be like Troy Ball, but thank you for sending me that.

    The houses are interesting, small apartments in the states are considered large houses here. You don’t flush toilet paper; you throw it away in the toilet next to you. It is hot here during the days, but it gets cold at night (60-70 Degrees) Lots of lizards here, it’s fun. And as far as letters go, we see our zone leader once a week, and if he picked up mail from the mission office, GREAT! If not, we have to wait till the next week we see him to know if we got mail or not. I’m also not allowed to read letters on days other than P-day. Mom, I can’t receive mail at our house, I can only receive mail through the mission office, :( sorry, but you'll have to tell MissionTies that.

Alright, I love and miss you all!

Elder Smidt X


P.S. Thank you Elder Smidt IX!!!

Wow...

Dear Family,

It has been a very hard past couple of days. So much is going on I feel like my head is going to explode. I arrived in Belo safely. I met my mission president and had an interview with him yesterday, then last night me and the rest of the missionaries that arrived in Belo spent the night at the assistants apartment. It was SUCH a culture shock. So different than anything I have ever experienced. This morning after little sleep we met our trainers and I think I am going to enjoy mine. The only problem is I don’t understand ANYTHING he says to me. I thought I knew enough Portuguese to carry on conversations, but I couldn’t have been more wrong, I feel so unprepared. Everyone talks so much faster here. My zone in Belo is Pampulho, we have a pretty nice house, (compared to other houses in Brazil) I hope it doesn’t take too long for me to start understanding and talking here, it makes me so nervous.

Don’t worry about the CDs mom. My mission president has a lot of very strict rules. One of them being we can only listen to the Tabernacle Choir. Another one is, we can’t play any sports, whatsoever. But I’m not worried about the rules, because I could use all the help from the spirit and that comes from obedience.

I’m sorry if this email sounds like a complaint, I just needed to share my thoughts with somebody. I will go forward with a good attitude. "We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude." -Thomas S. Monson.

I love and miss you all. Please, if it’s not too much of a hassle, pray for me. I apparently have a baptism this Sunday and I could use all the help possible to be able to teach the people here. Thank you so much!

Love,

Elder Smidt X

Where's Jesse?

Since this is a panoramic picture, it would only fit on the blog as this size.  Can you spot Elder Smidt?  He's about the third row down from the top and about the 9th Elder from the right.  Great to see his smiling face!!!  All the Missionaries at the MTC.  What a good looking bunch!  

2 more weeks at the MTC...

2-1-12

Dear Family and Friends,

      I hope everyone has had a good week. Thank you so much for the letters Nana, Tiff, Coley, Jocelynn, the Brunsons, Jason, Mom, and Dad. I am going to try to respond to what I have time for, but if I'm not able to respond to all of them, I'm really sorry. I promise, once I leave the MTC I’ll respond more, it’s just my last couple weeks here are pretty hectic. But I love you all, and that comic was hilarious! I can’t wait for the next issue Jason. That is awesome that Terik is going to Argentina. So awesome, but I was kind of hoping for his sake he would get called to the states. Being here I'm starting to see a lot of pros to serving in the states, but he will tear it up in Argentina! Mom, wait on the CDs, I'd rather you send them to my mission, than here. If you send them here and they arrive after I leave, they will just send them back to you.

      I sure have had a good week. I had the great opportunity to hear from two apostles. It was so cool. Before they talked, they wanted to shake everyone’s hand. My journal entry that night went as follows:

      "Today was freakin' amazing! So I got to listen to Elder Anderson and Elder Ballard talk to us missionaries and what they had to say really struck home. But before they spoke, they wanted to shake everyone’s hands. It was such a neat experience. It wasn't the feeling a giddy school girl gets when in the presence of Justin Bieber, it was totally different. When I shook the hands of these great men, I felt a feeling of peace and true happiness emanating from them. I couldn't help but absorb some of this goodness. It was so awesome, I just felt at peace. It’s too hard to explain through words, it can only be experienced..."

     I felt so lucky to be able to be a part of that.

     So I'm starting to get nervous. I'm down to my last two weeks here before I head out to the field. On our last week here, we go proselyting twice, and I'm kinda freaked out about that.

     So the other day my Branch President came up to me, talking about me, saying, "This is the worst district leader I ever had." So I said, "Well maybe it’s time I get a better duty!" so they made me A.P. for my last couple of weeks here. I've come to the conclusion that leadership positions here in the MTC are nothing compared to what is done in the field. But I will still serve and do what I can!

     One more thing, Dad, you should listen to the Brazil National Anthem. We sing it every Sunday. It’s very fast paced and has a happy beat to it, very different from our Anthem. Mom, if you ever see refills for my fancy scripture marker, I could use them. I'm blazin' through my scriptures here in the MTC and doing a lot of marking. Just something to think about. I love you all!!

Love,

Elder Smidt X