I always forget...

Family and friends,

      I have made the greatest scripture cover ever. The front is all right and what not, but it’s what I put on the back side that really makes it magical. Go Oregon. I'll be spreading the love now in all parts of Brazil. In case you’re wondering, I bought a new cheap, 5 dollar bible in some store (same version that the missionaries use) because my quad is getting worn out and I would like to keep it forever to show my kids and my grandkids, and I don’t want to completely wear it out. I will still be using it for Sundays and for conferences, but for now I will use this cheap bible and this cheap scripture case that I made. 

      That’s a bummer to hear about the mail strike that’s going on here. So, I’ve been thinking about some pictures that I would like to have, to show the people a little about who I am and what I was like before the mission. Right now I have about 300 pics of Lucy and Russell, which I love, but it doesn’t really give me the chance to show people pictures of who I am. Don’t misunderstand me, I LOVE seeing the pictures of Lucy and Russell, I would just like a few other pics if possible. Maybe some family pics from Tiff and Dan and the kids, from Heidi too and some pictures of activities that you guys have been doing, for example, dads birthday. Do we have any pictures of us playing in the snow? That would be cool to show the people. Or Silverwood would be really cool too. PLEASE oh please send me a photo with one of the giant pizzas that we have bought in the past. It could be a pizza from Cabelli's or from Garbonzos, but I NEED to show some Brazilians how pizza is REALLY done. Please send me the photos of all of us dancing before I left at nanas house. Also the pic of all the girls in our family holding me up. I gave away my pic with you guys at Idaho Falls to a family that I baptized and I would really like to have it again for my photo album. Please send me the two photos of me playing games with the kids, (one with me wearing a tie-dye shirt in the living room, and one of me with the kids in the garage playing games during Brittany’s wedding). I’m not sure who has those photos but I want them to show people the kind of things I did before the mission. Also, do we have any triathlon pics? That one pic with everyone in wet suits that did the half iron man that we set up?

        The other missionaries that are in my last area baptized a man and his three kids yesterday, but the thing is, is that I taught them all the lessons before I was transferred. But the day of the baptism, one of the kids told the dad that he wanted me to baptize him. So I quickly hopped in a white jump suit and I conquered! The only bummer is, I didn’t have my camera to take a pic. 

        In my area, since its small and far from the Belo Horizonte, there are zone leaders only and 3 other companionships. But its kinda cool because the Zone Leaders trust me to do all of the baptismal interviews for them and they usually have at least one baptism every other week. It’s a cool experience to do the interviews, because it is during that time that the people really open up and you get to hear all their doubts and questions that they have concerning the baptism. During that time, I just have to rely on the guidance of the Spirit to teach them and get them excited about the baptism. I've interviewed a lot of people during my time here in Montes Claros, but only one person wasn’t baptized after my interview with them.

        Well, the president will be coming into town this week to teach us and then do interviews, but afterwards he will be taking us all to an “all you can eat” grill again. Mmmm, let’s see how much I can eat this time.

        Well, I will be voting but I’m just waiting for that link, please send it to me soon!

        My memory card is a SD card only, not a mini, not a micro, just SD. Thanks for sending me a new one.

        I love you and miss you all! I can’t wait to see all the kids again, its only been a little over 9 months and they have changed completely. 

        God Speed!

Elder Smidt X

"It's so dang hot... Milk was a bad choice." -Ron Burgundy

17-9-12

Dear Family and friends! 

Thank you so much for the letters! Tiff, bowling does exist here in Brazil. I've only seen it once though, but you said something that struck a perfect chord with me; heck yes I'll go bowling with you guys at that new bowling alley in Meridian. That sounds sweet, I can’t wait. Nana, please oh PLEASE organize a family reunion. Those are my favorite kind of vacations, just because our family is sooo cool. To come home to a family reunion would be the coolest thing ever. Also Tiffy, I got kinda sad reading that KJ had a little bit of a tough time during his first few days in his new school because I remember when we moved to Eagle and I didn't know ANYBODY going into 8th grade, and all the kids in 8th grade were mean. It took me a while to finally find acceptance. But the good thing is how strong the church is in that area. So, finding friends with my same values was easier. In Oregon I didn't really know what it meant to have good quality friends because they just didn't exist at my school. But when we moved to Idaho, as I started to make friends first in our young men's and scouting groups, then later on in Seminary, and then I became the anchorman for our school which really got my name out there since I always acted crazy, and we made funny videos to play in the school-- at that point I had to start choosing selectively who I wanted to be my close friends, instead of just looking for any kind of acceptance. I made lifelong friends that changed my life forever. The key is just to be patient and to have friends that will help lift you up. 

So mom, about that package that you sent me, I know that you said that it was a special package because it didn't just have food. But you have to understand, the packages of food to me ARE special! I miss American food so much! I'm just gaining weight here off of endless rice and beans.

Also, I already asked the person that is living in the house where I left my hymn book and tie about the things I left, and he said that when he got there and saw all the stuff that I left he just threw it all away. I don't believe it though. I mean, c'mon, who would throw away a sweet tie like that and a perfectly good hymn book? Lies. 

Mom, can you do me a favor and send me a recipe on how to make homemade donuts and the frosting? Donuts don't exist here and I want to show my companion the many blessings of this life that he has been missing out on. Its like living without the fullness of the gospel, there are just so many unanswered questions... Also, how do you hard boil eggs without an Egg Timer? I don't know when to take out the eggs. And how do you know if a watermelon is good or not? I would like to buy a watermelon. Mom, you would be jealous. This week I drank real passion fruit juice, and ate real passion fruit ice cream. It was soooooo stinking good.

It’s starting to get so hot here, super hot. I am back to sweating all day every day, and tossing and turning in damp sheets at night because of my sweat. 

So what’s new... Oh I found Bacon Ramen- yeah, like I'm NOT going to be eating that all day.

Happy Birthday Jack (late) and Mom (early)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have been meaning to tell Jack happy birthday for a while now, but I just kept forgetting. Sorry! I love that little guy. I can’t wait to play Mario with him when I get back. And mom, another year but don't look a thing like it. But it’s clear that your wisdom grows every year. You know that I love you more that words can express mom. I often still think about my last few minutes with you at the airport, how I was fine an hour before I boarded the plane, heck, even excited to be going out there. But when that hug came, I was just brought to tears thinking that that hug would be the last for two years, and the hugs from mothers are the best thing in the world. Now I am just trying to keep my promise that I made as I was walking away; that I will return with honor.

God Speed

Elder Smidt X

a few pics...

Elder Smidt X

Bowl of Chocolate pudding...

Well hello everybody!!

So I got transferred, but I’m loving my new area. I’m still in the zone, in the same district, even the same house. But we just changed boundaries. It would be like switching from Star 1st to Star 2nd ward. But I’m loving the new ward. We had a baptism this last Sunday and we plan on baptizing his whole family this next Sunday. It will be way sweet. 

I really don’t know what to write this week other than explain my pictures. Me and my companion found a cool lookout point in our new area and it is really beautiful. I took that opportunity to train and become the strongest fighter in Montes Claros, maybe the world. Also there is a photo of me and my comp in a DVD store. All dvd stores here are pirated movies. One photo is from my last night in my last area. I took a photo with a bunch of people that I got close to. I sent one photo of me with a group of kids that practically worshipped me. Every time I showed up at the house all the kids just started yelling "SMITCH!!!" I still haven’t grown up yet, that’s why the kids love me. But about my baptism, the other elders left me a possible investigator to be baptized. He had gone to the church once before which is a requirement to be baptized, but he was really doubtful about being baptized. The other Elders told me that he was really lazy and probably wouldn’t be baptized. Me and my companion decided that we would teach the whole family again, because there seemed to be a lot of unanswered questions with them. We taught them the first lesson again, and it was honestly the best that I have ever taught the first lesson before. After the lesson we made the invite to be baptized again for everyone in the family and they all said that they would, they all accepted firmly. From that point on, our investigator was on fire about the baptism, we got him baptized, and we will baptize the whole family (I hope) this next Sunday. We'll see, people here in Brazil are so off and on, it’s impossible to predict what will happen with them.

Dad, I trust you in your infinite wisdom about bikes to make that right decision for me. It’s impossible for me to really be able to make a firm decision without being able to see or try the bikes out myself, so I will just follow your sweet guidance. Let me just say a few things to help you in your quest to pick out the right bike for me. If you go the 29-er route its got to be a good racing bike, not just a big clunky mountain bike, and it’s got to involve green, a brighter green is more preferable. As for the rest, I trust you completely to make the right choices for me. I think 29-ers would be the best route as well because certainly I want to mountain bike after the mission.... every day! But I just don’t want a heavy mountain bike to race with and use for the ride across America. You know what to do. You are like Yoda, except you aren’t small, green... all in all, you're nothing like yoda, but still, you are wise about bikes.

I finally got a letter from my man Elder VanWagenen, which made my month! I thought that he had forgotten about me. Man I miss that guy. Also a letter from Jocelynn was way sweet. Thank you for all of the letters. I’m glad to hear that Bret got a job! Also, thank you Coley and Russ for the letters. 

I love you all!

God Speed!

Elder Smidt X

Churrasco!

 3-9-12

Well, thank you for all the emails. It’s interesting that it was declared officially that “caffeine” is not prohibited in the church. But something tells me that the judgments of members that don't drink caffeine for those that do, will still continue. I encourage everyone to read "The Miracle of Forgiveness". President Kimball really gets into the subject of judging others. It’s so good.

As for the tip about prayer, thank you, but I've already been living by that principle since my first month on the mission. I’ve discovered that asking for blessings is not like calling Domino's asking for a delicious, large, pepperoni pizza (I really want pizza right now) then just hanging up the phone waiting for it to arrive. Prayer is a conversation, and like any conversation, you explain the situations and why you are in need of some things. The other most important part that I've learned about prayer is that since it’s a conversation, don't you think the person on the other end of the line would like to speak as well? How many times do we call a good friend or a loved one, and just ask for a  few things, and without waiting for a response, hang up the phone? I would hope that nobody does this. Usually we allow the person on the other end of the phone to talk with us as well. It’s the same thing with prayer. How many times do we ask for things and quickly say amen and jump on our feet and get on with our day? Unfortunately, this is of normal occurrence. But I know that our loving Heavenly Father would like to communicate with us as well. He would like to share His endless love with us and comfort us in our day to day trials.

How can our Heavenly Father communicate with us? Heavenly Father is not limited in ways that he can share his thoughts with us, and no man has the authority to put limits on our Father, but I do know that one great way that he communicates with us, is through the blessing of the Holy Ghost. We see that in the bible, the fruits of the Holy Ghost are: love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. These are some (not all) of the feelings that we can feel when feeling the holy ghost. Its through feelings like these, that we can know when Heavenly Father is communicating with us. I encourage everyone to make prayers more meaningful by being more specific, but also by waiting after the prayer, while still on your knees, for feelings, communications with our Heavenly Father. I know that he would like to bless you with this feeling, but I know that in our crazy lives it can be hard sometimes to pay attention to feelings like this. If we would just wait and listen after our prayers, all of our testimonies would grow significantly.

Anyways, onto different news. The meat gods have spoken, and its sweet, sweet music... Today, I will be going to a real Brazilian Grill with the other missionaries, eating endless meat. I think I deserve a good meal. It’s been a while.

I am in need of Ties!! I was embarrassed to mention this. I am quite ashamed, but when I was transferred here from Paraíso because of an emergency, I accidentally left a few things behind in the house there because of the hurry I was in. Two of my most favorite things we left behind there; my hymn book in English with my name inscribed on it, and my most beautiful tie that I had from the Howard's. I am so sad that I left that tie behind. I am running out of good ties. I did see a photo of Jason wearing a beautiful baby blue and yellow tie and think he should send it to me. Also if you guys see cool ties send me some please. I don't like big wide ties, it reminds me of a clown or John Smidt.

Still waiting for a picture of our house! Get that done while the plants are still green! So I heard that some people here have been talking with Tiff on Facebook? Is that true or are they just Facebook stalking her?

Thank you for the email dad. I always look forward to your inspirational words that are strong like eagle powers. 

Love you all!

God Speed

Elder Smidt X

PS.

I forgot to send some photos, but here are a few. We went to the restaurant today, and it was soo good I literally couldn’t stop myself. I threw up afterwards I ate so much. I’m totally serious. Its bad when you don’t have self-control. I’ve never had that happen to me. But it was soooo good, a real Brazilian restaurant. Anyways, we are allowed to play board games so if you send another package, send me "uno" please! I love you.

--

Elder Smidt X