que benção!

 Wow, this week has been crazy! Yes, I got transferred, but not last week, TODAY. My first transfer. I am now in "Justinopolis". It’s a lot more ghetto than Venda Nova, but it’s in the same zone, so I am still in the same ward as the people living in Venda nova, but I will still miss being able to visit with them and I am also a little sad to leave Elder Barros. But I learned a trick in the United States. Whenever I’m feeling sad, I just stop being sad and be awesome instead, that’s right! My New companions name is Elder Pezi. He is really cool and I have a feeling that he will be an excellent trainer, and he speaks English so that will be helpful for when we are talking to drunks and I have no idea what they are saying. 

      Yes, there is A LOT of bread here, almost on every corner there is a bread store. And it is DELICIOUS!
      If you do decide to send me another package, I have a couple more ideas: Axe Hair Putty (Gel doesn’t hold here and it just makes my hair hard) My captain ZOOM tape, and my green tie in my room, the one I used for Home Coming. I've been scared to say this, but I accidentally left my green and Black striped tie in the MTC. I miss not having a green tie.
      New Record this week for letters.... 14! But I also went two weeks without letters. But yes, it’s still awesome. Thank you Coley, Britt (I got a little emotional reading your letter - I love you!), Jason (I was cracking up at the comic and self portrait) Nana and Pops (I hope that I have chicken Broccoli Casserole waiting for me when I get home.) and mom and dad! I loved all the letters. But what the heck is up with "Romey"? Nobody ever told me Coley and Jason got a new dog! What the heck! What kind of dog is it? I want to know some more. Also I can’t wait to see the changes made to the living room and the couches. You should send me pictures. Speaking of which, thank you Coley for the pictures. I carry around a photo album and show people pictures of my family, so I love receiving pictures that I can put in there. But mom, there is no way I can send pictures home on email. I don’t have a cable or a thumb drive to plug into the computers here. I do my emails through internet cafés and the computers don’t have slots for SD cards.
      I will continue to keep the little ones in my prayers
      I also forgot to send out birthday wishes last week, so for what it’s worth, Happy Birthday to Spencer (I can’t believe he is already 10), Bradley and Brittany! Is Bradley planning on putting in his papers soon? Let me know, I want to guess on where he will go.
      I want to let Dan know that I am able to still rock the Kool-Aid Mustache. Unfortunately I discovered this at a member’s home. It was kinda funny but embarrassing too. Thank you Elder Smidt IX for your advice. I sent you another letter as kind of a continuation of my last letter, in case you are confused when you receive it.
      So my new companion is a fast walker. Let’s just say in a few weeks, when wearing my recreational clothes, I will be able to do a certain move quite well. For those of you that don’t know what I’m talking about, watch Nacho Libre.
      My last couple days in Brazil I saw a few interesting things, one of them being "Black Magic" and the other being Toucan Sam. Yes I saw Toucan Sam in a tree, but I couldn’t get him to talk to me. I think it’s because he knew I had Lucky Charms in my Back Pack and He knows they are more magically delicious than Fruit Loops. So I threw a rock at him. For the black magic, I saw two men standing over a burning shirt, one wearing all white, shoes, pants, shirt, tie, it was all white, and the other was wearing a paisley shirt down to his knees with paisley pants also- he was smoking a pipe. All of a sudden the shirt they were burning exploded and they simply walked away without saying anything. I asked Elder Barros what was going on and he simply just said "Black Magic". I was confused so I just threw a rock at them too.
      Alright, that’s all for now. I love you and miss you all!

Elder Smidt X

crazy...

Hello Mom and Dad,

       Thank you for the email! Yes, I had a chance to use missionties last week. And I will probably use it again this week. Thank you for sending me that information. You can continue forwarding the letters from Elders Jacobson, Wood, Smidt, and VanWagenen or send them through the mail, doesn't matter. Your companion in Portuguese is “Companheiro,” and my companions name is Elder Barros. He is pretty cool and we actually have a lot in common. He is always helping me learn the language which is good and he is a hard worker. He walks everywhere super fast, which means I'm always sweating, but I guess it’s a good thing since we can’t play sports. It’s a good way to get physical activity in my regimen. He is a great trainer though; he is also the District leader.

       Yes, I get to exercise in the mornings but some mornings I'm so tired, my "exercising" is pretty pathetic. I am getting used to waking up early, but it mostly depends on the previous day when it comes to how easy it is to get up in the mornings. On days where we walk for miles and miles, it’s extremely hard to wake up the next day; on easy days, it’s easy to wake up.

       I got my hair cut here for the first time last week, from a member. I was pretty scared, but it turned out good. So I just wanted to say, I finally used that little Jar of peanut butter I brought with me from home. I am trying to use it very sparingly because there is no Peanut Butter here in Brazil, which stinks, because I LOVE peanut butter. I'm saving the Peanut Butter Brittany gave me for my birthday. Speaking of which, you wanted some birthday ideas? Well, I have a couple :) I would LOVE to have some "Seasoning from Heck". I really miss that stuff, and I have been craving it lately. Also, I don't have anything Oregon related here, and I miss that stuff too. You mentioned that you could put some money in my account instead. That would be pretty dang cool too. There are some really cool things here that I would like but I'm not able to buy because of lack of money. They also have a really delicious snack here that I have fallen in love with. I really don't care, one or the other, I'm totally OK with :)

       So it has been raining here every day for the past week. I love it! I am really glad my backpack came with a cover or else my scriptures would probably be ruined. In case you send this out, I want to say Thank you to Uncle Tim and Aunt Janet. I am so lucky to have that kind of family support, Thank you so much!!!

       I might be changing areas tomorrow even though transfers aren't until next week. Long story short, my companion had a little quarrel with a member in our ward so our mission president decided its best if he changed areas, which is probably good for him because he has been here for about 5 months, but I don't know if I will be changing as well. I hope not. I'm just starting to get used to everything here, but it seems that that is how the church often works. Once you start to get comfortable, they change things. It’s been a crazy week!

       

Alright, Love you guys!

Elder Smidt X

Charity...

Hello!!!

So I just wanted to first let Brittany know that Baby in Portuguese is simply, Bebe. Nothing special, just pronounced "Beh-Beh", sorry it’s not anything cool. But if you want to call something cute that is small, you can say "Bonitinha" "Boh-Knee-Chee-nia" just an idea.

A few more things I forgot to mention last week, there is music everywhere here! If I could relate it to anything, it would probably be down-town Boise, on a weekend night in the summer. Everyone is walking around in shorts and tank tops or no shirts, loud music is playing everywhere, and everyone is in a good mood (most of the time). Also, there are dogs everywhere, it’s interesting, when people don't want their dogs anymore, they simply just abandon them on the streets. It’s really sad actually seeing all these wandering dogs. And there is no such thing as a Dog pound here so yeah, there are a lot of dogs roaming the streets of Laredo.

I totally know exactly what Elder Jacobson is talking about involving the buses. It is Crazy. The best way to get on a bus is to just crowd surf your way on.

Probably the most interesting thing about me to other people, would be my eyes. It’s not very often here you see someone with black hair and blue eyes. Some people think it’s cool, others are freaked out by it.

Last week I had a run in with a crazy lady. Apparently during our first lesson, she had a revelation that when I was a child, I had an evil spirit enter my body, and I needed to fast fervently and ask god to deliver me from this spirit. Is this true mom and dad, did I have an evil spirit take over my body when I was younger? :)

So also this last week, I met my first very difficult investigator. This man knows A LOT about the bible. He has a lot of scriptures memorized and I felt like he was only trying to prove us wrong the whole time we were there. It was extremely frustrating as a missionary because, we want to TEACH, not argue. It’s impossible to teach and progress without the spirit, and the spirit does not dwell in contentious atmospheres. The words of Mickey, the Trainer came to my head saying, "He doesn't just wanna beat ya, He wants to HUMILIATE YA!!" How better this visit would have been if there was peace.

My advice for everybody this week is to have Charity, or "the pure love of Christ." One Scripture that I love is 1st Corinthians 13:4-8

"Charity suffereth long and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never faileth..."

You don't need to do anything grand to have Charity; you don't need to put your life on the line to help somebody out. Charity starts with something small. You never know when a "Good Afternoon", or a "How are you?" or even a simple smile could turn someone’s day around; and maybe even better, how it could turn your day around.

The other day while walking up a hill, I noticed an older man in a wheel chair struggling to make his way up this steep incline. I walked over to him and simply asked, "Where are you headed?" Then I proceeded to push him up the hill until we arrived at his destination.

Again, the ultimate example of Charity is Jesus the Christ. Our Savior, who fell to his knees, facing more pains and afflictions than imaginable, so much to the point where he, the Only Begotten, the Perfect Man, asked God if there was another way. But he continued, and he did this to help us up that hill. If the scripture that I love is about "Charity" and Jesus was the perfect example of charity, then in turn, this scripture describes Jesus Christ as well. Look at this scripture again but this time, insert the name, "Jesus" for the word "Charity".

"Jesus suffereth long and is kind; Jesus envieth not; Jesus vaunteth not himself, He is not puffed up, Doth not behave himself unseemly, seeketh not His own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Jesus never faileth..."

Again, have Charity. Open a door for somebody and smile! You never know what kind of a difference you will make on someone; I also know that it will make a difference in your life. My quote for this week is from Gordon B. Hinckley:

"Speak out with words of love and peace, appreciation and respect."

I love you all and hope you have a fantastic week. Heck, I know you will have a fantastic week!

Elder Smidt X

Prefontaine...

Dear Mom and Dad,

That’s really cool to hear about what you heard from President Degn, he is an awesome man. I have a picture with his wife, him and I. I also have some pictures of me with the president of my mission here in Belo. I really want to send them home, but I can’t without a flashdrive. By the way, I sent home the cassette tape last week instead of a letter. I spoke the Baptismal Ordinance onto it, but I recorded that a couple weeks ago, and my accent then was horrible.  My accent is still horrible but not as bad as it was when I recorded that. Oh well. Anyways, when you get that tape, please don’t record over the first ten minutes of it, the first ten minutes of it contains talks from the prophets that have brought me much inspiration during the mission. I would really like to be able to continue to listen to those helpful words from time to time. I can’t wait to hear from you guys though!

So I am sorry I haven’t done more explaining about my mission, it’s not that I think of it as a chore, it’s just I don’t pay much attention into providing details, its a Smidt trait, huh Dad? I'll explain in this email, but that will mean that I won’t be able to write an email home to everyone else, unless you think everyone else will want to read this too. I’ll let you decide :)

I live on a hill, in a green house. Every house has concrete walls surrounding it with a metal door; our metal door STINKS, every day I have to wrestle with it to get it closed. We have a little patio within the concrete walls and this patio is the roof of another house right below us, as our house is on a hill. Our house is green, with makes me happy because green is my favorite color. One of our neighbors is an awesome member who often assists us during the day when we are teaching. His wife isn’t a member but she still makes lunch for us often.

We have a little visitor in our bathroom every night, a little gecko. He is so stinkin fast! I always try to catch him, but he is like speedy Gonzales, and he jumps good too. We are allowed to eat lunches at members homes, but we are not allowed to take a dinner break, WORK! WORK WORK! No stopping! Its great therapy for getting a full night sleep. And a great weight loss program.

There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t sweat because it’s so hot and hills are everywhere. These hills aren’t like the foothills in Star, they are very steep. My shins hurt at the end of everyday because we have to walk very fast to fit in all our appointments, and walking very fast down steep hills destroys my shins.

It is interesting how much of an influence America has here. There are more songs played that are American Pop songs than Brazilian songs, they watch American movies too. All their video games that they play are in English, so a lot of times, they don’t know what to do in games and I’ve had to explain a few parts to some of the Brazilians here to help them understand what to do. Don’t worry, I'm not breaking the rules and playing the games, only explaining to them. On most street corners, there are little huts that sell pirated movies and games, frozen Go-Gurts, or smoothies. Nothing is cheap here except for Movies, games, and fruit. Unfortunately the only thing out of those I can buy is fruit. Money is VERY slim here.

Because the area is so big, we often have to take a bus to make it to our destinations. The buses are crazy! If I could compare the driving here to anything, it would be a combination of "Fast and Furious" and "Italian Job". Small cars, very fast, lots of tire skidding sounds. It’s really nuts, if you guys ever do come here, we are only taking a bus places, never a taxi, I took a taxi yesterday to a zone conference, and it was one of the most scary experiences of my life. Speaking of which, yesterday was awesome! I got to see the guys from my district in the CTM. I showed up 30 min late, and after the meeting they all came up to me and told my how worried they were when I didn’t show up, in fear that I had gone home. One of my good friends from the CTM said he started thinking about going home himself when he thought that I had gone home. Whether this is really true or not, it makes me feel good knowing that my very good friends that I have made so far care about me that much. I loved being in their district and having the awesome opportunity to be their leader. I miss them a lot and we aren’t allowed to write them I just found out, which will kinda be hard, but oh well.

One great blessing is that I’m starting to really see my mustache coming along. I prayed that I would work as hard as I could and try to help everyone I could, if I could be blessed with a Prefontaine (sorry if I spelt that wrong) mustache after my Mission. I’m starting to reap the rewards.

Could you guys find out what I have to do to send letters to you guys from mission ties? In the CTM I would just bring an envelope to them with dads email address on it and they would send my letters to you with that email address. Also when they send letters to me, the return address says "your family". So, I don’t know who to address my letters to, because the mission ties office is in the cookie store. Also, do I put a separate envelope inside the envelope I send to them with your email address? Please find this out for me and next week I will start sending mail again though mission ties, because it’s much cheaper.

If you don’t send this letter out, could you tell Tiff thank you for her letter, I was so happy to see those pictures. Especially the one with KJ-- that practically made my month! I only had time to read Tiffys letter out of my 11! (new record) before I left to email. I’m still waiting for your package. I got the Quad Set though! It’s BEAUTIFUL! So beautiful, I almost don’t want to use it. I love it. I’m so excited to start marking my favorite scriptures in it.

Alright, I gotta go! I love you guys so much!

Elder Smidt X

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

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