Week #22- The Area Book

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Hey!

That stinks that Derek's team lost. It seems like they're pretty good this year; when they lose it's still always a really close game. There is always next time. This was a good week. Elder Austin is a really cool guy and a really good missionary. We have got really busy this week. This week we spent some time organizing the area book which has seemed to be the reason we are getting a lot more busy. Doing this has really showed me how important the area book is. We have been going through the ward list and almost half of the people on it have moved, are less active, or are part member families. Yesterday, we found a couple part member families to start teaching, and that was just from going through the ward list. We still have 40 names of members we need to stop by. I'm pretty sure that will keep us busy. I've been learning a lot about how to work with those less active members and those part member families with Elder Austin. That's what he really likes to do is work with the members. It's really good that I'm learning this. I'm excited to see what happens this week. Yesterday for our Zone activity we went on a hike. It's been a long time since I've been on a mountain and outdoors like that. It was really nice. The mountains and hiking are a great stress reliever. Can you believe that the 49ers made it to the super bowl? I knew that right when I got on my mission they would make it. I hope they win! I'll be able to watch the game in two years; that's not that long. It's been a busy week, and I'm really excited for this week. Well, got to go. I hope you guys have a great week.

 

Love Elder Ryan Smith 

Week #21- Staying in Pomona

Monday, January 14, 2013

Hey Everybody!

Transfers are over, and I'm staying in Pomona at least one more transfer, but I did get a new companion. His name is Elder Austin. I've only been around him for about an hour but he seems really cool and really focused which is really good. Even though it was sad to leave Elder Nielsen, I'm excited to see what more I can learn from Elder Austin. That's the nice thing about changing is you can learn so much from different missionaries. This transfer will only be 5 weeks instead of 6 which stinks! This was a good week. We found some new investigators and taught some really good lessons. Hopefully, we can keep getting busier! It was a good week! The weather here is freezing or at least it feels cold. I thought I was going to go 2 years without a winter but that's not true. It's still cold just no snow. I don't know why it feels so cold, but I have to wear my sweater everywhere. I'm just happy I don't have to wear a coat-that would be horrible! Hopefully, Derek's team beats Firth-that would be good for them. Who is coaching the C-team this year? How was Tayler's trip? I'm glad to here everything is going good at home, and hopefully, Blake starts feeling better. I hope you all have a great week!

Love, Elder Ryan Smith 

Week #20- A New Year

Monday, January 7, 2013

Hey!

I'm glad to hear that everything is going good at home. Here in Pomona everything is still good. We get busier every week and everything seems to get a little easier every week which is really nice. This Saturday is transfers so I will find out if I stay in Pomona or if I leave. I really hope I stay at least one more. I really like Pomona, and this next transfer we have a few baptismal dates. I guess we will just have to wait and see. Nothing too interesting happened this week. We just taught and tried finding people to teach. Our lessons we had this week all went really well and we had good reactions by everyone we taught. They all invited us back which is a good sign. This week we knocked on a door and a born again Christian opened it, and he just started bashing our church and told us we were going to hell. It was super interesting! It's a good thing Elder Nielsen was there because I was about a minute away from punching him. He started pointing at me, trying to make me say their Christian prayer with him. I was super frustrated, and Elder Nielsen just said, "I hope you have a nice day," and walked away. I don't know how he did it. I was super mad. It took everything I had not to react or say anything. There is no point in trying to bash with him so I have learned that it's best just to get out of there before you do get upset. I feel super bad for that guy because he is so lost, and that experience also shows me how true our church really is. I am so blessed to have a testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel. I wish more people were more willing to listen to our message because it is so true. All the missionaries in our ward also sang at the Stake baptism this Sunday. It was super fun to see the excitement in all the 8 year olds' faces. Oh, we have a family in the ward that wants to come up for Christmas in 2014. Haha! I told them you would love to have them and that they were always welcome. It's the family that let me skype on their computer. They're really awesome! Haha! it was their idea. This New Years I went on exchanges with Elder Alvarenga and all we did was eat. On holidays it seems like all people want to do is feed us. It's always good food but it's horrible because it's so much food. I feel a 100 pounds heavier every holiday. It's good. The people here are really good to us. It was a good week! Tell Blake good luck, and I hope everyone has a good week.

Love, Elder Ryan Smith

Week #18 & #19-Christmas Call

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Ryan skyped with his family, so no letter this week or the next. He looked great!

Week #17- The Real Meaning of Christmas

Monday, December 17, 2012

Hey!

 

That's exciting to hear that it's been snowing a lot. I see snow sometimes when I look at the mountains. They're really far away though. Was there any basketball games this week? That's good that there is a lot of work happening in Salmon! It's a good time to have a lot of work! We are staying busy. We are finding more investigators, and we are planning on having a lot of poeple we are teaching commit to a baptismal date. We are teaching some people right now that actually seem like they have a real desire to learn because they are doing the things we are asking them to do. Hopefully, it can build to something more. The work here is busy. The ward I'm in has had 3 baptisms since I got here. It's crazy. There are 8 missionaries assigned to one ward, and with the big rush of new missionaries, there might be more than 8 in the ward. This week we had our mission Christmas party and it was a lot of fun. For the party missionaries just do skits or talents. I guess it was kind of a talent show. I didn't do anything. It was fun to just watch. That lasted almost the whole day, and yes, I did receive the packages. Thanks! This week I also taught my first English class. I didn't know it would be so hard to teach English, but it is really hard. I taught them the months. It was kind of funny! Now I know what I sound like when I speak Spanish to them. I just found out that this next year church is going to be moved to 11 instead of 9. I can't wait. I feel like it is really going to help for investigators coming to church. At least, I hope it makes a difference. Well, if I don't get to write until after Christmas, I hope everyone has a good Christmas, and I hope everyone remembers that the real reason why we have Christmas is remembering the birth of Christ; the best gift we have ever been given. Thank you all so much for everything you have given me.

 

Love Elder Smith

PS I need Stetson's address.

Week #16- Christmas Messages

Monday, December 10, 2012

Hey!

 

It sounds like everything is going good in Salmon. That's good that Derek's team is winning and that he is playing well. Tayler is going on a cruise? Where? That's really cool! I'm glad that Olivia had a good birthday. Did she have any friends come over or was it just a family thing? That's great that you have a little family getting baptized. I hope that the missionaries keep it up in Salmon! This was another good week. We are starting to get pretty busy. This week we found 5 new investigators and we have a lot of potentials for this coming week. We are teaching this one house that has 9 people in it, but we are only teaching 3 of them. We hope that the other 6 will come and listen today when we teach the three. All we can do is invite them; it's their decision to listen or not to listen. That's the hardest part sometimes, you just want to make them come listen. We found a new investigator yesterday and his name is Arturo. He is really cool and he seemed to be really excited to listen to us again. One thing we have been doing is knocking on doors and asking if they would like to hear a Christmas messsage about Christ. It's been working really well. I love Christmas!! And after we share a Christmas message almost all of the people have invited us back to teach them. All it takes is one lesson where they can feel the spirit and learn that us Mormon guys are just like them, and we're not too weird. That's one thing I have tried working on is relaxing when I talk in Spanish. When you're relaxed, they're relaxed, and it makes everything go better! It's been a good week. Another thing we have started doing is Insanity. It's a DVD workout and a member in the ward does it with us every morning. He has all the different DVDs for it. It's pretty hard and it keeps me in shape which is really good. We wake up at 5:30 and we work out tell about 6:45, it's pretty insane. I like it. Well, got to go. I hope you have a good week.

Love Elder Smith

Week #15- Investigators, Food, and Fun

Monday, December 3, 2012

Hola!

 

Things here have been speeding up. This week has definitely been the most busy. We taught more lessons and got more investigators this week than any other week, and we got someone to commit to a baptismal date. That was exciting! I hope everything works out with her, and she keeps that desire to be baptized. With the good, you also have the bad. We had to drop an investigator this week because she wasn't progressing. It was really sad. I hope I don't have to do that anymore on my mission. If they would just do what Moroni said (Moroni 10 verses 3-5), we wouldn't have to drop them. It's been raining a lot here. The rain is your worst nightmare when you have to bike everywhere you go, but biking has been a great blessing. I can already feel my left knee getting stronger. Our Heavenly Father definitely knows what's best for us and where we need to be. Slowly but surely my Spanish is getting better! I finished my first transfer and I'm staying with my companion and in the same area. I love Pomona. The ward is really nice and always willing to help. Where I'm serving is pretty poor, and it's not a super clean place, but there are some rich places. The rich part of Pomona is where the sister missionaries serve. Most families live in tiny apartments with 1 room and 1 bathroom but there are some that rent just a room out in someone's house. It just depends if they have a job or not. You always see people collecting plastic bottles out of trash cans because that's the only way they can get money. It's super hard for people to find jobs right now. We don't eat out a lot. I usually do my own cooking for lunch, and dinner we usually have somewhere to eat. Whenever I eat at member's houses or investigator's houses, you plan on beans, rice, tortillas, and eggs-that's definitely what I have eaten the most. Their beans and rice and tortillas are not the same as the ones we had at home. I don't know if I feel like I'm in a different country, but I have been thrown into a completely different culture. When you walk the street most the people on the street speak Spanish, but you still have a little English. It is definitely different. Dodge ball went well. We had 6 kids that weren't members and 3 of them are now getting taught by the missionaries. There was also a lot of youth in the ward that showed up. I wish I would have been better at inviting my friends to activities. It really does help. Just inviting your friend is an easy way to do missionary work and it can be effective. It's been a good week.

Love Elder Smith