Ahoj! (Hello in Czech)

Ahoj!

I want to start off today's letter talking about what Jesus taught. He taught us all to be as a little child. I had always thought that He meant, literally, little kids. Humble, teachable, meek, submissive etc etc. But what I didn't know that is that "child" in English is "dite" in Czech. We could all be a little more like Elder Dite. Hahaha. Maybe that is a little overkill but seriously. He is amazing. We have a word for missionaries like him: celestial. He is obedient, hard-working, kind, loving and is completely devoted to the work. I am so SO lucky to be his companion. If I get home from my mission a fraction as spiritual, loving, and good as he is, I will be overjoyed. What a blessing!

The weather here is inconsistent and the humidity is becoming bearable. The first few weeks were pretty cool and nice followed by two weeks of extreme heat then it was just warm all the time and then the past week it has rained a TON! We're talking tons. On one day it didn't stop raining from when we got up to when we went to bed. It slowed to a trickle for about two hours while we were tracting (miracle!) but then went right back to it. I'm glad I have an umbrella. Poor E. Dite forgot his in his last area and so he borrowed one from a nice family we tracted into. Nice people. Not interested. :( Such is life. We have a little window unit in our apartment that we call "The Monster" for a couple reasons. One: It sounds like its growling. Two: It works hard and does its job. We have it in the only window it will fit in, which is in the living room area and it cools the whole apartment. I am so grateful for that little guy.

This week has been filled to the rafters with hard, hard work. We are out  tracting about two hours minimum a day and walking and talking to everyone we can find. It is incredibly mentally and physically taxing. On Friday night we were out tracting in the CW (Collingwood :) And Wasaga Beach is the WB) and pretty much every person we talked to was grumpy and very uninterested. Door after door, we were rejected and told to go away. I don't know about you but for me being constantly rejected isn't really a fun thing to spend time doing. It was late and getting dark and people were getting meaner and meaner and I was done. I had had it. So I said a little prayer and said, "I'm doing my best. I'm trying my hardest. I need your help to do the rest." I got a small feeling of peace but nothing overwhelming and we just kept knocking on doors. As it came to the time when we needed to head back, we had the choice to either knock on one more door or head back to the apartment. I have read enough accounts of missionaries finding the best investigators at the last house to know that we needed to knock on that last door. So we did and the lady that answered was super nice and invited us back to teach her on Sunday. I was so grateful! I really needed just one person to be a little nice to me and we got it at the last house. We taught her yesterday and it went well. She is very nice but not super interested which is a little disappointing. She committed to read a chapter, pray and we are going back on Wednesday to see how it went. So yeah. We have been tracting a ton and have taught one other lesson to a lady we met while she was walking her dog. She mostly wanted to tell us why we were wrong but it was still nice to practice teaching a little bit. Hopefully we will find more people to teach as the weeks go on. 

The work in Midland moves steadily onward. John is still hung up on the Restoration but he is praying more sincerely now and we are preparing him to be prepared to prepare for baptism. Haha. Basically we are helping him to pick his own date and to find out for himself how and when he should do things. Slow progress but progress nonetheless. Jacqueline has been busy with work etc and we haven't been able to talk with her very regularly. We are meeting with her tomorrow and hopefully she will gain the courage to tell her parents. She could really use some prayers of faith. Denise and Alysha are doing awesome. Still not confirmed but hopefully soon! Pray for them and their situation. We also have a new investigator! Her name is Marguerite and I don't know much about her. Apparently she had some close friends back in Kitchner that were members and talked with her and she is very interested in coming to church and becoming a member. She has been coming the past few weeks but wasn't interested in talking with the missionaries. In church yesterday she asked a member how she could get baptized and they explained that she needed to talk to the missionaries, answer some questions and then she could be baptized. She told this member that she wanted to do that. So we got a call this morning tell us to call her. We did and we are teaching her tomorrow! Such a blessing! I am so excited to teach and to help her learn the gospel. She seems really nice and it should be great.

Things are going very well. I am so grateful to be on a mission and to be working in the Lord's vineyard for these two years. I am learning everyday and I am growing so much. I have realized how lucky I was to grow up in the church and to be raised with the gospel in my life. Every time I testify about how much the gospel blesses families, I tear up just a little bit. I can't imagine life without parents that love me and care for me and siblings who set such great examples for me. I am so glad that we were able to grow together and that we can be together forever. I can't wait. It is such a blessing to have families that are strong in the gospel. I know that families are the most important social unit in the eternities. I know that it is in our families that we find the most love, support, and happiness. Embrace them. Turn to them in times of trial. Help them when they need you. Serve them. Love them. President Hinckley taught that he that saves his life, loses it. He that loses his life in the service of others, saves it. I know that this to be true. I love you all and I am so happy to hear that all is well and that you are standing fast in the faith. Keep on keepin on! I love you! Do good things!

Love,

Elder E. Smith.

P.S. I don't have a billion "P.S."s this time. Just that I love you and have a new weekly addition to the letter. Introducing......

Czech Phrase of the Week!: "I am going to sleep like kitty"  As we were walking into the apartment one night, E. Dite put his hand on my shoulder and asked if I was going to "sleep like kitty tonight" Hahaha. I told him yes. I love this one and I am learning how to say it in Czech!

Canada Fact: Clear beverages are not allowed to contain caffeine. So that means Mountain Dew (which is basically synonymous with caffeine) is, by law, caffeine free. Weird, eh?

Oh! I have some apologies to make. First off, I need to apologize to whoever I am apologizing to. I forgot who you are. So....yeah..I'm sorry. So to whoever you are: I'm sorry. I broke our promise....(dramatic pause).......I gave myself a haircut.......I know I promised you I wouldn't but $15 buys a lot of food and I like food. Elder Kenning was doing it and it was so easy and I just.........did it. I promise it looks good. Look on the bright side, I don't think I'll ever have to pay for a haircut again. That's good, right? I'll use the money I save to buy you ice cream sometime, okay? I hope you can forgive me.

Luvs!