Hi!
What a wonderful and great thing it is to be a missionary! Challenging and discouraging at times (everyday) but INFINITELY worth it. I am doing so well today and the past few days I am actually surprised. I feel good. What a great thing! I made a trip through "the valley of the shadow of death" last week with feelings of homesickness, rejection, disappointment, exhaustion and all that fun stuff but I am here to say that prayer works. "When sore trials came upon you, Did you think to pray?" Surprisingly, I did not. I just kinda wallowed. But as soon as I started praying, I felt better. My prayers for help were answered in the best district meeting EVER. We talked about the importance of removing distractions when we teach and how that can be more than turning off the TV or putting away a cell phone. Just as important is removing the distractions of disobedience and selfish thoughts and desires. Our district leader compared it to a tree. We need to prune the distraction and sin branches so that the good branches can grow. That was exactly what I needed to do. So I quit worrying about what I wanted and how I was feeling and let the good branches grow. No matter how hot and sweaty, no matter how wet and windy, no matter how mean the people get, it still isn't about me. Things have improved since I started to think this way. Granted, I am not perfect and I still have times when I want to quit but they are less and less now. I had an interesting thought yesterday when someone asked us how we felt getting rejected all the time. Elder Dite replied that Jesus got rejected over and over and He never gave up. So I pointed to my name on my name-tag and said, "This name might give up when things get hard, but this name never will" pointing to Jesus Christ. I taught myself a good lesson there. That I couldn't do this alone. It is because it isn't just my name on the tag that I can do what I do everyday. And thats true for every missionary. And every member. When we are baptized we take upon ourselves the name of Christ and so we have Him on our side every step of the way. What a great promise. :)
The work moves on. John is doing well but needs the desire to quit smoking. He is close and I think it might happen soon but nothing yet. Jacqueline still hasn't told her parents. Keep praying for them! Our investigators in Stayner are doing well. Samantha (tracted into her last week) has been terribly ill for a few days so we hope to meet her tomorrow. Nicole just got a job and is busy with that so we haven't been able to meet with her much. Usually I would be worried about jobs and being busy because they usually drop us after but she realizes that this job is a blessing from God and a sign that we are there for a reason. Score! She is great! We are still tracting all the time and having a fair bit of success. We've been teaching a lot more which is great and getting to know the area. There are a TON of retirees in the CW and they are nice but uninterested. They tell us no but will talk with us for a while so we have a couple old friends :) One of my favorites is Orville. He lives a few blocks away and we walk past his house all the time. He used to work at the docks and lift weights all the time so he has that used to be buff but now he's old thing going on and its awesome. He always forgets that he knows us for the first few seconds and is all mean, then remembers who we are and talks to us like friends again. So awesome. :) I absolutely love this area and the people here. They may be grumpy Canadians but they are my grumpy Canadians.
Saving the best for last: Marguerite was baptized yesterday!!!!! It was amazing. She was giddy with excitement all through church and just thrilled to join the branch. We had an adventure trying to get the font filled. When we went to check on things before church everything worked fine but when we tried to start filling, no water came out. Nothing. The water was just shut off. We couldn't figure it out and tried and tried and still no water. I said a prayer that we would figure it out and hoped that the water would start but instead the Elders Quorum President just suggested we use his pool. Haha. Simple fix to the problem. My prayer was answered but not in the way I expected at all. So we had the talks and such at the church then drove just down the street and had the baptism in a swimming pool. It was awesome and a very memorable experience for sure.
My testimony of prayer has been strengthened so much this past week. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to kneel and speak to my Father in heaven whenever I want. To have that incredible power on our side, helping us, is an unbelievable blessing. I had another prayer answered last night. It was 8:40 and we didn't know what to do. We had an appointment bomb and we couldn't tract because its too late so I prayed that we could find someone to talk to. On our way home there were two people out on the street that we talked to. They were probably the friendliest uninterested people I have met. It was incredible to receive such an obvious and quick answer to a prayer. I love prayer. Take advantage of this great tool we have and pray for help. I know that God answers prayers. I love you all and I hope school is going well for everyone who started! Work hard, Study hard, Pray hard. :) Do good things!
Love,
Elder E. Smith
P.S. Pictures!! Old pictures of my new apartment. Elder Kenning's "Birthday Cake" Our zoo trip complete with a 'Merica moment. And Elder Dite. Enjoy.
P.P.S. I am so grateful for the love and support from everyone despite my shortcomings. I truly can feel the prayers of support and the love I get from the folks back home. ;)
Czech Phrase of the Week: "Back to Czech Republic...." This is more of just an Elder Dite thing. He is awesome and I love hearing stories etc from his homeland. He is great
Canada Fact: I can't believe I didn't say this one earlier. Bathrooms are "washrooms" Most signs say that or restroom and people look at you funny when you ask where the bathroom is. Haha. Canadians
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