Wk 97 - Slept through Tornado Sirens!?

Companion: Elder Oettli
Area: Newark

Mt Vernon District 

Coshocton Elders

cool mustang at the festival

Silly Elder Oettli!

Funny guy we contacted working on his pit bike

acting like we're driving the jeep! 

Howdy howdy!

This week was another blur! I remember last Sunday sitting in sacrament meeting, then I think I blinked and I was back in sacrament meeting one week later. I couldn't quite wrap my head around it! But we had a really good week! We stayed busy and didn't really have any down time! Which is good! Starting last Monday night we've had another set of missionaries staying in our apartment every night! It's exhausting, but I love exchanges! 

Tuesday we had an exchange with the New Albany Elders, Elder Smith and Elder Michels here for the exchange. I got to go with Elders Michels who was also in my district when I was in Jackson! It was good to talk about the good 'ol days! We started the day doing service for Sister Hutchinson. Her husband had just passed away so we decided it would be good to help her out! That was a good time mowing her lawn, edging, and getting a tree down! After that we stopped by Ron, had a good chat about hope with him! Then we stopped by Joseph for a short visit. We headed out to Hanover to help the Schofield's set up something at the grade school! That was pretty fun because it was cosi science stuff! That night after eating Canes, we had about 15 minutes before coordination! So we did some inspired knocking. We knocked one door and found two awesome people that we're going to meet with tonight! Then we had coordination and stopped by a couple other people! That was a great day! 

Wednesday we had a bomb district council of Elder Lowry's in Mt Vernon! It was awesome! We also got a sweet district pic! We headed back and took care of some things. Sister Hutchinson was getting rid of two old lawn mowers so we got a red neck member named Jamie to come and load it into his truck and take it! That was pretty crazy! Then we headed to the Hall's for some more service! Later that night we stopped by Ray who seemed to be falling off track... Had a pretty good lesson and set up a time to come back! 

Jamie with two riding mowers in his truck!

Thursday was legit! It was 50 cent corn dog day! We had exchanges with OSU Elders Collier and Wraught! I got to knock Elder Wraught's very first doors with him! He hadn't knocked a door because he's in training and has only served on campus! But the first two hours in the morning were sweet! We did the survey and got into a house and had a full restoration lesson! We ended up fining four new people in the morning alone! It was awesome! We also had seven corn dogs each! Probably wasn't the best but it was good! That night we balled up! It was a party! There's starting to be a lot of people coming on Thursday nights which is awesome! 

Friday we went on a surprise exchange in Coshocton! I got to go with Elder Thomas! He's a very Christ like stud! We had an awesome day and found three people in a "dead" area! It was awesome! 

Saturday we went on exchanges with the Newark Elders and we got to experience a sweet miracle! We had a service post on Facebook blow up and long story short we helped a lady with some heavy lifting! She ended up being good friends with a member who just got called as a ward missionary and wants to meet with us! So that was sweet! We ended up being able to go to an ice cream festival in Utica! It was pretty huge surprisingly! That night we dropped Ray! It's hard to drop people but it happens! 

Sunday was a good day! Not much happened other than having family night with the Schofield's which was sweet! We also drove to Mt Vernon on a bunch of dirt roads which was sweet! We had exchanges with them and I got to conduct an interview with Phillip! He's a stud! His Mom got baptized not to long ago now he's 12 and decided to get baptized! It was also his birthday so after the interview we had a nerf battle! It was lit! Most of Monday we helped the Hails' move stuff out of the house we are going to move into this Friday! That was a long process!!!! 

Today we balled up pretty hard playing dunk ball! It was pretty awesome! But this week flew and I'm excited for this upcoming week! (and yes- we did sleep through the tornado sirens that went off last night. The tornados were to the south and west)

Well, I love you all! Have a wonderful week! 

Love Elder Smoot! 

Wk 96 - Mama Got Dunked!

Companion: Elder Oettli
Area: Newark

Howdy howdy!

Holy guacamole! What a week! This week was definitely one for the books! Last Monday was pretty insane! We had to go on exchanges with the Newark elders because we over booked ourselves! Elder Norris and I went to Shirley's baptismal interview at the church! It was so awesome to be there! Her heart has changed so much and she is a much happier person!

On Tuesday we had exchanged with Mt Vernon. I got to go with Elder Lowry here in Newark! We had six lessons set up until all but 2 fell through. One was with Shirley and one was with Cyndi, a recent convert! The day was awesome though! We had coordination at night and it went pretty well! It was a solid day.

Wednesday morning we finished exchanges at the Powells doing service! We were helping them paint the outside of their house! Elder Lowry and I painted underneath the gutters. I was told this lid to the paint can was on tight but when I was shaking it, it exploded all over me. I was pretty bummed but hey we got the job done! That night we had another solid lesson with Mama to get her ready for the big day! It was a good day but again, people just didn't want to talk to us!

We left early Thursday morning for district councils and interviews in New Albany! It was nice because we got a ride from the Halls because they were headed to the temple! The district councils where super good! I do have to say that the ones I've loved were Elder Green's because it was about being genuine and not fake. As well as Elder Lowry's having confidence! They where both super good! Interviews where bomb! Its so nice to have a mission president that you're practically family with! That night we came back with the Mt Vernon Elders, Jones and Lowry. We went to Mama's to have one last little interview and to make Mama Smoot homemade hot chocolate! They loved it! It was soo good! That night we also got to play basketball with a couple of non members! It was super fun! 

Friday, that was a rough but good day. Satan was doing everything he can. We got kicked out of two apartment complexes! We got chewed out by a bunch of people and needless to say it was rough. It reminded me of the scriptures about how there is opposition in all things! One day we were getting ripped into and the next day we had a baptism! So it's all good! The best part of the day was meeting with a man named Francis! He walked into church the Sunday before! He's pretty solid! Sadly it sounds like he may be moving soon! But since we were exhausted and the house was dark, Elder Oettli ended up dozing off and Francis was very concerned for his health! We felt bad but it was pretty funny! And we also got to play bingo! 

Saturday was a special day! It was Elder Norris' bday so we went and had a little surprise for him at Missis! We got him some doughnuts! We also stopped by Joseph for a little lesson! Later in the day we filled up the font and got ready for the baptism! I went out and worked with Elder Neddo for about fifteen minutes because we hadn't found anyone yet. We ended up finding a guy who was super against us at first but it was cool!

That night we had the baptism!! I had the honor of baptizing her! The best part was that she has a huge fear of going back words, so we baptized her forward! Hahaha! Everyone was telling us to scoot forward but Elder Oettli was like it's okay she's going forward! Then after the prayer she nearly jumped up and we baptized her forward! It was such a special moment! President Stratford was there and loved how we did that! He was dying laughing! It was awesome! We even got Texas roadhouse to celebrate!

Sunday was sweet! We confirmed her during sacrament meeting! It was a special moment and she was just about shouting for joy! We had a stake coordination after church which was awesome! I love the leaders of this stake! I felt out of place being with such powerful guys but it was also pretty cool! We got some good inside scoops for transfers with President there! It was awesome!

Well, I hope each of you had a special week like mine! I love you all and I hope you have a great week! 

Love Elder Smoot 

Wk 95 - Happy Mothers Day Mommas!

Companion: Elder Oettli
Area: Newark

Howdy howdy,

This was another wonderful week! I could swear just yesterday I was writing last week's weekly letter! I guess that's just how it goes when you're busier than all get out!

Last Monday we had some time to do some Facebook finding then we went out to the Schofields and got to have family night! The best part was playing wiffle ball with the kids!

Tuesday was pretty wild. We had a wonderful MLC! Super spiritual and up lifting. We got home that evening around five, ate a quick dinner went out early because we were stoked to find when we got a text asking for a blessing. Which was a good thing! So we did that before we headed to coordination. After coordination we had a lesson with Shirley! It went so good! We're stoked for her! We have her baptismal interview tonight! She's gonna get baptized this Saturday! 

Wednesday we had district council down in Cambridge! Elder Green, my trainee, is the district leader over there so it's awesome to see what a stud he is again. I even got to go on exchanges with him that day as well. We had a bomb day! We found three people together! It was awesome! It was good to catch up with him!

Thursday we finished up with our exchange in Cambridge! We helped the Grey's get packed up as they finished their mission. It was sad to see them go! They're amazing people! We had a good long drive back, and went over to Joseph's for a good lesson! The rest of the day consisted of finding, playing basketball, then getting a pretty badly sprained ankle to finish the night. That was rough. Aside from the bruising, it's feeling a lot better! Well I guess that didn't finish the night off cause we had a zone call to announce the zone focuses which went awesome! 

Friday we had some good 'ol fashioned bingo in the morning with a bunch of follow up calls and weekly planning. It was actually nice to be in the apartment for a while because of my ankle. We went around doing a survey that night, which is how we've been doing most of our finding, and we found one new guy! That was a pretty cool night! 

Saturday was unreal. I got to go on an exchange with Elder Porter. He's a stud from Springville and it's nice because we have a couple of mutual friends so we had a lot to talk about. Besides six lessons we found four people and got free root beer floats from a members soda shop! We had an amazing day but at the end, my ankle was swollen like a balloon!! And purple like a nurple! It was awesome!

Sunday was a sweet! We had a good mother's day. Had three people at church. One guy that came showed up out of no where! He's been taught online and is from Washington but is going to be here for a while! So we get to meet with him on Wednesday! It was nice to talk to the family and wish my wonderful mother and women in my life a happy mothers day! We finished the night with a lesson with Mama and another family night at the Schofield's! 

Today we cleaned, shopped, and we played 9 holes of golf! What a week! We have a super busy night tonight and an even busier week!

Love you all lots! Hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love Elder Smoot! 

Wk 94 - Two Elders in Nurk!!

Companion: Elder Oettli
Area: Newark

I cut elder Oettli's hair so I had to get a good Pic!
Haha I think Talia would be proud.

Matt showing his sweet fpv drone!

Elder Neddo had a mark from hitting Wall!!

Howdy howdy!

Hey ya'll, this week was awesome! Even though it was only since last Wednesday that I got to write a letter! Well we have had a wonderful week that started with good news. We got another set of elders here in Newark and it's been a blast! 

Thursday was transfer day and that was a pretty long day. We left our apartment around 8 am to get to transfers on time. We had to go to help people with transfers because it's at our stake center. It's always good to see a bunch of missionaries you know and love. We did some weekly planning out in the sun because it finally wasn't raining! We waited until about 4:30 for the elders to get down south from the northern zones. We ended up getting back to our apartment around 6 pm! We welcomed Elders Neddo and Norris! That evening we got to go play basketball with the ward and a non member! The highlight of the night was when Elder Neddo was chasing the ball and went head first, full speed, right into a hard carpet wall!!! I felt awful but everyone was laughing because his head looked like it disappeared! There was a huge mark left on the wall after the fact but it was a good night!

Friday was a great day as well. All four of us played bingo with Lelah at the assisted living place, then we had a good lesson with Joseph! Afterwards we ended up doing weekly planning with the other elders to help them adjust to the area and talk to them about the teaching pool. In the evening we introduced them to a few of the solid and favorite members in the ward that love the missionaries. We took them to see Mama and Missi and Randy. We taught them the plan of salvation and Mama LOVED it!! She's so solid and is excited to get baptized on the 18th! We also tried to prank them by pretending the Williams were some crazy non member people but brother Williams broke up laughing!! It was pretty funny, but we sure love those guys! We also sang happy birthday to Meagan and gave her her favorite shake. 

Saturday morning we headed over to the Sesser's because Meagan said we could come back because Travis would be home! So Elder Oettli and I went over and found out they were progressing way more than we both thought! It was a pleasant surprise. The rest of the afternoon we had to buckle down and do a bunch of administrative stuff with follow up calls and Google sheets. We stayed busy and productive the whole time and now we are set for the transfer with our zone focus!! We realized right before dinner we had left our keys in the Sesser's home so we didn't have a car! They were out and about and didn't get home until late so we used the blessing of having elders and went on exchanges to introduce to a couple people that we were teaching. I went with Elder Neddo to visit Logan and we did some finding on the way. They "nerded"(in Elder Neddos words) out and talked about video games and I was super lost. But it was a good time! We made some spiritual smokes for Mama and brought those to her that evening and read 2 Nephi 31 with them because it teaches the doctrine of Jesus Christ plainy and simply.

Sunday morning after retrieving our keys we had a great time at church. Everyone was flipping out that we have two sets of elders and that I was still here! It was pretty funny. Ninety percent of the ward was pretty happy but all of the single sisters weren't too enthused. But it was definitely the Lord's will because Newark is about to explode!! After church we went out finding and we literally found five in that one day!! God is good! We had some sweet lessons and one of the guys even gave us a shout out on facebook! That night we went to the Hall's and watched the ysa fire side which was super good and stressed me out at first but then I came to more peace that I didn't know I needed! The funny part was that it was on marriage! I'll leave it at that. 

Today was sweet! We chilled at home for a while then decided to stop being lazy and go to the store. After that we went disc golfing and now we're playing ball at church! What a good time! 

Well, we have a super busy week planned and I'm pretty excited for it! I sure love you all! Have a great week! 

Love Elder Smoot! 

Wk 93 - Transfer Week Already!?

Companion: Elder Oettli
Area: Newark

picking up Elder Rasmussen-
got to see some of my favorite Elders!

Did some service

Took a Pic at Herbert's old apartment in marble cliff!

We got Colton!

At the airport...

Elder Oettli and I are coming home too! :)

 Howdy howdy! 

I'm not sure what I would have done if we weren't busier than all get out this week! We had to go to Columbus a few times! I was in Columbus for both Tuesday and Wednesday! Tuesday I got to go on exchanges with the one and only, Elder Collier!! Saturday I got to go the the Spanish area with Elder Valdez which was sweet! When Thursday came around we had a special assignment from President that we had to go right back to Columbus for. 

So after last Monday, way back a week and a half ago- We stopped by a couple of people that we had planned on! We decided to bike over to Matt's house to see how he was doing! While we were biking over there we talked to everyone we saw and ended up finding a new person to teach! It was awesome!! 

Tuesday was incredible! We got to go to OSU and I got to go on an exchange with Elder Collier! It was so nice to be his companion again! He's a stud and I love him a lot! We literally probably walked like 10 miles or more! It was constant walking the whole day! We talked to a ton of people and we found a couple of new people for them to teach. We got to teach a young man who was claiming to be an atheist. By the end of the lesson he changed his mind to being Agnostic and promised us that he would read the whole Book of Mormon! The Spirit was very strong and it was cool to see his heart soften even just a little bit!! But the highlight of the day was eating empanadas for two bucks a piece! It was a party! 

Wednesday was pretty legit as well! I went foreign for the day! We had a district council in the morning with the language district! Then I had a cool opportunity to go on exchanges with Elder Valdez speaking spanish! Let me tell ya, it's pretty hard to just sit there and not say anything because you know nothing! The fun part was that I got to read the Book of Mormon in a lesson and they were very impressed with my reading ability even though I didn't know what I was doing. But the Spirit was still strong!! 

Thursday morning we had some madness start up! In the morning we did a quick blitz with the Westerville Elders. We went out and found two new people who were super solid! Elder Bond who is brand new, is a stud! He truly cares and wants to be the best he can be! We drove back to Newark after that to trade back companions and we got some crazy news. Elder Oetlli and I found out we were getting a third companion named Elder Rasmussen for a few days before he headed home!! So we drove all the way back to Columbus to pick him up! 

The next four days flew by!! We got to do some service at the Lindau's! We had a sweet miracle after a wedding we went to. We ended up running into a member who's husband just passed away, and she invited us over and we gave her a blessing and it was very spiritual! Highlight of the week was putting Mama (or Shirley) on date!! It was so Spiritual and she is so ready! 

God is good! I love you all! Have a good week! 

Love Elder Smoot!!