Wk 104 - My Last Weekly?!?!?!

Companion: Elder Cichoski
Area: Gahanna

Selfies with Elder Cichoski

Ball!

Bday call with Elder Oettli, or Bud in 10 days!
Shout out to him hbd!

Disk golf this week

our front door on fleek

Cutting hair! No worries, I cut the Mohawk!
it was just for fun

Elder Cichoski grilling chicken on pday

Bro Frazier showing us his lazy man swing

Holy cow! What a week! Here we are today preparing for our last full week as missionaries and representatives of Christ! I'd have to say I'm in a very unique situation at the time! Not many people can say that the last companion they had on their mission, was also that companion's last companion! This week was definitely the fastest week of the transfer! We had a lot of fun and we got to do some unique things!

This last Monday we had our last day with Elder Kamerath. That night we had our family home evening at the Sherman's place! The Mitchell's daughter brought this slushy stuff the was sweetish fish flavor!! It was incredible! Right after that we zoomed home and grabbed all of Elder Kamerath's stuff and loaded the transit van! The OSU Elders came and picked him up! We said farewell and then we were off on our own! That was a quiet night after that to say the least! But it was still a good day! 

Tuesday was a blast! I got to go on exchanges with the Nepali elders, but they came to Gahanna for English work! I was back in a trio with Elder Nye and Elder Garner! The day was awesome! We had a real good visit with Nick in the morning where we talked about his kids! After that we were the other elders'  third male and helped them teach a lady named Shanique who is getting baptized this transfer! She was actually someone we were teaching when we got here and we ended up referring her to them because they lived a lot closer! Now she's getting baptized! There's a saying in the mission, "when one area baptizes, we all baptize!" I love that saying because it's true! Every little thing goes into one's baptism!! After that the majority was spent finding! We drove out to Shane's for lunch and we got him some panda! Mm that was good! Then we had a good comp study and we spent the afternoon and evening in two separate apartments! Shane came with us after dinner and we found a couple of people! They even had an opportunity to talk to a couple of Nepali people! It was awesome! That day was a blast! It's always good to be with a couple of missionaries you know and love, especially when one of them was your mtc comp!

Wednesday morning we had a great district council! Elder Garner, of course, asked me the night before to give a twenty minute training on diligence! It actually turned out pretty bomb! I needed it and I really think the rest of the district needed it! But it was a very hot room to be in for district council, that's one thing for sure! The rest of the day we spent getting on the same page and setting goals for the transfer together. We also got a lot of the area book cleaned up and simplified as well as the apartment back together for two missionaries! We got out that evening and had a blast talking to people but no one really committed! Still a successful day!

Thursday morning we had to get a couple stuff done in the morning so we headed out and got boxes for our bikes and a couple of other things. My comp also had an appointment we had to leave the area for but that went well! On the way home we had comp study and Shane's before he came out with us! He's such a stud! We followed up with a few people and got in contact with some! We met one Mother who was awesome! Literally everything she said went hand and hand with what we share which was a big blessing! That night we also took a challenge to avoid sugar which is rough! Especially when Shane buys you a shake almost every day! That was my stupid idea! Haha but it's going good for me!!

Friday was sweet! We had a guy call us and ask if we could mow his lawn, so of course we ran over there! I got his old mower working that he though was broken so with his new and his old, Elder Cichoski and I cruised through it! After that we had a solid lesson fall through which was rough but we had a good time at the Frazier's ripping out a couple of tree stumps! I never new that could be so stress relieving!

Saturday was crazy! We dropped a lady we had on date, we bashed with a guy, he was going off on how God and Jesus are the same but then he continued to contradict himself by saying we were wrong and he never listened to what we said. But that's was a good time and I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to bare my testimony! We also got to watch Elder Whitcomb open up his call letter to California! He's a stud. We also got in contact with another guy who is our age, his grandma is pretty sick so we talked a lot about how God has a plan for each of us and about how He wants us to have eternal families. I'm so grateful for commandments, It hit how his life was rough and he was the same age as me! He'd just gotten out of prison after three years and had a kid on the way with his girlfriend. That's honestly sadly pretty common out here. Like I said, my testimony of God's commandments or "restrictions" as some say, has grown a ton!

Saturday night we went back to the Fraziers with our bikes. He's a huge bike guy, so he ended up tuning our bikes for us! It feels so solid now! It also was making noise before I came but when I left it wasn't! He's a miracle worker!

Sunday was a pretty awesome day! I love the sacrament! We had Nick and his kiddos come, we also had a lesson with his kids Ben and Maddy. Again we talked a lot about baptism. Ben is pretty far in the Book of Mormon. We talked about how it's a commandment from God to be baptized. They asked if it even said that in the Book of Mormon so of course we showed them just a few places even though it's basically on every page! We read part of 3 Nephi 11 with them. Where Jesus Christ himself, comes and ministers to the people of the America's, he commanded them to repent and be Baptized three times! The spirit taught a great parable that I shared with them. I asked them if they have ever been asked to take the trash out before, of course they said yes. I then asked if they did it the first time or the second, but the third time they know their Dad wasn't really asking, he means Business! I then related this to what Christ did. Yeah it was pretty bold but I definitely know that Christ meant what he said! After that lesson we headed to change and then out to Shane's! I got to grill a bunch of burgers and hot dogs for us, Shane and Cynthia, and the Mitchell's. We had a good night and a good time talking to Cynthia. One thing ended up leading to another and I ended up giving three hair cuts that night. I cut Brother Mitchell's and his stud muffin son Christian's hair, as well as Shane's. Two of them wanted buzz cuts so that made it easy! We definitely had fun doing it! I love Sundays!

Monday morning after talking to my lovely parents we had Elder Hale and Elder Morrow come over so I could cut Elder Hale's hair before he goes home! It turned out really good! After that we hurried and changed, shopped and zoomed over to the church for ball! We balled up with a total of 12 people! It was a party! But we played for four hours so I'm exhausted! Anyways it was a great last pday! Tonight we have a family home evening with a bunch of families! It's going to be a really good time!

Well I love you all! I'm blessed to know each of you and I'm grateful for your support and love. I'm very excited to see you again in a short week and a half after two years! I love the gospel of Jesus Christ! The church is true! I know that and I'll live that the rest of my life! I'm always grateful for the opportunity I have to bare my testimony in the name of Jesus Christ! Well see you in a little bit!

Love Elder Smoot!

Wk 103 - My comp got Emergency Transferred!!!

Comp: Elder Kamerath and Elder Cichoski
Area: Gahanna

Bomb fire on Sunday at Shane's neighbor's

Street contacting at the Easton mall on the 4th with Shane!

Good 'ol Shane!

The fishing homie!  

Howdy howdy!

Wow what a week! Well it's pretty crazy how fast time flies when you're having fun! Missions are awesome and I think anyone who is able to, should go!  My testimony of serving a mission has grown exponentially. I love the good Lord! Anyways, we had a pretty great week. Starting off with last Monday we had a sweet lesson with a guy named Gerald then we headed out to Shane's for family home evening! That was pretty awesome! The lesson we had was super sweet. He was one of the most genuine guys I have ever taught! Not only that but he's very normal! Has a family and a career, and he even has a car! Most the people that are willing to talk to us, if we're lucky, they have one of those things. Family home evening was cool, we got to play can jam with Nick and his kiddos.

On Tuesday we spent most of the day finding. We met one lady named Christina, she was pretty awesome, but other that not all that much went on! On Wednesday we had a pretty cool miracle! We were told we needed to get our car serviced so we headed to the nearest firestone! We had a member come pick us up and we had a solid member visit! Afterwards we went back to Firestone and we talked with everyone else that was waiting for their cars! We ended up finding a new guy to teach out of it! It was a big miracle! That night we saw a crazy storm as we ate at the cheese cake factory! Man that was my first time and it was soo good! Our waitress was also pretty legit! Haha It was a good day!

Wednesday morning we had district council! It was pretty awesome! The rest of the day we had a couple of appointments fall through so we spent the whole day finding! We knocked around our apartment and found a lady who said she wanted to meet but ended up missing her return appointment! We don't have a car for this week so after a hot long day of walking we went and got blizzards! On our way home we even got to change someone's tire! It was awesome! 

Thursday was the fourth!! Happy for everybody! God Bless The USA! We have a training visit/ exchange with Elder Millward and Elder McNeal! It was a such a good day! Right off the bat, in the first hour of finding, we found three people! Two of then were Puerto Rican and the other guy was a fisherman! God is too good to us! It was really good to have a full days of work!

Friday was weekly planning and mowing Shane's lawn! We celebrated the fourth that night, out at Shane's with a bunch of fire works which were fun to watch! Even though fireworks are illegal here in Ohio, everyone does them!!

Saturday morning we went and played street ball in the heat and humidity! I had never been so sweaty on my mission! Let alone dehydrated! And in case you were wondering, shade doesn't help that much with humidity... Saturday night we experience some great miracles! That night we went to these new apartments and found four new people to teach! It was a great blessing! Miracles are real, and they do happen!

Sunday was so refreshing! We had a wonderful sacrament meeting! I realized it was my last fast and testimony meeting so of course I had to bare my testimony! We also taught the 16-18 year old class! It was a blast! After church we went out to Shane's and had dinner with his sister Cynthia! He had me grill the steaks and they turned out super dreamy! We had a super good lesson with Cynthia afterwards and she's committed to read the Book of Mormon! That good 'ol life changing book!

This morning we got a call from President Stratford telling us he was gonna pull a quick one on us. He proceeded to tell us that Elder Kamerath was getting moved! It was kind of a bitter sweet moment! I sure love that guy and I'm grateful I had a chance to serve with him. He left this evening. For his last pday we played ball with a couple of members, I swear with this heat and humidity, sweat is a whole new thing! Haha!

Well I love you all! Hope you have a wonderful week! I'll see you in a quick two!

Love Elder Smoot!

Wk 102 - My Last Zone Conference!?

Companions: Elder Kamerath and Elder Cichoski
Area: Gahanna

Howdy howdy!

Hey everybody! Happy Fourth of July this week! I love America and I love the day we get to celebrate it! I hope everyone has had a wonderful hot week!! Well to start it off with last Monday, to finish off the day we had family home evening at the Sherman's! It was pretty cool. The ward does a combined fhe with a few families and they have us come and invite whoever. It works out great for fellowship! We had a good spiritual message with some chicken tacos to finish the job! That was a pretty fun night.

Tuesday was a pretty solid day! In the morning we had a couple lessons fall through but that's just life! We had a lesson with a guy named Ulysses! He was pretty funny. He is an older fella but he went off telling us a lot of history with gangsters! It was pretty funny to see Shane talking with him about it because who knew that Shane knew it all too! After that lesson we headed out to Shane's neighbor to get a little more work done on that nasty house! We've done some good work on that house!! It's still pretty disgusting in there! That evening we went to Nick's house and got to have a lesson with his girly Toni! That was my first time meeting her! She was pretty cool and had a lot of good questions! Who knows, maybe she'll come around someday soon! 

On Wednesday morning we went back to the house to finish off a couple big things to get it ready for the next step. We ripped out a tub which was pretty fun! We also got to destroy a couple more walls so I guess I can't complain too much! We were asked to give a twenty minute training in zone conference so we spent all of this time preparing it and it was going to be really good! Then the next day we ended up not even giving it! Oh well I guess! But the rest of the day we spent the day finding! It was a pretty solid day.

Thursday was a pretty special day! I had my last zone conference! It was a pretty good meeting! I'd have to say my favorite training was probably by Elder Thomas! He gave a training on "Self-Worth"! It was really good! One of my favorite quotes from his training was, "you can't wait until you're perfect to love yourself!". The other quote was pretty profound! He took to scripture Matthew 22:39 which says, "Thou shalt love my neighbor as thyself". He made the point on how he justified that a few years back, "well I hate myself so I can't hate my neighbor!" Then of course we all started laughing because we all knew that wasn't true doctrine. But then he switched it up. "Thou shalt love thyself as thy neighbor". That was pretty powerful. A lot of people don't struggle to love thy neighbor. A lot of people are always willing to help other out. But a lot of those people struggle to love themselves, and they struggle to help themselves out when they need it. God loves you, you have to think about how God feels about you. It was a very inspiring training and it was something I definitely needed! The rest of zone conference was pretty solid as well. At the end of everyone's mission for the last zone conference they have the opportunity to give a brief ninety second testimony. In all honesty it was pretty cool. It definitely doesn't feel like it's my time. It really hasn't hit and I don't think it will. Everyone else was crying and even if I tried I was just too happy and I couldn't cry. It's been an honor and a privilege to serve a mission for the Lord! 

That evening we had an appointment with a guy named Mark and his wife Raven. They were pretty cool and they loved the idea of the BoM! After that we had a member support visit with the Giacalone's! They're sweet!! I guess they moved here like a week before I did! But it was a solid day. 

Friday we met a dude name Davion who was our age. Literally right when we got out of the car first thing in the morning, he was right there and was super happy to talk to us. We were going to meet with Nick at his place when we met him. We had a good lesson with nick but I have to admit, the highlight of it was when we gave his crazy dog Boo a rope to play tug of war! That evening we met with a guy Elder Hunter and I found on exchanges. It was pretty cool, I found out that he loves horses which made my night because almost no one in the city loves horses! 

On Saturday we had a blessed day! I got to go with Elder Nye and Elder Pakwal! Elder Nye I've been with quite a bit but to introduce Elder Pakwal, he's the first missionary who is from Nepal and who has been called specifically to speak Nepali on his mission! He's a walking miracle! He grew up in Nepal and moved to Utah when he was twelve. He ended up being baptized at the age of 14 I believe. It's a pretty cool story. We had a super good day. We only knocked on 8 doors but 7 out of the 8 they invited us right in. Those people are awesome! They always offered us drinks and one of them even gave us some way good Nepali food! Except that same person called me fat! Haha It was pretty funny because she meant it in a good way! But that was a great day!! 

Sunday was a pretty good day. I love the sacrament! It's a huge blessing. We had Nick's kids come to church! After church we had a linger longer and we had a good time and an opportunity to talk to his kids about baptism! We will see if they decide to or not though! That night we got to grill out at Shanes! We also got to talk to his sister which was awesome! It was a blessed day!

Well I love you all! I hope you have a great week! This definitely doesn't feel real the fact that I have such a short time left! 

Well see you in a few! 

Love Elder Smoot!