Wk 47 - Jackson

Compaion: Elder Blake
Area: Jackson

Elder Bond and Elder Goode 

Came out with these two and they are awesome! Love them to death! 

They are headed down to the Cincinnati mission! 

Got to see them at the District leader Meeting.

Beautiful Jackson and the almost mountains.

My flask got frozen and Elder Blake thought it was hilarious! Haha!

Stopped by a members shop! 

Golfing!
(My tag is on my pocket no worries.)

Elder Blake made cinnamon rolls! 

Taco pics in our driveway! 

He's still hanging out with us! 

Our humble abode

Howdy! This week was quite insane! Not because anything super crazy happened but just crazy busy and a lot of ups and downs and all the way arounds! Wednesday night, we met some pretty cool people! A couple young families that hopefully progress! 

Thursday, I had a district leader meeting clear in Powell so we drove and picked up another Elder and went on exchanges and drove to the meeting! I learned a ton and felt so motivated after to be a good District leader! All in all we drove about 4 to 4 and a half hours so it was quite a day! After 9 we gave the Chillicothe 3 Elders a call to see how their day was and no answer, around 10 they gave us a call back saying they were checking out of the hospital with President and Sister Stratford. They got in an accident, the driver blacked out and drove into a ditch! It was crazy! They both got mild concussions but they're fine now so that's good!

Friday was my first district meeting! I planned a few days ahead and went back to look and all my notes were gone! So I replanned of what I remember and right as I finished they got erased off my notes in my tablet again! So I used paper the 3rd time so that was crazy and I kinda got nervous because of that, then as we were walking in the assistants and the zone leaders came pulling in to surprise visit! We knew the zls were coming but 2 in 1? That never happens! Haha! Well it ended up turning out really good and I learned so much! It was a good meeting! That night we had a meeting and dinner with the branch president and family! He's legit! Haha

Saturday, we got to mow a lawn for a less active and their two neighbors! The week before while mowing, Elder Blake's mower ran out of gas so we asked them and they gave us a gas can, so he put it right in and kept mowing. We'll 5 minutes later the mower died and wouldn't start so I went and checked the gas and it was the mixed gas! We were like oh shoot were done for. Because we used members mowers and we mow their's too! Too bad we don't get paid or we'd be rich! Haha but I finished with my mower and we got it all drained out in hopes of it clearing out we let it dry out for a week and we're gonna put regular gas back in and see if it works. Come last Saturday we tried it and it started right up and worked like a dime! Miracles! Haha!

Sunday was a good day! Planned my next district meeting and had dinner at a Members and let me tell you, fillipino food is soo good! We have 4 members that moved here from the Philippines a while back and they're so sweet! They feed us once a week! 

Monday we tried finding formers all day, and we went to the southern part of our area and no luck! 

Tuesday, same as Monday but we found two new people who lived in a formers home and moved in a while back! 

Today! We went to the driving range with our next door neighbor and it was awesome! Sweet guy! 

Anyways! Love y'all so much! Thanks for all you do! 

Keep The Lord in your heart at all times! 

Love Elder Smoot 

Wk 46 - Jackson intro.

Companion: Elder Blake
Area: Jackson

Exchanges with Elder Brumfield!

Taco time!

Was definitely a good throw back! 

The drive on exchanges

This sweet member families kid!
We blew up his 6 ft. Ball! It took a while! 

Chinese Buffet

Hey ya'll! This past week has been pretty crazy!! An emotional roller Coaster with being transferred but it'll all be good because it's the Lord's plan and this is where he wants me! It was hard to say bye to the people I've been working with for the past 6 months but the nice thing is I'll get to go to their baptisms most likely! But I've been dreaming of coming to Jackson since I got here because I found out on the ride form the airport that there was one truck in the mission and it was a Tacoma! So desires and prayers are heard!! haha !I get to drive the taco!! We even get to off road because people live clear down dirt roads! It's the coolest area!!!

Elder Blake is my new comp!! He's a great guy! We definitely aren't the same and it was a little weird at first but we're starting to get along quite well and I gotta feeling it's gonna be a great transfer!! 

Thursday we had dinner with our Branch President and his family and they're awesome! Amazing people that basically do everything for the branch as I've found out. He's President and she's the primary president. Awesome, very young couple. 

Friday! We did a lot of Planning and administrative stuff for the day, than night time came around and we had a pretty cool experience! Sister and President Orton gave us a referral of a close friend and said to make sure they didn't know they sent us! So we showed up to the house and the Dad was outside and came up to us and was like gosh I thought you were JWs! hahah! But asked what he could do for us and so we started to share the message of the restoration. At first he was like nah, but then at the end he goes, "I'll ask my wife what she thinks and who knows maybe you'll see me at your church in a couple of weeks! It was sweet! But there's more!! We get a text from Sister Orton of a screen of the people we just met saying that we stopped by. We were like sweet! Well, at least they know how to find us again!! 

So we kept going then we got a call from the zone leaders saying that we needed to come up to their apartment asap, which is an hour and a half away! I guess they had something come up the day we planned so we ran up there and when we got there we got like 12 screen shots of the people we just met asking Sister Orton about the gospel!! So now we have dinner at the Ortons tomorrow with the family!! It was so crazy what member missionary work can do!! We'll see how it goes tomorrow!

Saturday we had exchanges with the Zone leaders! Elder Brumfield and Elder Morse!! It was a party! I got to spend the day with Elder Brumfield and boy oh boy that was a blast from the past! It felt like we were the same people but we grew a lot and became better missionaries and it was so cool to feel and see the change in such a short time!! Love that guy, it was a great time!! 

Sunday we drove back to Jackson early in the morning to go to church! Turns out there's only about 40 active members in the branch and they all branch out of about 4 families!! Great people! Should be a good time! We also gave a member the sacrament after who is in home health care. He was a sweet Ol man who has such a great spirit! That night we had an amazing dinner!!! There's a Phillipino family in the ward and they had us and some extended family over and we got to eat some amazing Phillipino food!! It was so good! The family is so awesome and it was so awesome to hang out with them for a little bit! 

Monday, we worked our tails off trying to find people. We got to see Ralph again and helped him go and pick up a recliner and set it up for him and he was so happy! It was awesome!! That night I met the investigator who's on date but sadly it might have to be pushed back because she's going through some things! 

Tuesday we continued to work hard and found a little success with one new investigator! Hopefully they will progress! Not much else just trying to go by a bunch a people!

Well all we did today was clean and shop eat and chilled at the church! The church is very small and doesn't even have a gym! So that's weird! 

Well, things should hopefully be picking up! We'll stay busy and have a good time! 

Love ya'll! Have a wonderful week! 

Love Elder Smoot 

Wk 45 - Goodbye land of the Man!

Companion: Elder Green
Area: Mansfield

Goodbye to the Andersons

Goodbye to the Neundorfs

Goodbye Elder Olson

Service for the Crawfords

The Parade

We eat like kings! Haha!Tgi Fridays!
Got all you can eat wings! The members are awesome!

Post by the Kecks: 

Always a great day with Elder Smoot and Elder Green. 

Thank you both so much for all the service you give us!

Well my time is ticking and it's ticking fast! Pretty good week this week and it's just been a drag leading up to transfers because I knew time was coming to an end here! I really didn't want to leave. Starting last Thursday we had a pretty good day, we gotta play more basketball with some investigators that night and it's turning out pretty dang successful! Who knew we'd get work done and have a ton of fun!? Hahah! The people we keep inviting are bringing more and more friends who have began to be open to our message! Gives us lots of teaching opportunities! It's awesome! 

Friday! We got weekly planning done in the morning then went to our "dinner" appointment for some incredible breakfast food for lunch! Pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, orange juice! Man, I was stuffed, and did I mention chocolate chip pancakes?! My favorite! Haha! Then we finally finished working on their mower and it ran so dang good after!

Saturday we got to play some more ball in the morning after doing highway clean up with the Clearfork ward. That was pretty crazy and gross but we still had a partay! 

Saturday night! Saturday was one legit night! We needed three more new investigators to hit the Standards 5 weeks in a row which is pretty hard! So we prayed for a miracle! We went to contact a referral and we decided we needed to park a road over and walk to contact some people outside playing giant jenga! So we walked up and they were drinking beers and all that good stuff and playing music and were kinda offish at first but then we started to really connect because we asked them some good questions! Eventually they started really talking and opening up and asked us to hang out for a while and chill with them so we could talk! The mother of the house was undefeated at giant jenga at this point and challenged me to play her. I think I got like four Grey hairs while playing because we got so far we had to stand on a dang table! I ended up winning- so they went back to their original colors! Phew! She was pretty up set and she wouldn't put a lesson on the line! I said if I win we get to share a message with you and she said no! Haha!it was pretty funny! Then we played four games of corn hole and of course we won all four! But because we were there more and more people kept coming and we got two new investigators by 9 o'clock and they're pretty solid! So of course we left at nine and thought we better hurry to contact this referral and as we walked to our car a street over from his house he was like hey are you the missionaries and were like yes we sure are! He was sitting in a neighbors driveway talking and we got a new gator out of him! If we didn't park over a street we never would have met him that night! We were so pumped! Amazing night! 

Monday, or Memorial day was pretty awesome! We had a city parade we went to and hung out with people! We saw Alycia and it was good to see her again but also very awkward. We're happy her son is still in boy scouts because that's what saved her last time! We got to help David out with his house he's rebuilding. Helped make a floor for his shed! That night we got to go to a graduation party and play volleyball and badminton with some nonmembers and members! It was sweet! 

Tuesday, we got to do some service for the Vidras and had dinner at the Crawfords! That was basically the highlights! Haha still a great day though! Night time after nine we got a call from President Stratford and I guess the Lord wants me to be a district leader now and I am being transferred to Jackson, Ohio! My dream area! Haha! It's down south in the real country! I've wanted to go there since I got here because they have a Tacoma and they live in a house! How sweet is that!? Haha! that'll be an experience and I gotta learn a lot so we'll keep ya'll posted!

One last pday! Did some hair cutting and spent some time with the clearfork elders! Gotta rope the dummy and had a great day! Sad it's the last but the Lord needs me somewhere else!

Love y'all so much! Hope the week was and will be good! 

Love Elder Smoot 

Wk 44 - Roller Coaster on the Mission?!

Companion: Elder Green
Area: Mansfield

Saw Elder Brumfield at the mission conference!!

We asked him for a drink and he gave us beer..
Haha it worried us but it was just soda! 

Hey yall! This week was absolutely insane! Starting the week off on Wednesday, after we drove down to Powell which is over an hour away we finally got back around 4:30 to email. While emailing we get a call saying we gotta pack and we're spending the night in Polaris because we have the mission conference that next day, so we gotta do about an hour night drive! It was sweet! But getting there at 10:15 and having to go to bed in 15 minutes was crazy! ha ha! I ended up getting to sleep in my hammock out side on their deck next to a pond! It was so legit!! But I woke up at like 5:30-6 because it was light! 

Night drive down to Polaris

Hammocking!!! Elder Green slept on a pool chair...
Haha I offered to trade no worries. 

The next morning we zoomed down to the Galloway building to the Mission Conference where Elder Gifford Nielsen was doing a mission tour! I can't think of any other word that could describe that meeting other than INCREDIBLE!! The Spirit in the whole meeting was so amazing! We talked a LOT about personal revelation! Not only why it's so important for our lives but especially our lives as missionaries. It was so cool how it turned out, Sister Stratford began talking about personal revelation, President Stratford then talked about conversion, and consecration. He explained so clearly how those two things tied right back into personal revelation. Sister Nielsen then gave a training on the power and authority we hold on our missions and after. We are God's children! He will help us! We just need to reach out to Him and He will answer. Then Elder Nielsen came up, he began talking about why we teach the atonement, or the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ.

Then he changed to talk about how we can connect! By saying things that would matter to them! Such as "Have you ever done anything wrong in your life??" instead of "hi, we're missionaries..." Having a great family home evening with a member then asking, "do you know anyone that would like a night like this?" He also talked a lot about member missionary work. Then us as missionaries and how we need to be teaching the message with the most Christ like attributes you can! Love, be meek, bold, listen to the spirit, allow it to soften their hearts! There was so much more I just won't have enough room to type it and I'm just a little too lazy I guess! hahaha But he finished off with an apostolic promise!! It was so amazing! I'm still trying to pick my jaw up off the floor from it!! It almost made me cry the Spirit was so strong!

That night we had a great lesson with Alycia and Layne! Talked about the interview and how Satan will still try to get in her way. We took her cigarettes and her lighter and even her roller! haha It was sweet! She was finally done smoking after 16 years!! 

Friday we had some more service at the Kecks! That's always a party! Fixing their mower again! A different part broke form what we fixed the time before! haha That night we had another basketball tournament! It was sweet!! We had 8 teams plus a few others form clearfork elders that all said they were coming but we only had 4 teams!! It was so dumb they told us they were coming then didnt! but that's missionary work for ya! It was still fun and we had some good games!! 

Ballin'

Saturday we had exchanges and Alycia's interview. Here's where we go on an emotional roller Coaster on the mission!! hahaha I was with Elder Coon here in Mansfield but since we had Alycia's interview, Elder Green and Elder Hepler got to spend the night to save miles. Anyways in the morning me and Elder Coon went to go get things set up for the interview and when we got to the church we had a strong prompting to go check on Alycia. So we called and no answer so we drove way over there and when we pulled around the corner we saw something we didn't want to say and let's just say we had to reteach her somethings. But her and her son both passed the interview. After the interview we were concerned about what we just taught her and had a feeling it was gonna happen again so we had the sisters go check and it did. We also got a text from her that said she wasn't feeling well so she wasn't going to church and haven't heard from her since. Its been very hard but we're pretty sure she'll come back as she gains just a little more faith like last time! 

Sunday was pretty crazy. After the hard event the night before we still ended up hitting the Standards for the 4th week in a row! Friday night I forgot to mention we put Rachelle's husband David who we helped gut his house. We put him and his son on date! He has changed soo much and they came to church for the second week in a row! So there was a huge high low right there! It's been crazy! 

Monday we did some service for a less active, had dinner with a member. Went out to do work but we found no one. That night there was a huge thunder storm! It was awesome! 

Tuesday we got a call from a member when we were eating red lobster! They had their basement flood and asked us to come help get everything out! It was pretty exhausting! Haha but it was worth it! They are awesome people! 

Today we grilled out again! Life's been great just staying positive! I hope ya'll are doing the same because out here we don't really have a choice! It's the only way to keep going and to be happy! 

Love you all! Hope you have a great week! 

Love Elder Smoot 

Wk 43 - MAMA'S DAY!!!

Companion: Elder Green
Area: Mansfield

Trees going timber!

Crazy Storms!

We got to watch a soccer game with the Crawford's!!!

My buddy chilling with me!!

Another great week has passed and gone! Mother's Day included!

So last week on Thursday we had another opportunity to play some basketball with an investigator, and some other potentials, but this time it was planned haha. His name is Joe, and he contacted us after our last tournament and said he was wanting to grow his testimony! So we talked to him for a little bit before we played, then got balling. He is a super mature guy, and is a very loyal husband and father. Hopefully he continues to have the desire to get baptized! We're stoked because we got another basketball tournament on Friday with him and a bunch more people! 

Monday night we went and found another court with a bunch of guys!! We balled up!! There was one guy we had on our team who literally looked like a great value LeBron James!! He had the beard and all!! He was a very cocky man and didn't have the best mouth! It kinda sucked playing on his team but everyone else was sweet and should be coming on Friday!! 

Sunday was real crazy. We already knew we were going to hit our standards for investigators at church, but a miracle happened as we were getting people into the chapel. A less active sister and her investigating husband and kids walked in the door. The one we also gave her baby a blessing a couple weeks before.Elder Green and I had our jaws dropped to the floor. So with Alycia and her family, then Rachelle and her family, we had a total of SIX investigators at church. That was crazy!! We even set up a time to go do service on Monday, we went and continued the gutting of his house! It was pretty nasty! The owners before built it terribly so basically we ripped everything out and we got to rip the floor out even because they are starting from the ground up!! 

Sunday was also the day to call home, and that was awesome. A member of the ward let us use his basement and WiFi, so that was really nice. I got to see all my nieces and nephews, my siblings, and most important mom and dad haha. It was so comforting, even for the short time I had, it was definitely a motivation booster. The first time it was honestly a little hard but man it got a lot better and even after it just felt soo good!! 

Yesterday we were finally able to get in and do some service for a less active, DANNY BOY!! He's awesome, we see him quite a bit and asks us questions about the ward all the time, but has a struggling testimony so we keep in close contact with him. But we helped him wack some weeds around his house, and took out some boxes to the recycling plant. After we did that he took us to get some ice cream at this place called Dairyland. We all got shakes, and I got a strawberry shake and to be honest it was good, but no where near as good as Taco Amigo!! 

Today we had a zone activity clear down in Powell OH! We played a bunch of games in a wet yard and BBQed! It was pretty fun but made for a long pday!! 

Well love you all! This week has been pretty awesome and the sprit has been strong I have received some great revelation! Life has been good and I hope yours is as well! 

Love you much!

Love Elder Smoot! 

Week 42 - Gators on fire!

Companion: Elder Green
Area: Mansfield

This is what we made last pday! He's a nice steer! 

Bought a giant flask today cause it was awesome and 8 bucks!! Haha! and America!

Elder Nye bought an American Kan Jam! 

Two of my favorite things right there! Haha!

Wow these past two weeks have been awesome! Elder Green has just been on fire! We've not only hit the standards but we've basically been hulk smashing them! Haha the last two weeks we've had 5 gators a week and 3 on date for baptism and on top of that we've had 5 at church both weeks!! The Lord is definitely blessing us for our efforts! For a minute it was hard to be motivated but now it's just a party! I guess it's the upside and downs of a mission! It's so worth it! Plus we get to talk to our families and more importantly our Mama's! 

        Wednesday, we had a cool opportunity to give a blessing to an inactive/ part member family's brand new baby. She was so happy. The baby was so adorable and we were so happy because their son is one who's working towards baptism! Then we went to Alycia's and had a great lesson outside! Weather was awesome!

       Thursday, we had district meeting then had service canceled because it was pouring!!! Not much happened until dinner. Dinner was so good, we ate at the Wolfe's and ate some sweet pork sandwiches and green beans! They're an awesome family with all daughters- they're hilarious. We set up some service for them, we got to go and lay a ton of mulch then rip out a huge shrub from the flower beds! Not gonna lie I don't know if I've ever had such a good time doing yard work! Haha! 

        Friday we had a couple hours of service over at the Kecks who's is Sister Wolfe's parents, I could swear to ya, this whole ward is related some how. Fixed a tire and mowed the lawn, well most of it, the yard is huge. Then we got fed some of the juiciest pancakes both blueberry and chocolate chip which is by far my favorite!! Then we also had a lesson with Alycia and her gang again! Still progressing!

         Saturday was pretty lit. We went back to the wolf's for a little bit and the finished product looks like a darn model home! I'd say we did a pretty good job. The rest of Saturday was just finding and we had a lesson fall through. For dinner we got to go to the Hindbaughs for dinner and he had been smoking a ton of beef all day long for us! It was soo good! They hook us up!! 

        Sunday was stake conference! Alycia and her kids came with a friend and another guy came as well! It was so awesome and said a lot of things that were so perfect for Alycia to hear! There were a lot of youth that spoke! It was pretty cool! After we had Fhe with her and her kids at the Andersons! Gave a good lesson and talked about the articles of faith and now she's obsessed!

Monday was Elder Green's Birthday so obviously it was a party!! We went to tgi Friday's and had unlimited wings and I was in heaven! It was soo good! After we went and gave Alycia's son a blessing because his knees were killing him and that night he was walking just fine and they were both shocked! Priesthood power is real!! We got to do service for some members and they fed us so we were stuffed then we had dinner at the nuendorfs and at the end the gave us a piece of cake that was bigger than my face and I have no clue how I didn't puke as we left because I felt like a stuffed turkey! Great night but I didn't feel so well! 

Tuesday or yesterday was sweet too! We had probably the best lesson yet with Alycia! It was on the word of wisdom and the spirit was soo thick! She even teared up and asked for a blessing to help. After the blessing it was silent for about 5 minutes and she said, I know I can do this. I got this. I'm in control. The spirit was soo strong! It was amazing! After we had some amazing burgers and a birthday cake shake where they blend cake and ice cream in a blender and make it a shake. It is actually amazing but again I felt stuffed because we weren't expecting to get fed they just asked us to come over and we already ate Texas road house!! 

Today has been awesome, gotta hang out with Elder Nye and Elder Olsen again and eat some more venison tacos! Played some ball and roped for a while! 

The Book is Blue and the Church is True! Love you guys! Hope yall have a good week! 

Love Elder Smoot! 

Wk 41 - WE ARE BACK IN BUSINESS!!!!!

Companion: Elder Green
Area: Mansfield

Made it to the border of our mission

And driving from home we hit a dirt road

That cool old shop/restaurant with really good food we went to.

Service last week-
He left us alone for a while...

Well to start off our teaching pool is filling in a hurry. I kept praying and praying for a miracle because I know if I'm in this area for this long there is obviously someone I need to be here for. I'm sure Elder Green was also praying for one as well and boy oh boy did we get one. For our Key indicators, we have three people who are now on date, we got 5 new investigators, and 5 people at church! It was so awesome!! The reason being all because of one miracle.

Last Thursday we had interviews with the Stratfords, then district meeting which was pretty good! On the way home we're cruising along  when we got a text that said "is Joseph Smith in the bible?" "oh by the way this is Alycia!" I don't know if ya'll remember or not but Alycia is the one that me and Elder Brumfield started teaching and she was very close to baptism. So we basically got blown out of the water that she texted us in the first place then we went on to explain where in the bible it talks about a modern prophet being called. She asked a couple other questions then was like, oh well that makes sense. I would like to meet again but I'm not sure if my fiance will be okay with it but we'll set up a time and I'll tell him later. haha So we set it up for Saturday night. Long story shortened she texted us and was like well he is gone so bring a third male. So we did. We sat down and I couldn't believe how happy she looked. It was just insane. She began telling us what's been going on over the past few weeks and how a couple months ago when she dropped us she stopped reading the Bible and The Book of Mormon. She randomly decided to pick them up and her fiance saw her do it and was like "why are you picking those up it's not like you are gonna do anything with them anyways!" She turned around said watch me and walked out and started reading them!! She said she has been reading the Book of Mormon daily and praying to know if it's true daily. She said every time she picks it up she can't put it down. She has taken that as her answer. She also has been praying about the word of wisdom to know if it's true. Without trying she has stopped drinking tea, can't even (drink) a cup of coffee, when she used to drink a ton a day, and best part is that shes only (smokes?)25 percent of what she normally does. That is an answer to both hers and our prayers. What a huge miracle it has been to see how much the BOM has changed her life. Me and Elder Brumfield were pretty bold with her and because of that she knew where to turn to for truth, peace, and happiness. She and her son have accepted to be baptized on May 26th and also came to church this last Sunday and even brought a friend. Then Monday we had family home evening with the Andersons and her and her kids!! It was such a blast and a great way to spend a Monday night

Other than that high of the week the rest was still pretty awesome! Friday we got to do service at the Kecks again except this time we worked on his mowers and got to work with hydrolics which was cool. We sharpened blades and all that good stuff! After it was the best, they took us to this sweet little shop/restaurant that was built early 1900s not sure the exact day but it was awesome. The food was pretty dang good and then to top it off they had ice cream and we got some cones and one of the ice creams I got tasted like Moms home made ice cream cake. I was in heaven. Then when we got back to their house to top it off even more their son was there and he started showing us all his deer he's had mounted and guns and all that good stuff and after he hooked it up with like 8 lbs of deer meet at least. It was so sweet!

Venison burgers! They were so good!

Everything else was pretty much the normal just going out and getting told no over and over again. Haha but still a great week! Hope ya'll had a wonderful week too and have an even better week this next one. Oh and it was an amazing week because it's finally getting warm! We hit 80 degrees yesterday! So that's a miracle I guess! Haha! Love ya! 

Love Elder Smoot!