"A Week in the Life of a SAJM Missionary! (It might get long but here we go!)"

"When you’re right, you’re seldom wrong.”

                And if you know that, you’ll get somewhere! Haha! More wisdom from Elder Scott.

                So I know that a while ago I sent a “day in the life of a SAJM missionary” but now I was thinking I want to attempt “a week in the life” post where each day’s activities I’ll write down. Haha! 

Disclaimer: this might get long but here we go!

Monday:

                Ahh, P-day J I think it’s one of the funny ironies of mission that it’s a lot easier to wake up on p-day than on any other day. I mean we get up at the same time but the motivation must be different  :P I woke up at 6 and did my morning devotional and then took some time to fold and put away my clean laundry. We got ready for the day and from 8 till 10 we had our studies. At about 1030 we headed over to the Scotts for email; my favorite part of the day:) . We had lunch at the Swan’s place and me and my companion got haircuts from Sis. Scott and then the 4 of us elders took off for Sabie. We spent our afternoon going to 3 different waterfalls in Sabie. We went to Lonecreek which was my favorite one from our last trip (New Year’s Day) but then we went to another one that none of us had ever been. We went to Bridal Veil Falls. When we got there it was raining pretty hard and we contemplated just not walking up but decided that we were already here and that a little water wasn’t going to scare us. So we started making our way up the trail and the mountain, walking carefully to avoid the small river of water that flowed down the middle of the path. We got up there and looked and, at first we weren’t too impressed because there wasn’t a ton of water falling. But then we found a path that took us right up to the fall and even behind it! So we walked up behind  it when all of the sudden, Elder Willombe starts laughing as he walks up to the water and then he stands under the waterfall and raises his arms and gives a victory shout! Haha we all turned around and started laughing and then all followed suit. We each took turns standing under the waterfall and let me tell you, it was freezing!! But it was so cool because how many other people do you know that stand under waterfalls!? Haha not many! We were soaked and we dripped our way back to the car with our waterlogged socks/shoes, this time taking no thought as to the small river of water running down the path that we previously had avoided. We ended our adventure by going to Horseshoe Falls. When we got there it was past 5 so we got in free! One of the dogs that belonged to the caretaker followed us and even led us the whole way! Haha it was pretty cool to have a dog-guided tour of the falls! Still soaking, we hopped in the car and made the 45 minute drive back to Nelspruit. We got changed and went to dinner at Panarotti's at a district. After that, we started our exchange where Elder Pulley is now with me here in Nelspruit and Elder Kankkunen and Elder Willombe are in Kanyamazane. And here we are now! I’m excited to be with Elder Pulley because I’ve already learned some great teaching AND finding ideas! So we’re planning on doing those things tomorrow! But that was our Monday and now, as it is 1027, my purpose as a missionary is to sleep :)

A Trip to the Waterfalls in Sabie

Tuesday:

                Wow, today I felt like I was being trained all over again! I had to adjust at the very start of the proselyting day but once I kind of humbled myself and embraced learning, I got so much out of today. I was on exchanges with Elder Pulley today and I’m sure glad I arranged to have him come with me here in Nelspruit because I needed him.  We had a good morning with a workout and study and all those things and we kicked off our day with a lesson with Ben and Thuli. We had a great lesson where we answered their questions using the Book of Mormon and then we introduced the Book more fully. Elder Pulley uses a whiteboard to teach (same as Elder Bizimana used) and now I know I REALLY need to get one! The visual aid that it gives with teaching and comprehension is perfect! From there, we tried a new method of finding that I’m going to call “smart and sneaky finding.” We went to I’Langa mall and started walking around and went into some shops where we were looking for people who were kinda bored at their job and would be willing to just have a simple conversation with us. From there we develop a relationship and introduce the gospel. This can happen over the course of one conversation or may need to happen after several visits to the store. It takes a bit more time and patience but it’s better to talk and really get to know someone so they can feel that what you have to share really applies to them! That was a great time and I’m thankful that I learned that from Elder Pulley.

                We picked up Elder Scott and drove to Barberton (40km) where we met a less-active sister named Carol Mashile and then after we went to her brother’s house who stays about 15km further in the Consort Mine. We had a great lesson there and they all want to figure out how they can get transport to church! When they do, that’ll be 7 people reactivated! The nice part is that we now have a repeating appointment with them every Wednesday at a time when everyone will be home. We raced the rain home but it caught up with us and it hasn’t stopped since! (I’m writing this Wednesday morning btw so yes it’s still raining)

                We had a great lesson with Bro Elvis, another less active member who is striving to come back. We told him not to stress about church right now but that he should put all his focus into reading the Book of Mormon daily! We gave him the story in Helaman 7-9 so we’re excited to see him read and start to build his faith again. After that lesson we rushed back to Nelspruit to meet a new lady that Elder Kankkunen and I tracted into. Her name is Nombuso and it’s actually a miracle how we found her! We had been tracting a street that had already been tracted but this time getting all the houses that weren’t home. We had no success up to that point. Then we saw a house and I said “nah we already went there and nothing.” Immediately after I said that I thought that we had better go try again. My companion must have thought the same thing cause that’s exactly what he said. When we were knocking on this gate, a voice behind us asked: “Can I help you??” we turned around to see a lady and her daughter who actually lived in the house. We made a return appointment and knew that it was supposed to be that we met her. So back to Elder Pulley and I, we did a “how to begin teaching” lesson and it turns out that she is a doctor and works at the same hospital as Sis. Majate (fellowship) and is a single mom who knows the blessings of religion but might be looking for something more! She invited us to come back so we’re excited to continue that!

                We ended our day there and had an end of exchange inventory where we talked about some things and strengths mostly and how to be better missionaries all around. It was a great exchange and I’m thankful that it happened because I was able to get to know Elder Pulley a lot better and, as I said before, I learned a ton! We went and swapped back companions that night and came home, did some quick planning and went to bed! Tuesday is finished!

Wednesday:

                Well Wednesday worked out to be a correlation/service day! After our usual morning studies, we went over to the Scott’s flat to talk about the week ahead and discuss how we would best work together to make things happen. I a very much grateful for this meeting because we get to enlist the help of the Scotts in accomplishing everything that we have to do and all the things that we have to teach. From there, we dressed down into grubby clothes and went up to Pres. Manjate’s house and helped him with his garden and yard work. After that we had to leave for a teaching appointment that ended up ditching us -____- haha so we went back to Pres. Manjate’s house and started our correlation meeting with him! We’re pretty excited tho because he told us that this Sunday we would be getting a branch mission leader! From there, Elder Kankkunen and I spent some time doing a bit of finding and following/checking up on our investigators until our scripture study class began at 7. We drove Elder Scott to go get the pizza for the class and when we returned, we were blown away by the attendance! Ben came, 3 other investigators came! We had 2 recent converts and a less active show up as well! Haha not to say we weren’t hopeful but we were not anticipating that many people! That was a very fun thing to have happen and to see the success of our innovative missionary work. To end the night tho, our car broke…again. On our way home from dropping our ward missionary off, the engine started to fail, oil lamp came on and the temperature was beyond HOT! Luckily, thanks to angels pushing us I’m sure, we were able to get home and park our car. Now we just hope that it won’t be out of commission for too long.

Thursday

                Well, talk about a good day where nothing goes as you plan yet it all seems to turn out. I had to go to the dentist this morning and get a cavity filled. That was more fun than p-day….. Yeah not really. As much fun as it is to have the dentist and assistant speak Afrikaans the whole time when you don’t understand, it isn’t haha. He drilled and put some medicine in the cavity so it wouldn’t turn into a root canal (if it does... smh) and gave me a filling! My mouth was numb for about 3 hours and that was super distracting but funny because Elder Kankkunen slapped me in the face and I couldn’t feel the sting haha.

                So after withdrawing an arm and leg from the ATM to pay for it (it was double what he estimated...  we’ll have to work on his quoting skills) we returned home to start our studies and weekly planning. My mouth stopped being numb by the end of personal studies so I began to talk again and it was very nice to be able to feel my face! But right as we got started into making our phone calls in weekly planning, we got a call from a member who was looking for our flat. We guided him to it and he took a look at our car (I guess the Scotts told him what happened). We found out earlier that morning that our oil was good but the coolant was DRY as a bone! So we filled it up, let the engine idle it thru and topped it off again. We then drove it to the dealership.

                Now we’ve become so famous at Westvaal Chevy that we didn’t even have to go inside but the shop director came out and greeted us in the parking lot asking, “What’s the matter with your car now?” we told him and he was confused because he said he watched them fill it up with coolant. Idk what could have happened but anyways they took the car in and the Scotts were kind enough to shuttle us back to our flat to resume our planning. We finally finished in time to go teach a very good appointment to a family where the daughters are investigating the church. It was a great lesson and the light of understanding went off in their heads as we taught about how to really pray and understand the doctrine of the Godhead in application. Haha they were kind enough to feed us muffins and juice but we were kind of scared because that night was the district throw-down challenge at Spur! We were kind tho and ate their very good treats, praying that we would have room still for dinner.

                That night, we headed to Spur for the first (And last) annual Nelspruit district pig-out haha. Thursdays at Spur is all-you-can-eat ribs and wings and we had a contest between Nelspruit and Kanyamazane elders who would win. So we arrived and the waiter had already prepared a table for us and sat us down and we started eating. The first plate was finished quickly followed by the second plate. Kanyamazane’s strategy was to alternate who ate all the wings and who ate all the ribs but our strategy was just this: eat! Haha we got to our third plate when the restaurant started looking at us, the manager came by and said, “I’ve never seen this before!” and we requested our 4th plate. Now keep in mind, these are full stacks of ribs and like 8 wings per plate!

                We all started slowing down and the thought of a 5th plate just about made us lose it haha. Because of time, Elder Kankkunen couldn’t order a 5th plate (Even tho he wanted to, which we should consider a win) and Elder Pulley and I decided to settle the contest with an uphill sprint. We went outside and ran a 50yd sprint uphill and we were neck and neck the whole time. At the end he pulled ahead just barely and beat me by half a stride. Shame! haha but it’s all in good fun and we all had fun! We also all never want to see another rib or chicken wing again haha

Friday

                Today we had the privilege of having our zone leaders up for zone meeting and exchanges! Zone meeting was sweet and we got to learn about how to have more success in getting people to listen to us. We also talked about the teaching skill of listening! I’m glad that I had a trainer who emphasized that for me because it’s been a part of my mission from the beginning. I probably can’t teach the greatest but I know that if we all listen with love, we won’t need to worry about our teaching level because the spirit will attend us and they will know that we truly love and care enough about them to listen.

                We took off afterwards with Elder Thompson (Vernal, UT) and headed on our way to Lydenburg to see Calisto! We had a great meeting with him where we discussed obedience and following the living prophet! I was so thankful for Elder Nelson’s talk from general conference because it was able to bring that “home-run” witness to the end of our powerful lesson! We also got to see a member family whose son just turned 8 and we get to help him prepare for baptism! We had a fun lesson about the gift of the Holy Ghost and at the end we blindfolded him and told him to listen to his mom’s voice to direct him to our scriptures while we did our best to be loud and confuse him. The whole day turned out well. Elder Thompson is kind of a serious guy so we didn’t have too many laughs but it was a good time regardless.

Saturday

                This morning we ended our exchange and went and taught a freaking sweet lesson with an investigator named Pharaoh! Elder Ah Wong and I tracted him in our complex and he was kind of on and off but we got to see him after a while and we just had a fantastic lesson with him! He wanted to know how to follow God the correct way, how to build his faith and how much faith he had. We were able to use the book of Mormon in Alma 32 to help guide our discussion but by the end he said: “I think I need to be baptized!” haha we said yes! And then explained how it would be his decision and that we would be there to help him make it so that he can be sure he is doing what Heavenly Father wants him to do.

                Our branch had a combined youth activity and since our branch doesn’t do a lot of those, we decided we needed to be there to support, give extra attendance and then help clean up. It was a fun time and we got to build our relationship with the members. From there, we went and saw Ben and Thuli. It was a great lesson and they had stellar questions which they felt were answered by the Book of Mormon but we left feeling... unsure. The ball had to drop sometime with the whole “if our church is true, you need to dump your pastor no matter how nice he is” and today is when it dropped. We left them with a bold commitment that if they prayed sincerely that God would help them find the TRUE way, they would receive their answer. Now, it’s up to their agency and the spirit but we sure hope it turns out well. I think one of the more difficult things is KNOWING God’s will will be done but wanting it to be your will as well.

                We got to go up to our branch president’s house and give him a priesthood blessing of comfort as his son had another seizure (2nd within 8-9 weeks) and they just got out of the hospital. Boy, I can’t imagine how scary it is to be the parent in a time like that. I know what it’s like to be a brother whose sister had them, but seeing as I don’t have kids, I can only imagine from what I’ve seen here. We were just glad we could help minister in such a small way.

                From there we went to our last lesson of the evening with the Nkosi family where we talked about prophets and the priesthood. It was a wonderful lesson and they understood even to the point of expressing their desire to be baptized by the priesthood! Now we just have to work on helping them establish the connection to the message of the restoration and coming to our church vs. their church…. Do you notice a pattern? Hahaha all in all Saturday was great! And President Dunn called and expressed his love for us and his desire to have all the districts and district leaders on board for February, the month of miracles! Haha he’s got no worries up here! We’re all stoked.

Sunday

                I always love Sunday, that never changes! Plus I’d have to say that it only gets better on fast Sunday with testimony meeting! I think universally missionaries worry about inviting investigators to church for testimony meeting but not here in Nelspruit! It’s always powerful! We had Portia attend and she said that she loved it and loved Sunday school as well! Our new branch mission leader is Bro. Sigauke and he is fired up! His first day and already he has the whole priesthood committed to talk to a friend and give us their details! Haha MONEY!!! Couldn’t ask for a better blessing!

                After church we took a chance to study and then prepared for our lesson with Debbie. We’re helping Debbie see the difference between the doctrine of Christ which we teach and the doctrines that all the other churches teach. The cool thing here is that she notices and loves how “right” it feels! So our lesson today was helping her to see how she can know all those things for herself (plan of salvation, atonement, etc.) if she learns about the restoration. Great lesson!

                We were kindly invited over to Sis. Purine’s house for dinner and we had a great chicken and rice dinner with a lesson on service afterwards. Isn’t it amazing how selfless we can become when we serve? I think that’s my favorite part!

                We then ended our day with an official lesson with Portia. We followed up with church and then the question was asked: “what do you think sets our church apart from the church across the street or all the other churches?” and she replied, “I think it’s that you guys are teaching the truth.” Wow, wouldn’t ask for anything better! So we had a great lesson in helping her to recommit to living the standards of the gospel and keeping commitments :) hopefully she’ll be baptized in March!

                Wow, a lot happens in a week! Haha like I think I’m done typing for now or else my fingers will fall off :P

                I love this work! It’s hard sometimes but the miracles make it worth it! It’s like the shot in golf that keeps you coming back! Or the save in a lacrosse game that gets everyone fired up! I love it! And I love you guys! Have a great week!

-Elder David Spencer “Tony” Smith, GOALie

"To my wonderful home ward"

**because elder smith didn't have time to write for the blog this week, i would like to share a letter that he wrote to the members of his home ward at the end of last year.**

Tuesday, 31 December 2013
Johannesburg, South Africa

To my wonderful home ward,
I hope all is well back in Utah and that you all had a wonderful holiday season!  Because of the atmosphere during this season here in downtown Johannesburg, we cannot leave our flat but I count my blessings because it allows me time to reflect on the importance of this restored Gospel.  I'm lucky to have this time because I wanted to write and address all of my friends and neighbors in the Copper Hills 7th ward.  As we go into a new year, we all get to look back on 2013 with all the fun memories and learning experiences we had, as well as look forward to 2014 with goals and further growth in mind.  I have only been serving a little over a month and have a ways to go but with all I've learned in that short time, I'm excited to grow further in this amazing Gospel.  Here in South Africa, People, lifestyle and culture are nothing like what we are familiar with back home, but the Gospel is!  Whether we're 30 from church headquarters or 9,094 miles, it makes no difference and is a testament to the divinity and truth that our Church is founded upon.  
Being here has opened my eyes in many ways and I wish to share the experiences and things that I am working on now and plan on applying when I get home!  As you can guess, here in Joburg, there aren't chapels every half milke and not everyone knows about the church; in fact, members are few and far between. With that in mind however, I'm inspired daily by what I see and just have to share! 
The first thing I want to share is how people can magnify their callings despite their situation or the calling itself.  One brother has the assignment of placing hymn books before sacrament meeting.  He walks 10 km and get there 1 hour before the meeting starts so that they can be neat and organized for sacrament meeting that day.  We saw him one morning as we came out of a meeting and he just looked ecstatic to be there doing what he was doing!  Something as seemingly simple as laying out hymn books yet this brother was happy to serve and to do his part! I want to follow his example when I get back of joyfully serving whenever I am called.  The diligence I've seen is amazing and encouraging.  To walk into a single room house with a tin roof and to see a copy of "The Family: A Proclamation to the World" taped on the wall beside a pass along card with a picture of the Savior just shows how much this Church and the Gospel means to these wonderful people!  It makes me want to strive not to take it for granted anymore!
Brothers and sisters, my friends, I want to bear my testimony to you that I know beyond the slightest doubt that this is the Restored Gospel of our Savior Jesus Christ on the earth today!  The Church is true!  The Book of Mormon along with the words of our Prophets can be the guiding light and driving force for all of God's children if we only do our best to have faith, repent, be baptized or take the sacrament, live with the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and never, EVER give up!  Because of the Atonement we can live with our Heavenly Father again one day and also with our families.  I know that families are ordained of God and as we strive to come closer to God, we will grow closer to our families.  I know that through prayer, we can receive guidance, comfort and personal revelation and that God is just waiting for us to ask!  We can't receive until we ask and the door can't be opened until we knock but the love our Father has for us will never fail and He and His Son will always be there for us; that is the truth.
I love you brothers and sisters and you are in my prayers.  I would invite you to continue being the best you can be and do not ever give up!
Much love,
Elder David Spencer Smith

"So I want to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon."

(** editor's note: sometimes Elder Smith doesn't even have enough time to write much but we lucked out this week with two letters!  enjoy his testimony!  if you need a copy of the Book of Mormon to take his challenge, click here.)

So I want to share my testimony of the Book of Mormon. This amazing book of scripture is the key to knowing whether or not what I do here on a mission is true. If there are any doubts about ANY aspect of this church, they all hinge upon the Book of Mormon. Think about this, if I bring you a cake, how will you know if it’s good or not? You have to take a bite! Then you must taste and think about that taste, is it good? The Book of Mormon is the same way! Instead of biting, we read. Instead of tasting, we ponder! Then we appeal to the Source of all truth, our Heavenly Father. He will tell us if what we feel is true or not. Then, once you know if it’s true, and it is!, your question will be answered:)
Being here on a mission, I have found that, like Nephi, I have come to delight in the study of scriptures! Now, after 2 months, I look forward to reading and studying! The stories and things learned are so cool and even humorous at times! Like Laman and Lemuel?? Eish, what idiots! haha but seriously, this Book is amazing and I’ve seen the power of its conversion here in SA. That’s no story nor is it an exaggeration. I’ve seen people change their way of living because of the same things I described and are described in the introduction. I encourage all of my friends and family back home to read the Introduction to the Book of Mormon and pray about it. I promise, if you really want and need to know of its truth, and are willing to ACT when you get an answer, you will have the truth made known to you! I love it here and love all that I am able to learn!!! :) And I love all of you!
Tha’s ‘bout it!
Love, Elder Smith:)

"since I'm serving in Jozi I guess it had to happen sooner than later."

Well howzit guys!?
This week can best be described as a roller coaster!! Some great highs and some extremely low lows! haha so I’ll start with the good news first:)
I finally got my Christmas package!!!! All I have to say is that I love Christmas in the end of February!!!! haha really though, it was just what I needed! It gave me the perfect boost in my mood:) I got it from the ZL (Zone Leader) at Zone meeting on Friday along with another package and took it home but we had an appointment so I couldn’t open it till Friday night. But when I opened it and saw all the amazing presents and stuff, I couldn’t stop smiling and laughing!! And yes my family, I did put on Raffi's Christmas Album and listened to the whole CD as I went thru the package:) Elder Matos didn’t even mind either! In fact, he thanks you for his stocking!! We’ve had too much fun eating the candy and stuff as we study haha. I love those ties from Grandpa Richards and decided I’m going to wear one of his ties every Sunday! I loved the testimonies and wonderful Christmas cards from the ward, seminary, and the family:) I think most especially I loved the photo album. I had to show and explain about every person and situation in the photos to my comp and I’m sure he was just as excited as I was... (PSYCH!! haha I still showed him though and he had no choice;) ) I want to say a big thank you to all those who contributed to that present:) it was the boost I needed to get me ready for what would  happen Saturday...
Yep, Saturday is the low of all lows so far, but since I’m serving in Jozi I guess it had to happen sooner than later. Elder Matos and I were walking and taking pictures from this hill near where we were tracting. (The pictures of the valley and the panoramic photo is the infamous hill). All of the sudden, this guy walked by and we said hi and moved on without walking... well this guy wasn’t too nice because he robbed Elder Matos and I... he took our phone, my watch and my camera.... luckily he was nice enough to give me my memory card with my pictures, our SIM card and he gave us our car keys back after we told him we were pastors... haha pretty crazy ne? Oh well! So I apologize there will be a lack of pictures until I get a new camera -____- at least we're safe and still have our car right!? It was at that moment that I was too grateful for the Lord's watchful care over his servants and I just hope and pray and would ask that you back home will pray for our safety. Please also pray for this man who robbed us. How sad is it that he was in a situation where he thought the only escape to buy food was to steal... I hope he will find the missionaries one day in a little different setting than he found us.
That was our week though! haha We have 5 people on baptism date and we're set for 3 solid baptisms in march!!! Elder Matos and I are too excited!!
Oh here is another funny story from a couple weeks ago. Dad, I’m sorry but this one mostly fall upon us haha. So we were tracting right? And we went into this one guy’s house, Prophet Enoch (I know right?). Now Prophet Enoch has 299 churches! And he is writing a book! I think he has gotta be true!..... haha The thing is, we introduced the Book Of Mormon but his daughter had to translate for us (they are from DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) so he only speaks a little English and my little French just wasn’t cutting it). The language barrier got so frustrating though that he said to me" your father speaks French, why don’t you speak French!? Your father should have taught you and now since he didn’t and you can’t preach the Word effectively you and your family are doomed"........well..... hahahahaha sorry family! But I guess when you’re doomed by a prophet of 299 churches, it’s gotta be legit.... hahaha ohhhhh Johannesburg :P
I love and pray for you all! Please keep us in your prayers:)
Tha’s ‘bout it!
Love, Elder David Spencer "Tony" Smith

"i finally can be at home now! i have a guitar and lacrosse sticks!!!!" (or- "ohhh to be pranked!")

sorry i dont have a ton of time this time but i have to share my experiences from this past week:) i finally can be at home now! i have a guitar and lacrosse sticks!!!!
the story of how i got my sticks is a good one tho so i hope your ready to hear it:) so the office tell you thru sms (*text) if you have a package. so i got an sms and immediately i couldnt wait for the ZLs (*Zone Leaders) to bring it! the thign was i had to wait 2 days because we werent home when they were in jozi so they gave it to joburg 1 and we didnt see them until friday night. so friday night we go over there and i see the box on the counter! now i had a pretty good idea what it was from the size and weight described to me by the APs but this box was heavey! (the APs said it was light). the box had my name on it and it was from amazon.com but it was heavy! so i opened it up and there was charcoal, word of wisdom pamphlets, ensigns, a Gauteng province license plate, dish soap and mints in my box. i was so confused and to be honest, mad! haha even more mad when i saw the packing slip that said "stx fiddlesticks". i wanted my lax stuff!! haha they were just like "oh thats so wierd!"  and "how did yourmom send you as GP license plate from utah!?" yeah, like i bought that for a second. so then they finally brought out the gold and i was happy:) hahaha ohhh to be pranked! just wait till i can get them back :) i shall ponder these
things:)
we also ran into a situation that was new this week! haha so you know how unless your in colorado that mary J (*marijuana) is illegal in the states??
well, not here in SA! haha we went in to teach this guy about the restoration and he was super drunk :/ then in the middle of the lesson, he pulls out his weed and starts rolling up! while we're there! haha we both looked at each other and ended the lesson. we didnt really want to leave a lesson smelling like we just smoked a freshly rolled joint.... oh johannesburg :p 
other than that this week was fairly normal! appointments fell through and we tracted but the 2 best parts of the work are as follows: 1- we had an investigator come to church!! yes!! hopefully if all goes well she can be baptized into the true church at the end of this month:) and 2- we had a family home evening with this powerful family, the Tsekasa family, and a family from our ward! we bore our testimonies on plan of salvation and what they mean to us and then the Kistons brought a fun game for us all to play! hopefully teh tsekasas will all be baptized:) its looking that way so please keep them in your prayers!!
tha's 'bout it:)
elder Smith
*editor's note- the editor-in-chief is dealing with a thumb injury this week which makes typing difficult so this week's (& last week's late) letter hasn't been edited for spelling, grammar, coherency ;) etc.  enjoy the speed typing of elder smith! 

a mashup

Elder Smith had limited time for emailing this week & didn't have time to write very much for his blog.  Instead I've taken a bit from each of the emails he wrote to all of us (his family) & posted them.

sorry no blog email this time :/ but here's a picture from the temple gardens!!

we had our district meeting there and it was amazing!
oh! and i celebrated my 1 month anniversary in the field this week by doing more missionary work!! :P haha 
love, 
elder smith 
ps. sorry, short emailing time this week:/

Dear Mom- 
I’ve noticed here in SA that the lord does love his people as much as he loves me! Their eyes light up when they see "Jesus Christ" on our nametags and they want to hear more! Even if they’re just jokers, like Joseph said, sometimes, we just plant seeds to be nurtured down the road by the missionaries who will impact them more! the lord is the perfect micromanager;) but then we get people like Leslie Ncube (n- tsk sound-oobay) who commit to be baptized after saying "give me 2 seconds to think about that, 1,2, yes!" haha it made my day and I hope he will continue progressing!! It's been amazing to see the gospel work in his life:) I know I'm the missionary but he inspired me to fix a couple things that I need to and it's been a huge blessing!!  

Dear Emma- 
Thanks for your prayers and inspiration to do that which is right. I know that as you set goals and work towards them that you will become a better person, even if maybe you fall a little short you were still further than when you started and it just motivates a person like you to work a little harder:) keep on keepin on!!  Haha we have to wake up even earlier to exercise and it kills me but I always feel better:)
Dear Ben (who asked about baptisms, missionaries, zone conferences & Spencer's twisted ankle)-
no but we set Leslie on date for baptism the 16th of MARCH!!!!, in Joburg there are 7, only one zone conference but district meeting every week, its better! Bruised still but I’m running again:),
Dear Bekah-
I’m living super simple here haha um cool story is that we went ice skating today for p-day at the Northgate mall!!!! The skates were horrible but I still had fun:) hahaha 
Yeah about the ankle.  I guess I left that story hanging huh? Well we were playing rugby for pday 2 weeks ago and I just stepped weird in a hole and it was bad!! It’s finally stopped swelling and now the bruising is going away but man! Did it hurt! Haha part of life I guess...
Dear Dad- 
I wish you could like be here with me to answer the hard questions but I’ve learned something cool as you cannot be here haha it’s that we need to rely on the promise the Lord gave us to study those things and then we will have what we need to say, and what we say is just the simple doctrine! Just the eternal truths that we know and the spirit can do the rest:) one cool thing I learned is that we first "obtain" his word then we can declare. Well what does "obtain" mean? I came to the point that to obtain something, we need to pay a price; money, time, etc. so to obtain his word, or a testimony, we need to pay a price of our time or giving up a vice or worldly thing so that we can know His word! How cool is that!?
Well, tha's 'bout it! 

"This work is hard but fulfilling..."

Hello everybody!!
 Well I hope you guys had a great holiday season and I apologize I didn't get a chance to write last week but, as always, time is very valuable here! So I want to wish everyone a Happy New Year and encourage you all to set some goals! We can all be better and do better, haha this is something I've found out is that we always can improve in something:)
So for New Year's here in Jozi, we can’t go outside cause crime is crazy on holidays cause everyone is drunk :/ it’s sad for sure... so we invited all the missionaries from our zone over to our flat for a braai (bbq) and it was dope!! So good and so much fun:) we had wors, chicken, steak, and pap!
So the bummer is though, last p-day, we played rugby after email and, yup, I got hurt.... like my ankle has been soo swollen and purple this last week its crazy!! I was running the ball and stepped in a hole and twisted my ankle bad -______- luckily the worst pain went away and we didn’t have to tract that day haha but it sure made me count my blessings for being healthy and uninjured haha.
This work is hard but fulfilling and this past week has started a change in my life that will be for the better no doubt! I read a talk by Pres. Uchtdorf called "you can do it now!" from Oct 2013 conference and it inspired me!! If there is one thing my mission has taught me, it’s what I really want in life and who I am as an individual. Family and friends, I want you all to know that I know the Lord has a plan for each of his children and he is just waiting to bless us if we only have the courage to disregard what the world says and follow what he says. I know this to be true and I’ve felt very strong feelings of love from our Savior and Father in Heaven and they love all of us!!! I would ask humbly that you keep me in your prayers for this next week as I know a bumpy road is ahead! It’ll all be worth it tho!
I apologize this letter is short and all over the place but we only have so much time. Know that you are all in my daily prayers and that I love you all:) love from South Africa!
Tha’s ‘bout it!
Elder David Spencer Tony Smith
p.s. Oh did you guys know that Norm Bangerter (Bangerter Highway and the governor) was a mission president in the South Africa Joburg mission!!?? Crazy!!
p.s.s. Here in Joburg for New Year’s Eve, I continued the family tradition of sparkling cider when it turned New Year’s and we were up on this hill at midnight (we had permission don’t worry :P ) and saw allllll the fireworks in the whole Gauteng Province!! It was super cool!!

"We felt the love that Heavenly Father has for ALL of his children"

Hello everybody!!
Aesh (eye-shh): a very common exclamation used just like "jeeze", "whoa" or "oh boy"
Yo (yo): another exclamation to show disbelief
YO! I can’t believe I’ve already been here a month already!! Haha if it keeps flying by like this I think I might miss my whole mission!! Haha 2 years is nothin:) So I have a whole week’s worth of stories to tell but I want to start by saying I love you all very much and MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! It's weird having summer for Christmas but I’ll get used to the short sleeve shirts:) haha Well I guess I’ll start with the funny experience I had right after I emailed last Monday. So Elder Matos and I went shopping right? We got our groceries and went to go into another shop when we locked the car (manually, no auto locks) and he says "wait! The keys are still in there!" Yup, the keys were in there. In the ignition too! Yup, the car was still running.. Haha Elder Matos' Venezuelan currency doesn’t work here either so he only has his allotment card and that isn’t very much haha So guess who got to pay the locksmith R950 rand to come unlock the car? Yours truly!! Haha it’s all good though, considering I’ve done it to myself and been considerably embarrassed. Needless to say, I could understand my companion’s feelings and we got thru it safely:) So a little more about South Africa: people here are even more diverse than in the US! People from DRC, Zim, Malawi, etc all come here! In fact, I wish I would have learned a little more French from my dad and it would have come in handy! We’re teaching this guy, Angelo, from DRC and we gave him a French Book of Mormon and his eyes lit up as he said, "I’m going to read this now!" the work is great here! People, including myself, are so humbled by their circumstances that the message of the gospel and hope for eternal happiness really gets to people’s hearts here in a way different than back in Utah. Maybe it’s because everyone knows about the Mormons.. Who knows!? All I know is it’s great to be here! A little hectic sometimes and weird food but its great!! All great except the sight of five or six 12-year-old boys drinking beer in the street, not being able to stand because they are drunk :( It is a different world here for sure!
So on Friday I had an exchange with Elder Nilsen, one of our ZL. He is an awesome kid! I definitely made a friend and he told me I was an amazing missionary because I follow the rules. Haha I laugh because the rules are the only sense of comfort I really have here; knowing they’ll keep me safe. "Well if that’s what it takes then I’ll keep on doing it!" I told him. He is really powerful and I wish I could be his companion next transfer but his airplane is only 50 days away. Haha so for those of you who don’t know that I can’t drive a stick shift, I can’t. Or at least, couldn’t, until Friday haha. Elder Nilsen can’t and so since I kind of know how it works, I had the advantage and luckily we're doing the Lord’s work because the angels pushed our car from our flat to our area!! Haha I went from not knowing how to drive a manual OR drive in SA (the opposite side of the road with crazy divers and taxis) to doing it all in one day! I’ll just say the adrenaline was flowing like crazy!!! Haha I don’t think I stopped praying the whole drive either!
Then Sunday we had a couple cool experiences! After sacrament, the Joburg 1 elders were sick and left so Elder Matos and I got to direct 2 saving ordinances!! A little 8 year old girl in the ward, Chani Gombo, was baptized and confirmed a member of the church by her father! It was very cool to be a part of and it is one of my "gold nuggets" that I will store away (that’s for you Bro. Cooper.) Then, that evening we had two appointments fall through so Elder Matos and I went to Rhoddes Park in Kensington and went to all these families and sang Christmas carols from my mini hymn book! They were either drunk or sober but it didn’t matter because once we started the hymns, their eyes lit up and some of them sang along to the ones they knew!! It was cool because we felt the love that Heavenly father has for ALL of his children and how happy he will be when they can realize the love he has for them and come back into the fold:) It was almost like your experience Bekah!
Anyways, I’m super excited for Christmas and Skyping my family! Even though I get crap from the elders since I’ve only been out a month haha! We also got invited to several family braiis so we won’t go hungry!! (braii (a br-eye) is a bbq)
It’s comforting to know that whatever my mood is at the beginning of the day, when I can serve all day and feel those spiritual highs I go to bed happy and confident and with a bigger testimony of this wonderful gospel:)
MERRY CHRISTMAS AGAIN!!! LOVE YOU ALL!!
Tha's 'bout all!
Love,
Elder David Spencer Tony Smith

Elder Smith's kitchen

Elder Smith's desk on the right

December 5, 2013

(received 5:04 am)
Sheesh, this is a WHOLE lot different than I expected. I knew it would be hard but not even close to this hard! Trying to focus on the work has been really difficult when all I can think of is how long two years is and how much I love everyone at home. Seriously, I love all of the people that have influenced my life up until I left, especially my close friends. So here it goes. I've gotten a lot of questions about so many things but I only have a limited time to email here in the MTC so I will try to explain as much as I can and answer as much as I can:)

So here in the MTC we have a rigid schedule. We wake up at 5:50 and go running and come home and get ready for the day all dressed and packed up by breakfast at 7 o'clock. From there we have classes all morning where we learn the finer points of being a missionary like how to teach, how to ask questions, how to invite the spirit daily into our lives, how to study for our investigators, and how to organize our materials and lives. Then we have lunch and go back to classes for a couple hours when we get to "go to sport" (the new language patterns are so funny and it’s been fun getting used to them and learning how to use them.)

So Joburg is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! I've never seen anything like it anywhere that I've traveled before. It’s green everywhere and the temperature is so nice! It also rains often and when it does it "buckets" or pours! But it’s amazing here:)

I have a list of stuff to type but I’m getting kicked off now so hopefully I can get back on later today, if not, I’ll be out of the MTC in 5 days and ill have more than 45 minutes to email!

I LOVE YOU GUYS!! Please keep me in your prayers if you will:)
(received 6:51 am)
Sorry I got booted off before I could finish all I wanted to say. So yes it’s beautiful here in SA but man is it a different culture! They have beggars at all the stop lights (which is sad but sketchy) and all their cars are little, no big trucks at all! The weirdest thing by far though is driving on the opposite side of the road. Every time I've been in a car I feel like that scene from Galaxy Quest where the kid is pulling the space ship out of the spaceport and all of their heads lean to the side cause he can’t drive hahaha just a funny observation :P  Mom I love you! It’s fun to send a couple emails while you're asleep haha! No companions named Botho or anything like that but Elder Moliki is from Joburg and he has taught me so much about humility and many lessons. I’ll let him know my family is praying for him. Dad, your red and blue tie went to the Joburg temple with me so I could take you there with me:) I hope teaching all goes well and your students appreciate it, I know I did when I was in seminary.
The thing I want to tell you is I love you all. I pray about you every night and I cannot describe how much I love you, have I said that enough?? Again I’m limited for time but I have a list of things I still wanted to include:
-send my priesthood line of authority please?
-please send pictures!! friends and family!
-send a scripture mastery card??
-advice for those of my friends and family prepping for missions: make sure you do it for you!!! If you don’t, the whole experience will not be the same and it will be very hard. Also try to do splits with the missionaries at least once!
-in the intro to the pearl of great price, are we related to Franklin D Richards??
I know it’s sporadic but it’s the best with what little time I’m given. I want you all to know I love you beyond measure. The Savior loves you even more than that!! I've found that to be true and a comfort. I know this gospel is true and that by living it, the spirit will always be with us and we will have peace and guidance. I love this gospel and have taken it for granted way too long. 19 years too long but I know that we can all re-focus and the Savior will love us for making the right decisions. Love you all!!!!
Tha's 'bout it!
-Elder S Smith:)

elder smith's first e-mail! 11/28/13

I'm here!!!! And good news I got all my luggage no problems :)  [*editor’s note: Spencer’s luggage was not checked through to Johannesburg and there was some concern when he was in London about whether his bags would arrive with him.*]  About 2 hours after I called mom, Elder Robbins [*editor's note: We met Elder Robbins and his family at the airport in Salt Lake City.  He and Spencer were "companions" on their journey to South Africa.*] and I found about 7 other elders headed to Joburg and over time about 8 more trickled in! The kicker is they were all there for the same amount of time but we only found each other an hour before our flight left haha. The flight to Joburg was longer than to Heathrow [London] but I got to sit next to an Elder Henderson from England and we hit it off well which made the flight more enjoyable! When we got to SA (South Africa), my luggage was there :) I said like 50 prayers of thanks and we headed out to find our MTC guy. He was there with 8 missionaries (6 elders and 2 sisters) from Zimbabwe (they just call it Zim), Swaziland, and South Africa all going to places here in Africa. If you’re all wondering like I was when I first heard it, only native Zimbabweans can serve there which is why Jayson and Bryant [*fellow missionaries originally called to Zimbabwe but transferred to other missions. *] couldn’t continue there. They all have the coolest accents and even cooler personalities and outlooks on life. Elder Denehere from Zim is the one I talked to most. He is 20 and a convert to the church. He said something that I really liked: "Whatever I do in life, I try to learn something. Like our conversation now, I’ve learned about America and you guys". I thought it was really inspiring and I think I’m going to try to let that motivate me throughout my mission and hopefully in life.
So how is it here in Joburg?? It is BEAUTIFUL!! I was trying to compare it to something so you guys would have an idea but it’s nothing like I’ve ever seen. It’s green everywhere and there is a fresh breeze that blows through the air. The breeze reminds me of Hebgen where you can walk outside and sniff the air and it’s like nothing else. They drive on the opposite side of the road which is something I think I’ll have to get used to if I can drive because it looked really sketchy! We got to the MTC about noon and they tossed us right into lunch and all the necessary paperwork and interviews. Before I got my email time, I had my interview with the MTC president, Pres. Reber (he knows Pres. Bohne! [*Spencer’s stake president.*]), and he told me my companion is Elder Moloki from South Africa. I haven’t met him to this moment but he says he is a cool kid and, judging by all the African missionaries I’ve met so far, I am tooooo excited to meet and learn from him.
Much love, Elder Smith
p.s. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!