MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

He's home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Elder Mitchell Montana Smith completed his mission on February 16, 2015.  He served in the California Roseville Mission for 2 years.

Here we are waiting for him.

Unfortunately, because we were all on tight timelines, and his plane came in early, his dad was the only one there when he came down the stairs from the gate.  But, they devised a plan to surprise everyone. . .

Here he is sneaking up on his mom!

We had a great reunion. . .

mama missed him

'He was released as a missionary that night and the name tag came off.  Sad that this experience is over, but overjoyed that he is back with us!!!!!!!!

February 9, 2016 Email

Hey Fam! Sorry I haven't emailed lately! I would have yesterday but the last full p-day I had was spent having nerd wars. One round was to "kill me off" where everyone was against me until I died. So it was tons of fun yesterday.

I've been doing well. I have mostly been getting everything ready to take off for home and that is one heck of a chore let me tell ya. Lots of papers, meetings, and sending stuff home. I will be sending things home this week so don't open any of them that I send till I get home.

So quick summary of the week. We had three exchanges happen; one with our zone leaders, one with our district leader, and one with Hmong Elders. We had meetings with President Marston and interviews as well.  This week is also going to be busy. We have another Hmong exchange to do, we have a Hmong baptism to attend in Oroville, we have several lessons set for Hmong work and English work.

I'll have to find a ride down to the mission office and someone to stay with for the 15th.  As you know I will be getting on the plane from here to SLC at 10:20 to arrive at 1. Then I have a 3 1/2 hour lay over time, ridiculously boring I might add, then I get in the plane for home to get there around 5. 

I'm stoked to see you all and am ready for home.

As they say in the mission, "Dead man walking!" Haha! See you soon!

Love

January 21, 2016 Email

Hey Fam!  Sorry I didn't email last Monday.  I was stuck doing all the programs and papers to get ready to go home.  I can't believe how much there is to do in order to get home when you would think it is just get packed and get on the plane.  Nope!!!  They're having me do this online course called "My Plan" as a way to make sure I have a plan for life after the mission.  There was a study that showed that 60% of RMs go less active or inactive when they get home.  All because they don't know what to do with their lives.

The week we had was pretty good.  Not too much Hmong work but a lot of English work got done.  Bishop had given us a list of less active and inactive people to go over and visit with them to see if they still live there or if they would like to receive home and/or visiting teachers.  We went through some of that and had some good and bad responses.  One house was pretty good.  We had a visit with this one girl named Stacy and she had served a mission and been endowed in the temple but ended up going less active.  She was doing great until this whole Prop 8 stuff happened.  She has friends that Prop 8 affects and she just got hurt feelings about it, so she went less active.  She's been to church since then, but she still has a few problems with the church that need to be resolved.  Other visits were kind of the usual.  Nice people were at all the doors but didn't want anything to do with the church.

A couple of miracles happened this past week.  We were going out to find a less active member in the ward and ended up running into Trevor.  Trevor is a YSA (Young Single Adult) age guy who lives in the apartment where the records had a less active member.  He had never heard of our religion before.  He was very receptive to the message and took a Book of Mormon and he said we could come by another time to visit.  We also found this less active/active family if that makes sense.  The family lives in our ward boundaries, but they go to another ward instead.  So, they aren't inactive, they just aren't active in the ward they are supposed to be in.  We are just meeting with them right now and getting a relationship built to try and get them over to our ward.

Well, that's all I've got for ya.  Again, sorry this is late.  I wish you the best of luck and hope to hear from you next week!

Love,
Elder Smith

January 11, 2016 Email

Hey Fam! It's great to hear you all are doing well!

The week here was interesting to say the least. One of the first lessons we had was a Hmong lady that didn't speak any English so I was sitting there wondering what the heck is being taught. I told my companion when we first started going out visiting that he better be teaching the correct principles, cause I sure as heck can't correct
you on this one. Haha! It's good working with these people though.  They are very accepting of the gospel and are humble enough to want to make these changes in there life. 

A sample of the language Mitchell's companion is speaking--yikes!!!!

We also cover an English Ward here too so that's a bit of relief from not knowing what is being said. The week went kinda slow but we had some good work done here. We do something here on Wednesdays called a Hmong class. Here, Elder Fitzgerald teaches people how to speak Hmong so they can better help in the ward and their progression. Sunday was interesting because we set up for Elder Fitzgerald to have a translator mic to help the older Hmong members understand sacrament meeting. In total these next five weeks are going to be very interesting. 

I also got today a letter from President Marston informing me of all that will be happening prior to the departure. So you can probably imagine the amount of trunkiness I am experiencing right now.

Trunky:  A slang term used among Mormon missionaries, describing a missionary who is excited about returning home as "trunky" as he has already packed his trunk

Well that's all I got for you this week. I hope to hear from you guys next week that will be informing you of all that will be happening.

Love

Elder Mitchell Smith

January 6, 2016 Email

Hey Fam! Sorry I haven't emailed recently, some crazy stuff has just happened. We had transfers again and we thought that my companion was leaving. Turns out, I was the one that left. I thought I would finish in Andersen but ended up moving to Chico. The situation with that is there is a Hmong Elder down here who didn't have a companion for six weeks since he training a new one in a month and a half. So President Marston decided to have me come down and spend the transfer with him since he figured I wouldn't mind, which I don't.

Sculpture in Chico- - -Give a "big hand" to Elder Smith!!!!

Here we will be doing both Hmong and English work since there isn't a whole lot of Hmong's in the area. It's going to be a good time since I know the Elder I'm working with, Elder Fitzgerald. He has been out for almost a year and he has been doing well in the work. It's kinda funny too cause I will be the second missionary in a row that he will be sending home. His last companion he sent home was his trainer. He's pretty cool, so this last transfer will be good.

It's weird to think that I only have six weeks left on my mission and I'm home. That's crazy!! I know that it's been two years, but man has it flown by. I can't wait to see you guys start getting back in the swing of things. It's gonna be weird cause I won't have anything to talk about but the mission for quite a while. Hahaha!

Well anyway, that's all I've got for you guys this week. Hope you all have a great week and I wish you the best.

Elder Mitchell Smith

January 8, 2016 Email

Once again, not really an email.  Just some photos from his last zone.  Mitchell is getting transferred and will spend the last 6 weeks of his mission in Chico, CA.

Normal

Notice he is trying to distance himself, ha ha!!!

December 28, 2015 Email

This isn't really an email, per se-lol!!!  We Skyped with Mitch for about 90 minutes on Christmas.  We were trying to get both Mitch and Stockton on at the same time, but it didn't really work out.  because I didn't know Mitchell's new address until the Monday before Christmas, he didn't get his package on time.

But, he did get it eventually, and these are the photos that he sent with the caption "LOVE THE TIES!"

He apparently is out of contact and is wearing his glasses.  He was in good spirits and looking forward to finishing his mission in the next couple of months.

December 14, 2015 Email

Hey Fam! Hope all is going well for ya!

This week we ended up having several great miracles happen for us. We have an ASL investigator who has met with missionaries for quite a while but never got baptized. We met with him earlier this week and had a lesson with him and committed him to baptism. He accepted and will be getting baptized on the 6th of January. We are stoked because my companion, Elder Funk, will be baptizing him and he will be doing it in sign. That's so cool! Then on the 10th I will be confirming him as a member of the church. I won't be able to do it in sign, but it's an experience that will be remembered forever. Not too many missionaries get to have a chance to work with someone that's ASL so I'm thankful to be here for it. 

Another miracle we had happened Sunday. We were greeting people at the door the former Ward Mission Leaders wife came over and let us know of a little girl who wants to
be baptized. We went over to where her and her father were and talked with them about what they want to do. The father is a less-active member and heard his daughter wanted to get baptized so he will be returning to activity while we meet with her. So within the time I have left, we have a potential of baptizing two people before I leave.  That is a miracle in its self.

The rest of the week was kinda the same. We met with one investigator who has been struggling with a couple different things in regard to commitment in the invitations we leave with him. We have another appointment with him and his girlfriend on Wednesday so we will see how that goes. Sunday brought some crazy rain and wind in the morning.  When I went to get ready for church, I looked out the window and saw something like a typhoon right outside. Wind gusts were probably around 20 mph with very heavy rainfall. I was hoping it would be like
that for most of the day, but it ended up stopping just before we left for church.

So, that's all for this week. Hope you all have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you soon.

Love

Elder Mitchell Smith

December 7, 2015 Email

Hey Fam! Hope all is going well for you guys back home! The time here has been good and tough at the same time. We have very few investigators to work with in the area and we have contacted almost all our potential investigators as well with no success. One good thing about the area is that there's usually a good opportunity for
service most mornings and throughout the day. One service activity we did involved herding sheep and moving a horse so that was something I hadn't done on the mission till that point. The members love being able to feed us and are engaged in missionary work pretty well. This week we had a couple of lessons and ended up doing a lot of running around. One day we ended up driving 102 miles trying to contact people.

Well that's all I've got for this week. Hope you all are having a great time and hope to hear from you soon.

Love

Elder Mitchell Smith

November 30, 2015 Email

Hey Fam! Sorry for not emailing earlier in the week. Things have been crazy here in the new area. Transfers happened and I went up north into Anderson area to finish the mission. I'm serving in the Cottonwood Ward and am greenie breaking a new missionary, Elder Funk.  The ward members here are awesome and love helping out in the work as much as they can. The area work wise is something of the same thing as my last area but is still going good. Not too many investigators but plenty of less-active members.

Thanksgiving was a great time here. In the morning we went and did some service putting up a fence. We all had a helping in it and it was great to get back to some good fencing. After that, we went and had thanksgiving dinner with the former Ward mission leader and his family. They actually ended up having all the missionaries in the zone show up there. Several missionaries have served in this Ward before and they loved being there for dinner. We had a great thanks giving and I hope you all did too.

Love, 
Elder Smith

October 20, 2015 Email

Hey Fam! The week here has been good. We worked quite a bit with some YSA members for a majority of the week. It's always a struggle to have to work with them because they are either in school or at work during
the day. They also go out on the weekends so that's always tough to work with cause they are never around then. We are still working with some former investigators and they seem to be doing much better with how they are taking the lessons. We had a great experience last Friday with a recent YSA convert member and her family. Her grandma, who is a nonmember, was falling an aspen tree to get fire wood for the winter.  It fell properly, yet when she started cutting the wood with the saw when the fork of the tree whipped at her and broke her shin bone just
above the ankle. From the pictures we saw, it was WAY bad. She had gone through surgery already by the time we got there and it seems like it will heal well. The member, who is the granddaughter, had contacted us asking if we could give a blessing to her grandma. Her grandma had heard of blessings before and she had asked for one. We got there and gave her a blessing. She felt such relief from that blessing and felt she would recover well.

Priesthood Blessing--A blessing given by a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, by the laying on of hands and by inspiration, to one who is sick or otherwise in need of special counsel, comfort, or healing. If the blessing is for the sick, consecrated oil is used (James 5:14-15).

It was great to be able to do that since I haven't been able to do that since Oroville, which was about 7 months ago.

Well, that's all I've got for you this week. Hope you're having a great week and having fun!

Elder Mitchell Smith

October 14, 2015 Email

Hey Fam! Sorry I haven't been emailing lately, p-days are always crazy. This p-day was particularly crazy because it was transfers. My companion and I are both staying together for another transfer and I'm stoked for it. It's good you all are doing well back home. It's a good thing Parker got cleared from his concussion, I'm sure he would not be happy if he was out for the rest of the year.

The week here has been good. We have had some good work turn up for us and it is going well. We have been working with some former investigators and hopefully they will keep up with their commitments since that is what they struggle with. We have also been trying to work with a less-active list for the YSA but it doesn't seem to be
pulling up much. There have been quite a few fires recently here but the winter season is coming up soon. Hopefully we can get some good moisture so we can get more water for this drought. 

Aside from that we have been doing good and have been working quite well in the area.

Well, that's all I've got for you this week. Hope you're having a great week and having fun!

Elder Mitchell Smith

September 29, 2015 Email

Hey Fam! It seems like you guys are crazy busy with everything in the letter. With work, sports, and the mission to get ready for; that would be very over bearing when it all comes at once. Give Parker my wishes that he will recover. My current companion got a concussion in his last area. Since that, he has to be cautious about the activities we do. 

This week was pretty good for us. We have been working on some lists that the ward and branch gave us. We have been working with less-active members most of the time since the area has come to a near halt with investigators. It's not fun, but they choose not to have a desire to change or make those commitments. As we all know, you can't change someone that refuses to allow it. The district meetings, I hear, seem to be good with the few we have had. It's definitely weird being on the other end of the stick when I came to meetings, but it's good for me. It gets me even more out of my comfort zone. 

This weekend is General Conference and I am pumped. As members were bearing testimonies on it Sunday; I had the thought occur to me, this is my last General Conference in the mission field. It made me wonder, "What all is to happen this Conference and what can I learn more of?" I hope whatever is in store is very meaningful to me and to others. 

Topics from the October 2015 General Conference:

activation                                            addiction                                             adversity (9)

agency                                                 Apostle                                                Atonement (8)

Book of Mormon                                charity                                                 children (2)

Church callings (3)                              Church leaders (3)                               Church meetings

Church membership                            Church organization (2)                      commandments (3)

compassion                                          conversion (7)                                     councils

courage (3)                                          covenants (2)                                       dating

death (2)                                              disabilities                                           discipleship (3)

divine nature (6)                                  education (2)                                       example (2)

faith (9)                                               family (5)                                            fasting

financial management (2)                    friendship                                            grace

healing (2)                                           Heavenly Father                                  Holy Ghost (8)

hope                                                    humility                                               Jesus Christ (16)

Joseph Smith                                       joy (3)                                                  kingdom of God

light                                                     love (5)                                                marriage (2)

missionary work (2)                            morality (2)                                         motherhood

obedience (6)                                      parenthood                                          patience

plan of salvation (8)                            prayer (2)                                             priesthood (3)

profanity                                             prophets (6)                                         repentance (6)

revelation (3)                                       righteousness                                       Sabbath (5)

sacrament (5)                                       safety                                                  scripture study

scriptures (3)                                       self-control                                          service (5)

spirituality                                           standards                                             temptation

testimony (3)                                       trust                                                     truth (4)

women                                                worthiness (2)                                     young adults

The mission has been a struggle; but it has changed and blessed me in ways that I could not have imagined in my entire life. I am so proud that Stockton is deciding to serve. It makes me wonder how the Lord can bless him as he serves with honor and diligence. 

P-Day yesterday was awesome and fun. We had to plan the activities and we did a reincarnation of Zombies. We had some good responses and some complaining, but the complaining usually just came from one or two people so it wasn't terrible. 

Well, that's all I've got for ya this week. Hope you all have a great and easy week and I wish you the best!

Love

Elder Smith