1/25/2016

That Giant snow storm by passed us by a lot, so we got only a sprinkling here in Dartmouth area, everything is going wonderfully.

This week has been so Great and marvelous, with so many blessings and events that have been mind blowing.

we were just about to go street contacting and said a prayer for the Lord to bless us to find the people he had prepared us to find, so we went out and were talking to people for about an hour with no success, we had just exited the building and in passing through a passing hello to a man walking by us and continued walking, before we got too far we heard this man call out to us, and he came up to us, he had seen us walking day by day and knew we were Mormon and had heard a lot of anti about us, and he just wanted to say he was amazed by our conviction in still going out even when it was hard, and he wanted to know what the truth of everything was, why we did what we did, and we were able to relate the restoration to him and bear our testimonies about the first vision, he gave us his number and asked us to set up a time for us to come and teach him more.

I know that the Lord had set up everything that day for us to find that man, His name is Alex and I just thank the Lord for putting him in our path, because I know that we would not have met him except through the spirit.

We have been also meeting with a man named Jerry who is a black man and is very spiritual and loves hearing the word of God, but he is caught up on it and won't move past that grudge he is holding from it, I would encourage you all to learn about it, because you will definitely come across people who have major concerns about it, something that I find comforting though is no matter what mistakes anyone makes in this church, the Gospel is true, and any missteps or mistakes are the mistakes of man, as for the doctrines of the Gospel they are pure and without the teachings which we learn and grow from we would all be lost in a world that would love us to do everything contrary to that which we believe, having a wonderful family, living a higher way of living, finding peace in this life, there are so many people I meet who are lost, who are despairing and desperate for peace, you don't even have to ask with some people I have seen the spiritual hunger in peoples faces and the need for this Gospel, I know the Church is true even as much as I know that I have a body, and the teachings that are taught, and the doctrines expressed through the Gospel are all true and meant to benefit our lives, nothing can change the truth, the truth will always be the truth and the only thing that changes is us, we can turn away from truth but that still doesn't change it.

I don't know why I go off on these rant's just know that when I do, its something that I am concerned about, I would invite everyone to read the Book of Mormon and pray to know it is true, I have done so and I know it is true, I know that God is out loving Heavenly Father and he has a plan for each on of us, I know that Christ came to earth to be a perfect example to us and that he truly suffered the atonement, we cannot even comprehend the depths of the atonement, he suffered for everyone of our sins, our heartaches, our anger, our vanity, our shortcomings, our depression, our grief, our pains, he had felt every paper cut, every hurt and sadness we have ever felt and will ever feel, and the greatest treasure of all is that we can let him relieve all of it, if we put our trust in him, I have had so many struggles and it is only because of the atonement that I am here today, writing this email from Halifax, and soon to be California, He is reaching for you to take his hand, his arm is ever extended... will you take it? I encourage every one of you to look to him because it is in him that we are saved from everything.

1/18/2016

I sure do love you guys and its so cool to hear about the growth of everyone (including coco) I know for a fact that we are a family of leaders, I do not say this to make us filled with pride but because every time I see improvement in each one of my siblings and hear the wonderful stories related with them I know that everyone of this family can inspire all those around them, I know that you guys sure inspire me, I am grateful for parents who built me up and for each one of you to encourage me to be greater, From steph inspiring me to take risks and go on adventures, Sam inspiring me to follow my heart and stick to what I feel is right, Ben makes me never want to give up to stick to the task and to follow my passions to the end, When I feel down on my luck and miserable I think of Abby and I can find the courage to follow my heart, and Mia is always my ray of hope, I think of her bright smile and I can't be sad. All of you are an example to me and I know I could never be half the person I am without all of you guys showing me great examples of leaders among men, I can never express enough how lucky I feel to be among these noble and great ones. and how lucky we are to be raised by parents who love us and only want us to reach our full potential. 

Mom and Dad you guys are the reason I am here today, without you I could never have made it this far, I will always be eternally grateful for everything you do and have done to raise me, who knows where I would be today without Dad's unshakable example of what a good man should be, I know that all of my life I have wanted to grow up to be like my dad. Mom has always told me to be the best I could be, she always wants the best for me, I am so glad for the relationship we have and how I could talk to her about anything, Mom you are busy all the time with us with hardly a moment to yourself, and yet you always found time for me, I know that some moments were easier then others and that i haven't always expressed how deeply I am in your debt for teaching me and showing me how to be the best person I can become.

I write in my journal everyday, and I always write as did nephi only briefly the account of events, I record thoughts and questions, Epiphanies and joy's of the day, highlights and feelings. I have found that when you are constantly learning something new everyday that it isn't that hard to write at least a little, and I would encourage everyone that they write in their journal, it doesn't have to be long or complex, well written or proper, write what you feel you want to write, their is no specific way you have to write it, as long as you can read it it doesn't matter what you put in their, you can draw pictures, make up a language, who cares what you write in it? its your journal as long as you care what you write in it, that is all you need.

a little report on events,

we picked up a new investigator this week her name is Faith Eweka, she is a single mother She is black, and she is so cool, she has a belief in God and she is crazy busy, she works three jobs, airport security, teacher, and substitute teacher, and she is going to school to be a counselor and on top of that she has to care for her ten year old daughter.

I am doing a lot of knocking and street contacting because the people here are really stubborn but I know that the spirit can touch the heart of all who are willing to listen.

How is the individual scripture reading? Anybody find anything cool? the other day I found that their are satyrs in the Book of Mormon. Its your job to find out where. I also found that God's hand is always reaching for us, all we need to do is grasp hold of his everlasting love.

Any cool missionary experiences from anyone? I challenge everyone of you to share your testimony with someone you know. There is a promise in a talk I read that if you are willing to speak of truth, and you don't feel like you have a testimony, if you will tell people of the truth of the gospel the spirit will manifest its truthfulness unto you as well. 

Any questions for me? I can promise you that if you are wondering about anything in the Gospel I will help you to the best of my ability.

Here are a couple pictures of some of my first day's here, we went to a cool place filled with street art the mural I am standing in front of tells a story and I think Russell Francis would love that, it is so cool.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Braxton Breinholt <braxton.breinholt@myldsmail.net>
Date: Mon, Jan 18, 2016 at 12:18 PM
Subject: Pics
To: joshua.c.smith@myldsmail.net

   

1/11/2016

We have been pretty busy this week and its been interesting to see things unfold and look back at how many things go 'just right' during the week, even today we were street contacting when we stopped to give this random guy a card for Mormon.org, (highly suggest everyone makes an account on that it is a wonderful way to tell who you are and what you believe, Sam and Ben you want to be a missionary now? then update your mormon.org accounts regularly, you never know when someone your age will be looking over it)

Also this week I have been reflecting a lot on life, and i have to say I am constantly worried, like Nephi I want the best for my siblings, though each one of you guys are so amazing, I have met so many people while knocking on doors who just up a leave the church because they just don't "feel like its for them" and I just want you guys to know that I have a personal witness that this Gospel is so true, I can't stress enough the need for conversion, and finding and growing your testimony now, I also have a personal witness that Satan wants each of you guys to fail, to not achieve your full potential, I have felt his influence in my life, and have lost a lot of time trying to figure things out, I know that each one of you are so amazing and are all leaders among men, why do you think God saved you until the best and worst days of the world? he sent us here because we are his choice spirits, he sent us here because whatever this world threw at us he knew we could take it and throw it back better then ever, each one of you has so many talents and abilities that enable you to be great, don't waist another moment, because you are truly special, and nothing can bring you down, stop lazing about, and be who you truly are meant to be, I am constantly amazed that I can be in such a great family with people filled with so much light and love, and every time I think about each and everyone of you, Dad, Mom, Steph, Sam, Ben, Abby Mia. I can't help but think how lucky, how privileged, and how great it is to be able to grow up with leaders, and examples to me in my life. I cant even express the depth of emotion I feel, the fullness of love I have for all of you, you have made me who I am, and I know that you all are meant to "shake the very foundations of Hell" and that I get to be counted among you.

So my plea to each one of you, is stop wasting time being average. Stop wasting time being distracted, because that's what Satin wants, that is when satin wins, when he can pull us away from our full potential... Follow your dreams, and trust in the Lord. I don't say this because I hear about people rejecting the Gospel, I say this because I have seen it so many times this week, people leave at literally any age, especially when they are raised up in the Gospel

Nothing is too hard yet, my companions are pretty great, we get along well, though Elder Gardner is struggling with severe foot pains which makes tracting a bit hard, but other then that I have to say this is the closest I have ever felt to the Lord.

 Its so cool how things are turning out, I have been studying the first vision, and its pretty interesting how things go, MEMORIZE the fist vision! and then experiment on non member friends, it has a cool effect when you say the first vision story word for word starting from "I saw a light" no matter what people are doing they literally shut down, and will look at you in the eyes until you finish and a lot of times its because the spirit pierces their souls. so I encourage you try it... it's cool. Make sure to explain things first though, :) 

I shall update you as much as I can next week, I can't really describe a lot of main events, a lot of times I only send what I feel I need to, and I can't really remember too many events. one thing I do remember however is that February 9th is national pizza day, :) 

I Love all of you SO much and I am proud to be one of the Smiths. 

Elder Joshua Smith

we have a two hour time block for writing emails and there is a lot of specific spiritual insights i feel could benefit specific people I know so I feel like as long as I can keep my head and prioritize my time (with the help of my companions) i can use that two hours to increase faith in people i know and fulfill my purpose more effectively by helping others more fully come unto Christ. I know it was unadvised it is probably cause of missionaries getting sidetracked, if I feel I am getting sidetracked and drawn away from my purpose I will ask them to just send me letters or speak to me after my mission.

My address is

7 horizon court 

101 dartmouth

NS B3A 4R2

and the mission office address is:

202 brownlow ave

FF dortmouth

NS B3B 1T5

1/4/2016

I love hearing everything from you guys, its so much fun to be a part of your lives while being apart from all of you, just know i am thinking of you everyday, I did feel really inspired on Sunday, it has been an interesting experience thrusting myself into the work, street contacting and knocking on doors is really nerve racking but really fun, especially when people are even a little receptive, Halifax is an interesting place people here are really set in their ways so we are spending a lot of time finding people to teach.

​I get to be in a trio, the guy with blond hair is Elder Brienholt and the guy with black hair is Elder Gardner, and the super handsome guy in the middle is Elder smith

Elder Gardner has been out 18 months and is always excited about one thing or another, Elder Brienholt has been out 6 months and is the district leader for the Dartmouth area where I am positioned, both have a real desire to serve to their fullest and both are real sticklers for the rules. so I am in good hands.

I am so glad to be out here, the members are really fun to be around and love having us over, we have visited with a few since I have been here.

yesterday we went to the Fox's and they had a son serve in dads mission close to when he served his, an Elder Fox. which was pretty cool, and they asked if dad knew an Elder Fox, I told them I would ask,

as for missionary work its been quite an adventure, I have met a couple crazy people, one old man just ranted to us for thirty minutes about the worlds problems and kept asking questions like, "why are there so many churches!?" or "why isn't there rules against sex before marriage!" and "why is it that no church has the full truth!?" which really excited me because I was ready to tell him that I knew the answers and that the gospel could help him... but he wouldn't let us get a word in edge wise so we left him with a card and told him that he could find truthmormon.org, and walked away with him still ranting like we were still there.

there have also been quite spiritual experiences, we got to give a blessing to a sister that was feeling really homesick, and the spirit of comfort was so strong that i nearly cried.

President Pratt is really great, I can tell this because he jokes and teases constantly, so he isn't one of those presidents that are really serious, which is a bit of a comfort, its also really interesting this is not an iPad mission but we do use facebook for teaching opportunities, so I don't really know everything about it, but if I am on too much i will get locked out, so just a warning for all who have access to my account that I can use facebook, so a blog is probably a really smart idea dad. maybe send everyone of my friends a link to it, I kind of wish I could have everyone's email so I could send them specific spiritual thoughts that could help them increase their faith and love of Christ but have no way to ask for them. If somehow you guys could do that it would be helpful.

something that I learned about life being on a mission is that life is not set in stone, lots of changes come your way that you can't predict, but a little advice to you Sam, Ben, Abby, and Mia, that setting goals though hard allows you to get so much out of life that can't be found without that plan set in place, It's something dad has tried to help me do all of my life, because he knows the effects of setting goals, its something i wish i would have listened to sooner, sadly I am only figuring it out now, so my challenge for you guys is to set goals everyday, for your day, for your week, for your life, a good analogy is the long jump, where people try to jump as far as they can and mark a line where they landed, then jumping again, nine times out of ten they could go farther then they could when they didn't have a line, when you have a goal, you have a greater chance of hitting it and surpassing your goal.

Something else I learned as a missionary is to be clear about your purpose, when you want something for someone else, then you need to be specific and clear, don't leave people wondering what you want, be simple clear and specific about your purpose, as a missionary when you challenge someone you can't say "do you want?" or "do you feel like?" it is always "Will you do this?" that way it only gives them two options how to answer yes, or no. 

I am also getting familiar with a lot of missionary language, its like a whole new culture of weird here, when you are a greeny your trainer becomes your father as you are born into the missionary world, when you go home it is referred to as dying and whoever your companion is when you go home "kills you off" also missionary humor is interesting, because as a missionary you are very limited to what you can do for fun, no worldly music, no swimming, no flirting, so Elders will often make jokes up that apply to the mission or to zone leaders, and for entertainment something that is done here is every once and a while elders will break into song, with any songs they remember from home but this happens rarely.

I love studying, its fantastic, the Joseph smith story is so fascinating and is an adventure to read, and also brings a great sense of the spirit, I would encourage you guys as you read the Book of Mormon, to not only read it with a question in your mind but also read more deeply into the background of how it came to be in your hands, I just love it.

​Here is some other pictures of me with my MTC District, From right to left, Elder Adams, me, Elder Silva, Brother Weekes (our teacher)

Elder Edwards (In front) Elder Baker, then Elder Lee.

Love you guys a bunch, and I hope you guys are all well and can all feel of the love of Christ.

Elder Smith