June 27, 2016

Dear Family,

Wow it has been quite a week and I am so grateful for every experience, This was my first week doing things on my own and let me just say, it has been a learning process, I am still in my area and I am driving now.

I have discovered that I don't know my area as much as I thought I did, I have realized that I have relied on previous companions to know what they are doing in planning and companion study, so now that I am doing most of that we are having a heck of a time, during this week I have

Gotten us lost,

spent forever in planning staring blankly at my planner while my companion is looking at me like I should know what I have been doing.

and there have been many awkward moments where we have had to talk to people and I don't know what to say, my companion is looking at me like I should know what I am doing and the person who we are talking to is looking at me to carry on the conversation and I am frantically trying to figure out what to say.

don't even get me started on companion study and the extra hour that I get to train, its  definitely hard to come up with things to talk about, much less train about, because I still feel as if I have been out here for only two months myself. Its hard to believe that six months have flown by. 

I have had many wonderful experiences on my mission and if it is okay I would like to tell of a certain one that happened to me recently, Throughout this week I have been hearing stories of how many people have been having experiences of hearing what the spirit tell them something and also feeling a distinct impression to do something or say something by the spirit and I got selfish and in a hurried prayer I asked why I couldn't get such distinct revelation from the spirit. I felt entitled at that time to more then I had been given, and the next day at church I was sitting in Gospel principles and we were discussing spiritual gifts, the teacher said something about it mid lesson that I felt was an answer to my prayers, he said that everyone has at least one spiritual gift but none of us have all of them. I thought about that and the idea came to my mind that maybe my spiritual gifts are of a different sort, maybe I can't specifically hear words of the spirit or strong spiritual promptings, but I will follow what I know to be good because if I am doing my best to do Gods work then I will be an instrument in his hands regardless of what I may feel, the spirit will still work through me.

I love you all so much and hope that all is well.

Love,

Joshua

June 20, 2016

From Dad:

Hi Josh,

How was your week? We've had a busy one including a family trip to Utah to see Steph and Tyler. We left Thursday night after work and drove down to see the Bectells. The cousins stayed up late to see us and the kids made sure to create another movie trailer together the next morning.

While we were there, they got a call from Grandma Smith. Grandpa's surgery went well, but in a CT scan a few days later they noticed another tumor. Good chance he'll have to go for another surgery so keep praying for him.

Friday we were on the road all day. The kids did great and we didn't have any fighting. We stopped in Salt Lake to pick up Tyler from work and drove to Provo. We are coming to love Tyler more and more. He is so interested in what each of us are doing and is so creative. He spent time with Abby developing photographs in the dark room (their kitchen with black paper over the doors and windows. He also went and got pipe and supplies and built a bottle rocket with Sam. It was super cool!



  

It's been super hot here. We went for a hike up to a waterfall in provo canyon and had fun running under the waterfall. I bruised the bottom of my feet pretty good and decided to keep my shoes on when I went through again with Mom. We were a bit of a clumsy couple as we stumbled at the end and wiped out and banged into each other. Mom also forgot that her phone was in her pocket.

Saturday night we were chilling out and the neighbor across the street came and asked for help getting her miter saw unstuck. I tried but couldn't get it to move and Tyler came over and saved the day. Her name was Kiya. She is a single Mom who is in Stephs ward.

At church Sunday, a girl stood up to speak and I thought she was a Laurel until she mentioned Tyler and I helped her the night before and I realized it was Kiya. She talked about Fathers and one thing that really struck me from her talk was the idea of oscillating family narratives. The concept is that there is a lot of power in family stories that parents tell their children. Oscillating means to tell both the good and the bad. I think we have done that well in our families. Especially Mom.

Father's Day I was spoiled with a fantastic roast beef dinner with mashed potatoes and gravy. I got bbq utensils, a blue tooth speaker, a nice card from Steph, and a photo of me and Mia at Telford lake from Tyler's lab. The little girls gave me fun cards and a key chain from activity days.

I'm truly blessed to have all my wonderful children. I love you son. I'm thankful for you and proud of you. We have had some fun conversations remembering good times with you.

Have a great week, son.

…

Ps. Some picture from the trip.

From Josh:

Sounds like a fun trip! wish I could be with you guys, but I know where I am meant to be and that is here, I am starting to love it here, and I am continually trying to be the best I can be.

Before I start into anything I want to say, happy fathers day! I have to agree with you on our upbringing I know for me you and mom helped me be who I am today, I am thankful for a dad who has been a constant example of faith and duty throughout my whole life, you have always been there for me and even when it was hard for you, you would always make time for us. I am grateful for the life skills that you helped me gain, like changing a tire, I never thought I would need that on my mission, I am so glad for the memories we have together I remember you pushing me on my bike all those years ago down a narrow sidewalk and the confidence that I had when you were pushing me, that has been present for my whole life, I have never had to worry because I always knew you were pushing me down the correct path of life, with your steady had always guiding me, and even now when I am so far away I can feel your constant support for me, like riding a bike you eventually had to let go for me to truly learn how do it right. I love you dad, you are my hero, my role model, and my best friend, whenever someone asks me who I see as great, my first thoughts turn to you.

Transfer calls were today, I will be training a new Elder, and boy do I feel inadequate, but though all my uncertainty my testimony is strengthened that the Lord does answer blessings, I have been asking and praying for a long time to be able to grow into a better missionary, to have an increased trust in the Lord, and here is my opportunity, the opportunity that the Lord has presented to me and I am confident that he will help me through this training to grow not only myself but this new Elder... did you train on your mission? do you have any advice?

I love you guys and will try to get a new camera so I can send some pictures to you!

June 12, 2016

From: Dad

Hi Josh,

Sorry I didn't get a letter off to you last week. Good thing  you have two parents who can keep you updated and remind you how much we love and pray for you.

Your last letter sounded a little discouraged. Hope you are having a better week this week. I remember those kind of weeks. Missions are like life microcosms. Full of intense ups and downs and everything in between. I could sense behind your words faith and hope for better weeks and that is the key. Remember the words of the temple ceremony, and that In fact that is the purpose of life to learn by our own experience the good from the bad. Opposition, and the choice to work through it with faith is what changes and shapes us into heavenly beings.

The last couple of weeks have been busy and good. This week-end we made good progress on the yard. We rented a bobcat and trailer and dug out our front yard hills and started prepping for some paving stone and sod. I had two good learning experiences doing this.

First Experience: The skid steer I rented wasn't a bobcat but a John Deer and it was one of those hand controlled versions. No foot pedals. All controlled from the hands. It was a fundamental paradigm shift and initially it caused me huge frustrations. The left had is a joystick that  controls direction. The right hand controls the bucket. Forward=down, Backward=up, Right=Tilt down, Left=Tilt up. As you can imagine, my muscle memory of how to run a skid-steer was completely contrary to this and I spent the first 2 hours bouncing around and unfortunately remembering some of the curse words I heard daily in high school. I finally had the whole family clear out of the yard for fear of killing someone by accident. 

Eventually, though, after repenting for swearing,I started to learn it and by the end I was able to do a decent job of spreading the yard. I'm always intrigued and amazed at the potential of the human soul and the power the Lord has given us to learn and grow and become. Even in little things we see manifest the creative and trans-formative power the Lord has endowed us with.

Second Experience: While loading the dump trailer I rented, I was a bit over-eager on the second load. Because the dump had closed for the night, I loaded it up for the morning with lots of dirt and clay. It was Friday night and Sam came home from work on the sod crew and needed a ride out to the Days for a Venturer bike trip. Since our van is in the shop getting inspected, I didn't have a good way to take Sam and his bike. So I decided to take the truck and loaded trailer out with Sams bike in the back and dump the dirt at the acreage. As I got in the truck I noticed the gas was below quarter tank but figured I would have enough. The load was heavy and it took a little longer than normal to get to the Day's acreage. It was about 8:30 pm when I dropped Sam off. Then I headed to the acreage, noticing that the gas gage was near the empty mark. Still not worried. 

I took the trailer to the back NE corner but when I tried to dump it, the hydraulic lift was not strong enough for the amount of material in the trailer! Shoot! I was without a shovel even. Somewhat desperate, I tried to use my hands to take the top layer off, but no luck. As I pondered my options, I thought of my new neighbour, Nick Charest, who bought Milner's house. Was he home, I wondered. Fortunately, I had made his acquaintance a few weeks back and had his phone number. I texted him and providently he was home! He offered to bring his little tractor by and a shovel. He was able to take some big scoops out of the trailer with the tractor and soon I was able to dump it. What a relief. 

As I thought about the experience, a couple of impressions came to mind. One, there are so many good people around us. All trying to make a go of it and I was very touched by his cheerful service. The second impression I had was how powerful relationships are and when we cultivate them, they turn to our good. Especially our relationship with the Lord who was definitely watching out for me that night.

Last week, as Mom mentioned, I was in California on a business trip in San Ramon. I actually looked up the distance and route to your mission (you're 6 hours south of where I was at :) ).

We also had a great Pre-Trek fireside. about 180 kids showed up and I was so proud of Sam for his role on the committee. He presented twice, once with his testimony about the experience of Trek, and then as he led the group through how to pack for Trek. He was fearless and funny and Ben said he reminded him of you with your sense of humor and poise. He's growing up and will soon be out testifying like you on a  mission. Mom and I were commenting the other day how we are both happy and sad to see our family grow up. You are all amazing.

Speaking of amazing, we went to watch Abby's Acro-dance performance last night at the Maclab theatre. She did amazing and is so flexible. At the end they were giving out a few select awards and I had a strong premonition that Abby would get an award even though this is her first year and she is one among many. but the feeling persisted and sure enough she was recognized as showing the most potential as a dancer and received a $400 scholarship for dance next year! 

Mom and I are so blessed as promised by my patriarchal blessing which states: 

So, my son, I hope you know how much the Lord is aware of you and wants you to grow, learn, change and develop important lasting relationships in your service. As you serve the people of California, build relationships and love them first, then help them find conversion through the power of the Holy Ghost. I'm so proud of you and think you are amazing and courageous. I love to see the spiritual maturity and fire in your letters. Keep it up!

Love you lots,

Dad.

Ps. Today was Jacobs farewell and Seminary Grad. Ava gave a fantastic talk at Grad. Super passionate. Both she and Bailey are prepping for mission. 

Pss attaching some random pics from the week. 

From: Mom

Hi, Sweetie.

I just wanted to tell you a quick experience I had this week.

Leduc was hit with a surreal storm on Saturday afternoon. We knew it was coming because the county was under a severe thunderstorm watch. Honestly, I wasn't too worried when I went out for my afternoon run because although overcast, there was hardly any rain and no wind and sometimes those "watches" aren't very accurate.

I ran for about 2 km with perfect running weather; not too hot, not too cold but I was struggling to catch my breath for some reason and I was getting a stitch in my side, which isn't normal. I also had a headache so it was a bit of a half-hearted effort. I was actually a little relieved when Sue called, so I could stop and talk to her. We chatted for a few minutes when suddenly I was hit with a blast of wind and a wall of rain. I quickly hung up and started running home. At this point, I was right beside Telford Lake, 2.5 km away from home.

I put my hood up and started putting all my effort into pumping my legs. Actually, I kind of enjoy running in the rain. Once a person gets wet enough, it's just plain fun. The wetness cools you down, it's ridiculously child-like and satisfying to run through puddles, etc. So I wasn't too worried, UNTIL the thunder and lightening started.

Boom! Crash! The sky was a light show. I started wondering what it was like to get struck by lightening and if I could survive it. People were honking at me. I ran faster.

Then, the hail started. Those little buggers hurt! I felt like I was getting shot in the face. I really couldn't see very far ahead, it was coming down so hard and the hail was bouncing at my feet and filling the sidewalk. I envisioned getting struck by lightening, falling in the ditch and dying of hypothermia as the temperature dropped. Ha! I ran faster.

Guess what? Thinking back, I wasn't really aware of the stitch in my side or my headache or my out-of-breathness. And it was the fastest 2.5 km I ever ran. I think I did it in 11 minutes. A record.

Apparently there was some damage in Leduc from the storm. Trees felled. Some flooding. They're trying to determine if a tornado touched down. And you know what? I was right in the middle of it.

It made me think about the storms of life. Fill in the blank with whatever you're struggling with right now. Sometimes the only solution is to move your feet; put your head down and go. A principle of the Gospel is movement.

Just. Don't. Stop.

Before I knew it, I was home. Ironically the storm ended just as I turned up the alley. It left as quickly as it came. As I was warming up, I was thinking about how hard the run was when I had a stitch in my side and how quickly I forgot it when a real challenge came up. Lol!

It's all good, my boy. I think I'll end with a quote by C.S. Lewis:

"Experience, that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my God, do you learn."

So, it's all learning, Josh. Valuable learning. Rejoice in that. 😃

Love you forever,

Mom

From:Josh

That is a crazy experience mom, and it reminds me of a scripture I have been pondering, it is Ether 12:27 it holds a ton of meaning, I like it because it is saying that when we come unto Christ its not a safe haven, in fact it is when we turn to him that he shows us how weak we are, basically we are given all our weaknesses on a platter and shown how insignificant we are, and he says his purpose for it, "I give unto men weakness that they may become humble" Humility is truly a gift from God, and is the strongest attribute one can possess, when you are humble you learn quicker, you understand and seek to understand, you make friends easier, you can feel the Holy Ghost easier and are more willing to do the things that will make not only others happier but will give you an abundance of joy that nothing else can give. It is when we are humble that we can enjoy the fruit of the tree of life more, we are slower to anger and quicker to kindness.

In Alma 27:17-18 it tells how Ammon fainted with joy, and verse 18 says, "which happiness come only to the truly penitent and humble seekers of happiness"

Something I heard that clarified humility for me was this. " humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less"

So my invitation to the world would be to be humble, Pride is the root of all evil, so the root of all good must be humility. Humility is not weakness, it is  strength. "then will I make weak things become strong unto them"

This past month has been a trial for me and I have been shown a lot of the weak things about me, I have come to know that I am still really hesitant a speaker, and I am not very confident in taking action, and I know that as I turn my will to the Lord he will make these weaknesses become strength, and the fact that we go through hard times is because we are being tried and humbled, every trial we go through is meant for us to grow, to learn and to be humble.

I had a cool experience just yesterday, we were knocking doors and not having much success, it was overcast (which is very rare in California) and we were all tired and not very motivated, the last door we knocked on we heard a dog barking and saw a man through the door window come down the stairs and grab the dog and leave, discouraged because when that happens it usually meant they aren't going to answer the door, so we started walking away, but I still clung to the hope that he would come down, so I continued to look back as we were walking away and though the window I saw him coming back so I turned and walked right back just in time to extend my hand and say "Hi I am Elder Smith a missionary from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints" he responded that his name was Edie and though our conversation we found he had never talked to missionaries, he wasn't really religious but believed in a higher power, we were able to teach him the first discussion testify of its truth and give him a Book of Mormon and a pamphlet to read and pray about, we closed with a prayer and set a date to come back Friday, so we will see what happens.

I am grateful for this work and I know that this truly is the work of God, I love you all and hope the week goes well.

Josh

Sorry these are old pictures, I have to mooch off other peoples cameras from now on, I am looking for a new one and will see how fast that goes.

:)

June 6, 2016

From Mom:

Hi, Honey.

How's my missionary?

I just got back from a run. I'm trying to beat my own record of running 5 km in 35 minutes. I've only beat it twice; once two weeks ago and..... TODAY! I did it in 33 minutes and 53 seconds. My new record. Of course, my head feels like it's going to pop off my shoulders. My face is purpley red and I'm a little shakey, but I FEEL FANTASTIC! I even had sweat trickle down my back and into my butt crack; a slightly odd sensation but one that I worked hard for. Hahaha.

Isn't that just the way it is?

Accomplishing anything worthwhile is just plain hard work, but we feel so good after (as well as a few unexpected and odd sensations). And do you know when I always want to give up? Really close to the end. Like, at the 4 1/2 km mark.

Learning and living the Gospel is a lot like that. Studying, pondering, asking, receiving revelation can be just plain hard work. It takes time and effort but the rewards are beyond rewarding. I've been thinking lately about the reason why people walk away from the Church and I was struck with the realization that it's just easier for them than the hard work it takes to understanding the Gospel. They haven't felt the rewards, the transcendence of the Spirit, the peace of the Atonement, the purpose of The Plan of Salvation. Or, if they have felt it, they've forgotten.

I, for one, love the Sabbath and the weekly reminder it gives me to stay on the path, to keep running the race, to live true to my covenants. I hope I never forget or treat the Gospel lightly. I love it.

I was reading Romans 8 yesterday. I think it actually might be my absolutely favourite chapter in the entire Standard Works. Add it to your study tomorrow. I love the idea that nothing can separate us from the love of God, except our own selves. Dad made the comment that God gave us the commandments for that very reason, so that it's easier to feel the love of God.

So keep in mind that when you are interacting with belligerent, rude, vulgar people, it probably means they haven't felt the transcendence of the love of God, and if they aren't feeling the love of God, then it's up to you that they do. Through whatever means the Spirit tells you to, even if it's wishing them a good day and walking away.

I'm reminded of a time I went with the missionaries to help teach a lesson. They were stood up. They were frustrated, and one of the elders grabbed a shovel and started shoveling her walks (it was winter). I complemented him and he said, "Oh, this isn't really for her, it's for me. Whenever I start getting frustrated with people, I serve and the bad feelings go away." The thing is, they responded with love and I'm positive she was affected. I don't think she ever did hear any more lessons, but it doesn't matter. Seeds, my boy, and they add up.

In other news, Dad was in California this week for a business trip, San Ramon. The girls wanted to know if he saw you. Lol!
We dug out the stump in the front yard. Sam started working at Classic. The girls and Ben did their year end music recital (I'm so happy and relieved). And I'm running.

You keep running your race, too. It's worth all the rewards. I love you dearly.

Mom

From Josh:

Wow! I can't believe you finally tore up that tree stump! that must have been a lot of work! You guys look well and I am glad that Sam is able to find work, here in California it is super hard to find work so most people will up and start their own business which I think is pretty cool, its also the only way to live in most places in this area, where its either Get Rich or Get Out. 

These past weeks have been blasting by, I can't even believe I have been here for a month already, we are truly eternal beings because we are just not comfortable living in time. 

The saugus ward is super super nice and do a lot for the missionaries, they feed us a lot, and when they aren't feeding us they are giving us a crap ton of food, we have so much food its silly and I am really struggling with my goal of getting down to 175 lbs I am at 192 lbs right now and no matter what I am trying Its slowly getting up there... but moving on. I love the area and we are getting to know the members well, we had dinner with John Hedar yesterday and it was cool to be sitting with the guy who acted Napoleon Dynamite, he is still doing acting for a couple smaller things and has three kids. 

This area is really a golden area though we are having a tough time finding people to teach, so either we are doing something wrong or the Lord is seeking to build me up again, probably the latter. 

being in this ward I have come to recognize that no matter how true the Gospel is, most people won't come to the truth unless they are there with friends. To me that makes a lot of sense, I feel like I am at the point where I will always go to church and remain active, but thinking about it, if in a ward all I felt was hostility or even if I didn't feel included I would probably only want to go to the first hour just to take the sacrament then I would have no desire to go to any of the other hours because of the feeling of being alone, so My challenge to you all is that if you see someone you don't recognize then introduce yourselves, it is time that members and missionaries work together to bring people to the truth of the Gospel.

I was ranting to myself the other day about people, and their unwillingness to listen, we knocked into a guy who came out and we talked for a while about the church and he had some pretty sincere questions at first but the more we talked the more we realized that he was only interested in telling us his opinion and we tried to get on his level, he was arguing how God is Jesus and the Holy spirit, and they are all the same, and we told him we could see kind of his view and that we were trying to understand, but he would not do the same, he then told us that he had never read the Book of Mormon, and had no desire to do so because it was completely false, which blows my mind, this is why I was ranting because people will openly tell us they have never read the Book of Mormon, then with the same breath tell us that it is all untrue that it was just written about Joseph Smith, and the thing I will always tell them, is Ask God, he is the source of all truth and is all powerful, he holds all the knowledge of everything, and yet people are unwilling to put their trust in him, but lying in my bed last night I then turned it on myself. Do I trust in him enough? do I ask him when I have doubts about something? and I realized that I needed to repent and come to him more fully because a lot of times in moments of doubt I will not turn to him. After another five minutes of talking to the guy we told him that this was going nowhere because of his unwillingness to open his heart, and we walked away.

Missionary work is hard, there are moments that I feel like an effective missionary, hard working willing to do all things asked of me, successful in the area I am in, and then the next moment or area I am much less effective, I am not working as hard not pushing myself as hard as I could be pushing, less successful, right now we have no one that we are teaching right now, all our investigators have either dropped us or we have dropped them, so we are currently not even teaching anyone, but we are working hard to find and so far have not had much success. So I am trying to keep myself motivated and moving forward because I know that whatever happens if we trust in the Lord we will be blessed and through this all I am being changed for the better. 

It is just starting to get really hot here, yesterday it was 110 degrees and it got up to 130 in our car which is about 54 degrees Celsius and it over heated my camera and now I have no way to take pictures. So I am borrowing any pictures that others take. 

I love you all so much.

Joshua

P.S

Tell Sam that Classic is hard, but if he putts in all his effort he will get raises, they like people who can put their back into it, tithing is important as well, all your efforts will be consecrated and you will receive divine help when you put the Lord first, but if you put your all into it, you will probably hate it.