Dear Elder Smith,
Before I forget and most importantly, Benson wanted me to send you his letter and even confirmed with me this morning ...
Kurri is very happy that Benson will be living with her this year.
Summer is drawing to a close here. We're appreciating any day we can spend at the river. We're also enjoying time with Benson and Cody as they are living at their old property with Tad until the end of summer. Benson will go with Kurri at the start of the school year and Cody is staying here, which makes Ben pretty happy.
We're starting to harvest our first country garden. It's hilarious what a learning curve it is. I discovered that Irish Spring soap keeps the deer out and that dill weed will take over. We have a big pumpkin, crazy carrots, purple potatoes, delicious tomatoes along with a jungle of weeds, but we're loving it.
Our new kitten, Hawk, is slowly becoming a member of the family. She fits in as she had an accident with a rocker while we were in Ontario. Apparently she got her head and throat squished and seizured badly. Short story is she recovered (mostly). We're not sure about her vision or her balance but Coco has gotten used to her. Most importantly, she's a little cat who has overcome hard things and will continue to do so. Like us. 🙂
Dad already told you about our canoe trip. Here's my one experience ...
So that is the gist of our recent news but most importantly, I want you to know how much I still love the Gospel. It's really an ongoing love affair for me with joy and adventure on the side. Every morning, my favourite thing is to curl up in the library and take out my scriptures to study the Lord's will for me. I love it when I get sudden strokes of insights, then act on them, then see the ripple effects of the Lord's blessings. This is the Most Important thing in my life. The Lord teaches me to be a better wife, a better Mom, a better person all around. He teaches me to love more effectively, to have patience in key moments and to find consolation in grief. I'm okay as long as I can spend a portion of my day with the divine. (I just shared a secret to life. You should write that down. ;)
I want you to know how proud I am of you. Keep striving, learning and working to the end. And every now and then, write down thoughts of what you'd like to do when you get home.
Question: Do you want us to do some applications to colleges and universities? I guess a different question might be, Do you want to take classes in January or the following September?
Love you forever!
Mom
From Josh:
I never thought I would get trunky... I guess it all starts with my focus, where is my focus at? There is a saying in this mission "Check your motives" and to be completely honest I am having to check mine more and more, am I just clinging on to the end waiting for it to be done or am I immersing myself in the work? dedicating my mind to God. Every day I have a choice whether I am going to be motivated or not, and usually when I get out and doing I am good, but if by chance we are weekly planning I find it really hard to stay focused... it is interesting though when I feel the spirit I seem to have limitless energy and excitement, there are several different ways I can gain the spirit in super strong bursts,
1. Delving into the Book of Mormon and discovering amazing wonders that I knew or didn't know before.
2. Bearing my testimony to a basher who is trying to argue his point and we just tell what we know to be true.
3.Going to Zone conference
4.Attending a baptism of someone I taught.
Those are only a few of the things that really drives the spirit into my being and illuminates my mind and heart, but usually it comes slowly and I am left to wonder if iI am being guided or not, a lot of times as a missionary you must take the council of Moroni "...whatsoever is good is of God..." so we must trust that if we feel like we should do something that will be good then we must (for everyone I guess not just missionaries) act on it.
It has been fun getting to know a new missionary that we are training, I have been able to step back and see myself in him, he is an immature 18 year old who is still trying to figure it out, and I am realizing how much of a boy I still was when I first came out, and how much of a man I have been able to become, I have been changed so much and now that i am at this point on my mission I am hearing a lot of horror stories about going home, not about the experiences of home but how I may act, so if I am a little weird when I get home bear with me. I have heard a lot of RM's say that when they got home they thought their family was all apostate, I will try to be at least a little normal but it may take time for me to adjust to regular life, but we will tackle that when I get home... :)
I love you all so much and I am grateful for all the emails and letters from everyone, I may really suck at writing but never doubt that I love them all the same.
Love Josh.
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