HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!!!!!

Sister Monnie, Sister Vorimo, Sister Johnson, Sister Seegmiller, Elder Smith, Elder Smith, Elder Fillmore, Elder Nelson, and Elder Martinez, Elder Sam Smith's District in Kitchener/Cambridge

These are suits we found in the KW chapel with a sign that said free

The following were all taken when it was snowing this week

Oi tudo Bem familia,

   Well Happy Halloween one and all from the great white north.  It has been another great week up here with Elders Martinez and Nelson.  Things decided to cool off this week and we had the first snow storm of the season on Thursday.  It wasn't much and tomorrow it is supposed to soar back up to 20 degrees however it was super funny to talk to our members that thought it was the end of the world.  They just came up from Brazil and it is currently summer there.  Snow was not something that they were super big fans of.  It was refreshing though after how hot the summer was this year.  

   Other than that it has been a great week.  This week S received the Priesthood, we were able to help A work towards the Melchizedek Priesthood this week and meet with our investigator
N.  We had tons of fun and saw many miracles, primarily that N's baby is out of the hospital.  He was given a Priesthood blessing last week when he was taken to the hospital and now just a few days later he is out and back to his normal self.  It was great to hear N testify to us about how it blessed him and her.  In other news more and more people are moving in and we have seen success in helping them all integrate into the wards

   well onto questions

1. Michael wants to know if Halloween is the same in Canada as it is here, especially for someone his age...Trick or Treating, School carnival, parade etc, or if they do things differently there...So what do you know about Halloween in Canada?

Well I don't know about in school I would believe that they do all of the same things that he did. They probably have a parade and you can wear your costume to class but I don't know about anything else.  I do know that Halloween is a big deal here though and so is trick or treating.  Sometimes the wards do a trunk or treat i know they did last year however they aren't doing one this week in this ward. 

2. What was your most exciting moment this week?

Either S getting the Priesthood or wearing those suits to district meeting

3. What are you preparing for in the coming week?

Transfers,  they are looming large.  

4. What do you and your companions have planned for pday?

we are carving pumpkins as a zone.

5. How are your investigators?

few but solid.  we are working on finding more and doing only Portuguese work so it is kind of hard. 

6. How are the members in your area?

Awesome.  In all reality it is kind of just like we are a part of their big extended family and when we go over it is like we are cousins not just the missionaries.  Kind of feels like we are just at home and doing missionary work. 

7. Did you have any success with street contacting this week?

not really we didn't do all that much of it.  For us street contacting and tracting are not very effective ways for us to find people to teach.  Not because there aren't people that are interested but because we are not able to teach any of them because they don't speak Portuguese.  So most of our efforts come from working with members or through our English classes.  

8. What was the best part of church on Sunday?

One of the Wards got a new bishopric and we got to ordain steve and go to an active members baptism with some investigators which was cool .

9. Are you companions musical? Do you sing or play music together much?

Elder Martinez is very musical and so is Elder nelson sort of.  We do things a lot however we are going to stop that now.  They just reminded us of the police the we aren't allowed to have musical instruments in our apartments so that puts an end to that. 

10. What is the best Halloween costume ever? 

I am always a big fan of the classic sheet ghost.  never did it however it always seemed cool to me.  

Well family I love you all don't get too scared.

loves,

Elder Smith

JASON BORN AGAIN

Oi familia Tudo Bem?

   Well it is getting a little chilly here but that doesn't stop us! It has been a great week and we have had so much fun.  It was a little rushed and crazy setting up for our integration night, helping our new convert get ready for her patriarchal blessing and some crazy exchanges. Still we had a great week and I keep learning so much out here as we meet new people.  

    First off we went on exchanges this week with the zone leaders.  It was really fun although of course the day we go on exchanges is the day that every single one of our appointments falls through.  So we ended up talking to some of the local characters of Cambridge.  It was pretty interesting that is where this weeks title comes from.  We met a guy named Jason and that is the name of the book he is writing about how he found Jesus online. He has some pretty interesting ideas about how the whole Christianity works.  

   Integration night was a lot more fun.  We basically just had a big party with all the Brazilian members and the idea is that they will invite their friends.  This one we didn't have a lot of people show up however it was still a lot of fun.  We made  some doce de leite this week for the party and went and bought like eight liters of Guarana it was delicious.  We had a fun time at the party.

   We also got to meeet a new member this week that just moved here from Rio de Janeiro.  She was super cool and she just moved up here with her mom and her three year old daughter.  They are the coolest people.  We went over and met them for lunch and we left an hour later with an apartment on the beach in Rio and a standing appointment to come back and eat there every Friday for the rest of forever.  They also offered to take us to Niagra Falls.  It was awesome.

   Lastely C got her Patriarchal blessing this Sunday!  We have been working on it with her for a few weeks and she was so nervous. We were excited for her though and we are even more excited to talk to her about it this week.  

well on to questions

1. What was the most exciting thing that happened this week?

any of the above

2. What are you looking forward to in the new week?

hearing about the patriachal blessing.

3. How are the companions this week?

They are wonderful. 

4. How are your new members/investigators doing?

well they are doing well. C got her patriachal blessing, A blessed the Sacrament and S is getting the priesthood this week and has stopped smoking so we are excited. 

5. Any new insights for your ESL classes?

not really we have students now though and we are incorporating more of the companionships

6. What are your pday plans?

we are going to go find new pants for Elder Martinez and then probably just look around for some stuff. 

7. What did you do this week that was unexpected or off the plans that turned out to be a blessing? 

Well we had a lot of fun times trying to have our integration night because of a marriage conference and we had to jump through a lot of hoops however we pulled it off. 

8. What is your weather like these days?

a little chilly a high of 9 C this week 

9. What types of service activities did you do this week?

we mowed a lawn. 

10. What do you love most about serving a mission this week?

this week probably just going out and talking to people.  It is so great because you learn to just love everybody.  It also just makes you feel like you are making a difference especially when we were doing so much planning for the activity this week. 

Well that is all folks. Loves from the North.

Elder Smith

SWEATER WEATHER!!!

   It is another wonderful week up in Kitchener working with some wonderful people and seeing such success and miracles.  The weather has been unpredictable as always and the leaves are turning more and more each day.  It is really pretty here now and it is starting to cool off a lot at night however it keeps being surprisingly warm during the day.  This week was kind of short because of the Holiday and then Preparation day being moved to Tuesday however we were still able to get things done despite that and the fact that the street we live on is now closed due to construction.

   This week we were blessed that our new convert S has finally quit smoking!!!  We are so excited and it has been great to go over and see him this week.  It has been hard for him because he has been smoking his whole life and he looks miserable.  He knows however that it is changing his life.  He has been a lot more receptive to the spirit since he has stopped smoking and is getting better and better everyday.  We are so proud of him and it has really been a delight to help him along this path. 

   Other than that we had a great time this week with our investigator A.  He is still struggling a lot with smoking however we felt prompted to go over the restoration with him again this week.  He was able to tell us about a concern that we had never delt with for him before so we were able to address that this week.  Hopefully he will have found his answer by next time we see him.

   Besides that we have just been preparing for our Noite de Integracao this week with the Portuguese members.  It  is going to be a lot of fun and I  am super excited.  We have a lot of members that have friends that they are going to be inviting and we are super pumped.

now moving on to questions

1. Who is serving in your current district/zone? 
Elder Jaxon Fillmore, Elder Bryce Smith, Sister Courtney Marie Johnson, Sister Nicole Seegmiller, Elder Matthew Charles Martinez, Elder Hayden Nelson, Elder Samuel Smith, Sister Mikayla Monnie, Sister Nelli Vorimo, Sister Krista Nicole Moody, Sister Savannah Skinner, Sister Sarah Dominique Gousse, Sister Hayley Hunter, Elder Cody Bahr, Elder Jaymon McDevitt, Elder Alexis Dardon, Elder Judd Earl Ward, Elder Seth Linden Callor, Elder Tyson Layton, Elder 吳浩賢, Sister Audrey D. Nelson, Sister Shannon Spencer, Elder Todd Anderson, Elder Noah Davis

2. What did you and your companions do this week that was most excellent?

We bought some cheap pork chops, also Elder Nelson ate Balut

3. What are your goals for the new week?

To be more effective in finding and to have integration night

4. How is your ESL program coming along?

slowly,  it is kind of frustrating

5. How are your investigators?

ok.  we have a few that are super solid however we haven't been able to meet with because of the holidays and elder Martinez got sick for a couple days

6. What are some of your favorite places in your Kitchener/Cambridge area?

DT Shwarma and then probably just like Kitchener in General around Victoria park and University are nice areas

7. Do you have mission rules to stay inside for Halloween?

yep after 6

8. What are you pday plans?

I am mailing a package and then some shopping

9. What are you looking forward to this week?

Integration night.

Well love you guys so much. 

Have a wonderful week.

loves,

Elder Smith

Happy Fakesgiving

Thanks to Audrey Francesconi for the photos of my favorite Elder mid service project on Saturday!

Elder Nelson

Elder Nelson and the fall leaves

Elder Martinez 

Elder Smith

Oi tudo bem Familia?

   Well it has been an interesting week, this week has seen the passing of Canadian Thanksgiving and Skills and Interviews with President Shields.  It has been a great first week since conference and a beautiful first week of October.  Happy Birthday to MJ and Grammy last week sorry that it is a little late however time did not permit last week.  I do love you though and I hope to get a package off in the next week or two with your present in it. 

    Other than that this week was great.  We ate so much food it was almost criminal, participated in the Annual Cambridge ward Turkey Bowl, and celebrated Thanksgiving a month and a half early.  That might just be one of the weirdest parts about Canada is that Thanksgiving is so off.  For all of us it feels like a normal day however for all of our investigators and members it is a sacred day and all they care about is whether or not you have somewhere to eat that night but they don't really want you at their house at any other time during the day.  We ended up baking cookies yesterday and just delivering them to families in the stake as a way to say thank you to them for all the wonderful things that they do for us.  

   That is something that I have really grown to appreciate as of late is the amount of blessings that we receive and how much an attitude of Gratitude really can bless our lives and change us fundamentally.  When we are grateful we are happier, we sleep better, and we are more in tune with the spirit and the will of the Lord.  All in all it is just so much better to be grateful.

   Other things that happened this week was that we had Interviews with President and Sister Shields.  I love them so much.  We spent most of the interview just talking about the area and trying to figure out how to make it so that language work can be more streamlined in the mission.  The other thing that we figured out was we finally got cleared to get a phone that can type in Portuguese we are super excited about that.  Other than that it has been a pretty normal week.

questions

 1. What did you do to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving?

We had three dinner appointments and I probably gained like 10 pounds again

2. What are three things you have in common with your companions?

We are missionaries, we are males, and we are wearing white shirts 

3. How were your lessons this week?

we had a few and they were all pretty good.  Trying to get weeks that don't have major holidays or events.

4. How are your ESL classes?

suffering again I am trying to work on that. 

5. What are you looking forward to this week?

We get to meet with a couple pretty cool people and we are helping our returning member prepare for the melchezidick preisthood

6. What are your plans for pday?

We did a lot of cleaning. 

7. What was the best thing that happened to you last week?

Interviews and got a really nice blackberry

8. How are your investigators? Anyone at church this week?

A came and we got to meet with the zi's again 

9. Have you had to speak or sing in church lately? If so tell us your topic etc.

We spoke in church a few weeks ago and we were asked to bear our testimonies on the book of Mormon and how it has influenced our lives,

10. What was one of your adventures in Missionary Work this week? Anything out of the norm, funny or silly that happened to you?

well this happened and we saw a guy riding his jazzy down the street as if it was a horse.  Also Elder Nelson ate a raw egg when we had dinner with a Romanian member.  She was cool she survived the Romanian Revolution in the nineties.

 well that is about it,

Loves,

Elder Smith

On the Road again and Mormon Super Bowl

Elder Martinez and Elder Smith in tranist

Elder Smith and Martinez at the temple with a member Sept 2016

The Portuguese Elders Smith, Madrigal, Nelson, Martinez, Gomez and Paul

Thanks to these awesome members for hosting the Elders for both days of General Conference and feeding them, and sending me photos! Yay! Photos from Audrey Francesconi!

Saturday General Conference

Sunday General Conference

Building a Bunk Bed Selfie... Monday 10/3

Building a bunk bed, Elder Martinez and Elder Nelson

 

Oi tudo bem Familia!

   Well it has been an interesting week here in the mission field again. This week saw us drive to Brampton and Back twice as well as just a whole bunch of other things that resulted in accomplishing basically nothing that we had planned.  We were pretty busy just running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to accomplish everything that we needed to do.  We had to clean the apartment, find Elder Nelson a bed, give a baptismal interview up in Guelph.  It was a great week though with lots of Spiritual Growth.  I loved conference and was so happy to go to the temple on Friday and to feel the special spirit of the House of the Lord.

   That was probably the best part of the week was this weekend or as the members called it out in Christie the Mormon Super Bowl!  Conference is something that I have grown to love and appreciate so much on my mission and this one didn't disappoint.  I loved the focus the brethren took on the importance of knowing that we are enough and that we can be the instruments in the Lord's hands to help invite people to come unto him.  I really loved the focus also on not being complacent in Zion.  Those are both things I have learned so much about on my mission and was an answer to my prayers.  I really had begun to feel that I knew what I was doing and things were becoming routine however now I know that we must never stop learning and reaching for something more.

  Ok, on to some questions....

1. What is Elder Nelson's first name?

Hayden

2. Where is he from?

Fort Worth Texas

3 How was your busy week? Did you get to all 40 + lessons?

it was busy in other less productive but just as important ways. 

4. How are your investigators?

didn't get to see any last week.  We stopped by but they were either not home or smoking weed and not willing to let us in. 

5. What did your comps do this week that made you laugh?

many things lately we just had a blast building a bed. 

6. Did you find yourselves in any sticky situations?

yes building a bed using construction glues

7. What are your pday plans?

we built a bunk bed

8. What was your favorite message from General conference?

I liked Elder Oaks 

9. What are you looking forward to this week?

Lots of things 

10. What have you learned this week as you help train a new Elder?

that he entered the Mtc the week before I did and already served for 8 months in Brazil.

Loves,

Elder Smith