Photos from the Mission President and his Wife

From the Canada Toronto Mission Facebook page
We had the great opportunity to meet with all of our missionaries over the last two weeks! Such a privilege to serve with these wonderful people! Each one is striving to serve the Lord and do what He would have them do! We love them all!
September 16: Hamilton, Brampton, Ossington Zones
September 17: London and Kitchener Zones
September 23: Oshawa, Kingston, and North York Zones
September 24: Barrie, Sudbury, and Weston Zones
Hurrah!

A Wild Roller Coaster Ride

 Tudo Bem familia,   

 Well this week has been a little bit of a roller coaster as far as the missionary work has been concerned.  Since my last E-mail we have had some pretty interesting experiences and some disappointments as well.   Starting with last Monday we had a great day of just lounging a fair amount after doing all of our errands for the day.  We just spent some time playing sports and getting to know other missionaries better it was pretty great.  Afterwards though was a very disappointing day that set the tone for our week sadly.  We had both of our appointments with our investigators fall through and a very long day of pretty unsuccessful contacting followed. Tuesday we had some success though and I got to help make coxinhas.  We also had a lovely visit with an elderly Brazilian member from Heber City, Utah.  After that though more dropped appointments.  This was the trend with our highlights of the week being some awesome lessons with the members and a very exciting Zone Conference that stressed the importance of the mission vision. These were some of the spiritual highlights of my week.

    Toronto though is a very different place than Salt Lake City, it is bigger, dirtier, and has a much greater diversity and I have been suprised by the number of Portuguese speakers.  I have in the past three weeks met a person from every possible Portuguese Country and sub colony that there is, the Azores, Capo Verde, Mozambique, Angola, Portugal, and Brazil, also sort of RIo Grande de Sul (the southernmost state in Brazil that is kind of like there version of Quebec, or Texas. They are a state but really want to be their own country).  Also everything is very expensive, except Albion's Pizza and Schwarma, and traveling between appointments on public transit takes forever however it is a great opportunity to talk to everyone.  That is the one thing everyone should know.  Those planning to serve a mission and those who aren't.  We are all blessed to be here and to know what we know and there are billions of people who could be blessed by it.  So I have learned more and more each day the importance of talking to everyone you can and opening your mouth.  I get to talk about the Gospel of Jesus Christ revealed through prophets so that God can once again in love bless his children.  You don't have to preach to every nation, tongue, and people but I encourage you to open your mouth.  You may be rejected but more often than not you will have the opportunity to bless the life of someone else. This is my testimony to you this week and I know you will receive blessings as you do it. I love you all and you will be in my prayers.

Much Love,

Elder Sam Smith

Once more into the breach!

Tudo bem familia!

    It has been another great week up here in the great white north.  We have had some great success finding two new Portuguese investigators.  We have also been able to have received more dinner appointments this week than pretty much ever before and my companions say probably more than will ever happen again.  This email is going to be probably pretty short because I wrote on Wednesday last week however we had some other exciting things.  We were able to teach a new investigator who is the son of one of our investigating families.  His mother contacted us and told us to talk to him about respecting his parents and more about the gospel.  It turned into a large Q&A as well as a very quick lesson about the family a Proclamation to the World.  We also got to teach a Returning member a great lesson about the plan of salvation.  He has had some difficulties in his life however his testimony of the gospel is so strong and I see him as a real inspiration as he is trying so hard to come back to church.

    Now on to trying to answer all of your questions this week because there were many.  As for today we have two lessons planned to teach today.  One to a new investigator and another to one of our progressing investigators that has been nothing but a stud.  We don't have anything really exciting planned until Saturday which is the noite de pizza!  We do get to work with members in fact it is the goal of the mission to encourage the members to be more involved in the missionary work.  We don't work with them as much just because we are the only portuguese elders so our pool of members is small and most of them are busy because that is just how life is.  So far I have been very surprised though by the amount of Portuguese speakers here.  most of our contacts lately have actually been in portuguese as opposed to english.  Right now we aren't in a branch.  The portugeuse branch dissolved and now we are a combined spanish portuguese ward in toronto.  Last week we had three investigators there this week though we had none so that wasn't as good.  I don't know about conference but I guess we will find out soon enough.  Now on to music and other important things.  The mission president allows pretty much anything uplifting during our free time it is up to us to police ourselves.  I have some companions with some pretty sick music so I think I am fine.  Biggest challenge this week probably either the seafood or the fact we had a day where everyone bumped there appointments.  However we had an investigator buy us shwarma this week, greatest thing in the world, and she is the one that initiated our discussion because she wanted to talk about the gospel!  looking forward to next week probably most excited for the noite de pizza!  Favorite people I met this week are the new elders and sisters that came in at transfers and just pray for the work please we need it!

Much love,

--

Elder Sam Smith

What encompasses Elder Smith's first week in Toronto and everyone else's last week in the transfer.

Oi, Tudo Bem everybody,

   It feels great to finally be in the great city of Toronto and to be able to be able to serve the great Portuguese people here.  The city is big and not entirely what I expected however there are a lot more Portuguese people here than I thought there would be at the beginning.  However we should probably start at the beginning when I landed here.

   I landed at the lovely YYZ an hour later than was anticipated to discover I was indeed the only person that was coming into the mission that week.  I was eagerly greeted by the Mission President and his wife at the airport who were nothing but super nice the entire time.  I had arrived finally and got to spend a good amount of time talking to the both of them in a mixture of English, french, and a little Portuguese as we drove to the mission home.  When I arrived there we walked into the middle of what was explained to me as a family home evening training where the local missionaries were teaching different members or Recent converts gospel principles and how to conduct their own family home evenings.  I was able to participate and from day one I got to share the gospel and bear my testimony of its truth.  The feelings of Joy and peace that came over me as I did that testified to me that I was in the right place and this is what I am supposed to be doing right now.  

    That first night I stayed at the mission home and was able to rest from my long day of travel and prepare to meet my new companions in the morning.  My new companions are Elder de Jesus from Portugal and Elder Johanson from Kearns, Utah.  Elder de Jesus is 23 years old and has been serving for 12 transfers, (now 13),  which is roughly a year and a half.  He is from Lidera, Portugal and is a Ballet dancer and likes to beat box.  Also he is totally obsessed with everything Japanese and is teaching himself Japanese while he is out here.  Elder Johanson is 22 and is now on his last transfer and will be going home in October.  His mother is from Brazil and so he speaks almost fluent Portuguese.  He was originally called as an English missionary but right now the only two missionaries called as portuguese in the entire mission are myself and Elder de Jesus.  We currently serve in the Christie ward in I think the Toronto Stake.  We already have a bunch of cool investigators and some pretty great ward members that have been very welcoming. 

   I love the awesome spiritual experiences that I have had here teaching english, the gospel and trying to talk to anyone that moves.  It is long and tiring everyday and sometimes difficult when we miss the bus.  Also it is a lot of proselyting because we serve the entire mission and are in a portuguese/spanish ward, however I am going to bed satisfied ever day and wake up super excited for the next adventure.  Except for satuday when we woke up at 3 to go to the temple... I was still excited just less capable of showing it.

Love you all! Abraco,

Elder Sam Smith

More photos from Elder Smith...9 9 15

The above photos are from Elder Smith's last week in the Provo MTC.

The above photos are from Elder Smith's first week in Canada...

A few photos from a new friend...

A lovely angel, Sister Sigurdson, met Elder Smith for the first time this week at the ESL ward party.

He is pictured with her and Elder Fernandez in the first picture, and with Elder Fernandez in the second photo. We were grateful for the photos she sent us, since we won't hear from him until Wednesday. He looks happy and healthier then last I saw him...

Canada Toronto Mission...letter from the Mission President

THE CHURCH OF

JESUS CHRIST

OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

WEATHERFORD T. CLAYTON, President

CANADA TORONTO MISSION

1624 Wanless Dr

Brampton, ON   L7A 0A7

01 September 2015

Mr. and Mrs. James Smith

1381 Skyline Drive

Bountiful, UT 84010

Dear Brother and Sister Smith,

We are grateful to receive your son, Elder Samuel Smith as a new missionary in the Canada Toronto Mission.  We are including a picture that we took with him when he arrived.  His testimony and enthusiasm for the work are evident.  As his mission president and wife, we thank you for the sacrifice you are making in being separated from him in serving as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. 

Dedicated service to the Lord brings many blessings. As a full-time servant of the Lord, Elder Smith will be blessed with a greater knowledge of the gospel and a more vibrant testimony.  He will touch the hearts of many people, and those whom he will teach will be able to change their lives as they receive the peace and knowledge that comes through the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. “Let them go up, for many shall believe on their words, and they shall have eternal life.”(Mosiah 28:7) 

Elder Smith’s current address is: 

We are sure that Elder Smith will love his mission as he is devoted to and focused on the Lord’s work.  We promise to love and care for him.  We testify of the truthfulness of this marvellous work of bringing souls to a knowledge of the Savior.

Serving a full time mission can be the most significant and rewarding experience in a young person’s life.  It is rigorous and challenging and requires great spiritual focus.  Successful and happy missionaries abide by a strict code of conduct and obedience. Thank you for supporting and sustaining your missionary in this great work.

Once again, we thank you for the faith you have shown to the Lord and the sacrifices that you are making.  We feel it a great privilege and responsibility to care for your missionary while he serves the Lord and pray daily for his happiness, well-being, and success.

With love and gratitude,

Weatherford T. Clayton

President