Week 6 - Drafts and Doggos

Hey everyone!

So sorry this email is late I didn't know my P day was getting switched to Wednesday this week. Energy has been low in most of the district because of transfers. For some reason some missionaries feel that if there is a chance they are leaving the area they don't have to do any work there anymore. Overall, it was still a great week though. We were able to put Quinton on date for September which was super awesome! Quinton is Jaylin's younger brother. He is not built like Jaylin but when he gets in rhythm he is an unstoppable lights out shooter (that's a basketball thing mom). We taught him about the Restoration with Jaylin's help and that was super awesome. I definitely think having his brother there helped him understand what we were saying.

Like I said before, transfers are this week and it was super exciting seeing who was leaving and who is staying. At first I thought it was like a sports draft, but really my mission call was the draft this is more just trades and free agency (more sports stuff mom). My area got numbed last transfer before I got there, so we didn't expect many changes, but holy cattle stuff got thrown around. We lost four out of eight missionaries, we are getting brand new elders straight from the MTC and we picked up a free agent. Elder McArthur and I are staying together which makes us the only unchanged companionship in the district. Also, Elder McArthur is the new District Leader which means more meetings and exchanges so that will be super fun. I'm glad I get to stay another transfer. I expected to stay here, but I was a little worried I'd get traded. Fortunately, I get to stay here on my rookie contract and hopefully I'll be able to boost my stock for the next transfer.

I have mentioned Lyndon several times but he's the old man that had a stroke. He is in a wheel chair and can't really talk but he is super smart. Literally, he makes nuclear bombs for a living. Yeah, he's awesome! His wife had us throw away a bunch of his old research and we saw a ton of stuff about nuclear weapons, so we asked his wife and she said "he puts the H in H bomb". So that was cool. We invited Lyndon to be baptized this week and he said yes!! He has been meeting with missionaries for a very long time, rumor is something like 25 years or more. His wife is a member and she was promised in the temple several times that he would get baptized and it is finally happening! It took a battalion of missionaries and Angels over the span of many years and a stroke but he finally is ready to take the next step.

We met a lady named Lisa a while back, but we couldn't talk to her cause she had covid and we lost her number. We went back and refound her house this week, and she showed us the puppies her dog had a little while back!! They are the cutest little puppies I have ever seen in my entire mission. Also, they are the only puppies I've seen on my mission, but don't let that dampen your opinion of them cause they are dang cute. We invited her to church, and she said she'd see if she could come which we could tell meant no. So sunday morning rolls around and we went back to her house and knocked on her door, which woke up the dogs who helped remind her that church was about to start and she was gonna be late. She didn't end up coming, but I'm sure we brightened her day.

Jaylin came to church! We had to move his baptism date back because hasn't been coming to church but he finally came and he liked it enough to come again! That was a huge miracle and we are confident he will be able to make his new date.

Final story. We had scripture study and ice cream at the Kotters this week. The Kotters are an awesome missionary oriented family that wants to help us out. Every family they invited fell through and everyone we invited fell through this week except David and Kieron. We texted them to ask if they were still planning on coming. Their response might have been one of the top moments of my mission so far. They told us not only were they planning on coming but they were bringing four friends! It was so cool and they were all super excited about learning more and partying harder.

We also did service for Win and I accidentally punched a thorny vine while swinging a machete and it cut up my hand. Also, I hurt my hand at the park too, so my hand is a little traumatized after the long week.

That's all I've got this week. Thanks for everyone's love and support!!

-Elder Smith

PS- Should anyone desire to write me a real letter which would be super bomb and would automatically grant them best friend status my address is 100 Bon Air Dr Apartment 508 Augusta GA 30907 .

PPS- if someone teaches me how to send letters I will even respond!

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