It gets slower and slower and slower...

Well, the work in this area just came to a screaming halt. We did all the lost sheep that we could do and no members are really helping us with anything like finding or service or nothing. It is really frustrating when we are doing our stuff and we are getting no help at all. The members are cool and everything and say they want to help, but they are just not showing anything. 

Plus the situation with Brother Tinney and Josh didn't improve at all. We gave them a non-formal baptismal interview and told them that Josh is not ready. He needed to know what repentance was and also the Sabbath day which were two very important points. But they took it very hard since they already had the baptismal day for this Saturday at the Kootany lake. They haven't contacted us since and it is very hard to follow up on this because Josh is moving to the Crownest Pass soon and it is just going to be our of our hands by this point. 

This area is probably going to be dead soon. And it seems we are going to be at our last resort which all of you know I hate. Tracting...-_-. This is probably one of the toughest areas I have been in. It is pretty close to Parkland in South Calgary. I just have no clue of what to do here anymore. Plus, Elder Bench is getting transferred. Yep, I am going to get a new companion and it will probably be a district leader unless they call me to be the district leader. Just all this stuff is happening to this mission and I have no clue how to react to it or what to do about it. Ugh, I am kinda glad I am almost done with this mission. I will still do my hardest till the end, but I am going to be sweating a lot of blood to keep sane.

Sorry for the short letter. Things are not happening frequently or exciting as they used to. Thank you for all your input about how BYU-I is and all that. I have been thinking about it for a while now and can't wait for that time to start. It will be a grand time and another hard working time as well. I have two questions before I go:

1. Is my ipod still good? 

2. People have been asking about my name and where it comes from. I tell them Italian. Am I right? Also, who were the ancestors that came from Italy or wherever this name originated from. If you could tell me that would be great! Love you all! See ya!

Weird crap is going on...

Sooooo...some wierd stuff is going on in this ward and we are not too exactly sure to do with it. First off, remember Josh? Well, here is the situation we have at hand. Brother Tinney, who is Josh's father in law wants to baptize him in about two weeks. Josh is not ready at all. He hasn't done anything we have asked of him and we believe he is doing this just so he can please his father in law. He has moved to Crowness Pass however so I guess he is technically out of our area and other missionaries responsibility. But this still leads to another problem. Brother Tinney wants to baptize Josh at Kootany Lake near Creston. He hasn't even asked the Bishop or our Mission President. He has problems with authority and is just going to do this because he wants to. That is probably going to get him disfellowshipped. :/ So we are going to talk to our mission president tomorrow because it is zone conference and see what he will say on the matter. We hope to figure out how to solve this problem.

Not much progress has been made on the matter of lost sheep because no one wants to answer the door or members won't freakin tell anyone about anybody. It is a really frustrating time with these lost sheep stuff because they weren't like the last ward when we did them in. In Bow Valley, people actually reported and did the lost sheep work that they were assigned. But here, they don't. They just basically dumped it on us and only us to work with these people. Sure it is busy work and keeps us working, but without member help on this matter can be really frustrating at times. Oh well, can't say much or do much about it. It really is all dependent on the ward council to do anything on the subject matter.

Also, some really terrifying things are happening around our area. In Lethbridge recently, there was a killing of 3 people and police were everywhere searching for the killers. Then, just last night, a 17 year old sliced a 45 year old womans neck and went to an apartment complex which some missionaries in our zone were and was knocking on doors to get help. Let's just say that the missionaries are in a bit of shock now and are pretty scared to leave their apartment now because of this tragic experience. They are going to move apartments soon, but still it was a pretty scary experience. I am just glad we are a bit far from that kind of stuff. Still pretty close, but still far enough. 

So now that Josh is kinda out of our area, that leaves us with no investigators at the moment which is not new to me. Happens to most of the missionaries out here. So, we are going to give these members one more chance and ask them to see if they can help us find investigators or give us a couple names to stop by. Some of them are pretty missionary minded, but they don't act on it as much as we hope to. You guys basically know my stance on member missionary work and all that. So it will come to no surprise that I think that is the best option we have for this area.

As for Mothers day Skyping: On Mother's day, we have dinner with the family that Mom wanted here to hug me for her. We are thinking that we will skype then and there. We are going to ask her if that is still alright. Early evening is totally fine with me. What exact time is the best for you guys? Just let me know and I can look back on my email and see.

Alright question time!

Question #1:Have you used up all your gift cards that I gave you? 

I have used all of them except for $5 left on my Tim Hortons card. Thank you so much again for these and I really do use them!

Question #2: Do you know who the new mission president is going to be?

I believe I answered this question already, but his name is Steven P. Miles. President recently send us a bio on him and his wife. I will put an attachment on it at the end of this email.

Question #3: Do you know exactly when the new mission president is scheduled to arrive?

At the end of June I believe. We are not quite exactly sure, but that is the general date.

Question #4: When do you have your interview with your current mission president to determine the exact end date of your mission?

I am not sure exactly sure how the getting ready to go home process goes out here. I think I get my "trunkie papers" where it tells me what flight I am going on and when I am going soon. 

That is all I believe. I can't wait to talk to you on Sunday. By the way, my new piano video should be up on facebook now. Check it out! Love you all!

Smylski Photos

Hi Carrie This is Stephanie Smylski Look who I found? (End of April 2015)

(End of May 2015)

Same old missionary work, same old missionary day

It is just a typical missionary day. The same things that get repeated over and over and over again on the mission. Sometimes they can get boring and you can get sick of them. I think I am heading towards that stage. Though I am not sick of the mission or want to go home before I am supposed to go home, I am getting bored of missionary work. Meh, I am still going on strong till the mission is over and it will be over pretty soon.

Lost sheep has taken a little break since we don't know much about these people. We have a plan with the whole lost sheep thing. We ask members at church to see if they know about 4 names we pick from the lost sheep list and if they know any, they tell us and all that. It has been doing alright so far. We just have to keep doing this till we get all of the lost sheep names done which is a lot!

We had a lesson with Josh this week. Their family always loves to invite missionaries over no matter what they are doing. Usually, every ward has this type of family and I love it because it helps fill in our time and get to gain their trust. Anywho, it was a short lesson with Josh. We just basically told him our expectations of when we come over. He has been taught everything, but we are not sure he cares much about it or to take it seriously. He has expressed that he has learned a lot more than he has been before. Now whether or not he is doing much about it, we don't know. He "does" want to get baptized, but he wants it to be in a lake in BC.That will be a lot of confusing work and talking with other stakes and such. I say "does" because he is just doing it mostly because Brother Tinney, his father in law, told him to do it. We are trying to help him want to do it.

Other than that, like I said at the beginning of this letter, it is just the same missionary day. Not much has changed. I am glad you guys got my package from Pincher Creek. I believe you can open up that one. The stuff in there are still mine, but you can look through it if you want if you haven't already. The other one should be coming soon.

Next week will be our zone conference and it will be President Nicholas' last one as well. Pretty odd that he has been here for all my mission so far. He looks a lot different than what he did look like when I first saw him in the air port. I believe you got those pictures of our entire transfer coming to the airport. If you didn't just let me know and I can send a picture of it to you in my next letter.

Alrighty then. It is question time!

Question #1, do the ward organizations play an active part is searching out these lost sheep? 

They can. In Bow Valley Ward it was kinda divided up into separate quorums and other groups. Here however, it seemed they just dumped in all on the missionary organization meaning us and the Ward Mission Leader. I am not complaining on it, but I believe having others do it would be a bit better seeing they know them better than just missionaries.

 Question #2, what has been a way or two that the Lord has answered your prayers this past week or so?

He blessed the food that nourishes and strengthens our body...next question. JKJK! Hmmmm, well, we didn't think Josh would make any progress or even be interested after he got married, but it seemed that it made him even more interested than before. We were kinda stunned to see him at church that one time and to say that he believes in a God now where before he had no clue.

Question #3, what has been a memorable experience where you have been teaching during your mission where you and/or your companion were teaching, felt the Spirit, and you stopped to testify and help understand to who you were teaching that they were feeling the Spirit?

Mmmmmmm, well...kinda. When we teach as missionaries, we are told that testifying is very key. So we are basically told to testify frequently as possible so that we can say we know what we are teaching is true and not just telling them. When we first taught Kade, we were just thinking of teaching him the 1st lesson because we had to hurry for him to get baptized on time. However, me and Elder Wiser just suddenly testified all about families seeing that it was the most important thing to Kade and all who were present there. That was pretty cool.

Question #4: So is Tyler Belliston older than you?  What position did he play on the team?

Tyler Belliston is 2 years older than me and he played running back and line backer on the varsity team.

Question #5: How often have you been able to give a lesson?

That depends on what your definition of a lesson is. At the end of every dinner usually we give a message which is a short thought we had or spiritual thought. We as missionaries here call that a message. Lessons are usually those discussions you read in Preach My Gospel. We also call them Discussion, The Missionary Lessons, etc. But we usually give about 2-3 lessons per week. Messages, everyday so like 7 per week.

Well, that is all for this week. So far for mothers day, I believe we are free anytime. We just need to figure out who we are skyping at. Hopefully I can tell you next week. Love you all! Take care!

Another week goes by super fast!

Did that week just go by? That was like the fastest week I have ever experienced! It was probably cause of a different amount of things. 1. My companion and I have more stuff to relate to like music and more sports and we just love to laugh at stuff together. 2. The ward members are freakin sweet here. They know how hard it is to be a missionary here because the lack of investigators here. They are willing to help anyway they can.

So I explained that most of our time, if not all, is going to be spent on Lost Sheep work. As I explained before, this ward or area is the area that people run to to get away from the church and not be noticed. We have 580 names on our ward list. Only 250 of them actively attend. So the rest is either inactive, or we just have them in our directory because we have no idea where they could be. That is what the ward has assigned us to do is to find these people or to figure out what exactly happened to them. Sometimes, it is frustrating because that is all we can basically do for a day. Sometimes, it helps us find things to do. Overall, this ward is not terrible. I would explain this area as an relax area because finding is very hard to do, so we are trying to gain member trust by talking with them, helping them with missionary work, and other stuff they ask us to do.

You guys have asked me how the guy at the wedding that had the heart attack was. He is good now. His family is one of the families that we visit quite often because they are awesome and that is where our "investigator" lives. However, we won't be meeting with our "investigator" for a while since he is on his honeymoon for quite a bit. So, I guess it is back to Lost sheep work.

I did not get a hug from any person or a package quite yet. I didn't know it would come up that fast. I will keep a lookout or a hear-out on our phone is someone contacts us like that.

Now it is question time and it seemed like you guys asked a lot of questions this time. That is great seeing that most of my letters contain questions for the majority of it.

Question #1, During the wedding where the guy had a heart attack,did any at the wedding party look to you and your companion for help during the incident?

Well, yes and no. The entire wedding only consisted of 10 member. Us, the brides family, and a family that were friends from the Tinneys (the brides family). The rest were all non-members. We were basically in charge of making sure nothing crazy happened during this reception. When brother Tinney, the man who had the heart attack, left for the hospital, people were looking at us, the members, to see what was going on. The family who was in charge of the reception left for the hospital, we were in charge of putting everything away and making sure people got out.

Question #2, do you exchange e-mails or snail-mail with other missionaries serving from our home ward?

There is the option to snail mail a companion by sending it to the mission office and in turn they give it to you, but few missionaries do that. I have not. I shared my email with others, but those missionaries don't really email me anymore which is alright. I don't mind.

Question #3, as you shared last week in your e-mail on how you have grown most in your mission, what has been the most important thing you have learned on your mission to this point?

That a mission is not what everyone thinks it is. Meaning, it is not 24/7 teaching, not 24/7 happiness when you go knock on a door. A mission is basically a normal life. You have hard times and when those hard times come, the Lord is there for you and you give your best. Missionaries rely too much on the Lord here. What I mean by that is that they say all we have to do is believe and do the most ineffective way to do missionary work like tracting or something else. You have to be smart with you missionary work.

Question #4, what scripture or scriptures have seemed to speak to you or touch you heart the most during your mission?

Lehi dwelt in a tent...I am just kidding just kidding. 2 Nephi 32 8-9 I believe.

Question #5, What is your favorite thing about serving a mission?

Well, I have multiple things I like about a mission. But my favorite thing? Hmmmm. Probably gaining member trust and seeing the results of what happened with it. For example, remember Kade Brown the one investigator that got baptized in Bow Valley? That was from gaining trust from the members and them trusting us to teach this young man. That is my favorite thing and service becomes pretty close to that.

Now I have two questions for you.

 1. Did you guy get my package when I sent it from Pincher Creek?

2. Did a member from up here call you guys about teaching Kade Brown and how well we taught him?

and 3. Did you get my package I sent a like 2 weeks ago that I told you NOT TO OPEN UNTIL I GET HOME?

Thank you guys so much for your love and support of me being out here. I don't mind either or for skypeing home. It doesn't matter. Love you all!

Depression feeling is gone

I seem to have the exact same feelings when transfers happens. I am really nervous when it comes and although sometimes I do love the area and the companion I am in, I am a bit depressed I got to leave that area except once. I was pretty depressed when I got transferred here. However, my new companion took it very well and let me take the rests I needed to calm down the first week of this new area. The first week is usually the longest and hardest week because you need to get use to your companion and the new area and you basically know nothing about it. You are basically a drag around missionary the first week because your companion knows everything and you don't.

Speaking of companions, let me tell you about my companion now. His name is Elder Bench and he is 21 years old. He is from Idaho somewhere near Twin Falls. I believe the town was named Shoneshone?? You remember those jocks that were in high school who were big and all that. That is kind of what Elder Bench is like. He is a pretty sweet guy! Problem is that we don't have too much in common except sports, however, I am super grateful that I am on the nerdy side and on the sporty side so I can relate to others. He is the district leader out of this distirct and I am the DLB. Our district just goes to Taber which is only 30 minutes away from us. We are only 5 minutes away from main lethbridge so are not far from the city. Because I am DLB, I will get to go on splits more often.

What can I tell you about Coaldale...hmmm? Well, it is a mix between Pincher Creek and Creston. The size is pretty big, but the atsmophere is like Pincher Creek. As far as we are told, this place is one of the biggest places that members go to that don't want to be in the church or runaway from the church. Do you know what most and maybe all of our work is going to be? Yep you guessed it! Lost sheep work! Whoo hoo!!! Except this list is even bigger than the one that we had in Bow Valley when we did Lost Sheep work. The work here for investigators is extremely slow so I don't expect any new investigators anytime soon or ever when I am here.

This last Sunday we had a Stake Conference and a new Stake President was just called. It was pretty funny to see how nervous he was because it reminds me how missionaries react around transfers. Stake Conference was good. It was mostly on the family and telling members and missionaries to study about marriage and family. That is a bit of a trunkie thought if you ask me. I am still working on my study copy of the Book of Mormon and want to get it finished before I get home.

Scary thing that happened this week was we went to a wedding for our dropped investigator and the father-in-law had a heart attack in the middle of the wedding. They rushed him to the hospital and we had to end the reception early because of all the confusment. I hope he is alright. It took a bit of surprise on us.

Alright so its question time!

Question #1: Do I know Elder Pinkney

Yes, I do. He played football with me in High School. He was one of the popular football players and was pretty good. He is about to come home if I remember correctly.

Question #2: How have I grown the most on my mission

Hmmmmm, well I definanlty gained a lot of courage while I am out here to talk to people than I have when I was back home. I still have a lack of courage here and their to talk to people, but it isnt too bad. I has also developed a love for reading! I can now see why people like to read now. I wish I did a lot more reading before my mission or at least found a genre of books that I like.

I would probably say the most I have grown is my trust of people. Although there are times where people do not do what you want them to do or do stuff that you dont like, but trusting first in them makes a big difference. I guess to go along with that a love for the people I work with. I am developing that love with everyone like other missionaries have told me, but with the members and investigators I work with, I develop a love for them.

I cannot tell you my weight anymore because I dont have a scale anymore. So, I guess you will have to see how much I weight when I come home or if I have to guess. Thank you guys so much for your support! I will see you all in 4 months! :)

I'm Furious

To put it short: I am not happy right now. We got our transfer notice and it seems like I will be transferred somewhere else. I was not expecting this. I was hoping either I would stay in this area with my companion or that my companion left. That is neither the case. The reason why it changed is because this Lethbridge West Zone will not be a zone anymore. It is now turning into a district and becoming part of the Lethbridge Central Zone. We knew this was coming, but on who was getting transferred, we did not know what was going on. To be honest, I am pretty dang close to be saying that I am done with missionary work and that is not good. We'll just see what will happen this next transfer and if I like the area or not.

Conference was pretty good. Lots and lots of talks about marriage which is pretty sweet. But it made me a bit trunkie as well. It kinda amazed me when that guy opposed the first presidency and the quorum of the twelve. All the missionaries were quite surprised. I don't think it shook our faith much, but how it was handled was pretty good. We had a good time watching all sessions. None of our investigators came seeing that they did not even communicate back with us. So, yeah.

This week was slow because the members were gone for most of Easter weeking and our investigators were not making any contact with us. Plus a missionary went home for medical problems, but he is grateful that he is home so that he can rest up and see if he can get better. I already told you my opinion on people getting set home so I won't repeat it.

I got the Easter package and I thank you for that. For my next package, I would like more socks. The books that you sent me I already both have and read so I gave it to my companion. Thank you for all the treats and the explanation of school. It seems the best choice is BYU-I because I would be saving a lot more money, but i am torn on going or not going because when we went there, there was nothing there. I will worry about it more as I get more and more closer. I am not saying that I don't want to go to school. I want to go to school, but I am having a hard time deciding where to go. 

Again, I am sorry if this email is short. It was just not a good week at all. I guess it is now time for questions:

Question #1: What was my favorite talk in conference?

Uchtdorfs talks were all good and I really love Elder Hollands talk. I did like all the marriage ones however and how much emphasis they put on it. I don't think I have a favorite yet.

Question #2, have Jordan and Seline been living together for very long and what is their feelings about getting married? 

I am not exactly sure on how long they have been living together, but I am guessing a while. They are totally fine with getting married, but for planning with it, not a fan. 

Question #3, with today being Easter, did any members invite you and your companion over for a special Easter dinner?

Yes, one did. The Woods invited us over for a Passover dinner which we followed the tradition of the Passover, watched Prince of Egypt, and ate with them. It was pretty fun and it filled our day up pretty good. Did it effect my watching my eating thing? Not really.

 Question #6, was Nick Seiter your age or was a little older than you?

No, I don't think so. 

Well, that seems to be my email. I will let you know who my new companion is asap when I get him and hopefully my mood will improve. Also one more thing: I am sending a package home to you guys. DO NOT OPEN IT TILL I GET HOME! Thank you! Love you bye!