Smythe, Jackson PT

Definitely one of the most humbling weeks of my entire mission. I saw a lot of rejection and continually got humbled in every sense of the word. We did get to go to the newly dedicated Bentonville Temple today, which was a super special experience. Yesterday I was on exchanges with the Elders that I live with, and I do not know if I have ever been so sick. It was horrible, all day long. We continued to knock doors and work hard, and then we visited a family of 4 that we had been teaching. We taught them about the Restoration and invited the two parents and their two boys to be baptized as a family on November 25th. They all accepted. It was powerful to see the miracle come from continued endurance. Our friends Eloisa and Jessie should be looking good for their baptisms this weekend. The mom is working on quitting cigarettes, so we are continuing to pray for her. Loving life, I promise to write a better email next week. "Be humble, not humiliated." Love you guys, Elder Smythe

Once again, we had another week filled with miracles. We were able to have a lot of our friends at church this week, including the ones I mentioned last week in my email. We are teaching a family of 4 who all accepted baptismal dates for November 12. One of them is named Karla, and she is 22. She just got here from El Salvador and is 7.5 months pregnant. She has never been to a church before and knows very little about Christ. We got a call last Thursday, saying she would be giving birth a couple of weeks early. We went to the hospital to visit her and give her a blessing. Sunday morning, in her Adidas sandals and with her hospital bracelets, she walked into church. We taught her the Restoration yesterday and left her with a Book of Mormon. She read a little and marked one verse for us: 29 "For verily, verily I say unto you, he that has the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the Devil..." She said: "if we have contention and are not baptized, we will not be abl...

We had another good week here. The trio of Elder Campbell, Boyle, and I ended. I received Elder Mcavoy on Friday. He is in his last 6 weeks, so he will be going home soon. We have seen a lot of miracles here lately. We baptized our two friends, John and Kimberly. It was a spiritual moment, and they were some of the most prepared people that I have met. Taught our Vietnamese friends again. Elder Mason Burden made another video for us to share with them. It was cool to think about how Elder Boyle, Elder Burden, and I were all teaching a lesson together. Who would've thought. They both accepted baptismal invitations for the end of November and are going to begin to prepare themselves. I went on exchanges with Elder Gallup. He has been in the mission field for 6 days, and we had an inspiring moment. We prayed at the beginning of the day to find someone to be baptized in November. As we were tracting, we talked to this girl named Jo. She told us she was looking for a church to be baptiz...

A lot happened over the last week. Elder Boyle, Elder Campbell, and I have been in a trio for the past week, and it has been some of the most enjoyable five days of my life. I am so grateful for the last six weeks and the spiritual experiences that I have had. I have had some unforgettable moments. That being said, we do have transfers this weekend. Elder Campbell will sadly be leaving. I am excited for him and grateful for the opportunity we had to serve with each other twice. This past Sunday, we had three baptisms for our friends! One of them was a 70-year-old man named Carmelo. We had only been teaching him for a few weeks, and when we were reviewing what it means to repent, he got extremely emotional. He said to us, with tears in his eyes, "I just want to be good again. I just want to live with my family forever. That is all I want." The room was silent. After his baptism on Sunday, he bore his testimony, and it was the sweetest and most powerful moment. We also taught o...