Happy Halloween!! First baptism!

Hey everyone! Happy Halloween, hope no one will be at the dentist this week with to many cavities from all the candy the kids have probably been eating. Well what's the weather like there? it's getting pretty darn cold it actually snowed here the last 2 days and its been like 30 degrees, Time to bring out the winter clothing. Well i hope everyone has had a good Halloween cause we don't really have one here we actually have to be in early tonight. Heard about them cougs what a disappointment. Well we didn't have the greatest week number wise but that doesn't really matter. It's been hard lately but what can i do just keep trucking a long. I actually had the opportunity to baptize a kid yesterday whose name is Ray he is 19. When i was with Elder Spear we found him and handed him off to the English Elders but it was pretty cool to see just by opening up my mouth i helped someone progress towards baptism. All i said was "hey throw me the ball" as they were playing football and right there it sparked interest. He has been kind of a troubled kid and it's really cool to see his life change and do see his desire to follow Christ even though i didn't teach him. It was really cool to baptize him. The water was really cold but man did it feel to get in the water for the first time. I actually had to do it twice cause his knee came up out of the water (wasn't my fault) ha ha but it was good. He wasn't too happy about that. It's so cool to see people making those steps in their lives to do the right things. We have a few investigators that we are focusing on. We had a really good lesson with a new investigator named Carlos this week. He really opened up to us and really has a desire to change his life. That's really good when you gain the trust of your investigators. Then we have Ramiro who is kinda being flaky about coming to church. Then we have Ana and Victor they are doing good, he is trying to change his work schedule so that he can come to church. But we are having a good time ha ha Elder Lindsley and Elder Tryon wrestled this week and Lindsley won but Tryon slid his face on the carpet and now his whole forehead and what not are all burned its pretty bad, i think Elder lindsley feels a little bad. We also got a new car today we were driving a 2009 Chevy Malibu but we got a Ford Fusion 2012 its nice. But all is good we are going to do work this week it should be good. Well i hope all goes well have a great day love you all be safe tonight. Elder Smart

Time flies!

Whats good??? Well how is everyone doing this week? sorry for the inconvenience the last week just was to lazy and tired to write a longer e-mail and was just straight up frustrated. But this week was a little bit better i have felt a little frustrated but not like last week, the Lord definitely wants me to learn a lesson here in this area! Well looks like the cougs won that's good. Did Heaps play at all? Well this week was a little bit better. We actually got two more baptismal dates with a younger family. Their names are Victor and Ana they are super nice people. We actually saw them twice this week, he is working a lot and works at the cheesecake factory. But one time we just stopped by to see how she was doing because we thought he would be working but he was there and they let us in they ended up feeding us and we got to chat for a good hour just about normal things and grow that relationship, we had a appointment for the next day (Wednesday) so we went Wednesday and taught them about the gospel and gave them the commitment to be baptized it was pretty sweet! they said yes! we actually are skipping soccer cause we set up an Family home evening in a members house with them it should be good tonight. that's a pretty big sacrifice i love playing soccer. But its all good:) So that's really our main investigators also we have Ramiro who promised he would be at church this week on Saturday night and didn't come!!! so frustrating getting people to church. Also this week i went on exchange and i was with Elder Lindsley this last week. It was a good time, we walked so much and tried to work as hard as possible we probably walked like 20 miles in a day and a half that's a lot for here. We taught some good lessons to a few of their investigators it went really good. We made the best lunch we were so proud of ourselves and we made a lot of it. but we ate it all. We made Alfredo pasta with shrimp, chicken, and broccoli it was super good. But he is doing good, i think its been hard for him just cause his companion has been a little hard for him same with me sometimes so its been good to have those exchanges. Well i love you all. I know the church is true and the book of Mormon is so true its blue! there is no better work than working for the Lord i cant even count the blessings i have received and i am sure my family have received a lot too. I love my family so much! A talk yesterday was on the family it hit me a lot and got me thinking how grateful i am for a family that cares and who are providing and supporting me on a mission there is nothing more than i can ask for, their amazing. Love you all have a great week!

Staying in Newark 6 more weeks!

Hey everyone! well sorry we were not able to write yesterday with the holiday so i am writing you today. Well there is good news i will be staying here in this area for another 6 weeks looks like the Lord really has something planned here for me or a lesson he wants me to learn cause usually missionaries don't stay in an are this long it will almost be 8 months here in this area when its all said and done. But i am excited we are starting to see some success starting to happen here its taken some hard times and some repenting but we are starting to see the Lords hand as we try and work our hardest. just a little glimpse of last week we had a great week the best week i have had since being here. we taught a total of 32 lessons it was fantastic. It was not easy we worked our tail ends off but we were able to accomplish something that we hadn't done here before it felt really good. We were able to find 7 new investigators and we have a full schedule this week because we got return appointments with them. The thing that i don't like is the peoples agency its been super hard to get people to church we got 3 people to commit to come to church this last week but not one of them showed up, that's really been the biggest struggle here. We do have an investigator that is progressing really well his name is Ramiro we are getting a member to come with us tonight so that he has a fellow shipper to kind of friend him so he feels more comfortable to be able to come to church. we are going to have to re-set his baptismal date again because you have to go to Church 4 times before we can baptized them. so we are really focusing on getting people to church. i love working hard its really tiring but i truly am learning, i am repenting and becoming a better missionary there is so much more things i can do to be a better preach my gospel missionary, but i love the mission. I got a tape from Ellie and her family this week it really made me appreciate all of you are there to support me it was a great motivator to help me work harder. Her dad shared this story that really stuck out to me about planting the seeds and that we never know what impact we are going to leave on the people, we just have to do the best we cant to help them come unto Christ it helped me a lot since i still haven't had a baptism which has been super frustrating for me, as you all know i don't like to fail i like to see success, and i like to work hard at it so that i don't fail. We had a member that is having a big problem she is only 21 years old and is having family problems. we have been helping her out all weekend and has really shown me how important families are. The two little kids and her are living with a member right now Edgar Hernandez who is our Elders quorum president coolest guy ever. But the kids started calling him dad and grabbed on the legs when he left. It was pretty sad. it just goes to show how important the role of a good father is. This is what the mission is truly doing to preparing me for my family one day. We always teach in the first lesson that the family is the most important unit that God has given us and it truly is. i am excited one day to have a family and i want to be the best husband and father i possibly can because i have seen good and bad examples out here and am trying to learn. because my wife will deserve the best man possible because the women of the church are truly amazing. we had a great talk this last week in stake conference that one of the sisters talked about the women of the church and how amazing they are. i am thankful for all the women in my life my grandmas, my moms of course and Ellie and her mom what amazing people you are thanks for all you do and i love you all.  I Know this church is true and love the book of Mormon. have a good week love you all be safe! Elder Taylor Smart

General Conference!

Hey how is everything going? Wow i heard it was a great comeback against Utah state man we should be beating them better than that, Oh well right now a win is a win at this point! What is going on with Heaps i guess he just cant do anything! well this week has definitely been a test but at the end of the week it was a blessing. We have been really struggling to find investigators and find more people to teach that are really going to progress. We had two people drop with baptismal dates this week because their baptism should have been this week but it fell through cause they don't come to church. Peoples agency is really annoying sometimes isn't it? But its all good i had questions answered during conference. I know why as a missionaries we have tough times, its to help us grown and learn, if God really wanted he would just put people right in front of us to baptize but that's not how it works. so i really learned a good lesson this week. I just have to keep doing what i am doing working hard and being obedient and the Lord will bless me with people to teach. I have to have faith and we all know faith without works is dead so i got to get out there and work my rear end off, so i am going to do it! Well anyway enough of that! How good was conference it really re-motivated me to be a better person and missionary! I really especially loved the priesthood session. Elder Hollands talk was so powerful for me. it really showed how important the work i am doing right now is so vital in these last days. I felt so full of the spirit and felt so lucky to be out here serving a mission. i am so happy that i am serving a "worthy' mission, its not easy to say that, but i think i can say it. The world is so corrupt now days i look and see the world today and really am lucky to say that i am one of the elect really. As it says many are called but few are chosen. Can i just say i love being a missionary its so dang hard at times but man is it worth it!. I have learned so many lessons so far that i couldn't learn anywhere else. I think some of you can tell how much i have grown, i am no longer this boy that was at home 11 months ago but I'm growing into this man, as Ellie said in her letter. my testimony is strengthened every day when i get to share my testimony about the restored gospel to all those who i talk with. I know this was the best decision for me and for my family, especially setting the example for all those little rascals that can follow after me. I know the book of Mormon is true that really we can learn things literally every time we open it up. It really is a guide in our lives. They talked a lot about the Book of Mormon during conference its amazing hearing the testimony of apostles and prophets about the Book of Mormon there is no way that it is not true. I know the atonement is real. I think that was the most talked about topic during conference and really its real. We all make mistakes but because of the suffering of Jesus Christ we can repent each and every day and become clean again. I love this i am so thankful for the example of Jesus Christ and for all that he did for us. Well i love you all! have a good week and be good always read your scriptures and pray daily it is so important to do! we need to have the Holy Ghost in our lives with all the wicked things that are going on. Have a great week. Elder Taylor Smart