Getting ready for Christmas

Hey everyone! i want to wish everyone a merry Christmas! Its going to be an awesome time to be out here in the field i will never forget this Christmas its really a time when i get to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas, and not about the presents!

Well we had a cool little zone conference this last week, it was for Christmas but we received training for the first little bit on how to get people to church. It was some good training and that has been a real struggle for us so it was good to get some ideas to help us out. We also got to watch the movie 17 miracles, and wow i was almost in tears that was such a good movie. Really is amazing to see what those people really went through to get to salt lake. To see their dedication to the Lord and to see the miracles and the Lords hand in their crossing. If you have not seen it go and it see it, its a great movie.

There is nothing really to talk about, well yesterday we had a cool experience that we can see the lord works in mysterious ways. Two people after church just showed up they just moved from Oregon and were looking for the church. They are not members and they really want to come to church. I was so stoked, we actually found people that want to come to church. We are going to start teaching them this week!

Well i will tell you more just when we talk love you all.

Week 29, Newark Delaware

Hey everyone! how is everything going? All is going good here in the great state of Delaware! This last week went pretty good i got some re-motivation! SO its a pretty exciting time of year to talk about Jesus Christ because that's what we are celebrating the life and birth of Jesus Christ. All is good!

Well this last week we were able to find 6 new investigators that's a lot for this area i am pretty excited to teach them again! But it was pretty cool the ways we found them, defiantly can see Gods hand in this work its amazing! So i am pretty excited to see what can happen, plus the other elders should have some baptisms coming up so i am excited for them to.

Well this last Friday we had a special meeting with good old President. I had to give some training on how to work with stake and ward leaders it went really good! We learned a lot and he is super excited what our mission is doing we are doing a lot of amazing things. Like we looked at the stats basically of last November we had 23 baptisms and then this year we had 50, we are doing great as a mission, even tough i haven't really contributed yet! but its all good, I am working on Gods time table not mine. I know baptisms will come! But it was good President is such a cool guy  i always learn so much form him each and every time.

Also i went on exchange with Elder Lindsley this weekend. We went to a members house who are working to get to the temple we had a sweet experience, he just went off on how much he loves us. Elder Lindsley said as he was talking to the member, the member named Mario was just looking at me Elder Lindsley could just see the love he had form me and him in his eyes it was soo cool. That's when you know you are doing something right, I'm so grateful for the spirit cause i was sure feeling it right there. Then we taught some great lessons together.  We had a fun time. Man i love being a missionary its the hardest funnest thing i have ever done, I love talking about Jesus Christ and reminding myself what this time of year really means! Its sad the world is like this but they are forgetting the real meaning of Christmas we get caught up in all of the worldly activities and we are More stressed then anything. This is a time of joy and peace! take some time and just remember our savior! I love you all thanks for all you do your amazing!

Quick note...

Sorry wont have time to write today but i just want to let you all know i love you! We have a ton to do today but this week was awesome we ate rabbit and killed it and everything it was actually pretty tasty! But overall good week watched the Christmas devotional last night and just gave me a boost for this next week. Love you be safe!

Thanksgiving coming!

Hey everyone how is everything going? Well just to start out you wont be needing a new address to send me things for Christmas and what not! I am staying here another transfer! I know crazy i thought for sure i would be leaving, but obviously God has something in plan for me! But i am actually kinda pumped to stay here we have the coolest branch in the mission and are going to have a good time here for the Holidays! so that's definitely a benefit the only problem is that i don't know what next to do in this area i have almost rand out of areas to knock and ideas what to do ha ha i am sure i will figure something out. And lindsley is staying he is training a new missionary already what a stud!!!!

Well this last week wasn't that special i was thinking that i was leaving so i went to a lot of houses to say goodbye ha ha so nothing really special that's why my email is going to be short today. But holy cow its already my birthday big old 20 on Sunday ha ha i do not feel like i am 20 that's so crazy to think. I feel  a lot younger but at the same time I'm a missionary i have always wanted to be here at this point and now its here wow the count down begins next week ha ha still a year left but i am sure its just going to go faster and faster! but i gotta love it its so much fun ans so dang rewarding. I have changed so much i just have a love for people, i actually get what the importance of gratitude is now. I am so excited for Thanksgiving this week not only cause i get to gain some weight and eat a lot, by the way i have been working out hard lately and lifting i have gained 5 pounds! impressive i know. But just to be thankful for all the things i have, I am so grateful for the parents i have who raised me in this Gospel and gave me the chance to be on this mission, also Ellie and her family (shes kinda special:) and for her family and all they do for me. For all the blessings of the gospel that we receive each and every day. I am so grateful for the book of Mormon and the guidance it give to us in our lives i love this mission i would be lost with out it. So thanks for all you do for me i cant even tell you or list all the blessings i have received in my life. Well i hope all is good and your guys's turkeys taste good mine will be turkey tacos probably with some salsa yummmmyy ha ha. Well be safe and have a good thanksgiving. Love you

Elder Smart

Hey Everyone!

Hey everyone! how is everything going there in Utah? Everything is good here in the good old state of Delaware no complaints! Well this last week flew by that's for sure i cant believe that its already Monday again we had a busy week, with a lot of things happening it was good. First off its crazy to almost say that i am 20 i feel like yesterday i just turned 19 and was getting ready to leave, i cant even imagine how fast this up and coming year is going to go bye. I don't know if you guys feel the same but i feel that way. And so far it's been the best time of my life so worth it!

But this week was super spiritual! Well it all started out Wendsday we had the opportunity to have Elder Kalker come and visit our mission who is one of the 70 and he came and gave us some great training. The meeting was super spiritual. I got up and bore my testimony and man it is the hardest thing to do in english i had a tough time saying what i wanted to say but it all worked out in the end. He talked about how he promised us if we would teach people the true meaning of prayer and help them pray wil real intent we would double the babtisms each month. I think thats such a true principle, because we have all of thes catholics who their whole lives have recited prayers and really dont get how to pray with real intent. Basically our whole message is they have to find out on their own which requires them to pray with real intent and to really fin out ofr themselves. All we can do as missionaries is to teach the doctrine clearly and have the spirit with is so they can feel something different about us, Thats really all we can do. But it was jsut a great experince to have him come and talke to us and bring the spirit as strong as he did, i was definatly feeling it.

Also this week something just hit me, me and Elder Hidalgo were planning and at the each of every planning session we have a comp invatory to help each other better as a missionary. And in this one i was kidna frustrated at first with Elder Hidalgo and kinda raised my voice and was frustrated with some of the things he did cause i want him to be a good missionary and he kinda shakes of things i tell him but i notices my voice got softer and calmer and was just like wow im sorry i just dont want you to go home like some missionaries and it just hit me like wow i have changed, i dont want to go back to who i was. I kinda started crying infront of him but i dont know i jsut felt love for him and just the importance of these two years they are so important if we are going to try ot support a family in todays world its so important, and my wife is definatly going to deserve the besti can be and i got to work hard towards that, just something that i wanted to share with you guys.

Also Elder Lindsley babtized this little 8 year old on saturday it was pretty cool to see him in the water really helping people. Its been so fun to be with him, This will be the last week i am here and i am going to work my butt off to leave Elder Hidalgo with some babtisms. Well i love you all sorry i am horrible at writing its hard to write a lot form me there is to much to say and i am not a fan of writing. But i love you all be safe thanks for all you do!

Elder Smart

Still in Newark..

Hey everyone how is everyone doing? hope everyone had a good Halloween and didn't have to much fun without me ha ha nah its all good! But all is good here in good old Newark just working hard trying to get people to qualify for baptism ha ha man it's hard! i really don't like people's free agency! but all is good we just need to continue to have patience. We set another baptismal date with a 15 year old kid this week he is a son of a member he is kinda a punk but he picked his date and everything and prayed about it during the closing prayer so that was a big step for him. But yesterday was a great day for sacrament it was really a spiritual day we had a great fast and testimony meeting. Of course, i got up and bore my testimony which i never did before my mission i guess i just feel more comfortable doing it in a different language or something! But it was really cool. Not too long ago we had a less active that no one knew call us when she was in trouble and had been doing things that were not good. So she went to the branch president and got everything fixed and now she hasn't missed a Sunday and has been really strong and you can just see a huge change in her. It was really cool she bore her testimony and i felt the spirit so strong with her testimony and she is really such a good person. I told her i was leaving in about two weeks. She was sad to hear that i might be leaving. But I don't know, that just really hit me it doesn't matter about baptisms it is a lot about changing lives and her life has definitely changed it has been cool to see that happen. This week we also had an exchange me and Elder Lindsley were in Newark and we did work! we had 7 lessons that day and usually we have on average around 4 so it was a good day! We had a good time. Also this week we had interviews with president he just said never get down on yourself maybe your not her just for baptisms it doesn't matter. Then he told me i was one of the brightest missionaries he has and the thanked me for all i do.  It really just made me really happy and made my day! Well all is good love you all be safe! 


Elder Smart

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

Crazy!!

Hey how is everyone doing? I hope all is good! sounds like everyone is busy and having a good time! I feel the exact same way! Well this weekend might have been the craziest weekend of my life! A lot really happened. Well i will tell a little more about that in a minute but i am glad the cougs won that's good to hear but its good to hear that all is going good for you guys and that everyone is safe at home. Well first off i want to tell you what happened on Friday night, don't worry mom i know you will freak out but we are alright and things are good now. But so to start off we had a big activity Friday night for our branch then had service in the morning, so we got permission for Elder Lindsley and Elder Tryon to stay the night at our house so we didn't waste miles. So we got all situated and me and Elder Lindsley slept on the floor out in the living room which is close to the door. So everything was normal so we went to sleep. Then at like 3 a.m. we heard our neighbors like drinking and partying and what not. Didn't think anything of it so we went back to bed about like 4 a.m. i was woken up to hearing loud moaning noises like some guy got beat up or something, didn't think anything of it because they were drinking so i just thought someone was messing around, so again so just fell back asleep. about 20-30 minutes later me and Elder Lindsley were woken up to the police coming in they were yelling and there was a lot of ruckus going on so we looked at each other like what the heck is going on. The police were talking loud to this guys saying " what did you hit him with?" and in his broken English said i don't know man! so we were like uhh oh doesn't look good. The we hear we got one stabbed! at that point we were freaked out, couldn't go back to sleep so we hear the paramedics get there i was at that point looking out the little peep hole i could see the guy just laying right there, they rolled him over and he had a bunch of stab wounds in his back and side. my stomach started to churn, so i went and laid down again we just layed there in shock basically. So we had service that morning at like 8 and they didn't let us leave till twelve because we had to talk to them and tell them what we heard and all this good stuff. then when we left all the blood and guts were still there it was nasty we had to basically step over a part of his insides when we left. The cops and the crimes investigators were there all day! I guess the guy died i just found that out this morning i asked his friend as he was leaving for work. So ya that's what happened! But other than that it was a good week. We found two new investigators that are really good and we look to give them a baptismal date, we had a really good activity that we set up on Friday that we got a pretty good turnout. I went on an exchange with the zone leaders this week man am i glad to be serving a Spanish speaking mission, white people are really mean and scary it is so much easier talking to Spanish people, they are a lot chiller. Then i went on a exchange with Elder Lindsley we did some work it was really good! We had some sweet contacts and had a good time, although we got lost and separated on our bikes in the middle of Wilmington at 9 p.m. it was really funny but kinda scary! Well i love the mission i am really so happy to be here and wouldn't trade it for anything i am so lucky to have the gospel in my life. Well i love you all hope you all have a good week. I am super excited to get to listen to conference this week i actually pay attention now, man i missed out on a lot of things all of those years. I am so grateful that we have a living prophet in these days to help lead and guide us in every aspect of life! I love Thomas S. Monson and pretty darn lucky to be called as a missionary from him. I know he is a true and living prophet. Listen to General Conference and pay attention to your feeling! Love you all! Elder Smart

Temple ground breaking! Week 21: Newark, Delaware

Hey how is everyone doing? Well i am pretty discouraged with our coug's.  I guess they really are not that good! Looks like we will be waiting till next year fro a Rise up right? Cause it sure ain't going to happen this year.  I heard Heaps just really isn't really the big shot he was supposed to be oh well. T hat's pretty embarrassing to get just ran over against the dang Utes.  I was pretty mad when i found out which was Sunday morning me and Elder Lindsley looked at each other and we were just stunned!  Oh well lets see if they show up next week. Just wanna throw a shout out to Connor though for winning his tournament that's so awesome i wish i was as half as a good as him he will be so much better than i ever was. I am proud of him. Well just want to let you all know i am doing good. This last week was a little frustrating at times and kinda hard but we made it through it. Just we are having a tough time finding some new investigators and what not and get this area moving. Its kinda hard for me to have been out here for almost 10 months and i still don't have a baptism it makes me wonder what am i doing wrong? What can i do better just things like that. But i just try to take it day by day and work hard that's about all you can do. I just gotta take it day by day and invite as many people unto Christ as i can. We did set another baptismal date though this week with a guy named Ramiro we have been teaching him for awhile he knows its all true he just needs to come to church he didn't come this last week but hopefully he comes this up and coming week! Everything is good with my companion we are having a fun time its fun to be learning and talking Spanish all day i am getting so much better. But he doesn't each much cause i guess they don't eat that much in Chile so i am showing him and teaching him how we eat when we are given food he is learning. He doesn't like spicy Mexican food but he will learn ha ha. Well this weekend was really cool and special we had the Temple ground breaking in Philadelphia.  President Eyering was there and Via Seka Hema spoke it was really awesome. Their talks were both so good. IT was amazing the stories they told and the cool thing there was a lot of people there from different faiths and they both threw down the hammer. If you can you need to watch their talks that they gave. It was a really neat experience even though we watched it from the chapel it was still really cool. I know that Temples are really special and cant wait to go there one day with my wife (whoever that might be) ha ha and be sealed for time and all eternity. It's kind of a big deal.  I really want to return when the temple is dedicated and what not. It's going to be such a cool looking temple! I am super excited and is going to help missionary work so much in this mission. Well, I love you all have a fun safe week.


Elder Smart

Week 20: Newark, Delaware

Hey how is everyone doing? Man it is crazy that it has been 10 years since 9/11 its so good to remember the many people who's lives where lost that day. But its good to remember them and the people who fought for other peoples lives. Well everything is good here. We are having a good time and teaching a lot of people, well trying to. This last week was really hard for us but we worked it out. Well this weekend i got to be with Elder Lindsley on an exchange, man its crazy to be here together it was pretty fun we had a lot of good laughs. We did something pretty darn nuts. So this last Saturday we decided to go tract main street at 8 at night. This is right on the campus of Delaware University. ha ha we had some interesting contacts. One guy was like "man you guys look like straight fags!" i looked at him and told him thanks. Then we walked passed these girls and we just did the normal hey how is it going, and their reaction back as they walked passed hey you should go make out with those guys. We had to get out of there. There was music bumpin', people drunk. But on our way back we talked to this super cool bright girl that was a senior we gave her a Book of Mormon and what not it was way cool. She was really interested so hopefully we get a call back. Well there wasn't much that happened this week and i don't have much time i have to go help an less active translate at the hospital today. but i love you all i know this church is true and there is nothing that i could be doing better than to be on a mission even though i am missing out on BYU football. By the way what happened with them i guess they chocked oh well. Well i love you all and please beat the Ute's this week that's all i want ha ha. Love you be safe. 


 Elder Smart

Wow! 9 months now!

Well hey everyone! how is it going, well you are probably wondering why i didn't write yesterday. But it was a holiday yesterday so i wasn't able to write you guys. But how is everything going. Man i heard all about the BYU game ha ha not going to lie it was hard not being able to watch it. I heard BYU's defense is legit and they are just going to get better. Well that's so awesome i found out the moment they won, one of our members called me after the game it was pretty funny! But ya i am super excited to see what they can do this year. Man i hope some of those players don't leave early to the NFL i will be pretty bummed especially if heaps leaves. Well enough of that. Well whoever guessed that i was going to chili the night i got my call i guess they got some part of it right. I know all of you have been wanting to know who my new companion is, But his name is Elder Hidalgo straight from Chili. HE was in the MTC for 9 weeks learning English, just shows how much he knows.(not much) ha ha well at least my Spanish is getting better which is good. I talk it all day basically. We are trying to implement a rule with us. While we are in the house we speak English, and when we are outside we speak Spanish. The ratio definitely goes to Spanish. But he has a really testimony, his mom right now has cancer and it was hard for him to leave. But he knows everything will be fine. HE had family members tell him he was stupid to go on a mission and leave his mom like she is. Shows he really had a desire to serve. I think i have worn him out. Last week we taught 28 lessons the most I have taught in this area. 
We worked really hard. I wore him out he wants to sleep but i don't let him haha. We have to be exactly obedient to receive the blessings and to bring the miracles. Its been fun having Elder Lindsleywe were together all day yesterday, I know he has a tough companion but he really is such a good missionary. We all bore our testimonies this last Sunday, his Spanish really is impressive already. It felt really good, that was really my first time to bear my testimony in sacred meeting where i had the choice. I felt really good, it just feels really good that i get to share my testimony everyday. I love this gospel and i am so privileged to be serving a mission. I love you all. I know the book of Mormon can really bring us happiness, and we have to continue to press on through the hard times in life. The mission really isn't easy, and have thought many times why am i out here, i could be at home watching BYU football, be with my family, be with my girlfriend. But really that would be taking the blessings away from not only me, but you guys and all the people i get to serve out here on the mission, the blessings definitely outweigh the things of the world. I love you all and am so proud of each and everyone of you. I know the Atonement is real and that we can use it each and every day, i have seen it change lives, including my life. I know my savior lives he is there in times of need and i have felt him in tough times out here. I love you all once again have a good week. Kade Tear them up in football, Connor tear them up in golf! all of you tear whatever up ha ha. And go cougs get another W over them longhorns! Elder Smart

Elder Lindsley and Hurricane

HEY! how is everyone doing? hope all is well there! Well as you all now we had what was called a Hurricane here. This last week we have had an earthquake and a hurricane ha ha. And in parts of Delaware there was a Tornado. SO there was a lot of things that happened the last week. And also as you all know i am going to be training, my companion still hasn't came yet but he will be getting here on Wednesday i am really pretty excited its going to give me a chance to grow a lot!

Well today we had transfers, I am pretty stoked Elder Lindsley got transferred to Wilmington where I had been for the last week and he will be in my district and in the same branch as me. We will be going on exchanges together the whole sha bang! i am pretty excited its going to be a good time we will be around each other a lot. HE will need it he has a little tougher companion but i think he will get a long with him just fine. He was pretty stoked too! So we have been just chillin together all day together. And we are playing soccer tonight man its going to be so fun. I couldn't be more excited really as you all can probably tell!

Well a little about the storm that hit us over the weekend, they were saying it was going to be a category 1 i guess. But we had to be in at 4 on Saturday. It rained all that day. It really rained hard later at night around 8 or so then the rain began. We were all pretty excited we wanted to see things flying around outside and what not. We had to go buy water and do all of these things to prepare for it. SO we stayed up till about one but it really never got worse it just kept raining and then it was kinda windy like 20 - 40 mph winds wasn't bad. We finally went to bed and then we woke up the next morning nothing really had happened we were really disappointed we has to sit in all morning till around two till we got the okay to go out. It was a long time sitting inside. we just watched movies and played Monopoly and Settlers of Catan..haha it got pretty lame.

Well not much to write about we will see who my companion is this next week. I know this chruch is true i am glad to be serving a mission. Love all of you guys be safe and take care!
Elder Smart

Hurricane Coverage on morning of 8-28-11

Taylor's area will be right in the path of Hurricane Irene this weekend...Here is some of the news coverage as of this morning.

Click the link below:

http://abcnews.go.com/watch/world-news-with-diane-sawyer/SH5585921/VD55141097/world-news-827-hurricane-irene-hits-the-mainland

Wow!

WOW start of another school year! that's really crazy it feels like yesterday they were just getting out! Well how is everyone doing? All is good here still really hot! This week we are not using the car much because we are out of miles. But as most of you know my companion finished his mission and now is home so i am with two other Elders in a different area in Wilmington, it's still the same branch just a different area. They don't have a car because basically everything is really close. But man there are a lot of black people here its funny they always tell us we shouldnt be walking on these streets its too dangerous and we do it anyways. Just saying if i wasn't a missionary i probably wouldn't walk them either ha ha, its pretty crazy around here. But its pretty awesome. Well i will be getting a new companion next Wednesday because i am TRAINING!!!!!! whhooaaahh haha i was really shocked when they called me on Saturday. President always says the most trusted missionaries are my trainers something like that!! Its pretty crazy usually you don't train this soon. But i am pretty lucky to have the chance and i am pretty excited to do it. It's really nice not getting a old missionary again. IT should be a fun challenge, plus it will help me with my Spanish i think because i have to talk a lot more and what not. I really am not really nervous but just pumped to try to help the missionary as much as i can cause i had a good trainer that did that. Just want to hit the ground running and work hard and try to get some baptisms!! i know i can do it. Well we have been seeing a lot of success from soccer every week we get a new investigator that wants us to come over and talk to them, Its really cool the other elders already have a baptismal date out of one of them. It's really funny when we play its like hey brother pass the ball (but in Spanish of course) and just like nice good talk but when they have the ball its like swear word every time, its pretty different, but people are starting to see the difference that is what is helping us. It's been a really good finding tool for us. We have some really good investigators like i have said just cant get them to church but i just got to keep having the faith that they will and they will. Well i am really happy to be here. Tell everyone hi for me and thanks for all the love and support they show me. Well love you all have a good week! Elder Smart

Week 16 Newark, Delaware

Hey how is everything going. This week has been really good we have recieved a lot of rain here this past week. But rain doesnt stop us. We have found some new investigators that seem pretty good! We had 3 people show up to church yesterday that was really good we finally got some people to church haha. We are working really hard and are excited about the work here. The sad thing is that Elder Dopp is leaving on Friday to go home! So crazy being around all of these missionaries who are old and i am jsut a youngster. I also wanna throw a shout out to my pops who rode like Lance i guss this last week in Leadville. Man never new old guys could ride a bike like that, super impressed!

Well I have told you about our investigator Jacob and how he is married to a LA a lot has been happening to them. But they made the decision this week that they are going to get married!!! so we are super stoked about that. Thats the first step he needs to take. But nobody knows where he is right now Araseli called us today. I guess their car broke down today on the highway so the cops came to help out. But since they are illegal immegrants they took him away i guess so no one knows whats happening with that we hope that everything works out with them becasue they are starting to get things going now. I love the family. We had a sweet lesson with them on Sunday about the temple and that is the next step they want to take after they get married well of cours after he gets babtized. We are going to set a babtizmal date with him the next time we go over there.

Well nothing to significant has happened this last week. I was supposed to be taken out to lunch today and we were going to be meeting up with Elder Lindsley and the elders there, but I guess they have been getting so much water there one of the dams broke and the city is flooding haha so they couldnt come sad story! But maybe i will be seeing him within the next few weeks.

Well thanks for all you do for me sorry for a short e-mail today its already like later here. But i am so happy to be out on a mission i know there is nothing better that i could be doing! I love this gospel and love all of you thanks!

Elder Smart

Week 15 in Delaware

Hey everyone how is it going? All is good here like usual. Today i am in Wilmington for the day because my companion went to Philadelphia for the day for his going away fireside i will be back with him tomorrow. We have a meeting tomorrow in Philly so we will be meeting back there. So today i am with Elder Bingham and Tryon they are big kids like twice the size of me ha ha. just thought i would throw that in there. So this week has just been crazy though! I will tell you more. But sounds like everything is going well there. Ellie is taking good care of the family! While the parents have it rough chilling on a cruise! Dang i feel so bad for them ha ha! Well its started to get Hot again here it rained a few days and after it rains it gets super humid and hot! Luckily We have a car.
Well this week was a lot of service hours it was crazy! so normally we are supposed to do like 4 hours of service but this week we ended up doing around 13 or more! One of hour members wanted us to fix the roofing on his shed so we took the hole thing off and did it all over again. It was good i now no how to do all that stuff. We re shingled it and everything it looks really good. It was a lot of work to do. We also re painted a whole porch and a front door for another neighbor it was crazy all of a sudden people asked if we could help. I felt like i was in normal clothing more than proselyting clothes this week. We really were not able to see a lot of our investigators this week. We are still having a really hard time getting them to church.
It was sad to of my favorite missionaries left last night. Elder Lake and Elder Kerouak. We spent like the last two days with them and i was the only one who is a newer missionary so i get a little left out and made me miss home a little and want to come home. But i know its the best to be out here. Its hard but its worth it. I like the quote my mom always has told me that says "I can do hard things" and if i do it will all work out. But ya we also went to one of our members Saturday night and ate and stuff. He lives on a ranch he is such a cool guy. He got the Melchizedek (i only know how to spell it in Spanish) Priesthood which is awesome. Well by the time we know it i will be in the same place as the missionaries going home its just gets faster and faster.
Well love you all be safe have a good week.!
Elder Smarta

8 months!!

Hey everyone! How is everything going? Hope all is going well! Man its crazy to think that Byu football is starting up again! Sad i don't get to watch any but i hope they do good! they sounds like they should be pretty good! I'm excited to see what happens! well anyways all is good out here in the plat land of Delaware! Summer is a really hard time for missionary work here we are figuring out! ha ha oh well what can we do! Just work harder and try our best right! That's one thing i have learned just gotta keep on trucking!
Well this week we really haven't much success with our investigators! But we do have this one family but the dad is starting to show a lot of interest! his name is Osvaldo. He has been reading the Book of Mormon and loves it. He told us this week that he just doesn't have a good day when he doesn't read, ha ha then he had all these questions and loved it. The wife Laura has a lot of doubts and we had a long lesson with her yesterday that i think went well she hasn't really read or asked so how is she going to to know without doing that. So we committed her to do that! We really do have some solid investigators the hard thing is getting them to church we haven't had someone in church for like 4 weeks and its been really upsetting cause we don't know what else we can do! but we are starting to see some success with soccer we had 5 less actives that we had never seen before! so we think if they keep coming one day they will come back to church. So we will see. We got a lot of advice from the Elders quorum president yesterday so we are going to try to implement those things into what we do!
I really thought this week about like what success is! Just because there are a lot of hard times on the missions and you feel like your not doing enough! Just cause I have seen a lot of people just baptize a lot! but i have been obedient and i have been working hard and have had 0 baptisms in 8 months. I asked Elder Dopp why that is. But he said the Lord knows what he is doing and maybe this is what he wants for me to learn through the tough and hard times and maybe not baptize a lot of people, but he is changing me! But also i feel we get caught up in the numbers here buts not about that its about the people. Because we are planting the seed. Every soul is great in the sight of God! So i am going to keep working hard doing all i can to help progress!
Love you all! Be safe!
Elder Smart

HOT!!!!! Week 13 Newark, Delaware

Hey everyone! how is everything going this week? all is good here and so glad to be out here! How was Pioneer day? bummer we don't get that holiday out here. Well it reallywouldn't matter because wedon't get to see those fireworks anyway! oh well. But it's so crazy it's already the end of the month again! heading to month 9 wow where does time go! So far this has been the hardest but most worth it 8 months of my life i am so glad i get this chance to be out here!

Well first off this week was soooo hot it got up to 110 the day we had to walk because we are running out of miles so we cannot drive that much! but it was so hot! we were drenchedin sweat when we got to our investigators house! Also this week i was on exchanges and was in Wilmington where theydon't have a car so we rode bikes all day long that was super hot too. It's been sooooo hot and i have been drinking a lot of water to stay some what hydrated! Its amazing how hot it gets here you step out of the car and you are automatically sweating! This is nothing like Utah! Also Tuesday while we were playing soccer it poured rain on us it was so much fun we were just soaked but it felt sooo good! We are getting a lot of people out to play soccer its awesome i think we will get some people coming to church just from playing soccer! I am getting pretty good mom you would be proud i scored two goals last time and this is onMexicans who like soccer is their life.

Well we had a cool experience last night so we have a family names the Lunas the mom and Jenny who is 18 are really active and such amazing people. The dad has been inactive for awhile and they have been separated for awhile. It just has been a bad situation but he is starting to turn the corner. So last night he wanted us to come over and teach him. So we did it was awesome he is coming back to church and we talked a lot about the temple and how Jenny wants him to be there when she gets married so we are really seeing a miracle in the making a house changing! We are going there tonight for Family home evening. Man this gospel is awesome it changes families.

Well i talked to Elder Lindsley on Thursday he has a great trainer. He is awesome and really excited to be out here. Well love you all be good and thanks for all you do!

Elder Smart

Week 12 Newark, Delaware

Hey everyone how is going? hope all is well back in Utah or wherever you may be! All is good here! i found out that i will be staying another transfer here! i am super excited and i am still with my companion Elder Dopp super cool Elder! We are hopefully going to see a lot of success this next transfer we have some things lined up that will be good! We have Four baptismal dates and look to have some more coming up! We had a really good week this last week it was our best week of the transfer lesson wise so far, we taught 26 lessons up to this week our most we had taught was 23 so we raised the bar it was good. We got a lot of potential investigators this week to that could be really good! I am super excited! man i love being out on a mission! we also started to play soccer every Tuesday and we had 12 non members out this last week so could be a baptizing machine out of that! plus we get a lot of members there cause they all love soccer!

Well i hit golf balls twice this week! it was awesome! We went this last Monday for p-day ya the first like 20 were just like shank after shank it was pretty hilarious then i got a hang of it after a while! Then on Thursday for our break we were out an about so we stopped by golf galaxy and we just hit balls on the simulator it was fun! the guys were impressed look at this young kids in a white shirt and tie hit the ball so far! i got it up to 300 only but not bad! It was really fun! Well we really don't have any cool stories this week to tell

Well one we have had a really hard time finding people to come to church with us cause they work! so yesterday we knocked to see who was home on Sundays! we found two new people that don't work Sundays and said they would come to church with us that was really awesome and they seem like good guys! We will see what happens. But i am so happy to be serving a mission love this gospel love all of you. The book of Mormon is so true its blue!

Have a good week

Elder Smart

Hey!

Hey how is everyone! this was a good long week! How is everything at home? Hows the Summer treating you guys? it is a scorcher here. This could be my last transfer here but who knows i sure hope not things are really starting to take shape here and we have some investigators that are really progressing we are hoping to have 6 baptismal dates by the end of this week. But i really hope i do not get transferred! I really have enjoyed the time i have been with Elder Dopp too, we have had a good time and started up a lot of things here in this area! But all is good wherever the Lord needs me that's where I will be right

Well just want to start out this week has got me thinking a lot how i can better myself as a missionary! There is a lot. I get really impatient i figured out especially when studying it is super hard for me to study for such long periods of time. I need to find ways that will help me enjoy myself while studying! Still am looking for that way. But it will come soon. Also the hard thing is getting people to church here for the last few weeks. I need to increase my faith man its hard at times to have it but i got to work on that!

Well we have a really cool family we are working with named Laura & Osvaldo there are probably in their upper 20's great family! they three little boys way cool kids. So we have been kinda teaching them a lot and they show a lot of interest they are reading the Book of Mormon and everything the only thing that is hard for them is coming to church, since he works on Sundays. We told him of the story that happened with some members that asked to change schedules so that they could go to church, the wife's was able to change, but the husband quit his job but found another one that week that was better. Way cool story. But we extended the baptismal date to them this week they said they will be baptized once they get to know the church more. So we are praying that he will be coming to church soon. Also we have Benjamin the guys that is a "member" but we have to re-baptize him since we cant find his records or anything. We should be baptizing him hopefully this week so that should be exciting. Also working with a lady named Viviana Monte, we are only able to go over there when her husbands not home because he wont allow her to listen to the missionaries or go to church. So frustrating why are people so hard like that they don't get it, what would it harm? but anyways her little nine year old committed suicide 2 years ago it was so hard for her she had no belief in God or anything. Then her aunt and uncle our members so they started talking to here and finally let the missionaries come over they helped her a lot she would easily be baptized if her husband wasn't so hard. we are going to continue to pray that one day he will soften up. The little boy already has his temple work done which is really cool. She is such a cool lady she will be baptized one day i know it!

Well i hope all goes well i will let you know what happens with where i am going this next week. Oh it was really cool this past week we had interviews with President. He said that i am one of the few missionaries he can trust and doesn't need to worry about it made me really happy and felt really honored for him to say that! I love our mission president he is such a cool guy! Well love you all have a good week and CTR!

Elder Smart

July 5th, 2011

Hey how is everyone doing! Hope everyone had a great fourth of July and enjoyed fireworks and a lot of good for me because only saw like 2 fireworks on our way driving home last night. Bummer huh we were not allowed to do anything and to watch fireworks or anything with people so we just got to chill and work out in our house haha. Hope the fireworks were good there. Plus fireworks here are illegal in Delaware so they don't sell any here in the state but of course people just go to PA and buy them. But we understand there are a lot of bad things that go on during those times. Everyone drinks here and what not we just didn't want to risk our safety so we know where President is coming from.

Well this week was good we still don't have any more baptismal dates but we do have some planned to give. We have a family Laura and Osvaldo that are really progressing really well. We had planned to give them a baptismal date this last Saturday but it didn't work we just didn't have enough time during the lesson since they got home a little late. But they are really cool people. but it is really weird both me and Elder Dopp feel nervous while we are teaching its just weird cause we usually feel fine, and when he gets nervous he just talks a lot and me i just don't talk haha. But this last week we taught really well together it was a good week!

haha so something funny this week we decided we want to try saving money so we combine both of our laundry loads together which costs 75 cents each then we don't dry them. We made a hanging line in our apartment with telephone wires. It works great, we are super smart its been really fun with him. We have had a lot of fun while working hard at the same time. i really hope we get to stay together for one more transfer till he leaves. I just want a companion for more than one transfer and not get thrown around, its har that way, like you get used to each other like 4 weeks into it so you need more time to work together effectively.

Really cool experience this week was Araseli the one i have been talking about a lot with her husband. Ya she bore her testimony this week in sacrament it was super powerful, because its been hard for her to not have a husband that is in the church and what not. But she told about the experience when we first went to her house something happened the day before and so we came the next day and we told her if she had faith that he would come out and listen to us. And he came out and listened now he is progressing a lot and he really sees a difference in her family way cool! Goes to show what this gospel does and how the Lord prepares people for us to teach.

Well love you all your all amazing i am so grateful to be out here and the help people and grow closer to my Savior. Thanks for all your love an support your amazing!

Elder Taylor Smart

Father's Day

Hey everyone! Well first just want to throw a shout out to my my dads haha. Thanks for all you do for me and the examples you have set for me and have lead me in the right path. Showing me the way to learn and for setting the example for both serving missions and giving me the chance to experience what you have experienced. I am really grateful for that and now to be out here serving a mission just like you guys did and you have taught me how to become a better missionary and a better person and a better father and husband one day! (Well still got a while till that happens haha don't worry) But i really appreciate you guys and for being worthy priesthood holder and to use your priesthood. Thanks again for all you do! and and other dads out there that might get this email what a wonderful example you all all for your kids.

Well this week went pretty well we were able to accomplish a lot of our goals and we got two more baptismal dates. We also finally had a ward activity that went really well that we had like 5 investigators go to. I feel like that ward is now gaining trust of me and my companion now. They had some issues before with the older missionaries so we are really starting to work with them a lot and go through them to get new investigators and to get them to help with investigators. Like this week my favorite member named Edgar came with us to our investigator Jacob. Man Edgar taught the whole lesson, it has been hard for Jacob to open up to us. But Edgar had him wrapped around his hands and Jacob just let it go and talked and expressed his concerns. I have faith that in not that long he will get baptized. They just need to get married first and they are not going to do it till like September so that is a little frustrating. We have a family night with them today and Edgar and his family are coming. We went to Edgars house last night and he taught us for like 2 hours how to become better teachers and how to teach to Mexicans it was really good i learned a lot.

Man i just am really happy now i have never felt this kind of happiness in my life. Serving others there is no other thing like it, you just get this such good feeling. I am just really lucky to be out here, and to be serving the lord. I love the book of Mormon is so true, i love this church and i love you all thanks for all that you do for me and i hope this week goes good for you love you so much. Peace

Elder Taylor Smart

haha oh ya one thing i forgot haha i gained back 7 pounds this week. after having bikes and just sweating like a pig i was down to 140 but this last week gained 7 back impressive huh?

Week 7, Newark, Deleware

Well how is everyone doing? Well its now officially summer time, and man its felt like summer time for sure here. It's been up into the 100's here this last week. Plus we didn't have a car!!!! Remember how i said it got hit a few weeks ago well they had to fix it this week. We were supposed to get it back this last Friday but they haven't gotten all the paper work done!! Ahh!! It's frustrating. We need a car to do missionary work in this are so it has been pretty darn hard we basically were in two apartment complexes all week. Plus we called the whole ward this last week and no one came out with us!! Hispanics work a lot during this time. Well just got good news the people just called and our car is done so we get to go and pick it up soon!! hooray!! So good news there. But it was so funny we would get to peoples houses and just be drenched in sweat so they like let us in because they felt bad. We took three showers a day and all of them were cold showers haha. Felt sooo nice.

Well everything is going great with Elder Dopp he is actually a way cool kid and we can just joke around a lot and have fun while working super hard. Its nice and we have taught together really well. We had a cool lesson this week that was super funny and spiritual at the same time. We went to go and teach this guy named Ruben he is an older guy from Mexico. We really wanted him to pray we taught him all we could about praying. Also he told me he wants to take me to Mexico to get a wife haha I was like sorry, can't!! haha he is a funny guy and he found out my name my real name so he wont call me Elder Smart now. But anyways he kept saying he couldn't pray he doesn't now enough he needs to learn more before he does it and we told him we were not leaving till he said the prayer. We honestly sat there Kneeling until he said the prayer for 30 minutes he finally said it and it was such a good prayer! Persistence pays off. We are going back to teach him tomorrow.

Well i hope everyone has a good week. I am going to re commit myself this week to be exactly obedient and jsut work hard. I really want to develop a christlike love for the investigators we are working with. Oh also we ahve been working with this family for a while now and yesterday they came to church!! it was so awesoem to see them there. You never know when popel willl come. Well love all of you guys hope everything goes well. Miss you all but there is no other place i would rather be. Be safe choose the right and the Book of Mormon is so true its blue.

love,

Elder Taylor Smart

Start of Transfer 4

Hey Everyone,

Well i hope all is going good here, just living the life as a missionary. Well its the start of another transfer number 4 out here in the field, only 12 more to go. haha Hmm well I didn't get a new companion, because Elder Spear will be heading home tomorrow.

My new companion is Elder Dopp, he is another Cherry hill missionary that came here when the Cherry Hill mission was dissolved. But he seems pretty cool we will see how this transfer goes. But her is from Boise, ID and has like 1 and 1/2 transfers left so I most likely will be killing him too!!! haha i guess i just love getting put with the missionaries that are going home. But Elder Spear was companions with him before I heard some good things about him. I don't really know a whole lot a bout him yet although he does have a girlfriend that speaks Spanish to. (Ellie has got to learn haha jk) well he has two sisters and ya he went to BYU before his mission. That's about all i know for now.

Well this week is going to be super hard. As all of you we got hit a few weeks back and tommorow is when we ahve to take our car in to get fixed for a whole week!!! you know what that means we are without a car for this whole week! We luckily have bikes, but is going to be impossible to see all our our investigators becuase of how huge our area is. What a great way to take over an area right?? We will see what happens I am going to need a lot of water right? its super hot here and humid we are just going to be drenched with sweat. But we will see what happens right, maybe members will just help us out a ton.

Also this week we were able to work with members and our branch president because it has gotten to a point where the lack of member involvement is killing the missionary work. So we were able to sit down with all of them and told them what needs to be done, There is just a pride thing going on with a few members in the ward no biggie but still it's a great branch I hope to see the work grow and continue which I think it will. We really don't have any new investigators really just trying to work with the ones to get them baptised which could take some time. But love this work. We had Zone training this week and this lady came and spoke to us about how she works so hard to bring forth more people into the church and she knows like all the members she is an amazing lady. Her husband passed away last year she says that's her motivation for all her work and service. That's what right now is my motivation, my family and my eternal family that i can have one day. there is a definition of a missionary that says- A missionary is someone who leaves their house and family to help bring others that eternal happiness, or something like that.

Well love you all have a good week,

Elder Smart