229 days left

hey momma, this week was good and bad. it was slow and we had only taught one lesson this week and that was to a less active...which isn't bad but we have had all of our investigators fall off the map and so we are having to start over, which is hard but it will all be worth it. this work is amazing and i love being here in iowa! 

we have had more conversations as companions and had a good one about going to the temple as often as he could. he had in his mind that he only wanted to go to the temple once every two months. he is from north bend which is about 45 mins from seattle and so i thought, we live here in iowa city and these people have it down to where they are going once a month. not once every two months so i made him promise that he will make it his number one priority to go to the temple as much as he could. i am finding out that i am needing this same motivation. i hope that you as a family will get tyler his endowments and take him as much as you can before he sends his mission papers in. how often do you go to the temple as a couple? we had that mission tour with elder clarke and he said that out of all the people in that chapel that we were in, only about ten people would go on a senior mission. and there were about 100 missionaries in that chapel. i decieded that im going to be one of those ten people and hopefully make that precent go up. i sure hope that it is a goal for you as you grow older and plan for retirement which is just right around the corner. haha not saying that you're old or anything but just be thinking about that long term goal for yourselves. i plan to go on a senior mission with my future wife, so future wifey, be prepared for that as we get married and have that as a long term goal to save up for.  i love this work and am so grateful to be here at this exact time. we truly are clay in the hands of the lord and as we follow the doctrine that he has given us we will let the savior mold us into the children that he once new! i know my Father in Heaven lives and that He is watching over us always. i know that the book of  mormon is not only another testament of Jesus Christ but is a book full of experiences for us to learn from. wise people learn from experience. even wiser people learn from others experiences! i remember that from a John Bytheway talk i heard. i know that i am changing and am trying to let my mission go through me and not me going through my mission. i love you mom and i love you dad so much. i can't wait to talk to you in a couple of weeks. Tyler, i love you so much am truly worried about you and how you are doing with getting ready to serve your brothers and sisters and also your Heavenly Father. not that your doing anything wrong but that you aren't doing the things that are preparing you for this experience. i invite you to be the starter and instigator for family scripture study and for family prayer. please always give gratitude to your Heavenly Father. say some prayers by only saying things your grateful for and see how you feel after that. i love you ty and can't wait to see you. and to adi, i love you and hope you are keeping our family safe and happy with your silly and lovable personality. :) chickens, keep mom happy and also grandma B! i love you all and will hear from you next week!

love

Elder Jens Smith. 

sorry for such a short letter. 

Questions:

What's your fav part of the week?  

i think my favorite part of the week was watching the devotional. it was awesome!!!

So my school is done in about 2 weeks...is that school there too? 

yeah everyone is getting ready for finals and so it is really busy for them and really slow for us. haha

play any soccer lately?  

nope. hopefully today for pday we will. haha we have been having 50-60 degree weather here!!!! amazing in weather in December!!!

do you have anything in common with your new companion?  where'd elder tekanene go?  

mmm...he really likes cars and i really like to look at cars. he played soccer his freshman year of high school and quit cause he didn't like the coach. elder tekanene went to Keokuk  IA.  das bout it. 

so last time (or the time before) you mentioned that the next transfer will be on Christmas day? will that really happen? or will they postpone it a day? or earlier? how are they going to work that one?  or do you think that you'll even transfer?  

did i mention that they were on Christmas  hmmm oh well they are two days after Christmas  so the 27th. and yeah i think i will be leaving cause i will have been here for 6 months. it doesn't even see like it. i told the people in branch council and they were like no way! it has been six months!?

oh and i forgot a funny!!!! here it is! 

"why am i all wet?" "don't worry, i used to have the saaame problem." 

there is a name in there but if i did that it would give it away. :) haha funny.