September 6, 2021

From Mom: Whirlwind

Dear Elder Smith,

It’s been a busy time. You know most of it from our phone call last week, so this is how things played out …

Tyler, Steph and Bowie’s visit was like a dream. The treehouse has improved, thanks to Tyler. (He slept there most of the time and set up a home office to do his work.) Steph stayed in the guest room and we loved loved loved having her here. She’s a calming presence and made life just a little bit better all around. Bowie is, I’m sure, the most adorable child on this planet. You might have died from cuteness overload. Grandma and Grandpa Smith came up on very short notice to spend some time with them.

One story … Grandma Smith and I were at the table painting Bowie’s nails (a ploy to keep her busy while Steph and Tyler packed their van). She picked one hand to have green nails and the other hand to be yellow. Partway through she says, “Dramma, I do it!” I was a little reluctant because she’s just barely two years old, after all. Did I want nail polish on the table or on our clothes? I tried to say no gently but she could not be dissuaded or distracted (she’s a very determined little child). Turns out she wanted to paint OUR nails and now Grandma and I are proudly sporting neon yellow finger nail polish, proudly worn to church. Hahahaha. And not a drop on the table. Bowie’s very precise and careful. We’re going to miss them dearly.

Coco had a love/hate relationship with Bowie. On one hand, Bowie fed her tidbits from the table and was very good at filling her dog dish at various times during the day so Coco would follow her around and stay close. On the other hand, Bowie was always wanted to pet and hug Coco a little more than Coco was comfortable with so she would try to stay away from Bowie as far as possible. The little dog was conflicted in her little dog mind about what to do with this tiny human. Soo funny.

Did you know there was a bouldering gym two blocks from your old apartment? Well, there is … and we went there with everyone and had a fun time.

(Sam should send you the video of the cool lunge he made.) The boys and Damon moved into the exact same building, except a two-bedroom on the third floor. Imagine your old apartment, except the bedroom and the living room is on the right side of the hallway. A mirror image. And it’s definitely an upgrade; brighter, a little bigger and facing the street instead of the back parking lot. Jeff, Liz and Family are also here bringing Rachel up to Grant MacKewan along with Damon’s bed (he’s been sleeping on the floor up until now).

Our school schedule is getting underway. Abby is in Grade 11, using lockers this year! Megan Day is also attending LCHS and is only nine lockers down from Abby and they have a photography class together. Abby loves Mr. Gilmore and dislikes Mrs. Saskew but she is definitely adjusting to this year much better than last.

Mia is settling into her homeschooling routine while also going to Drama/MT/Choir at the school. She’s set up a learning station in the library. Also, it turns out she can do 20-1 subjects once 10-1 is finished, so the plan is to actually get some extra credits to help with next year. Mia shared her testimony yesterday about how prayer can calm a person down when they are distressed (like when LCHS turned her away) and how sometimes God might have a different/better plan in mind for you (like homeschooling and getting ahead).

Abby is the YW class President and Mia is the secretary, so they’ll be doing a lot together this year while still maintaining their own lives.

A highlight for me during this whirlwind was Siobhan unexpectedly coming up to Edmonton for her son’s football game. We squeezed in a early morning walk so we could visit and we met at Telford Lake. Check out this picture:

We can’t stop laughing at it. She calls me her “infant friend.” Hahaha.

Also, Dad and I celebrated our 29th Anniversary on August 22nd and he bought me a new mattress! My back is no longer sore all the time. Turns out a good night sleep is super helpful in helping a person cope with a whirlwind life.

So, what is my take-away from this week?

1) Family relationships (and any positive relationship at all) are one of the most important things in life.

2) Prayer is powerful.

3) Self-care is vital.

Grandma and Grandpa came up at the last minute to see Steph and Bowie but Dad convinced them to stay for a little holiday. The truth is, Grandma is burned out. She cares for all of Grandpa‘s needs since his surgery and is still trying to help Natasha and Tyeesha with their severe drug addictions (Natasha is currently homeless). It’s really, really hard for her.

I witnessed a tender moment one morning when it was just me, Dad, Gma and Gpa talking about all of these things when Grandma just couldn’t help it and started to cry. Dad was beside her and put his arm around his mom and hugged her while she wept. Then after all the tears were spent, I took Grandma shopping and we bought a bunch of self-care items. Haha. So keep them in your prayers. It’s not easy.

Keep in mind, unless a person is filling their own cup, they don’t have the capacity to fill others’. And Grandma‘s cup is pretty empty right now. And let’s not forget the fact that a year ago, the doctors told Grandpa he had less than a year to live … so he’s a walking miracle. We are all preferring this kind of hard to him being gone … but still. Grandma is plain worn out. Include her in your prayers, okay?

And the truth is, we ALL get worn out unless we’re doing those things that fill us up. For me, it’s prayer and study and writing and walking and serving. What is it for you? What fills you up?

And last thing, something I can’t stop thinking about. …

Bro. Patrick taught the lesson on Sunday and he mentioned this scenario:

Imagine that the Saviour was visiting our ward and had taken over the Bishop’s office and was doing one-on-one interviews. Suddenly your name is called. It’s your turn. How would you feel in anticipation of being in the same room face-to-face with Jesus?

I have to admit, I started feeling a little emotional imagining it in my own mind. My whole thing is that Jesus Christ understands me completely, probably even better than I know my own self… and He loves me, more than I have the ability to understand. So that face-to-face would be an unbelievably life-changing event. Like it was for the ancient Nephites. It changed their entire society for a solid 200 years! Imagine it. That will be my thought for the next little while.

So the real answer to what fills me up is time spent connecting with the Saviour (through Prayer, Study, Walking and Serving).

Isn’t life beautiful?

We love you dearly. And miss you.

Yesterday, Kylan Rice came over with his fiancé, Jessica, to deliver a wedding invitation. Apparently you used to tease her about wearing socks and sandals? Anyway, we had a moment of missing you (all of us including Josh and Sam). Josh says, “Hey, tomorrow’s Monday! We should make sure and talk to Banjo!”

So hopefully you get a chance to do that today.

Forever,

Mom

P.S. No University for me this month. There was a glitch in U of A receiving my transcripts and it’s still in the works. Maybe January. We’ll see. I only need 12 credits to graduate, so I gotta do it!

From Ben: Goodbye to my favorite Grizzly Grandma

Couple of high points this week, and a single low one.

Me and Elder Hamilton were going to visit one of the senior ladies in the ward. She had called and was asking for a visit and a Priesthood blessing. After doing a little research we found out that you needed to be fully vaccinated to get into the old folks home (surprise suprise). As I had not yet got my second vaccination and we were going to visit her the next day, I needed to get it done ASAP. So, we called to book an appointment and hoped that we'd be able to get one within the day. Miraculously, the lady on the line was Uber helpful and booked us a time within two hours to get a temporary Ontario health number, AND to get the vaccination (phew). Now, I had heard about some of the after effects of the vaccine: headaches, feverish, inability to function normally, etc. But my thought was "my immune system is pretty great! This'll be easy!" (my pride tends to talk a lot more than my humility does unfortunately).

The next morning, as predicted by everybody except for me, I was destroyed. I had a headache, everything hurt, and it was just hard to function. Luckily, some divine aid kicked in and me and Elder Hamilton were able to go and see the Elderly Sister Johnston.

Going into care homes is always a humbling experience. In the New Testament, when James talks about Pure Religion being visiting the "fatherless and the widows in their affliction" or when in Alma 34, Amulek talks about our prayers being in vain unless we take care of the sick and and afflicted, and seek the welfare of others; they know exactly what they are talking about.

We also met this wild dude while street contacting. We said hello and he himself pulled us aside to talk. He went right into his story of how he declared his own sovereignty, and in the process of doing so, also declared the head of the queen because he was trying to pin her for some illegal crime she had been a part of when dealing with his adoption papers way back. It was a crazy tale. Long story short, he unexpectedly showed up to church the next day and we were able to give him a Book of Mormon. "The Lord looketh on the heart" is right. I legit never expect who is going to be interested. For some, I hear their story, learn a bit about them, and am like "Yo, you sound like the exact kind of person that would explore this, love this, and desire this in your life" and I'm usually wrong! Then there are other times when I meet someone and think "oh boy, I'm not entirely sure how this is going..." then they want to learn more! It definitely makes it easier to talk to more people though, not having to judge who may accept what we're saying because I actually cannot tell!

And finally, one of the best moments of the week was seeing my favourite crazy, toe painting, short, old lady, in person. We did a pass-off lesson with the Sisters of Belleville and we taught the Restoration. So four missionaries, one Sister Clark. I kinda thought that the lesson might be a bit hectic, but it flowed pretty much perfectly. We just tapped out from missionary to missionary, and from point to point flawlessly. I had the great opportunity to go over the Atonement of Jesus Christ and testify of it in the lesson. Could've legit shook hands with the spirit it was so tangible. It was super great to be able to see Sister Clark in person. I'm gonna miss her. The Sisters will be teaching her from now on. We couldn't hug her at the end, so we shook hands. And my goodness. She legit crushed my hand. She's 5'1" and kinda small, but she had the strength of a Grizzly I swear.

An Elder corrected me when talking about the Atonement during an exchange too. I mentioned that I needed to start applying the Atonement more in my life and he was like "Elder, that's good and all, but I think you better start experiencing it instead" Which I thought was a pretty cool statement.

Also another time when we were street contacting, we didn't have much success, and I was feeling pretty down. In that exact moment, a dad and a son were walking by with a puppy that was something like a month old. It randomly beelined its way our direction and started jumping around. It was so cute I basically died. I took it as a tender mercy. In the exact moment we felt like bums, a tiny dog came and cheered us up. Heck yah.

And finally, we're actually losing Elder Hamilton!! It took us both by surprise. I'm staying in Trenton and getting two new Elders. We're becoming a trio. And Elder Hamilton is going to Brantford.

Have a great week everybody!!

Elder Smith

1) Our milk went bad so I tried chocolate milk instead... It's no bueno. Too much chocolate.