Elder White is great

Okay, in order to understand the first part of Jaren's letter, you need to know that we have been looking into beekeeping.  We are looking for a money making project as a family (but mostly for the almost-14-year-old!) and also looking into ways we can become more self-sufficient.  We have plenty of space to do this project and Erik has been on the internet for a week straight researching beekeeping.  The thought of bees flying around kinda creeps me out. We didn't mention to Jaren that we are looking into chickens, too.  We'll break him into it slowly!

Dear Familie,

First to Erik, are you kidding me?!!! BEES!!! Don´t you hate them?!! Good luck, but seriously, if you end up having honey left over, and they don´t go missing, I´d love to have some because honey is so darn expensive here! I laughed so hard when I saw that in your email! I was just picturing it in my mind, channel five news, "We have recieved an interesting and terrifying report tonight from the quaint little town of ______. Young Erik ______ has lost his Bee´s! They could be in your yard, in your house, they might even be in your bed. Oh the pain, the sting!" Oh, and thanks a lot for the hair thing! Gosh, of course I´m not balding! Far from it, don´t you remember I have mop head!!! Nothing will make me go bald! 

Anyway, that actually sounds pretty cool, how does mom feel though? I really want to know! 

Oh, and Tanner, it sounds like you are having a fun time. Keep up the sports! I´m excited for you! I miss you a lot too! How tall are you now? Are you taller than me yet? Hope not, then I´d feel really bad and I´d feel really short now that Erik is the big guy at home. Yikes! I´m scared now! And it sounds like school has been a lot of fun for you this year. Keep it up bud! You´ll like next year too! Fourth Grade is a ton of fun!  (How many !!!! can one person put in a paragraph?!?  As I have been reading my missionary journals and letters to my family, I realized that I used a lot of exclamation points, too, so he must come by it naturally!)

Anyway, on with the rest of what I have to say. Life has been well, and I´d have to say thanks to Dad because I have been feeling a lot of pressure and some stress from being a senior companion. Honestly though, Elder White is pretty amazing, and knows his stuff. It is very interesting to see the other side of the spectrum and see what I may have looked like to my previous companions! That is a very humbling thought. I have already learned a ton from Elder White though, and his faith is amazing. We have done a lot of finding this week, and have had a lot of lessons as well. It is really kind of a difficult period for me right now because I am going through one of those "recommitment cycles." I kind of slowed down with Elder Taylor as he was getting ready to leave, and basically vowed to myself that if I do kill another missionary again, (it sounds so morbid. . . meaning send another missionary home) the only thing you can do is make the determination to get back to work. Sulking never solves anything, and actually makes things worse. So, that is what I have tried to do, and hopefully, in time, we can see some of the fruits of our labors. It doesn´t really happen over-night here in Germany, but I have seen the fruit multiple times. I know that there are people out there that need the gospel, and when we are prepared, we find them through the Holy Ghost. It is really amazing to see! 

So, we don´t have much going on right now, we are still teaching William and Charity, and they are still progressing really well. We are still trying to find out how much William is tied to his church, because that will play big time into what he does. We are actually teaching them the lesson on Faith, Repentance and Baptism tonight, with Bruder Niesen. Hopefully all goes well! William is one of the most humble men I have meet. He is amazing! I don´t know if I told you this story, but almost two weeks ago, we taught him the Word of Wisdom. He doesn´t smoke, drink alcohol, or take any kind of drugs. He just drinks coffee and black and green tea, but only every now and then. So, not really an addiction. When we told him the things we couldn´t drink or eat, he looked at us, and with a look of great sorrow, said, "I didn´t know it was bad, I want to follow Christ, and if that is one thing I need to get rid of, I´ll do it!" We of course promised him the great blessings he would have by following this guidance, when he asked us, "Brothers, could you please write down the things that I need to buy to replace the bad things here." We told him we could, and we did. Then, last Thursday, Elder White and I taught them about God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost, in preparation for what we are teaching today. We explained that they are each individually different, but that they work together as a team. We then shared an example, and gave them Alma 7:9-16 to read by next time. We tried to clear up any questions they had, and made sure that they understood that God the Father is not Christ, but that Christ is literally his son, and that the Holy Ghost gives testimony of the two. William's testimony is amazing though, and he says that he knows what we say is true because he keeps witnessing the truth by following what has been taught to him. Chartiy is doing well too, but because of her condition, it is hard for her to come to church. He on the other hand, comes as often as he can, if Charity is doing well. Found out too that William lost his job two weeks ago, and we actually have seen several people loose their jobs both in and out of the ward. I don´t know much about what is going on, but whatever the circumstance is, it isn´t good. It is really hard to even find a job here right now according to the ward members because of the financial crisis here. But like I said, I just see the effects of it because people I know are affected by it. (It is so amazing to me that Jaren has no clue as to the economy and how bad it is not just in our country, but worldwide.  It's a testimony to me that he is being obedient and not trying to catch glimpses of t.v. or magazine covers, or whatever.  Was I that protected from the world when I was a missionary?  I remember hearing music blaring from portable units in the government-subsidized housing projects of North Carolina, and little kids singing to us, and it was always Whitney Houston, with some occasional Janet Jackson and Club Nouveau!  We didn't ever hear the warnings to stay indoors because of the unbelievably hot summer.  We got in a lot of doors though, because people would feel sorry for us being out in the heat and invite us in to cool off by the fan with some water!)

Well, life is pretty good, pretty stressful, and wonderful all at the same time. That is pretty much the work of the Lord. But what a blessing and what comfort it brings to me and to those who partake of its goodness, regardless of the trials and storms that life may bring.

Anyway, on with your questions:

Q.  Did you know Elder White from the MTC?  Where is he from?  Tell us all about him!

A.  Yes, I met him at the MTC. He came in with the group that was six weeks behind mine. He is a really great Missionary! He actually comes from Cedar City of all places! So it has been fun to talk about that. Actually, he is from Hamilton Fort, just South of Cedar City, but still, someone I can relate experiences to!

Q.  What are the Niesen's doing in Germany?  How old are they?  Do they have kids living there with them?

A.  Bruder Niesen is actually the head of Church Services in the Europe Area. He helped to start the program here in Europe. He is amazing to talk to, and has a lot of amazing things to say. They are in their late 60´s I think, but I don´t know. So, they don´t have any of their kids living with them.

Q.  Does President know you lived in Germany?  Maybe he will let you be back in Dusseldorf some day.

A.  Yeah, he does. I actually hope to go back there, but it is the Lord´s will, not mine. But still, I would love to go back there! A lot of Missionaries say that it is a hard area, but having lived there, I´d really love to go back and to teach the people there! (could it be any more difficult than Hanau?)

Q.  I haven't heard you say much about playing the piano/organ in your current area.  Do you do that much there?  Maybe it's just not such a phenomenon there!

A.  Not really that big here. But, I have played for Sacrament Meeting two times since I´ve been here in Saarbrücken, and have had a lot of fun doing it when the opportunity pops up. We have an organist, and he is called to that calling, but I told him if he ever needed someone to play when he has to leave, I´d love to help out. He took me up on that twice.

Q.  Who did you see on transfer day?  I think Elder Norton's mom said he is still at the military base.  Is Elder Crump still close by?  Where is Elder Cramer? (is he the one from NC?)

A.  Well, I didn´t see anyone on Transfer day. I had to stay in the area and wait for my companion to come to me. Elder White came with another Elder´s new companion, so they didn´t have to travel alone. If Elder White was the only one coming to our area, then yeah, I´d have to go all the way to Frankfurt to pick him up and bring him back.

Well, I did see my entire MTC group on Friday when we had our huge area conference. It was amazing having Elder Oaks there. We also had President Oaks there too from the Europe Area Presidency, who also happens to be Elder Oaks cousin! So it was a day with the Oaks! I´ll have to write you what was said next week or so, when I remember to bring my Journal. It was amazing and very spritual.

Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful week! Thanks for the emails (Especially Dad, Erik and Tanner!) and for everything you do. I love you all! Have a great week! (we had another, "let's write to Jaren night" for FHE.  I love it when the family does that because I think it must get boring having me pretty much be the family writer and there is only so much to say week after week!)

Your son,
Elder Smith