Elder Smith

September 20: I can tell you that it would be super easy to be a bad elder here. All the time we're at the houses of members of the bishopric and they tell me to go take a nap or watch TV. And it’s not easy to say no because I'm almost always super tired, but I do. There’s worse stuff than that in the mission that’s just an example. I don't know if I told you but I think 5 or 6 elders have been sent home early from my mission because of breaking serious rules. But my companion is good and I do my best too. We've tripled the productivity of our area since we got here. It’s awesome to see the progression. And I had my first baptism yesterday a little 10 year old kid that we've been teaching. He's the coolest. And a couple we've been teaching is finally getting married and baptized next week. It’s exciting times.

Elder Ward

From up hike up on Victoria Peak, above Hong Kong:





This was with our summer missionary. We climbed the wall instead of walking down the hundreds of steps. He was terrified ha ha. It's not as big as it looks.


JJ and his companion, Elder Quinn, stayed in West Point this move and both are happy about it. Things have picked up there and they're hoping to have some pretty good success. Right now they have the "most golden of Golden investigators". Peter Chan is awesome. JJ and JD met him on the street and he has been so open to the gospel. He has set a baptism date of October 10. Because he's 16 it's possible his parents won't consent to his baptism so prayers would be appreciated!
Street contacts are always interesting and we had two particularly interesting; one guy yelled at us that we should convert to Buddhism! Another guy seemed very interested in talking with us and offered us each a cigarette. We had to tell him we didn't smoke. Then he wanted our phone number so he could call us and go out for a drink; we had to tell him we didn't drink. Then he saw we were sharing a cell phone and he thought we might be gay. We had to tell him we pretty much liked girls but right now we were missionaries and our focus was sharing the gospel! We have his number and it will be pretty crazy if we see him again.
I'm looking forward to conference (which we won't get to see until the week after you guys do) and to staying in West Point. Here are some pictures - the first i'm offering a helping hand to our summer missionary. The other two are from a hike we took to Victoria Peak with some of our ward members, who are pretty awesome by the way.

Elder Litton leaving MTC

Scott was chosen to sing in the Priesthood choir at General Conference. He said "Singing at the Conference Center was sooo awesome. It's crazy standing up there, knowing you're singing to the world... The spirit was super strong.. and if you watch it online you can see all the general authorities turn around right when we start singing. For everyone who didn't see me, you can watch it on LDS.org. I'm in the last sing "Called To Serve" in the bottom corner for like 3 seconds. Just a little dot in the corner.. ha ha... It was way funny to watch all the people in the crowd trying to get the attention of their kids or brothers right after conference ended. Some of them had even made up a dance...

So this is my last week at the MTC. I'm stoked on Texas! I'm so ready to actually do the work. I might need some work on my Spanish though, ha ha. The church is awesome. It's Pure, Simple, Logical. It just all makes sense and it's full of Hope.

Elder Ryser transferred again

I am now in the incredible city of Zaragoza. It's out in the middle of nowhere but is amazing. I came at a perfect time. They had a party named La Fiesta do Pilar. (see his blog)

We have two baptismal dates for this Saturday and they are golden. They had been homeless for about 3 months when a member felt like he should go talk to them. He invited them to stay in his house and come to church with him. This was a month ago. Now they have hope. Islamil is waiting on a job offer.

Bowling on p-day


Spain is full of classy art

Elders Litton and Pinnock

From Elder Litton: So...I have some pretty good news. They're sending a MTC choir down to sing for priesthood session and i made it. I think there's about 200 people who did. We had to fill out these forms about our prior experience and stuff and somehow i got in. I guess i'm glad i was in the childrens choir now. But for those that are going to priesthood session watch for me. Maybe they will do a big close up on my face so the world can see all my zits...haha. Im super excited though...its gonna be a way nice time. we have practice everyday now. Its sounds really good....but i need to memorize all the songs. Sooo much stuff to memorize here....Spanish, Gospel Stuff (lessons), and now all these songs. We have to have 3 back up songs on top of all the songs we already have just in case one of the general authorities passes out of something. So maybe this will give you a good reason to stay awake during priesthood, haha. jk

Other than that not much new this week. We have to teach the first lesson in spanish for the first time tonight so that should be interesting. Im starting to understand spanish pretty well but speaking is a whole different story. I guess i just keep on praying for the gift of tounges. haha

Something cool I learned this week.....The general authorities we have during our lifetime will be our judges along with our Heavenly Father. Thought that was neat.





Here's Elder Pinnock at the MTC!

Elder Litton

Elder Litton entering the MTC

Elders Smith and Ryser

Luke emailed from Tahiti: ""so yeah I'm not going to say much this week cause the computer is acting really stupid right now; but everything is going well. I'm still in Punaauia with the same companion... love you all, Elder Smith" Alas. Communication is spotty to and from his mission.


Nick is enjoying summer in Spain - hiking, sightseeing... and missionary work in the meantime. For his year mark, "I got to go to Burgos to do an interview for a guy to get baptized. He's all good to go. The elders there, being the great guys they are, made me a Reese's cake. You would have loved it. Also some fajitas. It was the most delicious filling meal I have ever had on the mission from an elder."