June 30 Update!

The city of Chattanooga has been covered in rain each and every day since I've been here. It's pretty typical for the south, especially between all the mountains that are here. Training the new Elder has been great so far. He is catching on and I'm glad to have the opportunity to have (as we call it in the mission) a son so early on. We have 2 baptismal commitments so far and if they follow through, we will already be ahead of the mission average for the year! They told us in Zone Conference that this mission is the #1 lowest baptizing in the U.S. I've found that my favorite time of the day is when I'm meeting with people and talking to our branch members. There was a less active guy that we were working with that the missionaries here had pretty much given up on. I spent about 2 hours with him one night just talking about his concerns. He was overcome with joy when I told him that I grew up around airplanes and almost have my pilots license because that has been his childhood dream. Things are going great with him and I send him a daily text with a scripture. He told me that he can sense that I truly care about him. This is why I love missionary work. The THREE of us are looking forward to another great week! 

June 16 Update!

Last Tuesday we were at a members house and another member called us to tell us our house got hit by lightning. It burned the electrical system out and the whole place smells like smoke now. They got the electricity fixed and because of that all the traffic lights are working again! We got our transfer information and the call said "Elder Smith will be leaving Oak Ridge". That was a huge surprise to us because I've only been here for 3 months. I told my companion we should go to Applebee's to celebrate/cry about the news. While we were there, the mission president called me and told me that I have been called to train a new missionary! It was kind of confusing because most people train when they are about to go home. That's what my companion did, but I'm really excited about it!

I don't remember if i told you about the Sherman family but they live here in Oak ridge and have reminded me of my sister Melanie's family!

June 9 Update!

Humidity... Enough said! We were tracting a few weeks ago and met a family from California that was really interested in hearing our message. They invited us over for dinner to hear us out. I know that the spirit was strong. It was really different this week because since then, I've been praying with all my heart that the family will be able to have the spiritual confirmation that what we said is true. Part of it might be from the constant reminder of the area I'm in. It's very rare that we find a family in TN that is willing to hear us out like that. I really want this to go well and be successful. I think I've mentioned this before, but word got out and as far as the Oak Ridge TN ward is concerned, I'm now a full time mechanic for everyone there. Haha! I can't count on my hand the number of people's cars I have fixed. I even fixed a ladies car yesterday during priesthood. She was crying because her husband is in Jail, she's looking out for 2 kids, and her car broke down on the way to church. I'm just glad that I'm actually able to help people out like that. I bought a shirt to work on cars at the thrift shop for $1! It's a "super bad" shirt. As always, We're excited to see what this next week brings. My companion is pretty anxious to find out on saturday if he will be staying here!

June 2 Update

Another rainy week in TN- We've been having a lot of rain this week. At least half the days were cloudy and stormy, while the others were sunny. The weather here is so bipolar. The day I showed up to Tennessee, it rained, snowed, hailed and was clear/sunny for the remainder of the day. Our teaching opportunities are abundant and we find new opportunities to serve each day. This last week, I decided to set a goal to compliment and encourage everyone I talk to. I tried it out on a lady that the missionaries have talked to every day for the last few years, but doesn't come to church. It was such a good feeling to see how much she appreciated the uplifting attitude. She's always happy to see us. We both look forward to another great week! Elder Brown is getting so close to going home! I'll miss him so much when he leaves.

May 27 Update!

Sorry about the late update. We didn't have a chance to check our email yesterday because we were at a ward get together at the local park. Last P-day, we went to the Rec. Center in Oak Ridge, TN. One of our ward members loves to play ping pong so he set the whole thing up. He took us to lunch at "Salsarita's Cantina" too. That was a lot of fun and we will probably do it again soon! Tuesday was great as well. I was really excited to show up at home and find a package from Melanie (my sister) sitting on our front porch. She takes such good care of me as a missionary and always makes sure I'm doing well and am safe. I can always count on her to keep me updated on my family at home. We had the chance to teach someone who was from another area, but really wanted to take my companion and me to dinner. I started talking to him and found out that he started a business when he was a little younger. He had a really nice piece of property that he took us to. Personally, I really admired this guy. I want to be an Entrepreneur when I return from my mission, so I got along with him really well. He told me all about start up, progress and success of his business and in exchange I taught him all about the gospel. Haha! I can't wait to see him again soon! We had a really nasty hail storm this week. I talked to a few people with nicer sports cars and got their contact info. We are working with them right now. One of the guys is eager to have me come over to check out his Trans Am and tell him how to make it faster. It's funny how the things I was interested in before are now a "foot in the door" for missionary work. We can't wait to see what next week has in store for us!