Thankful 13

Hola, my son. Happy Thanksgiving! As I was counting my blessings this year, at the top of my list was my wonderful missionary son.  I am so thankful that you are a valiant servant of our Heavenly Father. We had a great day, starting early in the morning when we dropped off Dad at the "Thankful 13 Half Marathon" starting line.  There were over a thousand runners in the race, many of them dressed as pilgrims, turkeys or Indians, haha.  Dad's goal was to cross the finish line in under two hours, see for yourself his end result…

Haha, it was a fun morning.  The runners started at the MATC building across from Thanksgiving Point, then ran through a couple of neighborhoods to the Jordan River trail, to the river bottoms near Tyler Richin's house, and then back.  Rachel, Stefanie and I tracked Dad in Rachel's car for a few miles, we kept stopping  at intersections to cheer him on.  Then we headed back to the finish line.  He looked great and finished strong!  We were super proud of him!  It was the highlight of the day, even better than the big turkey dinner, although that was pretty good too!  Did you even remember it was Thanksgiving? We thought and talked about you multiple times all weekend, and wondered if you thought about us or missed us this week!

In other news, this week was Dad's first basketball game of the season against Taylorsville--a clean sweep!  All three teams won big, a great way to begin the season. This week he has three games, Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday. Three more wins would be nice!

Today was Caleb Rodabough's mission farewell, he is heading to Mexico. He did a great job on his talk, and even mentioned YOU!  He said you were a great example to him and told about something you had taught him regarding priesthood authority. He will be a good missionary!

This weekend I have been busy decorating our house for Christmas. It looks very festive around here!  I have been listening to nonstop Christmas music from the radio next to the kitchen sink.  Every time the "Charlie Brown" theme comes on the radio we all comment that it reminds us of you!  Sure miss hearing you play the piano!  I wonder if you will remember all your songs when you get home? You will definitely have to brush up on this one in time for Christmas next year.

One funny story from Dad, he was running the half-marathon a few miles in, he was concentrating on his pace when he heard this loud voice call out, "Is that Braden Smith's dad?"  Dad looked up and there was Landon Jacobsen standing at a volunteer station along the race route.  Dad waved to him and Landon yelled, "Tell Braden to come play soccer with me!"  Dad just had time to nod his head before passing by. Haha. Sounds like Landon wants you as a team mate!  

Well, that is all our news for this week. We love you and hope you will have a great week. Are you still in a trio? Is Elder Yac doing better? Sure hope so!  I put his name on the prayer roll this week--and yours too! Keep working hard! 

Love, Mom

Scholarship Offer

Hola my boy, some awesome good news for you this week!  Did you read the scholarship offer from Coach Atkinson at Western Wyoming?  Not bad!!!  He called on Thursday night and talked to Dad for about 20 minutes.  Dad had lots of questions for him, we like him a lot!  He told us there are several returned missionaries on the team, himself included, he served in South America.  He also mentioned that there are some Spanish speaking athletes on the team, including one new recruit from Peru.  He said training at WWCC will begin the first week of August.  So that is cutting it kinda close, but definitely doable. Now you just have to let us know if you would like to accept this offer, and we will take care of all the details.  But before you do this, keep in mind that you are being considered at other schools.  Just this week I got an email from Coach Tim Busen from Adams State University in Alamosa, Colorado. He had some questions about you, and wanted us to send some video footage, which I did yesterday. Your uncle Kevin said that college coaches monitor each other, they know who is being pursued and which offers are being made, and it can get quite competitive.  So it is possible that after one offer comes in, more may follow.  Also, it is a strong possibility that you will be accepted at BYU, on Brother Hammock's recommendation.  BYU applications are due on December 1st.  So you have some things to think about! No need to rush this decision, but we do need to respond to Coach Atkinson in the near future.  So exciting!  Heavenly Father has some pretty cool blessings in store for you!!!  Let us know your thoughts.

In other news, we had a good week!  Saturday your cute little cousin Ava was baptized, her family traveled to Utah so Ava's grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles on both sides could all be there.  She is a sweetheart!  It was fun to see everyone again, only two weeks after Allie was baptized.  Ava asked me to play the piano at her baptism so I got to be part of the program.  I love the spirit I always feel at a baptism!

Saturday afternoon Trevor invited all five of us to UVU to watch his cute wife, Megan, play basketball.  Last month she tried out for the UVU women's basketball team and made it!  So cool!  She only played the last two minutes when her team was up by 20 points, but she did great for those two minutes and looked cute sitting on the bench!  Trevor is so proud of her!

Daniel Madsen got his mission call!  He is going to Baltimore, Maryland, leaving in February.  Happy for him and his family!

We celebrated Rachel's birthday today, she is 22!  My kids are getting very old!  She and George came over for Sunday/birthday dinner, and we opened presents.  Can't believe I have been a mommy for 22 years!

So how was your week?  I hope and pray everyone has recovered from the sickness that was sweeping your zone, especially your companion, Elder Yak.  I saw on Facebook that Hermana Randall came home a few weeks early to get some medical care, poor girl.  

How is your investigator, Rupert and his family? We have been praying for them all week. 

Thanksgiving is coming up this week!  Will the American missionaries do anything to celebrate? 

Well that is all for today.  Oh, how we love you!  We are all excited to hear about your week, and your thoughts about Western Wyoming.  Love, Mom

Cold!

Hola my son! How was your week? So I have to tell you, last Monday night we had the BEST family home evening EVER!  We did exactly what you suggested--we read the intro to the hymn book, then each of us chose our favorite hymn and we all sang our hearts out.  Then we looked up the scriptures for each hymn.  It was amazing!  We had Rachel and George here with us, and Stefanie's friend Swan joined us too.  Super awesome, thanks so much for the idea!  I think we will have to do that again sometime soon.

The high school basketball season has officially begun, Dad had tryouts last week.  No surprises at tryouts, and Dad has high hopes for this season.  He says his team is already way ahead of where they were last year.  First game is a week from Tuesday.

Thursday night was Stefanie's cross country banquet, it was very nice.  We ate pizza, they gave out awards, and she got a certificate with her name on it.  She seems to have lots of friends on the team.  She is all excited for the Foot Locker race in California in a few weeks, I just got her registered for it.  Also her first term report card came out a few weeks ago, she is doing great in high school!  Her GPA was 3.7! She got all As and Bs. Super proud!

It has become cccccold here! We had our first snowstorm of the year!  Last night was another BYU football game, Kevin got us two tickets but it was only 20 degrees outside so I gave my ticket to George.  Dad said the stadium was only two thirds filled, I think the cold scared away a lot of fans. We wish we were in the tropics with YOU!

Well, I hope and pray that you and Elder Yak had a successful week!  I hope you had a few investigators at church this week!  I hope you have found a few investigators who are pure in heart and ready to accept the gospel.  I am so proud of you and grateful for your worthiness to serve.  I love you so much!  Love, Mom

p.s.  I have been thinking about your camera situation…can you buy one there in Honduras?  I will transfer some extra money to your account! 

Proud of My Missionary Son

Hola my boy.  How are you doing this week?  I am so glad you are starting to feel better.  That dengue is nasty and wicked, so glad we don't have that in the USA.  I wish I could have come to take care of you!  My sweet baby boy, sick in bed, he needed his mommy.  Remember when you used to take hot baths in my deep tub?  That always made you feel better.  I hope you have had a better week, and back to 100% health and energy, and no diarrhea!

Today was my primary program!  It went so well!!  The spirit was very strong, especially during the songs. How I love my sweet primary kids!  I will miss them so much if I ever get released. 

Yesterday was a fun day!  Dad and I had my primary program practice in the morning, then we went to Alpine to see your little cousin Allie's baptism.  She is a cutie!  Blake gave a talk about the Holy Ghost, he did a great job!  And then we went to Amy's big beautiful house for lunch.  Nice to visit with a few Kindred relatives.  That evening we went to UVU to see the Lehi volleyball team play for the state championship.  Oh, it was exciting, a HUGE purple section of screaming Lehi students! 

Sadly, Lehi lost after four games, but each game was very close and very hard fought.  Great run for Lehi.  Volleyball is awesome!

Here is a message from your big sister:  

Hi Braden!! 

What is up!?!? I can't believe that you only have 8 more fast sundays and then you are home!! Yay! Is time flying by for you too? I feel like you just left! How is your spanish? We have some people that come in to my work that mostly speak spanish and it always makes me think of you! RSL played tonight in the semi finals, and they lost 5 to 0. so that sucks… In the words of Stefanie, "It sucks to suck!" Landon Donavin got a hat trick. I will be cheering for LA to win it all now, since it is Landon's last season. Nothing is really new here, George is going to school full time, and so that is new. We just locked in our RSL season tickets for next season! So we will have to take you to a game or two when you get back! Well, We love you lots and are so proud of you!

~ Rachel

PS tell your mission president that he is lame for not letting you guys Skype on christmas! LAME!! Love ya! 

Love you!!  Can't wait to read your letter!  ~Mom

Halloween, 2014

Hola my son, I am very anxious to get your letter today.  I have been praying for you all week that you were able to recover from your illness and regain your health and energy. We held TWO family fasts on your behalf this week and your name is on the prayer roll.  I know the dreaded dengue is sweeping through the mission, many of my "missionary mom" friends  are worried about it. Is that what you were suffering from last week? I hope you are drinking lots of water and using bug spray day. I'm very grateful that it didn't keep you from your temple trip last week.  Heavenly Father knew how important that was to you, so he helped you to endure.  It sounds like it was absolutely amazing, I am so proud of you that you worked so hard to make it a success.

Happy La Dia De Las Brujas! How was it this year? We had a good one, one of my most favorite EVER, I got to spend it with 23 first graders! 

My favorite part was leading my class in the school costume parade, I've always wanted to do that!  Made me feel like a REAL teacher, haha! That evening Rachel and George came over for some burger beef stew (yes, we did eat some for you!) 

And then Stefanie went out trick-or-treating with her neighborhood friends and Dad and I sat on the porch and handed out candy to all my primary kids. Super fun day.

Did you read the letter from Coach Atkinson from Western Wyoming? Oh my goodness, we are so excited for you!  I called Kevin and read it to him, he is excited too!  Of course it is not yet an actual offer, but it sounds extremely promising.  I am still finishing up your application to BYU, who knows what will come of that...but you may soon have some difficult but awesome decisions to make. The Lord is definitely opening some pathways for you.  Love it!

Today we have gone back to Daylight Savings time, which means we are now an hour behind you.  It was nice to get an extra hour of sleep this morning, but we pay dearly for it in the spring when we lose that hour and suffer jet lag for the rest of the week.  I wish they would just do away with it completely, it is a pain to change all the clock around the house and in the cars. But at least I won't hae to wait so long to get an email from YOU!

Today in primary we worked on the primary Sacrament Meeting program, it is coming up next Sunday.  Please say a prayer or two for us! It is always a big job to get it ready, but the spirit is always very strong in that meeting and the kids do such a good job with their singing and speaking parts.  I am excited for the meeting, and also excited to have it done for another year.  This will be my fourth Sacrament Meeting program as primary president!  I hope it will go as well as in years past.

Well, I sure love you.  Hope you have a wonderful, healthy week with lots of blessings and success. Keep working hard!

Love, Mom