Elder Zachary F. Smith - Washington Yakima Mission

One week into my first time moving to a new area!! It's so so much different than Ellensburg. For example in Ellensburg you could work your butt off for a full week, knocking hundreds of doors and texting/calling everyone in our app and you'd be lucky to have over 10 lessons. Here in Selah we have still been working hard, but not nearly as much and we get around 3 lessons a day!! I never thought it would be possible since the only thing I knew was Ellensburg. I got used to that so moving to new areas can very clearly be so beneficial to missionaries. One of the biggest changes I've seen within myself besides spiritual is definitely cooking. I used to DESPISE cooking but now it's becoming a passion. I've been experimenting with different spices in my rice, my chicken, my eggs, my sausage, my onions and whatever else I cook. It's become something I look forward to every day to cook a tasty meal that I love. I even started practicing with baking this week! I made b...

Well this is kind of surprising but I'm leaving Ellensburg! Transfer calls were last night and Transfer day is tomorrow. I've been assigned to the Selah 2nd ward! My new companion will be Elder Hadley and words cannot express how excited I am for a new area... And I'll finally have a car!! This week wasn't too crazy, but there were still some fun things here and there. Last Wednesday we went Christmas caroling as a creative finding idea, I planned out the whole thing which is why it was sad when it didn't go too well haha. I remember loving caroling in Virginia but here it was a bunch of people with no spirit, turning us away or cursing at us, telling us we were entitled 😭 But all in all it was still a fun experience with the whole district and we were able to stop by our on-date Stephanie Vernor, and she absolutely LOVED having a bunch of missionaries show up at her door and sing for her.  On Thursday we did some service for the Merrills who I absolutely love espe...

  Hello everyone it's time for TWO STRAIGHT WEEKS OF WRITING EMAILS WOOOOOOO. This week was pretty dang fun, and it started with one of the best holidays, Thanksgiving. For the first time ever I ate Thanksgiving dinner without family, and it did end up effected me just a little. Thinking of all the past Thanksgiving I spent with my family, the food we eat the football we watch, our wards Turkey Bowl, Mom's special jello, I definitely missed it a lot this year. However I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the family that invited us over, is related to President Hall back in Vienna!! Brother Hall is his brother, and when I said i was from Vienna I very quickly began to connect the dots when he started to talk about how his brother was a Stake President who lives there. What a small world, I took care of his brothers turtle, and he was my own brothers Mission President! We had a wonderful meal of turkey, stuffing, rolls, and other classic Thanksgiving foods. We ended up spendi...

Well it's been a couple weeks since I sat down to write an email, which is exactly what I assumed would happen haha.  This week was absolutely wild. It all started last Thursday, our YSA ward mission leader, Tyson, had a birthday and all the missionaries plus a bunch of YSA members celebrated at a nice expensive restaurant. It was so funny trying to make it as cheap as possible, I split my meal with Sister Morgan, some missionaries only got a drink... but then some got an entire burger and fries, AND I ENVY THOSE PEOPLE because Mikayla (YSA member) ended up paying for ALL of us... K I don't actually envy them but it was very funny.  There was this old lady playing music, and she eventually started to play Sweet Caroline, AWESOME SONG and I got it recorded. We took an absolute ton of photos and just had a wonderful night. The rest of the week consisted of a bunch of finding and teaching until Monday. The Zone Leaders came up for exchanges, and we have the coolest Zone Leaders t...

I love nature, and recently I've been making sure I notice the beauty of the world as I spend hours walking through it, because sometimes you are too wrapped up in your busy life to see the beauty that's just right in front of you... Today while walking from door to door, I noticed this little guy. This future tree has potential to grow into something majestic and impactful, touching and blessing lives for years and years. But for now, it can't even stand upright on its own. Consider yourself as though you were this small, young tree. We are all of such divine and powerful potential... and the chains holding the tree up is Jesus Christ. It's not shameful to use Christ as a foundation to build yourself up into something magnificent, its actually quite beautiful.

It's been six weeks since I arrived in the mission. Transfers are this week. I'm staying here in Ellensburg with the same companion, Elder Clarke. Today we went out to eat on the last day as a District and to say goodbye to a missionary going home, Elder Johansen Elder Allen, Elder Smith, Elder Clarke, Elder Farley, Elder Morgan, Elder Johansen, Sister Morgan, Sister Arbon One of our friends has decided to be baptized. The date is November 25, hopefully it happens!  Also, More chopping and stacking wood!