Week Thirty-Three: 4/7/2014 to 4/13/2014 --General…wait for it…Conference

Hello Family and Friends!

This week has been pretty great. I've found out more about who I am, I cooked my first real meal since being out here, it was Conference weekend. Not much could have been better.

As far as finding out who I am. I've found out that I'm not the super chill, plays the guitar, not a care in the world, indie guy I thought I was. Because when you live with a person 24-7, you can't be that person unless that's actually your personality. I've found out that I'm actually very opinionated and kind of stubborn. So don't be fooled! haha. Just kidding, but that's been an eye-opening experience that's led me to really think about some things I need to change. I forget who it was but someone in conference said that we can't segment ourselves. I think it was Elder Nelson. That really got to me. We need to be the same person in the dark as we are in the light. So yeah, expect changes to come!

I made fried rice this week! And it wasn't even gross. True, it wasn't nearly as tasty as most of the restaurants I go to here, but it was probably more healthy and I made it so that added a sense of accomplishment to the mix. For those of you wondering how I've lived this whole time not cooking food, here's a little tid-bit of Taiwanese fact. Food here is super cheap. Like, ridiculously cheap. Take the price of a McDonald's big mac meal(like $5, right?) and divide that by 2 and that's about how much I spend on a meal here if I'm feeling fancy. So because food is so cheap and convenient, we hardly ever eat inside because it's so much of a hassle. But on Sundays we eat inside, so hopefully over the next year and a half, I can develop a knack for Taiwanese culinary arts. That would be sweet.

It was also conference! I have so many feels I can't ever begin to express them. I think my biggest feel is one of regret. Regret that I didn't take advantage of the wonderful blessing that general conference is. Think about it. We have the chance twice a year to hear LIVING PROPHETS AND APOSTLES, people who speak more directly to God that we can even fathom, speak to us. I feel like that still doesn't have the power to impress on your minds the magnitude of this opportunity and I think it's because it's something you have to feel more than be told about. I'd invite everyone to go back and watch a few talks that I think really had power and made me ponder. One was Elder Holland's talk. One was Elder Nelson's. And the other was Elder Eyring's talk in the Saturday Morning session entitled "A Priceless Heritage of Hope". They all stressed the importance of obedience and standing up for the truth, even when the majority of people may not hold those truths to be important or of worth. I think that's something that we can all work on. 

I love you guys! I'm grateful for the letters and emails I get from you and from the many prayers. I hope I can pay it forward as I bring the most important message in the world to those I meet every day.

With love,

Elder Smith

P.S.  Hymn for the Week is "Let Us All Press On."  Click the link and you can listen to it. :)