Week 4 in the MTC! Feb 5, 2018

Hey hey momma whats up!! that lesson is awesome! ill definitely use that when I get out there! haha thats really awesome! The language is actually coming pretty good now. i am learining 30-35 new words a day now! Heavenly father is defenetly helping me!! I can feel it in the lessons we teach!! Ideas pop into my mind and somehow the words do as well which defenetly didnt happen the first couple of weeks haha I have defenetly felt help beyond my abilities! --Especially this past weeek! my chinese has shot up a ton! everyone was so suprised haha! ever since i got my adventure pants from you actually! hah my companions are like man ever since you got those pants your chinese has been so much better! ha but i know its all the prayers! Lessons are super fun now. I can ask the questions i want and get the message i want across!  super fun! Yeah we go to the tempple every p-day.  its the best part of the week!! we all love it. HEHE i just got the prank stuff today!! hah those are pretty funny! i let you know how it goes hah!  

I have really been looking back on my life this past week. The MTC experience is so unique and special. Anything in the world could happen and I would have no idea, I really dont even think about worldy stuff at all! the only thing that is on my mind during the day is chinese, how I can help my investigators, and thinking about the scriptures I read earlier! its super special and I cant really describe it but it doesnt really feel earthly! Satan is not here! Satan has no power here! Its super cool being this close to God and to see how the spirit changes the way I think. Looking back in life i really have been suprised how much God has been with us throughout all our lives! Looking back on experiences I keep getting this thought saying,"I was there with you"-- on things I would have never even thought about having help or somebody by me! I know heaven is not just partying up there! they are with us constantly every day! the scripture that says, Every good thing comes from God is really true! i have realized that all the good  that has happened has been because of Him. i dont know if i explained that very well but it has been super cool to step back and really see what matters and what I want my future life to be! the mission and the mtc for life! super awesome! 

HEYYYY!!! what up pops!!! aHH Harvard was so cool! Thanks for taking me that was so fun! That is a powerful time! connections all over the world! probably crazy helpful!! Dang send me some  pictures of your group when you can!! Id love yo see those guys! is sam comming down? 

oH man i am so stoked for taiwan!! our teachers always tell us stories and it gets me so pumped! i looked on google earth all over our mission and holy cow its like all farms sawweeet!! perfect! they say we carry baseball bats in our bikes because there are ginormous factory dogs that come out and chase missionaries haha~! ! They also said that all the meals are only 1$ and like nice stake places are 8$ thats like ruths chris down there! even americaqn burger places are only 3$ A MEAL awesome!! They all say its a third world country with third world prices, with 1st world living standards and care!! sounds like heaven to me haha! 

tHE mtc is awesome!! learning tons and finally progressing in the language! I look forward to all of our lessons now cuz i can speak finally haha! its so fun getting to know people, asking questions, and testifying in chinese! so fun so awesome! Thanks for all you have done to help me prepare! You h ave helped alot your the best! no joke alot! You and mom are the best parents ever!! 

have fun at harvard!! 

love, elder smith 

YOOOO Tyler zenma yong tiaozung ( watup brotha)) you da man!! Miss ya tons dude!! HA the language is super cool!! super fun to speak!! I can finally talk to people and kind of understand now haha! We have a 40 minute lesson with an investigator everyday and we talk without  notes the whole time!! Ive beeen memorizing 30-35 new words a day so now I have enough to talk ha! On saturdays we  talk with natives and they talk so  stinkin fast ha its so hard to understand!! So when we ask qwuestions I kind of just guess what their a nswer was ahhah! its so fun and so hard! HAH dude thats awesome!! I remember when I missed so many one on ones ahha its the worst!! I bet you were feeding him straight xian ( money) balls hah! no doubt your so good! My comps are doing awesome they are way fun!! They love to joke around and work hard so its really awesome!! YUUP i think we will get our visas on time! we are all going to fast the last threee weeks I think and have one person fast a day!! I think we will not have any problems!! thanks for fasting dude you are the man!! love ya tons!! have you started your eavle project yet ha so you can get my old phone ?!?!    Wo ai ni ( love ya) you da best 

MTC Week 3! 1/29/18

AYE mamma whats up?! miss ya and love ya tons! Thanks elder calbone will love the ramen ahah! he gets so excited about noodles its the ffunniest thing ever! Its gonna be so awesome when we are all parting together agian! Everything is going great! I can see my language efforts paying off now so woop woop! I've been spening a lot of time in NEPHI right now! He has a lot of scriptures where he helps us understand that the lord will help us with whatever he commands us to do! I have a lot of scriptures marked but i dont have them with me! BUt god commmanded me to learn mandarin and I know i will not be without his help when Im doing it so no problem! I know as long as I work my hardest he will bless me with the language whenever he wants! The older elders just got reassigned to florida that were headed to taichung! they didnt even stay any extra days they left this morining! But, i don't know, I feel like we wont have visa problems! I think the last three weeks our district is going to do a fast where everyone fasts a day of the week! Ive been having lots of thoughts about this in my mind so I think its Him! So we will see haha! BUT i dont think we will have visa problems! ANd if we do thats alright!! the other elders are loving it maybe ill be reassigned to Bensons area in texas ha that would be awesome!! The other elder is elder heaton!  OUr goup is pretty close we have some good times together! there are so many different personalities its crazy! its also crazy that like half of our zone and district have lived in china before and have taken multiple years of chinese before! ANd a little more than half always thought they were gointg mandarin speaking ha what the the lord has prepared all of us for this crazy language!! I would not have had this much enthusiasm or optimistic about the language if I was not prepared before! the dude from idaho is so funny! Idaho people are the best!  HEres a cool experience, 

When we love the people we become more real and we deliver messages that are more real as well! I am realizing that loving the people and speaking from the heart is super important! During class we were doing some role play on how to teach the creation and the plan of salvation! I got to be partners with one of our assistant teachers he helped me aton! We first went around the rooom and we all said why the plan of salvation is important to us and how it has helped us! I said I l ove it because it tells me I can be with my family forever, and it gives me a sense of purpose and a goal to work towards! Then we started to teach! I was super confused on how to start and the lesson was so bad! I started over 5 times in the 5 minute lesson! It was embarrising, Ha i was teaching the teacher! BUt then he told me sima zhonglao -- elder smith, a few minutes ago you told me your testimony on the plan of salvation and why it means so much to you! You didnt say any of that while you were talking to me! he said teach what you know, teach wha you love, and love what you teach! so in the next lesson time i talked about how much my family means to me and how much they have helped me! I talked about how much joy it brings me to know we will all be together forever and that you can live with your family together forever as well! The spirit was so strong! we both ended up crying! It was powerful! I realizd that when we teach what is close yo our heart then the spirit is super strong! I love it teach what you know. teach what you love, and love what you teach! I know the testimony and experiences that I have gained was the testimony heavenly father wants me to have! I know if i share the testimony thats close to my heart the spirit will teach far better than any flattering words I can speak! So that was a super special experience to me! I love you momma. 

Got a nice MTC hair cut-he didn't hold back!

YOOOOO whats up pops! HA yeah the language is pretty challenging, but we are getting it! its actually super fun! I can now talk in lessons without using any notes! we now just go in with our books of mormon together! Im not stressing about the language! I know as long as i am working hard then the lord will bless me and I will learn it when he wants me to! I know he doesnt ask anything more than my best so im just working hard, which makes me not stressed about it! itll come! So the girl teacher lived in china for a couple of years then got called to serve in our same mission! Her chinese is amazing! OUr guy teacher actually served with pottica in brisbond australia! HAHA super cool! They are both full on white though! Our classrooms are super sweet! We have the new buildings! its mainly white with a huge window that takes up the whole side of the classroom that overlooks to the canyon! it kind of kills me sometimes! Hheh! But they said they designed it after the temple! they said if the temple were to have a school this is what it would be like! they are super nice! Yeah we live in the old buildings, and we all share one bathroom! The cafeteria is actually prettty good! I was pretty suprised!! I can take some picks this week and send them to ya! But ovrall the campus is pretty sweet! 

Ah man! that talk seems saweet! I totally think that principle is true! When we love the people we become more real and we deliver messages that are more real as well! I am realizing that loving the people and speaking from the heart is super important! During class we were doing some role play on how to teach the creation and the plan of salvation! I got to be partners with one of our assistant teachers he helped me aton! We first went around the rooom and we all said why the plan of salvation is important to us and how it has helped us! I said I l ove it because it tells me I can be with my family forever, and it gives me a sense of purpose and a goal to work towards! Then we started to teach! I was super confused on how to start and the lesson was so bad! I started over 5 times in the 5 minute lesson! It was embarrising, Ha i was teaching the teacher! BUt then he told me sima zhonglao -- elder smith, a few minutes ago you told me your testimony on the plan of salvation and why it means so much to you! You didnt say any of that while you were talking to me! he said teach what you know, teach wha you love, and love what you teach! so in the next lesson time i talked about how much my family means to me and how much they have helped me! I talked about how much joy it brings me to know we will all be together forever and that you can live with your family together forever as well! The spirit was so strong! we both ended up crying! It was powerful! I realizd that when we teach what is close yo our heart then the spirit is super strong! I love it teach what you know. teach what you love, and love what you teach! I know the testimony and experiences that I have gained was the testimony heavenly father wants me to have! I know if i share the testimony thats close to my heart the spirit will teach far better than any flattering words I can speak! So that was a super special experience to me! 

love ya pops!! hope you have fun in boston thats so sweet! is Sam and Grandpa going with you? 

love ya

Yo yo what's up olive hehe!! My week was good!! It went by so fast.
The days feel all mombo jumboed together haha! I think it's because we
do the same things at the exact same time everyday haha! I like it
though. It's the weirdest feeling ever, like I don't even feel like I'm
on earth! Sometimes I'm like, hold on I went to high school last
year? And there are people still going to school?? haha! It's so weird I
feel like I'm in North Korea or something and have no idea what's
going on haha!   Yeah the Elder from Idaho is super awesome!! I'd
definitely hang out with him when we get back he's awesome!! He's
super humble and can laugh at himself!! Also elder calbone from the
Philippians is so awesome. He kind of has the same laugh As me and
laughs at the same stuff as me hehe sometimes it's super bad in
class!! When we are both laughing we cannot stop it's super bad but
awesome!! In class the other day we were sharing our testimonies and
during calbones testimony at the end someone farted super load haha
and his face was so funny!! He just stoped turned his head and made
the funniest face ever!! Ha then it was silent for a sec then I couldn't
 handle it I just busted up laughing and then the whole class did!!
After a couple of minutes our teacher started to bear his testimony
and I felt so bad because I couldn't stop! I would look over at him
and he put his hands in front of his face and was trying so hard to
stop but we both couldnt!! It was this's like pshh when you couldnt
hold it in any longer haha too funny!!
Man I hope ya feel better!! That stinks!! Get better tho I'll be praying for ya!!
Chinese is going pretty welll!! I can teach lessons in Chinese without
bringing in any papers so that's pretty cool! But whenever I ask a
question I can only understand About 30% of what they say! So I just
say like oh henhao he which means very good or awesome haha! We taught
a couple of natives on Saturday and it was pretty awesome!! I'm sure
they were being nice to us because the tones are super hard!! Ha and
sometimes it all sounds the same!! Ha and I have mixed up hope and
death quite a bit! Hope is xiwang and death is the same just a
different tone on xi part Haha pretty funny!!
 Yes, translating is super hard! They make their sentences all weird! If I
want to say I went to the store today with mom and bought some cool
stuff I would have to say it like this-- I today with my mom to store I
went and bought cool stuff! Ha so it's kind of backwards! It doesn't
make sense in my brain yet but it will soon haha!
I'm learning how awesome our church is and how much it really has helped
us! It's crazy to be out of the world for a sec because you can really
feel how close he is and how much they really help us each day!! Super
dope! you're the best!!

Love ya sis, Elder Smith

MTC Week 2 1/22/18

Hey momma!  HAHA yeah my brain is still  going to explode! its awesome!! I know i picture my self playing old dudes in ping pong and talking mandarin with them! I cannot wait! My comps are pretty awesome! we have a fun time! its the three of us in one room so its super fun! there are 6 other people that are not in our district, but in our zone that are going to the taichung mission as well! they are all super fun and super good at chinese! Ive seen an improvement this week so its all good! I know its going to take a lot of time so its all good! i just study and try my best and that all I got to do! Normal day is we wake up at 6:30! ha which is sometimes super hard! then we get an hour of excercise time each morining before breakfast. We all play basketball everyday its super fun! then we get an hour of personal, an hour of companion study ( we normally plan our lesson for our investigator in that time ) then we get an hour of language study in! then we head over to lunch then study chinese until dinner then we eat and teach and then study mandarin till 9 at night! Then we get to hang out with our zone. we do a spiritual thought then just hang out all together till 10:30! Then elder bertha and I stay up and study more mandarin! Its busy busy busy haha! 

Ah man ELLIIE ELLIE ELLIE!! thats so awesome im so excited for her! shes going to do so awesome! 

Yeah i got that package THANK YOU SO MUCH that has literally saved me! I already ate all of those peanut butter m&m's those things are the best! I dont think I need anything else besides the things i sent last week! thanks mom you are the best! Maybe you could send Elder Calbone some top ramen! we have a microwave here and has been craving roman so if there are little bowls or cups of roman that we can make in the microwave he would absolutley love it! He also loves any chips!! 

Thanks mama you are the best!! miss you guys tons and I hope liv feels better! 

Hi pops.  HAHA yeah im hoping it will come! I know its going to take a long time! As long as I work hard it will come, it will come! How long did it take you to learn swedish? HA thats so awesome that jared is bishop! is he excited? Thats a big calling hes gonna do aweome! woop jonny into shape haha! ahhhh liv thats so crazy! liv always has super weird things happen to her haha! I hope shes doing good though thats crazy!  Its super cool trying to put lessons together in chinese! its a journy! we are starting to figure out some of the things she says back to us which is super awesome. ha our investigator that we had been teaching the past week and a half rolls into one of our classes the other day and was like haha im your teacher now! ha it was preetty funny so now we teach our old teacher and another girl from china! We are teaching two lessons a day now in Chinese. My brain is literally so exhausted by the end of the day! Its actually super cool to be able and teach people the gospel in a different language! the language is progressing! I could kind of understand some of the talks last sunday which was super cool. I know i cant learn it without gods help! I know He's helping me and the whole distict! the mission is super cool! cant wait to get in the field and get chinese haha!

There is an elder from the philipeans and had never seen snow before! we got a couple of inches here and he hates the cold ahha and gets cold super easlily! so every time we walk he's like "ohh man my body is going to be frozen oh man!! ha his accent is super funny! we had a snow ball fight and he was super funny! his laugh is the best. He is one of my favorite dudes ever! he is from a farm in the philipeans! super cool humble stud! love ya pops you da man!! love ya pops you da man!! 

District at the MTC!

Sam's old MTC teacher!

First week in the MTC! 1/15/18

YOOO whats up mamma!!! Miss ya guys so much! You guys are the best! ahh the MTC is a special place. It has a great feeling, but man chinese is super hard! I fasted on sunday asking for me to learn chinese! HAHA its a battle, but i really enjoy it! its a super awesome language. It's  just hard but ill get it! working on my patience. Cannot wait to get it. Sunday and Pday have been so nice!! I have been studying an extra hour or two every night so I can get this language. HA its nice to just chill out and recharge the brain! its weird though, I try and read the hymn book or scriptures in english and my brain just turns to chinese pinyin! We study from 8am to 8pm at night!! really awesome!! It actually goes by pretty quick, but i feel like ive been here for a couple of months!! Our district is dope! our zone is dope! our zone before us on visa wait is really awesome! the taiwan missionaries are just way awesome I guys. I guys taiwan latley has been pretty hard to get a visa! so all the elders are here an extra week or two on visa wait! the elders that have been here for like 10 weeks just got re assigned to modesto california and just left today! HHAh so I could be here a while!!  

Ahh love ya mom! 

MTC day! Jan 7, 2018 Provo, Utah

The day is finally here!

≈

Looks like a little nerves might be settling in :)

Had to go get chicken and waffles for his last meal!  It's where we went right after he opened his call so it seemed only right!

 Goodbyes are seriously the hardest!! The only person we could let take Brandon for 2 years is our Father in Heaven.  My friend told me that they were never really ours for those 2 years anyone, they were always meant to be the Lords.  So true! We love you Elder Brandon Smith!!

God Speed Elder!

Provo Missionary Training Center 

Final goodbyes and the setting apart January 6,2018

Some final goodbyes to cousins and aunties and uncles...

Mom was struggling a bit 

 Being set apart as a missionary is such a special time.  It is something you have thought about your whole life and suddenly there it is right in front of you.  Brandon could not wait to be set apart as a full time missionary! It was so neat to have his Grandpa Smith there along with our wonderful new bishop Danny Walker.  It was such a tender mercy that he happened to be there.

I love that the Savior is right there along with these great men in Brandon's life.

The very first missionary set apart by our new Stake President Laren Walker.  He got to put the very first pin up on the board!

 A few more final goodbyes...