I was on the phone with UCLA for an hour yesterday, but the date is set.  Will be gone for six days.  Finally.....some relief from the constant discomfort!  Thanking Heavenly Father today for the technology to help us live longer, healthier lives.

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Time really is flying by.  Football will be over quickly & the kids have been in school for almost 9 weeks.  We go to 3 football games each week & one soccer game....so we live in our car!  Can't imagine people who complain about having to take "their time" to go to these events with and for their kids (yes...it does happen).  Greg is in heaven when he's watching those boys play football, and secretly, I think he really likes soccer.  Yes, yes, it keeps him away from college football and woodcutting  on Saturdays....but he spends about 30-45 minutes after each game playing with Gen & helping her with goalie "techniques".  Yeah, I would say he likes that little girl of ours.

Slowly but surely I am uploading photos of our summer adventures (could my internet be any slower?).  We had so much fun together; we will miss these times when our kids are all off at college, married, etc.  I try to keep in mind that a lot of "grown up" kids take vacations with their folks.  I am trying to convince them they will have "built in babysitters" if Grandma & Grandpa are with them.  Weird to think of becoming Grandma & Grandpa in the coming years.  Grant is soon 21 & Matt 20.  Alex is already 17.  Ryan reminded me last night as we drove to Umatilla that in one short year (and technically 2 months) he could be driving the car to a game.  Yikes!  Where did the time go?  At least Gen is still playing with Barbies & American Girl dolls.

The doctor at UCLA has reviewed my study and concurs with the opinion of the specialist in Spokane.  They are looking at dates that will work for me to have the specialized surgery.  The "up" side is, I get to go to sunny L.A. during the winter.  There is a positive in every struggle!

All the kids are well.  Matt was a little sick last week, but is working hard at OSU.  Grant, as you read in an earlier post, is doing well.  Alex passed his written portion of the drivers exam last week and has a driving  exam scheduled for next week.  Ryan.  Well Ryan is just dandy.  He lives for the football field.  Last Friday night we had three of his friends over and let me tell you........can they eat!  They eat lots & sleep little.  We got them up bright and early though, as Greg was patiently waiting for their sleepy heads to get up and play some street football.  Good times.

We are blessed & life is good.
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Dear Mom,

To answer your questions...

My fast Sunday was great. I bore my testimony. Have I told you that I have not missed a single Sunday to bare my testimony since I have been on the mission? I'm 100% so far. Anyway, I bore my testimony about prayer and told the members how grateful I was for their prayers and how much I loved them. I bore my testimony that the Lord sends each missionary to an area with a specific purpose.

I have not been sick at all on my mission other than that one time on my birthday last year and one other time (August’ish) over a year ago. I think maybe a few like runny noses and maybe some things like that. But I have never missed a day of work other than my birthday.

Well things here are going well. We have so many good people to teach but we can´t get any of them to church. So frustrating. You just want to grab them by the shoulders and shake them and scream GO TO CHURCH!!! The worst part is everyone promises to go and say they want to go then when Sunday comes - - - - they make an excuse to not go. I think this is somewhat like what Heavenly Father must feel like when we don´t do the right thing. He knows how happy we will be if we do the right thing, but he can´t force us. It sure is teaching me to be more patient with people.

Well things are going well here, all in all. I got a new comp.  My comp also has 1 year and 6 months on the mission. He is from Wisconsin and was with me in the CTM here in Brazil. I think I am going to learn  A LOT more about patience this transfer. That's life I guess.

You asked about Christmas, could you & Dad please send:

15 pairs of black cotton socks. Like regular white socks only black. I find they work the best.
2 pairs of insoles.

1 new Journal.

1 new tie.

I think that is about it. I don't really need anything. All here is well.

Oh and I will be going to the temple this week. I think I will be spending about 25-50 dollars on some books that I want to buy. I got my new card but they changed my pin number. How can I get my new pin number?

Well Mom I sure do love you. I hope all is going super well at home. Hard to believe how fast the time is going. Next general conference I will be home to watch with you guys. Weird to think huh?
 
Love Grant
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Last two emails from Elder Smith.  Sorry I haven't posted for awhile - we've been on the run!  We hear from Elder Smith each Monday on his p-day.  He is writing in response to me asking what a "Favela" is, and what are the bugs like there!  He also told me that he was getting cold so I needed to send more underclothing.  It made me wonder how "cold" it was there!

Dear Mom,

Congrats on the new calling! I told the seminary teacher here that you had just been called as a seminary teacher. She sends you a hug and wishes you good luck. She said she cried it was so hard for her the first 3 years... she is now starting her 4th year. She is a return missionary too. But don't worry mom you will be great. Just don't put up with the punk kids. Sister Waite was tough on me but today I have a lot of respect for her. (Even if she did unfairly punish me for the transgressions of others - - - which she did often.)   I think what you could do to most make seminary a good experience is respect the students. Let them choose how they would like the class to be structured (within reason) and let them be responsible for their learning. I hated being told what to do all the time. Don't put up with attitude but don't be too bossy either. Teenagers hate being bossed. The other thing is take advantage of Alex. He will be able to tell you what people say about seminary and how the kids feel about it. More than anything just be chill. You will do great! When I get home I want to go a watch a few of your classes!

Favela is the slums, hood, ghetto, the projects and the other side of the tracks all rolled up into one big mess and built house on top of house.

The bugs here are normal. Here is just like New York City mom. There are a TON of rats and a TON of roaches. I bet there are a ton of bugs here that are here that they don't have in the states but I never really paid much attention to the bugs. I'm sure if I went to the north it would be all huge snakes and such. The furthest point south to the furthest point north of Brazil is the same distance as Seattle to Miami. There is a lot of diversity here. It SNOWS in south Brazil! It is not all jungle and such. There are plains and mountains and everything else.
 
I sleep with two thick blankets at night and use shorts and a tee shirt so I don't get that cold. But I get cold very fast now.
 
I plan to extend my mission but President Pinho wants me to wait till the end is a little closer before I consider staying and decide for sure.

Well I love you all a lot!

 Love,
 Grant

Here is todays email.  He was responding to my panic over the new class schedule at Heppner High School.  I will only have seminary for 3 days per week for long periods.  I told him I was getting thrown a curve ball....and as usual, my missionary son had some good advice for his 'ol mother.  I also asked him if he was allowed to teach in the ghettos.  His answer was "we preach to everyone".  Boy do I miss that kid:

Dear Mom,

Well to start off, there are people here who are very nice, but there are a lot of jerks too. Favela is....interesting. Maybe I would take Dad and Alex with me to visit a few favelas here, but I don't think it would be a good idea for the whole family to go. We preach to everyone. EVERYONE!

As for seminary - - - just throw a 5 minute bathroom break in the middle. Let the people stand up move around and such, than sing a hymn and start back up. In the end, the kids who want to learn will learn and the kids who don't, won't. Not much you can really do if the kid doesn't want to learn on his own.

Well big news. I was transferred! Yup. Kind of a bummer because I was just getting to know the area and the people and we were really getting into the swing of things. I think this area will baptize a whole bunch here soon. We have a ton of people marked. On the other hand I am excited about my new opportunity. I will have a new area and most likely a less experienced missionary. I will also have the chance to serve a few other missionaries that are here on their mission - - - which I am excited about. It will be different then what I have been doing for the last 3 transfers (training) but I am excited to mix things up a little.

Well that’s all on my end. Love you all so much!  Please tell Alex Ryan and Gen that I love them.

Grant

Today he also wrote his Dad:

Dad,

Glad to hear it is warm there. We are freezing here. We have been wearing our suits a lot here lately. It is about 14 degrees here which is about 50ish in the States. But the cold here is very different because of the humidity. It mists all the time here so you get all damp and the wind blows and you get cold fast. On the other hand I am sleeping much better in the cold then I do in the heat. The cold is 100 times better than the heat!

So I hear you have to talk for the ground breaking of the stake center? I didn't even know that they were building a new stake center.

I have been studying the Doctrine of Christ a ton lately. The Atonement of Christ makes us clean of sin in accordance with our faith, repentance, baptism by authority, the reception of the Holy Ghost, and endurance in living our temple covenants. My purpose as a missionary is to help people do these things. If what I am doing is not helping someone to do one of these things then I need to seriously consider whether or not what I am doing I a good use of time. I believe that same principle is true in our day to day lives. Many people lose focus of this basic truth. It has brought a whole new sense of purpose to my work as a missionary. I don't know if this would be appropriate for the ground breaking but maybe it will help.

Well I don't have time to write more you will have to see mom's email for more updates.

Love ya!
Grant

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Updates... 06/17/2011
 
Many of you have called to see how I am doing; thanks so much for your kindness.  I also owe Tina Palmer a huge "thanks" for delivering lunch & dessert!  We appreciate you so much Tina!

On Wednesday, I was to have an SVT Ablation for a heart problem that developed when I was in the eighth grade.  I have been on medication to control it since my mid-twenties, but it was getting worse, so my doctor sent me to a specialist (who then sent me to a different specialist).  I ended up at the Cardio & Vascular Unit in Spokane.  On Wednesday the procedure went ahead as planned.  The purpose of the surgery was to stimulate my heart, in a controlled environment, until it reacted by having the "episodes" I have experienced for years.  I was a little worried that it would be much like being at an auto repair shop;  my engine would work just fine and the mechanic would look at me and say, "Sorry, everything checks out just fine lady".  To my delight, my heart did what it was supposed to do and the team recorded everything!  The doctor was able to pinpoint two areas (called focal sites) that cause the problems.  It is located in the "Mid Crista Terminalis region" of my heart.  There are at least two focal sites that are close together.  Unfortunately, that particular area of my heart it located next to the "Phrenic Nerve", which supplies the diaphragm muscle for breathing.  They were unable to "fix" the problem because the doctor said there was too much potential for "phrenic nerve injury".  They stopped the procedure and brought me out.  I was crushed.  I had been so excited to be free of the constant ailment.  There is good news to this story however.  There is now a map of where my problem originates, and it can be fixed by someone in a specialized field.  There are three doctors that can perform what is called an "Epicardial Access".  The surgery consists of filling up a "balloon" with fluid and "moving" the phrenic nerve away from the sites so that energy ablation can be applied.  Here is the bad news:  those doctors are located in Austin, Texas, UCLA & Mt. Sinai New York. 

So I can look at the glass as half empty or half full.  I am choosing to look at it as half full!  This is NOT life threatening and it can be fixed.  I am so thankful for all of the love & prayers that have been sent my way.  We are blessed by all this modern technology.  I am so grateful to my Father in Heaven for his love and guidance.

Alex, Ryan, Gen, Cousin Nick & I will all be in Provo, Utah next week for football camps.  I will return to the specialist when we get back.  The kid are all super excited to go to Brigham Young University.  We are planning on going to Seven Peaks Water Park & Lagoon.  Nick & Gen have asked twenty-seven times today when we are leaving.  Life is good.

If we're lucky, we'll find & stop at the largest ball of yarn (or some kind of weird tourist attraction) this week.  Happy Trails! 
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Performance from the musical "Annie".  Thanks to Cherisse for teaching such a great class!
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Dear Mom,

I liked the story! Holy cow that's funny! Those kind of moments are the good ones. Here with Elder Woodward, I get a few of those every now and then.  He really mixes up his English and Potuguêse.  So as for a few loss ends from the phone call,  Grandma asked if she can send me treats and goodies. Please tell her that she not only can send me treats and goodies, but that it is highly recomened by the mission office to help keep missionary moral at a high level. ;)  Let me know what will happen with the camera. If I need to get a new one or not, if so how much I can spend, and what type should I get so you guys can download the pictures and all that kind of stuff.

It was so good talking to you guys. I miss you all a lot and I can't wait to talk to you guys on Christmas. I can't believe how tall Alex is! He is a giant! I want to see the pictures of him at the Prom! Ryan is looking like he always does. He is a pretty sky kid isn't he? Gen has something in the mail!

Well I love you all and can't wait to see you guys here soon!

Love,
Elder G. Smith

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Picture
Picture
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Me:  "Matt....you blew off going 4-wheeling so you could go duck hunting in downtown Corvallis?"

Matt: "No....we were driving through the middle of town and stopped at a stoplight and a duck landed in the road right next to us.....it was super weird. I told my buddy to grab it but he wouldn't.   I think it would have been nice to have a pet duck."

Me:   "Guess you could be reporting worse things on your Friday nights at college!!!!!!"

Gotta love that kid.  He had major studying to do for mid-terms this last weekend...so he didn't join us.  But who says you still can't find a little adventure in the strangest place?  He did come and join us for dinner the Saturday before (so I can't give him too hard of a time)!  Nice to see him...he's doing such great things.  Watch our world...here he comes.
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Note:  Our super CUTE new addition:  Miss Riley Smith!  Take note of big brother reading to her (how sweet is that?????).
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