1 Week, 2 Apostles, 3 Ash Days, 4 Elders

You know I've been living on God's earth a little over two decades now but I don't think I have ever experienced a week that went by quite this slow. Buckle your seatbelts because this is probably the most unconventional missionary email you've read in awhile.

So Monday, a couple hours after sending last week's email, we get a call from our ZLs (Elders Collins and Fakahau) who say that President Bekker felt strongly that we needed to get out of Ka'u asap. We were in the middle of a hike to the Kawa black sand beach when it happened so we finished things up there and spent the rest of the day packing up everything we owned. That evening we took all of our stuff to the Kea'au Elder's (Elders Dorrough and Owens) pad and converted their place into a four man pad. We didn't know how long we would be there we just decided to roll with it.

Tuesday proves that the church is in fact true because that morning we found out that mere hours after leaving Ka'u a huge ash cloud hit Pahala (The northern most town in our area) and air quality was dropping like crazy. Vog and sulfur levels have only risen since then, it's still pretty bad.

Despite that we had an amazing opportunity to hear from two different apostles on Tuesday as well. Elder Holland and Bednar were in Laie giving a devotional to the students at BYU-H but wanted to do a special devotional for the missionaries. All the outer island missionaries were able to Skype in so we could hear too. Many great things were said but my favorite was Elder Holland talking about how serving a mission isn't just something we check off a list, it is what sets us on a trajectory for the rest of our lives. If nothing else the church can expect us each to have one convert, ourselves. It hit me pretty hard since I'm getting towards the end of the mission and gave me the kick in the pants I needed to finish strong.

Sadly the kick in the pants needed to wait a little longer because early Thursday morning we had another volcanic eruption only this one was slightly more explosive than the previous ones. LOTS of sulfur got kicked up from that one and President told the whole Hilo Zone to stay indoors for the day and to use best judgment from then on. The air in Kea'au was pretty bad so while the others were able to start working again after a day the four of us got stuck inside for three straight days. We messaged investigators, updates records, and cleaned everything we could think of and still had time to spare. We played every board game and card game imaginable but cabin fever started to hit us pretty hard. It's a good thing the four of us like each other or else we might have just gone crazy.

So Saturday eventually rolled around and transfer news came in. I got word that I am transferring back to the island of O'ahu and will now be serving in the Makakilo Ward on the west side of the island. My companion will be Elder Lambert who is only three months out and just so happens to be my grandson (he was trained by my "son" Elder Hayes). I am pretty excited to be going back to the rock and am looking forward to seeing what adventures my last area has in store for me.

We journeyed back Ka'u on Sunday so I could say goodbye to the ward. The volcano has really affected the air down there in the last week, it was pretty ugly. I am really going to miss this place though, I have really come to love the people here and see just how the spirit works on individuals. The ward is very loving and while they will probably all have forgotten my name in a matter of months I know that I made a difference here and that they have all changed my life.

Well that's the basic rundown of our rather odd week. Grateful for the experience but excited to get back to actual missionary work this next week. Adventure is out there!

Elder Smith
Hawai'i Honolulu Mission

1500 S. Beretania St. ste. 416
Honolulu, HI 96826

Me and the Makuakanes (One of my favorite families)