Week 29: Cabin Fever - Fort Smith, Arkansas

*Note: I ran out of time to send this last P-day and had food poisoning yesterday and the night before that so I'm way behind on everything, sorry! Stay tuned for this week's email.

Hey all!

I'm making myself start this Tuesday (01/16) night because while something about writing it the very last second helps me dial in and focus, it definitely doesn't help my sleep schedule. 

~

...aaaaand that's pretty much all I wrote on Tuesday night. 

Well, looks like this week's email's gonna be pretty short.

This week, we got snowed in, our most recent convert went to the ICU, I bought some shoes with Elder McKee, and everyone took a trip back to the Bentonville Temple. 

~

Incarceration: a snowstorm shut down all the roads for two days here and our mission doesn't do any social media work so we literally did nothing. It was weird. Having free time to study, write, draw, and practice music was fun for a little, but it also felt pretty purposeless. Despite the difficulties of missionary work, I feel most fulfilled when I just put myself in the Lord’s hands and take the chances he gives to be involved in His miracles. 

Claudia: a nice lady who was baptized just two days before I got to Fort Smith. She hit her head last week and had to get ambulanced to the hospital...where they then found out that her kidneys were failing. Her situation is really unsteady right now and she's not often conscious, so prayers for her would be greatly appreciated. We're not really sure how this is all going to turn out, but no matter what happens, she's on the right path. 

Mena: them boys. Remember Elder McKee, the Wisconsonian cranberry farmer built like an Avatar? Well, he came down to the Fort Smith Zone with me too. He's serving in Mena, Oklahoma with his trainee, Elder Whetten, who's equally fun to be around. We spent the temple trip chatting it up in the van with them and then finished P-day with them with a trip to Dick's and Best Buy. I bought some new running shoes with the help of Elder McKee while Elder Bigelow and Elder Whetten went to buy a projector for a Bible/Book of Mormon video movie night. 

Side note for added flavor: Elder McKee's latest farm life stories included one, getting attacked by African killer bees while driving a tractor (this happened miltiple times,) and two, drive-by paintballing bears to get them away from the cranberries.

Temple Trip: always my favorite part of the week. I called my little sister Hazel in-between some McDonald's breakfast and the van ride up to Bentonville, then shot the breeze in the back of the bus with the other Elders. The temple itself was awesome as always. I felt comforted, protected, and revitalized by the time I was able to spend in service to the Savior. One of my takeaways this week was how much I feel the Holy Spirit when I see the beauty of Earth. Nature builds my faith in God.

~

Songs of the week: 

- "The Kids Don't Stand a Chance" by Vampire Weekend

~

Thought: Moroni 9:6

"And now, my beloved son, notwithstanding their hardness, let us labor diligently; for if we should cease to labor, we should be brought under condemnation; for we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God."

Everyone in our zone knows that Elder Smythe is probably the hardest worker of all of us. I've been trying to figure out what makes him so different than the rest of us when he seems to have similar source of motivation to the other missionaries. What makes him so much more driven, then? 

Here are some of his answers I got while on exchange:

○ What makes a 'visionary' missionary?

"One of the biggest reasons we're here is to learn self-mastery and discipline from Jesus Christ. What sets casual and visionary missionaries apart is consistency in these things."

○ Serving in Fort Smith, Arkansas of all places:

"Serve like you're three hours from where Jesus Christ will return in His Second Coming. We're building up the kingdom of God on Earth no matter where we're called to serve."

○ What keeps you going?

"You were saved specifically for today because you proved to God through faith, diligence, and valor that He could trust you. Prove Him right again."

~

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

Lots of Love,

Elder Rigby

Jacob

Elder Bigelow made me a crunchwrap supreme

Snow day art project

Not Arizona

Cool brass rubbings from Westminster Abbey

Pupusas done gave me food poisoning

More Photos and Videos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7

Week 28: Down South - Fort Smith, Arkansas

 Hey all!

Back at it again. Fort Smith is, as I've said before, the real deal. It's just so "Arkansas." Something interesting about this place is that even though it's super ghetto, the city doesn't feel particular dangerous. A *lot* of people here are super poor, but most of them are pretty chill and almost everyone loves Jesus in some Southern way, shape, or form. It's nice. 

Another fun thing about Fort Smith: there are a ton of stray dogs and cats that just hang out everywhere. Some of the big dogs make me nervous, but most of the strays here are down to just hang out and follow you around for a bit if you pet them. It's really endearing, actually. But don't pet the scary ones. 

~

We just got off the phone with our buddy Aaron, so I'm not starting this until late and I've gotta get to bed soon. I usually end up taking more time than I plan to on my spiritual thoughts, so tonight I'll go a little lighter on what happened this week and just take stuff straight from my journal entries:

Thursday: slashed our "people we're teaching" pool in half during our weekly planning session, spent hours tracting in the beautiful weather, and taught our ward mission leader's foster son Jacob in their beautiful home full of musical instruments. 

Friday: learned "Wet Hands" from Minecraft from memory, visited our hospitalized soldier friend Robert again before he got transferred to Savannah, and knocked a super sketchy neighborhood (including one house with a bullet hole in the front window )

Saturday: successfully cracked four eggs in a row at breakfast (new personal best,) got a full Southern Bible sermon from a guy named Walter, and played my first hymn in front of an audience, "Silent Night," as a special request from a little girl being baptized by the sister missionaries in our ward. 

Sunday: our brotha Bobby showed up to church and he was awesome. He has real Gospel soul. My mental was all over the place that afternoon, but I felt better after we decided to venture across the border to Oklahoma and knock doors there cod the evening. Being "out" is usually good for my head. 

Monday: tracted all day in the rain and found four people to teach in one apartment complex, befriended a stray dog (see photos,) coddled the tamagotchi my buddy Elder Anderson sent me from back home, and made some blueberry jam from the eleven cartons of blueberries a Marshallese family gave our roommates.

Tuesday: mañana es P-day. Elder Bigelow and I really just endured today. Most of our lessons fell through, but we still got to some hear cool stories from Brother Fair, the member who accompanied us to two of those ill-fated lessons. You'd never guess that unassuming old man was an Army Force Ranger and an undercover customs agent back in the day. Besides that, we taught Jacob again, this time about temples and families. I'm starting to really love that kid. 

Wednesday: worked on my Legos with Elder Bigelow, bought some frozen dinners and ramune at Walmart, played ultimate frisbee at the church, and practiced a ton of piano yet again. Went out to eat for at least the fifth time this week (I do not feel good,) then got a call from Aaron where he basically just taught himself the answer to all his questions he had for us. 

~

"Can I get a copy of the Book of Mormon and come to church? I want to see if I feel the Spirit when I try it for myself."

"It seems like we should really be more united as Christians, but we're not because of all these denominations. It's like someone's trying to mislead us."

"I read two more Book of Mormon chapters after the one you gave me, and it seems like you believe we can only be saved in and through Jesus Christ. I agree with that."

- Aaron

I love this guy. 

~

Song of the week: "Feathers" by Early Eyes

~

Teaching Jacob last night reminded me of a goal God inspired me to make last year, one that played a major factor in me being on a mission today. When I was at BYU last year, my grandparents served in the Provo temple just across the campus every Thursday afternoon. Going into my second semester, I decided I wanted to see my Grandma and Grandpa in the House of the Lord every single week, so I did my very best to make it every single week. No matter my spiritual, emotional, mental, or physical state, I strived to always be worthy to enter that holy house, be near my family, and serve my Savior come Thursday. I want to testify that doing so changed my life. 

I do not know all the answers. I have unresolved questions that I'm still working on. Some things in life I just don't get.

But!

Three things I do know:

1) Jesus Christ and His Atonement are real. 

2) The Book of Mormon is the word of God. 

3) My life got better when I started visiting Grandpa and Grandma in the temple. 

Faith would be useless if we had all the answers. 

God, however, in His matchless love and mercy, will always give us enough to get by. 

Moroni 7:48:

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."

My invitation to my friends who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: go to the temple every week. If you don't have a recommend, prayerfully make a goal with the Lord to get one. You will come to know the Savior as you serve there. 

My invitation for my friends who aren't members, but still read this far and may be wondering what in the world I'm going on about: watch this cool tour of one of our temples in Rome, Italy: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2019-01-1000-two-apostles-lead-a-virtual-tour-of-the-rome-italy-temple?lang=eng 

~

Well, that all turned out to be pretty long anyways. Whoops. Well, hopefully this email did its job and brightened your day a little. Love you all!

Elder Rigby

The Martins' awesome music room

Cool bullet hole. Thanks Fort Smith

Dinner

Vile imposter

Oklahoma Day

Shoutout Äldste Calder

Greetings from Oklahoma

Hello beautiful

Got crabs

Elder Uchtdorf

Stay tuned for next week's email

More Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7

Week 27: Tracting Heaven - Fort Smith, Arkansas

 It just got so real.

Hey all!

Well, it's been six months and I've finally arrived in the real Arkansas. Fort Smith is a city to be reckoned with. I'm short-ish on time or I would go in do visceral detail, but suffice to say it reminds me of an oversized frontier settlement with lots of drugs and lots of Jesus. Super humble, super fruitful, and suuuuuuper ghetto... this area is the missionary equivalent of free-play mode. The Fort Smith First Ward boundary alone contains four companionships of missionaries, two English and two Spanish, including both Zone Leader companionships and the STLs. We have yet to bump into other missionaries while out on patrol yet, but the proximity is pretty fun. 

 I miss Bentonville a lot more than I thought I would. The fantastic members, the home-cooked meals every night, the convenient distance of virtually everything and everyone, the general niceness of the whole place, and, of course, the Bentonville Temple, were all something special. That said, I can't wait to learn and grow from my time with Elder Bigelow, Elder Smythe, and all the other folks down here.

~

The Fort Smith missionaries are, in a word, tough. It may be more rough around the edges down here, but they're full of faith and they work hard.

Elder Bigelow: a physics-defying perpetual motion machine of spiritual momentum. This guy has infinite faith as long as you keep him from getting hangry. Having to rein my companion in is a much better problem to have than having to drag my companion along, though. Plus, we have a lot more in common than I have with my past companions, so while my social battery drains fast with him some days and we don't always see eye-to-eye on how to approach the work, I'm very much looking forward to getting to see miracles with him this transfer.

Elder Smythe: the de facto captain of the Fort Smith Zone. Call it Fort Smythe. This guy's a powerhouse who's served longer than all three of the other missionaries in our zone leadership combined. With the weird split companionships for the Zone Leaders here, it kind of feels like I'm in a part-time ZL apprenticeship to him. Elder Bigelow and I serve together for 90% of the time and the other 10% consists of Elder Smythe showing me the ropes of planning zone calls, MLC meetings, exchanges, and the other vaguely bureaucratic responsibilities of the calling. 

~

 P-day continues to be a nice eye in the storm. I think Tuesdays might be my favorite, though, because something about looking forward to P-day is honestly more invigorating than the prep time itself. But today was pretty nice. We started off with a slow morning, then bartered for provisions at the local saloon (Walmart) and hit the trail for the church. We played volleyball and basketball and shot the breeze with the zone for a while until I snuck off to go play the piano for an hour or two and call my family. Then, I rounded off the day by starting my Spirited Away lego set with Elder Moon, a missionary in my zone who serves up north a ways. After P-day ended, the highlight of our evening was being able to give a priesthood blessing to our friend Robert, a soldier in the Army and a recent convert to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of about a year who had gotten in a serious car crash.

~

Thought: Mormon 9. 

 Moroni is one of my favorite prophets. According to my religion professor last year, he's generally a more timid author. He seems to prefer to quote other prophets and often expresses feelings of inadequacy as an author and prophet (see Mormon 9:31 and Ether 12,) but other times he boldly and powerfully testifies of the divinity of our Savior, Jesus Christ. In Mormon 9, Moroni offers a direct rebuttal to two groups: one, those do not believe in Christ, and two, believers who have lost their faith in modern miracles. He also throws in a summary of the entire Plan of Salvation in verses 11-14 just for kicks. 

 I'd been struggling with feeling like I have enough faith to see miracles in my own life, particularly the miracle of seeing conversion in another evidenced by the sacred covenant of baptism, but through this chapter, God gave me a revelatory answer to a question I didn't even realize I had. As He so often loves to do, Heavenly Father uses the sacred words of the holy scriptures as means whereby he can answer our prayers with a voice clear as day. 

 If you have a question, take it to God and read the Book of Mormon for yourself. Say a prayer, then read until your answer comes. I promise you it will happen as you act in faith. I offer no timetable, as that comes down to the Lord's own will, but I can promise in the words of Christ Himself that "[He] will not leave you comfortless. [He] will come to you." (John 14:18)

Want a place to start? Read Moroni's advice for seeing miracles in modern life here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bofm/morm/9?lang=eng

~

 To all my friends and family who I've been horribly inconsistent at writing back to, thanks for being patient with me and thank you so much for writing in the first place. Your outreach reminds me that God loves me, and that means the world to me. 

Song of the week: "Belle" by Jack Johnson. 

That's all for this week! I love you all a whole lot.

Take care and Happy New Year!

Elder Rigby

The Pursers + me with a croissant in my mouth

Brother Cannon (Corvette guy)

Sister Cannon

Luis (our first convert)

100% my fault

The Arkansas River

Tofu masterpiece

The world's largest

Fort Smith Zone

Tracting heaven. Also way too many yellow dots

My old area for reference

More Photos: https://photos.app.goo.gl/2sk1refRidSszyYk7