Time Moving Slow
February 24th, 2026
First: sorry for not BCCing last time, Kip Kreager shamed me and it won't happen again.
Ok. Onward, we march.
"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." (2 Ne 2:11)
If last week was righteousness, holiness, and good, this week was wickedness, misery, and bad. Slight exaggeration, but it was certainly a step down. I think 70% of the people in the CCM were sick. My comp spent half of Thursday night on the toilet, he almost fell asleep there. I wasn't doing much better.
I feel bad for my comp, I think the happiest I saw him all week was when we had corndogs for dinner (and he has Celiac disease, so he peeled the bread off and just ate the hotdog).
First: sorry for not BCCing last time, Kip Kreager shamed me and it won't happen again.
Ok. Onward, we march.
"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." (2 Ne 2:11)
If last week was righteousness, holiness, and good, this week was wickedness, misery, and bad. Slight exaggeration, but it was certainly a step down. I think 70% of the people in the CCM were sick. My comp spent half of Thursday night on the toilet, he almost fell asleep there. I wasn't doing much better.
I feel bad for my comp, I think the happiest I saw him all week was when we had corndogs for dinner (and he has Celiac disease, so he peeled the bread off and just ate the hotdog).
Pure bliss
On top of that, our district Especically had a lotta stress, as one of the hermanas dropped some lore that could've (should've?) resulted in her getting sent home. Our District Leader (DL) set up a meeting with the CCM presidency, and she's still here so thats a relief. Unfortunately, as of this Sunday, I'm the DL, so stuff like this is my responsibility now.
For perspective on how bad our district struggled, each week all the district leaders in each zone meet together (about 5 districts in a zone, with around 8-12 people each), and share how their group is doing based of surveys we fill out about stess levels, comp unity, etc. Last week, according to the previous DL, our district was 10s across the board, no complaints. This week, I got to attend the meeting, and it wasn't great. High stress, lower comp unity, so on. I was glad I didnt have to give the report this time.
The good news is we're on the upswing. Thank goodness cuz now I'm in charge. Let's hope some stability enters this group. I would like to bring in a better report next Sunday.
I slept for 11 hours Friday night, only awakening once to eat some homemade carmel popcorn that President Williamson dropped off. Yum!
There's this new companionship in our Branch and they don't seem to know what planet they're on or even whether or not they exist. We call them The Lost Boys (not to their faces). I don't think the one kid has ever left Utah (la fábrica). I'm wishing them the best. We are all very fond of them.
They found a palm tree branch!
Six or seven (!) hours away from where we are, the Mexican Government killed one of the biggest, if not, The Biggest Narco in Mexico. Now all his followers are rioting, no bueno. We're safe here in the CCM, I believe all the missionaries in the areas closer to the rioting are staying home and are safe. If you were planning on vacationing in Guadalajara, uhhh... don't?
Time is definitely moving slow. I'm trying to appreciate the good parts, I always hear that you'll miss the CCM, but idk. I hear a lotta great stuff about Puerto Rico. And Mexico isn't doing too hot right now.
I LOVE that not a single latino will ever pronouce my last name correctly. They read the tag, and boom, for them it says "élder esmit". Gives me a lil doapmine hit everytime. Also, mi maestro saw on my scriptures that my first name is Bentley and said it was a cool name. I agree! At some point in my family history we had the last name Trueblood and I'm 29% sure I'll change my legal name to Bentley Trueblood when I return.
Yeah, let's switch over to a spiritual thought, I'm running outta stuff to say. It's gonna be a good one so stick around.
A good reminder to me this week was that following Christ doesn't mean life will be easy. Quite the opposite in fact.
It's really easy to question God when we're following His Word to the best of our ability and not seeing the benefits. To this I say: The path was never promised to be easy, it never was easy, and it certainly wouldn't benefit us if it was.
Almost all of Christs' original 12 apostles were martyred, the prophet Joseph Smith was as well, and as a wise man once said, "Life's a mixed bag, no matter who you are. Look at Jesus, he was the Son of God, for God's sake, and look how that turned out!"
We were sent to this earth to be tested, to learn, grow, and become more like Christ. My perspective changed a lot when I first heard someone say 'if you ask God for patience, He has to test your patience', you don't just become a better person without struggle. (Thats why spoiled kids are the worst)
For anyone who feels like they're doing all the right things and it's not working out, I know Jesus Christ understands. Turning to Him will benefit you so much more than turning away.
I love Psalms 30:5, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
You got this. Not on your own, but with and through Christ.
Pickleball last Tuesday, hours before everything fell apart.
The Squad
(Also please know I read every email I get sent and appreciate them a lot )
First: sorry for not BCCing last time, Kip Kreager shamed me and it won't happen again.
Ok. Onward, we march.
"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." (2 Ne 2:11)
If last week was righteousness, holiness, and good, this week was wickedness, misery, and bad. Slight exaggeration, but it was certainly a step down. I think 70% of the people in the CCM were sick. My comp spent half of Thursday night on the toilet, he almost fell asleep there. I wasn't doing much better.
I feel bad for my comp, I think the happiest I saw him all week was when we had corndogs for dinner (and he has Celiac disease, so he peeled the bread off and just ate the hotdog).
First: sorry for not BCCing last time, Kip Kreager shamed me and it won't happen again.
Ok. Onward, we march.
"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad." (2 Ne 2:11)
If last week was righteousness, holiness, and good, this week was wickedness, misery, and bad. Slight exaggeration, but it was certainly a step down. I think 70% of the people in the CCM were sick. My comp spent half of Thursday night on the toilet, he almost fell asleep there. I wasn't doing much better.
I feel bad for my comp, I think the happiest I saw him all week was when we had corndogs for dinner (and he has Celiac disease, so he peeled the bread off and just ate the hotdog).
Pure bliss
On top of that, our district Especically had a lotta stress, as one of the hermanas dropped some lore that could've (should've?) resulted in her getting sent home. Our District Leader (DL) set up a meeting with the CCM presidency, and she's still here so thats a relief. Unfortunately, as of this Sunday, I'm the DL, so stuff like this is my responsibility now.
For perspective on how bad our district struggled, each week all the district leaders in each zone meet together (about 5 districts in a zone, with around 8-12 people each), and share how their group is doing based of surveys we fill out about stess levels, comp unity, etc. Last week, according to the previous DL, our district was 10s across the board, no complaints. This week, I got to attend the meeting, and it wasn't great. High stress, lower comp unity, so on. I was glad I didnt have to give the report this time.
The good news is we're on the upswing. Thank goodness cuz now I'm in charge. Let's hope some stability enters this group. I would like to bring in a better report next Sunday.
I slept for 11 hours Friday night, only awakening once to eat some homemade carmel popcorn that President Williamson dropped off. Yum!
There's this new companionship in our Branch and they don't seem to know what planet they're on or even whether or not they exist. We call them The Lost Boys (not to their faces). I don't think the one kid has ever left Utah (la fábrica). I'm wishing them the best. We are all very fond of them.
They found a palm tree branch!
Six or seven (!) hours away from where we are, the Mexican Government killed one of the biggest, if not, The Biggest Narco in Mexico. Now all his followers are rioting, no bueno. We're safe here in the CCM, I believe all the missionaries in the areas closer to the rioting are staying home and are safe. If you were planning on vacationing in Guadalajara, uhhh... don't?
Time is definitely moving slow. I'm trying to appreciate the good parts, I always hear that you'll miss the CCM, but idk. I hear a lotta great stuff about Puerto Rico. And Mexico isn't doing too hot right now.
I LOVE that not a single latino will ever pronouce my last name correctly. They read the tag, and boom, for them it says "élder esmit". Gives me a lil doapmine hit everytime. Also, mi maestro saw on my scriptures that my first name is Bentley and said it was a cool name. I agree! At some point in my family history we had the last name Trueblood and I'm 29% sure I'll change my legal name to Bentley Trueblood when I return.
Yeah, let's switch over to a spiritual thought, I'm running outta stuff to say. It's gonna be a good one so stick around.
A good reminder to me this week was that following Christ doesn't mean life will be easy. Quite the opposite in fact.
It's really easy to question God when we're following His Word to the best of our ability and not seeing the benefits. To this I say: The path was never promised to be easy, it never was easy, and it certainly wouldn't benefit us if it was.
Almost all of Christs' original 12 apostles were martyred, the prophet Joseph Smith was as well, and as a wise man once said, "Life's a mixed bag, no matter who you are. Look at Jesus, he was the Son of God, for God's sake, and look how that turned out!"
We were sent to this earth to be tested, to learn, grow, and become more like Christ. My perspective changed a lot when I first heard someone say 'if you ask God for patience, He has to test your patience', you don't just become a better person without struggle. (Thats why spoiled kids are the worst)
For anyone who feels like they're doing all the right things and it's not working out, I know Jesus Christ understands. Turning to Him will benefit you so much more than turning away.
I love Psalms 30:5, "weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
You got this. Not on your own, but with and through Christ.
Pickleball last Tuesday, hours before everything fell apart.The Squad
(Also please know I read every email I get sent and appreciate them a lot )
Adios mis amigos,
Élder Smith
Élder Smith
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