Weekend with the family

On Thursday I traveled to Boise, Idaho to visit my sister Brenda, her husband, Andrew and their two children: Keagan and Deker. On Friday, my sister Marie, her husband, Joe and their children: Veronica, Tyler, Samantha, Brenna and Braelynn arrived. Friday evening we all went to a little place not to far from Brenda and Andrew's to pick black raspberries. On Saturday morning we all went to downtown Boise and rode the paddle boats and went to a fun place that has a small river and wildlife area which shows the life cycle of fish. We then went to a park and ate lunch and let the kids play on the near-by play ground. On Saturday the rest of our family arrived and we had a great dinner hosted by Brenda. After dinner we walked to a park and had a family photo taken then let the kids play on that play ground (they needed to run off some energy!). On Sunday Andrew blessed Deker and after church Brenda and Andrew had our family, Andrew's family and several friends over for dinner. It was great to have the entire Smith family together again (24 and one on the way - if I counted correctly). A big thank you to Brenda and Andrew for their generous hospitality. Here are some photos from the weekend.

North Knoxville

My second area was North Knoxville. My first companion here was Sister Millier. She was my companion until May 22, when Sister Lafferty was transferred in to be my new companion. I was in North Knox from March 27 to June 18, 1997.

Our apartment and car (our apartment was on the top floor).

Sister Millier and me in front of one of the yards along the "Dogwood Trail".

This is the Isom family. Sister Isom was the Relief Society President. She and her family fed the missionaries often. She also helped the sisters in any way she could.

Kelly Langtimm is another member who help us out often.

This is a place called "Top of Knox." Knoxville is in the back-ground.

Check out the street sign!

Sister Lafferty's family sent us 4th of July decorations!


Due to my chosen profession, I visited a funeral home for a tour. I saw this casket and have not forgotten it. For some reason, I did not take a photo of it, but I found one online to share with you. I know how dedicated the Tennessee Vols fans are and truly believe this casket was purchased by more than one family!

The last of the photos in this blog will be from the "Dogwood Trail" For more information on the Dogwood Trail in this area, go to http://www.dogwoodarts.com/trail_fountaincity.htm

Oak Ridge, Tennessee

My first area was Oak Ridge. We also covered Oliver Springs and several small towns in the surrounding area. I arrived in Tennessee on December 23, 1997. Due to winter weather, our group had several flight delays and did not land until late on the 23rd. We had dinner at the Mission Home and learned who our companion would be and left for our first area.

Upon arrival at the Mission Home, I had my picture taken with President and Sister Benson.

I then had my photo taken with my first companion, Sister Laura Stahl.

Our apartment was through the door you see and down a set of stairs.

January 30, 1997, Henry Patton was our first baptism in this area.


In February, we had a major skunk problem near our apartment. We let the manager know and he sent his maintenance man to take care of it. He went over during the day and boarded up the hole that went under our apartment (keep in mind skunks are nocturnal). The skunks got mad because they could not get out, so every time we stepped on the floor in the morning or entered out apartment from the outside, they would spray. The smell got so bad that it permeated our clothes so we were going around smelling like skunk. On February 8th we took all our clothes to a members home and did laundry. We stayed with a member until February 12th, when they finally got the skunks out and we could go in and clean the apartment.

Cleaning after the skunk problem.

February 26, 1997, Janice Newport was baptized.


March 15th and 16th we had a Regional Conference. Elder Stanley of the 70, Elder Wirthlin of the Quorum of the 12 and President Hinckley with each of their wives were present for the conference. As missionaries, we had the opportunity on the evening of the 15th to have a special missionary meeting with them.

Because of this little bit of snow, we were not allowed to drive our car until it melted away!

The remainder of these photos are of scenery from around this area.

I was transferred from the Oak Ridge area on March 26, 1997.

The MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Provo, UT

I was called to serve in the Tennessee Knoxville Mission. I entered the MTC on December 4, 1996. My memories of the MTC are mostly as follows. The Spirit was VERY strong. We had a schedule that mainly consisted of eating, studying, attending classes and sleeping. We had the opportunity to attend the Provo Temple twice in the 2 1/2 weeks I was there. The group of missionaries that attended the classes with me (our District) was a great group. During our time there, we were not given a specific date as to when we would leave to go into the mission field until about a week before we left. This was due to how close Christmas was and there was a lot of discussion about whether we should go before or after Christmas. It was eventually decided we would go before, so we left the MTC on December 23, 1996. Brenda lived in Salt Lake City at the time and she met me at the airport. We had a short, but good visit before it was time to board the plane.

Memories

For the past few months I have been saying that I want to go through my old photos and scan them into my computer. I wanted to do this for a couple reasons. One, it is always fun to reminisce and another is to have a digital copy of the photos. Yesterday I decided to start with photos from my mission. I sat down and spread all the photos out on my living room floor. I organized them, starting with the MTC, then to each of the areas I served in (in chronological order). Before I knew it, I looked at the clock and it was midnight! Time just flew by and I only got through my photos of the MTC. I will post those today, then continue with each of the areas I served in. I hope this does not get too boring for all of you, but as most have said in the past, this is sort of like a journal, and even though I do keep a journal, this will be my digital version!