Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel - Push Along

Tue, Jun 21, 2011

"Our week went really well, A lot of things happened really fast and we were able to see Joe and Paulette be baptized with two of the kids!  That was amazing, and I'm really sorry we didn't have time to go to our apartment so I can't send pictures.  The Daniels have investigated the Church for forever, and members of the ward even pitched in to but the three kids quads and Paulette and buy Joe the XLG print trio + bible, and I took a video of that on my camera.

Mon, Jun 27, 2011
This is the picture Elder Austin Smith wasn't able to send last week of the Daniel family's baptism.  The family had asked members of the ward to perform the baptism.

Wed, Jul 13, 2011
"It's a miracle to see what ward fellowship does to help our investigators progress towards baptism, it is VERY important."

Mon, Jul 18, 2011

We received this letter in the mail this afternoon and read it together during FHE.  Elder Austin Smith is so not about being in the spotlight.  He didn't even mention this in his weekly email. 

Instead this is part of what his letter said and in regards to his new 'greenie' companion -

"This week has been great!  We got twenty lessons, I don't know how.  My companion is very ambitious, we've been setting goals on how many Books of Mormon we're going to give away, and it's been going very well.  We're planning on going to a real estate office today to organize our area more, something I've been meaning to do for a while.  I guess we will see what happens - Elder Lopez sees opportunity in everything, it's really neat."

He also included,  "Caleb Daniels is getting baptized this Saturday."  (He is the son of the Daniel's family shown above that wasn't baptized last month at the same time as his dad, mom and other two siblings).

You Are Hereby Called To Serve . .

You are hereby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You are assigned to labor in the Washington Seattle Mission!

(I added the ! mark)




This is not a very good picture of the area his mission covers. I scanned it in from the paperwork because there wasn't anything better to be found online.

The Story of the Mission Call
Austin opened his call in his dormroom at BYU with guys from his hall crowding the doorway and his Grandma Swensen in Michigan and his family in Florida watching via video SKYPE at 11:30pm on Wednesday, March 24, 2010!!!

He had a Computer Programming take home midterm he was working on that was due at 9pm Utah time and it took every last minute. Austin texted earlier in the day, "It's here!" Then proceeded to ask us how late we were willing to stay up for him to open it. The answer - we're up and waiting til whenever! (like we could go to sleep!)

We had the video camera rolling on the computer screen. When he opened the call and began to read and said, "you are hereby called to serve in the Washington Seattle Mission," I thought he was trying to be funny and playing a joke on us.

I haven't watched the video of it all but I'm pretty sure I was waiting for him to reread it for reals and then finally said, "are you serious?" "are you joking?" It took me only a moment to realize it was for real.

Austin is excited. We are excited for him. He is going to be an awesome missionary! He has a testimony of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and his plan for us here on the earth. It has always been a guiding force in his life.

There are some interesting things surrounding Austin's mission call to this mission. As I have related this to different individuals in telling them where he will be going - I have had (4) of them tell me it has given them the 'chills.' A good feeling!

1. John grew up in Washington. His whole family lives in Washington state - his two sisters, his brother and his mom. Along with many other relatives. We go there every year to visit. In a lot of ways it is our second home. When I got to UT to see Austin I got to look at the map more closely. I had to call John right away. His sister & family and niece in Puyallup, WA will be within Austin's mission boundaries!

2. We lived in Issaquah, WA for 4 1/2 years from the time Austin was 18months old until he was 6 years old (almost 14 years ago). Issaquah, WA is also part of his mission.

3. Just this past weekend during General Conference, Phillip Bussey, who was our bishop when we lived in Issaquah, WA and has since been a stake president, was called as a new Area Seventy. (It was a couple of months ago that somehow John had looked something up and saw he was a stake president, still in the area working for the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. All before Austin got his call.)

It will be exciting to see the events of the next two years unfold and the years to follow as Austin serves the Lord. This has been an opportunity for me to put my faith in the Lord and in his wisdom of all things.

Still Waiting!

We are still waiting for Austin's mission call. We thought by all calculations that it should have arrived yesterday. It looks like we will be waiting for another whole week. Wednesdays are the day they are delivered in Provo, UT. Patience is a virtue. It's a virtue I'm still working on!

Where In The World Will Austin Go?

We are on pins and needles - high anticipation mode as we wait for Austin's mission call to arrive sometime this week! Austin is saying it will arrive on Wednesday. The Cannon Center at BYU actually calls you to let you know your mission call has arrived in the mail. Can't get better service than that.

I've been taking an 'unofficial' email poll. I tallied up the results and they look something like this:
Here they are:
((2) Africa
(2) Australia
(2) Greece
(2) Mexico
(4) Japan
(4) Argentina
(6) S. America (not incl. Argentina - Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uraguay, Peru, S. America in general)

Other guesses:
CA; Ohio
Louisville-KY or C. America
N or NEast US
Albania
Haiti
Europe
Madrid Spain
Italy
Austin, TX; Nova Scotia; Finland;
Canada, Germany or Russia




One of my favorite books is "Oh the Places You'll Go!" by Dr. Seuss. At the end of the book it says:
"So . . . be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea, you're off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting. So . . . get on your way!"

Austin, we know where ever you go in life - today or tomorrow you will go places! Oh, the places you'll go! You are awesome. We are blessed to be your parents and family.

I'm Thankful . . . Austin's home for Thanksgiving!

We are thankful to have Austin home for Thanksgiving! It has been great to get those big bear hugs again!

Macey wrote in her letter to Riley this week, "Austin came home he's leaving to go back to Utah on Friday just to tell you Riley, Austin is stronger than ever after prayer a couple day ago Austin gave me such a big hug that it felt like he broke my rib but my rib cage is fine."

Catching Up IS Hard To Do!

There just never seems to be enough hours in the day to do all we want to do and get done. I can't believe it's been 3 months since I have posted on our blog. I was doing so good there for awhile. I still have a lot of catching up to do but I wanted to update a few things so none of you would give up on me. I kept thinking I'd have a day where I could just spend it updating the blog. Hasn't happened. So tonight when I couldn't sleep I decided I'd better just make a stab at it. Maybe I'm slow (or my computer is), but I've already spent a couple hours and hardly made a dent. See what I mean - so much to do (or wanna do) and so little time.

We've had a lot going on just not enough time to tell all about it. Our spur-of-the-moment vacation to Georgia, Parker & Macey starting school (they missed the 1st day), going to Provo, UT to get Austin settled out at BYU and then back home to get Riley ready to leave on his mission to Albania. We got to have Grandma Swensen and Grandma Smith come for a visit and then John & I went with Riley to Washington to see Grandma Lois and all our family there. Then on to Provo, UT again to 'literally' drop Riley off at the MTC (Missionary Training Center). It is like the car line at the elementary school. You pull up, unload and drive away.

It's hard to believe Riley has been a missionary for almost a month now. He is doing great! He's the district leader. He's positive, enthused and teaching us a few words in Albanian each week.

Eagle Scout #2

Oh, the drawbacks on being the 2nd child. Austin had to wait until Riley was finished with his Eagle project before he could get going on his (because his mother's sanity hinged on one-at-a-time). Then when it was all said and done he had to wait on his mom again to pull the Eagle Court of Honor together just before he headed off to college. Good thing for deadlines!

For his project he helped make some improvements to the church building that the Immokalee Spanish Branch was renting for church. You did a great job. We are proud of your dedication and discipline.

Lacking Wisdom!

Austin had all (4) impacted wisdom teeth removed last Thursday. He is so 'not' enjoying life at the moment. He is still swollen and sore today - four days after. If he's not more improved tomorrow we will go back in to have them take a look.

Trying to be ahead of the game for college, mission and life in general.

Parker & Cub Scouts

We haven't had regular Pack Meetings until recently. Parker had earned his Bear badge, (1) gold arrow and (5) silver arrows. He has been a Webelos scout since Feb 2009. Got to be busy doing that. We love you, Parker, and are happy for your accomplishments.

I was so good with Riley and Austin - I was a part of every step of the way from Bobcat to Webelos. I did most every thing with them. Parker hasn't had quite the same attention. I'm sorry, Parker. I'll try to be better about helping you!





What could make a dad more proud than (3) great individuals - with individual talents, strengths, strong scout ethics and strong testimonies of Jesus Christ.

Earning $$ Anyway, Anyhow!

Austin hasn't gotten the hours he would hope during the summer so everytime there's any extra job he can do to earn a little extra - he's game. We had some friends going to be out of town. They live in the 'estates' which means 'out-of-town' a ways - and needed their lawn mowed.

Seemed easy enough as they had a riding lawn mower. It took a little tinkering is all and the ability to handle getting a little dirty!

Registering for BYU

Here is Riley spending a few moments to impart some of his 'college' wisdom with Austin on registering for classes. You can see what they think about my picture taking!

Happy Father's Day - John!

We always seem to need to get up and moving after Sunday afternoon naps. We don't make it a habit of going to the beach on Sunday, but every once in awhile it sounds like a good family time activity.

John had suggested that we go to the beach to watch the sunset. There was a good little breeze so it kept the humid feeling away a bit. We got there a little too early this time so we enjoyed ourselves but ended up not staying 'til the sun went down.

Happy Father's Day - John!



We told Parker & Macey they could go in up to their knees. They obeyed (for once) but sat down to experience the full effect of the waves! The beach itself with the wind, water and view was peaceful. The drive to the beach, however, with Parker & Macey exchanging jabs in the back seat was not! Life - gotta love it.

Austin's Graduation!

Our 'happy-to-be graduated' graduate and his family - Riley, Parker, Austin - graduate himself, Dad-John, Mom-Melanie and Macey.

Austin and his dad. Having them side-by-side in this photo I really can see the resemblance between them.

Austin and his Grandma Swensen. We are so glad she is able to come and share these once-in-a-lifetime moments with us.

Grandma Swensen ironing Austin's graduation 'gown.' She didn't melt it this year! Last year when she went to iron Riley's she melted a hole in it! Being the awesome and very talented Grandma that she is she was able to save the day last year by sewing the hole in a small seam and fixed it right up.

Austin's Last Band Shindig

Thursday, May 14, 2009 was the last band concert and the next night was the band awards night where the seniors get to give their last will and leave something to those left behind.




Austin had bought Riley a superhero - 'Morman' t-shirt that became Riley's superhero nickname amongst his friends. He 'willed' it to Austin at the end of his senior year. Austin in turn 'willed' it to a friend of his, Brennan Egbert, that is another 'Morman' himself. The tradition lives on.

For his really good friends he bought 'Navy Seal' knives - real ones off ebay! One of his friends collects knives. I was a little apprehensive so I emailed parents and got their permission. I wanted them to sign off and know what their kids had in their possession. We DID NOT hand these out at school!

His other friend who doesn't like knives but loves the Boston Red Sox received a NY Yankees hat and a lighter. Got to love Austin's originality and creativity!

Austin - Senior Awards Ceremony

They have an awards ceremony for the Seniors each year. They announce student scholarships, school awards and present National Honor Society members with their stole. He received the Florida Academic Scholars Award and was also 1 of 6 seniors awarded GCHS Pride Award in Science.

Austin has been awarded a $410/semester scholarship from BYU-Idaho. He also achieved the highest level for the Florida Bright Futures Scholars. If he were to stay and go to a Florida Public Institution he would have 100% tuition and fees paid plus $225 per semester for college expenses for four years.

He has decided, however, to attend BYU-Utah which was always his first choice.