My farewell

I just want to start out by saying thanks to each one of you who came to support me! I was so happy to see all of your faces and I cant wait to see them all again! Thank you for writing those little notes that I will hold dear to my heart on my mission! Also, thank you for all of your presents that will help me. When I walked up to the stand, I could feel my heartbeat in my eyeballs because I was very nervous and there were so many eyes watching me! I thought that I would be used to it because at my golf tournaments, there were many eyes watching me as well. But when I started to speak all that worry and stress went away! It was amazing how greatly I felt the spirit and I am thankful that I got to share everything I wanted to say with you guys. My family did so much to prepare for my farewell, they probably prepared more than I did! You can probably notice that by all of the decorations, food, posters, and slideshow that they had out. I am so thankful for them. You guys made my farewell such a good and fun experience for me and I loved it. My farewell was everything that I pictured it to be! Right after everyone left our house, President Lew and Bishop Estes came over to our house and they set me apart as a Missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints two days early. But it was amazing because it really helped me change my thinking about life and it helped me realize that it's time to go and serve. President Lew gave the most powerful blessing to me that I will never forget. The blessing said all that I needed to hear. As I said in my talk, I cannot wait to go to the people in Peru and share this gospel with them. Thanks again for all of your support and I love all of you guys.
Elder Smith

Me with most (not all) of my cousins!