Dylan Smith

I was born in American Fork, Utah but moved around for most of my life. I have lived in Illinois, Kentucky, Ohio, Oklahoma, and moved back to Utah since then. That instilled a love adventure and people in me that has shaped my life since then. I love trying new things, whether it's sports, food, or music. My greatest passion is playing guitar, and I have had the opportunity to perform and tour with multiple bands in both the United States and Europe. When I moved back to Utah during high school I didn’t feel like I had a single group of friends with my time being split between volunteering in the National Honor Society, service in the Alpine Youth Council, playing on my school's Ultimate Frisbee team, and doing Academic Decathlon. While I might not have had my own clique, I am grateful for the skills that my life has given me in meeting new people and making friends quickly. I feel like I can identify with people from a wider variety of backgrounds because of it. While I do like to be busy and participate in a variety of groups and activities, my highest priority is family. I love them and try to spend as much time with them as I can. They have been the biggest influence on the person I am today, and I feel deeply grateful for their example to me of selfless love and service.

I served as a missionary of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for 2 years from August 2022 to August 2024. I served in the Kansas Wichita Mission, including parts of Colorado and Oklahoma. I was moved around more than the average missionary in Kansas, but this allowed me to know and love a large variety of people. I was assigned to speak Spanish but also learned to teach in Haitian Creole due to the large number of Haitian immigrants. I served as a Zone Leader and trained several missionaries, giving me hands on leadership experience in both group and individual settings.

Since returning from my mission, I have been attending a young single adult ward in my area where I have been called as an Elders Quorum Teacher. I was called in October of 2024 and have loved the unique opportunity to study and prepare on the behalf of other people. I have felt so much love for the members in my quorum as I have served them and gotten to know them individually. I often feel that I learn more from them then they learn from me, although I do give 100% in preparing lessons and application activities during the week. After a few months of this calling, I was assigned a companion teacher and have learned and grown even more as I have learned to expand on my skills and abilities to complement those of my fellow teacher. My communication, organization, and cooperative abilities have multiplied. I love being around people and serving them, and I love to work hard and have fun while doing it.