Monday, December 9, 2013

We have been so BLESSED!!!!

Hey Everyone!!!
This week has been pretty epic!! We have been just so blessed! Sister Whipple and I had so much fun and we are having a great time! 
Monday- It was Sister Whipple's Birthday and we went out and celebrated at Ruby Tuesdays with the other sisters serving in Midland. 
Tuesday- We picked up a new investigator named Andrea. She is 15 and the daughter of our other investigator Eulene! We are hoping that they will help each other progress in the gospel. 
Wednesday- We met a man named Bob and he was a pretty nice guy. He talked to us for a while and then we talked about the spirit world which is always a great topic because so many people are interested in the after life. We actually gave him a tour of the nativities this morning and we gave him a Book of Mormon. We are not sure exactly where it will go, but we know that he has been offered to learn more about the gospel and that is really what we are here to do as missionaries. 
Thursday- We taught Dakota Toronjo! We just love them! Dakota is progressing so well and she is understanding the gospel so much better! She had not concept of God before we met her and now she is understanding the covenants she will make at baptism and it is just so amazing to see the changes that the gospel can bring into someones life. 
Friday- This day was only the most epic day in the history of epicness!!!! On Thursday we received a media referral from church headquarters which does not happen too often, but we got one. This referral came from someone named Ashley and she lived like way out on the boarders of our ward boundaries, crazy thing though we had planned to go up that direction on Saturday, so what we did was just move it up a day. So we do not have a GPS so we had to use a good ole map to find this place and boy was it fun!! Anyways, they Ashley lives in a little cabin by the lake in the middle of like no where. She just got married to her husband Michael. So we got to their house and we did not know really what to expect, but we started to talk about the church and we gave them the restoration lesson. They were so excited to hear about the Book of Mormon. They have been to a ton of churches and have been searching for the right one. We invited them to be baptized and they said yes!!!!!!!! It was amazing!! These two people are so prepared and Sister Whipple and I just feel so blessed and privileged to have the opportunity to teach them! We are so excited!!! 
Saturday- We taught both Austin and Dakota about tithing! It is always fun teaching them. They are both progressing very well and Austin has his baptism coming up soon! He will be baptized hopefully on December 22!! We love them!!!
Sunday- Ashley and Michael came to church!!!!! It was awesome!! We had 4 investigators at  church and it was just amazing!!! They were also able to go through and see all the nativities. They said that they felt really welcomed and that they truly felt the love of Christ here. I was just so happy to hear that!!! 
      Sister Whipple and I are just so grateful for this week and everything that happened. Thank you all for your prayers and your personal efforts in missionary work!! 
I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season and that we can all remember the true meaning of Christmas which is Christ. We all have a Savior who loves us and is there for us. Remember to rely upon the Atonement for anything. We truly have been given the greatest gift from our Heavenly Father and we need to share that with others. I know that as we share the gospel with those we love we will be able to remember the true meaning of Christmas and feel the love of our Savior and those around us. 
I love you all so much and once again thank you for all that you do!! Keep Moving Forward!!!! Also something that I love is Do not be at ease in Zion. Remember that there is much work to be done!! 
Love Always, 

Sister Miranda Smith