Miranda's off to Michigan : Blessings from on High

My dearest family and friends,

This week flew by! I'm already in the 2nd week of my new transfer and I can tell that this is going to be a quick one! My mission is picking up speed and I have no idea what I'm gonna do! Oh guess what I actually have 5 transfers left and not 4! I don't know how excited mom and dad are to hear that, but I feel a bit releaved to know that I have more time to teach the gospel and become a better servent of the Lord. This week was really great! We had rain, sunshine and humidity it was just a blessed week for us!

Monday: Sister Morrison and I had to pick up Sister Greene who stayed with us over night because of transfers. It was fun to be with Sister Greene again! She and I were together in Midland for 6 weeks then I was transfered out. It was a bit of a crazy P-Day thoguh because no one told us Sister Greene was going to stay with us so the Assistants called us and asked if we would do them a favor by picking her up at the mission office.... haha! Sorry Sister Green!

Tuesday: Sister Morrison and I took a trip out to this small one stop light town to go door knocking and we met this girl named Jordan! She is amazing and I just already have so much love for her. She is a firefighter and EMT! She attends church but not super often. She was so reponsive to us and I feel like she is so prepared to recieve the gospel! We are planning on following up with her this week!

Wednesday: Okay this is an awesome story! Sister Morrison and I gave up the car and we had a lesson to go to at a park about a mile away. We walked to the park and waited to have our lesson with Andrew. Andrew arrived and we started talking with him and then after a few minutes these dark clouds started to come in. It is amazing how swiftly the clouds move in. All 3 of us just sat there waiting for what we knew was going to be a down pour of rain. Now Andrew can't give us a ride cause well that's against the white handbook, but he didn't want to leave us so when it started to rain we all rain for the bathrooms because there is a roof and we stood under that with our bodies pretty much against the wall of the building. It was so funny! We waited a bit but it just kept coming. Andrew said, "Why is it that something bad always happens when I'm around you two?" Well when you try to do good there will be opposition. Luckily Sister Morrison and I were able to find a ride home and we were able to avoid the thunder and lightening. :D

Thursday: Sister Morrison and I waited for a bus for 70 minutes..... it was the worst! It's hard to be an effective missionary when you are waiting at a bus stop with no one there. I thought about talking to the people with their windows rolled down as they were waiting at the stop light but I didn't.... I think that might be a little creepy.

Friday: Oh my it rained!!! Sister Morrison and I always don't dress according to the weather. We were dressed for a hot humid day not a 70 degree rainy day! It was just super funny cause it seems to happen a lot, but we're blessed! It was funny because we sang "How Great Thou Art" and "Come, Come Ye Saints" as we were walking to our place. It really helps to remember that people are always looking at us and we are always representatives of Jesus Christ and that we always need to look that way so singing hymns is a great way to keep smiling even in the rain!

Saturday: We got in contact with a potential investigator we met about a week or two ago and we were able to talk with him a bit and we set up a time that we could come and meet with him this week! I'm super excited and I'm praying that his heart will be softened to receive the message that we have to share!

Sunday: We saw President and Sister Hess! This is their last week here. They leave for Utah on Saturday and President Jacobsen and his wife come on Friday! I am so sad to see President and Sister Hess leave, but I am so grateful for the things that they taught me and I look forward to learning from the Jacobsens. I knew this day would come but I didn't know it would come this fast!

Spiritual Thought: "Take up the cross, and follow me" Mark 10:21 This morning I studied about taking up the cross and what that means. I learned that it means to follow God's commandments and following our Savior. I thought about this and I thought how hard and long the road to perfection really is, but then the thought came about how lucky we are to have a Savior who has already gone through all that we have and will go through in our lives. When Elder Holland came to the mission he said life is hard work because "Salvation is not a cheap experience." He also talked about when we follow Christ we have trials because we said we'd follow him through everything and "the road to Salvation always goes through Gethsemane". There isn't any other way. We must feel what Christ felt in order to become instraments in the Lord's hands. I know that the pathway to discipleship is hard but I know that the reward is that much greater then the sacrifices we are asked to make. I love being a missionary no matter what it is that I am asked to go through. The Lord brings down blessings as we "Take us the cross, and follow him." In the name of Jesus the Christ, amen.

Love Always,

Sister Smith