Missions are INTENSE!!!!

Hey Familia and Friends!!!

    So you know how it is almost May well we are still in the 40s sometimes which is kind of a bummer so even when the sun is out you have to wear long sleeves so you can't get your awesome watch tan. :/ We've decided that Michigan would be a wonderful place to live if there was not wind. If wind did not exist in Michigan it would be a wonderful place, well winds above 10 mph cause you still need to fly a kite every once in a while. This week has been an intense week, but in missionary work what week isn't.

Monday: Sister Murri and I spent like all P-Day making Book of Mormon boxes for the Elders we serve with Elder Williams and Elder Ashton. Now these boxes are pretty awesome. We have and ITL holder inside and we put pens in them and they are also used as teaching tools while at door steps because of the pictures on them. The Elders have actually found pretty good success from using them.

Tuesday: We did some service for one of our investigators, Angie. In Lansing there was a huge ice storm and now that all the snow is gone you can actually pick up the massive branches that have fallen from the trees. We also had a lesson with our investigator Laura. Laura is Catholic and I'm pretty sure that she wants to convert us to her religion, but we will see what happens! The spirit was present hopefully she accepted it!

Wednesday: We had district meeting! I love district meetings!!! They are the best-est! We learned about extending commitments and following up with those that we teach! It was really good! Later that evening we also had a scripture study class and the Elders taught it! Elder Raun from my MTC group was on trade offs and they taught so well! It was great to see the growth of a missionary who came out the same time I did.

Thursday: We went door knocking this day and it was pretty crazy. The wind was cold and well I didn't have a jacket. Obviously I wasn't a very good boy scout because I didn't learn the motto "be prepared".

Friday: We helped set up for a genealogy event that was going to take place on Saturday and we door knocked.

Saturday: We got to help out at the genealogy thing! There were like 200 something people there and like 90% were not members! It was really neat actually to see how many people enjoy genealogy! I really am a lot more into family history now since my mission! It is super cool because my Ward Mission Leader printed out my fan chart and like almost all of it is filled out, but now I want to learn about the names on the chart! The church is true because of many things and family history is one of them!

Sunday: I went to a Catholic church along with going to ours. We went to a special Mercy mass thing. It was interesting..... It is nice to know where our investigator is coming from and we were able to ask questions so we can now better understand how to teach her and what her beliefs are.

Spiritual Thought:  Something that I learned this week is that sin destroys families. It is so important for us to strive to live the commandments and to teach our children to do the same. Satan is after the family in so many ways and I have been able to see that this week. Families are so important to our Heavenly Father and Satan knows that is where growth and development take place. Why do we find it so hard to keep the commandments? The natural man truly is an enemy to God. If there is anything that I can say to you all right now it is do everything in your power to follow the commandments and raise your families in the ways of the Lord. Sin is real, but the power of God triumphs over all things and sin is one of them. If you have sinned repent and feel renewed! The Atonement of Jesus Christ is real and it can heal you fully if you let it! I know that we can over come all things through Jesus Christ and we can have the strength to overcome the sins of the world. I love you all so much and I want you to know this, you are all loved greatly by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love Always,

Sister Miranda Smith 

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey-O!!!!

    I hope you all had a wonderful Easter and that you took the time to remember our Savior Jesus Christ and his resurrection and all that we are able to accomplish because of Him!

    So spring has finally arrived in Michigan and I am only that happiest little Michiganary ever!!! Everyone is a lot more friendly and not to mention our conversations are longer because frost bite isn't an issue anymore. I am able to wear short sleeves and no tights, high 60s has never felt so good!!!! I still walk outside sometimes and think that the cold wind is going to hit, but to my delightful surprise my skin takes in a nice ray of sunshine and the cool breeze is just oh so sweet! I am finally able to get a tan! Also the trees are starting to bud which mean the green is going to come back soon!!! Awww spring is a wonderful time of the year!

This is a report of my last week:

Monday- We went to the YMCA which was super fun! We enjoyed a nice friendly game of smack the Raquet ball as hard as you can and make sure it doesn't hit you! There was a lot of laughs!

Tuesday- Oddly enough it snowed on Tuesday..... I know the weather is just crazy here. We were also on trade offs so one of my Sister Training Leaders came to our area with Sister Flora and I, while Sister Murri went to MSU. While we were out door knocking a dog got loose and we had to chase it down.... oh the joys of missionary work!

Wednesday- We had interviews!!!!!!!!! I love interviews with my mission president! I just love President and Sister Hess! It was actually pretty sad because these were the last interviews that we will have with President Hess before he is released as our mission president. It just pulls at my heart strings knowing that they will be released soon, but I know that President Jacobsen will be great!

Thursday- We went door knocking a lot which was nice because the weather is nicer so we are a lot more excited to get out an work.

Friday- It is interesting how on Good Friday a lot of people didn't want to talk about their Savior. We talked with a lot of people who did not want to hear about Jesus Christ and His restored gospel which is actually really sad. It is sad when people don't want to share their testimonies of Jesus Christ with us.

Saturday- We went and saw one of our investigators Sarah. She is from Iraq and came to the USA a  few years ago. She is married and has 5 kids. We didn't know what to do so we knelt down and prayed. When we prayed I received the prompting to go to Sarah's because she needed our help. We decided to go and when we got there and started talking to her she said that she was so grateful we came! When we are there she says it feels different and she was having a busy day and we helped her by coming over! It was so amazing to see the Lord, put us exactly where we needed to be!

Sunday- I thought going contacting on Easter would not be so great but actually it wasn't bad at all! We met some really wonderful people and we had some really good conversations with people. None of the people we talked to were interested, but we were able to talk with people and explain more about the restored gospel!

Spiritual Thought- So this morning in my studies I was reading in 2 Nephi 1: 20. It talks about how if we keep the commandments we will prosper in the land and if we don't keep the commandments we will be cut off from the Lord's presence. This verse lead me to think that if we know that keeping the commandments will help us then why would we ever break them? That lead me to think "Why do we keep the commandments?" The scripture John 14:15 came to my mind "If ye love me keep my commandments" We keep the commandments because we love God, but that isn't all. We also have a hope that he will keep his promises that he has given us if we keep ours. Having hope leads us to having a greater faith. It is a cycle and charity is in the middle! Without Faith, hope and charity we really are nothing because we won't keep the commandments which means we will be cut off from the presence of God! What do we need in order to keep the commandments? Faith, Hope and Charity and if we have these attributes of Christ we will have a desire to keep the commandments which will ultimitly bring us more happiness and joy into our lives than we could ever imagine! In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love Always,

Sister M. Smith