Miracles!!!!!!

Hola Familia!

    This week we have been able to see the hand of the Lord and the love that Heavenly Father has for each of His children! This week was pretty much the bomb!

Monday: Sister Morrison and I got creative and started to play tennis in our apartment because it was raining outside. We got a video of it. It's pretty awesome. Don't worry nothing broke or even got close to breaking. We were super careful.

Tuesday: We walked a ton! It was super nice outside though so it was all good! Also we had a lesson with our investigator Angie and it was a good lesson. The member that we brought was wonderful! I am so grateful that we were able to have her come because she bore such a strong testimony of the gospel and the importance of reading the scriptures and praying! Members are the best!

Wednesday: We were about to go door knocking on a street that we had picked the night before, but we both didn't feel right about it so we prayed to see where else we should go. Durring the prayer a street came to our minds that we had selected to door knock later in the day. We decided to go door knock there and while door knocking we met a man named Andrew! So Andrews opened his door saying "Mormons!" haha! The best part is that he said he wasn't going to talk to us too long, but we ended up talking for about 45 minutes to an hour! We asked if he would want to meet with us and he said yes, but we can't be super professional and that we needed to be casuel and not read from the pamphlets.... We agreed. Andrew doesn't even know how prepared he is to receive the Restored Gospel! I really am praying that the Lord will continue to soften his heart and prepare us to be instraments in His hands to help Andrew!

Thursday: HALF MISSION P-DAY!!!!!!! It was totally wicked! We all had a ton of fun! We got to drive up to Mt. Pleasant with President and Sister Hess which is always a treat! We got to play games like ultimate frisbee and kickball and we did relays and races and it was just the best! We all got sun burned though for sure but is was great and I'm pretty sure a ton of us were sore after words as well! Also it was like the last time we'd have a big gathering with President and Sister Hess which was pretty sad. President almost cried while shouting "Hurrah for Israel"

Friday: Another super neat experience! While planning the night before Sis. Morrison and I felt that we needed to go to our investigator Sandy's house at a specific time. We weren't even there for 5 minutes and there is a knock at the door. It is one of Sandy's friends that she hasn't seen in like 3 years. Her friend stopped by because she was having a hard time because her father is dying. She was so thankful that we were there and she opened up and talked with us. She is leaving for Arizona this week to be with her father. We invited her to read the Book of Mormon before she said yes she asked us to just say in a few words why The Book of Mormon was important. Instantly thethought Moroni 10: 3-5 came to my mind. After we read that scripture she said that that was exactly what she needed. It was so powerful to be there and the spirit was so strong! God knows his children.

Saturday: Another super amazing experience. The night before in planning we prayed to know which street we needed to door knock at 1:00 to 2:00 and right away a street came to my mind. Ethel. While door knocking there no one was answering their doors or they weren't responsive, but the thought keep going came to my mind. As we were walking up the next drive way a man comes out his front door and says "You're an answer to our prayers!" He and his wife are members in AZ who are visiting their family in Michigan. They had been talking with their family and he said that she would be interested in reading the Book of Mormon. He asked us if we had a copy and we did. He said they'd been trying to find a way to contact the missionaries and well we just came to them! Two days in a row we had experiences where the Lord lead us to where we needed to be exactly at the time we needed to be there.

Sunday: Elder Dunagan of he area 70 came to sacrament and gave a talk about the Book of Mormon and it was wonderful! The spirit was there and you knew that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. It was an incredible meeting. I know the Book of Mormon is true!

Spiritual Thought: I think just from this week I really have gained a testimony of how important it is to plan as well as how important it is to follow the promptings of the spirit. The Lord knows who is prepared and where we need to be and at what time we need to be there. Heavenly Father is aware of all of His children and the things that they need and I feel so blessed to have been an instrament in the hands of God this week to help my brothers and sisters know that Heavenly Father loves them and knows them. I know that is true and that the Lord is here to help us through anything that we are going through. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love Always,

Sister Miranda Smith

Half mission P-Day!!!!  15 Sisters in Mnt. Pleasent!

Elder Patterson is in the middle. He goes home in like a week and he is from Boise, Idaho!!!! 

Elder Glendhill

More... Mosquito bites! 

Sister Murri

Potholes in Michigan

President and Sister Hess

The Elders!

I Found a Blue Balloon!!! Happy Day!

Mosquitoes, tans, and the gospel!!

Hey Hey Hey!!!!

   We are alive and well and enjoying the sunny muggy days in Michigan! Oh man I thought Arizona had a lot of mosquitos but let me tell you there are none in Arizona NONE!!! Michigan is full of the blood sucking insects and it is the worst thing ever!!!!!! They pretty much swarm you and try to kill you! We were door knocking yesterday and we got attacked by them!! It made missionary work just that much more complicated, but hey I love the gospel I promised that I would share it in any condition. We got through -33 degrees what's only about 100 mosquitoes around you compared to that?? Well here is my crazy week!!

Monday- We went to a going away/ Memorial day party for the Ruggieris. It was a lot of fun and a lot of people came out to the party which was great! They had invited a lot of their friends and members and it was a great missionary opportunity!

Tuesday- We had a Zone Conference!! We learned a lot about having the spirit with us so that we can become better teachers and better at finding those who are prepared to receive the restored gospel. I love Zone Conferences I feel like they are always exactly what we need and it is just the best thing ever! I love how inspired our leaders are and how willing they are to help us in the work!

Wednesday- We taught a scripture study class and it went really well!! The spirit was really there and it was amazing just to feel it so strongly when talking about the restoration of the gospel! In the class we used both the Book of Mormon and the Bible to support one another about the restoration and that is was prophesied in both of them!

Thursday- We had a good time door knocking and we meet some sweet people!

Friday- I was at MSU campus with Sister Brems! She is my sister training leader! She is great! MSU was fun but pretty empty! Lucky for us though we had 3 lessons scheduled so we weren't out finding for a lot of the time. It was really fun to be with her!

Saturday- Oh super neat experience! Sister Morrison and I had like a 3 mile walk to get to our destination where we were going to door knock and we wanted to make sure that we used that walking time to the best of our abilities! Well we decided to pray that the Lord would provide people for us to talk to while we were walking and well of course he did!!!! We were able to talk to like 10 people on the way to our neighborhood and the crazy part is that we talked to more people on the way there than we actually did while we were door knocking so it was really cool to know that the Lord is involved in everything!!!!

Sunday- Once again I just really love church and I am so grateful that I get that time to think of Christ while taking the sacrament!

Spiritual Thought- This week while in studies Sister Morrison and I were talking and we were talking about charity and how important it is to have charity. We talked about how it is because of the love that Heavenly Father has for us that he sent his son Jesus Christ to die for us and it is because of the love Christ has for not only us but for his Father that the Atonement was able to take place. It was the ultimate sign of love from both our Heavenly Father and our Savior. It made me think how all that we do is out of love for our Heavenly Father, our Savior and others. I just sat in studies for a moment and thought how much we all need to have charity for one another and it almost made me cry because I pondered about how much love Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have love for one another and how much love they have for me and all of God's children. I know that charity drives us to do righteous things for others and I know that we are so deeply loved by Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love Always,

Sister Smith  

Baking Cookies

Mosquito Bites!

Happy Memorial Day!!!!

Hey Hey Hey!!!!!

   I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying their 3 day weekend!! I feel like this week has been a pretty long week which is not usual. The weeks on the mission usually go pretty fast, but for some reason this week just seemed a bit longer than the others.

Monday- We accomplished everything that we needed to do and I still had time to play with a tennis ball in the apartment which is quite relaxing if you ask me.

Tuesday- Elder Holland, Hallstrom and Dunagan came to our mission to speak to us!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know crazy right! It was actually really neat! Elder Holland  is a funny man. We all got to shake their hands and it was amazing! You could feel the power of the spirit as you walked up to them and then they look into your eyes and pretty much stare into your soul. They said that all of us are doing great! I think like the best thing that happened was that Elder Holland like yelled, but not... just like how he gets a stern voice in conference and points a finger, yeah he did that to us! It was amazing though because I felt so much peace and was just so happy and excited! Nothing could bring us down that day!

Wednesday- We had dinner with a professional basketball player! She is the daughter of someone in the mission presidency! Her last name is Rasmussen and she played for Phoenix Mercury! How cool is that!!!!

Thursday- While on my mission I have learned a lot about family history and I am so excited to go home and to do it for my own family and take family names to the temple.

Friday- The ward had a picnic!! I love picnics!!! I love the Williamston ward as well! I really have learned that wherever you go you will always have a family there to love you and watch over you! It is such a blessing to know that!

Saturday- We went door knocking and that is about it.... We love door knocking!!!!!

Sunday- I love the sacrament and that is all I have to say about that!

Spiritual Thought- Today in studies I was reading in 2 Nephi 4 and two scriptures really stuck out to me, verses 20-21. I will tell you about verse 21. It states "He hath filled me with his love, even unto the consuming of my flesh." When I first read that I thought of the definition "to absorb the attention of", but as I looked a bit deeper into it something else caught to my eye. The word "flesh" stuck out to me. It could have been something else like soul but Nephi chose flesh. It made me think of Mosiah 3:19 "the natural man is an enemy to God" The natural man is flesh or our body. Another definition for consume is "to do away completely". I then thought of how the love of God can and will help us to "do away with completely" our natural man that we may not be subject to the flesh! I know that the love of God can help us overcome the natural man and that our spirits may have power over our bodies. I love this gospel and I know that it is true! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Love Always,

Sister Smith 

P.S quote from Elder Holland "I've got one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel!"

I think spring is finally here!!

Hi Ya'll!!!!

    I'm trying to think of what happened this week and things come to my mind, but then I am like hummm.... is that really that important or do I have the desire to write out that entire story. I think it is interesting the long I am on my mission the less I want to write long emails.... don't worry though I will still write them I will just make sure that the stories I write will be like the bomb! You know what I'm saying'? Okay anyways I'm a little tired so don't make fun of me for my strange comments!

Monday: It was raining like crazy here, but it made for a greener week which is nice!

Tuesday: We met with one of our investigators named Bob or Bro. Rusch! He is a pretty neat guy. He is having like a Job moment in his life though which is a bummer but he is willing to read and pray which is great. I know that the gospel would truly help him through his trials more than anything else.

Wednesday: Sister Morrison and I taught our scripture study class! We broke down Mosiah 4 and we found how we could find more peace and happiness in this life. It was actually a pretty good lesson. It is amazing how much you learn when you break down the scriptures and you have a question in mind.

Thursday: We had invited a woman a while ago to the family history center and we were finally able to meet with her there. The best part about this is that she was interested in why we are so involved in family history work and she wants to meet with us and learn more about it! This is one of the goals that we have this transfer which is to baptize someone through the efforts of family history!

Friday: We did a ton of service for our investigator Angie! The Elders were there to help which was great because it was some hard work. We had to dig up rocks then we have to take them to her back yard and empty the container out then go back and do it again. It wouldn't be so bad but we did it for like 2 hours and your arms start to get really tired. Elder Williams said "I'm going to have a heart attack!" and he was a wrestler in high school so the rest of us were beat.

Saturday: We contacted a ton of referrals because we finally had a car! We also ate with the Ruggieris and I just love that family! They also invited their neighbors over which is always great!

Sunday: We actually door knocked into this woman who is so prepared she just doesn't know it!! She was asking all these great questions that the gospel would answer but she wasn't willing to meet with us, but she did say that she might come to church and if she likes it she would meet with us!! We are hoping and praying that she comes to church!

Well I don't have much time left sorry!!!!!

I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week!!!!!!

RETURN WITH HONOR!!!!!!

Love Always,

Sister Smith

New Transfer and New Beginings!

Howdy!!!

   I hope that all the mothers had a wonderful mother's day and that they all got a nice breakfast in bed! Mothers are the best and I want to thank every woman whether they are a mother or not for their influence on the world! It is amazing what one woman can do and it is even more amazing what a lot of righteous woman can do! Thank you for always being loving and caring and for your wonderful examples!

   This week was a little different than most, but it was still a wonderful week!

Monday: I spent my day rearranging the apartment so that we would have a study room. We also bought giant white boards to put on our walls so that we could be more organized! White boards are the best!

Tuesday: I sent Sister Murri off to Bay City! I spent the rest of my Tuesday with the Lansing Sisters and they are hilarious and I loved that I got to spend about 24 hours with them and we had some good adventures. I learned that I can sort of kind of slightly beat box and it is pretty sweet!

Wednesday: I got to go to the airport and pick up my companion Sister Morrison!!!!! It was so cool to be able to go to the airport! I'm pretty sure it was like a once in a life time opportunity! We then spent the rest of the time going over some stuff. We got to go with the assistants to MSU and do some personal contacting there which was really neat. We also got to stay the night at the mission home!

Thursday: We spent half the day in training. Sister Morrison was the only missionary to come out this transfer so it was just she and I who got the training. It was crazy cause I was in trainer training with just President Hess and the assistants! We also got to eat lunch with them which was pretty sweet!

Friday: We got to work!

Saturday: This week we were with out the car and we walked a ton this day! We were able to meet a lot of great people though! It was such a nice day and tons of people were outside doing yard work and it was great because people are just so much happier when it is sunny outside and they are willing to talk unlike during the winter time!

Sunday: We got to call home!!!!

Spiritual Thought: I think I am realizing now more than ever that the Lord really does qualify who he calls. I can really feel the Lord help me recognize my weaknesses and help me to strengthen them. The Lord really does know us better than we know ourselves. Remember that if you ever receive a calling you think you can't hold up to remember that the Lord has called you to that calling for a reason and that through Him all things are possible. I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and all that he has done for me and all that I am able to do because of Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Love Always,

Sister Smith

Silly Sisters :)

Transfers!!!!

Hey everyone!!!

This is going to be very short because we have to be somewhere for transfers! This week didn't have a lot going on really. Sister Murri and Sister Flora were pretty sick this week so we had to stay in for a while which is always a bummer for the healthy one. Sister Murri and I did study some deep doctrine though which is always fun! Sister Murri and I were able to go out just me and her because Sister Flora was feeling sick still so that was really cool to be in a duo for the day!

I am staying here in Lansing for this transfer which I am pretty excited about because I don't have to go through the stresses of packing!!! HaHa!!! I do have to organize and clean our apartment though which is kind of a bummer but I am super happy that I will be having a nice clean apartment! I will also be going down to a duo this transfer as well which I am pretty excited about!

Our investigators are pretty sad to see Sister Flora and Sister Murri leave and we got some great pictures with people from the ward and who we are teaching and I will send some of those to you next week!!!

Well I have got to go but thank you all for you prayers and for your missionary efforts wherever you are!!! The Lord loves all of you very much!!!! Have a wonderful week!!!!!!

Love Always,

Sister Smith