Not Eternity Week!!!!

Dearest Family and Friends! 

  How is everyone doing?? I hope all is going well wherever you may be! Can you believe that Christmas is only 17 days away! Wow how time flies!! That is seriously so crazy!! I hope that you all have had the chance to watch the He is the Gift video produced by the church! It is so wonderful and I just love it!!!! If you haven't seen it take the 3 minutes to watch it then share it with everyone else!! :D

Monday: Oh man! We have a very crazy P-Day! We were running around like mad people! We did however get to ride in the transfer van which is always the greatest! Also I saw Sister Morrison!!!!!! It was a complete gift to see her!!!! It's funny because I've just been praying to see her before I leave and I got to!!! Heavenly Father sincerely cares about the small and simple things of our lives! 

Tuesday: Alright, I was in a trio on MSU campus with Sister Tate, Sister Chisholm and I and we personal contacted on campus all day long..... lets just say it was a tiring day. Oh funny story we were door knocking apartments and we talked to this guy named Franco and he really was not interested in what we had to say so after talking to him just a bit we said bye and walked down the hall to knock on another door but we realized that they had shouted "Go Away" earlier at us so we walked back towards his apartment. As we knocked on another door we heard Franco say "THey're sisters! That's why they're so religious, they can't find a man!" Sister Tate looks at us and says "We're not nuns!" I about died from laughing! I had to actually leave the hallway so they couldn't hear us laugh! it was a great moment! Memories! 

Wednesday: We got to go to the hospital and take a break from PCing which we were really grateful for! We sang Christmas hymns to people in the hospital which was very sweet but I still find hospitals a little eerie.... that's just me though. 

Thursday: We finally got to pick up our new companion!!!!!! YEAH!!!! Her name is Sister Lau! She is from Buckeye AZ which is awesome! She was born in England which is pretty sweet and her dad is from Hong Kong! Haha her first time door knocking we knocked into this man who totally criticized the Book of Mormon and denied Sister Chisholm's testimony..... now if that doesn't break you in I don't know what will! She is great though! 

Friday: We got to walk through the Midland Nativity Exhibit with our investigator Jason! He loved it which was great! And we loved it as well! It seriously was amazing. I've already seen it and this year it was just great again! I would love to come back to Midland every year to see it! You feel the spirit of Christmas so much it is amazing! It has a special spirit. 

Saturday: I just want to say that the weather in Michigan has been amazing and I'm pretty sure Heavenly Father is giving us all a break because of last year and I am so eternally grateful for this blessing of high 30s! I mean I don't really even have to wear tights! When I come home it's shorts and a short sleeve! We also helped at the Nativity that night as well! 

Sunday: We had a wonderful fast and testimony meeting with both of our wards!!! Awww can I just tell all of you how much I love Midland. It seriously is my home away from home! I love the wards and the people and I don't want to leave it! I just love Midland Stake! I'm pretty sure I'm just going to come back and live here (sorry mom and dad) :D Also I realized that this was my last fast and testimony meeting on my mission...... what the!!! I was fighting so much about getting up but my heart was beating and I couldn't hold it back any longer! I just had to share one last time and it was with everyone that I love so it was a sweet treat that my Heavenly Father gave me. 

Spiritual Thought: I hope that you all enjoyed the Christmas Devotional last night, I know I did! It was so great! I loved the songs the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sang! It brought a very sweet spirit into the chapel. I wanted to talk about a thought that came to me while watching. It was "Service heals the wounded Soul" I have learned so much about serving others while on my mission. It is one of the greatest healing balms ever. There is nothing quite like forgetting yourself and helping another one of God's children. We can be the Savior's hands while we are here in mortality. I feel like service is one of the greatest things that our Savior was an exemplar of. He served everywhere he went and as disciples of Christ we are invited to do the same. I know that our hearts will be filled and the cracks that we may feel during this season or anytime of the year can be healed and mended by our loving service towards our fellow brothers and sisters. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love Always, 

Sister Smith 

Grateful in any Circumstances!

Dear Family and Friends! 

  As you feasted this Thanksgiving I hope that we were all able to feast upon the words of Christ. There is a quote that goes "You don't have to read your scriptures everyday just only on the days that you want to eat." We always remember to feed our stomachs now we need to always remember to feed our spirits! 

This week was a little bit of a crazy one but all things are well and in working order! Take a peak into my week! 

Monday: We played volleyball as a district and that was seriously so much fun! We played for a few hours. I'm surprised it didn't get really intense because we have a lot of competitive people but we didn't keep score just like that whitehand book says and I really think that helped us out. Haha we all had the most red arms but we all were laughing! The p-days are so great! 

Tuesday: This day was a little nuts too! We had to get our oil changed and tire rotated for our car in the middle of the day so we were car less for like 4 hours, but luckily we got it back but the late afternoon which is a lot faster then we thought and we were able to continue in full force our missionary efforts in Midland! haha! 

Wednesday: We had our final district meeting of the transfer which is always sad but fun because we get to take pictures and things like that. We had one of the most amazing lessons though! It was seriously so great! It was with Jason! Every single time we teach him I'm pretty sure I get taught more then him! We had a church tour with him and he loved it! He loves the way he felt while he sat in the chapel. We talked about the sacrament and why it's important and we also talked about fasting and how he could fast about how to help his wife understand and accept him being taught by the missionaries. Sister Chisholm and I walked away from the lesson just in aww of Jason and his desire to truly come unto Christ. #soblessed! 

Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!!!! Alright we went door knocking and my experience was not like last years! We met this super nice woman named Janice, she wasn't interested but she was just so kind and it was just nice not to get yelled at. The actual feast part of Thanksgiving was wonderful! We had it with recent converts in our ward who we are love! Sister Chisholm and I helped make some of the food as well. We also watched The Restoration with them. It really was great! There was so much food! Oh and I only went to one dinner. I don't think I could handle two anyways. But this is not all to our Thanksgiving festivities..... We came home from our dinner appointment to grab bike helmets for the elders and well... we came home to a flooded kitchen and soaking wet carpet! Grateful in any circumstances for sure! Sister Chisholm and I walked through the door and just started to laugh because we didn't know what to do! After laughing and wondering what we should do we called the district leader. We had a full clean up crew! Oh man it was seriously so funny! we did not know anything. We finally called the maintenance people who came and checked it out. They called this water sucker guy and he came and sucked the water out of our carpet at 12:30 in the morning..... it was a long night to say the least and we're still expected to wake up in the morning at 6:30. Lets just say we've been praying for patience and we got it! :D

Friday: Our apartment is a huge mess and we have to weekly plan with people coming in and out of our apartment.... haha! It was kind of hard to focus and on top of it all we had transfer calls which already gets you a little uneasy. Luckily we got our phone call after an agonizing wait we found out that Sister Chisholm and I will be staying together and that we will be training together til I get transfered. We are super excited about it and look forward to the time that we have together! It's going to be great! 

Saturday: We got a new investigator!!!! Yeah!!!! We are so excited! It is a guy named Jared. He has two kids they are 6 and 3. We gave him a chruch tour which went well. He also got to meet members from the ward which was great! Unfortunately... he works on Sundays.... we're glad he has a job but we're going to have to help him find a way to get to church! :D Prayer is a powerful thing! 

Sunday: It was so great to go to church and take the sacrament. I love the testimony that I have been able to build on my mission for the sacrament it truly brings me peace into my heart as I take it and remember my covenants and Savior. We had a really good lesson with our investigator Penny! We really focused on using the scriptures and testifying to what they say and it brought great power to our lesson and it was wonderful. It reminds my of one of my favorite scriptures 2 Nephi 33:10 which talks about the Book of Mormon being the words of Christ! I know the scriptures are true! 

Spiritual Thought: In my studies I have been reading a lot about the wars in the Book of Mormon and what I have been getting from them a lot is that it is so important to be prepared for the things to come! It is so important that we prepare for what is so come. It also helps to listen to the prophet's voice who is the mouth piece of God. I know that it is so important to prepare and that by listening to the prophet we can be more prepared for the things which are to come. Follow the Prophet! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love Always, 

Sister Smith 

And so it begins.....

Hey Family and Friends!!! 

And so it begins..... hats, boots, gloves, layers, Christmas carols, snow ball fights and.... come back after the holidays..... :D 

The struggle is real during the holiday season! Everyone gets really busy with all this holiday stuff when really all we want to do is share a wonderful message about Jesus Christ! Luckily we are part of this thing that they church is doing called He is the Gift! We get to pass out cards and talk about this which is wonderful because so many people here in Midland love Christ so we are going to try to help them receive the fullness of his gospel in that way!! YEAH!!!!! 

Monday: We had dinner with the Jenkins and that was super fun! They have a ton of little kids and I kind of forgot what it was like to have so many kids running around a house and being well like a family! I love the chance that I get as a missionary to be in a home with families from our ward and learn from them and see how to have a gospel centered family! Members are so wonderful. Remember how much the missionaries look up to you and all that you do! 

Tuesday: Oh man we had an amazing one-third mission event! The spirit was so strong and I just loved it so much!!! I learned a ton too! We learned to practice teach better so that we could improve our finding. We also learned how to plan lessons more effectively. We talked a lot about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and how it is important that we represent our Savior in everything that we do! I am so blessed to be surrounded by great missionaries who desire to serve the Lord and who are doing all that they can to become better people. I love getting together in large groups of missionaries. Oh also we sang the song "Because I have been Given Much" but we added a verse to it that goes....

Because of thy life's mission Lord I too will serve

I'll leave the comfort of my home to teach thy word

I'll seek thy sheep who've gone astray and those who've never known the way

I'll make thy work my work today

It brought the the spirit so strongly and I know that missionary work is part of God's plan to help all of us come unto Christ! 

Wednesday: Oh man a lot of our lessons cancelled on us and that was a bummer because it was kind of cold and snowy... We also went to check on someone in our area book and oh man they think that we are confused and that we are on the wrong path. Not gonna lie when those things happen I love the opportunity I get to testify of the truth and of Joseph Smith as a prophet of God. I know that this gospel is true, this is Christ's church on the earth today. 

Thursday: We helped one of our investigators put of their Christmas lights and boy was it cold!!! The sun was out luckily but that wind went straight to the bone for sure! We have a lot of fun setting up lights and enjoying time getting to know Sister McCormick better. She is so sweet and we just want her to be baptized! 

Friday: We walked into an interesting man.... I'm not exactly sure how to describe him.We were talking and he said that he was too busy to talk to us. I told my that busy meant B: Being U: under S: satan's Y: yield. He laughed at it and said it wasn't true but I think it totally is.  He was kind to us but just kept saying that we were wasting our time talking to him. I've decided that when you're sharing the gospel to someone who is still talking to you your time is never wasted. I just do my best to keep talking to them. People are so funny and great! 

Saturday: I GOT TO WALK IN A PARADE!!!! My mission has given my so many awesome opportunities!!! I love it!!! We got to walk in the Santa Parade and it was super kind of cold but it was so fun! We passed out flyers for the Midland Nativity Exhibit and we passed out candy! It was seriously so fun and we just smiled and waved and well spread Christmas cheer! It was so wonderful! 

Sunday: We met a former investigator and it was great! She wasn't really interested in learning more but she loves the standards that the church has set. We talked to her about the For Strength of Youth and Personal Progress and how it helps us to become better mothers and fathers and that really interested her. We're hoping that that will spike her interest again. Whatever way the gospel helps! ;D 

Spiritual Thought: In Alma 49 in verse 3 it says "Behold, I said that the city of Ammonihah had been rebuilt. I say unto you, yea, that it was in part rebuilt; and because the Lamanites had destroyed it once because of the iniquity of the people, they supposed that it would again become an easy prey for them." This made me think about how when we make mistakes we can be rebuilt through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That damage that has been made because of our past iniquity or the past iniquity of others can and will be repaired through the Atonement. I am so grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ and that we can be forgiven and healed. I know that we can be rebuilt and become a new city that is fortified against the fiery darts of the adversary. The power of the Atonement is real and it can heal even the deepest wounds. Come unto Christ and be healed through His infinite sacrifice which is there for all of us to partake of every single day of our lives. The debt has already been paid, it is our choice to accept it or not.  In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love Always, 

Sister Smith 

Time is a tickin'

Dear Amigos!!! 

   So we have a new rule in the mission that we can only email for 90 minutes so that is why the subject is that. We also got the rule that we will not be allowed to drive cars on Saturdays... lame but blessings will come from being obedient. Sometimes we don't always understand why but we do it because we know that others know better than us. So this week we great just like every week and well I learned a lot and got spiritually fed a lot as well! 

Monday: We had a totally awesome FHE with a member. She is amazing and is really strong. She's had a lot go on in her life recently and she was just so grateful that we could come over and share that time with her. I also gained a stronger testimony of how important it is to always have FHE!!! When the family gets together after evening work is done we learn to love each other by popping corn and having fun!!! (I think that is the lyrics I could totally be wrong) 

Tuesday: We had a lesson with our potential investigator named Hunter and it was great! He listened intently and the spirit was really there. He said that he had a few questions but that though out the lesson we had answered them. The member that we took with us, Sister Savage, asked what those questions were and he said "Why would I need the Book of Mormon?" and "How could the Book of Mormon help me?" It was amazing! I love finding people who are interested in the Book of Mormon because then you know that they are prepared!!! The elect resonate with the Book of Mormon! We also had dinner with a new couple in our ward and we love them! They are awesome! They actually just moved here from Tacoma Washington and Kelly Muro served in their ward and they had a picture of him on their refrigerator! That world is so small especially if you are a mormon!  

Wednesday: We had dinner with the pierce family and I just want to comment on how polite their boys were. They are 14, 12 and 9! They responded well to questions and they didn't argue with their mom and also they took our plates away after eating. It was just great! I want my kids to be that polite that would just be marvelous. 

Thursday: Alright, this was our first full day on bikes this week and boy was it cold!!!!!! Our toes were about to fall off they were so cold. As we were door knocking we just kept thinking "oh man it is going to get colder and this is only the beginning." I honestly don't know how I made it through last winter. Whenever anyone asks I just say "by the pure grace of God," which is very true. I wouldn't have been able to if I didn't have a testimony of the gospel and angels round about me the entire time! 

Friday: We met with the Woods family and we watched some Mormon messages and holy cow they are amazing! The church is really using technology to make the world a better place and I love it! There is a new video called "You don't Know" and it really is amazing and it brings tears to my eyes just about every time I watch it! The Lord truly knows what we need to do and we are made instruments in his hands more then we think! 

Saturday: We had stake conference adult session and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong and I was spiritually fed so much! I came away with tons of notes and having a greater desire to do better. It was also great because we were able to see Pres. Jacobsen and he called all the missionaries serving in the stake to come up and sing "Called to Serve" it was really powerful and it almost, key word, almost started to cry but I didn't because we have reason to rejoice and no need for tears! 

Sunday: Cool thing. Sister Chisholm and I got to eat lunch with Tilah Parker who is the sister of Jabarie Parker an NBA player who was quoted in last April's General Conference. STAKE CONFERENCE!!!! I think there is a theme going on here or a message that must be received because 2 of the people in the stake presidency talked about following the prophet and let us not forget that 2 General Conference talks were given on the same topic. I think Heavenly Father is trying to tell us something..... FOLLOW THE PROPHET!! In all sincerity though stake conference is wonderful! I loved it and my testimony deepened about the gospel and about how important it is to take notes in a meeting and really how much you put into it is how much you get out of it. I feel like the gospel really is centered on that concept. I know that the effort that we put into listening to talks will not be wasted and that we will be able to know that the Lord wants us to hear through his servants. 

Spiritual Thought: In stake conference our stake president talked about a plane accident that happened I think in the 70s. In this incident the pilots didn't realize that the plane was descending and before they could pull up the plane crashed killing many on the flight. I thought about this and I thought about when we get preoccupied with worldly things we don't recognize that we are slowly descending by degree and when we finally realize this, we crash. I makes me think of a story in the Book of Mormon. An evil captain of the Lamanites, who is compared to Satan, slowly poisons his other captain by degree so that he doesn't even know that he is being poisoned! That is how Satan is attacking us and that is how he has always attacked us. He slowly brings us down to hell. That is a little scary, but luckily we are told that we can avoid that fiery darts of the adversary by reading our scriptures, praying and all those small and simple things that really turn out to be the great deciding factors of our futures. I know that I talk a ton about the small and simple things but I'm telling ya these things are what help us to build our foundations on Jesus Christ. I've been on the other side where Satan was slowly bringing me down, and it wasn't a joyful happy life. I'm now string everyday to do the small and simple things and I've never received  so much happiness in my life! I love every minute of everyday! This is the key to true happiness! It'll save us from slowly decreasing. I know that as we do the small and simple things that the Lord has commanded us to do we will go "onward and upward" and we will find everlasting joy! In the name of Jesus the Christ, amen.

Love Always, 

Sister Smith    

Helaman's Army!

Dearest Family and Friends! 

   This week has been TOTALLY WICKED!!!! I am just loving life and enjoying every second of being a missionary. I love that as a missionary you learn and grow and you are able to be stretched more then you could ever imagine. Sister Chisholm and I have been talking about how much we change in such a short amount of time because of our missions. It would take like 30 years to learn what we learn in about 18 months, as long as we let it! How cool is that! 

This is what my week consisted of! 

Monday: We had a lesson with a recent convert named Heather! I love her so much! She is a huge inspiration to me! She is only 18 and she amazes me every single time I talk to her. The cool part of the story though is that Elder Derricott and Elder Krebs were teaching her while I was in Midland 1st ward and when I left I told her that I was just getting to know her and that I was so sad that I wouldn't get to know her more. She then moved to Midland 2nd ward and well so did I!!! I love how the Lord works!!! Also I've realized that some of the best members are converts and those who haven't been found yet. 

Tuesday: Oh man this was a good day! Sister Chisholm and I were driving and then we saw this older woman carrying bags of leaves our to her curb so we decided to park the car and get out and help her. We got out and asked if she needed our help and she said no. Well... okay so we started talking about our purpose as missionaries. and asked if she needed our help after talking a bit more. No she said again. We talked to her more and then we asked a third time to help her and she finally said yes!!! We were so excited that someone actually wanted our help! It was totally great! 

Wednesday: Oh man we had one of the most spiritual lessons in my entire life!! It was amazing!!! We were all on the same page and we were intune with the spirit and it was just amazing. We were teaching our investigator named Jason! He has been taught for about 4 years now. He opened up to us a lot! It is amazing! I really can't even describe it, it was just like you could feel how much Heavenly Father loved this man and you could just feel the potential that Jason has as he comes unto Christ. I love being a missionary, experiences of a life time! 

Thursday: Alright this is awesome! There is a woman who just moved here from Tennessee and she loved the members there. She came to the building and asked to know if there was anyone who could babysit her kids. Well they put us in charge of talking to her. We met with her and she knows a ton about the church!! It is awesome! She was talking to us and telling us that she was feeling the spirit! She is so prepared but she doesn't really know it. She is a devout Catholic actually.... keep her in your prayers! She's great! Her name is Julia! 

Friday: Let's see.... it started to snow! It was crazy!!! We were racking leaves and it was cold! We had a lot of fun though and I love doing service it really just makes you feel so good inside. I love the scriptures Matthew 25:40 and Mosiah 2:17 which both talk about service and how we serve our fellowman we are serving God. We also went to a member's home and made pizza which was great! We played Catch Phrase and our team totally won! It was great! We were all laughing and really enjoying that time that we had together as a district! 

Saturday: I'd say the miracle of the day/week was the fact that Sister Chisholm and I have been praying for referrals and we got 3 in one day! It was totally amazing! We were like well pray really works! We know that already but is always nice when you have your testimony strengthened because of it! 

Sunday: I learned a lot about how important it is to listen to the spirit and how much the spirit can really help you in lessons. Sister Chisholm and I had a lesson planned for our investigator to watch a movie but unfortunately they didn't have a DVD player that works. Sister Chisholm and I didn't have a back up lesson but we were able to listen to the spirit and have unity with each other and we were able to have a good lesson with them. I am so grateful for the spirit. I know that without him I would not be a good missionary. It is so important that we live our lives in a way that we will be able to have the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost because he helps us in every aspect of our lives! 

Spiritual Thought: Alright so I have been obsessed with studying about the small and simple things that bring us closer to Christ in our everyday lives! Sister Chisholm loves running and today in studies I made an analogy about running and doing the small and simple things. "When you are running a marathon every step that you take brings you closer to the finish line. It is by those small and simple steps that you are able to make that great distance. The same is with the small and simple things of the gospel. As we read our scriptures and pray everyday, attend church weekly and attend the temple on a regular basis we are getting closer to the end goal which is eternal life. We can't stop doing the small and simple things in the middle of life and think we'll get to the finish line just like you can't stop in the middle of a race and quit. We can't expect to finish a race that we never start either so we must start now to do the small and simple things in life. Remember we've been trained for this. We know what we need to do. We know how to receive eternal life, now we must go and finish our race by taking it one small and simple thing at a time." I know that by small and simple things great things are brought to pass. They will lead you to eternal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. 

Love Always, 

Sister Smith 

Everyday I'm Snufflin'

HeY HEY hEY!!!!!! 

   I hope that everyone is doing well and that they are prepping for the holiday season! The winter wonderland has commenced which is pretty exciting and not all at the same time... haha! We are in for a long winter here in Michigan I'm pretty sure but that's okay because well the work of the Lord still moves forward which is always great! So the reason my title is everyday I'm snifflin' is because I've been sick these last few days.... which I've decided is the worst thing that is possible as a missionary because all you want to do it work and when you're sick you're either inside or you are half dying while you are out working... so that's what half of my week has been like. 

Monday: So in the mission we have a new guideline saying that we can only email for 90 minutes which is pretty nice actually. What else is cool is that we can also be with our districts on P-Day as well. We can like go out bowling or do other things as a district which is pretty awesome! We took advantage of that rule and played pool, ping-pong and catch phrase with our district! It was pretty fun! 

Tuesday: I was on trade offs with Sister Mortensen in Midland. It was fun to be with her again. She is so great and it is so cool how we are going to go home together! We taught a less-active member and what was so great is that we planned something completely different then what we actually taught. I love how the spirit can work through both you and your companion to really teach to the needs of those whom you are talking to. 

Wednesday: We had a super great district meeting all about the Book of Mormon and how we could use it to teach with greater power and authority. I absolutely love the Book of Mormon. I never thought that I'd be able to learn so much from one book. It truly is the word of God and brings you closer to Jesus Christ as you read it! We also had a really great dinner with a family in the ward. I learned a lot about how Heavenly Father loves every single one of his children and that he can take our experiences to help other people with theirs. We also had a great lesson with our investigator Jason. Jason is kind of hard to describe because he is so great! His wife is Catholic and he has been talking to her about being more open to exploring different religions. He has a strong testimony of the gospel and I know that he will be baptized, he's still praying on a date. 

Thursday: We weekly planned again!!!! Yeah!! We tried it a different way and Sister Chisholm really liked it which is awesome so we are going to keep it that way. We just changed up how we are using the white boards to plan. We also had a lesson with Valerie going over the baptismal interview questions because her interview was going to be latter that day. Her interview went well and she was set to be baptized!!! Yeah!!! 

Friday: We taught seminary!!!!!!!! We had to wake up at like 5:30 but it was so great! I totally forgot what seminary was like and kind of what high school students are like. You have some who answer every question and then you have some who never really answer. All those who read this and attend seminary pay attention while you are there! You can learn and grow so much in that 50 minutes that you are there and it will bless you for the rest of your life! We also met with a family in the ward and there are amazing! I just love working with the members and being strengthened with them. Members need strength just as much as our investigators and I think I learned that a lot this week. 

Saturday: Valerie was baptized!!! YEAH!!! It was a great service! She was so happy and there were so many people who came to support her. She and a young man from the ward sang "A Child's Prayer" and that was wonderful! That song really touches the heart and helps you to realize that Heavenly Father really is there and is waiting for us to call upon him and ask him our questions! 

Sunday: This was a bit of a struggle because I felt pretty sick, but I went to church and then I went home and took a nap during lunch. After my nap we had studies and then we went out to contact some potential investigators and no one of biting for the gospel so we went door knocking. We met some people... they weren't super interested but that's okay! We invited them to the Midland Nativity Exhibit which they were much more open about! I love the Nativity Exhibit! It opens a lot of doors! 

Spiritual Thought: In Gospel Principles we had a wonderful lesson on prayer! It was a great reminder about how important it is to commune with our Father in Heaven. There are so many different reasons why we pray like to invite the spirit, for forgiveness, to have strength to resist temptation, gratitude, charity, strength to live the gospel and the list can go on and on. Something else that we touched on was the fact that prayer is an opportunity to build a relationship with God. Prayer is designed for us. I love the opportunity to have to kneel down every morning and evening and say a prayer. I've learned that it is important to tell Heavenly Father everything. He wants to listen and help us with the things we are going through. I love that opportunity to pour my soul out to my Father and in return He brings me feelings of peace and of comfort. Prayer is one of the most powerful tools that we have been given. On my mission I've had the chance to really gain a testimony that Heavenly Father truly is our Father. We can go to him for anything and everything. He is just waiting for us to make that connection with him. I know that as we pray sincerely that we will gain a testimony that  our Father in Heaven loves us. We will know that he is aware of us and our situations and I know that he is. In the name of Jesus the Christ, amen. 

Love Always, 

Sister Smith 

Time is a tickin

Dear Amigos!!! 

   So we have a new rule in the mission that we can only email for 90 minutes so that is why the subject is that. We also got the rule that we will not be allowed to drive cars on Saturdays... lame but blessings will come from being obedient. Sometimes we don't always understand why but we do it because we know that others know better than us. So this week we great just like every week and well I learned a lot and got spiritually fed a lot as well! 

Monday: We had a totally awesome FHE with a member. She is amazing and is really strong. She's had a lot go on in her life recently and she was just so grateful that we could come over and share that time with her. I also gained a stronger testimony of how important it is to always have FHE!!! When the family gets together after evening work is done we learn to love each other by popping corn and having fun!!! (I think that is the lyrics I could totally be wrong) 

Tuesday: We had a lesson with our potential investigator named Hunter and it was great! He listened intently and the spirit was really there. He said that he had a few questions but that though out the lesson we had answered them. The member that we took with us, Sister Savage, asked what those questions were and he said "Why would I need the Book of Mormon?" and "How could the Book of Mormon help me?" It was amazing! I love finding people who are interested in the Book of Mormon because then you know that they are prepared!!! The elect resonate with the Book of Mormon! We also had dinner with a new couple in our ward and we love them! They are awesome! They actually just moved here from Tacoma Washington and Kelly Muro served in their ward and they had a picture of him on their refrigerator! That world is so small especially if you are a mormon!  

Wednesday: We had dinner with the pierce family and I just want to comment on how polite their boys were. They are 14, 12 and 9! They responded well to questions and they didn't argue with their mom and also they took our plates away after eating. It was just great! I want my kids to be that polite that would just be marvelous. 

Thursday: Alright, this was our first full day on bikes this week and boy was it cold!!!!!! Our toes were about to fall off they were so cold. As we were door knocking we just kept thinking "oh man it is going to get colder and this is only the beginning." I honestly don't know how I made it through last winter. Whenever anyone asks I just say "by the pure grace of God," which is very true. I wouldn't have been able to if I didn't have a testimony of the gospel and angels round about me the entire time! 

Friday: We met with the Woods family and we watched some Mormon messages and holy cow they are amazing! The church is really using technology to make the world a better place and I love it! There is a new video called "You don't Know" and it really is amazing and it brings tears to my eyes just about every time I watch it! The Lord truly knows what we need to do and we are made instruments in his hands more then we think! 

Saturday: We had stake conference adult session and it was amazing. The spirit was so strong and I was spiritually fed so much! I came away with tons of notes and having a greater desire to do better. It was also great because we were able to see Pres. Jacobsen and he called all the missionaries serving in the stake to come up and sing "Called to Serve" it was really powerful and it almost, key word, almost started to cry but I didn't because we have reason to rejoice and no need for tears! 

Sunday: Cool thing. Sister Chisholm and I got to eat lunch with Tilah Parker who is the sister of Jabarie Parker an NBA player who was quoted in last April's General Conference. STAKE CONFERENCE!!!! I think there is a theme going on here or a message that must be received because 2 of the people in the stake presidency talked about following the prophet and let us not forget that 2 General Conference talks were given on the same topic. I think Heavenly Father is trying to tell us something..... FOLLOW THE PROPHET!! In all sincerity though stake conference is wonderful! I loved it and my testimony deepened about the gospel and about how important it is to take notes in a meeting and really how much you put into it is how much you get out of it. I feel like the gospel really is centered on that concept. I know that the effort that we put into listening to talks will not be wasted and that we will be able to know that the Lord wants us to hear through his servants. 

Spiritual Thought: In stake conference our stake president talked about a plane accident that happened I think in the 70s. In this incident the pilots didn't realize that the plane was descending and before they could pull up the plane crashed killing many on the flight. I thought about this and I thought about when we get preoccupied with worldly things we don't recognize that we are slowly descending by degree and when we finally realize this, we crash. I makes me think of a story in the Book of Mormon. An evil captain of the Lamanites, who is compared to Satan, slowly poisons his other captain by degree so that he doesn't even know that he is being poisoned! That is how Satan is attacking us and that is how he has always attacked us. He slowly brings us down to hell. That is a little scary, but luckily we are told that we can avoid that fiery darts of the adversary by reading our scriptures, praying and all those small and simple things that really turn out to be the great deciding factors of our futures. I know that I talk a ton about the small and simple things but I'm telling ya these things are what help us to build our foundations on Jesus Christ. I've been on the other side where Satan was slowly bringing me down, and it wasn't a joyful happy life. I'm now string everyday to do the small and simple things and I've never received  so much happiness in my life! I love every minute of everyday! This is the key to true happiness! It'll save us from slowly decreasing. I know that as we do the small and simple things that the Lord has commanded us to do we will go "onward and upward" and we will find everlasting joy! In the name of Jesus the Christ, amen.

Love Always, 

Sister Smith