February 28, 2011 - 90 day mark!

WELL first of all...I’m a true missionary! Ha-ha. I had fish for dinner!!! We had an appointment at our new investigators home...our cute African family, and they wanted so badly to feed us.  So of course we said yes.  We had fish and spinach and rice and some African potatoes.  It’s real now. Ha.

MARSON IS BAPTIZED!! This week was pretty crazy!! He had a meeting with the elders on Thursday and said he wasn't sure if he should get baptized because he was nervous about things with his family.  So the elders prayed with him and right when they said amen, he opened up his scriptures.  The elders were just looking at him and he said, oh sometimes I do this. I pray then read. Ha. How great. They read with him and he said he would think about it over night. So Friday he still wasn't sure.  On Saturday morning the elders called and asked if I would speak at the baptism that afternoon.  They said they weren't sure if Marson was going to get baptized or not.  They said if he was going to, he would show up. So I prepared my talk and right before we were heading out to contact, the elders called and said, Sister Smith, we need to talk to you...I said. Ok...and they said, Marson will be getting baptized this afternoon. AHHHHHH! IT WAS THE BEST NEWS EVER!!! So Marson got baptized and I spoke at the baptism and it was just so great! :) Missionary work, I love it!!!

We found a family from Thailand this week!! They barely understood a word we spoke, but we managed to speak about prophets and we found a gospel principle book in Burmese for them!

We were just super busy with teaching appointments this week with our new investigators! It was such a blessing!! I can’t believe March is already here! Time just goes by so fast!!

I read Alma ch. 32 this morning and really thought a lot about faith.  A lot of people ask us why God lets bad things happen to us.  After reading that chapter I thought about how if life was always good, we would never be able to let our faith grow, we would of course still have faith that God is there and we can live with Him again, but in other ways, our faith would never grow if we never had those learning experiences.  It really makes me think about how I view difficulties and where my hopes and my faith are now and where is has been!

I hope you all had a great week!! And I hope this week is even better!! Love you all.

Remember who you are. Live it. Love it!

Last Week of February!

BLESSSSINNNGGSS!! Wowzy this week we have been so blessed!! It has been an amazing week! We were lead to 6 new investigators this week who are anything fantastic!! 5 of them are from Africa and have had very hard, challenging lives.  They have seen things and been through things that you would wish upon no one.  But their faith carried them through.  3 of them lived in a refugee camp for 10 years and they said it was their faith and their knowledge of God that helped them get through.  There are three of them, three sisters.  The oldest sister we met on the street last week and when we went to visit them all three of them joined us for the lesson.  When we started talking about the Book of Mormon, the oldest sister, Angel, got so excited and said oh yes, yes.  The younger girls asked a question and Angel said no, no, you listen.  Joseph Smith asked God what was right.  Jesus and God came to Joseph Smith and told him the truth, this is the truth.  Most people just have the Bible, but now we have the Book of Mormon.  She basically taught the whole first lesson we were all astonished and sat with huge grins on our faces.  It was AMAZING!! We have had another appointment since then and are going back this week again as well.  SO MANY BLESSINGS! The hard news of the week is that Terri dropped us.  Her baptism was scheduled for this coming Saturday.  We had a lesson on the word of wisdom and she got offended and asked us to leave and not to come back :( breaks my heart.  We have been seeking for the spirit to help guide us to help her. 

Marsins baptism is on Saturday! I AM SO EXCITED! Every time he sees us, he comes up and asks, so how is the missionary work today?! We tell him it is good and he always says, "Thank you for giving me this opportunity." Oh bless his little heart. 

This week with Eltouma was very tender as well.  On Tuesday when we were leaving, she looked at me and said, why do you have to wait two days to come back? I explained to her our schedule and what we do on the other days and she said two days is too long, I miss you.  Then on Thursday she wanted to email a sister who had previously been helping her so we emailed her and then she said I will email you every week when you leave me.  She grabbed my hand and said, you will be my best friend forever. My little heart melted.  She is so great. 

We had exchanges this week and sister Wennerlind came to be with us.  It was fun to be together again and see how we work together now that we have had experiences!!

We have really grown as a companionship this week! I love these two sisters so much!! We have become very close and learn so much from each other!!

I read a talk by Bishop Edgerly this week in the Ensign that talked a lot about faith to move mountains.  He talked about how we always hear that phrase, if we have faith, we can move mountains.  For my whole life I have always taken that so literally.  But he explained that each of us have personal mountains in our lives.  Some have mountains of grief and pain, some have mountains of addictions, and we each have different mountains in our lives.  But it is our faith in Christ that moves those mountains.  He can change our lives if we allow Him in.  He can make those mountains disappear. 

I know that we are all God’s children.  I know that there is a plan for each of us and that if we have faith in Him, He will guide us even in the darkest nights.

I hope you have all had a great week!! Love you all.  Be good. Remember who you are. Live it and love it! :)

Sister Smith

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!! Oh what a glorious day!! I found these cute little heart shaped ice cube makers and chocolate hearts last week so I was sneaky and got them for my companions and made them juice with heart ice cubes and such this morning! I love it!! So fun! I hope all of you find so much love today!! I hope you're wearing pink! Ha-ha.

Well this week was a tricky one. Terri had a very hard week this week and cancelled our appointment on Thursday! Her baptism date is set for next Saturday still! So we're just praying and working hard to help her through!! We do have a new investigator! I’m not sure if I told you about her last week or not. Her name is Bakirathy... (sounds like ba hear da dee) she is from Shrilanka! Her sister is a convert of about 4 or 5 years and so we have got to know her and she wants to learn. We had an amazing lesson with her yesterday! She said she knows it's all true!! but wants to really pray about it this week to know for sure so by next week she should have her answer if she wants to get baptized!! She is just the cutest little thing ever! It is such a little blessing and a perfect way to end a week!! We have a lot of good appointments set up for this week which I’m super excited about!

It was our first full week together as companions and it went really well!! We are all getting along very nicely! They find a kick out of my color blindness! Hilarious right?! (Haha) and they were surprised that I could hit so well (thank you brothers). It was the shock of a life time! haha.

Today Sister Paulson gave us the cutest Valentine’s card!! This is what it looked like

For God so loVed the world

that he gAve

his onLy

begottEn

soN

That whosoever

belieiveth In him

should Not perish,

but have Everlasting life.

Of course it is centered and really cute...but that's the best I could do on the computer!!

I hope you all have a great week!! I love you all!!

4 nephi 1:15

"There was no contention in the land because of the LOVE of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people."

Be good. Remember who you are. Live it. Love it.

Sister Smith

Another crazy week in Winnipeg, Canada!

Well it's been another crazy week in Winnipeg, Canada! Who woulda thought eh?! It was transfer week and our new companion came! Her name is Sister Reid. She is from Orem Utah and super fun and creative!! She’s just this little ball of energy and love! I’m excited to get to work with her! I miss Sister Broderick like crazy! The farewell fireside was a bittersweet kind of thing!!
This week was the dinner with Eltouma! It was fantastic!! We sat and ate for literally 2 hours straight...no chit chat time mixed in the middle. From the time we started eating to the time we finished eating...it was 2 hours!! Insane!! But so so worth it! It was such good food. Super spicy!! there was this little thing that looked like a chocolate chip cookie so I said oooh Eltouma, you made cookies...and she got this really funny look on her fake and started laughing and said no no no, it's falapho (spelt totally wrong I’m sure)!! So every couple of minutes she asked...how is your cookie?! It was hilarious!! We shared pictures of our families together!! She wants to meet everyone!! She was so tender...she said...will you remember in 2 years?! I said oh yes of course...then she said, what about 10?! I said oh Eltouma. forever!! She’s just my little Sudan mother. Her son calls her sister mousa when we are not there! It’s quite hilarious!
Well our magical baptismal date, Cerise, is nowhere to be found :( :( super sad!! We haven’t been able to contact her at all since we set her date! Terri is still doing great!! She hasn't missed church and she is very consistent with our meetings!! We keep praying that it all works out and she continues to feel the spirit!! We were blessed with a lot of street contacting time this week! We were able to meet a lot of new people and get a lot of potentials!! One of the members came out with us. So she and I went together!! She was fantastic! Just got herself right out there and invited everyone we talked to church and everything! It was great! It was fun to be with her!
We were fed by 2 converts this week. Both of them were from the elders but they are huge examples to me about truly allowing the gospel to influence every aspect of your life!! It was so great to see them and see how they changed everything for the gospel!!
This weekend there was a band that came through town called behind sapphire...the members are all members of the church so they came to church on Sunday before they got back on the road. After sacrament meeting the bishop asked them if they would sing a song for us...so they got out their guitar and sang nearer my God to thee...Kyle Henderson style!! My little heart got so excited!! They introduced it by saying this was their favorite rendition and they sing it all the time while they're on the road. Afterwards I went up to them and introduced myself and told them about Kyle and said thank you!! They got all sorts of excited and were super jealous I knew the person who sang it!!! They said they want to meet him some day! It was just a neat little tie to home!!
there was a neat thing said at church this week" if you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." how true is that. We have to stand for truth!! If we aren’t standing for what we believe in and for truth...we will fall for everything other idea that comes our way!! If we put our trust in the Lord, He will lead us to truth and help us stand strong and true in principles of truth!!
I hope you all had a wonderful week!! Happy groundhogs day...spring eh?! Is that what I heard?!?!
Love you all!! Be good. Remember who you are. Live it. Love it!!
Sister Smith

It has been a week I tell ya.

Well. It has been a week I tell ya. It was Sister Broderick’s last week!! She goes home on Thursday! It is so crazy that she is leaving!! So crazy that I’m already at my first transfer! We got our transfer calls...I will...BE STAYING AT YSA! I am so excited!! Makes me so happy. I love this ward so much it is crazy!! Sister Crosier and I will be here and then Sister Reid is coming!!! I have heard great things about her. I talked to her on the phone a couple weeks ago...I asked her if she was related to the Reids in Washington and she said no...how neat would that have been eh?! So great.

We set a baptismal date with Terri!!! She is scheduled to be baptized at the end of the month!! We are all so excited! She is very consistent with meeting with us and hasn't missed church once since we met her!! We are working hard on getting her to that date! :)

This week at bingo...I had to help someone with their dentures. Never in my life did I ever think that would happen! haha. They had dropped them on the floor and then just looked at me...so I bent down and did my best to pick them up!! It was pretty funny if ya ask me! Classy! :)

I read a lot from the ensign this week! the talk that stuck out to me the most was by Elder Wirthlin called One Step After Another...it talks a lot about how we just need to be the best we can be today, we don't need to be perfect, we don’t need to be better than anyone else...just be the best we can be!! I love that thought. So many times in our lives we wish we were like someone else or we get down ourselves. But God created each of us individually for a reason. He made each of us unique and special. We all have so much to offer!! I love it.

I'm excited for a new transfer and to continue working in the YSA Ward!!! They are the best!!

I hope you are all doing well. Staying warm. Being good! :)

Remember who you are. Live it and love it.

The church is true! :)

Sister Smith

It has been a huge week!!!

Hello!! It has been a huge week!!! I went on exchanges for the first time this week which was SO much fun! I went with Sister Hope. She is from Burley, Idaho...I told her how much I love that Wendys and she agrees!! It’s a good one for sure!! We had some crazy experiences that day with people. There was an old man who got pretty upset with us....I guess not everyone is going to want to hug me every time eh?! Aha. It was great to be with her and to learn from her!! She’s a great missionary!!

Marsin...is...GETING BAPTIZED!! The elders called me this week to let me know! I just wanted to jump up and down and scream for joy!! I am so excited for him!!

Something else big happened this week too...

One of the girls from our ward brought one of her friends to institute. Her friend said she was interested in learning more so we set up an appointment with her for the next day. We met with her and when we got there and sat down she said I want that light that you all have...what do I have to do to get that light and be a member of your church. AHHHHH! :) So we taught her about repentance and baptism and invited her to be baptized and she committed herself to be baptized!! She has a date for the 11th of February!! The feeling was INCREDIBLE!!! I have never felt like this before. This is what a mission is all about!! Of course I was crying...naturally...but it was so amazing!! I am so excited to continue working with her!!

In institute this week we talked about standing in holy places....and how not everyone is going to fit in the temples...so what do we do?!?!? ....we live our lives in a way that everywhere we go and everywhere we stand...we are standing in a holy place...we make that place a holy place!! I LOVED THAT THOUGHT! It’s all up to us!!

It got down to -39 again this week. My tootsies were so cold...it reminded me of running through the snow bare foot with the grandkids over thanksgiving!! Gave me a little chuckle!!

In bingo this week the little lady I sit with is very very quiet normally...normally I just talk to her and have a conversation with myself...but this week she just piped right up and we were giggling all over the place. It was so great. It reminded me a lot of Grandpa Hansen! It’s one of my favorite days of the week to get to play bingo with the seniors! They are hilarious!

We had to cut down our hours teaching English! :( makes me so sad. When we told her...she cried...she is such a great lady!! She’s having all of us sisters over on the 31st for dinner!! She is always talking about how she wants an "American accident" (accent) like us. It is so great.

The air is cold. But the work is good. Transfer calls are this week!! First transfer is already over!! Time goes by so fast!! Make every moment count!! :)

Ether 2:24-25

Love you all!!! Be good. Remember who you are. Live it. Love it!!

Love Sister Smith!!!

Well it's another week in Canada!!!

Well it's another week in Canada!!! We got so much snow this week...so I guess that means it warmed up...I’d say we got a couple feet at least. It snowed every day...all day...all night. The snow here is SO pretty it's very light and flakey. When it lands you can actually see the snow flake and it just glitters!! I love it!! It’s not wet so you can't make very good snow balls or anything...but it is just lovely! :)

First of all...my companion wore an Oklahoma Sooner shirt a little bit ago......I didn't even know what to say!!! I was devastated!!!

It was a very successful week!! We had a lot of lessons this week and a lot of service hours so it felt very productive and very successful which I just loved!! We do a lot of work with the less actives and with the recent converts in the young single adult wards so it's fun to be with the people around our own age and get to know them.

I wrote last week about our investigator Terri!! She came to church again this week and seems to be doing very well!! It is so exciting to see her learn so much and grow!!

Also...I wrote about Marsin who we met on the street...he was at church again on Sunday as well!! That made me SO happy to see him again!! The elders say he is progressing along very fast and has so many good questions and just wants to learn everything he can!! It is so exciting to see how the gospel can affect people’s lives.

I thought a lot about that this week about how people live without the knowledge we have. We talk to people about faith and how it helps us with everyday life. When I learn that they don't have faith...it makes me think about what gets them through and what they live for! I am SO grateful for the knowledge I have and for the plan that Heavenly Father has for us to return to live with him again.

One really neat thing that I love about Winnipeg is the various different cultures that are here. Everywhere you go there is a different kind of restaurant...Chinese, Arabic, Pilipino, Japanese, German...and every time we talk to anyone on the street they are always from somewhere different. It is so neat to see the similarities and the differences that we all have.

This work changes lives for sure!! When people feel of the Saviors love for them, they can't help but what to learn more!! I love who fast it can affect people and I love feeling the Lords love for them!! I know this church is true and I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of each one of us!!!

I was reading in 3rd Nephi this week and found the scriptures chain..."one by one" it starts in 3rd Nephi 11:15 how the Savior went forth...to each person..one by one so they could witness that He is the Christ and feel of the prints in His hands. The Lord loves us so much that this is a very individual work. He knows each of us as an individual and is very aware of us and wants us each to have the chance to learn of Him. That is why we are baptized one by one, why we receive blessings...one by one. The chain then goes to 3rd Nephi 18:36, 17:21 and 28:1. Check it out...it is pretty neat. I know that is so true and that the Savior does love each ONE of us and knows us and wants the best for each ONE of us!! It is up to us to have that faith in Him and take the action to become closer to Him!! He will never leave us!

I hope you all have a fantastic week!! Thanks for all the love and support and letters!! It is so good to hear from you all!

Love you all!

Be good. Remember who you are. Live it. Love it! J

Love Sister Smith