Middle of May

WHAT A WEEK! We hit 30 hours and 4 hours of service this week. It was crazy great. I loved it. We were moving every minute of every day.  We made good progress with Ainsley.  We met with her two times this week.  Her date is for the 28th and so far so good. :)  It looks like we have to turn her over however. :( She is 31 and so she can't come to the YSA ward. It’s been a crazy week with that situation but I know that the Lord will take over and handle the rest of it. We just keep praying that things pull through. :) We met with a girl named Daisy. She is from china. We met her on the street a couple weeks ago and got her number but when we called it was the wrong number so when we saw her again she started talking to us saying how she really wanted to learn so we set up another appointment. She called us every day till that appointment making sure of the address and asking if she could bring friends with her. She brought 2 friends with her. They loved it. They had all sorts of questions and were begging for a tour of the church. We are meeting with them this week again as well.  Kamille is doing great. She couldn’t meet with us this week because of midterms and such but we have been in contact with her all week. She is reading and praying every day. She loves looking up talks from the Ensigns. The ward has been inviting her to hang out with them which she loves.

I thought I’d tell some more about Winnipeg. It finally warmed up this week. It was 20 yesterday and 20 right now. It is LOVELY. We love it.

1.  There are murals on just about every building as you drive down the streets. The end buildings almost always have huge murals that have been painted on about the culture or history or just artistic things. It’s pretty neat.  Winnipeg is a city that is a bunch of cities mixed together. Downtown Winnipeg...the shops are really nice and kept up but the surrounding neighborhoods are pretty run down and rough. Pretty shady at night. To the east is St. Vital and it's pretty nice. Up north...if you go up high enough it gets pretty nice again. So the inner city can be sketch city but the surrounding areas are usually pretty nice. They have parks everywhere. A lot of "forests" nothing like forests in the states just tall skinny trees...but that's what they can forest...there is a forest right across the street from the mission office. The river runs through the whole city. It’s a fun city in the summer. Lots of people out and about doing their thing.

2. EVERYONE rides bikes and rollerblades. There are SO many bikes.  Old and young...everyone rides their bikes everywhere...the big busy streets...the little streets…the neighborhoods.  They ride to get groceries...there was one bike that had a wagon bucket on the front of it and they put their kids and the groceries in there. It was great.!!

3. EVERYONE has a cat and/or dog. They LOVE their animals.  They all have signs on their windows "in case of an emergency...please save Trudy"

4.  There are no parking/stopping signs all over the city because you just park on the road...BUT we have learned...that if it says no parking or no stopping, you just put on your hazards and you're good. No we haven’t tired it...but every day we see cars just parked on the side next to a no parking sign with their hazards on and it's all good. This weekend we were finding on the street. When we started there was a car parked with its hazards...when we came back an hour and half later...same car...same spot with hazards. It’s pretty amusing.

5. About 70% of the people here believe in God or belong to a religion but only about 20% go to church.

6.  They don't pull over for emergency vehicles.

I love Canada. Next week is Victoria Day so we won't be emailing till Tuesday. Got to love the long holiday weekends.

Hope you all had a great week. Be good. Remember who you are. Live it. Love it.

Love

Sister Smith

Mother's Day

Well gooooood morning!

It’s another rainy day here!! But things are good. We had a great week. We met with Camille 2 times this week which is always the best!! She talked about the temple! She had watched Singles Ward 2 and was sad because she knew that that might be her...getting married in the temple and her family not being able to be there.  She told us that the only way to get married is in the temple so she knows she will get married in the temple but it just makes her sad that her family won't be there. She has so much faith. She talked a lot about her baptism and how she wants her family to be there for the "most important day of her life." we're getting so close!! :)

We also met with Ainsley 2 times this week as well!! She has a date for the 28th and is just moving right along. She has committed to all the commandments so far...such as law of chastity and word of wisdom and prayer/scripture study. She loves the Book of Mormon. She reads every day and is almost done with 2nd Nephi!! She loves it.

Winter went out of town this week :( she won't be getting baptized this next weekend. She still hasn't made it to church. We’re trying to help her connect spiritually.  It will happen for sure. Just takes some time and some faith :)

It was so good to get to call home. Sister Cutts fed us dinner after we talked with our parents. All of her kids and her husband were out of town for Mother’s Day so she was excited to have "her girls" home with her. It was a fun day.

We had a pretty funny moment this week. We were contacting and came across a bunch of first nations in their front yard so we stopped to talk to them...they were all pretty out of it and drunk.  The lady came up to me and put her head on my shoulder and was just crying saying she needs to stop she needs to trust God and stop drinking.  She said she knows that God could help her...but then when I said ok then just dump out that beer, she would say. Ohh noooo I can't do it...I can't do it, then all the sudden I just said, so you're saying you love beer more than God? Sister Reid just stopped talking and looked at me...I just looked at her then back at the lady. She looked at me and said. No, well, yes...well no. I guess it got her thinking a little bit. It was pretty funny.

Anyways, I hope you all had a great week!! Hope things are well.

Love you all.

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

Sister Smith

May!

Why hello!
What a fast week! It seems like last week just started and now we're on to another! The weather was EXTREMELY nice till Saturday then it snowed....all day Sunday. :( Welcome to May in Winnipeg. Ha! But it was a very good week. We had the opportunity to teach a lot this week as well as use our finding time very effectively. We really saw blessings as we stretched ourselves and worked harder!! It was great.

Camille came to stake conference. Elder Shayne Bowen of the 70 came. We talked a lot about the temple and the things the people need to do here to prepare for the temple and to work on missionary work.  He talked a lot about priesthood and had a president from each quorum come and give their testimony...then explained how we don't need a general authority or a member of the 70, these priesthood brethren hold the keys we need and to look to them to help guide our stake. He said that the Winnipeg stake is the only stake in this new temple district!! They still haven’t published it in the public but everyone is SO excited about it. :)

We had a very good lesson with Winter this week. She really opened up and talked to us about her life and the things she has gone through. It really makes a lot more sense now that she has opened up. Things click. Amazing what communication can do eh?! She even said a formal prayer this week :) like Elder Bowen said...temples don't come without miracles and we saw lots this week.

We met with Ainsley and she set a date for baptism!! She is planning for the end of May!

We were so blessed this week. I am excited for another week. Sister Reid and I have big plans for this week and for another transfer together. :)

Hope you all had a wonderful week. Love you all. Happy mother’s day! :)

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

Sister Smith

Easter Holiday

Hello!! Happy Easter!! I hope you all had a great holiday! Here in Canada everything shuts down for the whole weekend, Friday to Monday! So today is the first day back to reality for most people! It's pretty exciting!

This week has been FANTASTIC! A)the weather has been up to positive 10 to positive 15. Which is AMAZING! Who woulda thought Canada could be so warm! I love it. B) we met with Camille again this week! SHE IS AN ANGEL! She ordered some movies off of the internet such as the RM the other side of heaven, singles ward the best two years...etc…etc…etc…she LOVES them.  She loves the Book of Mormon!! We talked to her last night and she said that she was thinking about her prayers and she said you know I really think this prayer thing is working out for me. I said what do you mean? She said. well I failed my midterm for my class so for finals I studied then I just prayed really really hard, like I never have before like how you taught me and I PASSED! Everyone else I know failed and I passed. :) She was so excited about it!! She knows she wants to get baptized she is just really scared to talk with her family about it.  Any suggestions?! She’s amazing!

We also met with a girl named Reanne this week! She is a total hippy. I loved it. She had really long dread locks and was wearing patched up clothes and just loving life. She said she used to be Christian.  She always feels guilty talking about religion now...when we asked her why she said, well because I use to believe...and now....

Long story short...we're meeting with her tomorrow :)

We got our transfer calls! Presidents granddaughter came up here for her baptism and invited all of the missionaries in the city so we were all there so president gave us our calls at the baptism!! There use to be 2 zones in Winnipeg...starting this transfer there will be 1. The Manitoba zone. Things are downsizing A LOT. I am STAYING! :) I will continue to serve here in Winnipeg YSA wellington ward. I am SO excited. Sister Reid will be staying with me! I am excited to stay and work with the ward and those we are working with.

I hope you all had a great week. Hope the weather has been nice for you like it has been here. I hope you were able to think about Easter and the blessing of the atonement in your life personally. It means everything and it can really change lives.

Love you all. Remember who you are. Live it. Love it.

Sister Smith

Almost Easter

WHAT A WEEK! The weather dropped again and so we were walking in the -15 area once again. Always brings good times for sure.  It was a fast and furious week. We had a LOT of time for finding. It is finals week around here so everyone has been super stressed and super busy with their finals so it's put a damper on the lesson front but we met a lot of new people and were able to talk with a lot and bare testimony! which is always a big deal for sure :) We had an appointment this week....and since I have been promoted to driver I had to parallel park...there was ONE space open in this whole neighborhood (everyone parks on the street here) so sister Reid got out and started to back me and we then had to pull forward and back again and then forward and back again and it took us a good 10 minutes. Wouldn’t have been too funny except for the fact we didn't know we had an audience.  Once we put the car in park this man was clapping and cheering for us from his window!! Of course!   Glad we could provide some entertainment once again.

We had exchanges again this week and I got to go with the new Sister, Sister Carmichael to her area.  She is from Mesa Arizona, went to BYU and is just great!! She is a really good teacher and loves the people they are working with. We had a really neat appointment with this little family. The spirit was really strong and the husband had been taught before. At the end of the lesson he looked at his wife and just said I know that the Book of Mormon is true. Everyone just stopped and starred at him.  They committed for baptism in May! I’m excited for the sisters to get to continue working with them.  They were great.

We had contact with Camille just about every day this week!! She is AMAZING! When we talked to her the beginning of the week she expressed concern that she wasn't feeling the spirit every time she read. We suggested praying before and after. At the end of the week when we were talking to her she said how powerful the book is and how she feels like she is a part of the stories. She has felt the spirit so strong. She then apologized for not getting to watch ALL of conference yet. We had never mentioned conference and so we were super surprised! She said she has watched most of the highlights in between studying for finals and she KNOWS that the prophet and apostles are true and FEELS that the things she is reading and hearing from the prophet is true. We are meeting with her tomorrow and are SUPER excited about it.

Winter is doing great. She met with us 2 times this past week and is working towards baptism again!!

Transfer calls are this week! We should know by Friday who is staying and who is going!!

I have a deep love for 1st Nephi!!! What an amazing book.  I was reading in chapter 16 and loved verse two....the guilty take the truth to be hard! it cuteth them to the very center-then jump over to 2nd Nephi chapter 9 verse 40....the righteous love the truth and are not shaken. I love that. If we are being righteous...we have nothing to fear. The truth comes to us and we love it, we aren’t angry or frightened about what will happen but we rejoice in our righteousness.

HAPPY EASTER WEEKEND! Hope you all have a great weekend and have a great week. It’s a holiday so that means no computer till Tuesday! Until then…..

Be good, remember who you are. Live it. Love it.

Love you all!

Sister Smith

Going Fast

WHAT A FAST WEEK! This week went by so fast. The time is just speeding up its crazy! We had exchanges this week. I was able to go to the family ward with Sister Hope!! We always have an enjoyable time together! Last time we were together we found a girl named Nana. We stopped by her house again and were able to teach her. Turns out she is an investigator for the YSA area so Sister Reid and I are quite excited about it! :)

We have an amazing investigator named Camille! She called the mission office asking for the missionaries to come meet her.  We met her at the church. She is a girlfriend of a member who just left and she has done a LOT of research on her own. She loved the lesson and felt the spirit really strong. She said she knows she'll get baptized she just needs time to work with her family and sort things out that way. She called us this morning and said that she has read up to chapter five in 1st Nephi and can’t wait to get the Doctrine and Covenants. 

We set another date with Winter this week as well.  We went over the baptism interview questions with her and answered some of her concerns!! The only thing holding up her baptism is her church attendance. Once she starts coming to church she'll be able to get baptized!!

Everything has melted around here and there is a lot of flooding happening...as we were walking around this minivan zoomed by us and splashed Sister Reid pretty good with the huge puddle. All the sudden it slammed on its brakes and this man just leaned out and was so apologetic. So we did get the classic splash...but the apology afterwards! Classy

Since it is flooding so much, tonight for F.H.E we are going sandbagging!! I am pretty excited about it.

Lately we've been getting a lot of the same answers with approaches..."oh I’m Christian." and just keep walking...so I’ve been thinking of how I can say nicely that we share that same belief.  So we have these free finding faith in Christ DVD cards...so I decided when they say that I’ll say. OH NO WAY....that's great, you'll rreeaaallly love this DVD then...and just keep on handing it to them. It proved to be pretty affective this week. Every time I do Sister Reid just chuckles. It gets them thinking that's for sure.

We had zone conference this week as well. President talked about fighting our own personal Goliaths!! Finding things in our life that seem to be too big or too scary and taking the courage and having the faith to fight them!! It was really encouraging and made me think a lot about little things that may be keeping me from working harder or doing better.  I thought about things in high school that may have been Goliaths and how if I had recognized them earlier...I could have fought them better and done more. HAVE COURAGE!!!!!

Hope you all have a fantastic week!! Hope the weathers been nice for you!

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

Sister Smith

TEMPLES!

TEMPLES!!!!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? MERIDIAN AND WINNIPEG!!! I was so ecstatic when I heard Meridian...then when Winnipeg came up...it was double.  Everyone in the chapel was crying and letting out little yells. It was very overwhelming! They are all so thankful and feel so blessed.  The area of the temple is not yet determined so we've been instructed to not talk about it with others very much.  Of course all of the members are talking about it with each other but to limit our conversation about it to the rest of Winnipeg until they get some logistics worked out.  But EVERYONE is so excited!! I can't believe there will be one in Meridian!! How wonderful is that!! I’m excited to hear where they are going to build and everything!!

Wasn't conference wonderful?! There were so many wonderful talks.  I loved how a lot of them were based on the family.  I feel so blessed to be part of our family.  We have so much to be thankful for!! I am thankful for all of you and all of the love and support that we give one another. Thank you.

Our investigator Nicole came to the Sunday afternoon session and loved it. She took notes and everything. We met with her afterwards and she committed to following the prophet.  We talked about her baptism date and explained that there is SO much to know so she sees the importance of meeting regularly and coming to church.  She told us she is telling all her friends and family about it.  Her family has told her that it's not okay to be baptized twice...but she stood up for herself and is really excited!! She is great!

It was a busy week with conference. We had president interviews and zone meeting as well.  Had a lot of time to think and ponder about the mission and goals that I have!

Elder Paulson...who is President Paulson’s brother...works in the office...and he called us on Wednesday and gave us a referral.  This girl, Camille, called the mission office and asked to have missionaries meet with her as soon as possible!! We are meeting with her on Tuesday morning.  We are excited to hear her story and start teaching her!

Well we are so blessed.  I hope you all loved conference and felt the spirit and had answers to questions. Such a powerful time!! I love it.

Have a great week!  Remember who you are. Live it. Love it.

Love you all