Week 13 - The Roses and Thorns of Missionary Work

Wow what a week this has been! Let's just say it started off pretty rough....

The thorn of this week was that our favorite progressing family (J'nell and Rod) took a turn down the wrong path. They were hit with a lot of anti literature from the internet Monday night and are now convinced we are not who we say we are. J'nell called her mom who called us, freaking out about all the things her daughter saw. J'nell's mom is a strong member and works in the temple daily. She has been wanting this for her daughter for a long time and it's hurting her to see Satan trying to take that away again. J'nell's mom was also forwarding all of J'nell's texts to us so we were getting hit with the anti stuff too. And even though Sister Morris and I have strong testimonies, we could feel our faith shaking. We felt horrible and we had no idea how to help J'nell. We were able to get one of our members to come to J'nell's home with us to help her answer her questions. Unfortuantely, J'nell was not ready to talk to us.

Some good did come from this though! The member sat down with us and taught us how to answer most anti questions that could come up. It reaffirmed my faith in this gospel and everything truly ties back to the Book of Mormon. There is so much power when we strive to read from it each day. Personal revelation comes from the white spaces of the page, not just the words. I gained a stronger testimony that night of God's love for His children because I know He would never lead us astray. 

Ok now the roses of this week! Because Joel's baptism falls on the weekend of General Conference and lots of members are going to be busy/gone, we are planning to move his baptism date. We just have no idea when lol. Our hands have been full this week as we've tried to prepare Joel for baptism. I still can't believe how much progress he has made. When we first found Joel, he was in a rough spot. He didn't even know if God existed. Now he has a firm testimony in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. He believes in the Book of Mormon and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. We have seen the power of Christ's Atonement work through him. He used to have a bad habit of swearing, especially when we would talk to him on the phone. I have not heard one swear word leave his mouth for weeks and he's completely stopped on his own. That's the power of having the Spirit in your life friends. When we first invited him to be baptized, he told us he didn't feel worthy enough. Now, he tells us how excited he is for his baptism because he gets a fresh start in life. He wore a suit to church for the first time on Sunday and it made me so happy!! He's going to definitely serve a mission someday ;)

Our grand church tour went really well Saturday night! We didn't have quite as many people show up as we wanted but it was still a success! We had a less active member (a father and his two daughters) come to the tour which was super awesome! We gave each of the girls a Book of Mormon and they went straight to reading and highlighting parts they liked! On Sunday, the dad (Brother Josh Thompson) brought his girls and their friend to church and it was such a tender mercy! They loved church and Zoey who is 10 wants to get baptized. We had family home evening with them last night and they made prayer jars so they could know what to pray for each day. We are so excited for this family and the father is such an amazing dad to them. The girls just look up to him so much. 

We had 7 friends at church this week which was a huge miracle! Many less active members came too and the chapel was just filled with people. It was such a testimony builder to me of  how truly important it is to get people to church because the Spirit felt there is unlike anything you'll find elsewhere. 

We were able to have Elder Whiting, a member of the seventy, come and visit us yesterday for zone conference. Wow, he is basically Elder Holland in a nutshell. I've never been so inspired to be the best missionary I can be. He told us how the Second Coming basically depends on us as missionaries because Christ will only return to the earth once the gospel has touched every part of the world. That struck me hard and I realized how important this work really is and I need to take it even more seriously. I know my time is limited and I want to exert all my effort every minute of each day. I seriously love this work, even if it's hard and many times I have wanted to give up. I know I grew up in the church for a reason and it's my job to share it with as many as I can. I can't wait for the miracles to come as this transfer comes to an end!

Love you all and life is so good here in Enumclaw! Have the best week ever!

love, 

sister smith

Week 12 - The Prophet Was Here!

The rain has finally come to Washington and it's not coming lightly! I know I'll get sick of the rain eventually but right now I love it! Especially when we are tracting because people feel sorry for us and let us into their homes :) 

So much happened this week OH MY GOSH!! First of all, I don't know if y'all heard, but the prophet came to our mission and spoke at Safeco stadium in Seattle last Saturday. So that was pretty cool. All the missionaries got to ride in school buses up to Seattle and we had reserved seating in the luxury boxes. Also, SO MANY PEOPLE! There were over 49,000 people there which marks the largest event to take place at Safeco field! President Henry B. Eyring, Sister Wendy Nelson, and President Nelson all spoke. Sister Nelson shared some experiences she's had ever since her husband became tbe president of the church. I GOT CHILLS, IT WAS SO GOOD! It made the calling of a prophet more real to me. I know without a doubt that President Russell M. Nelson is truly a prophet called by God. When the prophet spoke, the whole audience just shifted to the edge of their seats. The Spirit was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Definitely the highlight of my week! 

Also Rod is now on date to be baptized on October 27th!! He is so excited and loves reading the Book of Mormon with his family. J'nell and Rod even text scriptures to each other that they find throughout the day! We just need to get Rod and J'nell married by our bishop soon. Sister Morris and I have already been planning their little wedding...without them even knowing. We can hardly wait! 

On Wednesday, we had exchanges again. Sister Watson came to my area and I had to be in charge for a day. Honestly, I was kinda freaking out about having to take over the area, but Sister Watson is such an experienced missionary and that helped take pressure off me. We did get lost a couple...ok several times, but we invited lots of people to our upcoming church tour! We also met a lady who at first wanted nothing to do with us. Then, we started bearing our testimonies and her heart softened. She let us in and then proceeded to give us umbrellas because it was pouring outside. We sang "I Am A Child of God" to her and she definitely felt the Spirit. She still doesn't agree with our beliefs but at least she has respect for what we do as missionaries. Seed has been planted friends. 

Ok now I HAVE to tell you about David! I think I've briefly mentioned him before, but David has extreme social anxiety. Sister Morris has been trying to get him to pray out loud for months. There was one point when we talked about not teaching David any more. He was not progressing at all. Then, something changed and he's been reaching out to us more than usual. We were able to meet him at the church on Thursday. He told us he was going to surprise us this week and show up to church!!! He also told us he realized we won't be here forever and he is wasting precious time. He really does have so much faith; he just doesn't recognize it.... yet. After we talked about the importance of taking the sacrament at church, we invited David to be baptized. And GUESS WHAT??! He is on date for October 20th!! We've invited David to be baptized several times before, but this time was definitely different. He is starting to realize what this gospel can do for him and he truly has a desire to change. And to top it off, David said the closing prayer...OUT LOUD. Sister Morris and I just started screaming when we got in the car. It was the BIGGEST miracle ever! 

Today for our p-day we hiked the Summit and it was beautiful. Washington never ceases to amaze me. We hiked to this lake and may have accidentally fell in and got soaking wet....we were freezing on the way back! At least we got quality pictures :) 

I truly love my mission in every aspect and I can't wait to experience more! Also, today marks 2 months for me in the mission field and that's crazy! I feel like I literally just got here! Have a great week everyone and thank you so much for your support! 

-sis. smith 

mcdonalds finally opened in our area..we had to celebrate 

 my godmother aka sister vanderwerken

going to see the prophet!!

Safeco field

 the legend himself (Grandpa Blad)

Sister Morris is cute

Sister Burdina is from Russia wut

just look at this lake, your eyes will be blessed

Week 11 - Fasting for Friends

Hello again!

Wow I don't think I've ever fasted this many times in just a couple of weeks. As a district, we have been choosing a day  each week to fast for our goals. Last week our goal was to find new friends and this week it was to get people to church. We've also been fasting for certain friends to recognize their answers from the Holy Ghost. This Friday we are holding another fast as a mission in hopes that a member of our ward will be rid of his cancer. This member has just been diagnosed with stage 4 liver cancer and the doctors said it would take a miracle for him to live through it. He pulled us aside in church yesterday and asked for the missionaries to fast for him. We believe our entire  mission can provide that miracle he needs. He received a priesthood blessing the other night telling him that his body would be healed. We know that with Heaven's help, anything is possible. I invite you to keep this man (Jack Simmons) in your prayers this week. He is a missionary's best friend. He hands out Books of Mormon left and right and always asks us for more. He is truly amazing and we know he can overcome this burden. 

This week we were able to finally teach our favorite part-member family. And holy cow...THEY ARE SO PREPARED! The couple isn't married, but they have four kids together. They want to be married by our bishop asap. J'nell (the mom) has been inactive for 20 years and has finally decided to come back to church. She asked us to have someone give her a priesthood blessing so she won't have the desire to smoke anymore. Her faith is incredible and we love her so much already! We taught the father (Rod) the Restoration on Saturday and he already knows he needs to be baptized. They also have a picture of the Seattle temple in their living room to remind them of their goal to be sealed as a family someday! They are so amazing! 

Joel, or as we call him...our star investigator, is great! He had a rough childhood and the ward has just become the family he never felt like he had. They adore Joel so much. Joel honestly is the best though because he keeps every commitment we give him and he's always asking for more. He goes to every devotional and activity we tell him about. I'm truly amazed how lucky we are to have found him. 

This week has definitely been a hard one for me. I know that Satan truly tries to hurt us when something great is about to happen. We just have to be patient with ourselves and the Lord's timing and things will work out in the end. I know Enumclaw isn't done with me yet and we still have so much to do here! 

Well that's all for now, but have the best week ever everyone! Heavenly Father's hand is always outstretched to those who seek His help. I know He loves us so much! 

-sister smith

Week 10 - MIRACLES ARE EVERYWHERE

Heavenly Father has done it again!! We just had the most successful week ever aka miracle after miracle!
On Wednesday, in district council we talked about wanting to really focus on finding new people. We made a decision to fast for 24 hours for our goal of finding 12 new friends this week. It has made all the difference!

Joel, our friend we found at the library, met with us on Wednesday. He is currently on date for baptism the 6th of October!! He is such an amazing person and he loves coming to church. On Sunday we persuaded him to go up and bear his testimony. He starts off by saying "Good morning, I'm Joel." No one says anything. "Wow that was weak! I said GOOD MORNING!" Everyone just looks at each other and mutters "good morning." Then Joel starts asking questions, expecting the congregation to participate. Sister Morris and I just look at each other with fear in our eyes like "what did we just do?!" Then Joel starts sharing a story and relating it to how God doesn't leave us behind. Keep in mind that last week this kid didn't even believe in God. It was a beautiful testimony. He is progressing fast and I'm so excited for him!!

Thursday night we went tracting in an area we never saw before. LOTS OF POTENTIAL. We met so many nice people who said we could come back and teach them. It was the first time I actually enjoyed knocking on doors because I could see the benefits of my labors. Also...we may have rescued a baby bird that flew into our car that same night. It was a scary moment but don't worry...the bird is fine and it eventually flew away :) 

Friday was the climax of miracles this week. We had a lesson with one of our newer friends we found tracting. Her name is Twee and she is incredible. We taught her the Plan of Salvation and she loved every minute of it. We invited her to pray about baptism to see if that was something God wanted her to do. She said yes and wants to be baptized on October 6th if she gets her answer! She also wants her sons to be baptized so we are super excited for them!

Later that same day we had a lesson with Colton, a referral from a member in our ward. At first, the lesson started off super tense because he was just throwing all these random questions at us. Sister Morris interrupted him and asked if we could say a prayer. After the prayer, the Spirit just flooded the room and Colton was more willing to listen to us. It was the most powerful lesson I've experienced so far.

At the end of Friday, we stopped by a less active member's home (the Monacos). The husband is the less active and the wife isn't even a member. They have the cutest family and they used to come to church all the time. We went over just to say hello and they ended up feeding us dinner. After, we asked if there was anything we could do for them. Sister Monaco asked if we could come over next week and read the Book of Mormon with her! Brother Monaco admitted he wanted to start coming to church again and he wanted his newborn baby to be blessed. We were so shocked and told them we could definitely help out. I know that the Lord put us there at the right time when this family was willing to try again.

The miracles continue on Saturday! There was a woman we met about a month ago who asked us for a Book of Mormon. We decided to go back and see if she actually ever read it. We met her husband (Mike) and had a lesson with both of them. The woman (Chelsea) grew up with friends that were members and she admitted she always wanted to raise her family in the LDS church. Mike and Chelsea do not believe in God but are very open to the idea. We taught about the Holy Ghost and what it feels like to receive an answer from our Heavenly Father. After Sister Morris ends the lesson with a prayers, Mike says "woah, is that what the Spirit feels like?" We both look at each other and nod. Then he says "so that's what I need to look for when I pray tonight." It was so cool!!

We were also able to meet with J'nell (non active member who is trying to come back to church). We've been over a couple of times and no one ever answers. We have also called her several times and no answer. So it was a miracle that she answered the door! She really wants her husband to take the lessons so he can be baptized. They both also want to be sealed in the temple! We meet with them again on Wednesday and I'm so excited!

The Lord has been so good to us this week! I feel like we are finally finding people who are truly ready for the gospel. I love this work, even if it gets stressful or hard. I know Heavenly Father gives us bad days so we can appreciate the good days.

Love you all and have an amazing week!

-sis. smith