Service in Seattle: Week 17 & 18

Hello friends!

Sorry I was lame and didn't send out a weekly email last week, but life has been crazy in the best kind of way!

These past two weeks we've really been working with J'nell and Rod. J'nell definitely did her research and she had some good questions. We actually ended up going to the library this week to do some more research so we could understand how to help her. Last night we brought a member with us to their home and it was amazing! This lady is Sister Thorley and she is the most knowledgeable woman I've ever met. She had an answer to every question J'nell had and explained everything in such a logical way. I swear every time I listen to her, I am more converted to this gospel. She knows how to teach to one's understanding and the Spirit is so strong when she testifies of Joseph Smith being a prophet. After we answered all of J'nells questions, we both offered our personal testimonies of the Book of Mormon and I could just see something change in J'nell. She was becoming converted too. Now with the questions out of the way, we can start discussing when Rod wants to be baptized and they are going to start coming to church! This family has seriously been a blessing to us.

We've made a few new friends these past couple of weeks. We found Brad last week during our mini finding festival and he's a pretty cool guy. He's around our age and we've only had one lesson with him, but he's on date for baptism in November! Hopefully all goes according to plan. We also had a lesson with a referral from some of our favorite members, the Knapps. This woman named Eva is from the Czech Republic and she's been living in the US for quite a few years now. She met Sister Knapp at work and ended up living with them for a year due to some financial/medical problems. Her husband is still in the Czech Republic receiving medical help and so Eva is all alone here. The Knapps found her a little apartment and she's come to church with them before. We taught her the Restoration and Brother Knapp blessed her new home. We were all in tears by the end because the Spirit was so strong. Yesterday we talked with a man named Mark who likes to show us videos of old British singers lol. When we first met Mark, he did not want to talk to us. We started asking him questions about his life and he opened up. Once he saw that we were genuinely interested in what he had to say, we were able to share a scripture from the Book of Mormon with him. We are going back tomorrow so hopefully we can discuss more about the gospel.

This past Tuesday was an interesting day....we were trying to find Brad's house and literally took a turn for the worse. Sister Deruvo was the one who had found Brad when we were on splits during finding festival day so only she knew where he lived. She was trying to direct me where she thought they parked last time. Now, you have to understand that Enumclaw has these huge ditches on the side of the roads, but they are covered with really tall grass. So when you are just looking at the ditch from the front view, it looks flat. Sister Deruvo says "oh I think we parked there" so I go to park and instantly regret it. Our car starts to sink sideways and we are totally stuck. Not to mention that this is a busy highway we are stuck on the side of so we are in a pretty dangerous situation. We call Brad to reschedule and then our mission vehicle coordinator. He tells us to get out of the car immediately and to call a tow truck. The car is slightly teetering so getting out was a challenge, but we made it. Just as we are trying to call a tow truck, the police show up. The officer asks us what happened and he calls a tow truck for us. The funny thing is that all these members (many of them not even from our ward) pulled up as they were driving past and asked us if we needed any help. The police officer kept commenting "wow you know everyone here." Really we don't, but as missionaries we tend to have lots of people looking out for us. Oh, and I forgot to mention that after they towed our car out, the battery died, and so when I tried to back up, the car slid into the ditch again. We had to call someone with jumper cables and pull the car out of the ditch a second time. It was a hilarious/scary experience I never want to go through again.

Getting stuck in the ditch did help me learn a valuable lesson. Sometimes in life we found ourselves in mental/spiritual ditches and we have no idea how to get out. When we look to trusted people that have been given the authority to give us guidance (the prophets), then we can find our solution to these spiritual ditches. We also have to learn to laugh when things don't go our way. Life is full of making mistakes and instead of letting ourselves get down about all the things we could've done better, just laugh and move on. Use your mistakes to help you move forward and you will be happier. I must admit it's not always an easy thing to do, but I have found it truly works, especially when you're a missionary.

Anyway, the rest of the week was great! Mike and Chelsea, the young couple we have been teaching, have finally agreed to come to church with us this Sunday! Also Joel is doing well. We had a great lesson with him at the Knapp's home Wednesday night and we are preparing him to receive the Aaronic priesthood. He has been going to the Maple Valley YSA ward for the last couple of weeks and our ward has

been missing him. They love Joel so much and they always ask us how he's doing. Our ward is just the greatest! I hope I get to stay here for the holidays :)

Thank you for your emails! I love reading about everything you guys are up to! Enjoy my favorite season for me and go hike a mountain or something. Have a great week and remember to always put Christ above all!

lots of love,
sis. smith