Service in Seattle: Week 24 - Planting Seeds of Faith

Hi friends!

Well this week was kind of a rough one for us, but that's ok because we know the Lord is just preparing us for a Christmas miracle. And we did see some little miracles along the way this week!

Monday night we found a lady named Elain. We were actually trying to see her neighbors, Douglas and Carol, but they weren't home. Elain was a referral from some members and she usually was never home when we stopped by. Well of course the one night we try and see her neighbors, Elain pulls into her driveway. She walks with a cane and she was struggling to get her groceries in. We all just look at each other and jump out of the car. Elain let us help her take her groceries in and then invited us to sit down and talk with her. We found out she's been taught by missionaries for almost 20 years and she already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. She wants to be baptized, but her older sister is totally against the church and Elain fears if she gets baptized, her sister will go off the deep end. So Elain is waiting for her sister to pass away and then she will get baptized...her words, not mine. Super cool lady and has such amazing faith, but not exactly sure how to help her in this situation. We are going to start trying to get her to come to church again. That's a good start right?

Wednesday was an interesting day. We spent almost all morning helping at the local food bank which is something I can't complain about. I love the food bank and the volunteers there are so amazing! Then we put together our Light the World handouts consisting of pass along cards and candies stapled to them. Our plan was to sing Christmas carols to people in town and hand out the cards. Wednesday night we went tracting and I felt like we needed to knock this one house. We met Kevin and asked him if we could show him a video. We showed him the first week video of Light the World and I saw tears in his eyes. We talked about Christ being the center of Christmas and also the center of our lives. He told us he had many friends who were members of the Church and he always noticed how happy they were. I told him it's because they have knowledge of the restored truth and introduced the Book of Mormon. He willingly took my challenge to read the introduction and invited us to come back the next day. We did and sadly, he gave the Book of Mormon back, but I know something we said touched his heart. We were just planting a little seed of hope in his heart and one day he will accept the gospel.

On Saturday we had exchanges and Sister Devol came to our area. First of all Sister Devol is the coolest sister ever! She was originally called to the Russian speaking mission in Washington, but she went home early due to medical reasons. I won't share her whole story (because I don't have the time and it's pretty personal) but just know that Heavenly Father must have really needed her for a reason. After her medical scare, she decided to come back and is now serving English speaking. This is only her second transfer back. Seriously, Sister Devol is my new role model.

Anyway, so many things happened on exchanges! We've been trying to get in contact with our friend Arianna for weeks, but she never is home. Well, we weren't even planning to see her on Saturday, but we were going to see a less active member who lives in the same apartment area as her. The member wasn't home, but we saw Arianna's car parked and decided to knock on her door. She didn't answer so we knocked on her neighbor's door and had a chat with Megan. Midway through our conversation, Arianna comes out and listens in on our conversation. We invited both of them to church and finally got Arianna's phone number (something we have wanted for a very long time). They both said they would consider it so we'll have to see.

Later that night, we grabbed our Light the World cards and went to the only area of civilization in Enumclaw. We sang "Silent Night" and handed out the cards to random people walking out of the shops and restaurants. We even went inside a cafe and asked the manager if we could sing "Silent Night" to the customers. The manager thought it was a great idea and we got the whole restaurant singing! It was incredible and people were pulling out their phones to record us haha. After, we invited everyone to go check out the Light the World videos on lds.org. This one woman we sang to was carrying groceries and we offered to help her. She was so touched by our song and service that she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and said she would come visit our church. She told us she was looking for a place to feel uplifted and safe and we were an answer to her prayers. Such a neat experience!

We still had some time left so we went to the Safeway grocery store and offered to help people with their groceries. Some people were weirded out, but others were appreciative of our willingness to serve. Many seeds of faith were planted that night.

This week we may not have seen the outcome of our efforts, but I know that the people who we did talk to will remember us. They will remember the light of Christ and some day they will have the desire to know more. Missions are more than just baptizing people; our purpose is to invite and help people see that there is a God who really loves them. That's the best message we can bring and if they are ready, they will accept the rest.

Have another amazing week and remember to share the light of Christ with others! Love you!

love,

sis. smith