Yesterday we went to church and the weather was your typical Washington cloudy day. We came home and finished our studies, and right as we walk out of the apartment...SNOW! And its still snowing today! We don't get snow very often here so the whole city has kind of shut down. It's a perfect opportunity to find people because everyone will be home today...hopefully we can actually get our car out of the parking lot.
Heavenly Father definitely has His hand in the work because it waited to snow AFTER church. If it had snowed before, our 5 amazing friends probably wouldn't have come to church! We were able to get the whole Allen family to church, Evan, Casey and his family, and a new person. His name is Maricio and both of his parents are less active members. Maricio is the most mature 12 year old I've ever met and he wants to be baptized! Our good friend Brother Lim brought him to church and is working with the parents to let us teach their kids. Super exciting stuff happening here!
We had a lesson last week with a referral named Lily who is from China. Sister Zhang basically just taught the whole time and I just listened to them chatting away in Mandarin. I actually kind of understood what was being said and I've never even studied Mandarin before. The gift of tongues is so cool! Lily has work on Saturdays and Sundays, but she wants to quit her job anyway and she really wants to go to the Chinese branch in Mercer Island. Hopefully her desire and faithfulness will grant her that opportunity.
We had a little miracle this week. We've been trying to get in contact with this young mom the missionaries used to teach. She is always super busy and hard to reach. We gave up on her for a couple of weeks, but one day during our planning session, I felt prompted to stop by her place again at a specific time. I didn't know why and I just prayed that she would finally be home. Well we dropped by and she wasn't there. I was pretty disappointed, but we decided to talk to their neighbors instead (they are members). We asked Brother Stephans if he knew when their neighbors would be home and then we see a car pull into the driveway. It was them! We quickly tell Brother Stephans goodbye and walk over. Greta (the mom) invited us in and we had a lesson with her family! I know the Lord places us where we need to be at the right time. Such a miracle!
This past week we had zone conference. It's something I always look forward to every transfer because you receive so much revelation! We talked about the importance of the Book of Mormon in helping people convert to the gospel. We can't just help people change their behavior, but we need to help change their hearts. That can only be done as they accept the Atonement of Christ through the scriptures. Once they know who Christ is, they will want to change on their own in order to become more like Him. I have seen the Book of Mormon literally open doors for us this week. People who were closed off to us at first had their hearts change when they heard a verse or two from the Book of Mormon. Many asked us what book we were reading from and wanted to know more about it. The Book of Mormon is the sickle in helping reap the harvest.....I am sure of it.
This week I was reading about Nephi being commanded to build a boat. He had absolutely no knowledge of how to build a boat, but he did have total confidence that the Lord would show him the way. Instead of worrying about everything that could go wrong, he simply asked the Lord where he should go to find ore to make the tools. His desire to act was a manifestation of his faith. A quote that has been running through my mind lately is "the Lord calls the weak and simple to do the impossible." Nephi was called to do the impossible and he accomplished it by faith. As a missionary, I feel I have been called to do the impossible sometimes. I certainly didn't feel an ounce prepared when I came out here, and yet the Lord has turned me into someone I never thought I could be. I went from this timid person to someone who loves talking to random people on the street. I have seen the Lord make me an instrument in His hands. The mission has been such a blessing...as hard as it may be.
Well that's all for this week! Have another amazing week and pray for the people of Washington! They don't handle snow as well as Utah folks.😊
love,
sister smith
Another beautiful sunset
Sister Zhang passed out after service...this is basically us everyday
After church...before the snow storm
SNOW
This isn't even half of how much snow we got
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