Week 51 - End of Transfer Miracle

Ok so transfer #8 is dead and now we are heading into transfer #9. My companion Sister Cowley is leaving me for the YSA ward in Redmond (just a little north of us). I'm going to miss her dearly because it's been a dream serving with her. But....guess who my next companion is? It's Sister Cowley's trainee and now she's a sister training leader with me! She's only been out 6 months now and I'm super excited because I've heard she's incredible. Cougar Mountain will be in good hands this transfer. 

So we had a little miracle this week:

Sister Cowley and I had basically stopped teaching most of our people because they weren't progressing at all. We were feeling a little down at how the end of this transfer was looking with no people to teach. Well, on Saturday we were visiting some people and we received a text from Irena (mom of the family from Hawaii). We hadn't had contact with her for weeks so we stopped trying with her. Irena reached out and asked us if we had moved areas yet because she hadn't heard from us in awhile. We called her and told her we were still here and we missed her family. She told us about the crazy week she had and she wanted us to come visit her right away. After we hung up, Sister Cowley and I just looked at each other like "what just happened?" We went over to Irena's and had a lesson with her family. Irena told us she had been praying that morning and had a thought to text the sister missionaries. Irena and her daughter came to church the next day and enjoyed it! The family is originally from the Marshallese Islands so we are going to get Irena a Book of Mormon in Marshallese. Currently she is reading the English one and wants to continue meeting with us. God is so mindful of his children and he really does take care of those who are wanting to learn!

Ok last thing: Sister Cowley and I were knocking doors one night and there was this house with the door wide open. This little boy walks by and sees us at the door. He asks what we are doing and we tell him we are missionaries who teach about Jesus Christ. The mom comes to the door soon after and tells us it's not a good time to talk. We leave and just as we are walking to the next house, the little boy (he's pictured in the bright green shirt) comes chasing after us. He tells us that even though his mom isn't interested, he would like to learn more. We ask Joshua if his mom is okay with it and he says yes. So we show him a video about Jesus Christ and give him an invitation to our church. We also teach him how to talk to Heavenly Father and he says "I already learned how to pray, no offense." This kid is only 7 years old and he's just the cutest ever. I think teaching children will always be my favorite in the mission just because they want to know so much. 

Also, it was Sister Cowleys birthday this week so we made a llama cake and look how cute it turned out! 

That's all for this week! Sister Cowley left me a parting gift by getting me sick so this next week is going to be a little rough haha. Wish me luck!

love,
sis. smith 

Week 50 - Surprise Baptism :)

So...this week I found out someone Sister Waldron (my baby) and I taught was getting baptized in Enumclaw! It was a part member family (the mom was less active and the kids weren't members) We had found them tracting during Christmas and invited them to the Christmas ward party. They came to it and then came to church that same week. We had started teaching them before we both were transferred out. Anyway, we heard the son was getting baptized so Sister Waldron and I got to go back to our birthplace in the mission. We saw some of the ward members and got to see Sean being baptized. Their family has come a long way since we first found them and it was such a tender mercy. 

This week we had lots of meetings including zone conference. Our mission president leaves next month and so it was a bittersweet week. They both bore their testimonies to us and the love in the room was unreal. They are so amazing and I have been so lucky to serve around them. We are getting older in mission time and it's been hard to see our friends leave. We said goodbye to several sisters this week who will be going home at the end of this transfer. I feel like I have really grown up with them my whole life and I hate saying goodbye, but I know we will all see each other again. They are incredible missionaries and I love them so much! 

Sad news: Our cute friend Kevin is moving back to China at the end of this month because his family can't get their visas to come here. We are going to continue teaching him until he leaves, but I'm going to miss him so much!

Ok, sorry this is a shorter email but it's all I had time to write! Love you all and happy summer!

love, 
sis. smith

My favorite dog named Gratch 

A member asked us to help her release her lady bugs

Saying goodbye to Sister Adair 😔

Blast from the past: our ward mission leader's wife, Sister Callahan

Sean got baptized!

Acai bowls in 80 degree weather (can you believe it?!) 

Week 48 and 49 - Cougar Mountain is Basically China

Well this transfer is just flying!

Sorry if this letter is all over the place because in missionary time, the events just blend together. Also, the sun has been out this whole week and I couldn't be happier. Sister Cowley and I have been making multiple visits to the temple grounds to plan. We just sit on the benches and let our bodies soak in some much needed Vitamin D. 

We've had three exchanges in the past two weeks and I'm exhausted haha. All of the sisters we are over don't live anywhere near our area so we have to drive at least 30 minutes to get to them. It's been a week full of car rides and sleepovers. Speaking of sleepovers....our bathtub was super gross on the bottom and they decided to resurface it. Well they told us to come back in 5 hours and the chemical smells should be gone by then. Well, they weren't....and so the minute we walked into our apartment, we were seeing spots because the chemicals were so strong. We told our mission president that it was unsafe for us to sleep in our own apartment so he had us sleep over at some other sisters' apartment that night. I don't think I slept in my own bed for half the week. 

Lately we have been teaching this man named Kevin from China and he is my favorite. He is married and has two kids, but they are all in China waiting for their visas to come to America. This week when we were teaching him, we asked how his reading was in the Book of Mormon. He read the first three chapters and his only concern was that Lehi and his family didn't walk through China before they sailed to the Americas! Kevin came to church for the first time this week and he was so cute when he walked in. He was wearing a suit and he just looked so confused. We had a member bring him and when he saw us, he just waved. It was like a little kid waving and our hearts melted. Kevin is the sweetest and he has so many questions. Now that he has been to church, hopefully we can help him to feel more prepared for baptism. 

I just really love Chinese people here and we see them all the time! We volunteer at a food kitchen on Thursday where we serve food to the homeless. On the way out, there was this little Chinese grandma walking in and we said bye to her. Her eyes get huge and she just yells "how are yoooouuuu?" She didn't speak much English.

This week I was just feeling down again, but we had a zone breakfast with our stake presidency which lifted my spirits. He told us that we shouldn't be so hard on ourselves and that although the work is hard, we tend to make it even harder. One thing he said that I love is "Lose yourself, but be yourself." We are asked to lose ourselves in the service of others and to give all we have to our Heavenly Father. That doesn't mean we lose our personalities or what makes us happy. When we give something over to God, we are allowing him to assist us in magnifying our gifts. Each person experiences different challenges and joys in this life and they are given to us for a reason. Don't cover them up; be yourself and let the Lord strengthen your personality through the service of others. I am slowly learning each day to be happy with who I am and that Heavenly Father called me here to be Sister Smith, not anyone else. :)

Love you all and happy summer!!

love,
sister smith