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
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