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