Week 76 - My Savior Has Changed Me

Woah, it's my last week ever as a missionary and it's so surreal! I feel like I will still be a full-time missionary forever and I'm never leaving Federal Way. I just want to say that it has been the best experience I have ever had. I have met a few return missionaries who have gone astray. They may not agree with the teachings of Christ's church, but they never say they regret their missions. Why? Because missionaries have the opportunity to witness God's hands working in the most up close and personal way. We literally see the gospel of Jesus Christ bring light to souls who were wandering in the darkness for years. It's amazing and exhausting at the same time. 

I was blessed this week with two new companions: Sister Bowles and Sister Ray. Both are incredible missionaries and are sent to this area for a reason. I feel completely confident in leaving the ward and our friends in their capable hands. Sister Bowles was playing violin in the missionary program for the Bellevue Nativity (the biggest Christmas event of the year here). Members bring nativities from around the world and put them on a huge display. There is live music and other rooms to explore with different activities like the movie room and photo booth. Since I'm in the south half of the mission, we weren't allowed to go this year. However, since Sister Bowles had already agreed to perform, we got to all go and it was beautiful!! I had been to the nativity in Maple Valley, but never the one in Bellevue. Sister Ray and I sang in the missionary choir and I saw many members and friends from when I served in the Bellevue area this summer. It was such a tender mercy!

Yesterday we watched the Christmas devotional with our friend Lizzie at her home. We were running late and I was worried she would forget we were coming over. When we arrived, she was already waiting for us with the Christmas devotional playing on her TV. She had put the LDS media app on her TV and had found the Christmas devotional by herself! She made us cookies as we enjoyed the devotional with her. Christmas is a hard time of the year for her because she experienced a great loss at this time. As the speakers addressed this concern, I looked over and saw her wipes tears from her face. I knew she felt the Spirit and this was an answer to her prayers. It filled my heart with joy and I know she will be a solid member of the Church one day. 

I have loved being a missionary and I wish it could be full-time like this everyday, but there are other things God has in store for me. I have received countless confirmations from the Spirit this week as I pondered about whether I had done enough. The Spirit told me in my heart and mind that this was exactly how it was supposed to happen and Heavenly Father was proud of my efforts. More tears rolled down my cheeks as I felt the Savior's love for me in such a powerful and unique way. I'm thankful for modern revelation and for the Book of Mormon. It keeps me going and fuels my Spirit each day. 

Alma 5:14  
"And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren [and sisters] of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?"

There is a mighty change in my heart and I have received his image in my countenance. We may never understand the experiences we are put through at the moment, but we can always trust a loving Savior to help us overcome our lowest points. It's not until we reach the peak that we see the plan God has laid before us. I have been torn apart by the whirlwinds of life and 


glued back together by Christ's Atonement. Only through Him will we ever reach the top of our mountains. He is truly the light of the world and the only way to eternal life. His gospel brings enduring joy and provides protection. I'm still not a perfect missionary, nor could I ever be. But I'm thankful for Jesus Christ who invested his time in me. He has changed me and I will continue to help Him change others. I love this work and I have loved my mission!

Until we meet again,
sister smith :) 

Week 75 - 3 Thanksgivings, 2 Dozen Sugar Cookies, and 1 Companion Leaving

Wow here comes the final stretch! Sister Cowley reunited with her family yesterday and I'm so happy for her! We had a crazy final week together and I loved every moment of it. ❤

We had a mini zone conference with just our zone on Tuesday. Everyone gave a training on one aspect of missionary work and the departing missionaries shared their testimonies at the end. The Federal Way zone has been by far my favorite. It doesn't matter if missionaries come or go, we always seem to love each other so easily on the first day. This next transfer will be different though. Half of the missionaries in the zone are leaving. It will be soooooo different! 

Thursday was NUTS! We had a sports day with half of the mission. We played ultimate frisbee outside and my fingers were like icicles after! It was freezing! We made banana muffins for some members in the ward and heart attacked their doors after. Then we headed to our 1st Thanksgiving with our ward mission leader and his family. We ate a ton and that was a mistake...

The Bolli family in our ward invited Amuji over for Thanksgiving and wanted us to come share a message after. They just put the food out when we got there and we felt awkward not eating. We were so full so we only ate potatoes and stuffing. Then we stopped by a part member family afterwards. They are from the Congo and their family is so cute! They also put the food out when we got there. Sister Cowley and I looked at each other like "oh no." Jean Paul (the member) said "Sisters, please take a plate. Why aren't you eating?" We both took the tiniest piece of turkey and ate it as slow as possible. Haha. We wanted to both throw up after because we were so full!

On Saturday we took the departing temple trip. All of the missionaries leaving within this month go and we eat at the temple cafeteria after. The temple was such an amazing experience and I remember feeling so much peace about the mission I have served here. God has blessed me immensely this year. That night we had a member dinner and they let us frost sugar cookies after. They gave us over 2 dozen cookies to take home to give to people! So kind of them to do that for us 😊

Sunday was Sister Cowley's last day in the field so it was pretty rough. Lots of tears and goodbyes. We both shared our testimonies in church and spent the day saying goodbye to members and people we are teaching. It was odd for me because I'm not leaving quite yet and I'll have to say goodbye all over again in 2 weeks. Like I said, it was a rough day. We went to the mission home for dinner and the departing devotional. Then the other sisters from our zone came to pick me up while Sister Cowley stayed overnight in the mission home. I've been in a trio with the other sisters since then and I'll get two new companions today! So many changes happening! 

Well that was my crazy week! Hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving. If you have not already, go watch the new nativity video on comeuntochrist.org. It is POWERFUL! 

love,
sister smith 

cute golden retriever shook my hand

finding weird signs while tracting

mission sports day (final goodbye to my baby sister waldron)😭

mlc

our friend Kevin who we think is a member??

painting with cute Sister Argyle

Sister Woolwine 😚

goodbyes with leilani and Amuji

temple trip

last final sky pic cause why not 

Week 74 - Reactivation and Referrals

This past week has had many ups and downs. Our area president came to visit us and wow, he is an inspired man. I loved learning from President Pearson and I've taken much of it to heart. He talked about becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ and shared intimate experiences from his own mission. I think some missionaries tend to get caught up in thinking they only have to "do this" for 18 months to 2 years, and everything will be back to normal after. The truth is, your mission is supposed to set you up for the kind of person you are going to be for the rest of your life! For me, it has been an experience that has impacted me forever. I realize that becoming a disciple of Christ is a long-term goal. I am eager to apply the things that President Pearson taught me to my life after the mission because from the time I put that nametag on and was set apart, I made a commitment to change. And I'm happy to say that I have changed and have no desire to go back to what I thought was "normal." I am ready for whatever comes next and I find joy in self-improvement! 

Ok update for the week: our friends Lizzie and Amuji are basically members...just need to be baptized, that's all. They come to church almost every week and keep all of their commitments. I just keep praying that one day something will click for them and they will see what they have been missing out on. There are so many more blessings to come after becoming a member! Baptism really is the gate or the starting point. We continue to find elect people every day. Our bishop informed us about a member who had her records removed years ago and wants to come back now! We will get to teach her and help her to reenter the waters of baptism. I love seeing people come back to the church! 

Speaking of people coming back to church: we had a cool member and missionary experience this week. A member in our ward had been thinking about this less active named John Reid. He is a convert of 5 years and has fallen away because he feels guilty about the mistakes he made since his baptism. The member asked us to pay John a visit, which we did. John was so sweet and we shared a short message with him. Then, we invited him to our ward potluck and he came! He felt so much love at the potluck that he came to church yesterday as well! He hasn't been to church in years so that was a lovely little miracle. I love when members and missionaries work together; we can accomplish so much more! 

We also got a cool referral this week from the Hawaii temple visitor center. The sister missionaries there were so cute and gave us a call to make sure we understand this human's circumstances and needs. He is from another religion, but was also interested in Christianity. He had a friend who was a member of the Church and wanted to know what made us different from other Christian churches. After much asking, he finally decided to read the Book of Mormon. We have to order one for him in Arabic and we will get to meet him this Wednesday. He wants to know the truth for himself and has put in the time to search. His name is Wisam (Sam) and I'm so excited to teach him!

This is my last week of being with Sister Cowley. She goes home exactly a week from today and I can't wait for her to see her family! She is such a dedicated missionary and deserves every blessing that's coming to her. I am so grateful I was able to serve alongside her many times in my mission. As for me, I have no idea what will happen after she leaves. I think President Beardall will put two new sisters with me in Star Lake until I leave. Guess we will know next week!

ok love you all and happy Thanksgiving! I think it's no coincidence that Thanksgiving is right before Christmas. When we take the time to be grateful for what we've been given, we are humbled and can see God's hand in our lives. It prepares us for the celebration of Christ's  humble birth and the miracle of His life. I love this season and I love my Savior!

love,
sister smith

Week 72 & 73 - Little Africa

Ok I realize that my weeks for my emails may or may not be off but too late to go back and fix it!

Anyway, happy November everyone! Wow, and it's already more than half way through. It's been some of the busiest weeks of my mission and it's about to get crazier. We had a couple of exchanges at the beginning of our weeks. I got to go on Vashon Island which is this island right off of Seattle and you have to ride the ferry over. It was so fun and I felt like I was on a mini cruise ship! Ok maybe not that glamorous. Vashon Island is full of quirky people and we had quite a terrifying encounter with 9+ raccoons. Sister Reda and I were trying to visit someone and we came across like 9 pairs of beady little eyes staring at us. One of the raccoons stood on its hind legs and started screeching. There was a man out on his deck above the raccoons so I said very casually "Excuse me sir, do you realize you have a pack of raccoons underneath your deck?" He told us how he has lived here for a very long time and he actually feeds the raccoons so they are practically his pets. I did say they were quirky people on Vashon, right? 

On the other exchange, I went to the Jovita Creek area (it's also in Federal Way) with Sister Burgess. We taught this spunky lady named Candy (no joke) and she is just a hoot! She had a boyfriend who was a member and that's how she was introduced to the Church. She loves it and wants to be baptized eventually. She lives in a senior center and they do activities almost every hour. After our lesson, she checked the clock and said "oh no! The ice cream float social is almost over! We must hurry down!" So she pushes us out of her little room and practically runs for the elevator. We get down just in time for the ice cream and she breathed out the biggest sigh of relief. I've never seen someone get so worked up over ice cream! 

We found this man named Xavier a couple of weeks ago. He was kind and willing to talk with us. We haven't been able to get in contact with him since, but whenever we drop by, we always find his wife at home. Last time we dropped by, I asked if I could use her bathroom and she let us in. We were able to share a scripture from the Book of Mormon with her and she asked "Oh, what's his story again?" (referring to the prophet that wrote the verse). We thought she was thinking it was from the Bible so we quickly explained it was from the Book of Mormon. She told us she recognized it and she had read the whole Book of Mormon when she was a teenager! She had friends who were members and they had a study group every week. She went to church with them frequently and really liked it. She then told us how her and her husband have been looking for a church and my heart just skipped a beat! We told them they are more than welcome to come to ours, but totally spaced it on giving them the address and time. Our bad! We will definitely go back this week!

Amuji and Lizzie are doing great! They both came to church yesterday and loved it! Now we just gotta help them take the next step which is much easier said than done....please pray for them!!!

Ok that's pretty much it! Love you all!
ps. our area is basically little Africa because we keep finding Africans to teach! They are awesome!

Oh. And I chopped my hair 💁🏼‍♀️✂️

love,
sister smith

riding on the ferry

my greatest nightmare (raccoons are ferocious and I don't like them) 

Redondo beach 

tracting in the pitch black

some of our favorite members

our friend Lizzie's cat who was taking the Book of Mormon hostage

a baptism we attended yesterday (the Star Lake sisters found Nate and referred him to the YSA ward)

Week 70-71 - Can you be(leaf) it's November?!

Ok I'm gonna be honest here...I'm having such a hard time remembering what happened in the last two weeks. It all just blends together!! 

Here is the overview of people we are working with:

Gib: We found him raking his neighbor's leaves. He is this cute old Hispanic man and his neighbor hurt his foot and Good Guy Gib was raking his whole yard for him (sooooo many leaves). We offered to come back the next day and help him rake. He just kept saying "REALLY? You don't want to do that!" But we persisted so he told us to come back at 11AM the next day. We left him with a pamphlet that talked about the Plan of Salvation. Ok, fast forward to the next day: we brought a member with us to help rake the leaves. Gib was still in shock that we actually came back. He told us he read the pamphlet we gave him and was amazed at how much sense it made. He wouldn't stop talking about it! We talked to him more while we were raking and I guess he had met with missionaries before, but it never went anywhere. He told us about his girlfriend, living in Kent, and her daughter who was baptized a couple of months ago. After raking, we invited him to our ward Halloween party. Well he actually showed up to the party and he brought his sweet girlfriend with him! She recognized Sister Cowley, but we didn't know how. Finally, we found out that the girlfriend's daughter had been baptized in the Spanish branch in Kent in the same church Sister Cowley had gone to when she served there! It was crazy! Her daughter was a member and the mom had actually attended church with him a couple times. So Gib has so many connections to the Church and hopefully we can teach him more! 

Janet: We met Janet on our Finding Festival day. We were just knocking on doors, and she let us right in. She has been looking for a church and fell in love with the Book of Mormon. Pray for her!

Katie: She is the definition of "cat lady." Guess how many cats? 14 cats!! And they all live in her house so lessons get pretty interesting. We ran into her when we were knocking doors and she is the sweetest lady. She has been reading/listening to the Book of Mormon and we have been raking her leaves this week (she has a lot too!). Now we just need her to come to church!

Leilani: She has a steady job now so that's been really good for her! She still wants to be baptized on the 23rd of this month, so this week she will be quitting smoking entirely. PLEASE PRAY FOR HER! She is doing so well and has such a desire to come closer to Christ. 

Amuji: He is progressing...haha that's all I can say! Thank goodness we had no weird food lately. He went from reading the Book of Mormon once in awhile to almost every day! And he is coming to church more frequently. We tried to get him to our Halloween party, but I guess Halloween is a celebration of Satan in his country....Anyway, all the members of the ward love him and also invite him over for lessons and dinners. It's just awesome! 

Ok that's it for friends. This Halloween was fun! We had to be in by 7PM but still had to go finding from 5-7. Well, Sister Cowley and I were not about to knock doors with little trick-or-treaters running around. So instead we set up a booth in front of one of the members' home and taped candy to pass along cards. We had a little game and some Book of Mormons displayed too. The first hour was a little rough because no one was out yet. But by 6PM we got quite a few and handed out lots of cards. We were both freezing by the end though! 

Ok, that's all I can remember which is way more than I thought! Have a good week and love you all! 

Love, 
sis. smith 

Pics:

Gib!!!!

the lighting was cool 😎

 I saw Sister Woolwine again and this is basically us in a nutshell

we were the judges for the ward chili cook off

helped our friend Lizzie get ready for her Halloween concert

this is what we have to work with when we teach Katie Cat Lady

 we gave the zone leaders in our apartment complex a Halloween surprise 

cute little Larry the Cucumber!! 

pumpkin carving contest with the zone 

Week 68 & 69- Sprinting to the End

Last transfer.....eeeekkkk! When did that happen?

A couple of weeks ago, President Beardall pulled me aside and told me that many missionaries are asking to go home at different times in the month of December due to starting school on time. Our next transfer starts on December 3rd, but he let me know I didn't have to go home at the end of the transfer. He felt bad that I had 2 months of my mission taken from me and offered to send me home at a later time in December. After talking with my parents and Heavenly Father, I gave President the thumbs up. So now I will be coming home on December 14th! I'm so excited to get two weeks more of my mission. I know it doesn't seem like much, but it means a lot to me.

UPDATE: So much has happened in the last couple of weeks! We went to the temple with a recent convert (Jimmy) so he could do baptisms for the dead. We got to participate too and the spirit of the temple was needed. The temple grounds are just stunning at this time of the year. The trees are colorful and bright, and you just have to take a minute and thank Heavenly Father for creating the fall season.

LEILANI: She's the daughter of the Primary President in this ward and she has a son named Jensen. She is one of my favorite people to teach because she just soaks in the gospel of Christ like a sponge. She is preparing for baptism on November 23rd and she came to church this week! 

AMUJI: He came to church this week too! He is progressing, but it's at a slower pace. We had a couple of lessons with him these past weeks. The first one was at the Porters' home. They are this cute young couple in the ward and they go above and beyond with member missionary work. They bought pumpkins to try and make a homemade pumpkin pie. Amuji had never heard of pumpkin pie and so they invited us to come over and try their pie. It was the best pumpkin pie I have ever tasted. Amuji was unsure at first and kind of freaked out when we put the whipped cream on, but he loved it! 

The next lesson was at his home. He wanted to cook lunch for us before the transfer ended.....We brought a member with us and it was just hilarious. Amuji loves to go all out for his visitors and he enjoys cooking his "fancy" authentic dishes from Africa. However, us Americans do not stomach it very well. He set this big pot down and we all just looked at each other. Sister Campbell lifted the lid and it just looked like mystery meat. I guess he made us turkey with some kind of meat goop. It had crawfish, spinach, and possibly beef? He served us foofoo too which is a white yam they love to eat. It doesn't have much of a taste, but it's sticky and you roll it into little balls. Then you dip the foofoo into the meat sauce. It was all quite interesting. Brother Avila (the member we brought) told Amuji he had just eaten, but Amuji doesn't care. He gave us each a huge serving and Brother Avila just mumbled "thanks sisters, thanks for inviting me." We all couldn't help but laugh because Brother Avila always gives us a hard time....in a loving way of course. :)

On the bright side, we taught Amuji about keeping Sunday a special day and dedicating our time to serving the Lord. We each shared our testimonies of the importance of showing what kind of sign we want to send God when we do things on Sunday. Amuji likes to go shopping at Goodwill on Sundays, but now he realizes that there are better things. He told us he learned that he was making other people work on Sunday and he wanted to show God a better sign of his love for Him. It was a small victory. 

We put together a night of music this past Sunday at the church. We asked people in the ward to sing or share their musical talent. We even sang and let's just say no one covered their ears so that's a good sign hahaha. It actually went well and the members want us to sing again sometime....yikes! We had a good turn out and Amuji came! Our friend that we met at the gas station came too! We were getting the gas receipt and we invited him to our music night. And he actually came! His name is Sandhu and we think he's from Iraq. 

Ok transfer news: the trio is being broken up sadly. Sister Campbell is going to Tiffany Park where I served months ago! Sister Cowley and I are staying here. You know what they say: "start the mission together, end the mission together." Ok no one says that, but it's a thing now. We are hitting this last transfer at FULL SPEED! Stay tuned! 

Anyway, love you all!

love,
sister smith

Picture overload:

exchanges and tacos 🌮

this is our view in the mornings

decorated Jimmy's door for his bday

a pumpkin pie in the making 

the district 

tis' the Halloween season 

trio!

our cute neighbor downstairs brought us flowers, pizza, and candy!

a transfer must: creepy facemasks 

brother Hampton is our favorite

 last day together

amujis fish stew....

amuji bought us mom purses lol

 ❤❤

Week 67 - General Conference and Birthday Wishes

First of all, I just want to thank everyone who wished me a happy birthday! I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate than doing the thing I love most here in Washington! 

It's been a crazy week as always! We had 2 exchanges with the sisters serving in different areas of Kent. I was with Sister Kiravit for one of them. She is from Thailand and came into the field with me. We both go home in December and so we talked a lot about our plans for life afterwards. When she first entered the field, she hardly knew any English. It was amazing to see how far she has come. She talks to everyone and expresses her love for the Savior every chance she gets. Heavenly Father really does mold us into more than we could ever imagine. 

Update on Sabrina and her girls: Ever since October 1st, we have not heard a word from her. We don't know what happened, but we dropped by her apartment. Her car is still there and we heard voices coming from inside so we think they are still living there. We don't know how, but please keep them in your prayers. I'm worried for the safety of those girls and I just want them to have a good life. 

On a good note: we are receiving many promising referrals! Hopefully they will lead to more commitment to the gospel. Federal Way is a great place, but it's hard to find stable people. Our friend Leilani that the sisters were working with before is the daughter of a member. She wants to be baptized, but struggles with addiction. The ward held a week long fast to help her. We all chose to give up something to encourage her to overcome her struggle. She had stopped taking the lessons after she relapsed a while ago but reached out to us after watching General Conference. She wants to start the lessons again! So exciting! 

Our friend Amuji came to General Conference and I think he enjoyed it! He was listening intently to every talk and thanked us for inviting him. Speaking of General Conference...wasn't it amazing?! Best birthday present!  Knowing the end of my mission is coming near, I went in with a question: how can I trust myself to make the right decisions and how can I be confident in myself? I realized that when we trust in the Lord, we have no reason to doubt ourselves. Keeping our promises to God invites joy and confidence into our lives. I know that as long as I put Christ above all else, things will work out. Just look at what happened to me recently! My trust in God lead me to Washington again. Of course, not everyone is so lucky. Sometimes our prayers are answered very differently, but Heavenly Father is aware and He will do what is best for us. That's easier said than done and I'm still learning this lesson everyday. Satan wants us to doubt and compare ourselves, but God is good and those negative thoughts are not from Him. Please remember that! 

The time is flying by and the days just blend together. It feels like I never left my mission. I'm being completely honest when I say this is the happiest I have ever felt. There's a reason serving God and serving others is the great two commandments. We are promised pure joy that is enduring and resilient. 

Love you all,
Sister Smith 

Exchanges and fish

Sister Campbell's doctor gave us all a rose, so sweet!

we "Halloween" attacked members that helped us with Sabrina

the Bolli's (cute member family) on my birthday

Elder Okuda always wears blue ties, but he wore his one yellow tie just on my birthday!

so much cake and love :)