Week 32 - SNOW!

What a crazy week it has been! And next Tuesday is transfer day so goodbye transfer #5! 

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

Week 31 - The Field is White, Already to Harvest

Miracles, miracles, miracles!! Such a GOOD week! 

Our part member family is doing amazing! Casey is set on being baptized the 23rd of February....even if it means living in his boss's house for a couple of months while Chris (the fiancé) tries to pick a day for them to get married. But Chris is trying to do her part too. She told us she received some much needed advice from her old bishop's wife about just picking a day and praying about it. She has a couple of days in mind, but still has to put some time aside to pray. We just continue to have members fellowship them and invite them to church. They were planning to come yesterday but Casey got sick with the flu (literally everyone is sick at this time of the year). Continue to keep them in your prayers! Casey's desire to be baptized has strengthened Chris's faith so much already! 

I don't know what we did to deserve so many referrals this week, but God is just so good to us! Our one referral named Evan is golden. He has talked with missionaries in the past and already has a Book of Mormon. Some elders found him outside and started chatting with him. They referred him to us (because Evan is in our area, not theirs) and we went over. He told us he already prayed about the Book of Mormon and knows it to be the word of God. We invited him to be baptized and he said it's something he has definitely thought about. We told him to bring that exact question to church to see if he gets an answer. And guess what?! He came to church and he's going to come again next week! So prepared! 

We also met a woman that goes by Booboo. We were out knocking around this one apartment complex and Sister Zhang happened to notice her. She was just sitting on the steps outside  eating crackers. We started talking to her and shared Helaman 5:12, talking about building our foundations on Christ. She really liked the scripture and so we introduced the Book of Mormon to her. We went back the next day to teach her more and she's now on date for baptism the 2nd of March!! 

Ok last big miracle of the week: we've been teaching this less active family even before I got to Renton. The parents are inactive members and they have two kids of baptismal age. The parents are hardly ever home and the kids were told to not open the door for anyone. They also don't use their cell phones, so we had zero contact with them for weeks. We were about to give up on them, but felt prompted to give it another try. We knocked on their door and they actually answered!  Not only did the kids answer, but the mom was home! We were able to talk to the mom about continuing to teach her kids and she was fine with it. She let us know that her husband's work schedule gave him Sundays off now so he could start going to church again. They only have one car (the mom has to take it to work every Sunday), but with the help of our amazing members, we found them a ride to church. They all came yesterday and the kids are back on track for baptism. 😊 

Literally so many prepared people in Tiffany Park! In just our zone area, we have found 104 new people to teach this week! It's CRAZY! The mission life is good and the sun is starting to shine upon Seattle again. Even though it's still pretty cold, the days are getting longer and spring will be here before we know it! 

Love you all and have a great week!

love,

sister smith

Week 30 - Tiffany Park Tender Mercies

Hellooooooo! 

Can you believe January is already almost over?! Everyone says that once you hit 6 months, your mission just keeps getting faster and faster....I believe it. 

Another great week has come and gone! We are seeing so many miracles in Tiffany Park so this might be a lengthy email! I forgot to mention this one miracle in my email last time, but it happened a little over a week ago. A member had come up to us my second Sunday in the area and told us about her friend who was going through a pretty rough time. She had offered the missionaries to come over and say a prayer with her. The friend said yes! Sister Zhang and I went over with the member on a Friday night. We had no idea what to expect. We thought teaching a little bit about the Plan of Salvation would be good for her. When we got there, we found out her family is from Fiji and they practice Hinduism. So cool! But also, we were nervous to teach anything. How could we teach the Plan of Salvation to someone who believes in several gods? She shared with us her story and what she believes in and honestly...each religion is so similar! They believe in a higher power and so do we. We taught about God's love for us and how we can receive comfort during our hardships. We said a prayer with her family and the Spirit flooded the room. She had tears in her eyes when we left. Last week, we followed up with the member to see how Mona (the friend) was doing. Mona loved our visit and she wants us to come back! 

We are still working with our part-member family. Casey wants to be baptized so badly, but he needs to marry Chris first. Chris knows the importance of marriage, but her first marriage continues to be a painful reminder of all the things that could go wrong. She is terrified to get married again and panics every time we bring it up. This week we brought a member to the lesson with us and she was a great help. She shared how prayer had comforted her when she was deciding whether to marry her future husband or go on a mission. We asked Chris to pray about marrying Casey to which she agreed. Sister Zhang and I fasted for them this week to be at peace with getting married. I know that if it is  the Lord's will, He will make it happen. But...if you could pray for them, that would be great too. 😊 

This week we had an interesting service opportunity. We got a call from another sister missionary in our mission asking us to go visit this elderly woman named Lucy. Lucy was calling and asking for help, but this sister had been transferred to Auburn so she couldn't really do much. We said we would go stop by Lucy's, who apparently is from Romania and hardly speaks any English. We found out with the help of Google translate that Lucy is living with her sister-in-law who doesn't like her. She won't take Lucy to the store and she won't let her eat anything in the kitchen. We ended up driving Lucy to the grocery store and buying her two loaves of bread! It was quite the adventure and Lucy is the sweetest lady ever. She was super grateful for our service and asked us to call her brother (he speaks English fluently). We hope to see her again soon!

This past Sunday I had to give a talk in church. It's crazy because being a missionary really helps you overcome any fear of speaking in public! I felt like I was just teaching another lesson and was surprised at how easy the words came to me. The Spirit is so cool! We also got to teach seminary one day and that was pretty fun. Although, it was early morning seminary so while Sister Zhang and I were having fun teaching about missionary work, the students were half asleep. Some were even in their pjs still lol. 

On Sunday we had our mission devotional at the Renton Stake Center. And guess what happened?! Our Russian friend Neonila came! So basically a mission devotional is like once a transfer and we invite all our teaching friends to attend. There's a missionary choir and recent converts come to share their stories. Four missionaries are chosen to bear testimony on a main point of the Restoration. It's one of my favorite devotionals we do as a mission. But anyway, back to Neonila! We haven't been having any luck with her lately. She has two jobs and is always working so we never can meet with her. One day we just decided to slide a flyer for the mission devotional in her door. And she actually showed up....with her brother! Also, they asked us what time church starts and are thinking of coming! God is so good! 

Today we went to the temple in Bellevue and it was amazing as always! I love the temple with all my heart and it's such a good place to be! It was of course raining when we got out and I didn't even mind. I've definitely learned to love the rain here! 

Hope you all have another lovely week and look for the good in each day! We only live on this earth for such a short amount of time, so why waste it being in a bad mood? Choose to live happy and learn to love the rain!

love, 

sister smith :) 

service at Northwest Harvest

Thai food 😍

my cute companion Sis. Zhang

 Sister Cowley again (one day we will serve together)

my baby/trainee, Sis. Waldron 

Week 29 - Church Leaders Love Seattle

Another week has come and gone! 

I don't know why the Washington Seattle Mission is so blessed, but we had another general authority visit our mission this week! Elder Kearon of the Seventy and his wife came for a surprise visit and it was AMAZING. Elder Kearon is actually my new favorite member of the Seventy; he is incredibly genuine and his comments were exactly what I needed to hear. As a convert to the church, Elder Kearon emphasized how important it is for us to really seek a testimony of the Book of Mormon. When explaining the Book of Mormon to people, we as missionaries tend to give the basic answers we learned in the MTC. Something like "oh the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ and it's written by prophets in the ancient Americas." Now, yes that may be a valid statement, but will it really intrigue someone to read the Book of Mormon for themselves? Elder Kearon explained that when we search deeper and try to find what the Book of Mormon can do for us personally, it will leave a greater impact in the people we see. For me, the Book of Mormon has answered questions no one else could. As I prayerfully searched each time I opened the book, I found my understanding of our Heavenly Father's plan increase. I have been able to feel a deeper connection to my Savior and I feel of His love stronger than ever before. I have been able to understand the truth of why Heavenly Father lets good people suffer in this world. I know without a doubt now that He will never abandon us in our challenges. God stays in the same place every time; it's us that make the decision to move closer or not. I encourage you all to gain your own personal testimony of the Book of Mormon. Don't just think of it as another book, but as an instruction manual for gaining eternal life. Read it, study it, and live it. 

This week we have been teaching a part-member family and the dad is on date for baptism the 23rd of February! Please keep this family (the Clisbees) in your prayers! The mom is a returning member and they have two kids together. The parents are not married yet so we are working on that first. Casey (the dad) has amazing faith and he has wanted to be baptized for a long time now. He has already watched his two sons be baptized and he knows it is his turn now. The mom (Chris) was in a bad marriage before so she is worried about getting married again. I know that if we just build up her faith, she will be able to overcome this roadblock. We had a lesson with them on Friday night and we went over the Restoration. Chris and Casey both had tears in their eyes as we recited the First Vision to them. They are so prepared and I know they will make it!

We've been working with a lot of less actives this week. It's crazy because some of these people don't even know they are members of the church. They were baptized at a young age and they fell away shortly after. It's like teaching a brand new person every time. They don't even recognize the Book of Mormon or a church building. It's been amazing to find these lost sheep and bring them back into the fold. One of the less actives named Steve has made great progress. He got a suit last week and has been coming to church. We invited him to a baptism in another ward and he loved it. His testimony is growing stronger each day and he is always hungry for more knowledge. The gospel has brought purpose back into his life and it's given him a reason to find joy again. 

Well that is all for this week! Sorry I'm lame and have no pictures to show, but this week will be better! :) Love you all!

love,

sister smith

Week 28 - Renton is NOT Enumclaw

Hello friends!

I know I say this every single time, but this week has been CRAZY! We had transfers on Tuesday and I had to say goodbye to my little trainee, Sister Waldron. My new companion is Sister Zhang and she is the weirdest person you will ever meet. I don't think I've gone one day this week without peeing my pants because she makes me laugh so hard! She is such a good missionary and only has a couple of months left on her mission. She's from China and sometimes I have to be her translator when we talk to people because her English gets a little shaky. But she is amazing and I'm so BLESSED to be with her! 

Ok so now let's talk about Renton. Renton is NOT Enumclaw...in fact, it is the very opposite of Enumclaw. We are in the Tiffany Park ward and it's located right next to Skyway...also known as the most dangerous part in our mission. They won't even send sisters there. But I love Renton! The people are definitely not as friendly here as in Enumclaw, but we are still finding prepared souls everyday! We are currently teaching people from Cambodia, Kenya, Russia, China, Tonga, and the Philippines! So much diversity and I've never been happier! Also, our apartment feels like living in a hotel. The old one was infested by ants so they upgraded just before I got here...God is definitely watching out for me. 

Miracles of the Week:

1. We gave a card to a man talking on the phone and just a couple of hours later, we end up knocking on his door. Turns out he is a less active member and we were an answer to his prayer. He's been trying to get his family back to church and we were able to help him out. 

2. Briefly talked to some guys on the street and gave them a card with our phone number. Today we saw one of them in the grocery store and he recognized us. He told us that he just moved here and he was looking for a church. He asked us for our church address and told us he will be there this Sunday! MIRACLES!

3. Sister Zhang and her past companion were trying to teach this part member family last transfer. The mom is a less active member and the boyfriend isn't a member, but they have 2 kids together. The mom always cancelled when they would set up teaching appointments. This week a member told us to try and visit them again. Sister Zhang was skeptical, but we did it anyway. The mom opened the door to us and was super welcoming. We set up a return appointment and she told us how her boyfriend wants to be baptized! Some people just need a little extra time I guess!

One more thing before I end this....the rain storms have been crazy here! The storm took out our power yesterday and so we had no heat or light all day. I had to get ready for church in the pitch dark lol. Also, since it's Seattle, there is hardly any sunlight so we had to study with flashlights and candles. And we were freezing. I had like 3 blankets on me and I was still cold. I felt like a pioneer all day. Luckily, our power came back on last night, but the roads are still a mess. So many roads have been closed off because trees have fallen and there are branches everywhere. A tree even fell on top of our mission president's home and pierced through the windows! 

I would love to just sit here all day and tell you more, but unfortunately my time is pretty limited! I hope you all have a lovely week!

Love, 

Sister Smith

Had to say one final goodbye to our neighbor Henry

 Last time in the apartment

Sister Black!

My baby

 Sister Burdina

The sky never ceases to amaze me 

Week 26 & 27 - New Year = New Area

Hello!!

Wow I have so much to update you on, but so little time to do it! So much has happened in the last two weeks and apparently I'm a third way done with my mission already...umm what? Where did the time go?! 

Today marks two weeks since my beloved Italian companion went back to finish her mission in Temple Square. Sister Deruvo, you will be missed. Honestly, it was really rough after she left. We didn't know how to function and just cried to our ward mission leader's wife, Sister Callahan (my second mom basically). But then things got better and Christmas time definitely put us in high spirits. Last Monday, we had a white elephant gift exchange with our zone on Christmas Eve...there were some pretty odd gifts. I guess they make bacon and pickle flavored candy canes now?? Yuck! We spent Christmas Eve night knocking on doors, caroling style. We got all the sisters in our zone and just picked a couple streets in the area to tract. We sang to everyone and shared the love of Christ with God's precious children. It was such a good night. 

On Christmas day, we did our own little secret Santa early in the morning and delivered gifts to a less active family in our ward who didn't have much. Then we made banana pancakes and called our families. We spent the rest of the day visiting widows and less active members. We made sugar cookies the day before and delivered them to all of our friends. We spent the whole day just serving people and it was by far the most memorable Christmas. I've never felt so much joy and the time just flew by! 

On Thursday, we had a miracle. We stopped by our referral (Jason) again to set up an appointment. Usually, he is never home and we were kinda losing hope in this guy. Well, guess what? He actually answered the door AND invited us in. We sat down and he says "I'm not exactly sure how to start this...I've only been taught by the boy missionaries once." Sister Waldron and I just glance at each other like "ok I guess we are having our teaching appointment now!" We taught him the Restoration and when I recited the "First Vision" to him, the Spirit was so powerful. The first thing he said was "wow, that's pretty intense" so I know he felt it. He accepted our invitiation to be baptized and to finish it off...he came to church on Sunday! And he brought his cute 7 year old daughter named Ava! It was the cherry on top for this transfer! I'm so excited for them and I know the whole family will accept the gospel one day. Jason is a special soul and the love he has for his daughter just warms my heart. 

Ok now for some really BIG news! I'm getting transferred and so is my companion! Saturday morning, we were getting ready and our mission president calls us randomly. We were so scared to answer it because President never calls. He told us that our area is being whitewashed and we would have to get everything in order. Whitewashing is when both missionaries are taken out of an area and new missionaries are put in...so they have no idea what they are doing. My little ward will have elders now, which is so strange to me. We had to clean EVERYTHING in our apartment, pack, fix the area book, and say goodbye to everyone. It was the most insane weekend ever and also the saddest. Enumclaw is all I have ever known, I mean I spent 6 months here! It will be nice to have a change but wow, I'm going to miss this place so much! They have all become my second family and I don't want to ever leave them. But I'm super excited for my new area: Renton! It's in the heart of the mission and the complete opposite of Enumclaw. Lots of city and just below Seattle area. Pray for my safety lol. 

Well that's all I have time to write about! Have an amazing new year and remember to include Christ in your new year's resolutions! Love you all!! 

love,
sis. smith 

Sister training leaders brought us Christmas presents

 Making sugar cookies

Caroling (also, look at this house!) 

My girl Ava

Mount Rainer, you will be missed 😢

Meet Hazel, the cutest baby ever

 The Riendeau fam (sorry for the pic quality)

The Callahan's ❤

We look like ghosts

Week 25 - Little Christmas Miracles

The Christmas holiday is among us and we have never been busier!

Remember how last week was pretty rough and I said the Lord was going to provide us with some Christmas miracle....well, it happened! It all started Monday when our good friend Grandpa brought us a real Christmas tree to decorate. He then told us about a family who is ready to receive the gospel. The dad is currently an inactive member in our ward, but he wants to change and get back to going to church. His wife is not a member and they have three cute little kids. We have only met the dad, but he is such a solid person and we can't wait to teach their whole family! We are planning to meet them tomorrow with Grandpa so wish us luck!

Other members have reached out to us as well this week. The Otto's asked us Monday night to help them deliver cookies and DVDs of the Light the World videos to families in their neighborhood. It was so much fun and the Otto's are the most genuine people you will ever meet! We sang Christmas carols and watched as all the kids gathered around to hear the music. It gave me the idea of singing to everyone we talk to and that is exactly what we did this week. 

We spent this whole week singing to people. Every single person we saw in the streets or every door we knocked on, we just asked if we could sing them a Christmas carol. Some were caught a little off guard, but they never rejected us. I watched their hearts softens as we sang, and we were then able to share our message of Christ with them. As we shared our favorite Christmas traditions and how we remember Christ this season, we were able to introduce the Book of Mormon as another way to remember Christ all year long. You'd be surprised at how many people actually accepted copies of the Book of Mormon and said they would read the introduction. It was incredible and I've never felt more joy in my heart! And it all happened just by singing "Silent Night" to everyone. The power of music is real my friends! 

We also had another member reach out to us this week from a little town called Orting. He told us about his work buddy who happened to live in our ward boundaries and he was interested in learning more about the Church! The member sent us his phone number and address so we called right away. They are a young family as well and we are pretty excited to meet them! We were supposed to meet with them last week, but his work just got super busy so we will have to wait and see. Keep them in your prayers!

This Saturday we had the ward Christmas party and our friends Doug and Carol came! We invited a lot of other people too, but so many have been getting sick lately. Our ward is full of amazing member missionaries; they just flocked to Doug and Carol's table and started talking about the gospel. It was great! We also had a family come who is trying to get active again. They are amazing people and they have been through so much. I know the gospel will be the answer to every single problem they're facing. 

There's no better time than Christmas time to share the love and invite people to feel the pure love of Christ. As we have visited our friends and members this week, I now know what it means to "Give as He Gave." Christ was our perfect example and He gave us everything. Even in the hardest moments of His ministry, I truly believe He was the happiest person to ever walk the earth because He understood eternal joy. This joy cannot be wrapped or handed off; it only comes as we forget ourselves and look to serve others. 

I love you all and I hope you have a merry CHRISTmas! 

love,

sis. smith

Week 24 - Planting Seeds of Faith

Hi friends!

   Well this week was kind of a rough one for us, but that's ok because we know the Lord is just preparing us for a Christmas miracle. And we did see some little miracles along the way this week!

   Monday night we found a lady named Elain. We were actually trying to see her neighbors, Douglas and Carol, but they weren't home. Elain was a referral from some members and she usually was never home when we stopped by. Well of course the one night we try and see her neighbors, Elain pulls into her driveway. She walks with a cane and she was struggling to get her groceries in. We all just look at each other and jump out of the car. Elain let us help her take her groceries in and then invited us to sit down and talk with her. We found out she's been taught by missionaries for almost 20 years and she already has a testimony of the Book of Mormon. She wants to be baptized, but her older sister is totally against the church and Elain fears if she gets baptized, her sister will go off the deep end. So Elain is waiting for her sister to pass away and then she will get baptized...her words, not mine. Super cool lady and has such amazing faith, but not exactly sure how to help her in this situation. We are going to start trying to get her to come to church again. That's a good start right? 

    Wednesday was an interesting day. We spent almost all morning helping at the local food bank which is something I can't complain about. I love the food bank and the volunteers there are so amazing! Then we put together our Light the World handouts consisting of pass along cards and candies stapled to them. Our plan was to sing Christmas carols to people in town and hand out the cards. Wednesday night we went tracting and I felt like we needed to knock this one house. We met Kevin and asked him if we could show him a video. We showed him the first week video of Light the World and I saw tears in his eyes. We talked about Christ being the center of Christmas and also the center of our lives. He told us he had many friends who were members of the Church and he always noticed how happy they were. I told him it's because they have knowledge of the restored truth and introduced the Book of Mormon. He willingly took my challenge to read the introduction and invited us to come back the next day. We did and sadly, he gave the Book of Mormon back, but I know something we said touched his heart. We were just planting a little seed of hope in his heart and one day he will accept the gospel. 

   On Saturday we had exchanges and Sister Devol came to our area. First of all Sister Devol is the coolest sister ever! She was originally called to the Russian speaking mission in Washington, but she went home early due to medical reasons. I won't share her whole story (because I don't have the time and it's pretty personal) but just know that Heavenly Father must have really needed her for a reason. After her medical scare, she decided to come back and is now serving English speaking. This is only her second transfer back. Seriously, Sister Devol is my new role model. 

   Anyway, so many things happened on exchanges! We've been trying to get in contact with our friend Arianna for weeks, but she never is home. Well, we weren't even planning to see her on Saturday, but we were going to see a less active member who lives in the same apartment area as her. The member wasn't home, but we saw Arianna's car parked and decided to knock on her door. She didn't answer so we knocked on her neighbor's door and had a chat with Megan. Midway through our conversation, Arianna comes out and listens in on our conversation. We invited both of them to church and finally got Arianna's phone number (something we have wanted for a very long time). They both said they would consider it so we'll have to see. 

    Later that night, we grabbed our Light the World cards and went to the only area of civilization in Enumclaw. We sang "Silent Night" and handed out the cards to random people walking out of the shops and restaurants. We even went inside a cafe and asked the manager if we could sing "Silent Night" to the customers. The manager thought it was a great idea and we got the whole restaurant singing! It was incredible and people were pulling out their phones to record us haha. After, we invited everyone to go check out the Light the World videos on lds.org. This one woman we sang to was carrying groceries and we offered to help her. She was so touched by our song and service that she accepted a copy of the Book of Mormon and said she would come visit our church. She told us she was looking for a place to feel uplifted and safe and we were an answer to her prayers. Such a neat experience!

    We still had some time left so we went to the Safeway grocery store and offered to help people with their groceries. Some people were weirded out, but others were appreciative of our willingness to serve. Many seeds of faith were planted that night. 

    This week we may not have seen the outcome of our efforts, but I know that the people who we did talk to will remember us. They will remember the light of Christ and some day they will have the desire to know more. Missions are more than just baptizing people; our purpose is to invite and help people see that there is a God who really loves them. That's the best message we can bring and if they are ready, they will accept the rest. 

Have another amazing week and remember to share the light of Christ with others! Love you! 

love,

sis. smith

Our little Christmas tree

Light the world!!

We made pizza this week because it's a requirement for having an Italian companion

So many farms in Enumclaw 🐄

Preaching to the pigs

Exchanges

Just some of my favorite members aka the Knapps 

Week 23 - Happy December!

Wow how is it already December?! Time seriously flies as a missionary! I love this time of the year because it brings out the best in everyone. We've been busy serving our community and "lighting the world" this week and it's been incredible. There's no joy quite like the joy that Christmas brings!

We had a lesson with Brad on Wednesday and our goal was to see what his needs were. He has a copy of the Book of Mormon from the church tour but he wasn't reading it. We asked him some questions and he opened up about reading being a struggle for him. We shared stories of our own personal weaknesses and how the Book of Mormon has given us strength to overcome them. We offered to read with him and then asked if he would be willing to read some small passages on his own. He said he felt like he could do that so now Brad is finally reading the Book of Mormon! I have a firm testimony in the power of listening. It can be so easy to always be thinking of what you want to say next. In past lessons with Brad, we felt we weren't getting anywhere because we weren't truly teaching to his needs. By asking him how he felt about the Book of Mormon and what he wanted to learn, we could adjust our teaching to better help him. This world needs more listeners. Not just people who will hear with their ears. We need people to listen with their hearts and also listen to the Spirit. When we listen to the Spirit, we offer ourselves as an instrument in the Lord's hands to help bring about His work. Listening will take one further in life than just hearing. It definitely helped us with Brad. 

Thursday we had a few miracles! There's this man named Gary who we have stopped by in the past. We tried to get him to read the Book of Mormon, but he didn't really seem interested. His neighbors are some of the most amazing members of our ward and they would always update us on him. Usually, it was nothing new: Gary didn't have a desire to read the Book of Mormon. Still, Sister Deruvo and I never felt like we should give up on Him. We went by and his sweet wife happened to be there. She welcomed us inside and we had a nice chat. I asked Gary if he had read yet. I was expecting him to just say no and leave it at that. Instead he said "No, I haven't read yet, but show me a good place to start." We were all so surprised as Gary grabbed his Book of Mormon and highlighter. He gave it to me and I highlighted the introduction and the Testimony of Joseph Smith. He said he would read it by next week and his wife said she would read it with him! It was such a miracle! 

We also ran into Eric (a friend we had previously taught months ago). He let us in and we had a good discussion about the Book of Mormon. He said he would be willing to read it again and let us come by again in the next week! On the way out, we got talking about hunting and he disappears for a second. He comes out with a bag of frozen deer meat and says "some deer meat for a scripture assignment." So yeah, now we have a huge bag of frozen deer sitting in our freezer. People are the greatest :) 

Friday we had to take our car in to get the battery replaced (it was needing to be jumped literally every other day). We were basically there all day, so nothing much happened. We did get to go with Brad and some members to the big nativity event they do every year at the church in Maple Valley. People offer their nativities to be put on display (many of them from different parts of the world) and everyone just walks around to look at them. They also had live musical performances and a photo booth. We got Brad to dress up as a shepherd and take a picture with us. He wasn't super excited about it haha. 

Saturday was incredible! We spent all morning bringing little Christmas treats with scriptures attached to our friends and members for our Day of Service activity. Then we had to drive to Bellevue to hear Elder Gong of the Quorum of the 12 apostles speak to our whole mission. It was AMAZING! There's nothing quite like being in the presence of an apostle. Some members of the seventy came as well and spoke to us. My hand cramped up so many times from trying to write everything down! They are truly inspired men of God. Elder Gong talked about how we as missionaries/members need to "lay everything on the alter" for the Lord so we can become better instruments. When we fully submit ourselves to our Heavenly Father, we have nothing to hide and everything to give. We can go to Him in full confidence, knowing that we have done everything we possibly could. This was definitely something I needed to hear! 

I'm so beyond thankful for this wonderful time of the year and I know we are going to see more miracles along the way. I hope you all take the challenge to "Light the World" this holiday season and reach out to those who need some love! Have a great week!

love, 

sister smith

Hot chocolate on the daily

The nativity!!

 Our group photo feat. Brad our best friend (hint: he's not smiling) 

 Love my little angels

Saw my mom (trainer) and almost cried 😢😍

Sister Vanderwerken aka godmother

It's December and we still go hiking

Look at these mushrooms what?!

Us waiting for a new car battery...for 3 hours

Week 22 - Thankful

Hey!

This week was super super crazy! Tuesday night, we had to be in Bellevue (about an hour drive from Enumclaw) by 6 pm to pick up the new missionaries. Sister Deruvo and I had no trouble getting there, but getting back was another story...

First of all, the new missionaries didn't get to the mission office until 9 pm so we were just waiting around for 3 hours. I didn't mind it at all because I saw my cutie friend Hermana Wilcock (remember when we were in a trio double covering areas?) and we got to catch up on a lot of things. She will also be in a trio this transfer because her companion is training and she's just along for the ride. When the newbies came, we all stood in a line and shook everyone's hand that came in. Then we all sat in the chapel and President assigned the companionships. My trainee is Sister Waldron from Rexburg, Idaho and she's super sweet! I love her so much already! Not gonna lie, being in a trio is rough because we get so sidetracked and forget to get things done. I think each day has included me laughing until the tears start flowing because we are just too funny. Anyway, back to Tuesday night...we put in the church address in Enumclaw into Google Maps and we were making pretty good timing. I think we were about half way home when the maps app stopped working so we tried to refresh it. It started working again so we thought nothing of it. Then, we start seeing Seattle signs everywhere and we are like "why are we still seeing the Seattle exit signs? Shouldn't we be close to home by now?" Google maps had somehow put the mission office address in when we refreshed it so basically we drove halfway home from Bellevue and back without realizing it! We ended up not getting home until 11 pm so we were pretty out of it the next day. 

Wednesday night we finally had a lesson with J'nell and Rod! J'nell's mom happened to be there as well and it was incredible to hear her testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. We had an amazing lesson with them and J'nell was in tears at the end. Also...Rod is on date to be baptized December 22nd! Best Christmas present ever. Now if we can just get them to start coming to church...

Thanksgiving is so amazing as a missionary. Everyone just takes such good care of you because you aren't with your families. In the morning we drove with the hermanas to the stake center in Federal Way. Each year for Thanksgiving, all the missionaries get together and we just play sports for half the day. Volleyball, soccer, basketball, ultimate frisbee....we did it all. I think my favorite part of the whole activity was just getting to catch up with all the sister missionaries. Some of them have truly become my best friends. After the mission activity, we went to the Riendeau's for Thanksgiving dinner. It was AMAZING! Brother Riendeau's side of the family is mostly from France so we ate dinner with his French cousins. There was also family from Germany and New Zealand there! Sister Deruvo felt right at home...so many European accents! 

Friday we had to drive to the Renton church building for new missionary training and we had to be there at 8 am. Guess what happened? Our car engine died right as we were trying to leave! I am so done with our car. I think the car engine has died 5+ times last week so we are going to take it in this week and have it looked at. Anyway, we were frantically looking for anyone who might have jumper cables. Of course this is at 7 in the morning so either everyone is still asleep or at work. We finally saw a lady walking by and Sister Deruvo ran full speed at her. The lady didn't have anything to help us, but she knew a guy who would have jumper cables. In less than 5 minutes, we saw her coming back with a man who was clearly living in his car. He pulled up and got our engine to start in no time. We were extremely grateful for that little miracle and we weren't even that late to the training.

Saturday we had our first finding festival of the transfer. Sister Waldron was terrified to knock doors, but she did a great job. We didn't have too much success. We met a lot of nice people, but it's hard to teach someone who is so set in their ways. We just did our best in testifying of Christ and sharing verses from the Book of Mormon. There was one kid we met named Ethan who accepted our challenge to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. His father is the pastor of the church they go to, but that didn't keep us from sharing the restored gospel with him. We plan to follow up with him on his experience soon. 

Alright well that's about it for this week! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and ate lots of yummy food! The missionary work has been a little slow lately as far as progressing friends go...but I know we just have to be patient. The Lord grants miracles to those who are willing to wait. I know we will have more success soon, but please continue to pray for our friends that their hearts may be softened. 

I hope you all have a great week!

love,

sis. smith

We love sister Riendeau

So many pies!! All homemade of course :)

Black rain boots are a necessity for a Washington sister missionary 

Always gotta have a nature pic