Meeting, inviting, learning

This week was really good. We went out and had some really great miracles meeting new people and inviting them to learn about the gospel. We hope that this week they can meet with us and learn more about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the wonderful message of the Restored gospel.

My companion is doing really well. We are learning a lot together; she's a great teacher and does a really amazing job of teaching with the spirit. Our studies are working out really well and I enjoy reviewing the things I learned as a new missionary.

Right now we are trying to help our members follow their covenants that they made when they were baptized, and trying to help them get ready for making temple covenants by getting a temple recommend and being temple worthy to go.

I want to share a quote I found from Jesus the Christ. I came across reading it before bed the other night. It says,

"Though an apostle is thus seen to be essentially an envoy, or ambassador, his authority is great, as is also the responsibility associated therewith, for he speaks in the name of a power greater than his own."

Since Elder Holland once said that, as missionaries, we are apostles (without the capital A), I applied this to my service here. Here, I am representing Jesus Christ. Not only do I have authority to call people to repentance but I have the responsibility to share His message with everyone. It's a great scripture to remind me to open my mouth.

Love you so much! Have a wonderful week.

Training a new Sister!

I'm training! It's so good for me and it's a wonderful and fun experience. I love my companion her name is Sister Nan and I'm still not sure what her native language is but I think it's Chinese. She is way funny and wants to do her best and be obedient. Her attitude makes the training experience so worth it.

These past few days I've been studying in Ether in the Book of Mormon, and there's a verse I love in Ether chapter 6 verse 3:

"And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness."

The stones mentioned in this verse can be compared to many different things, but in this case I want to compare it to the gospel. The Lord has given us the gospel to help us cross the great waters of life with light, happiness, and hope. I know that the message of the gospel brings all of these things because I have experienced it for myself.

Sorry I'm way bad at writing lately but I do read all your letters and love them and if I had more than 5 minutes left on my computer time I would respond to you individually. Sending my best from Thailand!

Love,
Sister Smith

Growing so much...

When someone has a car, you get in the car no questions.

This morning I studied a talk from the Priesthood session of general conference and really loved this quote from President George Albert Smith in the talk, The Price of the Priesthood by Russell M. Nelson:

“We are not here to while away the hours of this life and then pass to a sphere of exaltation; but we are here to qualify ourselves day by day for the positions that our Father expects us to fill hereafter.”

It sort of goes with that one quote they always put on the Jesus posters but no one actually knows where it's from: "I never told you it was going to be easy, only that it was going to be worth it."

A mission is hard work and I am growing so much from it. One thing I have grown to love, although sometimes it's still hard--is to always have something to do. There's always something we can do to serve and bring God's children closer to Him.

This week was really good, right now we are working on finding some new investigators and helping many of our other investigators put forward a little more faith into helping their families learn as well. Without earnest prayer, working with investigators seems like a lot of effort on my part and not the results I was looking for, but overtime as I've learned to pray more sincerely and earnestly I've learned that this is truly His work--a divine process--and God's plan is always best. I love it.

Well today we are traveling somewhere not super sure where but hopefully it ends up being a cave and a waterfall.

Love you all so much. 😂

Branch President eating a cookie.

 

New member helps share the Gospel

Hope you all had a good 4th of July! I'm emailing late today because we went to go find some really American looking shirts this morning for 4th of July, pictures to come later.

I was reading in 3 Nephi and I loved these verses:

"For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee," sayeth the Lord thy Redeemer. 

"For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee...O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted! Behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colors, and lay thy foundations with sapphires, carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones."

"And all thy children shall be taught of the Lord; and great shall be the peace of thy children." (3 Nephi 22:7-16)

Just remember that whenever times get tough the Lord cares and loves us!

This week has been full of miracles, as usual. What week isn't? We must be blessed.

We met with a recent convert who really wants her daughter to be baptized, so now we have the opportunity to bring a family closer together. It was really cool because the other day her friends were with this investigator so we talked to all of them. At first her friends weren't really listening to us...they were just pretending that they had no idea what we were saying. But then this investigator's mom all of a sudden asked the most inspired question that hit my heart too. She asked these 10 and 11 year old friends, "Does your mom and dad drink and smoke?" They all nodded yes. Then she asked, "Do you want them to stop?" They all enthusiastically replied "Yes!" We had their full attention as we testified that this gospel can bring families together. And this recent convert of ours bore a beautiful testimony of how her husband's life changed since she joined the church. Hopefully as we continue to work with them we may touch the hearts of their parents so that they may improve family life at home. I am SO blessed for the wonderful family setting I've grown up in and I certainly hope Sister Strickland and I can help other families see the blessings that living the gospel brings.

Love you all and keep it strong!