Week 6 - Fireflies and FireANTS...They are DIFFERENT creatures!!

Hello my dear ones!!

First off, fireflies are the most beautiful magical insects on the earth
and I love them with all my heart. All of them are Ray from Princess and
the Frog to me.

I am so thankful for the opportunity we have to write home.. but for some
reason it's a really traumatic experience for me every Monday, haha!! I
have a really hard time expressing myself, and knowing what to include in
the short time we get! I wish so bad I could just tell you every bit of the
good stuff. I'm having major writer's block out here, both in letters and
journaling. BUT I'm praying for help, and am determined not to get lost in
anxiety today, haha. I LOVE hearing from you all though, so please don't
stop.

We got to go to the temple on Thursday, which was so great and so needed :)
It's TINY and sweet. I love being there. No matter the temple, it always
feels like home to me. I love what President Sainsbury said about our trip:

"As I sat in the Celestial Room, I looked at the beautiful center

chandelier with all of its sparkling crystals glittering all colors of the

rainbow. When they clean the chandelier, they don’t do it all at once.

Rather, they lower the chandelier and take off each crystal one at a time.

They clean each crystal and then polish it and then put it back on. It

takes three people working all day for several days before they are done

and can raise the chandelier back up. In my mind’s eye, the chandelier

represents our ABM mission. We are each a unique crystal. The Savior,

through the atonement, takes us down and cleans us regularly and then He

polishes us, and puts us back to work. Like the cleaners, He does this one

by one. Each of us is individually cleaned and polished by the Savior

through His atonement. We are regularly cleaned each week as we repent,

strive to be obedient, and partake of the Sacrament. We are polished

through adversity, challenges, and trials. But after we are cleaned and

polished by the Savior, and put back to work, all of us together make a

beautiful chandelier. One crystal by itself, as beautiful as it is, doesn’t

shine as brightly as when we are shining together as a mission, as an ABM

family. But the chandelier is only truly beautiful when there is light

shining from within. That light is the Savior. He makes us sparkle. He

helps us shine. He lights the way. I don’t know that I have seen many

things more beautiful than the chandelier in the Alabama Birmingham Temple.

But that just might be because I can’t think of any thing more beautiful

than the missionaries I am privileged to work with in the Alabama

Birmingham Mission. The chandelier lit the room up. It sparkled like

diamonds. It felt so clean and pure. As I looked at it, I saw all of you

representing Christ, doing your best, trying to fulfill your purpose,

lighting the way for Heavenly Father’s children to return to him again in

everlasting glory."

We tract for at least 2 hrs every day, in a heat that can only be described
with curse words, so I'll spare you. I think I sent you a picture of my
enthusiastic sweat face last week? I basically look like a nightmare at all
times :) super awesome. Most everyone we talk to either looks really
concerned, or really grossed out. Laughter is our medicine, and TOAST is
our motto:

T hrive

O n

A wkward

S ituations

T (awkward extra T...)

The cute little ladies
in the last email are part of the Lowrey Family, which was baptized Saturday. We didn't teach them, but they are so sweet. We were able to help with their baptism, and have become good friends with them at church.


So we were out tracting yesterday and Sister Baird was telling a story. We
were about to walk past this house and I could not take my eyes off of it!
I'm still super timid though, and have a really hard time recognizing the
spirit. Luckily Sister Baird noticed that I'd shut up for once, and looked
to see where my eyes were. She asked if I felt like we needed to knock on
that door, and of course I just said uhhhhh I don't know, haha. She said we
better (bless her), so we walked towards the house. Before we could even
get on the porch a women walked out (mid/late twenties) to have a smoke :)
she was super sweet, one of the first things I noticed was this beautiful
tattoo on her forearm of a compass with the moon phases around it. It says
"with each new moon comes a new beginning." I told her how much I loved her
tattoo, and we introduced ourselves. She invited us in and told us a little
bit about herself. As we sat there getting to know one another a calm and
loving spirit filled her front room. It was like we'd always been friends!
She told us of some of her beliefs, and times in her life when she knew God
helped her. She was told very young that she'd never be able to have
children, so it came as a big surprise when her and her husband found out
they were expecting just three months into their new life together! Her
little girl is now one years old, and life has gotten really busy. They
don't have a ton of family really close, and both work full time. Tears
started falling down her face as she talked about her internal wrestle with
direction in school/career/motherhood. Of the need she knows they have to
come closer to God and Jesus Christ, but the inability to get there, or
know how to make it all work. We were able to testify to her of God
awareness of what she's been going through, and His love for her. Of how
proud He was of the mother and wife she'd become, and her desire to bring
her family closer to Him. She was so astonished of the timing of our
arrival, and said she would talk to her husband about meeting with us. Last
night before bed we received a text inviting us over Wednesday morning for
a discussion with all three of them! My heart was so full. These kind of
tender mercies seem few and far between at times, but they are so worth the
blood SWEAT and tears when they come ;)

Red Bay is still killin' it. I saw my first possum! It was super dead.. but
a possum none the less. There is a frog stuck to our bumper (fried to a
crisp) that I now consider our mascot. OH! Right before we went into the

temple, I stepped in a FIREANT hill, and they attacked like David taking
out Goliath. I am now covered in several blistered bites. 



We went on a "hike" last Monday through a birding trail! The trail was like a tunnel 

through the forest, which I loved. 






The neighbors rooster is our alarm clock most mornings, and there are mushrooms growing out of the floor next to our
shower (awesome).

I love you all so much more than I can say! Please know you are in my
prayers always.

Xoxo, Sister Smith 

Oh and I held chickens! They're kinda
gross.

The grandma and granddaughter are the Investigators we helped move a few weeks ago! They are both so kind and sweet as well. We got the Grandma to come watch Women's Conference with us. She has a lot of faith, and I think she know's the Gospel is true, she just really wants a sure witness. We love her and hope she can receive one.