Week 15 - Too Many Changes at Once...

Hello again,

We spent Thanksgiving day with the Williams (my Red Bay family), which was so great! Lot's of southern food mixed in with the usual turkey day tradition. Fried okra and green tomatoes were my favorites.

We were just about to leave the feast at Jane and John's house, when I got the call no missionary wants. It was President Sainsbury asking that I call my dad. I knew why, having just received news of Grandpa Smith's cancer diagnosis the week before.. It takes just an instant for your heart and mind to travel 1,800 miles away from where your body is.. but a lot longer to get them back. I love my Grandpa, of course. I consider all of my grandparents some of my closest friends, and I know how lucky I am to be able to say so. It was a blessing to be able to talk to Dad for a while, and receive reassurance that everyone would be ok. As an adult, you expect to be there for your parents when they lost their parents. 

I wrote grandpa the day I found out about the cancer, and talked about some of my favorites memories of him singing. I was relieved to hear he received my letter a few days before he passed. In my mind, I could see his smiling tear-streaked face from three months ago, at my farewell. He tried several times to tell me how well I did, or how proud he was, but couldn't quite get the words out, so he'd just hug me and smile. I know this is where he'd want me to be, and am so grateful for the comfort it brings.

Late Thanksgiving night, we decided to take rice-crispy treat turkey's to some of our investigators, and the members who have been so good to us. We stopped at the house of one of my favorite old men in this town, Mr. Grims. He was so happy to see us, and thought we were the sweetest girls for making a lonely old man a rice-crispy treat turkey. He's a tall booming man with white hair, and loves music as much as I do, so the conversation usually turns to guitar and banjo playing. Just before we left he told us he loved us, and I could feel my throat get tight as I thought of my Grandpa. Suddenly Mr. Grims asked if I'd ever heard of this old gospel song (I can't remember the name of it..). When I said I hadn't, he started singing it to us right there on his front porch. His strong deep voice was beautiful, and I will never forget the feeling of peace that enveloped me.

I know with all my heart that the Plan of Salvation is real, and that even in this life we can receive small glimpses of eternity. Families are central to our Father's plan for our happiness, which is why he has given us a ways to be linked together forever.

Transfer calls came with a sting. There aren't enough Sisters coming to the mission this transfer to make up for all the ones leaving. As a result, two Sister areas have to be closed, and Red Bay is one of them :( I'm heartbroken! The Russellville Elders, who live 40 mins away, are going to do their best to work with the investigators we're leaving behind. I do know that these people are just as important to the Lord as they are to us. I know they will be taken care of. It's just really hard.

Sister Nielsen and I are staying together, and being moved to the Corinth, Mississippi area, but our apartment is in Selmer, Tennessee. Corinth has been closed for a couple week, which means we are closing one area (Red Bay), and opening another. Oh, AND we are gaining another companion, Sister Chibataka from Uganda :) So we'll be in a trio. Due to complications with the old missionary apartment in this area, we will also be moving into a new apartment, which won't be available to us until Dec 1st. Long story short, we don't have our new address yet.. I will get that to ya'll asap. I think we'll be able to email it the day we move, hopefully Friday. 

The last four days have brought a lot of changes and hard news, both from home and in the ABM. I'm praying harder than I ever have, and know it'll all be ok.

Love you all so much,

Sister Smith 

**NEW ADDRESS**

91 Deer Trail Cove

Selmer, TN 38375