Miracles and people. People and miracles. - New Companion #4!

Ok.. let me paint a picture for you.

Transfer day:
Saying goodbye to both of my companions was extremely difficult. Especially knowing it was possibly the last time I'd see one of them in this life.

Many of you may not know this.. but I get bloody noses any time I experience high emotion of any kind, whether good or bad. I know.. I'm an exotic breed of special.

SO Sister Terry and I are about to hop in the car and drive away, having just said final goodbyes, when blood starts spewing from my left nostril, like a burst dam of emotional destruction.

Chaos.

Every missionary within 5 ft of us starts scrambling for tissue, and looking for some explanation as to why I'm suddenly covered in blood. Did I hit my face with the car door? Did I get hit by a car? Did my new comp already snap?? What happen... What's happening???

We get back into the church building, and try to get things under control. Sister Terry plays it cool, while President and his Wife go to find some water bottles so we can replace the fluid I'm losing. (Seriously, you haven't seen a bloody nose like this). Luckily Sister Terry has some medical training, and wasn't at all upset that we've known each other 20 minutes and she's already covered in my blood.

About 20 minutes later all is well again, and we hit the road. We have a 3hr 15min drive ahead of us.

3 minutes down the road, every car around us is honking, and a lady pulls up next to us and points at our trunk. My shoulder bag is hanging UPSIDE DOWN off the side of our car. In this bag was: My scriptures, my camera, my planners, a very special note from one of my departing companions, and
various church pamphlets, papers, and pictures. Not to mention kid stickers.

Ensue bloody nose #2

We pull off the busy road, and I'm obviously expecting the worst. As I walk around to the side of the car, I see that yes, my bag is in fact completely upside down, open, and (Miracle #1) barely hanging on by a plastic end of a strap that got caught on the lid of the trunk. Miracle #2 is that EVERYTHING besides my mini PMG, pamphlets, and kid stickers is STILL IN THE BAG!!

Ok, let me tell you, all of the most important stuff was sitting in the open part of my bag. Not in pockets, not strapped in, not secured in any way. Yes, I'm dumb. Yet it was sitting there defying gravity, while I stared in shock for like 5 seconds. Scriptures are heavy! and so is my camera.. I have no idea how they stayed in place. Even the note from my comp was sitting there, still in the pocket that all the other papers fell out of.

Sister Smith with new Companion Sister Terry

Sister Terry is a saint. She's 20, from Lehi UT, and likes good music. We've had an amazing week so far.  

My favorite part about the mission is the ncredible people we meet. The other day we were really drained. We'd been teaching all morning, back
to back lessons, and had plans to tract. But for some reason neither of us were feeling it. We sat in the car and stared at the road for like 30 seconds, said a prayer, and forced ourselves out. The first door we knocked on was a really sweet woman, who invited us in. That is really rare, just so you know. We were able to teach her about the Book of Mormon, and she invited us to come back.







The second door we knocked on was a stern looking old woman with fancy hair. Uh oh. Brace for a bash.. But she turned out to be the most humble 80 yr old women in the world! Well, at least in the South. She invited us in to her beautiful home, filled with beautiful things, and we had the
sweetest discussion about the Savior. She has a deep love for the Bible, and told us how she longed to feel the Spirit more. To be as close to the Lord as she possibly could. We saw an opportunity to bring up the Book of  Mormon, and took it. She listened with an open mind and heart, as we promised her that the spirit she has been longing for could be found in those pages. We were able to testify to her that God is aware of the desires of her heart. With tears in her eyes, she invited us to come back and teach her. I want her to teach *me* how to live 80 years, and still be willing to learn. Willing to believe there is more to know.

Last week we knocked on a random door, and a really rough looking older man answered. He had shoulder length grey hair, and a Harley Davidson shirt on.. I liked him instantly, but was pretty sure he was about to run us off. When he saw our name tags though, his eyes softened and he told us to come on in. Turns out, he's a less active member of the Church! He was baptized when he was a young teen, and was active for most of his adolescence, until he got involved with drugs.

After years of addiction, he was in terrible shape. He begged God to help him stop, and it wasn't long after that night that he was caught and arrested.

He spent 10 years in prison. He read the Bible several times and the Book of Mormon 5 times during those 10 years. He told us he knew sometimes God does the hard things, in order to get us the help we need. He's now been out and clean 4 years. He told us he'd been thinking a lot about the Church. He still has a testimony of Joseph Smith, and the Restoration of the Gospel, but hasn't been in the church scene for a long time (he's about 60). So when he saw us standing on his porch, he knew he needed to let us in. I wish I could send feelings through email, because the feeling in that room as we talked in indescribable. All I can say is I know this spirit of God is real. We talked about forgiveness, and how intimately Jesus Christ knows the the pains we each face individually. He's agreed to have us back to talk about the Gospel about once a week.

In addition, we met two other incredible men. Both had ordered a free Book of Mormon online.

The first one we met turned out to be a less active member as well. It'd been about 30 years since he'd last gone to church. When we asked what made him order the book after all this time, he explained that he felt it was "time to start researching again." At the next meeting we asked him if he
remembered what his baptism day was like. He told us he was about 12 when his family was baptized, and he still remembered the Elder to dunked him in the river. He remembered that his hands were soft, and that every time he looked at the Elder he thought he was looking at the Savior Himself. Though many rough years had passed since that experience, when events in his late years turned him to seek truth once again, he knew where he needed to start. With the Book of Mormon.

The second was a man who had *also* recently gotten out of prison. He was covered in tattoos, and had the bluest eyes I've ever seen. He told us that if he hadn't found God while serving time, he wouldn't have mentally survived. I couldn't hide my tears as he described what it was like to have
his heart changed, and want nothing more than to help others who's pain he knew. This man understands the character of Christ. He ordered the Book of Mormon out of curiosity, and is now excited for us to come back and teach both he and his wife.

We pray to know where we need to be every single morning, and several times throughout the day, and these experiences prove over and over that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ are directing this work. This is my favorite thing.

Love you all so much!
Sister Smith

Ok so we drove forever to find this address of a family we were trying to

track down.. this is where is led us.

Week 21 - New Years Resolutions, Expectations, Hopes and Faith

More Change–My Companions are going HOME…I’ve now “killed” 3 of 3!!

I will miss these beautiful, faithful, wonderful Sisters! Sending part of my heart home (Btfl, Utah) with Sister Nielsen,
and another part to Africa with my Sister C.

I've been so blessed with my compaions so far. My new companion will be Sister Terry! Iv'e never met her, but both Sisters Nielsen and Chibataka freaked out when the Aone leaders told us over the phone who my new companion would be. They were so excited for me, and said Sister Terry is super awesome, and I'll love her. I'm going to miss both of them so much of course. We've been listening to "For Good" from Wicked all week, and ulgy crying (mostly just me). 

I've been so grateful for the opportunity to come closer to my Savior over the past few years, and especially months. What you said is exactly right, putting God first really does make a difference, even when it's SO HARD to do. Life is so busy now a days, but somehow everything works out, and we
get so much out of it when we're also trying to grow in the gospel.

You guys got a lot of snow in Utah! We got some here too! I LOVE it. We had a crazy day getting Sisters Nielsen and Chibataka ready to leave! I don't have time to write a weekly...but we got snow and my heart is so happy!!

Hope everyone is having a happy start to the year!

I love you forever!

Love Teirs XO

Cutest little girl of this family who took us out. She wanted to wear my
extra name tag all night, so I told her we could both be Sister Smith.

I ate the whole fried CATFISH!

People I LOVE!!

Dogs literally find me everywhere we go. It drives Sisters Nielsen and
Chibataka crazy hahahha!

Various Pics and comments from 1st Christmas and New Years Week in the Mission Field

The Zone played Rugby, Ultimate, and Flag Football last Monday, since we 

couldn't email. It was super hilarious and fun. Here's a few of my favorite pics!

 The most stressful game of Jenga I've ever played...our New Years Eve Partying!!

Been a super foggy, super wet week! I love it. Hey Kel, remember that time I stopped on the freeway because it was too foggy to see the light poles, and I thought the light above us was aliens?? Yeah... This was worse:

​Before we got close enough to tell they were water towers, I legitimately
thought we were about to die. My first thought was Star Wars.. but then I
thought about those big alien pods in War of the Worlds. Honestly, my
imagination is out of control.

Just a causal stroll through downtown Walnut

​Sending this one so you can understand the hair struggles I'm going
through: What the crap

Week 20 - Welcome to 2017 Friends!! – Weird right?!

Preface: This is an unitentional novel...So Sorry!! Missionary work is...well, slow. Much like everything else here in the South. 

However, like has been proven over and over, the Lord's work is going on. 

We were a bit discouraged the other night, and unsure where we needed to be to make the most of the evening. After praying for some direction, we decided to go visit some former investigators from previous missionaries. Eventually we found a young woman named Sally, whose husband had passed away earlier this year, and who had some very clear questions about what happens after this life. There was such a sweet feeling of peace in the room as we taught Sally about the Plan of Salvation. She could feel the familiarity of what we were saying. Seeing the Spirit work in others is one of the greatest privileges I've ever had. We have plans to see her again this week.

I've had a week full of personal revelation, and self reflection.. which

has been both humbling (i.e. hard and humiliating, haha!), as well as

encouraging. If the two can exist simultaneously ;) I feel like my

weaknesses and flaws have been served up on a platter, for all to see. Even

though I know it's just me who the Lord needs to see these things. It's

come in the form of: *1*. an inspired training from our Zone Leader, Elder

Causey. His training at our last District Meeting was really powerful,

about what it means to be a virtuous people. I don't have my notebook with

me right now, but some of the things I remember writing down are "Virtuous

people are: honest, strive to be pure, quick to repent, etc.." I can't

remember everything right now, other than the spirit was really strong, and

I was able to get some personal direction about things that had been heavy

on my mind for a while.

I was asked to give a training out of our missionary handbook at the same

meeting, and I chose the section on Physical and Temporal Well-Being. I

spoke about D&C 29:34, which talks about how all temporal laws and

commandments have spiritual ties. I remember how I came to understand this

scripture. When my Elders were teaching me I knew eventually I'd have to

give up some physical things (word of wisdom) and work on others (like

eating/exercising), in order to keep progressing down this path. You know

how stubborn I am.. I wanted to understand why certain things were

necessary, so I took it to the Lord. The insight I gained was, "I created

you.. I know how your body works, and what makes it powerful. I created it

to be a safe place for your spirit to dwell, while you learn and experience

the things you need to on earth." I then understood what that scripture

meant, and how a commandment so physical could have such spiritual

significance. Our spirits and our bodies are so interconnected, and so

divinely made that our physical state effects our ability grow in and

understand things spiritual. This may seem like common sense to most.. and

it probably is! But I hadn't put it all together at that point in my life

yet. Haha!

People always say that the general authorities don't coordinate their

general conference talk subjects, or the music that the choir sings. I

wasn't sure if I believed that, but it's cool to see how the spirit really

*does* work that way. Our district meetings almost always have a main topic

of discussion, even though no one is told exactly what to train on.

Ok and *2*. a book my dad sent me for Christmas called "More Than The

Tattooed Mormon" (about the girl named Al Carraway.. I'm sure you know who

I'm talking about). I had gone to a fireside she spoke at in the SLCC West

Jordan Campus Institute building last winter. I'm not going to lie..

initially, I went only to see if she really was what I thought she was.

Because of the general dark place I was in at the time, and lack of self

respect or confidence, I didn't like Al.. (I didn't know anything about

her, so that's ridiculous in and of itself). All I knew about her was that

she was a convert to the Church, and had lived a different lifestyle

before. For some reason she reminded me of an earlier conversion I'd had to

the Gospel. Only the things she'd overcome where visible on her skin, and

made the light she carried even more beautiful in contrast.. and mine

weren't. And now she was "capitalizing" on a very sacred personal journey

to find truth and happiness. Whereas I'd lost that truth and happiness I'd

fought so hard for during that earlier conversion, and was left an empty

shell of a human being, with nothing to show for that journey, not even a

cool tattoo. Not to mention, I was extremely broke. I know.. talk about a

pity party, right?? I didn't realize at the time that she didn't get paid

for all the public speaking she was doing. However, that all changed when I

got to listen to her in person. As I got to hear a little more about her

conversion, and what it was really like for her, and the sacrifices she'd

had to make, I was really impressed with her story. More than that though,

I felt the spirit she brought, and I knew that it was honest and pure. So I

left a bit humbled, and if nothing more, happy for her and her successes

both spiritual and temporal. Even if I wasn't sure the Gospel both she and

I had found at one point was real anymore.

So fast forward a year.. the most course-changing and valuable year of my

life, as it turns out (you know that story), I was pretty excited to read

her book when I unwrapped it last week. I finished it two nights ago. I

can't really describe what it's like to read about someone else's life, and

feel that you're reading your own story.. only it's completely different.

Does that even make sense? Though the challenges she faced are different

from mine, the things she learned, and the way she was guided to her Savior

was so similar, I audibly laughed at certain points. She even quoted almost

all of my favorite scriptures. Personal parallels aside, it's an incredible

book, and ya'll should read it. The biggest thing I gained from reading her

story was HOPE. I'm not at all where I want to be yet, and still have so

many flaws and weaknesses that need working out. I know part of the reason

I'm on this mission is to keep growing and learning in ways the Lord needs

me to. In ways He knows will help me become the person I want to be. It

gave me COURAGE to recommit myself to overcoming things that Satan wants me

to believe will always be a part of who I am.. It's not true! You know

why?? Because the Savior does not give up on us. And His power is

matchless. What He's willing to do for *one* of us, he is also going to do

for *each* of us. In so many ways, He already has. When we turn to him,

letting go of stubbornness, letting go of fear of not getting what *we* think

is going to make us happiest, anything is possible. So we'll keep going,

knowing that the things that are important to us, are also important to our

Father in Heaven. There is no "shortchange" when it comes to His blessings.

2017 is going to be an incredible year for us all, right??

Al ends her book with this scripture, and I love it.

D&C 128:22

"Shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward.

Courage, brethren, and on, on to the victory!"

Love you guys, of course.

Xo Sis. Smith

Week 19 - Merry Christmas!! A Gift to be shared!

This is the only Christmas Gift we needed this year!! To hear from, and see, this beautiful, courageous, strong, faithful missionary serving in Birmingham Alabama. We Love You Teirs!!