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