Alabama? Philippines? Sweden?? - Where am I?

Week 44 - A New Address for ME! Tuscaloosa YSA here I come!

I'm being transferred and my new address is:

900 Hargrove Road #121
Tuscaloosa, AL 35401

Last Lorna District pic. Going to miss these people! Elders Nelson (3rd from the left) and Diede (far right) go home this transfer. Everyone else stays... except me! I'm being transferred to the Tuscaloosa YSA area!!! My companion will be Sister Begay, who has been there one transfer already.
She says we spend all day every day on the University of Alabama campus..Roll Tide!

We had a tornado scare on Thursday, and had to spend the afternoon at the Hermana's apartment, because ours is on an upper floor. Some building damage a few towns away from us, but no deaths that I know of. I HATE tornados btw.

*Destroyed everything... except the vodka. Hahahahaha*

This is what weekly planning looks like. Oh.. the only mail I got this week was a Better Homes and Gardens magazine, which is really weird given that I don't have a home or a garden right now. Not sure how that found me.

Bahama Bucks, after an intense game of gator ball last p-day.

I love these amazing people I have met here:

Newly Baptized Allison!

Betty and Niki

Brother and Sister Huff (Ward mission leader...and amazing guy)

Brother Briggins!

Cheryl and Will

Sisters Evans and Ridley

The Toone Family. Brother Toone went to Davis High!!

Week 43 (cont'd from Jun 19th) - 10 Months Out Celebrated @ Fried Green Tomatoes

This is Sister Wright's favorite hat... She puts it on first thing when we
get home every night, and panics when she can't find it. Funniest thing
ever. Anyway. So last night we tried to record the vid of our song like 100
times, and finally Sister Wright's just like "dah! it's fine, they can just
think we're terrible singers.." then Sister Wright goes to get a drink, and
her pom pom went in her mug. "Well.. this is a disaster..." Haha! She was
pretty upset, but we laughed pretty good. You probably had to be there.

So I've never actually seen the movie.. but I've been to the restaurant! We celebrated my 10 month mark with some good ol' southern cookin'.

Cool Story! This happen before I got to Hoover.. but there was a fire in the field behind our church building. It destroyed everything up to the fence line (including the fence), but never crossed onto the church property... SO COOL

Little piece of New Orleans in the 💚 of Hoover. This is what I imagined

all of the South to be like... Dang Disney movies.

I spy a Bunny

Tracting

Tracting in the Rain

Week 43 (Jun 19th) - The church is true, the Book is blue, now ALISON is a Mormon too!

Happy Monday ya'll,

Alison's baptism was the happiest day ever! She was so excited she could hardly contain it. It was the sweetest experience! She just couldn't keep the smile off her face, and had random bouts of giddy laughter 😄 ah, it was the best.

 Seeing her so light and happy was the best experience of my mission so far. That pure joy of cleanliness and having the gift of the Holy Ghost is such a powerful thing to witness in others. What a blessing. (Elder Diede, who baptized her, and Elder Muaka. The APs)

Alison has worked so hard for this, and now she has a testimony that can never be taken from her. I admire her light so much. The spirit was so strong as she was confirmed, and received the gift of the Holy Ghost yesterday in Sacrament meeting.

A few weeks ago Alison told us her favorite songs were Come Thou Fount, and If You Could Hie to Kolob. You've all probably heard that beautiful mash up on youtube... So Sister Wright and I did our best to arrange a combo from memory, and surprised Alison with it at her baptism. There were happy
tears 💙

Ignore our hysteria in the beginning. We'd already tried to record this

about 100 times, all over our apartment, before we ended up in the bath tub..

The bathtub version might be the best sounding :)

Week 42 (Cont'd) - "Behold, I will send you Elijah.."

"And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart
of the children to their fathers.." Malachi 4

HI FRIENDS!

Remember the question I posed in my email about Brother Briggins last week, about how we can have confidence in God's love for us? Well I think I found
an answer in my studies this week! I love the Ensign, and truly consider it a form of scripture. I've had many prayers answered through various authors around the world. What an incredible tool. Here's the first few paragraphs of an article called Self-Reliance and Gospel Learning in the June 2017 Ensign.

*A kindergarten teacher was once observing her class of children while they drew. As she walked around to see each child’s artwork, she asked one little girl, “What are you drawing?” The girl replied, “I’m drawing God.”
Somewhat surprised, the teacher said, “But no one knows what God looks like.” Without hesitation, the girl replied, “They will in a minute.” *(Haha! so cute.)

*Wouldn’t it be nice to have such confidence? In actuality, Heavenly Father wants us to become confident in our knowledge of Him *(and I would say, His love for us)*. The Lord told Jeremiah that we should not glory in our wisdom or in our might or in our riches. Rather, He said, “let him that
glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me” (see Jeremiah9:23–24).*

*The Prophet Joseph Smith (1805–44) taught, “God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him … from the least to the greatest.”1*

Two things that have repeatedly been brought up in my studies, in trainings and meetings, and in a letter I received from my dear friend this week (❤) are 1. increasing faith, and 2. FAMILY HISTORY.

Satan has always used my lack of confidence against me, but lately he's been a real turd about it. I'm going to continue to increase my faith through scripture study, and praying to know how to apply my strengths to this work. I hope to gain the confidence that comes from feeling Christ's love for me, and being filled with His love for others. I hope this will help me to face my anxiety's about talking to people, and being bold. Oh, another article that was totally an answer to prayer is The War Goes On by Elder Larry R. Lawrence, in the April 2017 Ensign. I'm just going to put the link here so you have no excuse not to read it :) Seriously, everyone who has struggled with feelings of self worth and doubt needs to read this.

https://www.lds.org/ensign/2017/04/the-war-goes-on?lang=eng

I feel really strongly that I need to figure out how to implement family history work into my missionary work! A few weeks ago we were given permission to use 2 hours a week (this transfer only) to learn to use familysearch.org, and get a complete 4 generation family pedigree chart for
ourselves. Sister Sainsbury shared with us a miraculous experience she had a with her own family history work since being in Alabama, that prompted this decision. Then I received a letter from my dear friend on Friday, which told of another beautiful experience involving family history! It
reminded me of the sweet feeling both Sister Wright and I had after our lesson with Emma a couple weeks ago, when we sensed so clearly that there were people on both sides of the veil pulling for her, guiding her to the truth.

We've been using the 2hrs/wk to learn how to index and work on our 4 generation family charts.. which proves difficult with the lack of communication with family. But I'm praying to know how else Heavenly Father would have me use this tool in my work. I want to be able to teach people how to use familysearch.org, so I'm trying to get familiar with it.. I'm not sure what else to do, but I definitely have a testimony that it's going to be a powerful tool out here.

Well I love you all so much! I hope you have a great week.
Love Teirs

OH I forgot to say how excited I am for Alison's baptism this Saturday!!!!
It's finally happening!!!!! Expect pics next week 😊🌊

Week 42 (From Jun 12th) - I see a bad moon a-rising..

So we've been trying to utilize the hours between 6-9pm for tracting, becuase that's when people are usually home. It's not really making a difference yet, people still won't answer.. but it means I get to see more sunsets :) and that's something I don't mind. But last night was super weird! The air was SO THICK, and literally pink. Like everything had a pink hue to it.

 

 I've heard that when the sky turns yellowy green there's a tornado brewin'.. but what does it mean when it turns pink??

Sometimes I feel like we're living on Pandora (Avatar)

Jesus Lives - In Cherokee Campgound!

I finally met a Bantam. Meanest poultry there ever was. We were visiting a
guy named Mr. Stevens yesterday (did I send you a vid of that chicken house
from a couple weeks ago?), and while we're standing off his porch talking,
he suddenly stops and says "Oh... Ah.. don't move." I looked down and saw
this guy staring straight into my soul, with fiery hate burning in his
beady little eyes. Mr. Stevens says "he's fixin' a fight you..." and then
chucks a sweet tea jug at the bird. Hahaha! I was dying. Bantam was super
offended, and started strutting around with his fancy feathered feet high
in the air. Good thing there happen to be a jug of sweet tea on the porch,
because I honestly don't know what to do in the event of a Bantam
attack.[

Bringing the World Peace

Highly inappropriate mushrooms... But look at those things!!! 😂 Dahahaha
they just grew out of the ground that way! Sister Wright and I died.. it's
just not the sort of thing you expect to see on a regular ol' Tuesday
night. 

I got to see my Sister Nielsen!!! Well.. She's Haley now (weird). Her
family took Sister Wright and I out to lunch while passing through Hoover!
Ah, it was the best day ever. I've missed this ray of sunshine. Speaking
of, it was blasted hot, as you can see by my face. But I didn't mind,
because I got to spend time with the whole Nielsen clan. They're the
sweetest people ever.

And THEN I got to go on an exchange with my Sister Terry!! I didn't realize
how much I'd missed this girls influence. She's just full of love and
light. She's such a bold teacher, and I realized this week that we are most
confident when we're filled with Christ like charity for others.

Because I love Sister Wright!

I've been cutting a lot of Sister's hair lately, and finally decided to
jump on that band-wagon. IT'S JUST TOO HOT!

My Favorite Look Out - Where green meets opal...

Week 41 - .."if one only remembers to turn on the light."

Tuscaloosa Stadium Again!!

HIIII!!

It was such a great week. Alison is still right on track for her baptism on the 24th, but she texted us this morning and asked if she could move it up to the 17th, because she is so ready and just doesn't want to wait anymore!

This is such a sweet miracle. Initially her family was completely against it, and she was going to have to wait until August to keep peace.. As she has focused on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and continued to strive to follow the promptings of the spirit, her family's hearts have been softened, and now she is preparing to enter the waters of baptism. AH! My heart is so full.

Ok we had a lesson with this girl named Emma, who the Elders referred to us. She's so cool, and we've just really been able to click with her. The last lesson we had this week, both Sister Wright and I just sat in the car for a while after, and soaked up the spirit. It was SO STRONG. We felt so much love for Emma, and both said it felt so much like there are people working for her on the other side. I just haven't ever felt anything like it. Unfortunately, Emma is going to visit family is California for the next two weeks.. we did our best to prepare her for the anti she will inevitably come across, and asked her to take her Book of Mormon with her. If she allows it, I know she will be prompted to read, and there is so much strength available to her if she will.

Could we possible stick out any more?

Ok.. this is a funny sight. Bunch of Elders on an
escalator in the mall.

You have to hear about Brother Briggins.. I look up to this man so much. Ok, so he and his family have been through a heck of an experience lately. About a month ago, his daughter was attacked outside their house in the early morning, as she was headed to work. Brother Briggins and his wife jumped out of bed as soon as they heard her screaming, and ran to her aid. Brother Briggins saw this man hitting his daughter with what he thought was a stick, until he ran and tackled the man, and a knife hit the ground.. YEAH. His daughter was sliced pretty badly, but she survived, and is recovering slowly. Brother Briggins fought this man for an estimated 30 minutes before police and ambulances showed up. Though he was missing the tip of one of his fingers, and very bruised by the end, he too survived.

It's been a month of unimaginable heart ache and healing, both spiritual and physical. Brother Briggins was able to return to church for the first time yesterday, and I wish you could have been there to hear his testimony. He joined the church in the 70's and is the only member in his family. He told us of a time a few years back when he felt prompted to invite one of his grandchildren to hear the missionary discussions. The grandchild did for a time, but never joined. He told us how badly he had wanted his grandchild to be baptized, so at least one member of his family would understand what it was that he was a part of.

*I've never met such a humble and happy man*. His entire testimony was about how much *he knows his Father in Heaven LOVES him*. He didn't say one negative thing about the experience he'd just been through, or that he attends every week as a member of the stake high council, without his wife, 6 children, or any grandchildren. He spoke of his gratitude that God allowed him and his daughter to still be here, that she is recovering, and that he can now lightly touch his finger without cringing in pain 😊. He talked about how blessed he is, and how he knew even as a child that God loved him.

I just can't even describe the spirit this man carries. How is it that he can have so much peace and happiness, *even in the darkest of times*? How can we too have that kind of confidence in our Heavenly Father's love for us? Let me know what you guys think..

I have to rush through this, but I can't leave this one out!!

Mariya, Sister Wright, ME, Sasha

We tracted into a man named Leo this week, who is from Ukraine. He told us he doesn't know many people here yet, so we offered to introduce him to our neighbors, Sasha and Mariya, who also happen to be from Ukraine!! They are the sweetest couple ever, and always bring us delicious Ukrainian food. So Sasha and Mariya invited us to bring Leo over for a traditional Ukrainian meal for us all! Oh my heck, I've never been so happy in my life. Sasha, the husband, doesn't speak much english, so Leo and Mariya did their best to translate the conversation for Sister Wright and I, in their beautiful thick accents. Their culture is just so beautiful, and so fun! The dinner conversation was WILD. I mean, just everyone yelling over each other, and laughing, and SINGING! The food was amazing of course, I wish I could remember the names of everything. There was this beat soup stuff, and scones stuffed with potato, and an amazing cherry cake. But my favorite part was just listening to them talk, and watching how animated everyone was... it was hard to tell if they were being friendly or yelling at each other, until they'd all bust out laughing. AH, seriously the best day ever.

After dinner they had me go get my guitar, and Leo played for us. Pretty soon Sasha and Mariya were making requests, and the three of them sang several Polish, Russian and Ukrainian songs to us! These are my favorite videos.. I hope you can watch them.

And one with Leo :) HIS GUITAR SKILLS THOUGH

Once we'd all sang and laughed until we couldn't breath anymore, we settled down, and the discussion turned to the scriptures. Those questions of the soul were brought up, about where we were before this life, why we're here, and what happens after.. Though we all spoke different languages, I learned that the language of the spirit is universal. There was so much LOVE felt.
Even though we all believed a little differently. I was so humbled by Mariya's humble faith. Leo posed a question about why there were so many more worlds than just ours.. we all shared our beliefs and views, and though Mariya wasn't sure, she said it would all be worked out eventually.
She loves and trusts her God, and said she doesn't need to understand everything right now, so know He has a plan. I was just blown away, and humbled. I love these people so much, for their faith.

My testimony of the Plan of Salvation was strengthened, and my gratitude deepened, for the knowledge that we DO have available to us. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has truly been restored through a Prophet of God.

Welcome to the South!

I want you to know that I know this gospel is true. I know Heavenly Father loves each of us, even when it feels heaven is far away. I love you all so much.

Love Sister T Smith