Week 11 - Happy Halloweeeen!!!

Happy Halloweeeen!!! 

Hope everyone's been soaking up the festivities for me!! My companion and I will be shutting ourselves in around 7 o'clock tonight (President's orders), to watch church videos and eat ice cream till we pass out.. party hard ya'll!  Stay safe ya hear??

​Oh! We did actually get to dress up a few nights ago for the wards annual Truck or Treat! We decided to go as reindeer.. Guess what! Sister Nielsen loves Christmas as much as I do! Which means we've already been listening to Christmas music, and have decided our new door approach will be caroling. I'll let you know how it goes.

Sometimes we'll be out walking along the sides of dusty weedy roads, looking for people to teach about the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and my thoughts will go back to my life in SLC, with friends and family close, and all the free time in the world, and I'll think to myself, "SELF, you have really lost your mind haven't you??? Get back to the double wide, pack your bags and go home to reality!!" I think about my friends and siblings who remember what my life was like before, and I'm sure they must also think I've lost my mind ;) and I don't blame them! I would think the exact same thing, had I not experienced the things I have over the past year for myself.. It's a very bizarre thing to me, to be thinking and talking about "religion" so much. But the reality is there is no other force in existence by which the deepest of sorrows can be turned to joy. He truly is the Master Healer.

I'm so grateful for the personal witness I've been given, which the Holy Ghost brings back to me every time I start to doubt the reality of the Plan this work is helping to fulfill. I'm learning SO much, all the time. The scriptures are powerful you guys. (incase you didn't already know this). When we read, we show faith, which allows the Holy Ghost to teach us.  

So we've been looking for this one family since I got here. About ten years ago missionaries taught the whole family, and the three siblings ended up getting baptized with the permission of the parents. Eventually though, the father decided he didn't want the missionaries over anymore, and the kids stopped coming to church a few months later. BUT the few members that live in Red Bay have stayed really close to all of them, so when Sisters were put in the area they asked us to try again. Sister Baird and I never did find them, and Sister Nielsen and I weren't having any luck until one day we decided to try calling the number we'd already tried many times. They answered! Turns out two of the siblings (with their husbands and kids) are all living together now, and said we could come see them later that evening, but to call and get the address on the way.. We were pretty sure they were going to back out. I understand how impossible and crazy it feels, when truth and peace from long ago starts seeking you out again.. We continued with our daily tracting, this time in some projects we hadn't covered yet. The third door we knocked on happen to be THIS FAMILY!! and it was just 20 minutes before our scheduled appointment :) such a blessing and miracle.

The skies here are out of this world. Seriously, almost every sunset is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Reminds me of one of my favorite scriptures. Alma 30:44 "..all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."

We didn't take many pictures this week.. BUT I attached some pics of the inside of our lovely trailer. Have I already shown you?? None of the lights work, so we live by candle light.. Just kidding, we have lamps and I bought some string lights to liven up the cave. Cute right??

Ah, I just love you. I'm so grateful for my family and friends. Remember to pray ok?? Even if just for a desire to believe. Know that I know there truly is a Heavenly Father listening, and that Jesus Christ, ​our brother, is always pleading our case. They love us, and everyone deserves to understand that kind of love.

Sister Smith

Week 10 - Witch... I mean "Thrash" doctor!

New transfer = new beginnings. "Lighten up" is my new motto.

Ok... I don't even know what to say about this week.

A tidbit for you that I've learned about the South:

 "Rollin" is when a group of kids and/or adults sneakily trash your yard,
by covering it and all your trees in toilet paper. It's a sign of affection, and means someone in the community thinks your family is swell.
Ex: high school football team and parents will go "rollin" at the house of
a teammate, who now has broken ribs because they took a massive hit in the
last play, that led to a win.
This is known in Utah/Idaho as toilet-papering, and is usually an act of
ill-will done by complete strangers, or punk kids.

Sister Baird and I saw all these houses COVERED in toilet paper last week.
And I mean covered.. these people are pro. We of course thought it was
terrible, and being the good missionaries we are decided to see it as a
service opportunity. It wasn't until a week later, when someone explained
the situation to Sister Nielsen and I, that I understood why we got so many
angry stares while we did our best to clean up everyone's yard.


Oh! And while we're on the subject.. Our 80 year old landlord, who I love,

told us this week that she is, in fact, a "Thrash doctor." When I said I'd
never heard of thrash, she explained that it's a yeast infection of the mouth, that can only be cured by a thrash doctor. I asked what the difference was between a thrash doc and a normal doc. She looked at me, a little insulted, and explained that being a thrash doctor was a very special gift that not anyone could obtain. To be a Trash Doctor, one must be the *seventh
daughter of the seventh daughter *(her case), or have never met your father due to him *dying* before you were born. 😑

The Librarian is about to kick us out.. I will try to be more spiritual
next week. Good things are happening!

I love you all so much

About your package: OH MY HECK I ALMOST PEED MY PANTS. Hahahaha!! Sister
Baird and I lost it! UPS came just before we headed to the library, so we
put it to use immediately :D (see pic). Best thing ever.. thanks for the
laugh fam, ya'll are goons. Couldn't be more grateful for the reminder of
where I come from ;)

We sent Sister Smith a little "Halloween Costume" you could say, to help her "embrace" at least one of the mission rules!! Hahaha ;D!! 

Week 9 - 1st Transfers in the Mission Field - I'm staying in Red Bay! My companion is going home!

Hello again!

So transfers are this week, which means I say goodbye to Sister Baird TOMORROW 😥. She'll be stepping off the plane back in Idaho at this time on Wednesday! So excited for her.. so bummed for me. We've been packing her missionary life up (and eating ice cream) all weekend. BUT we found out my new companion will be Sister Nielsen! I've never met her, but Sister Baird says she's amazing and super kind. Looks like Red Bay's got me for another 6 weeks!

Ok, we were eating lunch yesterday at a member's house after church. (which is super kind of them to cook for us, and I'm totally grateful..). This family has all the missionaries in our ward over for lunch most Sunday's, because they live close to the church. There are two sets of Sisters and one set of Elders in our ward, because the ward boundaries are crazy big (because we are literally in the middle the backwoods). It takes 30 minutes to drive from the Bay to cizilization (where the rest of the missionaries get to live) ANYWAY, we're sitting there, and I feel something tickly on top of my head. Just as I reach up to swat at, what I hoped was one of the thirty flied buzzing in the window behind me, a quarter sized SPIDER parachutes off the top of my forehead, down between my eyes, and onto my dinner plate.. I was stunned just long enough for it to scamper across my potatoes, over my arm, and make a b-line for the cornbread, before Sister Mathis snapped me out of my horror, and trapped the spidy under the cornbread plate, where it remained for the rest of the meal. All the while our member family just keeps on the usual conversation about this and that like it "ain't no thang." ...This is my life now.

As you may know, it's been a bit of a struggle for me so far. I know it'll all be ok though, thanks to incredible and inspired parents, and the best family and friends. I love you all so much. One thing I've learned this week is that Heavenly Father is there, ALWAYS. Even when it doesn't feel like it. When we are so down we can't feel anything, he goes to the people closest to us and starts working on them. Giving them the inspiration they need to come help us.

The people here do not understand what we are saying most of the time.. they don't get that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is different from what they already know. We aren't here to convert people to Christianity! Why in the world would Heavenly Father send missionaries to the South, if it were the same message they already know.. Everyone is Christian here (aside from one Hindu we met last week). It gets super annoying. But Sister Baird and I were discussing and studying last night, and I had some comforting thoughts I wrote down:

John 15:16 "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you..." It's not about what my choice and expectation was in serving a mission.. "Remember that He called you. Through your thoughts and desires, the Savior of the world called you, as you were, to preach his Gospel to his people. And to grow and become as you were always meant to be. Try not to get discouraged when things don't go the way you hoped or thought they would. He chose you. This is not about your success, it is His. It's about people accepting Him, not us."

I truly want to help people.. because I know this message is true! I would not have drug my butt all the way to Alabama, to talk to random strangers about Jesus Christ, if I didn't know with all my heart that He is our Savior. And that the Gospel he established when he came to earth has been restored. The only reason I know this as fact is because I tried and tested it! Otherwise I'd still be sitting around, thinking it was weird that everyone put so much of their souls into a "nice story about a good man." He is our brother and best friend, He has a body of flesh and bone, and he came to earth to teach us the Plan of Happiness. That plan was restored to us through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Matthew 7:20 "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." I know the Book of Mormon is one of those fruits. I know that it is by applying the principals taught and revealed to us in these Latter-Days, that we come to know for ourselves the truthfulness of this Gospel. NO ONE else can convince us of that. It was always meant to be between us and The Lord, through the gift and witness of the Holy Ghost.

I am not here to convince, I am here to invite, and there is so much peace in that. I would love so much to be able to witness the process of someone coming to know their Savior, and understand how loved they are, and recognize the Holy Ghost for the first time. But even if that never happens while I'm here, it is comforting to know that this is His work. He is aware of every person I will ever come in contact with, and He knows where they are at in their journey.

Thanks for letting me ramble a bit. I love you all so much!

Xoxo Sister Teirsa Smith

Week 8 (Skipped 7:)) - The Primary Package was so Sweet!!

Hi Mom!

I'm glad you have questions actually, it gives me more of an idea of what's
important to write about ;) Oh my heck, I was DYING reading your letter
about Charley!!!! Hahahaha are you kidding me??? That little punk! Not only
was the story hilarious.. but I can't believe you wrote me a 6 page letter,
of which 5 pages were dedicated only to Charles. I read the whole thing to
Sister Baird and we were both just crying we were laughing so hard. Haha! I love you mom. Sister Baird really hopes she gets to meet you someday.

The Primary package was so sweet!! Tell Liv I have read her note about 20
times because it makes me so happy. I laughed so hard at the part about you
always being on the computer... haha! Leave it to Liv to just tell it like
it is ;) She's the coolest. Ah I love you Louie!! Hearing from my sisters
definitely gives the encouragement I need (daily). Kaylee's note was also
so sweet. And tell grandma Lamb I love the bracelet! So awesome, I love the
"fisher's of men" message. Do you have her email address? I'm also working
on getting a letter to her asap, I finally got her birthday Card!! Tell her
thank you so much for the card and cash! It was so great to hear from my
grandma, even if it was a month later (dang Mission office). Tell her she
paid for lunch today, and it's been the best P day yet.

I GOT MY BIRTHDAY PACKAGES!! Yay!! I'm so happy!

 I LOVE the clothes, thank you so much everyone! They fit perfectly, and totally made my whole month. The scarf is adorable! Wow, I felt so spoiled, seriously I love everything!

Please tell Kathi I got her package too, and cried a little when I saw the
wintergreen mints ;) #blessed. Thanks Kath! (what's their address?? I need
to send them a note) I've read Sally and Jeremy's letters about 20 times
too (they gave me before I left), especially in the MTC. Love them so much!
Oh! And I finally got the last Dear Elder you sent me mom, haha. It was the
best thing ever actually, I totally needed to hear from you, so I'm kinda
glad it was detained for a bit.

Ok so:
1)  I am really great today! Monday's stress me out most of the time, as
I've explained before. But I'm trying really hard to just take it easy and
not worry if I can't get everything out perfectly. I won't lie, missionlife just isn't easy at all, haha. I feel down way more than I'd like to,
and way more than I thought I would. BUT it's not all the time, so I'm
trying to just remember I'm still adjusting and learning. I HATE all the
rules with every fiber of my being ;) (I know that doesn't surprise
anyone). Ex: one missionary has to stand outside of the car
and direct the driver EVERY TIME WE BACK UP. It's actually way more
dangerous. 

I get discouraged and frustrated with my lack of teaching skills
and confidence. I don't feel like I'm able to express what the spirit says in my heart. I am not sleeping very well (worlds most uncomfortable
mattress), and mornings DO NOT get easier with time, haha. I compare myself
to my companion a lot, which is super unhelpful, and leads to 2.
2) I LOVE Sister Baird.. she is one of those idealistic perfectionists,
who has already gained her bachelor degree from BYU Idaho in Recreation
Therapy, worked with at risk youth, was a cheerleader/officer in high
school, and finds satisfaction in being perfectly obedient regardless of
what "rules" go against common sense. I have SO much fun with Sister Baird! She is also one of the goofiest, most kind and patient people I have ever met. She's always looking for ways to serve others, and has many qualities a more confident me would be inspired by...

but because of my general state of mind right now, it's really hard. It doesn't help that she is about to go home at the end of her mission, and will soon be able to do the regular life things I'm craving. 

It's hard to be around someone who is preparing mentally and physically to
leave this place, knowing I still have over 16 months. Ok, all that being
said, it has been a HUGE blessing to be able to talk and laugh with someone
my age. She really is a goof ball, and we get a long great! I will miss her a ton.


3) We have a couple investigators right now. Dai and Mallori (20ish and
15), the sisters I told you about a few weeks ago. They were doing really
well, but then they came to church once and kind of lost interest. We have
become really good friends with them though, and they still want us to come
give discussions! I hope we can find a way to help them understand the
message we bring can't be found anywhere else. Daniel (38) is our trailer
neighbor... the trailer we live in has been split into two apartments, and
he lives in the other half, haha. He's really nice, and has also become a
good friend of ours. He has been through a lot of tough stuff in his life,
and we have seen him really change over the past month of just talking
outside our house. We had one formal lesson with him, but calling it a
lesson freaked him out, so now we just "chat" every so often, and teach as
many Gospel Principals as we can. I introduced him to the Church's 12 step
program, and he watched all the videos (found on Mormon.org), and loved
them. He came to us the other day and said his friends at work asked whyhe's happy lately. He asked if he could refer some of them to us, haha! So
awesome. We need all the referrals we can get in this town! We are trying
so hard to help people, but southern Christianity is really something
else.. I'm trying really hard to understand it, but if I hear "*no thanks,
I'm already saved*" one more time, I might lose it.

4) We have a really tight budget, and pray daily for people to feed us
haha. I have spent way more of my own money than I thought I would have had
to, and have been pretty frustrated with the whole system. But Sister Baird
says this isn't the usual, and that I'll be way less tight on money in the
other areas I serve, so I'm trying not to get too annoyed yet. She said
there are more members to feed us in most other areas. We had to restock
EVERYTHING when we first moved in to the trailer (food and cleaning supplies etc.) so we ran out of money less than half way through the month
and had to use personal funds. The mission office reimbursed for some of
the cleaning supplies, but yeah. We get 150.00 each per month to pay for
everything we need, and it goes fast. I think this month we're doing
better. We're not starving, it's just not exactly comfortable living ;) But
there've been lots of tender mercies! Like birthday card cash showing up on
days when we've needed to buy groceries or lunch! So don't worry, we're
good for now. Like I said, I think we'll be fine this month, and I'm still
just getting the hang of everything.

Also Muscle Shoals is a really sweet town we drive through once a week to
get to Florence for District Meeting. There's a documentary about it on
Netflix that ya'll should watch! It's where the deep south jazz sound came
from. Tell my music loving siblings to watch! Dad, you'll love it too. I
haven't watched it.. obviously (Bishop loves music, he's told me all about
it). But I can't wait to see it when I get home!

So last Monday we carved pumpkins as a district 

Today Sis Baird and I took the Tiffin Motorhome Factory Tour.. 

HAHAHA. It's was awesome. Tiffin basically owns Red Bay. 

Oh and Sunshine, the dog food factory. BTW, the entire city smells like dog food every afternoon. I mean REALLY smells. To the point where you can taste it in the air.

After this, we're going to the COON DOG CEMETARY! So stoked. Expect
pictures next week :D

So I've given ya'll lots of honesty about the struggles today.. I want you
to know there is also a lot of joy to be had. 

JOY is what stood out to me
most in conference and I am confident that joy is what I'm here to learn.
From my conference notes: "Joy is the result of repentance. Jesus Christ
*can* forgive because he paid the price, but he *chooses *to forgive
because it brings *Him **joy.* He loves you!"

I love you all, please let me know what else you want to know! It helps a
lot to know what to write about :) I'll get better at this.

Talk to you soon Xoxo
Sister Smith

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.

Week 5....."So Sweaty, but So Great"!!!

It's been a great week! So sweaty..

but so great. 

I am literally out of time to write. I'll try to journal some experiences from this week and write them next week or something.

We knocked on this door the other day and two collage age girls answered.

After talking to them a bit the older sister said they recently moved into

town and had actually been praying to know which church to go to! So

awesome. They came to church yesterday (of course sacrament happen to go

over 30 minutes! by the end they decided not to stay for the rest of the

meetings). But they seem genuinely interested, and are just the sweetest

girls ever. I really think they may get baptized eventually.

Only send stuff to the mission home if you're afraid it will get stolen! I feel like I'm in a safe area though, so don't worry too much.

Otherwise just send everything to the address I sent you, or else I won't get it for
weeks, maybe months. And don't use Dear Elder anymore, that was only for
the MTC, so I won't get anything sent there anymore. I haven't received any
packages or letters, but we have a temple trip Thursday, so if anything was
sent to the mission home I MIGHT get it then. Hopefully.

The email situation is really frustrating, and I'm extremely short on time
today.

I'm so glad Morg is making friends and enjoying high school so far! Haha
Liv cracks me up, that's so awesome. Is she liking her class this year?
Tell her to email me and send me pics of her and Chuck! I want to know
about this Fizz Friday, sounds awesome.

Going to try to get a group email sent real quick. I love you! Leaves are
changing a bit here, but it's not like home.