Tuesday, June 27, 2017

In the coolest ward

So my new companion, Sister Wade, is from Alaska. One of our ward
mission leaders, Brother Linford, likes to make puns too, and so he
asked Sister Wade, "Do you know why you were sent here?" And then he
would say, "Because it's the coolest ward." I wish being in the
coolest ward made a difference in the temperature outside though. It's
hot.

This week was good though. Sister Wade and I get along really well,
and so it's made this past week fun. Brother and Sister Linford deemed
us a dynamic duo our second night as companions.

We have our two investigators, Heather and Roger, who were able to go
to the Tucson Temple open house on Saturday with some members. They
both really enjoyed it, and it was a great opportunity for them. We
also had a lesson with our other investigator Jun. We just started
with the basics over again, so we taught him how, when, and why to
pray.

We went to the VC with a family in one of our wards and watched the 2
new Restoration videos that came out on the coming forth of the Book
of Mormon. They really are awesome and bring the Spirit so much. It
helped make my testimony of the Restoration and the Book of Mormon
even stronger.

Also, congrats to my younger brother Jacob for getting his mission
call to the Peru Piura Mission.

Love y'all!
Sister Smith
Don't see this very often here in Mesa, AZ

Transfer Day

Weekly dog pic

Vote Sister Smith for Zucchini mayor (biggest zucchini I've ever
seen. A member grew it)

It's hot

 I broke it (with a law of chastity pamphlet) (only missionaries
will get the "broke it" joke)

We had a fly problem and had a killing spree

Zone sports post water balloon fight

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Im"press"ive

So we had a talent show this past week, and so for my talent, I bench
pressed Sister Marcos (all 97 pounds of her) 8 times. People weren't
expecting it, and some thought it was an illusion at first. Someone
else made the joke that with an ironing board you can press your
clothes or press your companion (because she laid on an ironing
board).

This week was busy and kinda crazy, and this week will be kinda crazy.
We taught a fair amount of lessons, and we had another lesson in
partial Tagalog. We also met with another investigator who is from
China, and we brought a member with us who speaks Mandarin, so we had
a lesson in partial Mandarin. We did have some lessons in English
though haha. The lesson with Roger (the one in Tagalog) was pretty
good. It was kinda interesting and awesome because Sister Marcos
extended the baptismal invitation, but it was in Tagalog, but it was
really awesome because I knew the moment she started the invitation
even though I really had no idea what she was saying in Tagalog. We
also were able to meet with one investigator we haven't been able to
meet with for a long time! And it was a pretty great lesson.

We also picked like 13 bags of oranges this past week for service, and
we juiced about 9 of those bags I think so far. So we have plenty of
fresh orange juice (most of which we put in gallon freezer bags and
froze). I am definitely not lacking on Vitamin C right now though.

This week was crazy a little bit though because our roommate was
called to train this transfer that starts this week and my companion
was called to be an STL, so they had meetings on Friday and Saturday.
On Friday, Sister Colbert joined sister Marcos and I for a bit, and
then on Saturday I joined sister Clark and Colbert for a bit. Also,
today Sister Clark and I did an exchange so we could go to the store
while our companions packed since Sister Colbert is going home, and
Sister Marcos is getting transferred (we got permission to do this
exchange haha).

Speaking of transfers, we got transfer news on Saturday. I am staying
in my area and am getting Sister Wade as my new companion. I will be
greenie-breaking her, which means she just got done being trained. I'm
really excited to get her as a companion because I feel like her and I
will get along really well. And I'm keeping the car.

Nothing much else from this week. Hope y'all all have a great week!
Sister Smith
time lapse from zone sports this morning
Our "awkward family" district pics


Bench pressing

Yep, dogs still make me happy


Need oranges?

Tuesday, June 13, 2017

What do you think about the defense?

I will explain that one in just a minute.

So this week seems like it was really long! But it was fairly good.
Monday night we went to some FHEs. One for the empty nesters in one of
our wards, and then at the Faasavalus. It is sad because the
Faasavalus are moving/have moved out of our ward. Even though at some
point I would leave this area anyways, it sad to see them move, and
I'm going to miss them.
Tuesday, we did some service and had a lesson and did some member
visits with a ward missionary to invite people to the ward activity on
Saturday.

So Wednesday was really eventful. I was able to have lunch with Coach
Fincher (my high school track coach), his wife, and their daughter
Abby. It was really fun to see someone from home (although it was
kinda weird all at the same time). During lunch, we caught up and
talked about sports. After lunch though, we all headed to the
Visitors' Center, and I, along with some VC sisters, were able to show
him around some and talk about what I do a little more as a missionary
and some things we teach about (like The Book of Mormon). But before
we did the little tour at the VC, we were talking with the other
sisters and Elder Lochhead (who is the director of the VC). Elder
Lochhead and Coach Fincher were having their own conversation, and
then the rest of us hear Elder Lochhead ask, "So what do you think
about the defense?" Mrs. Fincher made a comment about not knowing if
that question had to do with football or politics because it could go
either way, and we didn't know either, so we all started laughing (it
was about politics btw). So yeah, the VC was great, and it was fun
seeing them! Later that night, we did visits with a member of the
Primary presidency. We had some great visits, especially because the
member could add another perspective or insight specific to primary or
kids that we couldn't. We did have one really awkward visit, and none
of us knew what to do. It was just so awkward, and I think we were all
a little shocked by it. After the visits though, Sister Larson (who
did the visits with us) took us to Sonic and we got half priced
shakes.

Thursday night, we had a lesson that was partially in English,
partially in Tagalog because we were teaching a Filipino guy. He has
some interesting lights in his home... His home was also 95° inside
(no joke!). Hopefully, the next lesson will be at the church or in a
member's home.

Saturday morning, we had a ward breakfast party. There was food, a few
games, and swimming. Man, I wanted to jump in that pool so bad, but I
stayed a solid few feet from it.

Last night, there was a member missionary Fireside. They are always so
good, but I love hearing the testimonies of converts, especially
recent converts. They always seem to have a simple testimony, but it
is so powerful and strong. Also, the music is always fantastic.
Nothing is better than feeling the Spirit so strongly through music
and testimonies of converts. It always boosts and lifts me up.

Anyways, I hope y'all all have a fantastic week!
Sister Smith

 Whipped Cream Shenanigans

Lights and Tagalog

I need this pillow

Coach Fincher, his wife, Abby and I! (I wanted to get a pic in
front of the Christus, but it was closed ðŸ˜¢)

Sister Smith or Spider-Man?

Weekly dog pics


 Pic with Brother and Sister Faasavalu

Whipped cream fight (really, it was just supposed to be us pie-ing
the other district because we won a competition, but then it turned to that)

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

It's a dead day

My companion said this to me and my response was, "well, we did help at a funeral today..." because we helped in the kitchen with the food for a funeral on Saturday.
We also had a member take us out to lunch on Saturday and they asked us what we got for our appetizer, and we got wings. Our member's response, who is 93, responded, "what are you going to do, fly out of here?" ðŸ˜‚

Anyways, this week was kinda slow. But we did have a miracle! We stopped by our investigator Heather's house on Tuesday to confirm our lesson on Wednesday. Long story short, she couldn't meet with us on Wednesday, and we ended up having a lesson then and there. Then, we put her on baptismal date for September 16 (so it's still a little ways off), AND she said the closing prayer (which she often hesitates to pray in front of us) and in that prayer she asked about being baptized in September. Like, y'all don't understand how big of a miracle this really is.

We met with a few other people, but nothing else too exciting.
Also, the Pitcher family is awesome. We always have an amazing dinner when we eat at their home, and they even opened up their home to our zone for a breakfast party we wanted to do. 22 missionaries in their home this morning, using their pots and pans and oven and stove, etc. Just AMAZING! And I know my mom appreciates Sister Pitcher sending her pics home haha

I've also been studying Mosiah, and King Benjamin's dying words are on point ðŸ‘Œ Don't forget to serve others! If you are struggling, read his words. If you are doing well, still go back and study his words.

Love y'all!
Sister Smith
Scaring Sister Colbert

Scaring Sister Colbert ðŸ˜‚

Weekly dog pic

Picking Oranges

Zone Breakfast at the Pitcher's home