called to serve AZ a MESAnary: Rain is a good thing. And it's a small world after all

Now that those songs are both stuck in your head, rain is a good
thing, unless you are on bike... We got caught in the rain on Monday
night and Tuesday afternoon. And Tuesday it was pouring when we got
caught in it. So we tried going to a member's home, but they weren't
there, so we stood on the porch until it let up a little and tried
another member's home.
As for it being a small world, I met a member in one of my wards who
lived in Katy and knows some of the people that I know! How crazy is
that!?

The highlight of this week though was that we invited one of our
investigators, Leroy, to be baptized on a specific date. At the end of
the lesson, he prayed and asked God to help him prepare to be baptized
on that date! The Spirit was so strong as he spoke those words.
Nothing is more powerful than a prayer said from the heart, especially
when it comes to an investigator asking for help to know truth or help
preparing for baptism and stuff.

Also, I almost lost my companion twice while riding our bikes this
week. The first time, we were riding along a road on the sidewalk, and
when I'm in front (which is often because I tend to ride faster and
know the best way to go), I occasionally look back to make sure my
companion isn't too far behind me. I guess I hadn't looked back often
enough and I get to a stoplight and looked back and couldn't see my
companion. I freaked out for a moment! Then I see her off in the
distance and just awkwardly wait at the light for her to catch up. But
the reason she fell so far behind is because she got a flat tire and
stopped to look at it, and I didn't hear her say that she was going to
stop, so I kept cruising along. The second time though, we were at an
apartment complex, and they have a few different exit gates, and there
was one with a car leaving, so it was opened, and this gate was closer
to where we were going than the main gate (which is open until about
7pm). I decided to go through the gate with the car leaving, but my
companion was riding a little slower and didn't want to go through the
gate because she was afraid it was going to shut on her (but she
definitely had time to go through). Anyways, the gate shut and I'm on
one side and she was on the other. So she rode through the apartment
complex to get out the main gate while I once again awkwardly waited
for her to come. So that was fun...

On Saturday, we got to help with a cultural event. We were in charge
of the "Mormon Table" since there were tables with different
religions. Our job was to basically to be there to give informational
facts rather than like teach and bear testimony. Ultimately, not many
people came to the event and we talked to 2 people at our table. It
was cool though to see all the different things they had there. They
had a table for Islam, so it was interesting to go look at that and
become more familiar with their beliefs and stuff.

Something that has really stood out to me though this week as I have
studied the scriptures is how Satan can attack us, but also how we can
defend ourselves since I have been studying the "war chapters" in the
Book of Mormon. Even though we aren't fighting physical battles, we
are fighting a spiritual battle everyday. We must fortify our
weaknesses, and we can't assume that Satan won't try to attack or
tempt us in certain aspects of our lives or follow the same pattern
every time he tries to get to us. We always have to be on guard and
rely on the Lord in all that we do.

I love y'all and hope all is going well!
Sister Smith