I'm so sorry about the deleted email last week!! Sister Oliver had the brilliant idea to copy the email BEFORE I push send.. that way I'll just be able to paste it and try again! It was a miracle that I had run out of things to say and wasn't going to send you a paper letter, because then I was able to write down everything that I wanted!!! a HUGE tender mercy!!
First off - I'm so excited about Emily getting married!! What a bummer that I'm going to miss it! That took a little while to come to grips with, since that will be our first family wedding!! Oh well, this is were I'm supposed to be right now and I LOVE IT HERE!! It was so funny... when I got the letter with that huge bit of news, I was sitting on the couch in our living room and Sis. Oliver was in the kitchen. When I read it I stood up, exclaimed and had to run into the kitchen to read it to her... If you talk to Emily soon, tell her that Sis. Oliver sends her congratulations. I'm going to try and write her a letter today or next week, but if she reads this or you talk to her soon, tell her that I love her SO much and am SUPER EXCITED FOR HER!! I can't wait to see a picture of him!! And you (Emily) will definitely be the first person I visit out of Utah... I'm already planning the trip to met my first brother-in-law!! Whew - I really can't believe it and I am beyond words excited!!!!!!! :)

That's so funny that you all have a copy of my lovely apartment drawing. I thought that y'all might like that!

Gilberette!
I'm so glad that you liked your note... I LOVE my pictures!!! I love the river that you colored on the sandcastle pictures - you're amazing!! I think of you everyday - and guess what... I sing your favorite song ALL the time!! We sing it about once a day to investigators or members!

Wesley - aka Carrie
Thanks for the stickers - I'll find someone to give them to around Christmas. And BTW, I love all the little pictures you draw all over your letters. Oh, and Sis. Aylett lives in Sandy, Utah. I'm definitely visiting her - she's getting married the June after she gets back... so I'm going to see her then!!

Samantha -
I hope you had a good time at group!! I loved helping at group - it was the highlight of my week. I just love Sis. Johnson, she's amazing!! Next time you see her, tell her I've used the aprons she made me quite a bit and I LOVE them!! They are lifesavers knowing what a messy cook I am!!

Mattheui - (I don't know if that's how you spell it :)
I hope that you're feeling better! It sounds like you have what I had at the MTC... get feeling better and I love you a lot too!!

Mackenzie -
Yes, I was sitting down for your piece of news about piano. And I'm so EXCITED FOR YOU!! Just remember that patience is key!! Sometimes those kids will drive you crazy, but you'll learn to love them!! Keep in mind that piano lessons are meant to be FUN!! You'll be great, and even if you're just trained and then you don't teach anyone besides your kids - it will be worth every minute!! Oh, and thanks for being such a great writer!!

Mom -
Thanks for your wonderful motherly advice!!! Things are going a lot better and I am really learning to love Sis. Oliver so much!! She's so quiet and shy, but can be so bold too - it's amazingly crazy how much we are alike!! It makes us both come out of our shells. Oh, and thanks for the AMAZING article "Memory and you". I read it and wrote 2 whole pages of notes in my journal. And then I've shared thoughts from it with 3 different members, and it's been a wonderful push into some great conversations that we needed to have. Thanks again!! The branch pres. asked me for a copy of it... shows how good it is!!

Dad -
Thanks for your note. I had saved an old note of yours, and I highlighted when you said "you and your companion will be given people to teach when you are ready". It's amazing the miracles that have happened since we've been working on our unity!!! I hope that work is less crazy... I wouldn't know where to start with that many emails!!! Thanks for the advice about trainers... I asked her a question once and she told me that she didn't want to seem bossy or mean by telling me all the rules all the time... so I'm learning by observing. Sis. Oliver is doing a great job of teaching everything - and I know that she is the perfect trainer for me. I don't know what I'd do without her!!!

It's been a great week here in New Castle. We've continued to see miracles as we've shared the 1st vision with as many people as possible. We got 10 new investigators this week!! CRAZY!! We've been doing a lot of service this week and a TON of tracting - and it's been SO hot!! I just have sweat POURING down me, and yes, I am drinking a lot of water. I'm really starting to love tracting - It's quite the adventure!! We only had 3 sit down lessons this week - which is kind of low, but they were good ones!! My favorite was one with a young girl named Ashley. She has gone through a lot and requested a BOM because she wanted to be able to come closer to God. It was rather shocking - we went there for our appointment and her grandfather who she lives with (who had told us that he wasn't interested a couple of days before when we tried to contact Ashely) swore at us and told us to get the $%&#*@ off his land! We called Ashely and left a message and said that something came up and then she called us back about 2 minutes later and said that she would meet us in the front yard. And we had a WONDERFUL spirit filled lesson. It's amazing to realize how much peace the spirit gives us all and the difference it can make in people's lives. I'm really praying that things continue to go well with all our investigators.

I had a HUGE ah-ha moment this week. You know how I told you that people here are really content with their religion and relationships with God and Jesus Christ? Well, at our talk with the born again christian preacher, he kept asking us if he was going to go to heaven if he didn't become a Mormon. Finally (because we had to be at president interviews in about 30 minutes - and the drive was that far - long story there - we were 40 minutes late and then borrowed the Zone leaders GPS to get back - I have a feeling we're going to be famous here for being late and getting lost!! Oh, we make the craziest wrong turns!!! It's funny ;) I told him "you are going to go to a PART of heaven" meaning the terrestial kingdom and he seemed totally content with that... and that seemed so weird to me because as a past general relief society president said "THE CELESTIAL KINGDOM OR BUST!!!" But then one of the zone leaders said that they will go to heaven "AS THEY KNOW IT". It really hit me because they will be totally happy in the terrestial kingdom!! It's a place of glory and they'll be able to see Jesus Christ. BUT, I wish they could realize that there is so much more in store for them than just that!! I'm not content going there!! I won't let anything stand in the way of getting to the celestial kingdom. I want so bad to be able to be with Heavenly Father again and I want to be with my current and future family for ALL ETERNITY!! It's crazy to think that people could be content without that. Anyway, it was a huge eye opener to me.

Well, I have 15 minutes left and then off to grocery shopping. I'm probably not going to write another letter because we're going to Richmond to have an activity with our Elders. We're going out to lunch and bowling. It will be super fun!!! BTW - "SWEET" is like a mission word here and I'm having the HARDEST time not saying it!! It was so funny because we were tracting last night and I was just saying "oh, my mom would just die, but I almost say it about 20 times a day" and then Sis. Oliver said that I hadn't said it yet, and I said "well, I've been trying not to, but it's just such a great word to describe things - because things really are just SWEET!!" We laughed so hard!

OH, one really cool thing that happened. You know how in 1 Nephi - Nephi says that he was filled with the spirit to the consuming of his flesh? Well, when we were at the preachers house, we didn't get much of a chance to say anything, because he was talking the WHOLE time, but it was so amazing, because I was just looking at him the whole time, and he WOULDN'T look at me!! I felt like I was peering into his soul and I could just feel the spirit pouring out of me. It was so neat!! Not that he wouldn't look at me, but because I could feel it so strong. And I could tell that he wouldn't look at me because of that... anyway, random side note!!

Well, I don't have much more to say!! It's been a great week full or little miracles and big ones too... mostly they come as we strive to follow the promptings that we have and to talk to EVERYONE - I mean everyone - if you look at us, and you're close - we will talk to you!! It's great fun and I'm learning to love every minute of my mission.

Oh, guess what!! I'm speaking IN church on the 23rd ON church!! I'm excited!! But I was wondering if you could send me some articles about church and the importance of it. I'd really appreciate it!! Oh, and you'll NEVER guess what I was asked to do... actually I bet you can... drumroll - I was asked to be the branch organist until I leave!! There is one lady who plays the piano here and she is stretched thin!!! Thanks for paying for all those piano lessons Mom and Dad so I can play for the people here!! Oh, and I hope y'all are playing my piano - I just realized yesterday how much I miss it!! I hope you're keeping it dusted and well played on!! Give it a hug for me!! :)

OH, I know how much you all love funny stories, esp. when they happen to me, so here's one for you. You know how we got fleas? Well, we ran home, took fast showers and washed our clothes. I'd never started a batch, so I threw some soap in and then later I said that we should probably wash them again to make sure all the fleas we gone, and I REALIZED (much to my chagrin!) that I had washed with FABRIC softener!! It didn't do any harm obviously, but I put a bit too much in, and it died my garments yellow!! Oh, and the other funny story. We were washing our bedding, and I had all the blankets and matress pads in there - but I didn't remember that mine was plastic and I MELTED IT!!! Whoops - I had to use some personal money to get a new one. :) And last but not least - we have a washer that (I swear) is ready to take off for the moon at anytime. Sometimes the banging is SO bad that we have to sit on top of it, even after we rearrange everything. So, one day I did a lot of my personal study there, and Sis. Oliver did her morning singing there. Anyway, just some funny sister missionary things.

Well, time is up!! I love you all and hope everything is well! You are all in my prayers and I hope you all know that I love you SOO much!!

Love, Sister Alex Smith