so, i don't know if anyone ever checks this blog, but i just realized that i never did an ending post, and some people might be wondering what happened.  a lot has happened in the past 3-4 months... and i thought that i should bring y'all up to date on what's happening with my mission. 

in February (about one month after getting back in the field from being home for 2 months) i got into a car accident and hurt my arm.  after lots of dr appointments, x-rays and an mri (3 months after the accident) it was decided that i needed to have surgery on my arm.  a lot of tender mercies had happened and i was in an area with a arm specialist 5 minutes away.  i figured that i'd have surgery and just continue to be about the Lord's work.  but that wasn't God's plan.  my mission president told me that they'd have to send me home for surgery... that was definitely something i didn't want to hear!  i shed a lot of tears and came home the end of may. 

the dr here just did surgery about six weeks ago, and i have a beautiful brace once again. it's amazing to me to see how God works.  the whole ordeal has been a huge lesson in patience.  i've missed my arm so much... not being able to do anything with it for 7 months is not my idea of a picnic.  but i've learned a lot in the past few months... lessons that i wouldn't give up for anything.

and finally - i've decided to not go back to indiana.  this wasn't an easy decision... but one that i feel so good about.  i know that staying home is the Lord's plan for me right now.  i decided to stay after much prayer and fasting - the only way to make decisions.  i don't know why i need to stay home... i'm still waiting to find that out, but i know it's what i'm supposed to do and i'm excited to see what the next phase of my life has in store.

thanks to everyone for their love, letters, prayers and support.  i appreciate it so much.  serving the Lord as a missionary was a dream come true... and i'm so glad i had the chance to serve the Lord.  i think about my mission everyday and i love the people in indiana so much. my mission changed my life.   it's a decision i'll never regret. 

HEY HEY!

Email from May 18, 2010

DISCLAIMER:
THIS WAS WRITTEN BY A TEMPORARILY ONE ARMED PERSON... PLEASE EXCUSE ANY ERRORS OR MISTAKES... THANK U!

DEAR FAMILY,
THIS IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE SHORT BECAUSE I'M TIRED OF TYPING WITH ONE HAND... MY ARM IS HURTING PRETTY BAD TODAY!!

OH BOY... WHAT A WEEK!! SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS WERE...

AN ANTI LESSON!! THESE PEOPLE WERE "CONCERNED FOR OUR SALVATION", AND TRIED TO SHOW US THAT THE BOM IS FALSE AND THAT GOD DOESN'T NEED TO SPEAK TO US TODAY... WELL BUDDY... I HATE TO TURN THE TABLES... BUT I'M CONCERNED FOR YOUR SALVATION!!!!!! THEY BROUGHT UP SOME INTERESTING POINTS... MOST I'D HEARD BEFORE... SO I HAD A LITTLE BIT OF A COME-BACK! we didn't exactly GET TO THE POINT OF BIBLE BASHING... BUT NEEDLESS TO SAY... WE'RE NOT GOING BACK!!

THE UNWRITTEN RULES... NOW WRITTEN!! WE ARE GETTING A LOT OF NEW RULES FROM PRESIDENT IN PREPARATION FOR PRES COLLINS... RULES ARE FUN FUN FUN!!

TRACTING! WE HAD 42 LESSONS LAST WEEK... AND 39 THIS WEEK. THAT MEANS MEETING SOME INTERESTING PEOPLE!! LOTS OF ATHEISTS AND PEOPLE WHO ARE EITHER "NOT INTERESTED" OR "COMFORTABLE" (BTW... THAT'S A BAD SPOT TO BE IN!!)

PENTECOSTALS.... WHAT INTERESTING PEOPLE!! THIS ONE GUY WAS TALKING ABOUT HOW HE HEARS THE DEMONS WALKING HIS STREET... AND THAT HE SAW THEM A COUPLE OF TIMES... AND ONE TIME HE MADE THEM MAD... AND THEY RAN ON HIS ROOF AND PUNCHED SOME HOLES IN IT!!

WELL... THAT'S WEEK IN A NUTSHELL!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK FAMILY!! AND REMEMBER I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!

LOVE,
SISTER ALEX SMITH

THEY SAY A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS!!


A MOUSE WE CAUGHT

ME AND MY COMP AT THE WYLIE HOUSE MUSEUM

MY BEAUTIFUL SPLINT

ME CHANGING A LIGHTBULB

ME DRYING MY HANDS WITH A NEW TOWEL

Oops!

Okay, I forgot to put Alex's email on last week, sorry! Here you go, two weeks worth today!

May 11, 2010 email

Week one in Bloomington!

HELLO FROM BLOOMINGTON INDIANA!!!!

I don't actually have that much to say since I just talked to you!!! Wasn't that a treat?? I wish I could talk to you all the time... but I understand why they don't let us... it's distracting and I miss you so much more since I talked to you'ns (pronounced u-in-zz). But it's been a good week and I'm definitely growing a lot!!! My new companion (Sis. Bernard) and I have been getting along great...I'm getting happier everyday, but I've also been learning a lot that I really just made the choice to be grouchy!! Yes my companions and I had issues.. but if I would've dealt with those problems with a smile... they wouldn't have seemed so big!!! It's hard to smile when you feel like crying, but it definitely works!!! I've been thinking a lot about "get on your knees and plead for help, then get on your feet and get to work!!" I've been doing a lot of praying this week... I miss White River and my companions and all the elders up there SO much!!! That's been a really hard adjustment for me... but I'm managing!! President Corey committed us to make this new area and companion the best of our whole mission... and Sister Bernard and I have decided that we're going to set this area on fire!!! :D It's going to be an awesome transfer!!! We really don't have many investigators... but we're working on building relationships of trust with the ward so they'll give us referrals, and we've been doing a lot of tracting and found some sweet new people!! Yesterday we tracted into a Pentecostal preacher and learned a lot about their beliefs... we're going to go to his church soon... :) It will be awesome!!!

Well... I better run!!! It was so great to hear all of your wonderful voices on Sunday!! I love you all so much!!! Can you believe that my mission is almost 1/2 way over!!! It's gone by fast... but at the same time... I can't believe that I still have almost 10 months left!!! But I'm sure it will fly and I'll be home before I know it!!! Have a great week!! I know I'm going to!!!

Love Sister Alex Smith

P.S. Sorry this email is so short!!! I'll do better next week!! :)

May 4, 2010 email

The b-awesome week!!

Dear family...I love you so much!!! I hope that you know that!!! :) I've been realizing that I was probably a bear to get along with... (I know you're all just nodding your heads!).. Even if I was a quiet bear... so sorry about all of that!!! :) I'll be a changed person when I get home!!!!! Corrupted actually... my zone is doing a good job of that.... you'll not recognize me... just kidding...I'll still be the same Sister Smith!!! Except hopefully I'll have grown spiritually.... growing is good as long as it's not OUT!!! Ha ha...I'm working on that!!! :)

Anyways... this week has been awesome!! Actually it was b-sweet if "ya know what I'm talking 'bout!" I'm pretty sure I'm going to come home talking like more of a hick then when I left... and apparently I have a pretty strong Utah accent... my comps love making fun of me... but it's better to laugh them cry right??

So guess how many people we had at church on Sunday?? SEVEN!!!! That's one of the things that made this week b-sweet!! Beyond sweet for those of you who don't know what in the world I'm talking about... you may not be "picking up what I'm putting down!!!" Another Hoosier phrase... aw...I'm going to miss this beautiful inner city ward!!! :( But as a lot of people have said to me... I've got people who I need to work with in my next area.... and I guess that my work is done here!! I've been here for almost 6 months all together... I'm just saying 6 months... it takes up less breath than saying five and a half... gotta save that breath for... preaching the gospel!!

Hmmm... so I should probably stop rambling... and tell you something that happened this week right?? Hm... I've taken a LOT of pictures!!! Oh, I played the piano this week.. shh.. but don't tell anyone!! I strapped my wrist up really tight so it couldn't move... :) So all is well!! I had an MRI and listened to the same cd twice... it was SO long!!! MRI's are such a pain!!! We'll find out on Wednesday what is wrong with my wrist... I have the sweetest tan line!! I'll be sure to take pictures of it!! When I was taking off the brace at the Dr... I said, "I have the sweetest tan line!!" And the doctor was like "It's sweet is it!?" I guess sweet isn't the right word for it... but it'll suffice!!

We finally got some tracting in... 23 lessons for this week!!! Sets a new record for this area... We've been getting something like 4 a week... lame I know.. but even if we're not tracting... we're still preaching the gospel!!! :) And we've had some amazing (I'll refrain from saying sweet!) lessons... I love being a missionary!!! It really is the best work... and I know I say that about every email.. but it's true... :) We also committed 4 people to baptism this week... and should be setting some dates soon!! Woo-hoo... and RIGHT when I get transferred!! Oh well... at least I got to plant some seeds here in White River!!!!

This gospel is so amazing... and the church is true... I love being a member of this church!!! It makes me so happy!!! :)

Well, I better run!! I hope that you have a good week... and I'll talk to you on Sunday!!!! :D

Love Sister Alex Smith <3 (that a heart if you couldn't tell!! :)

Sorry for the delay!

Everyone sorry for the delay in getting Alex's email posted from last week! We were on our way home from Arizona, we went there for Emily's (our oldest daughter) wedding and right when (that is no lie) we got home three of the children were sick and the other two got sick the next day! So, here you go, finally, last week's email and this week's email, all on the same day!

Have a happy day!
Margaret

Hope you had as good a time at church as I did!! :)

Hey hey family!! Did you know that in only 12 days or something crazy like that I get to call you??!?!?!?!! Isn't that so exciting!!?!? I'm so excited to talk to you and hear all your wonderful voices!! Be sure to have questions, or things that you want to ask so we can make the best use of our time! :) I'm so excited!! Can you believe that I've been back out for 3 1/2 months!!? It doesn't seem like that long! I just reached my EIGHT month mark on Saturday!!! May 24 is my hump mark!! Yikes!! Time sure flies when you're having a good time... This week has been a hard one for sure. I've finally come to realize that what Heavenly Father needs is ME... not some clone of any other missionary... but ME. I got a blessing from my amazing DL, Elder Magleby, on Friday and in the blessing he said that there are people that I need to touch in this area, and that really hit me... I've been forgetting who I am the past couple of weeks. Trying to figure things out, but I haven't be happy. I've been doing a lot of reflecting about what kind of missionary I am... I've thought a lot about what kind of missionary I was when I first came out in June, and what kind of missionary I was when I came out in January...I was so excited to share the gospel... I taught simply because I didn't know how else to teach... I spoke from the heart because I tried to see the people we taught through the eyes of the Savior... it's definitely true that as a missionary, and as a Disciple of Christ that we need to forget ourselves and focus more on others, but it's important to take the time to notice what we've done well, and to always remember that we are children of God! And that He loves us so much!! I was reading a talk this last week about how a true sense of worth comes from having a close relationship with God.. and that is something I am definitely working on!!

Wow... that was a ramble... but that's a little of what's been on my mind! This week was awesome!! We had SIX... I repeat... SIX investigators at church on Sunday!!!! 2 families!!! The beginning of this transfer I prayed that I would be able to teach a family... and we're teaching two!!! Heavenly Father is so good to me!!! We've had our ups and downs this week... but the best part is seeing myself grow as a missionary as I teach others and help them to come closer to Christ... I've really been working on focusing... and while it's been hard... I know that I'm improving and even though it might be such a small change it's hardly noticeable.. it's a change!!! We haven't been working with any new people... just the same wonderful people that I've grown to love so much, and I'm going to miss if i get transferred!! I've been taking a lot of pictures with people... so I'll be sure to never forget them.. Sorry this email isn't much about what happened this week... but the most exciting thing was having all those people at church. I hope that you have a great week... I love you all so much and I hope that you know that!!!

Love,
Sister Alex Smith :)

Another awesome week!

Good morning family!! I hope that this weekend was good!! I'm so sad that I couldn't be there... but I hope it was a beautiful wedding!! Guess what!! I think I have my brains back!! I was having some bad side effects with the medicine I was taking, so the nurse told me to stop taking it. It was causing my kidneys to overwork, not a good thing... but now my kidney's are fine and my brain is coming back!! I'm so happy!! I feel like my old self again!! and even without taking the medication for my arm, it's doing very well considering. This was a pretty good week... definitely full of learning experiences though!! What kind of week would it be without 'em??

So TUESDAY we finally went to the IMA (Indiana Museum of Art) and had an awesome time... we're sure getting to know Elder Simmons and Mourra really well, they're the only elders who ever do anything with us!! Later that night we did mutual for the ward and Spanish branch, and we talked about serving missions and being a missionary. They were a little out of control... but we managed. They decorated these huge cookies with different things that we'd talked about... they were pretty frosting covered!! Oh, and there was a kid named Mason who got mugged right in front of his house on Tuesday!! Crazy!! What a ridiculous world we live in!!

WEDNESDAY was a good day.. we did some tracting, and all the people that we talked to were telling us about how they have friends who are LDS and how they've asked them questions and had good discussions with them... way to go being missionaries people!! You never know when simply being a friend will (as Aunt Liz just said in an email) plant a seed that may not grow into them being a member, but simply having good will towards the church is huge!!! We met with an awesome RC named Sara... who has a missionary coming home in.. something like 32 days!! She is so excited!! We're almost done teaching her the new member lessons... she is so awesome!! It's amazing to see the promise that when we put things in our minds... then the Holy Ghost can bring the to our remembrance... I was just pulling out scripture after scripture... and it wasn't because I'm a scriptorian.. but because of the spirit. Teaching by the spirit is the only way to do it... when I'm just teaching by my own wisdom... the spirit isn't really there and I stumble over my words... but when I teach by the spirit... it's amazing!!!!! The spirit is the coolest thing ever!!! Oh, then Wednesday night we had dinner with the Hemmert's and they had the Chandley/Curl family over for a lesson and dinner. It was really good... we talked about the Family Proclamation... and Lisa was talking about how she makes everyone's bed, but no one ever makes hers, and the kids were saying... but you and dad share a bed!! And she said "Not any more until we're married!!" It's been amazing this week to see how we don't even have to bring up these issues that we're concerned about... the spirit brings them to these peoples minds and THEY bring them up!!!

THURSDAY we had interviews and we didn't even have to wait!!! President Corey said to me "So Sis. Smith... you've been in White River a long time... how do you feel about leaving?" Dang it... I was hoping I'd never get transferred!!!!! I told him that White River is like home to me, and that I have very mixed feeling about leaving. It seems that I always leave an area when we have baptismal dates (not any yet, but we're working on it!) and the work is really starting to progress. I must've sounded a little frustrated... because then Pres. told me somethings that I really needed to be reminded of... sometimes I have the opportunity to be the harvester... but a lot of times I get to plant and nourish seeds!!! I just have to keep that in mind!! So... transfers are on May 4... and we'll find out on May 3 if I'm leaving or staying!!! Yikess!! New area... I think I'm headed your way!!! Oh... and I forgot the best part of the day!!! well, at least... one of them!! You know the service that we do?? Well, we were invited to a volunteer appreciation thing and we were the volunteers of the year... we also happen to BE the only volunteers... :) They had a man playing the saxophone and he kept talking to us/singing to us... and trying to get us to dance and such... and when he found out what religion we were he said "What... they CAN dance!!" It was really funny... then this guy came up to us and was singing us a silly song...apparently I turned VERY red... :) Then that night we had a lesson with Chris and Cindy at a member's home... and it was awesome!!! They brought up ALL their concerns and it was amazing to have all the things that we were going to bring up... have THEM bring them up!!! They need to get married...but if they do, they'll lose social security disability or something like that... I remembered a quote that they told us at the MTC about how when we teach by the spirit... people ask US for baptism!!! Chris and Cindy want to be baptized so bad... they always talk about it... but we're working on some issues.... Then we went to addiction recovery with someone... and it was awesome!! I love Addiction Recovery!! It's such an awesome program!!

FRIDAY we had an awesome district meeting... Elder Magleby gives the best trainings... he's an awesome elder. Then we had an interesting lesson with a investigators daughter... it was a Bible bash... It's really so amazing to teach by the spirit... because I wouldn't think of these things on my own... but the spirit has the best ideas!!! I know I've said that a lot.. but it really is amazing!!! The rest of the day was fairly normal-ish... trying people, teaching people about the gospel... etc... :)

SATURDAY we did service in a historical part of town... it's so pretty!! We picked up a lot of trash... and Sis. Spindler and I had a great conversation about scripture scouts!! She used to listen to them when she went to sleep too!!! :) Then I really wasn't feeling very well... so we rested a bunch of the day... I'm feeling so much better now that I'm not taking the medication... whew... i was worried my problems were something more serious... thank goodness they're not!!! Oh boy... then we got told that we were having a race to see who could share the most BOM scriptures in day... and we went crazy!!! We had a dinner appointment with Mary (a la) and I told her about the contest, and she let us share with her about 8 scriptures!!! SCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She never even lets us share a thought about the gospel!!! BTW... we won the contest with 21 scriptures!!! :) Sisters are the best... We blow everyone else out of the water... JK... :)

SUNDAY we had Ward Conference... and guess who I met?? Guesses anyone... President Pitcher!!! Tiffany's older brother!!! I told him about living so close to them... and it was great to talk to him!! He's super nice... Ward Conference was amazing!! They talked about how we have the responsibility to bring people back... we have 20% attendance in our ward... 93 active members, and 465 members!!! The ward has a lot of work to do!! Then we had dinner with Sister Mills... she goes on splits with us all the time... she's the best. Then we went and saw Lori and Stephanie in the hospital... it was great to meet Stephanie... she's doing so much better!!!!

YESTERDAY we had an awesome day!!! Everyday is awesome when you're a missionary!! We did service at the Rehab Center, had a lesson with Rachel a RC, had a lesson with Rob the rc who dropped off the earth for a couple of months..., talked to Blair, scheduled some appointments, and had a sweet lesson with the Chandley/Curl family talking about Bible stories and the role of a prophet.

All in all... a beyond awesome week!!! It's been an interesting one growing wise... I'm working on some serious issues of pride, selfishness and anger... but as long as I'm trying... all is well... and I'm working hard... I hope that you all have a great week!!! I love you all so much!!!

Love,
Sister Smith

HELLO FAMILY AND FRIENDS!!

This week has been super amazing and wonderful... do you think that they'll extend my mission to a lifetime call?? I really don't want to leave, I love being a missionary so much!!!! It really is the best job in the whole wide world!!

This week was a miracle week!!! And I love this area!! It is so ghetto, but I love it and all the people that we're working with...piercings, tattoos, drugs, smoking, whatever... I really love them all!!!

So one of the biggest miracles happened with a recent convert named Rob. He got baptized the first week of January, and we haven't been able to meet him since!! I've been here almost 3 months, and I've talked to him on the phone once... so we went and left a note on his door saying that we were not trying to be pests, but that we really just wanted to meet him since none of us have, and that we were just wasting our time trying him if he was just going to keep ignoring us... so awhile ago I had the phone in my hand, and it started ringing, and who should it be but ROB!!!! I just starred at it for awhile, I couldn't believe that he would call us!! He said that he was so sorry that he'd been avoiding us, and that he'd gotten off the path, but that he wanted to start meeting with us again... We were so happy that we all almost started crying!!! We were able to meet with him last week and had an awesome lesson. We read Pres. Uchtdorf's talk "The Way of the Disciple" and it really hit Rob... He is an awesome guy, and I'm excited to start working with him, and help him to get back on the path... he said something that really hit me... he was talking about how the happiest he's been was in the church, and he said that the high that you get from drugs is nothing to compare, and is empty, but true happiness is to be found in keeping the commandments...

One of the other awesome experiences has to do with an inspired bladder... mine. :) we were visiting Diana Kopecky, and we were washing up and taking our gowns off, and all of a sudden i needed to go to the bathroom... i thought to myself... "our house is only 10 minutes away, I'll just wait because we're almost late." but then I just had the strongest thought come to me... "I HAVE to go to the bathroom"... so I did... while I was in there a lady came up to use the bathroom and say that it was full and was walking away when she saw their name tags... she just sat down and said "I'm from the Bethesda ward in Maryland..." Come to find out, her daughter was in ICU, and her whole body had shut down after some chemo for Leukemia... she had been sleeping on the floor, and needed to find a place to stay, but couldn't afford a hotel... So we talked to Sister Leonard and she is living with her while her daughter (who is talking and off the respirator) recovers... but besides the fact that I needed to go to the bathroom, so did Lori, and she walked right past the bathroom in the ICU, to use the one in the infectious area... so her bladder was inspired too!!! :) Lori is the cutest lady, and calls us her law firm because she was reading off our names "Jenson, Smith and Spindler" and said that we sounded like one!! So she always calls us that...

The other miracle that I'll share... (there are lots more, but I'm almost out of time) is that we've been dropping a lot of people that aren't progressing/can't get in contact with, and then all these awesome people are coming out of the woodwork!!! The other day the phone rang, and it was a less active I've met probably 3 times, and she asked us if we could come over and talk to their family because they have been having a really really hard time. So we had an awesome lesson about getting along and such... and then they had FHE the next night!!!!! Woo-hoo!!! Only the mom is a member, and she hasn't been to church in years... She doesn't really know the doctrine either, because she's been la pretty much all her life... So on Sunday her and her boyfriend couldn't get off work, but a member of the ward picked up the kids and brought them to church!! Oh, but before that we had another lesson and talked about prayer, and the 14 yr old girl (who is definitely struggling) started listening, and then they all started drawing pictures of a board that we had brought for them so they could have the steps of prayer all over their house!!! I love that family!! They are also trying to quit smoking... so they are doing well!!! I love working with la's!!!

The last miracle that I just have to tell you about is that we had 6 investigators and 10 less actives at church this last week!!! Our attendance at church was at 120 instead of 80!!! It was crazy!!! One of the la's family we've been working with came to church, and we haven't even visited them in weeks!!! All by their little old selves!! AND our ward is getting to be so much more helpful!!! They all brought our investigators, and we have 4-5 dinner appointments every week this month!!!!! The miracles really area just pouring in!!!!

I'm so glad that i get to be a part of this great work!!! Watching people change their lives and see the happiness that comes as people follow the commandments... it just makes my heart sing!!! La la la la!! The miracles that happen make all the sad things seem small and make difficulties pretty much invisible!!! :) Missionary work is hard hard work... but the best work in the whole wide world... Well, I better run, but I hope that you all have an awesome week!!! Be sure to look for the miracles in your own life... I'm sure there are tons!!! You just have to look for them!!! Love ya!! :)

Love Sister Alex Smith :)

Hey family!

GUESS WHAT TIME IT IS!!?? TORNADO SEASON!! WOO-HOO!! I'M SO EXCITED... WELL, NOT REALLY. HEAVENLY FATHER DEFINITELY HAS A SENSE OF HUMOR... BECAUSE OF ALL THE NATURAL DISASTERS, I DON'T LIKE TORNADOES... AND I GOT SENT TO INDIANA!! :) BUT ANYWAYS, IT'S BEEN ABOUT 80 DEGREES FOR A WEEK, AND IT'S BEEN SO NICE!! THIS WEEK HAS BEEN A GOOD ONE!!

TUESDAY WE HAD AN AWESOME LESSON WITH BRIAN. WE HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO MEET WITH HIM FOR ABOUT 2 MONTHS, SO IT WAS GOOD. WE HAD AN AWESOME CONVERSATION ABOUT THE BOM AND WE READ THE INTRODUCTION... I LOVE IT SO MUCH!! I JUST LOVE THE WHOLE BOM... IT'S SO AMAZING!!

WEDNESDAY WE FOUND AN AWESOME LADY NAMED BIANCA WHILE WE WERE TRACTING... AND WE HAD A LESSON WITH HER FOR ABOUT AN HOUR... IT WAS SO COOL!! IT'S SO NEAT WHEN YOU FIND PEOPLE AND THEY LET YOU TEACH THEM MORE THAN A DOOR APPROACH. HEY, ON A TOTALLY RANDOM NOTE... DID YOU KNOW THAT INDY JUST HOSTED THE FINAL FOUR, AND BUTLER (A SCHOOL IN MY AREA) ALMOST WON!! SISTER LEONARD WAS SCREAMING LAST NIGHT, AND I WENT UPSTAIRS TO CHECK ON HER BECAUSE I DIDN'T KNOW IF SHE WAS YELLING FOR US, AND SHE WAS WATCHING THE LAST FEW MINUTES OF THE GAME... THEY ONLY LOST BY ABOUT 2 POINTS WHICH IS AMAZING BECAUSE THE ARE A TINY TINY SCHOOL!! THEN LATER THAT NIGHT WE TAUGHT INSTITUTE, BECAUSE THE TEACHER WAS OUT OF TOWN... AND (AT LEAST MY PORTION) WAS SO BORING!! I'VE DEFINITELY GOT TO WORK ON MAKING MY LESSONS MORE INTERESTING...IT'S ONE OF MY MAIN GOALS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF WEEKS.

THURSDAY WE HELPED CAROLYNN CLEAN HER HOUSE... LOTS OF CAT HAIR + DUST = LOTS OF SNEEZING!!! NOT SO FUN, BUT IT WAS GOOD TO HELP HER CLEAN... OH, AND WE HAD THE BEST DINNER... IT WAS A HAMBURGER WITH SPICY RANCH DRESSING, CHEESE, BANANA PEPPERS, TOMATOES, AND SOMETHING ELSE I CAN'T REMEMBER, BUT WE HARDLY SAID ANYTHING THE WHOLE MEAL, IT WAS DIVINE!!!

FRIDAY WE HAD DISTRICT MEETING AND I GOT A BLESSING FROM MY DL ELDER MAGLEBY... IT'S BEEN A HARD HARD WEEK... I'M DEFINITELY WORKING ON DEVELOPING A BUCKET LOAD OF CHRISTLIKE ATTRIBUTES!! BUT THAT A PROCESS FOR SURE... NOT A ONE TIME THING.... A JOURNEY... I LIKED HOW ONE OF THE APOSTLES SAID THAT A JOURNEY OF A 1000 MILES BEGINS WITH A SINGLE STEP... SO TAKE THAT STEP!!! THEN WE HAD AN AWESOME LESSON WITH EDDIE THE MEMBER REFERRAL WE GOT...

SATURDAY WE WATCHED CONFERENCE AT CAROLYNN'S WITH 4 ELDERS... AND A MEMBER MALE OF COURSE... IT WAS FUN...

SUNDAY WE WATCHED CONFERENCE AT THE CHURCH... EDDIE WENT TO BOTH THE PRIESTHOOD SESSION AND ONE SESSION ON SUNDAY AND REALLY ENJOYED IT!! WOO-HOO!!

MONDAY I JUST WENT TO THE DR... SISTER RICH HAD TO GO AS WELL.. .SO WE WENT ON AN DR EXCHANGE... WE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING... JUST SAT AROUND IN ZIONSVILLE, THEN WENT TO THE DR. AND SAT AROUND SOME MORE!! IT WAS LOTS OF FUN!!

TUESDAY... IS GOING TO BE AN AWESOME DAY!!! I HOPE THAT THINGS IN UTAH START WARMING UP!! HAVE A GREAT WEEK!! LOVE YOU ALL!! :)

LOVE,
SISTER SMITH

Hey family!!!

How's the weather in Cache Valley? It's sure beautiful here!! It reminds me of pruning weather... I sure miss the orchard!!

Well, this week was so amazing!!! We had 22 sit down lessons, which means (kind of obvious!) that we sit down and teach a lesson with prayer and everything... it was awesome!! When I was reporting numbers our district leader said something under his breath... and I asked him what he said and he had said "good night!!" t's really hard to get that many... it was a miracle week!!!!

Tuesday we cleaned a TON and rearranged everything to get ready for our new companion... it's much better organized than it was before... we have a lot more space :) Then we went to the zoo, and we got in free!! Iit was a big blessing... some members took us and their little 4 yr old was so funny!!! He wanted to show us everything!!! We have about 10 elders there, and then just Sister Jensen and I, so it must have looked funny... dispel all those myths about polygamy... 10 guys and 2 girls!!! :D We saw an amazing dolphin show, saw lions and tigers and bears (oh my!), and lots of other animals... it was awesome!!

Wednesday we had transfers, and it was a great birthday!!! I got sung to a lot... and had an amazingly awesome package to open from you!!! Then we had an awesome lesson with a rc.. who when she read the scripture about if you die filthy, you are filthy still... she yelled... "oh, I love that!!!" She's so funny... it's awesome to see how strongly she feels about the church... now I just wish she would come!!!!!!!! :(

Thursday was another awesome day!! We had a great lesson with a rc couple who is smoking again... and I had an awesome experience about teaching by the spirit... it's awesome to see how things come to mind that I wouldn't ever dream of bring up, but it's what they needed to hear...

Friday we had 5 sit downs... woo-hoo!! We also had an awesome correlation meeting with our mission leader, we're trying to revamp the ward mission plan... it's coming along and we're so excited!!!

Saturday we had an awesome couple of lessons... one with a family who used to come to our church and they tried out another one, and now they want to come back!!! They listed so intently, it was an awesome lesson!!

Sunday we didn't have any investigators at church, but we scheduled an appointment with a guy that one of our members has been bringing for awhile, and when we told the member he pumped his fist!! He was SO excited!!! Member missionary work is awesome!!! :) It was also our Easter program, and they were so excited that I didn't get transferred!!! The choir director said that I keep everyone on pitch and am the loudest singer... It was a good program, but I didn't really know the music which made it interesting!! Oh boy, then we had the best dinner I've had my whole mission!! It was gourmet!!! Yum... my mouth waters just thinking about it!! :)

Monday we walked a couple of miles trying people, had a lot of appointments fall through, but taught some pc lessons, which was good!!! We met the sweetest couple.. they've been married for 70 years!!! They are la, except we don't think that they know they are members... :)

Well, I better run, my companions are waiting for me!!! I hope that you all have a great week!! Thanks again for the birthday package!! It was so much fun to open and feel all of your love!!! I love you all so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love from Sister Smith! :)

Hey hey family!

This was an awesome week... no actually... it was beyond awesome!! Being a missionary is the best thing in the world!!! I'm almost out of time, so this is just going to be a giant jumble of things that happened this week... hope it makes since... whoops... i mean sense... Hoosiers are doing crazy things to my grammar and spelling... so just laugh... and don't' judge... okay!!?

We've had some awesome dinner appointments... my favorite was with the Smith family... Bro. Smith is 80 yrs old, an he's my best bud.. he says that we Smiths' have to stick together... :) he makes me laugh all the time!! Edie is doing well.. we had a great lesson with her about baptism yesterday, she knows that she needs to get baptized with the proper authority, she just needs to get a testimony of the church first... and I know that it's growing!!! We did service for her, and it was kind of gross... I found tons of mouse poop, and she said that mice are taking over her kitchen!!! Did I tell you that Ashley P and her kids came to church last week? They are a less active family that we've been working with, and we went and ate with them on Thursday, and she said that her 5 yr old has been asking everyday to go back to singing school!! I'm so glad that they liked it.. it's so crazy how much you grow to love people that you work with... I love so many people so much... didn't think that you could love so many people... but I just keep loving more and more all the time!!! I had the nerve damage test done, and I don't recommend it to anyone... you know how I laugh when I'm in pain? Well, I was laughing so much, I was crying!!! It was a blast!!! The needle was so long!! I didn't see it until afterward... and I'm glad of that!!! ;) One time the doctor asked me if I was going to pass out, and he grabbed my arm... must have looked like it, but I sure didn't think I was going to... :) We also did service for Carolynn this week... I have some awesome pictures of furry food.. we were laughing so much.. it's better to laugh then cry or throw up right?? We've also been getting a lot of exercise... we walked everywhere one day, but I don't think that was the safest thing to do.. We found out something later about the area we were in... So I don't know that we'll do that again... But we're super protected as missionaries!!!! :) Oh, and yesterday was the most awesome day!!! We had 5 sit down lessons with investigators!!!! It was SUCH a productive day!!! It was so awesome!!!!!! Oh, Diana (the one waiting for transplants) has been released from the hospital and is now on the top of the waiting list,... we're hoping that she gets a donor is a week or two... She's the sweetest lady ever, and we got to meet her husband yesterday!!!

Well, I better run!!! It's kind of hard to write down the things that have happened in a week... there is so much it would take pages and pages, and even if I were the best writer in the world, there is absolutely no way that i could convey the feelings that are in my heart!!! It's such an awesome thing to be a missionary, and to go about serving people 24/7. It's a hard thing to loose yourself, to stop thinking of yourself and start thinking about others, and to love people so much and to get a small glimpse of the love that Heavenly Father has for all of His children. Being a missionary is the best work in the world, and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of this marvelous work and a wonder... that's really what it is!!!

Have a great week family!!! Love you so much!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Sister Smith :D

Dear family... this was an awesome week!!! My arm/hand is doing so much better, but now my other hand hurts because I cut my finger REALLY bad... but regardless... it was an amazing week!!!

WEDNESDAY - we were supposed to meet with the Zone Leaders with a referral they gave to us, so they could pass her on over (she's ysa), but they called and said that she couldn't meet with us that day... but to maybe try her anyways... so we did, and she was kind of mad at a certain elder because he kind of lied to her/us, or I guess just didn't clarify something... regardless... it took us about 10 miles to get down there... wow... I've used that word a lot today... but regardless... ha ha... am I even using that in context?!?! :) Anywho... then we did an exchange with the Bloomington sisters, and I went down to Bloomington with Sister Spindler... we had an awesome time... her and her comp are having a hard time, and Sister Jenson and I are like the mission sister's dr... crazy... and hard!!! We had a sweet day... Sister Spindler is an awesome missionary!!! We went tracting for awhile, had an awesome dinner appointment, and went and visited members...

THURSDAY - we went tracting some more, and then drove back up here... well, not here, since I'm in Eagle Creek right now... but to White River... then that night Sis. Jenson and I had an awesome dinner appointment... we're starting to have them again, and they are awesome!!! We have 4 this week!! Amazing!

FRIDAY - we had District Meeting... which was awesome!! Elder Burgess is the best District Leader ever!! He's so calm and none flirtatious... a big plus when the district is 4 sisters!! Then we had lunch with Mary, and got food poisioning!!! Ha ha!! That was fun... I'm still recovering!! Oh, but before it hit us, we went and visited Edie... I love her so much!!! She is the cutest little lady!!!

SATURDAY - was a fun day... we got permission to sleep until 1... we were so sick!!! But I'm on the mend.. it hit me hard... I still get sick when it eat!! Then we had a sweet lesson with Blair... she's my new favorite... except I think that I say that all the time.... pretty much everyone is my favorite!!

SUNDAY - we had an investigator at church!!!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!!!! The first in weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Edie came and REALLY enjoyed it... The assistants came to church, well, Elder Miller and Stranski at least... they are so funny! Then we had another incredible lesson with Don... he is so solid!!! He loves everything that we teach, and the spirit is always so strong there!!! Then we had "Why I Believe" which was so amazing!! It is the most spirit filled meeting... it's the best idea!! We had Edie, and Blair and her mom come... oh, and Elder Cubit and I sang... it was AMAZING!!!!! Everyone kept asking me where that voice came from... guess that I can really belt it out... or maybe it's just because I'm so quiet and then when I sing I'm not.. anyways... it was awesome to sing with Elder Cubit... we're recording it on Friday, and I'll send you a copy when I can...

Monday - I came to Eagle Creek, and I'm still here... Sister Rich is sick, and so we're still on an exchange... but not... it's confusing... exchanges are fun, but I can't wait to get back to my favorite area!! Transfers are next week!!! Argh!!! I told Pres., "I don't want to get transferred"... and the assistants... and the sisters say that they all give me whatever I want because they love me... so we'll see what happens... :) Well, I better run, I only have a couple of seconds left.. have a great week and I'll write to you next week!!! Love you all so much!!!

Sis. Smith

Hey my beautiful/handsome family!! How are you all doing? I love you all so much... I hope that everything is going well, and that you're staying warm!! I'm toasty... it's so funny, because Sister Jenson and I both think that this is such warm weather, and then one of the sisters (from California) is freezing... I always go up to her and say... "this feels like summer!!" even though it's only about 45-55!!! But that is much warmer than 10 with wind chill and such!! It's like a sauna with the humidity though... can't wait for summer!!! ;)

Oh, before I forget... I just wanted to thank Dad again for the generous use of his gps... we have now named him and he's one of our constant companions... I really surprised myself at how well I know this area... we just use him sometimes... but he is pretty awesome!! His name is Benjamin and we are so grateful for his amazing knowledge of this area!! We love him!!

So, here is a brief summary of this week...
TUESDAY - we had an awesome p-day. We went outside and most of the missionaries played soccer, but I had my arm in a sling, and as much as they tried to convice me that soccer only requires your feet... they couldn't win me over...I think... yep, we did... we had our entire zone there!! It was sweet!! I got to talk to Sister Rich a lot, and got to know Sister Haefele a little better... later that night we had an appointment with Merwyn from Kuwait, and we didn't get much of a chance to talk because the store we were at was closing, but we had a good talk about the BOM and prophets... then we went and saw our new favorite friend... Blair... she is so awesome!! It's so neat to see how the spirit can touch people, and even though she doesn't really know much about the gospel, she is striving to change her life... and she is so much happier since coming back to church!!!

WEDNESDAY - we had a doozy of a lesson with a referral from a YSA member... he just wanted to bible bash, and convince us that we were wrong... but there is no shaking my testimony!!! I love the gospel!! He pretty much told us that we were children of the devil!! :) ha ha... we were just laughing inside! Then we went and saw Edie... she is so sweet!! I love her... then I don't remember what we did... in the afternoon... probably some missionary work though... then in the evening we went to institute with Blair and we talked to her for about 45 minutes afterwards answering a million questions that she has... I love it when people have questions!!! Oh, and you want to know something sad.. so we got a referral from a member, and we just never got around to visiting her, and she just died!! I felt really bad...but I guess now missionaries on the other side are teaching her... they knew that she was dying, and I didn't really want to invade on the last few days that they had with her... but I still feel bad...

THURSDAY - we were supposed to have interviews... but they got canceled, but then we still had a training by the assistant... so Elder West and Snow figured out how much they want me to sue for... Elder West requires 33% of whatever I get AND $25,000... I think I might be looking for a new lawyer... :) I'm so glad that elders make me laugh... it makes a mission so much easier!!! Then we went downtown and taught a kid who is moving here from Fort Wayne... or South Bend... can't remember.. but anyways, he asked us at institute to share a message with him the next day because he was having a really hard week.. so we did... we love to help members!! It got some awesome pictures of the circle center, but I forgot my camera cord... then we had dinner with Mary ... and it was super normal... but Sister Jenson thought the jello was disgusting... but it was one of the better ones... :)

FRIDAY we had DM, tracted... talked to 15 people, but only managed to teach 3 lessons... success!! Then we had everything fall through, so we tried to find out where some more LA's were, and we found so many!! then we went and visted Diana.. she finds out this week if she's eligible for the transplants!

SATURDAY we went to 3 baptisms! It was an awesome day!! So the first one was into our YSA, so it counted as our number so we helped a lot with it... we did a lot ... the elders owe us big time... then we went and talked to Carolynn... interesting discussion there.. :)... then we went to 2 spanish baptisms, because Sis.Jenson was playing at them, Elder Garcia translated for us, and it was hilarious!! During the getting dressed part, they were showing "the mediator" and he was making up so much stuff... and Sister J. turned to him and said "I HAVE seen this movie!!" He was better at translating after that!! He was sitting in between us so we could both hear him, and he was like "This is so awkward!! I haven't done this in a very long time!!" Then we went with an awesome member from the zone leaders ward to visit Blair and her mom, and it was awesome!!!

SUNDAY - we had church.. and then we had an awesome lesson with a guy that the sisters found in November!!! He agreed with everything and was so prepared!!! I really love member present lessons now... they are so awesome!!!! Then I got to talk to Janna and Tom... I love them so much!!!!!!

MONDAY - we visited some LA's, went and sang at the rest home... one lady said to us "don't Mormons hate black people?" and we assured her that we LOVE black people... they always ask us such interesting questions... one girl (a nurse) said "oh, I missed the singing!!" because we got there late... didn't know they liked it so much! Guess what..I'm singing Sister Corey's new song at a fireside on Sunday!!! I get to sing a duet with an Elder that Sister Corey says has the most amazing voice in the mission... that makes me feel good that I was asked to sing with him... anyways... then we talked to Michelle.. a LA we haven't been able to talk to in a couple of months... and it wasn't on our plans, but it was totally inspired by the spirit she stared bawling... I love it when I follow the spirit and see the results!!

TUESDAY - we went to the doctor for me, I already told you what happens there... then the sewer backed up... then we went to the children's museum... and it was an all around awesome day!!!

Well, I better run!! Have an awesome week!! I love you all and look forward to hearing from you... ;)

Love, Sis. Smith

DEAR FAM...

DEAR FAM...
I'M DOING WELL AND HOPE U R 2... TYPING W/ 1 FINGER IS FUN :) THIS WEEK WAS SWEET! WED WE HAD AN AWESOME DAY, WE MET WITH EDIE AND THE 1ST THING SHE SAID TO US WAS "GIRLS, I NEED YOUR HELP WITH SOMETHING... I NEED TO QUIT SMOKING!!". WE HAVEN'T EVEN TAUGHT HER THE W.O.W!! SHE'S THE SWEETEST LADY! WE HAD AN APP. W/ HER LATER IN THE WEEK, AND WE TOOK S. LEONARD W/ US, AND THEY BONDED SO WELL... THEY GREW UP IN THE SAME NEIGHBORHOOD, AND S. LEONARD TAUGHT 2 OF EDIE'S SISTERS!! EDIE INVITED THEM TO THE NEXT LESSON AND EDIE SAID SIS L HADS 2 COME... WOULDN'T THAT B COOL IF THEY ALL LEARNED ABOUT THE GOSPEL?? MEMBER FELLOWSHIPPING IS THE BEST!! WE ALSO HAD A RC WHO HAS BEEN IN JAIL CALL US TO SEE IF WE COULD COME DO BIBLE STUDY WITH HER...SHE IS AWESOME!! AND SHE AND HER MOM & DAD (ALL RC'S... HER HUSBAND IS GOING 2 START LISTENING SOON 2!!) CAME 2 CHURCH... FOR 2 WEEKS IN A ROW!! WE'VE BEEN HAVING A PROBLEM WITH RC GOING LA... I THINK 2 OUT OF 8-9 ARE ACTIVE... AND THEY'VE ALL BEEN BAPTIZED IN THE LAST YEAR!! SIGH WE ALSO HAD A COOL WEEK WITH THE YSA... 2 KIDS BROUGHT FRIENDS 2 CHURCH AND A LA ELDERS SMITH/CARSKADDON ARE WORKIN WITH CAME... SHE IS OUR NEW BEST FRIEND!! SHE LOVES US!!! SHE IS PRETTY AWESOME... GUESS WHAT... THE YSA COVERS 3 STAKES... SO OUR AREA IS THAT BIG!!! THAT'S CRAzY CONSIDERING OUR MISSION ONLY COVERS 8 STAKES!! FUNNY THING... THEY SAID 1 WAY U CAN TELL IF THE MISSINARIES ARE DOING THEIR JOB IS BY THE SMELL OF SMOKE IN THE CHURCH... GUESS WE'RE DOING SOMETHIN RIGHT!! BUT I REALLY HATE THE SMELL OF POT... IT MAKES ME SO NAUSEATED...AND THE MEDICINE MAKES ME NAUSEATED ANYWAYS...SIGH... I'LL GET OVER IT!!! OH FYNNY STORy!! SO I WAS TALKING TO THE DISTRICT LEADER.. AND HE ASKED HOW I WAS FEELING, I TOLD HIM, AND HE SAIDF "YOU'LL GET OVER IT ..." AND HE STOPPED BECASUSE THAT WASN'T VERY NICE SO HE CHANGED IT TO, "I'M SURE YOU'LL GET BETTER SOON... BUT WE HEARD HIM SAY IT... AND WE LAUGHED SO HARD!!, AND WE TOLD HIM THAT THAT ISN'T A VERY GOIOD THING 2 SAY TO HIS FUTURE WIFE... A MISSION IS THEW BEST PREP FOR MARRIAGE... WHO KNEW!! YOU GET TO SERVE THE LORD AND PREPARE 4 MARRIAGE ALL AT ONCE!! SWEETNESS!! WELL... NOTHING ELSE HAPPENED BESIDES THE CAR WRECK AT 9:15 ON WED NITE, DR ON THURSDAY, DISTRICT MEETING AND SLEEP ON FRIDAY...SAT SIS RICH CAME 2 B W/ ME SO S. JENSON COULD GET OUT, AND I GHOT ABOUT 10-15 LETTERS FROM LAWYERS WHO WANT ME 2 SUE OR AT LEAST WANT 2 REP ME ION COURT... AND THEY ONLY WANT A SMALL PIECE... 33.333% OF THE PROCEEDINGS... AND THE CONSULTATION IS FREE!!!!! I TOLD THE ASSISTANTS AND ELDER WEST GOT THE BIGGEST KICK OUT OF IT... I GUESS THEY (ELDERS SNOW &WEST) CAME UP W/ 30 REASONS I SHOULD SUE, AND ELDER SNOW DECIDED THAT MY ARM IS WORTH 75 MILLION DOLLARS BECAUSE IT'S MY CARRER AND LIFE... AND THEY ONLY WANT A COUPLE MILLION EACH FOR ASSISTING, AND E. WEST SAID HE'LL REPRESENT ME IN COURT... SO A FEW MORE MILLIOIN THERE ...SIS. JENSON CHARGES $150 AN HOUR FOR TAKING CARE OF ME... AND SHE'S DONE SUCH A GREAT JOB... SHE'S EVEN WASHED AND DONE MY HAIR A LOT... SO IT'S LOOKING LIKE I WON' GET MUCH AFTER IT'S ALLPAID OFF AND AFTER TAXES... BUT MAYBE WE COULD GET A NEW HOUSE IN PARADISE AND A GRAND PIANO, AND A COUPLE OF TRIPS TO THE BAHAMAS WITH IT... I DON'T KNOW YET.,... E. WEST IS TAKIN CARE OF IT... IT'S FUNNY... ALL OF THE MISSIONARIES WHO ASK ME HOW I'M DOING ALWAYS ASK ABOUT MY PIANO PLAYING AMD HOW MY HAND/FINGERS ARE DOING.. THEY'RE PRETTY SWOPLLEN AND STIFF AT THE MOMENT, BUT THEY'RE GETTING BETTER!!... GUESS THEY REALLY LIKE THE PIANO PLAYING... ANYAYS... AN UNEVENTFUL WEEK... HOPEFULLYYOU CAN UNDERSTAND THIS EMAIL... HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD WEEK... I DON'T THIMK YOU COULD HAVE A FUNNER WEEK THEN I HAVE... WHO KNEW A MISSION WAS GOING 2 B SUCH AN ADVENTURE????????????? LOVE U ALL!!!

LOVE SISTER SMITH
P.S. HOPE U CAN READ THIS GIANT RUN ON PARAGRAPH!!! AND IGNORE THE SPELLING MISTAKJES.... TYPING W/ 1 FINGER IS HARDER THAN IT LOOKS... I THINK I NEED A NAP NOW!!!!

Hello Family!!!

How are you all doing?! I'm doing very well, and Sis. Jenson and I are getting along so well!!!

TUESDAY - we went to Mug N' Bun with our zone, and it was very fun!!! They were all Spanish elders except one, oh, and I haven't told you about him yet have I? His name is Elder Smith (the senior zone leader) and it's so awkward to talk to him on the phone, not because he's an awkward elder, but this is how our conversations go "Hi this is Sister Smith" awkward pause "Hi Sister Smith, this is Elder Smith, how are you?" another awkward pause and a giggle "I'm doing good... how are you doing Elder Smith?" Anyways... it probably doesn't seem funny to you... but I've talked to him quite a few times, and it happens every time!!!! It's hilarious!!! At transfer meeting, Sis. Hubble almost gave me his mail... he laughed pretty hard about that!!!! Afterwards we went to the church and they played volleyball and soccer, and I wrote letters... except, I only got two very short cards written, and I was just watching them the rest of the time... oh, and taking pictures!!!! About 3-4 people asked me to take pictures, so that kept me busy... elders are hilarious!!!! Sisters are funny too... but elders just make me laugh all the time!! Then we had a dinner appointment with the Rupps, and we had a great conversation with Sister Rupp (a rm) about how our ward wants to help, they just don't really know how, and so we talked about building ward relationships... it was awesome!!! Sister Rupp is one of my favorites... which list keeps growing and growing and growing!!

WEDNESDAY - was a crazy day!!! We tried so many people, but none of them were home, and we only managed to teach 1 lesson, but we dropped 2 referrals... one of which was named Dale Smith!!! It was so awkward, because it was in a locked community, so we waited for FOREVER for them to come to the door... and then his wife said that they just wanted the BOM to give to a friend, and would we write our # in the front so she could call us in the instance that she had any questions. We asked if she would want to learn more herself, and she said that she's already read the BOM, and that they were "Christians". So are we!! It was an interesting conversation!!

THURSDAY - we tried even more people, and we managed to teach a grand total of TWO lessons!!! We did something pretty awesome in the morning though... we went to visit Diana in the hospital, and we got there just as a nurse was taking her somewhere, and Diana told us that she was going to a transplant support group meeting, and could we go with her? So we went and heard all about the process of transplants, and the pre and post stuff that goes on... it was so fascinating!!! I've decided that I'm going to be an organ donor... when I die I won't need them anymore, and someone like Diana could be putting them to good use!!! So Diana is getting more organs now!!! She's getting stomach, small bowel, but probably including some large, spleen, liver, pancreas.. crazy list eh?? She is the sweetest lady ever, and I hope that all goes well for her! Then we went and had a very interesting visit with a la/pm family that said they were going to a church, but they've been praying about which church they should go to... and poof... I feel like we should go and visit them!!! We are working on getting them all rides to church, then we had planning which took FOREVER!!! I made so many phone calls, but our schedule has been booked since then!!! It was SO cool.. So I called Brian to see if we could meet with him, and to tell him about the special Stake Conference, and he went on for about 5 minutes about how one of the things that he really liked about our church was the fact that we have prophets and apostles, and continuing authority... it was a sweet conversation!!!

FRIDAY - we managed to have THREE lessons!!! Talk about improvement!!! We went to visit with some rc (recent converts) who are SMOKING!!! ARGH!!!! They said that they are having a "little Word of Wisdom problem"... that is NOT A little problem... regardless of what they think!!!! Oh, did I tell you that Edie's husband/boyfriend died?? He was bleeding really bad internally (they would empty a bag off his feeding tube with 1000 units of blood in it!!!!!!!!) and he died on Tuesday morning... so we went and visited her... she is the sweetest lady!!!! I love her so much!!! Oh, I can't remember if I told you this, but one of the first times I met her, she was telling us how she used to be a powder puff derby driver... and one time (driving on the normal road) she was driving the wrong way on a one way, and the police man pulled her over, and he said... "This is a one way road!" to which she responded... "I'm only going one way!" She is hilarious and I love her so much!!! Then we had a lesson with Linda and we didn't talk about human sexuality at all!!! Score!!!! We had an awesome lesson and she said that she wanted to go to the special conference as well, and after quite a few phone calls, we managed to find a ride in the most unlikely place!! Then we went to the chili dinner at our ward, which was fun... we sat by the bishop and got to know him and his wife better...

SATURDAY was a most awesome day!! I got to meet Elder Christofferson (apostle), Elder Costa (presidency of the 70) and Elder Lansing (area 70). It was so awesome!!! President Corey had called me the day before to ask if I would play the piano for it... I was pretty nervous, and yet not as bad as I thought it would be!!! It was so awesome to meet Elder Christofferson!!! When he shook my hand, he took my hand in both of his and just held it for about a minute while he was talking to me, and I felt all my worries and such float away!!! All through the meeting I kept getting confirmations that he really was an apostle and that he was called of God... it was such a neat meeting!!! I don't have time to write about what he talked about... mostly just being better missionaries and such... it was so neat, at the end, he was testifying and he said "Jesus Christ is the head of this church, and he does not just occasionally work in the affairs of this church, he is an active leader in HIS church" Oh, it was just so neat!!! When he was walking off the stand, he turned to me and said "Thank you!" I got thanked by an apostle for playing the piano!!!! Oh boy, then what an interesting rest of the day, we had some other sisters staying with us, and when we got home, one of them went to the bathroom upstairs, and we both turned to the other one and asked if she was okay, and she totally broke down!!! S. Jenson went upstairs to talk to her, and keep her up there, and I talked to the other sister for about 2 hours!!! I was so drained after that!!!! Oh boy, and Sis. Jenson and I were so glad to be together... there is so much drama in the sisters right now!! Argh... so glad I'm not one of them!!!!!!! Then we went and tried a referral, and went and did service for Edie... when we walked in she put her hand on the table and said "I need your help with something" and then told us that she needs to quit smoking!!!! She is so solid!!!! She's the one who committed herself to baptism!!!! Then we had a totally crazy evening... I called Linda to tell her that we had a ride for her, and oh boy... what a crazy conversation!!! I taught the entire first lesson over the phone, and she was so interested... way more interested than when we taught her in person!! Then the assistants came over to get the dresser that they brought when I came here... oh.. they are so hilarious!!! We had to go outside, but we forgot to tell them that Sister Leonard was inside... and when she came in and said something, they dropped the dresser!!! well, they dropped it quite a few times... our stairs are so steep!!! We had just gone to Long's so I could introduce Sis. Jenson to their delicious doughnuts, and we bought some for them... but they were being so hesitant to take them!!! It was so hilarious!!! I asked E. Strankski when they got there if he liked doughnuts, and all he said was "Sister Smith!" After waiting for a LONG time for their answer they finally took them.. they just didn't want to admit that they all REALLY REALLY wanted them... Oh, I love elders!!!

SUNDAY was another awesome meeting with Elder Christofferson.. and guess where Linda sat?!?! On the STAGE!!!!!! They were having overflow up there... but we about died when we saw her... but the cool thing is that she had the biggest grin on her face!!! I sure hope that she liked it!!! Then I really wasn't feeling well, so we went home and ate, and then we slept for hours!!!! When I finally woke up, it was dark... oh, and then we got a phone call from the assistants saying that E.Stranski had lost his name tag, and he was teasing me SO bad... he was laughing SO hard!... silly elders... :)

MONDAY - we went to the assisted living place... and Sis. Jenson said it was so awkward!!! It kind of is, but I guess I'm just used to it!!! Then we tried a couple of people, visited Diana (who talked for 2 1/2 hours straight, she is so lonely, and having such a hard time!) and then we went and took an hour break... and then went out, did some more missionary work, and then had dinner at Maria and Jorge's... they are so funny!!!!

Oh, I have to tell you something funny... so last night S. Jenson was talking to Carolynn, and Carolynn was talking about me, and she said "Sis. Smith is like a quiet hurricane... just sits there so quietly, and then she says something that is really really important, and it really hits you, and then she's quiet again, but you're still feeling the hurricane." I thought that was really funny... :) Well, I think that this is plenty long!!! I hope that you are all doing well... you are always in my prayers!!! I love you so much!!!! Have a great week!!!!

Love, Sis. Smith

Good morning my beautiful family!!!

How are things going in UTAH?? It’s so funny… Hoosiers think that 4 inches of snow is a lot, and the annual snowfall for February is about 6.3 inches, and we just got 6.1 yesterday!!! We do have quite a bit of snow, but not for us Utah folks… we just laugh when they say there is going to be a big storm… of 5 INCHES!!! :) ha ha… I love Indiana to pieces!!! So, this week has been an interesting one...

TUESDAY NIGHT we had an awesome lesson with BRIAN, a referral we’ve been trying to contact since I was here in November!! We finally had a lesson with him, and it was so awesome!!! I’ve never taught a lesson quite like that one before… we managed to teach the entire first lesson, but in the most scattered order ever!! But it was awesome, Sis. Summers and I taught the whole thing, and Sis. Summers committed him to baptism!! He said that he might in a while… but he’s pretty awesome regardless! He made us hot chocolate and muffins!!

WEDNESDAY was supposed to be transfers, but we got grounded, so they changed it to Thursday, but then E. Carskaddon called and said that our area was UN-grounded… we were so happy!! So we went and visited a couple of people… Diana and Mary in the hospitals, Louise, Edie (she said that they don’t think Roy – her husband - is going to make it through the weekend! :( ) and Ashley L. It was a good, but fairly uneventful day!

THURSDAY – we had transfer meeting!! I was so nervous!! I haven’t been that nervous for a long time!! But I managed to survive!! So, I’m pretty sure that you know my companion is Sis. Jenson from SMITHFIELD!!! She said that dad and her dad are going to learn more about the area, or something like that… anyways… we’re doing great together!! It’s hard to get to know a companion, and to know their attitude, personality, the way they teach, talk, walk, everything takes getting used to!! I thought a couple of times that she was mad at me… but it’s just what she was saying… and I’m trying to get better at taking suggestions and such… I have to realize that when people make suggestions they are not attacking me as a person, just making suggestions for me to grow and to help me… and the vast majority of the time it’s out of love!!!! So, as always, I’m continuing to grow and be stretched! An awesome experience!! I love Sis. Jenson… so… we talked about when I first met her, and how I thought that she was stuck up, and it was because she was speaking in church that day, and she was busy… and she really had no idea why Bob wanted us to meet, but we laughed over that!!! She’s awesome though!! And we get along great… this is going to be a great transfer! Oh, we were at transfer meeting for FOREVER!!! From about 10:30-4!! Sister Corey wanted us to practice the song for the meeting on Saturday with E. Christofferson… oh… and EXCITING NEWS!!!! Our new mission president is from Bountiful, UTAH, and his last name is Collins… he’s an attorney down there… anyone know him?? I’m so excited to get a new mission president, but I’ll miss President and Sister Corey at the same time… but Sister Corey and I have decided that we’re going to get together and practice duets… I’m pumped! We’re going to play the entire Mother Goose Suite!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!

FRIDAY – we had three awesome lessons!!! We met with a investigator that we had awhile ago, LINDA with an awesome lesson, she is taking a human sexuality class at IUPUI and talks about stuff like that all the time… talk about awkward!!! I love teaching law of chastity lessons… they are so much fun!! It was so funny because last time we were there with the 3 of us, S. Summers was acting really interested in the class and both S. Rich and I wanted her to stop talking about it so we could teach a lesson… and she said that she would bring her text book down next time… and we were talking about life in general, and she asked “Did I ever show you my textbook?” and I said “Nope. Have you been reading the BOM lately?” Later Sister Jenson said that it was really funny!! I didn’t say it to be rude, but we’re there to teach the gospel… and I couldn’t care less about seeing her textbook… people are so funny!!! Oh, then the rest of the afternoon was spent at the mission home!! When we practiced at transfers, Sister Corey was playing the piano, and I was singing in the choir, but she couldn’t direct and play at the same time, so she asked me to come and play… and I was so surprised that I could sight read as well as I did with how little I play the piano!!! President Ellis (the 1st counselor in the mission presidency) died last week, and Sister Corey wrote the most amazing song ever!! It’s called “I Will Be Thy Servant” and my new favorite song!!! I love it so much!!! So Elders Busby, Cubit, Hernandez and Carskaddon were singing a quartet with most of it, and then a choir of 30 elders were singing with them at parts… and so Sister Corey decided that it would be best for her to lead and for me to play… so we went to the mission home to practice with the quartet… but only Elder Cubit showed up!!! So we went over the whole song, deciding what we were going to do… Sister Corey still hadn’t finished writing it… so she played for about ½ of the time. And since there were no other elders there to sing, she asked me and S. Jenson to fill in the parts… and Sister Corey said that they were going to cancel the quartet and have E. Cubit and I sing!!! We (and I’m not saying this cockily [which is a word… maybe spelled wrong, but whatever]) sound SO good together!!!!!!!!! We have very similar voices… and it was so much fun to sing with him!! We were going to sing at “Why I Believe” on Sunday, but it got canceled because of the snow… but we’ll sing it next month :)

SATURDAY was the most awesome day!!!!!!! We left our house at 7 so we could catch a ride with the Corey’s to Muncie where the funeral was. Then we practiced for about 2-3 hours with mics and everything. I forgot how much fun it was to play for musical numbers!!! And a choir of elders with amazing voices makes is even better!!! The elders were so funny!!!!! I love them all so much… in the righteous way of course!!! The funeral was amazing and the stake center was filled up! He had been a stake president in Muncie, and was a very amazing man… the musical number was so powerful and it was such an amazing experience to be able to play for it!!!!!! We were there until about 5 and then we had a dinner appointment with the Pack family. They are really opening up to us, and I really really love Ashely… they were going to come to church on Sunday, but things came up. But we had an awesome talk about baptism, and seeing the Lord’s hand in our lives. Ashley’s boyfriend is really opening up to us, and we had such a great time with them!!! But it’s so sad to see what taking the wrong path can do… but I’m so glad that there is repentance!!! When we were sitting in the car in front of the Packs, the assistants called and just wanted to say thanks for playing and such, and they are so hilarious… they went on and on about what a great page turner that S. Jenson was!! Then they called that night to see if they could come and visit our ward, and E. Stranski was talking to me and then everyone starts yelling and he says “Oh my gosh Sis. Smith!! We almost hit a horse!!!” It was really funny… the assistants are the best!!!

SUNDAY – was so funny with the assistants there!!! They are so hilarious!!! So we have a new assistant (Elder Miller – when he saw me, he asked how my spiders were!!), and so they were ALL my zone leaders at one point!! They were sitting behind us in sacrament meeting and kept saying all sorts of funny stuff to me… I love them all so much!!! They are from all over the US… New York, California, Nevada and Arizona… no Utah missionaries… big surprise!! Anyways, I could go on and on… but I really better go!!! Oh, and Diana found out she's going to have a pancreas, spleen, liver and bowel transplant!! Can you believe that????

MONDAY we were snowed in so we cleaned out our disgusting apartment… and threw away 6 garbage bags of junk… and we’re not even done yet!!!! Then we tried Brian when we were ungrounded, and then we went and saw Maria and Jorge… they fed us another amazing Mexican meal, and then Maria taught us how to talk to Hispanic people that we meet while we’re tracting!!! Then we decided that we’re going to go there every Monday and she’ll teach us Spanish and we’ll help her with her English!!! I’m so excited!!!!!!!!

I hope that everyone is having an awesome week!!! I love you all so much… I hope that you had an awesome Valentine's day!!!!!

Love,
Sis. Alex

DEAREST FAMILY…

SISTER RICH AND SISTER SUMMERS ARE BEING TRANSFERRED AND I'M STAYING AND GETTING A NEW COMPANION!!! I DON'T KNOW IF I'M STAYING JUNIOR OR GOING SENIOR... WE'LL FIND OUT TOMORROW!!! I'M WAY EXCITED!!!! :)

THIS IS GOING TO BE VERY SHORT SINCE I ONLY HAVE 10 MINUTES, AND THERE IS A LINE FOR THE COMPUTERS, SO I PROBABLY WON’T GET AN EXTENTION OF TIME… BUT THAT’S OKAY, BECAUSE I LEFT MY PLANNER AT HOME, AND I CAN’T REALLY REMEMBER ANYTHING THAT HAS HAPPENED!!! UM, SO TUESDAY WE DIDN’T END UP GOING TO THE ART MUSEUM, BUT WE WENT TO A TOTALLY HOOSIER RESTAURANT “MUG N’ BUN” AND HAD EVERYTHING FRIED!! EVEN FRIED MAC N’ CHEESE!! IT WAS AWESOME!!! I’M GLAD I DON’T EAT LIKE THAT ALL THE TIME, BECAUSE I’D PROBABLY WEIGH A LOT MORE THAN I DO!!! BUT THEY HAVE THE BEST ROOT BEER EVER, AND IT WAS VERY TASTY. WEDNESDAY WE HAD DISTRICT MEETING, AND WE HAD TO EACH GIVE A LITTLE TRAINING ON PART OF THE TRANSFER FOCUS… IT WAS A VERY GOOD DISTRICT MEETING. I CAN’T REMEMBER WHAT ELSE WE DID… THAT DAY… BUT YOU KNOW E. CARSKADDON’S TIE? WELL, HE GAVE ME A HILARIOUS PICTURE OF HIM WITH IT, SO I’LL PROBABLY SEND IT HOME SOMETIME… HE’S SO FUNNY!! I LOVE THE ELDERS!! THEY ARE SO AWESOME!! UM, I CAN’T REALLY REMEMBER WHAT DAYS WE DID WHAT, SO I’LL JUST RAMBLE FOR THE FEW MINUTES THAT I HAVE LEFT! SO REMEMBER ME TELLING YOU ABOUT ASHLEY? SHE IS A LA THAT WE WENT AND VISITED… SO HER DAD CALLED A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO, AND TOLD US THAT THEY NEEDED A BOM BECAUSE ASHLEY HAD TAKEN HER’S TO WORK AND SOMEONE WANTED TO READ IT!!! AWESOME EH? AND THEY INVITED US OVER FOR DINNER LAST NIGHT, WE HAD SUCH A GREAT TIME!!! MIRACLES HAPPEN ALL THE TIME!!! IT’S SO AWESOME!!! I THINK THAT ASHLEY REALLY LIKES US.. I’M SO GLAD!!! WHEN WE WENT TO MEET WITH HER LAST TIME, SHE STARTED CRYING WHEN SHE WAS TALKING ABOUT HER PAST AND SUCH… AND I FELT PROMPTED TO SHARE ALMA 36 WITH HER, AND TO SHARE AN EXPERIENCE THAT I DON’T USUALLY LIKE SHARING… BUT I KNOW THAT IT TOUCHED HER… I LOVE TEACHING BY THE SPIRIT! OH, WE HAD A REFERRAL COME TO CHURCH ON SUNDAY BY SURPRISE, AND HE REALLY LIKED IT!! WE ALSO HAD AN AWESOME LESSON WITH WILL… I KNOW THAT HE REALLY FELT THE SPIRIT… BEING A MISSIONARY IS SO AWESOME!!! I LOVE THIS WORK, AND AM SO GRATEFUL THAT I GET TO STAY IN THIS AREA!!!! WOO-HOO!!! SORRY FOR THE SHORT EMAIL… I’LL DO BETTER!!! LOVE YOU!!!

SIS. SMITH

P.S. WE HAVE AN APOSTLE COMING TO INDIANA!!!! AND THERE IS A GREAT SUSPICION (Sp?) THAT HE IS COMING TO... DRUM ROLL PLEASE... ANNOUNCE A TEMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THE CHURCH HAS 20 ACRES IN AVON (ABOUT 20 MINUTES AWAY FROM HERE) AND IT'S NOT VERY OFTEN THAT WE HAVE AN APOSTLE COME!!! HE IS SPEAKING AT A SPECIAL MEETING FOR MISSIONARIES ON THE 20TH AND I'M GOING TO BE PART OF A SPECIAL MUSICAL NUMBER.. MOST LIKELY PLAYING THE PIANO FOR A HYMN THAT SIS. COREY WROTE... I'M PRETTY SURE THAT IT WILL SOUND BEST WITH ELDERS VOICES... OH, AND THE APOSTLE IS E. CHRISTOFFERSON, AND ELDER COSTA IS COMING TOO!!! WE ARE SUPER EXCITED!!!!!!!!! :)

Hola mi familia!!

So I just got transferred to Spanish speaking!!! Woo-hoo!! Isn’t that awesome?!

…just kidding… but I sure wish that there were Spanish sisters, and that I was one of them!! We run into so many Hispanics, and all I can do is hand them a pass along card… and I wish that I could tell them more… Sister Allred knew a couple of phrases in Spanish and she actually used them on a couple of people and got the elders referrals!! We’ve been talking a lot about how awesome it would be if we knew Spanish… I wish that I had kept it up!! I used to know a lot… oh well, we’re onto something awesome and hopefully I’ll be able to learn enough to communicate with people we tract into!!!

So this week was an interesting one!! On TUESDAY we went to a tie exchange with the elders in our zone, and it was out of control!!!!! I’ve never seen so many ties in my entire life!!! We didn’t have any ties to exchange, so we just sat in the corner and wrote letters… while the tie exchange was going on, they were also playing basketball, so that gave us some laughs!! Elders are hilarious! Oh, and that night we got an awesome phone call from Will… he had to reschedule his appointment and asked us why we had him read Alma 32, he said it was really inspiring and that he’s read more from the BOM… woo-hoo!!!!! I’m so excited to teach him!! I’ve had some really good conversations with him over the phone, and I know that learning more about the gospel will bless his life!! Oh, funny story… so I called him a couple of days ago to reschedule, and he answered the phone “hey babe!”… it really caught me off guard… I’m pretty sure he didn’t know who it was at first, then when he did, he kept calling me darlin’. Gotta love the Hoosiers… :)

WEDNESDAY we had DM with our newish district (2 new elders) which was kind of awkward… but good at the same time. I can’t really remember anything funny that happened… well, that’s not true, everyday there are hilarious things that happen, and there is no way that I could write them all!!! After that, we drove down to Martinsville to exchange… Sister Jensen and myself came back to White River and had a great time together… we know so many of the same people it’s so weird that we never knew each other!! So Sis. Humpherys doesn’t believe that I’m her cousin! Sis. Jensen told her that I was related to her, and she didn’t believe her, but hopefully now she will… I named off a bunch of our mutual family members, and we’ll see if she believes Sis. Jensen now!!! It was a great experience to have an exchange… I did about 90% of the talking at people’s houses, and got a glimpse of what it was like to be the senior companion. When Sis. Jensen saw our map she just held in her hands for about 5 minutes and just said “Oh my gosh!” about a million times… it’s a ridiculous amount of streets!! We got so lost… but the GPS came in super handy with it’s “RECALCULATING”. Oh, and the saddest part of the week… Jan Brown dropped us on the way back here… I talked on the phone with her for about 30 minutes, but she didn’t want anything explained, she said that there are things that she can’t believe and such… we’re just praying that that seed that we planted will sometime be harvested… but we know that we did our best!! And that’s all that matters!

THURSDAY was an interesting day… Sis. Summers and I got a rebuke from Sis. Rich about how bad the back of our planners (people we meet and phone numbers and such) looked… never again will it be so empty! Later Sis. Rich said that my enthusiasm is funny… not sure exactly what that means… but I was so excited to call some elders in our zone to tell them about the most awesome referral ever… and she just seemed kind of bugged… but that’s okay… I’m just so excited to be back and involved in the best work on the earth!! I missed my companions SO much in the 24 hours that we were gone… I love them so much!!! That was a ramble… sorry about that!!!

FRIDAY we about froze to death… it was SO cold, even Sis. Rich was cold!! And she NEVER gets cold! I didn’t know that you hurt when you got so cold! My feet hurt so bad!! I wore 2 pairs of wool socks and my feet were STILL cold!!! Any suggestions there?? It was only about 14 degrees, 10 on the coldest day, but we just went to church that day!

SATURDAY we had an awesome lesson with Destiny and Dalton… they love everything that we teach them and are so open… they are so much fun to teach, because you have to try and teach them SO simply! We sat on the floor for this lesson, and it seemed to go much better that way! It’s so awesome to teach by the spirit… I wouldn’t have thought of about ½ the things that I said…

SUNDAY we had church and we sang in sacrament meeting!! It went so well!! We sang “The Olive Tree” and it sounded so good with all three parts… it was totally the spirit that told me to volunteer us… we just had 4 people invite us over for dinner this week, 2 people said that they would love to come on splits with us, and people who’ve NEVER talked to us before told us how awesome it was!!! The ward is starting to love us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, then the funniest thing happened… both Sis. Rich and Summers went to bed early and I had an amazing talk with Carolynn about all the awesome stuff that I learned being home, and then the DL called and we had the funniest conversation ever!! Elder Hernandez was on the phone too… they crack me up!!! Elder Hernandez had given me a blessing earlier in the day because I’ve been having a sort of hard time lately… it’s all good though… and we were laughing so hard about the most random things!!! Then at the end of the conversation Elder Carskaddon said “Well, we sure love you sisters!!” and I had no idea what to say!! Usually I just say “Love you too!”, but the sisters told me that he left a message on the voice mail last transfer that said “Hey numbers night!! Get your numbers! Love ya!! Oh… I did not mean to say that!! I’m so sorry…. “ (Elder Hernandez said in the back) “In the righteous way!!”(he and Elder Wadsworth used to say love ya ALL the time!, so he has no problem with it! :) Elder Carskaddon “Yeah, in the righteous way… bye”… we think that it was SO funny and we quote it all the time to each other!! Anyways… I just laughed so hard when I told the sisters the next morning… so, we’ll see what they say when I tell them “Love ya elders!” next time they talk to me!!... anyways… this is such a random email!!!

MONDAY we stayed in for most of the day because Sis. Summers has a cold and slept until about 1!! Sis. Rich and I had a VERY long conversation about everything under the sun, and it was so good to talk to her!!! Then we went and tried a referral and had a pretty good conversation with him, and he said he’s most likely going to come to church on Sunday!!! Oh, then we had the most awkward and yet hilarious dinner appointment with Maria and Jorge (the members we met while tracting last week!) they are so generous and funny… when we got in our car, we just all burst out laughing!! Sis. Rich said that I had the most enormous smile on my face the whole time… I didn’t know what else to do!!!!! :)

TODAY we were going to go do something with the elders… but they have to shampoo their carpet… lame… but we’re going to a totally Hoosier restaurant “Mug n’ Bun” and the IMA (indiana something um… I totally forgot what it stood for… but it’s an art museum!!)! And then I have a bunch of letters to write… mostly to my RC’s… I’ve been reading in PMG how it is still our responsibility to encourage the people that we teach and baptize… I’ve been slacking….

Anyways… sorry for the random email!! Hope it makes you laugh… or at least smile!! It’s been an awesome week as I’ve learned more about praying with faith and listening to the spirit!!! I’m so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve a mission… I (no offense to you…) but I really don’t want to come home, and have this awesome life end!! But I still have more than a year left!!! So I don’t need to worry about that yet!!! So, I’ve been reading in the book of Alma about the amazing missionaries there… Ammon, Aaron, Alma, etc.… and they inspire me so much!!! I just want to read those chapters everyday because they inspire me and show me how much love I need to feel for every person that I meet, and the fire that I need to have inside of me… anyways… I better get this sent!!!! I love you so much and really appreciate all the letters (Mac and Wes) sent this week… you are awesome!!! I ‘m so lucky to have you as my family!!!

Love, Sis. Smith

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