Dear family,

I learned this week that I am prideful. Yes, it's true. Hence, the subject of this email is a quote of Lucius Malfoy's (I know, he's a hypocrite, but I really have been striving to be humble!). Anyway, when I was set apart as a missionary of the Lord, I was blessed to be teachable and humble, and I realized at the beginning of the week that I haven't been allowing for that to happen, I haven't been opening my heart and will fully to my Heavenly Father as I should have been doing for many, many moons. Ammon and his brothers rejoice together for the experiences they were able to have being instruments in the hands of the Lord (this is in Alma...26, I believe). At the beginning of their missions among the Lamanites (in Alma 17), they were promised by the Lord that their desires to be instruments in His hands would be fulfilled, and when they had served their missions, supported so so many Lamanites unto conversion, they knew that they had truly had those righteous desires fulfilled. And so, I know now that I want to be an instrument in the hands of my Savior. This is His work, and I'm out here for no reason at all if I don't recognize that and submit my foolish and selfish will to Him.

Along those same lines of pride...I want to apologize if ever my emails or letters seem like I am calling you to repentance. I only want to share with you those things that I have been learning I should have been doing as a lifetime member of Christ's true Church. Forgive me, please.

Return and Report was AWESOME!! Sister Takapu and I left our apartment at 6:50 (ish) in the morn to drive to Syracuse. Let me tell you, it was bizarre to drive so far in one day after being away from the wheel for a while. :) Anyway, Sister Horne and I reunited and had a swell time in their apartment for about 30 minutes and then we headed on over to Utica (yes, I drove the four of us there). Sister Stacey, Sister Horne's companion, is so funny--she's a very energetic young woman. Yes, we had a grand ol' time on our roadtrip. The APs did some wonderful training (it's shocking still to see such put-together young men teaching so well and feelingly). One of the APs, Elder Miller, finishes his mission this transfer, which is sad to me because I love learning from him! Haha. President Bulloch also did some training that cemented this hope that I have of becoming a tool for the Lord. I will be put to the grindstone, sure, but it will make me a more effective servant. We were gone from Ithaca for basically the whole day...

It's incredible to see how people respond to the missionaries--some just open right up and talk about everything. I mean everything. It's like they trust us or something...weird. I'll share a bit about a less active sister that we've been meeting with every week for a long while. She has had many challenges in her life and (I'm not sure if I've written about her before, sorry) she has been saying that she is almost ready to come back to church. She is so so sweet! Seriously, if ever there were a person on this earth who could make you feel treasured and priceless, it is this woman. When we went and visited her last week she opened up about the real reason why she hasn't felt ready to come back to church, and it was a worthiness issue. We told her we'd be there with her, we'd catch the bus up to church together and she could talk one-on-one with Bishop Just, and she agreed. We prayed and prayed and prayed for her to make it to church, to have the courage to come. On Sunday she came down the elevator that was working not knowing beforehand that the other one would have stopped and made her late. She made it to the bus stop downtown where we were waiting on time. We caught the bus. The RS president was driving by as we got off the bus near the church and drove her to the church so we were all able to make it on time. The ward clerk had left a time slot open with the Bishop right after church without knowing why, so this sister was able to meet with him without a problem. She stayed all three hours, and then had her meeting with the bishop, and a lovely young family from the ward was able to take her home. Everything worked out perfectly. She has been living well. Heavenly Father knows her. He knows us. He was able to work through us to help her to heal. That is a miracle. We will see her this week--we don't know how everything went--and we are optimistic that she will be hugely better than she has been.

Something interesting to note about missionary work: it's not just about finding nonmembers on the street. It's about strengthening and building up God's Church. That includes less active members. Seek out the lost sheep! Befriend them! Don't let the full-time missionaries do all of the work, because they won't be around forever! I know you already do a great job of sharing your love with others, but keep it up. See how it can be kicked up a notch, yeah? :)

I have been loving tromping around in the snow. There's not a lot here, but it's been snowing on and off, and it's been great! The wind makes everything quite a bit colder; it goes right through your bones (I'm imagining one of those cartoon, dancing skeletons) and makes your face numb. It's great! Haha. Seriously though, the weather is not bad at all. It's been a very mild winter.

I luuuurve you (Peeves says it that way)! It seems HP is on my mind today. MISS YOU! Keep on keeping on.

Love for always,

Sister Ashley Smith