Dear Family,
Sorry about the short email last
week--my mind is going, I tell you. I got the Halloween box! Thank you! Oo, we
are excited to eat the candies (the first thing I thought when I looked inside
my bag was, "Mom, can we sell our candy?")! We're still waiting to
hear what we'll be doing, other than a Zone Conference, on Halloween. Last year
Pres. Bulloch counseled the missionaries to stay in unless they had a scheduled
appointment, and become more familiar with their area books. We'll see what
Pres. Wirthlin will say.
We had exchanges this week with the
Syracuse sisters! I stayed up here again, but with Sister Love this time. We
had a pretty neat time. All of our appointments for those 24 hours canceled on
us except our member meal appointments...So...within about a half hour I'd to
look at where we'd be going for our meal appointment that night and see who
we'd be able to visit, make calls to make sure we'd be able to see them, etc.
etc. But the blessings of the Lord--we had appointments for the rest of the
night because of those 30 minutes of planning! It was really a miracle.
Exchanges are really cool, because you get an opportunity to learn from another
sister that you don't usually serve with, and so you can pick up on different
things that you can incorporate into your efforts in your assigned area, and
get feedback. This time, with Sister Love, I learned again the value of not
giving up when plans fall through, but working to find out what the will of the
Lord is in that area for the day since things didn't work out. Elder Becerrill
actually mentioned yesterday that he thinks we (generally speaking of missionaries)
work harder on exchange--I definitely worked hard to be doing SOMETHING
worthwhile when Sis Love was up here. And again, I'll repeat--the blessings of
the Lord. I needed to learn, she needed to learn...we needed to work together
for the day, so we actually worked and it was great.
We're becoming more of a team again
with the elders up here in the Utica Ward! It's a relief. We know the value of
being unified, and when you aren't unified there's a lack of power in the work.
But after two weekends of General Conference and Stake Conference, when we were
away from the regular meetings of the ward, we're back on schedule and we're
moving forward. It's exciting! Actually, we're going to be coordinating with
the ward to have a ward fast next month to encourage the members to find a
less-active member that they can bring back to church. Covenants are meant to
be kept, and sometimes we need help from others to keep them. I love it here.
We got to see a family this past
weekend that I haven't seen since...probably the first week I got to Utica,
which was the end of July. They haven't come to church in a really long time,
and we had a great time talking with the mom about the stressful things that
are going on in their life and how they WANT to come to church, but their new
and stressful schedule makes it nigh to impossible. She had tears and it was so
heartbreaking to see how stuck she felt. Conversely, it was very heartwarming
to know how deeply she wants to come to church and fully participate in the
Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel really does bless families, and I know their
family is going to be picked up and healed as they get back into doing those
things that have been commanded by the Lord that they KNOW will bring them
greater happiness and peace.
Our P-Days have been pretty chopped
up for the past few weeks, because we've been going to help a less-active lady
in the ward with different projects during the middle of the day, so we finish
up our P-Day at night. Actually, we just asked our Zone Leaders if that's
acceptable, or if we need to find a different way to do things. I'm thinking we
need to change what we're doing, so that's probably the answer they'll give us.
ANYWAY...sorry for the random thought tangent.
Our favorite young woman is getting
so antsy for her baptism! :) We talked to her after church yesterday and she
was asking us when we can meet so we can start planning her baptismal program.
This week. Haha. I'm so excited, too! She is so so ready and defnitely needs to
keep her progression going, not just to baptism, but to making more covenants
in the temple, and on and on to eternity. Oh...goodness. I love her. She had a
rough time this past week, and we were able to help her understand how to
receive the guidance she was seeking, recognize her answer, etc. Heavenly
Father is so kind and loving and generous to His children. P.S. She recognized
her answer.
Things are going great up in the
NYUM! Sis Castaneda and I are moving, moving, moving, and it's a wonderful
feeling. I love you so much! I hope this week is one full of lots of laughs and
much Spirit-seeking! Thank you for being the best family in the universe! :)
Love for always,
Sister Smith
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