I hope you had a great week! It seems like it was pretty good with doctor visits and such! :) Life's been good o'er here in New Hartford. Sister Wilson is our new companion, hailing from West Jordan, Utah. Pretty close, no? Oh, the proximity reminds me of a rather interesting experience--we were checking up on a young man who'd met with missionaries about 2 or 3 years before now to see how he's doing, and we met his mom! She informed us that he's now living in SANDY, Utah, and working at one of our local ski resorts. Ha! Small world! It was a neat experience besides that, though, because when we first started talking to her she was pretty closed off, but the more we answered her questions and taught simple principles of the gospel, the more she opened up until Sister Adkins taught about the Spirit World and she responded with, "Yeah, I can see how that could be true..." Hopefully we'll get to talk to her again in the future.
Sister Wilson is really, really great! Oh goodness, she's been so prepared. She's only 20--she turned 20 a few days before she entered the MTC. :) She was a big time dancer--we'll be going to the church today so she can dance a little bit, and I'll shoot some hoops (yes, Rob, I'm working on my skills), and Sister Adkins will play the piano. A good system. This tripanionship has been incredible so far! Sister Wilson is a leader--she really listens to the Spirit, knows our purpose and sticks to it, sets goals and earnestly works to accomplish them. She has one of the most focused minds I've...met? I don't know that that's the correct way to say it, but she really has sharp focus. It's really helpful, since my mind moves a little more slowly and sluggishly. And Sister Adkins is just stepping right up and doing so well. Talking to people and teaching is fairly easy now, because we can trust that each of us is going to contribute and listen to the Spirit, and it's not dependent on just one companion.
Our investigators aren't really progressing, and all the appointments we'd had with them for this past week fell through, but we found a great woman while tracting the second day Sister Wilson was here! She was about to shut the door after we'd introduced ourselves and such and she'd expressed that she wasn't feeling well and couldn't talk, but I felt inspired to ask her if we could say a prayer with her. She accepted and when we asked when we could come back, she invited us in out of the cold to figure it out. We then proceeded to teach and testify of the Restoration. It turns out she wasn't satisfied with her previous religion, and was very open to reading the Book of Mormon, especially as we read about the Savior's Atonement in Alma 7, and testified of His love for her. It was so powerful! And all three of us were participating! It was really great. We have an appointment with her tomorrow.
Tripanionships definitely have their difficulties, but mostly ours is coordinating all our thoughts and putting everything to action. I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed with all the changes we're trying to make in the area, because of inspirations from the Spirit, but I know Heavenly Father will help us to become even more unified as we continue to communicate, study, work together, compromise. We're laughing a lot. :) It's interesting how just one new companion and a new transfer can change things so much--they're good changes, I'm just trying to keep up. I need a lot of grace and mercy right now. That reminds me of what I studied this morning--I was thinking about the Atonement and really feeling forgiven and trusting that you've been forgiven when you've fully repented. The promise of the Savior is that He will forgive us and heal us (3 Nephi 9:13-15) when we come unto Him and repent, but sometimes I think I don't trust that promise because I feel like I need to always remember my mistakes in order to be humble and show Heavenly Father that I know my weaknesses. But what I realized this morning--by the blessing of the Holy Ghost's inspiration--is that Heavenly Father doesn't want us to always remember, necessarily. He wants us to learn. He shows us the perfect example through His Son who has told us He'll remember our sins no more when we repent, so...why do I stubbornly hold on to my mistakes? That's not full repentance, I don't think. We have to let things go. Real, true humility is recognizing that we need the Savior's sacrifice to heal us, and ALLOWING it to heal us by living the gospel and moving on. We can't progress if we keep going down the stairs to look at the stain we left there. Check once that the spot treatment worked and then move on! Right? Right. Easier said than done sometimes, but I know it's possible because that's what the Savior's promised. Every effort we make has an impact on our progression.
Well, well, I need to go. We had a survey we needed to complete before a conference in March. The pictures are of my "daughters" and "granddaughter" (I "trained" Sis Palmer, Adkins, and Wilson, and Sis Palmer is "training" Sis Richardson...), and us with our favorite chihuahua friend!
I love you so so much! Thank you for the Valentine's day box! We are still enjoying the treats. I will not be eating the Earl Grey Tea, Jasmine Tea, coffee, and rum chocolates...but everything else will be good. :)
I love you for always! Have a WONDERFUL and Spirit-seeking week!
Love, Sister Smith
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