We did have another interesting and
exciting week! As Sister Wilson, Sister Adkins, and I continue to set goals and
follow the plans that the Lord inspires, we are seeing improvement in our
opportunities to teach, not just to knock. :)
There are loads of new areas opening
up next transfer for all of the loads of missionaries coming!!! It's so
exciting! Every time I think about it I become giddy! I'm so thankful to be a
missionary right now, with the critical and impressive growth in missionary
work all over the world, especially in the NYUM. I'm pretty sure that I came to
earth when I did to be here when I am.
While I went to a meeting for
like...6.5 hours on Friday, Sisters Adkins and Wilson "blitzed" New
Hartford--the other sisters who were in the meeting with me obviously have
companions, and those two companions split up with my companions to work in
different parts of this area. A lot of work even though one New Hartford sister
wasn't there. A planned miracle.
We visited with a woman this past
week who really impressed us all by her closeness to the Spirit. She's a woman
who joined the Church in the '70s and has been faithful in her conversion to
the gospel of Jesus Christ since then. This is a woman who had to raise 5
children on her own after her husband left, and who has severe anxiety. She had
to "hide" behind her children to feel comfortable going to church
even though she LOVES church. And now her children are grown and moved away, so
she is left with her anxiety. What impressed me the most is that she is so
committed to doing all she can to serve the Lord and show her love for Him and
for others. She can notice very intricate changes in her body when she eats and
drinks different things, so much so that she has received personal revelation
about the Word of Wisdom to be applied to her lifestyles--kind of making
her observance of it more strict than is specified in the revelation itself.
But when she told us about it, I was reminded of what President Wirthlin had
just taught us in a meeting--that when we are strict to obey exactly the
commandments and standards of the Lord (especially those pertinent to
missionary work), then we'll receive greater guidance to know the finer, more
minute things that are acceptable of the Lord. When we seek to obey not just
the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law, then we receive the blessing
of greater understanding. So that's what struck me about this sister--she
understands the spirit of the law, so she's been able to better keep her body, her
temple of the Holy Ghost, clean from bad influences for her.
Tanner is home! Woah. I loved the
pictures, thank you! He looks so...mature. I love missions! I love being a
missionary! That reminds me--I asked President to extend my full-time service,
and he said that he'd already tried with "the Brethren" to extend
some other missionaries recently and the answer's always no. Sigh.
I had sushi this week. Well...the
pieces I had were from a California roll, so maybe that doesn't count. But I
liked it! Sister Wilson LOVES sushi.
Sister Wilson's parents were called
to preside over a new mission in Africa!! We KNEW she's more pure and of a good
crop. :) She's really, really happy.
I'm trying to learn to laugh and use
humor through stressful times and situations. Sister Wilson and Sister Adkins
are pretty good at it, so I'm picking up tips.
Well, well, I have got to go finish
my laundry!
I love you for always!!!
Sister Smith
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