Joy in the journey...

Dear family,

I kind of hit a wall in my progression this week, I think. But, I spent a little bit of time one morning to cry it out, and now I'm doing just fine--ready to conquer Satan. I just feel pretty terrible about the added stress it causes Sister Takapu when I'm not doing my best to do this work. It's not fair to her, to the Lord, to these people in Ithaca who need the Gospel, nor to myself. I reread one of my friend's letters the other day and a phrase stuck out that I've been repeating to myself throughout the days: "Start strong and don't let up." I'm sure I could've gotten that message from a scripture or church or even from praying, but I'm sure thankful for that letter that boosted my work ethic, regardless.

We have been able to pick an investigator that we previously had to drop because he was in NYC for a little while, so it was an exciting week for that reason. There are many more reasons it was a fabulous and exciting week, though, depsite my moments of egocentricity. We had time to be there for a recent convert when she needed company. And her faith is definitely growing! It's incredible to see! And the Burmese family we're teaching fed us a traditional Karen meal--they are becoming more and more open--it's wonderful! And we have an investigator who has struggled with an addiction since his childhood, and after our meeting last week he followed up on the commitment he made to throw out all of the material he has! He called us as he was walking to the dumpster and said that it was done--no more. It's so wonderful to see the Atonement of Christ working in people as they exercise faith enough to repent and want to make covenants with their Heavenly Father.

Oh, and one more thing: at District Meeting last week we made a prayer list of 2 people in each area that we should all pray for, and one of our people has responded to our contacts this week, which she hasn't done for a couple of weeks! It's a miracle.

Sorry this is short--we're unexpectedly going to Toughannock Falls with a member family in about one minute, so...I love you! I'll write a letter later on. :) HOORAY FOR KATIE AND KARLEE!!

lovelovelove,

Sister Smith

P.S. I got bangs and met my clone. You can call her Mini Me. She's the oldest daughter of a family in the ward. :)

He is Risen, He is Risen

Dear family and friends,

It was such a blessing to focus on the Savior this week during my study time. I read about the Resurrection in the Bible Dictionary, the accounts in Mark and John about Christ's last days on earth, watched "The Lamb of God" over and over again (actually, we only watched it in our appointments, but we really did watch it over and over again), the revelation Joseph F. Smith received in D&C 138 about our Savior ministering to the righteous souls in the spirit world before He was resurrected...What a great opportunity it is to be able to learn more about our Savior's life, His character, His Gospel, His truths. I feel ashamed for not focusing more on the Savior's life in studying the scriptures before now. It's pretty inexcusable considering I've been going to church my whole life and Seminary for 4 years in high school, reading the scriptures on my own for 7 or 8 years, taking religion classes in which the study is focused on the scriptures for 2 years....It's just sad. The Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price...All of these precious tools are given to us to learn more of our Lord and Redeemer, our Savior Jesus Christ, and how often do we focus strictly on Him? True, sometimes it's important to focus on principles and attributes that will help you grow as you study, but it's been an incredible experience to focus more on the Savior and His mercy, because He is "the light, and the life, and the truth" (Ether 4:12). He is the only way to eternal, lasting joy, to being clean, to becoming perfect. He provided everything for each of us. Wow.

It sounds like you had a fabulous time in South Carolina! Boy, it must have been great. What a beautiful place to spend a week for Spring Break and Easter! It's too bad you weren't able to attend church on Sunday! Sister Takapu and I participated in the branch choir for the Easter program on Sunday--one of the sisters in the branch has a very musically talented father who arranged a rendition of "I Know that My Redeemer Lives" and she tweaked it a little bit and conducted us in the singing of it. :) It is absolutely beautiful. So many parts, so much blending, so much goodness, oh boy. It was a great song to be singing on Easter when we celebrate what we know--that Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, lives. A couple of people came to church yesterday who aren't members of the Church and so we were able to meet them, and hopefully we'll be able to answer questions they have and talk to them more about what we believe, and impart the importance of it to them. Member referrals are so great! We can't talk to everyone, even though we try, so it's wonderful when members of the Church introduce us to people that they know who are interested in learning more. I firmly believe that we all know people who are more prepared and receptive to the messages we teach simply because they know us and that we believe. If it's nothing more than curiosity, it's enough. We had dinner yesterday with a family from the ward who have 4 cute, intelligent, red-headed kiddies, and we discussed how we (members of Christ's restored Church) are a very small percentage of the world's population. And of the members of the church that make up that percentage, a smaller amount and percent is active in the Church. And of THAT smaller percent, how many members are full-time missionaries? The work I am doing as a full-time missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is great, because every soul is of great worth (D&C 18:10), but it's not enough, as President Hinckley said. We're trying to enlist the help of all of the members here in Ithaca, but this is only one little place. This Gospel needs to be taken to all of the world--NO ONE IS OUT OF THE REACH OF OUR SAVIOR'S ATONEMENT. So we just need to expand our reach. :)

At Friday Forum (for the LDSSA at Cornell where we have a discussion about gospel-related topics and an article, and free, delicious lunch) last week a friend of one of the branch members came (he comes quite often, actually, and is very Christian) and I was reminded by him that I shouldn't let my weaknesses become an excuse for me not excelling or achieving the expectations I have for myself and our Heavenly Father has for me. I don't want to be someone that only coasts along, as I've been wont to do so often in my life. Haha. This life is precious and is a gift for me--for all of us--to learn and become more like Christ, more like our Father. How long does this life last? About 90 years if we're blessed with that amount of time? It's not eternally "worth it" to give in to laziness now, to satisfy my fatigue or selfishness or pride or whatever, because the benefits of living righteously and sacrificing my own selfish wants FAR OUTWEIGH the costs of those sacrifices. I just have to remember the end goal, here--eternal life, living with my family forever, living with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ forever, obtaining a celestial body, inheriting the kingdom of God, joy, peace, EVERYTHING is to be gained. So I must "pray always" (D&C 10:5--this is a really good one, by the way).

We helped one of the ladies who was recently baptized organize her jewelry this week--it was great! Remember how much I like to look at your jewelry, Mom? Well, this sister has a lot of cool jewelry, too--earrings, bracelets (I learned that tennis bracelets are not just athletic sweat bands), necklaces, watches, rings, brooches (is that right?), you name it. She even gave me a REALLY awesome pair of Merlin earrings, with little men holding a crystal ball! I can't wait to wear them in 1 & 1/2 years!

Our little teaching pool has receded like the rivers running through the Ithaca gorges, because a few people have kind of faded out of communication, so we've been trying to find some more people who are searching for the truth. And within the past...3 days we have heard of many different people who possibly want to learn more. The Lord is so aware of the people here. Yes, many of them are very intelligent and might be prone to discount God's hand in their lives, but there are also many who are ready to accept the truth of His love, His guidance, His visible (though not literally visible) hand.

Well, I love you! I'm glad to hear that the trip was so SWEET! Until next week, my beloveds.

Love for always,

Sister Smith

P.S. We found an AWESOME waterfall this weekend! It's smaller than others, and it's kind of hidden away from the road, but...oh man...when we ventured in (not into the water, but down the path that wasn't really a "path") and saw all of the beauty...It was an incredible blessing to remember the "beauty of the earth" and the Lord's hand in providing it for us. Maybe I'll send pictures next week in the email; I can't this week, because I forgot the cord at home. :) Just wait 'til you see it.

Spring seems to have sprung!

Sigh. My Danskos...oh, they're bad. I wore them for the first time in NY, Mother, and after about 10 minutes the strap of the left shoe broke! Well, more accurately, the little stud that keeps the strap on popped off. I walked around for two hours while we were talking to people on the street, trying to keep my shoe on, and compensating for the awkwardness of the left foot by walking more heavily with my right foot. Anyway, my feet became blistered (only the first blisters, foot troubles, in 4 months!) and I'm wearing my Eccos every day. I'm thinking I'll send them home to you. I don't really know what to do with them. Get them repaired? Is it even worth it? I really like wearing the Eccos...maybe I could send in a request for a pair of black shoes that aren't Danskos? It turns out I prefer the lighter shoes when speed walking, anyway. I just don't know what to do in this matter. Any suggestions?

So. Helaman 10:16-17...Disapparation? I thought so, too. Bits of truth are found many places...But they are kept together in their fulness within Christ's Church, His scriptures, and His prophets. :)

Sister Hale left on Wednesday morning to go to Glenville, NY, and after she left Sister Takapu and I just kind of sat in our apartment for about 5 minutes, sort of depressed. It's weird to be in a trio and then have one of you taken away. The apartment felt kind of empty. Then we rearranged a few things, went on with our day, and it turned out to be a great day! The first appointment of the day was at an apartment complex just down the street from where we live, and right behind the bus stop we go to for our bus to district meetings on Wednesdays. Anyway, we met the property manager there and she showed us a one bedroom apartment for approximately what we're paying right now for the apartment! Woo! A great location, new carpet (it smelled really nice in there), and cheaper laundry WITH the machines IN THE BUILDING! In fact, there are washers and dryers in every building in the room right next to the apartment we'll be moving in to! Win. Big win. The Lord really, really blessed us to find a new place. We'd thought it was hopeless looking for a new apartment in downtown Ithaca, and an inexpensive one at that. Okay, maybe not hopeless, because we did look, and we knew we'd find a place, but it did seem like a big task. Not so, my family, not so! It's a great apartment. It's kind of older, but it's clean and well taken care of inside, and there are lots of windows! And all of the aforementioned pros. We're REALLY excited to move...Call us crazy. Hopefully we'll start moving things this week and next week. :) The whole experience has felt kind of whirlwindish--we found out we needed to move, and found a perfect place to move, and got the OKAY to move in about...3 weeks. Incredible! So, part of the reason we're so excited is that we've seen so many blessings in just this, seemingly unrelated to missionary work, experience.

Yeah, after that appointment, we had an excellent day, and our Heavenly Father definitely looked out for us and helped us to have a happy day as we focused on our work and the things we needed to do.

Another example of the Lord providing for us: we've noticed many times when we've had extremely busy days planned and there isn't time to stop for lunch or dinner until the end of the night, and someone will provide us with a meal, so we don't have to worry about that physical need! It's like the scriptures about our Father taking care of those who go without "purse" or "script," and He finds a way to feed and take care of those whom He calls. We are so blessed!

The Owego New York Stake Conference was this weekend and we were only able to attend the Sunday session because of our schedules, but it was incredible! The theme was "Arise and Shine Forth," encouraging us to be examples, and to let the Gospel and our love of our Savior be very apparent in the way we live. We are a "peculiar people," right? :) Anyway, the Bullochs spoke in the meeting, along with others. Sister Bulloch spoke about the many odd things that missionaries do, how she helps us remain in good health, how they've served with many missionaries from all over the world with many, varied names--some as common as Smith and Jones, and others as difficult to pronounce as Goettsche, Moisio, Takapu, etc...Hahaha. The Ithacans really liked that. One branch member said to us last night, after the meeting, that she didn't realize she knew so many missionaries who've served in this mission, and that it's interesting that so many have served in Ithaca. Well, I'm glad to join the ranks of those who've been fortunate enough to serve here. :) Sister Bulloch's talk was so sweet, and so powerful, all about her love of serving in the capacity she is, alongside President Bulloch, and having the opportunity to meet so many treasured people. President Bulloch's talk was fantastic--he's an incredible man. He reminded me (all of the Owego Stake, actually) to FEAST on the words of Christ, not just nibble (2 Nephi 32:3). We are so so blessed to have so many witnesses of Christ--the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine & Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, LIVING PROPHETS, and personal revelation. This is truly a great day to live. How often to do receive the words of Christ by studying them, and allowing them to change how we act, how we think, who we are? We cannot be ungrateful! Jacob 4:8 says "despise not the revelations of God." All of those things are revelations. We know nothing except it comes from our Father through revelation. Are our lives reflecting a love and appreciation of those revelations, or impassivity, or even worse, hate? Only those who are proud think the words of repentance are hard to hear--our Savior teaches us to repent to come to Him, to CHANGE to come to Him. It's so hard to let go of your own will, your own belief about how your life should be or go, but it's absolutely necessary and infinitely and eternally worth it when we turn away from ourselves and "Look unto God with firmess of mind" (Jacob 3:1). I'm striving to be more determined in my faith in Christ. If I believe He provides the way to be everlastingly happy, that He can stand with me when I'm going through hardships as difficult as warfare and lift me up, then I need to match my actions to that belief. I don't want to be all talk. I want to "arise and shine forth!" Isn't that a beautiful encouragement?

Can you tell I'm in Jacob in my BOM reading?

We're meeting with a fellow who's married to a member of the Church, and he's studying IS, incidentally, Dad (I mentioned that you'd worked for Deloitte and he asked me about that for a little while). They are AWESOME! I really love them. They have an indoor swing hanging from the ceiling of their apartment. Anyway, many of the principles of the Gospel, and the commandments that have been revealed through prophets make logical sense to him, they appeal to his practical mind. However, he doesn't believe they're necessary for salvation. He doesn't believe that our Heavenly Father plays an active hand in our lives. The truth hasn't entered his heart yet, it's just come to the outside so far. :) I'd never imagined someone so kind and accepting to have a "hard heart." I'd never imagined that a hard heart can exist in someone who doesn't antagonize the Church. Having a hard heart doesn't mean that you're a rude person, though! It doesn't mean you are angry all of the time, or snooty. No, it just means that your heart isn't open to the Spirit. It isn't open yet to receiving the witnesses, the knowledge, the comfort that the Lord wants us to have. So we're praying, and trying to find a way to help soften his heart. I say that as if we're going to be the means of softening...how foolish.

A happy story now, perhaps? haha. We've been very blessed to have our days work in a way that we could NEVER plan. Some of our dinner appointments with members haven fallen through, other people have canceled on us, etc. All of these things happening so we could be where we were supposed to be. It's very humbling to see the Lord's hand in this work--He really does direct it, and if we're doing the right things, doing our best to be obedient, then we'll see the work progress and turn out the way it's supposed to. People may call these instances chance, or good luck, but I know that these incredibly unique experiences are neither. Jesus Christ is at the head of this Church, and He directs the work that we do as His servants and as missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Oh, I love you!! GENERAL CONFERENCE IS IN TWO WEEKS!! I am so excited. That's so great that you get to go visit Aunt Debby and Uncle Kenny! The south...what a beautiful place...I hear. Hahaha. Take pictures, yeah?

I love you. I love you. I love you.

Love,

Sister Smith

Email of March 13th

Dear family and friends,

This transfer is over on Wednesday--can you believe it? Our tripanionship is being broken up because the Temple Square sister who's been serving here for a couple of months is heading back to Temple Square, so there'll be an even amount of sister missionaries in NYUM again. Sister Hale is going to Glenville to serve with her MTC companion--cool, huh? Haha. Fortunately, Sister Takapu and I will remain together in Ithaca. So she can teach me more by example. Seriously, though, I feel so blessed to be serving with her, and for so long.

Our lovely lady was baptized on Saturday!!! Oh, the baptism was so nice--the people who participated in the program were so inspired and the Spirit was so strong throughout. It was an hour long, which is unusually long for Ithaca, but the focus was easy to keep with everyone feeling that sweet Spirit of God and supporting Carol. Preparing for Carol's baptism, I was reminded over and over again just how important baptism is. Believing in Christ, having faith, is not enough to return to His presence. Even changing through repentance because of your belief and trust in Christ is not enough. These are well and good, but the ONLY way we can live with our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ AND our families again, forever, is by accepting the covenant and ordinance of baptism. We are not fully following our Savior if we aren't baptized by proper authority as He was. We aren't fully following the Savior if we aren't committing ourselves to His own, authorized Church. What great responsibility we have once we are members of Christ's Church! He expects more, because we promise more, and His promises equal ours. When we're baptized, we're promised to be forgiven and have His Spirit with us, but we must do what He's asked and we've promised to do in return to receive these blessings. Good grief, we are so blessed to know! And Carol--now she knows! Her knowledge and faith will continue to grow, but she's taken the first, monumental step back to God. You know how you usually can't just buy one of the prizes from a carnival game place (I don't know how to phrase that more eloquently), but you have to play the game and win it? How can we expect Heavenly Father to give us His richest blessings if we do nothing to win them, to be worthy of them? That's what baptism helps us do. Anyway, Carol's been baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. :)

Last Monday we went to the Equestrian Center at Cornell for Sister Hale's birthday! It was awesome. There are probably about 50 horses there, and it was terrifying and glorious to walk amongst them. Really though, they're huge, and so powerful--it is seriously terrifying. I didn't see one named Philip...Awesome P-Day. And today we went to Taughannock Falls!! It's beautiful up there. We hiked around, I put on my jeans for the first time in 3 months, we took some pictures (obviously)...we had a marvelous time.

There are so many people in the world who need the Gospel. Well, really, we all need it, but so many people are just waiting for it. How do we find them all? This is the Lord's work, so I guess He helps quite a bit. :) D&C 18:10...we are all of infinite worth; how can we ignore the plights of others? Please, pray for opportunities to share what you know, and then be willing to speak up or lend a hand when your prayers are answered. The Lord needs us all to do this work. 51,000 missionaries is not enough. It's like that talk I told you about last week--it's good, but it's not enough.

We're meeting with this great guy who studies Electrical Engineering at Cornell--he's great. We brought a member from the branch with us this last week, because he'd studied the same and is now looking for a job in his field, so there are some similarities between them. This member of the branch is a convert of a few years and his powerful testimony super-charged the tenor of this guy's interest in the restored Gospel of Christ. He wants to know for himself that what he's learning is true--well of course he should find out for himself--and he wants to read and read from the Book of Mormon to discover the truth despite his busy schedule. There are people all around the world who are ready to receive the Gospel, but they have to have the chance to receive it in order to actually receive it, right? Right, duh. That was obvious. how can we know if something is right or good or true if we don't even know what "it" is? I am so thankful to be a missionary for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's Church once again on the earth, and within it we find all the truths that He teaches, the power and authority of God to do the things we must in order to receive exaltation, the comfort of our belonging to Him. I love the prophets and apostles whom He has called--I know they are righteous men who have been prepared to lead us, and are supported by the Lord to lead us, today. I am so thankful that I have this opportunity to share what I know. Jesus Christ is my Savior--I am nothing without Him. I can do nothing without Him. I will go nowhere without Him. Jesus Christ knows exactly who I am, where I am, where I can go if I rely on Him. He knows who I can become through Him. He knows how to heal my wounds and how to dry my tears. He knows how to support my feeble knees and weak shoulders. I cannot do all, but He can.

I love you so much! I am so thankful to be a part of our family FOREVER! It's a long time, isn't it? Thank the heavens. :) Thank you for all of the wonderful updates! Missionaries coming, missionaries going, work opportunities showing up, brothers becoming giantesque...I love hearing about home. I should have some time to write a few letters today, so I'll try to buckle down and do it so y'all (there are a few Texans and South Carolinians here) can get some personalized letters.

I LOVE YOU!

Sister Smith

P.S. We live near an AWESOME playground. Taughannock Falls is beautiful. :)

P.P.S. We have to move--that will be fun, won't it? :)

P.P.P.S. Lots of smiley faces, no? :) :)

Dear family and friends,

I don't have much time, unfortunately, but I do have some things to share. :)

First, I read a talk given by President Hinckley this week that I absolutely love.  It's called "Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep."  You should read it--it's very inspiring.

Second, one of our awesome investigators had her baptismal interview on Saturday and passed and we went to a chinese restaurant to celebrate.  After lunch I opened my fortune cookie, and what did I read?  "The one waiting for you when you get home will be your friend for life."  Hmmm...Hahahahaha.  I'm not sure who will still be waiting around for me when I get home besides you, my family, but isn't that funny?  I kept the mini paper.

Third, we are preparing the program for this investigator's baptism for this Saturday and we watched "Special Witnesses of Christ" to see if it would be a good addition for the important event.  IT'S INCREDIBLE.  Have you ever watched the dvd?  I'm telling you, the testimonies of the apostles and prophets are so powerful.  You should watch the video one of these days.  

Fourth, in Sunday School and Relief Society this week the subject was the priesthood.  Man.  It was great.  Chapter 5 in the Teachings of George Albert Smith book is so wonderful!  We are so blessed to have the authority of God on the earth within His one church.  We are so blessed to have a living prophet.  We are so blessed to have the knowledge of our Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and Their plan.  It is hard for me to think about the many people who don't know these truths and struggle more for the lack of knowing.  It's even harder to think about those who know and reject it.  Who are approached with it and choose to walk away.  I know that we all have to make the choice to accept or reject the Gospel of Christ, but it still makes me sad that so many choose to reject it.  Our lives are so much easier to handle with faith, repentance, baptism, and the Holy Ghost!  I am so thankful that I know.

Thanks for the pictures, Mom!  I love seeing my li'l brother in action!  Christie--why did you go whale watching?  Where did you go whale watching?  When did you take a vacation?  I pray for my beloved family every night.  Sarah and Dust are gearing up for HI?  Oh, what's their address, again?  And Sean's address?

Man, I wish I had more time. 

 OH!  We went to the Equestrian Center at Cornell today to surprise Sister Hale for her birthday!!  It was AWESOME!!  I would like to tell you more, but alas, the day runs from me. :)  I took pictures, and hopefully I can let you know more next week.

I LOVE YOU!

Sister Smith

Hello!

We saw deer this week, right next to a house, as we were walking last week.  It was very exciting, so I took some pictures!  We moved very slowly as we were taking my camera out of my bag...then I had to carefully turn off the flash so they wouldn't be startled into scurrying away...And boom.  Pictures.

So many things have happened over the past few days to refocus our lessons and studies on Christ.  In the 12 week training program we've been doing (because I'm a new missionary, we get to spend an extra hour on studies every day with this AWESOME program.  Seriously, it is awesome) we came across an important idea that Book of Mormon reading will always emphasize Jesus Christ, because it is "Another Testament of Jesus Christ."  Sometimes as we explain principles to people, we forget to tie it all back to Christ, and that makes our explanation basically pointless.  This is His Gospel, His Church, His work, and if we aren't helping people understand that, then how will they come closer to Him?  I don't think you can know Christ until you know of Him.  And we can't take the Gospel or a testimony into a person's heart, we can only bring that to the heart and then they have to accept it inside, accept the Spirit of God.  How do we gain a testimony?  Why are we members of this church?  Personal revelation from our Heavenly Father's Holy Spirit.  And we aren't just Mormons--we are Christians.  We believe in Christ and our actions should show that belief.  Christ is the Head of this church, and we have access to eternal truths that remain pure because of this glorious fact.  Everything comes back to Christ.  We just need to remember that.  Ways we can do that are focusing on the references to Christ in the Book of Mormon as we read daily, asking Heavenly Father in prayer to help us remember, partaking of the Sacrament every week...Lots of things, I'm sure.  How many times have people suggested putting a penny in your shoe to help you remember something every time you feel the penny?  We could do things like that to make sure that we are always remembering our Savior and Redeemer, the Son of Almighty God, because that's what we've promised to do.  Anyway, it was a good reminder to me to keep everything focused on the Savior. Tie everything back to the Savior.

 Have I mentioned that Ithaca is indeed a melting pot of cultures?  Seriously, it is so ethnically diverse here.  We meet with people who speak Laotian, Cambodian, Karen (a Burmese dialect), Spanish (slash Puerto Rican), Arabic, Chinese, Finnish, Russian, Luxembourgian...many different ethnicities.  There is even a member family in the ward from Kenya!  Yeah!  And we've eaten some authentic Kenyan food--it's really tasty, with lots of rice, veggies, spiciness...yum.  And I've noticed that I know generally where the countries are that different people have emigrated from because of the world draw in 9th grade.  Funny, right?  I don't remember exactly where Laos or Burma are, except that they're in southeastern Asia.  Maybe?  And the members here are so diverse, too, and they really help with the different languages that our investigators speak.  This is a neat place.  Despite all of these differences, we have seen how the Gospel of Christ, His teachings, positively influence every single person's life.  If they are willing to try them out, the miracles appear.  Just like with these new friends of mine, if we try out the Gospel of Christ--I mean REALLY try it out, REALLY live it--then we will see the miracles as well.

 We are meeting with a luuurvely lady who is getting prepared for baptism and I have been amazed at the impact of the Gospel in her life over the past month that we've been meeting with her.  It's incredible!  The Gospel is all about change--if we repent (change) then we will feel more inclined to follow Christ and accept Him.  "[The] natural man is an enemy to God," right (Mosiah 3:19)?  As we come to see that Christ and our Heavenly Father really do love us and have given us so much to be happy now and to be eternally happy in the future, it is far easier to accept this course of repentance.  It has been this way for C (our lurvely friend); as she's learned more and felt the goodness that comes from reading the BOM and praying to our Heavenly Father, she has accepted the course of repentance and change.  What a wonderful opportunity we all have to prepare ourselves for that time when we meet God again and stand up for the works we've done and the desires we've had.  This Plan of Happiness, Redemption, Salvation, is such a gift!

Anyway, the week has been pretty good, except most of our appointments canceled on us.  It was a bummer.  But I went on splits with members!  And I was terrified!  And then I got over it!  Hahaha.  Snow has come again.  Huzzah!  I remembered Crash Bandicoot randomly yesterday, and to my delighted surprise Sister Takapu knew Crash as well!  "Boogie woogie woogie"...Remember that little tiki man face thing?  And the sound he'd make?  hahaha it made me laugh.

Thank you for the Valentine's Day box!  Oh so lovely and tasty!  Thank you!  I LOVE YOU!!!  I was amused to see the "Sour Lips" in the box, Mom.  But then I thought about it and laughed, because I won't be smoochin' anyone for a long while yet--sour lips, indeed!  Hahaha.  Good grief, it's funny.  And the rose card is so cool!!  We love it!  And it has pink sparkles on it.  We decorated a box for C last week with treats inside and we had cut out hearts from sparkly purple and white paper!  Funny.

I think I need to end this, because I want to go back to the apartment and take a nap.  We finally have time after about...5 weeks, and I wish to take advantage of the opportunity to rest my mind and body.  It's hammered.  :)  Such is the life of a missionary!

 I love you so much!  Happy Valentine's Day!  So many things out here remind me of home and the family; don't worry, though, they do not distract or depress me.  I'm still a fresh helium balloon that could fly up to the moon (actually, that's impossible for many different reasons).

I love you!

Sister Smith

February 6, 2012

Something really crazy has happened in the last week since Sister Hale arrived: I seem to be a missionary and not just a trainee.  Hm.  Yes, all of a sudden I've been a bigger part of the planning process, teaching process, laughing process...Hahaha.  All of these changes are great!!  I feel so blessed that there are three of us in Ithaca now!  I felt so overwhelmed most of the time last transfer because there was so much to learn, and now (literally since Sister Hale arrived) I feel like I have accepted my calling and am receiving the blessings of that acceptance.  Having someone new in Ithaca also helps me to feel like I need to step up, speak up, and serve.  When there's someone else hanging onto the line, I find I'm more inclined to hold tight for the both of us.  I probably should have been experiencing this with Sister Takapu because we ARE companions, but she is so able and such a good missionary that I think I just took it for granted that she could handle everything.  Pff.  How ridiculous of me.  Anyway, that is the largest miracle I have seen in my life this past week, and large it is, I'm telling you.  I'm an able missionary of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I can do His work because He has called me and qualified me for it!  Yeah. :)

It is kind of tricky having three of us, but we have been trying to find ways to involve ward and branch members in the work for a while and now we have a great way to do that--"doubling in."  We can go on splits with a sister from the branch or ward and meet with double the amount of people we normally could!  It's GREAT!  Unfortunately, this means I won't be able to teach with or be with my trainer (Sister Takapu), but it's a wonderful opportunity for the work and also my own personal growth as a new missionary (very self-centered of me, I know). 

 

A less active sister from the branch made it to the ward meetings yesterday!!  She really is active except in church attendance, because she's had to work every Sunday for about...a year or so.  But we encouraged her to come to at least Sacrament meeting every Sunday to renew the covenants she made at baptism and feel the Spirit in greater abundance, and she finally talked to her boss and now she's able to come for a lunch break!  Little steps.  I think I may have told you about her already, but...I forget.  Anyway, she's going to buy another sister's car in a couple of weeks so she'll be able to get to church more easily!!  Woo hoo!  It's great.

I can't believe it's February!  THIS IS INSANE.  And I can't believe Matt will get home at the end of March.  Or that Dallin is already home.  Wow.  Oh, guess what--the new elder in the area, Elder Cutler, went to BYU when I did and he lived in Maeser Hall which is where most of my buddies lived (Dallin, Matt, John, Davis, Blake, James, Shawn, Bryce, etc.)!  Haha.  Yeah, I saw him and I thought, I know him.  And then that night I was still pondering this puzzle--why do I know him, how?  Then it hit me: he lived in the basement of Maeser Hall.  The next time I saw him, I informed him of this connection.  Let's not call me creepy, okay?  Anyway, it turns out he had gone to EFY one year with Davis, and he home taught...erm...Blake, maybe?  It's such a small world!  He has been serving for about 17 months now.    We went to the Family History Center this week with a lovely lady, Suzie, from the Food Pantry this week, and we had a blast.  She is so so funny.  And so loving--seriously, she's very lighthearted, but you always know that she really cares.

Anyway, I don't have lots of time left--we want to get back and write some LETTERS.  Woo woo!  I'm quite behind, you see, and we have had VERY busy P Days for the past...transfer.  Hahaha.  I love you so so much, and I'm sorry this is relatively short, but I'll write some letters and look forward to reading your emails next week!!!  Oh, and THANK YOU for the cds and the book and the letters!!  You are so kind to me, the strange Smith in 'York.  Hem hem.

Oh, one more thing--I climbed a tree in Sapsucker Woods! 

I love you!

Sister Smith