Tuesday, March 29, 2011

March 28, 2011

Dear family and friends!

Things went a lot better this week. We sure saw a lot of miracles and I'm grateful for the Lord's mercy. We found some really positive families and I'm grateful we'll get to teach them the restored gospel... the best message we could bring!

Funnies:
1. This week we saw another baby chicken almost die.... but the neighbor who was there (and who we're teaching, btw...) picked it up, blew a little in its beak, petted it for a minute, and it came back to life... chirping and happy. MLIAIH

2. I love Honduras because i can buy 5 pieces of new clothing for less than 25 dollars. All from brand name stores. I calculated that in the states i would have bought it for about 100 dollars. guess whos going on a shopping spree this july? MLIAIH

3. Yesterday after the sacrament the elders looked down from teh stand at me, motioning the words ¨can you give a talk after this sister?¨. 5 minutes later i gave a 12 minute talk on baptism. i love being a missionary. MLIAIH

The best news that has been happening is we are preparing a wedding a baptism for our little family, Erika and Henry. They are so great. THeyve gone to church several times and we've been teaching them for a while. And we've been seeing amazing miracles getting their papers ready for the wedding. we're really excited for their progress and for the 15th and 16th to come. its gonna be a great day! I love seeing the changes they are making through this gospel and the simple principles like family prayer, family scripture study, and going to church together.

well dont have too much time to write more details, but I just want to invite you all to take time to prepare this week for general conference. I nkow the Lord will answer your questions and problems... im excited to get answers to mine this week.

Love you all so much! enjoy this weekend and live what you learn!

hermana smith

March 7, 2011

Hello family and friends!
Welp, another week has passed by and its been great. We ended the week with lots of success and I know it was pure tender mercy from the Lord. He's really blessing us a lot and letting us see fruit. Its all his work but we're seeing a great change in this area because we've been able to be instruments in his hands. Yesterday we didnt get to write home because we went to Tegucigalpa for a sisters meeting. we went bowling and had tons of fun! pictures attached.

Funnies:
1. I have no idea WHY other than because its really cool, but they sell colored chicks here. As in, newborn baby chickens are dyed in color and sold for 25 cents each. (im talking purple, orange, pink) it is awesome. one day i will get a picture with one. MLIAIH

2. we were walking home from church the other day and i got the best complement ever from a 10 year old kid as he yelled, ¨Adios Barbie!¨ haha. MLIAIH

So our best news is that Henry and Erica, the family who went to church last week and this week accepted a baptismal date! they have to get married first, but I know the Lord will bless us again so they can be baptized this month. they love the church and are seeing great changes in their lives as a result. its amazing what this message does. we've only taught them 3 times but they know its true because of what they feel and the changes they see in their family. That to me is a sign that the church is true and incredible.

I'm feeling a special power in the work we're doing lately that its making me love every day more my mission. Its an incredible gift we have to be able to recieve personal revelation through the Holy Ghost. I know its a real power and its something I want to cultivate and perfect throughout my whole life. I invite you all to think about what things you are doing to invite the spirit more in your life. When was the last time you had a spiritual experience? What did you learn in your scripture study this morning? How are you serving the Lord and others? Where are your priorities?

I testify that this is the work of the Lord and it changes lives. its changed mine. I love this gospel and I love my Heavenly Father. Thanks for all your support and prayers. Keep them coming!
Happy week!

Love, Hermana Smith

Friday, March 11, 2011

February 28, 2011

Hey family! Wow what a week! Much better than last week. I think the Lord really blessed us. Okay, I know he blessed us. Last week was a trial of faith, definitely, but we pulled through this week and the Lord really gave us a lot of mercy. We found an awesome new family who went to church yesterday and really liked it. that was a miracle. In like the last 6 months they've brought hardly anyone to church,but this family went and we are so grateful. We'll be working with them very quickly. we need men in our branch... there are only 3 melkezidek. (still dont know how to spell that..) priesthood holders... the 2 elders and our branch president. haha.

FUNNIES:
1. I dont think ive ever really ¨jumped in puddles¨ ...until yesterday. we got completely soaked in a rain storm so on the way home we enjoyed the empty streets and made a few splashes.. and laughs. haha. MLIAIH
2. If someone doesnt know us as sisters but does know the elders they just make things a lot easier and call me ¨Eldera Smith¨. makes sense right? MLIAIH
3. yesterday after the rainstorm and after changing into dry clothes we left again and headed down a dirt trail. wrong. it was red clay... do you know what happens when clay gets wet? super sticky and extremely difficult to walk in. hahahahah. my shoes were no longer their original color or weight because i had 5 pounds f clay on each foot. ha. MLIAIH
We had another cool learning experience the other day... The branch had been planning a talent night on friday, so of course we planned on going. but the day before i ws thinking about it and rememberd a rule President gave us that we couldnt participate in the talent shows. So we thought about it and could have justified it saying that we would go help, etc.. because more than anything the elders had planned it, so we could go and bring investigators and everything. i knew my comp was super excited to go and wouldbe bummed if we didnt go. but i didnt feel right about it, so we decided not to go. it stunk because we didnt even have very many plans so we'd probably just end up contacting all night. anyway but we decided to be obedient. so we left the house,knowing all themembers and elders were heading over to have a good time at the church. about 5 minutes later we happened to run into a girl who we had met before in the street. she was just bored going for a walk, so we invited her to the activity. she said sure she wanted to go! so we took her to chruch, dropped her off with some members and head out to a lessthan productive night. bu turns ou she had a great time, went to church yesterday by herself, and were basically ready to put a baptismal date. hah! It was such a huge lesson to me of the importance of being obedient. Heavenly father blessed us hugely for being obedient tat night. we're so grateful!

anyway that wasa great lesson for me. gotta run for now! love you all!
Hermana Smith

p.s. Helaman 3: 27 to 30... its agood one.

Feb. 21, 2011

Hey family!!
Wow, what a week… its been, to say the least, interesting. I have to admit, not the best. But there are always things to be grateful for, right?
I’ll just go right into explaining. So after a hard week and a disappointing afternoon we left yesterday at about 2 to go contact and find new families to teach. We got in the house of a family and I was so excited… this was it! Heavenly Father answered our prayers and they are so prepared! The lesson was going great until I was explaining the Joseph Smith story, and the dad turned and looked outside and goes, ¨oh! Good afternoon, Pastor!¨ I just thought, you have got to be kidding me. Long story short he stomped all over us, making fun of our testimony and the way we taught.. everything. It was terrible and I got so frustrated. Finally we figured there was no use so we closed with a prayer… I said the prayer quietly and calmly while he stood up and started shouting and praying that the Lord would save us from our iniquity and blindness. Then he told us He hopes we can one day really convert to the Lord, and find the truth, because our salvation was at stake. Nice of him to worry about us, huh?
Anyway I was super frustrated and angry, I got home and cried and prayed harder than I ever have before. It just hurt so bad to have that happen and that the people just don’t open their hearts and listen. Its hard. But thinking about it, I’ve realized lots of things. First of all, heavenly father gives us these experiences to teach us. Ive learned in just the past 24 hours that the scriptures give us a lot of consolation, I’ve learned that heavenly father listens to and answers our prayers, and that he has a plan for all of his children. People will reject and be angry, but if we’ve done our part, we just have to trust in the lord. I found one scripture that really helped me today and maybe it can help some of you in any problem you may be facing. 3 Nephi 21: 9 to 10.
Well that’s about it. Things are good in Honduras.
Love you all so much!
Hermana Smith