We had an amazing experience this week. Friday night, during our planning time for the next day, my companion prayed and set a goal that we would find a family of four that speaks Spanish. She even drew a picture! On Saturday, because of the schedule we had in regards to the Fort Collins Temple groundbreaking broadcast, we only had two hours scheduled to find my companion’s family of four. Luckily we cover all of this town if it’s a Spanish speaking family, so we drove looking for Spanish-looking houses outside of our ward boundaries. Well I remembered what the stake president's wife told me about a housing complex and I decided we would go there (it's about 3:20 at the time, 40 mins left). So we get there and knock on a door; it happened to be a member so we asked if there were any Spanish speaking families in the complex. She told us about a little girl named L. We went to another area in the complex and there were two girls at a playground. We stopped and talked to them, and one of the girls’ names was L! She is 8, and so cute. We asked her if her parents spoke Spanish; they do! So we gave her a Restoration pamphlet in English, and one in Spanish (with our names and phone number on the back). She flipped one open to the picture of Jesus Christ visiting the Americas, and with children around Him. She said, "I wish I could go back in time..." We told her that Jesus Christ will come again. "He will?!" with a huge smile on her face. We also told her that families can be together forever and she was just like “WHAT?! REALLY?!” It was so cute. We told her to give the pamphlet in Spanish to her parents. She rushed home right then! We got in the car and excitedly thought “L has a brother and we assume a mom and dad... family of 4.”On Sunday, after Sacrament Meeting, we went to teach the 9 year old primary class. I have known about subbing in this class for about a month. We got to the classroom, and we were just situating the children when the Primary president came to the door with two girls who were visiting--one of them was L! NO JOKE! My companion and I sort of freaked out with excitement. Here was the 8 year old girl that we found yesterday in a nice dress and in the primary class that I have known we would substitute for awhile! Here's the thing, we didn't tell her about where church was, what time we meet or anything... how did she get here? So instead of teaching the Primary lesson, we taught the first discussion about the Restoration to the primary class. To say the least, it was different than usual! Usually when we teach kids, their parents are right there telling them to listen... but we had to keep them on track and it was better than I could imagine. The other girls in the class were saying how great and fun baptism was! When the class ended, we rushed out to our car and got a Spanish and English Book of Mormon. One for L and one for her dad. She said she was with her dad at church. It turns out that L is in a family of 6, and they were all at church! Two more people than we hoped for! I am so glad I know this ward because we were able to do some digging that afternoon and we found out that one of the ladies in our ward gave L's dad a Book of Mormon two years ago! 2 years ago!!! This lady’s husband invited them to church the day before, the same day we met L and gave her the pamphlets! This was a huge testimony to me that the Lord truly has a hand in everyone's lives. He is preparing people for us to find!! The area we were in when we found L isn't in our ward boundaries, and for her to show up at the building we meet in for church, at the same time we meet (3 wards meet at our building, and there are 3 buildings in this town that hold church), and to show up in the very primary class that we were subbing for: MIRACLE!!! This is the biggest miracle that I have ever been a part of! I LOVE MISSIONARY SERVICE!!! This is what it is all about!
This gospel is true! I love, love, LOVE missionary work! And it truly is work. I don't think I have ever been this exhausted in my mission, and life!!! The Savior is there for each and every one of you! He loves you so much! The Atonement is real! I have felt the power of the Atonement in my life, and especially on my mission.
Sister Kelly Smith
On P Day we climbed a mountain. Here, my companion and I are jumping for joy! Haha
One of the people we are teaching gave us this cute moose for a gift.
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