4 Bikes, 3 Sisters, 2 Wards and 1 Crazy Transfer ADVENTURE!!!!!!!!

This week was FULL of crazy, whirlwind, unexpected miracles, and FUN!!! Nothing was predictable about this week, not at all! But it ended up being GREAT! 

Monday: Sister J packed and said goodbye to people! It kept getting harder and harder seeing her pack, I grew to love her tons and it was sad to see her leave. It was good to just see people that we both love in this area! I got to play volleyball with some girls really quick while Sister J said bye to the Bishop (there was a block party) and I played in a skirt! Super cool because we rode by that same street a few days later and one of the girls I played with waved and said Hi really excitedly!!

Tuesday: TRANSFER DAY. I said goodbye to my companion and then I was in a trio for the next few hours till my comp came... well we ended up road tripping to my last area!! We needed to get my new companion a bike so we had to go right near Longmont to get her, so we had lunch there with some of my favorite people from that ward! I got to see my old companion, Sister C (and attack her with a nerf gun which was AWESOME)! LOVE the M’s :) Got my new companion and then we went back to our area with minutes to spare which was GREAT! Then we hopped on our bikes and started teaching. Wow, what a difference from my last companion, it was HARD! I was really struggling. But we kept teaching that night. This was my comp’s first time on a bike as a missionary and she doesn't really know how to ride a bike so it was frustrating on both our parts. We taught N (our investigator) and read part of 3 Nephi 11 with him. I love testifying of the Savior and what He has down for us, and how He came to the America's because He loves all of His children and we have that account, The Book of Mormon. Then we had back to back lessons that night but mostly with members. We taught B that night and it went well. We taught the law of chastity, and we just need to help him understand that it starts with our thoughts and images... he is an artist so some things will have to go! We are still going to work on that one. 

Wednesday: A couple of our lessons fell through so we were able to contact some people! A potential investigator said she was interested but not yet, so that was really cool that she could tell that she wasn't ready yet. She will be one of those prepared investigators somewhere down the line. During one of the cancelled lessons we stopped by the Bishop's house because he said we could stop by with my new companion. Well he wasn't home but we had a lesson with Sister H and wow, she is so great! We talked about miracles and how Heavenly Father loves us. She showed us a picture of her daughter and son (they are pretty close) of when her son dropped her daughter off  at the MTC and their last hug before she left. I just started crying because I am SO EXCITED for the hugs I get to give my family. But this picture she showed us was MORE meaningful because that COULD have been the last time they EVER hugged each other. Sister H's son got cancer while her daughter was still out (she comes home in like 3 weeks). Through miracles and God's love he doesn't have cancer right now, and they will get to see each other again in this life. Sometimes people do pass on, but it is all in Heavenly Father's hands. I know that we will be able to hug those who have passed on! I will get to hug a family member who passed away while I was on my mission. The Plan of Salvation is real people!!! Anyway it was a powerful time just talking to her. That night was really hard for me after a long, frustrating day (but there were still miracles and it was alright). Writing in my journal makes a difference. I love being able to listen to music that brings the Spirit and helps calm me down! So does reading the scriptures, that really helped too, they always do :)

That ring is California!

 Thursday: Had an amazing district meeting, after we all settled down. I love the missionaries in my district this transfer! We had so much time to contact people it was great! I think we spent like an hour in the trailer park (seriously that is one of my favorite places in this area)! We asked a little old lady for directions and then I talked to her about the Church. She wasn't interested. I didn't even get to talk to her about what we believe. It was more like where do you go to church, oh you should come check out ours! Taught B later that night at a park, and WOW we got EATEN alive by mosquitoes!! NOT FUN!!!! Oh um we got one of the best phone calls EVER after dinner. We were still at the member’s house (after going out to eat) and I checked our phone. Missed call: President Brown. One new voicemail. That's usually not a good thing. Called him back. "Hi Sisters. How was the first half of your transfer?" um good... but it has only been a few days. I knew something was up and I was thinking someone would get ETed (emergency transferred)!!! NOPE!! Sister S (my old comp) was going home the next day, and her companion, Sister C needed a companion. TRIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! President put Sister C with me and Sister M, MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY THIS IS THE COOLEST THING, and totally what I needed!!! Oh, also when President called he called me back as a Sister Training Leader to be Sister C's companion in that responsibility! BEST THING EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Friday: Picked up Sister C and said goodbye to Sister S. so now we had 4 bikes (Sister S's was with us). 3 sisters, and 2 areas (Sister C's too... and hers is in a different ZONE/STAKE which makes things a little difficult but super fun)! And it is going to be an INCREIDLBE transfer, if it lasts that long... it might not! But I am hoping we will be together that long!!! We spent time planning trying to figure out how to do all of this on bike... MIRACLE! President dropped a car off for us a few hours later, AAAHHHH So great!!!! another miracle, and such a blessing to drive between areas now we can go back and forth as needed and not cancel out days to work in each other's areas! I love this!!!! We contacted E that night and I almost cried. I had to knock 4 TIMES. I never knock that many, but through the Spirit we needed to! Luckily my companions told me to (by the Spirit), and I just wanted to sit outside her house til she opened the door. She finally did and it broke my heart-- that was not the E I know. She has kind of dropped off the face of the earth, like 3 weeks ago (only 2 weeks after her baptism) and it was such a sad thing to see. I think her family is dragging her away from the church.  Literally broke my heart to see her that way. She looked dark and not happy and it was so sad, verge of tears many times because I grew to love her and truly care about her, even though I only taught her for a brief time. I know that Heavenly Father loves her and cares about her. Many prayers will be said to know how best to help her! Our ward counsel decided to fast for her and her families’ hearts to be softened. I know that fasting works and that it is in Heavenly Father's hands. Do we know when fasts will be answered, no, but I know they will be if they are a righteous cause. I hope that everything will be alright! 

Pioneer Day celebration, pretending to our hearts' content

Saturday: B came to a baptism!! We invited him to another ward's baptism and he came! It was AWESOME!!! He is progressing and it is great! Got to go to an AWESOME Pioneer Day activity for the stake! I loved dressing up for pictures with other missionaries, it was fantastic! We had tons of fun!!! Sister A was there and AAHAHH It was a MIRCALE!!!! We got to have dinner in the other ward with a less active family who has a daughter on a mission, they are coming back to activity and it is great! Their daughter comes home from her mission in France in like 3 weeks.

Sunday: WOW, our day started with a 7am meeting and we didn't finish having double church and double meetings until 4:15ish in the afternoon. I was EXHAUSTED!! But it was so COOL! B came to church without anyone inviting him, and he was EARLY!! That was awesome, because B is usually late to things... 

Well, my time is up, but I love you all! This church is true and Heavenly Father is there watching over us! The Atonement is real and Jesus Christ loves YOU!  I KNOW IT!!! He is always there; covenants bind us to Him! Use His atonement! 

Love,

Sister Kelly Smith

His Grace is Sufficient by Brad Wilcox, READ IT! I love it so much

Fort Collins temple under construction

!!!!!

Crazy COLORADO Weather, a Broken Heart, and 2 Dreams Crushed in ONE Week

We continue to get rain randomly throughout the day, meaning a WET Sister Smith, but that's ok. What can you do, just keep biking!! You would think we are in some tropical place, nope, actually a pretty dry state in the WEST! Just gives me some great adventures!

Monday: We got to go to a FHE/ BBQ with a family and another non-member family was there (one reason we wanted to go). My companion got to talk to them about the temple, I love C and K! They are great, and two solid potential investigators. They were going to come to church this week, but weren't able to come :(

Tuesday: 14 MONTHS!!!! Is this real life? Well, it is! I only have 4 months left on my mission, and that's CRAZY!!! Three transfers to go... time is going by SO FAST!!!   We had a lesson with B at the H’s (our ward mission leader) and it was AWESOME!!! I loved it! He had made such progress and has come so far in the past few weeks, it's been great! We taught him the gospel of Jesus Christ and talked about the Holy Ghost some more. He read 2 Nephi 31 ON HIS OWN AND UNDERSTOOD IT!!    MIRACLE!!!!!!! He is seriously making a TON of progress! We got to do some contacting after our lesson with N didn't happen (he didn't come upstairs for the lesson, and figured he wasn't interested). We got some watermelon from his mom though, that was tasty :) We contacted a new person (whom I never met, or his family) with the member we were with. Well we had a doorstep lesson on the Atonement. Have to pass him off to the Young Single Adult elders though; they were glad that we got an appointment with him for next week!

Wednesday: My heart BROKE!! I got a text form a dear friend from another area letting me know that a kid that I LOVE has bone cancer and has to undergo 8 months of chemo. I kept going throughout the rest of the day, which was hard but gave me more purpose. We had an amazing lesson with a member that night who is married to a non-member and has not been to the temple for herself yet. We talked about the Atonement and then somehow she brought up the Plan of Salvation. I almost started crying in this lesson because of the news I had found out about my little friend, J. I am SO GRATEFUL for the knowledge of a loving Heavenly Father, and His plan for us! I am hopeful that J will be ok, and that he will be able to feel the comfort and peace from our Father above, and our Elder Brother Jesus Christ. I know that the Atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ is real and can truly help us with ANYTHING we go through in life. I know that this gospel truly is the SAME one that Jesus Christ set up when He was on the earth. He loves YOU! I KNOW HE LOVES YOU!! I know that Heavenly Father LOVES YOU more than we can all comprehend! J, I love you and I look forward to seeing you again (although that will probably be after my mission). W family you are in my prayers and I loved being in your home many times. You are all incredible!

Thursday: Another lesson with B! We brought J with us and she is awesome! Taught the Word of Wisdom, and it went well! Got to hear from my mom that she went to the temple with someone, made me STOKED!! I love getting excited about things that pertain to salvation! I hope you had a great time, mom, I love the temple, and I love YOU!!!

Friday: Well, we went to paint and after we finished helping a member that morning I just came home and CRIED after my shower. I am so thankful for the ability to write in my journal and the thoughts that Heavenly Father can give me through the Holy Ghost as I write. It was the first time I had cried since hearing about J, and with transfers and other things that had happened I just needed a good cry to relieve stress. I loved being able to listen to my sister sing (because she sent me some CD's). Music can bring the Spirit and help us through hard times!  The rest of the day went well :) We went to visit a member and as we were waiting on the porch K and C rode by on their bikes and C (who's 6 years old) yelled out, after we waved and said hi.  "Hey I know you guys!" AAAHHH C knows the missionaries  I hope to be able to teach them soon, progress, but AAAHHH I want to so badly!!!!!

Saturday: We got to do more service! We do service a lot!! Which I LOVE!!  Ok, dad. I AM SO BEYOND grateful that you made us do home improvement projects!   We painted with a lady, who is married and has 3 kids... this was her first time painting a room. WHAT? OK, that's like unheard of at my house! So I felt like the pro, haha and my comp hasn't really painted before either which is crazy to me, but I love them!

We had a lesson with the Ms, I just love them! Then we went to Sister L's and she wasn't home, but her son (N) answered and said out of NOWHERE. "Hey I think I will listen to you guys on Tuesday when you come by." Uh OK! We weren't even planning to come next Tuesday, so we set up a lesson with N! I hope he comes upstairs this time :) Then we watched the Testaments with B at a member's home. I hope that it made an impact on him! He is great! The Testaments is AWESOME too. Seen it a lot and it is getting a bit old, but still nice to break up the normal routine. Then we got transfer calls that night. I wanted to go to Rawlins, to be with Sister Y and live with Sister H. What happens? Sister J (my companion right now) is going to Rawlins, with Sister Y and living with Sister H. MY LIFE IS A JOKE!!! I am staying here in Fort Collins and getting a new companion, so that will hopefully be good. I am a little bummed, but life is like that sometimes! Second dream crushed. That's ok though! I like FoCo, and I'm glad I am on bike for the summer and not the winter! There are pros to being here!!

Sunday: B came to ALL 3 HOURS OF CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!! That was awesome! We are getting a bit worried about E, because she hasn't come to church for the past 3 times. It is summer and she was sick for one weekend, but this is a lot! I think she was on vacation for one week too, but people can't get in contact with her as often. So I will be praying that we will be able to meet with E soon!

This week was a little rough, but I love being a missionary still. I love the summer and I am grateful to be here at this time! I am intrigued to see how this next transfer goes! I only have 3 transfers left! WHAT? I love you all!!! I know that the Atonement is real and the Heavenly Father is truly mindful of us! The scriptures are an incredible source of peace and comfort, and when times get hard, just kneel! "When life gets too hard to stand, kneel."

Love always,
Sister Kelly Smith

COLORADO Pig Fellowshipping + Pouring Rain = Living a Missionary Life!!

Reunion time and we had fun talking about Longmont and memories, miracles we saw there!!! LONGMONT PEEPS we miss you!!!!!!!! 

What a crazy awesome week!! MIRACLES were so great to see, as always :) The best thing is when I get to feel the Spirit! It's like icing on the cake :) Goal: to get the people I teach to feel the Spirit, but then when I do too, it's just AMAZING!!!!

Monday: Seeing  C& C was AWESOME!! I just love them so much!! I am excited for their future and the blessings that are in store :) Lesson with R went really well :) We read 1 Nephi 5 with her and talked about chapter 4. We just read where she was and answered questions. She is so solid--I love her! She is gone and won't be back till next week though, so that's a bummer we can't meet with her for awhile!

Tuesday: Exchange with Sister C!!! She came to my area which was awesome!! We did a fair amount of service and riding our bikes! haha It was a first for Sister C! I love her! We got to teach N. Ok, I think I forgot to tell you about him last week. Well he was a new investigator last week. So this was our second time teaching him! He is 18 and I'm not sure how interested he is. So we decided he really needed to understand the nature of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ (he is currently studying Hindu). So we watched the Restoration video and talked about prayer. I hope he prays!!!! Then we had dinner with non-members, J and K. Their neighbors came too (who are members). It was an interesting dinner. Very friendly and nice but the conversation wasn't focused. so it wasn't a hard fat lesson, but we were still able to talk about the church and the Book of Mormon. I gave them one, and we had previously given them a Restoration pamphlet so she had read that! We are hopeful that we will meet with them again, but check this out: MIRACLE!!! Before dinner they wanted to say grace, perfect! We all hold hands, and what does K begin the prayer with? "Heavenly Father" and then he closed in the name of Jesus Christ!!!! WHO DOES THAT?! I literally turned to Sister C and mouthed/whispered "WOW!" I was shocked, so cool! I want to teach them!! Then we had a lesson with B (the one who is getting baptized in August)! I just love him, he's so great! We ended up talking about the introduction to the Book of Mormon and then Mormon and Moroni, and the Sacrament so that was different, but what he needed! 

Wednesday: Exchanged back and had zone meeting. We had a lesson with Sister O. I love her! We watched Good Things to Come by Elder Holland (the Mormon message). She cried. 2 Nephi 4, read it! I love being able to recognize that we need to do that right thing no matter what.  Sometimes we won't always see the blessings immediately, but they do come, maybe in the eternities, but they do come! We are asked to do our part now, and that's all we can do! 

We went to do some planning/inputting phone numbers into our phone by this stream... well it was infested with mosquitoes, so we left pretty quick!!! But it was GORGEOUS and I LOVED IT!!!

Thursday: Did service for a less active and talked about the Atonement, love it!!! She just needs love.  "How can each of us become such a significant influence?  We must be sure to sincerely love those we want to help in righteousness so they can begin to develop confidence in God's love.  For so many in the world, the first challenge in accepting the gospel is to develop faith in a Father in Heaven, who loves them perfectly.  It is easier to develop that faith when they have friends or family members who love them in a similar way."  -Elder Richard G. Scott

Everyone needs a fellowshipper and friend! We had a lesson with B that night... well we show up at the member’s home, they weren't home but their daughter who served a mission in Las Vegas was there. We were like “it's fine, he might not even show up.” Well he did, so we had an impromtu lesson with her, and it was INCREDIBLE!!! We talked about baptism and read 2 Nephi 31. He totally felt the Spirit and we were able to help him recognize it!!! Then the members came home and also our ward mission leader showed up to meet B so that was crazy!

Friday: 7/11 So we got free slurpees with the YSA sisters! I don't have pics because I left my camera at home! And dinner with N's mom, and found out that he listened to her read the Book of Mormon!! Sweetness!!! Slow progress, and I'll take it!!! She thinks that it would be worth billions of dollars for her kids to accept the gospel!!! The ward had dessert night, so we got to go to 3 different homes and see people there! It was great! The best was where the kids could go (two were for adults only). We played a game with some people and briefly met two promising potential investigators. 

Saturday: Well we went out and did service and it POURED!! Sometimes it is super sunny then all of a sudden decides to rain, so we got soaked!! It's like the movies. So we got pretty soaked multiple times this weekend, but that's just a day in the life of this Sister Missionary!! I wouldn't trade it for anything! We didn't have any lessons scheduled for after dinner... wow, that was a MIRACLE!! Dinner had dairy in it... and I didn't know! So I came home feeling pretty sick, and then the member called feeling horrible that there was dairy in the cake, that's ok! I am relieved to know that that's what the problem was!! So my companion foot zoned me (it's what Grandma L did up in Laramie) it helped a little, but such a great service for me! My comp is pretty awesome!!

It rained really hard and flooded this street, then right after, the sun came out!!!

 Sunday: Ok... so there is man in the ward (not a member) and we had just talked to him at his door, briefly, and got his wife's number (she is less active). Well in Ward Council that day we found out that he would be willing to roast a pig for a ward activity!!! WHAT? That's cool! He is ALL for helping us out with a BBQ type thing. Sweet-- pig fellowshipping, sign me up!!! Hopefully I will get to try pig when it is cooked in the ground soon :) B CAME TO SACRAMENT MEETING!!! So funny, we called him and he told us he would only make it to Sacrament meeting, but then we didn't tell our ward mission leader, so during priesthood (since it is swapped here and Sacrament meeting is last) he sent two ward missionaries to his house to go get him. So B was really well fellowshipped. He came and we met him out front, then brought him in to the building. Our job complete. The ward mission leader had him sit by him and his family, then after church he was like a celebrity! So many people talked to him! And since he had been to church before, but like a year ago, it was great! That night we had an awesome miracle and saw the two promising potential investigators from Friday at the R’s house!! We got to sing for him and his kid around the piano. We were at the Rs when C and his son came by. I loved singing with two of their girls while J played the piano! I can't wait to sing and play with you Nikaela :) LOOK OUT!! I felt the Spirit so strongly while we were singing, it was so great to be in a fun family setting and feel the Spirit and have our potential investigators there!

Have a fabulous week! Love you all!

Love,

Sister Kelly Smith

This is the last week of the transfer, for reals?! Time is going by SO FAST!!!

We decided we wanted pictures of us on our member’s kitchen cupboards to go along with their grandkids pics :) haha too fun! They loved it, and still have the pictures up! These are all from our missions... well most of them! She wants to leave them up to show the Young Women!!!! 

Got a Call From Jesus Christ in Colorado!

This week was pretty LEGIT!!!! We set something with a baptismal date!!!

Monday: We were going to have a lesson with R and we get to the Ss' (the members we have lessons at) and Bro. S (who is just plain funny and likes to talk to us) opened the door and then said “Oh, we were supposed to have a lesson tonight? Yes... oh well, get in the car and let's go get something to eat!” Then he shut the door and left us outside! It was really weird and funny, then I got to thinking during dinner that maybe R is allowed to get baptized now!!!! Well we went to dinner... yeah nothing. Bro. S is just funny and took us to dinner with R and C (his son). It was good, nice to get to know people more.

Tuesday: We got to go to the FAMILY HISTORY CENTER with E. Ok, IT WAS AWESOME!!! I LOVE FAMILY HISTORY WORK!! It was super good and I saw a bunch of names that can be done... but it was horrible because I can't do any of the work right now. I am only able to go to the temple like once or twice in my mission :( SAD DAY!!! But it was really good to find, well, just see those people who are ready (well their names, hopefully they are also ready cuz they are being taught in the Spirit World)! I got kind of frustrated during the day and it was a little rough in the earlier part of the day, but that's part of missionary life. Learning to deal with certain things. We got to ride in a convertible though, that was super fun!! One year since being a missionary in the Colorado Fort Collins Mission. :) It's been a pretty RIDICULOUSLY AWESOME year!!!

Before it got super windy!!! 

Loving life!!

Wednesday: I just love doing service, odd jobs for people in our ward, it's great!! We had some awesome lessons with members and it totally just strengthened my testimony of the gospel! But we had a super awesome experience! A MIRACLE happened! We had to run to Target, because we really needed something (even though p-day was Monday). We made it a super fast trip! So as we were checking out and the cashier was a YSA (young single adult)-aged girl. This was our conversation, and she was EXCITED:

Her: Oh you are missionaries!!
Us: Yeah!
Her: I haven't ever talked to missionaries before!
Us: really?! (at this point I was supper intrigued and excited)!
Her: Yeah, I see guys riding their bikes and I want to stop them to talk to them, but I haven't.
Us: You should talk to them sometime!
Her: Well I follow this girl on YouTube who has a boyfriend on a mission, and that's about all I know about you guys. I haven't seen girls before (I think she mentioned not seeing Sisters before).

We kept talking to her briefly and mentioned that we teach people and she was TOTALLY interested in meeting with us... she lives in a different area though :( SO SAD!! But she is super cool, prepared, and just awesome! We got her name, phone, and address-- it will be great! I hope she will meet with other missionaries. But we needed to be there at that time and place :) MIRACLE!!!! We had a lesson with a new family in our ward, THEY ARE SO COOL!! They moved in recently and are total dorks, LOVE THEM! We could also tell that they need us at this time due to a family situation. They love missionaries and just want us in their home, which is great! He was a Ward Mission Leader for 14 years, a convert, didn't get to go on a mission, but as ward mission leader he was involved with 260 baptisms and for a stretch of time was having a baptism a week, WHAT?! I hope that this ward catches fire and will grow like CRAZY!!!!

Thursday: I gave the training at district meeting, fun times! It actually went really well, and as a district we are going to focus more on PRAYERS!! We are going to be praying harder and more often! I am working on it too, and it's great! Someone sent this to me recently and I used it in the training: Work hard. Play hard. Prayer harder! We had a lesson that night with our investigator B. I love B, he is so cool! He is the artist, that we are adjusting teaching to art style... well he didn't read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet, and read the Word of Wisdom one instead, on accident. But that was still really good; he isn't addicted to anything, WOOHOOO!!!!! We taught the Plan of Salvation and it went really well. We used simple visual aids and it was so cool! He really likes it and was going into deeper doctrine and just thought that Heavenly Father would have children on other planets and that this universe wasn't created just for us--it was crazy. We invited him to be baptized on August 2nd, and he said.... YES!!! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH We just need to get him to church, because that's not a lot of time in between and he needs to come to church at least three times! Sister J and I planned to invite him to be baptized on the 9th.. well I slipped up and said the 2nd. Still AWESOME!!! That was a huge miralce!

Friday: Happy 4th of July!!!! It was an awesome day, filled with adventure! I loved it :) I wanted to do something fun and in public, kind of like last year. Well this wasn't planned but we got to go to a booth type event and help out, EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED TO DO!! It was great! Had fun, and got to meet R's dad in the evening at a BBQ! I hope he lets her get baptized soon... I think it is more like his last thing to hang on to before she turns 18!

Saturday: Service! I love doing service! We worked on putting contacts into our new phone... not a big fan of this phone, but hey at least it is working! Running out of email time, AAHH! We taught more people that day, but can't remember a bunch. Oh, SO FUNNY! We were working with a family on their family mission plan and one of their goals is to get their son on a date, it was priceless!! My comp and I were just like “Is this really happening?! “  Yup, it did!

Sunday: Well... right before Relief Society at church my companion accidentally called 911. Who puts a 911 button on the cell phone? Like not just key pads, but a legit one button push that calls 911. Luckily no one came and probably realized it was a butt dial! We had a crazy busy day, which was AWESOME!!! Fun story for now. We were helping another family with their family mission plan/having a lesson. We were following up with them, and guess what? Their ring tone for the home phone is: "Call from..." like the mechanical voice. Well someone called during our lesson "Call form Jesus Christ." We all started laughing so hard! This family has 8 kids so it was really funny! Turned out it was just someone from the church building calling, but still great memory! We taught R again that night, which was awesome! The Ss' daughter and son-in-law were there and usually they aren't. We talked about tithing and we think that the lesson was more for the daughter because she was commenting, so that was super cool! The Spirit works! We listened to part of a conference talk too, which I don't think I have ever done in a lesson before!

Great week, love you all!!
Love,
Sister Kelly Smith

Today: I got to see C and C form my first area :) I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!

COLORADO Hail Storm ATML20!!!!!

This week was pretty good! Pretty much a crazy thing happened EVERYDAY this week! 

Monday: Got to go slip n' sliding in the morning, which was fun! That night we had a lesson with Bro. K. We got to go over for FHE, so that was good! We just shared a short lesson, and tried to get to know their family more. We shared a message on obedience about honoring your father and mother. It went well, and Bro. K (the investigator) totally included us in their family meeting (when they talk about problems they are having and need help with). So he asked us about our families; it was awesome! Got to play Disney Apple to Apples (it was FHE got to play a game)! OK, super cool Apple to Apples version!!

Tuesday: Helped someone in the ward pack, since they are moving. Waited for Z at the park... he didn't show up :( so we went to contact a potential investigator with the member we were with. He was not home, so we asked the member to come back that night and see if he could set up an appointment. HE DID!!! J (the member), who has his mission call, went back later that night with another member of the ward and talked to this potential investigator, it was legit! Lesson with E on the temple and it went really well. A member taught it and it was so good! E didn't' realize she could go to the temple within a year of her getting baptized! That was cool! Oh so at like 11pm that night a HUGE, HUGE storm came in! The hail was so big and it hurt when it hit you! We watched it with our members (that we live with) and it was so crazy, but fun! It was so loud, and the thunder and lighting, it was CRAZY!!! 

Wednesday: Rode a tandem bike to zone meeting... 6 miles round trip. Yeah it's a 3 mile ride to our church building, no big deal! But on a tandem bike it's way harder! It was fun and just like ridiculous to be on a tandem bike with my COMPANION! I mean you get close as companions, but this was an adventure--too fun though! A member let us borrow it, loved it!! I learned a lot at zone meeting and totally got stoked to be a better missionary! I love meetings that pump me up to be better! I learned about ATML20's! Yeah I have been doing that, but to know it has a name was super cool! Basically it's a 20 minute nap... and the church advises it!! Well in Adjusting To Missionary Life (ATML) it tells us that we can take a 20-30 minute break during the day, so why not take a power nap? Yup, it's awesome! And it totally helps keep me going through the day! We also had an appointment, but they weren’t home yet so we just grabbed their rakes and cleaned their yard up after the storm. SO MANY leaves were just EVERYWHERE because of the hail! Who rakes GREEN leaves in JUNE?! We did, and they were still wet, so it was harder! But service is great, and random service is even better! We got to have a lesson with them once they got home. Then we had some time before dinner so we rode around the trailer park and were going to contact someone, but we saw a lady out front of her trailer picking up leaves too. So we stopped to help her (we were in our skirts...) we literally were picking up leaves from the gutter with our bare hands and it was gross, but it was helping her and totally worth it! Now she is a potential investigator! Hopefully we will be able to teach her soon. The lady that we went to visit her horse last week said she didnt' want contact from the church for the next 2 weeks at least. Well MIRACLE for being on bike, we rode past her outside and ended up helping her with hail damage too! It was awesome! We tapped up holes in her trailer and then got to talk to her about the atonement and gave her "His Grace is Sufficient" by Bad Wilcox to listen to! I hope she did since she had it pulled up when we left. I just hope she hit the play button and listened to it. We can only get people so far, by giving them the tools they need to feel the Spirit, it's up to them to find it and enjoy the peace that comes! 

Thursday: Crazy story that I don't have time to tell, but HUGE MIRACLE!!!! Heavenly Father knows our efforts and wants to bless us! Met with the PI that J and the other member had contacted, and now he is a NEW INVESTIGATOR!! He is an amazing artist so we are going to incorporate our teaching with his art, since he doesn't want to read the Book of Mormon on his own, only with us. We taught the restoration, which was awesome! He met with missionaries in the past and actually knows some of the ward members, and he remembers a fair amount which is cool! So I got heat exhaustion that day, so that was interesting.

Friday: I felt sick so we rescheduled exchanges and I slept for awhile. But we got to teach that evening which was great! Had a lesson with Rl, so good! Bro. S (where we had the lesson)  is a powerful teacher and just loves the gospel! He invited someone else to hear the lessons and we have that appointment this week, STOKED!!! Oh so there was still more lightning and thunder and rain that day... so guess what? We got caught in it. Well... the thunder was SUPER loud and we were outside someone's house leaving a post-it note and all of a sudden it just cracks. We were outside someone's house, on the phone with a member of the bishiopric, in the rain, and I just start freaking out, and basically freak out enough that the person on the phone can totally hear-- super embarrassing, but hilarious. I was scared, but it's all good! I am safe and well! 

My companion and I in the storm

Saturday: We got to do a lot of service, so that was fun! My companion has never really done home improvement projects, THANK YOU DAD!!!! Didn't really know how to use a paint roller to put the paint on the wall in a nice way... so that was fun! Yeah service for hours, but it was great! Then we got to teach B (the new investigator) again, and asked him to read the Plan of Salvation pamphlet and draw out what he thinks it looks like, so we will see how that goes, kind of excited to see what he envisions, and then we can clarify! 

Sunday: CHURCH!!! so R's dad won't let her get baptized yet. She's 17... but guess who came to church? HER MOM!!! Yeah R and her mom came, so that was SUPER COOL! And P (E's son who we began teaching last week) came too! It was a pretty great day! I love the Sabbath day! Remember to keep it holy! D&C 59:9-10.

Well, I have to go! Love you all! Remember that miracles happen, just keep your eyes open! Heavenly Father loves us and wants us to succeed! It is great to be a missionary at this time! We are truly seeing miracles in this area and the members finding people for us to teach! We are going to have a dinner with a non-member family because they offered to feed us since they heard from their neighbors (who are members) that we pay for our missions and that's why members feed us! And they know we will have a message at the end! 

Love,

Sister Kelly Smith