Funny Bones are NOT that Funny Sometimes...

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! Well let's just say that Satan really knows the work that could get done with me and Sister C! For reals he is trying to hinder the work and it is driving me crazy, but luckily things are ok and we are seeing MIRACLES!!!

Monday:
We went to the S's home to help them move boxes. Well they didn't need that much help, so we helped them and then we got to talk to Bro. S (who is not a member) for a while and definitely talked about how important prayer and reading the scriptures are! It was a fabulous conversation that flowed just so well! I hope that one day he will accept the gospel and I believe he will one day! At least I hope so! Then we got to teach R! I just love her! We talked about the Plan of Salvation and we drew out the "Love" one! We talked about how important it is to endure to the end and to reach the Celestial Kingdom! She asked great questions and it was just a powerful and amazing lesson! She is learning so much all the time! Even though she has been taught the Plan of Salvation a couple times she still gained new insight which was great! We saw E!!! MIRACLE!!! She was her normal self which was a HUGE RELIEF! So I don't know what has happened but I hope that her heart is changing back and that her family will give her the support she needs to come back to church, especially since she just joined the church!

Tuesday: (This is where my title comes in and a testimony builder to me of the power of angels and how Heavenly Father is truly guiding all of our lives, down to SECONDS!)
We got to do service in the morning for a member in the ward. We helped get things ready for seminary, which started the next day! It was fun! Then later in the afternoon we did service for a lady. NASTIEST SERVICE OF MY LIFE!!!!!!!! Ok, for reals it was probably not a safe environment! We scrubbed her carpet... and it probably hadn't been vacuumed for years! This was her comment to us in a non-nonchalant way, "Oh, that's poo over there, you don't have to worry about that spot." Ok, it was a very humbling experience and I'm grateful we got to help her a little bit! She was truly grateful for what we did, even though you really couldn't see much of a difference! Well, we definitely went home to shower before our dinner appointment and well, just know that this is going to be quite the story! Since we didn't have a whole lot of time Sister C decided to use our member’s master bath shower while I used the bathroom we have. As I am getting ready for the shower I hit my elbow, HARD!!! Ok, like REALLY, REALLY HARD!!!! Mind you this was my funny bone! It was NOT funny in this situation... but definitely lead to funny moments afterward! So a few second after I hit my elbow I could tell that I was about to pass out... no joke! So I quickly grabbed a towel to cover myself and then angels guided the rest. I unlocked the bathroom door and turned off the shower. After that I passed out. I don't remember falling, or losing consciousness, but I did. While this was happening, Sister C was getting ready to shower in the other bathroom, well right before she got in she realized she had forgotten a towel, so she decided to get in anyway and then call out to me to get one for her after her shower. MIRACLE!!! When she was done with her shower, she called my name because she could hear that my shower was off. She called my name about 4-5 times... she WOKE ME UP!!!!!!! I had been passed out for about 10 MINUTES!!! Apparently that is a REALLY LONG TIME to be passed out, and worrisome! So I come to, and only hear her call my name maybe twice... then after she asked me to get her a towel, which I didn't even understand, I told her I had passed out. Well.... Sister C and I have become SUPER CLOSE NOW!! haha  She RUSHED into my bathroom and she had just grabbed one of the members’ towels, and wrapped it around her. Luckily I had unlocked the bathroom door so she could get in.... She found me on the bathroom floor, with just a towel covering me, and I see her standing above me just in a towel. It was SO FUNNY, but still not good. Passing out for that long is BAD I guess! So I was able to get up and get dressed. Sister C gave me sweat pants and a t-shirt. I asked her for a skirt, but she told me I would be more comfortable in pants, fine!! I wanted to still be a missionary though! Sister C called Sister Brown (she clears all of our medical stuff) and told us to go to Urgent Care.... ok.

Well at this point I just really wanted someone to check on my elbow because it hurt SO BADLY!!! Urgent Care sent us to the ER because I had passed out, but hey they gave me an ice pack which was great! On the way to the ER I just really wanted a priesthood blessing. I was freaking out. I had never been to the ER and the reality of the fact that I had been passed out for that long isn't good was sinking in. I didn't think things could be that wrong, but there was still a chance. I am SO BEYOND GRATEFUL for the chance I have to rely on priesthood blessings. I wasn't able to get one before going to the ER, but knowing that I could was a HUGE comfort! We got to the ER and fortunately for my sake because I had a head injury I was didn't have to wait for very long in the lobby. There are some funny and strange things that go on in the ER. I am so grateful for every ER nurse that there ever was and ever will be! I don't think I could do that, and everyone who can is truly a blessing! So I got to go back and just wait for awhile in the back which was nice, but long. Sister C and I ended up laughing a lot which was weird, and yes I was also in tears a couple of times! They took Xrays of my arm, and an EKG. There was nothing wrong with my heart and my arm wasn't broken but it was TOTALLY starting to bruise and it was already swelling. In the end they told me I was fine and that I ended up passing out due to the pain of hitting my elbow. Hahaha so yeah when I am in extreme pain I pass out... uh, ok, cool to know! Well, after a few hours in the hospital, which were NOT in our plans for the day, we called Sister Brown and she told us that we could come over to their house to say goodbye to Sister H (one of the Sisters that I lived with the first 4 weeks of my mission). She finished her mission this week! So we went to President and Sister Brown's house... and I was still in my pants and a t-shirt!!! That was embarrassing! It was a huge blessing to be able to say goodbye to her on her last night as a missionary! She got to see me on my first day in the field, and I got to see her on the last of hers, it was cool! I also got to receive a blessing from my Heavenly Father through President Brown.. That was truly a tender moment for me and just a miracle. I KNOW that the priesthood power is real and that I have been healed so quickly because of it! I will have to tell you more details on that later :) But I KNOW that angels are ALL around us! They are protecting us and want to help us! It is a blessing to be loved so much by our Father in Heaven who is there for us and cares about us immensely!

Wednesday:
Took some time to heal mentally and physically! Remember that one lady with the hose... well we went back to visit her this week. Yeah, we found a lost sheep! She is a member but very less active! Willing to have us over and I hope that she will begin to change her life! It was an interesting lesson, but good! I was kind of out of it from the day before, but we talked about prayer and the importance and blessings that come from prayer! Later that night we met with J and he told us he had REPENTED!!!!!!!! Sweetness! He said he felt lighter! OK, that is HUGE!!! Sister C was SO EXCITED for him! Repentance is a HUGE deal and as we repent we can feel of our Savior's love for us more! We also met with B that night at the H’s for a brief lesson and talked about enduring to the end! Ok, one of my new favorite scriptures on enduring to the end is 3 Nephi 15:9!! We just need to look to our Savior and He will help us through, I KNOW IT!

Thursday:
We got to see Sister A and taught her the Plan of Salvation! Afterward I asked her to teach us the main words in Spanish! So now I can possibly fumble my way through El Plan de Salvacion... I just am filled with love for those I teach and it is incredible! I know that Heavenly Father loves all of His children and wants them to come back to Him! Later I went on an exchange for a couple of hours with Sister S. She served in Laramie right after me in the same wards that I did. She is so sweet and it was fun talking about Laradise and the memories we have from that wonderful town! After our exchange I was just getting down on myself and Satan was attacking. It was HARD! Sister C tried to boost my spirit by saying, "Let's go find a new investigator before dinner!" It was like 4:40ish or so. That would give us 20 minutes. I then realized that I hadn't read the Book of Mormon yet. Because I was still recovering from Tuesday I slept in and didn't get to read before our lesson and then time got away from us. So I flipped open my Book of Mormon and BAM first 2 verses I read, EXACTLY what I needed! I LOVE THE SCRIPTURES! After I read literally 2 verses of scripture I was like "Ok, I'm good now! Thanks Heavenly Father!" The Book of Mormon brings peace to my soul and I KNOW that it can and WILL bless each one of our lives in a PROFOUND yet simple way! Love them, read them, apply them! I KNOW that the Book of Mormon is true! The peace I feel truly is from God, through the Holy Ghost! We got to do service that night and just felt so needed. We also taught B again and talked about the importance/why we do family history work! It was a fabulous lesson! Just us and B (outside of course) and got eaten by mosquitoes, no big! It was a fabulous lesson and B understood the basic importance of how family history and temple work are tied, it was GREAT!

Friday:
Later in the day,as we were about to go in to a lesson with a less active family we got a text from the zone leaders giving us a room number for someone who was in the ER. Is that a joke? Then we listened to their voicemail... yup a Sister was in the ER. So we called them, told them we would come once we had this lesson. We went up to the door for the family, and Sister R answered it. Right off the bat she was like “Can we reschedule for tomorrow, I might have to take my son to the ER because he hit his head at football practice?” OK IS THIS IS A JOKE?! Three people needing to go to the ER this week... one of them being myself?! Nope, not a joke. So we went to go visit the Sister in the ER. Sister P was in the ER and is currently in a trio. So we bought the other Sisters dinner and went to the ER. It was funny and sad to be with my old companion in the ER.  She was able to leave soon after we left too, so that was good!

Saturday:
SERVICE DAY!! We helped ANOTHER family move in!!  SWEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Then we got to go to a community service project, the Corn Roast! It was SO MUCH FUN!!!! I loved it!  We talked about faith! What are some things you can do this week to work on your faith? Faith is a verb, so it requires action!

At the Corn Roast

Sunday:
BEST SUNDAY IN A LONG TIME!!!!!!!!!! Guess how many less-actives we had come to church between the two wards we cover! 11! ELEVEN!!! EELLLLEEEEVVVVEEENNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had eleven less actives at church between the two wards, SO COOL!!!!!!!!!!!!  MIRACLES!!! I just felt Jesus Christ's love for me SO STRONGLY during church, it was amazing! I KNOW that He lives and that He loves YOU! I found a cool scripture during Sacrament Meeting too :) 1 Timothy 2:7. Yeah for all of us who get to bear our testimonies to friends, family members, and EVERYONE!!!  After our many hours of church and meetings we had an incredible miracle! Sister C and I were truly lead by the Spirit to find this potential investigator... and ultimately a FAMILY OF 5!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As we were driving Sister C let me know that we should just try and visit this random house that she thought of and told me that it was a prompting. SWEET, let's go! She couldn't remember where this house was, but we were driving around trying to find it. After a while she was ready to give up. I was determined and pushed her saying it was a prompting, so you can do this. She looked at a map and found an area it could be in. She was going off of memory and looking at surroundings. A little bit later I decided to pray. After we prayed she remembered that she had an address for someone that lived on the same street as this random house that she thought of. So she looked up the address, and we ended up walking a couple of blocks to get there. On the way to the random house we decided to stop at the address that she had. It was of a potential investigator. We knocked on her door, her youngest daughter answered it and got her mom. AAAHHHH She is interested in meeting with us and has 3 kids, and we assume a husband!! A FAMILY!!!!!!!!!! We are so excited! We got her number and she said that we could text her! FOR REALS? YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!! It was just so natural to talk to her and see if we could meet, it was fantastic!!! We went on to the random house that Sister C had originally thought of. They weren't even home! Through the Spirit and round about ways, we were able to find this family! This testified to me again the power of companions and why we have companions!  I love miracles and I know that Heavenly Father wants us to find His children at certain times! I would have done the same things Sister C would have if I hadn't had a companion push me more to find this certain place. The Holy Ghost is real. Heavenly Father loves us IMMENSELY! Jesus Christ's atonement is for EVERYONE! I love you all, and just know that I KNOW I am being watched and cared for! The power of the priesthood is REAL and because it is the power of God, all things are possible! Even healing injured funny bones :)

Love you all, thanks for the support!
Sister Kelly Smith

And Then There Were Two

Wow, this week... um this was a VERY different and interesting week! It felt like it was a month long, and yet it felt like only a few days have passed. There was so much and then so little--it was really weird. Not sure what to think of it. So here goes on trying to explain it.

Monday: We got to meet with R and we taught part of the first lesson and used the apostasy cups (a visual aid that really shows that we have the exact same church again here on the earth that Jesus Christ set up) and talked about the priesthood. It was PERFECT!!! She told us that her dad was worried that this was a new church and because we talked to her and showed her about the church that Christ set up when He lived on earth, it really gave her comfort that this ISN'T a new church at all, but it has been here since Adam’s time.   We also found out her dad's concern for why he doesn't want her to get baptized! WOOOHHOOOO it's not a tough one and just a very dad-like concern. YES!! I love R! She is a wonderful person. Then we met with C, who had another one of his friends over...so we have a new investigator. A is sweet, and during the lesson we talked about temples.  Low and behold guess who's dad poured the foundation of the TEMPLE? A’s dad! What?! Ok, that's SO COOL. 

So, back story from the past few weeks and why I might have seemed more stressed than usual. One of my companions was having a hard time health wise (and she has for a couple of months but has kept pushing through trying to find solutions). Well a lot of things happened and it wasn't good at all. It got to a point where I was so scared that I was seeking help from other people who might know how to handle this type of health situation. Luckily I have amazing family and friends who told me to call the mission president. Well Monday evening it was getting worse, so after our lesson with R, I called our mission president. I was so nervous to call him!  By the way, this is not something the average missionary has to deal with. 

Tuesday: I was able to get back to normal missionary life for a little bit and it was a relief. We stopped by a less active’s home that I haven't met in this area yet, even though we had tried before. She totally let us in and wanted us to help her sometime with cleaning her house, SWEET!!!  We are glad and totally willing to help you!! That was a huge miracle to talk to her briefly and set up a time to come back and help. She needs a lot of help and could really use the gospel back in her life. We also got to help with tying quilts and it was so fun! I love Sister S who we worked on the quilts with! We ended the night by meeting with J (the teenager that came to church last week). It was a fabulous lesson and he totally felt the Spirit! Now we have to use that to help him the best we can. The Spirit is the true teacher and works on both ends. Those who are teaching the gospel and those who are learning or re-learning! Then we stopped by Young Women/Young Men’s, and it was a pool party. The Young Women president asked us to drop by. Obviously, we did NOT go swimming, and it has never really been a temptation for me on my mission, but that looked like so much fun! I enjoyed talking to some of the youth. I love the youth of the church!

Wednesday: Wow, this was a very crazy, weird, "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" type of day! During studies I was thinking, “I wonder if President Brown will call us?”... Well he did, during Personal Study and he asked us to meet with him that night.  I was on edge the rest of the day, so nervous. District meeting went really well. I love feeling the Spirit and being with other missionaries that have a desire to work and love the gospel and want to further improve how to teach and what to do to help those we are teaching. We did some service afterwards, pulling weeds and moving rocks. Then we helped a non-member move a grill, that was cool. Especially since she hasn't liked missionaries in the past and then asked for our help, MIRACLE!! Hearts are softening, it's so great! Then we had dinner with C. She is an investigator I have only met with once since being in the area. She asked us when she could meet with us and wanted to take us to dinner, OK!!! So we testified to her and just talked to her, it was fantastic.  From there... we went to President Brown's house. That was really different, meeting at his house.  I just LOVE and respect them so much! They truly care about each of us in the mission and want the best for us. It turns out that Sister M is leaving our companionship and will get the medical attention she needs.  So now it is just Sister C and me.

Thursday: Sister C woke up sick... haha so it was a good day to rest since I needed to re-group from what had just happened the past few days.  I'm grateful to know that President holds the priesthood keys for us and that the medical team for missionaries around the world help him to know what is best for us missionaries in a medical sense. Sister C had a cold but we still taught B that night. We were able to teach him in the Mc’s home! WWWOOOOHHHHOOOOO! It was PERFECT! He totally understood Faith and Repentance and that we can repent DAILY!!! It was so great to be able to testify to him and for the Mc’s to testify to him and it was just great! Then after the lesson we jammed for a bit (they are a really musical family so Bro. Mc was trying to teach us the guitar).

Friday:  15 MONTHS!!! I got to have my interview with President Brown and we talked about coming unto Christ and the atonement. I mentioned I had had a hard time recently. He pointed out that as I suffer I can better understand what Jesus did for me, and vice versa. Because He suffered for me, He knows how I am feeling. Have I mentioned I love President Brown? The atonement is real, and suffering does help us to know Christ more. Mosiah 3:5-7 and Mormoni 10:32-33!!!

We really enjoyed these balloons!!

The ward carnival was INCREDIBLE!! It was at a park in the middle of our ward boundaries and the neighborhood was invited, WOW!! What an amazing turnout!! There were SO many people there and it was a party!! We got a solid potential investigator and are going to visit them this week :) Helping little children feel loved and helping them smile by giving them a balloon was great! At the end of the night we walked the A's home because sister A was with her kids by herself and her son can't see at night (he is going blind).  :(   We asked her if we could help and she was like “THANK YOU, I was praying someone would help me!” I enjoyed talking to them and just walking them home. As I walked with their 7 yr. old daughter I asked her to help me with my Spanish. I learned how to say “I popped the balloon!”  I would mess up and she would just LAUGH and LAUGH it was the cutest thing!  I will treasure that memory forever!

More fun at the carnival!

Saturday: Got to cook the M's dinner and then stopped by the Mc’s since they said they had non-members there and we could come share a message, Yes, PLEASE!! It was great.  It was like a common thing for missionaries to come by their house and just share messages, yes, yes it is!!! 

Sunday: C and K from Wyoming CAME TO SEE ME AT CHURCH!!!!!!!!!!!! Best thing ever to end this crazy stressful week!!!  I’ve run out of time or I’d write more….

Love you all,

Sister Kelly Smith

Hose Miracle and a Baptism!

This week was very interesting and fun! This is a quick one, sorry!

Monday: Met with R.  I love R and we finally got to meet with her! Guess what? SHE'S GETTING BAPTIZED!!!! I love her so much! I can't even begin to describe how HAPPY I was when she told us that she had finally RECOGNIZED her answer that the Book of Mormon is true and that this is the fullness of the truth restored!!! I teared up, and that doesn't usually happen to me in lessons! The Spirit was there and it was FANTASTIC!! So I invited her to be baptized on the 13th of Sept. the day after her 18th birthday! I really hope her dad's heart is softened and he is supportive of her decision! Prayers work, I know it!!!

Tuesday: Lesson with J went really well! We talked about the Sacrament and asked him to come to church. He said if he didn't have anything come up he would come. So I said, “Well you can just plan to come, and then if something comes up, tell them you can join them later.”  He said “Sure.”  And I was like “SWEET! We will see you at church!” Haha too funny! He said he was tricked in to that one, but you know what, he said sure! Lesson with N did not go as well... we dropped him, but it's ok. He said that he would listen to us when he was studying Christianity. He is on Hindu and it will take him awhile. It was sad to drop him, but it was needed and we felt prompted by the Spirit that it was the right thing to do.

Wednesday: Zone meeting that morning and I got to give a training with Sister C as Sister Training Leaders! It was great! I love talking about Christ-like attributes. I will be working on humility for the next little bit. Now I am even more accountable for it to all of you. Thanks for helping me with this :) The rest of the day was well...frustrating, like WOW! I was just on edge or something, but things just weren't going right. At the end of the day, I got a priesthood blessing which really helped. I know Heavenly Father loves all of us SO MUCH! And He is just waiting and willing to talk with us, give Him the chance to talk to you! Pray, read the scriptures, go to church, and if needed/wanted get a priesthood blessing. I know they help! Met with B and he was having a difficult time with understanding a concept, so that was hard.

Thursday: EXCHANGES!!!!!!!!!! I got to go on my first exchange back as an Sister Training Leader (STL)! It was AWESOME! I learned a lot on the exchange which was great! I went with Sister M (who also speaks Spanish) in the Spanish area but didn't get to use any of my limited Spanish, sad day. She joined the church at 16 and came out at 19, only active member in her immediate family. I am SO BLESSED with the family I have! I love them SO MUCH!!! We came back up to my area for a lesson with B. We went over the same principle from the night before and HE GOT IT!!! WOOHOO!! That was a HUGE MIRACLE!! Realization: people understand things better when they are taught in a member’s home with someone who holds the priesthood! It was a super cool realization! The lesson just went so much smoother and the Spirit was stronger and I didn't get as frustrated! I usually don't get frustrated in lessons but the clarity that was there the second time was just WAY better!!!

Goal: to get to the Celestial Kingdom, by living the gospel of Jesus Christ! Love this game!!! 

Friday: M’s!! I love this family! We met with them and it was great! Sister M just had surgery but said she would come to sacrament meeting in a wheelchair! OK!!! LOVE THEM so MUCH!!!!

Saturday: Went to a baptism of an 8 yr old we have been teaching. I love the Spirit at baptisms SO MUCH!! The Holy Ghost really testified to me of the importance of baptism and how we need it to enter the kingdom of heaven TO LIVE WITH GOD. It was powerful! I love this church with all my heart!!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love being a missionary and get to talk to people about this all the TIME!!!!!!!!!!! Afterward we were in the trailer park and we drove by this house with a hose on the deck just spraying water... weird. So I turned around and we went to go talk to them about it. I was walking up the stairs while one of my companions went to turn off the hose and the lady comes out "Hey, what are you doing? -----OOOHHH!" and noticed the water. She called us "Sisters" without even us introducing ourselves! ok... then we asked why she called us Sisters, well because our nametags say it "and I am a sister too." OK, so at this point we think she is a less active member that has just been off the grid. She told us she joined the church at 16. OK cool! But then she said something else and we really have NO idea if she is a member or not! But we got her name and number and she said we could call her and come back, since I asked if we could come visit her because we are still trying to get to know the ward!! MIRACLE for stopping the car and trying to help someone! It's the small miracles that I love!!!!

Sunday: There were a few people that didn't come to church, but J did!!!!! So did N! We taught N also last week and Sister C taught her this week while I was on an exchange. But she came to church for the first time which was AWESOME!!!  But J CAME!!!!!!!!!!!! He came for Sacrament meeting and missed the sacrament but hey it was progress!!!! R came too, WWOOOHOOO!!!!!! I love her so much! I just love the people I teach, even if it is hard when they don't understand a concept, I am grateful Heavenly Father is patient with me and loves me dearly and loves all of his children! I KNOW IT!!!

Humility is a sign of spiritual strength! I realized I haven't been sharing what I am learning in Preach My Gospel. Well, humility in chapter 6 is what I studied one morning this week and WOW! It was incredible!!!!

Alma 27:25-26! I love being a missionary and sharing my conversion with people! Bearing testimony! Prayers and studying the scriptures are effective. Do it! Heavenly Father loves you! The sacrament can provide us with strength! You can get through hard things, I know it! I love you all! Thanks for the support! The Atonement is REAL! Jesus Christ is always there for you!

Love,
Sister Kelly Smith

Craziest Question: "So, you believe in Star Trek?!"

One thing I now realize I regret... watching Star Trek before I started my mission! 

So much rain!  This is not usually a pond.

Monday: We met with M, who is so cool! She got her temple recommend and just now needs to get to the temple for her endowment :) AAAHHHH We talked about how important enduring to the end through our trials are. I know that enduring to the end is SUPER IMPORTANT and will bless our lives immensely as we continue to live the gospel throughout our lives :) We stopped by the K family’s after not seeing them for a long time. We just talked on their porch to establish a better relationship with them, it was great! At the end of our conversation Bro. K said that we could stop by anytime. Next time we might just have to share a message :) I hope that he will eventually want to read the Book of Mormon. 

Tuesday: SUPER CRAZY FUN DAY!!!! Played bingo with elderly people and as we were walking in I saw a YW in the ward with the kids she nannies! She had looked at the Just Serve website and wanted something to do with the kids. GREAT IDEA!!! Had a lesson on prayer with Sister A (a less active sister). Sister W (who just moved in recently to the ward) speaks Spanish and came with us. Yay for fellow-shipping --  the lesson went well and Sister A said she would pray with her family each night, or try to! I hope they do. Family Prayer is so important! I have totally realized even more so now the importance of family activities. Sister A and Sister W offered to teach us how to make chocolate flan and tres leche cake.  Well... I can't eat either of those (they have milk in them) but that's ok! I will help make it for the fast that we are having with a less active and part of a friendship starting to form because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It will still be fun even if I can't eat it :) I love Hispanic and Peruvian people! Sister W is from Peru and she is so great, I just love her! Taught N, a 74 yr. old investigator, the Plan of Salvation. She hopefully will eventually want to come to church. This week we are going to see if she will come to our church if we go to hers. She said she will read the Book of Mormon, SWEETNESS!!!!!!!!! She flat out told us though that she is close-minded.. but we don't feel like we should drop her, so we will keep on teaching and loving her :) Nathan's lesson went same as usual... he listened to his mom read the rest of 3 Nephi 11 to him. We are really working on the prayer aspect. Even if he doesn't progress right now, the lesson we had with him was powerful for his mom. His mom is returning to the activity in the church, and WOW!!! She TESTIFIED so powerfully to him. She wants him to join the church SO BADLY. She knows how much it will bless his life and she loves him. How much more does our Heavenly Father love us and want us to teach His children the gospel so they can return to Him? He could do this on His own, but He lets us be a part of His work, missionary work! It's a win--win situation! They are blessed as we bear testimony and we are blessed as we bear testimony because ours is strengthened. Lesson with a 17yr. old less active, J.  We talked about faith and repentance. He said he would pray this week, WWOOOHOOOO! Then on Friday he showed up to the ward BBQ. SWEET!!! I love seeing progress, even though I just met him :) So it was about 8:25 at night and we needed to see B, since he was getting baptized at the end of the week and we need to teach him a few more things (usually by this point we would have taught everything but B gets side tracked and we end up talking about other gospel things other than what we needed to teach him, which is good, but just not the basics that we have been asked to teach). So we got there around 8:30ish and it was just a doorstep lesson. We taught 8 principles, yes EIGHT, within 15-20 minutes! Obedinece, prayer, scripture study, tithing (clarified that one since we had taught it before), teaching and learning in the church, service, missionary work, and enduring to the end. IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!! B got it, too :) It was a MIRACLE we were able to stay that focused and it flowed so well!! We got in the car and freaked out, it was so funny!!! We planned to teach a few principles and Heavenly Father just guided that conversation, it was SO COOL!!!! 

Fort Collins temple under construction

Wednesday: Got to see the temple, yay for progress!!! District meeting was so good. Revelation through prayer, love it!!! It is so important to pray, and I am working on making my prayers more meaningful. Prayer is key for those we teach. Through prayer they are communicating with our Heavenly Father to come to know if this is all true. Finding out what God wants them to know, it's awesome!! Stopped by a less active’s home, and she has gone through some tough things but she is coming back to the church, which is great! She came to church on Sunday! I am excited to do service for her this week.

Thursday: B passed the baptismal interview  WWOOOHOOO, it’s a “go” for Saturday :) He wants to draw a picture for the church building, sweet!!! We asked him who he wanted to give a talk at his baptism. His answer: "Monahan, I want him. I want him to do it." I BUSTED UP LAUGHING!! He can never get President Monson's name right and calls him Monahan! Well, President Monson did not give a talk at B's baptism.  Lesson with N, who is investigating the church, was really good but hard. We watched the Restoration video with her because we wanted to talk about the Godhead (she believes in something like the trinity but a triad?) At the end of it we asked her how she felt when Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and she started out by saying "Honestly?..."  Uh-oh. But it went well; we understood more of what she believes and how we can now go from there to best help her. At least she is still reading the Book of Mormon. We had a crazy lesson at the B family’s. Oh, the B’s who were in Longmont moved to Fort Collins and are now in one of the wards I serve in, that was funny when they opened the door and I was like "Oh, HI!" Taught a non-member at their home and wow, he is interesting! He believes Jesus Christ was light-- beamed to the Americas from a UFO and people just thought that was a miracle. But people all over were being light--beamed and that UFO's were present during the time of Native Americans... uh, ok! He is atheist. One of my comps asked him, "So you believe in Star Trek?!" funniest thing ever! We just all started laughing, but yeah that was essentially what he says he believes in, the Satr Trek theory! ok, yeah we don't think he is ready to hear the gospel yet, he kept shooting us down. But it was cool to see the B’s testify and when people were testifying the Spirit was there, but he would kind of just shoot it down, SO SAD!!  

Friday: Mission Leadership Council. It felt so good to be back, but it was different! I was a Sister Training Leader (STL) with the older people in the mission... some Sisters were the same as when I was an STL, and some Elders, which was fun! It was a great meeting and I was spiritually edified. I also was like AAAHHHH I really need to step it up even more! I only have a few months left of my mission, NO! I love President and Sister Brown.

Lesson with K, she's 8 getting baptized next week! We didn’t set up a return appointment since we pretty much finished the lessons but then her grandma asked if we were coming back... uh sure if you want us to! She TOTALLY wants us to! She wants us to help her grandson understand that his prayers are getting answered, OK!!! It was awesome that she knew that we could teach him and that it will help him! I love this lady :)

Sister C, me, J, B, and Sister M at B's baptism

Saturday: Fun day! We met with the Zone Leaders to go over zone meeting and had breakfast with one of our zones with the stake president. Helped someone weed their garden, and then well... B GOT BAPTIZED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a great service. Pretty much that was the highlight of the day :) What made it EVEN COOLER was that when I got to the stake center we saw J and he told us that he was going to baptize B instead of the Ward Mission Leader!! Aaahhh, I GOT SO EXCITED! J was leaving the NEXT morning for Utah, because he enters the Mission Training Center (MTC) on August 6th!  And right after the baptism he was going to be set apart to be a fulltime missionary, SWEET!! It was just so cool to think that J, who went over with a member of the ward to B's house weeks ago asking if we could come by, since getting  us an appointment, was now baptizing him! It was awesome!! B is so funny! He waved to everyone after he was baptized and he was still in the font! haha I loved being able to sing at his baptism!

Sunday: The Sacrament is one of the best things of my life! I am so beyond grateful for that ordinance. I love the fact that we have a chance to repent and change DAILY and then take the Sacrament each week. The Spirit was so strong during testimony meeting, I just loved it! I didn't want it to end. I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and a Savior that is always there! B received the Holy Ghost. Sister Cardon and I went out later that evening and taught two lessons.  The temple is the ultimate goal, think about that and then ENDURE TO THE END! 

I went on Mormon.org and typed in "Kelly mission," and this is what popped up!

This is real, this is true, and I love you! hahaha that rhymed, how fun!   Continue to have faith in Jesus Christ and the atonement He performed -- amazing strength can come from it! 

Love you all, 

Sister Kelly Smith