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