Week 71 - "People man"

October 21, 2019

What a week my friends! Not gonna lie this was one of the most unsuccessful weeks of my whole mission yet so much fun! We had every lesson but 1 fall through, so not much of an update! The people of Boston are crazy, in case you didn't know that! After getting off every train or bus sister Oakes will look at me and say "people man" because they are just so crazy!!! I'm so grateful for Sister Oakes because she is always making me laugh and we just have such a great time together! She is such a bright spot and lights up the room. 

One experience I did want to share was about our new friend Kenny. 

After 4 days of not finding success we continued to keep workin, talking with everyone and trying our best. We had set a goal to have 1 person at church Sunday but no one we were teaching could come. It was Saturday night at about 8:55pm when Sister Oakes starting talking with this guy Kenny. We had to get off the train but we gave him our card with our number. He ended up calling us that night and asked for the address to church and said "I feel like God is telling me I need to go". Long story short, he came to church and he loved it!! He feels like this is where God wants him to be. 

This experience testified to me that when we don't give up and when we keep trying our best, even when things aren't going good, God will bless us for any effort we put in! 

This week President Ballard and Elder Christofferson came and did a devotional for the New England area and it was a great experience! I loved when Elder Christofferson spoke about how by small and simple means we can gain a testimony of the Gospel. When he was talking about prayer he said we need to make sure we pause afterwards and give God time to respond to us. Often times, its so much easier to get done praying and check the box and carry on with the day. However, God wants to speak to us and he wants to give us answers and all he asks for is a little bit of our time. 

We had a devotional as just missionaries and something that was said really stuck out to me, "knowledge in this work is confidence". I've seen this countless times on my mission. The more I know and the more I recognize the truthfulness of the gospel, the more I want to declare it and share it! 

I had my departing interview with President this week (crazyyyyyyy) and he gave me some good advice. He talked about how we have good things we can do but we always have to be putting our priorities first. Reading, praying, church, serving, etc. This is something I have come to realize that had definitely changed my life and drawn me closer to the Savior. 

I know that Leaders of the church are inspired and truly called of God. They are here to not only protect us but to guide us in all that we do. Im grateful for the power of revelation bearing truth to me that there are living prophets and apostles today who guide Christ's church. What a privilgae it is to hear from them and receive their counsel. 

I also got to see Megan(convert from Madison) this weekend and what a delight that was!! She is doing so well and I sure love her. Grateful for the crazy experiences I've had as a missionary and the many more I'll have. 

Keep livin the good life! 

Xoxo. Sister Smoot 

Week 70 - Anotha day, anotha dolla💲

October 15, 2019

Every morning I wake up and say "anotha day, anotha dollar" so as the days pass by it goes to "anotha week, anotha weekly" Hello from Sister Smoot in Boston! Get that? I'm still in Boston and will be staying here for my last and final transfer and I couldn't be more happier! My new companion is Sister Oakes and she is from Mesa Arizona and this is her first transfer, so it's been really fun introducing her to the crazy life of being a missionary. Training is a lot harder than I expected but it's also a lot of fun! 

We had a dinner our 3rd night together and I left choosing the message that we were going to share, up to her! As she chose something and we shared it, the member started laughing and said "this is exactly what I needed to hear, we were talking about this last night!". It bore powerful testimony to me that no matter how old, young, experienced, whatever it may be, we are all equal to God and he will allow the spirit to work through all of us. 

This week started off so beautifully with a trip to the temple with Zainab. Man, isn't that a special and unforgettable experience? I love the spirit that is there, its always a great reminder that everything is going to be okay and the only thing that matters is God. Right after Zainab got baptized for a few people she sat there by me and we got to be witnesses of the baptism. She looked over at me and said, "I'm praying they accept the baptism". 

We had a great lesson with our little buddy, Frovonski and he has been praying about the Book of Mormon but hasn't received an answer yet. He got permission from his dad to start coming to church with us! He is such a cool kid. 

We had a lesson with this super cool guy that we met on the train, his name is Jay and he is solid!! He reminds me of my Brother Kyler, down to earth and loves the outdoors. He sadly is super busy with rugby right now and can't meet but I know as he reads from the Book of Mormon he will realize that he has found what he is looking for. 

Ky and Jeff are still doing really good! They have been discussing a lot about baptism lately and we are hoping to officially set a date with them. 

Nancy and there family are doing good, we are super excited because this weakened we have 2 Apostles coming to New England for a devotional and we are going with Nancy and her family to it! I hope this is what will solidify the truthfulness of the gospel to them. 

Other than that, nothing too crazy has happened! This week Sister Taylor and I were having a great talk and she said something that really stuck out to me. 

She said, "It's easier to recognize the hand of God in the lives of others than it is in our own"

How true is that? It's easy to recognize how others are being blessed, how they are changing, but when it comes to reconginizing it for ourselves, often times it can be very difficult. Always remember to recognize the good in your everyday! 

I'm so grateful to be out here. Grateful I am able to represent my Savior. Love you all! 

I'm so grateful to be out here. Grateful I am able to represent my Savior. Love you all!

Week 69 - "I'm in love"

October 7, 2019

Nancy summed up my week by her response to conference, "I'm in love". I'm in love with my mission. I'm in love with the gospel. I'm in love with the savior. I am so happy and so blessed to be here in Boston. This week we have transfers but unfortunately we won't find out until Tuesday evening if we will be leaving or not. Praying I get to stay in the blessed land of Boston ❤ 

Well, I hope you all enjoyed conference as much as I did. It was very empowering and a great reminder to trust in the Lord and in his plan. Life has taken a lot of hard and unexpected turns lately but I'm grateful for the reassurance and knowledge that God will always make things work together for our good and all he asks is that we trust in him. How simple is that? 

Nothing too crazy happened this week, had 2 more exchanges with the lovely sisters, Sister Lima and Sister Woolley. It was so fun being with both of them. As always, we worked hard, laughed, and loved. 

Few quick updates on the work, Jeff and Ky are doing fabulous!! This week in our lesson they had so many questions we were able to answer. They watched conference and had a lot of great things stick out to them. I sure love them. 

Sadly, we were teaching Elsie the other day and she was telling us about how her brother in law has been sick and when we were there with her she received a call saying that he had just passed away. It was so tragic to hear but we know God has a plan. 

Got to cook with Some Brazilians this week and that was fun, I love being out here because we are surrounded by so many different cultures and we get to learn about so many of them. 

Signing off today with a quote from conference, Michelle Craig was talking about a verse in Nephi and she pointed this out "Nephi says "A way" not "The way"". 

God's plan for YOU is perfect. It may not be what you expect but it will always be what you need. Trusting in God and his plan is never easy but I testify that His way is always the path that leads to happiness.  

It was a pretty casual and simple week so not much of an update. Hope you all had the opportunity to feel of Christ's love this weekend as you watched His Holy Prophet speak to us. Always remember him in all that you do. Time to run off to the city, catch ya later! Love you all💓

Xoxo. Sister Smoot

Week 68 - You can open the gates of Heaven and witness Christ's healing power!

September 30, 2019

Wanna know what's better than being a missionary? Absolutely nothing. Hello hello and once again I'm not sure how another week has come and gone. 

There were so many experiences that helped my testimony grow this week.

One, I love the priesthood. We got a random call from someone visiting from Texas and she said that her husband had surgery and needed a blessing. How incredible that you can go almost anywhere in the world and receive a priesthood blessing. You can open the gates of Heaven and witness Christ's healing power, it's such a beautiful miracle! 

Another thing I learned is that Heavenly Father really does take our weakness and magnifies them into something greater and turns them into strengths. My whole mission I have really struggled with teaching and always feel like I'm not going to have the knowledge or right thing to say. It's something I've constantly been working to overcome and this week I realized that I actually love teaching now and have so many things I want to share and want to always be talking! It's crazy how the Lord can help you in ways you didn't think he could. 

Last but not least, another lesson I learned this week is that the Worlds standards and God's standards are no where close to eachother. I often times will tell myself "well it could be worse and I could be doing this" but really, we should be holding ourselves to the Lord's standards and not the Worlds. 

Now onto the updates in the work! 

-Jeff and Ky are still doing so well!! This week we told them I might be leaving and they said "well we want to finish the conversion with both of you here, so let's make it happen" THEY WANT TO BE BAPTIZED!!! It made my heart so happy. 

-I don't know if you remember the boy I talked about, Forvinski, we stopped by this week and he was so excited to show us what he did. He took the picture of Christ out of the Book of Mormon and taped it to his wall. We got to teach him about Joseph Smith and the Restoration. 

- We met someone new this week, Gene, and he is a straight legend! He is really eager to learn more. He walked us back to the bus station afterwards and blasted some Jesus music on his speaker on the way there. He officially has a "The sisters" playlist on YouTube. 

Well that all for now, gotta go have some fun in Boston while I can. 

I'm looking forward to General Conference this weekend, y'all better tune in! 

Love you all and always remember to keep fighting the good fight and smilin!

Xoxo. Sister Smoot 

Tip of the day: Pancake runs are the best things ever.