September 2, 2019
Geepers! What a week it has been. To sum it
up I'll use a quote from someone in the train station, "that didn't stop
ya". We were running for a bus and missed it and one of the guys we ran
past pointed at my boot and said that which describes the whole week. Nothing
stopped us, not even the dang boot! (Hopefully it comes off Wednesday🤞) The
past few days have literally been the best!! We have worked and grinded so
hard. We have been putting in almost 13 hour days and contacting people like
crazy and it's never felt so good. Boston is the blessed place to be.
My new companion Sister Taylor is incredible.
We both work very similarly and just want to work so hard which is so nice. She
is an answer to so many of my prayers and I'm so grateful that God allowed me
to be with her.
There were so many things I learned this week
and so many miracles that occurred.
-To give a little bit more detail, Zainab got
baptized last weekend and it was so beautiful. She got up and bore her
testimony and shared a lot of experiences she's had in her life. She is so
strong and was so excited for a new start. After she came out of the water she
said "I'm changed for the better". Today we were supposed to go to
the temple with her but Zion got sick :(
-Gladys! She is so dang cute and so easy to
love. We've been going and reading the Book of Mormon with her and this week we
invited her to be baptized and she said she's been thinking about that and
wants to be! Nov. 9th here she comes🗓
-Donna also accepted a baptismal date of Nov.
21st🗓 and was so excited to tell us this week that God has confirmed to her to
be baptized on that day. She has been telling all her friends and family and is
looking forward to it!
More importantly then the way the Lord has
blessing us in our efforts of carrying out his work, I feel that this week I
have had many valuable lessons that I've learned through some
experiences.
-Never let go of an opportunity to serve. The
other day we saw someone carrying their groceries up some stairs and we jumped
in and helped. We met the grandma, son, and his 2 kids, Fervenski and Ada.
Fervenski is about 11 years old and when we met him he gave me knuckles and
said "sister Smoot, come back and see us!!" And as we were walking
away said "don't forget about us". This week we decided to go stop by
and when Fervenski opened the door he lit up so much and immediately put his
arms out to come hug me. Because of this experience I truly learned how Christ
like service can affect people in so many ways. Fervenski taught me that day
that we don't have to know someone for too long for them to make an impact in
our life.
-We were on the train and could tell that
this girl, Kelsie, was really struggling with where she was at in life. We sat
down next to her and started talking with her. She started bawling and said
"no one has ever reached out to me. When people see me they laugh and
takes videos and immediately judge me" She is homeless and very heavily
addicted to drugs. I don't care what someone has done or the choices they are
making we should treat them as one of God's children. She helped me to
understand that everyone is hurting in some way and that we should never judge
someone according to their choices but to look deeper in to see them for who
they truly are.
-President Nelson simply stated, "If you
want to be happy, keep the commandments" this week I really learned that
every time we show God we are striving to be the most obedient we can be he
really blesses with us hope, courage, and happiness. Focusing on obedience and
diligence this transfer has already helped me to be so much happier.
Update on the seafood: I ATE SUSHI!!! For
dinner, the members had us make sushi and I was terrified but it actually
wasn't too bad. 🍣 Everytime I eat something like that I just think about what
Mama Smoot would be saying and she would be so proud (;
This week we had MLC and we were eating
lunch. President sat down by us and looked at me and said, "sister. You go
home in 2 transfers" and it really hit me hard.. the mission has gone so
fast and I'm so grateful for the many things I have learned and qualities I
have gained. To end this email today I want to share a simple quote.
"By our actions we show our
love"
I have been thinking a lot about how actions
speak so much louder than words. Many of the Christ like attributes are only
obtained through our actions not by the things we say. Always remember that we
are here to be Christ's hands and to minister to others in the way he
would.
I know this church is true. I know that the
Savior, Jesus Christ is our ultimate example and someone we can contiously look
to. Allow him to work with you and you will see wonders.
I love you all and appreciate you.
Keep on keepin on.
Xoxo. Sister Smoot
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