Week 67 - God answers prayers 💓

September 23, 2019

Welcome back to the live update of Sister Smoot. So many incredible things that I learned this week that I just can't wait to share it with y'all. 

First and foremost, I know this church is true and I love declaring that everyday. This week I had many opportunities to share it and my favorite was by far the lesson we had with Jeff and Ky. We were on exchanges and I was with the lovely Sister Trythall, we taught them the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they loved it. We invited them to be baptized and they both said, "i might" with a smile upon their face. For now they are continuing their spiritual journey but feel something right here. 

Sister Taylor was sick one day this week and had to stay in, so I called people all day long but it was totally worth it!! We started teaching this lady named Elsie who had previously met the missionaires and no one ended up calling her. So when I called her she was very excited! We set up a time to get together and had a great lesson, at the end she recited the whole restoration back to us and said "it totally makes sense". I LOVE WHEN IT CLICKS FOR PEOPLE!! 

We had a few fun things this week, as well. We did the Book of Mormon Experiment which is something the church is doing around the world. It was so weird!!! We wore normal clothes, no name tag, and went by our first name. We had a display set up and if people came and looked at it then we could invite them to paritcipate. We gave them a printed out page of the Book of Mormon and told them "this is a page of religious text, will you read it and Mark references to God or Jesus Christ?" It was fascinating to see what people thought of this "religious text" and then how their view changed after they heard it was the Book of Mormon. It's so sad how the world has put this bad rap on the Word of God. It testified to me that you have to have an open heart and be willing to try things out before you know if it's good or not! It was a lot of fun though and definitely a learning experience. 

We also had an international dinner for stake conference and it was so cool!! I love how diverse it is here. Members brought food from all over; Dominican Republic, Cape Verde, Brazil, Nigeria, Philipines, Haiti, and other countries. The food was all so delicious and it was fun to be apart of so many different cultures. 

Something that stood out to me this week is that God answers prayers and he knows your individual needs!! As the quotes says, "Often, the answer to our prayer does not come while we're on our knees but while we're on our feet serving the Lord and those around us." 

Lately I've been praying and felt like I haven't been receiving answers to any of my questions. As I was having a conversation with someone my prayer was answered. I wasn't even having the conversation to recieve anything for myself but God knew it was what I needed. You never know how God will answer your prayers but I'm grateful to know that he always will. 

Kind of going along those same lines, someone told me, "The Lord has a gameplan, he is the coach, now let him guide you" it's very true, God knows what he is doing and is the only coach we should trust with our life. 

A lot of other great things happened, but that'll be it for now. I just want all of you to know that I am grateful for the knowledge I have of the Gospel, the fact that it keeps me grounded, and keeps me focused on the things that matter most. I undoubtly know this is Christ's church and he is the ultimate person we can turn to for anything we need. 

I love you all and I know God does too! 

Keep on keepin on folks.