Hey Fam,
I am so grateful that you are all doing well! That will be fun to have the family in town for Thanksgiving. Are you having it at Grandma and Grandpa Smiths this year? Please send me lots of pictures okay? Yes I can totally teach Justin a few lessons and then when he is ready he can have the missionaries in the area teach him. It would be so fun to see their family. I bet all of the kids are getting so big! Let me know when a good time is for him and then we will get it all set up. I get my iPad on December 11. But we can still have Skype sessions at the mission office.
Okay so so so much has happened this week. This will be a long email because I have so much to say!!! Okay first off I went on 2 exchanges with Sisters this week. I was pretty nervous before but then I realized as I put trust in the Lord he will guide me and help me know how I can help these sisters. They all are such wonderful sisters and I have already learned so much. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to see how all of these sisters do missionary work. It is also exhausting. Sometimes these sisters just need someone to talk to. My energy is usually drained by the end of the week but it is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done.
So Thursday Sister McCormick had a doctor’s appointment because her throat has been killing her lately. Well the doctor said that her vocal cords are strained and she needs to be on vocal rest for 2 weeks!! Can you believe it! My companion cannot talk for 2 weeks. It’s been pretty tough since then because I am still getting to know the area and I have to do all of the talking. We talked to President and he told us that we should be in a trio till she can talk again. So on Saturday we picked up a sister; she and her 3 companions are going to rotate every couple of days. What fun!
On Friday we had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy come and speak to our mission. His name is Elder Teh. It was so neat. He wanted to meet with the leadership of the mission before he talked to the whole mission too. He talked about the role of a leader. It was so nice and such good timing because I am new to this whole thing. He told us that God has the capability to see what we can become. He stretches us and wants us to become great. The Lord is stretching me because he sees my potential. During the conference he talked about how important this work really is and that what we are doing is of an eternal nature. I have one year left to work as hard as I can and serve the Lord!
Okay so I still need to tell you more about my new companion and my area. My companion’s name is Sister McCormick. She has almost been out for 1 year and she is such an inspiration to me. She is from Arizona and she went to BYU Idaho before the mission. It’s weird to think 3 out of my 4 companions have all gone to BYU Idaho. Sister McCormick and I also have a lot of mutual friends. Okay my area is huge. Since I am in a singles ward we have to cover lots of land. We have Centreville, Gainesville, Springfield, Fairfax, Annandale and even Woodbridge. We are in the car a lot! I really am liking the singles ward though. We have had a tough week with our investigators but I know that Satan works his hardest before great things happen. For Thanksgiving we are going to our bishop’s home. (P.S this bishop is phenomenal! People keep telling me that he is one of the hardest working missionary driven bishops in the mission.) We are also going to some single adults home where lots of girls are getting together because they live to far away from home and they are making us a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Like pancakes and stuff. Haha it really is going to be interesting being in a Single Adult ward for the holidays.
I hope you all have such an amazing week! Mom HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I want you to know how much I love you and what an example you are to me! Let me know what you guys do for your birthday. Thanks for the package too... We have already used lots of the hand warmers. It’s chilly now :) Remember to send me lots of pictures of all of the fun!
Love, Sister Smith
I am so grateful that you are all doing well! That will be fun to have the family in town for Thanksgiving. Are you having it at Grandma and Grandpa Smiths this year? Please send me lots of pictures okay? Yes I can totally teach Justin a few lessons and then when he is ready he can have the missionaries in the area teach him. It would be so fun to see their family. I bet all of the kids are getting so big! Let me know when a good time is for him and then we will get it all set up. I get my iPad on December 11. But we can still have Skype sessions at the mission office.
Okay so so so much has happened this week. This will be a long email because I have so much to say!!! Okay first off I went on 2 exchanges with Sisters this week. I was pretty nervous before but then I realized as I put trust in the Lord he will guide me and help me know how I can help these sisters. They all are such wonderful sisters and I have already learned so much. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to see how all of these sisters do missionary work. It is also exhausting. Sometimes these sisters just need someone to talk to. My energy is usually drained by the end of the week but it is the most rewarding thing that I have ever done.
So Thursday Sister McCormick had a doctor’s appointment because her throat has been killing her lately. Well the doctor said that her vocal cords are strained and she needs to be on vocal rest for 2 weeks!! Can you believe it! My companion cannot talk for 2 weeks. It’s been pretty tough since then because I am still getting to know the area and I have to do all of the talking. We talked to President and he told us that we should be in a trio till she can talk again. So on Saturday we picked up a sister; she and her 3 companions are going to rotate every couple of days. What fun!
On Friday we had a member of the Quorum of the Seventy come and speak to our mission. His name is Elder Teh. It was so neat. He wanted to meet with the leadership of the mission before he talked to the whole mission too. He talked about the role of a leader. It was so nice and such good timing because I am new to this whole thing. He told us that God has the capability to see what we can become. He stretches us and wants us to become great. The Lord is stretching me because he sees my potential. During the conference he talked about how important this work really is and that what we are doing is of an eternal nature. I have one year left to work as hard as I can and serve the Lord!
Okay so I still need to tell you more about my new companion and my area. My companion’s name is Sister McCormick. She has almost been out for 1 year and she is such an inspiration to me. She is from Arizona and she went to BYU Idaho before the mission. It’s weird to think 3 out of my 4 companions have all gone to BYU Idaho. Sister McCormick and I also have a lot of mutual friends. Okay my area is huge. Since I am in a singles ward we have to cover lots of land. We have Centreville, Gainesville, Springfield, Fairfax, Annandale and even Woodbridge. We are in the car a lot! I really am liking the singles ward though. We have had a tough week with our investigators but I know that Satan works his hardest before great things happen. For Thanksgiving we are going to our bishop’s home. (P.S this bishop is phenomenal! People keep telling me that he is one of the hardest working missionary driven bishops in the mission.) We are also going to some single adults home where lots of girls are getting together because they live to far away from home and they are making us a non-traditional Thanksgiving dinner. Like pancakes and stuff. Haha it really is going to be interesting being in a Single Adult ward for the holidays.
I hope you all have such an amazing week! Mom HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I want you to know how much I love you and what an example you are to me! Let me know what you guys do for your birthday. Thanks for the package too... We have already used lots of the hand warmers. It’s chilly now :) Remember to send me lots of pictures of all of the fun!
Love, Sister Smith