Hi Fam,
Ahhhh poor Jake! I am grateful that he and all of his buddies are okay. Jake--where have you been going snowboarding? Speaking of snow, we had our first snowfall yesterday. It snowed maybe a 1/2 inch if that and our mission president told us that we couldn't go out and work. They also cancelled school today. So weird. It actually was a tender mercy because guess who is SICK and HAPPY?... This girl. I came down with something yesterday morning. I am nauseated and my stomach hurts but it's okay. I am going to take it easy tonight as well.
Hahaha it really has been a crazy, exhausting week. Sister McCormick has been dealing with some things and I have been sick so we make a great team. Thanks for putting money into my account the other day! It really means a lot! I really cannot believe that we got towed but we did. I am realizing that people are tow happy here. I am also grateful for Uncle Bryan and Aunt Melanie, Nikki, and Michael for giving us Café Rio gift cards. After we got our car back we took a break and went to Café Rio for lunch. What another blessing!
The next day we got a text from one of our less actives who was about to commit suicide. We called her right away... (it was 6am) and helped her calm down. She is such an amazing woman and doesn't realize how amazing she really is. We met with her that day and watched the Elder Holland conference talk, "Like a Broken Vessel." It was truly one of the best lessons that I have been in. The spirit was so strong. We also told her about the ward Christmas party that night and she came. I truly love this daughter of God!
I am seeing lots of miracles. Even though this has been a struggle week I truly know that the Lord is putting prepared people in our path. Miracle number 1... The Centreville Sisters gave us a call and told us that Katarine (you remember her right?) is getting a divorce. When I heard this I was heart broken but it is a tender mercy because I am teaching her again. She moved to Fairfax and is doing a lot better than she had been. I gave her a call and almost started to cry. I was meant to teach her. I have been teaching her since June and now I am going to be with her when she takes the next step towards baptism. Miracle number 2... Yesterday during ward council I felt super sick and told Sister McCormick that we needed to go home. Right after Sacrament meeting we left and were driving in the snowy weather and saw this car that had run into the median. Our first reaction was to help but then we had this thought... "We don't know anything about cars, it's dangerous for us girls to be out here, I am about to throw up anyway." As we drove by the car we both had this distinct prompting that we needed to go back and help this person. We turned around, parked the car and ran across the road. In the car was a woman who was just panicking. We were able to calm her down and help get the car off of the median. Because of this experience we have the opportunity to teach her the gospel. God made me sick at that moment because he knew that we needed to help this young single adult out. MORE TENDER MERCIES FROM THE LORD! Miracle number 3... We are still teaching Roony (the one that we found street contacting). He wants to stop partying and has such great faith.
I am so blessed to be serving as a Sister Training Leader in the Braddock YSA ward, with an amazing companion. The Lord is very mindful of us and our needs. May we remember how merciful the Lord is especially during this Christmas season. I love Christmas and the joy that it brings.
My plans for Christmas... Well, being in a young single adult ward makes it difficult to go to places for Christmas. I know on Christmas Eve a sister in the ward is having us come over to her house and we are decorating cookies and then her family has invited us to go caroling to our investigators/ less actives with their family. Bishop was supposed to have us over for Christmas Day but something just came up. We might end up going to our mission president's home for Christmas but I will keep you updated. It's been almost 7 months since I have seen your faces. AHHH I am excited!
Love you all!
Love, Sister Smith
Ahhhh poor Jake! I am grateful that he and all of his buddies are okay. Jake--where have you been going snowboarding? Speaking of snow, we had our first snowfall yesterday. It snowed maybe a 1/2 inch if that and our mission president told us that we couldn't go out and work. They also cancelled school today. So weird. It actually was a tender mercy because guess who is SICK and HAPPY?... This girl. I came down with something yesterday morning. I am nauseated and my stomach hurts but it's okay. I am going to take it easy tonight as well.
Hahaha it really has been a crazy, exhausting week. Sister McCormick has been dealing with some things and I have been sick so we make a great team. Thanks for putting money into my account the other day! It really means a lot! I really cannot believe that we got towed but we did. I am realizing that people are tow happy here. I am also grateful for Uncle Bryan and Aunt Melanie, Nikki, and Michael for giving us Café Rio gift cards. After we got our car back we took a break and went to Café Rio for lunch. What another blessing!
The next day we got a text from one of our less actives who was about to commit suicide. We called her right away... (it was 6am) and helped her calm down. She is such an amazing woman and doesn't realize how amazing she really is. We met with her that day and watched the Elder Holland conference talk, "Like a Broken Vessel." It was truly one of the best lessons that I have been in. The spirit was so strong. We also told her about the ward Christmas party that night and she came. I truly love this daughter of God!
I am seeing lots of miracles. Even though this has been a struggle week I truly know that the Lord is putting prepared people in our path. Miracle number 1... The Centreville Sisters gave us a call and told us that Katarine (you remember her right?) is getting a divorce. When I heard this I was heart broken but it is a tender mercy because I am teaching her again. She moved to Fairfax and is doing a lot better than she had been. I gave her a call and almost started to cry. I was meant to teach her. I have been teaching her since June and now I am going to be with her when she takes the next step towards baptism. Miracle number 2... Yesterday during ward council I felt super sick and told Sister McCormick that we needed to go home. Right after Sacrament meeting we left and were driving in the snowy weather and saw this car that had run into the median. Our first reaction was to help but then we had this thought... "We don't know anything about cars, it's dangerous for us girls to be out here, I am about to throw up anyway." As we drove by the car we both had this distinct prompting that we needed to go back and help this person. We turned around, parked the car and ran across the road. In the car was a woman who was just panicking. We were able to calm her down and help get the car off of the median. Because of this experience we have the opportunity to teach her the gospel. God made me sick at that moment because he knew that we needed to help this young single adult out. MORE TENDER MERCIES FROM THE LORD! Miracle number 3... We are still teaching Roony (the one that we found street contacting). He wants to stop partying and has such great faith.
I am so blessed to be serving as a Sister Training Leader in the Braddock YSA ward, with an amazing companion. The Lord is very mindful of us and our needs. May we remember how merciful the Lord is especially during this Christmas season. I love Christmas and the joy that it brings.
My plans for Christmas... Well, being in a young single adult ward makes it difficult to go to places for Christmas. I know on Christmas Eve a sister in the ward is having us come over to her house and we are decorating cookies and then her family has invited us to go caroling to our investigators/ less actives with their family. Bishop was supposed to have us over for Christmas Day but something just came up. We might end up going to our mission president's home for Christmas but I will keep you updated. It's been almost 7 months since I have seen your faces. AHHH I am excited!
Love you all!
Love, Sister Smith