Sister Chris Pulham. We will miss her soooo much! Hope all goes well for her!
Tuesday, April 29, 2014
4-28-14 email Week 44
This Easter was by far, my favorite Easter ever. I was so able to focus 100% on what the Holiday was about instead of eggs and the Easter Bunny. We prepared a short Easter message to share (it was about 15 minutes long) and we went to share it with people. It was all centered around the video "because of him" and the website that video is on. I loved reading about and testifying of the love that the Savior has for all of us and how we will all be resurrected because of him. It was a beautiful day and I loved to be constantly thinking about him on this day.
IT would be nice if people would find people for us to teach, because tracting all the time is not the most effective. . . I try to share why I know the church is true as many chances as I get because people I am teaching need to know that I am a real person too, and that I had doubts too. I did have to have my own conversion.
It sounds like you and I have the same sickness, Mine has lasted about 4 weeks. . . and it is terrible. I don't want to do anything except for sleep all the time. I have not been the most effective missionary, plus it rains all the time and I cannot convince myself to go out tracting in the rain all day if I am sick.
The dress does fit. I LOVE it! the length is perfect! seriously my cardigans are so pathetic now. I just need to get rid of so many of them. But I did buy a new black one, I couldn't wait any longer, I just got impatient.
I LOVE the video "Because of Him." I get the chills every time I watch it!
IT would be nice if people would find people for us to teach, because tracting all the time is not the most effective. . . I try to share why I know the church is true as many chances as I get because people I am teaching need to know that I am a real person too, and that I had doubts too. I did have to have my own conversion.
It sounds like you and I have the same sickness, Mine has lasted about 4 weeks. . . and it is terrible. I don't want to do anything except for sleep all the time. I have not been the most effective missionary, plus it rains all the time and I cannot convince myself to go out tracting in the rain all day if I am sick.
The dress does fit. I LOVE it! the length is perfect! seriously my cardigans are so pathetic now. I just need to get rid of so many of them. But I did buy a new black one, I couldn't wait any longer, I just got impatient.
I LOVE the video "Because of Him." I get the chills every time I watch it!
We are doing great, we are taking turns being sick, so we both have something awful but I am going to the doctor soon. Also, Sister Beeson got glasses so she can see now! I am excited to talk to you, it is so crazy how fast 6 months flies by. I did go buy new shoes, they are much better, It was NO fun breaking them in but they are broken in now and all is well:) My snow boots are doing great! I don't have to wear my snow boots anymore, just my rain boots, it is crazy how much it rains. I am sure Cassidy will help you plant!
I LOVE family history too! Patty is so excited to go to the temple and do baptisms for her parents and I wish I would be in Eau Claire to help her. But I am moving to Anoka, Minnesota on Wednesday. I was on for like two minutes and I think I found a source for an ancestor just because I was showing Patty how to search for sources on familysearch. I'll have to find a time to do more research to see if it really is a source. but yes! I love family history. I have been wanting to read that talk for a LONG time but I am slow at reading the Ensign! (The talk was "Beyond the Bubblegum machine" in April Ensign) That talk sounds great! I will have to read all of it. We definitely think that way sometimes. it reminds me of Elder Uchtdorf's talk in conference about being grateful in all circumstances. I love you! SO MUCH! Yeh Eh Nah Pah Doh!
I LOVE family history too! Patty is so excited to go to the temple and do baptisms for her parents and I wish I would be in Eau Claire to help her. But I am moving to Anoka, Minnesota on Wednesday. I was on for like two minutes and I think I found a source for an ancestor just because I was showing Patty how to search for sources on familysearch. I'll have to find a time to do more research to see if it really is a source. but yes! I love family history. I have been wanting to read that talk for a LONG time but I am slow at reading the Ensign! (The talk was "Beyond the Bubblegum machine" in April Ensign) That talk sounds great! I will have to read all of it. We definitely think that way sometimes. it reminds me of Elder Uchtdorf's talk in conference about being grateful in all circumstances. I love you! SO MUCH! Yeh Eh Nah Pah Doh!
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
BAPTISM!!!!!
SISTER S got baptized on April 19!!! First one Emily has actually seen. She did have one investigator get baptized from Waseca after she left.
Sister S previously had Word of Wisdom struggles and finally turned her life around. It is incredible how much of a change I see in her. She just shines, her eyes glow and she has a real sense of humor. Now I see what people mean when they say that we glow. I hope I glow like Sister S does. It is so contagious!! Thanks for all you do, Love Sister Smith
Sister S previously had Word of Wisdom struggles and finally turned her life around. It is incredible how much of a change I see in her. She just shines, her eyes glow and she has a real sense of humor. Now I see what people mean when they say that we glow. I hope I glow like Sister S does. It is so contagious!! Thanks for all you do, Love Sister Smith
Monday, April 14, 2014
Testimony of the Atonement
A miracle we had this week was that after two weeks of not being able to contact a family we were teaching we were finally able to contact them! We have been stopping by, and calling, texting and everything we could think of with no luck contacting them. On Saturday we came out of a dinner appointment, started our fast that we would be able to get back into contact with them and another family and went to stop by them. Not only were they home but they invited us in, and we followed up on the Book of Mormon reading, and set an appointment to teach again, and committed them to come to church next week. We also found out that the member fellowshippers had stopped by to leave them a small dinner!
I am finding so much more happiness in my life the more I understand the Atonement. I love studying about the Atonement every day, it helps me to find more joy in the work I am doing. Our mission is studying an atonement packet together and since we started the it I have been overwhelmed with pure joy so many times and I am so grateful for that! Before the Atonement was a big overwhelming word that I felt like I couldn't truly teach because I did not understand it well enough. Now I know I have a testimony of the Atonement and Jesus Christ as my Savior, and I am much more joyful to share that testimony that I now have. I love being a missionary, even when it is discouraging just like President Ucthdorf said "We can choose to be grateful, no matter what." This church is true! YEH EH NAH PAH DO! (Which means I love you so much)
With Love,
Sister Smith
April 14, 2014. Week 42
So recently the library has been really busy so we have not been able to get computers next to each other so we had to go shopping first but this week and last week we were able to e-mail first.
Our family is so great! Everyday I meet people and it makes me even more grateful for the family I do have and people always say that my family will be blessed by me serving a mission and I was thinking today probably one of the greatest blessings is from all the communication we do as I am on my mission. All of the e-mailing, and letters and stuff. :) we don't normally talk this much with my cousins at least.
I was not saying you did a bad job on the paragraph in the ward mission letter, sorry if it made it sound like that. I was just wondering if I need to give you more information, or anything:) I did get Morgan's notes on the priesthood session, I loved them! I actually sent my iPod home to have you switch some things and I would love if you put the Priesthood session, and some of your favorite talks on there (Specially President Uchtdorf's) I was very excited to read his notes, I do need to read the session. We do drive, no we do not ride our bikes, it is still snowing here. But recently, did I tell you about this?, All of the missionaries in our mission got pedometers and we are supposed to take 10,000 steps every day. I started trying to do that though and my feet started hurting so bad I could not walk at all so I am not really sure what to do. haha!
Jamie had to pay that much just to run? That is so crazy. That is terrible for the person that loses.
Morgan is so amazing, It sounds like he is really growing up a lot, I miss my little bro!
Yeh Eh Nah! Tee Luh Tha Luh Kee (See you next time)
With Love,
Sister Smith
Dad played a game??? haha! that is so fun! I LOVE playing games! You all better be ready to play games with me for weeks after I get home. A game or 10 a day!
Our family is so great! Everyday I meet people and it makes me even more grateful for the family I do have and people always say that my family will be blessed by me serving a mission and I was thinking today probably one of the greatest blessings is from all the communication we do as I am on my mission. All of the e-mailing, and letters and stuff. :) we don't normally talk this much with my cousins at least.
I was not saying you did a bad job on the paragraph in the ward mission letter, sorry if it made it sound like that. I was just wondering if I need to give you more information, or anything:) I did get Morgan's notes on the priesthood session, I loved them! I actually sent my iPod home to have you switch some things and I would love if you put the Priesthood session, and some of your favorite talks on there (Specially President Uchtdorf's) I was very excited to read his notes, I do need to read the session. We do drive, no we do not ride our bikes, it is still snowing here. But recently, did I tell you about this?, All of the missionaries in our mission got pedometers and we are supposed to take 10,000 steps every day. I started trying to do that though and my feet started hurting so bad I could not walk at all so I am not really sure what to do. haha!
Jamie had to pay that much just to run? That is so crazy. That is terrible for the person that loses.
Morgan is so amazing, It sounds like he is really growing up a lot, I miss my little bro!
Yeh Eh Nah! Tee Luh Tha Luh Kee (See you next time)
With Love,
Sister Smith
Dad played a game??? haha! that is so fun! I LOVE playing games! You all better be ready to play games with me for weeks after I get home. A game or 10 a day!
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
Fun pictures week 41
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| Emily sent this to Morgan. She found a guy that restores old cars! |
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| Imagine you hear a knock on your door and look through the peep hole and see this! |
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| Silly girls modeling hats |
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| Snow in April! |
April 7, 2014 email
I heard that commercial! It was SO WEIRD! we were on campus, waiting to meet with some people and I heard the song and I just looked around trying to find the source of the song and it was the TV and I totally wanted to watch the commercial but then I didn't. Yes we did have one investigator watch it. She watched all of the sessions, only one at the church, and 3 (+the Women's Broadcast) at home. I LOVE how dad would always tell us what he learned I missed that last night I wanted someone to tell me how it went. Then our District leader called (they always call on Sunday night to get our numbers from us) but in the conversation and he mentioned that we missed the best session and how we have to read over it because the Priesthood session was the best! haha! I guess that is the closest I get to a report of what happened there is a "Watch it yourself". me reading that about Morgan totally made me cry! he is so amazing, I can really tell Morg has a strong testimony and he is really doing his best to be a good example to people. I love my little brother! He is so good that he was there for Todd.
Woah that was a crazy story, I love that you share stories with me, It totally made me happy when they talked about sharing stories about our ancestors in General conference and i was like "YES! We are already doing that!" way to go Mom! I love you so much! Thanks for the update on the balance, I am really bad a keeping track. . . I love you so much!
With love, Sister Smith
On Mon, Apr 7, 2014 , Christy wrote:
Good mornin, good mornin, It's great to be alive, good morning, good morning to you. Lol. Now put the tune onto your head. They have an orange juice commercial that sings the song while the oranges jump into the bottle proclaiming that they only put oranges into their juice. It reminds me of you every time I hear or watch it.
Did you enjoy conference? I was just wondering if you had any investigators watching it with you? I was so impressed with Morgan at the priesthood session. He took good notes on his phone. You know how grandma Lois always had dad report on what he learned. Well we carry on the tradition and have the boys tell us what they learned. Morgan totally took more notes than dad I think. I think he is trying to reach out to Todd and how he can help, so those kinds of talks really touched him. The you are not alone and you are Heavenly Fathers son talks. Todd got out of dt last week. First person he wanted to see was Morgan. He is kind of a mess, but we are hoping it scared him enough to turn him around. We are strongly cautioning Morgan to hold his ground and be extra careful. Satan is so tricky and he knows our weaknesses. It's always hard to fellowship and love people and keep our distance from evil. I think it's a fine line and a scary one. Ya know? But like we heard at conference pure Christlike love can change the world!
Now for a story of your great grandma Lois and her mother in law, Maud. Maud was a midwife and delivered lots of babies. She delivered all of Lois children except Max. Anyway. Shortly after their move to salt lake from Lake Shore (near Spanish Fork) Lois woke up one morning w a very bad headache. She was dizzy and her head was throbbing. She didn't have a doctor in SLC so she decided to head to Provo to her doctor. She stopped by grandma Maud's and they both went to the doctor. He gave grandma a "man-sized dose" of Demerol. Instantly she was sick to her stomach. Next thing grandma remembers is being at Maud's home. She had thrown up all over herself and the car. After getting Lois to bed, she started making a gurgling sound. Maud called the doctor and fire dept., and Lois brother in law Bert to administer to her. after working on her for a time, they pronounced her dead. With that maud climbed on the bed with Lois and began to work with her chest, lifting it up and down. She said Lois still had six kids to raise and she couldn't die yet. Finally she moved one finger very slightly and the paramedics began their work again. Grandma Lois was very allergic to many pain medications throughout her life. She just couldn't take them. Thank heavens for grandma Maud right!
Well I better get this off to you. I love you and hope you have a great week. Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo, mommy
Woah that was a crazy story, I love that you share stories with me, It totally made me happy when they talked about sharing stories about our ancestors in General conference and i was like "YES! We are already doing that!" way to go Mom! I love you so much! Thanks for the update on the balance, I am really bad a keeping track. . . I love you so much!
With love, Sister Smith
On Mon, Apr 7, 2014 , Christy wrote:
Good mornin, good mornin, It's great to be alive, good morning, good morning to you. Lol. Now put the tune onto your head. They have an orange juice commercial that sings the song while the oranges jump into the bottle proclaiming that they only put oranges into their juice. It reminds me of you every time I hear or watch it.
Did you enjoy conference? I was just wondering if you had any investigators watching it with you? I was so impressed with Morgan at the priesthood session. He took good notes on his phone. You know how grandma Lois always had dad report on what he learned. Well we carry on the tradition and have the boys tell us what they learned. Morgan totally took more notes than dad I think. I think he is trying to reach out to Todd and how he can help, so those kinds of talks really touched him. The you are not alone and you are Heavenly Fathers son talks. Todd got out of dt last week. First person he wanted to see was Morgan. He is kind of a mess, but we are hoping it scared him enough to turn him around. We are strongly cautioning Morgan to hold his ground and be extra careful. Satan is so tricky and he knows our weaknesses. It's always hard to fellowship and love people and keep our distance from evil. I think it's a fine line and a scary one. Ya know? But like we heard at conference pure Christlike love can change the world!
Now for a story of your great grandma Lois and her mother in law, Maud. Maud was a midwife and delivered lots of babies. She delivered all of Lois children except Max. Anyway. Shortly after their move to salt lake from Lake Shore (near Spanish Fork) Lois woke up one morning w a very bad headache. She was dizzy and her head was throbbing. She didn't have a doctor in SLC so she decided to head to Provo to her doctor. She stopped by grandma Maud's and they both went to the doctor. He gave grandma a "man-sized dose" of Demerol. Instantly she was sick to her stomach. Next thing grandma remembers is being at Maud's home. She had thrown up all over herself and the car. After getting Lois to bed, she started making a gurgling sound. Maud called the doctor and fire dept., and Lois brother in law Bert to administer to her. after working on her for a time, they pronounced her dead. With that maud climbed on the bed with Lois and began to work with her chest, lifting it up and down. She said Lois still had six kids to raise and she couldn't die yet. Finally she moved one finger very slightly and the paramedics began their work again. Grandma Lois was very allergic to many pain medications throughout her life. She just couldn't take them. Thank heavens for grandma Maud right!
Well I better get this off to you. I love you and hope you have a great week. Xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo, mommy
Monday, April 7, 2014
April 7, 2014 Week 41
So close but yet so far away from blackout!! Only one square left! Word of Wisdom. Sister Beeson's birthday is today, so I probably won't have a lot of time for writing letters. This week was a pretty good one. We spent like 30 minutes last night taking crazy pictures. It was a lot of fun. Also in between sessions of conference yesterday, we had a pot luck. I felt like a part of a family again!! It was so good! I love the Eau Claire ward.
I am now realizing how destructive sarcasm can be. The church is really focusing on it. Have you seen the video "Stop IT!"? You should watch it. There is much more need for us to all be so kind to each other. To uplift and build each other.
Also as a mission, we are studying the Atonement and I am learning so much. I know it is only through Jesus Christ that we can live with our Heavenly Father again, He love us, and He lives! I love Him and all of you!!! Sister Smith
I am now realizing how destructive sarcasm can be. The church is really focusing on it. Have you seen the video "Stop IT!"? You should watch it. There is much more need for us to all be so kind to each other. To uplift and build each other.
Also as a mission, we are studying the Atonement and I am learning so much. I know it is only through Jesus Christ that we can live with our Heavenly Father again, He love us, and He lives! I love Him and all of you!!! Sister Smith
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Many Mighty Miracles from the MMM! March 24, 2014
MMM stands for Minnesota Minneapolis Mission
Hello All! It was Spring break for all schools (including college campus) and so the town was dead. It was such a weird week and everything that was unexpected happened. . . but there were a lot of miracles!
Sister S, (our word of wisdom investigator) had decided she wants to live the Word of Wisdom and she wants to be baptized. So we set a date for April. It really is so amazing to see how she is changing this time compared to teacher her before when she had no desire to change. She gave us her coffee so we were able to remove temptation. There is a light in her eyes that I have never seen before. She also loves reading the Book of Mormon and she is amazed how much she is getting out of it from reading it again (this is her second time through) Now she has been living the Word of Wisdom for 5 days!! She honestly seems so much happier! I am so happy to see the changes in her life to bring her the most happiness!
Another amazing thing that happened this week was on Saturday morning during personal study we received a text from a recently found investigator, Sister P. She was asking us to pray for her and her family. She told us that she recently found out some upsetting news. Then she shared how much she needed help right now, and how she knew we had been guided to her doorstep a week before she found this out for a reason. We offered to do a blessing on her home and to have her receive a Priesthood blessing. She said yes to both and we hurriedly had to find someone who could give her a blessing. No one in the ward has met this family yet, but we had two maps made. So we called one first and he was out of town, and we were trying to avoid the other because his daughter was getting baptized that day and they told us that they would bot be available to help on the weekend. We called some other people but the member action plan (map) family we hadn't called kept coming to mind. We just decided to ask, and they were able to come! We had to arrange our whole schedule to be able to help Sister P, but as i watched how perfectly everything fell into place it was amazing. The blessing went well, the Spirit was strong and Brother S (the member) was so friendly and encouraging. We also shared with the P family how we were guided to them when we knocked on their door the first night. We had been tracting all day, and we kind of lost ideas of where we could go so we just looked at a paper map, and decided on a street to knock. After an hour and no success, it was COLD, and we were running out of time (because we can't track after 8:30, but still can't go home til 9) so we stopped to pray. After the prayer we both knew that we needed to knock on the door that was the P family's door. It was a true testimony to me that the Lord needed us to be there for the P family. We were still able to make it to all of our appointments and have finding time on Saturday and re-arrange other lessons we had planned. I really got to see the Lord's hand in our lives that day. Later on in that day, Sister P texted us and told us that she felt the most peaceful that she had in a long time. It was so wonderful to hear that she is recognizing the peace that this gospel can bring!
Also, yesterday we were knocking on some trailer houses and we knocked and one guy came to his door. We said our names, and he yelled "I already went to church today" and slammed the door. This kind of happens often, so I just brushed it off and moved on. But it is still sad when people just reject you so quickly. Anyway, we moved on and then about 10-15 minutes later we were walking back towards our car and the guy drove up in his truck and said "I'm sorry I was so rude, I didn't want to leave it like that. What church are you from?" So we told him and he still wasn't open to much teaching but we talked for a second then he drove forward a little more, and turned around and drove back to his house. He had totally just got in his car to find us to apologize! It was so amazing, people never do that!
Well, it is March and it is pouring snow outside . . . how sad :( but I am still happy to be here. So many amazing things are happening in Eau Claire and in other areas. I just found out that two Karen people were baptized in the North St. Paul Ward. this weekend too. I don't know who they were or if I even knew them, but I still LOVE all Karen people! So I am so happy for them!!! Anyway I love you all! You are amazing!!! With love, Sister Smith
Hello All! It was Spring break for all schools (including college campus) and so the town was dead. It was such a weird week and everything that was unexpected happened. . . but there were a lot of miracles!
Sister S, (our word of wisdom investigator) had decided she wants to live the Word of Wisdom and she wants to be baptized. So we set a date for April. It really is so amazing to see how she is changing this time compared to teacher her before when she had no desire to change. She gave us her coffee so we were able to remove temptation. There is a light in her eyes that I have never seen before. She also loves reading the Book of Mormon and she is amazed how much she is getting out of it from reading it again (this is her second time through) Now she has been living the Word of Wisdom for 5 days!! She honestly seems so much happier! I am so happy to see the changes in her life to bring her the most happiness!
Another amazing thing that happened this week was on Saturday morning during personal study we received a text from a recently found investigator, Sister P. She was asking us to pray for her and her family. She told us that she recently found out some upsetting news. Then she shared how much she needed help right now, and how she knew we had been guided to her doorstep a week before she found this out for a reason. We offered to do a blessing on her home and to have her receive a Priesthood blessing. She said yes to both and we hurriedly had to find someone who could give her a blessing. No one in the ward has met this family yet, but we had two maps made. So we called one first and he was out of town, and we were trying to avoid the other because his daughter was getting baptized that day and they told us that they would bot be available to help on the weekend. We called some other people but the member action plan (map) family we hadn't called kept coming to mind. We just decided to ask, and they were able to come! We had to arrange our whole schedule to be able to help Sister P, but as i watched how perfectly everything fell into place it was amazing. The blessing went well, the Spirit was strong and Brother S (the member) was so friendly and encouraging. We also shared with the P family how we were guided to them when we knocked on their door the first night. We had been tracting all day, and we kind of lost ideas of where we could go so we just looked at a paper map, and decided on a street to knock. After an hour and no success, it was COLD, and we were running out of time (because we can't track after 8:30, but still can't go home til 9) so we stopped to pray. After the prayer we both knew that we needed to knock on the door that was the P family's door. It was a true testimony to me that the Lord needed us to be there for the P family. We were still able to make it to all of our appointments and have finding time on Saturday and re-arrange other lessons we had planned. I really got to see the Lord's hand in our lives that day. Later on in that day, Sister P texted us and told us that she felt the most peaceful that she had in a long time. It was so wonderful to hear that she is recognizing the peace that this gospel can bring!
Also, yesterday we were knocking on some trailer houses and we knocked and one guy came to his door. We said our names, and he yelled "I already went to church today" and slammed the door. This kind of happens often, so I just brushed it off and moved on. But it is still sad when people just reject you so quickly. Anyway, we moved on and then about 10-15 minutes later we were walking back towards our car and the guy drove up in his truck and said "I'm sorry I was so rude, I didn't want to leave it like that. What church are you from?" So we told him and he still wasn't open to much teaching but we talked for a second then he drove forward a little more, and turned around and drove back to his house. He had totally just got in his car to find us to apologize! It was so amazing, people never do that!
Well, it is March and it is pouring snow outside . . . how sad :( but I am still happy to be here. So many amazing things are happening in Eau Claire and in other areas. I just found out that two Karen people were baptized in the North St. Paul Ward. this weekend too. I don't know who they were or if I even knew them, but I still LOVE all Karen people! So I am so happy for them!!! Anyway I love you all! You are amazing!!! With love, Sister Smith
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