Week 51 (May 8, 2017)

We had service on a hill this Wednesday :) So amazing and so high up. (Some Elders came too)

We also had clean checks so this is our house. (all that stuff behind the couch is from the landlord and just sits there)

the rest of our house

WE ALSO SAW ANOTHER LLAMA IN THE STREET!!! SO WE OBVIOUSLY TOOK A PIC!! HAHA SO COOL

Wow, this week was very eventful.  But in all it wasn't a bad week. Thursday we had Interviews with president! Which are always so amazing and we also had clean checks for our house which are every 3 months. So now our house is shiny clean haha.  And hna godfrey came and its always fun to talk to her. Her Spanish is getting better too!

This week we also also taught Jhonaton more. (we asked how he spelled his name and thats how he spells it. we thought it was Johnathon, but no.)  He is the 15 year old boy who is the nephew of a member in the ward. And we taugth L2 - Plan of Salvation and  during the atonement part where the spirit is strongest, we invited him to be baptized, which he told us Yes! and if he could, he would have been baptized the next day! He is so ridiculously prepared. Its so amazing to be apart of this work. But he will be baptized May 27. He also came to church this week!

We also started teaching a 9 year old little girl whos mom is not a member, but her grandparents are both active members, and she has apparently been coming to church for the past 2 years and we didnt even know! but her whole family lives in the same house so we will see what happens. Her parents said she could get baptized but they dont want to and are very catholic.  But Maricielo is adorable :)

We also are still working with Miguel who had his interview and passed! and Claudia who came to church!  So we are so excited for our area and our investigators. Its has been an interesting adventure. And at the beginning our area was not progressing and then we basically dropped all our old investigators and began working with faith. We put it all in the lords hands and thats when we began to see the miricles. 

I love this gospel and I am so excited for all that is to come. I know we recieve blessings when we trust god with all our heart.  He knows us better than we know our selves. I know  everything happens for a reason. I love you all and know this church is true!

Happy Mothers Day!! I hope all you mothers and future mothers have a wonderful sunday, because you deserve it! Expecially you Mom! :) I love you so much!

Love,

Hna Smoot

Week 50 (May 1, 2017)

Writing fams in internet

Happy 4 months to my comp, so we made french toast because why not haha :)

Dear family and friends,

Wow this week was another amazing week. IT is officially starting to get cold this week! Like I had to wear a cardigan! which the last time i did that was in the begining of November! But this week was full of miricles and lots of blessings.  Its amazing that after a time of dificulties, the sun is always brighter on the other side.  These last couple of months were to say, not the easiest, HOWEVER, within these last 2 weeks, we have started doing the lords work, the lords way. and even though at first its a slow process, we have been able to have SUCCESS!!! We were able to set 2 baptism dates this week! and find lots of new investigators that are really good people.  

The first was with Miguel Ponce (about 68 years old), who has been an eternal investigator since January. He goes to church every week and reads the book of mormon (he is in Alma!) and prays, but he had a big problem with smoking. However little by little he was able to go from smoking 2 boxes a day to 1 cigarrette a day! Which is when I came to the area. But as we have worked with him and teaching him the blessings that can come from obeying the commandments and how powerful the gift of the holy ghost will be, we set goals with him and he will be baptized May 20!! and he is so excited :) his son actually lives in the states and is a member!  But we are also very excited for him.

Then the other miracle was with Claudia (age 22) who has a 9 month old baby girl and is a single mom.  We found her last week knocking on a door of an old investigator we found in our area binder, and she anwsered the door.  We ended up teaching her and she was really interested!  We also gave her a tour of the church building and taught the plan of salvation in the sacrament room and the spirit was so strong as we testified of the power of the atonement we asked her to be baptized and she said yes, how can I prepare for that?   It was so amazing.  We also watched a session of general conference with her and she was totally fine sitting for 2 hours to watch it! (it counted for an attendance at church for this month)  But we are excited to see what happens!

Then the biggest miracle this week happened yesterday, sunday night. It was about 8:45 pm and pretty much all of our appointments for the night fell through, so we were walking down the street not knowing what to do looking for people to contact. We passed by these 2 old ladys but kept going, I felt like we needed to stop, but kept going, and then a 3rd time a voice in my head told me to stop. So I said to my companion, hey lets go contact them. It would be really awkward and we were unsure. But we retraced our steps a little, and then we both stood there for a second thinking what should we do. Apparently my comp and I were both praying in our heads. But just then, a couple from the ward passed by and asked how we were. We told them all our appointments fell through and asked if they knew anyone.  They said, YES! and they called them up and we went to the house of his sister and nephew (age 15). We had one of the most spiritual lessons I have ever had in my mission. The 15 year old, Johnny, told us after we asked how was his relationship with god, he said mas o menos (not that good) because he has sins. We testified everyone has sins and no one is perfect. And through Jesus Christ and his atonement he can become free and clean of his sins!  We taught Lesson 1 about the restoration and the member bore his testimony and his conversion story of when he was 15 find the missionaries too and Johnny said he wants to change! We shared about the book of mormon in which he said holding the book, "I know I can find my anwser in this book, how can there be something so precious and maravilloso and be free!"   Everyone was crying including him.  He is so prepared and ready and we are so happy and excited to be part of his journey to christ.  Everything happens for a reason and we are starting to see the blessings of doing the lords work, the lords way.

I am so greatful for all of you and all your amazing examples to me. I know with out a doubt this church is true and that the lord is waiting to bless us, we just first need to show our love for him and obey his commandments. I love you all so much and I hope you have a wonderful week!!

Love, Hna Smoot

Ps. HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY MCKENNA SMOOT!!! LOVE YOU SO MUCH! (May 5)