Mission Log - July 10, 2017 - T7, W2 - Biking, Popcorn Blessing, and Miracle Finds!

Hola from the HOT HOT HOT El Paso!

This is Jenny Han, a famous boxer.  She's also a member!  We met her last week at EPCC (El Paso Community College)​

Whew!  What a week, what a week!  This week was a little slower than last - we didn't have anyone at church and found 5 news.  We are, however, being blessed with much strength - that is, we're using the bikes more. :)

We biked 7 miles on Saturday in order to do a pass-off lesson with Hondo Pass Ward.  The lesson was worth it!  We'd found an investigator named Dominic Turnipseed (yes, that's his real name :) who was very prepared.  We taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they both agreed to be baptized on August 12th!  We're very excited for them.

On Monday, during P-day, I was very pleasantly surprised by my zone with a zone breakfast at IHOP.  I walked in and thought, "That's a large group of white button-down shirts... wait a second."  Then they all burst into a hearty chorus "Happy Birthday."  I was touched!  It really was an awesome Mission Birthday. :)

On Tuesday, during Language Study, my companion put together one of the most detailed, organized Language study plans I'd ever seen.  I was very impressed!  She really has many righteous desires.

On Wednesday, Elder Evans, Spanish-speaking, called us before the zone conference call to ask us to "bless his popcorn."  Evidently he makes himself a bowl of popcorn every night and asks his companion to say a prayer over it, but his companion didn't want to that night.  That's dedication, folks!  We also had interview with our mission president.  He said to me during the interview: "There are 10% of missionaries I feel like I could ask to go anywhere and do anything and they would do it.  You are approaching that." :)  It made me want to work harder!

The next day, we biked about 2 miles towards our dinner when they called us saying they'd come pick us up.  We waited in the parking lot of a bar in broad daylight.  The member came, but forgot his wife!  We were able to find a ride with ratio from our bishop - this family was less-active, so it would have been more hassle to reschedule.

While we were waiting for the bishop and his sons, two drunk racist ladies came down from the bar to "protect" us from the member.  UGH - I have zero patience for drunk people.  Luckily my companion had a lot more patience and grace than I did, and she was able to talk to them and explain the situation.  My comp is a champ!

On Friday, our 2 evening appointments cancelled, so we decided to do some finding closer to home.  We were led to find two new investigators, one of whom lives in our same complex!  His name is Joshua, and he's in the army, as many are here in El Paso.  His wife is an inactive member, and she's 18.  Marrying Joshua was her first away-from-home experience, so their marriage is pretty strained right now.  We shared the message of the Restoration with Joshua, really focusing on God is Your loving Heavenly Father.  He agreed to read the Book of Mormon and pray about it!  It was a miracle.

The other miracle find was Genesis.  We spotted her across the street and felt prompted to run across the 4 lane road to talk to her (which was dangerous- we never do that unless so instructed by the Holy Ghost).  She asked us, "Are you on your missions?"  We told her we were, and she told us her friend, who was a member, recently got back from her mission in Mexico.  She asked us what we wanted to talk about.  In this mission, we'd been encouraged by Elder Pearson to simplify our language, so we replied simply, "Jesus."  She expressed that she's always noticed the strength of Mormon families and was interested in that.  We taught her out of the Restoration pamphlet, and she promised to read it before we came back!

My companion expressed that she felt she wasn't doing enough to be good enough.  I told her that I felt like that too sometimes - like I wish I could re-take seminary and have years to study.  But there's no use wishing we would have used our time more wisely back then - we have to move forward from where we're at.

Adios for this week,

Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - July 3, 2017 - T7, W1 - Awesome New Comp, Miracles while Finding, and Lightning McQueen

Hola, all my lovely loved ones!

Wow, what a week!  A lot of change, a lot of growth, a lot of miracles.

First of all, our area is now a biking area, and I'm training a new missionary.  It gets a little hectic running around (literally), walking, asking members for rides - but the blessings are HUGE!  Just from walking around and talking to everyone, we found 8 new investigators this week!

On Monday, we had a Family Home Evening with our 9 year old recent convert, Yesenia and her friend, Abbie, from Primary.  It was so fun - Abbie is really a blessing, because Yese has a hard time understanding the lessons, so Abbie sits next to her and helps.  When I asked, "Are you two friends?" Abbie told me, "No, we're best friends."  Whoops- my bad! :)

I was very sad to see Hermana Oliphant go - she was a hard-working, loving, and we got along really well - but Hermana Beamer is a very good missionary!  She's very focused and quite bold.  She has a powerful testimony and doesn't mind walking.  She even said to me the first time we walked, "We can walk a little faster if you want!"  Her very first day in the field, we taught a lesson completely in Spanish and she did very well!  I think she knows more Spanish than she thinks she does.

We went to a less active members house to practice our Spanish by teaching them the first discussion.  About halfway through, they expressed to us that they don't feel comfortable at church because no one ever talks to them.  My companion was able to whip out a scripture (Mosiah 2:9) about the reason why we even go to church.  Once she shared that, the wife said, in essence, "You're right - we need to change the way we think about church!"  It was a miracle.

Our bishop asked us to go see a less-active member named Maria Hernandez.  He told us she was blind, but didn't give us her address or phone number - and we found to our surprise that she wasn't on the ward list!  The next day, we walked to an appointment with a potential investigator that fell through, so we went to visit a less-active family.  They not only knew Maria, they told us where she lived, what her phone number was, and offered to give us a ride home!  So that was another miracle (and a good opportunity to practice Spanish, since the family was bilingual.)

We had a dinner with one of the Hermanas in the Young Women's presidency.  We asked if there was anything we could do to support her in her calling - she asked that we visit Zelda, one of our investigators.  When we told her we already visit, we decided to dig a little deeper and ask about her family.  We were surprised to find out that one of our inactive recent converts' husband was actually her brother!  So we were able to set up a family home evening with them and her and two of their mutual friends in the ward.  We're excited!

We walked by a man named Martin and his little grandson that had just pulled over because their car had broken down.  After we asked if he needed any help and he said 'no, his house was close by,' we told him we were missionaries.  His literal reaction was, "Heck, yeah!" (that's a direct quote) and he told us, "Follow me!"  So we walked with him to his house.  My poor companion didn't have a clue what he was saying, he was speaking some rapid-fire Spanish, asking us about our beliefs about the trinity, about Jesus Christ, and about Heavenly Father.  We arrived at his house and met his wife, Dora.  She was equally enthusiastic to receive us.  They accepted a Book of Mormon, (Martin was excited: "More of God's word?! Yes!!") a Restoration pamphlet, and Martin said a very sincere prayer.  In the prayer, he said, "I know that there are no coincidences!"

We found an investigator named Dominic - or, rather, he found us.  We were sitting in the shade, taking a water break on the sidewalk, when he walked up.  We began to talk to him and discovered he was Christian.  He gave us his address and phone number, and we set up an appointment right them and there.  We gave him a Plan of Salvation pamphlet (we were fresh out of Restoration) and asked him to read it.  Not only did he read it, he tried to answer the questions in the back and had some very good questions about spiritual vs. temporal death.  He's not a strong reader, so he had to have some help on the hard words, but we were able to answer all his questions and help him figure out how to use the pamphlet to find his own answers.  Later that very same day, he called us and told us that he got confused because his girlfriend prays to the Virgin Mary, but he doesn't - and when he tried to explain to her what we explained to him, bless his heart, he got confused.   So he told us that he prayed and "God and Jesus told me to call you!" :)  It was a miracle and we were able to actually talk to his girlfriend over the phone.  She and Dominic want us to start teaching them next week!

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO awesome!

Love, Love, Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

P.S. GUESS WHO WE FOUND??

We weren't able to get an autograph, unfortunately... :) ​

Mission Log - June 26, 2017 - T6, W6 - 3 Baptisms and Finding the Golden

Dear People that I love,

​This week, three of my dear friends were baptized and confirmed.  I couldn't be there for one of them, but I was there in spirit!

Nalleli, on the top, was baptized and her kids are excited to be baptized in the coming weeks!  Irma is a good friend of one of our members, Hermana Saenz, who's having a lot of troubles.  But despite having no money, poor health, and her husband, she decided to stay firm and 'couldn't be more content', in her own words.  Then Yese, (the little girl in white)'s mom and brother have reactivated to support her in her decision to be baptized.  Her older brother (far left) has been reading the Book of Mormon and is in 2 Nephi!!
​
It has been a crazy week.  First of all, I got a training call - my first reaction was sadness at having to leave Hermana Oliphant after just 6 short weeks!  She is seriously awesome and she's taught me a ton.  I'll miss her!  I am, however, excited to train this new missionary.  She's lucky - this area is a miracle area.  What a great place to start a mission!  I hope I can teach her enough so she can serve faithfully and really understand the importance of this work.

This week, we left a note on a car that said "congratulations" with our number, because the car said "Just Married" on the back.  We also found a new investigator named Juan who is SO PREPARED!  We've already had two lessons with him - he smokes, has been married 5 times, and really wants to change.  He told us, "Tengo hambre; tengo sed de ser mas cerca a Dios", which means, "I'm hungry and thirsty to be close to God."  We've committed him to read the Book of Mormon and pray morning and night; we've also committed him (or rather, he committed himself) to clean up his language.

It was interesting how we found him - we felt prompted to go knock on a house.  We followed the prompting and met his daughter, Leslie.  She didn't seem all that interested, but told us we could come back.  So we came back to find the wife, Lourdes.  She was a little more open, she committed to pray, but she's also very Catholic.  BUT she said we could come back.  So we did - and the third time, we found our golden investigator.  It's kind of like the Force: Kwi Gon Jin was sure that Anakin Skywalker was the One that would bring balance to the Force, but it was actually his son, Luke.  So he was close!  And we were close - we just had to keep trying to find the One who would be golden!

That's all for this week! Tune in next time for NMAM bites!

Love, Love, Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - June 19, 2017 - T6, W5 - Patronuses and Singing

Hola, mis queridos familiares, amigos, y pavitos!

Not very talkative, this one, but quite enthusiastic!

Found some lovely wall art in down town El Paso!

Wow! What a week, what a week! ​

I am convinced that the Holy Ghost likes movies. Let me explain:

We were in a lesson with two recent converts and their two daughters.  Zelda, the 17-year-old, is very shy and a little skeptical of the message we share.  She's not sure she's ever felt the Spirit, which is why she's going back and forth on her decision to be baptized.  Last Monday, we were teaching a Family-Home-Evening lesson about the Holy Ghost.  We read some scriptures about him and talked about it - we had the thought before the lesson to make some sort of comparison with Harry Potter, because we know Zelda loves Harry Potter.  As I tried to come up with a good analogy, the part with the Patronuses popped in my mind.

"The Spirit is like a patronus," I said.  "You have to say the right words to invite his help, (Expecto Patronum/Prayer) you have to practice a lot, but once you get it down, it can protect you from Satan/Dementors."
"Also, the Patronuses are different for everyone- just like the Spirit is felt differently by everyone!"

My companion chimed in. I'm fairly certain that when Prisoner of Azkaban was being written, the Spirit got excited - because J.K. Rowling was talking about him! :)

Our investigators' brother, Luis, was so excited one day when we asked him if he had read the book of Mormon.  "Yeah!" he told us enthusiastically.  "The part when Nephi builds the ship?  Oh, and when his bow breaks and his brothers murmur!  And I love the part where..."  He continued to tell us all about what he had read in the first 17 chapters of the Book of Mormon.  "I couldn't put it down!" he said- "I got sucked into it!"  It was wonderful.

We've been singing a lot lately.  We sang in sacrament meeting a song I had never heard before called "Te Hallare, mi querido Amigo," which being translated, means I Will Find You, My Beloved Friend.  It's all about missionary work - it's a very pretty song!  On Wednesday, we sang "How will they know?" at  the monthly 10 hour long Zone Conference.  I was nervous because we were under-practiced, but it turned out all right!  Then, that same day, we went to see Eulalia, one of our investigators, who told us of her mother, who'd died 20 years earlier.  We shared the Plan that God has for her and showed her where her mother was - waiting in the Spirit world.  She then agreed to be baptized on July 15!  The Spirit was powerful in that lesson - and we gave her a baptismal calendar to keep her in the loop!

The next day, we found one of the most prepared couples I've ever met - Siro and Carmen.  Our appointment with an investigator fell through, so we knocked on their door and they let us in.  Carmen had just gotten off work and Siro was about to leave, so we were led to them at the perfect moment.  They each accepted a Book of Mormon and Siro even said, "I'll trust you and go to church, sisters - but don't make me read anything out loud or speak!" :)  We promised not to.

My companion taught me a profound lesson this week about LIKENING the scriptures to ourselves.  For a little background, she found out a few months ago her mother has stage 1 cancer, and her brother is not taking it well.  Also, she is very good at explaining and expounding on the scriptures.  She read out loud Doctrine and Covenants 100, trading Sidney's name for her own and others names for people around her.  It was as though that section was, in fact, written for her, and not for Sidney Rigdon.  I've never heard anything like it - it gave me a new appreciation for the scriptures.

On Saturday Night, we read the sacrament prayers with two of our investigators to help prepare them for church.  We talked about the covenant we renew when we take the sacrament; they got so excited, they invited their granddaughter to come to church with them, too!

Another amazing week spent in the service of the Lord. :)

Love, Love, Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - June 12, 2017 - T6, W4 - Miracles all around! Many at church!

Wow!  What a week!

Had a little time this morning while my companion was in the shower, so I made this collage of pictures of the Savior.
​
We met the Dieguez family, a less-active family I'd heard a lot about from the ward and from my last companion, who served in the area I'm currently serving.  We decided to go for the throat and teach Prayer, Read the Scriptures, and Come To CHURCH!  To teach prayer, we used the analogy of a telephone call from someone you love who lives far away - like kids in college, for example.  The Dieguezes have kids in college, so it really rang with them.  Then Hermana Oliphant bore a powerful testimony about scriptures and the power that they have to guide us and help build our testimony.  We then explained that church was rest - like sleep for your spirit.  You can live without sleep, but you end up more or less a zombie if you go on for too long. "don't be spiritual zombies!"  We urged. Hermana Dieguez told us, "You just seem really down-to-earth, really real.  What you say makes a lot of sense."  That made me really happy - that's something I've been working on a lot.

The Vasquez Family, who haven't been to church in ages, followed us to church for mutual!  Fellow member missionaries, be persistent - it works!

We were led to a random door.  We followed the prompting and knocked it - and we found Gabby, a young mother living with her less-active husband (who wasn't on our records), her sister, and her kids!  She has amazing faith and she accepted a Book of Mormon!  We're excited to start teaching them!

We found Jennifer Weaver, who was living where some less active members used to live!  She was so prepared - she accepted a Book of Mormon and told us that she works in the Operating Room and she has two young kids.  She started crying as she told us she knew God was helping her.  Sadly, she spoke English, so we passed her off - but what a miracle that Heavenly Father led us to her!

We tried to contact a former investigator, someone who'd had the missionary lessons before.  Victor Luna and two of his daughters were outside, as if waiting for us!  Victor recognized our tags and asked us to come back and teach his family.  They're golden!

This Sunday, so many people came to church!  The Chapel was full to bursting - Yesenia, our nine-year-old investigator came with her mom and their friend Cynthia and her 4 kids.  Aurelio Vasquez, an older investigator, came for the first time that I've seen since I've been here - and he said a family in the ward gave him a ride!  The Gonzaleses, an older couple who haven't been able to come because of medical reasons, came; Hermana Saenz came for the second time in years (last Sunday being her first time in years) and brought her friend Irma, who's getting baptized on June 24th.  Ulysses and Ceci, a young less-active couple who's son recently got baptized, came, and Ulysses brought his work-out buddy and his wife, Joe and Debbie, who are less active recent converts.  Hermana Medina, who's husband isn't a member, came - and the Ortiz family, who've been busy at work for the longest time.  Carmen Nutter, a recent convert, came and told us her grandson, who's 17, wants to take the missionary lessons.  Brenda Grajeda, whose name we've seen on the ward list and with whom we've been meaning to visit, showed up, told us her name and that she was less-active, and set up an appointment with us.  Finally, a family who hasn't been to church ever since the wife was excommunicated, came and sat in the second row, and said hello after the meeting.
...

Miracles all around! Heavenly Father is really amazing.

Love, love, love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - June 5, 2017 - T6, W3 - Wedding, Baptism, and how Missionaries are like Jedi

Hola from TransMountain!

This is Valeria! (to the right)
Her wedding took a lot of planning... ​

But it was worth it!

Because guess what? This week she was BAPTIZED! 

Woo!  She's been preparing for this since February of 2016 - she's going to be such an awesome member, and she can't wait to get sealed in a year to her husband!

​

Holy Shmokes, what a week!  This week, Hermana Saenz came to CHURCH!!  She hasn't gone in years, but she got back from Mexico and came!  Not only did she come to church, she brought with her a golden investigator named Irma who has agreed to be baptized on June 24th!  We also were able to get in contact with an investigator whom we haven't been able to see since she went on vacation, and she had read in the Book of Mormon!  She told us she wanted to come to church, as well!  This same member also introduced us to her friend, Connie, who told us, "I won't get to sleep!" when we invited her to read the Book of Mormon.  She's so excited!  We assured her she didn't need to lose sleep to stay up reading it. :)

I've seen a few signs of the Spirit working on little kids this week.  In our lesson with the Morenos, Jared, the 3 year-old, was over the moon to have a birthday invitation with a picture of Captain America.  He kept waving it in the air, saying, "Captain America! Captain America!"  I sat on the floor to spread out the Plan of Salvation visual we had brought.  I said a little prayer: "Heavenly Father, help me know what to do to calm Jared down so we can teach this. In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen."  I got the impression to just say his name.  I obeyed the prompting and said, "Jared?"  He immediately put down the invitation and sat down on the ground next to me.  It was amazing! 

We went on exchanges on Saturday, which was interesting.  We went to a lesson where the man we were teaching wouldn't let us speak.  He just kept talking about how he wasn't interested in other religions, and he was Catholic.  We told him thank you for telling us, could we leave you with a prayer?  A few days earlier, Hermana Oliphant and I were talking about this very challenge.  Hermana Oliphant told me that something her trainer did was teach during the prayer, and something that she herself has done is review the commitments in the prayer, so I decided to try it!  I thanked Heavenly Father that the gospel was restored and went through the points of the first discussion.  I then asked God to give this man the strength to be able to feel the Holy Ghost as he read the Book of Mormon to know if it was true.  It was awesome! 

I was feeling kind of down, actually, through the day, but when we exchanged back, me and Hermana Oliphant both were so excited to see each other!  It was so cool. 

Then, just last night, we finally got in contact with a less-active family, the Raygosas, and gave them some cookies.  The mom told us she wanted to come back to church!  She also told us she wanted her daughter to go to young womens. :)

That's all for this week! 

Love, love, love,

Hermana Smurthwaite

P. S. Here's something really neat our Mission President showed us:

How Mormon Missionaries are like Jedi

Let’s consider how Missionaries are like the Jedi.  Our chief trainer (along with the Spirit) is President Guffey and we need to listen to him.  If this were the month of May we could say: "May the 4th be with you" aka Star Wars day.  A play on words meaning the Force or the Spirit. Here are a few ways that Missionaries are like Jedi:

• Over arching power: The Jedi have the force. Missionaries have the Spirit. 
• Dress code: Jedi have a dress code, most of them wear "Jedi robes". Missionaries have a dress code, and also wear "robes".
• Temples: The Jedi receive training at the Jedi Temple. Missionaries receive training at Mormon Temples.
• Revelation: Jedi when they need insight from the "force" they go meditate in the "meditation room" (in the Jedi Temple). When Missionaries need insight from the Spirit they PRAY, and if they can they go to the Celestial room (in a Mormon Temple).
• Leadership/Structure: Jedi have ranking, Youngling, Padawan Apprentice, Jedi Knight, Jedi Master, and Council Member, and Grand Master. Missionaries have Leadership. Trainee, Jr companion, Sr companion, Trainer, District Leader, Zone Leader, Sister Training Leader and Assistants to the President, and the Mission President. Trainee (Greenie) = Youngling. Jr companion = Padawan. Sr companion = Jedi Knight. Trainer/District Leader = Jedi Master
• Zone Leader/Sister Training Leader and Assistant are all parts of the "Mission Leadership Council" = Jedi Council Members. Mission President = Grand Master. 
• A "High Council of 12":The Jedi have a High Council of 12 members, and is sometimes referred to as the "Jedi Council Quorum". Missionaries have a "High Council" that has 12 members, they direct the work, and are referred to as The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Chastity: Jedi are not allowed to have Sexual relations (Outside of marriage, Married Jedi were allowed). Missionaries are not allowed to have any romantic relations (Outside of marriage, married missionary aka Sr Couples allowed).
• Training: Jedi Padawan's learn by accompanying a "Jedi master" on "Missions". New missionaries (Padawan's) learn missionary work from their Trainer (Jedi Master), and from "lessons".
• Opposition: The Jedi are always being attacked by the "dark side". Missionaries are always combating the "Anti".
• Armed with a awesome weapon: The Jedi are trained and instructed on how to use a Lightsaber, and they build their own. Missionaries are trained and bear testimony of "The Book Of Mormon", and must gain their own testimony. 
• Loved or Hated: The Jedi were either hailed as heroes, and loved, or as the "enemy" and hated. Missionaries are viewed either as angles and heroes and they are loved. Or they are hated.
• Training Center: The Jedi have a Training center inside the Jedi Temple. Missionaries have Missionary Training Centers (MTC's) right next to Temples. 
• Everyone wants to be like them: Little kids always pretend they are Jedi. Little kids say they want to be a missionary when they grow up.
• Scholars: Jedi were revered as scholars, who studied the past. Missionaries set aside time every day to study the scriptures, and words of their leaders.

Mission Log - May 30, 2017 - T6, W2 - Guided by the Spirit

Hola familia, amigos, y calabazas!

Our district went on a hike to celebrate memorial day. :)
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Wow!!  What a week.  This week, I discovered I have the most spiritually in-tune companion in the mission.  On Tuesday, we were driving towards the Relief Society activity when she suddenly pulled over.  "This is the house of a potential we haven't been able to find home in weeks," she explained.  Not only did we find him home, he was outside with his wife and grandson, as though waiting!  We set a return appointment.  Hermana Oliphant was very humble: "I just felt like we needed to stop!"  She told me. :)

On Wednesday, we were guided to go try a part-member family.  For twelve weeks, they had thought there was no house there, just a field, but when Elder Cota was on exchanges with Elder Rivera, we discovered that the house was in the BACK, so you had to drive in to see it, which thing we had never supposed.  It was a miracle we saw them at that time, because the father was about to leave for work, and we'd put them as a back-up plan for our 7:00 pm appointment, so if we'd waited, it would have been too late.  And besides, the 7:00 appointment was there - two recent converts and their little daughter, Megan, so if we hadn't gone to see the Vasquez family when we did, we wouldn't have found them at all!

On splits, we were able to contact a less-active lady the English sisters had been trying to find, but until Friday, they could only ever find her kids.  It was late- about 8:15 at night.  This sister, Margarita, walked out with a box of Church materials to give to us: Books of Mormon, Ensigns, and pamphlets.  She told us, "I don't want to be Mormon anymore - your religion is to hard."  Instead of exploding into a fiery tirade of scriptures, testifying, teaching, and pleading on bended knee with her not to leave the Church, as was my first inclination, we started asking her questions, such as, "How did you feel when you prayed about it?" and "Why did you decide to join the church in the first place?"  Come to find out, she was a recent convert of about 3 years, and she joined because of encouragement from her husband.  Not long after, this husband began to abuse her and her daughters, resulting in a messy divorce and a broken family.  We then testified boldly of how much her Heavenly Father loves her.  She had tears in her eyes.  We left with a plan to come back and help them pack up to move.  We walked away without the box, and Margarita picked it up and carried it inside.

There were lots more miracles.  We stopped by a member, who not only was back home from a long trip in Mexico, but also gave us just about the most solid member referral we've ever received.  We were spiritually led to 5 different people, 3 of whom we set a return appointment with, 1 of which became a new investigator.  We were led by the Spirit to knock a specific house, and it ended up being someone my companion had met before, but never knew her name or address.  She also let us set up a return appointment.  We called a less-active sister at the exact moment Heavenly Father needed us to, right after they almost got in a car accident and were quite angry and frightened, and read a chapter in the Book of Mormon to them over the phone.  We were finally able to take the Primary president to meet Angel, who just turned 8, and his less-active mom, Marisol.  We went to a different less-active sister's house for dinner to find her dis-fellowshipped sister with her husband there.  The message we shared was about 200% the Spirit, because it went down very well.  (Also, it was a miracle, because there's an ensign talk called 'Regaining My Covenants' that was perfect for her situation.)

Miracles never CEASE!  If I tried to sit here and type out all the miracles we see happen every week, I think the keyboard might rot before I got done! :)

Love you all mucho! Tune in next week for more miracles!

Love, Love, Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - May 22, 2017 - T6, W1 - Baptism and Oliphant and Transmountain

Hay! (There is an English Sister serving in our same area with the name Sister Hay, hence the casual greeting)

Sergio Granados was my last baptism before leaving Ascarate.  His wife, Irma, was there and the service was beautiful.  He looked to peaceful and clean as he came up out of the water.  He just kept saying, "Gracias- gracias."  He's eager for his wife and daughter to be baptized so they can go to the temple and have an eternal family.

My new companion is awesome! ​ She is Hermana Oliphant, 25, from Bountiful, Utah.  She put her career as an editor for Utah Business Magazine on hold to come out on a mission and serve the Lord.  She speaks French, English, and Spanish, and her Grandparents are Scottish, so she can do a spot-on Scottish accent.  Look her up, Aisley Oliphant - she wrote some of the articles for MormonTemples.org. :)

Transmountain Ward is FULL of miracles.  In the first week, we found 5 new investigators, 3 of which are part of the same family, and one of which is the daughter of a less-active member.  Her name is Jessica and she's had the lessons before.  She's very sweet and how we found her was a miracle: we went to dinner with a member we didn't know, Hermana Armendariz.  She not only fed us and gave us a referral, she CONTACTED the referral with us that same hour!  It was awesome.  The member testified powerfully about the Restored Gospel, Joseph Smith, and the Book of Mormon.  The less-active mom admitted that she still believed in it all, and we committed her and her daughter, Jessica to come to church!

Another miracle we saw this week was that Debbie and Joe, who are less active and Joe's a recent convert, got so excited about starting their family history and going to the Temple that Debbie agreed to invite her fanatical Presbyterian friend to have a family home evening with us to learn how to do HER family history. :)

Miracles happen every day! Tune in next week for a more detailed letter and milagros. :)

Love, love, love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - May 15, 2017 - T5, W6 - Baptism and Transfer

Hola for the last time from El Paso!

This week was a very special week to be a missionary.  There were many miracles, a few heartbreaks, and a baptism (Fernanda).  Throughout the week, I've been blessed to learn a lot - about myself, and about how Heavenly Father works.  My testimony has been strengthened and I've come to rely more fully on His mercy.

I'm getting transferred!  I'm sad to leave Ascarate - I've learned a lot in my time here and I've made good friends.  I've had some sacred experiences that have changed me as a person.  But I'm ready to take on Transmountain!  I'm glad I won't be too far away from my first area - I'll be able to take the new investigators I meet to baptisms of my old investigators, then they'll want to get baptized! :)

I had the opportunity to talk with my awesome family. I love them a ton! Happy Mother's day.

The ten minute Restoration with BDAW we'd practiced so much really went well, thanks to the Help of the Spirit.  There were about 15 non-members there- one from Montwood, one from the Elders, one from 4th ward, 10 of Fernanda's friends (one of whom cried), her non-member Father, and one of our investigators, whom we cornered afterward and asked to stay for the Mother's day activity.  She, Nelli, not only stayed for the Mother's day activity, she also made a friend who gave her a tour of the building!  She's so awesome - and she agreed to be baptized!

Many more miracles are in store - the Work never ceases!

Love you!
Hermana Smurthwaite

Also, BDAW is an acronym meaning Before, During, After, Warning - it's a guide for how to teach about the Holy Ghost in lessons. :)

Mission Log - May 8, 2017 - T5, W6 - Testimonies of Truth

Hola from El Paso!

Had a sick day this week, so after making my companion some chicken soup, studies, and cleaning the apartment I had a little time to tape up some pictures of Jesus. Sure brightened up the place! :)​

We also decided to have a Makeover last night:

There are those with talent in the makeup department, and then there's others... :)​

Wow!  What a week.  We've been trying to do splits to cover more appointments, but haven't been able to yet; things come up and people cancel.  But we did have a lot of miracles!

We went to a lesson with an investigator who's renting a room with one of our members.  We found out that the member's nurse, Yolanda, also has an interest in the Gospel!  It was a miracle that we came just before her shift ended - and because we planned on seeing Marisol, we committed Yolanda to live the Word of Wisdom the very first lesson we ever had with her. :)

The church is true.  The more we testify to our investigators, the more they receive their own testimony.  Two lessons this week, we were able to see the Holy Ghost work in people.

We had an awesome lesson with Irma - we testified that Joseph Smith was a prophet and, therefore, the Word of Wisdom was a commandment from Heavenly Father.  We committed her to live the Word of Wisdom and she said of course she would!  She agreed with us: "Yes, I know it's true!"

Marisol had a similar reaction.  We were pressured for time, so we had to teach the Plan of Salvation in 15 minutes.  Hermana Gaytan, an awesome member, testified about life after death.  We told Marisol, "We want to see you there in the Celestial Kingdom!"  After the lesson, we asked her if she had any doubts or questions.  She told us, "Well, it's all true, isn't it?" :)

Another miracle that we saw this week is that our investigator, Fernanda, brought a less-active friend from school to Mutual!  She stayed with her the whole time and invited her to the lesson that we had afterwards.  It was awesome! And, on Friday, she passed her baptismal interview - she's all set to be baptized next Saturday!  Her dad even came from Mexico to be at her interview.  She's been to Church 3 times, to Mutual also 3 times, and she told us she knows the church is true!

We had an interesting experience on Wednesday.  Hermino, our new investigator from the previous Sunday, had changed - on Sunday, he was very humble and sincere. He expressed mighty faith in God, and in Jesus Christ.  On Wednesday, he fired doctrinal questions at us - such as did a physical hell exist, wasn't the church established by Joseph Smith and his Brother, and did we believe in Saints.  I was inclined to try to answer his questions, but the Spirit whispered to me, "Leave." So I told Hermino, "We cannot teach you if you don't let us speak. What we'll do is we'll leave this pamphlet with you, and we'll come back tomorrow at 4:00."  Then we left.  He missed his appointment, and then on Friday, he told us not to come back.  It happens - but we are the Lord's representatives. We're not here to mess around.

We found Nelli, an investigator we hadn't seen in a long time.  She expressed some concerns to us - she really wasn't sure she wanted to give up her Catholic beliefs.  It was a miracle we got to see her.  We talked to her about personal revelation and how we weren't here to take away her faith, but to help her learn for herself if these things are true.  She had held onto her Book of Mormon and her pamphlets - she told us she would try to pray to know.

On Zone Conference day, we saw no less than 10 people.  We didn't have a full-length lesson with all of them, but we did pass by Celeste and Julio on our way to our appointment with Irma and Sergio.  We parked the car to see a young couple arguing and crying - when we drew closer, we recognized them.  I said to them, "We can tell you're having a hard time and probably don't want to talk about it, but can we say a prayer with you?"  We did so, and went to our appointment.  When we walked back to our car afterwards, we saw them sitting together, talking.  We waved goodbye, and Celeste called out, "Thanks for the prayer!"

We brought Obispo Gardea to a lesson that fell through.  We followed our back-up plan and went to see Jahayra, who wasn't there either.  Outside Jahayra's apartment, we saw Silvia, a potential.  We went to talk to her, and she accepted a Book of Mormon and baptism!  Obispo Gardea told her, "We were sent here by God.  These two angels (points to us) are sent by God and are here to help you."
 Many more miracles happened this week, but for the sake of time, I must quit.

Tune in next time for more miracles!

Love, love, love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - May 1, 2017 - T5, W5 - Pot of Gold Members

ALOHA from the tropical beaches of El Paso!!

We had a little opportunity to help a sister in our ward decorate for a Hawaiian-themed  birthday party.  Gotta love surprise service projects! :)

Wow! This week was full of miracles. We visited Elder Winkie in the hospital last P-day.

He's now back on his feet and fully functional! :)

We had dinner with a sister I didn't know all that well and had never had dinner with, Hermana Canton.  She's not on the ward list, so I assumed she was supposed to be attending a different ward but just decided to hop on over to our ward (which happens a lot in this area.)  We told her that her referral from several months back was on date to be baptized. "Que bueno!" she said.  Over the course of dinner, we discovered she was a convert of about 3 years, and that she was working with several people, inviting them to church and whatnot.  Her son, Cesar, was a prospective Elder, and her daughter in law was interested in learning more about the church!  She set an appointment with us right then and there for the following Saturday to introduce us to Karen.  She's so awesome!  Finding members like that is like finding a pot of gold. :)  I hope to BE a member like that when I get off my mission.

We found a less-active recent convert of my trainer, Hermana Martin.  His name's Kevin.  We knocked on the door, and he came outside - he was a 20-year-old with a flop haircut and a tattoo on the side of his neck.  We didn't even ask him why he hadn't been coming to church, he volunteered the information.  "I've been struggling in my faith, sisters!" he told us.  "I feel like a hypocrite when I go to church!"  He went on to explain that he didn't really feel ready when he got baptized, he just kind of took the plunge.  He said he didn't feel like he had any faith in anything anymore.

My first instinct was to say, "What are you talking about? Of course God exists!  Come to church, ya crazy!"  But I did not say that.  Instead, I asked him some questions: "What is faith? How does one get faith? Where could we get more ideas?" (Yes, I directly quoted Adjusting to Missionary Life. Highly recommend reading it - that booklet's inspired!)  We also read Alma 32:28, about how faith is like a little seed.  He concluded that he needed to pray and reach out to God. :)  We're seeing him again soon!

Our investigator, Fernanda Castro, went to mutual for the second time this week.  At mutual, the youth were playing a game where they passed a basketball and whoever caught it had to bear their testimony - and Fernanda bore her testimony! :)  She knows that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith is a prophet!

Hermana Blow's been feeling pretty sick all week.  Hope the new medication she's on works!

That's all for this week. Tune in next time for more miracles...

Love, Love, Love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - April 24, 2017 - T5, W4 - Member Assistance and Working through Struggles

Dear Family, Friends, and missionaries -

We found the Road to El Dorado :)

We had a miracle this week!  Well, actually, we had many, but the first one happened on Monday.  Instead of texting to confirm our appointment with Nalleli, we felt prompted to call her.  Her voice was shaky, and she told us that on Sunday, she discovered that her husband was cheating on her.  She asked us to pray for her, which we did, over the phone.  The next day, at our appointment with her, she hugged me for a minute or so.  She began to cry - as soon as we sat down and before the opening prayer, she told us, "Ya quiero bautizarme."  (I want to be baptized.)  We were surprised, but testified that her decision would bless her life and the lives of her 3 kids.  It was a miracle!  She's getting baptized on the 20th of May.

Our investigators, Sergio and Irma Granados (no relation to sea-soup Hermana Granados) are AWESOME!!  They both came to church last week and sat by Martha Jaidar, a super awesome member, and this week, Irma had to work, but Sergio still came!  An RM in our ward named Cesar Rios introduced himself, exchanged numbers, and asked to come to their next lesson tomorrow at 6!  When members asked Sergio, "Are you coming next week?" He replied, "Con mucho gusto!" (With pleasure!)  They're excited to be baptized on May 13.

Fernanda Aldana Castro, our 15 year-old investigator, went to mutual and loved it!  We gave her a baptismal calendar and have a regularly scheduled appointment at the church after mutual.  We discovered she drinks green tea when we taught her the word of wisdom; when we followed up with her the next lesson, she proudly told us that when she went to Juarez, a common weekend activity down here in El Paso, her dad bought her some of her favorite green tea... AND SHE DIDN'T DRINK IT!! :)  She's so awesome - we're happy for her! She's also getting baptized on the 13th.

We received a training during district council on how to teach in spite of distractions, such as children or music.  I had a neat experience where I applied the training: some members were kind enough to take us out to lunch.  There was live music - a talented musician was taking requests, but didn't know any religious songs.  We were trying to direct the conversation to gospel topics, but it was hard to hear.  As the musician sang "How sweet it is to be loved by you," I nearly shouted to Hermana and Hermano Martinez, "This song is for you two! (What?) Because you love each other! (Speak up!) You know who else loves you? Jesus! Jesus Christ loves you! Here's a scripture..." :)  I'm really grateful for district council, because it prepares you for these situations.

I've been having some challenges with my companion, but I was too ashamed to talk to anyone about it.  Sister Olson is truly an inspired STL - during Language Study, I began pouring out my heart to her in Spanish.  She's an English missionary, so she had no idea what I was saying, but she listened intently and nodded a lot. :)  It felt good to talk it out, and as I talked, I realized all I lacked in my relationship with my companion was good communication.  Our comp inventory is usually a little rushed, since it's at the end of weekly planning, so the day after my poor sister training leader listened to my woes in Spanish, I was better able to talk to my own companion.  God chooses His leaders wisely!

Seminary is still just as fun as ever - this week, we talked about James 3.  Surprisingly very applicable!   I really enjoyed reading it and loved the input from the class.

At district council, 5 out of the 6 sisters in our district wore the same dress in different colors. :)  It was fun to match!

Valeria and Nefi finally got married!  We left after the ceremony, but the next day after church we spent about 45 minutes helping them clean up the mess - and what a mess it was!  There was a TON of beer.  Don't worry, though - Valeria and Nefi don't drink, just their non-member family and friends.

We shared the story of Esther with a member who's struggling with her nearly-abusive husband.  They're living apart, but he bothers her nearly every day.  It was a bit awkward because he was there at dinner with us, but we were very bold: "Sometimes, we are like Esther. We must stand up for ourselves, and for what's right!"  We looked right in her eyes.  "Other times, we can be like Haman- full of pride and hate."  Like her husband.  We pray for her every morning and night, as we do with a lot of people.

That's all for this week!  Tune in next time for more miracles!

Love, love, love,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - April 17, 2017 - T5, W3 - Easter Miracles!

It's a hot one down here in El Paso!

We have truly been blessed and humbled this week.

We contacted Evelyn, a media referral.  She sounded about 30-40 over the phone, and had requested a Bible.  We called her, set up an appointment, and brought the Bible, along with a Book of Mormon and a Restoration Pamphlet.  She answered the door.  Turns out she's 23, has a three-year-old daughter, and has sincere desires to come closer to God.  We taught that God is your Loving Heavenly Father and shared the Prince of Peace video - the spirit was so strong!!  She's had some rough times lately - she told us she had a miscarriage and several resulting health problems.  She's worried that if she dies, her sick mother won't be able to take care of her daughter.  She's an amazing daughter of God and we are so blessed that technology allowed us to find her!

On Tuesday, we got 5 new investigators!  That was a miracle - and two of them, Irma and Sergio Granados, now are on date to be baptized May the 13!  We had an amazing lesson with a member in our ward also named Granados, funnily enough, although they're not related.  We had planned to teach God is your loving Heavenly Father, but the Spirit guided our member to testify of the restoration and Joseph Smith.  We testified of the Book of Mormon, and asked them to be baptized, and they, as a couple, agreed to be baptized May 13! It was a miracle, and I know if we missionaries had gone in there by ourselves, we would not have been blessed with that miracle.

My companion's stomach has been suffering because of all the chile, dairy, spice, and gluten of El Paso, so on Wednesday after our interviews with President Guffey, two amazing members, the Ferrons, drove us an hour and 45 minutes both ways to see Doctor Larken, a member doctor she had seen before in her last area.  We couldn't take our mission vehicle, because of restricted miles.  Even as we drove, we could tell the Ferrons were having a hard time - their son, who is living in Juarez, was on the phone with them.  Hermana Ferron was crying.  It truly was a huge sacrifice by them to drive us to the doctor.  Hermano Ferron is a trucker - he'd just gotten back from Georgia and hadn't yet rested.  Then, we dropped him off on the way back so he could drive to Juarez to pick up their son.  Go, go, go without a break!  They are outstanding.

We've been seeing some success from going to seminary once a week. The youth say hi to us when they see us now - and they're sharing the gospel with their friends!  Miracles are everywhere.

Valeria is very excited - she's officially getting married on April 22 so she can get baptized on April 30!  She's already rented a salon to have the wedding in - and we try to go and read with her daily in the Book of Mormon.  She's a bit stressed, but once the craze and the party's over, hopefully she'll be able to calm down and focus on her goal of being baptized and sealed in the temple.

To further the Prince of Peace effort, we printed off slips of paper with #PrinceofPeace and mormon.org on them, cut them up, and put them inside plastic Easter eggs.  We gave two eggs to each youth and challenged them to share it with their friends.  We've been sharing the video with everyone, and one of our investigators, Nalleli, who's been struggling to read the Book of Mormon, went online and watched all the Principles of Peace videos and tried some of the activities!  It was a miracle.

We found a new investigator named Mary Sol.  She's living with a member in our ward and has read a good chunk of the Book of Mormon!  She's so prepared, and we hope to baptize her soon! :) Miracle.

Irma and Sergio came to church!  So did Fernanda, our 15-year-old investigator.  So did the Sidas, a less-active family we hardly ever see at church.  Easter miracles!

On the subject of Easter, I'd like to bear a simple testimony:
He died so we can live. He lives so we can follow Him. 
In His sacred name, even the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Lots of love,
Hna Smurthwaite

Mission Log - April 10, 2017 - T5, W2 - Many Miracles!

Hola mis calabazas!
(Don't worry, it's a term of endearment :) )

This week, we had many miracles!

We found 6 new investigators.

We are helping Valeria plan her wedding!  She is very excited to be baptized.

We also were able to bring Teresa, the less-active mother of our investigator to church!

Also, we brought a newly-moved in member to church - we drove to her house and she followed us!

We were able to find Jahayra, finally!  She loved the Prince of Peace video.  It actually brought to the surface some questions of the soul she was struggling with: why do bad things happen to good people, and why does God allow for wars to happen, especially with everything going down in Syria right now.  We reviewed the Plan of Salvation with her - it was a powerful reminder!  The Spirit was very strong in there.

The Prince of peace video tends to bring the Spirit to people, actually - we showed it to a member at dinner, then she cried and started telling us about some problems she's been struggling with, namely, getting past 2nd Nephi.  She finds it hard to understand, so she just starts over.  We are now texting her every morning to remind her to read and invite questions.

One less-active member liked it so much she had us play it again! :)  When we showed it to a family of investigators, and our bishop was there, the lesson kind of turned into a testimony meeting, and the sister of the mom, who we met for the first time that day, accepted a Book of Mormon and became a new investigator!  It was so awesome.  And by that, I mean awe-inspiring.  I am so grateful for technology - sharing the Gospel has never been more efficient! :)

A newly-reactivated member is going through the temple for the first time next week!  It was a miracle her husband signed his approval - now she can attend her niece's sealing!

Dah! So many miracles. :)

Also, I'm learning a lot - especially patience.  I'm really trying to stretch myself in this area, and I surprised myself with what I've been able to do!  I know it's because the Lord is helping me.
Hermana Blow has been stressed out all week.  She's had a bad feeling about today - like something bad was going to happen during emailing this morning.  Nothing too terrible so far - her friend got staples in her head and her hometown got hit with a tornado, but no one was hurt.  We are continually blessed.

That's all for this week!  Tune in next time for more miracles!
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - April 3, 2017 - T5, W1 - Church Tour Miracles and General Conference

Hola from EL PASO!!!!!!!!! :)

Well, the church tour as mentioned in last week's Mission Log started off pretty poorly.

First of all, our bishop​ never showed up, so we started without Priesthood holders, 15 minutes late.  We then sent the people off to different rooms with no directions for the transitions - which was chaos!  Some groups had three people, some 14.  The Young women created their own room without us knowing...

AND IT WAS A COMPLETE SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to Heavenly Father, and His mercy, we had so many people, we had to set up 4 extra tables just before refreshments!

We were so blessed.  We got home and said a prayer of gratitude - I am so grateful.  There were 9 non-members there that we'd never met; and, the stake president said we could re-create it on the stake level! :D  We are excited.

General Conference was wonderful, as always.  Some recurring themes I noticed were:
The Plan of Salvation.
The Godhead.
The Living Christ.
The Holy Ghost.

So, the Gospel basics; pure doctrine.  I really liked the opportunity to hear from the prophets and apostles - Their encouragement, gentle rebukes, and wisdom from God.  Many of my questions were answered, and the rest were put to rest. :)  The Church is true, everybody!  I invite all of you to tell someone about it - post it all over Facebook, Twitter.  Talk to your neighbor about it!  Talk to the checker at Walmart about it!  Talk to your co-workers, your sport-team members, your enemies!  Share the message of the Gospel NOW - don't wait!

Love you all,
Hermana Smurthwaite

Mission Log - March 28, 2017 - T4, W6 - Dust Storm and Blessings from Gratitude

Dear People of the Rock,

Thank you for your support, love, and encouragement!  You guys are awesome.

(This is a Dust storm.)​

Miracles are everywhere!

Yesterday, we were finally able to contact the daughter of our new less-active.  She's 15, and she wants to get baptized!  She's awesome.

Also, this week, we were led by the spirit to 4 different super-prepared people!  One of them we were guided to at 8:45 at night, so we determined to return in the daylight hours.  When we returned, he was literally standing outside his house as though waiting for us! :)  Truly a miracle.  Two of them, a couple, have such strong faith in Christ - and they have their Genealogy all done from 2,000 years!! AMAZING!

We passed them all off to the English Sisters, but still!  We were truly blessed.  Also, our Church Tour is coming up on Tuesday.  We're excited - I'll give you a full report next week!

I know that the reason I've been blessed because I've been more grateful.  Instead of thinking negatively, I've tried to always to the bright side this week - and it's brought me a lot of patience and peace of mind.  I thought to myself this morning, "Whoa- love works!" :)  I already knew, but I'm reminded daily.

Also, while we've emailed today, a random member we've never met called us out of the blue and gave us three referrals! :)  Another miracle.  There are miracles all over!

Tune in next week for a more detailed email! :)

Love,
Hna Smurthwaite

Mission Log - March 21, 2017 - T4 W5 - Breathing Masks and Unexpected Service

Hello family, friends, relatives, pals, and amigos!

Story: We went to contact a referral.  They didn't even ask who we were, just let us in!  Then the mom said, "I'll take you back to see him."  We just acted like we knew what was going on. :)

We met Ignacio, who's dying of cancer - they gave us masks.  We taught him and the rest of his family that God is your Loving Heavenly Father, and that families can be together forever.​  It was a miracle!  They needed comfort, so Heavenly Father sent us to them! :)

We had miracles in this week past!  We helped Chaparral with a rescue activity.  I also was able to try chile rellenos burritos, which are DELICIOUS.

We found two newly moved in members, one active, one less active.  The less active was a referral from the Elders - Her name's Teresa, she's a massage therapist (shout out to Mom! :))  She has a 15 year old daughter who wants to be baptized!  We'll start teaching her soon.

The other was a MIRACLE!  We had come home early to do language study.  She walked up to us, carrying her baby.  "Hello!" We said.  "I have been following you!" she exclaimed.  Her name's Andrea, and her baby's name is Ethan.  They're a super cute family!  We're excited to introduce them to the Bishop!

We served this one member unexpectedly.  And by that I mean she called us to invite us over for birthday cake.  Her husband's less active, so we stopped by - she came out moaning. "My back, sisters, my back!"  We sat her down in a chair, and I rubbed her shoulders while my companion rubbed her feet.  Now, ladies and gentlemen, this was a labour of love, because Hna Granados (yes, the sea-soup sister) is no small, delicate creature.  My hands, knuckles, arms, shoulders - everything was sore!  It was like kneading an unripe cantaloupe on a hot, buggy August day.

To echo the words of Elder Nelson, "Ask the missionaries- they will help you!"  Literally - from moving your records into a new ward, to unexpected service, we got your back! (literally...)

I got to direct the ward choir!  That was fun - It was like the sirens of the days of the Odyssey.  Only these sirens sounded like police sirens...

We fasted with Petra and went to a Catholic Mass to support her.  Loved the windows.  It was my first time - couldn't hardly understand a word of it, but we unexpectedly found another one of our investigators there. :)  Busted!

We began teaching Alicia, the mother of a recent convert.  She's very sweet, but also doesn't want to be pressured into anything, and her son is pressuring her HARD-CORE.  We'll follow up with her today!

We spread dirt on a baseball field!  Ahh, service.  Service softens hearts (and hardens muscles.)  Elder Ensign taught us all how to flip a pass-along card!  Creative proselyting activity.

We had an awesome district council - Elder Richens bore a powerful testimony and gave us three commitments: Be yourself, have fun, and figure out why you're here.  We've been trying to implement those! :)

Grateful for all the blessings we see every day!

Love,
Hna Smurthwaite

Mission Log - March 14, 2017 - T4, W4 - Tripitas and a Hippo

Hola from El Paso!!

What a week!  This week, I started doing some family history because our mission president gave us an hour a week to do it.  I found a picture of a grave of my great-grandparents - family history is awesome!  Highly reccomend it. :)
We tried Tripitas for the first time today!  It's basically cow chitlins in a taco. 😲  I've never tasted it's equal!

Time is short this week - many miracles, many blessings, always learning humility and gratitude!  More details to come next week. 

For now, another submission for "Ya see the strangest things in El Paso" :

Love, Love, Love,

Hermana Smurthwaite​