Hello!

We had a great week here! 4 of our investigators came to church which was really a miracle! Eric, Steven (Eric's friend), Fred and Bruna all came!

Fred is from Ghana and is someone we have been teaching on and off for a couple of weeks but this past week he referred a friend to meet with us. They ended up being married so the family ward Elders are teaching them now but it helped us get back in touch with him! We got to teach him about the plan of salvation and he told us that even though he doesn't want to rush he really does want to know if this is true so he had us set up a member to pick him up and bring him to church. They got there a little bit late but just in time to take the sacrament and Fred loved it!

Bruna is from Brazil and is a friend of a member of our ward. We have been working with her and a couple of the other Brazilian exchange students on their English by reading the Book of Mormon. She was a little nervous to come because she still has a hard time understanding English. Saturday we were able to go over and help her understand what the sacrament was which really helped her once she got there. There are also two girl in our ward who just got back from missions in Brazil who helped her to understand what they were talking about in church. Even though she didn't understand everything perfectly the Spirit was really strong and she left really happy!

We have also been teaching Eric this week. We met him last week and he has come to church two Sundays in a row! This week we got to teach him about the restoration, plan of salvation and word of wisdom. He is progressing really well and should be getting baptized on November 2nd! When we went over Saturday night his friend Steven was there and joined in the lesson and even came to church the next day! They both really liked church and everyone was really friendly which helped them feel welcome. In our gospel principles class the teacher asked how many days everyone had read the scriptures and Eric pipped up that he had only missed Wednesday and Saturday! He is better at reading than most of the members! After church our ward mission leader invited them over to dinner with us that night. We wanted to bring up the word of wisdom but weren't really sure how to do it at dinner but Eric actually brought it up all on his own. In priesthood the teacher had mentioned not drinking beer when he was in Germany which really confused Eric so he wanted to know what that was all about. We were able to have a really great conversation about the word of wisdom where the Spirit was present and he committed to live it! Later that evening they also came to FHE at the bishops house, so they spent most of the day doing church things :) 

This week we also had exchanges with the Rio Grande Sisters! I got to spend the day with Sister Haywood in my area. We have served around each other almost all of her mission (she came out one transfer after me) so it was fun to talk about all of the changes that have happened since then. We were able to talk to a TON of people on campus and even got some return appointments. One person we talked to was a guy named Nelly. He is a freshman at NMSU and has recently been wanting to create a better relationship with God. Yesterday we were able to sit down and have a lesson with him and it went so well! He told us how the night before we first met him he had been long boarding with some friends and just felt really grateful for all God had done for him so afterwards he sat down on a bench and prayed to God to know how to know Him and Jesus Christ better. It was so humbling to get to tell him about the Restoration of the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how he can come closer to our Heavenly Father through prayer, scripture study and being baptized. 

I really love being a missionary because I learn something new everyday! After reviewing the conference talks I was stuck by how many times they referenced that "decisions determine destiny". That is something I have really learned on my mission, what we do it this life is SO important and we are the only ones who chose what we do, not our circumstances or anything else, it is all up to us.

Love you tons!

Sister Lexy Smith

General Conference

What a fantastic week we have had!

Tuesday we had exchanges with the Picacho Sisters and I got to stay in my area with Sister Grigg. She is such a great missionary and has a deep love for the people she serves. Tuesday night we started teaching two girls from Brazil! They are friends with a member of our ward and needed help with their english so we were able to help them with that and introduce them to the gospel. They both have a great desire to learn and have already started reading the Book of Mormon in english!

After our finishing our exchanges wednesday we drove up to Albuquerque (for the second time this week, the temple trip was monday). MLC on Thursday was especially inspiring for me. I noticed again and again that we are living beneath our potential. It was really great to rely that information to our zone. This was probably the most inspiring zone training I have had my whole time in Las Cruces! Not only was it great to hear the testimonies of missionaries I have come to love but it was amazing to see the potential we all have if we will dedicate ourselves to the Lords work.

Then general conference weekend. Saturday was so uplifting, I really enjoyed all of the talks and was greatly inspired. No one came with us that day but that evening we went to visit a recent convert who was supposed to come. We have been making an undying attempt to contact him but his family never let us into their home. As we approached their home we decided to park up the street a little ways so that they weren't forewarned of out coming. After a fervent prayer, we got out of the car and walked up to the home not exactly sure what to expect. The mom 1/2 opened the door as usual, and said that her son was home. Then the topic of the Halloween came up. It turns out that she loves to decorate for the holidays and was happy to let us in to see! After talking with them we asked the recent convert why he hadn't come to conference. Apparently there had been some miscommunication issues and he wasn't able to get a ride. Sister Shaner asked if we could go to their house to watch the Sunday morning session at their house the next day and they said yes! They said that they should be up by that time and that hopefully their internet would work. As we left I kept praying in my heart that it would actually work out because I love general conference and didn't want to miss it if they ended up not being awake or if the internet didn't work. So we showed up the next morning, again fervently prayed that everything would work out and walked to the door. His sister answered and let us in. They had set up the chairs already and had the internet up and running all we had to do was go to lds.org and start the broadcast! It was such a miracle! The recent convert and his sister stayed and watched the whole thing with us and afterwards his sister said that she really liked it and wants to learn more! I am so grateful that we were able to have that opportunity! I know that the Lord answered our prayers.

 Overall general conference was great! What a blessing it was to have my questions answered and my spirit uplifted by the messages that were shared. Although I enjoyed all of them the ones that were my favorite and seemed to touch on my concerns the most were by Elder Jorg Klebihgat and Elder Richard G. Scott. Both spoke of overcoming the influences of the adversary, strengthening personal commitment to Christ and making Him our foundation. I am just so overwhelmed by and filled with gratitude for the love that the Savior has for each of us.

It was amazing to me that so many of the speaker used the same scripture: Helaman 5:12 which says "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." I LOVE this verse! It is so powerful. Can you imagine what the world would be like if we would only apply it's teachings? There is nothing, and I repeat, nothing more important than following Christ. Elder Richard G. Scott emphasized this point when he said that scripture study is more important than school work and sleep. That's powerful! A prophet of the Lord just told you that you should be studying the scriptures over sleeping in or taking naps! I am just so excited to go and apply all the things they taught! Normally the end of conference is really saddening but I just feel so empowered to be a disciple of Christ and I hope you feel the same. I know that God has called prophets again in our day and I am so grateful for their counsel. If you didn't get to watch general conference, you should! So here's the website, go check it out! lds.org 

I love being a missionary so so much! I hope you all know how much I love each one of you. I know that God wants all of His children to have joy and peace in this life. Never forget His love for you.

Love ya!
Sister Lexy Smith

July 29

Chris's Baptism Day (He's the one I taught in Hondo Pass) Chris, Angela and Tommy

This week has been really great! We had a ton of lessons at the beginning of the week, which is my favorite, but by the end of the week things had slowed down considerably. Even so it was amazing to see that we still had so much we could do even without set appointments with out investigators.

Wednesday we had interviews with President and Sister Miller. I love them so so much! I am so grateful for them and all they do for us. They always make me feel like such a good missionary and they help me see how I can continue to improve!

Thursday after going to the Family History Center we walked to visit a less active girl, Melanie; she was home and invited us in, it was a miracle! Without us even asking she wanted to read in the Book of Mormon and afterwards we had a really good conversation about it. I love the peace that comes from reading the scriptures. It made a tangible difference in her apartment. I have gained such a great love for Melanie, I know she has a testimony and I am so grateful that we get to see her start living the gospel.

Friday we got to go to Alamogordo to visit some Sisters that are out there and go to their district meeting. It was really great to spend time with them! One of the Sisters told us that she wants to go home; she had been having some problems with her stomach that the doctors there couldn't figure out so we had to talk to our mission president and she went home today. I'm glad she can go home to get better which is for the best but we will sure miss her. Now her companion, Sister Hunt, will be spending the week with Sister Stokes and I before she gets a new companion at transfers! I've never been in a tri-panionship (3 person companionship) so it will be a fun new adventure!

This week we also found a girl named Lucia who had been taught by missionaries in the past but hadn't been able to be baptized because she was living with her boyfriend. We talked to her about the importance of the gospel and she told us that they had realized they were missing something in their lives and it is the gospel! We are so excited to get to teach her! We might have to hand her off to the family ward elders if they get married but it is still amazing to see how excited she is about the gospel.

Yesterday we had a really funny experience so I will tell you what happened: A guy in our ward offered to take us to dinner Monday night which was so nice! As we were driving to the restaurant he texted us and said "We are inside waiting". We thought it was going to be him and one of the girls we know but it ended up being him and his cousin and his cousins wife. Weird. Plus we were severely under dress, it was a super fancy restaurant! We looked at the menu and the cheapest thing was $14 so we decided to split it. When it came out there were only 6 pieces of ravioli so we each got 3... It was just really awkward all around. But luckily they didn't seem to mind our awkwardness and so we got to talk to his cousin about his mission (he served in Washington state) while we ate. Anyway it was just super awkward and really funny, hopefully we never go there again but the Green Chili ravioli is really good :)

A scripture I really enjoyed this week is Moisah 4:2-3. In 3 it talks about how the Spirit fills us with joy, remission of sins and peace. That is something I have come to know is so true! I always feel at peace when I have the spirit with me but when I let fear get in the way that is when the peace leaves.

And a quote President Miller shared with us that I thought I would share with you:
"It takes great faith and courage to pray to our Heavenly Father, "Not as I will, but as thou wilt." The faith to believe in the Lord and endure brings great strength. Some may say if we have enough faith, we can sometimes change the circumstances that are causing our trials and tribulations. Is our faith to change circumstances, or is it to endure them? Faithful prayers may be offered to change or moderate events in our life, but we must always remember that when concluding each prayer, there is an understanding: "Thy will be done" (Matt. 26:42). Faith in the Lord includes trust in the Lord. The faith to endure well is faith based upon accepting the Lord's will and the lessons learned in the events that transpire." Elder Robert D. Hales

Love you tons!

Have a great week!

Sister Lexy Smith 

Vanessa's Baptism Day!

July 22

We had another awesome and amazing week!

Wednesday: We had exchanges with the Rio Grande Sisters. I stayed in our area with Sister Haywood. It was the craziest thing, all of our appointments happened! (If you're wondering that NEVER happens) Near the end of the day it started to rain and the freeway got flooded. We had an appointment with a new investigator that the family ward elders had been teaching, his name is Ernest, when we got their there were only two guys where there so we had to wait until everyone else showed up to go inside. The rain got crazy so we were partially soaked from standing under the small front porch. But it was awesome to watch! Ernest is super awesome and wants to be baptized August 2nd. He has already come to church twice with his cousins who where baptized in December and he is completely ready to be baptized so we just have to wait for the big day and help him keep studying the scriptures and meet everyone in the ward.

Thursday: We finally got to do some service! One of our members is moving to Utah for school so we helped her pack up her stuff and fit it into her car so that she would be all ready to go the next day. It is sad to see her go but now when I go home we can be friends :) Thursday we also had a great lesson with Robert. We had given him a Book of Mormon last week so we got to talk to him about it this week. He LOVES it! It was one of the best lessons I have had because he had not only read the chapter we left him with but he had also read several other parts and really felt the Spirit testify to his heart that they were true. It is so amazing to see the people we are teaching come to love the Book of Mormon just as much as we do!

Friday: The Sisters from Hatch had to come in early to get their car fixed so we got to take them to District Meeting with us. Then the Picacho Sisters texted us and told us Sister Molding was sick so we ran to the store and got her so apple juice, power aid and cough drops. We decided to walk and visit a couple of people but as we started a member from another ward saw us and gave us a ride! It was so nice of them. No one was available so we walked back home but it saved us half the trip! Then we went on splits with the Picacho Sisters so they could go to a couple of appointments. I got to go out with Sister Grigg while Sister Stokes stayed in and let Sister Molding sleep. We had a really great time together as we had dinner with a member of their ward, tried a couple of people when lessons fell through and had a lesson with Brittany about tithing.

Saturday: More service! This time we got to help with landscaping (mowing the lawn and rearranging rock) for a girl in our ward who is getting married in August and is having the reception in her parents back yard. It was really fun, who knew I was so good at rock-scape :) The rest of the day we had a lesson with Brittany then went contacting/visited less active members.

Sunday: None of our investigators made it to church so we had dinner with two members of our ward, AJ and Claire, then they took us to go try and visit all of the people who had said they would come. First we saw Irvin and had a really great lesson on the Book of Mormon. AJ was able to show him how to use the LDS gospel library app, which is super awesome! It has everything you would every want to study the gospel. Then we visited Carolyn and left her with a chapter to read for our lesson Monday. Finally we were about to heard in when AJ said we could go visit his friend Gilbert who he had invited to church that week. Gilbert was super nice and apparently thought AJ was going to give him a ride and by the time he realized he wasn't coming he though he would be too late. But he commited to come to FHE monday! It is amazing to see how willing the members are to invite their friends to come to church!

Monday: Another crazy day where all of our appointments happened! The most exciting part was when Beto (Almas cousin who we started teaching last week), Gilbert and Ernest all came to FHE!

I know that the Lord is preparing people here. I LOVE serving Him. There is no greater work than the work of Salvation. In the words of Elder Holland: "I am convinced that missionary work is not easybecause salvation is not a cheap experience. Salvation never was easy. We are The Church of Jesus Christ, this is the truth, and He is our Great Eternal Head. How could we believe it would be easy forus when it was never, ever easy for Him?" It may not be easy but is so worth it.

Love ya!
Sister Lexy Smith 

July 15

This week has been a fantastic one! We were able to go on two exchanges this week, the first with the Picacho Sisters and the second with the Hatch Sisters. I was with Sister Molding in the Picacho area Wednesday and we had a great day. All of the set appointments they had planned fell through but we were still able to teach 3 lessons! We even contacted a moving ice cream truck, it was awesome! Then Friday I went to Hatch with Sister Geldmaker. Their area is half Spanish half English so it was a fun mix. They live in an old catholic church that a members own and it was so fun to get to stay there for the night.

This week we found several new investigators we have started teaching. Last week a recent convert in our area, Alma Solis, had told us that her cousin, Beto, had been asking her some questions so she invited him to dinner with us and them last week. Beto wasn't able to make it so afterwards she drove us over there to try and talk to him but he wasn't home. We were finally able to set another dinner with him for yesterday night. When we got to Alma's house he wasn't there but when we called him and he said he was on his way. After Beto got there we drove to a nearby restaurant for dinner. Alma told him he could ask us all of him questions so we were able to have a really great gospel discussion with him. As we waited for our food to come Alma taught him about the restoration using Salt and Pepper shakers and sugar packets, it was so powerful. He recognized the change that has come into her life and he said that he wants that in his life as well. As she shared her testimony of how the gospel had made her life complete she started to cry, which really touched him. We were then able to talk to him about the importance of baptism and church. He said he wants to give this a try and you could tell he was genuine. After dinner they came with us to FHE at the church so we could show him around the building and introduce him to members of the ward. He had a great time and looked so happy. Afterwards we were able to talk with them and get to know him some more. He is a Spanish radio talk show host and he even has the awesome voice for it! We have a return appointment with him tonight and I am so excited to continue to teach him! The Lord truly is preparing people here.

I love being a missionary so much, I know the message we share is true and I see the joy that it brings into my life and the lives of those around us everyday.

Love,
Sister Lexy Smith

A Great 4th of July Week!

All of the sisters that I came out with that are now STLs.

Sister Beach and I at MLC.

Sister Stokes and I at MLC.

This week has been both super busy and fairly slow but still excellent!

Last Tuesday as we were finishing zone sports one of the Elders came running into the gym yelling about how it was raining outside, so we all ran out to see what he was talking about. It was literally pouring! It was so awesome! I love the rain so my first instinct was to run outside... may have not been the best idea because then my shoes where soaked but it was really fun :) It continued to pour the rest of the night so after driving around trying to find people we went to the institute class to talk to a couple of the recent converts. It went really well because hardly anyone had showed up for the class and Brother Grey, the institute teacher, was really glad to have our help.

Wednesday we did a lot of contacting before our lesson with Carolyn. She is doing alright but we are hoping she will start coming to church again. After her lesson with went with a member to go teach a less active we had talked to on the phone. When we got there they all seemed confused because they are supposed to go to the Spanish ward but we don't speak Spanish... Luckily they let us talk to them and several of them are old enough to go to our ward! Then the Sisters from El Paso came up and we drove with them to Albuquerque for MLC (Mission Leadership Council). We got the the mission home early so we got to talk to President Miller. I love him so much, you can really tell that he cares about all of us and he always gives the best advice. We even got to say "family prayers" with President and Sister Miller, it was the best.

Thursday was MLC! This time they decided to start early and have a small breakfast before. It was so fun to get to see all of the mission leaders, we have all become such good friends so it was awesome! Then we had an inspiring day of training. President Miller really wants us to focus on consecrating ourselves to the Lord. I am always so motivated by what he has to say, it makes me want to be the best person I can be! After lunch we had training on the topics under Lesson 5 in Preach My Gospel. The First Presidency recently changed Lesson 5 to a before baptism lesson. I have never really gotten to teach it before but I am so excited to! It talks about the priesthood, missionary work, eternal marriage, temple and family history work, service and enduring to the end. Now rather than just teaching towards baptism we get to teach towards being an active member of Christ church and truly becoming a disciple of Him. It is a much needed change and so inspired. After all of the trainings we headed back to Las Cruces.

For the 4th of July we had our zone training meeting in the morning then we went on exchanges with the Alamogordo Sisters. I got to stay in our area with Sister Hunt! She is a fantastic missionary so it was a great day. We had a lesson with Rene, his is so awesome! He was baptized less than two months ago and he already seems like a life long member! We talked with him about fasting (which he has already done) and about tithing (which he has already set aside to pay on Sunday!), we also talked to him about reading the scriptures and he told us that because he was on a trip last week he missed a couple of days and he could tell the difference; when he forgot to read he just didn't feel as good. There is so much power to be found in the scriptures! After the lesson we went to a near by park that has a fishing pond and talked to lots of people. As we were walking around the edge of the pond we thought we say a YSA (young single adult) age guy fishing, we had been having a hard time finding people to come to our ward (since we only cover the YSA ward) so we were excited to talk to him. It turns out that he was just a really tall 10 year old... awkward. But we did get to talk to his family and they have lots of family that are LDS so they were happy to let us sit and talk! It was amazing to see how prepared they are for the gospel. Since they are from El Paso we have to pass them to the missionaries there but I hope they find and teach them! For dinner we went to the ward BBQ. It was a pretty small group but it was really fun! And it decided to pour so we all had to pull our chairs under the deck so we didn't get soaked. I love the rain so it was a nice treat from the heat. To finish off the day we planned to go contacting at a near by baseball field where they were having a fireworks show. We grabbed the Picacho Sisters and drove over only to find that it was PACKED! There were SO many people there! Because I was the only STL of the bunch I was voted the fearless leader... Which meant I got to be the one to start almost all of our conversations with people; it was actually really fun! By the time we drove home it had started to get dark so we were able to see a couple of fireworks before we went in for the night.

Saturday we exchanged back. We had a lesson with a girl named Alexis but when we got there she was outside working with her dad in the yard. We offered to help but they just laughed and didn't realize we were serious. Finally we told them we would go change and then come back so we ran home, changed into work clothes and ran back to finish helping them. It was really hot but really fun to help move all the rocks for their yard. As we were talking to Alexis we found out that she is only 13, apparently we are really bad a judging age, so we won't be able to teach her but the Mesilla Valley Elders will so it's okay. Afterwards we had dinner with Alma and Joe. Alma told us about her cousin who is interested in the church so we went with her to visit him afterwards. He ended up not being home but she called another friend and we got to go teach her for a little bit. It was so awesome to see how willing she is to share the gospel with her friends.

Sunday during fast and testimony meeting Alma bore her testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel and something she said really stood out to me. It even brought me to tears. She talked about how grateful she was for a friend who was willing to share the gospel with her. She said if they hadn't she probably would have accepted the gospel in the next life which would have been okay but she would have missed out on all of the beauty of having the gospel in this life. I am so grateful for the gospel in my life, my life wouldn't be the same without it. We have the great privilege of sharing this with so many people and if we don't take advantage of that they will miss out on the beauty of the gospel. I love fast and testimony meetings. Afterwards they had break the fast so we got to stay and eat :) Then we had an awesome lesson with Brittany. Brittany is doing great! She didn't make it to church because he boyfriend was in town but we were able to have a lesson with the both of them later Sunday afternoon and it went so well. We got to review the restoration, answer their questions and invite him to be baptized! He accepted but said he wants to know if this is true first. We were able to share our testimonies with him and also talk to Brittany about baptism. She still isn't sure about President Monson but I know that will come soon. He gave us his info so the missionaries in Rio Rancho are going to start teaching him!

Overall it was an awesome week! I love being a missionary, it is the best.

Love ya,
Sister Lexy Smith 

On exchanges with Sister Hunt.

Sister Hunt and I saw a double rainbow

New companion - Sister Stokes!!!

My new companion Sister Stokes with Santiago and me. 

So my new companion is Sister Stokes from Eugene Oregon! She is fantastic and jumped right into the work! She is so positive and has so much love for the people here already. We also had a lot of changes in our zone so about half the missionaries here in Las Cruces are different now which is really fun! I am so excited for this transfer!

At the transfer meeitng I got to talk to one of the Sisters that just came from my last area and she told me that Vanessa got baptized! I don't know if you remember her but she had been come Washington state and was talking the lessons while I was there. I am so happy for her!

This week went by so fast! We had a couple of lessons but mostly have been trying to talk to and find new people to teach. We did get to go to the family history center on Thursday and guess what I found out! The name Black come from a man who lived in 1200-1300 that had really black hair so they called him the "black lad" and they called his son "the black lads son" and they name just stuck from there on! So neat!

We just had a sister return home from her mission so she spoke in sacrament meeting on Sunday. She served in the Independence Missouri Mission and it was so interesting to hear about all of her experiences there. We talked to her more on Monday and she is so excited to help us with the work here. It was awesome to see how willing she is go visit people with us and to hear that she has already had missionary experiences since being home!

We had a lesson with Brittany Sunday night. Ellie had asked me if we could make smore's on the mission and guess what?!?! When we got to Brittany's house she had everything set up for us to make smore's during the lesson! It was so fun. She even used Reese instead of plain chocolate, yum! We had tried really hard to get someone to come with us but it turned out to be a blessing that they couldn't make it because she opened up so much! She told us that she believes that Joseph Smith is a prophet and that the Book of Mormon is true but she still isn't sure about modern prophets. After talking for awhile she said that she actually thinks it is just fear since she had a bad experience with another church a couple of months ago. We were able to share our testimonies with her and the spirit truely testified that this is what she needs in her life. A sweet feeling of peace filled my heart and I know that it filled her's as well. She is now preparing to get baptized on August 23! I cannot wait for that day to come!!

I am loving getting to serve with Sister Stokes and I am so excited for another great week. I am so grateful for the country that we live in and the religious freedom that we have here. Nothing has brought me more happiness in this life than getting to live and share the gospel.

Love ya!

Sister Lexy Smith

Sister Stokes with lizard

Green Chilies, YUM!

June 23 - Last week with Sister Yenchik.

Sister Yenchik, Alma and me.

So this will be brief but I am... not getting transferred! Sister Yenchik is though so I will get a new companion tomorrow. I will miss Sister Yenchik so much though, she has been such a great companion and friend!

This week has been awesome and we have seen tons of blessings! I tried to talk a lot of pictures so hopefully that helps you better "see" what we were up to. Overall the spirit was really powerful in our lessons this week and we have meet tons of awesome new people. It has gotten SUPER hot here (like 105+) every day! I didn't know it could get so hot but we have managed to continue to work hard. Lots of water and sunscreen have been helping. My favorite scriptures of the week is 2 Nephi 4:27-30, you should go look it up and let me know what you think.

Keep being awesome and know that you are loved!

Love ya, Sister Lexy Smith  

We made avocado pie as a district on pday. YUM!

Pomegranate  Bush.

 

S

Our Gratitude Wall.

Our apartment. 

Andales-Best Mexican Restaurant!

All the sisters in our Zone.

Last District meeting with Sister Yenchik.

June 17th

What a crazy week we had!!

It started with exchanges with the Picacho Sisters Tuesday night and Wednesday. I got to go with Sister Field and in their area for the day. She is a really hard worker but they aren't teaching many people which meant we got to wander around in the heat most of the day trying to find people to talk to. Sister Field has had a bad cough lately so by the time dinner rolled around she was exhausted! A super nice couple from the ward took us out to eat but we ended up leaving early so she could go home and sleep since she was feeling so bad. While she slept I got to read conference talks from the May Ensign until Sister Yenchik and Sister Molding returned. 

Thursday Sister Field stayed with a member so she could continue to rest so Sister Molding got to join Sister Yenchik and I! We had a lot of fun teaching together. That night all of the sisters in the ward met at bishops house for dinner and we got to go too! Our investigator Brittany came, as well as a less active sister we have come to love named Lorrin. It was so fun to get to see them have such a good time with all of the other sisters. After dinner we headed over to campus where we got to help a girl named Nancy pack up to go home to Jordan. She had been the roommate of one of the less actives that we used to visit and we had given her our number in case she ever needed any help and she actually called us!!! None of the students ever need help with service so it was really fun to get to help her clean and pack as we talked about religion. 

Friday we had a Zone Training Meeting where we met with all the other missionaries from Las Cruces and the surrounding areas. Sister Molding said something that really struck me during the meeting. She said that the motto of Christs life was "People can change; I bet my life on it." Christ literally gave up his mortal experience so that we could have the chance to change (or repent). He knew that we could do it no matter how hard it would be. I also really liked when Elder Hicken, one of our zone leaders, said "Consecration is the only surrender that ends in victory." So true. After the meeting we got to go on exchanges with Alamogordo Sisters! I went to Alamogordo with Sister Clark and we had a fantastic day! We had an awesome Plan of Salvation lesson and dinner with the Irvine family. Then we went to see Melanie, one of their investigators. She wasn't home when we got there but we called her and she said she would be home any second. Sister Clark felt prompted to go try and visit a less active member that lived nearby while we waited. When we got there the door was wide open and people were inside, so inspired! It turned out the less active had moved but we got to talk to Marcus who is going to be a senior in high school and said he would be up for meeting with missionaries! After talking with him we went back to Melaines where we had an awesome spirit filled lesson! She knows everything so well and is just working on quitting smoking before she is baptized! 

Saturday morning Sister Clark and I got to visit Mary Lou and her daughter Summer. Summer was baptized a couple of months ago but Mary Lou is working on officially getting married to her boyfriend before she is baptized. We got to read the story of the Anti-Nephi-Lehis in the Book of Mormon. That story is one of my favorites because once the people were converted to the Lord they buried their weapons deep in the earth and repented of their past transgressions. What an inspiring story! We don't have to let temptation stay near us where it is in close reach but we can bury it where we don't have to be tempted anymore! 

Sunday we started a 40 day fast where we work on becoming more Christ like. I am so grateful for the opportunity we have each day to work on our weaknesses and make them into strengths!

Monday we had an awesome experience as we were walking outside. We were walking by an appartment complex and a guy outside stopped us wanting to apologize. Apprently we had talked to him on campus a couple of weeks before and he had been in such a rush that he didn't have time to talk to us. We got to talking to him and found out that he was raised Christian but has since fallen away but wants to become a better person again. We were able to teach him and his friend about the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and he committed to meeting with us again and coming to church without us even asking! He is so prepared for the gospel!! 

I just love being a missionary because it makes me so happy to get to share this message with everyone we meet. I hope you all had a great week.

All my love,
Sister Lexy Smith 

Hello!
This week has been a really busy one because we had a zone conference in El Paso on Tuesday and then a Missionary Leadership Council in Albuquerque on Thursday. So we didn't get to spend as much time in our area as we would like but it was still a great week with lots of learning! One of the things that they focused on was having the faith to "get out of the boat", or our comfort zone, so that then the Savior can help us to do so much more than we could ever do on our own. That is something I have really come to know to be true being out here. I would never on my own have had the courage to leave friends and family to go talk to tons of people I don't know about the gospel. But because I put my trust in the Savior he has given me the strength to do just that! I am honestly so grateful for how my mission had stretched me into more of the person that God would have me be.

I think the highlight of this week was that we had two investigators come to church. One of them, her name is Brittany, had had a falling out with another church in town so when we first met her she said she wasn't ready to come to church. But in less than a month she decided on her own to come and this was her first Sunday there! She seemed to really enjoy everything but when one of the members went up to say the closing prayer she looked really happy... Come to find out she had worked with the member and was just really excited to know that he went to this church too!

I have come to love the people here so much! I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to serve them and get serve the Lord. I love all of you and I hope you have an excellent week!

Love,
Sister Lexy Smith

May and June 3rd Letters

Lexy with her Birthday Cup Cake.

June 2

Another wonderful week here in sunny Las Cruces New Mexico!

Wednesday: We had exchanges with Sister Karl and Sister Haywood in Rio Grande! I got to go to their area and spend the day with Sister Haywood. She is a fabulous missionary and literally has NO fear. I didn't know it was possibly to talk to that many people in one day! When we went in for dinner there was a lady walking past the apartment complex so we stopped to talk to her. She started crying and asked us how we knew she needed us. She then explain that she is going through a really rough time and had felt completely alone until we talked to her. I know that God know her needs and that he put us in her path for a reason. I am so grateful that we were willing to take the time to talk to her instead of just heading in. Later that night we got to watch the Prophet of the Restoration video with some recent converts. The spirit filled my heart as we watched the touching story of those who were willing to sacrifice so much for what they knew to be true. During the prayer before we left I had an overwhelming feeling that this message is true, that the fullness of the gospel has been restored and that it is worth any price to receive the blessings of the priesthood in our lives.

Thursday: Another great day :)

Friday: After district meeting we started exchanges with Hermana Calloway and Hermana Escalante in Miranda South! I got to spend the day in our area with Sister Calloway. She is such a great teacher! So simple and concise! We got to share the message of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all three of our lessons. I love sharing that message because it is so apparent to me that God loves us and wants us to know how to return to him.

Saturday: We finished exchanges Saturday morning but before doing so we talked to the most interesting guy on campus. He was fishing at the pond with his nephew. When we started talking to him he kept acting like he though we were going to judge him for not being religious but when we didn't he just looked confused and kept on talking until he finally told us about some of the spiritual experience he has had that have helped him to realize that there must be a God. Even though he wasn't interested in meeting with us we defiantly left a good impression and I know that he felt Gods love for him through us. Later when we met with Sheng he told us he don't want to keep meeting with us which was heartbreaking but I was strangely at peace with it. I know that he has felt the Spirit and he even said himself that he wants to live a better life because he met us.

Sunday: Being in a singles ward is really fun because we had two couples get engaged this week! But even more than that I loved getting to hear everyone's testimonies (every first Sunday of the month anyone can get up to share their testimonies of the gospel). It is just such a blessing to know that the Christ is our Savior and that the fullness of his gospel has been restored.

I just love being a missionary and I hope you had a great week too!

Love ya,
Sister Lexy Smith

Sister Smith and Sister Yenchik

May 27

Another fantastic week! I love New Mexico: the people, the weather, and serving the Lord. I am so grateful for the perspective I have gained this week; each week I seem to learn more and more about myself, the Savior and the gospel. This life is so short and I am so grateful for the comfort I gain for the gospel, knowing that this life is not the end. There is so much more, we are so much more than we could ever imagine.

This week we had exchanges with the Sisters from Hatch and I got to stay here with Sister Oxley. She is an awesome missionary and I learned so much from her! Because she is super fearless we literally talked to everyone we met on campus. There were a couple of times when someone would walk past us and we weren't able to talk to them so she would turn around and go back over and talk to them. Every time they had had some connection with the church in the past, it was amazing! I hope I can become an awesome missionary like her someday.
Friday night there were awesome thunder clouds with lightening. As we planned for the next day we looked out the window and just watched the storm, it was beautiful. I was reminded of the scripture where Moses says he realizes that he is nothing.
During our exchange we had planned a lesson with our investigator Brian but an hour before we still didn't have anyone to come with us (we have to have 2 males or 1 female come with us when we meet with male investigators). Finally we were able to find a member that was willing to come but we still needed one more person to come. It was really humbling to have to pray and put the whole situation in the Lords hands. Afterwards we drove to the appointment and called Brian before going up. By no doing of our own, Brian had invited Carlos so we were able to have the lesson! I know that God answers prays and that he cares about all of our worries or concerns. He wants us to be happy and even though he won't give us everything we want He gives us what we need to become more like the Savior.

To end our exchanges we went with the Sisters to a place in Hatch, New Mexico, called Sparkys. They sell famous green chili cheeseburgers which are SO good! If you have never tried New Mexico green chili and a cheeseburger, you should.

Yesterday we set a goal to stick to our original plans and backup plans for the day. Our first lesson of the day canceled and our backup plan was to go around that neighborhood and talk to people out on the street. The neighborhood isn't super close to where we live so normally we would have just gone to campus to talk to people but we decided to go see what would happen. As we were walking we felt prompted to turn down a street we didn't know. Almost immediately a young man walked out of his house and we started talking to him. He was really interest in learning more about the gospel but was leaving to run errands so we got his number so we can keep in touch with him. Then further down the street we saw another guy outside. As we walked up we said hello and he seemed to recognize us. Lo and behold it was our investigator Jasper who we haven't seen in over a month and who doesn't even live in that neighborhood! What a major miracle and blessing! I am so grateful that we stuck to our plans, followed the promptings of the spirit and were able to get back in touch with him!

I love sharing the gospel because I know that it is true. No matter how hard it may be to be away from family and friends I am really grateful that the Lord trusted me enough to send me here. I hope you all have a fantastic week and know how much you are loved.

Much love,

Sister Lexy SmitH

May 20

What a week! We had so much going on, it was awesome! This week was transfers and as Sister Training Leaders we get to go help make sure that all of the Sister get to where they are supposed to go. It is awesome to see that the missionaries here are so willing to go where the Lord sends them. I am really excited to get to spend another transfer with Sister Yenchik!

We got to go to the last Mission Prep class on Wednesday night and it was a really neat experience. The class consisted of mostly high school senior girls who want to serve missions. We all got to share our testimonies of the gospel and how it has changed our lives. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have to be a missionary because there is no where else I would rather be. I love getting to serve the Lord because I know this is His work and I feel the Holy Spirit testify that our message is true every time I get to share it. It is exciting to see so many young sisters that want to go on missions! 

This week we have had several great lessons with Brian. He is sincerely searching for an answer from God so that he can know whether of not he needs to get baptized, it is really inspiring! We were able to teach him about the Word of Wisdom this week and we invited him live it. He had been drinking coffee before but since we invited him to go without it he hasn't had any more! He has been coming to church, reading the Book of Mormon and praying. Every time we meet with him the Spirit is really strong and I know that he will get his answer in the Lords time. I cannot wait for that day!

This week as I was reading the general conference talk by President Henry B. Eyring, A Priceless Heritage of Hope,I was really struck by something he said. He said: "Keeping our second estate depends on our making covenants with God and faithfully performing the duties they require of us. It takes faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior to keep sacred covenants for a lifetime." The purpose of this life, our second estate, is to make and keep covenants with God. There is no other purpose. That is the reason for our existence. To often we get caught up in the busyness of life and let the eternally important things sit on the back burner. Are we spending our time doing the Lords work? Or are we waiting our precious time doing things of no meaning?

Saturday we were able to go with two of our investigators and watch two people get baptized. The Spirit was powerful as we watched them make eternally important covenants with God. I am so grateful for their decisions because it has effected not only my life but the lives of both of our investigators that were able to come because they now have a greater desire to also be baptized.

I love all of you so much and I am so grateful for your love and support. I hope that you all have a great week and remember to rely on the Lord. Never forget his love for you.

All my love,
Sister Lexy Smith

May 13

Another fantastic week here in sunny Las Cruces!

Normally we to say goodbye to members and investigators because we are the ones leaving the area but this past week we have had to say goodbye because most of them are going home now that the NMSU semester is over. It's really strange to still be here but have most of them gone.

But even with more than half of the people we know leaving we still had a really great week! We were able to help those that are leaving get in touch with the missionaries elsewhere; I am so grateful that the church is the same no matter where you go!

We even had two of our investigators (Brian and Yomi) come to church on Sunday! It is amazing to see how their faith is beginning to grow as they read the scriptures and come to church. I love being able to see what great potential everyone has. We are all sons and daughters of God and as such we were never meant to be mediocre.

I think my favorite lesson of all though was with Marco and Hugo. Marco and Hugo are both from Ecuador and they are here in Las Cruces for the English program at NMSU so that they can eventually go back to their country and teach English. They are so humble and have such a great desire to serve God. When we first got there they told us about how they got to skype their mother back in Ecuador for mothers day. It was neat to get to relate to them and talk about how we are also far from our families. Marco seemed amazed and asked us if we could tell him how it was that we were so peaceful and so happy about sharing the gospel with strangers when we were far from our families. We were able to share with him how the gospel brings us and our families so much joy and that is why it is worth it to be far away; because we can share this joy with other people. After we taught them about Joseph Smith and the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Hugo asked if we could tell him more because he wants to know as much as he can! Marco wanted to know why it was important for him to go to church and after we explain the importance of going each week so that we can partake of the sacrament he immediately recognized how important it was and said he would be coming this week! They both committed to being baptized on June 7th and we are all so excited for that day to come! The spirit touched my heart and testified of truth. I know that this gospel is true and I know it can provide them with the peace and comfort they are seeking in this life.

I just love being a missionary. This truly is the best work. I hope you all have a great week! 

Happy Mothers Day!

Love,

Sister Lexy Smith

This week has been amazing! So many wonderful things happened!

First we has MLC (Missionary Leadership Council) in Albuquerque on Thursday, it was so inspiring! Two men for the Mission Office in Salt Lake came and lead the training. They focused a lot on fulfilling our purpose as missionaries by inviting others to act and come closer to Christ. They talked about how important it is for everyone to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost so they can endure to the end. I had never thought of it that way before. We cannot endure all of the trials of life without the guidance, peace and cleansing power of the Holy Ghost. That is why the gospel is so essential. With it we can have a greater hope for the future.

Then we had exchanges Friday and Saturday with the Sisters from Alamogordo. I got to go to Alamogordo with Sister Wilcock. It was such a great learning experience for the both of us. Friday we got to help a lady they are teaching clean and reorganize her new house. It was so fun to get to perform physical service. I have such a strong testimony of the power of service. Whenever you become self-centered or overwhelm, find someone to serve and I promise that it will help you to feel so much better. Sister Wilcock is such a great example of loving the people she serves. I could feel her love for them as we met with and helped them learn more about the gospel, and I know that they could feel it is well. Saturday morning we talk about finding those that God is preparing. Alamogordo is a really small place so it is easy to feel like you already know everyone. We set the goal of talking to 3 new people on our way to and from a lesson. The whole time I was praying really hard because I wanted this to be a good experience for Sister Wilcock. I wanted her to see that God really is preparing people to hear the message of the gospel and guess what happened... We talked to 5 new people, 3 of whom are interested in meeting with the Sisters! What a blessing!

Finally, we got to go to the Albuquerque Temple yesterday. I am so grateful for the opportunity we had to take time out of our busy schedules and go focus on the Lord. I know the temples our the Houses of the Lord. The Spirit touched my heart while we were there. I know God loves His children and He sees the infinite potential for good that we all have. He wants us to return to live with Him again. But only through the accepting the atonement of Christ is that possible. If we will follow Christ we can be made whole.

I love sharing the gospel with others because I know it is true. I have seen it change lives. I would invite everyone to live worthy of the gift of the Holy Ghost. It will direct you if you let it. We chose if we will succeed or fail in this life. No one else has power over the decisions we make each and everyday. Chose to follow Christ and your life will be blessed.

All my love,
Sister Lexy Smit

April 29

The weeks just keep flying by! This week we had two exchanges so that made the time go by even faster!

Tuesday night I went to the Rio Grande area with Sister Karl. We had a fantastic day full of talking to new people and lessons with their investigators. I love getting to serve with so many wonderful sisters because they are all great teachers and have learned to follow the Spirit so well. No matter what area I go to I am amazed at how the Lord is hastening His work. Their is no doubt that the gospel is for everyone because it truly can bless anyone life if they will let it! We had dinner with a family that lives out in the country on a pecan orchard. It was beautiful! I am so grateful for all of the variety that God has created because even here in the desert life flourishes.

This week we had the fun opportunity to create a chalk drawing of the plan that God has for us. It was such a neat experience and we were able to talk to several people about what they think our purpose is in this life. I know that our purpose is to prepare to meet God and to prepare for eternity (Alma 12:24; Alma 34:32). I am so grateful for that knowledge because that is something that not many people know or live up to. We are given this time to better ourselves so that we can become like Christ. But that is only possibly through the atonement, Christs sacrifice for us. Without that we could never overcome the effects of sin or physical death. What a great and glorious plan God has for us that He is willing to forgive us and His greatest desire is for us to return to His presence permanently.

Friday after district meeting we went on exchanges with the Sisters from Hatch. I got to stay here with Sister Remerez who has only been out for 9 weeks! She is already such a powerful teacher. In our lesson with a new investigator, Mel, Sister Remerez bore her testimony of the Book of Mormon and shared Moroni 7:48 about charity. The Spirit reaffirmed my testimony of the truthfulness of our message. I know the Book of Mormon is true and I love it so much! Saturday morning we drove Sister Remerez back to Hatch. The Sisters there live in an old Catholic Church that a member now owns. We even got to climb up the bell town! So cool!!

On Sunday two of our investigators made it to church which was such a miracle!! One of them, Brian, had never come without his friend Carlos before but he made it all on his own and was even talking to the members there! The other, Carolyn, loves to come to church but doesn't have a car so one of the members gave her a ride. I love going to church because the Spirit is always so strong there. We had promised Brian that if he came to church he would get an answer to whether or not he needs to be baptized and he did! He knows he needs to be baptized but because his mom is a reverend in the Baptist church and is against it he isn't sure when he will be ready for that step, but at least he knows it is something he needs to do!

Yesterday we had the opportunity of going to Rio Grande Sisters apartment as Sister Watkins got a blessing because she had been sick. The blessing was simple but powerful and exactly what she needed. Later during the day we were sharing the message of the restoration with some of our new investigators, Mel and Meri. As we talked about modern prophets Meri had a very confused/are you crazy? look on her face. As I thought about the importance of our message and tried to come up with a way to convey that to her, the memory of the blessing from that morning popped into my head. I know that what we share is true because I have seen the fruits of the gospel. Even though we believe things that most people don't understand, if they will take the time to really sincerely find out for themselves if it is true they will come to gain a testimony for themselves!

I love being a missionaries and I can't wait for another great week ahead! Remember your purpose, strengthen your testimony through sinscer prayer and ALWAYS rely on the Lord.

Love y'all!!

Sister Lexy Smith 

Happy Easter!

We saw an Bunny on Easter!

On exchanges with Sister Wilcock,, Sister Clark, ME, and Sister Escalante!

What a wonderful Easter week we just had!

This week we had exchanges with the spanish speaking Sisters that cover part of our area. I got to stay here in the University ward with Sister Escalante for the day! We were able to go write a scripture in chalk on campus. The one we chose was 2 Nephi 27:23 which says "For behold I am God; and I am a God of miracles; and I will show unto the world that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and I work not among the children of men save it be according to their faith." This is one of Sister Escalantes favorite scriptures and one that had never really stood out to me before but I really love it. The message is simple but SO powerful. I know that God is always the same; if we have faith He will always help us.

Carlos was not able to be baptized because he went out of town to visit his Sister for Easter but hopefully he will get baptized soon.

I have felt the Holy Spirit work through me a lot lately. It is really powerful to be in a lesson, not know what the person needs to hear, say a quiet prayer, and suddenly know what you need to do. It's interesting that sometimes I feel prompted to speak and other times I feel prompted to be quiet which allows the Spirit to speak.

This weekend was our stake conference so Saturday night we were able to go to the meeting with all of the adults for the Las Cruses area. The message was really powerful. They talked about how we all pull our own hand cart, never knowing what those around us might be pulling. The challenge of life is to help one another, to lift and to strength so that we all can make it back to the presence of our loving Heavenly Father.

Easter Sunday was my favorite day of the week. We were able to read and watch the talk by Elder Jeffery R. Holland entitled "None Where with Him" from the April 2009 general conference. It has been one of my favorite talks for quite awhile and throughout the whole week my thoughts kept turning to it's message. Then Sunday morning Sister Yenchik and I were looking for an Easter message to share at dinner when we found the exact talk that had been on my mind all week! Our Bishop invited all of the single adults who didn't have somewhere to go for Easter dinner to his home and we were invited as well. After eating we watched the talk together and the Spirit filled my heart.

Here are a couple of my favorite quotes from that talk:

"That the supreme sacrifice of His Son might be as complete as it was voluntary and solitary, the Father briefly withdrew from Jesus the comfort of His Spirit, the support of His personal presence. It was required, indeed it was central to the significance of the Atonement, that this perfect Son who had never spoken ill nor done wrong nor touched an unclean thing had to know how the rest of humankind—us, all of us—would feel when we did commit such sins. For His Atonement to be infinite and eternal, He had to feel what it was like to die not only physically but spiritually, to sense what it was like to have the divine Spirit withdraw, leaving one feeling totally, abjectly, hopelessly alone. But Jesus held on. He pressed on. The goodness in Him allowed faith to triumph even in a state of complete anguish. The trust He lived by told Him in spite of His feelings that divine compassion is never absent, that God is always faithful, that He never flees nor fails us. When the uttermost farthing had then been paid, when Christ’s determination to be faithful was as obvious as it was utterly invincible, finally and mercifully, it was 'finished.^' Against all odds and with none to help or uphold Him, Jesus of Nazareth, the living Son of the living God, restored physical life where death had held sway and brought joyful, spiritual redemption out of sin, hellish darkness, and despair. With faith in the God He knew was there, He could say in triumph, 'Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.^'"
"Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path—the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles, teachers, leaders, friends. All of these and more have been given as companions for our mortal journey because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the Restoration of His gospel."
"Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone nor unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are."
"May we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear."
"May we stand by Jesus Christ 'at all times and in all things, and in all places that [we] may be in, even until death,^' for surely that is how He stood by us when it was unto death and when He had to stand entirely and utterly alone. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen."
In conclusion I would like to add my testimony to that of Elder Hollands. I know that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. I am so grateful for His sacrifice that allows me to over come all obstacles. I know that Christ church has been restored to the earth today. I love this gospel and I am so grateful for the blessing it is to share it. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Love,
Sister Lexy Smith

I forgot to post this last week Sorry

Hello!

This has been yet another fantastic week!

We went on exchanges Wednesday so I stayed in our area and worked with Sister Fields. Because we work with the Institute here at NMSU we are allowed to do fun things on campus so we got to use sidewalk chalk and write about the Easter Celebration that happened on the 13th. It was a really fun activity and we were able to talk to several students as we worked. It has been really amazing to see how the Lord puts people in our path as we walk around campus. We have already started teaching 4 new people just since I've gotten here! Because the students are at a major decision point in their lives a lot of them are sincerely searching for the truth and it is amazing to help them find it.

We are excited for this up coming weekend, not only for Easter, but also for Carlo's baptism! He has such a strong testimony of Christ and has been wanting to get baptized for about a month but the last time he was preparing for it he had a bad fall while he was running and landed in the hospital the day before he was supposed to get baptized. He is now doing great and is ready to get baptized this weekend so pray that nothing goes wrong before then and I will send pictures next week!

The Easter Celebration this weekend was one of the highlights of my week. The music was so inspiring and the Spirit was strong. I am so grateful for this time of year that helps us to focus on what is most important in life and to remember all that Christ does for us. As I have been on my mission my relationship with Heavenly Father and Christ has become so much stronger and I have gained a great sense of gratitude for everything that they do for us. This week I would invite all of you to pray about and ponder how Christs sacrifice affects your life and how you can try to become more like him. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. I know that He lives. I know that if you will earnestly seek Him you will find peace and joy that will fill your soul(Ether 12:41). I know that the Book of Mormon truly is Another Testament of Jesus Christ because studying it has helped me to gain a better understanding of His atonement and love for us. I know that God loves each and everyone of His children including you(John 3:16).

They played this video during the celebration. It touched my heart and I hope that it touches yours as well.

https://www.lds.org/bible-videos/videos/for-god-so-loved-the-world?lang=eng

Have a wonderful Easter week!

Love,

Sister Lexy Smith