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.
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.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
Sister Lexy Smith
