January 4, 2014

Happy New Year!

So this is going to be a crazy week! And the last email for a little while, because I'm not sure when my next p-day will be! So ENJOY IT! Haha! :)

This week was pretty intense! On Tuesday, we had our last Tuesday Devotional with Elder Ellis of the Seventy. He gave a fantastic talk about "voluntary repentance". What he meant by that was us choosing to become better people, and utilizing the Atonement in order to do so. It went along perfectly with my studies of grace! Speaking of that, I found a really great quote about grace from Brad Wilcox. "Grace is not the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the light that leads you through the tunnel." Grace really does cover everything, and helps us with everything. It may not help us to know what the end result will be, but it will help carry us through anything, whether it be trials or the process of becoming better. I just love it! The Atonement is so perfect, because Christ was perfect. I am so grateful for His selfless sacrifice, and for the opportunity I have every single day to be better. 

Wednesday was our last normal MTC day this week! Nothing totally awesome happened...except we played an AMAZING game of volleyball that day, for our last gym period! It was a good way to end the normality!

Thursday, we had in-field orientation all day. I actually really enjoyed it! We talked about how to make street contacts, ask for referrals, work with members, all that "other" fun stuff about missionary work! I was even able to debut my completely awesome acting skills for everyone! :P Hermana Linford and I were hijacked in the hall while the instructors were preparing to perform a play for us, a play about working with the members. They asked us to be part of the ward council, and I had the pleasure of being the RS President! Haha, and I had to be completely obnoxious! But, a lot of people laughed (hopefully with me, not at me!), so I guess it was ok! But the thing I learned most from in-field orientation is the importance of not lowering our expectations or our confidence. I feel a lot more ready for Mexico now than I did before Thursday, so it was good :) 

And yesterday, for the second time, we went to the airport to go to Vegas...and we made it this time :) No unexpected blizzards! All in all, nothing too exciting happened, we mostly just did a LOT of waiting around. But the Mexican consulate was fun, listening to all of the Spanish and trying to figure out what they were saying :) I still have so much to learn...haha. But the good news is that when we got home late last night, we found some more travel plans waiting for us! And now, I am not alone! Hermana Linford and Elders Werber and Thorne will be traveling with me :) Hermana Jones, however, is going to be flying into Mexico City by herself...so please pray for her on Monday as well! Hermana Bowers still doesn't have her visa...but she has been reassigned to serve in the Salt Lake City East mission until she receives it :) We're very excited for her, and we can't wait for her to join us down in Puebla!

I can't believe I only have one more full day in the USA! AHH! But I am so incredibly excited! I can't wait for this crazy adventure to begin! I love all of you SOOOOOO much! The church is true! And being a missionary has definitely been the best experience of my life thus far :)

Love ALWAYS, Hermana Smith