Wk 66 - Carl's Baptism!! :) GRABI BA!! INCREDIBLE GID!! :)

Area: La Castellana
Companion: Sister Dequina

up the mountain again :) so beautiful!! 

a member that is working on her mission papers :) yay!! 

 elder solis who is going home this week!! AH!! 

                              this is our district!! :)

This week has been wonderful!! We have really been working harder on being more diligent! I really want to be able to do what the Lord wants and knows I can do especially for the time I have left to serve him. I am so grateful we have the chance to be a missionary our whole lives not just this short time!!

So this week, we had a cool experience when we really just followed the spirit. We have been looking how to find people and reading in PMG chapter 9. We went looking for one family and found their relatives which was cool and had one of the best introduction lessons I have ever had I think. It was incredible!! Completely led by the spirit and me and my companion were so in tune!! I loved it! I want that every single day!! It's really coming around ever since about Saturday we have just been on a high and I want it to continue!! It's been good!! 

It's so important we keep finding with faith and keep going with the faith in Christ, that he will help these people progress. When you really do look at the storm, just as Peter did walking on water, you sink, you cant continue to perform miracles or "walk on water". I am so grateful for the experience and learning how to keep it up. That's something I am working on lately is keeping things up and going high. I have read a bit about the Resurrection as well in Alma 40 and 41 the past couple days and it's really interesting learning about these things! It's crazy how big the plan really is and you may not understand it all but you learn little by little until you get a little pinch of the whole thing. 

us teaching one of our recent converts, Regina :) I love them so much!! It was hot in their house so she wanted it outside and there was a lot of mosquitoes so she started a fire :)  

regina again :) and her cute little boy, Gino that is my favorite!! I love him :) 

We also had Carl's Baptism!! His mom has had quite the life! It's incredible to see where people have come!! Annabelle, their mom hasn't been baptized yet, but we hope to get her to see how important it is!! She had a hard time paying attention so we focused on Shaina and Carl came with because teaching to Shaina's needs helped meet Carl. President Colache (his uncle) was saying how he use to hide from us and wouldn't want us to teach him and now he's baptized and so happy when we come and he wants to serve a mission!!

Carl's Baptism! :)

 our zone leaders :) Elder Mu and Elder Reyes :)

We also have this investigator named Eduard that is having a hard time coming to church but yesterday he wanted to come with us. He seems more interested in becoming a missionary then trying to become a member of the church. He finally said he would come to church next week, I really hope he comes!! We are working on finding more people and we are praying and hoping to find the people ready for the gospel to help them become closer to their Savior, Jesus Christ.

I love this gospel and am so grateful for it!! I am so happy I have this time to become closer to my Savior. I received an email from Talia and man!! She's amazing!! I needed to come on a mission just to figure out what she already knows spiritually. It's incredible to hear from each member of our family to see how they grow. Mom and Dad you are incredible with how you teach us and how you raised us all in the church. I LOVE it so much!! I pray that my family in the future will be the same. thank you thank you thank you!! :)

Love, Sister Smoot 

a store at the market we shopped at last monday :)
the isles are so small huh!! haha only i can fit :)  

a little girl that's the daughter of a member!
She's so adorable!! :) but super shy :) 

Right before emailing today we ate at Tom's!! A Pizza Place :)
They was no more computers to email. These are the sisters that are in our zone :)
They are so cute! I love them all :) 

our recent converts started playing with my hair yesterday.
Guess they're going to be hair stylists??

Wk 65 - Toni's Baptized :)

Area: La Castellana
Companion: Sister Dequina

Jade Toilet Paper!

My companion took this picture!
I think my prayer got kinda long! My foot is ok- I think it fell asleep!

Happy Birthday to Sister Dequina!!

kids in our area :) love them!! They are adorable!! :)

up on a little mountain and a beautiful view walking up the mountain :)

Bamboo Adobo!

 Jeany making bamboo adobo :) I love adobo!! 

I will make that for you when I'm home but not sure about the bamboo...

 do we have that? it was very good though!! :) 

                    oyster shells at Nanay Legaspi's :) Different texture but pretty good :) 

We did a FHE at a member and other members were there as well,

 when we showed up they had decorated :) haha!

Toni's Baptism!

Family!! :)

Well first of all Toni was baptized on Saturday!! :) YAY!! I am so excited for him and we have another Part Member si Carl getting baptized this coming Saturday. I am excited for the progress we see coming in this area :) But that was a highlight of this week. 

It was another week with ups and downs. It was a little rough for a couple days, just thinking about Michalla, but I prayed a lot and now I am doing a lot better :) Something Matt told me was just to work hard and do it for Michalla. So I started working a little harder each day. :) Yesterday also a Miracle happened. Well, it started with a down of only having 2 investigators at church, the ones we expected and even tried to go get didn't come with us. 

After church I had a wonderful personal study in Alma reading about missionary work in chapters 29 and 30. In chapter 29 it talks about well, what I got out of it was in verse 8 every nation will receive the gospel in their own word. We are speaking their language. We are sharing the word. And In verse 9 the humility of Alma is amazing! He glories in God. That is something we HAVE TO depend on as missionaries. We glory in ourselves, we can't do it... literally, I've experienced it! We think about things at home we think about all the things that aren't good in your area that aren't working. But when you really humble yourself and let God do the work through you miracles happen. So we had a good companionship study and we went on splits that night. I was so ready to just go out and work and it was about 3 30 when we went out and we went on splits with some members and I actually had a Recent Convert who's 11 or 12 want to work so she came with us to about 3 appointments just to experience it and she is so cute :) He name is Shiena Mae. I was with Suzzette also and Ninyo showed us where a house was as well. It was a very cool day!! We met all of our goals and in the end we ended up with 9 RCLA lessons and 15 member present. It was an incredible day and the spirit really did guide it. It wasn't us doing the work, it was literally the spirit. It was so incredible!! I just prayed we could reach the goals because we were a little low for the week and because of that we did and got a little above!! It was amazing!!

Anyways, lets go back to the training last tuesday. It was incredble!! When I got to the training, of course I'd been crying because of what I'd found out, (about Michalla) but everyone asked me if I was okay... i kept tearing up trying to hold it in everytime someone asked, which doesn't help. Anyways, I asked President for a blessing and he told me that he cleared Sister Smoot my cousin (Ashley's) investigator for baptism two weeks before he was suppose to be baptized and he died reading his book of morning the night before his baptism. Anyways, the priesthood is powerful. I actually was okay after that and made it through the training and had a good night after that. But the training I gave I prayed so hard in my heart to just help me. And He did :) I am so grateful for Jesus Christ and his Atonement and learning how to use it through the trials. That's the hardest part, but so incredible to be able to have such noticeable access to it :) The training went well and I am grateful for the spirit to have been with me to be able to make it through. It was about Praying with Faith which was incredible!! 

Then today in my studies, I was reading in Alma 31 and it says in Alma's Prayer how he pleads for these people that he loves so much that are worshiping and fell away and are boasting in the wrong things. It also says when the missionaries were filled with the spirit in verse 36 and they didn't have to worry about what to eat or drink or anything because it was all provided for them because ALMA PRAYED IN FAITH. Awesome no?! Then I read in PMG. About finding people and on the very first page on the bottom it quotes the same scripture I just read. It was his prayer in verses 34 and 35 or so and it was really amazing! It was all related to what I gave a training on last tuesday and it was incredible.

I just really love this gospel and this work and everything God gives to us to be able to become better. I love how it all just fits together. It's so true!! I love it so much :) Thank you for everything you do!! Have a wonderful week :) I love you all!!

Love, Sister Smoot

Other Missionaries I saw at Zone Conference!

Sister Davenport- she is from Washington-
 Easton Rothwell is serving there and met her mom 

Sister Lara!
We served as STL's in La Carlotta

Sister Hanna Smith- I've known her since
grade school!

Sister Siervo! - past companion

-I also saw Sister Neis- I stayed at her house but I forgot to take a picture!