#deuces

hi hi hi

ok wow oh wow we are headed out in just a few short hours! But i wanted to send a quick email about how amazing the mtc is, and some things ive learned. 

So basically to sum up my mtc experience:

1. teachers are straight angels from heaven. thank you thank you thank you. they are the best at therapy, at teaching, at teaching how to teach, at helping us comprehend, at helping us understand our role, etc. also shoutout to rm's from cambodia who work in the cafeteria that make the mtc the funnest:)

2. khmae is hard. but also i love it with all my heart. im learning how simple the gospel is by having to explain it in in simple language with the few skills i have. theres this cool thing they do in cambodia, where they put 2 almost identical words right next to each other to make a phrase in order to emphasize the difference. ex: listen vs hear, look vs see. in english, ya theres a difference, but not one that we emphasize. and im learning how this difference is something so important that we need to understand in the gospel. we can listen, but not actually hear. in order to be converted, we need to hear. 

3. god sends so many mercies. idk what it is, but this last week was pretty stressful and hard, but i have also never seen so many tender mercies from god or felt his love and acceptance or help more. i dont even know how to explain it, but ill be praying about something, and someone will answer that prayer with the exact phrase i asked it. or someone will tell me the exact thing i need to hear. or give me the exact thing i have been needing. i have felt so much love from god. when you start looking for him in your life, hes everywhere. 

4. i have never prepared for anything so important in my entire life. i remember studying for my ap tests, stressing. and taking a million and one act practice tests, and practicing for distinguished young women, and spending hours planning and putting together activities for student council, and sweating hardcore every time i would have to learn how to drive, and a thousand other things that i was supposed to learn bc they were important. and they were, sure. but nothing is more important that the eternal welfare of someone. there is such a weight, a responsibility. and its humbling, and motivating. and ive learned that during all those times learning how to drive, or studying for ap tests, i had to rely on myself. and when push comes to shove, and its time to perform, its all you. its all about what you remember and how good you are. but what ive realized about the mission is that this work isnt ours. no matter how many hours of prep we put in, we cant do it without the lord. this work of saving souls, this eternal welfare, is work of God. so when push comes to shove, when the time comes and you have to perform (your out on the street contacting or in the middle of a lesson), hes not going to leave us alone to see how many questions we answer right. its about what we can do together-God and me. God and you. God and the investigator. God and the learner. Its ok if you only know 50% of the test, its ok if you dont know how to drive, its ok if you dont remember a specific word or phrase or cant understand perfectly the language. bc this work has eternal significance. ive learned that this work is empowering. bc Jesus Christ and His Atonement are empowering

5. When we give our all to God, when we do exactly what he wants, he qualifies us. it was a pretty busy week, and i got only a few hours of language study, but somehow i learned so much khmae. and its not bc i studied better, or more or harder, but its bc i did what he asked, when he wanted it done, even though it felt inconvienient. 

6. everything is about love. thats why im here. thats why god sent his son. thats why jesus died for us. 1 ne 19: 9

7. we never have to worry, bc when we follow god, we are in the hands of god, not satan. 

8. satan is real. we have to fight, and keep fighting. keep turning to Christ. Keep repenting, keep learning, keep trying. Christ is empowering.

9. the gospel is so true. Jesus Christ came to earth. he established his church, and then he suffered and died for all of us. 3 days later, he rose from the dead. and so we can all be resurrected. we can have eternal life. we can repent and become like him. Because He loves us so much, he called prophet to restore the truth so that we all might be able to find the happiness, peace, and safety that can only be found through Jesus Christ. I invite everyone to, no matter where they are on the journey to knowing our Savior, take a step back, evaluate, and course correct so that you can find a few more ways that you can strengthen your testimony, and come closer to Christ. He invites us over and over, to come as we are, and to come unto Him. 

pray for me cause my flight is five-ever!!! hope you all have a fantastic, happy, Christ filled week.

love sis smith