HELLO!!!

Hello from across the world:)!! 

This was probably the best week so far!! 

We made cake:) in a rice cooker. like who even knew that was a thing? neither did i. and it was amazing. it tasted AND looked like cake. so incredible.

Huh. so one thing i was thinking about this week that i wanted to share with you all is something i thought a lot about before my mission, and how its changed since ive been out. before the mission, i was super worried that i would get bored of always doing church stuff, 24/7. this is actually one of the things that i struggled with for so long that held me back from deciding to go on a mission, because i love having fun. and to me, church and fun werent always synonymous. what ive been realizing since then is that, to my surprise, you dont get bored. we actually do some of the most fun, adventurous things i have ever done. we just talk to people, get to know people, love people and talk with them about how they can find more happiness. sometimes we help hang their laundry, or cook with them, or help them learn english. we do fun things with our district, we eat incredible food and try to make cake in a rice cooker and mop up our floor when it floods and climb to our roof and watch the stars and the city, and shop for dayyyzz at the markets and get told were beautiful because were white and have pointy noses. its the best. missions are the happiest. 

I had some pretty amazing experiences this week. But something that just keeps coming back to me is how blessed I am. how blessed we all are-to have grown up in america, to have grown up knowing english, to have grown up with members around us. what a responsibilty to help others! Heavenly Father truly knows each one of us so individually. I testify about this at least a couple times a day, and each day, my testimoney grows deeper. I see his hand in our lives more than ever. And he is doing literally everything he can to show us that hes there. were teaching this om in trash mountain, and this week as we visited her, the pain and the hurt and the trials were so tangible. and i know the only way to heal is through jesus christ. he can take away any pain, any scar, any wound. all we have to do is give it to him. i encourage all of you to think about something that you are still holding on to, something that causes hurt or confusion, and make a concious decision to give it to him, and then go to a quiet place and pray hand it over, and then live happier knowing that while you may not have been able to bear this, God can, and he will. because he is as much your loving heavenly father as he is anyone elses. 

ps please pray for bong tia ri and bong ri and som ali! they are this super cute family, and have such a strong desire to know Christ, but have 0 money so they work all the time, so they cant always come to church, even though they want to! 

love sis smith