Hi Y'all from Hartsville(photos)

Sister Smith with Brandon  & Kay

Sister Smith with
Peter Porkchop at Cole's farm they give the Sisters eggs every Sunday

Sister Smith with Willie he's been sick but is excited to be baptized

Another pineapple

Sister Smith named John's dog "Happy" and it has stuck

Sister smith with Laura, Adrianna and Izzy

Sister Sleepover before transfer Sister Walker, Wood, Hopper, Makin and Smith

Sister Smith and Sister Black doing service at Cindy Watrus

Here's....to making the devil mad

it's been getting chilly, not gonna lie. I'm not sure if it's just because I've adjusted to the warm balmy weather that used to be, oooor if it's actually "cold". The temperature reading in Chewy (our 2011 toyota corolla) says it's only been in the 50's but it feels more like 40's...Im thinking it's because of the humidity. I'm super stoked though-because cold weather outside means that hopefully people will be more willing to let you into their home instead of standing on the porch and talking with you. can't wait!

here's some little excerpts from the week.love y'all!

We got back meeting, then coordination ran late so we were late to out apt with Mike Weatherford, a nice, curious guy who had met with sister missionaries quite a while ago. He had some really good questions-I love it when people have questions! It means their heart is at least a teensy bit open. Just as Alma taught-they only need a desire to learn, and that desire will work in them, they’ll then be able to taste the fruit and like Lehi know that the fruit is most desireable.

Liz Rackley and her families getting baptized, it’s decided, she doesn’t know it yet but she’s what you’d call a “dry Mormon”. We met her at the baptism lunch of one of the member’s son. When we went by to talk with her that member, Celia Thompson, was there-surprise!-we had no idea she was going to be…which was rather interesting because we had prayed about different members to contact to see if they could come with us. When we prayed about calling sister Thompson the spirit told both of us no-so I guess the spirit didn’t want us to waste our time because he knew she was going to be there. Anywho-when we arrived she lives in this gorgeous log cabin just off of the lake/pond. She had a whole list of questions she had come up with from reading about Mormons. She’s so solid though; all of her friends are Mormon, they’re a great clean family with good values, she’s open to learning more and told us her main motivation was to find out what her friends had that she didn’t. We were able to answer her questions and leave her with a Book of Mormon. She said she’d definitely read it and come up with more questions, haha, maybe in powerpoint for this time (we were joking about how she had typed up her questions on her iphone and had copied and pasted different articles and references about the Mormon religion) the spirit was definitely there to help us out, there was a time when she brought up the question about-Do Mormons believe God lives on another planet, and I could tell it was alluring to the Kolob idea but I had no idea how to address it, buuuut luckily the subject changed and we didn’t really ever go back to that-phew. Hmm, Liz Rackley-I have a great feeling about her, and not just because she sent us on our way with rice krispie treats either.:D

Score! We were able to see Gary and Jeanette, and put them back on date for baptism on November 16. They have something they have to do this Sunday but said they’ll come next Sunday. Something I loe that Gary said when we were telling him that now that their choosing the right and working towards this big commitment to our Savior the devil is going to be working his hardest to stop them-to which Gary responded. “let’s make the devil mad”-yes Gary, lets:)

Well, here's to making the devil mad. hope y'all are successful!

Love,

Sister Lindsay Smith

Hooray for pictures-

Made it to the North Carolina State Line but not crossing over

A Cotton field in South Carolina

Time to put the Nephi sandles away until
April 2014 General Conference

Lindsay does not let the rains
of South Carolina stop them.
Fall weather
calls for lots of rain.

Transfer day and new companions  Sister Baker with Sister Makin and then
 Trainer Sister Lindsay Smith and Sister Black from American Fork, Utah

New companionship read to go forth and hasten the work
Sister Black and Sister Smith in Hartsville, South Carolina

Overjoyed in helping the Lord work his miracles

We have had a few people stop us as we're out contacting that tell us, "you can't solicit in this area, didn't you read the sign" to which we joyfully respond, we're not selling anything we're giving it out for free! That's right the message of the restoration is free, and if only you'd give it a chance you'd realize that the teensy-tiny bit that is required is given back to us 100 fold in blessings from our heavenly father! what?! crazy I know...makes me wonder why people don't just come running to the baptismal font....because the devil is a sneaky one, and just as  Elder Holland said, salvation has never been easy, so why should we expect the work of salvation to be so.

it may not be "easy" but boy is it worth it:D I love being a missionary!!

this week in SC...

We went way out to a referral who stood out to me that the Bishop had given us. Out we traveled to Mohawk road to find a Jeffrey bowcutt. We knocked on the door, no answer. Knocked again-no answer. Just then the phone rang so we paused on the doorstep to check the phone, just then we saw a lady peek through the windows. We quickly silenced the phone and waited, we could hear that she was on the phone also. After she hung up she opened the door and told us Jeffrey had moved.  We told her who we were, and turns out she’d actually talked with missionaries in the past a little bit but had never really gotten into the Book of Mormon. We bore our testimonies and spoke about the truth of our message and how much God loves her. Then there came a point in our conversation where she paused and just started weeping, as she told us “he’s a good boy, he’s just going through a hard time”. We had no idea what she was talking about. She went on to explain that her son is in a juvy rehab place and she’d really been struggling and that we were the answer to her prayers. After more testimonies, tears and sharing we left her with a prayer, and she committed to read the BOM. As we walked off she couldn’t stop telling us how we were the answer to her prayers, and I couldn’t be more overjoyed to have had the Lord allow us to work miracles in people lives. 

We had an appointment fall through so we decided to stop in on a lead I remembered that we had planned as backup, didn’t think much of it at the time. Knocked on her door, she opened it saw us and immediately invited us in-I was so shocked. Turns out she’d met with the missionaries a little before, but now she was really looking for the right church because she wants her grandson to get involved in a good church. She loved what we had to say, the spirit was so strong during the first vision and agreed to read the pamphlet we left with her that night when she was at work. Um, hoorah! I’m so grateful for missionaries who’ve come before me to pave the way so that when people come to that point in their life when they’re questioning and looking for truth-the missionaries will be there! Times like these also give me hope and teach me to have more faith in those random little contacts we meet throughout our day.

We had another meeting with Gale and she is just the most tender thing since puppies and cupcakes. She’s really struggling with depression, and told us all about how much she’s been crying and how she hates not being able to function regularly because of the depression. She told us that she cries all the time, but recently since we’ve been coming she’s been praying a lot more and crying a lot less. We taught her the plan of Salvation and she was really interested, told us all about how she’d never been taught anything like that. It always blows my mind when we ask people, “have you ever wondered where you came from? Or where you were before you gained a body and came to earth?” and so many people (like Gale) answer, “well I’ve never really thought about it before”…in my head I’m like “how could you not have thought about it before-now I understand why it’s one of those “golden questions”, it really gets people thinking and interested, becaaaaause we have the answer. Anywho, she’s the sweetest and told us over and over again how we’re just the biggest answer to her prayers, and we’re her angels-and I think it’s funny because she’s the answer to all of our prayers. I pray so hard that we can find those the Lord would have a teach so that we can bless people with this glorious message….heh heh, we complete each other:)

well, I think one email can only hold so many miracles-if only you could capture the joy this work brings to me. 

Love y'all and hope that you can have the blessing of recognizing the Lord's hand in your life:)
LOVE!!!

Sister Smith:D:D

Now is the time for members and missionaries to work together

The mist...sounds like a horror movie, oooooor it could just be the newest weather situation I've never experienced here before. It's not raining, and it's not just humid but it's literally misting outside. The Utah instinct side of me looks out the window (or win-der, as they'd say here) and the dark clouds, slight breeze and leaves on the ground just scream cold weather and snow, but pop outside and it's a pleasant 70-75 degrees.

Awesome lesson with Mark and Tammy, He basically told us that he has such a strong testimony of the bible that anything we show him in it he believes. We’re like Great! It’s a start, at least his heart and mind are open, I know as soon as he gets more into the book of Mormon, a testimony of it is sure to follow.

Later that night we had another great lesson with Porsha and he husband. I forgot she told us she was going to cook for us, so when we showed up at 7:30 she had a big spaghetti dinner waiting for us, she’s so great!...however I’d already eaten and was so sick after I stuffed down the giant plate-o-pasta. We chatted openly about Joseph Smith and the restoration and they both agreed that what we said made perfect sense, and Porsha’s only reaction to the first vision was “oh wow”. Porsha’s actually really good friends with a member so we encouraged her to ask her questions after they both agreed that they’d start reading the Book of Mormon. Before we left they wouldn’t let us leave without food. Her mom who was in watching TV got up just to grab us some cookies and Raman from the pantry, threw in a package of bologna and not to mention they gave us a coupld plates of leftover spaghetti. They’re so cool! Love em-and I can totally see them getting sealed in the temple one day, can’t wait to teach them more, and really praying they find the time to read the Book of Mormon.

We were in a lesson and got a text from President Holm that said to give him a call when we got the chance.DAH! Do you realize what that means! President doesn’t ask you to call him unless you’re getting transferred/training. Sure enough, I gave him a call and I’m staying in Hartsville and I’ll be training a new missionary. Sister Lundholm asked me how I felt and I just told her that I’m grateful for the prophets promise that the Lord qualifies who he calls. I so desperately want to be that perfect example that doesn’t hinder my companion in any way; I want to be uplifting, loving, humble, open, fun, responsible, obedient-basically the perfect missionary. Which isn’t possible, but what is possible is that my Heavenly Father will help me to be the companion that Sister Something needs. We had stake conference tonight and a member of the 70 was there! Whaaat?? So cool right? Yeah, like one of the guys who’s on the centerfold of the general conference ensigns. It was Elder Paul V. Johnson. The theme of the night was….sure enough-Missionary work, and getting the members involved. I need to repent, we’re not the best at working with members and I often take the excuse that there aren’t many in our area to work with, welp, NO EXCUSES. They showed the clip of Pres. Monson from conference, and I couldn’t be more thrilled when he boldy declared to the church “Now is the time for members and missionaries to work together” (that may or may not be the exact wording). I’m feeling the pressure on our end of things too-especially now that I’ll be training. How can I set the example for how to work with members, and how to get the members involved? Definitely lots of prayers, as always. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to train, serve and rise to the prophets call. To hasten means to accelerate and go faster than the current pace. We have been called to hasten the work, and it’ll be hard; we might get winded, our muscles may ache-but boy oh boy will it be worth it! Just imagine how the church can grow-the beautiful thing about missionary work is the great ripple effect it can have.

 I hope y'all have a great day! Love ya tons! ...and go heed the prophets call! the time is NOW. Funny, the last time I remember prophets and apostles focused so much on one topic was back when they were stressing the need to get out of debt, food storage, plant your own gardens, and what not. Now it's all missionary work-interesting eh? well i can assure you canned peaches are important but nothing is sweeter than sharing your testimony and the blessing that accompany it.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

Sister Lindsay Smith:D:D

Abraham Lincolm said

Abraham Lincoln said something like this...."give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I'll spend 4 hrs sharpening the ax." what a guy-it was definitely one of those ax sharpening weeks. Between LTM (leadership training meeting) and general conference there was so much sharpening. BUUUUT-now is the test. We've been taught but will we actually apply it in our lives and start hacking at the trees. 

The work is there, the work needs to be hastened, and it's up to us!

I couldn't have been more excited every time a general authority gave a talk, prayed about or mentioned missionary work. Seriously though-if a call from mulitple apostles and the prophet doesn't motivate the members to get more involved in missionary work I'm not sure what will. It's basically along the lines of Noah being like (check out those clouds on the horizon, what're you gonna do about it?!)

Anywho-It's such a great time to be a full time missionary. I love it:D

here's why....

We stopped by Tammy’s at 7, we’d tried texting her multiple times to set up an apt but she’d never responded-which wasn’t like her at all. We found out why, she was out with some nasty bug and had been throwing up all day. She tried so hard to come out and meet with us, but was pale as a ghost and looked miserable, so we sent her to bed then had an awesome little lesson with Mark about the gospel of Jesus Christ. We brought up baptism and he told us again that from what he’s learned of the church-so far so good, buuuut he wants to figure it out for himself by reading the Book of Mormon. As we were heading out he was telling us all about how he had to get to bed so he could get up at 3am to go to the gym, and how he was going to take Tammy’s phone and read the Book of Mormon while he works out. What? We didn’t even bring up that idea! We were so excited, definitely a “heel-clickin’” moment, sis makin’s still practicing her heel clicking.

We then went to see Maggie with Sister Mixon.  We were planning on teaching about the plan of salvation but thanks to the beauty of being a preach my gospel missionary, we were able to adapt the lessons to her needs…aka…we spent most of the time talking about baptisms for the dead. I know that the spirit was touching her heart, because she really took up to that idea. Just like in Elijah’s prophesy the hearts of the children are turning to their fathers. I feel like we never have enough time with our investigators, when we’re teaching the time just flies. There is so much work to do, so many people to love and so many ways to develop a closer relationship with my savior. BUT-time is the only limited thing we have. When I get home I want to no longer waste hours on worthless activities that don’t pertain to my God or to others. Too often the adversary tricks us into turning inwards and even tries to tell us that watching Netflix will be more rewarding that popping in on a neighbor for a brief visit. FALSE-people are so amazing, God’s children are amazing and they need us just as much as we need them…not Netflix. 

Oh blessed night-we had a lesson with Gary and Jeannette. Jeanette let us in, she’s this super sweet large black woman. When I say large I mostly mean tall, she’s probably almost 6’, as we were talking with her waiting for Gary to get home I saw a silhouette in the door way and it looked like maybe it was her son or something, but when he came into the light we found out it was Gary!! They’re so cute, so in love and he’s so much shorter than she is, about by 1’ I’d say. They accepted our baptismal invitation and said they’d try to make it to general conference. So it’s definitely been a blessed night.

Some little tidbits that I learned and loved from the Leadership Training Meeting this week...#1 Being a missionary isn't trying to convince someone that what I’m saying is true. But letting them know-w/o a shadow of a doubt-that I know that what I’m saying is true.#2 consecrated effort is never wasted. My life doesn't belong to me, it belongs to God-that’s what it means to be an instrument in His hands. #3 There is a reason why in a vehicle the windshield is so big and the rear view mirror, in comparison, is so small. It’s sad but too many people are trying to drive into life looking in that rear view mirror. You will get in many accidents that way.#4 You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink….however you CAN salt the oats. #5 whenever I come away from a big training or meeting, like LTM or general conference the most important part is what I take away from it and actually do to alter my life according to what the spirit has taught me. Soooo, meditate and look over all that’s been said/heard and then pull out just 1-5 of the things that my Father in heaven wants me to do to improve.

mmmk, that's nuff. now go out and be a missionary...follow the prophet eh?

LOVE Y'ALL!

Sister Lindsay Smith:D

Tammy and her husband Mark

Tammy's Baptism

Elder Clifford, Elder Hawkes, Tammy, Sister Makin and Sister Smith

Boiled Peanuts a food of South Carolina
Elder Hawks gave them to remind them to be "Bold" Missionary