Love MLC

Haha, I honestly have no idea on how to start this email. So I guess I'll just jump into the meat of things:D ...speaking of meat, I just remembered we still have frozen gator in our fridge we need to cook up. What better general conference snack eh?

MLC (mission leadership council) was great! We had a big open discussion about what needed to change in order for us to reach our goal of 720 baptisms in a year, as opposed to the average 600 baptisms a year. Tons of stuff was thrown out, everything from more PMG, to personal conversion. I was stumped on what the answer was because there are a million diff areas that we CAN improve in, but what does God want us to focus on. Pres shared that he’d spoken with members of the proselyting dept in SLC, and they said the #1 determining factor to increase baptisms in an area is effective planning. If missionaries plan, they will baptize more. ESPECIALLY when they ask these 2 questions. Who are we teaching? What do I need to do tomorrow/next week, to help them progress?

President also shared about faith being a principle of power. I loved how he broke it down into 5 steps we can take to increase our faith

#1 Determines our desires, what do we want, is it a righteous desire
#2 Prayer, it’s not just a onetime thing. But converse with the Lord about it, debate with him about it, talk with him about it all the time
#3 Labor, get to work and do all you can
#4 Believe that he’ll help you, and accept whatever the Lord sees fit to bestow
#5 Trial: there will always be a trial of your faith. If you endure, then you know you have faith.

Best fast Sunday of my entire life! Right after the bishop bore his testimony 4 kids stood up and walked to the podium. One by one they turned to kitt, and shared their testimonies in ASL. It was so touching, Sadie (our interpreter) was crying, most of the congregation told us afterward that they were bawling. The kids shared perfect, sincere, simple testimonies: of God’s love, prophets, the atonement and eternal families. When each one finished their testimony, instead of the typical “amen” hand motion, Kitt and Alison raised their hands in the air and did an applause in sign language. Kitt was so excited! It was so beautiful and the spirit was so strong. Kitt also got to prepare the sacrament for his first time. This ward is doing so much for Kitt, Bro Barker (our Ward Mission Leader) said that most of PEC this morning was focused on meeting Kitt’s needs. They’re pretty set on moving our ASL class to Sunday’s during Sunday school, instead of Wednesdaynights so that more members can come.

The women’s broadcast was tonight! A week ago we’d met Doris and she’d expressed interest in going with us. We hadn’t had contact since then and I was worried she’d entirely forgot, or lost interest altogether. When we showed up at 7 to drive over with her…she wasn’t home…but 3 min later she pulled up and said she was juuust about ready to go. We did a little church tour before, and she was in awe at how beautiful our building was. She said growing up she’d been told to always avoid 2 people. The Joehovah’s witnesses and the Mormons. She was really curious when she met us last week, and thought she’d finally find out for herself. She really enjoyed the broadcast, and said she felt at peace.

Another pleasant surprise at the women’s broadcast was when we were walking down the hall and out pops sister Lincoln from the RS room! We’d casually invited her Tuesday, but didn’t do much else. Sis Blonquist invited her, and even stopped by to pick up Sis Lincoln and Isabella! Isabella said she LOVED the broadcast and sis Lincoln enjoyed it as well. THEN the next day, the whole Lincoln family came to church! Sis Burbank and I are so stoked about this family. I’m excited for our lesson Tuesday. The women’s broadcast was all about temples and covenants, so I think is only suiting to talk about eternal families.

Love y'all, can't wait for conference!!!

LOVE

Sister Smith!!