January 14, 2013

Subject:  January 14, 2013 From Candace Smith‏

Mi familia,

I don't remember anything that I wrote last week, and I'm a little out of it, so please forgive me if this letter makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

With that warning, this week has been interesting. I found out that I know pretty much nothing about anything but praying out here, which is pretty much the only thing you have to know, but some info about the ward members or actually knowing how to get anywhere would be nice. The GPS keeps trying to make us leave the mission :/

Sister Young was in her last area for 7.5 months, so she knew a lot about it. I think I know 10 people in the single's ward. I seriously am so bad with names.

It's okay though. We are learning how to work together and learn the area. We are also learning the map so that we don't break any rules by leaving our area :)

I have lost my brain and can't think of anything else to say...

Hey, could everyone send me their favorite scripture? That would be really cool! 

--  Candace, is there any special things you want me to do or get for Linnette while she is here? (The first sister baptized in Candace area is in Phoenix)

Study the scriptures a little with her if you can. She is an amazing woman, and I'm not sure who would learn more from the study.

Oh, and show her indexing if you can.

--  How are the new companionships?

Sister Young is great! She has a fun sense of humor. She really likes things to be clean, so I'm pretty sure she cleaned our entire apartment while I slept today (I'm a little sick because I haven't been sleeping well.) Anyway, she is great at working with ward members, especially since she whitewashed (or pinkwashed) or last ward from Elders who weren't obeying rules. She worked with tons of Less Active families and got to know the whole ward.


-- What was your most spiritual experience?

We were driving down Sherwood Lane (just a little neighborhood street that i love the name of) and we saw a mom and two kids gardening in the front yard. We stopped and came back to talk to them. They moved to Marietta two months ago from Woodstock and she was trying to find a church to go to. We asked if she had ever heard of the Book of Mormon, and she said that yes she had. Her husband's family was members, and they had been to church with them a few times. We asked if we could come share a message with her family and she said, "Sure, how about tonight?" We scheduled for 6:30pm. When we got there, it was raining and they were in the middle of dinner. We expected to have the door slammed. She came to the door and welcomed us in, asked us if we were hungry, and then sat with us and listened. The entire family gathered around as we shared what the church believes and how we can know it's true. The dad sat and was nodding his head the whole time. So, when we left, we asked when we could come back, and they said that any night but Wednesday was good, just drop on by.

The dad was raised with a methodist mother and a LDS father. He chose the methodist church because Sunday services were shorter :) So we don't know if he has been baptized or not, but the rest of his family hasn't. His wife Leigh and daughter Chloe are now investigators, and I'm sure the two youngest, Madeline and Owen, will listen too. It was an awesome experience on Sister Young's first night here!

Dec 24 & Dec 31st Letters

You may have noticed there was no letter on Dec 24th or 31. She wrote a quick note and said she was fine and didn't have time to write.

It was great to talk to her on Christmas Day. I wish I could of taken a picture of her with her new haircut it was very nice.
Thanks for all your love and support for our girl

Sara

First Transfers!

January 7, 2013
From:  Candace Smith

Date: Mon, 7 Jan 2013 14:08:44 -0500

First Transfers!

I'm staying in Marietta!!!!! I'm so excited!!!! Sister Young, who I have been on exchange with, will be my companion. Sister Lovell is, of course, going home :( To be with her eternal companion who is waiting for her...:D And Sister Worthington is going to Suwanee with Sister Nielsen (who I was in the MTC with :)

We have transfers on Wednesday, so the next couple days are work work work :) I love it!

Mom: The new calling is soooooooo exciting! You will do great, because you know the most important part of Geneological work is praying to be helped and guided. Ask for the help of those who have gone on before. I am gaining a whole new appreciation for those who want to be found and have their ordinances done.

This week we were privileged to go on exchanges with Suwannee. Sister Nielsen came and Sister Lovell went. It was really fun. It was a little interesting to see Sister Nielsen, because she has progressed in leaps and bounds since the last time I saw her. I... have struggled a little bit. I just didn't know what was going to happen. To see more about this, look at the very bottom, in the spiritual experience part :)

While Sister Nielsen was here, she proposed an idea for journaling. It called the Three apps. Everyday, you should identify at least one thing that fits into each of the three apps, which are 1) Joy App (something that fills you with joy and you can get excited about); 2) Pride App (something that you can be proud of yourself for doing in a good way. For me, getting out of bed is regularly in this category); 3) Wisdom/Tender Mercy (something during the day that you can identify as giving you more wisdom or being a tender mercy from the Lord.

So I'm doing this now in my Journal, and it really helps me to stay positive. It's really cool.

Now, I copied all of the questions I saw in the 15 emails I had in my inbox and answered them below. Some were repeats, so I answered them once.

Please update us on your investigators? (not a question!)

McKenzie let us start teaching her 14 year old daughter, Taylor. We've taught her two short lessons. She is awesome. In the first lesson we had with her, we invited her to read daily with her mom. The next day, she waited up until 1am to tell her mom that they hadn't read yet. She is so cool! McKenzie is helping a little in the lessons, and really making sure Taylor is thinking for herself.

Wen-Wen is praying about being baptized. This week was amazing though because we were able to have two lessons with her, and she shared a cool experience. She likes to choose where she will read next in the Book of Mormon, so she was reading in 3 Nephi 9 and read verse 22. She thought of the time she had wasted that week and immediately knelt down and asked to be forgiven. She is sooooooo amazing! She is coming to church regularly and meeting a ton of new people who are so nice!

Laura had moved to Buford, but now is back closer. We gave her one of the Spanish Book of Mormons that you sent me Dad (Thank you! Thank you! Thankyou!!!!!) and she is working on not getting overwhelmed. She has a lot going on, so the peace that comes through prayer and the scriptures is really important right now.

We kind of have a new investigator. We don't know how much he will continue to try to learn. We had knocked on his door like 3 or 4 times and talked to him each time, and this time Sister Worthington testified of temple work and how our ancestors need us. He made an appointment on the spot and we were able to teach him. We are hoping we can teach his whole family. Oh, his name is Darryl.


----What New Years resolutions have you made?

I'm going to be more positive, even when it is raining outside. Never underestimate how much Sister Smith HATES the rain ;)

---How are they celebrating New Years where you are?

Gunshots and fireworks. Definitely no comment...

---Where did you spend Christmas?

Sista Perry's!!!!! And The Kindt's house, where I called you from. We went  to the Kindt's house for breakfast and games, and then Sister Perrys for dinner and a little singing. We had a short nap in between while Sister Lovell called home.

---What is your favorite thing about your mission so far??

What you are able to learn from each and every person you meet, including your companions. You just have to be open to learning :)

--I thought it interesting that the church had an activity that lasted all night on new year's,  I assume that is to give them something to do so they don't go elsewhere and get in trouble?

It's to give them a place to go where they won't feel uncomfortable and where they can meet someone who they could marry...People actually date and get married from Singles wards here...it's awesome!

--Do you set your mission goals Monthly or weekly?

Both. You have daily, weekly, monthly, and sometimes transfer goals.

--When do you set personal Goals?

Every single second of the day, I swear.

--Do you have Companion evaluations?

Never heard of them, but we evaluate ourselves all the time and make weekly goals for the companionship

--When is your next transfers or change?

Six weeks from Wednesday

--How many investigators made it to Church?

TWO!!!! It was cool. Both Laura and Wen-Wen were there. McKenzie and Taylor were going to be, both McKenzie's boyfriend (a member) got really sick and went to the hospital. He got a priesthood blessing, so it will all be okay.

--What was your most spiritual experience this week?

I got a blessing this week because the weather got even crazier after Christmas. It was good to hear that I am for sure supposed to stay in this mission at this time and that I am doing well. I just need to develop more faith. I was promised that if I had faith in this and other blessings, and continued to pray and study my scriptures, that I would make a full recovery!

December 17, 2012

From Candace Smith

First of all, all the libraries are closed next monday, so no letter for you! You'll get to see me Tuesday Morning though. We will be skyping from the Paper Mill Ward Mission Leader's house. Long description there :) Anyway, I wrote down both your Skype addresses, so we should be okay. I'm not sure what time...probably anywhere from 11-2pm. I'll try to call you to let you know when I'm on.

First of all, I chopped off my hair. Okay, not all of it. But it's shoulder length now and I can completely do my hair in 5 minutes flat. SOOOOO EASY!!! I love it.
Honestly, it was a bit of a hard week, so we got a lot of lessons done, but there was also a lot of driving. We are seriously hurting for miles.
Oh, and the Mission Christmas party is the 19th, this Wednesday sillies!

----Tell us about your investigators.
McKenzie was able to talk to her mom about getting baptized. Her mom told her that she wants McKenzie to look up a few specific things, learn more about them, and when she can tell her mother about them, she will be fine with the baptism. We were so excited to hear that! So now she just needs to study up on the questions. We pointed out she has many resources. Bible, Book of Mormon, footnotes, Topical guide, Bible dictionary, Index, lds.org, mormon.org... We told her if she needs help, feel free to text or call, which she already does anyway.

Shirell and Talif came to the Festival of the Nativity, and then we were able to share the Living Christ with them this week. They like to feed us, and then us to teach them. Talif really opened up this week and asked questions that we knew he was wondering. It was great to see that. This family has 4 girls!

Laura is going through a hard time, but luckily she is leaning on Ward members for support. She is an awesome girl who really wants to know how to be closer to God.

don't have time!

---How long do you get for your phone call?
30-45 minutes. Please don't ask me to disobey rules. We are blessed as we listen to our leaders. I might not want to get off, but I'll need to.

---What is the weather like? this week?

VERY RAINY!!! It has been drizzling since yesterday morning. It's so gross! I had to back Sister Lovell out yesterday, and she reversed into a puddle cause she didn't watch me close enough, and I had to step in our friendly parking lot lake! I was so wearing tights, so I was wet for the next 2 hours. Blegh!

----What was your most spiritual experience this week?

We got to teach Wen-Wen the Plan of Salvation. We were on exchange, because Sister Worthington will be training again soon, so we had Sister Young from Hamilton Mill with us. Sister Lovell has this great puzzle for the P of S that has all the parts centered around the Atonement of Jesus Christ. It's amazing!

Anyway, so we started the lesson with Jesus Christ in the center and related everything to that. As we went through the lesson, i could just feel how she was believing pretty much everything that we said. Everything else, she asked about. Favorite question of the lesson, so if we were so happy and perfect with Heavenly Father, why did we choose to come to earth where things usually aren't happy? She said this in her awesome Chinese accent. It was so cool to see how much she already understood. We were running out of time, so we were going to stop at Our life on Earth, then she asked, well what goes here? and pointed to the next space of the puzzle. We just HAD to briefly finish it and told her that we would explain more later. It was sooooooo awesome! She seems to understand the scriptures pretty well too. She is reading about faith this week, which leads perfectly to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. She is so amazing!

December 10, 2012

Pictures!

Atlanta Georgia Temple

Atlanta Georgia Temple Stained Glass

My heritage: My Great-Grandma (Sis Lovell), 

My G-ma(Sis Lapin), my mom and me! I love it!

Sister Lovell, one of the best people ever!

Mission Sisters Luncheon

December 10, 2012

To start off this wonderful email, I would like to address ALL of the skyping emails. I cannot skype on Sunday. I get about 30-45 minutes, and I'm not quite sure what time of the day. We are still working on it, but we are focusing on all the missionary stuff that has been happening this week, so not much progress yet.

So, I haven't got a haircut yet. When I do, I'll try to take pictures. There is a cute young couple in our ward who are great ward missionaries. The wife is going to cut our hair tomorrow because that is the only time we can.

This week has been super busy! It has been nice to be able to handle all of the work that we have had the pleasure of enjoying :)

We had a wonderful lunch this week with all the sister's in the mission. The number of sisters will probably double by March. It was nice to meet everyone and go to Macaroni Grill together.


This week was so busy that while weekly planning, I was not able to set the phone down for 1.5 hours! There were continuous phone calls and texts to be made and answered. It was VERY tiring. I remember when I thought I would mostly escape a cell phone by going on a mission. Yeah right...

This week we picked up 4 new investigators! The work is really hopping now. There are two for each ward.

Wen-wen is Chinese from mainland China. She is not very good with English, but I guess she is doing much better now. We taught her about Christ and how to pray. The next day we were texting her, and she said that she would totally like to learn more. We are having a team up who knows mandarin so that we have a back up when it is really hard to teach simply. She has no religious background, so we are literally starting from ground zero here.

Laura is showed up at North Point with a friend several weeks ago. We took her to the Festival of the Nativity, where they had TONS of Nativities from all over the world. Her family is from Mexico and we kept an eye out for one from Mexico when we cam across one which was the size of at least half our dinner table (The conference one at home). It included greenery, elephants, a stream, and even a pond with two real goldfish in it! It was incredible. We declared her country the winner. We prayed with her before she left the festival and that was a super spiritual experience. We are definitely taking this one slow because she has been pushed so much by so many other churches to convert right away. We told her how we pray and find truth and told her the Book of Mormon would help in her search.

McKenzie received a priesthood blessing this week because things have been crazy at work and she just got back from Ohio. We don't know if she told her mom that she is getting baptized, but she was given a lot of peace and strength in the blessing, so it will all be okay.

We didn't see Hollee this week :( I definitely got to text her though. We are focusing on unconditional love.

Shirrell and her family...I forgot the husband's name. Oops! They also came to the festival of the nativity. We went on splits on Thursday. I taught Connie while the other sisters dropped by Shirrell's house, who they knew from when they were companions in July/August. They caught her and she seems ready to be taught :) She seems awesome :)

Hey, did you know that there is a video on lds.org about Same sex attraction? It looks cool...Random thought :)

Mom, you asked what my companions would like for Christmas. First of all, they already LOVE the ornaments you sent in my package.

-Sister Lovell would like a big hug, another Sister Smith angel for the top of her tree, and a cool Arizona Souvenir, but we want to
send it to her home address, which I will give you later. I'll give her a coupon for it :)

-Sister Worthington would like a cool Arizona souvenir, and a HUGE hug! And pictures of the puppies sent to my email.

Or, I could just take both my companions to lunch at Panera, and that is the best present we could all get :)

---------Where do you think Tyler and Andrew go? Where do you think McKenna will go? Georgia or Peru would both be fun.

McKenna, come to Georgia! I'll train you! Tyler will go to New York :) Andrew will go to Alaska

-----Have either of you received any packages? They have been in the mail for awhile. Well they should be there. 

I got a package this week. It was completely squished on one side, so the tree stand is kind of broken and so was the etched glass thing. I got to see what it should look like though because they had one just like at the Festival of the Nativity!

Mission party is on the 19th. That's next week.

-------What is the weirdest thing you have eaten on your mission?

Not vegetarian, not vegan, but microorganic or something like that. My body hated it! Not happy :) Ate more chocolate :)

-------How many of your investigators got to Church this week?

None :( It was stake conference, which was like 45 minutes away in Cumming, GA

--------What was your most spiritual experience this week?

Probably with Wen-Wen. It was awesome to see her willingness to learn. She can feel the spirit so well because the words are not as distracting to her I think. She is so full of faith already.

December 3, 2012

Sister Candace Smith

Sister Lovell is awesome! Being in a trio has made things much easier, because if we can see and hear one companion, we are good. Lots of "triangulation" :)

I'm going to a chiropractor this week! A member called in a favor and got us free service, I think. So, could you have Paul fax my records to Dr. Hortman? He is in the Sandy Springs Area. I wish I had more info for you, but we took his card home.

I'm having my first mission haircut tonight. I'm super excited! If it wasn't so cold in the mornings, I would chop most of it off. I think I will be cutting a good section off anyway, since it hits my lower back at the moment. When I have it in a high ponytail, it still gets caught in my jacket and scarf. BTW I will want my rain coat. The one I have is definitely too big for the summer here. Or probably even the spring. More on this later when it becomes more important.

I got dad's package. The map is really super helpful in this area, because our North Point people are from a ton of different places in Georgia.

Because of the coming influx of sisters, the mission is now putting more emphasis on keeping the sisters strong. We are now doing exchanges regularly, which we just did one on Tuesday. Sister Worthington went to Suwanee with Sister Nielsen (she came out with me) and Sister Berrett came here with Sister Lovell and I. It was really cool. I guess they planned it to boost the greenie confidence.

Sister Berrett came out with Sister Lovell, so this was pretty much the only time that I could have served with her. It was so fun! She is an awesome missionary.

We also have a Sister's Lunch coming up on Friday Afternoon. All the sisters from the mission are coming and Sister Wolfert is paying! We are renting out a room at a restaurant (I don't know which one yet) and having a fantabulous time together. I'm super excited for this.

Anyway, there is TONS happpening, and I can't write about all of it. May I just add on a final note before the questions that I do not like decorating? It turns out that our apartment has a 6.5" Tree. I don't want it, but that just means my companions get to decorate more. I'm so glad they want to decorate and they are fine with me just sitting and laughing with them.

-- Tell us about your investigators? (not a question; that's a command)

Sadly, not much has changed since last week. We don't know how it went with McKenzie's family because the school she works at is being audited...She doesn't think they'll pass. We hope it went well though. We want her to come to church with her daughter.

Hollee is still trying to believe that we can even know truth. She doesn't like relying on her emotions, so she has a hard time giving credit to Spiritual experiences. We are going on splits this week to teach her before institute.

We are definitely in finding mode.

--How is your weather there?

It starts out at about 40 degrees at 7 in the morning, then goes to 70 by the middle of the day, then the humidity rises and the temperature drops to about 50. It's really weird. It hasn't snowed though...YAY!!!!

If it did snow, we have a fireplace :)

--What is your favorite Christmas Memory?

Definitely the food storage christmas and going to waffle house in the morning. All the missionaries (except me) seem to call it Awful house here. I guess they are known for their terrible service and disgusting food...weird. I'll have to try it.

--What was your most spiritual experience this week?

Teaching the Plan of Salvation to Connie (Inactive, converted as a 13 year old, but stopped coming to church soon after). It was so cool! The Spirit was so strong and we were able to invite her to come to church with us on Sunday. She has been very afraid to come to church because she has been gone for so long (she is now 47), but the spirit was so strong. We told her her home teacher would love to pick her up, and since she has been able to keep in contact with him monthly for years, she said that'd be fine. We met at her house early Sunday morning and reassured her that she looked great, especially with her awesome pocketbook (aka purse :) ) Then it was off to church. By the end of it, she turned to me and said she wanted to come back next week. I'm so excited for her!

November 26, 2012‏

Hey, I missed you guys!

Sorry, but it was a CRAZY week! First transfers, and guess what?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! We got a new companion! The third in our WONDERFUL trio is Sister Lovell, who was formerly in a trio training Sister Merback. We have decided to kill her in January, so stay tuned for announcements! Just kidding. She just hit her 17 month mark this past week, and this transfer is 7 weeks long, so we get her until January 9th or something like that. We also got another Brazilian Elder! So we now have 9 people in our district. It's huge! I hope someone else knows how to play piano, but alas, I believe I'm the only one! They put Elder Fritas and Elder Gomes on bikes, and they only stay in our area now (the other companionship covers pretty much all of Georgia, from what I hear).

I'm going to see a Chiropractor! And I don't have to pay for it. A ward member has some connections, which leads to free work on my back! Good thing :)

So, there have been so many changes going on. It is almost for sure that I will train in January. We are supposed to double our sisters then, so literally, they think everyone will be. We'll see. I've been told by my companions that I could easily train now, even with my knees. So, life changes! Funny fact, I know! Chocolate is maybe eaten once a day in my life and I don't eat eggs. I avoid dairy. Weird! 

Oh, so the knees! My chondromalacia is painful, but nothing to worry over! So stop! I know you love me, but I was told by a very wise christian woman that you either worry or you pray, you don't do both. So please just pray for me, and then everyone will be happy :) Seriously though, I don't have to drive anymore, and I am working on stretching the muscles. It is an obstacle, but not a roadblock. I know the Lord will help me. This week has been strange because on top of all these changes, one of our investigators was in Ohio telling her mother that she is getting baptized, and everyone else has been busy with Thanksgiving and family. It was really hard to get much done. Walking is not my knees favorite thing in the world, although talking to people is still. I love talking to people, even when they reject us. It can be painful, but just being able to talk to so many of God's children is such a blessing in my life. 

Questions:

1. Candace, what did you do for Thanksgiving? 

We went to the Walkenhorsts along with three other families and ate a traditional meal, then had the kids help us make hand turkeys. We then taped these hand turkeys to people's doors and handed them to random people on the street. The Elders helped us with that part. :) 

2. What was your most spiritual experience this week?

Teaching the Plan of Salvation in a role play. That seriously sounds so weird, but I have not taught the Plan of Salvation all out like that. It took like 45 minutes, but it was so powerful, and of course I had no pain during it. The Spirit led every word, and I had my personality in there the whole time, but the spirit guided it so that every single transition was so smooth and personally relevant that I think both I and my investigator (Sister Worthington) cried the entire time. 

3. Chris wants to know, "What is the answer to life, the universe and everything?"

I heard 42. I like the answer,"Christ" or "The Atonement" better though :) 

4. How are your knees doing Candace?I described it above. It's painful, but I am so stubbornly hanging on to staying out here that I am taking any measure I can to help them feel better now AND in the long run. Lots for my new companion to learn about it though.

Awesome Picture for our Candie PI