Transfer 2 week 4

Awesomest letter from the family this week, thank's ya'll. Este semana passada, this past week was so crazy. We had entrevistas (interviews) on weds, and moved on friday. that was a whole day affair, packing, cleaning, unpacking, cleaning from 630 am to 830 pm. Of course being the mighty mouse that I am, lifted things heavier than I should and had myself pretty sore the last two days and today. My companion managed to massage out a couple of knots. foolish child that I am! But oh, how great was general conference!! We are so blessed that we get to hear from our prophet and apostles and other leaders twice a year, ten hours of pure awesomeness! I really hope my branch was listening; we have a lot of less active and inactive people who need the help and love of our memebers, but our memebers seem to be afraid because of past experiences and hard feelings. Its difficult in such a spread out area too, but we really need our people to reach out in order for the church to grow here! We couldnt get any of our investigators to conference, so that was highly dissapointing but Jeanette, our recent convert, did come up to Alexandria for it. She was just soaking it all in. Between sessions, the elders from our zone that watched conference at the stake center and us went out and did some tracting to invite people to come. That was pretty cool, we found some potentials for the elders in alec. I dont remember if I told ya'll about Laken, we'd been working with her wehn I first got to Oakdale, but we had to drop her because there was nothing we could do to help her. Her family and husband's family were not supportive of her going to church with us at all, let alone be baptised. She hadnt even told her husband she'd been meeting with us. She was receving a lot of heart ache for her association with the church. When we were driving back from conference, sis. hislop had an impression to stop by. We finally got to meet Taylor. Laken was pretty nervous about it, but we told her it would be okay and that it would help him see that we are normal people. that night she texted us and said that he didnt give her a hard time and asked what we believed in. I hope this is a door opening for that family. Laken wants to be part, but she couldnt without her husband. So favorite talks from conference? Soo many to pick from! k. I'll list and share favorite parts, and then ya'll can tell me what ya thought of 'em, too, certo? L. Tom Perry--Observance of the Sabbath day. That was so great! It reminded me of a talk given when I was in high school about dressing appropriately for church. I loved how he broke down the purposes for the sabbath, and talked about how these things have been established since the creation. At the end of his talk he said, remember that the greatest joy we recieve is by following the Savior. amen, elder! Kent. F Richards--Pain, what is the purpose? I really like his message, because we all suffer pain. I thought of one of our members here who has a hard time with why the innocent suffer. It is opportunity for us to seek the Lord, l loved how he quoted orson f whitney, something to the effect of-- No pain we suffer, no trail is wasted. Education to develop faith, patience, humility. through thisese we gain education we came here to aquire. "The Savior is NOT a silent observer!" I thought of the book Kebra and I studied with Pres. Moyes last year, "He Did Deliever Me From Bondage" and how, when we greater understand the Savior's love for us, we better understand ourselves and our relationship to God. he quoted D&C 50:40-42 awesome verses. Read them! Pres. Boyd K. Packer "John, leave it alone" If you have been offended, get over it. Don't ruin someone else's life or your own! this gospel requires work if you are carrrying a burden, forget it. Forgive, repent. Move on. Russel M Nielson (He came to the MTC at Christmas, so he's pretty special to me) I loved how he said, "our faith now becomes part of the faith of our posterity later." He made me excited about living the gospel and raising (someday) children in righteousness. He mentioned D&C 98, which is a great section about enduring trials. Why do we need to strengthen our fe? Becvause difficult times are ahdead. "fear not,. your future is as bright as your faith." Richard G. Maynes- Lambs follow the Sheep. yes, yes they do. I thought of this family we've been wanting to teach, the Ortiz family. we finally got to sit down with Luce and the children. She's quite catholic and just not willing to let herself hear. And just as that statement says, children follow the parents. Dallin H Oaks. AWESOME! Desires are what come number one in our lives, I see it as a missionary alot. People who have the desire to know if these things are true, do come to know. Those who are only half hearted or not willing to do the work required, remain blind and ignorant. Wow not much time left to talk about sunday session, oh jeeze!! k favorite quotes "the only way to see the view is to make the climb" (Paul V. Johnson) I loved that--if you dont endure to the end, you wont have eternal life. its simple. yep. maybe someday I'll have that hanging from a wall in my house. you never kow. "Preach the gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." (somebody Pres. Uchtdorf quoted) DAVID A BEDNAR!!! AMAZING!! this talk got a big fat star next to it in my notes. Cuz who doesnt need more help in undersant the spirit of revelation? "The holy Ghost is a revelator, no man can recieve the holy Ghost without recieving revelation." I loved how he expalined the different patterns of revieveing revelation. D. Todd Christofferson--being willing to accept Chastisment. God is not a butler or a therapist as many Christians think so. haha that was clever, and so true! This is probably my second favorite talk, because you cant do better if nobody tells you to change. I thought about this summer when I was helping mom and Sandy Best cut the grape vines. Even though it looked so sad and naked afterward, it had to be done in order for it to be more fruitful.. We are the grape vine, the currant bush. The lord knows in what ways we need to be cut for us to become what we can be. I hope ya'll had a great weekend as well. Thank you for all your prayers and love, sister Smith