Yesterday was such a high. We have been so blessed!! 

First off, I learned soo much this past week and feel like my testimony grew so much as well. I started reading Jesus the Christ along with my scripture studies and it has been incredible. Oh and did you all know that animals really do go to heaven!? I was studying in Revelations and then ended up in the Bible Dictionary and it says on page 763 "Animals are resurrected from the dead, and there are animals in heaven, redeemed by the blood of Christ." I thought this was so cool! We will see Simbers again!!!! And Lex- STORMEE!! Hahaha

Another quote I loved in Jesus the Christ was "The purposes of God, as they ever have been and ever shall be, are infinitely superior to the deepest designs of men or devils." (JTC pg.20) The Atonement of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ overcomes all. Yeah, Satan is extremely powerful and is more involved in our lives than we realize, but light always overcomes darkness. I love the Mormon Messages by Elder Bednar about Revelation and his teachings on light. So powerful. It has been thee coolest experience watching people fill their lives with light to help them overcome the darkness that previously existed.

Felix is still AMAZING!! He was so bold with his boss this past week and told him that he will NOT be available on Sundays anymore. So they were able to come to church yesterday! :) Sacrament meeting and the lessons were absolutely perfect. Watching Felix transform/progress/grow/change these past three months have helped to strengthen my testimony so much. He has truly applied the Atonement and the gospel of Jesus Christ into his life and there is such a noticeable difference in him and his home. I love being a missionary. He is soooo ready for baptism. 12 days and counting!

Guess what? SHAWN CAME TO CHURCH. Ahhh best surprise ever. We were actually prayerfully considering dropping her because she wasn't progressing at all and we had role played on how we were going to bring it up to her. We get to her house and she had this whole speech planned out about how she didn't want us to feel like she was using us and she doesn't want to waste our time. Tender mercy that she was prepared for this talk! We bore testimony to her that this IS our Savior's church and we allowed the Spirit to work within her. We asked her if she has done her part in finding out and done all that she could.. She admitted honestly that "Well, no I haven't." We told her that there are blessings WAITING for her but she has to do her part. She then committed to come to church and "test the waters". Brother Coleman's talk was absolutely perfect for her and she was taking notes the whole time. Miracle noted!

Saturday afternoon we had like 20 minutes of extra time before dinner and so we decided to knock a couple houses. Little did we know- that was Heavenly Father's way of leading us to Suzanne!! The first door we knocked on was this sweetest old lady, named Suzanne, who is visiting from California. She was almost in tears when she talked to us and shared her experiences with the Church. She used to meet with missionaries in Virginia and has been to church many times. After she moved to California she hasn't been able to find her "Men in Black" and has missed meeting with missionaries. We invited her to come to church with us and she came! Also, we got all of her information and sent it in so that missionaries will contact her. Tender mercy it was finding a lost sheep!

Karen is the sweetest spirit! She is from Ecuador and has been meeting with the University Branch Sisters but has 2 kids back home so she is going to start attending our ward. We ran into her the other day, miraculously, and were able to build a relationship with her and pick her up for church. She is also set for August 24th to be baptized!!

Rogger is still doing so well. He wasn't able to come to church yesterday but he promised that next week he will be there! And cool miracle with him: We had an appointment bail on us and we decided to check up on Rogger and confirm plans for our appointment. We show up and talk to him for awhile and had a little lesson outside. It was good and we didn't think much of it. But afterwards, he asks "Do you believe in angels?" And we were kind of caught off guard because that wasn't at all what the conversation was about. But answered "Yes of course!" Talked a little bit about how our spirits are eternal and that definitely angels or spirits watch over us. He then explained that he had a really rough day and was very homesick/depressed. His friend Sixto had asked him to go to the gym but Rogger decided to stay home and sleep because he was so down.. Right after that is when we showed up! And he shared how we were "his angels" and that he felt sooo much better. It was the coolest thing! He is so humble and has such a sweet spirit about him. I love our Ecuadorians here.

I love my mission so much. I love this gospel. And I love Manhattan. At least another week in the Little Apple for this sista!

Love you all,

Sister Smartt 

'"The great test of life is obedience to God". We are not here to test or "prove" God, but to be tested and proved ourselves. We are on trial, not God." -President Ezra Taft Benson