Remember Lot's Wife

I had a great week this week! It was great being able to skype and talk with you and see you guys again! I am glad to hear that things are going well back home as well! I cannot believe how big everyone is getting! I miss you all. Lots! But I know that I am doing what I am supposed to here!

Things here are going well! Our girl Abieshur is getting baptized this week and she is super excited! Now let me telll you a little bit about her. She is 20 or 21 and she already has 3 kids under the age of 4. It is so sad that she has so much on her plate already. But ever since she started coming to church you can just tell that there is a peace in her and it is amazing! I have loved being able to see the Lord work a Miracle in her life.

Another one that is ready is Vaniria. She is a daughter of a recent convert, Margaret. She is really quiet but she is excited and ready for her baptism. My favorite part was yesterday at church Margaret came up to me and was like, "Elder Smith! All of my family is starting to join the church! Vaniria is getting baptized this saturday!" Her faith is amazing and has been huge in getting her family to follow her example!

Something that has been on my mind alot lately since it is about time to start a new year is the hope that comes from starting a new year! I love it! I hope that each of you really realize how great it is that we can have fresh starts in our lives year round! I know that the Savior suffered and died so that we could all move on from our mistakes. It has been such a blessing! I am going to share a quote that I love at the end but I hope that we all remember Lot's Wife and DON'T LOOK BACK! Whatever mistake we've made it's over and done with! We can start now and have a better future! I know that as we turn to the Savior He will help us become who we need to become! I love you all! 

With Love,

Elder Smith

"There is something in us, at least in too many of us, that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life—either mistakes we ourselves have made or the mistakes of others. That is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes—our own or other people’s—is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist...When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal."

-Jeffrey R Holland