Come What May and Love It

Well, I'm sure you all are quite curious as to what has happened to me. Honestly, I'm curious as well. I have no idea how it's happened, but I'll tell you everything that I know, so as to answer your unasked questions.

About 6 weeks ago, while still in Frauenfeld, I started having this weird pain in my hip. Odd. But I didn't really think much of it; I figured I had probably just slept in a funny position or something. Once I was transferred to Richterswil, the pain got worse and I suddenly had pain shooting down my left leg. I felt it a great deal in my calf, and as I went throughout the transfer, the pain rapidly grew worse and spread throughout my entire leg, over to my right leg and continued spreading up my back. It became so bad I couldn't even walk. It was frustrating because we couldn't even go out and work, the pain was so bad. Taking stairs or walking up and down hill, and honestly, just even walking, was incredibly painful. Pain medications weren't working and I was speaking with the area doctor and doctors in my area for weeks trying to figure all of this out.

Last week, I met with other doctors and they, after doing a couple of physical examinations, determined that the reason I had so much pain was due to a herniated disc. Another doctor thought it was possibly something to do with my Sciatic Nerve. All I knew was that I was in horrible pain and prayed I could get all of this resolved so that we could go out and work.

As I spoke with President Condie, he asked a couple of questions and said he would call me back later. I was hoping to work in the mission office for the rest of the transfer and the next one so I could heal. Unfortunately, when President Condie called me, the first thing he said to me was, "Sister NeSmith, are you sitting down?" My goodness, those are the worst words to start out any conversation with! He told me that, after praying about it, both he and Sister Condie feel it best to that I be sent home. He said that there's clearly something serious wrong and so he said they would try to take me to the mission office to work there and then send me home at the end of the transfer. 2 days later, President Condie called to tell me I would go to Munich on Monday the 6th and fly home on the 7th.

The past week has been extremely emotional for me. I don't know what Heavenly Father has planned for me. At this point, I'm just going with it. He has a plan for each and every one of us and so I figure I'll just follow his plan instead of trying to make up my own. President Condie said that after I've been treated, I need to allow at least a month after I've healed to make sure I don't have any pain whatsoever, should I try to go back out. I don't really know if I will. I would love to, naturally, but I don't know what Heavenly Father has planned for me. When the time comes, I'll make that decision very prayerfully.

It's such a blessing to know that Heavenly Father has a plan for each and every one of His children. Doesn't that provide so much comfort? Believe me, it has been a huge blessing of comfort for me throughout this whole process.

So, now I'm back home. I'm being released tonight by my stake president. And we'll just see what happens from there.

I'm sad to have left. I didn't want to, but I trust President Condie and I know that he wouldn't have sent me home unless it was the right thing to do. So here I am in Kansas, back much sooner than expected. But just as Elder Wirthlin said in his wonderful talk, "Come What May and Love It." That's my motto and that's what I'm going to do.

Guten Morgen!

There is much to tell you, but unfortunately, I don't have as much time as I would like. The life of a missionary, right?

Last week, Sister Watkins and I traveled to Munich (I love Munich!!) for a training session. It was great because we got to meet the sisters in the other parts of the mission and I was able to see friends I haven't talked to in such a long time. It was wonderful and we learned so much! It was so great to be able to be in Munich, learning how to help others better and see how the mission is changing. I mentioned a couple of times what we learned at last Zone Conference and how a lot of responsibility is moving from the mission president to the missionaries and it focuses a lot on how to better teach those seeking the gospel. As missionaries, we're teaching investigators how to receive revelation for themselves and how they can better come to know that our Savior loves them, specifically. It's all very exciting and I'm grateful for this chance to better help the people here.

I wish I could have posted pictures, but alas, I was unable to find my camera. Fear not, it is in the apartment...I just don't remember where...So...pictures of Munich will be attached next week.

It's been an interesting couple of weeks here in Richterswil. People have moved, investigators have dropped us...it's been a bit sad, but there are those that are out there seeking the Gospel and we get to bring it to them, so we can't get discouraged because then we'll fail to see those searching for the gospel.

For now, I bid you adieu. Until next week, my people!

Love,

Sister NeSmith

Finally, pictures!

Well, well, it's another extremely humid morning here in Richterswil. Expected, seeing as we're RIGHT by the water.It's a beautiful spot to be in and when our GML and his wife came over their first reaction was, "WHOA!! What a view!! People pay millions for this view!" It's pretty gorgeous, I can't complain.

Sadly this one will be quite short this week. We really don't have a lot of time because on Friday, President Condie called and said we're be having a Sisters Training meeting in Munich for 3 days. Remember me telling you last week about fewer Zone Conferences and more training meetings? Yep, well, this is the start of it all. So I'll be in Munich until Wednesday.

Not much has happened this past week, sadly. Sister Watkins and I have both been quite sick, so we've been doing a lot of studying. We seem to be doing a bit better today, which we're both extremely grateful for. Thank goodness! There's just so much work to do here, we can't afford to get sick!

I hope the pictures make up for the lack of email today.I'm sorry! This is the view from our apartment. Ah, it's quite splendid, wouldn't you say? Switzerland was greatly blessed with beautiful landscapes.

Love,

Sister NeSmith

just another rainy day in Switzerland

Hello, hello!

It is quite the rainy day here, which I greatly appreciate, because I'm tired of the summer heat and lack of air conditioning (and combine that with walking up mountains all day...it gets to be rather disgusting) so I'm very grateful for the rain.

Last week, we had Zone Conference which held some very interesting changes for our mission. I think this is what is being instituted throughout all missions, but I'm not entirely positive, so don't quote me on it....we're still going to have transfers every 6 weeks, but we now only have zone conference once a quarter, along with interviews. There will be more training sessions, but a lot of the stress the mission president has is now being put on the shoulders of the missionaries. Zone and District leaders will be in charge of training the missionaries in their zone and district and there's more emphasis on certain parts of Preach My Gospel. We're challenging investigators to meet with us more during the week, but for shorter periods of time and when we don't meet with them, they're suppose to study the Book of Mormon and pray about it to know for themselves if it's true. We call it the 3x4, or the 3x30 because we meet 3 times a week (including church) for 4 weeks, for only 30 minutes. It's interesting to see how investigators change during this time.

Sister Watkins and I have 2 new investigators we're working with. I'm still trying to learn and meet everyone here, which is so easy task, mind you. So many people have been on vacation (in fact, there's a family in my ward that's going on a year long vacation. An entire year! All around the world. It's crazy.), so it's been really difficult to meet with everyone. Hopefully, with Ferien now over and school back in session, we can meet with our investigators and also the ward members. But yes, we have 2 new investigators, which is very exciting. One we met while waiting for our train and we started talking to him and teaching (Teach to Find) him and he was really interested and wanted to meet with us, and our lesson yesterday was so awesome! I love teaching about the Restoration of the Gospel because I love the special spirit it brings into the room. So great!

Sadly, I'll have to close here, but there's so much to tell you! I'll try to write more next week. Be Safe! I love and miss you all!

Love,

Sister NeSmith

Goodbye Frauenfeld...hello Richterswil

Guten Morgen, Meine Familie!

I hope to find you all well. I have indeed been transferred to Richterswil. It was hard to leaving the people of Frauenfeld, but I know I'm suppose to be here in Richterswil. It's been an interesting experience, the past couple of days. I've learned a lot and have experienced so many miracles and witnesses that I am supposed to be here in Richterswil. My companion, Sister Watkins, was actually trained by my trainer, Sister Russon. Crazy, no? Sister Watkins is from Salt Lake and has been out a year, this Wednesday.

The work here is booming and I'm so excited to be a part of it! It's great! The ward here is wonderful and so inviting and our GML (Gemeinde Missions Leiter, aka Ward Mission Leader) totally rocks and helps us out a ton.

I haven't met many of the investigators, but the ones I have met are incredible! It's amazing to see the change the Gospel brings about in the lives of everyone. The Gospel truly means, "Good News," and it certainly brings peace and joy to our lives!

I believe I have one of the prettiest areas of Switzerland. Every morning, I study by the window that overlooks the Zuri-See and I get to see all the sailboats and ferries pass by. We live up on a hill, so our view is really spectacular. The only downside (at the moment) is that we live up on a hill. It's not really that bad, to be hones...I suppose hiking a mountain everyday is healthy, right? At least it's a great view. "Come What May and Love It", right?

That talk has been something on my mind as of late. I'll admit, I didn't want to leave Frauenfeld. I loved the ward, the people...everything. I grew a ton there. I was a witness to so many miracles and had numerous blessings poured upon me, I didn't want to leave. However, when I got to Richterswil, unpacked and had a moment in the evening to think about everything, I thought about Elder Wirthlin's talk, "Come What May and Love It." Things are going to happen that we don't plan or intend for ourselves, but we have to find joy in the journey. Why take time for school/mission/whatever to only be miserable? Be happy. That's why we're here. It's the Great Plan of Salvation and Happiness! I decided to just be optimistic, delve into the work here, get to know everything as fast as possible and "[planned] to be surprised" because I know things are different here and I can learn so much. I already have and I've only been here a few days!

My companion is amazing. She has so much motivation and we've experienced some amazing miracles already. We've found a couple of people on our train the other day. It was awesome! We taught this guy, Lukas, about the restoration and it was amazing. He recognized the spirit right away and told us that he felt really good about what we were saying. Ah! I love this work! It's a privilege to be involved in this process with everyone.

When you leave and come to a new ward, they ask you to bear your testimony. After Sacrament meeting yesterday, a ward member came up to me, introduced himself and said, "du sprichst gut Deutsch. Kannst du ubersetzen?" Uh.....I'll try?? The ward members are far too generous. Thank goodness I had Sister Watkins to help with the translating, because I may have just started making up what the person was teaching.

In other news: Elder Ballard is coming next month!! I think I mentioned that awhile ago, but I'm really excited. It'll be wonderful to hear from an apostle. Exciting things are happening in Switzerland, my people. Exciting things. Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister NeSmith

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Morgen, everyone! I do hope to find you all doing well. Just doing emails here in Zürich. Yesterday, at about 6:40 am, the APs called and told me I'm being transferred this Wednesday to Richterswil. I know I'm suppose to be there, but that doesn't necessarily make it that much easier to say goodbye. I'll miss Frauenfeld, the people, the ward, etc...it was an incredible experience to be here and I was blessed beyond measure. I'm sad because I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone because so many people are on vacation. I suppose that's the life of a missionary though, right? Doesn't make it any easier, though.

Richterswil....it'll be interesting. It's on the water, and the view from our apartment is spectacular. I was there an on exchange 2 transfers ago. It's a really beautiful area. I'm excited to work with the people and the ward. I'll be working with Sister Watkins. She was actually trained by my trainer, Sister Russon. Cool, no? It'll be fun to work with her and experience the joys of another area and the people. It'll be different, but I know I'll love it and the people.


Leider, muss ich gehen. I hope you all are doing great! I pray for you all daily! Love you!

Love,

Sister NeSmith

Guten Morgen!

This week has been fairly exciting--we have 3 new investigators! Isn't that wonderful?? Sister Dittli and I have been praying that we would find more people to teach. We've been somewhat frustrated here lately because so many people are on vacation right now and it's been impossible to set up appointments with people, it seems. So, we're very excited to be able to teach more people. 2 of our new investigators are actually a mother and son. We streeted into Simon, her son, a few weeks ago and so we stopped by their house and were able to teach them a lesson. Simon's mom asked if she could keep the Book of Mormon to read and study. Of course, you may!! When her husband got home, she was really excited, stood up, pointed to us and said, "Look. Mormons!!" Yes, indeed. Our other new investigator is someone we came across when looking through our area book. He had been taught a lesson and that was it, evidently. The missionaries never went by again. Never followed up. Sad. But we're teaching him now, which is was cool. He's a very spiritual man and excited to learn more. It's such a wonderful calling to be involved in this process with people. It's a very humbling experience.

I hope you all are doing well. Life continues on in Frauenfeld. We find out this Sunday if we'll be staying or getting transferred. I wouldn't be surprised, honestly, if I'm transferred. Sisters have been in Frauenfeld for a couple of years and so I wouldn't be surprised if President Condie gave the area to elders. We'll find out Sunday, so stay tuned!

Love,

Sister NeSmith

come what may and love it

Guten Morgen, everyone!

This week has actually somewhat of a bummer for us, to be blunt. It´s summer, which means everyone is on vacation, so it´s been really difficult for us to meet and find people. Appointments have cancelled, doors have been slammed...it can be difficult at times to not get frustrated. Sister Dittli and I hold strong though. We´ve able to just remind ourselves of something funny the other has said or an experience we had together and then we´re good. It keeps us trucking along. We did have some really great lessons last week. I mentioned Alex in my last email, so I´ll mention someone else today. Sister Dittli and I met the sweetest lady from Greece about a month and a half ago and so we´ve been visiting her. Her faith is so strong! It´s remarkable and she´s so sweet to us. She loves having us come over and she just always brings a smile to our faces. The people here are so wonderful. Yes, times may be hard, door may be slammed in our faces (or windows, since everyone generally leans out of their window to see who we are before they buzz us in), and people may reject hearing the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ, but then you meet someone that just makes it all worth it. The worth of one soul is indeed great in the sight of the Lord! (read Doctrine and Covenants section 18. Marvelous!)

I´ll be sending more photos soon. It´s a beautiful time of the year and we´ll be celebrating some holidays quite soon. It´ll be wonderful!

I hope you all are doing well. Stay strong and, as Joseph B. Wirthlin said, "Come what may and love it."

Love,

Sister NeSmith