It's February!

Heilige Kuh! Where did January go? I can't believe it is February already. Crazy how the time just seems to get sucked up.

Well, I want to start off my email with some super exciting news. Aigerim got baptized!!! I got to teach her a little bit while I was in Vienna and I literally just found out that she got baptized. I was flipping out. She is the coolest. I am so happy for her for making that decision. So that was some happy news to find out today. 

Anywho, our week has been pretty good and also pretty rough if it is possible to have both in the same week. We have this one referral that we have been trying to contact for a couple of weeks now. The number we were given doesn't seem to work so we have been taking an abundance of trips out to the town of Kissing. Yes,I know it is a funny name for a town :) But anyways, we take the train out there and then have a solid 30 or 40 minute walk to get to the address. It isn't too bad, but the last time we went it was snowing like crazy. Most people view snow as a peaceful thing where it floats gracefully down to the earth in pretty little flakes...well that is not at all how the snow was that we got. These were snow chunks smacking us in the face. I think we took it like champs, but the referral was still not home...so we have to go again. I will seriously tear down a wall or something to contact this referral because referrals are not usually accidents. Ok, sometimes you do get the ones that were jokes or something, but I'm not buying it. Seriously, we are going to get in contact with this person if it means we turn into snowmen.
But, on a different note, Sister Baker and I were on the tram this week going somewhere (I can't remember where right now, but probably to share the gospel with someone) and I started talking to the woman sitting next to me. That is what we usually do. We talk to people. It's not legal to flat out proselyte on the public transportation, so we just try to have conversations with people and drum up some interest and stuff. Well this lady had a lovely back bag that I complemented in order to start our conversation, and then we had a good conversation, I found out that she was Russian and a bunch of other things and it was a really nice conversation actually. Well, we were coming to our stop and she started emptying out her bag. She put all of the contents into her grocery bag and I was wondering what on earth she was doing. Then I remembered that I complemented her bag at the beginning and I got what was going on. I started telling her that I couldn't accept her bag because it was her bag and it was too nice and all these things, but she just kept emptying her bag and then she shoved it in my hands and told me never to forget my Russian friend named Olga. I told her that I really couldn't accept it, but she just said take it...so I got off the tram with a new black bag and I kind of felt like scum for a bit. She gave me her bag! That isn't a thing that just happens. As we were walking away though, I was thinking about what I had studied in the New Testament that morning. It was the story of the good Samaritan. The Samaritan passes sees a man on the street who has been beaten by thieves and is not doing too hot. Well, the Samaritan has never met this man before but he sees to it that he is taken care of and gives what he can offer to help him out. I wasn't mugged by thieves or anything, but Olga literally gave me what she could offer without hesitation. I learned from her that we should literally ALWAYS be looking for opportunities to serve. That is how Christ like love works. I have experienced it first hand. I don't know if I will ever see Olga ever again, but I know that I will never forget her.

So yesterday (Sunday), I tried something new. I went to ward choir. I noticed on the back of the program during Sacrament meeting that there was choir practice that day and then I kept reading because ward choir was never a thing I did. I don't know why, I was just never interested, but then I was thinking about how annoying it is to have a musical number by the choir and then like four people go up to sing. It is actually really depressing. Then I realized that I am a hypocrite because if I wanted the choir to be bigger, than why am I not in it. SO I may or may not have shoved the Elders and my companion upstairs to choir practice after church on Sunday and I am very glad that I did because when we got there, we literally doubled the size of the choir and I could tell that it was a relief for the choir director to have more people there. It was a good time. I recommend it to everyone. 

Last night when I was laying in bed during that moment before you fall asleep, I remembered something that I want to share with you all. When I was 16 or 17 I went on a double date (just roll with me on this one) and it was with three other Mormon kids and we were going into the city to see a movie. Well, my charming father, took it upon himself to put a tracking device app thingy on my phone before I went on the date so that he could see where I was all the time. Now, I'm not the kind of child who was running around doing reckless things and stuff, so I was a little confused about why my Dad felt it was necessary to put that on my phone. Well I went on the date and that is another story that I will not go into now, but I remember thinking about the tracker thingy a little bit later and how it really doesn't make a difference at all because Heavenly Father literally knows what I am up to all the time. The tracker was just Him and my Dad teaming up to make sure I was ok and they were doing that because they love me. It was one of those brain explosions that I had in my mind and last night I remembered thinking about how awesome it is that I have a heavenly and an earthly father that care about me so much that they want to know what I am up to all the time. That is just something so special to me. 

Anyways, that is all I have to say for this week. I hope you all have a great week and make good choices, and stay warm!

Love,
Sister Smiley

Pictures:
Sister Baker and I walking to our eating appointment last night (she's a goofy one), Sister Baker super tired after spending a day in Kissing, me trying to stay warm with my hot chocolate and trying to stay happy even though we didn't contact the referral