July 8

Something I love about my mission: Multiple times a week we talk with people who moved here from various countries & often times they say "I know your church! I knew missionaries in my country! Yeah, you can come talk with me!" This week we met a sir named Val who assumed we spoke Portuguese when he recognized the tag! "Don't all missionaries speak Portuguese?" Haha, I love it! So here's my shout out to all missionaries ever, no effort is wasted!!  

I just want to share a quick testimony of gods timing. Whenever I try to over plan/ manipulate a situation to be what I think is best, it always fails. And whenever my companion and I work hard, keep the commandments (mission rules), look for opportunities to serve & follow the spirit, the timing of life is literally perfect!! We were walking away from the apartment we were at, and at that exact moment our friend Larikus (who is so awesome but has been missing for a month) calls out and says I'm parked in his space! The odds!! Then we talked with him for around 20 minutes & got a solid lesson scheduled! God is the best. 

The 4th of July was the best day ever!! Our ward had a breakfast at the beautiful Lake Accotink! We had some friends come, it was great fellowship & a perfect way to start off the holiday!! After studies we called up our good friend, Amer, to wish him a happy 4th! He just moved into a new town home & was cleaning up the back yard. To our surprise he said YES to letting us come help him!! It was the best! The three of us spent the afternoon weeding, sweeping & becoming better friends! He made us turkey burgers over some coals because "it's the way families do it in Jordan." as we discussed the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ!! He's such a good guy & it's so obvious to me how prepared he has been to receive the truth! Heavenly father is so deeply involved in everyone's lives, it's so hopeful. ☺ In the evening we went to target and watched some good church movies with the sisters in the zone! So fun! 

I love fast & testimony Sunday!! Our friend Steve got up and shared how his journey to become sober has been a hard one but the power of priesthood blessings have been a real help & how excited he is to get baptized!!! 😀💛
The last Sunday of each transfer my mission has a devotional where recent converts will share their experiences finding the truth and how it's changed their lives. As missionaries, we are only allowed to go of we have a friend we are teaching with us! Amer came with us last night. It was such a powerful meeting. I was crying (ever since I got set apart that hasn't been a surprising thing) Amer was crying, everyone was crying. After the meeting was over Amer says "well, I guess I better find a substitute for coffee, this is my family now." YES, AMER, WELCOME! 😁💘

Sadly, another transfer comes to a close tomorrow. 😔 Sister Wiscombe is leaving me for a little place called Vienna & I'll be getting a new missionary! It's super stormy today so hopefully their plane ride doesn't get delayed!! 

I love this life I live more and more each day! I can't express enough how much this mission means to me! God's authority is in this church & Jesus Christ stands with us every second of our existence on this planet. 
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God." (Moroni 10:32)
I love you all & hope you feel God's love for you. 






Love, Sister Izzy Smith ☺

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