let it snow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well family,

i'm sure you noticed that it is, in fact, tuesday and pday is monday and i definitely did not email. well, the last couple of days have been pretty crazy. actually completely crazy. we went to church on sunday and it had started snowing for the first time this year. well, church was let out an hour early because of the storm and then we all got a text from the assistants saying that president had grounded all cars and everyone that was taking public transportation (me) should be smart and really consider staying inside. well, that didn't happen. because of christmas and our mission conference christmas eve we have several investigators that have baptismal dates and need a lot of attention and we haven't seen them for a while. so, we left the apartment. it was CRAZY. a billion people were getting stuck -- we were fine because we were walking, we just had to walk backwards a lot because the wind and snow were really cold. we passed some people in a store on the street and they were laughing at us for walking backwards, well then they came outside and started laughing and said "you really weren't kidding were you?" and they started walking backwards :) BUT, the lesson we had once we got to our investigator's home was really good. she loves the church, knows it is true, but with everything there will always be opposition. sometimes from the places you expect it the least. her husband, who is a less-active member, comes home and problems always come up. but never fear, we have the spirit which slaughters anything that satan can try to pull, so take that!! and they drove us home which was VERY appreciated :)

well, the blizzard turned EVERYTHING upside down. all of us feel like we are living in "I Am Legend" because there were literally hundreds of cars (on the main streets of brooklyn) just abandoned in the middle of the street. all of the buses shut down on monday, AS WELL AS the trains! by the way, that NEVER happens. new york city shutting down their trains is the equivalent of santa putting his reindeer in the garage on christmas eve. seriously never happens. and on monday morning we got another text from the assistants saying that all cars were grounded and we were supposed to be very wise in the appointments we go to. so we went out and helped people shovel their cars out, shovel their houses out and shovel everything else out. the elders showed up and then we didn't have to shovel anymore :) we just got to talk to the people that we were shoveling for and watch the elders do all the work -- while we were the ones who said you are welcome and took all the credit.

well, as for the rest of the week, it was AWESOME. christmas was the best day of my life and i loved loved loved talking to my family :) :) :) christmas eve was really really cool. we went to a mission-wide conference that was all music and president and sister nelson talking. it was SWEET. the spirit was really strong. THEN we caroled on the brooklyn bridge and that was so cool. and then the best part was that we got to play santa for one of the missionaries that is going through an incredibly hard time right now and he didn't get anything for christmas. it was really cool.

christmas is the best - love it! we have had so many miracles and it is really really cool to be able to talk to people about christ. my new companion is awesome. i love her! her name is sister robinson and she was in my district and in my room at the mtc. she is a really good missionary and we are really excited for things to get a little more normal so we can really get going.

hey family, i love you. thank you so much for all that you do for me and it was SO AWESOME to get to talk to you. you are all incredible people and i love you so much. don't even fret or worry about me :) i'm doing absolutely amazing. i love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

love,

sister mich smith