Simply Smiddy - The Idaho Convert

    My Stake President, President Sponenburgh was sharing his conversion story the other night and he said something I really liked, because I know it's true! He said, "Before I actually received the message, God was preparing me to receive the message. I would drive in my car and think about Jesus Christ for no reason and I didn't understand it until it happened." That's what so cool about the spirit of missionary work, EVERYONE can be compared to a seed and every seed is at a different level, but in order to grown into a big tree the seed has to be well prepared!     Growing up I found myself questioning and thinking about the Saviour very often, probably more than an average child would. I know now how much God prepared me to receive his gospel.   I remember when my sister and I were playing in the trailer park, there was this rock hill over by the train tracks and we would often sneak away and play on this rock hill. Those moments I spent on that h...

if i made a list of everything i learnt on my mission, it would never end!  and if there is one thing i learnt it is that my mission is never over. we are all serving a mission here on this earth! and we all have purpose and there truly is a plan. i think if there was one easy guide or solution that i have learn, like the trick to this mission is best explained by a little parable... because i love and miss england i will describe it by thinking of a full english breakfast. you have your eggs, toast, beans, tomato, sausage, and your bacon. lets think about the chicken and the pig. whats the difference between them?  well, the chicken contributed to the breakfast & the pig gave everything!  so how does this apply to us, to me? i have learned a lot recently about the power and importance of aligning our will to the will of our heavenly father. so often we want so badly for him to grant our every wish and every hope. sometimes it doesn't work like that. he knows w...

Family and friends,  As many of you know, or maybe don't, four years ago I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints. I have had the opportunities to learn and know of God's love for me and nothing has brought me more peace. Four years ago I was seeking for happiness that I wasn't sure how to achieve. I was looking for something to fill the empty space inside of me. Well growing up in small little Blackfoot, Idaho I observed the people's lives around me and I recognized something different about my classmates who had the gospel in their lives. The seemed to have what I thought I needed. Well in an answer to my seek for this happiness the Lord blessed me with a friend  and family that had this light in their lives and home. As I grew closer to this amazing family I started staying the night on Saturday nights and attending church with them on Sunday. I loved going to church because it would always leave me with this warm fuzz...

Seriously I couldn't have asked for a better senior prom! Here is the run down of how things went: Well let's start from the beginning. While being asked to prom by two different guys in the same day I noticed my biggest weakness, but greatest quality all at the same time and it's something I have noticed in my life, especially lately... I have grown up caring and working for other people's happiness more than my own. Although this is a weird thing to talk about for myself, it's something that my friends and family have really taught me lately. I also feel like this post can really help other people who might be in the same boat.  Let me start by quoting one of my favorite movies for an example; in the notebook, Allie is faced with a conflict between choosing to be with her first love, Noah and her fiancé, Lon. Right before the wedding she decides to go see Noah because of a picture in the newspaper of the dream house they planned together. While visiting No...

There are three major things that keep me sane in this life.  I like to call them my own little crucial tri-formula of surviving each and every single day I live on this planet we call Earth.  These three things are simple... they all come down to the unconditional love I possess for each an every one of them... they are: my loving family, my loving heavenly father and all he has blessed me with, and my passion for dance. These three things keep me sane.. they keep me functioning. they keep me stable and if you were to take one thing out of the formula it would throw off the whole equation.  These three things play a crucial part in my life and they are ultimately my 'key' to happiness. Family is something I think we would all agree is crucial to living our lives each and everyday. They are the people that are there to love and care for you, no matter what. Even when my family and I disagree on something and even when we argue to the point that it seems nothi...

fam·i·ly ˈfam(ə)lē/ noun plural noun:  families 1 . a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household. 2 . all the descendants of a common ancestor. I have debated and debated how to start this post. I thought well I could post about the divorces or about how hard it is and was or... I could post about the amazing people that have been in my life. Up above i have the definition of the word family and through out my life I have developed my own personal meaning of the word family. To me family are the people who know you, they love you, and even though they aren't always there for you they still love you and you know they do. I have been raised by many different people in my life and they have made me into who I am. I am so extremely blessed to have so SO many people in my life that love me. The...