First Sunburn of the Season

Hola Family and Friends:

 

So nothing terribly exciting happened this past week. However, we didn't get anything thrown at us and no one threw beef stew on our car so that was an improvement. One couple actually gave us a package of chocolates last night which was nice of them. Don't worry they were in a sealed bag and I already ate them (naturally) and I'm still kickin' so I'm pretty sure they weren't poisoned. There was also a fair in Redcar this week but it looked kinda lame and there were just a bunch of chavs (definition: grungy teenagers stuck in the 90s) there. It seemed like all the excitement there was caused by the drama being created by the chavs. The Southboro fair a few years back was definitely better than this one. They didn't even have the big ship ride at this one. Unacceptable. And they call cotton candy "candy floss" here. If you ask me it has a more cottony feel to it than flossy.

 

The weather here has been kinda weird. As indicated in the subject I got my first sunburn of the season this week. I'm rockin' a pretty sweet tan line on my feet as well with the shoes I'm wearing. I'll take a picture for you all because I know you want to see it. But it has also been super windy. Like it's been hard to walk sometimes because the wind is pushing us back so much. It's no wonder Mary Poppins had a hard time staying on the ground with her umbrella. The cloud movement is also incredibly fast. I'm watching it now out the window as I type this email and I'm just amazed at the speed this nimbuses are moving at. It's mind blowing.

 

Transfers are next week so I won't be emailing until Tuesday. I'm not really sure what is going to happen at transfers. I'll probably stay here in Redcar which is okay with me because I'm kinda just starting to get used to everything here. Out of what is now being called the "Trio of Life", one of us will most likely get transferred. Next transfer is Sister Lamb's last one before she goes home. At first she thought she would get transferred but now she is not sure. Sister Lomiga could also get transferred. But everyone is pretty positive that I'll stay here which is fine with me.

 

I also have a video on my camera from last week when we went on this playground and I went on this one part that is highly dangerous for anyone under the age of 20 to go on. It's hard to explain but once you see the video you'll understand the danger involved. Let's just say you're whipping around in circles and by the end you feel like you wanna throw up. There were other highly dangerous parts of the playground that I have yet to encounter.

 

Well, I should probably get going but I love and miss you all tons!!! Thanks for everything you do for me! I hope you all have stellar weeks!!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"They're gathering stones" 5/16/11

Hello Family and Friends:

 

This week has kinda been a weird week. We had a zone conference in York on Tuesday which was actually really good. Before we went to the meeting we went over to see the West Minster Abbey which was really neat. And the city of York is actually surrounded by a stone wall. It kinda felt a little bit like Robin Hood and I was pretty much just hoping we wouldn't get sniped by some archers. The meeting was also really good. It focused around Joseph Smith and President Lindley shared some really neat things about the prophet and all the things he went through in his life. It really strengthened my testimony about him and about his service to the Lord.

 

So I was nervous about working in Redcar for a few days without my trainer but it actually went pretty well. We even met this 17-year-old girl, Holly, whose mom let us teach her and we scheduled for her to be baptized on May 28th. However, it was later on in the week that things started getting a little rough. I'm pretty sure the children of Redcar have made a secret pact with eachother to torment us. When we went back to see Holly later on in the week her little brother (I think he was 11) was there and started yelling at us to go away and that Holly didn't want to see us. We started knocking some other doors on the street and this 11-year-old kid gathered his friends and started taunting us and were gathering stones and I think one of them tried to throw one. It was actually really funny but at the same time annoying because it's hard to talk to people when you have a posse of children yelling at you.

 

But don't worry, it gets better. Last night pretty much the same thing happened in a different neighborhood with different children. The only difference is that instead of throwing rocks they were chucking candy at us. Luckily they ran out of candy and had to go back to the store to get some more. And a couple of people whose doors we were knocking on yelled at them and told them to go away. And we were able to get return appointments with those people as well so it all worked out in the end. Oh and at one point last night we parked our car and left it for at most 7 minutes and when we came back someone had thrown bread and some sort of beef stew all over the car. So that was fun and we took some good pictures with it. We just figure we must be on the verge of something really great or Satan wouldn't be trying so hard to get us down.

 

Well, that is pretty much all the fun and interesting news that I have.  I'm still just trying to take it one day at a time. Some days are better than others  but that is to be expected. I hope everything is going well with all of you! I miss you all so much and I love you! Be happy!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

The Forbidden P-Day 5/9/11

Bonjour Family and Friends:

 

So, today for p-day we (the zone) had planned to go to this place called the Forbidden Corner which I think is like a maze/scavenger hunt place, anyway it's suppose to be a really fun place. So we left the task in the trusty hands of our amazing zone leaders to figure out. We got a voicemail from them at 11:00 last night telling us we needed to be at one of the chapels at 8:30 a.m. to go (don't worry, the mission president said it was all okay). So we get to the chapel at 8:37 (fashionably late of course) and no one is there. So we call the zone leaders to find out they had gotten in a car accident on their way to the chapel. The best part of the story is how they got in the accident while playing the game to see how many people you can get to wave back at you when you wave at them. One of the zone leaders was in the passenger seat and had waved to someone and everyone in the car was looking to see if she would wave back and before they knew it they had hit the person in front of them and smoke was coming out of the hood.  So thus ended our trip to the Forbidden Corner. We had to go pick them up and then we all went to one of the chapels where I yet again dominated in chair football and we watched 2 of the work and the glory movies. Sister Lindley (the mission president's wife) did the costumes for it. And that has been my P-day thus far. I just hope we dont have to give them our car to use especially since this is the second accident the elder who was driving has got in on his mission. And he really has no excuse because he's English. We shall see.

 

Nothing else too exciting has happened since I spoke to you all on the phone yesterday. You all looked well which is good and there were some changes in hairdos which is always nice to see.  Just think, two more phone calls and I'll be home. It's really not that far away.  Tomorrow night and on Wednesday we are doing exchanges and I am the only one in my companionship staying here in Redcar so I'll kinda be taking over the area for a couple days which is kinda nerve-racking. I guess we'll get to see how well I really know the area.  We shall see.

 

There really isn't much left to say. But I love you all and miss you tons! I hope you all have a fantastic week! Don't forget to brush your teeth. If you don't, they'll fall out. Just ask anyone in England.

 

Love,

Sister Smith

Chocolate Wasted 4/28/11

Friends and Family,

 

There is really no need to threaten excommunication when I go a few days without emailing. If any of you were interested in the lack of email you would have seen that Monday was a bank holiday here in England so all the libraries were closed. Plus we had meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday so today was the first day that we were able to email. So, there is another bank holiday this Monday as well so I wont be emailing till Tuesday (I think). After that it should go back to regular until the first week in June when we have transfers and I'll email on Tuesday. It's all very simple.

 

Nothing too exciting has been happening this week. Still trekking along, some days are better than others. Tuesday was actually really good though because my trainer had to go to Leadership Training so I got to go out with the sisters who serve in the Leeds area. Leeds is a bit nicer than Redcar so it was interesting and fun to serve in a different type of area. And I got to be with a group of sisters which was fun because it's always fun to be with other missionaries. I was a lot more bold though than I usually am and I learned a lot while serving with them.

 

The new sister serving with us is Sister Lomiga. She is from California and she is Samoan. She has been out for six months and she is really nice. It's interesting being in a trio again. I've actually spent more time in a trio on my mission than I have in a regular companionship. It has it's pros and cons to it but it's good.

 

I've seen the ads for the latest Fast and Furious movie. It looks like Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are really trying to give Littlefoot a run for his money with the longest running film series. The Land Before Time does have a bit of an advantage seeing as though it is animated and I'm pretty sure they didn't use the same voice actors for each movie. At least The Rock is getting in on the action now. I always though him and Vin should do a movie together because they look a lot alike. Are they related in the movie? (Not that that question will get answered because no one ever answers questions that I ask in emails...) 

 

Anywho, the Royal Wedding is quickly approaching seeing as it is tomorrow. People here either act really excited about it or they try to act nonchalant about the whole ordeal, but they all are going to watch it. Right now we are planning on doing some service for some members with hopes that we might get to see what it all looks like.

 

So, I hope everyone is doing well and staying safe! Oh and the subject refers to my Easter endeavours. We had a lot of people give us chocolate and you can't just turn them done. I have enough to last me at least a couple of weeks which is nice and comforting. Well, I should probably get going but I love you all and miss you tons! Thank you so much for everything you do for me!

 

Love,

Sister Smith