"Billingham Boanerges

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So as you can see from the subject this past week has been pretty good. My companion and I won a competition that our zone was having and we were awarded the ever so coveted Billingham Boanerges belt. It's basically a plastic wrestling belt that has been blinged out. Boangerges is a New Testament term and basically means sons (or daughters) of thunder. Jesus uses it in Mark 3:17 in talking about James and John. But now I am part of the Hall of Fame and hopefully we can keep holding on to it.

 

The fire alarm just went off in the library so we all had to leave for about 10 minutes so that was overly exciting and a bit dramatic.

 

It has been super windy here the last couple of days. Like, sometimes it is extremely hard to walk against the wind and you feel like you are barely moving. Plus, it's super fun getting to wear a skirt when it's windy. Yesterday we went to York for a Mission Tour meeting (hence why I am emailing today) and yours truly drove all the way there and back with three rowdy elders in the back. Just kidding they really weren't that rowdy but it was still super windy and the car kept swaying on the highway. A bit scary but it was all good.

 

The Mission Tour was really good. We received instruction from Elder Donaldson, one of the area authorities here, and it was really great. He talked about faith and said that we not only need to have the faith to pray but also have a prayer of faith. We need to make sure we are constantly pondering the things we pray for and sincerely ponder the answer we receive as well. He explained that when we act on our faith we gain power to do the Lord's will. It was super good.

 

Well, that's pretty much all of the super exciting things that have happened this past week. Of course, we continue to see many amazing miracles everyday and that's the blessing of being a missionary. I love you and miss you all tons!!!!!! Keep smiling and don't forget to clean behind your ears.

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"Miracle Mole"

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So we have been super busy this past week which is always really good. At the beginning of the week we didn't get to use the car because we didn't have any miles left for the rest of the month and so we did a lot of walking. Luckily these dancing feet are accustomed to pain and fatigue, but my companion wasn't so lucky. But she is strong and kept on walking with me and endured it with a smile on her face. We were able to start using the car again on Thursday and it has truly been a blessing since.

 

This past week we have been able to witness so many miracles! We were in a teaching appointment with an investigator who has been taught since November. She has a really hard time trusting her thoughts and her feelings so explaining how to receive answers through the Holy Ghost can be really difficult. But after we said a prayer with her last week she asked us if we ever felt a hot/warm feeling in our hearts. We just looked at her and smiled and she knew it was the Spirit. That's the first time I've ever been with anyone who has felt the Spirit like that for the first time. It was really great!

 

We are also teaching another man who says that one of the reasons he knows the church is true is because of his "miracle mole". He said he has had this mole his whole life and it has always really bothered him but since he started meeting with us it has disappeared. He's had other answers to prayers as well but this is the most unique one. God answers prayers in mysterious ways.

 

On Saturday the zone leaders came to see us in action so we went street contacting with them in the High Street and knocked a street with them. They gave us two challenges to accomplish. One of them was to ask someone for a bite of their food and the other was to street contact a group of six people. For the first challenge, I went and found someone I knew that worked in a shop and then had them give me some ginger snaps while the zone leaders were looking. But they said that was cheating, I said it was clever. Then I knew the second one would be difficult as well because not many people travel in a group of six. So I ended up going over to a bus stop where a group of about 15 people were waiting to get on a bus and I started loudly explaining the story of Joseph Smith to them and telling them about the Book of Mormon while the zone leaders watched from across the street. Some older woman started saying things back to me to the effect that they were all too busy to listen and everyone else just thought I was absolutely crazy but it was really fun. I know that I piqued the interest of at least one person there...

 

Well, I should probably get going but I hope you all have a wonderfully amazing week.  I love you all and miss you tons!! Don't forget to put petrol (gas) in the car... I almost did.

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"To Live Would Be an Awfully Great Adventure"

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So, yesterday was a bank holiday here in England so the library wasn't open, ergo why I am emailing today. So my daughter's name is Sister Stout and she is super nice. She is from Arizona (about an hour south of Las Vegas) and is abut 6 inches taller than me. I was pretty nervous about training but it's actually going pretty well. Plus she has a black belt so she can help me fend off the little children of Redcar now. It's also made me realize how far I have come in the past 6 months. I remember feeling so nervous and so overwhelmed when I first got here, but it now seems to come a lot easier now, something my trainer promised me everyday and something I promise my daughter everyday.

 

Yesterday, some pretty epic events happened. The first of which should come as no surprise to anyone and that is that after 6 months of fierce competition I finally won my first game of chair football! To be honest, it was a long time coming and I'm really grateful that I was finally able to achieve such great an accomplishment. After we played that we also played a game called Gatorball which my team continued to dominate in. We were all just really feeling the spirit and thus were able to work together really well. After that we watched Hook (hence the title of the email), which is on the approved movie list. Probably those who know me well know that Hook scared the bajeezies out of me when I was little and mom had to get me dreamcatchers so I would stop having nightmares from it. Luckily, I've grown up a bit so it wasn't as scary anymore, but some parts still gave me the shivers (especially the "boom box" with the scorpions).

 

Yesterday was also a really good day because I was able to witness a pretty neat miracle. A couple of days ago we were walking down the street and I saw this man ahead of us that was just about to cross the road. I felt like I should talk to him but he ended up crossing the road. I felt really bad that I didn't shout and stop him (the spirit was definitely rebuking me) and so without warning my companion, I ran across the road (dodging some traffic) and chased him down an alleyway. I was able to get a return appointment with him for last night. It turns out he is from the Philippines and his uncle and cousin were taught by missionaries (probably Keith Bradford) there and were baptized. He said he had sat in on some of the lessons back in the Philippines and had read about half of the Book of Mormon. We were able to talk with him and his wife last night and schedule a baptismal date for them! It was so amazing and really strengthened my testimony about following the promptings of the spirit. The church is so true!

 

Well, I've gotta bounce now and get back to doing some missionary work (which is going to involve a lot of walking because we don't have any miles left for the month --- which is not my fault because I gave some of our miles to the zone leaders because I'm just a super nice person like that). I hope you all have a tremendously good week! Don't forget to eat sweets sparingly!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"I'm Gonna Be A Mommy!"

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So this past week has been pretty exciting. As you can all see it's transfers week, ergo why I'm emailing on Tuesday instead of Monday. I was pretty nervous because I really didn't know what was going to happen because I've been in Redcar for quite awhile and there was a chance I was going to get moved. Plus, this past transfer there has been a long running joke in the zone with all the elders that I was gonna train a new missionary this next transfer and as a good friend once told me, there's truth in every jest. So what happens during transfers week is that Monday night (at around 10) we get a call from the zone leaders and they tell everyone where everyone in the zone is going to. But starting at 9:00, President Lindley calls all the missionaries that are going to be training or becoming a district or zone leader. Well, the phone rang around 9:15 and it was from the Mission Home but we have really bad signal in the flat and the call failed. I'm not gonna lie, I was pretty nervous and my hands were shaking when I saw the caller ID. But no one rang back or anything so I just figured maybe he dialed the wrong number. Then at around 9:45, we got another call from President Lindley and he asked me to train one of the new sisters this next transfer in Redcar! So starting tomorrow, I'll be a mission mom and I'll have a mission daughter! When I found out I was nervous, but excited ("so I started singing a song called 'Nervous but Excited'"- Zac Efron quote from SNL skit). Hopefully all will go well. Pray for me! Sister DeLucchi is moving down the coast to Bridlington so she is pretty excited about that as well.

 

That's probably the most exciting thing that has happened this past week. I was asked by two Peruvian guys to go Latin dancing while I was street contacting people on the High Street. But don't worry, by the end of the conversation I had committed both of them to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. That's how I roll. We also taught this man this week that LOVES America. He said (and I quote), "It's an honor to have two American ladies in the home with me and the Mrs." And he said that like three times. He is in his 40s and we are the first Americans he has ever met.  I've also decided that the best compliment that a person can give you is that they like your accent. Really I don't have to do much but talk and people love it. It's great, but I'm sure all of you have already been mesmerized by my melodic American accent so it's nothing I have to go into great detail about.

 

We also had Zone Conference this week and it was really good! It was all about the Atonement of Jesus Christ and it was a really powerful meeting. We watched a video about a father who is a bridge master for a train and he has to sacrifice his son for the people on the train. It's really good and it's probably on YouTube so everyone should check it out. We also got to eat tacos and drink A&W Rootbeer while we were there both of which are novelties in England. The only reason we got them is because the meeting was in Harrogate which has an American Air Force Base. So that was really exciting.

 

Well, I'm gonna bounce now but I love and miss you all tons!! I hope you all have an amazing week! Don't eat too many sweets!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"Long Overdue Pictures"

Sorry, it's not a lot but these are from Sister DeLucchi's camera.  Some are from Whitby and some are just fun ones. Enjoy! Hopefully, I'll be able to send some more soon!

 

 

Love,

Katie

"New Shoes"

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So I finally bought some new shoes. I still have my other ones and they're going stong with their super glue reinforcement but they weren't looking too hot. I don't want to look like a slob ALLthe time, especially since Zone Conference is tomorrow, so I invested in another pair of nice flats that I can wear to meetings and walk around a bit in. It'll be getting colder soon so I'll probably have to get some boots some time soon and I'm telling you all this because I know how much you all are interested in my shoe apparel.

 

So I was writing this email and then the internet went down so I had to change computers so almost my whole email got lost. Basically only the first paragraph as written above was saved. But let me try to remember what I wrote... This week was really good! It's amazing how the spiritual inspiration you receive as a missionary. It's great when you are prompted to go somewhere or to talk to someone and you are able to witness a mini miracle.

 

This week we were able to go to Leeds for a Leadership Training meeting. It was really interesting and I learned a lot. But it was also super exhausting. We had to wake up at 5 a.m. so we could pick up some elders at 6:30 and meet some more elders at 7 and then be in Leeds by 9. Then we were sitting in the meeting until about 4 (don't worry we got a lunch break and other mini breaks in between). Then we didn't get back into Redcar until 7. So it was pretty crazy but fun at the same time. It's always good to see other missionaries and spend some time with them.

 

I know there was more in the other email but I can't really remember it right now... Don't worry about the riots, I don't think anything too dramatic will make its way to Redcar. I love and I miss you all soooooo much! Don't watch too much tv!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"Make Like Nike, Let's Do It!"

Hello Family and Friends,

I send friendly greetings from the seaside town of Redcar. Nothing extremely epic has happened in Redcar this past week but the weather has been quite nice which is good. However, for some reason I really like knocking doors in the pouring rain. I don't know why. And no, it's not because I think I'll get good "husband points" for doing it. I think I just like being out in the rain, I find it relaxing.

I know I am emailing a bit later than usual. We had zone pday today so we all met up early and studied together and then we did a picture scavenger hunt in Middlesbrough. My team definitely won but the zone leaders were being so judgemental and disqualified like 5 of our pictures. It's fine, they're elders and can be quite competitive so I just told them they won to appease them (but we all know who the real champion is).

Last week I had a really neat experience. We were street contacting on the High Street and I talked to this really nice woman and she had a young daughter. I was able to get a return appointment with her and she lived out in a small village called Brotton which is in my area as well. Then 15 minutes later I talked to another nice woman who I also got a return appointment with who lived in the same town so I made the appointments for the same night. Well, I went to the first one and she wasn't in and then I went to the second one and she was in so we were able to teach her. About 10 minutes into the lesson we figure out that the two women are actually sisters! How crazy is it that I talked to both of them and they both were interested. God works in mysterious ways. We are teaching them now and hopefully it will all work out!

Well, I don't have much more time because we still have to get groceries but I love and miss you all tons! I hope you all have an amazing week! Keep eating all your fruits and vegetables!

Love,

Sister Smith

P.S. The subject is just a phrase my zone leader said and I thought it was funny. Plus, everyone in England doesn't say Nikeee, they just say Nike. You know what I mean? And they call Adidas, Ah-dee-dahs. I keep telling them it's not spanish.

"Super Glue & Super Gator"

Hiya Family and Friends!

 

So this week was pretty good but it was also pretty busy. It's harder taking over an area than I thought. You have to make a lot of the decisions of where we are going to go and who we are going to see and making decisions really isn't my forte but I'm working on it. Plus, it's really all about feeling guided by the Spirit as to where we need to go so I think we'll be alright.

 

Super glue is truly magical. About two transfers ago (12 weeks) the bottom of my shoe started falling off and was almost completely off but I used a little bit of Super Glue and it was just like new. It happened again last week and I just put on some more Super Glue and it looks like it'll last for another 12 weeks again before it needs another touch up. It's remarkable. (I feel like that could have been a commercial for Super Glue, it's really my PR side starting to shine through).

 

As for Super Gators, we were at our Egyptian friend's house for tea (dinner) on Saturday and when we got there he was watching this crazy internationalesque movie about a Super Gator going against some sort of mutated Dinosaur. It was really weird and the graphics were really bad, not that I was watching it, I could just see it in my peripherals.

 

The weather has just been going back and forth all week. Some days it is really cold and other days its really nice. Today it feels nice but it's also super cloudy so it might rain some, but such is life.

 

Last Monday we went to Whitby, the home of Dracula. It was actually pretty fun. We walked up the famous 199 steps to the church and Abbey ruins. It was kinda creepy though because there were grave stones everywhere and when we went into the church it was super old and gothic. They even had this baby doll  modeling christening clothes and it was 84 years old. It reminded my of Chuckie and so I just said a quick prayer in my head and walked away. But the Abbey ruins were really neat and there were some really neat little shops around as well. I also had my first fish and chips there and they were really good but really greasy. The town reminded me a lot of Weir Beach in New Hampshire because of the rows of shops and arcades that were there. It's also right next to the shore. But yeah, that was my fun adventure for the week. I'm going to try to email some pictures to you all after I send this email.

 

Well, I hope you all are doing well! I love getting all your emails and letters and hearing about what life is like back in the States. By the way, I heard the US economy is going to crash today, is that true? The English can be a bit dramatic sometimes when they tell us stuff so I never know how serious things are. I love and miss you all tons!!!!!! Keep dancing like there's no tomorrow!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"Teach Me How to Katter, T-T-Teach Me How to Katter"

Hello Family and Friends!

 

I hope you all had a glorious week! After I emailed last week we went and hung out with the elders from the zone and when we got there they were playing basketball. My companion didn't want to play but, naturally, I stepped up to the plate (or shall I say hoop). I didn't tell any of them of my past bball experience (see highlights from the church ball game where I scored 15 of our 19 points and for some reason Kelly Ann got MVP, don't worry I'm not bitter about it) and so many of them were surprised to see that my outside J was better than Troy Bolton's. The best was when I schooled one of the elders with a crossover and shot a three and swished it. Everyone started giving him a hard time. It was funny. Then we played chair football and I was SOOO close to winning. I just had to get one more elder out but I was too exhausted from basketball, there is only so much I can do.

 

The rest of the week went pretty well. We found some new people to teach and so that was really good and one of our investigators got baptized on Saturday! It was a really great experience and I'm so happy for her. She's so great and I know the gospel is really going to bless her. She committed to everything as soon as we taught them to her. She was found when we were street contacting one Saturday and the elders came. She actually approached one of the elders to see what he had to say and we were able to start teaching her the next day. She truly was a miracle and I'm glad I got to be part of her conversion.

 

It hasn't been raining much this week but it has been rather chilly. It is really windy next to the sea front and we have been getting some cold winds which isn't so pleasant. However, it's a little easier for me to handle than Sister DeLucchi since she is from Las Vegas and isn't used to the cold as much. I'm nervous for her when it becomes winter time.

 

My left arm is really starting to hurt from having to switch gears all the time. I don't know how people live and drive like this. But I don't stall the car anymore and I only rev the engine on uphill starts which really scare me because the people behind me give me zero room. But other than that the driving isn't so bad anymore. I feel like I could drive anywhere now after having driven in England where there are no stop signs. Yeah, no stop signs.

 

Yeah, that's pretty much my week in a nutshell. Oh, and shout out to Ryan Kunz from my BYU 2nd ward for his amazing article on page 20 of the Ensign. Everyone should check it out! It's really good and I have everyone in England reading it!

 

Anywho, have an amazing week and I love and miss you all tons!!! And don't forget to put on sunscreen! (I don't care if it'll turn into a "tan").

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"It's Chucking It Down"

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So, this past week was pretty crazy with transfers and everything. Sister Lamb went home, naturally, and Sister DeLucchi came here to Redcar. I am the driver now though and that is a bit scary. I don't have any problems driving on the other side of the road, I really just have problems getting used to driving a manual. It was super frustrating the first day because I just kept stalling every time I tried to go into first but each day it gets easier and by the end I'll probably be ready for NASCAR. Sister DeLucchi is taking her driving lessons next week so that'll be good because then I wont have to do all the driving.

 

Yesterday it was "chucking it down" as the English like to say.  It was absolutely pouring, but don't worry I was a careful driver. You'd think for a place that gets a lot of rain they would have a better drainage system. If a natural disaster does hit England it will probably be flooding but let's hope nothing like that happens while I'm so close to the sea. It's sunny right now but it looks like it might start raining again soon. Fun!

 

There wasn't a lot of hype here about HP7P2 which was kinda disappointing but maybe that's just because I live in missionary world and not the real world.

 

Other than that nothing too exciting has happened this past week. Just knocking doors and spreading the gospel amongst the people of Redcar. One of our investigators is scheduled to get baptized this Saturday which is really exciting so everyone pray that it will all work out!

 

Yeah, I hope you are all doing okay! I miss you like crazy but I know this is where I need to be right now. Keep smiling and watch out for Voldemort!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch Changes"

Hello Family and Friends!

 

So, as you can see I'm emailing on Tuesday which means that it's time for transfers! Obviously my companion, Sister Lamb, is being transferred back to her homeland of Missouri which means I am getting a new companion and her name is... Sister Delucchi. She actually came out the same time I did but she went straight to the Preston MTC. We've only met a couple of times but we are already best friends so I know these next 6 weeks are going to be good. She's from Las Vegas so we pretty much are just going to party all the time (in missionary appropriate fashion of course).

 

This week was a pretty good week for us. In the mission they have something called "The Standards of Excellence" and they're goals for each team to try to reach each week such as how many lessons you taught and how many investigators come to church. They're pretty hard to reach but this week Sister Lamb and I were able to amaze the people of Redcar and meet Standards! So that was really exciting especially since Redcar was really struggling when we first got here and now it's doing really well!

 

Something else really neat is how well the girl that was baptized two weeks ago is doing. Like I was saying, she is really shy and that is why she wouldn't get baptized in the past. But she has become a lot more confident now and a lot more comfortable at church and with everyone there. It's amazing how much the gift of the Holy Ghost can help people grow and progress and I'm grateful that I get to see it happen.

 

Our 4th of July Pday was epic! Our watergun/water ballon fight was amazing and I know you would all be so proud of me. We broke up into teams and I helped create our team's strategy and it was so good. The Special Forces have probably found out about it already and are making plans to try and recruit me. I wouldn't be surprised. We then had a BBQ and my burger, which I grilled myself, turned out pretty good. The Food Network has already contacted me to be a contestant on the Next Food Network Star but I turned it down, naturally. The winners on that show never make it big.

 

Well, that's pretty much it for now. I hope you all have a grand week and when you all go and see the midnight showing of HP7P2 think of me because it's pretty much my life right now. I love you all and miss you tons!!

 

Love,

Sister Smith

"Emergency Baptism"

SURPRISE!!!! We had a baptism last week! I don't have much time to email today because it is zone pday and we are having some 4th of July festivities but I will try my best to explain what happened.

 

So, there is this girl that we teach and she is really shy and doesn't trust missionaries very much. She comes from a part-member family and she wanted to get baptized but she didn't really trust missionaries to plan it but she has been taught for years. Anyhow, we were doing exchanges last week with two other sisters and I stayed in Redcar while Sister Lamb went up to Ashington and this other sister named Sister Freeke (real name, she's German) came down to Redcar. Sister Freeke has served in Recar before and she actually had a really good friendship with this girl. So we were planning on scheduling her baptism while Sister Freeke was here. But one of the zone leaders said that if we wanted we could try and plan her baptism for while Sister Freeke was here... but I just figured that was just a really "far out" idea. But when we saw Sister Freeke and told her what she said she just got all excited took the phone from me and called the girl and asked her if she wanted to be baptized the next day and she accepted. Crazy! Anyway, so then I called the zone leaders and told them and they told the mission president and he said that if we could plan it and get it done then that will be fine. (Note to everyone: This never happens. Usually a baptism is planned in at least a week). So I just put all my PR skills to the test and planned a baptism in under 24 hours. It was pretty stressful but it was all good and everything turned out well! There is obviously a lot more to the story that involves almost dying while Sister Freeke was driving the car, calling a million people, screaming elders... So yeah, that's probably the most exciting thing that happened this past week.

 

But yeah, today we are celebrating our independence from the Motherland by having a good ole American BBQ, an intense game of dodgeball, and having an epic waterfight.

 

I love and miss you all tons! Don't forget to wear red, white and blue because the church is true!

 

Love,

Sister Smith