"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