And then came the cold....

¡Hola mi familia!

      First off, sorry for my email last week not sending and sending all crazy....sometimes technology is just weird and way smarter than I am haha. I took a lot of awesome pictures of Central Park, the museum, the park in Inwood, and other things so hopefully you at least got some of them! If not I'm sorry....but there's some pictures this week so all is well! 

      Anyway this week was really good! Despite the fact that yesterday decided to become bitter cold winter it's been a really good week. Thursday we were able to go to do baptism with the ward with a recent convert we are teaching, Miguelina and Ylaura went too! It was so amazing. Miguelina was so happy we took a really adorable picture! Sis Baker has it but I'm sure I'll eventually send it to y'all. 

     And then this weekend I was on a back to back split! In my area...with the English sisters. Yep that's right. And it actually went really well even though I was the only one who spoke Spanish and I don't even know that much! Friday I was with Sister Keeling, We had a few really awesome lessons, went to a wedding of the English sisters converts, went to a Spanish relief society activity, and even accidentally looked-up an active member trying to find a less active...haha I guess it was her daughter we were trying to find but I had no clue. Haha good times being in charge of an area. Saturday I was with Sister Hall! We had to help this kind of crazy move...but she had hired a moving crew? But just wanted us to be guardian angels for 3 hours because she thought there were demonic people in the building she was moving out of?? Haha it was interesting. We also had a ward finding activity handing out pass a long cards in the cold for 2 hours but it was really good street contacting practice which was awesome! And sister hall is a really good street contactor so I learned a ton! ALSO WE GOT TO MEET GLESAIDYS!! Sis Baker came back for that part! I don't remember if I told you about her, but she's the 13 yr old who her family used to be active members, her dad still is, but her mom is now anti and they're divorced. She is so amazing and has an amazing testimony and wants to be baptized but can't right now since she lives with her mom. But we are teaching her usually through Facebook so she'll be ready when she can! But Saturday she was with her dad so she came to the church and we had an amazing lesson and such with her!! It was so good!! 

       Sister Baker finally came home for. The English program...haha two days was actually quite a bit of time! Anywho some other awesome highlights from the week, Sunday Ana Chan (one of our investigators we haven't seen forever) came to relief society and the lesson was an amazing lesson on prayer! She has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and has to have surgery soon. We were able to have the elders give her a really amazing blessing. Wow she's so amazing! She's the home attendant to an investigator of the English sisters...and we used to only be able to see her if they went too since she's technically working. Which is why we hadn't seen her, but she quitting soon and so we should be seeing her a lot more! She's so strong and faithful!! I also was able to try tostones for the first time this week! Super good and we also had tostadas gotta love all the good Spanish food! 

      The weather has been crazy! Monday it was down pouring...the park across from the church was flooded and the cars were half submerged, we have videos, it was crazy! Then Tuesday decided to turn freezing luckily we had a lot of inside appointments and English class, and I have a super warm coat! New York is crazy. I think the coldest part is the wind! Winter should be fun:) 

       Well those are all the exciting parts of my week! So crazy that thanksgiving is so soon! Also transfer calls are Saturday night and Sis Baker should be leaving, so we shall see what happens!! I'll have to let y'all now since next Wednesday is transfers! Also this transfer means I'm done with training....so crazy how fast that went! 

       I love you all so much and am so grateful for all of you! I hope you have the best week and stay warm! :)      

xoxo

Hermana Smart 

Why do you believe?

¡Hola! 

     I hope everyone had a really good week! It was another great one here in Inwood AND I took a lot of pictures this week too...what can be better than that? Haha

    This weekend I started to back to full capacity from being sick and it was actually really amazing! We had a cool finding activity using family history in Inwood park, we were able to watch The Testaments with Gloria and Fernanda and they loved it! Saturday I was on a split with Hermana Alexander in her area which is always scary since we're both still training, but it actually was really fun and we even got some compliments on our Spanish which is amazing! All four sister met up for an FHE Saturday night at Ylaura's and it was awesome. We watched the 20 min version of the restoration and we had a really cool discussion after! Then we played this hilarious game...honestly I can't even describe it well. But on of the ward members was like wearing Indian feathers and we had to stay in another room and then one by one were brought in and had to repeat all this gibberish and in the midst of the crazy you sit on a wet sponge? Haha it was SO HILARIOUS we were dying. Sunday we had 5 investigators come to church! We even had 2 of them go to the English sacrament meeting even though they don't speak English just because they were late! (They came to Spanish relief society after). We also have a young women aged investigator, Erika. She LOVES church! She went with her cousins in the DR so she come to all 3 hours, she went to a stake youth activity all day Saturday. She's amazing and it lets me go to young women's every week which I love :) Monday we had to go to another funeral...which was really really sad. Hermano Mota in our ward had a heart attack this past week, our ward has really had some hard times! He was really involved in missionary work too so he definitely will be missed! 

    Yesterday we had my first zone conference! It was SO AMAZING. Seriously. We were physically fed of course: Sis Morgan made this amazing cream cheese that tasted like cookie dough and homemade strawberry cream cheese with bagels, members made us lunch, we had kettle corn) BUT a the spiritual food was even better!! We had a really awesome, discussion about the Savior. Do we really know the Shepherd? And what do we do because of that knowledge. We talked about how being on a mission we really need to learn to turn to the Lord in all things, to learn that process of being brought to our knees and as we learn to have that proximity to God how incredible a difference we can make! We were also able to spend some time in groups making a video around the city about Why do we believe? It was a really cool opportunity to realize that when we unify for one cause, the faith we have in Jesus Christ, and use all of our different talents how amazing the results are! I wish you guys could see all the videos (we had a little viewing party at the end of zone conference) it was so inspiring! It's kind of easy to get caught up in the day to day but when you stop and ask yourself why. It's incredible to realize the deep rooted reasons we all have! 

    Thanks you much for everyone I have in my life! I'm truly so grateful for all of you:) I hope you all have an amazing week and enjoy all the many pictures I have from this week! 

xoxo

Hermana Smart 

Hello November

Mi familia y amigos,

    Hope everyone had a fun Halloween and an amazing week of Fall weather! It's so crazy that it's already November, time sure does fly! The weather here in New York was pretty cold for a few days especially Sunday, but today its been pretty warm and beautiful, and makes me really love Fall and all the gorgeous leaves and just everything about fall:)

    Halloween actually ended up being a really fun day for us! We went up to the Scarsdale chapel (by the mission home) for Mission Leadership Council (MLC). I'm pretty luckily I got to go since it's only for zone leaders and sister training leaders, definitely a perk of being a companion to an STL. We took the Metro-North up and upstate has so many more trees....we took a lot of picture, it was just too pretty not to! 

    President gave a really awesome training on how we can become more prepared for 2015 and all the changes it will bring. We talked a lot about the Doctrine of Christ, which is amazing every time president gives a training but this time it was really cool to focus in on specific aspects that individually can help me to improve, to become a better missionary and person. Overall it was just a really spiritually uplifting day and I really learned a lot of things that I personally needed. Also President and Sister Morgan a few weeks ago went to a mission president's seminar upstate and spent the weekend with Elder Holland in the sacred grove. As you can imagine that was probably one of the most amazing experiences, and I am definitely jealous of the spiritual fulfillment I'm sure happened. And being the amazing people they are, President and Sister Morgan brought each of us a leaf back from the sacred grove! Just the fact of where it came from was amazing but then President related the leaf to us and the side of the leaf that is turned towards the Sun has color and pattern and definition, whereas the reverse side is colorless. He then said we need to look to the Lord for our true character and definition. All the leaves are unique and beautiful but only when they are turned towards the Son, we are facing the right direction, we look to God and live. SO AMAZING.
   Sister Morgan made homemade chili in sourdough bread bowls, and homemade donuts all from family traditions, it was perfect. Sometimes it really amazing to have more of a taste of home on holidays! We came home through the Bronx and I got my first bodega sandwich (picture included) and then we mostly went home right after that since we had to be home by6pm for safety and such! But it was just a really fun day and it was nice to get caught up on some journal writing and sleep and such. We even went and chatted with Sis Spencer for a little while so she wouldn't be alone the whole night. Great Halloween for a missionary, spiritually and physically well fed is always good!

   Despite the pretty cold and rainy weather saturday and sunday we still had a lot of good lessons this weekend! We even, after waiting over 40 minutes for a bus, got to have dinner with the Giffords sunday night and his parents were there visiting so that was super fun! It's always awesome to have a good sunday dinner appointment makes it feel a little more like home :) we also got to go to a lady in the English ward's house too, kind of a second dinner? haha it was really good. Monday we had a really cool zone meeting that kind of followed the pattern of MLC but ended up being a really cool spiritual time for the zone. After that this cold I've been fighting really caught up to me, but somehow we still were able to teach 4 lessonsmonday! We met with a member and got fed mashed potatoes and sorbet (among other things) which is always great because I love those and was getting sick so it was perfect! And then we taught 3 of our investigators and had really good lessons so it was good we pushed through me being sick....but by the end of the night I was pretty sick. So Yesterday, and mostly today we've just been home sleeping and me taking nyquil and drinking fluids and all that good stuff. But I'm already starting to feel better today, so hopefully we'll be back to our full working schedule this weekend!

  Well sorry this email isn't super exciting, it was a bit slower of a week due to Halloween and me getting sick, but it was still a good week! And we took lots of good pictures, hope y'all enjoy them! :)
Have an amazing week! I love you all so much and am so grateful for the support you continually give to me, seriously wouldn't be who I am without all y'all so thank you:)

xoxo
Hermana Smart 

HAPPY Almost HALLOWEEN

 We got to go to the temple today too! It's crazy how peaceful and amazing it is even though you're surrounded by the most busy city. So incredible.

On Oct 29, 2014, at 4:28 PM, brittany.smart@myldsmail.net wrote:

¡Hola mi familia y amigos!

     Another great week here in the Big Apple! The weather has been a bit crazy from everything to crazy rain and wind to hot and sunny! Welcome to fall:) the leaves are finally starting to change though and our church (which is kind of like home base) is across from a park filled with gorgeous trees so it's super beautiful! 

    So this week me and Sis Baker were walking home and she told me this really cool analogy that fits perfectly with this week so I'm going to share! Sometimes missionary work feels like you're running up the downward escalator and getting no where and putting forth so much effort. There are little moments when you realize you're making progress, and sometimes it's really fun, but then sometimes like this week you're able to make a huge jump up and it's so exciting! We had one of those amazing jumps forward this week. We were able to take two members with us to our lesson with Gloria and Fernanda because we were taking Fanny and then Maria wanted to come too last minute! We talked about sabbath day, fasting, tithing and it was a good lesson with really good testimony. But then as we were wrapping up and asking Gloria if she felt like she had been receiving answers she paused and told us everything that was worrying here with not following the catholic traditions of her family and just everything, Maria was able to share an amazing testimony of her experience with prayer and then we stopped and we all knelt down together and she gave a specific prayer asking if this is what they were supposed to be doing and wow. The spirit in their apartment were so strong and we were crying a little and it was such a powerful moment. I'm not sure what's in their future but I love them and sir family so much! It's so incredible the power of the spirit! Personal revelation is real. I know that with all my heart that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father and receive answers to all our questions in life!! 

     So Monday was a day of food....I know I've told you that the Spanish program gets fed a ton but it's been a little while since we've eaten a ton. But Monday Leo made us a delicious brunch after district meeting, then we ate pizza at a members house, AND THEN immediately after ate tacos at another members house and luckily took the tamales on the road. That's just one day. It's crazy here haha.

    Yesterday was a true New York experience! We went downtown for the chiropractor for sis Baker and saw crazies as usual, then we did this awesome scavenger hunt for Halloween/ APF where we street contact so many different kinds of people! We talked to this amazing lady at a bus stop who was super interested and loved how young we were and sharing messages about Christ and in the middle got interrupted by this crazy guy asking for food, we also stopped this amazing family in the subway and the daughter was adorable and kept showing us her tooth she lost, I stopped two families on the street in Spanish haha it was hard, met a man from Africa on the subway. Also we went to do a lookup from a lady that the elders had met...telling us she was super awesome and ready! So we get in the door and she's kind of interesting...she asked us at one point if we only spoke English. But we had been speaking to her in spanish the whole time. And she didn't understand that we spoke two languages? any way throughout the lesson she just seems super confused and then we look down and look up like half a second later and she's asleep. We try and make a little noise, and nothing. I had to try to contain laughter and we both just looked at each other like ummm what do we do? Haha. Luckily a little while later she opens her eyes and we kind of just continue and try to wrap up. Needless to say she is a very confused older lady. She was super excited to pray, but thought she had to pay us to come back, and when we invited her to church said she was catholic? It was crazy, and then the chair I was sitting on as we put it back the cushion part falls off and she tells us this whole story about where the nails went. It was an experience hahaha. And then later that night going home on the dyckman subway stop there was human poop just chilling on the platform. So yeah. Yesterday was a welcome to New York! Haha seriously though New York is amazing and wonderful and the people are awesome! I just love meeting so many people and knowing they're children of God and want to just share that love with everyone! It's great. 

      Two quick things before I wrap up with pictures! Sunday was the primary program and so adorable! Little kids singing and saying things in Spanish is the cutest. AND we got the huge surprise of a new ward mission leader being called! He seems really excited and wanting to do more! So hopefully we can get the ward super involved :) 

     Well I hope y'all have an awesome week, stay safe on Halloween, share the gospel with someone, and keep smiling! Hope y'all know how much I know that this gospel is true and how much I love it with all my heart. It's so exciting to see that light come into people's lives more fully! I absolutely love being a missionary and serving the people of New York! The church is so true! Love you all:) 

xoxo

Hermana Smart