Apple Picking 🍎

Hola :)

Well this week was pretty warm and then today we definitely started to
get the dreamy east coast fall weather (scarfs and leaves and pumpkin
and just that feeling in the air) AND we got to go APPLE PICKING, even
though I'm not in the "big apple" currently haha. We are so spoiled
here in conneticut- I will be sending lots of pictures because it was
just too fun and we met up with a few other companionships of sisters
so it was just a good PDay.

The work is little by little picking up here in Norwalk too! Last
Wednesday we had an awesome lesson with one of our investigators. We
read in the Book of Mormon with her and she just told us how she knows
it's all true and all the miracles she sees....she just needs to get
some things in order so she can come back to church and get baptized
soon!

We had interviews and a zone study on Thursday and it was so
uplifting! President and Sister Smith are so in tune with the spirit
and it was exactly what I needed to hear at the time. A really good
reminder to keep the end in mind, the bigger picture. The gospel is so
simple and it's all about remembering those primary songs. This Sunday
we were combined with the English Ward for the primary program and I
was just overcome with the spirit. Usually I don't enjoy primary
programs but it just hit me how true and simple those songs they sing
are. If we were all able to remember and internalize those simple
truths...we would be able to always have the blessings the gospel in
our lives!

Fun Spanish program thing of the week....I ate COW TONGUE. Yep. It was
actually not that bad. Haha one of our less actives gave it to us (she
feeds us every week).

We also started serving at this place called Waveny. It's like this
super cool and fancy senior center. We got to paint the nails of women
in the dementia area and it was so amazing to just feel of Heavenly
Father's love for them - to see everyone there as children of God. I'm
so excited to be able to go back every week and give them much
deserved attention and love!

Lookups ended up being really successful this week too and we are
packed with appointments this weekend so hopefully all goes as
planned! I'm really excited for the people we have met and are
continuing to find :) we have seen so many miracles of being in the
right place at the right time to find the people we need too!

As a district we have a goal to talk about reverence and the sacrament
with all members we meet with (our Ward is a little casual at times)
and it has been so amazing the lessons we have been able to teach at
Noche de Hogar's and with the members we have seen. Being able to
remember the sacred experience of our baptisms and realizing we can
have such sacred experiences every week as we partake of the
sacrament!

I'm so excited for general conference this weekend. The women's
general session was incredible (especially president uchtdorf's talk)
I highly suggest going back and watching it if you missed it!! It was
such a powerful reminder to always be happy no matter what :-)

Well I hope you all have an awesome week, sorry if this email was a
little scattered, but I hope y'all eat something fun and fall-ish and
enjoy listening to the words of our living prophet this weekend!!!
Such a blessing :)

Con Amor,
Hermana Smart

Welcome to Norwalk

¡HOLA!

I hope everyone had a great week and is just loving Fall! It's my
favorite season for sure and I'm excited for more leaves to start
changing color, I just love being able to wear jackets again and
starting to just have that Fall feeling in the air! It's awesome. And
I'm sure Connecticut is going to be beautiful with all the leaves in
the next few weeks.

Well this email will be a little longer than last week ;) haha I'm
sorry we didn't have anytime transfer PDAYS can tend to be a little
crazy... But this week has been an adventure! We've started to get to
know Norwalk a lot better. So the actual city my area is in is
Norwalk. The ward is the Stamford Spanish Ward. But there are sisters
in Stamford/Greenwich and then we're in Norwalk.

Whitewashing has been such an adventure. At times it's so hard, but
most of the time is just so fun. Me and Sister Marriott just look at
each other like "well I don't know" and then laugh a lot since we
really don't know much of anything! I mean there are some moments when
it can feel like maybe his is going to be too hard...like when we
tried to get into our apartment for the first time last Wednesday and
realized they had given us the wrong keys... But then we stop and
laugh because those moments are just even funnier and I love it. And
it all works out! (Don't worry, we have English sisters as roommates
who let us in later that night) I am learning so much about have faith
and trust in the Lord. The principles of missionary work are there,
and you don't have any bias or anything you just get to go and get to
work and talk to everyone and it's AWESOME.

The Spanish Ward here in Stamford is awesome. We have these super well
organized Correlation meetings every Wednesday night. And Sunday it
was so fun being back in a big Ward, I'm used to the tiny Monticello
branch, AND they all speak Spanish. It was a little overwhelming since
I've been in so many English wards on my mission but I'm going to
learn so much!! I'm excited to improve my Spanish. And the members
we've met so far have been amazing. We got to help sis Garcia with a
talk she was giving in another Ward in English, and then (she's the
Ward mission leader's wife) got to have Sunday dinner at her house
with all the other missionaries! And then Monday we were invited to a
noche de hogar at the Guerrero's. And the elders had us come to 2
dinner appointments already too! I just love how involved and active
the members here are!

Thursday and Friday last week we did a lot of tracting (since our
areabook was completely blank until the other sisters sent us a few
people!) We ended up accidentally tracting all the fancy English
areas. But we started to get smart and tract nearby member
appointments that the elders were inviting us to and found a little
more Spanish! So that's good. But it was so fun to just be able to go
out and work so hard. Not having anyone to work with but just sharing
the good news as much as we could! And the people here in Connecticut
are actually really nice to us. And now we have some names to work
with from the sisters and have been meeting a few investigators and
less actives and it's just been slowly getting better and better!

Yesterday we were able to go help serve at a food pantry in Norwalk
and adding service into our schedule and life is just so important -
it's amazing what a difference service can make on your whole week :)
I love it so much!

Our district leader shared this quote I really loved :
"When we try in faith to walk in obedience....the lord opens the way
when there appears to me no way" I'm learning so much about faith, and
how as we have childlike faith and just trust that the Lord will open
a way He really does. He is directing his work and we just have to go
out and trust and obey and work hard! The miracles are endless. A
scripture me and sister Marriott came across on the same morning study
in 2 Nephi 2  says "how great the importance to make these things
known unto the inhabitants of the earth". It's so true! As
missionaries and members we just go and make the truth known by the
way we live and he testimonies we share - I love it!

Well we just about out of time we have to get heading to OUR FIRST SET
APPOINTMENT with an investigator!! Actually it will be the first real
lesson since being in this area. We're super excited.

I hope you all have an amazing week! I love you!!

Con Amor,
Hermana Smart

Ready, Set...WHITEWASH

Hola!!

So from this email title you might have guessed. I'm being
transferred! I'm going to Stamford, Connecticut to reopen/whitewash
the 2nd Spanish sisters area with Sister Marriott (sister Ponce's last
companion actually - small world)
^ that being said...we have about ZERO time to email. And this week
was kind of crazy. We saw a lot of people, and we were packed saying
goodbye to everyone....So I'm just going to send you all a ton of
pictures of the people I have come to love in Monticello. This place
really did take a part of my heart. I love it so much! It's always
bittersweet to be transferred. But I know that the Lord has a plan for
me and that this has been so inspired. I don't know yet all that is in
store but I know that there is so many things to learn from this new
area, companion, and cycle! I'm excited to see what's ahead.

Well I love you all and I promise I'll have lots more time and such to
write next week!

Con Amor,
Hermana Smart

Praying over a washing machine...IT WORKS!

Hola :-) 

I hope everyone had an amazing week :) It's been pretty hot here in New York but the leaves are starting to change and Fall is definitely coming soon! We even started to pick PUMPKINS in the garden Monday! This week is also the last week of this transfer, so we'll find out Saturday what's happening. There is a possibility I will be transferred somewhere else but I guess we shall see what happens! 

Well this week has been good...some moments were hard & some amazing - such is the life of a missionary. But something different about this week was that when it seemed like everything maybe was going wrong a miracle would come or something to reassure us that what we were doing was right! Even this morning while we were doing our laundry we had a mini miracle. We started one load and went to the next washed to put in our quarters to start the next load....and the quarters wouldn't go in...me and Sis Ponce were both trying and failing and we were like well what do we do? In my head I thought, well we could wait until our other load is done (there are only 2 washers) or I can use this as a trial of my faith. So I bowed my head and said a prayer and then tried it one more time. AND IT WORKED. The miracle of prayer can work for the simplest things in our lives!

 

Wednesday night we got to go to the Bank's for dinner. They ended up telling us the incredible stories of how they joined the church - they're the first family to join the church here in the area (like 20 years ago). Just the fact that the missionaries found them by receiving the inspiration to tract outside their area...and then they started up the branch here! So incredible. If only those missionaries knew what a huge impact they made. 

Friday night we had the branch Talent Show! It was so fun AND we had 3 of our people show up!! Beth came (on her scooter the whole way) and Roxanne brought Sis Maldonado! It was a fun night. We had some talent, and humor, and good food! This branch really just feels like my family, I love them all so much! Felt like going to a ward activity back home. Me and Sis Ponce, the Hseih's, and Brittiny ended up singing Nearer My God to Thee in Chinese, Spanish, and English! So cool. (I even sang during the Chinese part too!)

Sunday we had a few more little miracles with fast and testimony meeting. We had Bro King, Sis McCreary, and Larry that came and sometimes it can be a little nerve wracking to have investigators come to a testimony meeting but EVERY single testimony was so powerful and testified of the true church and you could just feel the spirit so strongly. Hermana Leon even bore her sweet testimony in English :-) it was such a good day! And then Sunday night we took Sis Hseih with us to dinner with Sis Maldonado and  they got along great. We were able to share a message about our bodies being gifts from God, and about health, the miracles of a body...and it was so cool to realize how amazing our bodies really are! We are so blessed. So many things to be grateful for! 

There are so many other mini miracles and awesome things that happened this week - We had another Spanish lesson with Marcela. We decided to move past the restoration to talk about the plan of salvation and she loved it! I think there is a lot of potential with her. We were also able to go to the Murphy's last night for dinner and a fire - the best. And Beth decided to buy us a bunch of food this week - I just love all the people here in Monticello so much :-) 

We also started a 100 day challenge as a mission to read the Book of Mormon by the Christmas devotional in December! I'm so excited it brings such a power and spirit to the mission, like when we did it last year. I just love the Book of Mormon so much :)

I hope everyone has a good week and starts to enjoy Fall! I LOVE YOU :-) 

Con Amor, 

Hermana Smart 

Bienvenida Septiembre 🍎

Hola :) wow! I can't believe it's already SEPTEMBER. A year ago today I was arriving in New York so excited but not knowing quite what to expect. Now being here for a year, New York & the people I've meet have become such a huge part of my life and hold such a special place in my heart!! :) 

One thing I've yet to learn a year later is how to best write this mass email to y'all :) haha I seem to always have lots to share and little time / ability to explain all that happens as a missionary! But I'll give you a few highlights / tender mercies from the week! 

Thursday we had a really good lesson with our investigator, Chevy (who's baptismal date is in November) and she said her eyes are really starting to open. And then tender mercy we were having a rough day Monday with EVERYTHING seeming to cancel and fall through. And so we end up at the Wendy's in Monticello for dinner, and CHEVY was just getting done with the drive thru. We were able to chat for a minute or two and it just was a little blessing. Sometimes timing is just everything, and Heavenly Father gives us those little things to let us know we're doing the right thing! 

Sunday me and Sis Ponce both spoke in sacrament meeting and it went really well (better than the first time they asked me and I spoke for only a few minutes haha) And then we had to teach gospel principles too haha :) but it was a good Sunday, we ended up teaching like 5 member lessons on Sunday too! I love being a Branch Builder! 

I also got to go on a split to Newburgh yesterday and we were able to meet with two less actives and sometimes you just know you were meant to be somewhere at that specific time, to learn from others and also to help. It was incredible. One of the less actives that we met with too it was my 3rd time teaching him. Kind of crazy! But I just love that even when it wasn't my area I was still able to feel the spirit so strong and the love for people I hadn't ever met....it was awesome. 

Monticello moment of the week? Definitely when one of our members we visited gave us used McDonald's cups as "souvenirs"....uhhh thanks? Haha got to love it!

Oh one more miracle! This morning during studies I was thinking, hey you should text Jane (media referral turned bible basher) so I did! And we were able to have an incredible conversation over text this afternoon on how she can use the bible and the Book of Mormon hand in hand to learn EVEN MORE. It was so cool, when I've listened to small promptings sometimes nothing happen, but then sometimes things like this happen and you just know that you never know the good that may come! So just do all the good you can :-)

Anyway my time is up, we need to start heading to a dinner appointment tonight with the Bank's. But I love you all and wish all those starting school an awesome first week and if not have a great week anyway! There are so many reasons to be happy :) love y'all! 

Con Amor, 

Hermana Smart