well family,
i'm sure you noticed that it is, in fact, tuesday and pday is monday and i definitely did not email. well, the last couple of days have been pretty crazy. actually completely crazy. we went to church on sunday and it had started snowing for the first time this year. well, church was let out an hour early because of the storm and then we all got a text from the assistants saying that president had grounded all cars and everyone that was taking public transportation (me) should be smart and really consider staying inside. well, that didn't happen. because of christmas and our mission conference christmas eve we have several investigators that have baptismal dates and need a lot of attention and we haven't seen them for a while. so, we left the apartment. it was CRAZY. a billion people were getting stuck -- we were fine because we were walking, we just had to walk backwards a lot because the wind and snow were really cold. we passed some people in a store on the street and they were laughing at us for walking backwards, well then they came outside and started laughing and said "you really weren't kidding were you?" and they started walking backwards :) BUT, the lesson we had once we got to our investigator's home was really good. she loves the church, knows it is true, but with everything there will always be opposition. sometimes from the places you expect it the least. her husband, who is a less-active member, comes home and problems always come up. but never fear, we have the spirit which slaughters anything that satan can try to pull, so take that!! and they drove us home which was VERY appreciated :)
well, the blizzard turned EVERYTHING upside down. all of us feel like we are living in "I Am Legend" because there were literally hundreds of cars (on the main streets of brooklyn) just abandoned in the middle of the street. all of the buses shut down on monday, AS WELL AS the trains! by the way, that NEVER happens. new york city shutting down their trains is the equivalent of santa putting his reindeer in the garage on christmas eve. seriously never happens. and on monday morning we got another text from the assistants saying that all cars were grounded and we were supposed to be very wise in the appointments we go to. so we went out and helped people shovel their cars out, shovel their houses out and shovel everything else out. the elders showed up and then we didn't have to shovel anymore :) we just got to talk to the people that we were shoveling for and watch the elders do all the work -- while we were the ones who said you are welcome and took all the credit.
well, as for the rest of the week, it was AWESOME. christmas was the best day of my life and i loved loved loved talking to my family :) :) :) christmas eve was really really cool. we went to a mission-wide conference that was all music and president and sister nelson talking. it was SWEET. the spirit was really strong. THEN we caroled on the brooklyn bridge and that was so cool. and then the best part was that we got to play santa for one of the missionaries that is going through an incredibly hard time right now and he didn't get anything for christmas. it was really cool.
christmas is the best - love it! we have had so many miracles and it is really really cool to be able to talk to people about christ. my new companion is awesome. i love her! her name is sister robinson and she was in my district and in my room at the mtc. she is a really good missionary and we are really excited for things to get a little more normal so we can really get going.
hey family, i love you. thank you so much for all that you do for me and it was SO AWESOME to get to talk to you. you are all incredible people and i love you so much. don't even fret or worry about me :) i'm doing absolutely amazing. i love you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
love,
sister mich smith
12.28.2010
...And the transfer calls come (12/20/10)
Hi Family!!!!!!!!
Well, i really hate to say it, but this email is going to be short and i know it - so i'm warning you beforehand :) this week has flown by -- my life is flying by and it kind of freaks me out. well, biggest news of the week is transfers. the zone leaders called us and they actually three way called with our district leaders because they were all shocked and wanted to hear our reaction. i'm staying in midwood still and sister t. smith is leaving. we heard it, said "okay thank you elders. goodnight" and they were so disappointed because it was very anticlimactic they said. oops. i'm really, really sad to see sister t. smith leave - we got really close, but it is for the best. so, a of tomorrow i will have a new companion! weird. and, if i get left in midwood again next transfer, that will be half of my mission!!!!!! the ward HATES transfers, that's why this is short because we need to say goodbye. bah. goodbyes - WAY too many of those in the life of a missionary. however, they always make room for new adventures!
sunday was interesting. we got there and i had to lead the music because no one else could -- i'm still very un musically inclined - haven't changed that much! i have gotten a pretty bad cold this week and right after the sacrament i actually ended up running out of the chapel crying because i was trying not to cough (sister smith was really worried when she saw tears in my eyes and i just started walking out - it was pretty funny) then we went to gospel principles with our investigator and we got pulled out of class because there was no gospel doctrine teacher. so, i looked at the lesson during the opening hymn and then taught for an hour!! :) i NEVER thought i would be okay with that, i remember saying that gospel doctrine teacher is the one calling i would not be very okay with -- it's a good thing i got over that one :) and i am amazed that the Lord just puts words in your mouth. no way on this earth would i ever be okay doing something like that without the spirit. after that we went to the julliard violin concert -- awesome. it was really cool to be on the stand with them as they played, and i really enjoyed it. it's also REALLY fun to see all of the other missionaries too -- we had a good night. all of us were going home on the train together and we started singing christmas carols, but no one really did it - it was just funny and we ended up laughing a lot.
well, we are seeing a million miracles still and i love every second of it. i got a really good chance to reflect on the past six months this week and i realize how much i really REALLY love being a missionary. i am so thankful that i get the opportunity to share the gospel with so many people. so thankful that i get to see people realize the way to our Heavenly Father and start making changes in their lives to follow Him. i am SO lucky and i love it.
the gospel is true - God is real and His love is for each and every one of us :) i think Elder Holland summed it up in his talk in conference - don't look at your neighbor, i'm pointing to YOU! :) :)
i love you all and i wish you the best christmas of your lives!!!!!!!!
love
sister michelle smith
Well, i really hate to say it, but this email is going to be short and i know it - so i'm warning you beforehand :) this week has flown by -- my life is flying by and it kind of freaks me out. well, biggest news of the week is transfers. the zone leaders called us and they actually three way called with our district leaders because they were all shocked and wanted to hear our reaction. i'm staying in midwood still and sister t. smith is leaving. we heard it, said "okay thank you elders. goodnight" and they were so disappointed because it was very anticlimactic they said. oops. i'm really, really sad to see sister t. smith leave - we got really close, but it is for the best. so, a of tomorrow i will have a new companion! weird. and, if i get left in midwood again next transfer, that will be half of my mission!!!!!! the ward HATES transfers, that's why this is short because we need to say goodbye. bah. goodbyes - WAY too many of those in the life of a missionary. however, they always make room for new adventures!
sunday was interesting. we got there and i had to lead the music because no one else could -- i'm still very un musically inclined - haven't changed that much! i have gotten a pretty bad cold this week and right after the sacrament i actually ended up running out of the chapel crying because i was trying not to cough (sister smith was really worried when she saw tears in my eyes and i just started walking out - it was pretty funny) then we went to gospel principles with our investigator and we got pulled out of class because there was no gospel doctrine teacher. so, i looked at the lesson during the opening hymn and then taught for an hour!! :) i NEVER thought i would be okay with that, i remember saying that gospel doctrine teacher is the one calling i would not be very okay with -- it's a good thing i got over that one :) and i am amazed that the Lord just puts words in your mouth. no way on this earth would i ever be okay doing something like that without the spirit. after that we went to the julliard violin concert -- awesome. it was really cool to be on the stand with them as they played, and i really enjoyed it. it's also REALLY fun to see all of the other missionaries too -- we had a good night. all of us were going home on the train together and we started singing christmas carols, but no one really did it - it was just funny and we ended up laughing a lot.
well, we are seeing a million miracles still and i love every second of it. i got a really good chance to reflect on the past six months this week and i realize how much i really REALLY love being a missionary. i am so thankful that i get the opportunity to share the gospel with so many people. so thankful that i get to see people realize the way to our Heavenly Father and start making changes in their lives to follow Him. i am SO lucky and i love it.
the gospel is true - God is real and His love is for each and every one of us :) i think Elder Holland summed it up in his talk in conference - don't look at your neighbor, i'm pointing to YOU! :) :)
i love you all and i wish you the best christmas of your lives!!!!!!!!
love
sister michelle smith
12.13.2010
HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE SISTER!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY COURTNEY NOEL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Weird! You are 19! Really weird! But i would like everyone to know how much i love my GIRL. dear courtney, i love you more than gangstas love low-riding their pants, more than new yorkers love honking their horn, and more than missionaries love mail (yeah -- that's a LOT) love you. and i hope you have a good birthday.
ALSO, i would like to wish my parents a happy anniversary. i love you both more than i can ever tell you and i am so grateful for you. and i can't wait to talk to you :)
WELL, this week was great. REALLY great. it went by really really fast and i am SO EXCITED for Christmas!!!!!!! we saw about a billion miracles this week and i realized just a little bit of how blessed i am. and that's a lot.
miracle #1 - RACHEL. we went over to rachel's house and she told us about a dream that she had. she was there and Christ came - she ran to the church to be saved, but it was already full. she was really sad in her dream and she told us that she realized she needed to be baptized before Christ comes. we talked about the parable of the ten virgins and how her dream really is exactly right. procrastination - bad. preparation - good. she said she wanted to be baptized on the 2nd of January!!!!!!!!!!! it was really cool to be there and to see the change that has come into her life. her husband really doesn't have much to do with churches, but he has been reading the book of mormon and told us that he would come to church with us because he has seen the change that has come over his wife and he knows that the church is good because of that. i really can't describe how awesome it is to see people change their lives - to give up everything and say i'm ready to follow Christ. and the light that comes into their lives when that happens. the gospel is true and truly incredible.
miracle #2 - SERGIO. we have only taught sergio once. we talked to him on the street and he said that he had seen missionaries in haiti all the time, but it was a very very long time ago. well, we gave him the book of mormon in french and english so that what he doesn't understand in english he can get it in french -- well, he has come to church twice, even when he was in the hospital the night before getting a cortizone shot for some major pain in his shoulder (i think his shoulder - eh, something like that) well, we took a member over to his home and they really clicked and we talked about the restoration - sergio said that he gets it, that he has been to a LOT of other churches before and he doesn't ever bother with them. BUT he knows that the book of mormon is true and he believes everything. well, we asked him if he wanted to be baptized on jan. 2nd and he said yes! we taught him again on sunday and he is just soaking everything up. a really really big miracle. just some guy on the street, we see honestly thousands of people on the street, but somehow we are always guided to the right place and placed in the path of the people that are ready for the gospel. cool? umm yeah. really cool.
miracle #3 - BLAISE. blaise has been awesome. he is soaking everything up too, but he doesn't feel ready for baptism. he says he needs several more months to a year before he will be ready. and then he texted us this week and told us that he was so happy to announce that he is ready and he will be baptized the first week of january. he doesn't know the date because he doesn't have his work schedule, but he is ready. miracle? yes. i think so.
some funny, random moments of the week -- as i was walking here to email, some older man stopped me on the street and asked what church i was with. so i started telling him about our church and the book of mormon - then after we talked for a while, he took my hand and told me i had beautiful eyes (he is about mid 70's) and he told me that i would have a soulmate come into my life very soon. and then he told me that if he were younger, he would chase after me. well sir, i'm sorry to break this to you, but i'm a missionary :) and i will be for a while. sorry!
-someone in sunday school asked some very weird questions yesterday and a woman in relief society's phone rang -- well she just answered it and had a full on conversation right before and during the prayer. it was kind of tough to not giggle.
-we had SINGING practice again this week..... enough said
-i got a call from one of the senior couples and they asked me to be the speaker in our mission christmas music devotional -- i'm REALLY excited. me and an elder are doing all of the speaking, but they have 3 Julliard students coming to play the music and one was the world's best youth violinist. that is next sunday so we are all really excited
-we find out about transfers on saturday -- bah!
and that is about everything that happened this week, i think. or everything that i can remember, which is actually not very much. once it gets to monday my brain basically shuts down until we go out to work at 6 -- so sorry! you all get the scatterbrained stories and i forget most of them... oops! forgive me :)
i love you all so much and i hope you have an incredible week. 12 days till Christmas!!!!!!!! woot. i love that i have the chance to testify to people of Christ and help them see why Christmas really is incredible. think about it -- the world (well, most of the world) only really shuts down on one day to be with their families and reflect on their lives, and that is the day to celebrate the birth of our Savior. pretty amazing. love you! have a good week.
sister mich smith
ALSO, i would like to wish my parents a happy anniversary. i love you both more than i can ever tell you and i am so grateful for you. and i can't wait to talk to you :)
WELL, this week was great. REALLY great. it went by really really fast and i am SO EXCITED for Christmas!!!!!!! we saw about a billion miracles this week and i realized just a little bit of how blessed i am. and that's a lot.
miracle #1 - RACHEL. we went over to rachel's house and she told us about a dream that she had. she was there and Christ came - she ran to the church to be saved, but it was already full. she was really sad in her dream and she told us that she realized she needed to be baptized before Christ comes. we talked about the parable of the ten virgins and how her dream really is exactly right. procrastination - bad. preparation - good. she said she wanted to be baptized on the 2nd of January!!!!!!!!!!! it was really cool to be there and to see the change that has come into her life. her husband really doesn't have much to do with churches, but he has been reading the book of mormon and told us that he would come to church with us because he has seen the change that has come over his wife and he knows that the church is good because of that. i really can't describe how awesome it is to see people change their lives - to give up everything and say i'm ready to follow Christ. and the light that comes into their lives when that happens. the gospel is true and truly incredible.
miracle #2 - SERGIO. we have only taught sergio once. we talked to him on the street and he said that he had seen missionaries in haiti all the time, but it was a very very long time ago. well, we gave him the book of mormon in french and english so that what he doesn't understand in english he can get it in french -- well, he has come to church twice, even when he was in the hospital the night before getting a cortizone shot for some major pain in his shoulder (i think his shoulder - eh, something like that) well, we took a member over to his home and they really clicked and we talked about the restoration - sergio said that he gets it, that he has been to a LOT of other churches before and he doesn't ever bother with them. BUT he knows that the book of mormon is true and he believes everything. well, we asked him if he wanted to be baptized on jan. 2nd and he said yes! we taught him again on sunday and he is just soaking everything up. a really really big miracle. just some guy on the street, we see honestly thousands of people on the street, but somehow we are always guided to the right place and placed in the path of the people that are ready for the gospel. cool? umm yeah. really cool.
miracle #3 - BLAISE. blaise has been awesome. he is soaking everything up too, but he doesn't feel ready for baptism. he says he needs several more months to a year before he will be ready. and then he texted us this week and told us that he was so happy to announce that he is ready and he will be baptized the first week of january. he doesn't know the date because he doesn't have his work schedule, but he is ready. miracle? yes. i think so.
some funny, random moments of the week -- as i was walking here to email, some older man stopped me on the street and asked what church i was with. so i started telling him about our church and the book of mormon - then after we talked for a while, he took my hand and told me i had beautiful eyes (he is about mid 70's) and he told me that i would have a soulmate come into my life very soon. and then he told me that if he were younger, he would chase after me. well sir, i'm sorry to break this to you, but i'm a missionary :) and i will be for a while. sorry!
-someone in sunday school asked some very weird questions yesterday and a woman in relief society's phone rang -- well she just answered it and had a full on conversation right before and during the prayer. it was kind of tough to not giggle.
-we had SINGING practice again this week..... enough said
-i got a call from one of the senior couples and they asked me to be the speaker in our mission christmas music devotional -- i'm REALLY excited. me and an elder are doing all of the speaking, but they have 3 Julliard students coming to play the music and one was the world's best youth violinist. that is next sunday so we are all really excited
-we find out about transfers on saturday -- bah!
and that is about everything that happened this week, i think. or everything that i can remember, which is actually not very much. once it gets to monday my brain basically shuts down until we go out to work at 6 -- so sorry! you all get the scatterbrained stories and i forget most of them... oops! forgive me :)
i love you all so much and i hope you have an incredible week. 12 days till Christmas!!!!!!!! woot. i love that i have the chance to testify to people of Christ and help them see why Christmas really is incredible. think about it -- the world (well, most of the world) only really shuts down on one day to be with their families and reflect on their lives, and that is the day to celebrate the birth of our Savior. pretty amazing. love you! have a good week.
sister mich smith
12.07.2010
Happy Hanukkah! (12/6/10)
Oh my dear dear family!
Happy Hanukkah! so... hanukkah is a pretty big deal in my neighborhood because it's all jewish. so last night as we were walking home, we saw THREE cars with minorahs a good six feet long and four feet tall strapped to the top of the cars... something that i had never seen before! but it is really cool to see so many new traditions and how people celebrate. we had stake conference yesterday in the jewish synagogue... that was way cool. elder bruce carlson was there from the seventy and he was talking about Christ and how he stood up in a jewish synagogue that was just like the one we were in (but much much smaller) and read Isaiah 61:1 and said that this day is this scripture fulfilled. it was really really cool. we had one of our investigators with us and she just soaked it all up. she is from nigeria and she is AWESOME. her husband was baptized in a jacuzzi in china (i may or may not have told you this already, but whatever.) and everytime we come over, she just sighs and says please, keep going. we watched the Testaments with her and as soon as it ended, she started it again. it's way cool. her whole family is catholic and very set in traditions (they have a LOT of traditions in nigeria) and so she has told us again and again that she is not ready for baptism. however, her mom passed away a few weeks ago and now things have definitely changed. she is praying about being baptized on the 26th of december. i'm always amazed at how fast we change our minds of what is really important when something happens that makes us see the bigger picture. and then i realize how much God helps us through those times because he knows that we have to go through them to learn and grow -- but he is also there to hold our hand every step of the way.
blaise is still praying about the 26th of december too. with blaise i have really come to realize how much your testimony grows by reading the book of mormon. really, the promise is real. read the book of mormon - gain a testimony of it's divinity. don't read the book of mormon - don't gain a testimony. simple as that. the hard part is just getting people to start reading :) but yeah, blaise is a champion. such a miracle. he wants the holy ghost so bad because he says we share the holy ghost with him everytime we meet. and he wants it forever. dear blaise, you are in luck! that is EXACTLY what my job is right now. to tell you how you can get the holy ghost forever. awesome. miracle? i think so.
Winford moved clear across the country this week and we had one last lesson with him. he kept thanking us and telling us that he will always remember 2010 because he met us. and he had already looked up where an LDS church was where he is moving and he said it's not very far so sister smith and i are really excited. he just needs a different experience or something out there to help him before he gets baptized. every day, every week i am absolutely amazed at how much God has His hand in our lives. He just puts us exactly where we need to be if we follow him. that happened in a really big miracle this week too. we have been trying to get in touch with this girl who hasn't been to church in a long time -- we FINALLY met her this week. she said she has been feeling a nagging feeling that she needs to go back to church and her mom just barely mailed her scriptures to her and said just give it a shot. well, that's when we called. it never ceases to amaze me and it is so humbling that the Lord reaches out to His children through me and my companion. two girls that would never be qualified unless he had called us and given us the power. but he does it. and it is incredible. elder bruce carlson said yesterday that he would rather spend the rest of his life in no other way than in full-time service to the Lord. yeah, it's cool.
so... i told you all that last year for the entire mission was the year of miracles and mighty change -- well that year is now over. so the zone leaders were trying to come up with a theme and goal for this next year and they decided to leave it up to all of the missionaries to decide. they wanted to do something with the title of liberty and make our own NYNYsouth mission title of liberty. so we had a meeting with the whole zone and everyone was bouncing around ideas. well, they were talking about the reasons that the nephites were fighting and what really motivated them. as they were talking i just had an idea come to my head. well, i wrote it down and told the zone. they liked it a lot so my zone leader is asking president nelson about it when they get together on wednesday. we'll see. here was the idea:
Courage
For our God, His kingdom, Their freedom, and Forever families
we had a mission-wide fast on sunday to know where we need to go with all of our ideas. i love it. i love that we can just get revelation whenever we have a question :) sweet.
okay family, i love you more than you will ever ever know. new york is awesome. incredible. i love my mission so much. and i love all of you - your support means the world to me. remember that God is real and He loves you. and i do too!!!!!!!!!!!
love you!
sister mich smith
PICS! I haven't sent any in awhile!
me, sister smith and winford
me and sal's "hey we're on the same mission" picture
me, sister smith and our investigator in front of the jewish synagogue
an awesome picture of the brooklyn bridge that i took :)
some other random picture that i already forgot what i uploaded. oops.
love you!!!!!!!!!!!
Happy Hanukkah! so... hanukkah is a pretty big deal in my neighborhood because it's all jewish. so last night as we were walking home, we saw THREE cars with minorahs a good six feet long and four feet tall strapped to the top of the cars... something that i had never seen before! but it is really cool to see so many new traditions and how people celebrate. we had stake conference yesterday in the jewish synagogue... that was way cool. elder bruce carlson was there from the seventy and he was talking about Christ and how he stood up in a jewish synagogue that was just like the one we were in (but much much smaller) and read Isaiah 61:1 and said that this day is this scripture fulfilled. it was really really cool. we had one of our investigators with us and she just soaked it all up. she is from nigeria and she is AWESOME. her husband was baptized in a jacuzzi in china (i may or may not have told you this already, but whatever.) and everytime we come over, she just sighs and says please, keep going. we watched the Testaments with her and as soon as it ended, she started it again. it's way cool. her whole family is catholic and very set in traditions (they have a LOT of traditions in nigeria) and so she has told us again and again that she is not ready for baptism. however, her mom passed away a few weeks ago and now things have definitely changed. she is praying about being baptized on the 26th of december. i'm always amazed at how fast we change our minds of what is really important when something happens that makes us see the bigger picture. and then i realize how much God helps us through those times because he knows that we have to go through them to learn and grow -- but he is also there to hold our hand every step of the way.
blaise is still praying about the 26th of december too. with blaise i have really come to realize how much your testimony grows by reading the book of mormon. really, the promise is real. read the book of mormon - gain a testimony of it's divinity. don't read the book of mormon - don't gain a testimony. simple as that. the hard part is just getting people to start reading :) but yeah, blaise is a champion. such a miracle. he wants the holy ghost so bad because he says we share the holy ghost with him everytime we meet. and he wants it forever. dear blaise, you are in luck! that is EXACTLY what my job is right now. to tell you how you can get the holy ghost forever. awesome. miracle? i think so.
Winford moved clear across the country this week and we had one last lesson with him. he kept thanking us and telling us that he will always remember 2010 because he met us. and he had already looked up where an LDS church was where he is moving and he said it's not very far so sister smith and i are really excited. he just needs a different experience or something out there to help him before he gets baptized. every day, every week i am absolutely amazed at how much God has His hand in our lives. He just puts us exactly where we need to be if we follow him. that happened in a really big miracle this week too. we have been trying to get in touch with this girl who hasn't been to church in a long time -- we FINALLY met her this week. she said she has been feeling a nagging feeling that she needs to go back to church and her mom just barely mailed her scriptures to her and said just give it a shot. well, that's when we called. it never ceases to amaze me and it is so humbling that the Lord reaches out to His children through me and my companion. two girls that would never be qualified unless he had called us and given us the power. but he does it. and it is incredible. elder bruce carlson said yesterday that he would rather spend the rest of his life in no other way than in full-time service to the Lord. yeah, it's cool.
so... i told you all that last year for the entire mission was the year of miracles and mighty change -- well that year is now over. so the zone leaders were trying to come up with a theme and goal for this next year and they decided to leave it up to all of the missionaries to decide. they wanted to do something with the title of liberty and make our own NYNYsouth mission title of liberty. so we had a meeting with the whole zone and everyone was bouncing around ideas. well, they were talking about the reasons that the nephites were fighting and what really motivated them. as they were talking i just had an idea come to my head. well, i wrote it down and told the zone. they liked it a lot so my zone leader is asking president nelson about it when they get together on wednesday. we'll see. here was the idea:
Courage
For our God, His kingdom, Their freedom, and Forever families
we had a mission-wide fast on sunday to know where we need to go with all of our ideas. i love it. i love that we can just get revelation whenever we have a question :) sweet.
okay family, i love you more than you will ever ever know. new york is awesome. incredible. i love my mission so much. and i love all of you - your support means the world to me. remember that God is real and He loves you. and i do too!!!!!!!!!!!
love you!
sister mich smith
PICS! I haven't sent any in awhile!
me, sister smith and winford
me and sal's "hey we're on the same mission" picture
me, sister smith and our investigator in front of the jewish synagogue
an awesome picture of the brooklyn bridge that i took :)
some other random picture that i already forgot what i uploaded. oops.
love you!!!!!!!!!!!
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