OPEN HOUSE!!!!!

Hermana Smith returns from her *mission on Tuesday, November 17th at the Great Falls Airport.

Date - Wednesday, November 18th from 7-8:30 p.m.

Location - LaQuinta Inn & Suites (GTF) in the "Missouri Room"

Please stop on by to welcome Brittany home from her mission. We look forward to seeing you!

*Mesa Arizona Spanish Speaking Mission

THE FINAL LETTER!!!!!!

Hello-

This feels a little weird...many of you may think you have one more chance to write me but actually i will probably not check email next week. I have to be in the mission home by 4:30. i feel a lot of emotions and its just really surreal that i am actually going to be home next week. Im trying to work hard but at the same time preparing to go home...i have to pack someday.
This week has been so long and crazy...but time is flying by. I feel like i just get up and go back to bed a few minutes later.
There is all sorts of goodbyes this week. Friday i will be going to lunch with the Burke's along with all the other sisters that are leaving. Saturday we have our farewell in the VC as well as my interview with President Bassett. Then sunday is my last spanish fireside.
Many of my converts have come to see me at the VC and pleading that i stay (i told them i would have a sad mom and boyfriend)...i just love the people i have met here in mesa and its so surreal that i will be gone...in a cold cold world again. Its still like 90 degrees everyday here.
I am so excited to see everyone i love though...ive missed you all. I hope you are ready to hear my stories, see my pictures, who knows maybe shed a few tears with me.
Let me update you on my investigators...its been really interesting. We are working on finding people because we have big goals for christmas in our mission. We actually dropped a family last night...well they dropped us. Its a shame that they dont recognize the truth...unfortunately they are catholic and dont want to change. But the good news is that we picked up an investigator named israel... he was taught by other sisters but we decided it was best to let him have a “break”...well he decided to meet with us again and we are so excited!!! im sad i wont get to see some of the fruits of my labors but i know that ive been a part of something much bigger then myself.
I mostly feel so grateful to my Heavenly Father for granting me the opportunity to teach the gospel. My testimony has grown and my desires to follow Him have been strengthened. The gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the Earth today. We have a living prophet today. Joseph Smith was a prophet and he restored to the Church of Jesus Christ to the earth by divine revelation. I know that as we follow the Savior there are great blessings that await us and i want to have those blessings. I hope that we are will. I love you all so much!
You could never know how much your letters have meant to me. Many times its been the strength that i needed to get through the week. I have felt your love and your prayers. I look forward to seeing you all soon. Be safe and remember i love you.

Hermana Brittany Smith

Coming to a close......

HOWDY...

i guess i have to gear up to head back to montucky and trade in my spanish for hillbilly...just kidding. Well it has been a week of miracles thats for sure. We have been fasting and praying a lot as a mission and as a companionship to find new people to teach. The Lord is answering our prayers and we are so grateful. I just want to leave my area better then i found it and so i have to work extra hard this week. I can't believe that it is november...that is just wild!!! where did the time go? The best news of the week is that eveyln franco entered the waters of baptism this week. I am so grateful that i had the chance to be a part of the process. She was beaming all weekend. Its interesting before her baptism she was kind of quiet and not really smiling...i think she was nervous...but after her baptism i asked her how she felt and with a huge smile replied “great, i feel different” i know that she was washed clean of her sins. That is why she felt different. Then on sunday she was confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wow! That is so powerful! She was again beaming. Her blessing was beautiful...her husband is not a member and really not too interested at the moment but in her blessing it said “I bless you Evelyn that you might be an example to your husband, so that one day as a family you can enter the temple and be sealed for time and all eternity.” i know that it will come to pass one day. That is so exciting! I love this aspect of missionary work and would do it for the rest of my life...of course its not possible to be a full-time missionary forever but i sure pray those experiences continue to come. We found a really neat lady this week. Her name is araceli. When we met with her last night we set a baptismal date...of course i wont be there but she will be baptized december 12th...so exciting! She really just absorbs everything like a sponge and wants to know the answers to many questions of the soul. She is incredible and im so excited to see her progress. Life is so good. This sunday of course as you know was fast sunday...i had to get up seeing as its the last fast sunday i will have on the mission. Of course i cried a little but it was so nice to testify to these people i have grown to love for the last 5 months. Its been so great to get to know the members and the people in this area. I just feel a love for each of my areas and Mesa will always have a spot deep within my heart. I hope that all is well in all parts of the world where you might be.
Remember i love you all dearly. I miss you and i hope to see you soon.
Take care this week.

Hermana Brittany Smith

Hello-

my heart is so full today. I just feel blessed to be surrounded by people that love me. Today we went to the temple for the last time on the mission for me. It was a bittersweet experience for me. I have come to love the mesa temple and spent many wonderful moments in its walls. A bunch of us sisters went...most of the ones who are going home with me. I was sitting in the celestial room just thinking about my mission and i just realized how much i love the other missionaries. Especially my sisters from the VC. I really feel as if they are my sisters and i am going to miss them so very much! I have to admit i have become quite the crier here...its ridiculous. But as i was crying there with another sister...i just thought you know what this is what the gospel is all about. I can see them again! We can all be together in the celestial kingdom together and have that great joy again.
I love this gospel...it is so perfect. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father because today i got an email from the Health Center...I HAVE A JOB!!! i dont have to worry because the Lord has provided the way and im so grateful. I love all of you so much and im so grateful for your support.
Last week we had zone conference, which as always, was AWESOME!! that means i had to bear my testimony in front of everyone because it was my last zone conference. I cried...but it was a good cry...half sad half grateful/happy. This week will be my last interviews with pres. Bassett...im not sure im ready for it. It seems all my last things make me cry. We found as few new people this week.
Oh the best news is...EVELYN WILL BE BAPTIZED ON SATURDAY!!! im so excited can you tell? She passed her interview and she is ready to go. I love baptisms and so grateful i will have one more. Please keep her in you prayers this week. Yesterday we found an amazing lady named araceli. She had all these questions of the soul. There is some people you run into and they are just prepared...it seems to be the case with her. Im excited to see what will happen.
Can you believe it the other day here it was 94 degrees??? while most of you are freezing im dying of a heat stroke...my body is going to freak out with the temp change ( mom bring me a coat to the airport) anyways.
I just want you all to know that i love you! Please keep me in your prayers this week...i need all the strength i can get.
Have a great week...i look forward to hearing from you next week.

Hermana Brittany Smith

HOLA!!

Hola!!

well as you all know the time is flying here in mesa and i cant even believe it. The thing i really cant believe is that it is 90+ degrees today and saturday it was 104...that is ridiculous.
It was an interesting week...not too much success in the area and i think satan is working really hard because the week before was incredible. But no worries we are working hard and being obedient, the Lord will bless us. I had a really neat experience this week. A convert from my first area came in for some information. While i was searching for the info she told me something that really touched me. She said that i was the first sister missionary that talked to her in the VC. I was in the back of the VC explaining to her about the Book of Mormon. She said that when i was teaching her about it she had great desires to know about this book. She said the spirit was so strong and later when the missionaries came she commited to baptism. She has now been a member for almost a year and will be preparing to enter the temple. My eyes filled with tears as she told me because many times i wonder “ have i touched people's hearts? Have i done what i needed to do?” i never knew before that i was part of her conversion process and im so grateful she shared that with me. It just shows me that we have a greater influence on people then we can ever really know. So we need to share our testimonies with people and let them know about this message because we never know who is going to accept.
I actually had to speak on sunday and that is exactly what i spoke about. I hope that you are all having a great week.
Please be sure to email me...i will be home november 17th but will still have access to this email for a month after. Please feel free to write me.
I love you all!!!

Hermana Brittany Smith

Note from MOM....

Hello all.... I am in the process of trying to get things squared away for when Brittany arrives back home. In the process I have been slacking in getting all of her emails posted on time and I apologize for that.. They are all posted and up to date as of right this minute....
Again, I am sorry for the lull in the postings.... I am just so befuddled when I think that she is coming home in just about 6 WEEKS!!!

Stay tuned for further homecoming updates!

Thank you all for your love and support :0)
Mom

Hey everyone!!

well you're probably DYING to know what is happening with my last transfer...ok maybe transfers are only exciting to me but drum roll......i am TRAINING....again for my last transfer. They are dividing my area and sister guzman will receive a new companion, sister mcbride. She's been out only 2 transfer so its gonna be interesting. The Lord has confidence in them so i do too. Sister decker will be heading to a full-field area and will actually finish her mission full-field. Thats so crazy because well i got 1 transfer full-field and she gets 3...im not jealous. The Lord needs me in the VC to help train these new sisters. There are 5 coming in tomorrow...4 are spanish and 3 are native speakers. Im nervous but not as nervous as last time. I kind of know what to expect and chances are ill get a native speaker again which will mean my spanish can improve.
Also big news..i will be on bike again. Yep i started on bike and ill finish on bike. Though president said that we may be getting a car in a few weeks. I personally love bike so im excited. This week was way too fast. General conference was amazing!!! i will have to read the talks again because actually i didnt get to pay as close attention as usual because i helped with investigators kids and also was watching in spanish so it was hard to understand everything if i wasnt completely focused. But i loved elder scott's talk on the spirit..that was so amazing!! i need to look over my notes again. But it was so great to hear the leaders of the church and feel the power that comes from their words. I hope we can all apply them in our lives.
We had a few miracles this week. We street contacted this lady from colombia the other night and she really didnt have much time so we gave her a VC card so she could go visit there. Well the next day she called and invited us over to teach her...she also came to general conference on sunday. AWESOME!! then on sunday afternoon this family who the night before we had invited to see conference walked in...that was incredible.
I feel so grateful to my Heavenly Father to allow me to do His great work. It is a blessing everyday of my life. I hope that you all have a great week.
Remember i love you!!

Hermana Brittany Smith