What I am Thankful for:

I wanted to share some of the things I am Thankful for this Thanksgiving....

FRIENDS.......

Rock and Brittany after going through the Salt Lake Temple together prior to leaving on their missions!

MY SISTER:

Hillary and Brittany on Hill's wedding day!

BROTHERS:

Brit and Jeremey making their "Funny Camera Faces!" SMILE :0)

Brit and Greg waiting for dinner at the Nelson Inn (A Pub in England!)

of course DAD & MOM:

Ed and Nancy - proud parents of Hermana Smith!

and FINALLY for Paul....



Thank you for being such a strength and support to me on my mission!

Lastly, I am grateful to be serving a full time mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Arizona Mesa Mission. The Lord truly blesses me daily as I serve in his name. I love the people, the temple, the opportunity to work in the Visitor's Center at the Temple, preaching the gospel and giving the people of Mesa the greatest gift of all - the gospel!

Did I mention - I'm also thanksful for turkey dinner, stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, and chocloate cream pie - gobble, gobble!!

November 24th email...

mi querido familia y amigos:)

HOW ARE YOU? well i am doing well. today is not actually p-day...that will be thursday for turkey day but pres told us to shop and do email today. don't worry i will be having turkey for thanksgiving. all the VC sisters will have thanksgiving together at the Burke's. it will be nice to spend time with the other sisters. we are like a big family and we have too much fun...especially me! well since i wrote you all less then a week ago i have to rack my brain to figure out what happened. well today we got lorena and samuel off to the court house to get their marriage license...after a member cancelling and samuel not being home...but they went and hopefully all is well. we don't know yet cuz we lost our cellphone and have no way to call until we go to the VC. not a fun thing to lose...its like my life. but Heavenly Father is definately watching over us. when one plan falls thru he has another one for us and its usually better then the one we came up with in the first place. xiomara is doing so well. Sis Potter, the YW pres, took her shopping for a skirt to wear to church. they also gave her a triple and the YW personal progress book. she is so cute! after us having the big talk and strategy about how she would avoid drinking this weekend...she didn't even go to the party. she is changing so much...the first time ive seen someone's countanence totally change. im so excited...she wants to get baptized and we will talk to her mom today:) luis is crazy! he is nervous about getting baptized because he is afraid he wont be able to keep his committments...we're trying to figure out what to do about that. but he is still reading the BOM faithfully. on sunday my less active/recent convert Levi went to church. I WAS SO EXCITED!!! ive never been so happy to see someone in my life. the gospel is amazing! as for sis colon and i...well we are doing well. still as crazy as ever. we are trying to figure out how to take care of our area without being in it...its gonna be a challenge. christmas lights begin on friday...im so excited/nervous. every night i will be in a zebra companionship which means that it will be me and an english sister. so i have to rely on my poor spanish...it will all work out though. that's the crazy life of sister smith this week. oh i talked to some elders from phoenix mission...i guess kev is still on the reservation and he may die there:( im still praying he gets transferred so we will see each other before he goes home...we will see. anyways i love you all! have a great week and a great turkey day!!! gobble gobble.

Love,
hna smith
ps- lorena is getting married and baptized on the 29th:)

Novemeber 20th Letter

hola!
well im sorry this is so late in the week but p-day was thursday this week....worst day ever but hey at least i have a p-day. then we have pda again on monday. crazy! well it is still hot here in arizona...though at night it gets a little chilly. i do actually have to wear a sweater. christmas lights start next week and im excited! though there will be like no time in our area i know we will see miracles. today we went to the temple and did initiatories and then we went and sat in the celestial room for about an hour. it was so peaceful! the temple is such a blessing in my life and i was so excited thinking about how when i get home i can be in the temple with so much family and friends! especially because my friends are all getting married....chalyse!!! im not upset that im missing weddings but dont be suprised if i alope...just kidding. the work is going good. everyday we get closer and closer with luis. we have a hard time with him because he likes to joke around with us. its hard not to i mean we are just such fun missionaries. but he really needs to have the desire to be baptized. everytime i think about him getting baptized it just reminds me of my friend daniel's baptism. they are about the same age and everything. i dunno he reminds me of daniel except spanish. i know i will be crying at the baptism. our 15 year old xiomara is so cute! she is trying really hard to do what is right. we came up with a plan so that she won't drink at this party she is going to on saturday. she will do great! lorena is learning little by little. she is so innocent like a child but is a great mother. she does the best with what she has. though carlos and junior were drinking the other day when we went over...never thought i would deal with a WOW problem with a 5 year old and 4 year old. but life is always exciting as a missionary. the wedding is suppose to be this next weekend the 29th...hopefully all goes as planned. to my suprise this week lorena's kids were good..i know hold your breath. lorena actually didnt come to church but the 3 oldest kids did and they sat through sacrament. it was a miracle. so maybe ill consider being a mom after all. we had zone conference yesterday. it was so good! im so blessed to have such a loving, inspired mission president. he really wants us to do well and help these people come onto christ. sis colon and i know we have a lot to work on but we are trying our best. its really easy to get down on yourself as a missionary because there is so much to do. but i love these people and i think in the end that is most important all else will follow. i am doing well. thanks for the letters and the prayers. i hope you all realize how great it is to have the gospel. i am finding that more and more as i meet people that do not enjoy these blessings. we are teaching a drug addict right now...she is so sweet and sincerely wants to change. its just sad to see her just lost. but i know as she lives the commandments she will find peace. well better get on to other emails.
i love you all so much!
hna smith

chaylse-your ENGAGED!!!!! i cant believe that. well i can because your a cute and intelligent girl. a great catch if i do say myself! wow. so excited for you. you better send me your invitation and pictures of the ring too. im sure he is great. kimmie mentioned that your were serious with someone. i guess flippa is engaged too...is that what i hear? im so excited for you. of course i go on a mission and this would happen...:) well good to hear from you and tell your fiance he's got the best catch ever!
i love you girl.
brit-tany

hna summers-i seriously cried when i saw you wrote! so excited to hear from you. i wondered what you were up to and how you were doing. don't worry you do have a letter from me. i hope you are taking care of yourself...your probably going going going even though you dont feel good..just a guess. the mission is hard! but it is so good too. i never thought it would be this fun! i love talking to the people and sharing my testimony. your right though. i have had doubts just like in the mtc...satan is working hard on me. but the Lord strenghtens me always. the VC is good. we hardly get time to study which is hard especially with spanish. though my comp said my spanish is improving...she's from puerto rico and her spanish is so different. its more like spanlish. she's fun though and works hard. were are working really hard with a few different people. ill have to send pictures of me and my investigators. hna i love the people so much and that's what makes everyday worth it. ill have to tell you about my golden family that dropped us. everything was going good. they were getting baptized the next week. no problems was keeping committments and everything. well she told her husband(they are seperated) that her and the kids were geting baptized and he flipped out. he said he would take the kids if she did and so she told us not to stop by anymore. i love this family so much! i never cried like that before it was so hard. but i know they will be baptized someday. anyways i better go i love you! thanks for the letter.
i will write soon.
hna smith

The joys of being a sister missionary!

my dear family and friends-

well it has been a good week. we are finding families left and right. this transfer is going to be a little different because well after nov 28th we will have 1 night a week in our area...for those of you who have never served a mission that is pretty much impossible to get people ready for baptism when you never see them. so these next 3 weeks we are going to work our butts off to get people prepared. we figure if we do our best the Lord will do His part..He has to. so we are trying just that. no baptisms yet...getting close. lorena is having lots of money problems right now so we pray she will be able to stay in her house...the plan is to get them married nov 29th and lorena baptized that same day. i got to sit with lorena and her family in sacrament yesterday...what a mess!!! i was running up and down the chapel chasing after kids...after this i never want to be a mom (sorry Paul). all the other missionaries and people in the ward came up to me after and were like i am so sorry! you are so good to chase those kids....i was exhausted and needless to say i got nothing out of church. i hope lorena did though. everyday im coming to realize more and more howdifferent spanish and english missionary work is...its like night and day. we are trying to work with our bishopric and ward to improve it...patience is a virtue. luis is still reading the Book of Mormon he was in 2 nephi 9 yesterday and we did a fast with him as well yesterday. we just have to figure out how to help him recieve an answer. he's so good! xiomara well she wants to be baptized but her parents said no to her...we are hoping to talk to them and change their minds. the Lord will help us. so the funny story for the week is about a tti(teach, testify, invite) which is a street contact that i had. we were talking to this mexican guy while biking to like the end of our area...seriously! he like sqooze my hand really weird....so we talked to him for a minute and invited him to have missionaries and he accepted so we wrote down the info and shook his hand to say goodbye. well sis colon handed me her planner to put in my backpack and took off...so im standing here a blonde gringa with this mexican man, not a good combo. as im getting situated the man reachs out and caresses my arm. let me tell you i wanted to punch him and i probably would've if i wasnt wearing a missionary badge. i quickly took off. i wanted to take a bath and i was like screaming at sister colon after im like DONT LEAVE ME EVER AGAIN! so there we go nasty guy story for the week. im sure there will be more to come im a gringa they all love me...over all i am well here in arizona. the weather is perfect. its like 75 and sunny. at night you get a little chilly but its nothing like montana or rexburg.
i appreciate the letters, emails, and prayers. i love you all. have a great week!
hna smith

Lov'in it in Mesa!

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!! That is the caption that Hermana Smith put on this photo!!! She is jumping for joy as she continues to serve at the visitor's center at the Mesa Arizona Temple...

The above photo is of Hermana Smith's FIRST baptism. The young man's name is Brandon and he is 12 yrs of age. Hermana Smith and Hermana Colon had a few trials in getting him to this point - but with faith and a lot of prayer, Brandon has recieved a very special gift ~ THE GOSPEL!!!! Congratulations :0)

Now this is a missionary car!!! Actually the sister missionaries found this car in the Stake Center parking lot.... Definately a way to spread the gospel.....

Hermana Colon and Hermana Smith. This is Hermana Smith's 2nd companion. She is from Puerto Rico and is a real "fire cracker" according to Brit! They have a lot of fun together... Now, get to work ladies!!

Hermana Smith with one of the natives in Mesa.....

Hermana Smith and companion during a monsoon! Nice ponchos... Gotta love that SMILE!!!

Hermana Smith and her companion on their P-Day. Visiting one of the National Forests - Is that a cactus or...... WOW they are gynormous!!! (the cactus not the girls!

Hermana Smith proving that she does indeed prosalite vis the "steel horse"! Good on ya ladies! Tighten up those chin straps before taking off though!!!

Life in the MTC

Life in the MTC (Missionary Training Center) was a lot of fun but a bit too long for Hermana Smith. She was ready to hit the road to Mesa at about the 3 week mark but hung in there another 6 weeks to become semi-fluent in Spanish. At least enough to say a simple prayer and testimony. Below are a few photos of her companion Hermana Colgan and the elders that were in her district.

Most of the above Elders are currently serving in the Los Angeles, California Spanish speaking mission. She has made life long "brothers" as she lovingly referes to them.

Hermana Smith and Hermana Colgan taking the traditional photo at the MTC.... Pointing to their mission - Mesa Arizona Spanish speaking mission!!! Bring on the warm weather, mexican food, and the investigators!!!

A priceless picture to a missionary mom!!!!