The Last Stand!!!

Well The Last Email Anyway...

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So... I really don't know where to begin!!! This week has been busy and long but has flown by all at the same time!

On Monday we went to Bohemia Castle with Elder Moore, Elder De Wilde and Jonny Meachamp! It was a really nice day out and a very pretty castle! I'd suggest this as a good place for anyone to visit!

On Tuesday we had a dinner appointment with the Evans's... When we got there Sister Evans said "Don't take anything off!! We're going out to eat!". We went for a picnic by the sea... It was amazing!! We had taken our Ukulele's to play them a song as part of our spiritual thought so there we were playing our Ukelele's at the beach! I am a missionary... I promise!!!!

Oh and I have named my Ukulele... He name is Lena!!! "it means "torch", metaphorically representing something that shows light and leads the path.". Sister Longin's first name is Elena so it is kinda named after her as well!!

At District Meeting this week we were asked to do a presentation and demonstrate teaching people how to pray. Sister Longin and I really enjoyed studying and preparing for it even if it did stress me out!! As I think I mentioned in one of my previous emails, Elder Moore asked me to be the room setterupperer for District Meeting. This week I wanted to give everyone a hand out with reference to the scripture (Isaiah 52:7)!

Because we have two sets of Elders I thought that they would appreciate food... I wanted to use trainers from Sports Mixture on top of Walnut Whips but I couldn't find Walnut Whips and I wasn't sure if Sports Mixture even had trainers in them!! Plan B... Liquorice Allsorts figurines on top of cupcakes! The Elders just laughed!

We decided to use Sister Longin's talent of speaking French to do some service this week! We made some handouts and invited everyone to our class! Only two people turned up!!! Thankfully that afternoon before the class we were asked by the Young Women's President if we could do the Young Women's activity that evening! We taught 10 Young Women (4 non members), 3 leaders and 2 members. We played a game about numbers and taught them a French Hymn! Sister Longin taught them the pronunciation and I played my Ukulele so they knew the notes and the tune! It was lots of fun!!

Miracle!!!! I told you last week about an investigator who we began teaching after bumping into him so many times. He pretty much dropped us last week and he wasn't willing give us his phone number or address. On Saturday I found a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD that hadn't been opened in our flat. He loves music and he is trying to listen to good, uplifting music only, as he feels that other music distracts him. I thought that this CD would be perfect for him. However we didn't have an appointment with him or a way to contact him. We were on the bus traveling to contact a former investigator (who we had a return appointment with) when we decided to pray and ask Heavenly Father to make it possible for us to see him. Sister Longin and I scanned outside as we traveled on the bus. We didn't see him. We decided to go beyond our destination to the bus stop where we originally met him. We got off the bus and he wasn't there. We crossed the road as we headed back to where the investigator lived. A bus arrived as we got to the bus stop. He came around the corner to get on the bus. I gave him the CD and told him that I had prayed to Heavenly Father so that I could see him that day. He responded with "Wow, that's amazing!" with a heart full of sincerity. I love being a Missionary. I am so grateful that I have had the opportunity to see the love that Heavenly Father has for each of his children.

We were asked to teach the Young Women's lesson this Sunday... I really enjoyed teaching them. It was about the Restoration... Something that I know about, so I wasn't too stressed about the preparation! I bore testimony about a few things.

This week is going to be another busy one!! We have iPad training on Wednesday in Crawley... The entire Mission is going to be there so I guess it'll be nice to see everyone, one last time, even if the training doesn't really apply to me! During the rest of the week, we have lots of dinner appointments and we also have a District Meeting. We don't normally have one, when we have a big training day, but that's okay as I like District Meetings and this will be my last one! I am making lunch too and I love make people happy through food!! :)

Today we're having a district P'Day! I think the Elders are trying to make my last week special for me! We're not doing anything very exciting but it's nice to spend time with them!!

To be honest... I am dreading this week!!! It has already been a very emotional and I think that this week is going to be really hard! I sat on the bus and cried the other day because of the suffering of the people all around me. I though to myself what good is crying going to do?! not a lot was the answer, so I thought Get a grip and do something about it!!! But then I realised... You really can't change the world Sister Smart!! And that makes me really sad, so I'm going to try to change it, even if I only change it for a few people! It's better than nothing right?!

I love you all!!!

Have a great week!!!

Love, Sister Smart

#sharegoodness

My injury from falling up the stairs at the chapel! :(

Sister Longin and I locked in a dungeon!!

Sister Longin, Elder Moore, Elder De Wilde (He's not stoned... I promise) and I locked in a dungeon!!

Sister Longin and I!

I just love this photograph of Sister Longin! A photograph is worth a thousand words!

Elders being Elders!

Group shot... I'm turning into Dad!!!

Really?!?! This really made me laugh!

And again!! A thousand words!!... She's a nutter!!

Apparently we're both nutters!

Saw this chair and thought of home... Haha!!! :)

We went for dinner with the Evans this week and they took us for a picnic by the sea!!! It was amazing!!!!

Sister Longin and I playing a Ukuleles by the sea... It was part of our spiritual thought! :)

I made these for district meeting this week...

I placed them on the table with a print out of scriptures... Isaiah 52:7 "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"

I tried to fix my hair... I think the second attempt was better!

We had to take the map off the wall... I thought that this would be a good idea!

Not bad for a couple cork boards, some cable ties, a pair of scissors and an old shower curtain rail!

I bought Sister Longin Indian food this week... She said it was okay but not he best! I thought it was really good!!

Penultimate Post!!!

Thats The Last But One (For Those That Dont Know)

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Well hello!... This week feels like both a year and a day! It feels like we have been running around like headless chickens trying to get everything done! It's been fun even though I have felt a little out of control! and time flies when your having fun!!

Last P'Day we went shopping again! And I bought a new dress :) I really didn't need it but it made me feel better! I wore it twice this week and I got lots of compliments, so I think it was a good buy!!

Oh my days... This week we went for dinner and we were given seafood! You know how I am when it comes to seafood! I did my best!! I ate about one third and when the host left to get drinks Sister Longin took one for the team and shoveled the rest of mine into her mouth!! I was and am so thankful to her for that!!!

This week has been full of service!! I think we did service of some sort everyday this week... We helped the Lloyds pack their home as they're moving to Bristol tomorrow! We helped another Sister clean their new home and then we helped her make some little bags and booklets for the Visiting Teaching Convention that we had this Saturday. It was all lots of fun! I really enjoy helping people! The Visiting Teaching Convention was really good too! Hastings is a lovely place!

We were locked out this week... It wasn't good! In each area a member keeps a spare key! We knew which member had ours as it said in the Area Book! Problem! That member didn't have the key!!!! The Sisters had locked themselves out not long before they left and the key was never returned! As we waited for a member to come and break in at 9.45pm we had a gospel discussion with someone named Jess... :) Fancy that! After about 15 minutes of being criminals we were in!! Phew!!!!

For District Meeting this week Elder Moore asked me to set the room up and make it nice so the Spirit could abide! :) It was good as the Elders always set the room up without tables! When your 5'2" you can't keep your scriptures, Preach My Gospel and a notebook on your lap... They just slip off! So I took advantage and set up with tables!! :)

You remember me talking about a chap that we spoke to a couple P'Days ago with the Ukulele? Well... We bumped into him again! We chatted with him a lot and taught him about the Book of Mormon. I believe that as Missionaries you are blessed to have a tiny glimpse of how Heavenly Father sees his children! It is very clear to me how much love Heavenly Father has for him and as a Missionary I am able to feel that love for him also. Each time I think about him or see him I am overcome with the love that God has for him. I want so desperately to help him, but I am really lost as to what more I can do for him. I am seeking direction from Heavenly Father and I am actively waiting for his guidance. Yesterday he asked me how long I would be in Hastings. When I told him only two more weeks my heart sank as I realised that two weeks was the only time I had to help him.

On a lighter note...

I smashed the screen of the phone this week! I have dropped so many Mission phone (including this one) and I haven't broke one until this week! You know the bumps to warn the blind that there is a road crossing or that you're close the the train platform edge! Well... They're not good for phones! You can see the shape of the bump in the crack! :/ Ooops! Elder De Wilde reckons that all of the phones will be replaced by iPhones when the the iPads arrive as you can link to the phone's 3G!

Unfortunately running around like headless chickens has resulted in us not being in the flat for lunch and dinner... My Ukulele practice time! I was told 15 minutes a day will make an okay Ukulele player in about three months. But where do you find 15 minutes in a day?!?! :/

This week I received a letter from President Millar telling me about going home. An email asking me to answer 5 questions about my Mission and about 20 people telling me that I have only a couple weeks left of being a Missionary. It is really freaking me out! I know that is the reality and I am excited to come home, of course I am! But I love being a Missionary!

This week I somehow managed to break my music USB... Something happened with the files and now they won't play or open! I am gutted! A similar thing started to happen with my photo USB too... I think Elder De Wilde fixed that one before it was too late though! Thankfully! I think I would be the unhappiest Sister Missionary going if I had lost my photographs!!!! Thank goodness for Elder De Wilde and his geniusness!

Today we're heading to Bohemia Castle with the Elders and Jonny (a member who is soon to be a Misisonary in the Leeds Misssion)! We are super excited!!

I hope and pray that you all have a lovely week!!!

I love you all!!!

Love, Sister Smart

Oh and check this Mormon Message out... It's a gooden!!!.........
https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2015-04-001-bearing-our-burdens-with-hope?category=mormon-messages-2015&cid=HP_TU_4-14-2015_dPTH_fMC_xLIDyL1-C_&lang=eng

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Me and my Uke... She doesn't have a name yet!

Ooooops!!!!!

Sister Longin and I!

The bags we helped to make for the Visiting Teaching convention!

Sister Longin... Haha! She was busy when I cooked so she wanted to guess what I had made by taste!

Lost A Book Of Mormon!!!

But Found A Ukelele...

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Well well... Another week has gone by and I can't believe it... It's freaking me out a little at how fast time is going!

We have a new thing in the Maidstone Zone called Maidstone Fear Factor... It's suppose to help with over-coming fears but I reckon it's to make a fool out of you. :) This weeks... Sing in the street and Soap box (Google)... I will not be soap boxing. I think it's arrogant! This was announced on Monday evening around 21.45. Earlier that evening Sister Longin and I were singing to a chap that we met at the bus stop! Haha!! I reckon that shows that we're nutters! It was actually really cool though and he liked it. I was playing (trying to) Sister Longin's Ukulele and he stopped to show us how it's done. We spoke with him about the gospel and sang Be Still, My Soul. Making a fool out of yourself sometimes pays off as a Missionary!

Unfortunately I was a little unwell at the beginning of this week... We decided to do some service for a member as it didn't require much effort, but it was time spent well. The Elder's gave me a Priesthood blessing on Tuesday evening and I felt much better on Wednesday. The blessing was really nice... Very interesting! Heavenly Father told me a lot through Elder Moore!!

We have had a lot of appointments cancelling the last couple of weeks... We kinda feel that we take two steps forward and then one step back. That's much better than one forward and two back though, so I think we're on a winner!!

We went into a park near our home the other day to chat with people as one of the members thought it would be a good place to chat with people... The first person we spoke with has lived in Hastings for about a year and has been looking for a church to attend for a while now! Heavenly Father really is amazing!

We had Zone Training this past Friday... It was a really good meeting! We had a couple of members come and address us. On of them was called Sister Lou and as a profession she teaches people how to speak publicly. It was a really fun workshop and I learned so much from her! She served a Mission in Leeds so we spoke about the North together! :)

Somebody that the Elders haven been working with for a while now was baptised on Saturday... It was a lovely day and I'm so glad that I was able to be there! Leslie has been investigating the church since 1997... I'm so happy for him!

I lost my hard back Book of Mormon on Saturday morning as we traveled to the chapel for the baptism. I left it on the bus!!! I pray that someone will find it and make good use of it! I was really sad though as I have had that Book of Mormon my entire Mission! Ah well... Worse things happen at sea!!

As I logged on to my email on Saturday to send our Progress Record to our Ward Mission Leader I noticed an email from the Mission... It was thanking me for my service (again) and asked that I answer some questions about the experiences I have had during my time as a missionary. It made the little time that I have left feel even less! CRAZY!

I was asked to teach the lesson this Sunday in Gospel Principles... It was on the Organisation of the Priesthood. I prepared for it but I felt that it went horribly... I am assured that it went well but I don't know who to believe! Elder Moore or everyone else! Elder Moore said "Both of the lessons you have taught in Gospel Principles have been good. The last one was great and this one was okay.". Hahahaha!!! I laughed and then cried!! I know it wasn't his intention but it really upset me! Haha! Men!! Elder De Wilde heard him say it and said "We'll talk about this later at home.". Elder De Wilde has two Sisters so I think he gets it!

So this morning I bought a Ukulele!!!! After playing Sister Longin's (terribly) I decided that I would get one for myself. I'm not sure if the practice that I intend to put in will help much as I'm not particularly musical but I thought I'd give it a go!!

Next Monday we are having a Zone P-Day in Orpington so that should be a fun day! We have some really funny missionaries in the zone so it will be fun to spend time with them!

Sister Longin and I laugh so much and I'm so glad that we are able to enjoy our time together! We have a good week planned this week so we are looking forward to what miracles lay in store for us!!

I hope that you all have a lovely week! I'll be praying for you!

I love you!

Love, Sister Smart

#sharegoodness

Sister Longin and I on the phone to our District in the loo of McDonalds.

Sister Longin and I being swept away!

Me with my Easter gifts from Sister Longin's family!

Sister Longin and I eating some of our Easter chocolate!

We gave flowers to strangers this week!

Sister Longin and I enjoying the sun!!

Such A Lot To Say!!!

But So Little Time To Say It...

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Well... This has been a busy, long week! I feel like I have a lot to tell you so hopefully I'll be able to get it all in!!

Last Monday was a good day... Sister Longin and I went shopping as I am sick of my clothes now. I didn't find anything but Sister Longin got two things!! Ah well... I guess I didn't really need new clothes anyway! In the evening we had a Cottage Evening at the Meachams home in Bexhill! It was a lovely evening all about Easter!

On Tuesday it was District Leader Council... My presentation day!!!! I was dreading it!! My preparation went quite well and I felt well prepared. I don't know about anyone else, but I felt that it went quite well. Elder Moore said that it was good but he had to say that! I learned a lot in my studies in preparation. I realised that finding is teaching. That sounds silly as it's something obvious and something I know but my understanding has changed and it has helped a lot! A little frustrated that my understanding is only coming now when I only have 4 weeks left but it's better late than never I guess.

We traveled to and from DLC with Elder Moore and Elder De Wilde. It was nice having the time to chat and to get to know one another. You get so used to being around Missionaries that you forget to actually get to know them sometimes. I have been so blessed to serve around some amazing people.

After DLC on Tuesday afternoon we did some service for a member... She was talking about her son and mentioned Northern Soul. I nearly cried thinking about Mum! I burst into song... I Can't Change by Lorraine Chandler!! Thankfully she laughed and didn't (atleast I don't think) think I was a nut job!!

Sister Longin was sick this week... :(Not good!) President thinks she has a touch of the flu! We took time to rest which was good as every now and then I thought she was going to fall over/pass out! We were super blessed for our diligence though as we saw many mighty miracles!

District Meeting was on Thursday this week as the Zone Leaders came. It was a good meeting but Sister Longin was still sick! She has a Priesthood Blessing after the meeting which really helped and by Friday she was right as rain! As she was sick on Wednesday it gave me time to make a Banoffee Pie for the meeting... It went down a treat! Always does... Heart attack in a pie!!

I have been struggling a little recently as Satan is on top form! I had a
Priesthood blessing of comfort and council from Elder De Wilde when Sister Longin had her blessing. It was one of the nicest blessing I have ever had. Heavenly Father so clearly knows me perfectly! Just what I needed!

On Thursday evening we had a dinner appointment with Peter and Ola. They are brother and sister from Nigeria. Ola is a very very good cook! We had Jollof rice with fried plantains and chicken. It was so good but I was so so so full afterwards! Amazing people!

I was so happy to receive my Easter package on Saturday as it had photographs of baby Isaac included! I can't express how excited I am to be an Auntie again!! I am so so so excited to hold that little bubba!!!

General Conference was amazing this weekend! In total I had met three of the people that participated! Claim to fame! :) All of them were amazing but there was the odd few that were just for me! If you haven't already I would suggest that you watch ALL of it!!!

After General Conference on Saturday we had our weekly Ward Coordination meeting at KFC. I think the Lloyd's just wanted to treat us. They have just found out that they need to move to Bristol by the end of the month as Sister Lloyd has just got a new job there. They are amazing people and it will be sad to see them go!

Today we were unable to go to the Temple so we had a district P-Day instead... I made Croques-Monsieurs (Google it) for lunch! And then we played games! I didn't want to waste the day so I must admit I was a little bossy! Haha! Everyone seemed to enjoy it though!!! :)

Next week is a busy week!! We are hoping to go to the Temple Visitors Centre with some of the people we are working with and we have Zone Training on Friday! A busy week full of amazing things!!

I just love Sister Longin... We laugh so much! President Millar told me when he told me who my companion would be that we were made for one another and he was right! She is just amazing!!

I love you all!!! I hope that you have a wonderful week!

Love, Sister Smart

#sharegoodness

Jollof rice with fried plantains and chicken! African dinner appointments! I was so full it was unreal!