MTC Experience Coming to a Close :(

I think I always start out my emails like this, but I can't believe I'm a week away from being done with my MTC experience. This time next week, I'll be in Munich learning what my first area will be. I am plenty nervous but also plenty excited to apply everything I've learned here and test out my German. Since I'm traveling next Wednesday, you probably aren't going to hear from me any sooner than a week from Monday becuase I'll be transistioning to normal Monday p-days.

The River Ribble

Last Wednesday afternoon, the seven of us that were at the MTC went on a Church history trip. We saw where President Hinkley stayed when he was here, the towns of Preston, Downham, and Clitheroe, as well as a really pretty college that I cannot remember the name of right now. Let me tell you, it was not easy getting this Church up and started. Looking at how far it's come and how much the Church has grown is amazing. We got to see the River Ribble which is where early saints were baptized here. It is kind of a cool river and we were in a park in Preston  so it was picturesque. 

It was also amazing to see the English country side. It looked just like Jane Austin books. There were sheep and horses and lots of rolling green hills. I couldn't really capture it on my camera, so I'm sorry, but you'll just have to take my word for it.

Not exactly what I had in mind for street contacting

Tomorrow we are going to Manchester to practice street contacting. Sister Arnold and I aren't allowed to participate because our visas are for educational purposes here so we are going to "observe". If anyone talks to us, we are supposed to tell them that we are observers and that they should talk to our "friends". I don't mind observing. I'd love to practice finding, but it'll be cool to go out to Manchester and see it happen.

Yesterday, Sister Arnold and I were teaching an "investigator" who we have been teaching for a while. We had one last thing to teach him before his baptism: "Obey the Law of the Land". It was going well, and Sister Arnold was talking, but then I saw the investigator's face turn from his usual enthusiastic smile to that look of "What the heck are you saying to me?!" I looked down at my book and listened to what Sister Arnold was saying and realized that she was telling him that we need to be good mountains...not citizens. It was kind of funny beacuse he asked how we were supposed to become mountains and if that's even possible, but we got it cleared up and he is still getting baptized so there! It was funny.

This week we got got seven new missionaries at the MTC. Six elders and one sister. We are in a three-some with the sister when she is not in class; her name is Sister Morris. She comes from Wales and is going to the Leeds England Mission. She is so sweet and funny. She makes fun of our American ways a lot. So she is the Sister in the pink in our temple picture today. 

The Temple - Everyone Should Go!

OH yeah! and speaking of the temple, I think everyone should go as frequently as possible. I will have gone to the temple six times in six weeks and have no idea when or if I'll go in the next 17 months. I'm quite positive that everyone reading this has the ability to attend a temple without going to another country or state for that matter. Temples are a gift on earth for our profit and learning. USE THEM!

Anyways, the pictures are of the crew in front of the River Ribble, Sister Arnold, Elder Marley, and I in Clitheroe, and us at the temple. 

Have a great week and make good choices!

Sister Smiley

Week 4!!!

Missionaries in the England MTC

As I'm sure you all know, this week was Easter! It was so fun getting to be here at the MTC for it. Quite honestly I thought it wouldn't even feel like Easter and things would just go as normal on Sunday, but there are only seven of us missionaries here right now so President and Sister Edwards did a great job of spoiling us. We all went for breakfast at their apartment in the morning. It was crepes! Then at sacrament, five of the seven of us had to give talks. The topic was Easter, and I was "fortunate" enough to have been able to be picked to talk. I had to do it in German becuase that's "my language" but I think it didn't go too bad. I did read a lot from the scriptures though...

Desert!

For dinner we had a Sunday roast which was fantastic as usual, but dessert was the real kicker. Our cook made little chocolate suffles with homemade ice cream and strawberry sauce. I've attached a picture, I think it speaks for itself sufficiently. 

Anyways, later on we watched a live devotional broadcasted from the Provo MTC. The speaker was Dieter F. Uchtdorf and it was AMAZING! Sister Arnold and I want to see if we can get hard copies of the talk becuase it was just so great.  Here are two big things I learned from that devotional: 1) Fear no man! Talk to everyone. I'll admit, man is pretty tough, but the strength of the Lord is even greater. 2) When people know and feel your love, you can never be too bold. 

The District

Sister Arnold and I have been noticing when we go to the store that people see our name tags and then look down right away because they don't want to be preached at, but we did notice that if we smile at them and say hi, they look at our tags to see what our deal is and smile back. Just love people. We're all God's children so why not? 

Well, after this amazing devitional, we got to go to the President's apartment and watch the movie "Legacy". We ate popcorn, drank apple juice, and sat on couches. It was so nice. We all freaked out whenever David and Eliza kissed...it was weird.  Overall it was a great Easter. I don't think I'll ever forget my Easter at the England MTC.

Tough conditions

In other news this week, the weather has been great. On Saturday, it was so nice out that one of our teachers moved our tables from the dining room outside so we could sit right next to the pond and eat our lunch. It was so pretty and picturesque.

Sister Arnold and I have one "investigator" that we've taught about seven times now and is committed to baptism. The other day, we were trying to explain to him that he would be baptized by a man (don't make fun, we can only do really simple statements in German right now), but it took us a few tries to get it right and the "investigator" even broke character a little bit trying not to laugh. First we told him that "You are baptizing yourself". Then "You are baptizing a man", then "A man is letting himself be baptized" and I think we even got to, "A man will let you be baptized". The only reason we knew that what we were saying was wrong was because of his facial expressions after each statement. I think we got it right eventually but I really need to work on reflexive pronouns.

Ok, so here's my last story for the week: there we were, the seven of us and our two teachers playing soccer on the field outside during our exercise time. It was going fine, no injuries, and smiles on faces, when all of a sudden a flock of about 30 elders (not from the MTC) started approaching us. My first thought was, oh they want to play, we can just give them the field then. But no, what ended up happening was we had to play WITH them. Sister Arnold and I and about 30 elders. Lets just say, the testosterone level was really high and I felt greatly outnumbered. We were divided into teams and I stayed out of the way most of the time becuase these elders were so serious about this game. They were from all over the world, but I was particuarly afraid of the Belgians. They don't mess around. So there I was, standing there, attempting to look interested when all of a sudden the ball came right to me. What are the odds of that? There was no one else around me to make it seem like it was really for them, so I knew that my foot would have to come in contact witht the ball. The thing is though, it's never just the ball coming towards you. There are also about seven elders coming towards you who look like they are willing to rip your head off in order to get it from you. I'm a sister so they wouldn't get too physical, but they would still be capable of a significant amount of damage. Anywho, for the brief milisecond were the ball was just in front of me, I heard about three people yelling "Sister Smiley!". I don't know what they expected. I just kicked the ball somewhere and ran away. And that is my soccer story. After a few more minutes we, the MTC missionaries, had to leave, but our teacher stayed out cuz he wanted to play, so he made sure our team won. It probs wouldn't've happened without my magical moment.

My companion, Sister Arnold & me

Well that's all for this week folks. PLEASE keep in touch. I love hearing from people and knowing what's going on in your lives. I hope you all have a wonderful week. Smile at someone, go to the temple, hand out a passalong card, and make good choices.

Sister Smiley

Week Three!!!

I don't even know where to begin. 

Outside the England MTC

I can't believe that I'm half way through my stay at the MTC already. It has been ganz toll thus far! I can't even put into words how much I love it here. I'll do my best to convey to all of you how fantasic it's been. I'll start with the most shallow reason that I love it here: the food. I know I've already discussed this but let me expand a little bit. I do not eat in a cafeteria. I eat in a dining room. The cooks here really know what they're doing with scones. We have them at breakfast and dinner and they could not be more delighful. I have also become quite fond of a candy called strawberry bon bons. They are little pink spherical balls. You put them in your mouth and they start out hard and then soften and just sort of melt away. Ignorant people would say that they are covered in sugar, but I prefer to call it a dusting on of magical pink dust that I believe comes from a place where faries might lives.

Me and Sister Arnold

Another fun thing is that my district's window looks right out onto a pond where an abundance of ducks come to run jump and play. Everyone in my district has developed a strange addiction to bird watching. Things can get pretty fierce between the swans and geese sometimes. Everyone is always trying to protect their wife, but Sister Arnold and I enjoy watching the harrons (spelling?) quite a bit. They walk really funny. Whenever something happens in the pond we all run over to the windo and watch with real consentration. One might say that we are doing the Audobon society proud.

One elder in our district (Elder Lynch from Ireland) got a huge package this week. It was all easter stuff from his mum. He was told to share it with us because everyone else in our district is from the States and she didn't think we'd get much for easter. That was super nice of her. We all got chocolate and little yellow fuzzy chicks to put on our desks. They're the epitome of adorable.

For the past two weeks we had a group of missionaries here and we kind of got to watch them go through their MTC experience and I thought that was so interesting. 

On the day they got here there was one elder I noticed who was holding his head a lot. He looked so beaten down and lost and sad and tired, I wanted to cry just looking at him. There wasn't much I could do for him besides pray for him, so I did. He was brought up in Leadership Council on Sunday because his district leader noticed how down on himself he was. President said to love him and pray for him and really pat him on the back because that is something he did not get at all at home. By the end of his two weeks here, he was laughing, having a good time with the other elders and just had another smile on his face all the time. Someone asked him how he got to be so happy and he said that he had never been needed or wanted before, but he realized that everyone who doesn't know about the message of the restored gospel needed him and the fact that there were people who needed him in particular made him happy. ISN'T THAT AMAZING!

On another  note, we had a testimony meeting this Sunday because a group of 20 missionaries left the MTC today to go out to the field so it was their last sunday. I was conducting the music (as always), and at the end we were singing "I Know My Redeemer Lives". I have to say, there are few things more powerful than listening to a group of missionaires of the Lord sining that song. At the last verse everyone started singing so loud. It wasn't rehearsed or planned, it just happened because it was what eveyone felt and meant. It hit me like a wall. It was a struggle to maintain my composure while conducting the music, but it was amazing. That is why we are all out here. We want to share with the world that we know that our Redeemer lives, so come what may. I really can't tell you how it felt in that room at that moment, but I KNOW that my redeemer lives, and I can't wait to share that message with the people in the Alpine mission. 

I love my companion, my district, and the fact that I get the be totally dedicated to serving the Lord for 18 months. This is really the only time in my life that I can do this and it is such a blessing. If any one is reading this and does not know that they have a Father in Heaven who loves them, I hope and pray that you will do what it takes to find out.

Study and fun

Anywho I am doing great! Keep writing because I love to hear from everyone!

Sister Anna Banana Smiley

PS: I have the funniest district ever

Week 2!!

At the Temple

Here I am in the second week of my MTC experience! Crazy! I attached some pictures. One of them is a picture of our view from our class room. It's lovely. This week has been so great! I love being here. This MTC must have been made just for me. Last week I really had no idea what to say, so this week I've been keeping track of things I want to tell you all:

First of all, Sister Arnold and I became Sister Trainer Leaders this week. It may or may not be because we were the only Sisters at the MTC at the time, but its all good. We go to leadership meeting each Sunday with all the district leaders, zone leaders, and the president. We discuss needs of missionaries and such. It's a lot like BYC so I like it a lot because I always enjoyed BYC.

The view from the England MTC

One skill that I've really appreciated having while here at the MTC is my overall familiarity with music. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to conduct and play the piano. This Sunday, our district is singing Nearer My God to Thee in German. I will be covering the alto part. Knowing music has just been so helpful. Anyone going into the MTC anytime soon, I hightly recommend being somewhat familiar with music, you will appreciate it so much.

Conference was this week was so good! 

I felt the Spirit more here than I ever have at conference before...maybe because I am a missionary. Anyways, something that really struck me was Elder Rasband's talk. It was the first talk in the first session, but I know it was something I really needed to hear. He talked about the little girl named Tori who was in a school bathroom during a tornado and prayed for safety. I just loved that so much, becuase Heavanly Father is always there to answer the prayer of a little girl. Wether it be a little girl hiding in a bathroom or a little girl in England learing to be a missionary, he is always there to answer our prayers.

Another thing I learned this week during my personal study was from a scripture, 3 Nephi 13:28 "Consider the lilies of the field; how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin."I'm sure many of you are familiar with that phrase from the song, but seeing it in the scriptures changed the meaning for me. I want to grow like I lily. I shouldn't toil or else I can't be as strong as I want to be. I can't really explain what that scripture meant to me, but I liked it a lot.

The District

My district figured out German sentence structure this week: you simply have to talk like Yoda. Put the words in the most not logical order: We must to church go or Wir mussen zu Kirche gehen. See, it's easy. Actually the German is coming along really well. I am super far from perfect and have plenty of grammar to figure out, but I can converse pretty well, so I'm going to keep truckin along. My favorite word this week: Kichern=to giggle.

Here's a funny mishap that happene in class. We were rollplaying and I was the investigator. An Elder told me "If you read the Book of Mormon and study it, you'll have obedience to your mother". I guess we still have work to do, but we were all laughing about it.

That's all I have for this week, but WRITE ME LETTERS! Seriously though mail is the best thing ever next to the gospel. Have a great week and make good choices :) Sister Smiley

Week One!!

Me and Sister Arnold

I can't believe that I've been here a week! In some sense it feels like it's been forever, but in other ways it feels like I just got here. This MTC experience is so unique and fun. It's a tiny MTC so there is only one German as a Second Language district here at a time and that is us. There are other missionaries who come for two weeks that know their language already so we'll be watching some of them go through. We actually just watched a group go through this morning. It was sad to see them go, but I know they'll be great. 

I have a fantastic companion named Sister Arnold. She's from Alpine Utah and is just great. We get along really well and I already know I'll be super sad to see her leave at the end of six weeks. There is a three-some of elders in our district, Elders Marley, Werner, and Lynch. Elder Lynch is Irish and the other two are American and together they do an excellent job of keeping us entertained. I'll share some stories later.

Everyday we get an hour to exercise. It's nice because we can go outside and run or play soccer or basketball or something. Sister Arnold and I usually run, but in part of the run we go past the "football pitch" where Elders play "football". They actually make the sport look like art. It's amazing. Sister Arnold and I tend to gawk a lot becuase there are German and British people doing amazing things with a ball. They've got so many cool tricks. It's just fun to watch. 

Also, the food here is AMAZING. There's always nutella in the dining room as well as cadbury hot chocolate. One time we had legit fish and chips. It's just always so good. I'm going to gain weight for sure, but I'll walk it off when I get to the field.

Nuts!

Here are some funny stories: I was trying to say in German that Christ died on the cross for us, but I mixed up the words "died" and "killed". What I ended up saying was, Christ killed people on the cross for us. My "investigator" was trying so hard not to laugh. The elders in our district were going to give their investigator a pamphlet about the gospel of Juses Christ, but they accidentally gave the chastitiy pamphlet becuase they didn't know what the German pamphlet said. It was so funny. The "investigator" was so freaked out. Sister Arnold and I died laughing.

Anyways, I've been working really hard on having Christlike love towards people this week. Sometimes it's hard because people don't always do things the way I want, but if we love them, we can be accepting and try to understand more. It's hard and I will be working on it for the rest of my mission, but fingers crossed I can do it.

One last thing. Send me letters!!!! PLEASE! I can get them any day of the week and I have so much more time to respond to them than emails.

I love you all and make good choices.

Sister Anna Smiley

On the way back from the temple