Final Stretch

Family and friends!

Well everyone, I got transferred on Tuesday and you'll never guess where. I went to Russian land!!🤯 Yup, you read that right I'm going to learn Russian in 2 weeks. It's been wild. 

☀️Highlights☀️

- I learned how to say goodbye, hello, good job and some other words! Goodbye is pak-pak. After they taught me, they told me to say it to some other missionaries and I said "bawk-bawk"😂.It was really funny.

- We had a super awesome mission tour with Elder Gerard! I learned so much!

- We had a super awesome lesson with a family and near the end of the lesson we were wondering if we should invite them to be baptized. Then the mom asked "So, what do we need to do to be ready for baptized?" We were shook! So amazing!

- We got to go and pick up miles which was fun!

- I gave my departing testimony in front of the whole mission. 

- I have 7 days left..................

🥤Spiritual Juices🥤

I've been trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm coming home next week. It's crazy to realize that after so long of watching other missionaries going home and thinking it's so far away, I'm here. But as I look back on my mission, man, I've loved it so much! My mission has given me the greatest gift I could have asked for: my conversion to Jesus Christ. I can say without a doubt that He lives. My mission has taught me who He is to me and how much I have to rely on Him. My mission has taught me to trust the Lord and how He can help me to change and become the person I need to be. I know that the Book of Mormon is true and it is another testament of Jesus Christ because it has changed my life. I love this gospel and my Savior. I'm so excited to be able to continue being a disciple of Christ as a take this step into a whole new adventure. 

I love you all and hope you have the best week and I'll see you soon!

Let God Prevail

Kia Kaha

Sister Twede:)

Fanny Pack Friday!

Service

Comps

We found a cat that likes our car!

Wait, I'm Getting Transferred?!!

 Family and friends!

Well guess what y'all. With only two weeks left, President decided to through a huge curve ball and....I'M GETTING TRANSFERRED🤯🤯🤯! Did not see this one coming at all, but apparently the Lord has some more things for me to do before I head home.

☀️Highlights☀️

- We went on quite a few exchanges in the past two weeks which were super fun! 

- I got to do an exchange in my first area! It was so fun to see some members too!

- I got a "check your speed" from our car program when we were unmuted during ward council😂.

- Our zone is finding so many new friends! It's so awesome! 

- We got to do some service for some nonmembers. We weeded for one lady and then helped another lady pull blackberry bushes.

- I got to have a lesson with my trainer which was so so fun!! She's the best.

- l locked the keys in the church not just once but TWICE in one week😂.

- I got a awesome new mask!

🥤Spiritual Juices🥤

Today I want to talk about hope because it is something that everyone needs. 

Yesterday we were reading in Ether 12 as a district and verse 32 really struck me. (I honestly didn't notice it until then).

32 And I also remember that thou hast said that thou hast prepared a house for man, yea, even among the mansions of thy Father, in which man might have a more excellent hope; wherefore man must hope, or he cannot receive an inheritance in the place which thou hast prepared.

I love those three bolded words. MAN MUST HOPE! If we do not hope what do we have? I know this year has been kind of the worst but trust me when I say that because of Jesus Christ I have hope for the future. Have hope in Him and you'll be able to then have faith and by that faith you will see miracles. 

I love you all and I'll see you soon!

Let God Prevail 

Kia Kaha 

Sister Twede:)

Happy Turkey Day!

 Family and friends!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I can't believe it is already Thanksgiving again! This year has been a wild one to say the least! But this week on social media I have seen that we still have so much to be thankful for! We always have had so much to be grateful for!

There was quote I heard from another missionary this past week that said "My sorrows have out numbered my joys but my joys have out weighed my sorrows.". I absolutely love this because it's so true. All throughout life we can see that the hardships and trials have definitely out numbered our victories or our happy days. But as we turn our focus to those little victories and the tender mercies the hard times won't matter. 

Today marks 17 months since I left my family, friends, life plans, and dreams behind and headed into the unknown. Seventeeen months ago I had no idea what I was getting myself into. There have been a lot of hard days. Days where no one would talk to us, we would get yelled at or get bashed on Facebook. There were nights were I had never cried so hard or I wondered what on earth I'm doing with my life. But let me tell you something, even amidst all those hard things, I look back with so much gratitude in my heart. It was during those hard times that I learned to pray harder than ever before, to trust in Lord, to love others unconditionally. I learned who Jesus Christ is to me. I'm so grateful for every single day of my mission and all I've learned. There is nowhere else I'd rather be and no greater thing I could be doing with my life. I know Jesus Christ lives and I am forever indebted to Him because He truly has given me everything. 

I love you all and hope you have the best Thanksgiving ever and eat lots of food! Love you all!

Let God Prevail 

Kia Kaha

Sister Twede:)

June 26, 2019

November 26, 2020

"I'm about as subtle as a train wreck!" - Bro Hovenden

Family and friends,

If you haven't yet seen President Nelson's announcement GO LOOK AT IT AND INVITE EVERYONE! It's going to be awesome!!

☀️Highlights☀️

- We had a Social Media meeting on Friday and they pushed it back so they could tell us more about President Nelson's message of hope and healing coming up on the 20th. So, if that doesn't show how important this will be, I don't know what does!

- Our ward mission leader has given us a ton of bottles of Martinelli's to deliver to less actives. So we delivered some on Saturday and it was so fun! We saw quite a few people that we haven't been able to meet!

- We had some really good lessons with members this week!

- We got to help an older couple that lives behind our church building (who aren't members) bring their Christmas decorations down. And the husband, Hugh, showed us how oxygen is flammable by filling up a bottle and shooting it off! It was super loud and scared me half to death haha!

🥤Spiritual Juices🥤

Just yesterday I learned something new from a story in the Bible that I have read so many times. Peter walking on water. Now I feel that Peter sometimes get chastised about how "he didn't have enough faith". Well, let me enlighten you on something I came to understand yesterday. 

First, out of the 12 disciples that were in the boat, Peter was the only one who stepped out onto the water. That takes a lot of faith! Second, HE WALKED ON THE WATER! That also takes a lot of faith. Now here is where it gets rough. Peter then realizes that he is out pretty far and he gets distracted by the waves and begins to doubt. Have we not all had those times of doubt? But here's the mind blowing part! When Peter realizes he's sinking, he immediately cries out to the Lord! This part demonstrates that Peter really actually has so much faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ! 

So let's just think for a moment...when we are in the midst of our storm, whatever it may be, when we begin to doubt and find ourselves starting to sink, how long does it take us to cry out for Christ's help? How long do we try to do it ourselves? I know for me, being the stubborn person I am, I think I can swim on my own, but it's when I reach out to Him that I realize I could have been walking a long time ago! So I invite you to kneel down and ask for the Lord's help. I know as you do He will IMMEDIATELY stretch forth His hand and save you!

I hope you all have the best week! Make sure to tune into President Nelson's message on Friday at 11AM MST!! Love you all!

Left God Prevail

Kia Kaha 

Sister Twede:)

All of our Martinelli's

Fanny Pack Friday!

Devil Lake

 Family and friends,

Well, it was quite a week! We are starting to head into winter now and so that means we say farewell to the sun for a couple months. But there is still some sunshine to be found!

☀️Highlights☀️

• We went to Diablo Lake last Monday! It was so pretty! It took us an hour and a half to get there, but the views there and on the way up were so worth it! 

• I went to Spanish land for a bit on Tuesday! That was pretty exciting! 

• We had a super awesome District Council on Wednesday! We talked about why faith in Jesus Christ was so important and just had a really good discussion. 

• We taught our friend Craig and he said that he loves the Book of Mormon and is so excited to keep learning all he can about the gospel! It's so awesome!

• ZONE CONFERENCE! It was so fun to be able to see the whole zone on Thursday! The spirit was so strong at both conferences! 

• Friday we got to help some nonmembers chop and stack wood! I was so sore the next day!

• Saturday we helped some other nonmembers move. We gave a Book of Mormon to one of our members who was also helping. They know the nonmembers really well and plan on giving it to them! 

🥤Spiritual Juices🥤

First off, I just want to say that my heart out to all those suffering right now. Whatever it may be (Covid, financial struggles, the death of a loved one, not feeling good enough) I want you to know that God is listening. He is listening to every tear filled prayer, every cry for peace, every question why. I know this with all my heart and I know that He is working in the details of YOUR life. 

Second, I want you to know that I know that JESUS CHRIST LIVES! One of my favorite hymns (and my dear Grandma B's favorite as well) is I Know That My Redeemer Lives. I love the words of the second verse

He lives to grant me rich supply.

He lives to guide me with his eye.

He lives to comfort me when faint.

He lives to hear my soul’s complaint.

He lives to silence all my fears.

He lives to wipe away my tears.

He lives to calm my troubled heart.

He lives all blessings to impart. 

I know that because my Redeemer lives, He has felt every pain, struggle, heartache, and tear we have and have yet to feel. Turn to Him, He will heal you. 

I love and miss you all! Hope you have the best week!

Let God Prevail 

Kia Kaha 

Sister Twede:)

Diablo Lake

Exchanges

Wood Chopping/Stacking Crew

Fanny Pack Friday

Blue Skies

Facemasks are a necessity!

Am I in Utah?

 Family and friends,

I wrote you all a poem. 

October is gone 

That didn't take very long

Anyway,

☀️Highlights☀️

- We got 2 referrals this week! One is a little boy that hasn't been baptized yet, but his parents are members! The other one was a self-referral that sounds super solid! We haven't been able to get in touch with either of them yet, so pray we can this week. 

- We had a meeting with all the mission leaders and it was so good! We talked about some really good stuff. Both Sis Vivas and I were kind of drained after the meeting. We went to Cafe Rio after and saw so many members! I almost felt like I was in Utah or something!

- We were able to get our friend Craig a Book of Mormon. He started reading and said that he really likes it! 

- Halloween was pretty great! We helped some sisters make a video and went and dropped off some treats to members. We had to be in by 6, so we did weekly planning...yay.......

🥤Spiritual Juices🥤

The past 2 weeks I've been studying the story of Peter walking on water. This is one of my favorites and let me just say that there is so much we can learn from with story! But I'll spare you from a novel about everything I've learned. First, I want to highlight 3 verses:

Matt 14: 30-32

       30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.

31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?

32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

I love these verses because when Peter called out for the Lord when he was afraid, Jesus came IMMEDIATELY. I picture the Savior running to his aid to help Peter. Then after Jesus pulled Peter up they walked back together. When I read this, I realized that many times in our storms we begin to doubt and become afraid of the waves and wind. When we call out for Christ to help, He will be there IMMEDIATELY. He will then walk back with us until we have reached safety. Also He won't calm our storm when we call out to Him. If there's one thing I've learned on my mission it is that sometimes He doesn't change our circumstances. This is because He wants to change us. But He will give us the help and strength we need to over come our circumstances. Ask for His help! He's your lifeguard. 

I love and miss you all and hope you have the best week!

Let God Prevail

Kia Kaha 

Sister Twede:)

Fanny Pack Friday

Happy Halloween

After 3 weeks back to church, we finally took a picture

Sunday Picnic (It was freezing!)

Golden Hour

"Facebook is like selling lemonade on the side of the freeway." -Elder Hatch

Family and friends,

Wow, time has really been flying by! It's been so great!

☀️Highlights☀️

- We made a new friend!! We are probably going to be passing him off to some other sisters soon though because he lives in their area. But we made a new friend!

- We went to Denny's and a pumpkin patch on Monday!

- We got to join a devotional with John Bytheway! It was super awesome!

- We had a super awesome training on Thursday to learn more about how we can better connect with people on Facebook! 

- Someone just paid for our meal at IHOP (blessings!)

🥤Spiritual Juices🥤

So my past couple emails I've talked a lot about loving others. Well today, we will hit another aspect of this blessed topic: LOVE YOUR ENEMIES! We all have someone that we just can't seem to get along with, much less love. But in 3 Nephi 12:44, Jesus Christ tells the people "...love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;"

Think about that for a second. Jesus Christ is asking us to raise to a higher level of loving others. He's telling us to love LITERALLY everyone! He's asking us to put aside our prejudices and look at everyone as a child of God. Because truth is, we don't know the whole story, God does and He still loves all His children so let's all try to love our enemies, bless those that curse us, do good to those who hate us, and pray for all those who persecute us. It makes the world a much better place!

I love and miss you all and I hope you have the greatest week!

Let God Prevail

Kia Kaha,

Sister Twede:)

Fun at the Pumpkin Patch

We cherish every blue sky day!

Set up for one of our meetings

Fanny Pack Friday!