1 Down, A Lot More To Go

Family and Friends,

Hey y'all! How is everything going? I'm happy to inform you that I made it through my first transfer!! Woot woot!! And I'm staying in Anacortes with Sis Cluff, she's not getting rid of me yet😉. Anyway, this week was pretty good! Here it is:

Monday: We had a zone activity at Washington Park here in Anacortes. It's super pretty and right on the water. We cooked hot dogs and burgers and played games. It was pretty fun! That night we had 2 lessons with members and they went so well! We are trying to help members know how they can introduce the gospel to those around them in simple and casual ways and it's going pretty well so far so stay tuned.

Tuesday: Kind of a slow day. We tried contacting a lot of people but not many were home or didn't want to listen. So that was rough, but it's all good.

Wednesday: We had our last district council which was sad but it's all good because we all have places we need to be. We had another exchange and I got to lead out in Anacortes with Sis Budd (so I also got to drive for the first time in 2 months! It was great!). It was a little crazy because we had a booked afternoon. We taught our friend Jason about the Holy Ghost and  baptism and he said he wants to work towards baptism!! So awesome! Then we had 3 member lessons later and got to talk to a lot of awesome people during finding time! It was super awesome and I learned a lot about how to talk to people and relate the gospel to them from Sis Budd. She's awesome!

Thursday: Sid Budd and I did our studies in the morning and then we left for the farm stand that we were meeting Sis Cluff and Sis Aagard at. I got some super good salsa at the farm stand! (I have a bit of an addiction to chips and salsa haha.) After Sis Cluff and I got back home, we did comp study and then went out for finding. That was uneventful but right after we ran back to the apartment to get something.  When we were about to leave again, there were 2 cop cars in front of our apartment! They were checking out this creepy truck that was in the parking lot and they were there almost the rest of the night so we got stuck in our apartment the rest of the night haha! Pretty crazy stuff!

Friday: We did service at the zoo and Dave (the owner) had us in the reptile room. Yeah nope! It's a trailer with 20-30 cages and 3/4 of them are snakes. If you know me you know I don't like snakes so I was internally freaking out the whole time. And Dave kept telling me about all the poisonous snakes they have, yeah that didn't help either. But I made it and didn't get bit by any snakes! The rest of the day was mostly just weekly planning so nothing too exciting and snake free.

Me trying not to freak out as I block a hole so a
giant snake won't come through the hole!

Saturday: A lot of our appointments fell through which was sad but we visited some pretty awesome people. We visited a family who's son is the only member and they were so sweet. The mom asked if the son, Donna, wanted to go to church and he said "totally". So, she said that her, Donna, and her daughter, Tina, would all be there tomorrow. They would need a ride and we got some members to give them a ride that night! We also got to visit a less active couple that are only less active because they have health issues. They are the greatest and their dog is so cute! (it's a golden doodle) We had a super awesome conversation with the wife and were able to do some service for her as well.

Sunday: It was Sis Cluff's birthday! So that was awesome and church was the best. We had dinner at a member's house and she made Sis Cluff a cake that was so good! We visited Sis Salas and had such an amazing visit. She has such a strong testimony! We finished off the night at the Gardners. They just moved in and are the nicest couple. They are already so willing to help us and have us over for dinner sometime.

Well that was the week! There is a talk from this last Conference called "Exercising Your Spiritual Muscles" and it talks about how we have to do those small and simple things over and over. When you work out you have to continually work at it so you retain and can develop more muscle. It's the same for our spiritual muscles, we must continue to exercise them so they can be retained or developed. Anyway love you all and hope you all have the best week!

Kia Kaha,
Sister Twede

View during weekly planning.

Me and Sister Budd at the park.

We picked blackberries from off the side of the road!

Selfie with a bird.

Life is an Adventure

Family and friends!!

Hey y'all! How is everyone? I hope everyone is doing well! This week went by pretty fast, I can't believe it's already Monday again! But this week was pretty good so I'll give you a quick update on the week.

Monday: We went out to Mt. Vernon and wrote emails there because we had another exchange later that day and that's where we met the other sisters. I went back to Camano with Sis Barraclough! We actually came out together so we were a little nervous because we are both still trying to understand mission life haha! But that night we met with one of their friends named Ris. He is super awesome and is just waiting to get baptized. He loves the Book of Mormon and always talks about how great it is haha. He's awesome!

Tuesday: Sis Barraclough and I did some service that morning and then went and had another lesson with Ris. It was about family history and let's just say it was a little rough. Neither of us have ever done a family history lesson with the family history consultants so we didn't really know what we were doing but it's all good because we learn as we go! Later that day while we were tracting a little we accidentally tracted into some members! It was great because after we shared a scripture and were leaving the wife said "thank you so much for coming over I really needed that". It was awesome! Then when we went to our lesson with a member family the mom told us that she was just over at that same member's house earlier that morning! Crazy right?! It was pretty awesome.

Wednesday: We had district council that morning and that is always awesome. We talked a lot about the importance of families and the plan of salvation which is exactly what we were planning on teaching our friend Jason later that day!! That lesson went really well. We hadn't met with him for a while because he has a crazy work schedule but he is still super interested in learning more about the gospel but wants to take it slow. Later that day we went out to visit some less actives with a member from one of the wards, Sis Bray. It was really neat because we visited a sister and she told us that life is an adventure and when we got home Sis Cluff found a sticker she had gotten in one of her areas that said "life is an adventure" it was so crazy!

Thursday: Kind of a weird day. All of our plans went out the window except for two things. We had another lesson with Jason and we talked about the Plan of Salvation and mostly talking about our life on earth and the Atonement. It went really well and he feels that he is starting to understand things. We went back out with Sis Bray that night and when we showed up to another sister's house she saw Sis Bray and said "God works in mysterious ways" and started crying. She had been really struggling and Sis Bray used to minister to her and she had been asking for her just 2 days earlier. It was definitely what she needed. It's so awesome how the Lord is so aware of all of our needs.

Friday: We had service at the zoo in the morning and Sis Cluff took me around to see the cougars and the emu so that was neat! Nothing too exciting happened during the day but we did get to talk to a lot of people later that night which was awesome!

Saturday: We went to a memorial service that morning for the grandson of a family in one of the wards. It was really a good service and the spirit was so strong during the whole thing. The rest of the day was pretty much just weekly planning. We had a our last lesson with Salemma because she's leaving for college so that was sad that night. But she's super excited and she's going to be awesome.

Sunday: We had Stake Conference and it was so good! So much good stuff was said! There was one talk that talked about ministering and the sister talked about how we should minister to everyone around us and to just love them. It was so great I loved it.

Well that was the week. I just want to elaborate on what one of the sisters talked about on Sunday. Everything we do should be motivated by love for those around us. The 2 greatest commandments Christ gave is were to love the Lord thy God and love one another. When we love those around us that is when hearts are changed and they can be able to feel the Saviors love for them through us. Well, I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede

Exchanges with Sister Barraclough!

Mom asked Bethany to take this picture

"Life is an Adventure"

Dog driving a car

Cougar at the zoo

Fanny Pack Friday

Rain and Moss Don't Mix

Family and Friends!

Hey there y'all! How is everyone doing? This week went by pretty fast actually. It was a pretty crazy week too so here it is:

Monday: We got all of our stuff done in the morning and then went down to Oak Harbor and played card games with our district. That was fun to spend time with them. After we went and visited some recent converts that night. It was pretty great!

Tuesday: Pretty slow day. We were going to go help a nonmember unpack some boxes for her but she had to reschedule, so that was kind of a bummer. The rest of the day we just tried to contact people but nobody really wanted to listen, so it was kind of a slow day.

Wednesday: We had interviews with president! It was so good to talk to president for a bit. Later in the day we got out and walked to the store and got ice cream and talked to some people on our way. We tried to also visit a referral but the house literally didn't exist so that was a problem. And I realized that up here they like to skip random numbers, idk why. It's weird. But we did see one of our recent converts, Mary, and she broke her leg earlier that week! It's a super bad compound fracture and she is having surgery for it this week. So that was super sad but she's still positive so that's good!

Thursday: We had District Council in the afternoon and it was really awesome. We talked about being one with the Lord and the Spirit and that that is the most important thing. We had dinner with part of our district after at this pizza place right on the water! It was super awesome and really good haha. That night Sis Cluff and I drove out to Camano Island for exchanges! It was such a pretty drive!

Friday: EXCHANGES! So I got go stay in Camano with Sis Allen and it was so much fun! It has so many more trees than Anacortes which I didn't think was possible but it is! We had some awesome lessons with a member that morning and lunch with a lady they had been teaching. Both lessons were awesome. After dinner we went to the south end of the island and visited some members and I tried crab! It was kind of weird, but not bad. We went and visited one of their neighbors and gave her a Plan of Salvation pamphlet and she seemed pretty interested! Then later at another member's house I also got to achieve a life long dream and try creme brulee! It was super good!

Saturday: Funny story time! So that morning it rained, which was so awesome! And around noon we went to our friend Becky's house and we were planning on dropping her because she just isn't progressing and she took it really well. She has had missionaries over before but she has never had any desire to be baptized or anything. So as we were walking out she has moss growing all over her front steps and because it had been raining they were a wee bit slick. Sis Cluff started down first and well...she went down haha! She totally slipped on the steps and fell and as I went to go help her I slip as well! We both just sat there for a minute just laughing and Becky came down without any trouble and helped us up. We felt so bad because we had just dropped her and now she was helping us up and making sure we were ok haha! We had moss and dirt all over so we had to go home and change before we could do anything else. It was the funniest thing and we couldn't stop laughing about it all day! Haha so that was the highlight of the week! We are both bruised but ok 👍the rest of the day was pretty much just weekly planning so nothing too exciting.

Sunday: Church was really good. We had some meetings after Church and then we went and did our studies. Later, we went and had dinner with a sweet member family. We studied Come, Follow Me with a member and we talked about the importance of the Holy Ghost and it was a super awesome discussion.

Well that was the week! One of my favorite chapters that I found this week is Alma 26. Verses 6 and 7 are some of my favorites because it talks about how as we bring others unto Christ they will be able to withstand the whirlwinds that Satan sends. Reach out to others because there are people right around us that need the light of Christ in their lives, but they don't know where to find it. I love this chapter and I would invite all of you to read it when you have a chance. Love you all and hope y'all have an amazing week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede

Our view while eating pizza

Creme Brulee

Me and Sister Allen

Fanny pack Friday!

Exchanges

Fanny Pack Friday (Part 2)

Meetings and Stuff

Family and friends!

Hey hey hey!! How have y'all been? I hope everything is going well! This week was packed full! We had a lot of meetings and trainings, but that's all good stuff.

Monday: Pretty uneventful. We didn't really do anything, so yeah...moving on.

Tuesday: We had New Missionary Training and that was so awesome! We talked about a lot of good stuff but what really hit me hard was an Elder's testimony at the end of the meeting. He talked about how a mission is hard, it's hard to leave your family and friends but this work is SO IMPORTANT! We are here to help others come unto Christ, we are here to help them back on the path and yeah it won't be easy but it will be so worth it. That's what I really took away from that training.

Wednesday: We had district council in the morning and that was great. We talked too about using the Book of Mormon when teaching people. After DC we did our studies and visited with Sister Davis from one of the wards and then we contacted some people later that night.

Thursday: TEMPLE!!! I got to go to the temple with Mary, one of our recent converts, to do baptisms! I went with Sister Aagard because both of our companions had to go to a meeting in Everett because they are both Sister Training Leaders. But it was such a neat experience. We had lunch at the temple and then headed back to Anacortes. Once we got back, we did some studying and then Sis Aagard and I went out and talked to some people and we ran into 2 teenagers at separate times while we were out. So that was really awesome!

Friday: We went to the zoo and did service! That was so fun! We go every week and they have wolves, cougars, a sloth, alligators, chickens, an emu, and a bunch of other animals that I can't remember at the moment. We mostly just help wash dishes for them and anything else they need help with. It's one of my favorite things we do. After that we had a lesson with Becky and Nathan and that was interesting. We aren't sure if we should keep teaching them or not but we're going to see in our next lesson. After that we went to a less active's house and had a really good lesson with her.

Saturday: Kind of a rough day. Sis Cluff and I were both kind of out of it and so when we tried to finish weekly planning, we couldn't. So, we went for a drive at a park that has a loop you can drive and it was definitely a nice break we both needed. Then wevwere able to get some good weekly planning in and an awesome lesson with our friend Pam. So, after all that it was a good day.

Sunday: Church was great! We had dinner at the Millards (an awesome family in the Anacortes ward) and then stopped by a recent convert's house. Her name is Ashley and she's 10. We hadn't been able to meet with her for about 3 weeks so we decided to stop by and they were home! We shared a really quick message about building our foundation on the Savior and asked them what they can do now to do build their foundation on the Savior. It was so awesome!

Well that's pretty much the week! Kinda crazy week but good. I just want to really express how important the gospel is in our lives. This is something that we all should be striving to share with others. Sis Cluff said imagine that the people you meet are a loved one and you only have one thing to say to them what would you tell them? Well the most important things right? So share the gospel with all those you meet, tell them they have a Heavenly Father who loves them because that is the most important thing. I love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Kia Kaha,
Sister Twede:)

Me and a possum at the zoo

Fanny pack Friday

My favorite