Dead Crab and Stuff

Dear Family and Friends,

Well hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! It's been a pretty good week here up in Anacortes. Here's what happened:

Monday: We went to Deception Pass and Bowmans Bay with some other missionaries in our district and that was lots of fun! Funny story Sis Inskeep and I found a dead crab at Bowmans Bay and we were wondering what to do with it so we just threw it into the water and said maybe a bird will eat it. Well, no joke, like less than a minute later a bird came and snatched him right our of the water!! It was crazy! We both just started laughing it was awesome.

Deception Pass Crew

Deception Pass

Your girl at Bowmans Bay

Dead crab

Tuesday: We exchanged with the Oak Harbor sisters that morning. I stayed down in Oak Harbor with Sis Aagard and it was awesome! We had an awesome lunch with some members and shared a quick message with them and then did some service and talked to some people later that night.

Me and Sister Aagard

Wednesday: We got up and did some personal study and then went to district council. We talked about how we can do better in finding people teach. It was really awesome and I learned so much! One of the big things I got was the importance of members and helping them know how they can share the gospel with their friends. We exchanged back and had a combined companionship study with Sis Inskeep and Sis Aagard and then headed home. We had some good contacts later that night. No one was really interested but, hey, we are planting those seeds!

Thursday: We had an awesome lesson with a family we are teaching and it went a lot better than our first one with them haha. We talked about the Atonement and shared the little kid bible video about the Atonement. Those videos are so awesome and so cute! That is the only thing I remember from Thursday.

Friday: The zoo was a party as always! We didn't have to go into the reptile room, so I was happy😉. We had a really neat contact that night. One of our members had referred us to this lady who was kind of interested in what we believe so we went over and checked it out. She was so nice! As we talked to her about what we believe she just kept agreeing with us and then would tell us what she believed and as she talked I just though "she is so close!" It was really awesome and she said we were welcome to come back anytime! That was super awesome!

Fanny Pack Friday

Saturday: Tons of service! In the morning, we helped both our wards spread mulch at the cemetery. It was super awesome to see how many people came to help and we got it done so fast! We had interviews with President after that and that is always great! After that we got to go help a less active couple paint the store they are going to be opening up. That was so fun! Except right after we had a dinner appointment and we had paint all over our arms haha. Luckily, I was wearing a long sleeve so it wasn't too bad.

Sunday: It was fast Sunday for us and man was it amazing! The testimonies that were shared were so strong I loved it! None of our friends came to church though so that was really sad. But yeah church was awesome! We had a really awesome dinner appointment too! We shared Moroni 7:48 and talked about how we can gain charity for others by praying for that pure love of Christ for others.

Well that was the week! Yesterday, I was studying charity in my personal study and I love what it says about it in Preach My Gospel. One line of it says "charity, like faith, leads to action." In the Bible Dictionary it says that charity is the "highest, noblest, strongest kind of love, not merely affection." Charity is giving of yourself to others and seeing them as Christ sees them. I encourage all of you to pray to have that kind of love for those around because I know as you do you will be able to see them as Christ sees them. I love you all and hope you have a great week!

Kia Kaha,
Sister Twede

Zone Conference and Stuff

Family and Friends,

Hey y'all! Another week has come and gone and man was it a cold one! Winter is already coming and the rain is just only starting! (Woot woot!) This week was pretty great so here it is:

Monday: We had an exchange with the sisters down in South Whidbey and so Sis Tauki'uvea came with me to Anacortes. She is so awesome! She's Tongan so that's super neat! We went and visited our recent concert Mary and her husband and we talked about temples. It was such an awesome lesson! We sang I Love To See The Temple with them and the spirit was so strong! I love the temple so much!

Tuesday: Such an amazing day! We got to teach our friend Jason more about baptism and he said he was going to try and make it to church on Sunday! (Yeet!) Sis T was amazing! We talked to so many people that night and were able to testify of the gospel! It was just amazing! We exchanged back later that night.

Wednesday: We had an awesome district council and talked about rising to our call based on President Eyring's talk from October 2002. We spent all that night out in La Connor which was fun! We visited some referrals and then finished off with a sweet member. We talked a lot about ministering with her and she said something that I just love. She said "ministering isn't just doing, it's involving." I just love that because it's so true! When we minister we should be trying to involve others in what we do.

Thursday: Kind of rough. We weren't able to meet with our friend Jason so that was sad. We had a lesson with a family who's son is baptized and now the little sister wants to be baptized and that went kind of awful. They wouldn't really sit still until we played a video. So that was hard but we are figuring out the best way to teach them! We had an lesson about the Atonement with some members that night though! Man, it was so awesome! I just love the Atonement and how it can help us everyday of out lives.

Friday: AMAZING!! We had Zone Conference and it was just so amazing and the spirit was so strong the whole time! I didn't want to leave the church building after haha! We talked a lot about committing to God and really thinking about the covenants we made at baptism and in the temple. NEVER TAKE THOSE LIGHTLY!! It is such a blessing to each of us to be able to make those sacred covenants with our Heavenly Father and they are sacred. Always cherish those and live worthily to receive the blessings that come with them.

Yep! Fanny Pack Friday!

Saturday: Lots of weekly planning honestly. We had dinner at the Oczkewiez house that night. Sis O is the Relief Society president in the Mt. Erie ward and she's amazing! When we shared a message with them I struggled but luckily Sis Cluff saved me. #blessings. But then we had an awesome lesson with Pam and I did better haha! Ya live and ya learn.

Sunday: JASON CAME TO CHURCH!! That was so amazing! He said he really enjoyed sacrament and said he'll try and stay both hours next Sunday so yeet! We also got to watch the Face to Face with Elder Soares and Elder Christensen. That was super awesome! So many good things in there! I totally recommend watching it!

Well that was the week! A scripture that I absolutely love is Alma 26:27. That whole chapter is awesome actually but it says:
"Now when our hearts were depressed, and we were about to turn back, behold, the Lord confronted us, and said: Go amongst thy brethren, the Lamanites, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and I will give unto you success."
When I read this my mind goes to when I swam. At the very end of the race when I felt so tired that is when I had to push the hardest and drive straight through that wall. That is the same in our lives today. When we feel like giving up, that is when the Savior is going to bless us. We just have to push a little further. So keep pushing and keep trying I know we all can do this! Love and miss you all!

Kia Kaha,
Sister Twede

Me and Sis T

Smiles in the rain!

Late night snack

DOGGY!!

It's Good Weight to Gain!

Family and friends!

Hey y'all! How is everyone doing? I hope y'all had a good week! I learned so much and saw so many blessings! So here's the week:

Monday: We had a fun time spending time with our zone and talking to family. We had a lesson with one of the wards bishop and his family and that went pretty well. We then decided to stop by a recent converts house and when we got there her husband, who is a member, swung the door open and was just so excited to see us! It made us so happy because at first we weren't sure if we should go over there or not so his reaction was awesome!

Tuesday: Every Tuesday we go and see some members, the Ramsey's, who can't come to church due to health issues but they are the sweetest little couple and have such strong testimonies! When we went over, man I felt as though the whole lesson was for me not them haha. We read Alma 36:3 and talked about what it means to trust God. This is something I've been trying to work on more and Brother Ramsey just kept saying how they take it just one day at a time and focus on what is right in front of them. We then got into praying and being patient for my answer and the Spirit just kinda whispered to me that that was for me. I need to be patient for answers and trust that the answer will come. That was really what I needed that day.

Wednesday: We had District Council and it was so amazing! We talked about testimonies and how important it is to testify when we are talking to people. It invites the Spirit to touch their hearts and testify to them that what we are saying is true. It is so important to share your testimony wherever you are! You never know the seeds you could be planting! And not only does it help others but it helps strengthen your testimony as you share it. It's like a muscle, if you want to strengthen your muscles you have to work it over and over. IT DOESN'T STOP! Later that day we went out with Sis Bray to visit some less active sisters in the Mt. Erie ward. No one was home so that was kinda sad but hey that happens.

Thursday: I was back out on Camano Island with Sis Barraclough again because our companions had to go to the Mission Leadership Council, so we got to do some stuff together!

Me and Sis Barraclough

We helped a lady in their ward weed her garden and then we had lunch with her. She made homemade chicken noodle soup and it was so good! We had a lesson at 3pm but the guy wasn't home so we tried to go visit a referral that they had but she still wasn't home from school so that was sad. After Sis Cluff got back we had a lesson that night with and older couple, the Ginnetts. That lesson was AMAZING!! We taught about the Restoration and the spirit was so strong! They each shared their conversion story and then asked us to bear our testimonies it it was just so powerful! I loved it!

Friday: We had service at the zoo. We had to clean some dishes in the reptile room but luckily most of the snakes weren't in there because they were taking them to something so that helped calm my nerves a bit haha. We had a church tour with out friend Jason later that night and it went super well and he said he was going to try and make it to church on Sunday!

Saturday: Weekly Planning. Legit took almost all day. We tried to go have a lesson with Pam that night but she wasn't home so we tried a couple referrals that we planned in but only one was home. That was still good because we finally got to meet them and see when we could come by again.

Sunday: Church was awesome! So much good stuff! We went into young women's and that was just so awesome. I realized how much a miss young women's. There is just such a special spirit there and it's amazing. After church we had some meetings and then we went and tried to have a lesson with a recent convert but no one was home so I suggested we go see this couple that we had been trying to meet and they were actually home!! (Blessings!) So we got to know them and they are just awesome!

So yeah that was the week! Yesterday during personal study I was readying in 2 Nephi 9 and I came across verse 51 and it talks about feasting on the words of Christ and the last line says "and let your soul delight in fatness." I thought this was kinda funny because I see it that when you feast on the words of Christ you gain spiritual weight and that is the best kind of weight to gain! So I challenge all of you to gain spiritual weight because it's the right kind of weight to gain! Love you all and hope you have the best week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede

Pretty Sunset

Fanny Pack Friday!

Clouds on the water

Miracle and Stuff!!

Family and Friends!

Hey y'all! Well another week has come and gone and time is starting to go by pretty quick! (Ahhhh!) I hope you all had a great week! We had some pretty awesome things happen this week!

Monday:  We hung out with the zone for the last time before transfers and that was pretty fun. Oh! We also went to Walmart for the first time since I've been here and I was so happy!! I love Walmart haha. Yeah that was pretty much the highlight of the day.

Tuesday: MIRACLE!! So we had a salmon barbecue at 5pm with one of the wards and it was so great to try and get to know more of the members and just talk to them. We stayed for about an hour and a half and then we went off to start contacting some people. The first house wasn't too far from the park we were at so we went and checked it out. Well, this house was SKETCHY! There were a ton of motors and there was a boat on the lawn and so much other stuff. Walking up to the door was even more sketchy. It was covered by bushes and shrubbery and I was just thinking "if I wasn't on a mission there is no way I'd come to this house". But we knocked on the door and we heard dogs barking and then this older guy opens the door and says "are you the Mormons"? We said "Yeah, we are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." and he says, "Oh ok, one second". Sister Cluff and I just looked at each other with a confused look and then he walked out and started talking to us. He told us how he has had missionaries before and he really liked some of the stuff they taught him. We knew he had never read the Book of Mormon and so we got on that topic. Sis Cluff shared an awesome experience about how the Book of Mormon helped her and spoke to her. After she shared that, he just broke down right in front of us and he knew that it was the Spirit that was there. I testified of the Book of Mormon and the Spirit was so strong. He said how he hasn't felt that for a while and we really stirred something in him. (Then we got a little side tracked and fed a deer with him haha. And it eat a piece of bread and an apple right out of my hand!!) We talked about a lot of different things but the last thing we talked to him about was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The crazy thing was that that morning we were practicing teaching that simply! It was amazing! And at the end I asked him if he would finally open up the Book of Mormon and read at least a page and he said he would and then shook on it!! It was so awesome and we set up a return appointment. It was just so awesome!

I FED A DEER!!

Wednesday: We went out with Sis Bray from the Mt. Erie ward and visited a lot of less actives pretty much all day. It was pretty great.

Thursday: We had district council and got to meet all the new missionaries that got transferred into our district. It was awesome and now I'm not the baby of the district anymore! We have two brand new missionaries so that is awesome! The whole district except for 1 is under 9 months so it's a pretty young district. But yeah, we had some good lessons with some members and recent converts that night and it was great.

Friday: We had service at the zoo that morning and well Dave took us back to the reptile room. He had us clean the outside class of the snake cages...yeah not fun. There were a couple that kept lunging at the window when I would be wiping the glass. Oh man, I was so out of there!

Pics from the zoo.

We met a lot of super nice people later that night. We went and visited a former member and she asked for a pamphlet! We are going to go visit her again sometime soon and see how we can help her.

Saturday: Mostly weekly planning to be honest. We had dinner with some members who just moved in not too long ago and it was so much fun getting to know them. We had a lesson with Pam and earlier this week we heart attacked her door. When we went over she had all the hearts taped on the back of the door! It was so awesome!

Sunday: Church was great! We had a less active there because her oldest daughter told her they needed to go to church. It was so awesome to see them there and they said they had a very spiritual experience. After church we had meetings with both ward mission leaders and those went pretty well. We had a lesson with a recent convert right after those and we talked about the Atonement and how she can use it in her life everyday.

Well that was the week! Sorry it's kind of long but had to share that experience from Tuesday. This week I was reading a talk by Elder Homer from this last Conference titled "Hearing His Voice". It is an amazing talk and I recommend reading it! A quote I like is "in a world with so many competing voices, our Heavenly Father has made it possible for us to hear and follow His." It is so important for us to listen to the voice of our Heavenly Father. Satan will try to confuse, but if we tune into what that still, small voice is saying things can become clear. I know this too be true and I'm trying my best to do this everyday. I love you all and hope y'all have the best week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede

I love Jesus!

Pretty sky.

Fanny Pack Friday!