It's A Long One and Stuff

Family and Friends!

Hey y'all! Well this past week was transfers and your girl is still here in good old Anacortes! This week was pretty crazy but that's all good. Here's what happened:

Monday: We went on a hike in the morning and got breakfast with Catherine which was really fun. Then later that day I got bangs cut. I stopped breathing for a second when the lady cut them. Anyway, we had two really good lessons that night with the Landerman-Moores and the Johnsons. I love them both so much! I always learn so much from them.

Tuesday: We had a couple of lessons with our friends. We met with our friend Sharon and we were able to invite her to church. She has had a history with the church and loves the Relief Society so she's excited about that! We met with Steve and Pam and had one of our members, Sister Seligman, come with us. We had a really good discussion about the Plan of Salvation and asked them to read the Book of Mormon and pray if it's true. They invited us to an event they put on every month that was on Friday (see Friday). We then had an lesson about trusting the Lord with some members and that was really good as well.

Wednesday: We had a lesson with Renee and man it was such a powerful lesson. We talked about the Plan of Salvation and she had read the pamphlet before our lesson. We drew out the "love" diagram of the Plan of Salvation and she loved it! (no pun intended;) I then told her that this whole plan was made possible because of love. Our Heavenly Father loves us so much that He wants us to return to Him. He loves us so much that He sent His Son to suffer and die for us so that we can become clean. Renee then told us how she has been feeling really overwhelmed and scared about the future and I asked her if she believed that Christ could help her and she said yes. I then asked her if we could say a prayer with her right then and there to ask for His help. And let me tell you, as soon as that prayer started the Spirit filled the room so strongly and I knew she was feeling because we got done and she had tears come down her face. It was the most amazing experience to witness. We then told her that her Heavenly Father loves her and she is doing amazing. She thanked us and told us she would keep reading and praying.

Thursday: We had our first district council of the transfer and we have two brand new missionaries! Sister Mounts is from Grantsville UT and Elder Price is from Springville UT I think. So yeah super exciting! We then talked about #LightTheWorld! I can't believe it's already that time of year! Crazy stuff. But yeah it was all so good. We then visited some people during finding time and then tracted for an hour just hanging out flyers for our Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday. That was cold, but bearable.

Friday: We went to the zoo and did service. Nothing too exciting happened there, just cleaning out cages. We went to this thing that our friends, Steve and Pam, invited us to later that night. It was really neat because they had a topic of friendship. You could read a quote from this pamphlet or a scripture or something else from your personal study. So naturally, we shared a scripture from the Book of Mormon. We shared Mosiah 18:8-9 which talks about bearing one another's burdens and mourning with those that mourn and comforting those that are in need of comfort. We shared how that is what it means to be a friend. Everyone there really liked it and after we were able to talk with the people that were there and answer some questions they had. It was really awesome!

Fanny pack Friday!

Saturday: HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO THE BEST PARENTS IN THE WORLD!! I love you both!! We had an AMAZING lesson with Renee! She told she feels that this is the true church and wants to get baptized! She asked us if she's still on track to be baptized on December 14th and we said as long as we keep going with these lessons. She told us she had been seeing things happen that can't just be coincidence. We told her that there are no coincidences when it come to our Heavenly Father. It was amazing to see her change from the last time we saw her when she didn't know if this was right ,to now she can't contain her excitement! It was truly amazing! The rest of the day we helped a family move and clean out their house.

Sunday: So many miracles! So Renee said she was going to come to church but it was getting close and we hadn't seen her there yet. When the meeting started we saw we had a missed call from her so we both just started praying and not too long after she walked in! And the speakers were amazing and so much was said that touched Renee so deeply! At one point, she turned to us and had tears in her eyes and she just said "this isn't a coincidence". Then she went to Relief Society for the first time and she just dove right in. The members were able to connect with her and they got her number so they could have contact with her and it was just amazing to see her already making friends with the ladies in the ward. And then the Thanksgiving dinner was amazing! We had so many people there and we were able to get some numbers to contact people with! Woot woot!

Sunday Selfie

Well that was pretty much the week! Kind of crazy but so many miracles. I just want to share something I learned this week. We listened to a talk by Elder Holland this week titled "The First Great Commandment". It is a powerful talk and I encourage each of you to not only read it but also listen to it. Elder Holland illustrates the story of when Christ asks Peter the ultimate question "Lovest thou me?" We all know Peter's response but I love what Elder Holland says that the Lord needs:
"What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do."
The Lord needs us all to love Him, TRULY love Him. Once we truly love Him we will want to be His disciple. I love and miss you all and hope you have an awesome week! Sorry for the super long email!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede

When you're in too much of a rush:)

Deer in Washington are like stray dogs in South America:)

Change and Stuff

Family and Friends!

Well hey there! It's Monday again! I hope y'all had a good week! This week was pretty great, so here's what happened:

Monday: We went to Deception Pass and sea glass hunting with Hermana Stewart and Penrod. We had so much fun! After pday we had a really awesome lesson with the Landerman-Moores about becoming converted until the Lord. Brother Landerman-Moore defined being converted as trusting in the Lord completely. That really hit me and I had to ask myself if I trust the Lord completely. After that we had a lesson with the Johnsons about service.

Deception Pass

Sea glass

Tuesday: We had so many lessons back to back that day. We had a good lesson with our friends Steve and Pam and we talked about actually a whole lot of stuff. We then had a lesson with our friend Renee. She told us that she is having doubts about baptism and didn't know if she should be baptized. We tried our best to address her concerns but as we sat there I had a thought to ask her how often she was reading the Book of Mormon. She said she reads it a couple times a week so I asked her to read it everyday. I bore my testimony about the Book of Mormon and the Spirit filled the room. She said she would do that and that she would pray more. That was a testament to me as well that reading the Book of Mormon DAILY is so important for our spiritual progression.

Wednesday: We had an awesome district council. Our district leader, Elder Lemke, gave us his final remarks before he heads home. It was so awesome and he gave us all really good advice. Later that night we went and visited a less active in the ICU. It was neat because she was telling us how even though she's struggling right now she has so many things to be grateful for. It was great to see her positive attitude even though she was in the ICU.

Thursday: HALF MISSION CONFERENCE!! Man it was so awesome! We had President Pearson from the Area Presidency come and speak to us and man I have never felt so loved and so beat down before in my life. He talked a lot about what we have to do to become true disciples of Christ and that a lot of us need to really work on that. I was able to really see what I need to do as well to be the best disciple I can be. After the conference we had two really good lessons with some members in our wards.

Friday: We did service at the zoo and then had another lesson with Renee. We talked about the Atonement and it went pretty well. She is still a little hesitant on the baptismal date but we are just going to keep teaching and helping her and see how it goes.

Fanny pack Friday!

Saturday: We did a lot of service for some people in our wards. We helped one family pack up some things because they are moving soon. It was pretty good👍

Sunday: We had 3 friends come to church! Steve and Pam came and said they really enjoyed the service. Pam said she liked that there wasn't a cross in the chapel. They also really like the hymns and seeing all the families together. Renee also came and she had a good time. One of the speakers actually talked about the Atonement too which was awesome because we talked about that in our last lesson! It was pretty neat! Then after church we went and had a lesson with the Reyburns on the Plan of Salvation and I got to use my cutouts! I was pretty excited and they really liked them.

Well that was the week! A scripture I read this week was 2 Nephi 2:2 and I love this one line from it
"...thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain."
I know that the Lord is mindful of all of us and all of the trials we did or are going through. But it all is for our good! Everything we face is making us into the person that our Heavenly Father sees we can become. We just have to put our trust in Him, and I know that is easier said then done but if we ask Him to help us, He will. I love you all and hope you have the best week ever!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede

I did a thing....bangs!

All The Things

Family and Friends!

Well it's been quite a week here in Anacortes! Here's what happened:

Monday: We went on a hike with one of the less actives and it was really pretty! It was a little cloudy, but that was all good. After pday we went and had a lesson with the Landerman-Moores and man everytime we are there I feel like I learn so much from them. We talked about the Atonement and about life after death. Then that night we exchanged with the Hermanas. Hermana Penrod came to Anacortes with me and Sister VanDenakker went with Hermana Stewart to Mt. Vernon.

Panorama View

Our hike Monday

Tuesday: Hermana Penrod and I had an awesome exchange! I mean half of our lessons cancelled, but  that just made it possible for us to be where the Lord needed us. We got to go visit a couple of older couples in the wards who can't come to church, which was so awesome. They all just really appreciated our visit. We also ran into a less active member as we were walking into the apartment and he asked if we were Mormon girls. We said we were missionaries and he told us that he grew up in the church but now he's addicted to cigarettes and alcohol and he was telling us how he needs to come back to church and get off his addiction. We told him he should come to church and we asked who he knew in the ward and then we called them after we talked with him. It was awesome!

The one and only Hermana Penrod

Wednesday:  We had a pretty good day! We had interviews with President in the morning and those are always good. We then had a lesson with our friend Renee and she told us that she thinks she should get baptized! WOOT WOOT! After that, we came home and studied and started praying about a date for Renee to be baptized. Finding that night was rough only because I'm super awkward. I almost fell off someone's porch and oh man it was rough, but funny! We then saw Pam that night and we talked about her conversion story and the Book of Mormon. We asked her to read it everyday and she said that she thinks she could read it in 2 months, so like 10 pages a day. But she said she would have to go through and put bookmarks every 10 pages. So obviously that night we got home and made bookmarks and put them in every 10 pages and marked out favorite scriptures. We don't mess around with this stuff.

Thursday: District council was awesome! We talked about The Book of Mormon and how important it is in helping others come unto Christ. After we had our studies and finding. Finding was awesome! So in our area there is an Indian reservation and we were over there that night for finding. We were trying to contact a former member in our area book and when we knocked on their door this older Native American man opens the door and invites us in. SAY WHAT? We were shocked! So we went in and talked with him and his wife (spoiler: it wasn't the people we were looking for). We talked to them and they asked us what we believed and we told them we believed in The Book of Mormon. We talked some more about it and then we asked if we could come back and tell them more. The man, Al, told us he couldn't careless if we came back. Then he just started talking to us about his life and his culture and we just listened and by the end he told us to come back. It was amazing! So we are going back this week! Stay tuned.

Friday: We had a lesson with a referral from someone in the YSA (Young Single Adult) ward. This lady, Sharon, is AWESOME!! She was so excited to meet us! She has had some past with the church and absolutely loves the church and especially the Relief Society. She's taken the lessons before but never got baptized so we will see what happens. Then we had a lesson with the Johnsons that night and that was really awesome! I love them so much! We asked each of their conversion stories and talked about how the Holy Ghost helped them to know that the church was true. It was really neat hearing their whole conversion stories. I love asking converts that.

Fanny pack Friday

Saturday: SUCH A GREAT DAY!! We put our friend Renee on date for her baptism!! We are so pumped and she said she's ready to do whatever it takes to get there! SHE IS SO READY! Yeah, so if you couldn't tell we are super excited for her! That was legit the best thing that whole day because it was mostly just weekly planning. We did, however, see the Butchers. Brother Butcher fell and broke his hip on Wednesday and is in the hospital. They said he isn't going to make it because surgery is too risky with all his other health issues but Sister Butcher was so grateful that we went by to see how they were both doing and the rest of their family. That night we then helped some less active members pack because they are moving soon.

Sunday: PRIMARY PROGRAM X2!! It was the best Sunday of the year! We got to enjoy both wards' primary programs! They both were so amazing and the spirit was so strong. The closing song in the Anacortes ward was "We'll Bring the World His Truth" and man I couldn't get through hardly one verse, I was bawling! That song is just so powerful!

Well that was the week. I love being a missionary. I love that for 18 months I am helping people become closer to their Savior and, in turn, so am I. There is no way I would be able to make it through life without Him by my side. It is such an amazing blessing that we live in a time where we can have the fullness of the gospel. I love the gospel and I know that it's true! Keep reading and praying and doing all you can to draw closer to your Savior! I love you all and hope you have the best week!

Kia Kaha,
Sister Twede

I look like Alfafa selfie😂

Halloween and Stuff

Family and friends!

Hey y'all! I can't believe it's already Monday again. The weeks are starting to pick up and really filling up for us here in our neck of the woods. So anyway here is the week:

Monday: We didn't really do anything for pday sadly, but stay tuned because adventures are sure to come. That night we had a really awesome lesson with the Landerman-Moores. The Millards were there and we talked about the temple because Mary is getting ready to go through the temple and then they are going to get sealed soon after!! I'm so excited for them! Brother Landerman-Moore has been patiently waiting a long time for that. The temple is just the best.

Tuesday: Kind of a crazy day. We went and visited a contact that morning and we were both expecting it to be a quick visit, but an hour later we left. It was a man and his wife and they were super nice and had talked to missionaries before so we talked about the Book of Mormon and they asked both of us to share how the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has changed our lives. It was super awesome and Sis VanDenakker's story just brought the spirit so strongly. After we left there we ran over and helped our friend Renee clean her apartment with some other ladies in the ward and that was awesome! We got everything done within an hour! We had some more lessons with members later that night and they both went really well.

Wednesday: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO LIL SIS DORRIE!! I hope you had the best day ever! We had district council in the morning and that was really good. We talked about planning and how to make our daily and weekly planning most effective. I learned a lot and got some ideas on how to do things differently. That night we had our ward's Trunk-or-Treat and it was awesome! I love Halloween to be honest with y'all. All the costumes were great! We got a lot of less actives that came out. Our new friend Gary came out and brought his fiance and she actually came up to us and asked for a Book of Mormon!! Yes you read that right! It was so awesome and hopefully we will be teaching her as well! We're PUMPED!!

Thursday: HAPPY HALLOWEEN! This Halloween I dressed up as the scariest costume of them all...A MISSIONARY! We'll getcha! Haha! Anyway, there wasn't anything too exciting that happened that day. We had a lesson with Renee and it went well, but we can see that Satan is working on her. It's really hard to watch your friends get down and start to doubt when you know they are on the right path. But we aren't giving up and we are going to do all we can to help her come closer to her Savior.

Friday: We had service at the zoo and that was pretty fun! We had lunch at Sister Hughes' house and she made this super good salad that she learned in the Middle East! After lunch we went to see a potential and had a good conversation about how the Book of Mormon and the Bible support each other and asked her to pray to know if the Book of Mormon is true. Then later that night we had weekly planning, no need to elaborate on that.

Saturday: We had a lesson planned with our friend Gary and his fiance and we were going to do a church tour. So we went to the church and tried to figure out how we wanted to do it and teach points of the Restoration at the same time. We did a role play after we planned it and man the spirit was so strong! It was the best thing EVER!! But of course they couldn't make it because they both got super sick so that was sad but we are planning on Tuesday so that will be good. Then that night we had a really good lesson with the Reyburns. We talked about how the Holy Ghost is like a flashlight guiding us through this dark and dreary world. But also for our flashlight to work we need to put batteries in it and we do that by going to church, praying, reading our scriptures, keeping the commandments. Yeah I know pretty creative right?! Yeah we got it from the Friend magazine!

Sunday: Fast and testimony meeting was really good except none of our friends showed up so that was really sad, but we will try again next week. After church we did our studies and that was super good! We then had dinner with the Nash's and we had a really good conversation about ministering. After that we did Come, Follow Me with Catherine.

Well that was pretty much the week. I love being a missionary and being able to focus on just bringing others closer to Christ. It is an amazing experience and I'm learning so much everyday. There is so much to learn in life in general and the best places we can turn to are the scriptures and the spirit. I know each time any of us open up and read the Book of Mormon we can learn something new and learn more about what our Heavenly Father wants us to do. I love the Book of Mormon and I know it brings so much peace, joy, and knowledge to all of us. I love you all and hope you have the best week! And feel free to email or write me!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

DEER!! They are like stray cats here.

Trunk-or-Treat with Ashley

More scenery

The District

More zoo animals

Fanny pack Friday

Heart Attack!

Another scenic view