I Need A Martinelli's!"

Family and friends!

Hey y'all! I hope y'all had a great week and an amazing Christmas! This week was pretty crazy so here it is:

Monday: We didn't have a p-day due to Christmas on Wednesday, so we were out and about. We decided to go visit some members who we had Tupperware to return that morning and then visited some people in our Area Book that night. Nothing too crazy happened.

Tuesday: CHRISTMAS EVE! We had District Council. We did a white elephant and shared our favorite scriptures that testify of Christ. It was actually really awesome to hear everyone's favorite verses. We then went and delivered some presents to a family in one of our wards and they were so happy and so excited to open them. We had a lesson with some less actives. We watched the "Because Of Him" video with them and talked about who Christ is to them. It was really awesome. That night we went to one of our ward mission leaders' house and shared a message with them. They are so amazing! They just got home in July from being mission presidents so we're a little spoiled;)

Wednesday: CHRISTMAS! It was a really chill day! We went to a member's house for breakfast and then called our families. Then went to another members house for dinner. They both were SO GOOD!! It was kind of weird not being home but not as hard as I thought it was going to be, so that's good!

The fam on Christmas!

Thursday: I hit 6 months! It's so crazy how fast it actually goes. But we had a lesson with our friend Sharon who is so ready to be baptized! She was already taught all the lessons but we don't have any record of it, so we are really just going through and making sure she knows everything and believes it. Shes amazing! We also met with our friend, Renee, and she is trying to work on her smoking which is so awesome! A member in our ward offered to help her, so we'll see how it goes. But that was the day. Oh jk no it's not haha. Leadership calls went out and...SISTER V IS TRAINING!! Yup so I'm going to be a "grandma"! Haha I'm so excited for her!

Friday: Sister V went with the Sister Training Leaders to Mill Creek for the trainers' training and I went to Stanwood and spent the day with Sister Squire and Sister Cooper. Love those sisters! We had a good time and then we went and talked to a guy named Bill that we met a couple days ago. He saw us walking up and he said "Oh my gosh! No way?! How are you guys?!" Haha he was really excited to see us and told us he remembers us. We talked to him for a while and hopefully we can teach him.

Our last Fanny Pack Friday together:(

Saturday: We finished weekly planning and then went and visited our friends Steve and Pam to see how they were doing. We then had dinner with the Millards and talked about the ward (Bro Millard is the Elders Quorum Pres and Sis Millard is the Relief Society Pres, so win win). Then we shared a scripture with them and had a really good conversation about exercising faith and reading the scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon, with real intent. We have to believe that we can receive answers from the scriptures in order to get those answers we are asking for. And that doesn't always mean it's the words themselves, our answers could also come from the thoughts and impressions we get when we read. So just keep that in mind next time you read the Book of Mormon.

Sunday: CRAZY DAY! I was able to play a piano solo for both wards and it was really neat to see how it touched people. I really believe that music touches people in a way that words can't. Anyway, we visited a lot of people and made 2 new friends! It was pretty awesome! On our way home, at the end of the night though we got a ton of calls and texts from a less active couple that was trying to move, but we couldn't help them because we had to be in our apartment. So, Sis V was trying to text and call people while I was driving. We got it all figured out though by the time we got home and as we were walking in Sis V says, "That was stressful, I need a Martinelli's". I died! It was so funny!

Well that was the week. It was a good last week in Anacortes. Oh yeah, by the way, I found out I'm getting transferred. I'll find out where I'm going on Wednesday. I'm excited, but also sad to leave. I've learned so much in these past 6 months from the members here in Anacortes and from my companions. But I know that there are more people out there that the Lord is preparing for me and I can't stay here to find them. I love you all and hope you have the best week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

Finally got a pic in front of the sign.

Us and our adopted grandma, Sister Cook

Bella wouldn't sit still

Merry CHRISTmas!

Family and friends!

Well I don't have a whole lot of time today, but I hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas! This Christmas has been really great because I have been able to really focus on what Christmas is all about. I know that your Heavenly Father loves you so much.  He sent His Son as a baby who would one day save the world. I know that He can help you through anything because He's been through it all. I love you all and hope you have the best Christmas!

Kia Kaha,

Sister Twede:)

Spanish Land

Family and friends!

Hey y'all! It's your girl here in Washington again! This week flew by so here it is:

Monday: Nothing too exciting. We had some good lessons that night but that was pretty much it.

Tuesday: We had a ton of lessons! We met with some of our friends and those lessons went pretty well. They are both part of a religion that is really open to learning about other faiths so it's kind of hard to teach them. But then we met with some awesome members later that night.

Us and the Hermanas

Wednesday: We had district council and it was way fun! Most of us went to a pizza place after. It's just so fun being with other missionaries. After district council we had a lesson with Sis Davis and when we were leaving, our friend Renee knocked on the door! She was having a piano lesson with Sis Davis which was pretty neat. Then later that night we had a lesson with Renee and it went so well! We talked about the Atonement and Faith in Jesus Christ. In the middle of the lesson, I asked her how she was feeling right then and she said she just felt so calm. Usually she says she feels overwhelmed so that was super awesome! She's just killin it! Then we exchanged with the Hermanas and I headed off to Spanish Land with Hermana Penrod!

In Spanish Land with Hermana Penrod

Thursday: EXCHANGE! It was so awesome! I was able to meet some of the branch members and man these people are so nice and loving and just always want to help. I got to see a whole other side to the mission and it was amazing. I also learned how to pray in Spanish and then Hermana Penrod had me pray over our dinner....it was really rough haha. Oh and I got to go to Costco for dinner! I was so pumped! One of my favorite places, just saying. But I had so much fun and I learned a lot from Hermana Penrod.

COSTCO!!!

Friday: We went to the zoo and helped them with some things. No snake attacks or wolf encounters this time. Later that day, we had an awesome lesson with our friend Lee! He asked us at the beginning of our lesson what is a good day to get baptized! We were like "okay then!" Haha! That night we helped at a Winter Wonderland Walk thing that the town does at Washington Park. It's an activity where different organizations set up booths in the campsites and people just walk around and take pictures. Well, one of our wards had a booth with a sleigh and a snow machine and man people went crazy for it! There were so many people wanting to get their picture taken in the sleigh. So we took pictures of people for 3 hrs. It was pretty fun, but pretty cold.

The Sleigh

Saturday: We had another Christmas breakfast for our other ward and that was really fun. After that we just did our studies and weekly planning and then helped at the Winter Wonderland Walk again. We layered up this time!

Sunday: We only had one friend at church but, that's better than none! Sis VanDenakker gave a super awesome talk in the Mt. Erie ward. We then had a bunch of meetings after church and then went to a members home for dinner. You should have seen this member's house though!! It was crazy! She had so many Christmas decorations it was insane! She was showing us stuff for a half hour and it was only some stuff! It was pretty crazy!

Well that was pretty much the week! I hope you all had the best week! A scripture that I have really been thinking about this week is Isaiah 41:10
"Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness".
I love this because there really is nothing to fear because the Lord is with us. If we put our trust in Him there is nothing to fear because He knows all and He will be there to pick us up when we fall. Well, I love you all and hope you have the best week! And Merry Christmas!!

Kia Kaha,
Sister Twede

Fanny Pack Friday

Wolf Encounter

Family and friends!

Well this week was quite a crazy one! So here's what happened:

Monday: We spent some time with the Oak Harbor sisters and then had two really good lessons that night. In both of them we showed The Christ Child and man it was SO GOOD! I love that video! The Spirit is just so strong every time we watch it.

Us and the Oak Harbor Sisters

Tuesday: We had a good lesson with our friends Steve and Pam that morning! And on the way back from their lesson Sis VanDenakker and I were able talk about how we can help them progress and it was just really awesome. Later that night, we were out trying to talk to people and what's really sad is we were saying that it felt pretty warm out and when we checked the temperature it was 51°!

Wednesday: We had district council in the morning and that was really good! We talked about humility and I learned so much! Later that night though, we had a lesson with our friend Renee. On Sunday we had taught her about the Word of Wisdom. Well, she got really discouraged because she didn't know if she could stop smoking. It was actually kind of scary how she was acting. You could just tell Satan was getting to her. I sat in that lesson and honestly had no idea what to say that could help her. After we got home from her lesson Sis VanDenakker and I just sat and talked about what we can do to help her and we decided we need to send her reading assignments from the Book of Mormon everyday.

Thursday: We sent Renee our first reading assignment: Ether 12. All about faith so it's a pretty bomb chapter. We then had some lessons later that night that went pretty well.

Friday: Holy Moly! You will not believe what I'm about to tell you! At the zoo the owner took us into a cage WITH 2 WOLVES!! IT WAS SO AWESOME! They are just like giant Huskies! Their names were Kakoa and Max. It was honestly the highlight of my life. Jk but close😉 So that was pretty awesome! Renee texted us back saying she did the reading, so we sent her another one. We had a lesson with one of our friends but she canceled. Then one of our ward members texted us and said that our friend Lee was at her house for a lesson that we weren't planning on! And since our other friend canceled we ran over and taught him about the Restoration! BLESSINGS!

One of the wolves

Christmas Fanny Pack Friday

Saturday: We had one of our wards' Christmas Breakfast that was really fun and really good. Then we went out and tried visiting a couple of potentials, but no one was home. Just when all hope was lost,we got a text from Renee!! She asked if we had time to meet and we said "Yeah we do! We can come over right now!" So we ran over to her apartment and she was a completely different person! She told about all the experiences that shes had lately and how she knows it's not a coincidence. She told us she had only smoked 2 cigarettes that day and she feels she can do this, but it will take time. Oh my goodness, I cannot even tell you how amazing that lesson was! She said she wants to push her baptism date back but she's okay with that because she knows it's going to happen. It was awesome! The spirit was so strong!

Sunday: Renee and Lee came to church! I gave a talk in one of our wards about the gift of sharing your testimony with others. It went pretty well! And we watched the Christmas Devotional and if you haven't watched it GO WATCH IT!! It was so good!

Well that was pretty much the week here in Anacortes. I just want to tell you how amazing it is to be a missionary and see people progress. Yes it's not always like that and there are days I have no idea what I'm doing with my life, but those moments when you see people coming closer to their Savior it makes it so worth it! I love and miss you all and hope you have the best week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

Here's my address if you ever feel like sending me letters or Christmas cards:
PO Box 13390
Mill Creek WA 98082
United States

Always have a backer!

WE HAVE A 2319!!!

Thanksgiving and Stuff

Family and friends!

Hey y'all! I hope you all had a good week and a great Thanksgiving! This week was pretty good here in Anacortes. Here's what happened:

Monday: We didn't do much really. We tried going to this little store that a couple in one of our wards opened, but we found out it's closed on Monday! And it's open on Sundays! So we were pretty sad about that. But we had a really good lesson with the Landerman-Moores that night. We talked about service and Sister Landerman-Moore told us how she helped a lady with her family history before she died. It was really neat!

Tuesday: I hit 5 months! It was also our friend Renee's birthday! We made her a card and some brownies and took them too her and she was so happy! We also were able to have a little lesson with her. Later that night we went to a less active's home and they were so nice! They let us in and we talked with them for a while and shared a message and asked if we could come back and share The Christ Child video with them. (Which if you haven't watched it yet GO WATCH IT! It's so amazing and so powerful!) But they said they would really like that! We then went and did Come, Follow Me with Catherine and that was really good as well.

Wednesday: Awesome day! So I'm going to skip to what happened that night because the rest of the day wasn't all that exciting. So we left and went our for finding time that night and the first house we went to was a member's house, but her husband isn't a member. Now I went over to her house a while back and she, Sister Runyard, had told us that her husband has had some interaction with the church even before he met her. She said he's read some of the pamphlets and the Gospel Principles book and he's been coming to church with her. So, when we went over on Wednesday, Sister Runyard opened the door and said "Oh, hi sisters! Perfect timing, come one in!" Her husband was there and we were able to teach the first lesson! We than committed him to reading the Book of Mormon everyday and to pray about it. It was so awesome! We are planning to go back to teach him more too! Woot woot!

Thursday: THANKSGIVING!! We had district council in the morning and it was so good! We talked a lot about having faith and trusting in God's promises. It was really awesome and I learned so much. We then got to talk to our families! Then we had dinner at the Bethkes and that is always an adventure! After dinner, we went and visited some members we thought would be alone on Thanksgiving. We went and saw Sister Hastings first. She is in a nursing home and just the sweetest lady. She said that we made her whole night and she just kept thanking us for coming by. It was so sweet! Then we only had a few more minutes, so we prayed about who we should see. After the prayer, I said "Out of everyone we planned in, I can only think of Pam.". Sister VanDenakker looked at me and said "Same!" So we drove over there and she wasn't home. I felt we were there for a reason so we knocked on her neighbor'a door. No answer. We were about to go to another house when we heard Pam's voice and we were like "No way!" Boom! The Spirit is amazing! So we visited with her and she told us she has been reading a chapter of the Book if Mormon everyday and she is already seeing the blessings coming from it! Woot woot!

Friday: We did service at the zoo. Then we had an awesome lesson with one of our member's sons who has been bringing his mom to church for years. He finally came up to us on Sunday and said "I think it's time for me to join the church". I love it when people say that... haha! He told us more about why he wants to join the church and that he thinks this is the path he needs to take. It was awesome!

Saturday: Funny story. In the morning, we were going to go on a walk but couldn't find the keys. We looked and looked and finally said a prayer and Sister VanDenakker had the thought to check the car even though we knew they weren't there because I had to unlock the apartment when we came in last night. Well, she opened the door and the keys were in the door! Outside the apartment all night! Yeah let's just say we were seriously blessed last night. But the rest of the day we spent helping Pam clean out her daughter's room and then a couple of good lessons.

Sunday: Merry Christmas!!🎄 Renee and Lee came to church! That was really awesome! And we were able to have a really good lesson about the Word of Wisdom after church with Renee. And earlier in the week she had been talking to Sister Salas about wanting to quit smoking and Sister Salas suggested she ask for a priesthood blessing. So we had Brother Webster and Brother Watson give her a priesthood blessing and after we asked how she felt and she said that she just felt calm. It was super awesome!

Well that was the week! I'm so excited for this Christmas season and #LightTheWorld. I know that because our Heavenly Father loves us so much He sent His Son to earth for us. He showed us how to live so that we might be able to return back to our Heavenly Father. So this Christmas season I encourage all of you to do one act of service everyday. You can find great ideas and even use the Light The World calendar on LightTheWorld.org. I love and miss you all! Hope you have the best week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)🎄

Also here's my address if you want to send me letters:
PO Box 13390
Mill Creek, WA 98082
United States

View from our walk every morning

We were matching so naturally

Fanny Pack Friday

She wasn't ready:)

Happy Thanksgiving from the district