Holy Moly!

Family and friends!

Well this week has been INSANE! With a whole lot of shuffling around and cleaning and packing and people leaving, it's been wild! So here's how it went.

Monday: I was packing with Sister Flake and Sister Mounts. We just stayed in the car and used the Wi-fi from the church. Nothing all that exciting.

Tuesday: We had lessons with some members of their ward and then we got a call from our Sister Training Leaders and they asked Sister Mounts if she was going home that day or the next. She had no idea but started getting stressed and decided to start packing some things. Then later that night, we got a call saying she was going home the next day! We were also picking up another Sister to stay with us because her comp was going home that night. So we picked up Sister Casper that night and had a foursome!

The Four Pack!

Wednesday: We went to the mission office early that morning to drop off Sis Mounts. It was crazy! They wouldn't let anyone out of the cars except for those leaving and there were so many leaving! It was really sad to watch them all pull out. After they all left, we went to my apartment so I could pack up some more things. Later that night. we got our transfer calls and all three of us were getting transferred out of our areas! So we had 3 apartments to pack up and clean by Saturday! It's about to get really wild!

Only half of our stuff.

Thursday: We got up and did our studies and then headed up to Sis Casper's apartment in Marysville. We packed up all her stuff and cleaned and then headed to my apartment in Everett to pack and clean. That pretty much took up the whole day! Oh also I got a call from one of the assistants asking if I would be a sister training leader! Crazy stuff!

Friday: We cleaned Sis Flake's apartment and then had a couple lessons. We had a lesson with Jake and Kiana from my ward and it was so good! We talked about the things that we loved about Christ and the things He loves about us. It was super neat to think about what He loves about me because I've never really thought about it. There are so many things that the Lord loves about us that we may not ever really realize. So just think about that.

Fanny pack Friday!

Saturday: TRANSFERS! We were able to get our ZLs to come pick up our bags in the truck and take it to transfers. We had specific times that we were to get there, so there weren't a lot of people there. I'm now in the ARMAR YSA ward with Sis Snowder! She's awesome and pretty pumped to be her comp! We got home and had a lesson with our bishop and some other members. I already love them and love it here! It's going to be good!

Me and Sister Snowder

Sunday: We had a virtual testimony meeting with our ward and that was actually really neat! Since we're in quarantine the world is our area so I got to have a lesson with my aunt and uncle and my cousins! It was so awesome! This is truly an amazing time to be a missionary!

Well, that was pretty much the crazy week! With everything that has been happening and everyone being stuck inside, I've heard a lot of people say they can't wait for it to go back to normal. But something Sis Snowder said on Sunday was that we shouldn't be waiting for things to go back to normal, we should be looking at how we can change for the better. In the scriptures God has caused things to happen because He wants the people to change. And that is the same now! He wants us to look out how we can change the way we live our life. So I invite all of you to look for ways that you can change the way you live for the better! I love you all and hope you have a great week! Also if you have anyone that needs an uplifting message from two quarantined sister missionaries let me know!

Kia Kaha,
Sister Twede:)

Stealing church Wi-fi

Sending off some sisters

What Just Happened?

Family and Friends!

Well, first off I really hope everyone is safe and taken care of! Second, this Coronavirus is THE WORST! We aren't in isolation yet, but most likely will be this week Never in a million years would I have guessed this would happen, especially while I'm out here serving the Lord.

The beginning of this week was pretty normal.

Tuesday: We had a ton of lessons with members which was awesome!

Wednesday: We had District Council and some more lessons.

Thursday-Friday: Sister Ballard woke up with a cough on Thursday, so we had to stay inside for 3 days. Let's just say staying inside as a missionary is SO BORING! We watched almost all the church movies in our apartment. But, on the upside, I did get to study a ton and clean the apartment! Woot woot!

Saturday: We got to go out to get priesthood blessings, which was much needed. I didn't realize how much I have been needing one until I sat down and Elder Walter started giving me the blessing. One piece of advice I'd give everyone is to never be afraid to ask for a priesthood blessing! They can only help so JUST DO IT! (Nike boom)

Sunday: We got to have sacrament with our district. It was a little weird at first, but as soon as they started saying the sacrament prayer, the Spirit was so strong! It was the coolest sacrament meeting I've ever been in to be honest! After that, we had some more lessons which were all super good!

So this week with everything literally going insane, I've been thinking a lot about how inspired our prophet is. If you haven't seen the video "Hear Him", I invite you to go watch it! In these times of confusion and fear, it is so important for us to take the time to really listen to what our Heavenly Father is trying to tell us. He provides answers to all our questions and concerns, but if we don't take the time to actually listen, we won't get the answers. So, take the time that you have now from work or school to listen for the voice of the Holy Ghost. I love and miss you all! Stay safe and healthy!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

You can see the mountains!

Us watching "The District" (yes, we were that bored)

Fanny Pack Friday

Pretty sunset!

What do you have? A Knife!

Bible Bash and Coronavirus

Family and Friends!

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a good week! It was a little crazy here in Everett, here's what happened:

Monday: WE GOT TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!! Yeah I know it's a Monday but the Seattle Temple did a special night where it was open for just YSA-aged people to come to the temple and we got permission to go with! Man, it was so awesome and much needed! I realized how much I miss being able to go to like 5 different temples that are all within 30 minutes of each other..haha. Anyway, so that was pretty much the best part of the day and week.

Tuesday: We didn't go to the horse farm in the morning because Sis Ballard wasn't feeling well. And our friend David was also feeling sick so we couldn't meet with him either. So we did some things in the apartment and then went out for finding. The last door that we knocked the guy opened the door and I told him who we were. I asked if he wanted to hear a message about Jesus Christ and he said "Oh yeah! Let me just grab my bible." Yeah, you already know where this is going. We talked with him for a while, but ended up leaving a Book of Mormon with him. So maybe something good will come from that!

Wednesday: We had District Council in the morning and then a pretty good lesson with our Elders Quorum president about Joseph Smith. It was really awesome! Then we had outreach and we had a good time trying to see some less active members of the ward.

Thursday: ZONE CONFERENCE!! I love zone conference! We talked a lot about the importance of being yourself and seeing how your talents and skills can help the work. I'm sure all of us have heard this a lot. but it applies to everything we do, not just missionaries. You are who you are for a reason and no one can replace you. Anyway, that was all super awesome. We were told that the church is also taking lots of precautions with the Coronavirus for missionaries. Things change day to day but they are doing their best to keep us all safe.

Friday: Crazy day! The assistants called the night before to tell Sis Ballard that the depart temple trip was going to be Friday and they were leaving early in the morning. So, we got up and got ready then went to the mission office at 7:45am. I went on a little exchange with Sis. West while both of our companions went. Then shortly after they got home, President got a phone call saying the temple was closing that day due to the Coronavirus! Crazy right?! They got in just in time! So that was pretty neat.

Saturday: Kind of a slow day. We now can't go to the horse farm because of the Coronavirus so we need to find other things to fill up our day. We contacted about half of our ward to set up lessons for next week so hopefully that will help! We had lunch with one of our members and that was really fun! Then we had a meeting with Gareth from the Elders Quorum. He's so awesome! But yeah that was the day.

Sunday: All of our church meetings got canceled. It was sad but, I understand that we don't want anyone else getting sick. But we had a bunch of lessons with our members. What I think is really neat with everything happening here is that even though we can't go to church, we already have a home- centered program given to us from our prophet. If that alone doesn't testify that President Nelson isn't a true prophet I don't know what does! Pretty neat stuff!

Anyway, I hope everyone is doing well and not getting sick! Times are rough, but if we keep our faith in the Lord we can "with surety hope for a better world"(Ether 12:4). Be smart, wash your hands, and trust in the Lord! I love you all and hope you have a good week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

Blue skies!

Fanny Pack Friday

Holy hail!

Us and some of our lovely members

A Short One

Family and Friends!

Hey y'all! So I don't have a whole lot of time today, but I'll give you some of the highlights from the week!

On Tuesday, we had a super good lesson with David! We taught about the Word of Wisdom and the Law of Chastity (yeah the two big ones). Then we gave him a church tour mostly just looking at all the pictures. It was so awesome and he was asking a ton of good questions! HE'S SO CLOSE!! So we are just continuing to help him work his way toward baptism.

Spiritual thought: This week I've been reading in the war chapters of Alma and something that stuck out to me was when Moroni talks about him preparing his people. It says in Alma 50:1 that "Moroni did not stop making preparations for war, or to defend his people against the Lamanites". And that's exactly what we all need to do. We can't be casual about living the gospel, we have to continue to strengthen ourselves as well as others. So keep doing the small and simple things because those are the most important thing you could be doing!

Anyway, I honestly can't remember what else happened this week. Oh one of our ward members got her mission call! She's going to Raleigh, North Carolina! Super excited for her! Anyway, we did a whole lot of service again this week. Love you all and hope you all have a great week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

Me and Tucker!

Selfie

Fanny Pack Friday

Another selfie

Me and our future missionary, Abi

Nothin' Much

Family and Friends!

Well here we are at another Monday! SHOUT OUT TO BY BIG BRO THOUGH! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! HOPE IT'S THE BEST! Anyway nothing too exciting happened this week but here's the week:

Monday: We just had another chill p-day and then had a lesson with one of our less actives before FHE. It went really well and she is just awesome! We then played sock hockey for FHE! IT WAS SO FUN!

Tuesday: We had service at the horse farm and then a lesson with Stephanie. We talked about the importance of gratitude. Then that night we had an awesome lesson with our friend David! We talked about following the prophet and it turned into how we feel the spirit. He was asking really good questions and trying to figure out how he feels the spirit. We are hoping that this week we can possibly put him on date for baptism! We will see how it goes!

Wednesday: We had a district council in the morning and then some lessons later that day. Nothing too exciting.

Thursday: We helped at the food bank and then we tried to have a lesson with one if our recent converts but she ended up waking up sick😢. Apparently something is going around because a lot of our members have been getting sick. Hopefully we don't🤞🏼.  We then had two lessons that night with Taylor and Josh H. (We have like 5 Josh's in our ward so it gets a little confusing.)

Friday: We had service in the morning at Habitat for Humanity. More of just moving junk from one place to another. And then weekly planning took care of our day till dinner. We tried to go visit some people after and we did get to talk to a less active but no one else was home. We finished the night off with a lesson with Kiana and Jake and a lesson with Josh (the recent convert).

Saturday: We helped out at the horse farm, its it's literally my favorite thing! Then we had a couple member lessons and played soccer with Abel and Josh for our lunch. Let's just say I'm very much out of shape and still can't play soccer😂, but it was a pretty good day!

Sunday: David didn't come go church so that was sad. It was a pretty good Sunday though. After dinner, we went with some of our members to visit a sister that was struggling. She had been feeling really lonely but seeing how many people came to see her overwhelmed her with love. It was a really awesome experience just to be able to see her light up and see how many people care about her.

Well, sorry there wasn't anything super exciting this week but something that really hit me yesterday was that when we go through trials we can't isolate ourselves. When we isolate ourselves it makes it harder for us to move forward. The Lord doesn't want us to suffer alone so reach out to someone!! I love and miss you all and hope you have the best week!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

Lunch with Sister VanDenakker and Sister Walker

Fanny Pack Friday

My little friend

Last Names-Small World

Family and Friends!

It's Monday again so here's your girl coming to you from the good old Everett Washington! I hope you all had a great week! Here's what happened in this neck of the woods:

Monday: We had fun time hanging out with our zone for the last time before everyone got transferred. It's always sad when you make friends and then BOOM they get transferred. Anyway, after that, we didn't have FHE because all the YSA wards got invited to help clean the temple so we had two lessons instead! One was with one of our recent converts, Carlos. We had been trying to have a lesson with him for a while so we were super happy to finally get one in. We talked about the blessings we are able to receive when we follow the commandments and how they really do help us be happier in the long run.

Tuesday: Service at the horse farm again! We helped stack hay so you already know there were a bunch of stupid puns being said the whole time! We then had a lesson with another recent convert, Lucas, later that day and then a lesson with our friend David that night. We had an awesome lesson with David! He asked a lot of questions about what he's been reading in the Book of Mormon and then we talked about the importance of going to church, praying, and reading the scriptures (aka spiritual CPR). He's progressing slowly but that all good because he's still progressing!

"Majestic"

Wednesday: Transfers where in the morning but because neither of us were getting transferred we had a find something else to fill our morning. So we went over and helped one of our ward members, Staci, and her mom clean for a bit and not get robbed. Haha, welcome to Everett! Anyway the rest of the day was pretty chill, we had a couple lessons and then tried to visit some people later. Nothing else too exciting. 

Thursday: We helped out at the food bank in the morning. We got to see some of the new people in our zone! We have another Sister Ballard so that's a little confusing at times but, it's fine. It just makes me grateful for my last name and the fact that no one else in the mission has it! Anyway, the new Sister Ballard and I figured out that she was MTC companions with Violet Williams! I've know Violet for years thanks to piano lessons! So, that was pretty awesome! The rest of the day we had studies and trying to find more people to teach.

Friday: HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!! We had district council and guess what y'all?! Sister VanDenakker is in my district and is my new STL! I was super happy to see her and I'm pumped we are close to each other again! So district council was great and the rest of the day was chill. We had two really good lessons with Staci and Abel that night.

Happy Valentine's Day/Fanny Pack Friday

Saturday: Service at the horse farm and I got to see Sister Inskeep! That was way fun! After that, we went and had a lesson with Stephanie and then had dinner with Karen and her family. Nothing too exciting happened the rest of the day.

Sunday: Such a good day! David came to church and, man, everything was just so good for him to hear! We missed talking to him after church but hopefully we will get to talk to him more about it on Tuesday.

Well, that was pretty much the week! Something I've been thinking a lot about is the Atonement and how it can help me in my life. As a mission, we are reading the Book of Mormon together before next general conference. As I've been reading, I've realized that all of the stories are about people who change through Christ. As they come to know of their Savior, they have a desire in their heart to change. I loved this because it's proof to me that anyone can change. I love reading about Alma and the sons of Mosiah and how they helped some of the worst people change and want to become like their Savior.

I love this gospel and I know it's true! I love you all and hope you have the best week! And feel free to update me on y'alls lives! Sorry for the long email😬😂

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

Deep Cleaning

Lee's Baptism

Funny Vaccuum Sign

Baptism and Transfers

Family and friends!

Well, hey there everyone! I hope everyone had an awesome week! Well, transfers are here and your girl is staying in YSA land! It will be fun! Anyway here's the latest:

Monday: We went and got haircuts from a member that the Millcreek sisters know and then we just hung out at the Stake center with other missionaries for the rest of pday. Then we had a fun time with the ward at FHE!

Tuesday: We went to the horse farm again! We got to help with the minis and they are so stinking cute! We then had a lesson with Abel and talked about how we can use the Atonement in our everyday life. It was a really awesome lesson! For finding that night, we went to the sketchy town of Sultan and the first door we knock the lady yelled at us..haha! But then at the end of the night we made a new friend! It was the mom of a friend we had in our area book. She said she would like to sit in on a lesson when we come back to meet with her daughter. Then she took a Book of Mormon! It was so awesome!

The cutest little horse

Wednesday: Nothing too exciting happened. We had district council in the morning and some member lessons and then contacted some people later that night.

Thursday: We went and did service at the food bank and then had a lesson with a girl who just moved into the ward. Then we actually got time to do family history! We are given an hour each Thursday to do family history but we never have time for it until this week. It was fun to explore for a bit on Family Search. After that, we tried to go contact some people, but sadly no one was home. But we finished out the night with some really awesome member lessons.

Friday: We had service in the morning and then a whole lot of planning the rest of the day.

Fanny Pack Friday...a new one, thanks to Sister Wolfe!!

Saturday: We got to go back to Anacortes for Lee's baptism!!! Man, it made me so happy to be able to go back up there for his baptism! Lee was so excited! It is such an amazing experience to watch someone take their first steps on the path back to our Heavenly Father. It's so awesome! Once we got back from Anacortes, we went back out to Sultan to meet with our new friend, but she wasn't home. That was sad but we will try another time.

Sunday: Church was so awesome! It was definitely what I needed. All I can say is that the Lord is aware of each and everyone of us. He knows what we need when we are struggling. Once we turn to Him and ask for His help He will be there to help us ever step of the way.

Well, that was pretty much the week! I hope you all have the best week and remember to choose the right! Love you all!

Kia Kaha
Sister Twede:)

The District

Pretty view