Monday, June 24, 2013

The Michigan Left

Well, hello there! It's me, Sister Heywood. Just livin' the life as a missionary in the Michigan Detroit Mission!

Oh my gosh, I love it here! It is so beautiful and green! I've never seen anything so green! And the Michiganders are so nice! Yup, they are called Michiganders. I love it! :) Seriously, they are so nice. When we knock on doors and they answer they always nicely turn us down. There have been a few rude people, but mostly nice! I'm so surprised!

I am in Ann Arbor, so there are a lot of students here!

Kay, so let me tell you about my first day out here in the field. First off, let me start with the plane ride. I woke up at 2:15 am to catch the bus at 3:30 am and got on the plane at some time that I don't remember haha, but we got into Michigan around 1 (that's 10 California time and 11 Utah time). The mission president and his wife greeted us. Brother and Sister Holmes are the sweetest. We then went to the mission home and had cheeseburgers that Sister Holmes grilled. I want to be like her! There were either 29 or 31 of us that arrived that day and I think 18 were sisters. That's the most they've had and they are expecting more next time! CRAZY! So we ate and met with the mission president (I need to say thank you to Bishop Cunningham, President Lindberg and my parents for saying such nice things about me! You made me look really good ;)), and then we went out proselyting! Yup! Right away! They threw us into the work! It was awesome. I went with 4 other sisters. Only one of us wasn't new, Sister Evans. Sister Evans is from Australia and has two transfers left. She's awesome. We split up 3 and 2 and went tracting. We found 1 new investigator! I'm not in that area so I don't know if she's progressing but it was really exciting! We also found a potential. I love missionary work!

I don't know what area we were in. It's a new area.

After that we went to bed and set our alarms for 6:30 and got rested for the transfer meeting at 8 the next day. Now, here is where it gets interesting. We didn't wake up at 6:30. We woke up at 8.

Yup. That happened. Sister Evans, at 8, said "Sisters, it's 8. None of the alarms went off." Our brains took a few seconds to process that and then, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! We all jumped up like crazy people screaming and running around trying to get ready!!! How this happened, I don't know, but I sure would have enjoyed watching us freak out. It would have been really funny. We let Sister Holmes know what happened, got ready and jumped in the car. Lucky we only missed breakfast which started at 8. We were in time to grab a muffin, take pictures and go to the transfer meeting. SUCCESS!

I got my companion and my area. I got two companions actually. Another trio! Sister Jory Miller, who arrived with me but is here waiting for her visa to go to Brazil, and Sister Farnsworth. We were put in the Ann Arbor 1 ward. Pretty sweet! We had a new apartment and kind of a new area. So, let me explain. Ann Arbor 1 split into 2 areas and so the ward has 2 sets of missionaries. A set of elders and a set of sisters. We met Laura who is a potential investigator and I have a really good feeling about her! I think she was prepared for us. We met a guy who laughed at us when we talked about Joseph Smith. He just stood there and laughed, but we shut him up when we said what we know is true. I have good feelings about him too. He's Laura's neighbor haha. We also met our neighbor Portia. She is the cutest little old black lady and she is also a potential investigator! Sister Jory Miller and I had a strong feeling to talk to a lady at the library. Don't know why, but we did. We acted on that and went to talk to her. She turned us down, but we know we did what the Lord wanted us to do. Darn agency. That's going to drive me nuts out here! 

I met the bishop and ward mission leader. I started training and got all settled in. Well, guess what. SUPRISE!!! I'm not in Ann Arbor 1 anymore! 

President called Thursday morning and made a change. I got transferred to Ann Arbor 2 with Sister Sherrow. We made the switch in 2-3 hours. It was so fast. That was a long day.

 I love Sister Sherrow! We have had so much success! They had a goal to teach 6 lessons in a week and usually only get 1 or 2. We got more than 6 in two days. There is a reason for me being here. Sister Sherrow and I work so well together and keep trying new things which really seem to be working! It's awesome. AND NOW I'M IN A DUO!

A little about Sister Sherrow. She is 20. She's from Utah. She comes from a family of 13! They are all adopted. And she cooks scrambled eggs in the microwave. I love her to death!

Yesterday was my first Sunday! I love the ward. They are great!

Our first dinner that we had with a family was with the Miller family. I love them! They are so great! Guess what we ate! (Mom, you're going to get a kick out of this). FISH! I hate fish, so obviously I was super excited. We had the choice between salmon and mahimahi (Spelling?). I chose the mahimahi because they said it was more mild than the salmon. I choked it down and pretended I liked it. They gave us the leftovers which are currently in the fridge and will probably not get eaten because I won't eat it and Sister Sherrow doesn't like to use the stove (fish gets rubbery if you put it in the microwave). I feel so bad!

Our second meal was better. We had it last night with the Wright family. We had nachos! I LOVE NACHOS! They have the cutest kids! One is Abby's age, which really made me miss Abby, and she has the same name as one of my cousins, so that's pretty cool. I'm best friends with their youngest and we even have a secret hand shake. :)

Sister Sherrow and I met this guy named Stu who is a potential investigator. We went to check up on a referral and the guy we were looking for wasn't there, but Stu was. Stu was just sitting outside of the house so we talked to him. He has an incredible story! He's had several near death experiences which brought him close to God. He was a hard core atheist before his accidents. We talked to him and gave him our card. He's going on vacation and said that he'd call when he gets back. I sure hope he does! That was such an incredible experience with him. I have been so worried about listening to the spirit and having it tell me what to say. I always plan what to say while the person is speaking when I should listen to them and let the spirit fill my mouth when I open it. I had 3 experiences that day where I was able to do that. It feels so amazing to be used as a mouthpiece and to feel the power of God and the Holy Ghost flowing through me. It is unbelievable. D&C 100:3-8. I love missionary work!

So, just a couple other things. 

1. I found Hogwarts. It's not in England. It's at the University of Michigan. No lie. I'll try to get a picture of it for you guys. 



2. There is this weird thing here called a Michigan left. Look it up because I can't explain it. All I can say is that whoever developed the roads here was mentally insane and so were the people who agreed with him. I have no idea what they were thinking.



3. The Dollar Tree here is amazing. They have everything! Even frozen and refrigerated foods. It puts me in poor girl heaven!

4. We are going to try to plan a fireside that we will invite investigators and non-members to. I'm super stoked. :)

Well! I think that is it! I miss you all! I love being a missionary. I love serving the Lord. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is true, and it is the only true church. It was restored through Joseph Smith, who is a true prophet of God. The Book of Mormon is true and Joseph Smith translated it. The Holy Bible is true. I know it. If you don't know these things to be true then I challenge you to study them out and pray to God and ask if they are true. He will tell you if these things are true and if they weren't then He would tell you they aren't, but they are. Again, I KNOW IT! I know it with every fiber of my being. 

Love you all!
Until next week!

Sister Emma Heywood

PS

My mailing address is:
2511 Brecken Ridge Dr.
Ann Arbor, MI 48103

You can still send things to the mission home, but this address just send stuff right to me  :)

PPS

The stake here is teaching everyone how to use technology in spreading the word of the gospel.  It’s kind of funny, but super awesome.  They are going around and actually teaching people how to do everything and encouraging them all to use Facebook and twitter.  And there is a possibility that I will be able to use Facebook as well.  Not sure yet, but I will let you know.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Bartholemeau


Hey everyone! So I made it through my first week at the MTC. Let me just tell you all, it is wonderful here. I leave for Detroit on Monday the 17th at 3:30 am. Lucky me right? 

Alright, so here is what we do at the MTC:

1. wake up
2. get ready
3. study
4. breakfast
5. study
6. study
7. class
8. study
9. lunch
10. study
11. study
12. class
13. dinner
14. study some more
15. and some more
16. and some more
17. study just one more time
18. wait just kidding, study one last time
19. plan for tomorrow
20. get ready for bed
21. go to bed.

Sometimes we get to go to the gym. 

Yah, so we do a lot of studying. I'm pretty sure that I did more studying my first 2 days here than I ever have in my life. My first day here we were thrown right into MTC life. Literally. I got out of the car, got my tags and got to work. It was cool though. 

There is a time warp here. Every day feels like a week! My district is the best. So are my companions Sister Bailey and Sister Lundgren. I love them so much! My teachers, Brother Roberts and Brother Perry, are super cool! I love them! 

So today is my first P-day. It's been very eventful and it's not even noon. First off, I get to wear jeans. YES! Second, while we were all studying in our residence hall, Sister Lundgren yells "A MOUSE!!!" Yes. There is a mouse in our room! He's cute and little and grey and I named him Bartholemeau. So all of us were screaming (I should also mention that Sisters Cutler and Micklesen live with us too, they are also awesome!) and the mouse hid under the bed behind Sister Cutler's bag. She got the bag out and scared the mouse off while we all screamed. I was supposed to catch it with the trash can but stood on the ladder and screamed instead. I should also mention that Sister Bailey is terrified of mice. She's like Indiana Jones with snakes. The mouse is now hiding behind one of ourcabinets. He squeezed through a crack this big ---> ll. No joke. Did you know that mice can collapse their skulls? Creepy. So as we are trying to scare the mouse out and Sister Bailey is on the verge of tears singing "I'll go out the door like you want me to go" to the tune of I'll Go Where You Want Me to Go Dear Lord, the fire alarm goes off. No there was not a fire. They were testing the fire alarms which we knew but forgot because of our visit from Bartholemeau. It was quite an eventful morning. I get to do my laundry and go to the temple. I AM SO EXCITED TO GO TO THE TEMPLE!!! 

Last night we had gym. We all showered after at the same time and sang in the shower together! Obviously, not in the same stall and we only sang hymns, cause we're good little missionaries :) It was pretty awesome! SHOWER BONDING! 

A little bit about district 26-A:

-We wrote thank you on our napkins for the people that work at the cafeteria. Sister Cutler wrote "gracias", but spelled it "grasis". WRONG!

-People tell me how tall I am because I obviously don't know I'm short.

-Sister Lundgren wants to convert the "Ain't nobody got time for that lady" because she lives in Detroit.

-Elder Bronson only quotes Monsters Inc. and Nacho Libre, drinks 4 cups of chocolate milk at every meal and gets excited about everything. Literally, everything. He'd be excited if he found a toothpick on the ground.

-Sister Mickelsen, she died once.

-Elder Lee uses the elliptical to burn off all the cod nuggets he eats.

-Elder Ault laughs at everything and speaks Chinese.

-Elder Gonzalez has the answer to everything.

-Sister Bailey is from Gauna, but has lived in Arkansas since she was five. She wants to serve in "the hood" and doesn't like hot dogs because she thinks she's eating Scooby Doo.

-Elder Olkjer graduated from high school a month ago. He also smashed his hand before he got here and insists on smashing all of his fingers on that same hand.

-Elder Robacher is captain Kirk. How do I know that? He always forgets to call himself Elder Robacher. 

We all have a great time. I learn so much from them. They all have such wonderful insights! I love them! We all act like best friends and we've only known each other for a week. 

Here's some cool facts. The day I came into the MTC I entered with over 900 other missionaries. That's the most to enter the MTC. Crazy!!! And we all had to walk to the Marriot center for Devotional with Elder Arnold of the Seventy. I have been a part of history. Pretty darn cool. Oh and I got to shake Elder Arnolds hand and hug his wife (who also spoke). No big deal. They taught us about being obedient and being the best we can be. It was so great and uplifting. I took lots of notes. 

The food. It can be really good, but most of the time it looks like barf, but we get BYU ice cream on Wednesdays and Sundays which is pretty awesome. Can you guess what I have for dinner on those days? 

Although it's been fun, it's been hard. There have been so many times when I have felt inadequate, but I know that I am here for a purpose. The Lord has prepared people for me to teach and they are waiting for me. I have had to learn that my strengths are different than others and we have to work together. That's why were in companionships and we don't serve missions by ourselves. 

I cannot wait to get out into the field! I'm so stoked!  

Quote time!

"When Satan tries to remind you about your past, remind him about his future." 

Well, I love you all and I wish that I had more time. I don't know when my P-day in the field is, so I can't tell you when to expect another e-mail. 

Have a wonderful day! 

Love,

Sister Heywood

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Well,I Made It Through The Day!


 It was a long and tiring day, but I made it!  I am alive. It was such a wonderful day!  Everyone was right!  I love the MTC!  It was a bit stressful, but I love it!

So, here’s the play-by-play!

 1.  I got dropped off.
2.  A sister helped me with my bags.
3.  I had to walk through a random building all by myself while the Sister took my stuff somewhere.
4.  I got my badge and all that fun stuff.
5.  I met the Sister at the other end of the building and we took my bags to my room.
6.  The Sister took me to my classroom and we said goodbye, probably forever.
7.  I met my district (they’re great).
8.  I met my companions (I love them).
9. I went to the welcome meeting.
10.  DINNER
11.  Workshops with investigators.
12.  Met my Zone? (Yeah? Zone?)
13.  Back in my room with my roommates.  J

Everything was non-stop go from the time I got dropped of ‘till now.  It’s almost 10:00 pm.

So, my district, there are 5 Sisters and 8 Elders.  All the sisters are going to the Michigan Detroit mission and the Elders are going to the Tempi Arizona mission!  One of the Elders, Elder Bronson, is related to the Sheffields!  Small world!

My companions are great!  I have two!  Sister Lundgren from Sandy, Utah who is one of the girls who I met through facebook!  Only problem is that I want to call her Emma because that’s her name.  My other companion is Sister Bailey.  She is originally from Gauna but moved to Arkansas when she was 5.  She is amazing.  In our workshop with the “investigators” she spoke a bit and it was so wonderful.  She’s awesome.  AND! She knows Camille!  They were in the same FHE group.

I saw so many people today!

-Spencer Glancy
-Dillon Petrovich when I got dropped off
-Camille at dinner
-Tyler Hook at dinner
-A kid from one of my classes (at BYUI) at dinner
-And Colby at dinner

Embarrassing story time.  Already?  I know.  I saw Colby and got excited and may have yelled a little bit.  The couple I was standing next to said “don’t get too crazy”.  I thought because I had my tray of dirty dishes.  Nope.  They said “you’re standing next to the mission presidents”.  Yup.  So bad.

Anyway the other companionship in our room is great!  They’re from Utah and Idaho.  I don’t remember their names and I won’t ask ‘cause I don’t want to seem rude.

Well, I need to unpack and get ready for tomorrow and fro bed.  Love you guys!

Sister Heywood J