LOADS OF FUN!

Oh, hello! I didn't see you there. 

Here are some funny things I haven't told you yet.

-I spend every Thursday night with a crazy dog.

Really we're there to see a less-active, but the dog gets in the way.

The problem is she's so darn cute!

You can't say no.

Well, until she scratches you and you end up with a scar on your arm. 

-People here love their animals.

Everyone has a sign on their door saying to save their animals if there is a fire.

EVERYONE! 

-We're kind of teaching this lady who told us yesterday to "be careful with our prophet. Beware that he might lead you away from Christ like [someone I won't mention]".

Yup.

We told her "actually, the whole purpose of our prophet is to point to Christ and he directs us to Christ. And twice a year we get to hear him speak about how we can grow closer to Christ."

Her: Oh

Yup, we slapped her in the face.

We did it out of pride which was bad, but she deserved it right?

Maybe not.

Oh well. 

Guess what. 

This week was great, as usual! 

New investigators

General authorities

Halloween Parties

Exchanges 

LOADS OF FUN! 

We found one of our new investigators when we went to see a former investigator.

He wasn't home, but his fiancé was.

At first we left without saying much.

I was the one that cut things off before we could teach.

Of course I beat myself up and told Sister Taylor I was never talking again!

Well, we got in the car and said, let's just go back and invite her to the ward Halloween party.

We went back.

She let us in!

We taught her and her cute little daughter.

We invited her to be baptized.

She said "Well, I was baptized when I was younger..."

I start to think, oh shoot, ok now how am I going to explain to her that she needs to be baptized by the proper authority?

Then she says, "but I'd love to again!"

WHAT?!!!

I did a little jig in my brain. :)

Yup. She's getting baptized!

November 30th is the date! WHAT?!

This hasn't ever happened to me out here before.

The Spirit is amazing.

We had an investigator family come to the Halloween party.

Get this!
They know two families in the ward and actually baby sit for one of them.

Connections!
Oh, it's meant to be! 

We got to go to a conference with Elder Carlson (http://www.lds.org/church/leader/bruce-a-carlson). 

He is so cool!
He talked about being a consecrated missionary.

How can all of you be consecrated missionaries and followers of Christ?

Think about it and make a list.

I have given up all of my time, talents and efforts to be here. 

I thought a lot about why I came on a mission.

I realized that the reason I gave people was a lie.

Not that I tried to lie, but I did. Especially to myself. 

Why did I come on a mission?
I have no idea.

I didn't want to serve a mission.

I did not want to at all.

It's too hard.

I didn't see myself as a missionary.

Why would I want to do that? 

That's an awful reason to come on a mission. I know.

BUT there are great reasons why I have stayed.

I love the people.

I love the Lord.

I love my brothers and sisters and I want to bring them home with me.

I am so grateful to be a missionary.

I'm grateful for the efforts from family, friends and most importantly that God put into pushing me to come.

I can't imagine myself anywhere else.

I don't know who I would be without this experience.

When I entered the MTC I was terrified, but it felt right.

All those feelings of not wanting to be a missionary went away.

I need to be here, therefore I will give my all and I will do it with a smile. :D 

Exchanges were good.

They were hard at first.

I had a super off day.

I couldn't feel the Spirit as I was teaching and I was frazzled and didn't know what to do.

It was weird.

I haven't been without the Spirit in a long time.

Especially when I teach.

I didn't like that. 

Later though, we followed the spirit and were able to answer someone's prayers.

We planned to see Jennifer then Sister Anderson.

Well, we debated and debated on what to do when we were leaving.

We decided to choose.

We chose Jennifer.

It felt right.

We drove there.

Got there.

Parked.

Started to pray.

Got the feeling, nope, this isn't it.

Sister Mickelsen backed me out.

On the way to Sister Anderson's I almost turned around.

I almost did when we got to her house too.

We almost went back to see Jennifer.

We didn't.

We went inside.

Sister Anderson said she had been praying that we would come over.

HOW COOL??!!!
She's goin' through a rough patch.

We told her to get out of it that she had to come back to church and read her scriptures and pray.

She said "I know."

It was awesome!
Then she didn't come to church the next day.

I was so sad.

We're going to show her some tough love soon. 

My favorite part of the reading this week was Chapter 14:4-8 

4 Surely he has ^aborne our ^bgriefs, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 5 But he was ^awounded for our ^btransgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are ^chealed.

 6 All we, like ^asheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all.

 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he ^aopened not his mouth; he is brought as a ^blamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb so he opened not his mouth.

 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgressions of my people was he stricken. 

Christ knows everything we're going through.

He's suffered everything we have.

He died for us all.

He loves us.

I am so grateful for that love and that it allows me to return home. 

I know this church is true.

I know the Book of Mormon is true. 

 

I love you all.

Have a great week. 

Love,

Sister Heywood 

PS. I went to seminary this morning. I almost miss waking up early and singing with groggy voices.  

Reading:

Mosiah 15: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/15

Mosiah 16: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/16

Mosiah 17: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/17

Mosiah 18: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/18

Mosiah 19: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/19

Mosiah 20: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/20

                                 
                                                Fall in Michigan!

 

                    
                                                      Sister Taylor

 

                    
Well, we didn't think it was possible for there to be a missionary out there
that was smaller than and looked younger than Emma.  We thought wrong!

                            
Thank you Grandma and Grandpa Cowell for the warm fuzzy socks!!!!

God Must Really Like Me

Michigan Fact:

Everyone has a million cars.

No joke.

We'll go to a house and see five cars.

Yay! They're home.

Knock, knock, knock.

............No answer.

Knock, knock, knock a second time.

.................................No answer.

No one home.

5 Cars outside and NO ONE HOME! 

Anyway, it's been a minute since I've written!

How are all of you doin?

This was a great week!

-5 new investigators

-Boots

-Food

It's been great!

Last Monday we went to a less active's home like we do every Monday.

His wife isn't a member, but she sits out when we teach him.

So, we taught her the Restoration and let him help.

Our District Leader challenged us to invite her to be baptized.

We said "Ok" but I was thinking "yah right, not happening."

We hung up the phone and I thought "shoot. We have to invite her to baptized."

So, we taught a great lesson, 100% led by the Spirit and extended the invitation.

What did she say?

DRUM ROLL!!!!!!

Not yes.

Not no.

But "not at this time."
Not YET!

We were excited. :)

Then her husband read her this:

1 Corinthians 12-16:

12 But to the rest speak I, not the Lord: If any brother hath a wife that believeth not, and she be pleased to dwell with him, let him not put her away.

 13 And the woman which hath an ^ahusband that believeth not, and if he be pleased to dwell with her, let her not leave him.

 14 ^aFor the unbelieving ^bhusband is ^csanctified by the wife, and the unbelieving wife is ^dsanctified by the husband: else were your children unclean; but now are they holy.

 15 But if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us ^ato peace.

 16 For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt ^asave thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? 

It was pretty cool. 

We had a clothing drive this week.

Salvation Army had a ton of 100 pound bails and people got to come shop for free.

It was awesome!

We got to help people and teach people.

We even got to take some stuff too!

They were going to take it away at the end, so they were like, take stuff!

All the missionaries were like YAY!!! 

I got 2 pairs of snow boots.

Lots of beanies and scarves, and a couple skirts.

I was so grateful.

I don't need to buy boots now.

And someone in the ward is going to give me a coat that is too small for them.

I was so worried about buying all my winter stuff and now I don't have to buy everything!

All I have to worry about is tights and maybe a pair of mittens.

I am so thankful! 

At the clothing drive, we met the coolest lady.

She's coming to church this week and wants to bring her friends with her.

SO COOL!

She loved how warm she felt when she walked into the building and how nice everyone was.

She said she's never felt that way at a church before, and she's been to a lot of churches. 

I'm going to share my reading insights now and finish this e-mail with something else. 

I LOVED Mosiah 7.

ERMERGERSH!!!!! So good.

That's the only chapter I'm going to talk about. 

First off:

Verse 19 (Trust in God):

 19 Therefore, lift up your heads, and rejoice, and put your ^atrust in ^bGod, in that God who was the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and also, that God who ^cbrought the children of ^dIsrael out of the land of Egypt, and caused that they should walk through the ^eRed Sea on dry ground, and fed them with ^fmanna that they might not perish in the wilderness; and many more things did he do for them. 

Then it talks about being in bondage:

 20 And again, that same God has brought our fathers ^aout of the land of Jerusalem, and has kept and preserved his people even until now; and behold, it is ^bbecause of our iniquities and abominations that he has brought us into bondage. 

 24 Yea, I say unto you, great are the reasons which we have to ^amourn; for behold how many of our brethren have been slain, and their blood has been spilt in vain, and all because of iniquity.

 25 For if this people had not fallen into transgression the Lord would not have suffered that this great evil should come upon them. But behold, they would not hearken unto his words; but there arose contentions among them, even so much that they did shed blood among themselves.

 29 For behold, the Lord hath said: I will not ^asuccor my people in the day of their transgression; but I will hedge up their ways that they prosper not; and their doings shall be as a ^bstumbling block before them.

 30 And again, he saith: If my people shall sow ^afilthiness they shall ^breap the ^cchaff thereof in the whirlwind; and the effect thereof is poison.

 31 And again he saith: If my people shall sow filthiness they shall reap the ^aeast wind, which bringeth immediate destruction.

When we choose the wrong, we are in bondage.

Not physically, but spiritually.

When we're in that position it may feel like there is no way out, but there is!

You can get out of bondage and the coolest thing is that God wants to help you.

When we turn away from God we put ourselves in bondage.

God's hand is still outstretched and we ignore it.

Stop ignoring and hold on.  

 33 But if ye will ^aturn to the Lord with full purpose of heart, and put your trust in him, and serve him with all ^bdiligence of mind, if ye do this, he will, according to his own will and pleasure, deliver you out of bondage. 

Choose the right. Keep the commandments.

Your Heavenly Father will release you from bondage. 

So, we talked to our Atheist friend again last night.

When we got to his house he said "Oh! Do you want to battle?"

We were like, “No!”

We told him we could answer his questions as best as we could, but we weren't going to "battle" him.

It actually turned out well.

No, we couldn’t answer all his questions.

No, he doesn't believe in God yet.

BUT I think we're softening his heart.

He likes us. We're real. We aren't these crazy Jesus girls trying to prove him wrong.

We're very real with him about what we think and stuff and I think he appreciates that.

Sister Taylor and I decided that for him we're what a Christian is "supposed" to be; friendly and warm. 

One interesting thing is he asked how we can know God is real just based on feelings.

Well, we told him that God is evident in all things.

In the leaves, in our families, in the beauty of the earth and the universe.

Things he sees in his telescope are evidence that God is real and that God loves us.

Our friend said that was an interesting perspective and he'd never heard that before.

He said "God must really like me then."

"Yah, He loves you a lot."

I think we're making a break through.

Next time we see him, we're going to invite him to take the discussions. :) 

I KNOW 100% God loves us all so much.

It is evident in EVERY good thing.

We as humans are evidence of God's love and existence. 

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=2738091800001 

Love you all! 

The Church is true!

Love,

Sister Heywood 

Reading:

Mosiah 11: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/11

Mosiah 12: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/12

Mosiah 13: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/13

Mosiah 14: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/14

Which Team Are You On?

Waaaaaaaz uuuuuuuup? 

Michigan fact:

I don't know who named the streets here, but they didn't do a very good job.

If there is a Bartlet Street there is also a Bartlet Court, Drive, Place, Circle, Triangle, Square, Oval, Hexagon, Squiggle and Line.

No joke.

So annoying.

How do we find the houses we're supposed to be at?

We just hope it's the right one and if it isn't, that's ok!

We're missionaries. We always knock on stranger's doors.

Plus people are more willing to talk to us if we're looking for someone else. 

I've actually thought about asking at every door:

"Is there a Geberta that lives here? No? Oh well we're representatives of Jesus Christ? Have you heard of our church? Want to come to our church? Want to be baptized? Yeah? Ok cool. How about November 24? Awesome. I know that this gospel will bless you and your family."

Don't you think that will work?

I do.

Just kidding.

That's kind of sneaky and manipulative.

That's how Satan works. Not Jesus.

And I'm trying to be like Jesus. :)

Anyway, I'm just fine and dandy here in Michigan.

I love Farmington Hills!

What happened this week?

Not much.

We found two new investigators and became friends with an atheist.

One of our new investigators has been a progressing potential. 

We finally got her.

We planned to visit her and teach her the restoration.

When we got out of our car and started walking to her door she started walking out.

 

Coincidence? I think not.

Then we just started talking.

We kept using terms like "the restored gospel."

Well of course she didn't know what that meant, so she asked.

We would love to tell you that answer.

We taught her the restoration.

It was a beautiful lesson.
It flowed so effortlessly, mainly because she kept asking all the right questions.

We asked her later if she wanted a Book of Mormon 'cause I just "happened" to have one in my bag.

She said not yet.
I think the fact that we have 3 additional books of scripture made her nervous.

Well really, she just wants to know what the Pearl of Great Price is first and then she'll take a copy.

Unfortunately, we only hand out the Book of Mormon.
We certainly could get her a copy of the Pearl of Great Price, but we don't have them on hand.

Anyway, it was a super cool lesson. :)

She's gonna' be converted. 

Yah, I'm friends with an atheist.

We've been teaching his wife a little bit who is Christian.

We went to see her and met him.

His mom is a member of the church and he was raised in it but never baptized.

He asked us a lot of questions.
Random questions.

Like questions about our lives, what are our first names and what we thought about science and dinosaurs and stuff.

We answered. When we didn't have answers we said we don't know.

I think he realized we're real people and not just crazy Jesus girls, which is good.

He said he still loves us even though we believe in God.

We said we still love him even though he doesn't, and so does God.

We'll go back.

We'll get him.

One day he'll believe in God and he and his wife will be converted and sealed and happy.

One day he'll read this and laugh and say "THAT'S ME!" maybe even before he's converted.

It'll happen. 

Yesterday we had a church tour.

The city did an event where they took some people around to tour different houses of worship.

Our church buildings aren't super pretty or anything and we don't have a big door that everyone walks in.

They're not out in the open like BAM! LOOK AT ME!
Someone during question time said that we don't seem inviting.

We have things going on, but non-members don't feel like they can just walk in and be included.

WHAT?
We have a sign that says "Visitors Welcome" and we mean it!

Sister Taylor and I are pumped now though.

We're going to try to plan different things and really try to get the word out just so we can get people in the church.

It doesn't matter if they come for a Halloween party or sacrament or a tour. We just want to get them there.

It's gonna' happen. 

Mosiah 3 was cool.

 

It talks about the whole life of the Savior!

V. 5-6: His earthly ministry.

V. 7: The Atonement

V. 9: Crucifixion

V. 10: Resurrection

It also says that the only way to find eternal happiness is through faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement, repentance, baptism, receiving the Gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end (my purpose). There is no other way, and this is only possible in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In Mosiah 4 it really struck me that if you really believe, trust and follow God, you will do good and be good. You will follow the commandments to the best of your ability.

I like verse 9:

9 Believe in ^aGod; believe that he is, and that he ^bcreated all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all ^cwisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not ^dcomprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend. 

Read that verse again, but replace believe with trust. 

Mosiah 5 talked about the covenants we make at baptism.

Something super cool that I learned from one of my zone leaders that goes with this is:

Think of your favorite sports team.
I'll use the Dodgers since that's my dad's favorite and Tigers since I'm in Detroit. :)
How do you know that a Dodger is a Dodger.

How do you know a Tiger is Tiger?

He's got a jersey right?
There is no way you can mistake a Tiger for a Dodger.

When we are on God's team, when we're baptized, we take upon ourselves the name of Christ, or we put on His jersey.

Now, can just anyone put on a jersey and be a Dodger or Tiger?

No. It takes a lot of work to make it to the major leagues.

You have to train you have to work hard.

You can't just automatically be a pro pitcher?

There are steps you have to take to get there.

We have to work towards baptism.

Towards the World Series, or eternal life.

And the coolest part is that we don't have to do it alone.

Someone like Matt Kemp had a coach.

He trained hard and someone helped him train.

Because the Dodgers worked hard, played hard and listened to their coach they're in the World Series (my dad told me in his last letter. I'm not checking up on baseball while I'm out here).

God is our trainer. He's our coach.

He provides ways for us to make it to baptism and eventually eternal life.

He pushes us and supports us.

He shows us the proper way to hold the bat and to hit the ball so we get a home run.

 

Question?

If a Tigers player stops practicing, will he keep his skills?

Will he stay in the major leagues? Will he make it to the World Series?

No.

Just because he made it on the team doesn't mean that he can stop working.

If he stops practicing, stops listening to his coach then he will no longer be worthy to wear that jersey.

It's the same with us.

Once we're baptized  it doesn't mean we've automatically made it to the celestial kingdom.

Baptism is just one step that we make on the way there.

Making it on the Dodgers is just one step to playing in the World Series.

Make the team.

Stay worthy of your jersey.

Don't stop working.

Don't give up.

If you do, you won't make it. 

I love you all.

Work hard.

 

I want to play with all of you at the World Series some day, so put on the jersey and keep it on.
Meet with the missionaries.

Give 'em a chance.

http://mormon.org/missionaries 

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Heywood 

Reading assignment!
Mosiah 7:http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/7

Mosiah 8: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/8

Mosiah 9: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/9

Mosiah 10: http://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/mosiah/10

 

Emma's week on bike's!

 

Fun Pday at the Cider Mill!

Mini picnic tables, giant chair, and tiny pumpkins

 

The speedy black squirrel of Michigan finally caught on film!

And Emma claims they are much cuter than our boring squirrels