I've Decided To Go Bald

Just kidding!
But I do have dark brown hair now :)

Bye, bye blondie!

So how was your week?

Mine was good.

I don't know why, but I don't have much to say.

We had specialized training which is also good :)
They taught us about something cool the Church is doing for Christmas.

If you'll remember, at Easter they made this video.

http://easter.mormon.org/

Well for Christmas they made one.

http://www.mormon.org/christmas#d

On November 28th they want us to flood the world with this message.

There will be pictures too.

Share either the video or pictures with #SharetheGift and spread the love of Christ this Christmas.

But before, we must appreciate Thanksgiving :)
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages/topics/gratitude?v=911161818001

BUT let's also remember that Thanksgiving should be a daily thing.

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=910930407001

I think of Lehi who left Jerusalem.

He traveled for many days.

He had to leave everything behind except his family and necessary items that he needed to survive in the wilderness.

He had 2 children who complained through the whole journey (parents, I'm sure you understand what that's like).

Then, when he finally got the opportunity "he built an altar of stones, and made an offering unto the Lord, and gave thanks unto the Lord our God" (1 Nephi 2:7).

He's tired and he builds and altar to thank the Lord.

I'm sure he also made a sacrifice, which means he either had to hunt something down, or give up something from his limited supplies.

Let's strive to be like Lehi and give thanks every day for the Lord's blessings.

I love you all!
Have a great week :)

Love,

Sister Heywood

Prepare Yourself For A Waterfall of Tears!

So lots of miracles.

Lots of wonderful people.

Lots of smiles.

Lots of tears.

Lots of prayers.

That was this week.

Prepare yourselves for a great email. :)

1: Bill

A fisher at the pier.

He takes care of his sick wife and loves her so much that he won't put her in a home.

He helps and loves EVERYONE.

He didn't used to be this good he says, but he changed and now he's everyone's friend :)

2: David

He can't read because he's an older gentleman and he's losing his sight.

He said he would love for us to come and read the Book of Mormon because he loves reading about is beloved Savior Jesus Christ.

3: James

I've seen James sitting on the curb almost every time we go to Chris's.

The Spirit has said several times to pull over and talk to him.

I've been too afraid to because it's always dark and I don't want to scare him and I want to be safe too.

This time as we were driving out of the complex, I saw him.

Now, I should also tell you, we didn't go to see Chris.

We went to see a less active who lives in the same place, and she wasn't there.
We went right after dinner and I kind of didn't want to go out because I knew the less active wouldn't be there.

We went anyway and I'm so glad we did.

I almost passed James for the 100th time, but I didn't.

I made a U-turn.

Parked the car and told Sister Riggs to pray for safety.

She did and got out.

We talked to James.

He wants to get baptized.

Before he does though, he wants to quit smoking.

We told him, we could help him with both of those things.

We taught a quick, spirit led lesson.

Sister Riggs prayed at the end.
She had faith that we would be safe after she asked for safety in the car.

I on the other hand did not.

I kept my eyes open during the prayer just to be "safe".

I regretted that.

Why?
Because the Spirit came in so strong and when James looked up at the end of the prayer, he had tears streaming down his face.

I never want to forget such a beautiful sight.

We all started crying.

We left our card and walked away and sobbed for the next hour and a half.

We later pulled over and thanked God for such a miracle, then headed to our next appointment.

4. Lamar

We were trying to find a member in the ward, but didn't have the apartment number.
So what did we do?
We knocked on every door. :)
No one answered until the last door.

We almost didn't knock the other side with that last door, but the Spirit said to.

We didn't find the family, we found Lamar.

He remembers seeing the Elders on their bikes and chasing them on his bike when he was a kid in Detroit.

He was so excited to hear that we are from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We're going back to teach him this week :)

5. Bro. Rennie

The Rennie family is less active, but Brother Rennie came to church all by himself this week :)

6. Jordan

This is Sarah's boyfriend and we invited him to church and he came!

7. Haili

She's taking a religion class and wants to meet with us to learn more.

I think she'll come to know that the Church is true, even though that isn't her purpose in meeting with us.

So many miracles.

I'm grateful for each one of them.

I love you all!
Have a great week!

2 Nephi 25:26

"And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins."

Love,

Sister Heywood

Funky and Adorable

So, one of our less actives said I'm funky and adorable.

Haha she cracks me up :)

This week was good and cold.

It should start snowing soon.

I know it has in other parts of Michigan.

Sad.

I hate snow.

I've decided I like snow when I'm sitting in shorts and a t-shirt, in sunny California and watching it on the television.

That's when I like snow :)

Anyway, so we got 8 member referrals this week.

That was a miracle!
And one seems really promising!
He lived in Salt Lake for a while, so of course he knows all about Mormons.

I hope you can sense the sarcasm that was radiating from me as I typed that last sentence.

He's a cool guy.

We'll see where this goes!
God is a god of miracles, so anything is possible. :)

My new companion is Sister Riggs.

Boy is she great!
She is on fire!
This is exactly what I need for my last transfer :)

And yes, we set up or Christmas tree :)

I love you all so much!
I hope you have a great week!
Remember that God loves you :)

Love,
Sister Heywood

I'm Dying in Riverview

In missionary life we call entering the mission field being born.

When we go home, we die.

Our first area is our birthplace and our trainer is our mom or dad.

Our last area is our death place and our last companion kills us :)

So, my birthplace is Ann Arbor, and my mom is Sister Sherrow.

I will die here in Riverview, and who will kill me?

I don't know.

I'll tell you next week :)

Yes, Sister Gervacio is leaving.

She is the only one in the district leaving, as a matter of fact.

Here are some of the boss pictures we took yesterday.

Aren't those just wonderful :)

 

Anyway, so this week was good.

We did a lot of knocking.

Like a lot.

I have a bump on my knuckle that is turning into a callous.

 

We didn't find anyone knocking.

But guess what?!
The Lord blessed us for our efforts and He gave us 3 new investigators.

All of them are family members of our recent converts.

This all happened in 1 night, like in a matter of  2 1/2 hours.

How awesome is that?!
I know that God is good and that He is aware of us.

 

At Chris's his son and his son's girlfriend sat in.

They became new investigators.

Chris was so excited.

He was on FIRE!
He taught the whole Restoration and Plan of Salvation, basically on his own.

All we did was testify of what he taught.

It was great :)

 

Then we saw Sarah and committed her dad to start reading the Book of Mormon.

I asked him a while ago if he wanted to read it and he wasn't ready.

Well, he usually sits in on the lessons.

2 lessons ago, I felt impressed to share how I decided to come on a mission.

I shared my testimony of how I know the Church is true.

I could tell that it softened his heart.

He even took his hat off for the prayer and stopped playing on his phone, which never happens.

This last lesson we had with them he did the same thing as we prayed.

Well, I call him Dad.

So, at the end of the lesson I sad, "hey Dad! Will you read the Book of Mormon"?
He downloaded the gospel library app and said that he would read. :)
YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm so excited.

He is really skeptical about a lot of things, but the Book of Mormon answers the questions of the soul, so that will all be cleared up in no time.

 

Another miracle:
CHRIS GOT THE PRIESTHOOD :)

He is so awesome.

 

I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's the best thing ever!

I love you all and hope you have a blessed week.

 Love,

Sister Heywood

 

D&C 6:36

God Wants Us to Make Covenants

Chris got baptized!
He's the one standing next to me.

He is so happy to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I'm so proud of him for making covenants with the Lord, that God wants all of us to make with Him.

This week started out a little rough.

I won't go into details because they don't need to be shared.

What is important is that we were able to kick our butts into gear, work through problems and work hard.

We have to do a lot of finding.

A lot!

I got really mad at some rude people.

One lady talked to us through her door.

She didn't even open it.

This happens a lot and it ticks me off!
Oh man, I was furious.

Another lady was really nasty to my companion.

Don't be rude to people.

Please.

There is nothing to gain from being mean.

Please also be nice to the missionaries.

They just want to help you to draw closer to your loving Heavenly Father.

Just let them in and see what the message they share can do for you.

It most certainly will not hurt you.

It will only enrich your life.

I love you all!
Have a great week!

Love,

Sister Heywood

D&C 6:36
​

Cold

So the weather here is rather crisp.

But fall is beautiful! :)

I would send you a picture, but I forgot my camera.

So yeah this week was good.

I have to be honest.

This week I had a day where I woke up and I was totally unmotivated.

I was so mad.

It's so annoying to feel that way.

I only have a few weeks left and I have a lot of work to do.

I can't afford to feel that way.

Seriously, I woke up and just didn't want to be a missionary.

All I wanted to do was sleep.

That's it.

Just sleep, and eat ice cream.

It was tough.

I knew I needed to just go out and work hard.

That day, we didn't plan in a lot of finding, but we ended up doing a ton of it because everything else fell through.

Yay.

Grand Blanc was a hoppin' place and we didn't have time for finding.

I've gotten a bit rusty.

One door in particular was awful.

The lady answered the door and was super sweet.

Once we stated why we there her whole demeanor changed.

She did the "shake your head and back up slowly, while looking like a deer in the headlights, as you slowly shut the door" move.

I hate that move.

For some reason I was really heart broken.

I just wanted to cry.

I haven't felt that way in a long time.

It was so sad.

But, I got my mojo back.

We kept working hard.

I knew that would be the fixer for my unmotivation :)

I don't think that's even a word.

Oh well.

Chris gets baptized this week and he is so excited :)
SO AM I :)

I love you all!
Have a great week!

D&C 6:36

Love,

Sister Heywood

I'm Hungry

So, I can't really remember what happened this week.
I remember it was a good week.

We found a new investigator.

We got to teach Chris, who is still doing awesome!
Man, he is just totally embracing the gospel.

It is awesome!

We also got in touch with a less active that we've tried to see like every day for 3 weeks.

We helped a family move their food storage.

Not an easy task.

They have enough food storage to feed all the missionaries serving in the Mission.

I'm really sore.

I got to give a talk yesterday and that was fun.

We got a new ward mission leader.

I don't know what else to say haha.

Here are some things I'm thankful for :)

-I'm grateful to have a real dresser instead of the plastic drawers I had in Grand Blanc.

-Someone gave us chocolate muffins.

-I discovered that it's really yummy to dip tortilla chips in salsa and cottage cheese.

-I have ice cream in the freezer.

-I have an avocado.

I think I'm hungry :)

Anyway, I love you all :)
Have a great week and don't forget how much God loves you :)

http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=3701964025001

Love,

Sister Heywood