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

General Conference

General Conference was so dang good!
Man!
I am so grateful for our leaders.

I know that they are all called of God.

The Spirit has witnessed that to me.

"Spiritual Questions Deserve Spiritual Answers from God."

​I love the quote above.

SO GOOD!!!!!!
Go to God for your questions.

He will answer.

I know it.

SO this week was good.

Sister Gervacio and I were both sick, but we worked as hard as we could.

We had to get our car jumped twice and a new battery.

Sister Gervacio's glasses broke, while we waited for roadside assistance, the first time our car didn't start.

We laughed for like a week straight because funny things like that kept happening.

We made ourselves feel better with pie and ice cream :)

Oh my gosh you guys.

Chris is awesome!
He is reading and praying and searching the scriptures for his answers.

He has been so prepared by the Lord and I keep wondering if this is real life.

I don't know what I did to make me worthy to be the one that God chose as His tool to help Christ, but I am so honored and humbled by this opportunity.

Chris went to every session of conference and loved it.

Right now he's just a dry Mormon, but don't worry, he's getting wet October 25 :)

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

Don't forget how much God loves you.

Thank Him every day for the blessings He gives you :)

Love,

Sister Heywood

Riverview

So, my new area is Riverview and my new companion is Sister Gervacio!

I LOVE IT HERE!

One of Sister Gervacio's cousins was one of my FHE brothers at BYU-I.

What a small world.

Sister Gervacio and I work really well together.

We've been able to help each other work through some things and it's been really good for our companionship.

The first few nights together we would just talk and help each other.

It was really therapeutic.

We both really need each other this transfer.

Oh boy was this week good.

I got an awesome new area and companion.

We got to meet Elder Cardon of the Seventy.

There was an I'm a Mormon Devotional.

AND we met CHRIS!!!

Chris is amazing.

He referred himself to the missionaries online.

Normally, media referrals are totally bogus and don't work out (at least that's been my experience).

BUT Chris has been prepared.

He investigated in his teens, but his dad was a die hard Catholic who would have never let him get baptized.

Chris has an uncle who is deceased, but was a member of the church.

Chris has felt lost, like something is missing.

He asked God for help and direction.

God sent him several dreams of his uncle and then led him to Mormon.org.

We've taught Chris 2 times now.

He came to church and is preparing for baptism on October 25.

God sent us a miracle.

I cannot thank Him enough.

I'm so proud of my brother Chris who is taking the right steps to receive exaltation.

I love you all so much!
Have a blessed week!

Don't forget
D&C 6:36

Love,

Sister Heywood
​

I'm Staying in Grand Blanc?!

Just kidding, I'm not staying in Grand Blanc.

I've been here for 6 months and now it's my time to go.

Tomorrow I will be headed to what will probably be my last area.

Of course I'm sad, but I'm ready for new adventures.

I will go where ever the Lord needs me, when He needs me to, without a fight.
I know that God has a plan for everything.

He is so aware of everyone and their needs.

While here in Grand Blanc I have learned a lot.
I have learned how to be me and that's something that I lost for a little while.

For a long time out here in Grand Blanc, I felt depressed and lost.

It was strange, but I overcame it with the help of the Lord and for that I am eternally grateful.
I have been able to truly see the Atonement work in my life and the lives of others.
It has been truly amazing.

I've worked with people who have addictions they never thought they would overcome.

I've worked with people who thought there was no hope, but soon found it through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This church is true and I know that by seeing it change people's lives for the better.

Here's a cool miracle.

We had another busy week and didn't have much time for finding.

Our district leader asked us last night how many hours of finding we did this week.

I said, 5 minutes.

It's true!

We only did 5 minutes.
It sounds pitiful, but in that 5 minutes, God blessed us with a new investigator who has been amazingly prepared to hear the gospel.

It's one of our neighbors.

The funny thing is that the night before we found him, we were talking to the zone leaders.

they had found 2 sweet investigators.

Our conversation went like this:

Me: Man, we haven't found any.

ZL: Well, have you gone tracting?

Me:......no....

ZL: *laughing* Well you have to go tracting to find new investigators!

OBVIOUSLY, I know that, and when we went finding, we found someone who is ready.

I hope you all have a great week!

I LOVE YOU ALL!

Love,
Sister Heywood