Let's Be Real

So, you know that video that Sister Graham and I made about the Plan of Salvation?
People have loved it!
A lot of members have shared it which is awesome!

The other day, I sent it to my friend and asked her to watch it.
She had questions and so Sister Graham and I answered them for her.

We also used the video in a lesson with Yifei!

Yifei has an iPhone, so we had him look up the video and watch it. 

We asked what questions he had about it and we answered them.

That was the smoothest Plan of Salvation lesson that I've ever taught out here.
It was simple and powerful.

The Spirit was there and did the teaching.
It was great!

I'm so grateful for the Lord inspiring us to make that video.

I love being a missionary.
I do, I really do.

It's tough.

I'm going to be real with you all.

Being a missionary is so hard.
Sometimes all I want to do is quit.
I miss my family.

I miss my friends.

I miss my pants.

When I want a hug from my dad, I can't get one.

When I want to call my mom and tell her about my day, I can't.

When I want to go to the mall with my sister and relax, I can't.

People don't want to talk to me.

They don't want to hear about Jesus Christ.

I get rejected all day, every day.

I don't get a break.

Even on today "my day off" I still need to find and share.

It is so cold!
I can't stay warm no matter what I do.

My feet get wet, even when I try to keep them dry.

My face freezes and I can hardly smile.

When it's hot, I'm sweaty and gross, and possibly stinky.

My feet hurt from walking so much.

My knuckles hurt from knocking doors.

I'm so tired all the time.

You'd think that 8 hours of sleep is enough, but it's not.

Even if I get to bed early it isn't enough.

I'm emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally drained.

I don't get any time to myself.

It's hard to be with someone 24/7, even if you like them.

Sometimes I just want to pretend I have big business to do in the bathroom so I can have a few moments to myself.

But, I can't quit.

I won't quit.

I have work to do and it isn't mine, it's the Lord's.

God needs me to do this work, so I will.

I told Him I would, so I'm going to give Him all of my time and effort.

I know this church is true.
I know that this gospel is for everyone.
I need to give my all to my brothers and sisters so we can all go home together. 

Although this is hard, it's so wonderful.
I've seen so many miracles and received so many blessings.

My testimony has grown in ways it couldn't if I was at home right now.

I've grown as a person.
I've learned so much and I wouldn't trade this experience for anything in the world.

I'm still Emma, but I'm better. 

It is incredible to be an instrument in God's hands, to feel Him work through you.

God is molding me and shaping me out here to be the person, wife, mother, daughter, sister, citizen, etc. I can be. 

It hurts sometimes, and is uncomfortable to be shaped, but

"There's no growth in the comfort zone and no comfort in the growth zone."

In this scripture, Joseph Smith is in Liberty Jail. He feels abandoned by God, but then God tells Joseph that everything will be ok. I've felt this several times. I'm so grateful for the answer that everything will be ok, and that God is with me:

Doctrine and Covenants 121:1-10

 1 O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?

 2 How long shall thy hand be stayed, and thine eye, yea thy pure eye, behold from the eternal heavens the wrongs of thy people and of thy servants, and thine ear be penetrated with their cries?

 3 Yea, O Lord, how long shall they suffer these wrongs and unlawful oppressions, before thine heart shall be softened toward them, and thy bowels be moved with compassion toward them?

 4 O Lord God Almighty, maker of heaven, earth, and seas, and of all things that in them are, and who controllest and subjectest the devil, and the dark and benighted dominion of Sheol—stretch forth thy hand; let thine eye pierce; let thy pavilion be taken up; let thy hiding place no longer be covered; let thine ear be inclined; let thine heart be softened, and thy bowels moved with compassion toward us.

 5 Let thine anger be kindled against our enemies; and, in the fury of thine heart, with thy sword avenge us of our wrongs.

 6 Remember thy suffering saints, O our God; and thy servants will rejoice in thy name forever.

 7 My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;

 8 And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.

 9 Thy friends do stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again with warm hearts and friendly hands.

 10 Thou art not yet as Job; thy friends do not contend against thee, neither charge thee with transgression, as they did Job.

I love this gospel.
I know it's true.
I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior and through Him, I can return to my Heavenly Father who loves me so much.

I know God is real and I am so grateful for His hand in my life.

I love you all.

I pray that you'll have a great week.

Love,

Sister Heywood

I Broke a Chair

So... 
My companion was accused for dating an Elder. 
Um...no.

That totally didn't happen.

She would never do that.

Whatever.

That event made this a rough week.

We did a lot of crying, pep talking, eating (ice cream mostly) and throwing chairs.

I kinda broke one.

We had a lot of frustrations this week and that's all we could do to get rid of them.

I won't tell you what they are.

I just need to get over myself really.

Pride always gets in the way and that's been my problem this week.

We finally have been able to use FaceBook as a good tool.

We sat down with President and told him our ideas. 

He said "ok."

Then we said "and we don't want to have to ask your permission every time we want to do one of these things."
He said "ok."

We just don't want to bother him since he's a busy guy.

And we're responsible and very capable of knowing what's appropriate and what isn't.

Speaking of FaceBook.

Sister Graham and I made a pretty sweet video about the Plan of Salvation.

Ya'll should watch it and share it with your testimony.

It was totally inspired and I'm so thankful that we were able to get it done.

Though this week was rough, we had a lot of miracles.

Miracle number 1!

We went to a restaurant down town and it was yummy.

The best part was the service.

Everyone was SO NICE!!!
We left our card with our tip (of course) and left.

The next day, we got a call from someone at the restaurant. 

He wanted to donate money to our church (which we don't accept donations), but we told him that we would love to teach him and he said ok!
So we're going to go back :)

Miracle number 2! 

We got $1.20 off our ice cream with our Kroger card.

Miracle number 3!
We had exchanges on Saturday.

All four of us went around and got a couple phone numbers.

Potentials for the win! :)

Then we decided to write Mormon.org in the snow really huge in the middle of campus. 

It kept snowing, so we kept going over it.

We found that while we were doing that, people were curious, so they'd aks what we were doing and we'd teach them.
It was awesome!
We got 7 phone numbers that night.

WOO HOO!!!!

Miracle number 4!

Yesterday on the way to church we saw this Asian guy stuck in the snow.

Sister Graham said "you want to push a car out."

I said "why not."

I'm sick too, so I don't know why we even considered it.

Anyway, we got out to help.

This guys car was broken.

He wouldn't listen though when we told him because he doesn't really speak English.

SO, he flags down another car.

The girl parks and helps.

We still can't get him out.

He flags down another car.
This guy gets out and helps.

While the guy is helping, all us girls get talking.

The girl is Megan and she's so sweet.

She listens to the Book of Mormon musical and is interested in hearing what we actually believe :)
SCORE!!!!
And she's our neighbor :)
So we exchanged numbers and basically we're best friends now and she's going to be converted, so life is good. :)

I love being a missionary.

Even though I'm freezing my butt off I LOVE IT!!!!!

I know this church is true and I love it!
I am so grateful to be a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I am so grateful for my loving Heavenly Father.

He's the best!

I love you all!
Have a great week!
Enjoy that sun over there in Cali!
And congrats on the rain!!!!

Love,

Sister Heywood

Creaks and Thumps

So we might have mice. Yeah.

Awesome.

We bought traps, but haven't caught anything.

Last night we heard a snap and thought is was the trap.

Of course Sister Graham and I were freaking out!

But NO MOUSE!
We heard it again later.

The Elders said the house was just settling, but nothing settles that loud.

It was freaky!

Well, this week has been good!

We got to meet with two of our investigators this week!

Both of them are from China and don't have a belief in God.

Kangwei has a really good life right now and doesn't understand why he would need God in his life.

He said he could understand having God in his life a year ago when times were tough and he needed something to lean on.

We explained to him that now is the best time to build a relationship with God; when times are good!

He's working hard on this. 

He does want to know that God is real.

Kangwei is awesome.

At the end of the lesson, we invited him to pray.

He prayed in Chinese, because he didn't know how to do it in English.

I didn't need to understand what he was saying.

It was beautiful and the Spirit was so strong.

Yefei is the sweetest guy!
The first time he prayed was beautiful!

This time we met with him he told us how happy he is to be meeting with us.

We really wants to know about our church and doesn't want to take anyone's word but ours about what we believe.

He's the best.

I love Yefei!

Ok, so question for those of you who are members of the church.

Did you know that when you were baptized you covenanted to do missionary work?

Well, you did!
Live up to your covenants and share the gospel.

You will be blessed!
God promises to bless you.

The joy you receive from bringing someone to Christ is amazing!

I am so grateful for this gospel.
I know it is true with all of my heart.

I love all of you!

Love,

Sister Heywood

My Butt Froze Off!

Man it is cold here!

And guess what Sister Graham and I get to do.

CONTACT!

One day it was so cold that the mission texted us and said don't stay out too long.

Well, uh that means we can't really contact.

It's interesting to try and figure out what to do when you can't do the only thing you can do.

Did that make sense?

So I had to talk on Sunday.
I spoke on why I believe.

I had a great talked planned out.

It was going to be so good.

Then while I was on the stand, the Spirit said "nope, you're going to talk about something else."

Ok.

So, I get up there and pound everyone with member missionary work!

It was fun :)

I talked about why I believe in member missionary work and stuff.

I hope that it helped people.

We've been able to get members to do some missionary work.

Sister Graham and I both sing, so on FaceBook we posted a video of us singing "Nearer My God to Thee" and shared our testimonies.

Then we invited all the members to share the video with their testimonies too!

It was awesome :)

Please DO MISSIONARY WORK!
It really isn't that hard. Just open your mouth and invite.

I know that member missionary work is so important.
I know it works.

Pray for missionary experiences and keep an eye out for them.

Here's a miracle for the week :)
We started an English class this week, because everyone here is from China.

We did't really expect people to come, but 2 people came!

Michael and Anna!

It was so awesome!
They are so sweet!

We have class again tomorrow and I'm pretty stoked :)

I know that this gospel is true.

Jesus Christ is truly the head of this church.

And you can know that too through prayer, diligent scripture study and church attendance.

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Heywood

Hill Street

SO, as you may know, I have been transferred.

I'm on Hill Street with Sister Graham.

We spend a ton of time at the Institute.

The Institute used to be a Fraternity, we're smack dab in the middle of Greek Row (is that how you say it?)

It's interesting.

We spend most of our time out in the cold contacting because that's literally all that we can do.

Although, I do get to use FaceBook.

Ok, about the FaceBook thing.

I'm limited to who I can be friends with and stuff.

I may send Mormon Messages every now and then to random people, but yah.

Anyway, let me tell you about Sister Graham.

We're basically the same person, except she has a million stories about kissing boys and I have none.
It's cool.

We have just been having so much fun!

Seriously, she's great!

It's a little bit weird being in a singles ward, but whatever.

I love it here already!

We teach a lot of Chinese people.

A LOT!!!
There are millions of Asian people here.

They're the best.

One of our new investigators prayed at the end of our first lesson with him.

He said that he could feel God's presence. 

SO COOL!!!
My smile was so huge during that prayer.

The member that came with us is a convert to the church and he's from China and didn't grow up believing in God.

He said that the first time someone like that prays, it's like a big reunion.

I LOVE THAT!!!

Every time we pray it should feel like we're having a reunion with God.

Prayer is so important.

God is ALWAYS listening.
I promise.

I love you all so much!

Love,

Sister Heywood

PS

People stopped sharing what they think about the reading with me, so I'm going to hold off this week and let me know if I should keep doing that.

I'm Getting Kicked Out & Where Am I Now?

I'm Getting Kicked Out

Well, after 6 weeks in Walled Lake, they're kicking me out!

Just kidding. :)

The Lord needs me somewhere else.

I loved this transfer, but am so glad that it is over.
Boy was it a toughie, but there were tons of miracles, so I still loved it! :)

Today we had to get gas before we came over here.

I was cleaning the car and a ton of junk was on my lap, so Sister Bailey had to pump.

She smiled at the nice man at the pump next to us and they started talking.

Sister Bailey taught him a little bit.

He was cool and taught us a little bit about his church.
We prayed with him at the gas station and went on our way. :)

It was pretty cool!

You know, I've prayed in so many random places.

Doors, parks, bus stops, post offices and gas stations.
It's awesome!

At first I thought it was weird, but I remembered that when I pray I'm talking to God.

It isn't weird to talk to God anywhere.

Now it's not weird anymore. :)

I love that we can talk to God.

The coolest thing is that He talks back!

He's my best friend and I need Him so badly.

He always understands, always listens and never judges.

I want to challenge all of you to make your prayers more personal.

Pray more often.

Develop an even greater relationship with God.
Pray, pray, pray!
And then sit and listen, open up the scriptures and God will talk back.

I love you all so much and I hope that you all have a great week!

Love,
Sister Heywood

Where Am I know?

When I was thinking of places that I might like to go I was like "well, I'd really like to go back to Ann Arbor."

Well, guess what.

I'M IN ANN ARBOR!

I'm not in the same ward that I was in before, though.

I am on Hill Street which means I spend all my time at the institute and contacting on the U of M campus.

SO FUN!!!

My new companion is Sister Graham. 

She is so awesome and I'm so stoked to be working with her!

Sorry I haven't sent like any pictures at all.

Lame I know.

I'll send them soon.

I will always have wi-fi at the institute. :)

Something else that will be different is that I have a FaceBook now.

I can't be friends with anyone from home and I have to disable my old account.

So Mom and Dad you don't need to keep that up anymore.

LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!!

Address:

220 Glencoe Hills Dr #12

Ann Arbor, MI 48108

Love,

Sister Heywood

Alma 24:19

 19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were brought to ^abelieve and to know the truth, they were ^bfirm, and would suffer even unto death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.

These people would rather die for their religion than go against promises they made with God.
I don't know about you, but I need to be more like these guys!

Alma 28:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/28?lang=eng
29:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/29?lang=eng
30:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/30?lang=eng

Send Me Some California Sun, PLEASE!

Well, guess what.

It snows in Michigan.

 

And it really stinks getting stuck in the snow.

How do I know this?

Well, I didn't get stuck in the snow 3 times yesterday and once on the way here or anything.

Yah, getting stuck stinks.

Especially when it takes an hour to get out.

Besides the fact that I'm freezing my butt off and it takes a million hours to get working because I have to put 50 layers of clothes on and brush snow and scrape ice off our windows, 

I LOVE IT HERE!!!

We've seen tons of miracles.

It's amazing!

This transfer has definitely been the hardest.

We've been hit with trials such as the following:

-Having to go to the ER from 9pm-3am

-Getting stuck in the snow.

-Staying home because I had the flu (Yah that happened this week too on top of everything else)

-Having crazy investigators who won't stop texting us dumb messages

-Crazy lady yelling at us because she had bad experiences with Mormons

-Leaving the lights on, on our car when we went to the temple for 2 hours.

-Getting our keys locked in a members home for 30 minutes because the member isn't home.

I know.

Awesome.

There have been many more.

I could probably go on for hours.

But those trials don't even matter!

They push us.

We have seen more miracles in this area than I have ever seen in any other area.

Yesterday we went to see the family that the Lord led us to on Christmas.

They have started reading the Book of Mormon.

They've prayed about the church.

They know it's true.

They have agreed to baptism on March 1.

The Lord prepared them.

And I am so honored that He has used me (the imperfect, crazy, little booger that I am) to be the instrument to bring them closer to Christ.

Me!

The little recorder that's cracked and chipped that 2nd graders learn to play.

God could have used a fancy cello and He chose me.

I found this scripture in my studies and I LOVE IT!

Doctrine and Covenants 35:13

13 Wherefore, I call upon the ^aweak things of the world, those who are ^bunlearned and despised, to thrash the ^cnations by the power of my ^dSpirit;

We are all weak.

That isn't a bad thing.

Through Christ we can be made strong.

AND if we work hand in hand with God and Jesus Christ we are stronger than ever.

When we join with God, no matter how weak we are, He will use us to "thrash the nations."

It says this over and over in the scriptures.

1 Corinthians 1:27

27  But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

D&C 1:19 (19, 23)

19  The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh—

23  That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers.

D&C 124:1

1  Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your offering and acknowledgments, which you have made; for unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth mywisdom through the weak things of the earth.

Alma 37:6

6 Now ye may suppose that this is ^afoolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by ^bsmall and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.

I am weak and God has chosen me to fight in His army.

I am so grateful for this opportunity.

I know this gospel is true.

I know that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God.

I know the Book of Mormon is true.

Because my parents led me in the ways of God I have built on a sure foundation and will never fall.

I love you all!

Have a blessed week!

Love,

Sister Heywood

Alma 23:6

 6 And as sure as the Lord liveth, so sure as many as believed, or as many as were brought to the knowledge of the truth, through the preaching of Ammon and his brethren, according to the spirit of revelation and of prophecy, and the power of God working^amiracles in them—yea, I say unto you, as the Lord liveth, as many of the Lamanites as believed in their preaching, and were^bconverted unto the Lord, ^cnever did fall away.

They NEVER fell away.

Do all you can to be as converted as the Lamanites.

I promise that this gospel is the only way to eternal happiness.

Do not to turn to the world.

Turn to God.

Alma 24:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/24?lang=eng

25:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/25?lang=eng

26:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/26?lang=eng

27:https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/alma/27?lang=eng