Me Encanta Ver El Templo!!

Oct 27, 2014

Hola Mamacita!

That is so neat that we have another baby in the family! and that we're having another girl! Yay!

So I was able to go to the temple on Saturday and it was great. There's a family in our ward, the Renterias, and they just got baptized about a month ago. Hermana Renteria wanted to have her husband get baptized for her dad on Saturday and that she would love to have us Hermanas there for support. So we asked the President Jardine and he thought it was a great idea! When we got there however, we came to find that the Renterias didn't have the right records to print out a card for her dad. She was pretty upset, but we still did baptisms in Spanish! and it was a really cool experience. It was a fun experience doing baptisms for the dead in Spanish at the Sacramento temple. Even though we weren't able to do the ordinance for Hermana Renteria, we were still able to help others and the spirit was so strong. 

It was also fun driving to the temple because I told my companions that my brother, Aaron, lives off of Zinfandel. Hola Hermano! Haha so close and yet so far! :P

So we committed Christina's new husband, Samuel, to get baptized this Saturday, Nov. 1st, el Dia de Los Muertos! It's a little fast, but as long as Samuel is committed to it, we will make it happen. I am super excited! We had a lesson with him on Friday and the spirit was there! He even said that he was feeling the same feeling that he feels when he prays or reads the scriptures. Dah! Samuel, that's el Espiritu Santo! I'm so excited for him to become a member, he is so ready!

I love to sing on the mission, it is so great! Last week at the wedding, they had me sing the prelude music and I was like Dah! en serio!? but it was great! Our primary program is in two weeks and a member, Hermana Islas, asked us Hermanas if we could help her son, Alex, learn how to sing because he is singing a solo in the primary program. Sure! So we went to their house to help him. Hermana Islas had to run an errand, so we practiced outside. Alex's solo was the last verse of "I stand all amazed" but in Spanish. So we were just practicing and this little boy comes over and he decides that he wants to sing, too. Then another one came, and another one, and another one until there were about 6 other neighborhood kids that were singing a Spanish hymn with us. It was great! One of the kids had his mom come over to hear us all sing, but then she saw our name tags and got nervous and left. :P It was awesome! I felt like Julie Andrews in the sound of music! but all the kids were black and hispanic and we sounded terrible! But it was so cool!   

So this past week I've been thinking a lot about what kind of a person I am. I've discussed it with mis companeras and I've pondered it thoroughly through my mind, actions, and deeds. I have come to this conclusion: I am an earthbender. During lessons I listen and wait for the perfect moment to strike and that is definitely the attribute of an Earthbender! Hna. Griffith is a firebender and Hna. Burke is a waterbender. It's so great! I finally know who I am now! :P 

I love you so much Mama!

Last week our zone had a service project to paint a member's house and the whole time I thought of you and how much fun we had painting in Erda. :P At the end of it the house was a bright purply-blue and the family was arguing about who picked the color :P We might have another service project coming up!

Se que esta obra es muy importante por todas las personas en la iglesia. Necesitamos servimos y amamos a otras personas porque es lo que Jesucristo haria. Jesucristo es el mejor ejemplo por nuestras vidas y necisitamos confiar en el y seguir su ejemplo. No entiendo nada en espanol, pero tengo mucho amor en mi corazon por las personas que yo puedo servir. La oportunidad para servir los hijos de Dios es una gran bendicion!

Para Siempre Dios este con Dios

(Is that this work is very important for all people in the church. We need to serve and love others because it's what Jesus would do . Jesus Christ is the best example for our lives and necisitamos trust him and follow his example. I do not understand in Spanish , but I have much love in my heart for people who I can serve. The opportunity to serve the children of God is a great blessing !

God Be with God)

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell 

Comment from Hermana Griffith:   then were in a picture at the temple as the Renteria family goes to do some baptisms for the dead....

Royce Enzo DÁgostini

Royce Enzo DÁgostini

Oct 22, 2014  4:27 am

8 lbs  2 oz  19 inches long

The baby was Jett  --  Jace  --  Royce for the 1st week till they decided on his name.

Ford wasn't too sure about having a baby in his family

Austin loves his new brother

Halloween

Ready for the Football game

La Boda! (Wedding)

10-20-14

Hola Mamacita! 

Yesterday we had a wedding! Christina and Samuel got married by the branch president and the ward threw them a wedding. Christina has been coming to church for years, but she has never gotten baptized. Then several weeks ago her boyfriend (Samuel) left for New Jersey, and the missionaries were able to baptize her. Then about two weeks, Samuel came back and the Hermanas were worried, La ley de Castidad! But Samuel is very impressed with the change in Christina that he is now investigating the church and they got married! I'm really hoping we can baptize Samuel within the next couple weeks, he is very interested.

Comment from Hermana Griffith   Christias and Samuels wedding...

Hermana Griffith, Hermana Twitchell, Hermana Burke

We're having another wedding hopefully in November or December as well. Franco y Norma have been living together and Franco isn't a member, but he wants to get baptized so bad! We're just waiting for some papers.

Because I am the new missionary, every single visit we go to, I get the opportunity to say a prayer. All the members and investigators like to hear me pray, and when we are meeting people, Hna. Griffith insists that I pray. I need to come up with more things I can pray about. :P One time I prayed at the end of the lesson, and I asked the Lord to bless our investigator, Maria... it turns out her name was Francesca, well most of the women we meet are named Maria... Haha I need to get better at remembering names. Thank goodness I'm pretty sure Francesca couldn't hear because she doesn't have the best hearing and we were outside. :P

We never ever tract. We always just go off of referrals that we have received and we receive a lot. We get them from the members and from missionaries that go tracting and find Spanish speakers. Often we contact people that we see outside on the street, but we never knock on doors unless someone refers us to them. It's kind of unproductive to tract with us being Spanish speakers in Sacramento. Even in the center of Sac, we would still speak a lot of English.

My Spanish is okay. It's kind of hard to practice with it in a trio because we try to divide the time teaching equally between the three of us, but then I don't know much, Hna. Burke knows a little bit more, and Hna. Griffith knows a lot. I am getting better though. The member in our branch are very helpful and a lot of them speak English so they can kind of know what I am trying to say. It's really bad though, because then they just want to talk in English and I think, "No! I need to practice my Spanish!" I'm getting a little better though. Slowly but surely it will come.

I think just something that I need to work on is being BOLD! Because I'm not, and that's a problem. As D&C 6:19 (...or somewhere around there) says, "Doubt not; Fear not." So I'm really trying to rely on the Lord and focus on being bold in Spanish and during lessons because I learn the most when I'm BOLD! and I don't feel like a very good missionary unless I'm BOLD! The moral of the story: Be BOLD! :P En serio

I finally met my sister training leader and she served in Folsom! She asked me if I knew a woman named Elicia Spencer. And I said, "Oh my gosh! She was my music teacher!" She said she had been teaching her for 6 months and that she was really interested in church and the Book of Mormon. It was so much fun to hear about Ms. Spencer. She is such an awesome person! 

I'm so glad everyone's doing good in the family! Give all the babies a hug and a kiss from me!

Mama! I told you not to cut your hair until I come home because I'm not cutting my hair! What's going on? That's okay, I still love you!

Para Siempre Dios este con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

 Which Glasses do you Like?  

Hermana Griffith - Hermana Burke  - Hermana Twitchell
Comment from Hermana Griffith :  picture with the glasses we were teaching some young girls and they wanted us to wear them.

El Largo Dia (The Long Day)

October 14, 2014

Hola Mamacita!

It is so great out hear in the mission field, I'll try to tell you as much as I can, but I don't have as much time as I would like :P esta bien! Last Tuesday was crazy! We woke up at 1am in Mexico and left the CCM at 2:30am to catch our flight at 6am. Then we were on the plane for 4 hours and landed in LA. It was supposed to be a 3 hour lay-over, but it ended up being 6 hours. I'm sorry I wasn't able to talk to you longer, but it was great to talk to you for 8 minutes! It was actually a really funny experience. There were only 2 phones working and us 4 missionaries. So we had to take turns. Then a guy came over that needed the phone as well. I started crying when I talked to you. Hermana Porter started crying when she talked to her parents. Hermana Kaaa started crying when she got a hold of her dad, but her mom wasn't there. The other guy thought we were crazy! A bunch of sister missionaries crying at the airport! I don't know that that was the best example to show, but esta bien. Hermana Porter tried to explain to the other guy why we were crying, but it kind of just sounded like she said we were crying because we're missionaries... he said he would just try the phone later and he left. :P

So after that we finally got on the plain and arrived in Sacramento at 3pm (5pm in Mexico) So it was a 15 hour travel from Mexico city to Sacramento. It was a long day! We met the mission president and his wife and they are so nice! There were 10 English speaking missionaries that had arrived earlier that day. One of the first things we did was go to the temple and walk around. Oh! How I have missed you Folsom temple! Everything is so familiar, except it's a lot drier because of the drought. 

So the next day I was assigned my area. I am currently serving in the Sacramento 7th Branch (Elk Grove) in the Sacramento zone and I have two companions: Hermana Griffith (it's her last transfer) and Hermana Burke (2nd transfer). They are both such amazing sisters! So because Hna. Burke is still in training, Hna. Griffith gets to train both of us at the same time! Haha it's fun to see what my Spanish can eventually become through Hna. Griffith and what it will become in 6 weeks through Hna. Burke. So we are basically the heart of Sacramento which is fun, yet a but sketchy. The only people I ever see are Latinos, Blacks, and a few Asians. My zone consists of us, 2 Spanish Elders, 2 Cambodian, 2 Mongh, and 8 English elders. It's pretty diverse. 

Our mission as a whole has about 264 missionaries, 78 sisters, 50ish Spanish missionaries, and 10 Hermana areas.

My area is driving. Hna. Griffith says she has only bike once in this area and she has been here for 7 1/2 months.

On Saturday night, we attended a baptism and me and Hna. Burke had to give the missionary moment. It was a little scary, but it was great! 

On Sunday, the Branch president asked me to say the opening prayer during sacrament meeting and bear my testimony. At first I was nervous, but then I thought, that's selfish, I'm thinking about myself! This work isn't for me, but for my God and his people! So I opened my mouth and the Lord filled and it was great! My Spanish is terrible, but I am learning and I know that through my weaknesses I can be strengthened if I rely on the Lord! I think it's cool that my first prayer that I have ever done in Sacrament meeting was in Spanish. 

Yesterday we had a member of the 70 come and talk to us during zone conference so that's why I didn't email yesterday, so usually I will email on Mondays. I'm sorry to keep you waiting, it's been a super hectic week, but it's been great! My branch is so awesome and the people are so amazing! They aren't perfect, but that's okay, no one is! I love to hear what's going on in their lives, even if I can't really understand them. I just look into their eyes and I can see the love that God has for them and it is beautiful!

Para Siempre Dios este con Vos

Con Amor,
Hermana Twitchell

We received this picture from President and Sister Jardine.  The day Autumn got to the mission field

Good-bye to District 11C

Good-Bye to District 11C  Autumn was very sad to say good-bye

The Elders are all going to Peru  -- 2 Hermana to Texas  

Hermana Twitchell and Hermana Kaaa are going to Sacramento

Autumn's flight from Mexico MTC to Sacramento  Oct 7th 2014

Eating Chips with our District

pic of us eating chips and dip. Love you all and you are all gonna do freakin great in the field. You guys are unreal and 

I´m gonna miss all of you.

Someone e-mail Autumn this picture

TEMPLE - Leaving CCM

October 1, 2014

Leaving the CCM

¡Hola Mamacita!

I wasn´t ever planning on not riding a bicycle. I can´t just say no. If the Lord wants me to ride a bike, then I will ride a bike.

Our flight is at 6 am in the mañana on Tuesday and therefore we have to leave the CCM at 2am. Ewww! It´s the same itinerary as the one they sent us before I left for the CCM, but just in case you don´t have it I´ll forward it to you. Our whole district is leaving between Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning, so that´s nice! There was a district in my zone that left these last couple days and half of them left on Sunday night and the other half left on Wednesday morning to San Jose. The San Jose kids were pretty miserable the last couple days without half their district and with the waiting, but I told them that if they were to ever serve in the San Jose or San Jose South stake to tell the people HI! 

This week was very interesting I must say. There are a couple companionships in my district that haven´t been getting along, so on Friday we had a district meeting where we discussed our problems and other random stuff. I bore my testimony about the fact that the mission is not about me; it is about the people that I am going to serve and the sooner we learn to forget ourselves and get to work the better. I´ve found that the companionships that are more diligent and work hard together tend to be the happiest. So forget yourself and go to work!

Then on Sunday, we watched a Devotional by Elder Bednar and he said basically the same thing, ¨This work is not about you! So get over yourself and get to work!¨ I like how me and Elder Bednar coordinated that. Haha but seriously I thought that was so cool! Two days after I say something to my district, we hear a talk where Elder Bednar says that. It must be really important! I definitely need to learn to forget myself because I know that I will be so much happier for it. When I feel any kind of sadness, it´s usually because I am thinking about myself and how things benefit me and I need to stop that! This is not my work or my will, but the Lord´s work and his will.

I am so excited for General Conference! We watched a different devotional by Elder Bednar where he teaches us how to take notes and I am so ready to try it! I´m also trying to prepare by coming up with questions that I need answered and by reading my patriarchal blessing; it´s going to be a powerful conference, I can feel it!  

We had a special devotional this week where we had two members of the 70 come and talk to us and then at the end they shook our hands and personally talked with us. It was pretty awesome. During the devotional, one of the Elders asked a bunch of questions like: ¨How many of you are 18? 19? 20? How many of you are going to South America? Central? North? ....¨etc I was surprised by how many missionaries are going back to the states. At least 75% of the entire CCM are going back. Fun fun fun! 

Even though we are in a bubble, there is always blasting Latino music outside the entrance. I can´t lie, I do like to follow the music, but I can´t understand anything it says. :P 

I don´t care what anyone else might say, I love the CCM and Mexico City and I will be very sad to leave it. We went to the temple today, but it took forty minutes to get there by bus. I just wanted to jump out of the window and walk around! The city is so beautiful and the people are so great! The whole time I´ve been here I have either been in a bus or enclosed in fences. It´s okay, but I just want to explore so bad! The visitor´s center was pretty awesome and yes, Dad, the sister missionaries were gorgeous. Hermana Kaaa and I started talking to two of them and they were so great! They helped us with our Spanish and we helped them with their English. The temple is so beautiful, I just wish we could´ve gone inside! When we went to the tienda to buy fun things, I told one of the workers that I had pains instead of saying I had dollars. We both got a kick out of that. :P The Latinos are so awesome and they are so willing to help out. I think they just like that we are really trying to learn their language and understand what they are trying to say.

I am so thankful for this opportunity to be in México! I am going to miss the people, the unidentifiable cafeteria food, the casas, the beeping carbon monoxide alarm, my amazing maestros, my district, the loud canons that the Méxicanos use everyday to celebrate their Catholic saints, the pollution, the flowers, the creepy big bugs, the candy, volleyball, and so many other things. I love this place, but I am so excited to come back to the states and teach the awesome Spanish speakers! 

Sé que el Señor es mi luz y hay personas que necesitan oír el mensaje de los misioneros; el evangelio de Jesucristo. ¡Amo a mi Señor y este evangelio! 

I know the Lord is my light and there are people who need to hear the message of the missionaries ; the gospel of Jesus Christ. I love my Lord and the gospel!

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos

Con Amor

Hermana Twitchell 

P.S. I don´t know that I have any family names for the temple if I ever go and I also need that stationary for writing cards if you could send it to me. I should be emailing you on Monday... I think. Probably not Tuesday, it´ll be too early. I´m pretty sure I can call you when I´m at the airport so be ready!

Hermana Twitchell got her travel  itinerary she is very excited.

Hermana Twitchell wears the heart ring that Elaina gave her to remember us

District 11 C  

They just got to look around the grounds and the visitor center at the Mexico Temple, it is closed for remodeling.