Exchanges - Happy Thanksgiving

November 27, 2014

Hola Mamacita!

Aww! You look so beautiful!

So this week has been crazy without Hna Griffith! but me and Hna. B. are doing great. Everyone is showing so much love. We've been fed dinner every single day this week (and a breakfast as well) since Hna G left. All the members and Elders in our zone have been super supportive and nice. 

Our STL has also been super great as well. We did exchanges on Tuesday, and our STL is Hna. Moffett and she is currently serving in Rancho Cordova... so she knows Aaron haha. So she had Hna B go to Rancho and I stayed in Sac-town to lead the area for the day. Yikes! No, it was fantastic! She was super nice and encouraging! She also had me drive to make sure that I know the area and we had to go on the freeway to get to West Sac for a dinner appointment. It was a little scary, but it was great! I'm starting to really know the area and I'm so thankful that we don't have a GPS so I can know the area really well.

Today we met some of the new people in our zone and one of the new Elders was E. Christopherson and he came from Folsom! I feel like everyone serves in Folsom! He said that the Barbers said, "Hi!" That made my day!

For Thanksgiving dinner we are planning on going to Christina and Samuel's house. I don't think they really celebrate thanksgiving, but they always have good food. A lot of people in our branch don't care too much about Thanksgiving.

We email usually in Family History centers in a church building, so it's great! Transfers are only every 6 weeks, so next transfers are I think Jan 1. Also the Jardines are holding packages I think starting at the beginning of December and then on the 23rd and 24th they are going to deliver them all to all the missionaries so that will be fun! I have no idea about CCM mail. I think I got one letter from you while I was in Mexico? I'm not sure about the temple thing, but I think so because we are going to the temple with the Jardine's around that time for Christmas. It will be a lot of fun!

I love-a-love-a-love-a-you! 

Para Siempre Dios este con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

Hermana Twitchell: the Follow up Trainer

Hola Mamacita!

So we got our transfer reports yesterday! And it is official, I am staying in Sacramento with Hna. Burke as my trainer and I am her follow-up trainer! (...by the way, why does everyone think I'm in Elk Grove? :P) Hna. Griffith is leaving us tomorrow morning, so that will be sad. An Elder in our spanish branch is going to be training this transfer, so I'm no longer going to be the brand new missionary in the branch! Yay! 

The reason why I'm emailing so late is because we had zone sports and everyone had to sign each others "Bye" books, then we did service with 4 Elders in our zone at an old people's center. It was a cute little luau and they had a band of old woman playing their ukes and singing hawaiian music. It was a lot of fun! 

Do you remember that talk by Brad Wilcox, "His Grace is Sufficient"? well I printed a copy of that talk before I left on my mission because I love it so much! This past week I had both my companions read it for personal study. They liked it so much that every single person that we talked to this week, we talked about grace or quoted something from his talk. It was great because I know all about that talk! :) It was really cool because we were able to call people to repentance by telling them about this talk, but then we were able to say it in such a way that is inspiring because we repent not to look back on the things we have done wrong, but to practice and learn so that we can move forward and become better. I love grace and I absolutely love that talk!

We generally have about 20 lessons a week. This week we had 25 and 15 of them were of recent converts and less actives because Hna. Griffith wanted to visit a bunch of people before she leaves. Hna. Griffith used to drive, but now Hna. Burke drives because she wanted to get used to driving in the city before Hna. Griffith left. It's a little scary at times because Hna. Burke has one year of driving experience in Payson, UT, but she does great! A lot of missionaries buy GPS's for their cars, but we just have maps. It's great because we know the area a lot better than other missionaries :) 

We have district meetings once a week on Thursdays and Zone meetings... I don't remember :P In our zone we're divided into three districts, the Engilsh missionaries, the Hmong missionaries, and the Cambodian/Spanish missionaries. It's cool, but at the same time it's weird because it's all in English. The Cambodians write in Cambodian on the board for fun, but we really can't communicate in anything but English.

I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to stay here in Sacramento. To be honest I was a little worried before with Hna. Burke just finishing her own training. It will be hard because a lot of times we don't know what's going on, but the Lord is with us and it's really all about the spirit anyway! 

Hey just so you know, I'm pretty sure that my next P-day will be next Thursday (since it's Thanksgiving). Also Hna. Griffith and Giselle (a 15 yr-old in our branch) want me to become friends with them on Facebook. Hna. Griffith said she would send a bunch of pics through FB. Oh! and I would love a general conference Ensign in spanish if that's possible, they only gave us English copies and they are great! but I think a spanish one would be super helpful. AND I would love Love LOVE a card from each of my siblings for Christmas if that's not too much to ask. 

I love being here in Sacramento. It's starting to get a little chilly, but there isn't much rain and there is no snow. Haha I am so excited to see what lies ahead for my mission and for the future people that I will meet and the people that I am currently talking with. The Latinos are so awesome and they are so full of love! 

I love you so much and I am so glad that you are going to be surrounded by family these Holidays. It will be great! I'll probably be having rice and chicken for Thanksgiving and it will be great! 

Para Siempre Dios este con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

Primary Program -- Zone Sports

November 10, 2014

Hola Mamacita!

I'm pretty sure that transfers will not affect emailing (although next P-day is on Tuesday).  It varies how many people email me a week; sometimes it's just you and other times 6 other people email me! It's fine though, I'm getting better at divvying up my time. So it's fine if you give out my email. We have an hour to email. I can't print out the emails because our computers are funny...  (If you want to e-mail Autumn her address is autumn.twitchell@myldsmail.net )

 I don't know :P For Christmas... I would love a comfy black skirt and maybe a nice patterned shirt, and a primary hymn book in English and Spanish. That would be really cool if they had compact size, but if they don't that's okay :) Ummm ya that 's good!

Last Tuesday, we had a new missionary meeting and I got to see Hermana Kaaa! That was pretty cool. I took a picture with her and Hermana Porter and her companion (Hna. Kaaa's companion ran away right before we took a picture!).

I also took a picture of my desk, I thought you would like to see all the pictures and drawings from the babies :)

So... Samuel backed out of baptism. That made our week a little bit sad. But at least he says that he still wants to investigate the church. We texted him and asked him if it was okay for President Martinez to interview him today and I think he got really nervous about it and decided it wasn't the right time to get baptized. He will get baptized, but I think he needs several more weeks... 

Our other investigator, Franko, is finding out on the 16th if he can get married to Norma.  If he can, we'll have another wedding ceremony and then he'll get baptized! The only thing that is holding him back is this marriage, he is so eager to get baptized and I am so happy for him!

We had our quarterly interviews this week with President Jardine and it was so great! For Hna. Griffith it was basically her final interview. We've been wondering a lot what is going to happen at the end of this transfer because Hna. Griffith is going home, I still need to be trained for another 6 weeks and Hna. Burke needs a follow up trainer. We have a feeling that we are both staying here and that Hna. Burke is going to end up training me, but we don't know. It would be super hard because while Hna. Burke is pretty good at understanding Spanish, we are not very good at communicating... BUT if we were left together we would be forced to learn really fast and to me I think that would be a blessing because I think I need it. I really think being thrown under the bus is what I need because right now Hna. Griffith is my crutch and I think it's time for me to see if I can walk. Haha I'm really excited to see what will happen! Anyways, I had a really good talk with President Jardine about working towards my full potential, Hna. Burke said she talked to him about leadership (hmmm... interesting) and Hna. Griffith said her whole talk was about marriage. It's funny, almost every recent convert or less active that we have visited this week has asked Hna. Griffith if she has a boyfriend or if she found one on the mission (dah!) or if she's getting married when she gets home.

On Saturday, we went to a Sacramento community center as a zone and just cleaned as a service project. It was actually pretty fun. We were working with the zone leaders (Elder Milner y Seaman) and the Cambodian Elders (Elder Wilson y Peterson) with washing the outside windows and I learned how to say "I don't know" and "hello" in Cambodian! something like "auk-dong-pong".. ya I have no idea how to spell it  :P It's pretty great having a Cambodian Elder as a district leader. 

Yesterday we had our primary program and it was so AMAZING! I absolutely loved it! The spirit was so strong and the soloists were so cute! I think that was probably the best primary program I've ever been to! and it was in Spanish! 

Well, this morning we did zone sports as we do every week. Today we played kickball. It was great, I got to home twice! Weeeell I was running to 2nd base and they threw the ball to Elder Peterson who was standing on that base. So I did what any other determined person would do; I tried to slide... which really turned into more of a ninja roll. The best part was that I did at exactly the time when E. Peterson hit me with the ball and so I guess it looked like he hit me with such force that I fell over :P I'm not very good at sports... but I still have a lot of fun and the Elders have to be somewhat nice to me :)

Being on a mission is so uncomfortable. I have to stick with 2 people 24/7. I have to talk to random strangers on the street. I listen, even though I have no idea what they are saying... so I just smile and nod when they say that something bad happened... ummm I'm learning :) I always start in Spanish and then they interrupt me and say they have no idea what I am saying, so I switch to English. I play sports. What! :P I wear a name tag on my chest at all times. I'm always in a skirt. I tell Hispanics to come to the Spanish branch and we're their representatives, the only white people in the congregation! Whenever we talk with anyone we always end with a prayer. How weird!

But, I absolutely love it! There is nowhere else I would rather be! This is Christ's church upon the Earth and I know that it is true! I know that I couldn't be using my time any better if I weren't out here speaking a language I don't even know, trying to help others come unto Christ and feel his spirit. I am rejected all the time. Most of our referrals are from other Elders that can't speak Spanish, so their description of them is, "a Hispanic woman in her 20s, she seems nice" :P Then when we come, we can talk to them only to find that they really aren't interested, but when they are it is great and the spirit is there! I know that I am here for a reason and I am so happy to be in a tri-companionship. I would be so sad if I didn't know Hna. Griffith and Hna. Burke and I am so sad to see Hna. Griffith go next week, but she has served so well for 18 months and I am the luckiest Hermana to have her training me! even if it is only for 6 weeks.

I love-a-love-a-you!

Para Siempre este con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell 

Ah! Cucaracha!

November 3, 2014

Hola Mamacita!

It's been a pretty great week! No we did not baptize Samuel on Saturday. We talked to him last Monday and he said he wanted a little bit more time, which is understandable because we only gave him a weeks notice! So we rescheduled for the 8th. But then we had a lesson with him on Saturday and we asked him if they could announce his baptism on Saturday. He got a little nervous because he still needs to be taught a two more principles before he can be qualified for baptism. So we moved it back to the 15th and it was still announced in church yesterday that his baptism is on the 15th! Muahaha! Now he can't push it back anymore! :P Haha, he's so ready! but I think he just needs to be nudged a little bit. :P We're having a lesson with him today about the law of tithing and the word of wisdom. Then he'll know everything! And his wife is such a huge support for him! It's awesome!

My Halloween was pretty good. Last Wednesday our branch had a party and they just decorated rooms around the building and had the kids go door to door. It was a lot of fun! All the little girls were Elsa! Haha it made me think of Elaina. 

We had a zone meeting/dinner so we weren't out visiting people on Halloween. We watched a video that the APs made for changing a tire and other car maintenance stuff, so that was fun! I haven't touched my bike once, but that's just because our area is so huge that we need a car! If I ever serve in Traci or Stockton, I'll most definitely need to use a bike. The Elders that also serve in our branch ran out of miles last month, but they weren't going to bike, so they just hitched a ride with the Cambodian Elders. The mission nurse came by and gave us all flu shots on Halloween! AHH! Yep, that was probably the scariest thing that happened on Halloween. :P But we got stickers and dumdums for it! 

It is true, we Hermanas do not get fed as much as the Sisters. But that's okay, because if we ever go to a recent convert or inactive members house, they'll feed us anyways. I think what makes it hard is that our area is so huge and we have another set of missionaries in our branch. So they have to feed one set or the other or both! I don't even know how big our branch boundaries are because the Hermanas cover central and South/East Sac and the Elders cover West and Central Sac. Hmmm... 

On Saturday we went to the Renteria's house and they taught us how to make Tomales! YUM! They were so good! But they are so tedious to make! Hna. Burke took some pictures, so eventually there will be some :P  We have spurts of getting fed a lot because on Saturday I was so stuffed! We ate a ton of tomales, then a member gave us a Little Caesars Pizza (the members love giving us those), and we had a lesson with Samuel and Christina and they gave us some sort of tortilla caserole. Ah! So much food! But it's nice, I really do feel loved by the members!

P-Days are great! but personally I think I like Sundays better. :P Haha on Sundays I get to sit there for 3 hours and just listen... Well I do have the fear that someone's going to ask me a question or ask me to give a talk, but I try not to think about it! Fast Sundays are awesome because that's when all the benches are full! The Hispanics really like testimony meeting, It's great!

P-Days we just do shopping, emailing, cleaning, laundry, zone sports that usually means soccer or basketball (you can imagine how that goes :P), writing letters, and taking naps. Last week we played volleyball and that was fun! But I lost my skills from the CCM and I am terrible! Well, there goes my glory days :P

It's the zone sports! We like the time to be at 1:30, but a lot of times they make it at 10. Bahh! Today it's at 1:30.

The money is good. I am not having any trouble with it whatsoever. 

The other day I told someone that they need to follow the Vegetable of God! rather than the will of God... I'm still not very good at Spanish, but I'm learning and it's great! The branch members are very encouraging and they say, "Just keep practicing!" in English. No! speak Spanish to me! Haha but they're all learning too. I have to be fair. I speak Spanish to them and they speak English to me and we both can't understand each other! :P 

Se que Dios tiene un Plan y este plan puede traer felicidad a muchas personas si ellas creeran. Les amo mucho!

Para Siempre Dios este con Vos

(I know God has a plan and this plan can bring happiness to many people if they will believe . I love you so much !

God Be with You)

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

Funny Story!!!

Story from Hermana Griffith, I asked her about the pictures she had sent me and this is her reply:

Ya! ok so the one where shes taking stuff out of the trunk of the car is a funny story. We were teaching a lady,  who is the smelliest person I have ever met in my life.  I have a weak stomach and I couldn't even stand in her doorway without gagging. Anyways Burke and Twitchell had never met her but she always keep commitments and I felt like we should go back but I just didn't know if I could do the smell (its like sweat with pepsi) and anyways the two of them told me we had to go so we did and I told the lady we had to teach her outside. Anyways she ended up yelling at us-well mostly just me, and then I made her cry because I told her she was being rude. and then I felt bad so the next day we made cookies and took them over and she was having a yard sell of just junk (she might have been a horder...) and she wanted us to take some of the stuff. So were like "ok" and she loads us up with random stuff...she wanted to give us a toilet seat but we said no. anyways there was this cool looking jacket in the stuff and kinda like 90's style so were like "well maybe that would be something to keep ya?" the problem was that everything smelled super bad, just like the lady. So we stuck it all in the trunk and just never touched it for like 2 weeks and the car started to smell super bad. So that's your daughter throwing it all away in the church dumpster. I think she was the most mature when it came to touching the stuff... we kept the jack in there saying we were going to wash it cause Twitchell really wanted it. then i think you heard we got out trunk kinda smashed in a bit and when they switched us cars we left the jacket in there cause we didn't want to touch it....then the car guy made a special trip and ended up bringing it back to us and we told Twitchell she could only keep it if it was outside...I think she threw it away as well.......

Hermana Burke wasn't going to get anywhere close to the car