Fun at Wilton

Aug 24, 2015

¡Hola Mamacita!

This week was pretty great! We've been focusing a lot more on our prayers and recognizing the little miracles that happen everyday. There wasn't always success, but we saw tender mercies of the Lord that told us that he really does answer our prayers. One instance was that we had an appointment with a part member family. We parked in front of their house and pondered what it was that we wanted to pray for. We decided to pray that we would be able to talk with the husband that isn't a member. We got to the house, knocked on the door and no one was home. So we decided before we left that we should write a note. As I was writing it, a car pulled up, and it was the husband!! Our prayer was answered and we were able to talk with him! He wouldn't give us a return appointment... But it was still a miracle!

A few days later we had another miracle. We have a solid investigator in Wilton, named Maricruz, who is the sister of a recent convert. She knows a lot about the gospel already from sitting in the new member lessons with her sister. When I came to visit them last week, I thought, why haven't we been teaching Maricruz when she's right here! Haha so we've started teaching her. We invited her to be baptized and she said that she knows that she will! She wants to learn a little more, but that she knows it's going to happen. We are hoping that we can help her to set a date, but as for now we are so excited that she wants to be baptized! 

As always, we have met some fun animals this week, we met some snakes, rats, tons and tons of bunnies! (I'm just watching out for the were-rabbit... I guess that's only in Wallus & Grommit), zebras, lamas, emus, rumors of mountain lions just down the road eating the emus, cute pugs, scary black dogs, horses, all that jazz! The other day my companion and I were knocking on a door (big surprise!). As soon as the door was open, a dog ran out and tackled me! I about fell to the ground! I thought it was just an over friendly dog that can't help but jump, I've seen some very jumpy dogs out here! But then I heard it bark and I knew it was out for murder. Haha but seriously! Thank goodness the owner got him off me! 

Last week during zone conference we had to introduce ourselves by saying what is our favorite thing about our area. I can't lie, my favorite thing is that it's a petting zoo!

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos,

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

Quick letter

Aug. 17, 2015

To answer your question, yes! We did have zone conference on Wednesday in Rancho! Every zone conference we are asked to clean and wax our car. Well, our area is very dusty, so we hurried up and did everything we needed to do, then we covered it in old missionaries' sheets for the night. What lengths we go to to have clean cars!

Zone conference was so fun! I got sang to for my birthday (and other missionaries birthdays) and I got to see all the Hermanas in the mission besides Hnas Kaaa, Webb, and their trainees! *photo of all the Hermanas. I also took pictures of our cute little house at the "Wilton Hilton"

Dorky birthday, we went and got PUPUSAS!!!! My favorite! At Las Palmas. They were so good! Then we went to the church where the zone had a surprise for me!

The people we live with found a rattle snake near our houses, so they killed it and skinned it! Pretty cool!

haha it's Hispanic tradition! we have 8 Spanish speaking missionaries in the zone even though only 4 of us are actually in Spanish work. Beforehand they sang happy Birthday to me in English, Samoan, and Spanish. It was awesome!!

It was a lot of fun! Also, we went to Coloma today, all the missionaries that are going home in February, April, and May (makes us feel old). So I was with Hna Kaaa for most of the day! I'm pretty sure it was a field trip that I did in the 4th grade... but I don't remember! In the end we were panning for gold :P it was pretty funny. We just got back about an hour ago though, it took up the whole day! I'll hopefully have pics next week.

Sorry, I have to go! and the emails pretty short, but I love you the most!!! Also! I had to give a talk yesterday and it was super intimidating, but good! haha I love giving talks! :P

Clean

10Aug15

 ¡Hola Mamacita!

About the dress, that sounds fine. I liked it a lot! But it might be a little impractical at the moment :) for my birthday, I think we might go out to lunch with Hnas Burke and McCloud to go get papusas (El Salvadorian deliciousness!). English work is great, but one of the things I miss the most, is the food and not having tortillas at every meal, so we're getting Hispanic food! 

Sister Myrick, my 5th cousin (or something like that) gave me a packet of some stories that were written about Ephraim Twitchell. She really wants to do some family tree comparing, so getting dad's info would be great! What's his email and phone number again? Everywhere I go, I'm meeting more and more people that are related to me in the Elk Grove stake. I was standing outside the chapel while the Spanish branch was getting out yesterday and they saw that my name tag said "Hermana" so they automatically gave me hugs and kisses. They're so sweet! Then I found that one of the members in the Spanish branch is related to me as well! (They're white, they just are serving in the Spanish branch to help out) I've found on my mission that no matter where I go, I can't ever escape people that I knew before my mission and family. It's crazy! 

The work is going a little slow. English work is quite a bit harder than Spanish work. Hispanics are so friendly and are always willing to invite people in even if they are not particularly interested, whereas English speakers are a lot more reserved and are not afraid to say no :P it's hard to find new people without help from the members. We had a really solid investigator that was supposed to be baptized on the 22 of August, but last Tuesday, she said she wasn't ready and didn't want to continue taking lessons, so she dropped us. We still have hope though and we are pressing forward! 

We live in the Wilton Hilton where a bunch of missionaries have lived here before us... And they all like to leave a bunch of junk in the house. So this past week, we spent time cleaning up the spare room that was a pig sty and we found some fun stuff! Haha but most of it was garbage or stuff to donate to the DI. 

Because we have iPads, we've had to transfer all of our area book paper work onto the iPads. It has been a long process. Our areas are done, but the Spanish areas are a nightmare! Lots of teaching records! So we have been helping out the Hermanas and Spanish elders with transferring teaching records onto the iPads. It's hard for the English missionaries to help them because a lot of it is in Spanish. *Perks of being a Spanish missionary beforehand :D 

Well, I better go, but I love you the most! And I'll email you next week! I'll talk to Sister Myrick on Wednesday night, so give me dad's info! 

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

PS I finally memorized the first vision in English! It took a while. Haha it's easier in Spanish :P

Wilton is the BEST

August 3, 2015

Querida Mamacita,

Haha I wasn't planning on getting a new name tag... something about my Spanish pride said, "no". :P but then President Jardine came to our district meeting last week and he made a comment about it saying that even though I won't be in English work for a long time, it's probably a good idea to get a new tag. Aww, okay. It takes about 2 weeks to get a new one, so we'll see in the next couple weeks. 

And in response to some of your questions: Of course I'm not mad at President Jardine! If I were mad, I would really be mad at the Lord. This is the Lord's calling, not President Jardine's and I will not be angry with the Lord. I know his ways are higher than ours. It's not easy to follow the will of the Lord, but it is always worth it. I haven't said anything to President Jardine, nor do I plan to. If I were to tell him that I don't want to accept this calling or ask him to reconsider, I would be basically telling the Lord that I don't think he knows what he's doing and therefore rebelling against the Lord. I'm letting God take the wheel because I know that he's the perfect driver. 

We do have a car and we have a monthly allotment of 1450 miles. I've never had that many miles my whole entire mission! And Spanish work gets a ton of miles. It's just that we live in Wilton and Wilton is huge! Also we live about 10 miles away from our other Ward that we're over, Vineyard, any sort of shopping areas, and the church building. So we drive a ton! But once it starts to cool down (if it ever does) we're going to start biking in Vineyard because we use way too many miles as it is with just driving. Sister Lalomanu is super awesome!! Haha it's kind of funny because she loves Spanish and so I'm trying to teach her how to speak it. We are not shot gunning the area. Sis Lalomanu was trained in Vineyard and half way through her training she was called to be over the Wilton Ward too. It's crazy being over two wards! We were in church for 6 hours! Haha it was so weird because I realized that this past Sunday was my first sacrament meeting in English in 11 months! Haha I got up and bore my testimony in English... And some Spanish, I couldn't resist!

I'm send a present home to you for my birthday! Haha yes! I'm giving you a present too! I'm sending home the red dress, not because I don't like it, I've already worn it twice and it's perfect in every way! But I found a hole in one of the arms so I'm sending it home because I don't think my sewing kit will do the trick... We can get packages whenever. 

Sister Story is so cool! I went thrift shopping with her a couple weeks ago! Her companion Sis Limb is super cute! I served with her for a couple transfers in East Sac.

It is weird teaching in English, we do it sometimes in Spanish work of course, but I have to memorize the first vision in English still...

I'm still a bit terrified of white people, but I'm getting over it :P I've gotten pretty bold in Spanish, now I just have to find a way to be bold in English! Haha

So I have found this past week that I am related to half of the Wilton ward. We did splits with two sisters the other day and before I could even introduce myself, the relief society president said, "Get in the car you're coming with me!" What?! What did I do this time? Haha she is Sister Myrick and she has a huge family and they are all descendants of Ephraim Twitchell! Super cool! I've heard lots of stories!

Well to end the email, I just want to say, I love Wilton! The scenery is so beautiful and I've met so many friendly animals along the way. I helped heard some goats while we contacted a guy, scared off some peacocks (while trying to take a pic ;P), mooed at some cows, barked at some dogs, nayed at some horses, and heard rumors of bears, coyotes, and mountain lions! (I really hope I don't encounter one of those :P). It's always a great morning of studies when I hear the cows moo outside my window :)

Para Siempre Dios esté con vos,

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

Transfers

July 28, 2015

¡Hola Mamacita!

So, transfers went a little bit differently this transfer. And when I say a little, I mean a lot! We had transfer calls on Saturday instead of Monday, but we were only told if we were being transferred, training, or becoming a leader. We wouldn't figure out who we were going with and where until Monday morning when we met at the office and President Jardine would tell us personally in a large meeting with all the missionaries that are being transferred. So, on Saturday night, us five Hermanas went to sushi and stuffed our faces in, then we went to the meeting we had at 8 pm as a zone to find out our fates. Usually missionaries receive a call earlier in the night from President Jardine or the APs saying that they are called to train or be a leader. We knew that there are 2 Hermanas coming into the field, so who's going to train? Haha that's always the big question. When we got to the meeting, We hadn't received a phone call and neither did the other Hermanas. What!? I thought for sure one of us was going to get that call. We went on with the meeting and our zone leader said that Hna Webb and I are staying here, together... I love Hermana Webb and I know that she loves me, but... It didn't feel right. Then they said that the trio of Hermanas were going to leave and the area would have new missionaries. What!? So we were signing each other's bye books after. We just felt so weird. We didn't feel right. Then I went to the phone to call sister Schow and tell her about the news and I saw that we had a miss call from President Jardine about 20 minutes previous. Oh no! So we ran into the hallway and called him back. Hna Webb is training!!!! We were so excited... But then what was going to happen to me? The call said that I was staying. We asked him if we were going to be in a training trio and he said no. Then he said that we weren't going to be together and that he was going to fix it... What does that mean? Am I leaving or am I staying in the zone?  The sisters area is getting shotgunned, so am I going to shotgun their area? I had no idea. But what I did know is that I was moving out of sis schow's house and that I needed to pack. A few minutes later, Hna Kaaa noticed that she received a miss call from President as well. Hna Kaaa's training!!! I am so excited for her! She will do fantastic!!

Hermana Twitchell and Hermana Webb
only together for 2 weeks

East Sacramento Zone
(Said good-bye to them)

On Sunday we got to tell the members who was staying and who was leaving... The problem was that I had absolutely no idea if I was leaving or not! I had no idea what to tell the members! 

Monday morning came and I felt calm. I had thought about all the possible things that could happen with transfers and I was prepared! I was prepared with whatever outcome came my way, It doesn't matter who my comp is or where I go! I love all the Hermanas in this mission so much! 

The meeting started and each area would pop upon the screen with a missionary's face and name, then it would show their companion. A few areas had gone by, It was fun to see what was happening with everyone in the mission. The area "Elk Grove Zone: Vineyard & Wilton wards" popped on the screen with my face and name underneath. English work. Oh. I was not prepared for this. I shakily rose to my feet as my eyes were fixed upon what lied before me. I was terrified and I am positive that it showed on my face. My companion is Sister Lalomanu. It was a lot to take in. After the meeting, President Jardine told me, "It won't be for a long time. It's going to happen more often that Spanish missionaries go into English work." I was just the first. He was trying to comfort me because he saw the look on my face. I've never had a transfer call where I've been shocked or didn't know how to react. This time I had no idea how to react or to stifle my reaction and it was in front of half the mission. 

It's funny, because I jinxed myself quite a bit this past transfer. While I was in Rancho, I would tell Hna Fly, "I'm so happy that I'm no longer in Carmichael where there aren't any hispanics! And now I'm in Rancho where there are endless possibilities!" Then I got ETed back to Carmichael. I went on exchanges with my English STLs and I said, "I love Spanish work! It's the best thing ever! I couldn't imagine it any other way!" Then she asked, "What would you do if you ever got called into English work?" I responded, "eh. That's never going to happen!" :P

So I'm in Elk Grove now, the very bottom of the mission that borders Lodi, aka Modesto mission. It's a really great area and we basically live out in the middle of no where. It's super cool! I don't know my address.  

Sister Autumn Twitchell with her new companion Sister Lalomanu  (Autumn is now an English speaking missionary)

For Elaina and Lena

Our Front room

View from our front window

It's super rural. There's cows and horses, some roosters :P our house is a guest house next to a members home. It is HUGE! It's amazing! 

Sis Lalomanu is from New Zealand, she has been out for 3 months, just barely finished training. She is super cute and super awesome!!

Hna Burke is in the Elk Grove zone as well, but in Spanish work. They just opened up Elk Grove to Hermanas. we seriously have been in the same exact areas and we always follow each other around. haha I love her!

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

New area

Hola Mamacita!

To answer your questions, there are currently 13 Hermanas in the mission and I've been companions with 6 of them. With the mission split they only took 6 Hermanas, but their areas were huge, so they will definitely be building up the number in Modesto. 

There should be 2 Hermanas coming in this upcoming transfer, which is awesome! The problem is that we really don't need more Hermanas because there are only so many Spanish areas they can create in this mission... Also the oldest Hermanas are going home in December, so we aren't going to be losing anyone for a while. Haha yes, I had to be the one to be transferred. President Jardine and the APs sat at the transfer board for 4 hours deciding who was to come to Carmichael. They were led by the spirit and I know that I'm the one that is supposed to be here at this time. Haha transfers is going to happen next week and it will be completely normal, I'm just super curious to see where I end up. 

 Haha those are the wrong apartments :P but ya, the same street. Dad sent me the email on Tuesday... So I couldn't really respond to it or anything until today :P haha I saw Aaron & Joylyn while we were driving away from the church, I tried to wave but they weren't paying attention :P they were just too late to church! Haha just kidding!

July 11, 2015  William's baptism

Thrift store shopping!! I'm not holding a Canadian flag for no reason, my DL is Canadian :P

New companion Hermana Webb

Well, with Carmichael being Carmichael, we literally have no investigators. We found 2 last week, but one had a fake address and the other wasn't home for their return appointment, but of course, we will try again!!! Haha thank goodness I have Hna Webb as a companion or I think I would literally go insane. :p she is super enthusiastic about the work and really positive about this area, where most missionaries would frown about it. Because we're only going to be together for 2 weeks (at least, there's always next transfer!), I was feeling super awkward as to where to get started with the work and how to make the best out of our 2 weeks. Well, we have a goal and its BAPTISM! As always! But we're super excited about it, so it's great! We still don't have anyone progressing, but we're working on it! 

I love being back with Sister Schow! She always has a pink bucket that she carries around on her Lamborghini (indoor walker) that has all of her important things she needs in the day. She has 2 letters, one from you and one from me. Haha she showed me that she was going to respond to my letter, but then I came back after only 4 weeks. Haha she says I'm the fastest sister to ever come back! Haha

Sister Schow and Hermana Twitchell

Well, I should probably go! Thank you for being such an amazing mother and for helping me be obedient!! I will try my best to fit in the clothes you sent me :P and if not that I can get them sent to you by Monday.

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos,

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

PS tell Austin I'm sorry I didn't send him a letter for his birthday. I meant to, but things got so busy last p-day that I didn't have time...

Bautismo!!!

July 13, 2015

¡Hola Mamacita!
¡BAUTISMO!!!! William was baptized on Saturday and it was so great! So I have some pretty big news. It all starts at the baptism. Hna Burke told me at the baptism that there was a problem (that she really didn't have much control over) and that she was going to talk to President Jardine about it and that she thought she was going to be
ETed (emergency transferred). Well last night while we were planning for our day today, we had an incoming call from President Jardine and we just stared at the phone for what seemed like 5 minutes. We both knew why he was calling... It was just a matter of who was leaving.  So Hna Fly finally broke and answered the phone.  He asked if I was there. Aw Man! So she put it on speaker and President asked me if I knew what was happening.  I said, "yes" then he asked me where I thought I was
going, I replied, "Carmichael." Yep, I'm going back to Carmichael in the East Sacramento zone tomorrow morning. Thank goodness I get to have my P-Day here in Rancho Cordova! After the call was over, Hna Fly and I hugged each other and started to cry. We had been having so much fun together and we've only been together for 4 weeks. We were making plans to go to Chick-fil-a and downtown and the Folsom outlets. We've made plans for me to come visit her in Virginia to go to the beach and
DC and everything on the east coast! Haha We also were able to find quite a few great investigators this past week. They are super solid!
Some other fun things happened this week, but they are all kind of leaving my mind as I try to wrap my mind on the fact that I'm leaving. It's crazy!

I love you lots and I'm going to have a great 2 weeks with Hna Webb!

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos,

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

PS you can have Aaron and Joylyn drop my package off at the office
since its in my area again :P

Our ZONE

11Jul15  --  Pictures from William's baptism but this isn't William

Hermana Twitchell & Fly enjoying ice cream the day before she was transferred

11Jul15  Landon's baptism