Not being transferred

¡Hola Mamacita!

This week has been great! This transfer has probably been the most uneventful transfer of my entire mission. I'm staying, my companions staying, woo! So we went to work and didn't have to think too much more of it. All the missionaries in our Ward are staying except for Elder Tena, but he just switched to English work to be our Zone Leader and his replacement is Elder Ortega, who I served with in Elk Grove a transfer ago. So not too much of a difference. Hna Kaaa was called to be a Sister Training Leader! But since Hnas Clark and Torres are staying here as STLs, Hna Kaaa is now in English work! Crazy! There weren't any Hermanas in English work last transfer, but now she's in English work and there's a trio of Hermanas somewhere in the mission. Fun stuff! 

So, I attached a picture of my schedule last week, so if you really want to know what happened, there it is! All the green boxes are trying to find people, all the blue are appointments we had. It's different on the iPad than on the little paper planners we used to have... I miss those. But the iPad is really useful! 

Last P-day, our district leader brought a bunch of Thai peppers for our zone to eat, so I also have a video of that, it was pretty funny, my companion was crying, another sister threw up later, everyone was rather red in the face. It was silly.

We are also going to the temple today! And I realized that I don't have more family names... Oops! I'm so excited though!

So a miracle happened on Sunday. First, the whole Ivarra Family came to church! It's been a struggle with them because ever since the kids were baptized, they've kind of lost the fire and desire to keep going. So we've been working with them a ton and we have been stressing going to all 3 hours of church! We might have to back up Jesus Ivarra's date because it's been harder to find a good time to come by his house and Jose just barely got an interview with the bishop about the priesthood. We'll see. The second miracle is that we came to church and the Pardo girls were already there. We asked them why they were there so early and they said, " Well, we couldn't make it to sacrament meeting at 12pm, because we have to pick up our mom from work, so we thought we would come to take the sacrament at 9am." Oh my gosh! They are the most amazing investigators I've ever had. Most members don't even do that!

I'm super excited for this transfer, miracles are going to happen! I know that the Lord is fighting with us as we strive to bring his children unto Christ!

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos,

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

PS take a family picture! It doesn't matter if I'm not in it. I want to show my whole family off to people I meet! All I have is the old one that doesn't have the new grandbabies on it

Hermana Clark, Hermana Torres, Hermana Stout, Hermana Twitchell

Hermana Twitchell and Stout

All the Spanish missionaries in our Ward, plus José in the middle, plus some kids, and Elder Ward who is now an RM who came back to visit with a beard :P lots of missionaries like to come back and visit.

Us singing at a baptism

Columbus Day

October 12, 2015

Hola Mamacita!

To be honest, I'm only going to be on my mission for 2 more months after Christmas... sooooo I really don't need anything.  Seriously.  Thank you for being so thoughtful though!  Everything is going well with our investigators on date! We stopped by the Pardo's home and Nathalia and Karen were painting their fence. So we talked with them and they were just talking about how much better their life was since we have been visiting them. They are so darling! 

The Elders in our ward had a baptism and it was so beautiful. The woman being baptized is named Zaira and she had been taught for 7 months. So there were 5 Elders that came that had all previously taught her. Then President Jardine baptized her (she got the idea from Jose's baptism). There were senior office missionaries there and the APs were there. Half the people there were missionaries! One of the Elders came from Rama 7 in South Sac and he came with a member, Hno Ramirez!  

He baptized the Claros girls back in February when I was there!  I was so happy to see him!!  Anyone from Sacramento Rama 7 makes me happy!  Hna Stout and I gave the missionary moment.  Hna Stout is doing so well with her Spanish!  I am so happy for her!  She has become very discourage about her Spanish lately, but everyone that I talked to after the baptism commented on how good her Spanish was.  I am so proud of her!  She has only been out for 5 months and she is so good at really bringing in the spirit!

If I am transferred next week, everything will be okay.  I'll come back for the baptisms!  Haha I'm at the point where I really don't care if I get transferred.  Bring on packing and moving number 7 if needs be!  I love my area, but if it's not where the Lord wants me next transfer, then I don't want to be here. 

Para Siempre Dios este con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

We did service on Saturday where we raked leaves at a camp site. This fun native Central American thing was going on! It was so cool! They were doing it from 5am to 8pm!

The Tongan Ward having a party....  like Always!!

Conference was GREAT

October 5, 2015

¡Hola Mamacita!

Dad is silly, everyone needs to hear the talks on women whether they are women or not. I absolutely loved Elder Jeffrey R Holland's talk on mothers. He said there are two people that are messianic beings: Jesus Christ and mothers. It made me and all the women in the room cry. I love how much the general authorities love and respect women! There was also another talk that I loved on Saturday that was given by a seventy. He talked about the simplicity of listening to the spirit and the answered that we can receive. I loved conference. It reminded me of simple the gospel really is! Sometimes I over think how I can listen to the spirit or teach a lesson, but on reality it is so simple!! I also have my "ponderize" scripture for the week! Ether 12:27!    27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

I love your emails during the week! They're great! 

This week has been super great! We visited the Pardo family and we asked them how they felt about their baptismal date. Karen said, "Well, I prayed about it, and I feel like it would be better to be baptized on November 7th." Wow, of course! If she prayed and received that answer, I think that's amazing! So the 3 girls are getting baptized on November 7th! They are so great! 

We also talked with Jesus Ivarra and he wants to get baptized, so we have him on date for the 30th of October! 

The Lord has blessed us so much!! 

The only companions that I have had that aren't in Sacramento are Hna Griffith & Flores, and they are both off their missions... So the rest you can write :) 

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell 

Hemana Twitchell and Stout helping paint.  It's a good thing she helped me paint our house in Erda, UT

We went bowling today!!!

Great Week!!

September 28, 2015

Hola Mamacita!!

This week has been so great! We had interviews, a baptism, the primary program, confirmation, put people on date, went on a cleanse, got a package of goodies, did missionary work, all that Good Stuff!!

Jose's baptism was amazing!! The room was packed! President Jardine baptized him and he did it in Spanish! It was amazing!!! The spirit was so strong!

September 23, 2015 Jose's baptism,
he was baptized by President Bruce Jardine

We also put 3 of our investigators on date for October 17th! They are the daughters in the Pardo family: Dianara 10, Natalia 14, and Karen 18. We have been teaching the family for quite some time.

The parents love the church, but they always work and therefore haven't been able to come to church. The daughters however, come every week and one of the members drive them. This past Sunday was so great! We had Jose's confirmation and the primary program! It was so neat to see Dianara get up and sing in the program! I've never had an investigator be so involved, and at such a young age! These daughters have such great faith! We invited them to be baptized on Wednesday and when we asked them to, the 2 younger daughters nodded, then Karen said, strong and bold, "I WILL." The spirit was so strong! We are very excited to prepare for their baptisms and we are praying that we can do whatever we can for them.
We were also very excited to see that Jose Ivarra's entire family came to church on Sunday and the father, Jesus, now no longer works after 6 pm. The whole family is now baptized, except for the father, but they haven't been as active as we would like, but we are working with them and in strengthening the family. We are very excited to begin teaching him again and to strengthen that family. They are so special.

This week we also did a district/Spanish missionary cleanse for 3 days. We could only eat fruits and veggies, not including member dinners.  As one Elder put it, "it's like fasting, but without the blessings."  It was pretty funny and yes it did feel like I was fasting. :P Haha on day three, I got the package and all it was filled with was sweets, goodness, and love! Oh no!

Haha, but at least I only had to wait a day, but I think it made the whole cleanse thing pointless :P

Women's Conference was amazing!  I was actually reading a conference talk by Sister Bonnie L Oscarson that morning from last women's conference and there was a quote that I absolutely loved that made me think of you "one cannot forget mother and remember God. One cannot remember mother and forget God."

(It was originally said by President Thomas S. Monson) I love this quote because it is so true!  Mama you are amazing and I am so thankful for the loving example that you are to me.  You are my role model and I have always aspired to become like you when I grow up!  You are so selfless and kind, charitable and loving. You are so dedicated in showing others that you care.

I've been thinking a lot the past couple days about who I want to be. We had interviews on Wednesday and President Jardine asked me what my goals are for the next 3 months. Haha then he asked if I have 15 months.  No President Jardine, I only have 13 months!  I still have 5 months left! not 3! Haha but it made me think, what are my goals?  What am I going to do with this precious time that I have left?

I was thinking about some of the attributes that I want, and a lot of them are the one's that you have mom! I love you so much! and I thank the Heavenly Father all the time that he has given me you!

I am so thankful for my family! I am so thankful to be living in this day.  I am so thankful to be a missionary in the best mission in the world.

Para Siempre Dios este Con Vos

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

Baptism this coming week

September 21, 2015

Hola Mamacita!

Things are going great! Yes, we are having a baptism this week on Wednesday! His name is Jose Ivarra and the special thing is that President Jardine is coming to baptize him! He said he's going to memorize the baptism pray in Spanish! We are super excited! 

Well, it turns out that we weren't allowed to go to the event on Wednesday, so we just went about our normal day. 

Things with Hna Stout are great! Her first name is Krista. We've been having lots of fun! Our miles this month have been cut down a lot, so we've been biking a bit more! It's lots of fun! 

I am fine with money, I am being honest! Don't worry about money or food, because I am doing great with what I have been given.

We had a temple tour with one of our investigators, Jennifer. It was great! We also went to her baby shower since her due date is in 2 weeks. She is super great, but We're going to stop teaching her because she won't come to church!!! 

It finally rained this week! Not a bunch, but we were still excited. We were with one of our members coming out of a lesson and it was raining, some we started dancing in the rain. :) it was fun. 

Hna Fly came to visit on exchanges with the STLs! It was so good to see her! 

We've been trying to visit more members this week, and one house we went to was a less active named Jonathan. He is probably in his 20s and he lives with his mom, who is very active. We talked with him about why he doesn't read the scriptures and he said it was because he had some doubts. We asked a few more questions and he said he didn't agree with our stance about gay people. We tried to explain our beliefs and that God still loves all of his children, but he wouldn't listen. Then I asked him how he felt his relationship was with Heavenly Father and if he ever prays. He said no, he doesn't. Then we bore testimony about God's love for us as our Father in Heaven. We asked him if he would pray to feel God's love and he refused. Hna Stout, the active member, and I started crying, but Jonathan remained hardened and uncomfortable. The spirit was so strong, but he wasn't ready and Satan just had such a strong grasp on him. It was devastating! It is so sad to see people that just refuse to feel the spirit and be healed. God's love is there, but they just refuse to see it. I have such a strong testimony that God loves each and everyone of his children so unconditionally, knowing that some of them will never love him back. I know that he reaches out to all of his children, but some of them are so blinded that they don't even see it. I am so thankful to have this amazing and perfect gospel in my life! I am so thankful for the family that I have on this earth and for the true love that never ceases!

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos,

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

The last pic is Jose Ivarra's mom, she is so amazing and she was baptized several months ago

Love my area

September 14, 2015

¡Hola Mamacita!

This week has been really great and we are probably going to have a baptism next week! Hopefully we will finalize everything this week and I can tell you more next week. The new area's great! It reminds me a lot of my first area because we hear sirens several times a day. ¡Hogar, Dulce Hogar! I love being back in the city, the Hispanics are everywhere! My Spanish is good, I really haven't seen any big changes in it since I left Spanish work. I think my vocabulary level has gone down, but that's okay, I can work on that! My companion is great! She is super enthusiastic about the work and is always on the Go. Haha she's also really funny. Honestly we don't really differentiate too much with Senior & Junior companion, but ya, technically I am the senior comp since I have quite a bit more time on the mission. Hna Stout has been out for about 4 1/2 months. President Jardine says that 50% of our mission has 6 months or less time on the mission. We are a young mission. Haha I'm not old, I still have 18 months left! 

This week is Mexican Independence Day, so all the Spanish missionaries will have the opportunity to go downtown on Wednesday for the event. We are super excited!! 

We have quite a few investigators and right now we are working with a family, the Pardo family, that has the parents and 3 daughters. They have so much faith, it's amazing! This past week, we had the Elders come by and bless their home with the priesthood and we were able to talk with the family about the importance of having a worthy priesthood holder in the home. It was a really neat experience! The parents work on Sunday's at restaurants and we were talking with the mom about the importance of going to church. She wants to go to the temple so badly! She just kept talking about her desires to go to the temple with her family. It was so neat to see that her end goal isn't baptism, it's being sealed with her family for eternity! I am so thankful that we have a temple in our mission and that really no matter where we are serving, we can always set up temple tours! They are amazing for investigators and it's such a great way to let them know that baptism isn't the end, it's only the beginning! I was so thankful that I had the opportunity to go to the temple last week, it gave me such a clarity of thought and a peace of mind. I know that it is a house of the Lord. 

I love Sacramento and the people in it! Sure there are a bunch of hobos, druggies, and other interesting people, but this place is amazing! It's my home! It's sad that we are in a drought and that we are suggested to take 5 minute showers, but I know that it is not the Lord punishing his people, he wouldn't do that and there are so many amazing people here! There are so many people that are just waiting to hear the gospel and we are going to find them.

Para Siempre Dios esté con Vos,

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell

Hermana Twitchell AGAIN!!! Yay Spanish speaking

September 8, 2015

¡Hola Mamacita!

This week has been absolutely crazy!! So both Sister Lalomanu and I left the area and it was shotgunned!  I'm going to miss the people so much, especially my new-found family 

Then we also got our picture with Dixie Smith and her daughters, Denisa Myrick and Kathleen Fox. my cousins!

and Maricruz our amazing, Mexican investigator who has the most beautiful daughter!She is so great! I know she will get baptized! 

We're going to miss our beautiful home!!!

Good bye Elk Grove Zone

 Well, we went to the transfer meeting yesterday and President Jardine called me over before the meeting started and said he thought it was funny that he recently read my email telling him that I finally got my English nametag. It was funny because I am going back to Spanish work!! WHAT!? I was so excited that he told me that! Sister Lalomanu is going to the El Dorado zone! She's going to love it! I don't know what it's like there. Haha as of now that is the only zone in this whole mission that I have never covered. As long as I stay in Spanish work, I will never cover it. I have been called to serve in the North Sacramento zone in the Rio Tierra Ward and my companion is Hermana Stout!!! She just got out of training and she is super awesome!! She is from Hurricane, UT! She is my companion #10! Woohoo! I am so thankful that I am in Spanish work! It feels like I never left! At first yesterday, I was a little rusty, but I'm starting to get back into it! Haha I was a little bummed that I had to pack again, I've moved for times within the past 12 weeks! But it's okay, I get to have meat, rice, beans, and tortillas for dinner again :) I am so excited!

So I went to the temple with Hna Stout and it was so amazing! Our whole district actually went, so we got to take a pic together!

Haha mom, we don't even notice holidays. The only holidays we acknowledge are the one's that we have special p-days for: Christmas, thanksgiving, New Years, Halloween, 4th of July... I think that's about it. Oh! And Mother's Day of course! Well, I better go, te quiero! I hope you have a great week! 

Para Siempre Dios esté con vos!

Con Amor,

Hermana Twitchell!

Hermana Stout and Hermana Twitchell

New North Sacramento Zone

Hermana Twitchell and Stout went to the Temple today