In two days... I will have been on my mission for 9 months... That's so weird to me. I remember when I first got here and saw other sisters that had been here for 9 months and thinking "They're so experienced and awesome at missionary work!" But now that I'm here, I definitely don't feel like that... I still feel like I barely know what's going on! And now all the missionaries that had SOOO long to go till they went home are going home... it's crazy how time flies.
Anyways, this week has been grand! I got a new companion! Her name is Sister Palmer. She's from Sandy Utah. She's been out for 9 months too. We were actually in the same zone in the MTC, but only knew of each other back then. Neither of us thought that we would become companions eventually! But she is so great! I love her already! This is pretty much only her second area. She stayed in the same area (kind of) for the entire first 9 months of her mission. How crazy is that!? But I can see how she is going to make a huge impact on this area. I don't think she sees it yet, but she will. :) We've already see so many miracles since she's been here! And we have many more to come this transfer, I'm sure.
We started a thing called the 21-day plan. It's where we pick out 10 people that we want to see changes happen with, whether that be baptism or coming back to church or something like that. We start off our 21 days with a fast and then pray morning and night for each and every one of these people for 21 days straight, without missing a single prayer. We started yesterday with fast Sunday. And we've kind of added something else to it... Each night, we're writing down the miracles that we see that day. The promise is that at least one of these people will experience a dramatic change in their life. And our zone leader pointed out that in the scriptures, it is always the faith of the missionaries that help the people be converted. And my companion and I have full faith that we will see a miracle in each of the 10 people's lives that we've chosen.
Our area has officially been split. We are now primarily just over the Pleasanton 1st ward. We went to ward council in the 4th ward yesterday and some of them were a little surprised that we were there... They've been anxious to get rid of us and get elders apparently... But we are still backing the elders up in 4th ward and still have an investigator we're working with, so we'll still be attending regularly. But my companion definitely noticed that the bishop favors elders. I don't even know why! I've been trying to figure it out since I got here. It's really frustrating sometimes. It's also been frustrating because the entire time we were over 4th ward we were always asking "what can we do to help?" to the bishop. Constantly! And he always told us, "Oh nothing." Well, he brought up in ward council that the elders stopped by to see him this week and asked what they could do to help.... he gave them a giant list........ Yep. So, I'm trying to look at it as a good thing that the elders have taken over, but the natural man in me sometimes comes out... I think I have pretty much come to terms that we have done everything that we know how to do to help that ward and nothing is working, obviously. So this change will be a good thing. The elders even asked us when they knew the change was going to happen what they could do to best help the 4th ward. I tried really hard to think of something... But we told them that we honestly have no idea and that we've tried everything.
So that's a little bit of stress off my shoulders. It's been a little crazy trying to help 3 missionaries learn the area when I feel like I'm still trying to learn it myself. It was super difficult the first day. I was feeling a lot overwhelmed, but i decided to get a priesthood blessing and that has definitely helped me in keeping calm. I love blessings! Every time I get one, it just increases my appreciation for the priesthood.
Well, that's pretty much it for this week. I am so very grateful for all of you and your support! I love hearing from everyone about how they're doing! I hope you all have a wonderful week! Stay safe!
Love,
Sister Swapp
Nov 12
This week was so great! I love serving here at a time when the work in this area is finally starting to pick up! As I told you a couple weeks ago, my companion and I have started the 21 day plan. Every night, we write down the miracles we have seen that day. It has definitely opened my eyes to sooo many miracles that we would otherwise look over. And we probably aren't seeing ALL of them either!
Wednesday was probably the biggest day for miracles this week. We made cookies for a few people in our wards and we were delivering them and stopped by one lady's house and she wasn't home (which she is pretty much always home...). So we left them with her son and went on our way. Well, as we were turning off of her street, we see a guy riding his bike. It was one of our investigators that we have been having a hard time getting in contact with who we've been worried is dropping us slowly!!! So we stopped the car, got out, and talked to him for a while. We caught up with him and then we asked where his reading was and he said he's been reading and finished 2 Nephi (he was in the middle of 2 Nephi the last time we saw him.). So we told him to read Alma 32 and let us know what he thought of it. Fast forward to the next morning and he texted us with lots of insights!!! He never texts us out of the blue! We always have to initiate the conversation!
Okay, so rewind back to Wednesday night. After we ran into him, we went by one of our potential investigators that we've also been having a hard time reaching and he wasn't home... So we decided to deliver some cookies to a family on the same street as him that just had a baby. It was a part member family and the non-member husband was very nice to us. We got to know them a little bit better and shared a scripture with them even! We were there for about 30 minutes and when we got back in our car we decided we would drive by Bill's again (the potential investigator) even though it hadn't been that long. So we drove by and.... There was a light on in the garage! So we pray really fast and get out and as we're walking to the door... A light inside turns on! I got so excited! So we knocked and he answered. He said he had just gotten home from work not even 2 minutes ago! Perfect timing! We stood on his porch and talked to him for a while and taught him a lesson too. It was so great!
But that's not the end of the night... After we saw Bill, we decided to stop by another part member family who we've been working with that is barely ever home/awake... So we stop by and... They answer!!! So we go in and teach them too! By the end of that, it was time to go back to our apartment for them night. But it was such a good day! And it was our 9 month mark. The Lord was definitely helping us have a good day! Which then helped us have a good week!
Well, that's how my week has been! I hope all of you are having wonderful weeks as well!
Love,
Sister Swapp
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