January Letters

January 13th

Happy Monday!

It's been a great week! Weird, but great! I got a letter in the mail from the mission informing me of my release date... It was super weird. FYI, it will be August 20th. 

My companion and I sang a duet in church yesterday... It was scary. It was the hymn "O Savior, Thou Who Wearest a Crown" to the tune of "If You Could Hie to Kolob." We sang the first verse together, the second verse was just me, the third was just my companion, and the last was both of us. I've never sang by myself in front of big crowds like that ever before! We were both so nervous. We were doing everything we could to clear our throats that morning and the night before. It went well though. The last verse was the best because we were done being stressed about our solos. Haha But people kept telling us that they couldn't even tell that was our first time, we looked like pros. I think that was definitely the Spirit helping them see that. Hahaha 

But it was a really cool experience that strengthened my testimony a lot! I had been praying that we could deliver the song, and no matter what, that the spirit would be there, because I've learned that if the spirit is there, then what comes out of our mouth doesn't matter. And I know that the spirit was definitely there while we were singing. It reminded me of when I gave my farewell talk. I was so so nervous! I had never ever given a 15 minute talk before and was so scared! But I prepared, and the whole morning, I had been praying that I could deliver my talk and say the things that needed to be heard. And that my nervousness wouldn't show too much. It was the first time that I had given a talk without stuttering or my muscles uncontrollably twitching and I was actually able to speak up and out, whereas, before I had just always read my talks and mumbled it out to get it over with as fast as I could. I've definitely learned through these experiences and sooo many others that the Lord will help us with anything, even speaking, but we have to ask for the help first.  

We also wore matching outfits! Haha So here's the story. We were at a members house last week for dinner, right after we were asked to sing, and they were watching "Cheetah Girls" before we got there. So we were joking around and saying we should sing the song from that that goes, "We are sisters, we stick together," when we sing. Haha so the mom was like, "Oh my goodness, if you don't sing that song, you MUST at least wear cheetah print or something, and we'll be the only ones that know what you actually wanted to sing." So

Not only did we wear cheetah print, but we also coordinated colors. :) 

We had interviews with president this week and it was so nice. He helped me a lot with figuring out what to do after my mission. He also basically told me that I was getting transferred this time around, which happens to be next Tuesday... He said it's not set in stone, but I'm pretty sure it is and he's just saying that. I don't know where I'm going, but since next Monday is a holiday, I will have to email on Tuesday, and by then I'll be in my new area. So I'll inform you then! :) 

I went on exchanges this week with our STL (sister training leader) and her companion. I went down to their area with her companion and she came here with my companion. It was so good! We both learned a lot! One of the things that impressed me was how easily Sister Voyles (the sister I was with) made it look to contact people without any materials. Contacting is definitely NOT my strong point, as you can imagine, but every time I see it done like the way I saw this sister do it, it gives me confidence. Then I go to actually do it... and the confidence leaves when I get shut down... It's a vicious cycle. The area I'm in right now is sooo hard on missionaries trying to street contact! Nobody is interested, if there even is anyone out on the streets to talk to. We'll go a whole night contacting about 30 people and only really share the gospel with like 3 people... Everybody else just passes by and doesn't even acknowledge you. It's rough. That's why we have to rely on the members to give us referrals to find people to teach. 

Which, we just started this week with really laying it heavy on the members that we need their help and can't do it by ourselves. We've gotten more referrals this week than ever since I've been in this area! We got 2 referrals! Haha unfortunately, neither of them were interested, but statistics show that 1 out of 3 referrals are interested, so our next referral will be golden! *crossing our fingers*

Well, that's how my week has been pretty much. This is my last full week in this area. :(

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,

Sister Swapp

January 21st

Wow! What a crazy and amazing week!! This past week has seriously been one of the best so far in my entire mission! 

So my companion and I decided we were going to have more meaningful contacts, which is what we struggled with a lot. It's scary to talk to people. Even for missionaries! So, we decided to go contacting in parks, because people aren't rushing usually. So our first night, Tuesday, we went to a park right before dinner and we ran into a guy named Rafi. We only had about 5 minutes till dinner and were actually debating on whether or not we had time to go talk to him. I'm glad we decided to! Because he was not having a very good day. :( We talked to him for a little bit and we shared Matthew 11: 28-30 with him and gave him a Book of Mormon and got his information and prayed with him. He told us that he knows we were a sign from God telling him that He is still there and appreciated us coming and talking to him. 

A few nights later, same situation, only a few minutes left till dinner, we saw a girl sitting on a table eating food and debated again whether we had time to talk to her. We do and it turns out she's been looking for a church. We gave her a Book of Mormon and gave her our info and prayed with her. 

These experiences have taught me so much about how Heavenly Father tries our faith and loyalty. It seems like it's always in the last 5 minutes before we have to go that he places someone that is prepared. It's taught me to be diligent and just go and talk to them no matter how much time you have left! 

We also picked up a new investigator who is soooo prepared!! Some awesome members brought him to church a couple weeks ago and we met him and gave him a Book of Mormon after our Sunday School lesson on the Plan of Salvation. We got a call from the members that brought him (the guy is the wife's cousin) and they told us that he had read some of the Book of Mormon and was going to church with them the next day and wanted a lesson from us when we came for dinner Sunday night (they had signed up to feed us). Well, the funny part is, is that we were planning on cancelling on them because we had planned to go to the temple with Rhanya, our recent convert, and wouldn't have time to make it for dinner. But we promised the member that we would have missionaries there to teach him and that we would figure something out. Well, it turns out that Rhanya woke up with a fever Sunday morning, so she cancelled our temple trip. Which we were super sad about, but it meant that we could go and teach Matt that night! So we get to dinner and after we eat, we start teaching him the restoration. It was such a good lesson! The Spirit was sooooo strong! And he had so many good questions. We also had another member family come over and the husband was a convert to the church as well, so we had him share how he came to know the Book of Mormon was true and it was so powerful and perfect! 

This week, also, we exceeded our goal for lessons! WHich NEVER haas happened since I've been in Pleasanton! Our weekly goal is 20, and we had 24 by the end of the week! The Lord is just hastening His work so much in the Pleasanton area! We are finally starting to see the fruits of our labors and it is so great! Just in time for me to leave too... 

The last bit of news I have is..... I got transferred and am now in a new area! It's going to be a lot of fun. We cover 3 family wards (I thought 2 was bad...) and I'm in a tri-panionship! And I'm the only one in our trio that's from America!!! Hahaha The sister that's been in the area the longest is Sister Tuala. She's from Samoa. She's been out 1 transfer longer than I have. The other sister is Sister Li. She's from Hong Kong. They are both so wonderful! Because Sister Li speaks Chinese, we have a Chinese investigator and we just came from a lesson with her. It was amazing! The church is true even in other languages!! Hahaha It was really interesting though because the investigator can understand english, she just learns better in her native tongue, which makes sense. So Sister Li would talk with her about who knows what (well the gospel, obviously) and then she would turn to one of us and say, "Sister Swapp, do you want to explain how Adam and Eve's decision to partake of the fruit affects us?" And I would explain, then she would go back into speaking Chinese and turn to one of us again, "Sister Tuala, do you want to talk about what the spirit world is?" Haha it was really interesting. But, I know I am going to love it here! I already sort of know the area. 2 of the wards we cover are wards that I covered when I was in the YSA branch. So I know all the ward member's YSA aged kids!! Hahaha I'm really excited though. A little overwhelmed maybe... but I know that I have so many wonderful things to learn and grow from in this area, otherwise the Lord wouldn't put me here. 

I love you all so much! And I hope you have a wonderful week! 

Love,

Sister Swapp

January 27th 

Hello!

This week has been so great! I love it here! It's a little crazy with the 3 wards, but I think I'm getting it down. I think I had a harder time getting 2 wards down when I was in Pleasanton. It's amazing how the Lord strengthens your ability to serve in a certain area. Both of my companions will be leaving soon and I think that has something to do with it. Sister Li will be going back to Temple Square in April, she's a temple square sister on her outbound assignment right now. And Sister Tuala will be getting transferred at the end of this transfer most likely, she's been here ever since they opened this area 7 months ago.  So I really am relying on the Lord to help me learn everything I can from them before they leave.

It's been so fun though! Usually you think a trio would be really hard, but things are so great in this trio! We all get along so well! And we teach really well together too. It's the best trio ever. We're always laughing together too, which is important. :)

So we set a baptismal date this week! My very first full day here, we met with a Vietnamese woman named Amy.  She's been so prepared! She found the church on her won and came to church one Sunday, but the sisters (this was before I came) weren't there because they were attending the other 2 wards we cover, so a member fellowshipped her, got her number and gave it to the sisters. The sisters then called her and set up a time to meet with her. When I met her, it was only their second meeting with her and we taught her the restoration. It was perfect! We had a member there and she had some really good questions. So, I have a box that I keep my scriptures in and I have pictures from the ensign all over it and so when we were talking about Christ's earthly ministry, the member grabbed my scripture case and showed her the picture of Jesus Christ being baptized by John the Baptist and it opened up a huge discussion about baptism. That's when I knew we were going to be inviting her to be baptized sometime throughout the lesson. Well, we went on and after we had finished teaching about the Book of Mormon, I invited her to pray about it. She said yes and I said, "As you pray and come to know that this is true for yourself, will you prepared yourself to follow the example of Jesus Christ by being baptized by someone that holds the authority of God?" She said, "Yes!" without skipping a beat! She kind of said it in a "duh I'll be baptized" kind of way. Haha The Spirit was so strong! She's so amazing!

I have fallen in love with the people here! They are all so amazing and sweet! I love all of the people I've met. My heart is just bursting with love for them!

Also this week, I started a gratitude journal. It's been really fun to write every night about a couple things I'm grateful for. I don't have enough time to write about every single thing I'm grateful for in one night, so I decided to do a couple things each night. I love writing down the things I'm grateful for and why I'm grateful for them because I end up recognizing why I really am thankful for the things I have. Sometimes even deeper than I thought. It's amazing. The Lord has given me so many blessings! I'm excited to fill up this journal with them!

Well, that's my week for you! It's been amazing!

Here's my new address for those of you wondering...

46703 Crawford St. #20

Fremont, CA 94539

Love you all,

Sister Swapp

Update

December 23rd

Merry Christmas!!! 

This week was so great!! Every day was just so amazing! There was really no reason, it's just the holiday season! Isn't it great!? 

We went street contacting last night and ran into some born again christians... That was fun. they kept telling us that we didn't believe in the same God as the God in the bible and that the God in the Book of Mormon is a different God. To that I told them that it says over and over again in the Book of Mormon that the God we believe in is the same God that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob believed in from the BIBLE. And they told us that we won't be saved until we come to know God, and we can't do that without His son, Jesus Christ. And we were like, yes. And they were like, well you don't believe that! You believe that God and Jesus Christ are different people, but Jesus IS God. And we were like,yes, we believe they are 2 separate beings. the whole time they were talking, they were confusing the heck out of me with what they believe in... They kept saying that Jesus was God, but then 2 seconds later, they would mention that Jesus is the son of God. And i was like, that doesn't make sense! you're telling me that Jesus is his own son?? Tell me how that works???? Well, I didn't say that to them, because I quickly realized that nothing we could say would change their minds, so we might as well not waste our time trying, because we had an appointment soon. But i love running into born agains because the very last part of their lecture to us, they always say something along the lines of, "Well, I'll pray for you that you come to a realization and they you can get to know God like I have." Haha It's just funny to me. we were telling our appointment right after that about this and he served a mission and LOVES stories like this and right when we said they were born agains, he was like, "ohhhh did they tell you the exact time and day they were 'saved' and came to know Jesus?" And we were like, "Yes! they totally did!" haha apparently, they are really good at that and you can't talk to them without them mentioning that exact time and day! Haha it was funny. 

Well, we had really good Christmas programs yesterday at church in both our wards. it was really good! In 1st ward, we had so many less actives and non-members there! It was amazing! We didn't know who to talk to first after sacrament meeting! There was even a less active in the choir that we've stopped by a couple times and she doesn't even let us share short messages with her... But she sings in the choir at Christmas!!! What? Well, I guess going to church on Christmas is better than not going to church at all... but the program was really good. The song selection were chosen very well, and the Spirit was really strong the whole meeting. And they had the hand bells! Which is always awesome! 

We almost didn't have a place to go for Christmas this week too... the people that signed up had a family emergency and told the Relief Society President that they probably wouldn't be able to host us for Christmas, but they announced it in sunday school and someone signed up again! And we're really excited! It's a new move in family and they are the aunt and uncle of one of the sisters that served here not too long ago. She's still in the mission. In fact, I replaced her when I got moved here, that's how recently. But we're really excited to get to know them better! And we're really excited to talk to our families!!! 

Well, that's about it for this week! I'm just looking forward to the holidays! It's going to be a great year! One I will never forget! I love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Sister Swapp

December 30th

Merry Christmas!!! 

This week was so great!! Every day was just so amazing! There was really no reason, it's just the holiday season! Isn't it great!? 

We went street contacting last night and ran into some born again christians... That was fun. they kept telling us that we didn't believe in the same God as the God in the bible and that the God in the Book of Mormon is a different God. To that I told them that it says over and over again in the Book of Mormon that the God we believe in is the same God that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob believed in from the BIBLE. And they told us that we won't be saved until we come to know God, and we can't do that without His son, Jesus Christ. And we were like, yes. And they were like, well you don't believe that! You believe that God and Jesus Christ are different people, but Jesus IS God. And we were like,yes, we believe they are 2 separate beings. the whole time they were talking, they were confusing the heck out of me with what they believe in... They kept saying that Jesus was God, but then 2 seconds later, they would mention that Jesus is the son of God. And i was like, that doesn't make sense! you're telling me that Jesus is his own son?? Tell me how that works???? Well, I didn't say that to them, because I quickly realized that nothing we could say would change their minds, so we might as well not waste our time trying, because we had an appointment soon. But i love running into born agains because the very last part of their lecture to us, they always say something along the lines of, "Well, I'll pray for you that you come to a realization and they you can get to know God like I have." Haha It's just funny to me. we were telling our appointment right after that about this and he served a mission and LOVES stories like this and right when we said they were born agains, he was like, "ohhhh did they tell you the exact time and day they were 'saved' and came to know Jesus?" And we were like, "Yes! they totally did!" haha apparently, they are really good at that and you can't talk to them without them mentioning that exact time and day! Haha it was funny. 

Well, we had really good Christmas programs yesterday at church in both our wards. it was really good! In 1st ward, we had so many less actives and non-members there! It was amazing! We didn't know who to talk to first after sacrament meeting! There was even a less active in the choir that we've stopped by a couple times and she doesn't even let us share short messages with her... But she sings in the choir at Christmas!!! What? Well, I guess going to church on Christmas is better than not going to church at all... but the program was really good. The song selection were chosen very well, and the Spirit was really strong the whole meeting. And they had the hand bells! Which is always awesome! 

We almost didn't have a place to go for Christmas this week too... the people that signed up had a family emergency and told the Relief Society President that they probably wouldn't be able to host us for Christmas, but they announced it in sunday school and someone signed up again! And we're really excited! It's a new move in family and they are the aunt and uncle of one of the sisters that served here not too long ago. She's still in the mission. In fact, I replaced her when I got moved here, that's how recently. But we're really excited to get to know them better! And we're really excited to talk to our families!!! 

Well, that's about it for this week! I'm just looking forward to the holidays! It's going to be a great year! One I will never forget! I love you all and wish you a very Merry Christmas!!!

Love,

Sister Swapp

January 6th

Happy Monday!! Guess what everyone!? Today is my 11 month mark... *gulp* Yep. You read that right. It's crazy to think that! I feel like I just got here!

So this week has been so awesome! I'm officially a certified Preach My Gospel Missionary too! (Which I should've been 8 months ago, but due to the fact of getting changed around a lot and having 2 different trainers... I wasn't). Here's the story: 

So our mission president has required of us that we get re-certified as PMG (Preach My Gospel) missionaries. So, I don't know what other missions are like, but here, they include getting certified in the 12 week training program you do in your first 12 weeks in the field. So because soooo many new missionaries have been exploding up our mission, there has been a lack of technical competence, because they come, train for 6 weeks, then their off training someone else when they don't even have the whole idea of what their doing. So he's been stressing that a lot. Well, at the beginning of the month, our dear zone leaders gave us all a new certification packet and said, "President wants you all to be re-certified by the end of the year." And we all thought, "Ahhh you want us to do 12 weeks worth of certification in a less than 4 weeks?? How is that possible?" Or at least, that's what I thought. And I actually didn't get certified the first time around. Shhh Probably because I had two different trainers... So I got SUPER stressed about it and that night, I took it to the Lord. I told Him that I wanted to be a certified missionary, but that it was not possible for me to do it by myself. And that if He helped me (which I knew He would), that I would do my best to be a better servant to Him at all costs. Well, the first experience I had with this is that I did finish before the end of the year. With half an hour till bed time to go! :) We worked on it ALL week. We've been working on it as a district the whole month little by little, but this past week, we met together Monday and Tuesday morning and just booked through it. Oh I forgot to tell you what all the things were that we had to do. There were 3 parts. The first one was we had to memorize all the PMG chapters and subheadings, the 2nd was we had to teach all of the fundamentals of conversion, and the 3rd was that we had to teach all of the 5 lessons in PMG without skipping any points in any of the lessons. And we could pass all these off little by little, it wasn't a do-it-all-at-once type of thing, thank goodness. 

So the second experience I had with that was we were working on it Tuesday morning and it was kind of hectic in the room. Lots of talking and stuff, you know. And I was working on the first lesson, The Restoration, and I went to pass it off (talking one-on-one with my zone leader, but still in the same room as everyone else) and I got to the part where we recite the first vision and I started and the whole room went dead silent and the Spirit was there so strongly! It was really cool to see how the Spirit can be there in rooms that are on the verge of chaos and how strong talking about the first vision can bring it even in just reciting it! I wasn't even teaching anyone! After I recited it, there was a way more spiritual and reverent mood in the room the rest of the time. Super cool! I've had several experiences with the first vision that just strengthen my testimony so much more about what really happened to Joseph Smith in that grove since I've been here. It's amazing! And I love it so much!

Oh and I mentioned last week that we got a new WML and.... He is the BOMB!!!!! He's seriously so awesome!! We had a meeting yesterday and words can't even describe how excited I am for the work that will finally be moving forward with him as the WML. This ward is practically perfect now as far as leadership! One day, we're going to go to ward council and nobody will be there because they'll all be translated. Haha In ward council yesterday, at the end, bishop turned to us and asked what they can be doing better to help us, and I literally could not think of anything! We finally had to come up with something so the one thing we could think of was helping us get more involved with the youth so they can know what to expect when it comes time to go on their missions. That was it. They then proceeded to come up with a plan to do just that. I just love his ward so much! It's sad to think that I'll probably be leaving in a couple weeks. :( 

Well, we have lotsl to do this week! Our president is coming to inspect our apartments this week, so lots of preparing will commence as soon as we leave the library... 

I hope all of you are having a wonderful new year! 

Love,

Sister Swapp

Update

Dec 16th


This week has been great! I love the holidays so much! And it's so fun to be able to teach people about Jesus Christ during the time of year that we celebrate his birth!

This week, Rhanya and her mom invited us over for dinner and it was so good! We taught her about temples and looked up a bunch of pictures of different temples on her ipad. And we decided that we can't wait till our mission has ipads! But we set up a time to go to the temple with her this coming week so she can see it in person and see the Christmas lights. Although she can't go in yet, we can still help her develop a love for it. I'm excited! 

We've also learned a lot about a few of the people we're trying to work with in the past couple of days. It's really been a miracle. We caught one of our investigators home by herself (her husband is a member and whenever he's there, he kind of blocks us from getting any info about her concerns. He's just overprotective and wants her to make the decision by herself) but she told us a lot that we have been wondering. We found out her main concern and it was truly a blessing. We have been praying and fasting to know how we can best help her, and now we have an idea. We talked to a member in one of the other wards about another guy we've been trying to get in contact with and found out A LOT about why he's doing what he's doing. it explained a lot. We also found out a  lot about why a less active that we're working with doesn't go to church. Stinkin' football games! His wife was teasing him that he starts to become more active after the football season and riiiiight as he's about to be fully active, football season starts up again... It's a viscous cycle. But we had a really good lesson about keeping the commandments so that we can receive eternal life.  

Last night, the stake youth put on a bell and choir performance. It was amazing! The bells were my favorite part. It was so fun to listen to and even watch! There was so many non-members there and the spirit was so strong during several parts of it. This is a tradition that the stake does every year. I think it's very effective at introducing people who are not members of this church to the building and a little bit of our beliefs as well. 

Well, that's about it. But i just wanted to express how much I love this time of the year! We've been teaching people about the real meaning of the season and it's just amazing how many stories we hear about people serving one another. And it's so fun to be able to serve other people! I just wish more people had the spirit of Christmas during the rest of the year. I love President Monson's words when he says, "To have the true Spirit of Christmas, we need only drop the last syllable and it becomes the Spirit of Christ." 

Happy holidays to all of you!

Love,

Sister Swapp

Dec 9th 

This week was the best week ever!! For a few reasons...

I'm not getting transferred!!! I'll be in this area for another transfer, making it 6 months! I made it! Haha Words cannot describe how happy and accomplished I feel. I was a little worried about being transferred at the beginning of this transfer, but for about the past week, I've felt like I'm staying. It was really a toss up. Could've gone either way. But, I know that there is more work for me to do here and my companion and I are pretty sure we know of at least a couple people that we are both still here for. 

Our investigator, Rhanya, was baptized on Saturday. It was the best birthday present ever! the baptismal service was so beautiful. Her mom bore her testimony, which the ward council was iffy about, but we knew it would be really good. And it was. It was the most beautiful testimony I've ever heard. Rhanya brought a really good friend of her's and we gave her a copy of the Book of Mormon the next day at church with our testimonies written in it. She doesn't live in our area, but we gave her family as a referral to the sisters where they do live. But the spirit at the baptism was SO strong! And some of the primary kids in her class and another one sang "I Am a Child of God." The best word I can use is "beautiful" for the whole thing, but that doesn't even come close to describing it. And this little girl is changing so many lives! Her mom is becoming way more active and she's bringing her brother back to the fold. :)

The wards found out it was my birthday somehow and made it the best birthday ever! We had cake almost ever night this week. Haha and I got sung to at BOTH the Christmas parties Friday and Saturday. Funny story from the one on Saturday... So my comp and I were standing up to go and check if the font had finished draining when the announcer goes, "Okay, now we're going to sing another song. It goes something like this..." and starts humming the birthday song and says, "And when you get to the part where you have to add a name, say 'Sister Swapp'". Right then, I decided to sit down because I hate the spotlight on me... Who doesn't? So I go to sit down, and my chair slips out from under me and I land on the ground just as he's searching the crowd saying, "Where are you Sister Swapp?" It was sooooo embarrassing!!! Haha the family behind me was laughing so hard afterwards haha but, I played it cool. I told them I was just trying to hide under the table. Hahahaha they didn't buy it and started laughing harder... Hahaha looking back, it was HILARIOUS! In the moment, it was miserable. I'm pretty sure my face turned as red as Santa's suit. 

Sunday night, we got to go to the outgoing fireside for the missionaries going home. One of our zone leaders is going home and it was a really special night for him. he got permission for his parents to come and see him because his dad isn't a member and his mom was even invited to go up and bear her testimony. It was so awesome! And, I got to see a bunch of people from the Washington Square branch there! that was way fun! I love seeing them! I miss that area so much! I always feel like I'm going home when I go to my old area in San Jose. Probably because that's where I was "born". I just love the people there so much! 

Well, that's all folks! Hope all is well with you! 

Love,

Sister Swapp

Dec 2nd

We had a great Thanksgiving! We ate with a part member family and they had lots of non-members there and we got to share a message with all of them. It was so wonderful! But thank goodness we only had one dinner! We were both so full afterwards! Some of the missionaries in our mission had 3 dinners already scheduled by the end of October... I'm very grateful we didn't... Haha 

This past Sunday was wonderful. In 1st ward, out of all the people that got up to bear their testimony, probably about 80% of them were youth! It was amazing to hear all the wonderful, simple, yet sincere testimonies of our youth. I just hope they keep nourishing them so they can continue to grow into their adult years! 

Our investigator, Rhanya is still on for her baptism this Saturday!! And a miracle happened in ward council yesterday... The ward council is finally showing the support for this baptism that Rhanya deserves!!! The whole time we've been teaching her, the ward council has been talking about how she isn't ready to be baptized and how she's just going to go less active after her baptism because her mom is less active and how we shouldn't go on with this. Our amazing stake presidency had a meeting before ward council with most of them and talked some sense into them! (We have the best stake leadership ever in this stake!). They were basically told that if someone has a desire to be baptized and enter into the fold, who are we to deny them those blessings? And it was mentioned that they would much rather have a name and address on the directory 20 years down the road so missionaries can find them then instead of having absolutely no information if she DOES go less active, which I have faith that she's not going to. This is EXACTLY what we've been trying to tell the whole ward council ever since we started teaching Rhanya! It's been a super frustrating thing trying to get them to listen to us.

Well, no Monterey this week, but we are having a flour fight!! My companion and I are in charge of our P-day zone activity today and we wanted to have a California style snow ball fight! So we spent part of our morning before coming to email cutting, tying and filling old nylons with flour! haha I'm really excited for it! I'll send some pics next week. 

I hope everything is going fine and dandy with all of you! 

Love,

Sister Swapp

Nov 18th & 26th

Nov 18th

Hello!

Today is such a crazy p-day! So, if you did email me this week, I appreciate it, but I won't be reading it till later today when I'm done emailing, just to save time... I'll respond next week. :) And, unfortunately, I don't have time to write individual emails, so this is going to everyone that I usually email on P-day. Sorry Mom and Dad... Lol

But, this week has been phenomenal! We had zone conference Friday, which is always good! There was a lot of good things that we taught about. President Watkins showed us some stats and,long story short, our missions stats are consistently going up. Which he commended us for. 

Saturday, we had the best day ever! We got to go to a baptism in my companion's last area and we got one of our recent converts to take us (because we aren't allowed to drive ourselves, so we have to find a ride.) It was so much fun! We got to spend some much needed quality time with her. She just got her patriarchal blessing last Sunday, and the adversary has been working on her really hard. So we were able to help with that. And she's from the tribe of Asher! How cool is that?! I've never even heard of that tribe until she told us. She's been asking us to help her do some research on that tribe, so it's been pretty interesting learning about the tribe of Asher. 

Saturday night, we ate dinner with some of the best member missionaries ever! They signed up to feed us a couple weeks ago and they were super excited and so were we. Then, we call to confirm the time and... She tells us that there were going to be about 20 people there... So, just a tip, if you invite the missionaries for dinner, NEVER invite them to a party unless you handle it like this family did. Missionaries hate parties! It doesn't allow them to get to know the family better or even share a message most of the time. And it's just really awkward... BUT this family was awesome! They had us over and started the party by introducing us to all the less-active and non-member people they invited and said that we were the reason they started this whole party, so if it weren't for us, none of them would be there. Haha then we ate and mingled and got to know people. Then, for dessert, they just put all the desserts on one table and we all sat cozy around the table and played a little get to know you game. But that wasn't the end... After that, the family told everyone a little about what we do as missionaries and invited us to give our message. It went so well!!! I wish everybody could see how easy it was for them to have some non-member friends over and us at the same time and it NOT be awkward for everybody! That was probably the highlight of my week. 

And, like always, there have been so many miracles this week! I just love writing them down at the end of each day and seeing how many there really were throughout the whole day. Sometimes, it's hard to pinpoint them, but other days are just so chalk full of them! It's perfect to be able to recognize them at this time of the year as Thanksgiving is approaching us quickly (too quickly). 

My companion and I are pretty sure that this is going to be my last transfer in this area. We've kind of had the feeling since the beginning of the transfer, but it was pretty much confirmed yesterday. We both got blessings and in her's, she was told to learn as much about the area from me as she could as quickly as possible and to not be shy in making connections with ward members. It wasn't in those exact words, but it was pretty close. So... yep. I'm out of here in about 3 weeks. :( I've loved this area so much! Probably because I've been here long enough to fall in love with it! Ha 

Well, I don't have much time left... A member offered to take us on an adventure today in Fremont (one of the cities nearby). We're going to see a mission. Not a mission like what we do mission. It's supposedly like an old church and they're called missions. Apparently, they're all over this area and pretty cool to go and see. I'm excited! 

So, that's about it for the week! I hope all of you are having a wonderful time with whatever you are up to! 

Love, Sister Swapp

November 26th

Hello all!

This weekend has been so eventful. It has probably been one of the best weeks on my mission so far! Let me explain...

Thursday:

I got to see one of my converts from the other ward I was in 5 months ago. You may remember the name. Her name is Shirley. We call her Grandma Shirley. :) It was so great to see her! She actually lives in the boundaries of one of the wards I am over now (4th ward), but was baptized into the 2nd ward. She lived in 2nd ward but a few weeks after her baptism, the ward boundaries changed and she now lives in 4th ward. But we didn't feel like it was a good time to move her over to a completely new ward where she didn't know anyone, so we kept her in 2nd. So we decided to drop by this week to see how she was (mostly because I miss her dearly). She was still fantastic and still can't understand why more people aren't lining up at the church to be baptized! Haha she's a hoot. 

That same night... We finally were able to set up an appointment to meet with a potential (who has been a potential for almost 6 months). It was amazing!! Let me just tell you the miraculous story. So the sisters right before I came into the area street contacted into him and got his number. He seemed really interested, so they tried calling and tried calling and tried calling. No answers. Ever. So they kind of gave up. When I got to the area, his name was on our white board under potentials. I asked who he was, my companion told me the story and decided he was a lost cause, so erased his name. About 2 days later, TWO days! We were out contacting and ran into him! He recognized my companion and we talked to him for a while. We gave him a Book of Mormon and challenged him to read a chapter. We also gave him our number because he said that the reason he doesn't answer calls is because he doesn't know the number. Now he would know we were calling. After that, we called and he answered a few times but was always busy. As time went on, we would try calling and... no answer and no answer and no answer... His name remained on our board once again and when my amazing current companion came, she asked who he was. I told her the story and she said we should try calling him right then! I was less than enthused, thinking he wouldn't answer, just like all the other times we tried... but! He did answer!!! It was totally unexpected on my part! So we tried setting up an appointment and it wasn't 2 weeks after that till we actual set up a firm time to meet. We ended up going to a coffee shop to teach him and had the best lesson ever! The whole time, all I was thinking about was how the Lord has been completely preparing him for this message that we have. Not only has the Lord been preparing him, but his 13 year old daughter has already been attending church. She went to girl's camp, has gone to church very regularly, and even spoke in sacrament meeting a few weeks ago about her experience at girl's camp! The only problem is that this is all in 2nd ward... They are very fellow-shipped by members already, just in the wrong ward.... So we're going to try and work something out there. Oh and his daughter has been invited to be baptized already by those missionaries and declined. I firmly believe that it is because she was worried about bringing it up with her dad, but now that we're teaching him! Hopefully it won't be a problem! :) I am so excited to continue working with Robert and his Daughter!

Sunday:

We had appointments with both of our investigators and they both cancelled... So we had a lot of free time and decided to go and see one of our other investigators, Bill, that is also really hard to set up a time with (that seems to be a theme... Hmmm). So we drove by his house and it appeared no one was home, but we decided to try anyways. Knocked on the door and... nothing. So we went back to our car and as we're sitting there trying to figure out where to go next and... he pulls up and into his garage! What perfect timing! My companion and I both felt prompted that we should go and see him, but were disappointed when no one was home. But, we are constantly being reminded that everything is on the Lord's time! So we chatted with him for a few minutes and talked about the nature of God with him. i just wish we could find a time to meet with him so that we can have a formal lesson, not just one standing on his porch or on his driveway... But, at least we can meet with him briefly every once in a while. 

Also that night, we got invited to go to Monterey for P-day by our sister training leader (STL) and had planned to drive down to San Jose and stay at her apartment for the night and leave for Monterey in the morning. So we get done with our appointments for the night, pick up some other sisters in our zone that were going too and headed down there. We get about 10 minutes away From their place and get stopped on the highway. There was a car in flames about a hundred cars in front of us! We could see the flames and everything! It was crazy! We had no idea what to do because we were literally stuck there. they weren't letting anyone through. It was so chaotic! We called up our STL and she said to try and turn around and go back to Pleasanton if we could, but that was not an option. She then said to call them if it got to 10:15 and we were still stuck there. I don't know what they were planning on doing if it got to that, but it was about 9:45 when she told us that. Firetrucks and cops were coming past on one side and cars barely had room to move out of the way because we were on an overpass with nowhere to go. Well, eventually, at about 10:08, they had put the fire out and were squeezing cars past the accident. We got to the sisters apartment at 10:25 and were in bed by 10:30. That's right... Obedience is crucial in this mission! But it was a crazy night. 

Monday:

The best P-day ever! We woke up, got ready, did our studies and went to the mission office to prepare for Monterey! I just want to preface this by saying that we really do have the best mission president EVER here in San Jose. Hands down. We found out that it was his idea to invite us to Monterey and he had given us money for food AND one of his personal cars to drive down there. Who else can say that they have driven their mission presidents car? Yes, I was the designated driver. We drove his Ford Explorer down. We met him at the mission office and he gave us the run through of where to go and what to do and to be safe and sent us on our way. We got down there and had a blast! It was me and my companion, and my MTC companion, Sister Goodman and her companion. It really was the perfect group to go with. All the sisters in our zone were invited, but the other 2 companionships were being party-poopers, but I think it ended up being more fun with just us. We went to the wharf and watched sea lions and saw a BUNCH of jelly-fish in the water and went into a few shops and spent the rest of the time on the beach! As we were getting ready to leave, like we were all in the car, I had it in drive with my blinker on to enter traffic, one of the sisters was like, "Is that President?" haha it was! He was just walking around by himself on the other side of the road in street close! it was so weird to see him in street close! But we yelled at him and he ran through traffic to come and talk to us and see if we had fun. Hahaha it was the funniest sight I have ever seen watching president dodge cars coming at him as he jaywalks through traffic! But we got home and went to dinner and did a few other things and the day was over. That's the reason I'm emailing on Tuesday rather than Monday. :) Here's some pictures from our trip:

Well, that's it for this week! I hope everything is going well with all of you! 

Love,

Sister Swapp

nov 5th & 13th

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

october 28th

Well, this week, I'm going to run into a first time thing in my entire 9 months here.... My companion is getting transferred. I've never been the one that has been in an area longer! It will be interesting. I'm not really sure if I'll be able to manage without my current companion's knowledge of the area. She knows it so well. And I...don't. But, it's a new adventure.

We stopped by a part member family last night so Sister Wheeler could say goodbye to them and the husband (the member) shared a great analogy he heard. He said that the gospel was like salt and we (missionaries) are the salt shakers. And the person controlling the salt shaker is the Lord. And on our missions, the Lord knows what areas need salt, so He moves us around so that we can spread salt here and there. I took it even deeper when he was explaining and thought about how each person we talk to is a grain of salt. We're not going to hit every single person, but the people we do bring closer to Christ matter. Not everyone is meant to be "sprinkled" by OUR salt shaker. It might be someone else's salt shaker that touches them. That's why we get moved around. It was a cool way to look at my mission, especially because of all the places I've served...

This is the family who's wife is not a member that we are working with. Last Sunday, we went and had dinner with them and watched the restoration video and invited her to pray to know if it was true. She had so so many questions that we were able to answer and agreed to pray about it. We went over Thursday to see how it was going and we asked her if she had prayed yet and she said, "Yes, sisters. I prayed Sunday night after you left. And I have not received a sign, but have prayed every day since you last came. So hopefully I get a sign soon." We didn't have time to teach her about the Holy Ghost that time, because she had to go upstairs right after that, but when we went over Sunday night, they asked us to sing for them before Sister Wheeler left, so we sang "I know that My Redeemer Lives" for them and I saw her wipe a tear from her face. So, things are moving right along with her. She's basically a dry mormon, minus the coffee drinking thing...

So this week, we had a lesson with our favorite less actives, the Moffats! I wasn't able to go to the lesson :( but I told my companion to remember and tell me every single detail afterwards! She came home and told me what happened and I was bursting with joy! This is what happened: The first counselor in the bishopric called us last weekend to see if he could come to our lesson with the Moffats. We told him yes and Sunday when we saw him, he told us that he was going to invite them to give a talk because he had gotten a prompting when he went to the temple earlier that week. So we said yes! That would be great to ask Brother Moffat to give a talk! (not knowing that he actually meant both of them... Keep in mind that Brother Moffat is the one that is getting so close to coming back. Sister Moffat still wants nothing to do with stepping foot in the building.) So they all got there and were talking and Brother Bean, the first counselor, just jumps right in because he can't stay very long. he starts off by saying something along the lines of, "I've never really known you or given much thought to you. To be honest, you've basically just been a name on the sister's progress record that is occasionally brought up in ward council." But then he goes on to tell them that he went to the temple the past week and he was sitting in the celestial room, not even thinking about them at all, and all of the sudden he received the prompting that Lynn and Jennifer Moffat were going to speak in sacrament meeting on November 10th. he told them that it just came out of the blue and that he KNEW it was from God. He then went on to say that this is what God wants for them, not himself. As soon as he told them that, Sister Moffat flipped out! She was throwing her arms everywhere and laughing hysterically and saying, "You want US to speak in sacrament!?" I think she was a bit shocked and taken off guard. The whole time this was going on, Brother Moffat was sitting on the other side of the room silent, with a deep-in-thought look on his face. Sister Moffat finally turned to him and asked if he was going to do it. He said that he was seriously considering it. She said that she would go and WATCH him if he spoke, which is still A LOT of progress!!! Then, Brother Bean left and they started talking about it more and Sister Moffat asked him again, "You're not seriously thinking about this, are you?" He said, "Yes. I am." She asked why and he said, "He touched me."

How amazing is that!! Oh man! If Brother Moffat speaks in church... Oh I will be so happy!!!! In case you don;t remember, this is the guy that hasn't been to church since before I was born and listened to conference and thought the Pres. Uchtdorf was speaking directly to him. I will be so blown away! Even if she just comes to watch him! Holy moly! I want to tell Brother Bean that I'll speak in place of her is she goes to watch him speak at least. Haha

Yesterday, Rhanya, our 9 year old investigator getting baptized, came to church! It was so great! A couple of the ward members are so great and came up to her mom (less active) and introduced themselves. It was so good for her! And she participated a lot in Sunday School! That's about the only news with them. She's still amazing!

Well, that's about it for my week! I hope things are going well for each and every one of you! I love you all and thanks for the support!

Love,
Sister Swapp

a much needed update

Sorry to all those whom have been waiting for an update. Here is the passed few months. Pictures will be added another day.





October 14

Hello everyone!

This week was so great! We were planning on having 2 less active members we teach and one investigator to church this week and we were SO excited about it, but none of them showed up... :( But there's always next week! And besides, we saw many other miracles yesterday! A less active that I've only met once and never really talked to showed up at church! But not only did she show up... She bore her testimony!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How amazing is that!!! Yep. Pretty wonderful. So that was good! And we got the opportunity to teach relief society in one of our wards. It went so well. We taught about the Savior's mission while he was on the earth. We used something that I was able to do when I was in the MTC. Our teacher asked us to answer 3 questions in our study journals. Those 3 questions are:
1. How have you seen the Savior in your life today?
2. What has the Savior done for you?
3. What are you willing to do for the Savior?
When I did this activity,it was such an eye-opener to how much the Savior really has done for just me. And it's done so much for all of us! Then, when I answered the 3rd question, I realized that there is nothing that I can do to repay my Savior for everything He has done for me. It's an amazing activity.

We were also able to go on another sunrise hike this morning as a zone and it was amazing! We had a testimony meeting at the top and sang hymns. It was the best morning ever! I was reflecting on the beauty of God's creations and realized that you can find beauty in EVERYTHING God has created. And it's not just nature that He's created. He created each one of us and I know that that same thing is true. That we can find beauty in each one of us. I've struggled with that for myself, like probably a lot of you have, but it's a wonderful thing to think about. We are all children of a loving Heavenly Father, and when we make fun of ourselves or think we're not good enough, I can just imagine tears coming to Heavenly Father's eyes, because that's telling Him that you think His creations aren't good enough or beautiful enough. That's what Satan wants us to think. But it's not true.

It was just a wonderful experience! I love nature! AND the stars when we went outside our house this morning were shining SOOO bright!!! The brightest I've ever seen them on my entire mission! And if you know me, I LOVE looking at the stars!! It was breathtaking!

Well, that's been my week. It went slow, but it flew by at the same time. That's pretty much the theme of my entire mission basically... I wish it would slow down!

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Swapp


October 7

This week was soooo great!!!! We finally reached a lot of our goals that we've been struggling to reach since I got here! It was so great. The pace is finally picking up here regarding the work.

We had the funniest lesson I've had in my entire mission this past week. Hahaha I'm laughing just thinking about it. So we teach this one less active lady, she's about 80. We go over and read the Book of Mormon with her (actually we have it read to us by her). She's working on going to the temple. So we walk in and sit down where we usually sit and wait for her to come out and she comes with her husband right behind her. Well, her husband has dimensia... So we're just sitting there and he starts talking about us and how "we're always together and we love each other and then one of us leaves and another one comes, but we still love each other." (He's not a member) Then he comes over to my companion and stands over her behind the couch, puts his hands on her shoulder and starts kissing her on the forehead... over and over and over again... It was hilarious!! My companion was like "ahh what do I do?!" It's not like you can push an old guy off of you... So then their caretaker finally gets him to stop and go sit down. That's just the beginning though... Sister Ghofranian (the less active) started reading and she's going fine and we read a couple chapters in about 45 mins. Then we get to the next chapter and she asks if she should go on. My companion said sure! And as she was looking through the chapter, noticed it was forever long... Way more than 15 minutes worth of reading... But we go on. About 45 verses into the chapter, Sister Ghofranian starts to, what I thought was loose her place repeatedly. She would stop reading, kind of look up with a confused look, we would tell her where she left off, and we would start reading again. Then it happened again. And again. Finally one time, she stops reading, we look at her... and her eyes are closed....... It wasn't till then that we realized she was falling asleep. We didn't know what to do!!! Haha we both just sort of looked at each other and tried to silence our laughter. It was the funniest thing! Then she sort of wakes up,  we tell her where she left off, she read on and a few minutes later, she started talking crazy. She was reading the verse and all the sudden goes, "Oh yes. It's like jumping off a boat into the water." and "you're in a tube and it's a little tight, but you have just enough room and a liiiitte bit of air. Not much, but just the right amount." and "you have the two horses and one of them is white. and one is black." My companion and I were so lost! It was all we could do to not laugh hysterically! FINALLY she really woke up and admitted to us that she was falling asleep. Haha so we finished the chapter cause we only had a few more verses and at the end of one of those verses it said, "and their souls did delight in fatness" so she's reading that and says, "And their souls did delight in fitness, I mean fatness. Fatness.... Well, that's weird!" in the funniest voice! It was by FAR the funniest lesson I have ever been in!!!!!

Conference was sooooo amazing this weekend!!!! This past week, we met with the Moffats, a less active couple. The husband is so so so close to coming back! And the wife is a little further behind, but her heart is softening so much! So we invited them to watch conference and he said he really wanted to. We said great! And asked if he wanted us to give him a call Saturday morning to remind him. He said he would love that. So Saturday, we call him up and he says, "Okay! Let me go downstairs and turn the machine on!" So we gave him a call Saturday night to invite him to come to the church on Sunday and watch it with us and also to see what he thought of Saturday's sessions. So i was talking to him and I asked what he thought of Saturday's and he said, "It was really good! My favorite talk was the last one of the first session." And I was racking my brain trying to remember who it was... It was President Uchtdorf... I asked what he liked about his talk. He said, "He was very convincing. I felt like he was speaking directly to me." And without even thinking or missing a beat, the words, "Well maybe you should act on those promptings" came out of my mouth... I tried really hard to stop them when they started to come out, but they were already out. I was cringing preparing myself for his response and my companion was looking at me with the most worried look. But, obviously the words I said needed to be said because what he said after that needed a hallelujah chorus to accompany it. He said, "Well, I've been seriously considering it." My heart lept for joy! This is a guy who hasn't stepped foot in a church building for probably about 20 years! That's as long as I've been alive!!!!!!!! I was so happy!!! needless to say, he didn't show up the next day, but I still have hope for this coming week!!! He is so stinking close!!! I just love conference! I wish everybody in the entire world would watch it!

So we got to go to the temple this week too! I love the temple! We only get to go 2 times a year because the temple is out of our boundaries. It's only about 45 minutes away from me, but out of the mission boundary unfortunately. But I'm grateful we at least get to go twice! It's better than nothing. But really, if I could live there, I would. The Oakland temple is so beautiful! And the view is gorgeous!On a clear day, you can see the golden gate bridge.
I hope you all have a wonderful week! You're all in my prayers!

Love,
Sister Swapp


September 13

I'm so out of time right now.... So this is going to be kind of short. I apologize in advance!!

This week has been good. A little stressful, but what's a mission without stress? Haha But things are looking up. I got a priesthood blessing from the elders last night. I have never received more blessings than I have on my mission in my entire life. Haha It makes me regret not taking advantage of it before my mission. I look back and I remember times when I clearly needed a priesthood blessing and didn't get one. The priesthood is so underused in my opinion. This is our zone. Best zone ever! Really though! The stake president does a breakfast every transfer so he can meet all the new missionaries in the stake. And he wanted some pics of us this transfer.We had sister's retreat this week, that's where this picture came from... It was a blast!!! I wish we could have it every transfer! We went to San Jose at 8, the meeting started at 9:30 and went till 4, at which time, there was a clothing exchange, and we didn't get back for dinner till almost 7. It was a long day. But so spiritually uplifting! It was good. And with the Relief Society broadcast Saturday night, it was just a good week to be a woman. Hahaha

Friday night, we had dinner with a part member family. They're Indian (with the dot, not the feather). The husband is a member, convert for a few years, and very knowledgeable in the gospel. The wife isn't a member. And the husband's mother was there too who knows lots about the church, but isn't a member. It went really well! We taught about baptism and the authority of the priesthood. And the food... was DELICIOUS!! I've developed a love for Indian food on my mission. :)

Well, I'm REALLY out of time now... I love you all so much! Thanks for everything! Have a fantastic week!

Love,
Sister Swapp


September 23

Hello Family and Friends!

This week was fantastic! We had stake conference yesterday and it was great! My companion and I sang in the choir. So we got to sit on the stand. The speakers talked a lot about the For the Strength of Youth standards and how it has been given to us by a prophet and if we believe that he is really a prophet, than why question the things he tells us.

President Watkins (my mission president) and his wife talked about member missionary work (surprise) and how you can measure your success of being a member missionary just by the fact if you invited or not. Sister Watkins said, "If you invited someone, then you were successful. Plain and simple." I think that's how it is for full time missionaries too. We have to talk to every single person and INVITE them to come unto Christ. That's our purpose. If we don't invite, we've failed. And if we do invite and they don't accept, that's them using their free agency. That's on them, not us. We've done what we can do.

It was a good conference. And the songs we sang were some of my favorite! The first was "If the Savior Stood Before Me" and the last one was "Come Thou Fount" one of my all time favorites! It was a great meeting over all! AND we only had 2 hours of church instead of 6 so we got lots of work done yesterday when every single week, we can barely get two lessons on Sunday! It was so weird and great to have all of that time!

On Saturday, it rained SOO hard! It was wonderful!!! Made me feel like I was at home. haha And my companion was super excited to wear her rain coat. Hahaha
I felt so bad for the sisters that were on bikes that day. But they texted us later and said that they just went home once it started to get really bad and waited it out while they updated their area book and did some weekly planning. So that's good. Other than that one weird day, the weather has been really sunny! It's like the perfect weather all the time! I love it!

Other than all of that, nothing really exciting happened. Oh! And..... drumroll please... Sister Swapp has broken her record of staying in one place more than 7 weeks consecutively!!!! This is finally it! I made it!! (well, technically I have to make it through today, but I'm thinking I'm pretty safe.) It feels so good to finally not worry about learning new faces and names. Don't get me wrong, I have loved every single person I've met, but I don;t know if my brain can take anymore of this remembering thing.

Well, I'm out of time... Again... So I hope you all of a great week! And remember who you are! (A Child of God. How cool is that?! Just think about it. You are a child of a divine being!!! I love it!!) Talk to you all next week!

Love,
Sister Swapp



Hello!

This week was great! We have finally been picking up on our numbers. But that's not the important part. The important part is that we are growing and helping others come closer to Christ.

This week, we ran into a guy on the street that was not very open to us... He was basically saying that Joseph Smith was deceived by the devil and we have been too. He kept saying over and over that we'll be held accountable in front of Jesus Christ and God for the words that we say. All we could do was testify. He asked us if we would put our lives and our family's lives on the line for this gospel. We, of course, responded yes without needing to think about it. He paused for a little bit and said, "I believe you. And I'm sorry for that." He talked to us for almost an hour and called us several not so nice things in a round about way... It's amazing how you don't really realize how strong your faith and testimony is until it's tried and shot down. We found out towards the end of our conversation that he talked to the elders MINUTES before we ran into him. He was telling us that he's talked to 5 people already today about God. And said two names, as if we should know who they are. And we were so confused... Then we realized that he was talking about the elders, except used their first names. He tried to ask me my first name, but I just told him it was "Sister" and he gave up. So we called the elders afterwards and told them who we ran into and they were like, "Ohhhh no!" They told us that this guy REFUSED to call them elder. And we told them what he called us and said to us and they got super upset! They wanted to go back and find this guy. It's nice to know that the elders have our backs. It was an interesting conversation. It's funny how people try and tell you all these things like it's going to change your mind. They just don't understand.
I listened to some awesome talks in the car this week! Oh man, I love powerful talks... The first one is called "Prophets & Plates", by Brad Wilcox (it's 2 talks together), and the other two were by a girl, I can't remember what her name was, but the names of the talks were "Sleeping Through Gethsemane" and "Prayers that Reach Heaven". And I read an awesome poem in personal study. It's called "The Touch of the master's Hand". If you get a chance, look them up! They're so good!!

Well, transfers are this week.... I didn't get a transfer call, but I've come to realize that means nothing... But I'm hoping that this means I will finally be breaking my record of staying in an area longer than 7 weeks!! I'll let you know next week if I've reached it. Haha *crossing my fingers*

That's about it for this week. Nothing too exciting and fun. Just working hard, laughing lots (my companion is great) and teaching people. For those of you wondering, my elbow is almost completely healed. It's amazing how fast it went! I just have a tiny scab (that my companion won't let me pick...) and a little bit of a bruise that is definitely not as noticeable as it used to be. So, no worries!

In closing, I just wanted to thank all of you out there who have prayed for me, taught me things, and supported me on my mission. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be here today. And I'm so grateful that I am. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I love being a missionary so much! If any of you are debating on going on missions or not, I would strongly suggest you do. It will be so worth it! I promise! You won't regret it at all. I love you all and have a great week!

Love,
Sister Swapp


September 3

Hello everyone!

This week was great! We did lots of work! My elbow tried to convert the road... It failed.
Haha here's what happened:

It was actually probably very funny to watch. My companion was bummed that she was in front of me rather than behind me when she found out everything was okay. Lol I was going down a hill, getting ready to turn right at the bottom of it and I was slowing down and all of the sudden, I was going over my handle bars. My brakes are just better than I thought they were. But this is the most serious injury I have. It could have been WAY worse. The tender mercy of it all is that the person driving behind me ended up being a member of our ward. Haha She got out and asked if I was okay and when I said yes, the very next question she asked was, "Where's your companion? I'll go find her!" (She had already turned the corner...) But it was cool. She said that if she were inches closer, she wouldn't have had time to stop, resulting in running me over (because I had fallen into the road). I definitely have a testimony that the Lord watches over His servants.

And last night, we went to see a less active and she told me to put cooking oil on the bruise and honey on the scrape. That will help both of them heal faster. So I did it and woke up with my bruise more yellow than purple, which means it's further into the healing process. So, that was cool to learn! Who woulda thunk?!

Other than this, everything is going great! One of our wards is getting ready to start a 40 day fast in a couple weeks, so I'm excited to see the blessings that will come from that. They said that last time they did it, they saw a family get baptized and a guy start to investigate the church. We still teach that guy. He totally knows everything is true, he's just waiting to get baptized so that his aunt can be there for it. Blood family is very important to him. He says that every time he goes to baptisms, he sees their families there and he just does't want to be that one person that has no family there for him. We keep telling him that the ward is his family. But we aren't blood related... We're praying for him.

Anyways, how are all of you? I hope things are going well. I'm just about out of time, but I hope you all have a great week!!! Stay safe!!
Love
Sister swapp

August 23

This week is going to be a super short one, sorry!

Nothing really super exciting happened. i was sick for a couple days and we had zone conference. Zone conference was really good, like always. Being sick, not so much, but I'm better now. As a result of both of these things, our work was very little. but this next week is going to be great! We're going to convert like crazy!

Sorry again for the short update... I'm out of time though. I hope you are all doing wonderful!

Love,
Sister Swapp




August 19


This week was so great! Okay, I have to tell you a funny story before I start into the week. So we were driving to the library this morning  and we're about to turn onto the road we needed to, but there was this boy walking his... PIG!! My companion and I were like, "Is that a pet pig?! No way!" So, despite all the excitement to go and email, we drove around the block, pulled over, and got out to talk to this boy. He was maybe about 12. He was telling us all about this breeder in Texas that breeds these pigs to be pets! Haha Not only did it have it's own, home-made looking leash, but it had little booties on it's feet!!!!!!!!! It was adorable!! The boy told us that the pig just walks around their house like a dog. It sleeps with him and everything. Haha And he let us feed him raisins.
In other news, I survived 2 days in a row on bikes without any accidents! I forgot if i told you or not, but we are in a car share with some other sisters from the zone. So we have bikes the days they have the car. The only problem I've had is this one giant hill... It's the overpass for the highway and half of one of our wards is over that hill. My first day, I had to walk the bike up it. But the second time, and every time since, I've been determined to ride all the way up. So I put it in the lowest gear possible and... MADE IT!!!! Barely... I was so proud of myself the first time I did it! I kept think in my head the whole way, "Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right." What my dad always tells me.

So about the rest of the week... Not too much out of the ordinary happened. We're teaching this one part member couple. They husband is very active and the wife is not a member. They are from India (there is a lot of those out here). She is so awesome! We went over there one night this weekend and spent waaaaaaaaay too long there... But we taught like 5 lessons in one. So because they are Indian, they don't let anyone leave their house without feeding them... So we had to wait for her to finish cooking dinner. Meanwhile, we were talking about things and my companion finally brought it back to the gospel, miraculously, by sharing a scripture. Then, that got the husband started on asking us to just keep sharing verses. So we would take turns sharing our favorites with them and then discussing them. Then, dinner was finally ready. So we ate and afterwards, we asked if she had been reading the Book of Mormon and she said no. So he suggested that we read right then with her... So we started reading Alma 40, because we had planned to teach her the Plan of Salvation but gave up, then we used this opportunity to go through with it. So we got through about 5 verses and then had a great discussion on the Plan of Salvation the rest of the time. We talked about the plan, temple sealings, the celestial kingdom AND baptisms for the dead. It was so great! She was joking around and was telling her husband that she was going to come down from the Celestial Kingdom to visit him in the Terrestial Kingdom. It was funny. So then, of course, he said, "Well, you have to do a few things to be able to qualify to make it to the Celestial Kingdom." So we talked about the need to be baptized and then we invited her. But he interrupted and said that she wasn't ready. He wants to make sure that she is doing it for the right reasons, not just so that she can be sealed to him. Which, is good, but if she believes in the plan of salvation, and that it's truth, she doesn't have that much farther to go. So we just invited her to pray about it to know for herself it was true. It was a good lesson, we were just there faaaar too long...

Well, I am out of time for the day... Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Love,
Sister Swapp


August 12

Soo... Remember last week when I told you that I wasn't going to be transferred and that I was training? Yeah... Well... Neither of those happened. I got transferred and I'm not training anymore... Some last minute changes were made. My companion and I were sitting there Tuesday morning (transfer day) doing some personal study, getting ready to move into companionship study and our phone rings... It's our zone leaders. They told us that we needed to be at transfer meeting because one of us was being in-zone transferred. Transfer meeting was at 10. It was already 9 o'clock. And we had to drive down to San Jose... Yep, that's how much notice I got this time. 1 hour. So I got transferred to the other 2 wards in Pleasanton. I'm serving in Pleasanton 1st and 4th wards. And we are the only missionaries in both wards. I've decided that all of the moving I did growing up has prepared me for all the moving I do on my mission. Haha I'm very used to change now.


4th area. 6 months. Yep. That's me. Everybody keeps making jokes when they find out how many areas I've been in. And I was totally planning on breaking my 7 week record of staying in one area this transfer... But it didn't happen. The cool part is that the ward boundaries changed a couple weeks ago and a lot of the members from 2nd and 3rd wards (my last wards) were transferred to 4th ward. So I already know most of those people. Which has been a big help. And i'm still in the same zone, so that didn't change.


My new companion is Sister Wheeler. She's from Mesa, AZ. She's wonderful! She's been out for 3 months and it seems like she's been out for 15. She knows her stuff so well! And we get along really well too. The other day, we were weekly planning and we got on the subject of Daniel and the Lion's Den, which reminded me of VeggieTales because they have a pizza party in the den. So we sang VeggieTales songs for a good 20 mins. Hahaha It was great! You have to do something to keep you sane while you do weekly planning. I know that it is so necessary, but it's pretty much the most boring thing ever. I always just want to be out sharing the gospel with people.

And! This week I met someone who knows where Scappoose is!!! I was very excited. He knows it because his brother used to live there. Some of you might know him. Jared and Lily Lee. haha Yep, his brother is in my ward right now. They're getting ready to move though. But I was super excited to finally meet someone who knows where Scappoose is. And it was cool that I knew who he was talking about.

Well, that's about it for this week. Just working hard in this new area. I hope all of you have a wonderful week. Stay safe!

Love,
Sister Swapp


August 5


Well, I don't have much time  to update you this week, but it's been a great last week! It was the last week of the transfer and any missionaries know what that means... Transfer and training calls... And... I'm going to be a mom!!! That's right, I'm training. My companion and I are training together (at least we think so... We both got training calls and no transfer calls, so we think we're going into a trio). but I'm so excited!!!

We got to go to San Jose 3 times this week already and one time this coming week. We've already used 270 miles and it's only the 5th of the month... Good thing our mission isn't super duper strict on mileage...

Our mini missionary went great! I think I already told you that she was going to LA for her real mission in 3 weeks and she gets to go straight there. No MTC. And when she was with us, I found out why... She doesn't need it!! She's already prepared plenty for a mission. She was wonderful to spend 4 days with. I loved it.

Well, I was planning on adding pics to this email, but I have no time left... I will add them onto next weeks email. I love you all!! I hope you have a great week!!!

Love,
Sister Swapp