Last email! Hooray for Israel! Hooray to the OSM!

It started to hit me last night as we were in the Hayden's home one last time for dinner and as i shared a spiritual thought and expressed my love and thanks for them, it was the first time it really even hit me, i broke down in tears and couldn't stop crying. They were asking me more questions, some details and i couldn't answer there for awhile but i got it together after awhile.

  Tami entered the waters of baptism Saturday night!! She was beyond excited and her face hurt from smiling sooo much!! The spirit was very strong. As she walked out of the font she just stood there and cried. This woman is amazing and is so ready to serve...she already has a calling as of yesterday!! Her excitement and testimony has and will continue to help the ward here. They need her.

  Along with Elder Boren i am surprised that this will be my last email...its not believable yet! Just feels like my amazing missionary life. I cannot adequately describe what the mission has done for me and the part that i have played in helping souls come closer Christ. It is the most happy and (real) fun that I've ever had thus far in my life....It brings the greatest purest JOY. I'm excited to continue in this work in a different way in Az. If you didn't know already my fav part of this work is including the members and i have a strong testimony of the difference they make as they work with us and the missionaries around the world. I have seen this time and time again on my mission and i have seen the amazing miracles that it brings. I will forever be grateful for this time. Thank you for the love and support that you all have given me during this time as i have made one of the most important decision of my life. 

  I know that that Jesus Christ lives that he knows exactly how we feel when we are sad about things that matter to us and that Heavenly Father cares about the things that we care and pray about. I love the people here and the fullness they have brought to my life and the things that they have taught me. I know that the church is the Lords Kingdom on the eartth today and im so joyful to have the knowledge it is everything. Excited to come home and experience more of this wonderful life that God has given us to show our love to Him, through the gospel of Jesus Christ.

            Love Sister Heywood. 

Hey Everybody! 

  This week has been a roller coaster...in a good and bad way! The mission is a roller coaster...haha It was bad and then everything turned way better. Even though it wasn't anything too crazy...we are dealing with peoples salvation here...kinda a big deal. But during it all i was kept calm knowing it would all work out the way Heavenly Father intended it to. 

   

  We met with Ashley this week and she came to church it was awesome she opened up about things that she wouldn't have if Elders were teaching her. Something that i really loved about this week is that we had our investigators in the members home for dinner and it has been so fun and so effective. It really has changed things for them...and has further there conversion. If it didnt happen things would have been fine but not as a amzing as they are now. Members play a key role in this work. It is a great example of how i want to be part of the work when i get home. Yep in like...soon. 

   Its super bittersweet and it has not hit me yet. Going home is messin up my groove! jk haha but really. I have loved serving in all my areas but especially Redmond maybe its just because i am here right now but i just love the people and its the busiest ive ever been. After attending PEC on sunday cause our WML was out of town the 2nd counselor in the bishopric Bro Morrison asked if i would speak today if someone didnt show up or if they went short and they did go short so they called me up there and got to speak and bare testimony of my mission. I cried. and the spirit was strong...shared my favorite poem that i shared at my farewell talk. 

  Tami was at church also and she is getting baptized this saturday. She is super excited. Like way excited. She wants a calling already. She is one of a kind. I love the Gospel. And i hope that i will email next week. So this not my last email im not ready to let go hahah I love you all and hope you have a great week! 

Love Sister Heywood! 

Hey Everybody!
     I'm so grateful for this week and the exciting experiences!! For this year
our Centennial Park ward is starting at 1:30 and as you all know it was fast
Sunday. It was a really good experience and i know that there is a power in
fasting. It was a much needed and spiritual Sunday!
     We go to go on on exchange with our Stls (sister training leaders)
comparable to zone and district leaders, but just for sisters! :) I was in Bend
with Sis Rosado and Sis Sullivan and Sis Mower were in Redmond. There are a lot
of really nice huge mansions in Bend and we had the opportunity to teach Lilly
who has been investigating for awhile and (taught her on my last exchange in
Bend) and her friend Devon that is from Bend but living in Nashville she is
working on becoming a singer song writer. We watched Joseph Smith the Prophet of
the Restoration in the Lovejoy's huge mansion, super nice and apparently Will
Ferrell has a house in that neighborhood. The Lovejoy's own a grocery store
there in Bend. Never been in a house like that my whole life but it was legit to
watch that movie and feel the spirit very strongly in there home and watch the
most beautiful sunset out there huge windows.
     Then we didn't have a dinner but we asked Sis Rollie who there really close
to and she is a Cosmetologist!! And her co worker and instructor Randle who was
at her house (who she used to date) not a member of the church but knows about
the church from Sis Rollie and other friends in life. We got to teach him about
the plan of happiness and salvation over grilled cheese, apple sauce and hot
chocolate. Basically it was my dream lesson....i have always wanted to teach
someone high up in the hair industry and he has traveled all over to work for
the salon he works for, including phoenix for 5 years. Right now he is living in
Santa Monica, he is in town to do some work and by the end of the exchange sis
Rollie texted us and said that he was wanting the first lesson that i had
mentioned and said "its what makes us different and what the plan of salvation
comes from" and he wanted to know what he was missing out on.
     On new years eve night we had dinner with the Ridings...one of my many
favorite famalies here (Bro Riding is a cop). We had to be in by 7 to set goals
for the new year. Before we left we set of paper lanterns and watched them fly
into the clear dark sky, it was beautiful and a fun way to start of the new
year! It was Kate's idea for #HeistheGift and sharing that light for others to
look to! :)
     We have a couple more people on date! Kristina and Lena. Pray for them, they
need more of a desire. The adversary works very hard on there families. We love
them and are getting the ward more involved with there families!
      I'll talk to you all next week! I hope that you and i have some great new
years goals to stick to! Im excited to see what 2015 has in store. I love this
Gospel, it just makes sense! The Lord knows your hopes, He knows your fears and
he wants to help, Talk to him! Love you ALL!

Love Sister Heywood!

Hey everybody! 

     This week was vital to my life...i learned a lot. All very simple but very important. It was simply wonderful to talk to my family on Christmas day....I'm so so very blessed to spend the rest of eternity with them, they are delightful and fun and loving. I enjoyed very much talking to my dad about the missionary work happening there and here and the things that both areas are working on. My dad shared some insightful things that i LOVED and have shared already about 4 times with different members here in Redmond. The bishops wife Sis Sheldon quoted me in her talk yesterday in church. It was work related thing that my dad related to the gospel of course! "If we cant take care of Heavenly Fathers "clients" that we already have, how are we supposed to take care of new ones?" Doing missionary work you definitely need to go out of your comfort zone right?..ya im right, because i would know haha So the moral of that sentence is that there is all sorts of ways to do missionary work and you should start where you are most comfortable because reaching out to the ones that we already have and the ones that are less active are just as important as finding the new person "because both need conversion" -The Power of Everyday Missionaries. Just because someone shows up at church every Sunday to church doesn't mean they don't need a extra hand extended towards them, smile, hug, "come sit by us today." We all struggle during the week and we all need each other, if you find missionary work to be hard start with your home and visiting teaching start with reaching out to the people that are all around you, don't just assume! Take care...of the ones we already have. 

     We had a zone training meeting this week..i twas the shortest one that i have ever been too and I'm so thankful for that! I'm glad our zone leaders acknowledge that and are trying to change the culture of them, it was probably like 2 hours shorter, to the point and the spirit was super strong. We all learned a lot. The elders are very inspired and spirit lead. They focused on obedience and pride. They had, as always a testimony meeting at the end and i had the opportunity to bare my testimony and a lot of the missionaries did. The spirit was very strong and the part when i felt the spirit the  strongest is when the elder who walked in with service clothes on not in his suit and has struggled his whole mission and was sitting in the back stood up and bore his testimony and tears just fell from my eyes and i was not the only one. I can not tell you how amazing it was to hear from him and that he does know. watching missionaries struggle is hard to watch cause you cant really do anything esp. if they struggle really bad from any kind of depression.
     Funny story so we have been working with this guy named Art Mcallister and he was La for a very long time...I've talked about him before and we now teaching Tami his friend who is getting baptized soon. Anyways so sister Sullivan and i were sitting in front of them at church yesterday and after the first verse of the hymn that we were singing he leaned forward and said "Amen Brotha" and we just start cracking up... and this is something we say to each other "Amen Sista, Amen Brotha" whenever the opportunity comes...and so we are trying so hard not to laugh and then when the hymn is over he goes "Amen to that" Lol and i turn around trying to hold in my laugh and say "stop it" and then turn back around and start cracking up. Oh man it was one of those moments when laughing feels so good!
     On Christmas day that we spent at the Bishop Sheldons we asked him to think about and pray about some people that are in need of spiritual uplifting. He gave us a long list of names the next couple days and so we went to visit one of them and they were not home...kinda feeling poopy that night...idk what it was. But as we looked up the next one we felt we should visit on the GPS we ended being on that same exact street already and very close to the exact house. It is a part member/less active/recent convert home and we met Ashley who is not baptized and took the lessons about 2 years ago from elders and didn't connect. I know that we were set here for her. We met there little brother Garret who has mental retardation and he is the cutest thing ever..i have never met anyone like him before he was so different and made me so happy. Ashley thought we already knew him by how we talking with him because he knows Bro. Herrin and i said "no i just like to talk to people like i have known them for a long time" and he walks up to me really close to my face and says "I bet you don't know my social security number?!" another moment of laughter and made my day. We are teaching Ashley this week! ;)
     I love the being here, even though we have hard moments. We learn from them and grow. I love when i look at all the pictures of the Savior around our apartment and church, He seems so familiar to me. I look at Him and i see Him as my Brother. I love you all and hope you have a great week.

Love Sister Heywood!

Hey everybody! 

     Do not have much time...its been a wonderful week. Gabby was baptized Saturday night and confirmed on Sunday! It was so much fun. I love that girl...she was so ready.When Gabby came out of the water she says "I'm really wet" and Renee said she could hear her and she was towards the back.(we were cracking up) Her mom gave a talk and she is not her birth mom but she gave the talk on the Holy ghost and it was amazing! A little background on Tiffany, she was la for most of her life and giving that talk was a first for her. The spirit was super strong. Gabby told us that it all really didn't sink in until she heard her mom give that talk. It was cool. 

     We had dinner with the Davis family last night.......i. love. them. Then we had a mini mtc in there home we did some role plays for missionary situations (it went really well)...before that we had a very spirit lead conversation about the Holy Ghost and how Bro Davis, who is a convert, opened up about how he struggles to know what the promptings he gets are from the Holy Ghost..Sis Davis reassured him that he is good at it. once again i love that family..i can not adequately describe the fun, spiritual, crazy experiences we have with the members and people here! I esp. feel like family when i go into the davis home..it reminds me of when the elders would just come into out home and start shooting us with nerf guns!
     Oh we had thanksgiving at the shelsdons....it was delicious!!! Got a bunch of leftovers!:) We were in bend at that sports complex right before for zone pday..it was amazing, felt like i was in Disneyland. Deprived as a missionary entertainment wise haha
     Had an amazing exchange with Sister Mower! I got to go Bend and it was so fun had some amazing amazing experiences. I know... Amazing right?! Should have been here! Taught some super prepared people. Im really excited right now because we have a ton of stuff to invite everyone to!!!

Dec.13 Ward Christmas party
Dec. 15 Missionary(choir) Christmas Devotional!
Dec.20 Live Nativity

Love Sister Heywood! #Heisthegift 

Hey Everybody!! 

   So Tuesday morning we text Renee and say we haven't forgotten about you but we just figured we would give you a break and start the new member lessons next week! She responded and said that "I don't mind starting asap. I really needed it and that the adversary didn't give me a break. So i need my back up ladies. so if we could schedule something soon that would be great." No problem of course and so we text sis riding and ask if she could be there if not no worries. We let her know what was happening. she said "i feel like i have been in the car all morning but Renee is more important. ill be there asap."  Of course we were thinking the worst and even though it was still not good it wasn't horrible. Her family was just giving her some hard time about the Prophet Joseph Smith and how he is this and that...you could imagine. Renee said it took her about 5 hrs to calm down so she could respond to her mom in a Christ like way. It was impressing. Every time i see Renee now after she as received the Gift of the Holy ghost she has a different light. We read Joseph Smith history the next morning at sis Morrison's home and it was amazing. Renee is just even more excited and the spirit is testifying even more to her that it is true. i love these people.

    We have been teaching a family idk if i have talked about them yet. A single mom named Hiedi and she has two kids named Brittany and Matthew. Actually i think i have talked about them. Well we were able to finally have another lesson with them and we brought Sis DeStefano with us a recent convert of about 2 years. It was amazing. We have already gone over the restoration but then asked them if they had any questions...there was a little confusion but we basically re taught it! It was so awesome to have Sis DeStefano there...she has a major testimony of the book of Mormon. She also related a lot to them and the questions they are having. Ah it rocked. Matthew is high functioning autism and is really knowledgeable of the bible he is very close to the spirit and all of is starting to make sense to them. Heidi says that he holds there family together and told them that's how my brother Cody is, without him the whole Heywood family just wouldn't be the same. (ps happy birthday Cody..."i don't know about you but your feeling 24 or 25? i lost tract" haha) 

      Then Heidi and Brittany came to the "Fabulous Friday" which was in place of the super Saturday. They has so much fun met a lot of people and did some Christmas crafts! Stephanie a La member asked them what they have thought about meeting with us and Heidi explained that something told her not to shut the door when we knocked a couple months ago and that they have has some questions that are being answered. Gabby Davenport who we have been teaching and is getting baptized this Saturday was sitting right there started to explain that she is a convert and is getting baptized this Saturday. She asked them if they have come to sacrament and that when they come to church that's when it will all make sense and she explained that the gospel is like a puzzle and it has all the pieces. It was such a sweet moment. I know that they are so prepared to here the gospel right now! Then Sis Widing the Relief Society Pres. had us give back the 20 dollars to Heidi that she paid for the crafts. And told us that they had plenty extra so glad they could come and hope to see them again soon! aaaah i love these people. haha  

        I love the gospel and the wonderful knowledge we have of a loving Heavenly Father and Savior that are so merciful are just waiting for us to open the door or walk there way. I have learned something this week through scripture study that is important to have "faith unto repentance" Alma 34:14-16 we need to have faith that we can be forgiven. I love this time of year where minds and hearts are directed even more towards Our brother Jesus Christ! That means people are more willing to listen to our message and people around you are more prepared. Open your mouths and share the good news...people need this.They so need what we have to share, to access the complete joy that we feel when we can repent and forgive and love and serve and have a relationship with a God that loves his children so much. Its up to us to tell them about it. 

     Have a wonderful thankful yummy thanksgiving! I know i will, Spending it eating with the bishop Sheldon's family, playing football with Redmond and bend zones combined at a sports center in bend. reserved just for the missionaries. Serving others. 

 

Love Sister Heywood! 

Renee little boy thats 7! 

Xavian: Sis heywood are you married?

 

Me: What?

 

Xavian: Are you married? 

Me: No, Xavian I'm not married haha why? 

Xavian: cause i like you!  

Me: What?

Xavian: I like you!! (runs out the door)

Hello family and friends!!
     Im so thankful for the 10 in. of snow we got this week! Its been so fun
walking around everywhere getting all bundled up and trekking across Redmond.
Its crazy that last year in "the valley" when it snowed i thought it was crazy
living in the snow but that was my first time "living" in it...but here they get
a lot more! We have spent most of our days shoveling snow for people that we are
teaching and some la. As a mission our cars are parked when it snows but as of
now we are aloud to drive! We shoveled Renees walkway and then she said we had
to come inside and have some mexican hot chocolate which was so good! We have
been wiped out from all of this so when i go to sleep at night i am out so fast
and my body aches in the morning! But its good! Its so beautiful to see
everything so white and sparkly. We also have been able to meet some awesome
people walking around, i love it.
    Tuesday we had an amazing Zone Conference with President and Sister
Samuelian and this was before the snow fall! But still sooo cold. It was also my
last one and i didn't realize this until sister sullivan said something at lunch
time and i was like no way and she was like yes way! It was an amzing revelatory
experience and took lots of notes. I was able to bare my testimony at the end a
long with the other missionaries that are going home this transfer.
   Renee was baptized this saturday and it was sooo awesome...so many people
came that we had to move into the chapel. It was very spiritual and i cried. The
people she asked to speak and the people who welcomed her like the bishop and rs
president did amazing jobs. The bishop welcomed her to the ward and related Matt
Cain pitching the perfect baseball game and his comments after of how he didn't
pitch the perfect game alone but that he had a field of professional baseball
players helping him, to how the church works and how we will all help out along
this journey. i LOVED it. She was confirmed on sunday by Bro Schofield and it
was beautiful. Renee was asked to share her conversion story in relief society
and it was so sweet to hear from her! She talked about how she has been stubborn
along this whole process of coming into the church...the ladies were so sweet in
telling her that it is that same stubborness that will help her endure to the
end and when she gets offended by someone in the church that she should use that
stubbornness and not let someone else ruin her faith and run her out of her
church and the blessings of the gospel. i love these people and working with
them.
  We have been working with Gabby still and she will be baptized on the 29th of
November and she is getting really excited! We love her! She also attended
Renees baptism. We go every wed at 4pm and teach her!
We are seeing lots of miracles and i love being apart of this work. God loves
us! He really does! Im happy to have heard about the Phoenix temple being
dedicated like 4 different times today through email! This Gospel is such a
blessing.

Love sister Heywood