Hey! 

   

    Life is great! Right? Soo glad you agree!...Cool facts about Brownsville it has a population of about 1,600! And there is a bridge in Crawfordsville that we pass by a lot on our way to lessons that the movie "Stand by me" was filmed! (i love that movie) So i was a little excited about that! Something i forgot to talk about last week i think was on Sunday when we spoke i was amazed at how small this branch really is....like so small, I love it! But i was surprised to see how small it actually is on Sundays...im like nooo really? It doesn't even feel up all the pews! But there is so much love between all the members and the investigators that come feel so loved also! Like family they tell us! :)
     So today we are doing something that we are reallyy super duper excited about!!! And that is moving out of our apartment into another one above the Carlson's hardware store right on the center of main street! Its legit! Like i will come back and live in this apartment after my mission, its soo cute! Well....maybe not after missionaries live in it (esp elders) wanna know why?? Ok ok... ill tell you! This week in preparation for our move we decided to clean a few things that had not been cleaned for well about lets seeee since missionaries have lived here! So i sincerely thank my dad and mom for all those times they had me clean out our nasty fridge! But this was much worse! I have pictures to prove of my bravery in cleaning this thing growing/living inside out fridge! We pulled out the drawers and really didn't even know that it was there but some kind of moldy crap that had built up over a long period of time! I couldn't believe my food had been so close to touching it.....its fine! Everyone is lucky i like to clean and deep clean at that, cause the fridge was not the only thing i had cleaned in this apt! So great! oh my..there are other reasons that we are moving from the apt that i have not wanted to know about, that others know about! It was blessed right before i got here but our new home is a lot more conducive to the spirit! Our neighbor is Boon Ritchter he is an amazing dancer and you can find him on youtube, his family lives in a huge baptist church that will be right next to us! Another cool thing about moving is that the landlord of our new place is really excited about the fact of missionaries living in his apartment that it is perfect for what we do and being closer to the downtown of Brownsville! And he has a good feeling about it! He is a super nice guy and i'm hopeful for the missionary opportunities that will arise from this. The branch president Glenn knows him really well! President Glenn also has a dentist practice here!
    This week has been really a good one! A few mornings we would go over to Shawna and skips to watch Shawna while Skip went out and fed all the cows! Shawna is one of our investigators and had surgery cause she has ovarian cancer and we brought a different member each time to help clean and I braided and painted her nails! We would show up at 730-8 and the members are so wonderful and great to get up that early and come help and to serve and get to know the people we are teaching!
      Last night we had a lesson with Olivia and Elliot and they are some of my very favorite people! Olivia is a hairdresser and has her own little shop and she has trimmed my hair for me!:) She is an excommunicated member and is trying her best to come back and do everything she can, its really awesome to see! Elliot is her boyfriend and didn't grow up in the church but he LOVES it, he totally gets it and soaks it all in...they  are working on things like quitting smoking! They have made a lot of progress and if they can continue to progress together they will move mountains...its crazy how much Satan works on them and the things he throws there way. Its because he knows how much potential and people they will reach with there testimonies cause they are so strong they have amazing missionary opportunities all the time and there not afraid! The members they have and can strengthen! And the things they deserve! satan is trying to stop them and makes me so angry but they are doing so good!!! I love them and our lesson last night went for longer then two hours they opened up a lot about things that trouble them....life is hard, its not easy...its so true! Especially being a parent. We read a talk by Bruce r. Mconkie called "agency or inspiration..which?" and it was so goood such a great talk, it really helped them and we had the Forrest there with us who have also been through divorces and the journey of quitting smoking(which we didn't even know) so they had a lot of wonderful input and advice! Not to mention Bro Forrest is the 1st counselor in the bishopric! One of the best lessons I've been part of out here on the mission!
       Yesterday i learned something very wonderful in relief society! It was so clear to me when this recent convert of about 3 years made the comment...you know when people say "God doesn't give you anything that you cant handle" (I know cause I've said it) but it is miss quoted and it comes from the scripture Alma 13:28 and she talked about how a friend said one time to her that "Of Course He is going to give you more than you can handle, so you can realize that you need Him."  We can't do it alone. Well we can! We just make that much harder...doesn't mean it will be easy, but its up to you! Also if you need to pray about something in public pretend like your on the phone so people don't think your crazy...i tried it today in Walmart it really really works! I prayed about whether or not i should by two shirts that i really liked! He said i could but then i decided not to cause he also told me that was a silly thing to be praying about cause i know the answer...i don't need anymore clothes! Haha oh man my Father in Heaven knows me! He knows you too, let Him in! He cares :)

                                            Love Sister Heywood! xoxo