Hello Family and Friends!!

   Its been a wonderful tiring week! Full of fun adventures! The Bend and Redmond zones were able to go to the Portland temple on Thursday...it was the best day ever!! Its been six months since we last went. I'm so thankful that we get to go as often as we do cause I know there are missionaries that don't go as often. We rode up with members in the Cline Falls ward..The Schofields they just became active six months ago and they have a "Temple RV" that they take groups of people to the temple with them when needed because it takes 3 hours to get there. Otherwise they just go in there car almost every week. Anyways we met at the church at 6am and they took our district of missionaries! The zone leaders Elders Parkinson and Frankenberry our District Leader Elder Maxfiled and his comp Elder Flinders and then our wonderful Sisters that are serving in Sisters...Sisters Allen and Daniels! <3 It was honestly so fun. Lots of sitting though. We watched the Restoration video on the way up and mountain of the Lord. Then we were at the temple before we knew it. The temple was much needed and being inside is indescribable. So peaceful and the noise of the world goes away! its like time stops. When the session is over I find it hard to walk out...I stall cause I want to be inside for a longer amount of time. We all ate in the cafeteria and that was really good. We took pictures outside in front of the rv with the temple in the background. Then we went to Deseret Book and bought stuff! :) Then we drove home and played all these crazy mind games that made my brain hurt but they were really fun. We were so drained physically and spiritually! Oh man. It was amazing.

  Went on exchanges this week with our amazing Stls Sis Davis and Mower! Mower came here to Redmond for the day. It was only the second time seeing and meeting her and i felt like I've known her my whole life. She is pretty cool and played soccer at some college in Utah..i forget which one! We were able to teach Gabby Davenport...idk if I've told yall about her but she is getting baptized soon! Her step mom is a member and her dad is not and he wouldn't let her take the lessons until just recently and so we have been teaching her. She is 15 and is very smart girl ..I love teaching her. this past time we had the young womens president who she is very close to come, Sis Hodson! Gabby has been coming to church for about 2 years on and off but she is really knowledgeable about the Gospel. But she still has really good questions and spiritual insights that we learn from. She is a wonderful example, a lot of the time in young women's on Sunday she is answering the questions and being apart of the discussion.

Last Monday night we stopped by a potentials house and when we knocked they told us to come in...and we were not sure and a little confused but walked in anyway! They were expecting the (divorced) dad to walk in but they were glad to see us and invited us to sit down. Basically the whole time we were there we kept laughing cause the mom hiedi is goofy and her two kids Brittany and Matthew are so funny! Matthew has autism but its a really spiritually smart kid. This one of the first times and so we were taught a little and asked if they would be willing to learn more and they all said yes. The only huge bareer is that the mom works on sunday and the kids are with the dad on the weekends. But it will change soon hopefully. Also we told them that we would make sure they are invited to all youth and relief society activities! ah I just love that family.

 Yesterday Sis Sullivan and I taught a couple named Jess and Laura at President Palmers home it was really good. I had taught them about 3 times before and that was when sis ALvey was here and so its been awhile. Last time we had planned to teach the Word of Wisdom but weren't sure that what they needed at this time..or where they were at. But Laura started to tell us about a guy in bend who is a  member and told her of all the things she needs to do to be a member mostly about the wow! And so she says "Can I just get a list of something so I know about the things im not supposed to do! " ....we were like alllright we need to teach the word of wisdom!! haha They loved it and we love teaching with Pres Palmer..he is awesome!

So Sis Sullivan and I teach mission prep ever other sunday night and it was so good. The normal mission prep but then sis sully was impressed to invite the kids to come up and share there testimonies and not be afraid! Almost all of them did and we of course sat there in silence but then the first youth to get up were the back row joes! All boys and they were awesome short powerful testimonies...the spirit was so strong! They are so inspiring! I love this work...its amazing!!!

Explanation to my subject...we drove by a less actives house that I LOVE they have us over for dinner a lot and the mom is recent convert...but I was struggling with whether or not we should stop by because of stuff that recently has happened in the family. Anyways the door was open and so he saw us drive by twice and then we decided to not go and then I was like no we need to go...mind you we had only 10 min till dinner and Bro DeStefano is a talker. but anyway it was really good and needed to happen we really know more fully where he is at and how we can help him. It was funny cause he saw us drive by and so he was texting us..."Was that a Mormon drive by" and we laughed. I love my life.

 Love you all hope you have a wonderful week!!

-Sister Heywoood!

Hey there Family and Friends!!

   This week has been super awesome!! I love being a missionary...have I mentioned that before?...No? ok...Well there ya go. This area is on fire...I have never taught so much my whole mission! We are working with a lot of part member families and it is so fun to be apart of.

  So a couple cool stories from this week! President Samuelian..of course got the hook ups for the whole mission to see the movie 'Meet the Mormons' the day before it came out in theatres and it was  SO GOOOOD!!!! Everyone needs to see this. I cried. And the people that they interview and show there life stories are so diverse....I love it! I wanted it to go for two more hrs because I know that there are so many amazing stories from the members of this church in all parts of the world! Interesting story trying to make it to the building in Bend...first off our zone leaders told our whole district the wrong address and so we all drove to the wrong building and we were already late! Anyways its really interesting to drive in a place you have never been before and just try and find your way...im actually really good at back tracking! haha

 

  We are still meeting with Renee every week and she is doing amazing! She is an all or nothing kinda girl. Her husband is Hugo and he translated for President when he spoke in the Spanish branch and the Spanish elders told us that it was a really spiritual experience and that Hugo started to cry in the middle of translating. So cool.

 We were able to contact a lady named Kathy! She was a referral from the elders and so we went to meet her, she was so delightful to get to know!! We got out of our car and she was smoking, she is a very tall lady and invited us in to talk. She has long pretty gray hair. Anyways we have a return apt with her and im so excited to teach her!!!!! The appt was actually for this morning and we went to sis Phillips the member we invited to come teach, to follow us there and we start driving away and she honks, so I stop and she pulls up next to us and holds up a cat and says "my cat is in the car, I didn't know, I have to take her back home ill be right back!" so we waited there and while we were Kathy called and said that she didn't sleep well and to call her in a couple days to set up another time. It happens a lot in missionary work..you kinda just gotta role with the punches! We will probably see her this weekend:) Im excited.

 So there was an car accident that happened in Bend a couple weeks ago...where the man who was driving was drunk and he had 4 or 5 little girls in the car, taking them to a sleepover or picking them up, something like that. Anyways really sad...one of the girls died and the rest were injured and are still in intensive care. But there was one that walked away without getting hurt..Her name is Isabella and her dad is a less active member of the church along with his mom. They somehow contacted the church and said that they are ready to be back and to have the missionaries come visit them. So we did. And we were able to teach them last night and it went so well...we got to know them and see where there at with there testimonies. The little girl Phoenix that died in the accident was over at there home all the time..and the ward has been bringing meals to that family. It was interesting..so hien sight  we were eating at the Bishops home right after the accident happened and they were telling us all about it for the first time. and I had said that would be really cool if we were able to help out in some way or work closely with some of those people. and here we are! :) We invited Lena and her daughter Elizabeth to be baptized if they were to come to know that its true! They said yess!

 Fast and testimony meeting was so amazing yesterday. I really needed church yesterday...its funny how that works when you are a missionary..cause you do churchy things all the time. But I needed church and I needed to bear my testimony. I love it. When church started we had no piano player or organist so...Bro Morrison was stalling while they were trying to figure out how they would get the Organ to play on its own. It all worked out eventually but it was one of those moments where you wish you never quit piano lessons! haha :(

 

 Oh we had interviews with President and Sis Samuelian on Friday! They went so well...the are just parents away from home I feel like I am talking to my mom when I talk to sister samuelian and esp. when I talk to Prez Samuelian its just like talking to my dad. I love it. They are so wonderful and do so much for this mission! Idk if I have ever mentioned the strengths test that they have had all the missionaries take..but Prez and I share 3 out of the 5; Arranger, positivity and belief. Pretty cool. He also told me that he will never stop calling me "Heyyywood!" even after I am married. I told him "Good because I will always be a Heywood!" haha Then he told me I need to name my first boy Heywood! haha Which Im so down for. I told him about Renee's and the confirmation she received and he started to cry...and said "You cant put a price tag on that. huh?" "Nope!" 

   

 Its so true....you cant put a price tag on any of this. I love to teaching about the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I love talking to people and knowing there stories. There struggles and there triumphs. I love you all and hope that you have a wonderful week! 

Love Sister Heywoooody!  

Hey Family and Friends!

  Can I just tell you how fun it is to be a missionary. I LOVE it with all my heart. This time is priceless and there is nothing that can compare. I would not trade it for anything.

  Ok so I don't have all the time in the world. But a couple stories for the ride...

We were visiting some less actives yesterday to see if they knew about the ysa activity and when we go to leave and get in the car...all the sudden we hear this amazing rapping and we turn and look and see this guy strolling down the street in this electric wheel chair...throwing some sick beats down. And Sis Sullivan and I look at each other and were thinking the exact same thing..we have to meet this guy! So I flip and "U" and go around the corner and we find him and had to wait for the other car to be finished talking to him...so we pull up and just start talking to him and he said he goes by T-baby and we told him we heard him rapping and we had to come meet him. We invited him to the ysa activity and told him what we do as missionaries..said he never talked to "us" before and he told us he needs something to do and that he as been looking for a church...he was a pleasure to meet. And then I asked him...because to me it looked like he didn't need to be in the wheel chair and so I did and he just laughed and said noo I don't need to be in this I can walk, its my moms! I was just bored so I went for a little stroll. Haha I love him...basically for those who know Mark Thomas..he is his twin, along with making you feel like he is your best friends from day 1. We got his info and so hopefully we can teach him soon!

We went to go visit a potential that we had talked to on the street randomly the other week. We wanted to follow up on the Book of Mormon that we gave her. She invited us in and we started to invite her to general conference. She starts to break down in tears and she had explained to us that she has really bad depression and so we offered to help clean her kitchen and family room..that were in really bad shape. It didn't talk to long before it looked much better. It was really sad to witness and watch her break down in tears a few times. Then after we had a little lesson and the spirit was really strong. It was an amazing experience.

 We also had the ysa activity and it was a wonderful turn out!! The stake president and his wife planned and hosted it! They had us play games from the jimmy fallon talk show and then there was a dinner. Its a really fun time to smash a raw egg on your forehead.

Conference was the bomb! I loved it all but esp. Elder Bednar's talk on missionary work and why us as members of the church share the gospel. Cause it makes us happy happy happy! Why would we keep that from anyone?!

These amazing events don't often happen in everyday life but they do happen when you are a servant of the Lord and put yourself if those situations and act whether on or off the mission. I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

 

Love Sister Heywood!