Hi family and friends! 
It's been an awesome couple weeks! This week was the last week of the 
transfer and "I really hope I stay in Brownsville....I lovee this 
place and the people here!!! But I've been here as long as ever other 
sister that has served in Brownsville....so idk. I wanna stay. I wanna 
stay! Please let me stay!:)"---that's what I said last week....AND 
guess what?...the dream team is staying #farnswood ;) we are here 
staying for many reasons! :) 
 
This last week was super busy and full of amazing miracles....one of 
them being we had a mini missionary who spent a week with us! Her name 
is Makena Wadsworth..soo sister Wadsworth :) she is from bend,or she 
is 18 graduated from hs just last Saturday! The group of them that 
came out together consisted of 6 girls and 4 boys. Mind you more girls 
then boys...;) go sistas!! Sis Farnsworth and I are super excited to 
have her with us!! She is super awesome super spiritual and super 
beautiful! For the most part all of them are trying to decide whether 
or not they want to go on a mission and to get a weeks taste of it by 
doing everything that we as full time missionaries do :) whooohoo! She 
was such a blessing to us and she honestly did so much for me as a 
missionary...she just brought a different perspective that was 
refreshing! 
 
We had a lesson with bro Charles Thompson and she did a great job of 
helping him recognize the Holy Ghost. It was so awesome because all 
before that we were having a hard time helping him recognize that. We 
had another lesson with him in pioneer park and read where he is at in 
the Book of Mormon...which is mosiah! He wants to be baptized and what 
brother Evans to do it sometime in July the only thing holding him 
back is smoking..so we are helping him with that. :) we love Charles 
he is so sweet. We love his honesty if he doesn't understand something 
he doesn't and he lets us know if he's been reading and praying and he 
will tell us "how bout not" when we invite him to get ice cream with 
us! Haha he totally shut sis heywood down! It was on me! Who doesn't 
like ice cream? He's crazy! 
 
Some Miracles that happened this week: 
On Saturday afternoon, real investigators, less actives, recent 
converts, and other members came and the youth taught them missionary 
lessons. The youth here are amazing. So many little miracles happened 
during the conference. Saturday afternoon, we were talking to the 
Stake president in the church hall way and a man walked in the stake 
center. He had earrings in his ears and was dressed really nice. He 
walked past us then turned and said, " this might be a strange 
question, but do you have a Book of Mormon I could have?" The stake 
president offered to go get him one then remembered that we were 
missionaries and asked us, so we gave him one. He said his name was 
Alex and he was just passing through on the way to his friends 
wedding. He was from Wilsonville which is in northern Oregon out of 
our mission. He said he had to go and started to walk out, and I asked 
him why he asked for a Book of Mormon and he said that a long time ago 
his friend gave him one and told him to read a passage and he never 
did. Now he wants to. So I told him to find missionaries after he read 
it, and he thanked us and left. The night before a young family walked 
in the stake center during youth conference looking for help because 
their member friend told them to find a Mormon church. The sprit was 
so strong there with the youth and it was drawing people in. I learned 
so much helping out with the conference...the youth these days don't 
completely know how powerful they are! 
 
Our district leader elder Lester who is from the Ukraine mission who 
is super awesome and is totally supposed to be here! For example him 
and his companion elder lee knocked on the door of a lady who speaks 
only Russian and when she opened the door and elder Lester realized 
that she spoke Russian he started to talk to her and she started to 
cry! She explained that she needed help setting up her computer and 
could not. Anyways so those same elders gave us a referral. A man who 
was working in the Lebanon Walmart and he lives in Brownsville with 
his family! His name is Patrick and he gave the elders his address! So 
we went Friday night after youth conference with sis Wadsworth! Let me 
tell you I never have been to this part of Brownsville! It was so 
beautiful on the drive up into the mountains/hills! We pull up to the 
gate and just sit in the car and stare at the posted: no trespassing 
sign or we will be prosecuted. But we figured if he was expecting 
us..so we walked up and just stood at the gate and then Patrick 
started to walk down the hill! He was super nice and we got to know 
him and tried to say bye like 5 times to let them get back to there 
evening they have planned but he just kept talking! We are going to 
teach them this week..hes so prepared. It's hard explain how great 
being a missionary is and how fun it is. After we got in the car to 
drive away I got really close to sis Farnsworth face and said really 
slowly I'm. Not. Getting. transferred. And so it is..I am not! I love 
how many different ways there are to do missionary work. I have felt 
and continue to feel the many reasons I am here. And I love it! I love 
Christs church and his work in which uses imperfect people to help 
move forward! Let's be prayerful in everything we do! The Lord wants a 
say in our lives and if we invite him In he will make things known to 
us that are important to us in his time! I love you all and hope you 
have a wonderful week! Do most of makes you eternally happy! 
 
Love sister heywood! 





 

Why hello!
So last Monday I don't think I told you all but we got the chance to
go to the coast with Kathy, Gina, bro bivens and sis bivens! We got
permission to go outside of our mission to Newport! It was fun and
nice to get away from the pollen...Kathy and the bivens paid for all
of us to go to the Oregon coast aquarium! It was super fun! It was my
fourth time going to the beach on my mission yay! It was quite
entertaining cause the people we were with..crack me up!
We were able to meet with Charles twice this week and he came to
church! He slowly but surely is gaining that testimony of Jesus Christ
and his gospel! A key role in his conversion has been bro and sis
Evans!
We had our mission tour in Salem on Friday and we got the privilege of
hearing from a general authority...Elder Martino and his wife! Wow wow
wow. So much revelation and training that was much needed and it was
just so exciting because elder martino is so exciting they are from
Texas and had some pretty sweet accents! It's hard to explain the
sprit that was there and how amazing it was! We learned about how
every person we work with needs to have the perfect Amulek! We read
from Alma 8-10 and how alma who was the missionary taught the people
but that when alma found Amulek the "less active membre" and Amulek
came out with alma to teach the people and the people were astonished
when Amulek spake more so than alma! So as members of the church help
the missionaries teach the people are more astonished by the friend
who can relate to them more and have experienced more of life...then
maybe an 18 or 22 yr old missionary! I invite you all to work more
with the full time missionaries serving in your area and being that
Amulek for helping teach someone the gospel! Also to think about the
sister or elders you know right now and what they have sacrificed to
be on a mission and what it means to them to be there!
So one night the whole branch got together and did a huge cleanup
outside...because apparently someone had asked bro hoyer if we are
moving from our building? And he said no why? And the man said well it
looks like you guys have neglected your building.....WHAT. Not
okay...so basically everyone was there pulling weeds and let me tell
you I love to pull weeds super weird right? They are so much easier to
pull here than Mesa az! The rain loosens them up. It was SO MUCH
FUN...i felt so unified with the members of the branch much like I do
on Sundays when I get to see all of them together:) I want to relive
that night 50 times over! Pulled weeds, spread bark mulch, cut down
weeds taller than me, trimmed trees and bushes that were covering the
"visitors welcome" sign...ahh. It was so sweet at the fast and
testimony meeting Sunday president Glenn bore the sweetest testimony
and said that we buoy him up as we were all together cleaning up and
how he couldn't do what he does without the branch and all that they
do.
That night one of the young women, Kayla hovey came up to me and said
guess what?! And I couldn't think of what...,so she told me! She has
decided to go on a mission! Even though she was planning on going to
the college she was accepted to! (She graduated this week from hs) her
dad is the one that  served with my uncle in Honduras. I was so so
happy and she said the thing that helped her solidify her decision was
when president Samuelian came to speak at the branch and all the
classes that day. She said she had been praying about it for awhile
and that I influenced her life by being on a mission in Brownsville.
Her mom also told me that I influenced her daughters life. It really
means a lot to me.
We were able to find a la named Sandra by following the spirit which
is always cool. Apparently she had asked missionaries to come by
before and they never came. So we really wouldn't have found her if we
weren't out searching. She is super sweet and has a strong testimony
and conversion story and is wanting to come back. Yay.
Charles is doing so wonderfully especially because his Amuleks are
back in town. This week we walked in and he was outback smoking and
reading the Book of Mormon. He seems different and like his
countenance has been changing. We had a lesson on the 10 commandments
and an emphasis on the sabbath day. It went really welll and his
prayers and answers are getting more wordy. In the past he has really
just said very few words or none at all.  We love chuck he is super
great! He has a good sense of humor and is trying his best to
understand. We also explained to him that he doesn't need to
understand everything in order to be baptized which needed to be said.
He is really honest which we love!
One of my very favorite services this week and maybe in my whole
mission was cutting sister Louise smiths hair she has lymphedema and
has been in a wheelchair most of her life and doesn't do anything for
herself besides feed herself. The whole branch loves them. She has the
best attitude about her situation. When you know she is in so much
pain. I got to cut her hair and it had gotten pretty long and we cut
it pretty short and gave her a new style and she LOVED it. And it was
so cute to watch her be so happy about a haircut.
Anyways that is all for now! I hope you all have a great week and are
doing most of what makes you happy!
Love sister heywood.

Hi people who read my emails!
Sorry I haven't emailed successfully in a couple of weeks, been having some technical difficulties! I write something and then It's too big and then I send so many pictures that it all doesn't send! So I am cutting down. There have been so many amazing miracles happening here in Brownsville! It's fun to be part of:)
Before you go on a mission they don't really tell you that your going to fall in love with the people you serve and they don't tell you the amazing friendships you'll make with companions and they don't tell you that you will have so much love for the people you teach and they don't tell you that it will be so hard to leave all of that, all the sudden. Transfers are not for another 4 weeks but that is what I have learned on my mission, it's all about love.
If you remember about 2 months ago...we taught Devon and chandler randomly one night at Randy's cafe under there cover area in the rain! Devon's best friends are Seth and Jo two young men in the branch. They are the ages between 15-16. He has randomly always come to church with them and they handed him a Book of Mormon one day at church. We were finally able to have a second lesson with him yesterday after he came to church! Church was amazing by the way but that will be a little later. So we went over to the Seth's and there were no girls there...Seth is the only boy out of 6 girls...so Devon Jo and seth brought 4 chairs out on the lawn, the weather was beautiful and we had a lesson! We just got to know him better and made sure to ask Seth and Jo questions so Devon could hear there testimonies..at the same time I know we are helping these young men come closer to Christ because they are still trying to figure out there way in this world. The spirit was soo strong and it is all Devon wanting to sincerely learn. We testified about heavenly fathers love for him and how much he desires his happiness and how much the gospel will bless his life. He comes from a tough background father who has been in jail and a mom who is on drugs. It's so cool to see the desire he has and the difference he sees in his friends family because he is always staying over at there homes. His family lives in Lebanon but he goes to school at central linn in Halsey which is part of our area so for now we get the privilege of teaching him and seeing how far he goes with all of this! I know that Devon's conversion will help his friends who are still developing there testimonies of Jesus Christ and his gospel!
 Charles Thompson is doing really well, been coming to church every week reading and praying! Still working on the desire to quit smoking he knows it is something that god wants him to do! We might be going to the ARP meetings with him and bro Evans who actually used to teach them! You can tell he his happy the more and more he learns.
This week we taught seminary....early morning seminary..so we got up at 5 ish and were there by 6 and class started at 630! Props to early morning seminary students. So grateful for release time seminary! Brownsville seminary is a way different experience. Biggest class was on Monday of about 7 kids and smallest was about 3 kids. It was fun to teach them and the Manual makes it super easy! We studied Ether and Moroni. We picked chandlyr up two of the mornings she decided to come and she had not been there for about 2 months. She bore her testimony of the difference of her days when she comes to seminary!:) she is Olivia's daughter.
Went on exchange this week with sis thelin! It was amazingly fun. We got to teach Charles together. Did some service that made both of our allergies go bonkers so guess what? my allergies have been super bad! Apparently they go away after July 4th..that's too long to wait! Ahh I have been sneezing up a storm..the willamette valley is the grass seed capital of the world.
Had zone conference this week and
learned a lot from that, lots of revelation for our area. President and sis Samuelian also came to speak in our branch and it was magical! The branch loved them! I'm so thankful for them.
There have been a lot more miracles that have taken place this week, but that is all I have time for! I love you all and hope that your doing well! I love the gospel I know it's true, I love The Lord with all of my heart!

Heya!
I know I didn't send a email last week or the week before or week
before! I did write one and then somehow it got deleted in the drafts!
So I'm going to endure to the end and write an email to my loves! :)
To explain my subject...we were at the branch presidents home for
dinner and there little girl alyse said the prayer and she blessed
that the missionaries would go on missions after I said "but alyse we
are on missions!" she replied "this isn't a mission..this is dinner!!"
It was the most precious thing ever! I love there family so much. She
is the one on the left! Ella on the right!

Hey familia!

We taught shawna, we taught Chuck Thompson, had lunch with Kathy Norris and
found out she has never read the Book of Mormon, all of those were wonderful
lessons and very spirit lead! We mowed a lawn for the first time for Diana (7th
day Adventist) talked to her about the book of Mormon and cleared up some things
about it not being our bible, which was really interesting that she thought that
and I know a lot of other people do too! Hmm gotta fix that, assisted Elliot in
giving Olivia a small surprise birthday party, Seth hoyer and Jo hovey (young
men in the branch) there friend Devon came to church and told them he wanted the
second missionary lesson. He is the one that we taught like 4 weeks ago and
seemed interested. Ate dinner in sweet home with David Griffith and his sweet
wife Shirley(catholic), ate dinner at kirks ferry with Gina and Kathy and waited
1hr and 30mim for our food it's okay cause they are both less active so we are
working with them, cleaned out a garage and squished like 10 black widows. On
May 1st is national day of prayer and the town of Brownsville is getting
together at at 6pm to 615 pm and praying. Put on by the Assembly of God church
pastor and we have been invited which is a huge step for this town! Had dinner
with the Glenn family tonight and taught about the gospel of Jesus Christ with
stepping stones...we love this family so much along with everyone else. We have
done a lot of service for people not of our faith and have been able to serve at
the schools which we have gotten special permission for because we have been
working with some potential investigators of the church! Church was
wonderful..learned so much! It is my testimony that I know that personal study
and prayer are essential to life and that they make life and trials that come
our way so much easier make sure we are doing the basics!!!

Love sister heywood!

Hey family, 
 
>  It's been a wonderful week! I didn't leave myself enough time to 
> email cause I thought a nap sounded like a better idea. Since I'm the 
> queen of naps I figured I should get one for the maybe 3rd time on my 
> mission. 
>  We were able to teach chuck again and got through half of the plan 
> of salvation and we started off with singing "I lived in heaven" the 
> primary song! The idea came when I got a package from my grandma Julie 
> and uncle Timmy the day of and there was the sheet music of that song 
> inside! The sprit was strong and there were tears from the members. 
> It's really cool to teach chuck and help him understand what Christ 
> did for him, that he is important and loved!! We have been focusing on 
> his faith in Christ and his atonement. It was cool cause we drew out a 
> little map of the plan for him and he couldn't see it so he got up and 
> sat closer and stayed there and made eye contact with us as we bore 
> testimony. I told him he would see his wife again and I started to cry 
> and it was something I haven't felt in awhile like I couldn't help but 
> cry and the members also and then as I looked at chuck he had tears in 
> his eyes. 
> We did a lot of fun service for the community this week like helping 
> the schools plant flowers and pour bark dust. It's fun to be on your 
> hands and knees in the rain. I felt one with the earth haha. We also 
> helped his organization called American legion who is in charge of the 
> huge Easter egg hunt in the park and we helped hide all of those! 
> Church was amazing we sang with some of the young women "come unto 
> Christ" and the talks by bro and sis Meyr and there son Oliver who is 
> like 6'7'' did an amazing job! It was like sitting in conference. Then 
> dinner at the Ashcrafts and they got us a Easter basket full of 
> yummies. I'm so over candy. That will probably change soon. I loved 
> this Easter season and I pray that we will continue to remember our 
> savior! I'm sure you have all seen the Easter video "because of him" 
> if not go look it up, it's really amazing and I love love the music in 
> it. I get the chills every time and trust me we have used it a lot. I 
> love the gospel and know it's true. "We are not perfect the people 
> around us are not perfect" -uchtdorf 

 

Heyy sup peeps!
>
> This is an update from Wednesday! We were able to teach chuck at the
> Evans home and it went really well! We are meeting again this week and
> he came to church..I know that he will be baptized he is very humble
> and kinda timid. You can tell he was nervous he came an hr. early and
> he seemed anxious. He is so sweet and Merlin Evans is such a great
> friend to him! We were asked to give talks for Sunday on the atonement
> and it went really well I was the last speaker and had maybe 5 min
> (kinda like my farewell talk) except I completely changed what I was
> going to share I prepared a lot and didn't get to share it and it's ok
> because I was doing what Heavenly Father told me to do even though it
> wasn't easy! I'm thankful for my mission and how it has helped me to
> understand what our savior did for each and everyone a little bit
> more. We had a lot of LA coming back to church..which is very
> exciting. Lots of service this week and we are doing a lot of finding
> and inviting! I know that there are people here in Brownsville being
> prepared by Heavenly Father. Today while we were getting our oil
> changed in Lebanon we gave the two guys waiting on us a Book of Mormon
> and Mormon.org card! They were super nice and used to the missionaries
> coming through. He saw me reading an email and asked what it was and I
> told him about my beautiful sister and her role in the Easter pageant
> and her testimony of the savior and how her emotions come out as she
> dances for Him! I love the gospel and for this Easter season to
> reflect even more on our brother Jesus Christ and his atoning
> sacrifice and resurrection. This is the good news! Share your love for
> the Savior with others. Happy happy Easter week! Love you all!