tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47943527712712824062024-03-12T17:11:22.921-07:00Sister Swenson spreads the word to California!Sister Sophie Swenson has been called to serve in the California San Fernando mission! She reports July 1st 2015 and will return home January of 2017!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.comBlogger24125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-76598606095980079392015-12-03T10:54:00.002-08:002015-12-04T23:06:01.216-08:00Thank you- November 9, 2014 <div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.5pt;">Thank you for this letter! I truly feel like coming home is
what I need to do to. When I had my interview with President Henrie I just
explained how I felt and he just randomly said Sister</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"> Swenson </span><span style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.5pt;">I think
you need to go home and in that moment a feeling of overwhelming peace came
over me that I have never felt before all day I felt so great and I have not
felt that great until the day before I came out on my mission! I truly believe
that I have other things to do at home and it will be really hard for me to
leave I have been crying non stop for a day! I love these people so much and I
love the missionaries so so much! I really don't want to leave I wish I could
just stick it out but I guess I should probably follow the counsel President Henrie
gave me haha :) I'm so excited to see you and be able to be home for the
holidays oh yeah and to feel like a NORMAL person again! I'm proud of myself
for the things I have done here and for all the amazing experiences I have had
that have shaped my life and made me into a better person! President Henrie
told me that sometimes missions are 4 months, 6 months or 18 months but the
lord is proud of you valiant work and he knows that you learned what you needed
to! And he said that I am always welcome to come back when I feel better :)
haha so ill have that as a goal but who knows what way life will take me :) I'm
excited to see you again and I think ill be home Wednesday! I love you so so
much and thank you for being so supportive! I was really scared but this just
confirmed to me that I am making the right choice! I love you so much and I'm
so excited to see Baby James and Kynlee Mae!! :) And oh I will I will, sister Hoffman
is a true angel that was sent from heaven to help me over these last 4
months!!! We will be friends forever!!! She is truly the greatest person
ever!!! :) I love you and ill see you Wednesday! I think President Henries will
be calling you soon! I think I might be calling you as well, will see anyways
have a wonderful day love you!!</span><span style="font-family: "times"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-30063276848218944112015-12-03T10:49:00.001-08:002015-12-04T23:06:08.985-08:00We Love You- November 8, 2015<div class="MsoNormal">
Dear Sophie</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We received the phone call from President Quesenberry
explaining that you are coming home.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We wished your mission would have worked out the way you planned but
life is like that most of the time. We know you gave it your all! We know you
tried everything you possibly could and we did too. We fasted and prayed almost
every week, put your name on the prayer rolls of the temple and tried all the
things our minds could think of to help you and prayed that if it was the Lords
will that you could serve the full 18 months.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We put it in His hands and know there must be a reason for
all that you've had to go through. Sometimes it doesn't seem fair that things
don't work out like we want but the Lord has a plan for each of us.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
You have served and honorable mission and given it all your
heart, might, mind, and strength. He can't ask for more than that and neither
can we. We are so very proud of you and how you stuck it out for almost 5
months with many trials. We know you have learned many good things and habits
that will help you in your life and that your testimony has grown so much. We
know that you touched many lives while you served your mission. We have all
been blessed by your service to God and His children.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We love you so very much and look forward with great
anticipation to your return and getting you feeling better. We hope you will
never feel like you have failed because you couldn't serve the whole time. We
know this will be hard for you to leave but this is the Lords will. I truly
believe it. We can't worry about what others may think. You are being released
because of a real illness just as if some one had cancer or a broken leg and we
are anxious to get you feeling normal again. We have been so worried about you
and it is a relief to know we can help you now at home.</div>
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The Lord knows your heart and is mindful of all your trials.
He knew how much courage and faith you showed by being willing to serve. You
had 2 baptisms in your short time and that's more than many who stay out the
full time. You are being released with an honorable release and we are thrilled
as your parents for your obedience and perseverance. We will be waiting with
open arms of love for you. Kynlee said the other day, I miss my Aunt Sophie!!!!
We all have! We hope that you can move forward and continue in life with all
your hopes and dreams. The holidays are here and we will have you back with us
all together again. Please give Sister Hoffman our love and all the others who
have been so kind and helpful. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All my love, Mommy </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo I can't
wait to give you a real hug!</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-71064008535258614062015-11-18T17:49:00.003-08:002015-11-18T17:49:41.967-08:00Comin' Home<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well the one thing i know with a-surety is that heavenly father knows his children perfectly and he knows exactly what they need! :) This week i have had some pretty big decisions i have had to make and i know that heavenly father was right by my side through it all! as all of you probably all know i have been struggling everyday with depression and anxiety something i have never experienced until my mission! on friday i had an interview with President Henrie and he told me he has been praying for me each day and feels like i need to go home! when he said that i have never felt so much peace in my life! i know that this is what heavenly father needs me to do, so i will do it! I don't want to leave this place one bit but i have to trust that heavenly fathers plan for me is what will be best! This is probably the hardest thing i have ever done but i know i can do all things through christ and his atonement! President henrie told me that sometimes the missions heavenly father has planned for us are shorter than we've anticipated they can last 4 months or 6 months or 18 months! I know i gave it my best each and everyday and tried everything to stay out but sometimes thats just not what the lord has planned for us! This mission has changed my life completely and i am so so grateful for the things i have been able to experience and go through! I am truly a changed person because of it! :) These people have changed my lives and i will never forget them! I love the gospel of jesus christ so so much and i know it is absolutely true without a doubt! that is something i have learned on my mission is that this church is truly the church christ has set up on the earth! Heavenly Father is in our everyday lives and loves us so so so much! love you all so much! and I'm excited/ really nervous and scared for this new journey ahead of me! </span><br />
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
a really cool miracle that happened this week was that me and sister hoffman had 10 extra minutes so we wanted to make the most of them and so we prayed and asked heavenly father that we wanted to find someone we could teach and so we felt inspired to knock on this certain house and they welcomed us in and we taught the restoration! this man had a broken leg and so he has plenty of time to read the Book of Mormon! We said a prayer after and he said he felt so good and happy inside! we get to teach him on tuesday so i am real excited!!! :) Heavenly Father answers prayers!!! </div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Well again i am so grateful for this time i was able to be a missionary and to experience many different things that have shaped my life and helped me become a better person! "I have fought a good fight i have finished my course, i have kept the faith." i did my absolute best and I'm so grateful for all your prayers! i love you all so so much! :)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-68556231951320226862015-11-02T17:22:00.001-08:002015-11-02T17:22:55.605-08:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Well i hope you all had a happy Halloween! :) </span><br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This week not a lot happened...</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1574469331" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On monday</span></span> we carved pumpkins with our zone which was really fun! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Then on tuesday we had a lesson with one of our investigators named luke! we went over to his house and his friend answered the door and was like awe sorry luke isn't here right now, and so we were all disappointed and sad, but then out of the corner of my eye i saw him running down the side walk with his violin waving us down to stop haha He is great and has so many great questions! :) hopefully we will get to teach him this up coming week, he's really busy with school and stuff so its hard to teach him! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1574469332" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Wednesday</span></span> we had service and i just scooped up a bunch of horse poop the whole time so I'm pretty much pro now :) haha </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
On Halloween we knocked doors which was interesting.. people didn't know if we were trick or treaters or really missionaries haha we got candy though so that was fun and we also got to help some people put up their halloween decorations :) After we got to have a dinner with our zone and watch the Joseph smith movie! :) It was great! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
This week i read such a wonderful talk/ letter called "The ricciardi letter" by danny humphreys you all should read it! If we have faith in god and in his promises we can truly do anything :) In the talk it just talks about how the field is white and already to harvest, its not yellow and ready to be watered or its not brown and ready to be planted! it is white and there are people that are ready to truly make covenants with god! I believe this, we just have to work hard to find them :) </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I started to read the book of mormon again and i just love first nephi so much! his obedience to gods commandments is incredible and he has so much faith! if we keep gods commandments we will prosper in the land! :) i know this to be true, if we give our best daily effort he will bless us with all that he has! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
I also studied a lot about charity and love! love is the essence of the gospel! when we love god you'll want to serve him and help others around you, and want to keep his commandments! :) i love in 1 peter 4:8 charity can truly prevent a multitude of sin! when we have charity everything else just falls into place :) Charity is everything! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
well i love you all, and i hope you are all doing well! </div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
Love,</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">
your favorite daughter Sophie :) </div>
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<br /></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what fall looks like in California.... hahah. </td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-83755863863860418222015-10-26T12:30:00.001-07:002015-10-26T12:30:29.576-07:00<blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;" type="cite">
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Hello Family,<div>
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We are truly blessed to have the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives! I cannot thank my heavenly father enough for blessing me with it! This week i learned a lot about Grace and Gods love for us! I was thinking a lot about why God lets us go through hard things, and if he is a God of love why does he make us suffer through things... As i was pondering this question i started to think about a track coach and how they make you run a lot and in the moment we are like oh my gosh why do they hate me so much and why are they making me run so many miles, why can't i just run 1 mile and call it good, that would really make me happy! but its truly because they love us so much that they make us run a lot of miles, they want us to become better, they see our potential and they see that running those miles can help us win that race! I was thinking also about teachers and the teachers i had in the past that made me study hard and gave me a lot of homework, i would get angry and be like uhh why and didn't really see the importance but now looking back i am grateful for them because i was actually able to learn something and it has come in useful, but with the teachers that let us do whatever and goof off i loved them in the moment and thought it was great but i realized that i didn't learn one thing from them... We can relate this to our heavenly father and how he makes us go through things so that we can earn experience and grow! He makes us go through hard things because he loves us! we would never be able to become like him if we weren't able to experience the blessings of the atonement and we would never turn to him if we didn't experience hard times! sorry if that doesn't make to much sense but it sounded a lot better in my head haha :)</div>
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Anyways I'm just really grateful for the challenges that i face because i know it is helping me become a better person and making me more fit to live in gods kingdom again someday :) Also as i was pondering my scripture for this week 2 nephi 31:20 about persevering and enduring to the end i came across this talk by Kevin W. Pearson, called "Stay by the tree" it talks about how enduring to the end is essential to life! it says "Once we enter into covenants with god, there is no going back, giving in, giving up, and giving out are not options." i love that so much! We have covenanted that we would endure trials, that we would stay true to his commandments and try our best each day to give our all and do our best! And as we give our all each day we increase our faith! :) </div>
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This week was pretty good! we found 5 new investigators! We meet a hindu family at knock out that invited us in and we were able to teach them about the restoration. they invited us to their prayer room to pray with them, which was really cool! They like veiled our faces and everything haha it was interesting but a cool experience :) </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1701260115" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on wednesday</span></span> we had zone conference! it was 9 hours long... but it was really good! we learned a lot about increasing our faith and the importance of working with members :) I can't wait to be home so i can be a better member for the missionaries! i wish i would have been more involved in referring my non member friends and teaching them more about the gospel and inviting them to activities!</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1701260116" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Thursday</span></span> we were teaching one of our new investigators and we were trying so hard to find a member to be there at their lesson and we couldn't find one so we just showed up to this persons house to teach them and there was no girl there so we had to have it outside and while we were teaching a member just walked by and was like hey can i join you, it was so crazy! the lord is truly in the details of our lives and is so aware of our needs and will just work everything out if we do our best! :) </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1701260117" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Sunday</span></span> kenny was confirmed! its truly amazing seeing the light just come into their lives! :) </div>
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well i hope you are all doing well! :) have a wonderful week! and have a Happy Halloween :)</div>
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Love you!!!!</div>
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Sister swenson!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I can't wait til Halloween is over, people get WAY into here, and it's creepy!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Brazilian friend, who made us Brazilian food. I think I gained 20 pounds..</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thanks for the Halloween package mom! </td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-65981815171004035592015-10-19T16:33:00.001-07:002015-10-19T16:33:48.460-07:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Hello familia,</span><br />
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This week was soo awesome!! :) I was able to go to the temple with one of our recent converts in the ward named Zach! he is so awesome! And being in the temple was so amazing! Just sitting in the celestial room you really feel like you're truly at home! i love the peace the temple brings! :) on our way home from the temple we drove down with a member and she got pulled over because her tail light was out and so there was 6 missionaries in the car so we decided to teach the police about the restoration of the gospel and gave him a pamphlet and our number haha it was so funny! welcome to the life of a missionary, its the greatest!</div>
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We met with Kenny a lot this week to teach him all the lessons he needed to have before his baptism and i have never seen anyone so ready to be baptized! He keeps every commitment we extend to him and is so willing to keep it because he truly wants to follow christ! :)</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_200551479" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Sunday</span></span> Kenny got baptized!!! oh man the spirit was so strong there! i love baptisms so much! they make the hard work worth it for sure! Jeff ( the one that just got baptized) gave a talk at kennys baptism and it was so awesome! its so cool to see them grow in the gospel in such a short amount of time! After the baptism i was talking with president Henrie and kenny came running right in between us and was like sister swenson and just gave me this huge hug.... haha oh man it was so awkward! haha i didn't know what to do so i just embraced it haha :) My favorite thing about baptisms is their testimony they give after! Kenny gave such a wonderful testimony and just talked about how clean and pure he felt! you could truly see the light shinning from him last night as he was baptized, I'm so grateful i was able to teach him and learn from his example! :)</div>
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This week i studied a lot about our baptismal covenants! i was reading the talk by President Eyring on the comforter! "You are a covenant member of the Church of Jesus Christ. a great change began in your heart when you came into to the church. you made a covenant and you received a promise that began changing your very nature." Its so cool to look at the members of this church and really see people being true to the covenants they have made to be there for others and mourn with those and give comfort to those! "Yea, and are willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those who stand in need of comfort and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things and in all places." That is why we have a feeling to want to help others that are struggling and going through trials in their lives! we promised that we would help the lord make others burdens light and that we would comfort them when they are sad! we were truly given the power from god to help lighten these loads of the people around us! :) I'm so grateful for the gift of the holy ghost and how i can truly feel the comfort it gives us! we are truly blessed to have this gospel in our lives! :) </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-47412351659920938922015-10-12T13:08:00.001-07:002015-10-12T13:08:09.967-07:00Week of Miracles!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This week was one crazy week of up and downs and miracles and blessings! :)</span><br />
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I just want to let everyone know how aware our heavenly father is of our needs and how he is truly with us every step of the way! he really does love us and wants us to be happy! i am so grateful that i have this knowledge :) </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2070754707" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Tuesday</span></span> we were able to see many miracles happen! the day started out really rough and i just wanted to give up...but right before we give up heavenly father sends us a miracle and boy did he bless me and sister hoffman! So <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2070754708" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tuesday</span></span>afternoon we were knocking on doors and we met a young man who's family is all mormons but he has never been baptized and we asked him if he would be interested in learning more and coming to church! He said he would love to come and start learning more and taking lessons! Next miracle of the day was that we were able to move in with our favorite sister missionaries Sister Morris and Sister Groberg! This transfer we got a extra set of missionaries in the YSA ward because there is so much work going on me and sister Hoffman weren't able to handle it by ourselves so we will now be working in the valenica stake which we are really excited about :) its going to be so great to just focus our attention on one side of the valley! Third miracle of the day was, we were having a lesson with our investigator Kenny we have been teaching for 2 weeks and we were teaching him about baptism, and he asked us if he could get baptized this <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2070754709" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">coming saturday</span></span>! It was such an amazing experience and the spirit was so strong! :) Kenny is such an incredible person! His testimony is so strong and he is so excited to follow the savior by being baptized! :) </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2070754710" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Wednesday</span></span> we went over to the other YSA sisters to help them know which people they need to focus on and give them all the address's and stuff and as we were talking we kind of got off topic and were just talking about food and they were saying oh yeah we went to the grocery store and we totally forgot to get eggs and milk and vegetables and seriously 2 seconds later a random lady called their phone and was like hey sisters we have two huge boxes of food with like milk, eggs, and vegetables would you like it.... IT WAS SO CRAZY! hahah we were just in shock! Its seriously sooooo crazy how aware our heavenly father is of our lives! He just takes care of us! :) </div>
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Then <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2070754711" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on thursday</span></span> i lost my planner and i couldn't find it anywhere! i searched my bag like three times and it wasn't there and i was trying to look for it everywhere and me and sister hoffman need to start planning our day so i looked one more time in my bag and there it was just magically sitting on the top! I love Heavenly father so much! He truly does care about us and loves us so much! :)</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2070754712" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Friday</span></span> we had service at heart park... so we had to clean out the pigs pen which was "fun" haha not it was so gross! I was asked to distract the pig so it wouldn't bug the others as they were scooping up poop and all that fun stuff... Let me tell you pigs are not very cute... i had to sit there and pet its stomach and it had poop all over it and oh boy was it a fun experience haha all the missionaries were laughing at me...</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2070754713" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Saturday</span></span> we were able to go to the temple visitors center with Kenny and a couple girls from the ward! it was such an amazing experience! the spirit was so strong and Kenny is so excited to go through the temple one day! :) I LOVE being a missionary so much and seeing peoples lives change! </div>
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That night we got to set up a booth at the mall and pass out pass a long cards which was really fun :) Then we had dinner at macaroni grill with bishop and some people from the ward! I love this ward soo much! i never want to leave this place! Everyone is so great! :) </div>
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This week for my studies i read the ensign for this month and it was soo good! i loved the talk "My Walk With Him" she says: "We can talk of christ, but it is very different to walk with christ. we need to stay focused on Heavenly Father and the saviors love and ability to succor me. I had to believe that i do matter and that the lord can and will make up for all that i am lacking, only then could i truly turn my broken, fragile heart to him. i believe that he feels my pain and sorrow and is willing to mourn with me, to understand my deepest emotions and feeling of loss." </div>
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I know our Heavenly Father and our Savior are there for us! they are there 24/7! we just need to turn to them so we can receive comfort and help! they are just waiting for us to ask! We can truly overcome anything with their help and strength that they lend! I love this gospel so much and i know with all my heart that this is Christ's church that he set up here on the earth when he was here, and that he restored it through the Prophet Joseph smith! :) we are soo blessed to be living in the last dispensation and to have the gospel be apart of our lives!</div>
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love you all so much!</div>
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Love,<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us with some sisters from the YSA ward and Kenny at the Visitor's Center.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The LA Temple!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cbOrv0A56A8/VhwR_kpOxQI/AAAAAAAAASY/aC__YfLR2fI/s1600/unnamed-53.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-cbOrv0A56A8/VhwR_kpOxQI/AAAAAAAAASY/aC__YfLR2fI/s640/unnamed-53.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry mom and dad, the SASS is still within me... haha.</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-10932416800978306342015-10-06T10:14:00.000-07:002015-10-06T10:14:48.273-07:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Wasn't Conference AMAZING??? oh man i left so uplifted and wanting to become the person my Heavenly Father created me to be! :) I have a lot to work on thats for sure! I seriously loved every single talk! Elder Oaks, Lawerence, Nelson, and Durrant were probably my favorite! I can't wait to read them again, and really start to ponder and apply the things they said into my daily life! :) </span><br />
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I hope you all enjoyed conference as well! The scripture i am going to ponder this week is Matthew <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1487131445" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">21:22</span></span> so stay tune for next week to see what i learn ;) </div>
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Well this week was pretty good! The weather is starting to cool down thank the heavens! it got down into the 60's this weekend and rained :) it started to actually feel like fall! </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1487131446" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Tuesday</span></span> we had a huge mission service project which was so much fun! We went and put together 2000 care packages for the military :) <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1487131447" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Wednesday</span></span> we got to go back and teach the Chinese family we found last week! it was so cool, we had another missionary in the mission who speaks chinese translate for us and it was such a cool experience to be a part of! They seem pretty interested and we should be going back this week, to teach them more :) <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1487131448" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On wednesday</span></span> during knock out, we met a basher who just wanted to tell us everything we were saying was a lie and that we don't believe in jesus and our jesus is fake... but i actually have really come to like meeting bashers because i get the chance to truly testify of what i know to be true and get to just kill them with kindness :) Then <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1487131449" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span> we had another lesson with Kenny! We taught him the plan of salvation! He is definitely progressing and its so awesome to see him grow in the gospel and learn these truths for himself! :) He was able to come to conference and he loved it and told us that he received a lot of answers! <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1487131450" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday</span></span> we got our transfer calls and i am staying in YSA with Sister Hoffman!!!!! I AM THE HAPPIEST PERSON EVER!!! hahah i love her so much!! we have become the best of friends!!! and our district pretty much all stayed the same too! we have become a family out here, i love them all so much!! :) this transfer is going to be awesome! I'm really excited for the experiences we will have! The other day at knock out there was this salesman just coming out of a house and we were talking to him and he was like wow you two are just so happy people should really listen to you! :) i love the little tender mercies our heavenly father gives us to help us keep pushing on! </div>
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Well this week i was reading a talk called "Wilt thou be made whole? by elder timothy j. Dyches. I loved in his talk how he talks about "As we repent and become converted to the lord, we become whole, and our guilt is swept away. how is it done? because of thy faith in christ." he goes on to say "Be assured the savior still seeks to mend our souls and heal our hearts. he waits at the door and knocks!" His Grace is truly sufficient and you will not walk alone if you have the Savior Jesus Christ in your life! </div>
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We are truly so blessed to have this gospel in our lives, everyday i become more and more grateful for it! i am so happy that i don't have to feel lost in this crazy world we live in, but that i can know where i am going, why i am on this earth and where i will go after! I am grateful that i know that death really isn't the end, but its just the beginning of a life of everlasting happiness ahead! I am so grateful for trials and how they can mend us and shape us into the people our heavenly father wants us to be! :)</div>
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Have a great week! I love you all so much! :)</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Swenson</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Best of friends.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We like to put doggie poop bags on our heads!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mother and Daughter are staying together! </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dkLn8xkp1TA/VhQAJmB0-PI/AAAAAAAAAR4/qGqqkFUAZEs/s1600/IMG_0660.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dkLn8xkp1TA/VhQAJmB0-PI/AAAAAAAAAR4/qGqqkFUAZEs/s640/IMG_0660.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Squirrels are weird here... They do this all the time! haha. Cracks me up!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-31858702154793160252015-09-28T20:26:00.001-07:002015-09-28T20:26:23.950-07:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This week was AWESOME!!! </span><br />
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Me and Sister Hoffman found 6 new investigators! It was such a blessing! :)</div>
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It was the coolest thing ever, so we were knocking doors and we knocked on this chineses families door and told them we were representatives of Jesus Christ and they were like uhh who is Jesus Christ... and so we explained to them who he was, and come to find out they just moved to the U.S. 2 months ago from China! So we started talking to them about Christ and God and they invited us in and we told them about the plan of salvation! it was the coolest experience ever, to see someone learn about god for the first time! :) They all prayed for the first time and it was so beautiful to watch! We asked their son Eric how he felt after he prayed and he said he felt like his heart was warm :) We will be teaching them again <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_163778855" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on tuesday</span></span>! :) im sooo excited!! </div>
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Then <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_163778856" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span> me and sister Groberg went on exchanges! shes so awesome! So she is in the Saugus Third ward, and Napoleon Dynamite just moved into their ward so i told her that for knock out i wanted to knock around his area so i could meet him. so we went and knocked on his door and his wife answered so we asked if we could get a drink of water and she invited us in, YES i went into NAPOLEON DYNAMITES house, No Big Deal! haha but i didnt get to meet him YET because he was as the swimming pool with his kids! later that day during knock out we met a guy named hunter and we were telling him who we were and we asked if we could share a message with him and he was like yeah i would love that! its always so surprising in those moments when they say yes because we always get so caught off guard that someone said yes and didnt reject us haha but we taught him the restoration and should be going back to teach him again! :) </div>
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Then <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_163778857" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on sunday</span></span> Two of our investigators came to church which was a miracle! their names are Kenny and Ryan! We just started teaching Kenny he is awesome! He had been researching the church before and one day he called the bishops office and someone just happened to be there and answered the phone and kenny was like can i start meeting with missionaries to learn more about your church, so now we are teaching him and he is so great! He already wants to serve a mission! </div>
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well this week i really felt like a true missionary! we were knocking doors and this guy opened the door naked i just turned right around and started running haha people are soo crazy, i dont understand why they think thats a good idea to do that! haha oh well it makes missionary work a little more interesting thats for sure :)</div>
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I love being a missionary its been quite the experience! </div>
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Well this week i have been studying the song "Consider the lilies" thanks to eli for sending me a super good article on it! but anyways i love the verse that says "The pains of all of the pains of all of them he carried from the day of his birth. he clothes the lilies of the field, he feeds the lambs in his fold, and he will heal those who trust him, and make their hearts as gold." He truly is there with us every step of the way and is helping carrying our burdens! i was reading the talk by President Thomas S. Monson "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." we quotes the poem "good timber does not grow with ease, the stronger wind, the stronger trees. The further sky, the greater length. the more the storm, the more the strength. by sun and cold, by rain and snow in trees and men good timbers grown" i love this so much, as we go through the trials life throws at us we can truly become strengthened by them! he goes on to say "Only the Master knows the depths of our trials, our pain, and our suffering. he alone offers us eternal peace in times of adversity. he alone touches our tortured souls with his comforting words." "Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, he is with us. He has promised that this will never change." I have such a strong testimony that he really is with us! He wants us to be happy and so he is there to comfort us when we are sad and lifts us up when we are burdened! "He loves each of us, that love never changes, it is not influenced by your appearance, by your possessions, or by the amount of money you have in your bank account. it is simply there. it is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. its there if you feel like you deserve it or not. we will understand that we never walk alone. i promise one day you will look at your difficult times, and you will realize that he was always there beside you." I am so grateful for a prophet who leads and guides our church and for the revelation he receives for us here on earth! :) It has been such an amazing experience to run house to house and invite people to come listen to a prophets voice! we truly take it for granted that we have a prophet that is a true mouth piece of our Heavenly Father! </div>
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I love the story in Matther 14:17-36 </div>
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Im sure Jesus just wanted to be alone but he told the multitude to stay and then he went and saved his apostles that were fearing the storm. I just want to be so selfless like the Savior was! To turn outward and not care about what i want but how i could best help someone else!<br />Well i am soooooo excited for General Conference!! its like the Super Bowl for missionaries haha! i hope you all are doing well! Thanks again for all your prayers and support! you guys are the best and i love you all soo much!! :)</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Swenson<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rP_doSnr10/VgoD_O2JAoI/AAAAAAAAAQk/cGD3SffNFL0/s1600/unnamed-50.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/--rP_doSnr10/VgoD_O2JAoI/AAAAAAAAAQk/cGD3SffNFL0/s640/unnamed-50.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm the queen of the apartment!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sister Groberg and I at Napoleon Dynamite's house, No big deal..</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sister Morris and I on exchanges. Love her so much!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-10333959157835146142015-09-21T13:16:00.001-07:002015-09-21T13:16:57.236-07:00<blockquote style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" type="cite">
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Hello Family!!! </div>
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I hope you all had a wonderful week! :) </div>
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This week was a growing week for sure, I have had a lot of health problems like many of you may have heard since I have been out on my mission, and ive been wondering why I have to go through this and why cant I just be a normal missionary... but the lord likes us to learn and grow and stretch! It was really cool, I was sitting in church the other week pondering on why I was going through these things and what Heavenly Father wanted me to learn through it all... and I had this overwhelming feeling that I am going through these things/struggles so I can be able to help others cope with it later on in the future and with companions I will have! I know there is a reason why we go through everything, we may not realize why we have to at the moment but heavenly father has a reason behind everything! :) I love the talk by Elder Holland- "Like a Broken Vessel" it has helped me so much on my mission! Depression and Anxiety are such real things and so common now days! It says "Never lose faith in your Heavenly Father who loves you more than you can comprehend." "That love never changes. it is there for you when you are sad or happy, discouraged or hopeful. gods love is there for you whether or not you feel you deserve it. it is simply always there." "If the bitter cup does not pass, drink it and be strong, trusting in happier days ahead." "Like a broken vessel that vessel is in the hands of the divine potter. broken minds can be healed just the way broken bones and broken hearts are healed." This talk Is so amazing! I Know that Heavenly Father can help us overcome every challenge we face as long as we have faith that he can! All he asks of us is to do our best each day! :) I know the gospel can heal everyone if we will let it! The gospel is so amazing and I love it more each and everyday! </div>
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This week I have been studying more about faith! I was reading in Matthew 9:28-29 and it says half way down "Believe ye that I am able to do this? they said unto him, yea lord." "According to your faith be it unto you." Our Heavenly Father has given us so many blessings and we can receive those blessings if we have enough faith that we know we will receive them! I think that it is so cool in that verse how it says according to your faith be it unto you! its so true he blesses us and say well okay now its up to you to believe if it will really happen! :) I am so grateful for this gospel! and for my savior jesus Christ! He is always there for us and knows every pain and discomfort we feel! </div>
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Well <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1878173049" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Wednesday</span></span> we went to service and we do service at a Animal place and after service the lady that runs it told us we could go feed the deer with her! so I was able to feed a real life deer, I was in the cage and everything with it! it was so cool! :) I will send a picture next week! :) The work has been really slow the last couple of week, we haven't found any investigators and we aren't teaching anyone... but we did meet a potential investigator this week during knock out which was a blessing! He seems pretty interested so we will be setting up an appointment with him this coming week! :) We have been working with a lot of recent converts and less actives, which is fun! we have been able to bring back 3 people! I love seeing people come back to church and really seeing the light come back into their lives! It has been so cool to see Alexis coming each week and having greater strength to resist temptation! He has been reading 3 chapters a day in the book of Mormon and is preparing himself to take the sacrament again! :) The work is truly so great! I love being a missionary even though it is the hardest thing I have ever done, it is so worth every slammed door in my face, every hard day I have had, and every little moment of homesickness to see people come and change their lives to experience complete happiness! :) </div>
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I Hope you all have a great week! thanks for all your prayers and support! I truly have the best family and friends anyone could ever have!! :) </div>
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I love you all! xoxo</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Swenson<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-10293303989480446002015-09-16T11:28:00.000-07:002015-09-16T11:28:12.936-07:00RAIN!!!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well this week i learned a lot and saw a lot of miracles happen!! :) </span><br />
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This week in my studies i have learned so much about trusting in the lord and having peace through trials we face! i love the hymn where can i turn for peace! It has become one of my favorites on my mission! "Who, Who can understand? he only one! he answers privately, reaches my reaching. in my gethsemane, savior and friend. gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching. constant he is and kind, love without end." Our savior Jesus Christ is the one who truly understands us! He is with us each and everyday! he really does reach our reaching! I think the reason i really needed to come on a mission was so that i could learn to really gain more trust in my heavenly father and savior! i have had to rely on them each and everyday to face my fears and to find comfort as i am away from home :) I know that as we do our part and do everything that we can to be the best and be obedient that our savior will take care of the rest and help us! </div>
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I also love the hymn "does the Journey seem long?" i love the line "There is one who still beckons to you, look up and grab hold of his hand." The Gospel is truly so simple. All we have to do is turn to our savior and be obedient, and we will be blessed! yeah there will be trials that come along our way but thats just apart of life. the Gospel can give you comfort through those times! </div>
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I was reading a really good talk by Dallan R. Moody, called "What happens when life gets 1 degree colder" i encourage you all to read it! it is so awesome!!! :)</div>
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Well anyways this week was really awesome!!! </div>
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IT RAINED!!! funny story! so the night before it rained i prayed for rain, and i woke up and there were no clouds to be found in the sky and it made me a little sad but i didn't loose hope. so i packed my rain coat and umbrella just to show my faith that it would rain haha and sister hoffman was like uhh sister swenson why are you bringing your rain coat and i was like its going to rain! and she was like uhh okay whatever you say :) and then the clouds started to roll in and IT RAINED!!! Heavenly Father answers prayers everyone!!! :) it was a miracle!!! </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_599620922" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span> during knock out we found so many potential investigators, it was awesome!! :) I'm so excited to start teaching them! :) They all seem really interested and have a desire to learn more! so hopefully it all goes well!</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_599620923" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On saturday</span></span> sister hoffman had the feeling we should go over to our neighbors house and ask her if we could help her clean her house! so we did! our neighbor has been going through a lot her husband has been gone for a while visiting family in mexico and we could just tell she had been really stressed lately, with trying to take care of her daughter and go to work, so we went over and asked her if we could help her clean! she said we could and she had piles and piles of dishes and poop from there cats all over, it was really gross but it felt good to help someone out and to get to know our neighbor better :) she was telling us that she had been praying before we came for help to make it through the day! its so cool to be an answer to someones prayer! God is so aware of our lives and wants to help us, so he sends people to help ease our burdens! She was so sweet, after we got done cleaning she took us out to lunch! people are so kind out here and really follow christ example even if they aren't members of our church! :) </div>
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Well i hope you all have a fabulous week! i love you all so much! thanks for all your prayers and support! talk to you next week! :)</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Swenson</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jamie, a recent convert in our area. She's so great!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RAIN!!! Miracles do happen! </td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-49418108902530169082015-09-08T14:10:00.004-07:002015-09-08T14:10:51.019-07:00<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Hello Family and Friends,</div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">well not much has happened this week! its been kind of slow, we don't have any progressing investigators so thats sad! :/ This week we will find some though :) Yesterday we had dinner with Jeff and his brother and Sister in law that want to start taking the discussions so that was awesome!! :) They are seriously so great and so kind to us!! </span><br />
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This week in my personal studies i have been studying about faith and i was reading in Mark 4:38-41, "and he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?" "And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, peace, be still. and the wind ceased, and there was a great calm." " and he said unto them, why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?" i love this scripture so much because at least for me sometimes i feel like heavenly father hello do you not care that I'm freaking out right now and scared out of my mind but then he says now now sophie why are ye so fearful and I'm like oh yeah i have heavenly father on my side and he can help me through everything! :) i love the scriptures so much, i wish i could just read them all day! :) i know that when we make God a bigger part of our lives our problems will become smaller :)</div>
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Also today i was reading in the bible dictionary under the word sheep and it says "Shepherds still, as of old, go before the sheep, and the sheep follow, being apparently more or less attached to their masters, whose voice they instantly recognize" i love how at the end it says whose voice they instantly recognize! its true we can truly always recognize the sweet calm peace we receive or the voice of the prophets as his voice! </div>
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This week when we were knocking doors we ran into a lot of Jehovah witnesses, and this one particular lady was getting all up in our face about how the book of mormon is false and how it only talks about joseph smith and so i said oh no the book of mormon is only about jesus christ, have you read it before? and she was like yeah i have and it only talks about joseph smith... i was like well thats weird because the book of mormon i read only talks about Jesus Christ! haha i wish people would just really find out for themselves! the book of mormon is truly from god and only speaks of christ! I know that we can find greater happiness by reading it! i know because i have seen it in my life! :) </div>
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Im so excited for general conference, i cannot wait to listen to a prophet of God!! only a couple of weeks!!! YAY! </div>
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Well i love you all so much, sorry it was kind of a boring email! but i hope you all had a great week! thanks for all your prayers and emails! Talk to you next week :)</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sista Swenson</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-74830384547662456482015-09-02T16:41:00.002-07:002015-09-02T16:41:55.019-07:001st Baptism!!!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Well if you're into adventure, go on a mission.. each and everyday is a new adventure haha thats all i can say about this week. it was one big adventure! :) </span><br />
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_24875220" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On tuesday</span></span> we said goodbye to all the missionaries that went home! it was heart breaking haha i didnt like it! its crazy how just in 6 weeks people can become such a huge part of your life! :) </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_24875221" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Wednesday</span></span> was quite a day! Jeff called us at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_24875222" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">3:00</span></span> and asked if he could get baptized that night at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_24875223" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">8:00</span></span>, me and sister hoffman looked at each other in panic and were like i guess so haha we both have never done a baptism before and we planned it in 3 hours! it was so crazy! we called the whole ward and invited them so he could have a ton of support and then we got our talks ready and went and filled up the font! talk about one crazy day! then we had jeffs baptism! its was the most beautiful thing i have seen! right before his baptism his girl friend came to the church and since she thinks mormons are evil she was at jeffs feet begging him to not get baptized and he just sat there so calmly and said emily, Im going to get baptized because i know its the true church and she flipped! she through flowers at him and soy sauce (because he is ocd about sticky things and he hates when soy sauce gets on his hands) and it got all over him... but he didn't even flinch! he just got up walked calmly to the bathroom and changed his white clothing and sat back down :) me and sister hoffman were just praying the whole time that he would be strong and he did it! he truly gave up the thing that meant the most to him and he passed the test! :) during his baptism emily was screaming and freaking out outside so someone had to guard the door! it was so sad! i just feel so bad for her because this gospel could truly bring so much happiness to her! it was so cool though, jeffs whole family was there supporting him! the spirit was so strong! it was truly amazing seeing someone make covenants with heavenly father! :) Jeff gave the most beautiful testimony, He is really OCD about things and one of them is about getting water in his ear and while he was being baptized he got water in his ear and he was like through my savior jesus christ i can overcome these challenges i face and he will give me strength to do so! :) after the baptism jeffs parents and sister in law came up and talked to us and was like the spirit here is truly amazing can we come and learn more and go to church! It was so cool they were all there <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_24875224" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on sunday</span></span> and his mom and his sister stayed the whole 3 hours and loved it!! i hope they can be baptized one day :) That night while me and sister Hoffman were asleep i woke up to this beeping noise at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_24875225" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">2:00</span></span> in the morning, so i was like what the heck is that noise and looked around and it was the carbon monoxide machine going off so we hurry and got out of our apartment and stayed at the sisters it was so crazy! then the next night it happened again! so we've just been living at the sisters house for this last week! haha me and sister hoffman have the greatest luck with our apartment... NOT ;) but its okay we just laugh about it! :) </div>
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Funny story so we were at jeffs house having dinner and doing a jewish worship thing with him and his family and we were saying goodbye to them and his dad just gives me and sister hoffman both these huge hugs and we just looked at each other in panic haha it was so awkward, we didn't know what to do! </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_24875227" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On monday</span></span> we were priviliaged to be apart of a mission conference and Elder Hamula and his wife taught us! it was so great! i learned so much and this mission is truly white and ready to harvest! we will be focusing more on part member families and less actives which I'm super excited about :) this work is so great! </div>
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Sorry that this letter was all over the place but it was such a crazy week! i love you all and hope you're doing well! thanks for your support and letters! i love them!! :) i can't believe i have been out for two months now! time is going by way too fast! :) </div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Swenson </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeff dressed in white ready to be baptized!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeff and a member of the ward</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sassafras road, named after Sister Sassy Sophie!!! :)</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-49157991653562513642015-08-24T14:48:00.004-07:002015-08-24T14:48:59.647-07:00Hauling Hay, and FREE Chick-Fil-A!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Oh man where do i start... this week has been crazy! it amazes me how fast the weeks go! I'm staying in my same area with Sister Hoffman!!!! I'm soo happy!!!! But anyways probably the coolest thing of this week was that Jeff set another baptism date for </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1813148513" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">september 5th</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">!! please pray for him that he will have strength to make it to this day! oh man he is seriously the greatest, i love him so much and want him to have the gospel in his life soo much!!! His girlfriend emily just isn't to fond of him being baptized and threatens him that she will break up with him, but Jeff said he would choose baptism over her. His faith is so incredible he amazes me each and everyday!! :) He came to church </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1813148514" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">this sunday</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> so that was awesome as well! </span><br />
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well this week during knock out we were able to teach many people, we taught a family that said they would read the book of mormon together and pray about it! We will go visit them <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1813148515" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tomorrow</span></span>! I love teaching families the gospel! its so great! :)<br /><div>
This week i have been studying a lot about the atonement and the power that comes from using it! i was reading in 1 peter 5:7 that says "casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you." i love this scripture soo much! we can literally give all the burdens that are weighing us down to the lord and he will strengthen us and care for us! the atonement is so great!! the power of the atonement can free us from sin, power to heal emotionally, physically, spiritually, and the power to turn our weaknesses into strength! the gospel of Jesus Christ is a way of life not just a section or a part of our lives! It can help us overcome everything! :) I love the peace it can bring into our lives at anytime <span style="text-align: center;">of day as long as we turn to the lord in prayer! i love John </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1813148516" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; text-align: center; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">14:27</span></span><span style="text-align: center;"> "Peace i leave with you,my peace i give unto you, not as the world giveth, give i unto you. let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid." or Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."</span></div>
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I seriously love the people here in the YSA ward soo much! they are starting to feel like family now! :) yesterday at church the secretary Brother Ashton came to me and was like hey sister swenson i have something for you. and i was like oh yeah what is it? and then he pulled out 50 free chic fila meals for me! I have never been so happy in my whole life!!! Sacrifice brings for the blessings of Free chic Fila meals!! haha i am going to be gaining some weight this transfer thats for sure :) </div>
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okay so get this... the door bells down here are insane! they have video cameras on them and the owner of the house can talk to you through them when he isn't even at his house, through his phone!!! mind blown! we were at someones house and rang the door bell and he was like hey I'm not home right now what do you guys need... and me and sister hoffman were like what the heck how is that possible haha they are so cool! you should get one mom and dad :) </div>
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So i have the best district leader ever!! the other night he had us come over to the Sister training leaders place and he had a santa clause hat on and he wrapped all these presents and gave them to all of us haha he's so great! :) </div>
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Guess what i hauled hay this week yeah i know who thought sophie swenson would haul hay but i did it! haha :) the place we go for service was like today we need you to haul hay and i was like oh crap i don't know how to do that, but i did it! and there were mice running around and it was disgusting! </div>
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well i love this work, it is great! I'm so grateful for this gospel and my savior jesus christ! He is truly the way for everlasting happiness! :) love you all so much! thank you for your continued prayers they help me so much! :)</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Swenson</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All my FREE Chick-Fil-A Meals... YUM!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeff with his Baptismal Calendar </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We have the best District around!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Funniest Elders EVER!!!</td></tr>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-31468802401709033002015-08-17T15:37:00.000-07:002015-08-17T15:37:42.215-07:00<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Holy crap was it hot this week.... 115 degrees and i didn't even die! its so crazy i got a candy bar and i took it out side and literally after 5 seconds it was completely melted.. its unhealthy to be out in that hot of weather i think haha good thing i love the lord and will do what he asks me to do :) Anyways this week was great!! its so cool how many miracles we see each and everyday! i love being apart of this work! Alexis came to church </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1663534527" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on sunday</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">!!!!! it was so cool!! i was so happy! and he said he will be coming every week from her out! :) he has been reading 3 chapters a day in the book of mormon! it is soo great!</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1663534528" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tuesday</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> after district meeting our district leader told us to go find a family to teach during knock out so me and sister hoffman were like okay will do! so we were knocking and we knocked on this house and the man was like yes come on in and i will go grab my wife, we were able to teach them the whole restoration and invite them to baptism! :) the lord answers prayers!!! </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1663534529" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on wednesday</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> we had exchanges! sister morris came to my area and we had a lesson with a guy named drau! It was the coolest lessons so far on my mission! We taught him the restoration, and the spirit was so strong! I asked him to be baptized and he was like yeah i want to read the book of mormon first just to see! its so cool that when the spirit is truly there in a lesson it will help people know that they should be baptized and testify to them! :) that night we went to cafe rio and the member around here are soo nice and so giving! this lady just came up to me and sister morris and gave us 20$ and said dinner is on us next time! Don't worry mom i am getting taking care of :) oh man so funny story, so me and sister had to go to the bathroom really bad and we were in the middle of knock out so we hurry and ran to the nearest store and we didn't even look at what store we were going in and we get like three steps in and realized we were in a alcohol store and just booked it out haha it was pretty funny! haha and then we went back to knocking door and we were at this house and there was this huge dog behind the fence and he jumps and knocks the lock off the gate and i was like ohhh crap I'm going to die, and then i just ran for my life hah i HATEE dogs so much!! </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1663534530" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on thursday</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> me and sister hoffman went and helped a member organize her house! it was so much fun! i love serving others, its make me so happy!! :) </span><br />
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This week i have been studying obedience and attitude a lot in my personal studies! obedience is so great, when we obey, we increase our faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and freedom :) true freedom comes only from following him! it is so true! our obedience to the commandments is the expression of our love for our savior! :) he gives us commandments to bring us true joy! :) <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1663534531" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on thursday</span></span> at knock out there was this really mean man that just swore at us and didn't say very kind things and i was just thinking well i can either choose to hate this man for the things he is saying to me or i can choose to love him and pray for him! Attitude is seriously everything! it determines how your life will be! </div>
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so it was way cool, <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1663534532" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on saturday</span></span> we finally got a hold of ashton!! we have been trying to contact him and haven't talked to him for 3 weeks! He has been going through some crazy trials and we were able to help him out! We got him a bunch of food because and took it to his house and it just hit me right at that time that this is truly gods church, the way this church is set up is to help others and to let them know they are truly loved by their heavenly father :) </div>
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I just want to let you all know how much i love this gospel, it is truly the way for everlasting happiness! we can overcome ALL things through the savior jesus christ! i think that is the biggest lesson i have learned out here. i have never truly had to rely on the savior this much ever in my life until now where i have nothing else to lean on than him! :) i know that as we are trying our best each and everyday to follow him he will bless you soo much! never ever give up, be obedient and you will be blessed! :) </div>
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thank you all so much for your prayers and all the kind letters and emails! i love you all so much! <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1663534533" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">this saturday</span></span> i find out if i will be transferred or not! ahh I'm so scared!!! I'm just praying so hard i can stay here with sister hoffman!! holy moly i can't believe its already been a transfer! the time is flying! </div>
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Love you!!! xoxox</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister swenson!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-28927604162595192802015-08-10T14:42:00.001-07:002015-08-10T14:42:25.441-07:00<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Hello Everyone!! I hope you all had a great week!!! :)</div>
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Well this week was pretty good for the most part! it hasn't been too hot this week which has been nice! its been only 100! im starting to feel when it gets into the 90 that its cold, im going to turn into a jojo haha ;) just kidding but really! the other day I had on a cardigan because I was cold in 90 degrees! Also Im getting some pretty nasty tan lines! haha</div>
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oh man one thing that is really weird about California at least the part that im at is that there are so many dang ice cream trucks and they are soo creepy everytime I hear them down the street it just makes me cringe haha</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_911930779" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On tuesday</span></span> during knock out we found a very cool guy named Christopher! He is 18 and was super interested in the message that we shared! we will be meeting with him <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_911930780" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span>! :) He is really into religion and loves God!</div>
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Then later that day we met with a girl named Brittany and she has gone through so much in her life! she is so amazing and her story in how she found goes is so incredible! I love these people so much! :)</div>
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Sad story so we had to drop our investigator Omar because he wasn't progressing and wasn't keeping any of our commitments :( so keep him in your prayers! Hes such a good guy and I know that one day he will be baptized, its just not his time right now!</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_911930784" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Thursday</span></span> during knock out we met the two most amazing girls ever! I love them so much! Their names are Kayla and Jordan, and they actually served missions for their Christian church so we talked to them for an hour about what they believed in and we told them our beliefs and they asked us if they could have a book of Mormon, it was soo cool! people out here are so kind and friendly! I love these people soo much!! That night me and sister Hoffman went and visited Alexis and had a really good lesson with him :) He has been reading the book of Mormon a lot more and he said he can feel him starting to become happier each and everyday! he said that he would come to church this<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_911930785" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">coming sunday</span></span> so pray for him! its so cool seeing all these people really being prepared by the lord, we just need to go find them :) later that night we had nothing planned to do so we were praying to know who we should go see and the thought came to me that we needed to go see this girl named Bailey, so we did and when we knocked on her door she was so happy to see us. She was having a really bad day that day and said she was praying for peace and comfort and then we showed up! :) its so cool being able to be answers to peoples prayers! im so grateful for the spirit and how if we listen carefully to it we can be lead and guided to those people we need to meet and see! :)</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_911930787" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Saturday</span></span> me and sister Hoffman made a cute poster to help our ward get more involved in missionary work! I hope it helps them! member work is sooo important! we need to find our friends that don't have the gospel and invite them to activities and church! for dinner <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_911930788" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Saturday </span></span>we went to the bishops and had a BBQ! Our bishop is so great! I love him so much!! later that night we went and visited a less active named Samantha! she is soo great! I can truly feel the love that our savior has for her! she has been struggling with many different things in her life that have made her fall away from the church but she still knows the gospel is true so that's good :) we just need to get her back to church :) We had the opportunity to go to a baptism of one of the others sisters in our district! I LOVE BAPTISMS they are soo happy!! :)</div>
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This week I studied a lot about prayer and how powerful prayer can be in our lives! its so amazing and I love it! I encourage all of you to make your prayers more meaningful! its cool to think that without prayer there is no possible way to return to our father in heaven, without prayer there would be no atonement, without prayer this church wouldn't be on the earth today!</div>
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Thanks for all your prayers! I am so grateful for all of you and the examples you are in my life! I love you all so much! and I hope you have a great week! talk to you soon!! xoxox</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Sassy Swenson <img alt="😅" class="CToWUd" goomoji="1f605" src="https://mail.google.com/mail/e/1f605" style="margin: 0px 0.2ex; max-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle;" /></div>
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Our poster for the Ward Members</div>
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We like to have Camera Wars every night!</div>
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Just a view of the San Fernando Valley</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-81412050704852788912015-08-03T17:37:00.001-07:002015-08-03T17:37:37.319-07:00110 Degrees....<div style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Well this week was one adventure that's for sure! I don't even know where to begin haha! sometimes I feel like I should be hospitalized from all the different emotions I feel In one day... it is seriously sooo crazy!! well I finally hit my 1 month mark!!! wahoo 17 more to go!! its crazy how fast its going but yet it seems like its been 20 years since ive seen you all! :) Well <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733884937" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Tuesday</span></span> during knock out we met a really cool guy named cody, he is YSA aged so that is always so great!! We told him about the plan of salvation and he was super interested in it, he said that its really cool to know where we are going after death! I have seriously taken so much for granted! I cant even understand not knowing where we will go after this life.. Then later that day we met with our new investigator Ashton! He is so great! we talked to him about the Restoration! Ashton has been an atheist his whole life and has only prayed once or twice in his life. He has met missionaries a lot but he said when he met us a week ago something was different about us, which caused him to want to learn more! So during his lesson we were talking about the atonement, he was in awe that we could be forgiven about anything bad we have done in our lives. He was like wow is that what it means when people say Christ died for our sins? Me and sister Hoffman were like YES that's exactly what it means! it is so amazing to see the hope and light that comes into people eyes when they hear that beautiful truth that we can literally be forgiven of anything! :) That was seriously the coolest lesson I have taught so far on my mission! The atonement is so amazing and I am soo grateful for my savior Jesus Christ for dying for me so that I can live with my heavenly father again! :) Later that night we went and visited a less active named alexis the guys door we knocked on last week! we were just talking about the book of Mormon and told him to start reading it again and so he said that he would and after he was like wow I feel like im on a high right now and we told him that, that was the spirit he was feeling! it was so cool to witness him feeling the spirit again :)</div>
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Oh man do I have a story for you! get ready to hear this one!! so probably the biggest trial I have faced on my mission was probably killing our 1 st spider in our apartment! ;) I really realized how much i take my dad for granted when he kills the spiders for me! it took us 45 mins to kill it!! haha so me and sister Hoffman were saying our companion ship prayers <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733884938" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Tuesday</span></span> night when I looked up at our bedroom ceiling to find a spider... yeah not okay! so we both just sat there for a good 10 mins wondering what the heck we were going to do... so sister Hoffman being the good companion that she is got some toilet paper and a shoe and tried to kill it! This spider would not DIE!!! so it started running across the celling real fast and so we tried again and it still wouldn't die so finally we got a box and we slapped the box on it, and me and sister Hoffman were both on this chair holding the box when out of the corner of my eye I see it climbing up her arm... oh man I have never been so scared in my life haha so she got it off her arm and we hurried and trapped it with a clear container so it couldn't crawl away haha then we scooted it all the way to the door way to let it out... its was soo crazy!</div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733884939" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">Wednesday</span></span> we were out knocking and we knocked on this born again Christians house, and she invited us in and all that to talk with us. she was really nice but oh man does she hate the Mormons! She was so concerned for us and was like you guys have been deceived... you are on the path way to hell! It kind of hurt to hear someone tell me im going to hell for believing in Jesus! but Then she was going off about Jospeh smith and how much she hates him and it made me so sad to see someone that sacrificed his life for this wonderful gospel to be chewed out by a lady that knows nothing about him! that day as I walked out of her house I knew more than ever that Joseph Smith was a prophet of god! Josephs name really will be heard for good and evil as it has been told! We should never doubt gods prophets!! :) something I read in my personal studies this week was "Why does the lord allow the evil speaking to chase after the good? one reason is that opposition against the things of god sends seekers of truth to their knees for answers" I love that soo much because that is truly how we find our answers as we ask god! :)</div>
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So of course the hottest week of my mission so far our car would break down and our air conditioning in our apartment would stop working...it has been 110 everyday here! our car hasn't been starting so its been in the shop the last 4 days, hopefully it gets done today!! we have been living with the other sisters so we have been fine but its hard not being able to get around to where we need to be!!</div>
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so on knock out <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733884940" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span> I had the feeling we needed to go to this certain street so we went to this street and there were these 2 14 year old girls standing there so we started talking to them about the gospel and asked them if they would read the book of Mormon and they said YES!! its so cool how the spirit really leads you to those people that are prepared to hear this wonderful message!</div>
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we found 5 new investigators this week so that was awesome! im so excited to start teaching them :) Being a missionary is GREAT and I love it, but it is very hard! I love the quote "We don't conquer the mountain we conquer ourselves." Its so true! we just gotta be strong and endure to the end! :) I love this gospel and love sharing it each and everyday with these wonderful people of California!! Thanks for all your prayers! I truly feel them each and everyday! :) Love you all!</div>
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Classic "Sophie Selfie" :) </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-9916282707146562212015-07-27T16:19:00.001-07:002015-07-27T16:19:06.786-07:00Chick-Fil-A! (and other tender mercies)<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Hello everyone! I can't believe that its </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733024294" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">monday</span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> again!? This week flew by! Well this week honestly everything bad that could happen i think happened to me and sister Hoffman haha okay maybe not everything but i guess thats what you learn on a mission that everything you plan on happening just doesn't happen on the way you want it to turn out! </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733024295" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Wednesday</span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> me and sister Hoffman woke up to a text from our investigator Jeff that said he couldn't be baptized anymore... :( it was so sad! His girlfriend does not like the Mormons so it was really hard for him to have courage and be baptized! so just keep praying for him please! :) Then we had interviews </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733024296" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on thursday</span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> and we thought it was at a different building which was 20 minutes away and so we were 30 mins late to our interviews with the mission president haha oh man and then our car wouldn't start when we were trying to get to our meetings </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733024297" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on sunday</span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> and almost all our investigators appointments feel through... me and sister hoffman after all of that just turned to each other and laughed about it because really every effort we were giving towards people just wasn't going our way! I love the scripture In alma 26:27-37 it really is the mission life in a nut shell hah! i love in verse 27 how it says "Now when they our hearts were depressed and we were about to turn back, behold the lord comforted us, and said: go amongst thy brethren, the laminates, and bear with patience thine afflictions, and i will give unto you success." Right when me and sister Hoffman were about to give up the lord really showed us success and lead us right to a person who needed to hear this gospel! We were out knocking and we decided to knock on this door that we both felt good about and this lady came to the door and was like sorry i don't speak english but let me go grab my son that speaks english so we were so happy and he came to the door and was like ahh yes i know who you guys are, I'm a member of your church but i haven't been active for 4 years now and we were like well would you like to come back and he was like ehh i know i will come back someday but i just don't feel ready right now. His name is Alexis but he was so happy and felt so loved that we came and knocked on his door! we are going to try and go back and start teaching him the lessons and see if he will want to come back! pray for him!! :) </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733024298" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">On Wednesday</span></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> me and sister Hoffman were driving down the street and we were just really discouraged and i was just praying that I could just see or find something to help brighten my day and i looked to the right and i saw a CHICK FILA!!! seriously the lord knows me too well!! haha he knows exactly what makes me happy and that definitely made my whole day! The one thing i have really learned on my mission so far is that the lord really does hear and answer our prayers! He is so concerned with every part of our lives and wants us to be happy! We just have to turn to him and he will bless us :)</span><br />
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Everyone in our area is usually so nice to us, and super respectful! So as we were knocking doors the other day we knocked on this Armenian ladies house and she was like oh my you two are angels haha and she was like come in come in tell me what you're sharing and she got us water! I love nice people!!! haha :) Me and sister Hoffman got asked if we were nuns haha people are funny.. i just wanted to say do i look like I'm a nun to you.. and give them the sass but i held back don't worry mom and dad and just smiled and said no i am not but i am a representative of Jesus Christ so thats cool :) </div>
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oh man you will not believe how many lizards there are out here! They are the nastiest things ever!! i hate them so much and they always run around your feet while you're at the door step of peoples house! They all need to die! </div>
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Through this week i have really realized how much my heavenly father loves me and is so aware of everything i am going through! I'm so grateful for the strength he gives me to push on through the hard times! This week we were talking with a guy and asked him if he had ever met missionaries, and he said he hadn't. It hit me right there that oh my gosh there are so many people in this world that has never even heard this message before! I have really taken this gospel for granted and from now on when i talk with someone I really try and tell them how great this message really is and how much comfort it can really bring to their lives! </div>
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We found a new investigator and he is AWESOME!! He just moved here a month ago from North Carolina and he came to church <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733024299" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on sunday</span></span>! He has never had religion in his life! His name is Ashton! he is great and he loved church! He turned to me during church and was like wow everyone is so friendly how do you become a member? I was like well you're talking to the right person haha so then i went on to tell him the whole shabang! :) we meet with him <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1733024300" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on wednesday</span></span> to teach our first lesson! I'm soo excited!!</div>
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Well i love you all so much and I'm so grateful for all your support and prayers! i really feel them strengthening me daily! i can definitely feel angels bearing up and helping me push on! Im so grateful for this gospel and for the happiness and peace it brings into my life! I'm so grateful for eternal families! that is the greatest blessing! WE GET TO LIVE WITH OUR FAMILIES FOREVER!! We can really take things for granted with the things we believe in the gospel but it helps remind me everyday when i am telling people about how great this plan is our Heavenly Father has given us! I love you all! Everything is going great and i love being a missionary! the people out here are awesome! and it is starting to get REAL hot! Have a GREAT week! :)</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-89126439365660224712015-07-20T19:20:00.000-07:002015-07-20T19:20:06.360-07:00First Area and Trainer!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Holy Cow does the lord know exactly what i need! He is so aware of our struggles and challenges and just wants to make us happy and boy has he blessed me! :) I received the BEST trainer EVER!!! Her name is Sister Hoffman and she is from Pennsylvania! she is so cute and we get a long so well! Oh man i hope we never have to be transferred!!! Anyways she has only been out six weeks and she is already training so that just tells you how awesome she is! we are just relying on the lord more than ever thats for sure! She is seriously the greatest! Well this week seems like it went on for a whole year and a half haha :) But it was pretty good! so the first day i got here </span><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2014401385" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">last monday</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> we got here and we went straight to work! Sister Brown the sister training leader took me out knocking doors in down town north hollywood! holy crap it was so scary! the first door we knocked on the man just opened up his window and growled at us hahah i was trying so hard not to laugh! Then the next 10 house we knocked on the people just got mad and told us not to ever come back! people are so angry! so after that i was pretty discouraged and i just prayed that i could see a miracle! right after that i turned the corner and there was a man standing in his yard so we went up and talked to him, and told him about the restoration and i gave away my first Book of Mormon to him! it was so cool to really testify of how much the book of mormon has blessed my life and how it could bless his! :) Then </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2014401386" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Tuesday</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> i Met my wonderful Companion and we are assigned to serve in the santa clarita valley in the YSA wards!!! ITS AWESOME!! After we went straight to our apartment and un packed and then went to work! The president received revelation to do this thing called knock out from 4-6 everyday where we knock on peopled doors and oh man i am trying to love it but it is so hard for me! its scares me so bad! some people are soo scary and rude! But i can definitely feel the lord strengthening me every door i knock on! That night we went to a girl named Valaries house for dinner! she is a convert to the church and she is awesome! :) After dinner we went and taught a guy name Omar! He never really believed there was a god and now he does and he is progressing so much and is keeping his commitments! :) The other day we were teaching him and he was like when i read the book of mormon and pray it just feels those empty holes and gives me so much peace! i almost started crying because really that is what this gospel does, it feels those holes in our soul that nothing else can fill up! He is the most loving person ever and the only thing holding him back from Baptism is his god mother and he doesn't want to loose his relationship with her! so keep him in your prayers! :) Then we have another investigator name Jeff! Jeff is so awesome! He wants to be baptized so bad but his girlfriend won't let him because she has grew up catholic but we've just been paying really hard that her heart will soften and she will support him during this time in his life! So the other morning me and sister Hoffman were doing companionship study and we were deciding what we wanted to teach him and we were trying to think and i just had this thought to look at this new era i brought with my so i opened it up and there was a talk called which way do you face. It seriously fit perfectly to his needs! So we met with him later that day and shared with him this talk and it was just silent for a a minute and we just thought that he was going to say that he just think it isn't going to work out for him, but he was like yeah i need to be baptized and follow Jesus Christ! It was the coolest thing ever! i wanted to just scream in happiness but don't worry i kept my cool! So He is getting BAPTIZED </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2014401387" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">ON SATURDAY</span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">!!!! WHOOT WHOOT My first baptism on my first week in the mission! keep him in your prayers though he could use it! :) I'm so flipping excited!!!! it will be great! </span><br />
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so the other day when we were out knocking we met these two older people on the street and oh man were they some crazies! hahah so we were teaching them about the restoration and this lady is just crunched over in her walker and her mouth is just opened wide the whole time and while we were teaching her about how joseph smith saw god she was like OH WOWWWW OH WOOWWW NOOO WAY hahah i was dying! and then her boy friend is just standing there and he has this huge pot belly and is caring this blanket and flowers in his hand and he was like oh man oh man do you guys know about the prophecy and thats all he kept saying! some people are pretty funny! :) </div>
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Oh man it has been raining soo much down here! its crazy!!! the streets have been flooding over! its awesome! and its been nice and cool so I'm loving it!! :) </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2014401388" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on saturday</span></span> we were knocking doors and we went to this house and the guy who answered the door was catholic and we just started talking about Jesus and how everyone needs him in their lives and then his wife came up and was like what do you guys believe in the godhead? and so we told her how we believe that they are all three separate beings with the same person and boy she did not like that haha she was like no you guys are so wrong it says in the bible that they are one and we were like yeah one in purpose hah but she just wouldnt have it. it makes me sad because there are so many scriptures in the bible that show they are three separate beings! it just make so much sense! </div>
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So <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2014401389" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Friday</span></span> me and Sister Hoffman went out to visit some people sister hoffman and her former companion have been trying to contact and they have tried for a couple of weeks but they have both just never been home. And <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2014401390" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on friday</span></span> they were both home! it was such a miracle!! they both want to start having lessons with us so we have a lesson with them <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_2014401391" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Wednesday</span></span>! I'm so excited to see how it goes! Well i love you all so much! I miss you guys and hope you're all doing well! Missionary work is the best! and you should all try to do reach out to one person this week :) </div>
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Sister Brown with Sister Swenson<br />
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Sister Swenson and her trainer Sister Hoffman!<br />
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Sophie enjoying the RAINY weather!</div>
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Sister Talley with Sister Swenson</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-58380646833893625102015-07-16T13:08:00.001-07:002015-07-16T13:08:56.161-07:00Finally in Cali!<blockquote style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" type="cite">
"Dear Sister and Brother Swenson,<br /><br />I am writing to let you know that Sister Swenson arrived yesterday morning in the Great California San Fernando Mission.<br /><br />She is very excited to be here and we are excited to have her! She will be a great missionary. We look forward serving with her. <br /><br />We would like to invite you and others who love Sister Swenson to follow our Facebook page, The Great California San Fernando Mission 2015-2018. Frequently I will post pictures there and you will have opportunities to see Sister Swenson at mission events.<br /><br />Thank you for sharing your daughter with our mission. I know her service will bring her and your family many sweet, eternal blessings."</blockquote>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-38362649098101682622015-07-13T13:58:00.002-07:002015-07-13T13:58:45.483-07:00Week 2 of the MTC!<blockquote style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" type="cite">
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<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Wow the MTC is so awesome but such a roller coaster of emotions! seriously one moment youre on cloud 9 and the next moment you just wanna give up! its draining haha! well this week we started teaching real people! and holy cow does the spirit just take over! the most random things just pop into your head from years ago and you know you need to say it because its the spirit telling you to do so. :) we are teaching someone named nicole,barbra and chad! they are awesome and i love them all sooooo much! they have come such a long way just in the last week we've been teaching them! they all committed to go to church this week so hopefully they do! :) It was really cool,one day i was about to leave my room to go to class and i just had a feeling that i needed to take my tithing and fast offerings pamphlet and i was like thats weird why would i need that!? but i took it anyways and during one of the lessons i taught thats exactly what the investigator needed to hear so i was able to tell them about it :) Listen to the spirit everyone,even if it seems weird! </span><br />
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so my favorite part of the MTC has to be just watching and listening to all the elders be so concerned about their investigators! its seriously so cool to see them change into these amazing boys that just love these random people! when 2 weeks ago they would have just been talking about girls and video games hahah </div>
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this week i was able to see Jake Mckee!!! it was seriously the best thing ever and i really needed it at that exact moment! Heavenly Father is soo aware of our needs its so crazy! </div>
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This week was really hard for me not gonna lie! Ive never felt sicker in my life but i was able to receive a blessing from my district leader and it was probably one of the best blessings i have ever received! And ever since i received that blessing i have felt pretty good and i havent felt homesick at all! The lord truly answers our prayers and it makes me soo happy! I love my Heavenly Father sooo much!!! Thanks for all your prayers i can feel them helping me soooo much and i am so grateful for them:) </div>
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I wish everyone could have the opportunity to serve a mission! I have never grown so much in my life! And i cant wait to share the gospel with the people in California here in a day and a half! The devotionals here are way cool! i learn so much from them! the other night we had one all about the first vision and how we need to always tell it like its someones first time hearing it because it usually is! but the thing that stuck out to me the most was when he said if youre having troubles knowing if joseph smith saw god just ask god he was there! and that just hit me so hard! what better person to ask than god that was there and he will let you know :)</div>
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Im so excited to leave for California! the MTC reminds me kind of like a spiritual prison and sometimes i forget that im really living on the earth because we are trapped in a class all day and never get to go outside!</div>
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well i love you all so much! cant wait to talk to you mom <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1563239489" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on monday</span></span>! make sure youre awake early because ill probably be calling around 5 or 6! :) Love you and thanks for all your packages and emails everyone!!!!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-23067435453306111292015-07-13T13:16:00.002-07:002015-07-13T14:00:09.995-07:00<blockquote style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;" type="cite">
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Happy Fourth of July everyone!!<br />
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Well i just have to start out by telling you all that Disneyland is not the happiest place on earth, the MTC is! After you guys dropped me off and i put my name tag on i have never felt so much happiness in my life! everyone is so happy here and always says hi to you! I love it here so much but yet i cant wait to leave for California next week! </div>
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It still hasnt really hit me that im a missionary! haha sometimes i just feel like im at EFY wearing a legit name tag! haha but Im starting to realize that i really am a missionary so thats good! we started teaching the second day and it was awesome! Im soo excited to be doing this for the next year and a half! </div>
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Its crazy how much the lord really does bless his missionaries! sometimes i get really sad and start to miss home but then i just say a prayer and he blesses me with peace and comfort! Its so awesome!! :) Also i can tell he is blessing me because i actually have no problem at all to get up in the morning which is a miracle in-itself haha! I cant believe how much i have learned already! we are in class almost all day just learning and it is awesome! I love it!! well i have an amazing district! My companion is great! she has been struggling the last couple days because she is homesick so its been kind of hard on me because it makes me think of home, but I'm trying to stay strong and help her know that she can do hard things! I love the other two sisters in my district they are awesome!! there names are sister keck which is from gilbert arizona and knows the wallentines :) and then the other is sister traux! shes from salem actually but i have never met her before! but we all are getting along which is such a blessing! The Elders are so much fun as well they always have me laughing! there is Elder Orton who is from idaho, Elder Hales is from idaho as well and then there is Elder De Mile - utah, Elder Thomas - Ohio, Elder pierce - idaho, and Elder Boyle from California.</div>
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Thank you all so much for all your prayers i can definitely feel them helping me at each moment! :) </div>
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<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1563239484" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">on Thursday</span></span> i saw Alyssa and we just hugged and hugged and cried and cried haha it was so awesome! Its so much fun seeing her around, it just makes me feel right at home :) ive also seen Kylee Davis and a couple other girls that i went to high school with so thats been fun as well :)</div>
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so my teachers are awesome! They have taught me sooo much! one is name Brother Gleason! and the other is sister Bishop! Sister Bishop actually served in San Fernando California so its been so fun to get to know a little more about the mission :)</div>
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Well i am so excited for <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1563239485" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">tonight</span></span>! we get to watch the fire works so that will be awesome! also sad news is that the provo temple will be closed for cleaning the whole time i am here so thats a bummer :( </div>
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well i am loving every minute of being on a mission! i got the flight information yesterday and we are leaving <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1563239486" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">monday</span></span> morning at <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1563239487" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">3:45am</span></span> kill me.... and our flight doesnt leave tell like <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_1563239488" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: dashed; border-bottom-width: 1px; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">8:45</span></span> or something so that will be fun... </div>
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well i love you all sooooo much! thanks again for all the emails and letters and packages! you guys are all awesome and i am so blessed to have all the friends and family i do! Talk to you soon!</div>
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Love,</div>
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Sister Swenson xoxox</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-41891249087422380162015-06-10T19:13:00.002-07:002015-12-06T08:58:45.983-08:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14187749820863454907noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4794352771271282406.post-29145119461291106012015-03-15T21:17:00.001-07:002015-12-07T12:33:16.754-08:00Called to Serve in the California San Fernando mission!!! <div style="text-align: left;">
Hi I am Sister Swenson and I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I have been called to serve in the California San Fernando English speaking mission!!! I am beyond excited to go out and serve these people of California for 18 months! It is such a blessing in my life that I have this opportunity to serve a mission and able to share my testimony and light with others! I cannot wait to bring others to Christ and teach them the beauties of this gospel! I love this church with all of my heart and I know that Christ lives and loves each and every one of us! I know that he died for us and suffered for all of our sins so that we could have the opportunity to repent and become like him and live with our heavenly father again some day! I KNOW Jesus Christ has felt all of our pains and he is the only one that truly knows what we are going through and he is there to comfort us when we are feeling down and feel like we can't go on any more. I truly believe this gospel is for everyone. This gospel is to help each of us to become better and to be more like our savior Jesus Christ! I'm so grateful for the prophet Joseph smith and his decision to pray for which church to join, I know he was an inspired individual who restored this church so it could be back on this earth again today. I'm grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the chance we have to become better. Jesus Christ not only suffered for my pains but he understand my challenges and weaknesses. I'm so thankful for prayer and the opportunity we have to talk to our heavenly father at anytime and any place. He is there and he is listening!! He loves you so much and wants the best for you! I know he is by our side every step of the way. His hand is always reaching out to us, we just need to come unto him. We have the most powerful being on our side and we are able to conquer and get through anything with his help if we but let him in. If we come unto Christ we will feel so much peace and happiness as we learn about him and his prophets. I honestly believe "He will ever be at our side, he will fight our battles, he is our hope, he is our salvation, he is the way." One of the greatest quotes I have read said: " yes, God loves you this very day and always. He is not waiting to love you until you have overcome your weaknesses and bad habits. He loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles. He is aware that you that you reach up to him in heartfelt and hopeful prayer. He knows the times when you have held onto the fading light and believed- even in the midst of growing darkness. He knows of your sufferings, he knows of your remorse for the times you have fallen short of failed. And he still LOVES you!! I'm so grateful for the knowledge I have of this gospel and can't wait to bring others to it!<br />
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