This week was AWESOME!!! 

Me and Sister Hoffman found 6 new investigators! It was such a blessing! :)

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 on tuesday! :) im sooo excited!! 

Then on Friday 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! :) 

Then on sunday 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! 

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 :)

I love being a missionary its been quite the experience! 

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! 

I love the story in Matther 14:17-36 

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!
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!! :)

Love,

Sister Swenson

I'm the queen of the apartment!!!

Sister Groberg and I at Napoleon Dynamite's house, No big deal..

Sister Morris and I on exchanges. Love her so much!

Feeding the deer

Hello Family!!! 

I hope you all had a wonderful week! :) 

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! 

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! 

Well on Wednesday 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! :) 

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!! :) 

I love you all! xoxo

Love,

Sister Swenson

Best companion ever! haha

RAIN!!!

Well this week i learned a lot and saw a lot of miracles happen!! :) 

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! 

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! 

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!!! :)

Well anyways this week was really awesome!!! 

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!!! 

on Friday 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!

On saturday 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! :) 

Sunday was so amazing! we were able to attend the YSA devotional where elder whitney clayton talked! his talk was so inspiring! it made me so excited for conference!!! :)

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! :)

Love,

Sister Swenson

Jamie, a recent convert in our area. She's so great!

P-Day Fun

RAIN!!! Miracles do happen! 

Hello Family and Friends,

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!! 

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 :)

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! 

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! :) 

Im so excited for general conference, i cannot wait to listen to a prophet of God!! only a couple of weeks!!! YAY! 

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 :)

Love,

Sista Swenson

We are REAL cute!!! :)

1st Baptism!!!

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! :) 

On tuesday 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! :) 

Wednesday was quite a day! Jeff called us at 3:00 and asked if he could get baptized that night at 8:00, 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 on sunday 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 2:00 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! :) 

Thursday we went to lunch with jeff and his mom! it was so fun to get to know her better! she is so great i love their family so much! i can't wait until you meet them one day mom and dad!! :) I have truly come to love these people out here so much! i don't know what I'm going to do when i have to leave :( I'm going to miss them so much! The ward is truly amazing and they have become my family out here :) 

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! 

On monday 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! 

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! :) 

Love,

Sister Swenson 

Jeff dressed in white ready to be baptized!

Jeff and a member of the ward

Sassafras road, named after Sister Sassy Sophie!!! :)