No more sweets!

hey everyone!

Crazy crazy week! so let me start with Monday night. so we went to this lady's house for dinner and she didn't know I was gluten free so I just ate gluten. it was fine. then at the end of the meal she pulls out this 3 layer carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. my mouth started watering! so she cute me a huge slice and I gobbled it down. then I was watching one of my companions eat her piece and she did the "im too full to finish this" sit back in the chair move so I was like um would you like me to finish that for you? so I did. most amazing cake I have ever eaten. the member was laughing at me and was like "wow sister swisher you really like the cake huh?" I was like "uhhhhh..... YES!" so keep this story in mind as I tell you about our investigator who is on date to be baptized in may. so we were teaching her about the word of wisdom and she was struggling with giving up tea. she was like well cant I just finish off the tea in my fridge? so I looked in her fridge and she had her whole entire fridge stocked up with tea! I was like oh geez what are we going to do. then I got a prompting to do a challenge with her. I couldn't even stop myself before the words came out of my mouth!

me: "ok susan, here's the deal, its important for you to live the word of wisdom. so I will give up sweets if you will give up tea."

her: "what???"

me: "ummmm... yup."

her: "ok. DEAL!"

meanwhile... my companions and the member we brought were all having heart attacks on the couch. every one in the ward knows how much I love my sweets. I even eat less dinner to enjoy more dessert! so now I am sweets free for 3 days and our investigator is tea free for 3 days. woo hoo! its so worth it! I love being a missionary and being able to help people change their lives and find the happiness that comes form the Gospel of Jesus Christ. the work is amazing and life is good. love you all! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!!

Love,

Sister Swisher (the only sister missionary in the world who doesn't eat chocolate)

3rd missionary for the 4th time!

Hey everyone!
so yet another crazy week in the life of sister swisher. so we got a
third companion this week! she goes home in two weeks so its pretty
fun to have her around. we smashed a 3rd bed into our room and its
been a blast. this is like my 4th time being in a trio on my mission.
partyyyy! well this week we went to Frederick for the new
missionary/trainer meeting and it was so fun to see other missionaries
and get to talk to them and laugh. its really the best thing in the
world to be a missionary! i must say i am pretty tired this week but i
really love this area! i love the woodstock ward!!! they are awesome
and so supportive! so we have a couple of new investigators and we are
always busy. the days seem to just fly by. the weather is finally
gorgeous and i love being outside in it! the sunsets have been amazing
and every morning when i am running i get to see the sunrise! best
times ever! i love love love warm weather! i cant get enough of it!
well i hope everyone had a great easter and was able to reflect upon
our savior and the amazing gift that he gave to us. it truly is
amazing! what hope we can have because our of our Savior Jesus Christ.
everytime i think about it i get overwhelmed with the love that our
Heavenly Father has for us. life is just wayyy too good! love ya'll!
MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Love,
Sister Swisher

Shearing Sheep

hey ya'll.

seriously my southern accent is getting stronger and stronger. finally im just embracing it. cant fight it, so i am just going to go with it. mhmmmm. well i forgot to include in my email last week that we helped some members in the ward shear their sheep! it was really gross! it sounded a lot more fun than it actually was haha and the sheep peed on me. no big deal. grody mcnasty. this week was phenomenal! spring is in full swing here! its gorgeous and warm and the humidity is already starting up! oh yeah! i cant get over how beautiful it is! its like i am on a post card every day! so this week was amazing for the work! we put our investigator susan on date for baptism on may 3rd! we are stoked! the ward is on fire with missionary work! every one is working so hard to up their game of sharing the Gospel! i am soooo lucky to be in the Woodstock ward right now! we are seeing miracles here and its all because the members are really putting forth their best effort for the Lord! i am so excited about what is happening here. we are on the verge of a flood of miracles! so this weekend we had a less active that wanted to go to another wards activity in Winchester Virginia but she said she would only go if we went with her. its way out of our area so i thought for sure the answer would be no.... i texted president to ask and he said GO! woo hoo! it was such a fun time! i loved meeting a whole new ward. they don't have any sisters in their ward so when they saw us they all got really excited that sister missionaries were in the ward now then we had to let them down and tell them we were just visiting. haha i hope you are all enjoying spring as much as i am! love you all! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Love,

Sister Swisher

One Year! What!?!?!

hey every one! 

 so this week was pretty crazy! it has been really busy, busy, busy! i hit my year mark this week and i am feeling really old. when did this happen? where did time go? this morning i had it confirmed to me that i am an awkward oblivious missionary! we were dropping off our car to get it fixed (girl in the ward may or may not have backed into our car haha) and we were waiting for the elders to come pick us up from the repair shop. the worker was in his late 20's and was talking to us about our missions. he saw that our ride was there and we were about to leave so he rushed into the other room to grab a business card. he wrote his cell number on the back and handed it to me and said to call him if we needed anything at all. he also told me he lives just up the road. as we walked out i turned to my companion and was like this is great he probably wants to learn more. we can give his number to the elders so they can teach him. then my comp gave me this look like oh sister swisher.... then i was like what? she then informed me that he totally just gave me his digits so i could call him. i was shocked.... he doesnt want to hear more about the Gospel? hahaha yup i have been a missionary for a while now. didnt even cross my mind. 

the rest of the week went really well! we were able to watch general conference with two less-actives, a recent convert, an investigator and a member family. it was soo much fun! i love general conference! it was a great weekend filled with messages of hope and love. they gave me the courage to stand up for what is right no matter what any one else is doing. i have learned a lot this week and have enjoyed progressing. the only way we progress in life is by going through challenges. when you are going through a rough time just remember that Heavenly Father knows you and what you can handle but he also knows who you can become. he is going to help you reach your full potential. at times it may just plain stink but remember to be grateful and to find the joy in every phase of life. life is to be enjoyed, not just endured! smile:) MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!! Love ya'll!

Love,

Sister Swisher

Hola mi amigos!

hola mi amigos!

me llamo es Hermana swisher! you may be wondering why the heck i am speaking Spanish.... well i got my new missionary this week and she is a Spanish speaking sister. there aren't enough Spanish sisters in the mission yet to train new missionaries so i am training her for 6 weeks in Spanish and then she will go to the Spanish zone. her name is Hermana astorga. she is 28 years old from bountiful Utah. she is awesome and i am learning a lot of Spanish... er i mean Espanol! its been pretty fun! she is a native speaker so she is pretty dang good! this week we have seen a ton of miracles and have met a lot of new people. we have had more members sign up to feed us than ever before! its great! life is good here in Virginia! and it finally snowed for the LAST time on Tuesday. no more snow for us! yup i am sending all of my winter clothes home this week! hasta luego nieve! (see ya later snow) i am learning how to pray in Spanish! before ya know it i will be fluent. not really. haha when i cant fall asleep at night i quiz myself on my Spanish vocab! well Woodstock is going strong and transfers were so much fun as usual. i love seeing all the great missionaries i serve with. i have really seen how Padre celestial (Heavenly Father) answers prayers this week. he answers them through other people. it is so important that we are always living the best we can so we can help answer others prayers and have others answer ours. i love the Gospel and am sooo proud to be a part of the missionary force. my favorite part of getting ready in the morning is putting on my name badge and getting to represent the Savior. i love it! i am trying to squeeze every moment out of it. Haz Lo Justo! (do the right or my new phrase for make good choices!)

Con Amor,

Hermana Swisher