STAYING IN SAVAGE MILL

Hello everyone! I am soo happy to report that this week was way less crazy than last week. It rained a lot which was nice because it made it cooler. This week however is supposed to be 96 degrees with 90% humidity. We might just die. I have happy news to report on transfers! SISTER HOLLIS AND I ARE STAYING IN SAVAGE MILL WARD!!! WOO HOO!! I am sooo stinking happy. I was a nervous wreck waiting for the call to come. When they told us I danced around the apartment for about 12 minutes. I was happy to tell the ward and especially Daniel and Bethanie the news. It will be the saddest day ever when I have to leave those two (almost three.) Well we took our investigator Billy and his cute 6 year old son Riley to a baptism on Saturday. Our baptismal font is under construction at the moment so it was in a member's pool. It was the nicest house I have ever been too! Any who the baptism was really great! Two little kids and a guy named Ricky were baptized. The spirit was so strong. The bishopric called out all the sister missionaries that were there to come up and bare their testimonies during the service. They were all smiling like "haha we got those sisters" joke is on them I love speaking in front of people, ESPECIALLY to bare my testimony. Today we played volleyball with our zone for P-day. It was really fun and everyone stunk so bad I looked like a really good volleyball player comparatively. haha. Well this week was really great but I really just can't remember most of it! so much happens every day! Yesterday was a really good day at church and boring meetings. I am so happy that I will get to finish training Sister Hollis and that I will be in Savage Mill for at least 4 and a half months of my mission (hopefully more.) So this week I have been thinking A LOT about trials and hard times. I have never viewed trials like this but since I have been out on a mission I am saying "Bring it on!" Trials are when we get to show the Lord exactly what we are made of and that we will never abandon Him. Hard times will come, do not view them as tragedies. They are opportunities to learn and grow and serve. They show how much Heavenly Father trusts us that He would give us such a thing to handle because He knows we can do it! My mission is the hardest but best thing I have ever experienced. I know that I will get home a much better person and be more capable to handle life and the years to come. This is just some of what I was able to learn this week. Ok in the words of my father "enough with the mushy crap." I have a FUNNY story! Sister Hoillis and I found a name on the ward list that kind of lived near us so we went to find this lady that we have never met before. It was going to be our last stop of the night and the storm was rolling in. (just a side note: I LOVE the storms back here) So we put the address into our GPS and went out to find this sister in the ward. We were rolling into a part of Jessup that we had never seen before. We were like " huh this is interesting..." All of a sudden the thunder and lightening start picking up. We have no idea where we are but we were determined to find this sister and trust the good ol GPS. We see all these fences to our left with a lot of barbed wire. Sister Hollis was like " um that is a lot of barbed wire, where the heck are we?" I said " yup pretty sure this is a prison...." Next thing we know we see the sign for the women's prison. It was the address for the sister in the ward..... awkward. We didn't end up finding the sister in case you were wondering. We then texted our relief society president (who is super cool and our best friend, we are going to hang out with her and her daughter for the rest of P-day) to tell her the news. Turns out there are a lot of prisons in Jessup. Good to know. So now Sister Hollis and I tell people we went to prison on Thursday night. Well that is basically my week. Oh one more thing! I am finding out soo much about myself. First my love for vacuuming, now I have a passion for patato salad! Seriously I didn't really like it before my mission but now Sister Strickland (our relief society president/ best friend) introduced me to a world of patatoe salad! It is phenomenal! And I am officially the weirdest person ever who loves vacuuming and potato salad! haha Well LOVE YOU ALL! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Love,

Sister Swisher

Stolen Car!!!!

Ok everyone take a seat so I can tell you about my week. It has been a crazy one for sure! Ok so it has been absolutely insane and hilarious. I laughed the entire week so i have a lot of great stories to share. So first it starts off with Sister Hollis going to the doctor for posion ivy! she couldnt sleep like all week due to the discomfort it was causing her. So naturally everyone in the ward gave us a ton of treats all week because they felt bad. hahaha. so that was pretty funny because they put her on steroids to get rid of it and i was like look here doctor if she has some roid rage i am going to have to be the one to put up with it. so far so good no roid rage haha. So then Thursday was the 4th of July and our ward has a breakfast every year so we got to go and eat pancakes! then we invited ourselves to some parties in the ward and went to lunch with daniel and bethanie. We did not get to see any fireworks because it doesnt get dark until 9 and our curfew is 9:30. So we heard them from the apartment. This leads into my next story. Let me give you all some background. We have this little box in each missionary car called TIWI. It is really annoying because it makes us drive safely and tells us to slow down and such. We are always really mean to TIWI. When ever TIWI says "check your speed" we usually say something like "check your face" or something super clever like that. haha ok so any ways 4th of July night we were gathering all of our stuff from our car to go inside for the night. Sister Hollis and I both all of a sudden got the feeling that someone was watching us. So we hurry up, lock our car 56 times then go inside and lock every thing up. Didn't even think twice about it. The next morning we were groggily walking out of our apartment to go on our morning run. I walked through a parking spot and notice my Jolly Rancher wrappers all over the ground (i have been on a jolly rancher hype lately.) I was like that is so weird, i would never leave my trash all over the ground. i will pick that up after our run. Then sister Hollis looks at me and says "Sister Swisher...... Where is our car?" I look around and realize that I was standing in the spot where i had parked the car the previous night. We are frantically looking around and realize the rest of my jolly ranchers are strewn up the road. SOMEONE STOLE OUR CAR! We hurry and call Elder Jones the supervisor of the cars and then we call the police. We get everything filed and all and then Elder Jones calls the police and tells them that the car thief did not take out..... wait for it...... TIWI! So he had a location on our car! The police found it and did a stake out to see if they could catch the thief. Turns out it was parked to another stolen car and the thieves were letting the cars sit until they could come back and take them to a chop shop. So the police checked out our car and found out that the thief got into our car by a garage door opener. they caught our key signal the previous night and used it to get in. The thief stole my missionary debit card and used it to buy alcohol (ok kinda funny and ironic.) He took my GPS and weirdest of all he stole my sunglasses! hahaha he is rolling in style fasho. So we got our car back and it reaked of cigarette and we switched cars with elders in an area an hour away so we got a nicer car out of the deal. The missionaries in the office bought us lunch because they felt badly and we basically got a sweet deal. Sister Hollis and I were like man we should get our car stolen more often! hahaha also the cookies that the ward members had made us were in the car and the thief ate them all so the ward restocked our cookies supply. Honestly the most important part were the cookies. haha well i have an exciting story to tell my kids one day! This story just reminds me that Heavenly Father is truly watching out for all of us! Seriously miracles! So then sunday rolls around and we are at church and Daniel shows up in a new church outfit! He bought a tie and white shirt and slacks, the whole 9 yards! he looked like he had been a member for years. i almost started crying! This week has been so exciting and I dont think i have laughed this much in my whole life. Sister Hollis and I are going to be friends for the rest of our lives. She is such an amazing missionary! I love this area! Transfers are next week so i will find out in 1 week if i am staying or going. Sister Hollis and I are praying that we both stay!!!! Well I hope all is well with everyone! All is well here in Maryland, just hot and humid as poop. This is the best time of my life! We have another investigator named Thelma that is on date to be baptized July 27th and hopefully her son Nige will be on date to get baptized the same day soon. Miracles are happening all around us everyone! We just have to serve others and we will see the blessings pour into our lives. This week has been super humbling to me! I love the Gospel and I love all of you! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!

Love,
Sister Swisher

Week of Miracles

Hello!!! This week was a week of miracles! On Monday we were going to see a less-active man, on the way back to our car we saw this cute little family. So we gave them a card and the lady was like oh I work with a member! He gave me the Restoration DVD and the Book of Mormon. I have been reading the Book of Mormon! After I peed my pants (not really.... ok maybe a little :P) we set up a time to see her and her husband and her cute little girl! woo hoo!! Then we were looking for a lady named Tina so we went to the address we had and it was another family. Tina had moved. But she invited us in and we taught her and her two sons the Restoration and they invited us back! Oh if you think that is the end of the miracles... just you wait! Then our recent convert Cecelia Jimmy called us on the phone and told us she had been talking to her neighbor about the Gospel and she had agreed to meet with us. I called Themla (Cecelia's neighbor) and she said come over TODAY! so we went over and taught her and her son Nige the Restoration. Wait for it..... they then invited themselves to church! That is not the end of how cool Thelma and Nige are! On sunday morning Thelma called and said she was going to have Nige her son convince Evelyn Jimmy to come back to church since they have grown up together. Evelyn came to church!!!! Miracle!!! I am absolutely on cloud 9 right now! Heavenly Father has blessed us soooo stinking much this week and I couldn't be more thankful for this call that I have been given to share the Gospel with others and to witness how much happiness it brings into their lives. It is also amazing to see how much missionary work has changed just in the last week since the broadcast!!! The members are doing so much to help us out, find people for us to teach, and to fellowship those who need friends. They are so on board with missionary work! I am absolutely loving this area!! I cannot believe all the miracles we see all the time! Oh wait!! I just remembered another miracle we had this week! A less-active we have been working with came to church for the first time in a while!! It was great to see the ward welcome her back and help her with her kids and just show her that they love her. Daniel is still doing really well! Bethanie are coming to help us teach this week. They are already going strong in the Gospel together and it is so amazing to watch and be a part of. I am literally the happiest person in the world! Life could not get any better! I cannot believe I have almost been in Maryland for 3 months. I have no idea where the time has gone at all. I love my companion Sister Hollis! So the pictures from this week are from the big training meeting we had with the whole mission. It is for all the new missionaries and their trainers. It was a blast to see everyone! Being a missionary is hard work but it is the funnest thing in the world! We went laser tagging today yet again! Well thanks for the prayers! Love you all so much! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Love,

Sister Swisher

MISSIONARY FO LIFE!

Hey! 

So this week was pretty grand! Daniel was baptized on saturday! It was such a great baptismal service! I absolutely LOVE Daniel and Bethany! They are sooo awesome! Daniel is going to be a great addition to the ward! He already loves to serve so much. He even vacuumed after his own baptism haha super funny. It all went perfectly! Sister Schofield came and everything! it was soooo good to see her again! Then Sunday was even better! So Daniel got confirmed and is an official member of the church! It was such a great moment when he stood up and everyone raised their hands welcoming him into the ward. Then there was a boy who gave his farewell talk and a boy giving his homecoming talk! they were both so amazing! Then Sunday night was the missionary work broadcast! HOLY COW!! it was soooo good! If you haven't seen it go to lds.org RIGHT NOW and watch it! it is life changing really! Missionary work is moving forward and is sweeping the whole earth. What a great time to be alive! The world is so exciting and has sooo much good going on:) So funny moments from the past week are that I tripped big time twice in our apartment while talking to Sister Hollis. Once i tripped on her foot and another time was over a box of copies of the Book of Mormon. Just call me Grace. I read a lot in my scriptures this week about hope. Faith and hope go together. You cannot have hope without Faith. If we all put our trust in God and His plan we literally can do ANYTHING! I have seen that more than anything on my mission so far. I cannot believe how much love i have for all of the people here. I am already sad thinking about being 3 months into my mission. MISSIONARY FO LIFE! haha I want to challenge everyone who reads this post to go out and serve someone this week. If you already do a lot of service go out and do something extra. I know that the World could be a much better place if every one did more service. The Savage Mill Ward is always serving one another and it touches my heart. They have already changed my life and the way I think. They are always looking for ways they can help and what they can do more. I love it! I want to be more like that! Well I love love love you all! Thank you for supporting me:) MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

Love,

Sista Swisha!

p.s. played some serious p-day basketball today and I totally balled it up and made 3 baskets. Can I get a Whoop whoop? haha 

Working Our Big Butts Off

HEY HEY!! What an amazing week! The weather is still being crazyy! It is quite fun i must say! My companion sister Hollis and I are having a blast and working our big butts off! So this week we met a lot of amazing people but the most exciting part is that Daniel is getting BAPTIZED on saturday!!! HELLLOOOOO! I am going to cry my eyes out! I told Bethanie that I am going to get waterproof mascara and we can just bawl our eyes out together. Daniel is so ready! what an amazing family they are! seriously right as I type they are finding out the gender of their baby and we are going over there tonight to find out! Bethanie says she has a way she is going to surprise us! i think it is a girl and sister hollis thinks its a boy! We will see tonight who is right! Well we are busy busy planning the baptism and everything that goes into that. So yesterday sister hollis and i showed up to church MATCHING! like 3 year olds haha every one and their mother's uncle pointed it out. the saddest part was we did not even plan it! I have a lot of funny pictures to show you all! sister hollis loves taking pictures so i have a ton.... on her camera haha. I am still just absolutely loving being out here and being a missionary. i have already changed so much. don't get me wrong I am still a loud dork with a funny laugh but I have realized more about myself than ever before. another great experience we have had this week was we did service for an elementary school and it was soo hot and humid. afterwards sister richards, our mission president's wife took us to Rita's. oh whats rita's you ask? let me tell you! it is the best frozen ice/ custard place on the planet and it is the best place on this planet. it is so good i am already sad thinking about leaving my area and not having access to Rita's! Sister Hollis is such a good missionary and she just jumped right into it all. she has come close to all our investigators in such a short amount of time. It is so awesome to see the Lord's hand in this work. People come out of the wood work who are ready to hear and listen to the Gospel. I LOVE IT! Well look forward to next week's email when i tell all about the baptism and put up picutres!!! AHHHH!!! I am so blessed to be out here and to have met Daniel and Bethanie and all of the other people in Maryland. MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!

Love,

Sister Swisher

Blue-eyed Blondies

Hello everyone! I cannot believe I am a trainer!! I love my new companion Sister Hollis! She is 22 and from southern California. She also has blond hair and blue eyes, do they just pick the girls that look alike and send them on their way? haha she is more sarcastic than my dad and I combined! I know, how is that possible? haha We are already having a blast together and working our butts off. It was so hard to say goodbye to Sister Schofield, but then I realized I will make best friends with all my companions on my mission and will keep in touch with all of them. Also Daniel is getting baptized on June 22nd!!!! So Sister Schofield will be coming back for that and I will get to see her. Ok so it is POURING RAIN here! For like the last week it has not stopped. I have just decided that I am giving up on doing my hair until it stops raining cats and dogs. So it has been an awesome week as usual. Daniel is progressing really well and is sooo excited about being baptized. I am so excited for the Gospel to bless their little family. Speaking of that, Bethanie, his wife finds out the gender of the baby in a week! I can't wait!! We have been doing a lot of teaching and a lot of service. I have found out that I have a passion for vacuuming. I know I am a weirdo but whenever we help ladies out here clean their houses I always volunteer to vacuum the whole house hahaha. I am just loving being a missionary and a trainer. Every day we take an hour for lunch and I am to the point where I am like counting down the minutes til we get to leave the apartment and go back to work! I have never been so busy and happy in my life. Well I will upload a couple of pictures so you all can see that I am alive. I miss you all! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!

Love,

Sister Swisher

p.s. sorry this is so short, I can't remember a lot of the week hahahaha

YOGURT + BROWN SUGAR + INDIAN SPICE

Aloha! Greetings from Maryland! This has been the hardest but best week of my mission! Ok so we kept having to go to the doctor for sister schofield and it turns out she is allergic to gluten! so we are living the gluten free lifestyle and it is wayyy too healthy for me! but she is feeling much much better now so it is all good. I had the most amazing day on saturday. it was heaven sent after a hard week. we took two investigators to the temple. it was so amazing! then we went our investigator bought us subway, score! then we went to a baptism for a lady the elders have been teaching. we took two investigators to this as well. one of them was Daniel. He has been praying and reading the book of mormon and has been waiting for an answer. after the baptism we asked him how he felt and he said he felt something all over his chest and his back. a good feeling. and we were like you felt the spirit! then we asked him what he thinks the spirit is trying to tell him and he said well since everyone was talking about the truthfulness of the gospel, i am going to go with that. and his wife Bethanie started crying! AHHHH he got his answer in an amazing way! so exciting. I love Daniel and Bethanie. honestly they are like our family. we love teaching them and talking with them. after the baptism we went took an investigator named peter on a church tour. a member named sister andersen drove us and helped us teach him. it was so good! i got this impression that we needed to sing this hymn for him and we did and he felt the spirit so strongly! The church is true! i love being a missionary! Ok so since it has almost been six weeks since i have been in maryland, it is time for transfers. i was so nervous to find out if i would be getting transferred or staying. drum roll please...... i am staying in my area and will be training a new sister that comes in on wednesday! ahhh! so scared but so excited! i can't believe they trust me with another human ahaha. oh and i get to drive starting wednesday. man they must trust me here or something! sister schofield will be leaving me to go to the annapolis area but we will write each other and keep in touch. I cannot wait for this next transfer. i am going to learn so much. alrighty so funny story, we are working with a less active named brother sethi and he is kinda a crazy old man. he thinks he invented nasa and the internet and his sisters are marilynn monroe and jackie kennedy. hahha i love him! well he always tries to feed us junk food and we told him no more to the junk food. so he gave us huge bowls of yogurt plopped a butt ton of brown sugar on them and then put this weird indian spice thing on top. nastiest creation on planet earth everyone! i almost died and he was sitting there watching us eat. hahaha my first nasty food story of the mission oh goodness! i hope you are alll doing well. love ya lots and am still praying for ya! MAKE GOOD CHOICES! :)

Love, 

Sister Swisher

p.s. we keep getting flash flood warnings because it starts thunder litghtning and raining out of no where all the time. I don't think I am in Brentwood anymore....