Special Assignment

HEY!!!! ok so i have a lot to tell for this week. lets hope i can remember it all..... or just most of it. So first of all let me tell you all that HEAVENLY FATHER KNOWS US AND LOVES US!!! i had this question that was in my head and i was praying about it and it was just really bothering me. i couldnt stop thinking about it. i was quiet.... yes ME being quiet. miracles happen on the mission. haha so anywho we went to the Relief Society broadcast that night and i was just listening and taking notes and BAM quess what? my exact question i had was said and answered in the broadcast. word for word people. i just started tearing up because i know that was just Heavenly Father saying i hear you and i love you. another great blessing i have seen this week is my little brother on a mission. i know i mentioned this before but it is such a huge blessings to share experiences, laughs and struggles with him. it is so nice to have a fellow missionary to talk to about everything and anything. and let me tell you people he is already an amazing missionary. you know what he e-mailed me? he put a quote in there to inspire the both of us. " a misionary leaves his/her family for 2 years/18 months so that other families can be with theirs for eternity" what an amazing missionary that Elder Swisher is! So we went on two exchanges this week and it was a BLAST! so obviously i havent ridden my bike in a while because we get a lot of miles so we never need to. it has been a good month and a half. so i went on an exchange where they have to bike every other day and this sister took me all around the city on our bikes. we saw EVERYONE. it was so much fun. until the next morning..... i couldn't even sit down on my butt to study! i had to sit on a pillow hahaha holy cow! hopefully i lost like 12 pounds to make up for the pain! so this morning we had to drive 2 hours to the mission home for a sister training leader meeting. and guess what we planned! we are having a sister training with ALL the sisters in the mission this month! its going to be sooo much fun. at the end of the training we are doing crafts and visiting. i can hardly contain my excitement. so i spent 4 days out of the area this week due to the exchanges but i saw a lot of miracles in other areas. ok so we are doing a lot of member work right now in our ward to give the members the strength they need to carry on. and one of the most common problems i have seen is that people are disheartened by all of the bad things happening in the world. and its true there are so many things that are happening that are so sad. but they tend to overshadow all of the GOOD! there are so many things that are going on unnoticed that are great acts of service and kindness. so i was thinking how i could show this to people. and a thought came to my head. so i have a special assignment for EVERYONE who reads this! i want you to email or write me an experience that you have had or seen or heard about that shows the good in the world. it could be anything. it doesnt have to be gospel related but missionary experiences are cool too :) the best way to bring the spirit into the lesson is to share real experiences! i think that this could really make a big difference. and i have the best friends and family in the whole world so i am sure i will get a lot of great experiences. i love you all and i love being a missionary. if you ever find yourself being self critical or doubting just remember that you are a child of God and that He loves you! Being yourself is exactly what He expects of you! all you can give is your best :) MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

 

Love,

Sista Swisha

 

p.s. ask my mom for my address or email :)

Finally a haircut!

Hey Ya'll. oh geez dont you worry i dont actually saw ya'll now that i have been in west virginia for a few weeks. haha! So this week we had a pretty eventful and crazy week. we went on an exchange with some super cool sisters. It was a lot of fun! my mom sent me out a ton of disney music and that has been off the hook! so last night sis brunson and i were really quite stressed because we have to fit 4 exchanges in in the last two weeks of the transfer and i was just like you know what sister its dance party time. so we danced around the apartment to disney songs. it definitely is a super effective stress reliever. i dare all of you to try it next time you are stressed. oh wait, only missionaries do things that dorky? oh weird. haha i LOVE being a missionary. and i am so excited that my brother bradley is out in the field now too! it is a great support to me. he probably doesnt even know how much he supports me already. So this p-day has been amazing. i wasbadly needing a haircut because my hair is like a horse's mane and so this lady from a nearby ward gave us haircuts for FREE! she did a great job and was so super nice. then a member fed us lunch. we took our time excercising this morning since we get an extra hour of pday from now on! its sooo awesome! i am going to write letters and take a nap the rest of the pday. so saturday was the funnest day ever. it was the mormon helping hands day. we sorted cans all day long. one thing i do not like about being a sister missionary is being treated like some dainty girl. I AM NOT DAINTY! haha none of the elders or ward members would let me carry ANY boxes finally this poor elder was about to take yet another box from my hands and i just looked at him and said take this box from me and i will beat you up. haha it worked. so any who it was a fun day of service. then that night was the stake luau and all the missionaries were required to help the entire time. it was so much fun and we got to see the whole luau. it was so good! it was a blast. we have seen a lot of interest in the church on the campus we live across the street from. we have started a mormon club on campus and there are a lot of kids that come out to the meetings. we have one tonight where we will be playing games! woo hoo! we teach a lot of students. it is cool to see them trying to figure out life after living at home. Every one here is soooo nice. the culture is very relaxed. i really am just loving this area and the people and seeing the difference we can all make in the world. i hope that every one is doing well. If you get a chance to read a quick verse in the book of  mormon read Helaman chapter 5 verse 12. it gets you through the rough times. i like to add my name in there and what i am going through. Heavenly Father really does hear and answer our prayers. i PROMISE! He loves all of us. :) I lvoe you all too! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

 

Love,

Sister not so dainty Swisher

it's a small world!

Hi everyone! 

Ok so i have had quite an awesome and busy week. so we started off the week with my first exchange as a sister training leader (STL). So it was really fun! we also went on yet another exchange this weekend.so the exchanges we do with the sisters we are over are 48 hours long. they are so we can learn from eachother and make sure every thing is going well. so i was freaked out for nothing! i feel like i was born for this calling. my job is to make these sisters feel good about themselves and let them know what they are doing well. i love it! i have made great memories already with the sisters i go on exchanges with! i just love them all to death. we have the best sisters ever! i love being a missionary! ok so this ward is awesome. it is way different than savage mill but i am getting used to it and getting to know a lot of the members. :) we are teaching a lot of people on the campus of shepherd university and we started a mormon club on campus. it is so much fun! so this week we had a stress management meeting because so many of the missionaries are so stressed they are making themselves sick. so the mission doctor came and spoke to us. it was a good meeting and all but the best part was when president stood at the end and gave us an extra hour of pday!!! woo hoo!!! it was awesome! so funny story i was flipping through a members wedding album and i was like wait hold up! i know this person! i knew some of the people at their wedding from brentwood! it was pretty funny!!! small world of mormons. so i really am just loving this new stage of my mission. i get to help all the missionaries! i really am enjoying myself and am seeing so many miracles in West Virginia! I know that hard times make us better people and dont you all worry i will never pray for trials again! hahahahahahha I love you all! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!

Love,

Sista Swisha

crazy week indeed

Ok every one this week has been super crazy and unexpected. but just so you dont feel bad for me i will give you a little background on the story. So last transfer i read President Eyrings talk called moutnains to climb and it talked about praying for trials. so i was super pumped and was like yea i have a pretty strong testimony. i want to become who Heavenly Father wants me to be. so i did it.i prayed for a hard transfer. i just thought i would get a hard companion or something but no, it hasnt been at all what i expected. So we started off the week normal.... and then thursday hit. Sis blaisdell and i were doing weekly planning and were super stoked about what a great transfer it was going to be. then we were eating lunch and we got a call from President Richards. so just to make a long story short. there was an emergency transfer and i am now a sister training leader in Martinsburg West Virginia. what in the world??? i just had two measly hours to say goodbye to my beloved savage mill ward. i couldnt believe it. it was one of the most heart wrenching days of my life. then i got thrown into an area far away to be a leader a week into the transfer. holy cow. but dont you all worry i am already starting to love my new ward. but i think that my heart will forever be in the savage mill ward. i have made friendships that will last the rest of my life. i really love every one in that ward. i cant really talk about my savage mill ward too much yet because then i will start to cry in the library and that would be pretty embarassing! haha so anywho a funny story. so i was calling all of the sisters that me and my comp are now over and one of them was like oh sister swisher! i totally know who you are already! i was like really? how? and she said i followed your mission blog every week before i came out here! haha it was pretty funny i must say. so that is the exciting and crazy news for the week. i have already grown so much from this experience and i know i will continue to learn and grow this whole transfer. thanks for all the prayers you send my way! i love you all! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!

 

love,

Sister swisher

 

p.s. i will add pictures next week!

fall leaves and a brunette

hey everyone! transfer week was quite exciting as usual! 

so before sis hollis left, we had a farewell party at the hagedorns with the stricklands. it was soooo much fun! we ate soooo much! i was soooo sad to see sis hollis go. i hate saying goodbye to my companions. they all have turned out to be my best friends. well we went to transfers and i was looking at all the new missionaries trying to guess which one would be my new trainee. i was looking for a blond because they always put me with a blond and there were no blonds! i was completely lost! but i got an amazing sister to work with! her name is sis blaisdell, she is 22 (they always give me the oldest ones. i think think they are trying to tell me im old or something haha), she is from southern california, and she is a brunette with green eyes. when i took her around to meet everyone the whole ward was like oh a brunette? we havent ever had one! hahaha then they all said oh another california girl? then of course they would all turn to me and say we cant get rid of you sis swish! i told bishop that i am just going to buy property in the area and make it official. he said he was ok with that. well i am loving being a missionary still! i love my savage mill ward!!!!! they are like another family to me. every time i think of all of these families i am so close to i feel like i was definitely meant to be here. so this week we had a lot of member missionary work miracles. we have been really focusing on working with the members to help them do missionary work and we got 3 new investigators this week all through the members in our ward! AMAZING!!! we are teaching lisa jimmy of the famous jimmy family. i love her! she is so excited to be a part of the gopsel. she is pregnant and does not want to be baptized until she has the baby next month. we have been reading the book of mormon with her and she just loves it. it is so cool to see her grow closer to the Savior through it. we walked a lot this week because sis blaisdell is super nervous about biking and we were low on miles. Bethanie introduced me to vegemite and she was excited because i am the first American she knows who likes vegemite! woohoo! it is so good! every one must try some when they get the chance. well i play the piano for district meeting every week and today i made the district sing joy to the world. elder martin, one of our zone leaders, was less than thrilled to say the least. he always puts comments on little cards of our performance at district meetings and one of the comments he put on mine was "mediocre song selection at best" hahaha what a nerd. we have an awesome district and there is great missionary work going on. i am loving the leaves here! they are starting to change and it is breath taking! i love seasons! turns out we dont have any in brentwood. haha. well i hope every one is well! love you all! MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!

Love,

Sister Swisher

Staying in Savage Mill!!!!

Hello everyone thanks for tuning in for another week of Sista Swisha as a missionary in ghetto baltimore. just kidding i live in one of the most expensive counties in the country. its really nice here. Happy transfer week! so funny story... i was so sure i was leaving the Savage Mill ward that i packed up all my shoes. well phone calls came today and i am staying in savage mill!!! woo hooo!! but sis hollis is leaving:( she is going off with a different sister. but good news! I am training again!! woo hoo! i would love to train for the rest of my mission if i could! well by the end of next transfer, i will have been in savage mill for 6 months! that is sooo awesome. i feel like a member of the ward. there are so many families that i am so close to :) i absolutely love it! Sister Jimmy called me today to see if I was getting transferred and when i told her i wasnt she cheered! she is so cute. i dont know what i would have done if i had to leave my savage mill ward. ok great news every one! today sister hagedorn took us for pedicures!!!! woo hoo! it felt amazing and i dont feel like as big of a hobo now. :) we also went to breakfast with dan and beth today. what a fun day!! lots of packing going on tho :( i dont want to lose sis hollis but i know that she will be my friend forever! after all she knows me too well haha. we had an amazing last week together tho! we met a ton of less-actives that we have been trying to get a hold of for months! we just saw so many miracles this week. this is going to be a short email because i dont remember too much. i am excited to be an auntie!!!! wooo hoo!!!! i can hardly contain my excitement. we had Bethanie's birthday dinner with her which was fun and she has the same birthday as my sister! we also had the ward picnic on saturday night which was way too much fun. we played ultimate frisbee in  our skirts! haha the elders played basketball in their suits! missionaries are dorks! well i will leave you all with some of the thoughts i have been having this week. i have been thinking a lot about becoming the person who Heavenly Father wants me to become. i was wondering how i can do this. then i was reading in my studies and realized that all we need to do is act with charity or the pure love of Christ. as long as we act as Christ would and love everyone and serve them we will become who God wants us to be. What a great thing to think about! We just need to love with all our hearts and God will do the rest. i love being a missionary and having 24/7 to serve others and help them com closer to Christ. I know that this Gospel makes me soooo HAPPY and there is nothing i love doing more than sharing it with EVERYONE!!!! I cannot wait to pick up my new companion and to see her grow and to see myself grow this transfer. serving a mission is hard but it is worth it. i cannot imagine my life without a mission. i definitely had to serve to keep up with my amazing family. what a blessing serving is to me. man i know i say this a lot but i LOVE being a missionary. :) MAKE GOOD CHOICES!!!

Love,

sis swish

Snakes and pictures!!!!!

HEY!!! 

So it has been another exciting week in the Maryland Baltimore Mission. BEST MISSION IN DA WORLD! wow cocky. haha any ways first off on tuesday morning we got back from our run and i just hear sister hollis call my name. she said "Sister Swisher come here right now but walk slowly and dont freak out." She knows me too well. So i come in and there is this snake slithering around our apartment! I quietly freaked out so i took half of her instruction.  Sis hollis instructed me to get her a container and a lid. she swiped up the snake and we both look at eachother and said PICTURES! so we took a few shots then flung the snake to china. we then studied in our car because we were much to creeped out to study in the apartment with other possible reptiles slithering about. So every morning we go on our runs and i have been trying to kick up the speed. i also am a dork. so we were running up this hill and we were almost to the point where we stop for a break and i wanted to be motivational to my comp to kick up the speed and so i yelled the first thing that came to my mind and screamed "there is a man chasing us" and i sprinted away. when we stopped to walk my comp looked at me and said thank you for making the whole neighborhood think we are being kidnapped. haha whoops probably not the smartest thing to yell. oh well it got the job done. So we also went to the orioles game this week! it was so much fun! all 243 missionaries in our mission sat in the same section and it was crazy fun!!! we rode there with the yarn family and sis strickland.  the whole night was a blast. we got to catch up and chat with a ton of missionaries and watch some baseball! woo hoo GO A'S!!! haha well we were allowed to be out past curfew and we all thought it was going to be so much fun but we didnt know that we are all a bunch of old people are were butt tired at 10pm. haha we got home around 11pm. it was so weird to be out so late. it was so worth being dead tired on saturday. ok so saturday was thelma's baptism! it went so well and the Spirit was so strong. It feels good to be a missionary. When we met her outside the baptismal font i have never seen someone sooo happy in my life. i didnt care if she was soaking wet i gave her the biggest hug ever. When else in my life will i be able to see lives change like this?? What a great week! So yesterday thelma was confirmed and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. what a great blessing it will be to her. So after church the elders gave us a ride home and i was hyper like really hyper. and the elders were playing some of my favorite EFY songs. holy cow. they experienced my singing at the top of the lungs while playing the air guitar act. lucky them. haha it was a blast and a half. well it has been a great week and i cant wait for another one. oh yeah my mom sent me a michael buble christmas CD last week and it has been spectacular. it is all we have been listening to. :) Merry Christmas! Have a good week everyone. MAKE GOOD CHOICES! 

Love,

Sister Swisher 

Backing up! Watch out! 

Orioles game!

Michael Buble Christmas album!

The snake that looks like a worm.