Week 9 Update from Everett

 Bouncy Pancakes, Best Day Yet.....

That night was Ward Movie Night, and we were watching the Testaments, so we were allowed to go! (We can only watch movies produced by the Church) So we show up, and it's all just us missionaries. Us, the Jefferson’s, and the elders were the only ones to show up. No one else came. So instead we played games and participated in their family home evening. We played catch phrase and then shared a scripture. It was actually really fun.

Tuesday we had interviews! Our zone met at the stake center and President Bonham came and talked to us for about an hour, and then one by one, we all went out and met with him. It was only a couple minutes long and we didn't really talk about a whole lot, but it was nice getting to know him a little better. He's a fantastic mission president, and I'm thankful for all of his and Sister Bonham's hard work.

One night, we didn't have anyone feeding us, so we decided to make something ourselves, and we went for German Pancakes. The kind you bake. When we pulled it out of the oven, it looked like a foam mattress pad. Not appetizing at all. But we ate part of it, and then since it had a funny texture, I dropped a square of it on the floor, and it bounced. IT BOUNCED. We are not meant to be cooks. Our poor future children. Good mission memories though!

Our Sister Training Leaders gave a lesson about ourselves being converted and how we have this power and authority that comes with our calling. Our mission scripture is 3 Nephi 5:13 "Behold, I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I have been called of Him to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life." They had a couple people, myself included, stand up and recite it, then we all stood and said it. It was really powerful. And I was thinking about my ministerial license. It says " This certifies that the bearer, Sister Shelby Noelle Tennant, who is in full faith and fellowship with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has been duly called and set apart as a missionary of the Church and as such has authority to preach the principles of the gospel. We invite all people to heed her message." I know this gospel is true and I love how I have been set apart and everyone is invited to hear the message that I and all other missionaries are working so hard to share!

Saturday was such a good day. Probably the best day of my mission so far! We were smiling all day long! We met a new investigator in the morning and then were busy with appointments for the rest of the day. It's days like that that make the whole mission so worth it. We even stopped in and met one of our investigators, Otila at her work. We were supposed to have a lesson with her on Tuesday, but because of interviews going so late, we didn't make it, so we wanted to go see her. She is so cute and us stopping in really made her feel happy and special. We love Otila!

It's been a solid week and the weeks continue to fly by!

Sister Tennant

These girls in our ward heart attacked our door last Saturday night so we woke up to it Sunday morning. It was so perfect especially since Saturday was so tough

Week 8 Update

 

 Time Flies, Day of Service and Amy's Baptism

On Monday a lady in the ward gave us massages! It was glorious :)

We also had to say goodbye to Patricia. She's moving to Arlington so we won't be able to see her again unless she comes back into our area. She’s  practically already a member. She just needs to get baptized! I'm sure it'll happen one day!

On Wednesday we had zone meeting! I have officially made it through one transfer and I'm not the newest anymore! It's a great feeling. It's crazy how fast time flies! It seems like last week that I was the newb and didn't have any clue what was happening and now I'm a whole transfer in. We got new elders in our ward to split the area and we were afraid they would take our car and give it to them and we would be on bikes but they didn't HALLELUJAH. We both have cars.

On Saturday, our ward participated in the National Day of Service! We helped pull weeds in the flower beds of the elementary school next door to our church building. It was a lot of fun to help the school. We also got to wear pants which was heavenly!

We also have this girl named Amy who we're working with. She's 12 and super cute. She started the lessons with Sis Wikstrom and the sister before me. It's hard because her mom is supportive but doesn't want it herself so it's hard for Amy to have that spiritual independence when she's so young and no one else at home cares about religion. Her baptism was quite the ordeal because her mom and sister wanted to come, but they showed up an hour and a half late, after Amy had already been baptized. We waited for 45 minutes, but since they're not super reliable people, we couldn’t be sure they were coming or not. So when they did get there, she was not happy. It was just a super stressful situation. But Amy was still so happy and glowing!! Then she had the biggest smile on Sunday when she was confirmed. Amy is so sweet and we're so happy for her!          The young women love her too so she'll be well taken care of :)

We got the new sisters all moved in with us and the elders started working in their area, so it's been a good week!

Hope all is going well at home!

Love, Sister Tennant

 

Saying Goodbye to Patricia

Amy's Baptism Day

Making Room for New Sisters

Week 7 Update from Everett - Making Room for more Sisters

Week 7 Update 

It's the last week of the transfer so everyone's wondering who all is going to be transferred! We just found out Sis Wik and I will stay here together thank goodness. I know the time will come when we're split up, but for now, we're happy just where we are. 

The other day, we also got a text saying that we'd be 4 packing with two other sisters in our apartment! So now we're scrambling to get our apartment clean and ready to have 2 more sisters move in with us, and decide exactly how we want to divide the area. It's been stressful trying to get everything organized and ready!

On Wednesday we went to the dentist so Sis Wik could get a few cavities filled. It was award when I followed her back to the room and I had to explain that we are missionaries and companions and we have to stay together. Haha oh well.

We have a new investigator named Will, and he's another one like John. He LOVES learning and reading and really has a testimony of the gospel. We are super excited about him. 

On Friday was weekly planning, so for lunch, we decided to go out and we went to this restaurant called the Sisters! How perfect. Obviously we had to go. It was good too. 

On Saturday, we went and helped this couple in the ward paint their house. Out here, the houses aren't brick, so you can just pick whatever color you want your house to be! And we got to wear not-church clothes which was fun :) Regular clothes for about an hour

Last night for dinner, we went to the Jefferson's house. They're the senior couple serving in the ward with us. They're so sweet and are leaving September 26th to go home. So we talked for a while, and Sis Jefferson gave both of us jewelry. She works for Cookie Lee and wanted to give us going away gifts. It was really sweet of her. We're going to miss them a lot. 

Since we found out the sisters were coming to live with us, and we have an extra bedroom, we decided we wanted to have a slumber party before they came! So we moved our mattresses into the room, set up our portable dvd  player, and had a movie night!  With cereal too of course.  We can only watch things produced by the Church, so it has to have the Church logo on it, so we watched the District haha. Nothing too exciting. Neither of us slept very good, but it was still fun!

Nothing super exciting has gone on this week. Just same old same old. It's good though. It's always good being a missionary!

Love, 

Sister Tennant

Beautiful Sunset

Week 6 Update- It's Been A Good Week!

It's been a good week!

Tuesday was my first ever exchange, which meant our sister training leaders came, and we all switched companions for 24 hours. I was terrified. I did not want Sister Wikstrom to leave. So I stayed here with Sister Sinclair and Sister Wikstrom went to Mulkiteo with Sister Lavata'i. Thankfully we had a super busy day planned and tons of appointments to go to. It was a good day, and it wasn't that I wasn't looking forward to spending time with Sis Sinclair, I just really didn't want Sis Wik to leave. But I knew there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening, so I put my faith in Heavenly Father and just put one foot in front of the other till Sis Wik and I were reunited.

On Thursday, we had our weekly planning session, which usually takes several hours, so to get out of the apartment, we went to IHOP for lunch! Nothing like eating your own weight in pancakes!

After planning, we went to see a lady named Terry. She's quite the character. She's super into personality tests, and so she started evaluating us on our natural colors. The color of your veins means this, the color of the tips of your fingernails means that, and these are the colors you should wear because they bring out your natural colors and make you look your best. Well. I had my outfit spot on, but Sis Wik was wearing this super cute blue and pink striped dress. Apparently pink is NOT her color. Terry repeatedly told her she should probably never ever wear pink ever again, and even suggested that she take the dress she was wearing to Goodwill as soon as possible. Oh man I was dying it was so funny. Only Terry could say something like that! I was laughing so hard. That was Thursday. Today is Monday. Sis Wikstrom is wearing the dress again.

Friday was Zone Conference! A couple of zones came together and it was kind of like a mini EFY, youth conference, and mission all combined into one. It was cool getting to hear from President and Sister Bonham. We read in Alma 7 and one thing I need to work on remembering is that the same Heavenly Father who called Alma to be a prophet and appeared to Joseph Smith called me to be a missionary in Everett Washington. The same one! Sometimes I forget that He knows exactly who I am and is watching out for me. My testimony has been strengthened so much the last month and a half. It's true what they say about bearing your testimony strengthens your own. I get to go around all day every day teaching people about the gospel. And I know these things are true! What a blessing this gospel is! I love it so much and I'm so thankful to have been born into this Church!

At church, we had 5 investigators there! It was a good day! At dinner, we were waiting for it to be ready, and the family had The River Flows in You on their piano. THAT IS MY SONG. So I played it. Not very well because it's been a while, but it was still fun and I enjoyed getting to play it!

Hope everyone is doing well!

Love,

Sister Tennant

**Pictures from this week didn't make it so hopefully we'll see them next week.