The big news of the week, my new leadership assignments! I am going to be a sister training leader and a trainer! That is practically unheard of here, and it's only been done 1 other time. And I just found out I'm being transferred tomorrow so I'll be whitewashing too! What a way to start off my last transfer haha. It'll be good and I am super excited for all that is in store here!

In other news, we had a great lesson with our investigators Rachael and Zack, this cute young couple we tracted into. We had 2 ladies in the ward come with us and they were the perfect Mom figure to Zack and Rachael. We've been trying to get them to come to church for a couple weeks now but for whatever reason they weren't able to come. But last week they were there and they LOVED it! Rachael is more outgoing and talked to practically everyone and Zack is more reserved but still seemed to enjoy it. After church we showed them the baptism font and they are on date for January 23rd! They're going out of town for 2 weeks but Rachael asked that we help her get in contact with the missionaries where they're going since she "doesn't want to miss out" while they're gone. They are amazing and we are so excited for them!

I hope everyone is loving this Christmas season drinking hot chocolate and eating candy canes!

Love you all!

Sister Tennant

 

 

 

And it's December which means it's officially Christmas season, the best time of the year!!!

Last Monday we got to decorate cookies with a member! Their decorating skills go way above and beyond what I am used to. I tried to get all fancy but ended up resorting back to the usual frosting and some sprinkles.

Friday Elder Johnson of the Seventy came to visit! We met with the whole north half of the mission and learned from him. He talked for a long time and at the end gave us a really cool invitation. He said, "Even if you've done it before, I want everyone, in their nightly prayers to ask Heavenly Father these specific and direct questions:

 

1) Are you really there listening right now?

2) Is it true that you have a body of flesh and bones?

3) Do you know I really exist/ Do you know me personally?

4) Am I really your daughter/son? Are you really my Father?

5) Do you love me?"

 

And he promised that our lives would change. Heavenly Father loves each one of us so much and I want to leave everyone with the same invitation. Tonight before bed, ask God these questions and you will feel His love so powerfully for you individually.

And Saturday was the Anacortes Christmas Parade! Our ward made a float for the primary kids to dress up and walk with and it was all A Savior Is Born themed, but since it was so windy and rainy, they decided not to participate. But us and the Anacortes elders, and 2 set of sisters from Mt Vernon came over and we decided to walk anyways! We had a ton of our cards with our number and the Christmas.mormon.org link and we split up and handed out as many as we could. We passed out hundreds of them and it was such a neat experience! Miracles will happen, I'm sure of it!

And I hope everyone got to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional last night! If not, it's on lds.org! I especially loved Sister Burton and Elder Bednar's talks!

Have a great week!

Sister Tennant

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We decorated cookies last Monday!

We raked leaves for a lady in the ward! Who knew it took forever to bag them up? I thought the raking was the slow part!

Ward Christmas Party

 

It was a week of miracles!!

We've have very few people to teach the last several weeks, despite our hard work and constant efforts, but Tuesday, we found THREE new investigators! We'd been tracting a few weeks earlier and were finally able to meet with this couple who invited us back. We had a member with us and the Spirit was so strong as we taught the Restoration. At the end, the wife said a kneeling prayer, and they both accepted a baptism date!!

Then we were tracting later that day, and a girl waved at us from the window and invited us right in and we taught her! Hallelujah!

We got 2 other investigators later in the week totaling FIVE this week!

Wednesday was interviews and it's always good to see the Bonhams! I told President how I plan on going home NEXT November and he said, "Sister Tennant, you not going home now would be just as bad as if you'd never come." Bah. I just want to be a full time missionary forever!

Thanksgiving was great with our ward mission leader! I am so thankful for my family and for this gospel, and that I get to serve and teach people about Heavenly Father, and so many more things He has blessed me with.

Saturday we were on exchanges! I was here with Sister Lundeen! We plan to be companions one day :)

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Sister Tennant

 

 

 

Thanksgiving. Dumb ear sticking out

 

Kinda hard to see, but beautiful sunset! The orange highlight over the mountains was beautiful!

Sunset and exchanges with Sister Lundeen! One of the best exchanges of my mission :)

 

It was a great week!

The highlight was Sunday, when we got to go speak at the branch at Friday Harbor on San Juan Island! We woke up early (with permission of course) and took the ferry over, and it was SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!! A member picked us up and made us breakfast before church. Then we spoke in sacrament, and we've been stressing all week because we were the only speakers so our talks were supposed to be 20 minutes each. I have never given a 20 minute talk. But Sis Loertscher went first and spoke for 30 minutes, so mine was a lot shorter hahaha. There were probably 25 people there, but it was so fun! They loved having us and loved our testimonies!  The ride back was pretty incredible too!

We gave Bill my dad's ties he sent, and Bill LOVED them! He was so touched 1)for the ties, but 2) more that we thought to ask our dads for them because we were thinking of him! Bill is incredible. We can't wait for when he goes to the Salt Lake Temple, hands them his recommend, and they let him past. I don't care where I am in the world, I will fly to Utah and be there with him. He went to Temple Square years ago and they stopped him from going in since he wasn't a member. Now he'll finally be able to go see the inside of it!

This gospel is so great. It is a good life being a missionary!

Sister Tennant

 

 

 

The Sunrise!

It was the CUTEST little town!!

Is that a Whale I See?

BEAUTIFUL SAN JUAN ISLANDS

Mount Baker

The Ferry

Sunset!

 

Fun day at the zoo. Lotsa layers

In the reptile room today. HALLELUJAH there are no lizards

Riding a Turtle

We Made Banana Bread!

You can't really tell, but I am COVERED in mud. It was my day to back. And it's been pouring

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photos sent the week of 11/16/15
 

Weekly Update 11/9/15   

It was kind of a slow week.  Not much happened.

The highlight was definitely that Bill was baptized on Saturday!

The Primary Program was on Sunday and they had a practice Saturday morning so the President asked us to pick up a bunch of pizzas from Little Ceasar's on our way to fill up the font.  We got to be the pizza delivery ladies and had lunch with all the cute Primary kids!

Then it was time for the baptism and Bill and everyone showed up!  And his Fiance from Canada that we've been waiting forever to meet came too and it was so good!  Bill could hardly wait for the program to start.  Since he has serious back problems, instead of going backward into the water, after Bro Rollo said the prayer, Bill went to his knees and then forward.  I'd never seen someone do that before, but it worked our nicely...and for the rest of the day he was glowing.  Happiness was radiating from him.  He is so excited to baptize Trish, his fiance one day, and them be sealed in the temple.  Now we just need to get her to meet with the missionaries in Canada.

Sunday was a big day too.  We met Bill out in the parking lot and he was still glowing.  Then he was confirmed and received the Gift of the Holy Ghost!  After the men stepped away after the prayer, Bill was crying. It was so sweet and the spirit was so strong!  And he took the Sacrament and renewed his covenants he'd just made.  Then a new Bishop was called.  We haven't had one for 2 weeks since our last one moved away.  So that was good to have one again.  And the Primary Program was So Sweet!

Lemme tell ya, being a missionary is the Very Best!

Love,
Sister Tennant

Baptism Day

Weekly Update Nov. 2, 2015



I am officially the oldest sister in my mission!

It is so crazy how fast time goes by and I cannot believe I only have two transfers left.  Washington has stolen my heart and I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have had to serve Heavenly Father and His children.

All in all, it was a good week! We started a 40 day fast for Missionary Work in our ward on Wednesday, and we have already seen miracles!  The work has been slow the last few weeks, so it's been great to have the ward all come together.

MIRACLES:

Wednesday -  A man names Jason went on Mormon .org and referred himself, requesting a Bible a few weeks ago.  We took one over but he wasn't home so we left it with his family.  On Wednesday we went to follow up on it, and we met Jason, gave him a Book of Mormon too, and taught him the Restoration!  And he accepted a baptism date!

Thursday-  We got a referral from our recent convert, Ursula, on the reservation for a man named Jesse.  We went to contact him and taught him the Restoration, and he wants to learn more!

Friday-   We traveled to and from Edmonds safely and got to stop in and say Hi to some of our favorite ladies at the mission office.

Saturday-  Our zone did a "car fast" where no one uses the cars at all to help us appreciate the cars more and to save miles.  So we were walking all day and it was POURING all day.  A few days earlier we'd been tracting and no one answered and we got to the last house and he wasn't home, but as we were turning to step off his porch, he drove up--awkward-, so we talk to him through the car window, introduce ourselves, give him a pamphlet, and say how it's not a good time now, but we'd like to come back and share our message sometime.  So we're partway to his house on Saturday, soaking wet, looking quite pathetic and we stop and consider if it's even worth it to knock on this man's door looking as bad as we did, but we decide to go for it anyways.  We knock, be answers and apologizes for being in his pajamas and we say, "we're soaking wet, so it's all good"! And laugh and proceed to teach him about the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And he said:  " I am definitely interested!"  Oh we were so excited!

Sunday-   We've been sharing D&C 15:6 with members and these miracles and explaining how the reason we do missionary work is because we love these people and we want to see them in the Celestial Kingdom with us - Whether they be friends, neighbors, family members, etc. And we shared it with the family who'd fasted that day, and the mom how she had this friend she's been thinking about but she really doesn't know what to say.  We gave her some ideas and even role played with her a little.  We felt just like Sister Payne and Sister Myers on one of the District videos Ha Ha Ha....It was almost the exact same situation.

Also on Saturday I turned 21 !!  Thank You everyone for the Happy Birthday Wishes!!  We had to come in early on Halloween (for safety) and weekly plans, but we got to go to sleep early, and it happened to fall on daylight savings time, so we got even more extra sleep!

Miracles are real !  The work is hastening --> No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing!

Love, Sister Tennant

Happy Birthday Package !

Birthday Presents!

Coloring in our wonderful coloring pages - Thank You   Sis. Passantino!

Happy Light to keep our spirits up !

 A recent convert in the ward bought me flowers to celebrate the big 2-1!

 

Happy Birthday Cake!

Weekly Update 10/26/15

The week was extremely uneventful.  We are working really hard to find new investigators to teach, but it seems like no one at all wants to learn about the gospel.

Friday/Saturday was kind of crazy though.  We had a lesson with our investigator Bill, who is awesome.  He was taught by missionaries in the past but they had to drop him because they couldn’t get a hold of him.  So Sis Bird and I went to see him and ever since then, he has really been on fire.  He is truly converted to the gospel and it is so cool to see him learn and grow.  His whole countenance has changed even just in the few months that I’ve known him.  And he was already to go to be baptized Oct 24^th.  So we get to his house, and our member who’d beat us to his house by a couple of minutes, talked him into waiting to be baptized on November 7^th, so his fiancé could be there.  Keep in mind this is all happening at 8pm the night before his scheduled day.  It was so intense in there and we were all going back and forth between what day it should happen.  And I have a huge testimony of “do not procrastinate the day of you repentance”, so I was really trying to not be frustrated with our member.  He hadn’t decided for sure what he was going to do but said he’d let us know for sure by 7:00 Saturday morning.  All night long we felt uneasy and discouraged.   And in the morning, he told us he’s waiting till the 7^th.  and we just couldn’t focus or function, and there were some tears.  We felt unsettled about the 7^th and giving Satan 2 more weeks to mess things up.  We met up with our Sister Training leaders and they are just wonderful.  They lifted our spirits and talked us through everything.  It was way good getting to see them and them helping us relax and calm down.  Then we went to see Bill, just us, without our member.  He’s still doing good, way solid testimony, determined to be baptized.   We warned him about how Satan will try to lead him astray, and committed him to read the Book of Mormon every day to help fortify his testimony.  We love Bill and all will be well!

Sunday was a way good day at Church!  Our recent convert Greg got a calling!  And we taught the Beehives and it was so good.  All about how to become more Christ like in our service.  We shared the “lift” Mormon message.

I’ve been reading The Infinite Atonement and I came across this part that is absolutely beautiful.

“Elder Melvin J. Ballard, with a tender insight that seemed to penetrate the veil, commented on the Father’s choice not to rescue his Son.

“God heard the cry of His Son I that moment of great grief and agony, in the garden when, it is said , the pores of his body opened and drops of blood stood upon Him, and He cried out: ‘Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me.

I ask you, what father and mother could stand by and listen to the cry of their children in distress, in this world, and not render aid and assistance?......”

“We cannot stand by and listen to those cries without its touching our hearts.  The Lord has not given us the power to save our own…He has given us faith, and we submit to the inevitable, but He had the power to save, and He loved His Son , and He could have saved Him…..He saw that Son finally upon Calvary, He saw his body stretched out upon the wooden cross; He saw the cruel nails driven through hands and feet, and the blows that broke the skin, tore the flesh, and let out the life’s blood of His Son.  He looked upon that.”

“In the case of Our Father, the knife was not stayed, but it fell, and the life’s blood of His Beloved Son went out.  His Father looked on with great grief and agony over His Beloved Son, until there seems to have come a moment when even our Savior cried out in despair.  ‘My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me” ?

“In that hour I think I can see our dear Father behind the veil looking upon these dying struggles until even He could not endure it any longer;  and, like the mother who bids farewell to her dying child, has to be taken out of the room, so as not to look upon the last struggles, so He bowed his head, and hid in some part of His universe, His great heart almost breaking for the love that He had for His Son.  Oh, in that moment when He might have saved His Son, I thank Him and praise Him that he did not fail us, for He had not only the love of His Son in mind, but He also had love for us.”

I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ who each sacrificed more than we can comprehend so that we can return to live with them again someday.  They love each one of so much!

Love,

Sister Tennant

Weekly Update     10/19/15

It was a good week!

Monday night we exchanged with our Sister Training Leaders- Hermanas Fifita and Mohr and sister Lundeen.  They’re in a 3pack since one sister went home and things got rearranged.  But I went to Bellingham with Hermana Fifita and sister Lundeen and sister Loertscher stayed here with Hermana Mohr.  It was a lot of fun being in a 3 pack for a day!  Since they’re in both the Bellingham Spanish branch and English family ward, we had some lessons In Spanish and some in English.  And just like my last Spanish exchange, I do not speak the language at all.  But it was a great day there and the sisters had a great day here!

And since we had Zone Conference in Bellingham on Wednesday, we actually exchanged for 2 nights, and switched back Wednesday morning at the conference.   That was fun.  I’d never done a 2 night exchange before.  During the conference, Sister Bonham instructed and explained how our life on Earth is so short, but the decisions we make here affect the rest of our eternity.  Just like the time we are on our missions is so short, yet it affects the rest of our lives.  So we need to make good decisions now so they are not hard later.   And she committed us to a few specific things for later in life.  Decide them now so we don’t have to make a tough choice later:

-         Choose to go to the Saturday evening adult session of Stake Conference.  And Stake Conference Weekend is not a weekend off.

-         Choose now to listen to General conference with all your heart.

-         Accept and magnify all of your callings.

President Bonham also spoke on D & C 62:3 and how those angels are not necessarily stranger angels, but our loved ones.  Our ancestors and close spirit friends.  They are proud of us and are watching over us.  And he is excited for when (in a long way down the road) he and Sister Bonham get to be angels watching over us.  I love the Bonhams!

Friday-  Happy Birthday Hermana Hansen!!

We had a lesson with Bill and he is awesome.  He is so excited for his baptism on Saturday 10/24!  He came to church yesterday and he didn’t even sit by us in Sacrament,  but by his fellow shippers.  Then when Sacrament was over, we were just standing there waiting for him to finish talking to people so we could walk with him to class, and he came up to us and said, “did you need me for something”?  We said no and he said, “okay, then I’m going to go to class.”  He doesn’t even need us anymore!  Saturday is going to be such a great day!

Today we just finished playing Settlers of Catan with our district for our Pday activity.  I lost…  No surprise there! Ha Ha Ha  I still love that game even though I never win!

Love, Sister Tennant 

PS  D& C  100:1  (insert your name where appropriate)

The Beautiful Fall Colors!

It was a great week! Sunday was the fireside in Lake Stevens, and we got to go! We had one of our investigators and 2 recent converts and it was great! And I got to see a lot of people I love so it was a good night

Our investigator, Bill, got home form his 2 week long trip to Canada Sunday night, so we went to see him Monday and set up an appointment. The whole time we were talking, he seemed jittery, and I thought it was because he was cold (it was dark and chilly out). Then we saw him Tuesday during the day, and as soon as we said the opening prayer, he started telling us this story/experience he had while he was gone. I didn't quite follow it all the way since he was talking so fast, but at the end, he started crying and said how he needs to be baptized. Oh we were so excited. We invited him to be baptized on October 3rd (that Saturday- we'd felt impressed to do so a few days earlier), and at first he said yes but then realized he needed to give his fiance time to get in town so she can be there. She's in Canada, and apparently wants to meet us and start taking the lessons too. So now he's being baptized October 24th and is so excited. He even teaches us the lessons because he's been studying and understands everything so well. He is so great!

And I got a letter in the mail from one of my other recent converts, Marie, that says,

"Dear Sister Tennant, Thank you for your kind email. My baptism and confirmation were two of the happiest days of my life! Thank you for taking time from your busy schedule to celebrate with me. I am overjoyed to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints! I am now part of a community of brothers and sisters that will help me endure to the end!!! I love Heavenly Father so much! And wish only to be the best person He wishes me to be! Please stay in contact!! Love, Sister Marie"

This is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about and I am so thankful to be a part of it.

Sister Tennant

 

 

 

Beautiful Anacortes

FOUR generations!

- me, my baby Sister Johnson, her baby Sister Krummenaucher, her baby Sister Thompson

Add caption

Fort Casey- last P day activity

Lunch with the Lewises!

Sis Loertscher and I watching Conference!