What a week!

We had two great lessons with two of our investigators, who should both be on date by the end of the week! We are so excited for them!!

We have another investigator, Angie, who has been super sick the last few months. She actually speaks Spanish, so we're trying to pass her off to the Spanish missionaries, so they came with us to our lesson, and the elder was able to give her a priesthood blessing in Spanish. Even though I don't know a word of what was said, the spirit was so strong! Good things are in store for Angie.

Thursday was May 21st, 2015. It was my 1 year anniversary of going through the temple. I love the temple so much and I am so very thankful for the blessing that temples are. In the temple, our families can be sealed together forever, and so many more wonderful blessings are available! Even though I can't go while I'm out here, I can't wait to go again when I get back!

Friday morning we got a text saying we were moving! We got home from volunteering at the food bank at 1 and started packing everything up. We had to be out by that night, so we spent the whole day/night packing. They're getting rid of the apartment we lived in so every single thing had to be out and cleaned. It was so stressful. Our sister training leaders came and helped. We've pretty much just dumped everything into the new apartment till we can get it all organized. What a mess.

It has been a great week though. A wise sister once said to me "I believe in being happy." I believe in being happy! No matter what!

 

 Also, Abbi, a cute 8 year old we've been teaching got baptized on Saturday! Her dad isn't a member and her mom is reactivating so it was great to have the whole family there to support her!

Love, Sister Tennant

We had an incredible experience last Monday. One of our investigators, Pearl, has been severely depressed for a few years after losing her husband, and she liked us to come over just to talk, but she wasn't too interested in the gospel. We felt impressed to offer her a priesthood blessing, so on Monday, our zone leaders came with us and gave her a blessing and the spirit was so strong! She said she felt at peace and could feel herself getting happy again. And she practically asked if she could come to church with us. She came yesterday and loved it, and now she's really excited about learning more! She says she knows it is the gospel that will help her see her husband again and find joy in this life. We love Pearl so much!

On Thursday, we felt like we needed to stop by a family in our ward's house just to say hi and see how they're doing, even though they're fully active. So we did, and let me tell you, that was where we needed to be. She's been stressed for a long time, and we were able to help clean and de-clutter and organize some of her house with her so the spirit could be in their home more fully. We were there for 2 and a half hours and she was so thankful afterwards. It was such a great service opportunity!

Church was great on Sunday! The talks and lessons were great, and perfect for Pearl! She really seemed to enjoy it! After church, we had a meeting with our bishop, so we had to wait for a while. It was the time one of the wards after us started coming in, and I got to see the Duces!! One of our favorite families from Marysville :)

 I heard news that on Saturday, Will from Port Gardner got baptized!!! When I was there, he wanted it so bad, but they had to wait for Anjie's divorce to go through so they could be married so he could be baptized. And now they are married and he is baptized! Makes me so happy and I can't wait to see them again someday!

And as of today, Sister Wikstrom is officially on the plane, heading back home to Utah. We really did need some Sister Training Leader help Saturday night, so we called them asked our questions, and got to say goodbye. She will do great things and I'm so excited for all that life has in store for her!

It is a good life being a missionary!

Sister Tennant

Dustin our investigator

This is my joy cover for my Preach My Gospel

Beautiful rhododendrons everywhere!

Look at all those stairs we climbed yesterday! Washington is so pretty everywhere

Monday we had two great lessons with members present! Productive Monday nights are the best!

Then we met our sister training leaders for exchanges! Tuesday Sister Johnson went to Thomas Lake with Sister Conner and I stayed in Arlington with Sister Wikstrom! She was here a year ago before the wards split, so part of my ward now was her old ward so it was super cool for her to be back and see some of the people again. And of course us getting to be together again was so great!

We have decided that we were friends in the premortal life which is why we get along so well! I love that we get to meet some of our best friends out here while serving the Lord!  We had a couple of incredible lessons, and we even got to share John 11:35, our favorite scripture that we shared with pretty much everyone in Everett together!

Then the exchange came to an end and we had a very tearful goodbye. It was really really sad but thank goodness we will see each other again someday! We have so many plans for post missions :)

Wednesday we worked on our new apartment again. You won't even recognize it when we're done with that thing!

 

Sunday was Mother's Day! I am so grateful for my mom, and not only her, but all the Mothers who have had such a great impact on my life! And I love that we get a whole day to celebrate mothers. Every day should be Mother's Day!

Skyping was perfect. It's such a blessing that we can see our families and talk to them! I am so thankful for eternal families and that we can be together forever! I hope all those missionaries out there and all the missionary families had a great day yesterday talking to loved ones!

Sister Tennant

 

Our last goodbye. Right before we both broke down and cried for a while

 

What a crazy week it has been!

On Tuesday, we were street contacting downtown, and we had 5 minutes left, and we thought of just leaving early, but we felt impressed to make one more half a lap around the square. We came up to this man sitting at the bus stop and we started talking to him, and we taught him the first lesson. At the end of it, we invited him to be baptized and he said yes! He came to church yesterday and we have a lesson with him tonight so great things are in store for Steven.

And what adds to that miracle is that while we were talking to him, another man came up and was just hovering around us smiling, and we couldn't tell if he was mocking us or listening in. Finally, he interrupted and said he just had to stop and tell us how inspirational we are. How great it is that there are such good people out there who teach about Christ. He even started crying because he was so touched! We got his number too so we're going to start teaching him soon!

Thursday was crazy because we have this part of our area which is a million miles away so it's hard to get to with limited miles. And it was the end of the month, so we really were running low. But we felt we needed to be there. We got part way down there, and there was a giant cement block just barely in the road, but too far to get by. So we had to go all the way out and around, using up more miles. We were pretty frustrated, and by the end of the night, we were walking since we couldn't use the car anymore. But Heavenly Father always provides a way and things worked out!

Friday was the food bank, then we taught Steven again!

We are also moving apartments, and the ones we are moving in to is owned by members of our ward, so we've been helping clean it up and get it ready for us. We're 4 packing with the Stillaguamish sisters so it will be a lot of fun! But the people who lived there before us were nasty. Layers of mold and hair covering the bathrooms, washing machine, fridge, stove, etc. Us 4, our district leader and companion, zone leaders, and other nearby missionaries have been helping clean it, so it will be great once it's already!

It has certainly been a week of adventures but I love being a missionary so much! There is no place I would rather be.

Sister Tennant

 

 

Trying to push this stumblingblock out of the road to our happiness

Working on the Apartment

Nasty Shower!