Monday, September 29, 2014

Beautiful Ohio

"In the pre-mortal life you proved to be valiant, obedient, and pure. 
There you worked hard to 
develop talents and capacities to prepare yourselves to face mortality with courage, 
dignity, honor, and success.
Not long ago you came to mortality with all of those magnificent capacities and 
endless possibilities. Yet there is real danger in the environment surrounding you. 
Your great potential and ability could be limited or destroyed if you yield to the devil-inspired contamination around you. 
However, Satan is no match for the Savior. Satan’s fate is decided. 
He knows he has lost, but he wants to take as many with him as he can. 
He will try to ruin your goodness and abilities by exploiting your weaknesses. 
Stay on the Lord’s side, and you will win every time." 
 - Elder Richard G. Scott 
This week has been a wonderful and speedy week. First off last Monday, we helped the with the Young Womens Activity this week. They did a Value walk. They went from room to room and each room had a ward member who had prepared a short lesson on a Value. We had been asked to teach on Faith. So we blind folded the girls and told them that using their faith they had to find their way back to Christ. So off they went (about 10 of them) trying to find their way. Ha ha they were a mess, we were trying to help them along and one of the girls said. "oh no its Satan, dont follow him!!" ha it was really me. I guess my "you and trust me, or follow me's" came off evil. Ha So after we finally got them to the picture of Christ. We talked about faith and how when we build our faith it allows Heavenly Father to "mold" us into the daughters of God he wants and knows we can be. Then we gave them Faith-Doh, and made labels that said "How to Use", and warnings like "trials may occur" Or if you start to doubt contact Heavenly Father ASAP. hehehe we think that we are really clever. It was a really fun night! 
On Tuesday we met with a college guy named Eric. He is awesome, before we started the lesson, he was like " I was wondering if you could tell me what your path to salvation is?? Oh well fancy that, we are just about to teach you that lesson right now!! we call it the Plan of Salvation. It was perfect and inspiration. And He really liked the lesson!! Next step is we need to get him to come to church. Also Tuesday I got a call from the Assistants to the President and I was invited to a special Leadership meeting on Thursday. 
So Thursday I was able to go to a Leadership Training where Brother Littlefield and Brother Donaldson, who work in the missionary department in Salt Lake, came and trained us. It was SO good. It was 6 hours of the most inspiring trainings ever! ha I was very grateful that I was invited. I found out once I got there that it was for Zone Leaders, District Leaders and Sister Training Leaders, and a handful of others. Thank goodness I was part of the handful of others. They also told us and showed us the I-pad and how all of our paper work will look it.It is really cool. They told us that within the next month we should switch over to a technology mission!! I am really excited for it! Which is funny, because I was dreading it before, but not now.:) 
This week our member Sister Jarvis, invited us to lunch with her friend from Norway, Her name is Silja. She is so wonderful. So we invited her to the Womens Broadcast and she came!! yay. I hope she felt the spirit and wants to learn more!! I know I loved the speakers and the messages! 
Alright, last I will end with my awkward moment for the week. We were invited to a welcome home party for a RM in our ward. Most everyone in the Family arent  members so we went. Once we got there His mom asked us if we would present a certificate to both the RM and also their daughter who just finished school. So Sister Bassett and I said yes. Well I get the letter to read, and of course I get the one to the RM. but it says all this gushy, lovey dovey stuff in it from his mom and step dad, but in front of all of these people, I had to read it. AWKWARD. So here I am saying " We are so glad you are home, we missed you and love you so much. We hope you will stay forever!" ha I think that I could survive without ever having to to that again!! Then I give it to the RM and he says to me " Do you want to keep it to remember me bye?" (he was kidding) Uhhh nope, thanks we have to go now bye!! 
Oh life as a missionary is great! I love it. I love all of you! Have a great Week. 
Sister Zwahlen
p.s. The leaves are starting to change colors. They are beautiful! 
Beautiful Ohio, with Merinda, Mikaela, and Sister Bassett

Monday, September 22, 2014

Hair Cuts‏


Ha




"As the risen Savior, He is this day and forever the Light of the World. It is He who invitesus to come unto Him and serve Him, without delay. His encouragement to you and to meis this: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” 5 
It is hard to know when we have done enough for the Atonement to change our naturesand so qualify us for eternal life. And we don’t know how many days we will have to givethe service necessary for that mighty change to come" - President Eyring "This Day" 

Hello Family and Friends.

I will apologize in advance, This email is going to be really short this week. Not much has happened between now and this past Wednesday! 
Wednesday, I went to the bishops wife to get my bangs cut... She started cutting them and then she was like ooops, they are kind of short.. Oh great! ha so they are a little short and kind of thick. I have never been so grateful for time! I need them to grow out a little bit. anyways she proceeds to tell me that she needs to "trim" my hair. I told her she could be 1/2 and inch was all. She cut it all off. All of it. Im bald. Just kidding but she cut it to where it was when I left. All that hard work growing my hair out was for nothing ha moral of the story is NEVER to let someone besides Aunt Barbara or Lacey cut my hair. Although I still love Sister Jarvis. and it doesnt look bad, its just not exactly what I wanted. 
We met this guy named Scott this week and he said that he used to be a street fighter to make money for his family. He was pretty funny, We were with one of our members and she is the most kind hearted woman I have ever met. She told him that he should only smother people if necessary. Sister Bassett and I started laughing because it was so unlike her. The bad news is that we went back to see him later in the week and he had moved out. Good news we set up an appointment with the woman that was there instead. Other good news. We found Scott hanging out in the Plains. Bad news he told us that he got kicked out of his place because he smashed a guys face in with a brick. Good news he said he would come to church. ha ha now as I type this story out I am starting to see some red flags ha ha Oh the people you meet on your mission!! 
Peter was out of town this week so we werent able to meet with him. I hope that we will get to meet with him this next week. He has so much potential. I am excited to see him again. Work here is slow, like always. But it is still so worth it. I know that there are so many here that are just waiting to hear the gospel! We just have to be led to them:) Well I love you all. I hope you have a great week!! 
Love,
Sister Zwahlen
Sister Bassett and I riding our bikes around town



Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Awesome Athens‏

Hello Family and Friends.

I dont know what I did to be on Heavenly Fathers good side but I must have done something right. I am going to be staying one more transfer.:) I am so happy that I get to stay at least one more transfer so that I can be with sister Bassett. Remember how that means I will be in this area for 5 transfers, just like I did with Greenfield. I think it is mostly to keep me far from the city and the people but who knows.
This past week and a half have been wonderful as always. We started off strong with a power outage, it was only out for about 5 hours and so Sister Bassett and I got out flashlights (thanks Grandpa and Grandma Kimball for providing me with one) and we ate cereal and chips and sat in our beds (this was at 9:00 at night) It was quite eventful.
It is apple season here. Everything is about apple pie, apple sauce, apples, apples, apples. So we were able to help pick some apples, and make apple pie and of course we served others by eating the pie as well. One of my favorite service activities!! Ha 

Ok so I have a funny story about this week. So we ran into a lady that is a former investigator and we were talking to her as we walked down the main street in The Plains. She had a really heavy bag so I asked her if I could help her carry it. She told me that she had it but that I could walk her little dog/rat "Diamond". So here I am holding the leash with one finger praying that no body we know drives by. Ha oh course right as I think this a car honks and the elders drive past with a "what is Sister Zwahlen doing?" look on their faces. It was great. So I had to explain later what I was doing walking a tiny dog down the street. 
So, let me just say. I love Chinese people. They are the greatest. 
We are teaching a guy named Peter, from China and he came to church on Sunday! He loved it! When we gave him a Chinese Book of Mormon he just kept saying thank you over and over again. Its the greatest. I keep thinking how grateful I am that I went to Taiwan. I think that it really helps me here on OU campus. I get to meet so many from China and in my broken Chinese. I can tell them about Heavenly Father and Jesus. ha After Church the young women asked us if we were trying to find the 12 apostles since we had Paul, James, and now Peter. Next on the list are Luke and Mark. 
We meet a lot of international students here on campus and they are great. We met a Muslim from Saudi Arabia and he told us that he was more christian than we were because he both believed in Mohammed and Christ.  Uhhh. I think you dont understand what it means to be Christian. but anyways he wasnt interested to say the least. Then he says my name is Saad (said like Sad) What do you think my name means?? 
uh we dont know. Sad like boo hoo??
No Happy, I am Happy. 
he hehe the people we meet! It makes life exciting! I love it.
Well I guess that is all for right now. I hope you all have a great rest of your week!!

Love you,
Sister Zwahlen
Went on splits with a Sister Zollinger in the mission.  I made our lunches and thought I was so clever!

Monday, September 8, 2014

Peace

"The Savior is the source of true peace. Even with the trials of life, because of the Saviors Atonement and His grace righteous living will be rewarded with personal peace." -Elder Quinton L. Cook.
So first things first. Transfers is here again. So next week my p-day will be Wednesday! Word on the street is there is a good chance I'm getting transferred... It might just be because I have been in Athens 6 months now:) I hope I get to stay one more transfer though so that I can be with Sister Bassett for one more transfer!
This week has been a Chinese week. Two of our new investigators are from China:) I love people from Asia. They are the most kind people as well as the most humble, and excited to learn. Also when they say they will keep commitments they normally do. Peter, who is one of the guys from China. Asked if we wanted him to read the WHOLE Book of Mormon by then next time we met with him. ha YES! but you you dont have to. just read a couple chapters and then pray. Ha he is the greatest! I am excited to teach him more. Then there is Crystal, She is from China and her brother lives in Utah. And she has a friend in Utah who is Mormon. So that is really good. She is willing to learn, and that is all it takes a small amount of faith.
Last but not least, we are teaching a guy named Eric. He is a student. He wasnt raised in a religious home. He believes that there is a higher power but he just doesnt know what it is yet. ooo ooo pick us. We know what the higher power is and we have the tools to help you find it out. he is so willing to learn. I think that is the key to missionary work. It isn't about being able to be the best teacher and convince people that our message is true. It is about finding those who are prepared and willing to put the work into finding out if it is true. 
Im not sure anything amazing happened this week, but I will share somethings that I learned. First I have such a strong testimony of our Heavenly Father. He knows how to perfectly, with love and kindness correct us and teach us what is right and why His plan is better than our own. Ok so lately I have been in a panic mode because I dont want to come home... not yet at least. I have been feeling like I want to serve for a longer time. like 6 more months in addition to the time I still have left:) I have been worried about feeling pressure to come home and get married, and go to school, and get a job. All things that I dont need to think about here. We were at a member dinner this week and the Sister served a mission and she was talking about how she wanted to stay longer and didnt want to get married right away... etc. EXACTLY what im feeling. Then she said, " My mission president told me that Heavenly Father didnt want her to leave from her mission. It just needed to be in a different way. She needed to return home and be a missionary through out her life. She needed to raise a family and teach her children the way she taught investigators." It hit me. Just like Heavenly Father always does. I need to come home and not worry about it. I have so many great opportunities that await me. I can still  serve and do the things I need to in life after my mission. If I have faith in His plan he will guide me where I need to go in life.

Then on top of all of that, Korin sent me a letter and in it she said something like "isnt it cool that we are doing the same work just in different ways?  Ok Ok I got it Heavenly Father. Thank you for humbling me and helping me learn. I love that. He always knows how to correct me and show me His plan.
Ok well that was a long story. It taught me a lot! I guess that is all for now!! I hope you all have a wonderful week!! 

Love you all

Sister Zwahlen

I carved this from an apple.

Painting Princesses

Our District

Monday, September 1, 2014

Hello my family and friends,

A story told in President Monsons talk "Charity Never Faileth". 
woman by the name of Mary Bartels had home directly across the street from the entranceto hospital clinic. Her family lived on the main floor and rented the upstairs rooms tooutpatients at the clinic.
One evening truly awful-looking old man came to the door asking if there was room for him tostay the night. He was stooped and shriveled, and his face was lopsided from swelling—red andraw. He said he’d been hunting for room since noon but with no success. “I guess it’s my face,”he said. “I know it looks terrible, but my doctor says it could possibly improve after moretreatments.” He indicated he’d be happy to sleep in the rocking chair on the porch. As she talkedwith him, Mary realized this little old man had an oversized heart crowded into that tiny body.Although her rooms were filled, she told him to wait in the chair and she’d find him place tosleep.
At bedtime Mary’s husband set up camp cot for the man. When she checked in the morning,the bed linens were neatly folded and he was out on the porch. He refused breakfast, but justbefore he left for his bus, he asked if he could return the next time he had treatment. “I won’tput you out bit,” he promised. “I can sleep fine in chair.” Mary assured him he was welcometo come again.
In the several years he went for treatments and stayed in Mary’s home, the old man, who was afisherman by trade, always had gifts of seafood or vegetables from his garden. Other times hesent packages in the mail.
When Mary received these thoughtful gifts, she often thought of comment her next-doorneighbor made after the disfigured, stooped old man had left Mary’s home that first morning.“Did you keep that awful-looking man last night? turned him away. You can lose customers byputting up such people.”
Mary knew that maybe they had lost customers once or twice, but she thought, “Oh, if onlythey could have known him, perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear.”
After the man passed away, Mary was visiting with friend who had greenhouse. As shelooked at her friend’s flowers, she noticed beautiful golden chrysanthemum but was puzzledthat it was growing in dented, old, rusty bucket. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots, andknowing how beautiful this one would be, thought it wouldn’t mind starting in this old pail. It’sjust for little while, until can put it out in the garden.”
Mary smiled as she imagined just such scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,”God might have said when He came to the soul of the little old man. “He won’t mind starting inthis small, misshapen body.” But that was long ago, and in God’s garden how tall this lovely soulmust stand! 3

This talk is so wonderful! I hope you all will take the time to read it sometime this week!! 

How are all of you? This week has been another really busy week!  So busy I cant remember a single thing that has happened. Ha ha just kidding.
I will start with the most exciting news. James was baptized and confirmed this week. It was wonderful. Saturday was also his birthday so it was a double special day for him! If there is anything that I have learned about baptism it is this... Satan always comes in without fail. Mostly I pray that he will spare our investigators and go for us.. This time he did just that. We got to the church to fill the font and we were already late getting started. When we inconveniently found out that the water heater wasn't working because the church ran out of propane. So for the next two hours we are filling bowls of water on the church stove and pouring it into the font to mix it with the ice cold water it was being filled with. It was stressful. When James came back out of the water his face was one of "this water is so cold I'm about to die." So lucky for him when he hadn't gone all the way under and got to do it again:) Ha  I felt bad that all the hard work to get the water warmer had been in vain. It was still Ice cold. We probably could have gone to the river and it would have been warmer.





We ended up having a ton of members there though, so many that they all didnt fit in the room so that was unfortunate, but it was a blessing for James to have family there. Especially since James didnt have any family or friends there. Afterwards we had Refreshments, our wonderful members had made lots of treats and a birthday cake. It was a great day!
Friday was new missionary training at OSU. It was fun. I havent had the chance to go since I was a new missionary. We had training by our AP's and President and Sister Daines. President Daines said my name wrong and told me that I had to correct him if he did it again. So of course I did. Now I am known as sister zWAHlen. With emphasis on the Walh part ha ha It is funny. I really love the Daines! They are perfect mission presidents for me. I am really greatful I get to spend my last 6 months with them.

Thursday Sister Bassett and I did the ice bucket challenge. Not because I wanted to. I was being held against my will. Our District leader challenge us and told us that if we didnt do it then we wouldnt have district unity. Nicely played pulling the "guilt" card. How did he know that was the only way to get me to dump cold water over my head? anyways it ended up being fun! Our bishops wife emailed it to my mom so if you really want to see if you will have to ask her. 


I know that there was more that happened this week but I dont remember. I hope you all have a  great week!! Love you.
Sister Zwahlen