Hermana McKenna Swapp: December 2016

Happy New Year!! 12-28-2016

¡Hola Familia!

Lo siento no tengo mucho tiempo hoy! I'm sorry I don't have a lot of
time today but I'll do my best! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!
It was a very merry one here in Louisville and the best part was
skyping and seeing everyone!! We have some awesome members here who
let us in their homes and we had a ball!

The whole week was great, our hearts were touched as almost every
night this week members invited us in their homes and gave us a little
Christmas present. It meant so much to know that we are loved and we
have people here who care about us.

So a quick miracle story this week! We found Domingos on the street
and so we talked with him and we set up an appointment with him. He
didn't have much time during that first appointment and so we read a
little from the introduction and left him with a restoration pamphlet.
Well a couple days later we had a video lesson over Facebook and
before we could say anything he said, "It's true, it's all true. The
Book of Mormon is true, Joseph Smith is true. I believe it all." He
then started teaching us the Restoration! Of course we set a baptismal
date with him and he is excited. It was such a tender mercy from God!

Some other great things this week was we had a fun Christmas
Conference with two other zones and we had a blast, we had some hammer
time and went to lunch with the famous Darryl Isaacs, we got to go to
the temple today, and we had the yummiest tamales in the world last
night!! It was great. We've found two more families to teach this week
and it has been a lot of fun getting to know them!!

We also got to go to the doctor for my shoulder this week (from my
fall a couple weeks ago), it's not looking so hot so I would love some
prayers! But I know Heavenly Father is looking out for me and it will
all work out!

I'll send lots of pictures and y'all can just see what a great week we had(:

I'm sorry for the lame email but I hope y'all know how much I love
you! I hope you all had a very merry Christmas and I hope you all have
a very happy new year! And be happy. Because life is too short to be
anything else. (:

Con amor,
Hermana Swapp

PS: "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in
Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every
place."
-2 Corinthians 2:14

A cute family from our ward!

Christmas Conference!

Christmas Eve with the Wolf's!

Christmas Jammies!!

Christmas Day Skype! Yay!

We changed P day to today to go to the temple and Elizabeth came with us!!

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FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!!!! 12-19-2016

¡Hola Familia!

¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I. Am. So. Excited. Yo
espero que todos tengan una feliz Navidad! This is just the happiest
time of year ever and I can't wait to celebrate the Savior on Sunday!
(And happy birthday to Elder Bair as well).

But folks, it has gotten cold here in good ole Louisville! We were
down to the teens and 20s for the temperature and missionary work just
turned into a whole new game! We are bundling up here and drinking
lots of hot chocolate! It is beginning to feel a lot like Christmas
(we just need some snow now).

Let's see here... A little update on Arcadia! So Fidel is doing great.
He came to church yesterday and we had a lesson with him this week as
well. He loves the Book of Mormon! He thinks it's so cool that it's
his ancestors and he keeps asking us for chapters to read. He's
awesome! He's a character too, he can make anyone laugh. Yesterday,
after I translated at church he came up to me and said, "Hermana, tu
español es fea. No quiero él traducción la próxima semana." (Your
Spanish is ugly and I don't want translation next week), he was trying
to be funny and joking around but it's also a good indication to all
of you at home how my Spanish is going haha! Oh boy, I study so hard!

We found a new family! Berenice and Jose, they're awesome. They're
don't quite get our message, they get a lot of things mixed up with
their religion but they really are interested and are letting us come
back. So we're excited to be teaching them!

We also found another guy named Fernando! He is great! He moved here
from El Salvador and is just such a happy guy! He had met with the
missionaries before so we just reviewed the Book of Mormon with him
and got to know him. We read the introduction with him and he loved
it! At the end we asked him to pray and he hadn't prayed before but he
finally said he would. There's nothing I love more than listening to
someone offer their first prayer. And in his prayer he said, "Thank
you for sending me these missionaries and please help me to understand
their message because I know it's something I need in my life." He was
incredible and the spirit was so strong! I love the Book of Mormon.

We were able to do some service this week and to have some lessons
with the less actives in the ward. I love this Christmas time because
people's hearts are so softened and so opened to their Savior! The
lessons we've had have been so special!

We haven't been able to have any lessons with our new investigators
from last week, it's a great time of year but also a busy time of
year. So we're hoping we can find them all this week and continue to
help them build their relationship with their Father and Savior.

So a couple crazy experiences this week I already told mom and dad
this one in a different letter but we were trying to surprise the
other set of sister missionaries in our ward with a little Christmas
present. We have the key to their apartment so we snuck in and left
their presents there and when we came back out they were sitting in
their car so we booked it so they wouldn't see us (they did haha) and
when we got to the car there must have been ice because I totally
slipped and my feet came up from beneath me and I had the greatest
fall anyone ever did see. One second the sisters could see me, the
next I was gone! I lied on the ground for a solid 5 minutes and just
laughed. I hope one day when we're all in the celestial kingdom
together that God has a big screen and plays that moment for us all to
laugh at and enjoy together.

Saturday night we had tornado warnings all night and we were told to
stay in but we still needed to talk to 27 people so we went to the gas
station across the street and talked to as many people as we could (we
got 28 😏) but we looked like we had taken a long swim in our clothes.
It was so much fun and so cold! And don't worry we were safe, we
followed the spirit and there was no tornado!

I'm sorry my letters are so lame one day my writing will be as good as
my Spanish haha! But I hope you all have a very merry Christmas and
remember the Savior during this time. I want you all to know that I
know Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. I cannot and will not
deny it. I know He knows each one of you personally and He came to
this earth to save you. I am so very grateful for all He did for me
and you, and I am so grateful for this time of year we have to
celebrate Him and His life. Remember to #LightTheWorld this week and
every day after this week as well! I love you all so very much and I
cannot wait to skype you on Sunday! I will see you then but until then
be happy. Because life is too short to be anything else. Merry
Christmas!

Con amor,
Hermana Swapp

PS: "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends."
-John 15:13

Our Christmas set up! Thanks mom! And sorry,

 this is the only picture from the whole week!

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We got 11 new investigators this week 12-12-2016

¡Hola Familia!

I hope everyone has had such a good week! I'm sorry I'm writing so
late, we just got back from the Louisville Slugger museum, it was
awesome!! Hunter and Payton would've loved it!

But We had a great week here in Arcadia! I actually felt like a
missionary we had so many lessons! We got 11 new investigators this
week and set 4 baptismal dates which is good for us, so we are super
excited! Heavenly Father poured the blessings on us this week and I am
so grateful!

Silvia wasn't there for her lesson on Monday so we went and knocked on
an inactive's door and she let us in! We talked with them and she has
a son who is 9 years old and we got to know them and he told us he
wants to get baptized and loves the Book of Mormon so we were super
excited about that. Her name is Mareni and her son is Yosimar. They
are incredible.

We were tracting on Tuesday and we knocked on a door and found
Magdalena and Alejandro. They didn't want to talk with us and so we
showed them the #LightTheWorld video and they let us in right away. We
sat down and talked about the Book of Mormon and we read 3 Nephi 11
together and they loved it! They even invited us to come back!

We found Manuela on the street and she told us to come to her house
and so we did. We taught her and her family, Jesus and Jose! We taught
them the restoration and the spirit was so strong! They didn't accept
a baptism date but they said they would be once they learned more!

Dalila was a referral and we felt super impressed to go find her on
Thursday and so we did and when we got there she said it was her only
day off of work! It was a miracle, we taught her the restoration and
it was incredible! She accepted it and it totally made since to her.
She's going to be preparing for baptism on January 14th! She is so
cute!

We went looking for Silvia on Friday and when we knocked on the
apartment door it was a completely different person and furniture and
everything. We were so confused. Brenda answered the door and she told
us she had lived there for 7 years.... It was like Silvia was a ghost
(we probably just wrote the wrong address down haha!). But she let us
in and we had a great lesson with her, she invited us back!

On that same day we were doing our studies and we got a call from the
Elders who asked us to translate for them so we drove to DQ and skyped
in on a lesson with the Elders. It was amazing, it's crazy the
resources Heavenly Father has given us to do His work. I am so
grateful for the technology on my mission.

On Saturday we found Margarita! It was such a miracle, but we found
her. She has been super sick it made me sad :( but she's doing okay
and said she still wants to get baptized and asked us to come back
during the week.

Then we found Sandra and Kevin. They just moved here from Guatemala
and we tracted their door and they let us in! We had an amazing lesson
with them (their cousin sat in and he was so drunk. He was yelling the
craziest things, it was kinda funny but the amazing thing is he didn't
distract from the spirit). They were both incredible and accepted a
baptismal date as well. Kevin said his first prayer and it was
beautiful! I love hearing somebody offer their first prayer, they're
always amazing.

And Fidel he is doing amazing! We had four lessons with him this week,
he is so funny! He calls Hermana Boyson - Hermana Niño Hijo. He calls
me Hermana Intercambiar. And he calls himself Hermano Feliz, I love
lessons with Hermano Feliz! He's getting baptized in January and were
so excited. He came to our ward Christmas party this week, then he
came to church, then he came to the stake Christmas devotional! He's
awesome! He loves it so much, and he's doing great!

So sorry this email is kinda all over the place! But the work is great
here and I am loving my mission. I'm getting super excited for
Christmas and I hope you all are too. I am so grateful for the Savior
and all He did for us. Remember He lives! I love you all so very much
and I hope you all are happy. Because life is too short to be anything
else.

Con amor,
Hermana Swapp

PS: "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of
the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye
believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe
in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of
Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that
they should do good." -2 Nephi 33:10

Decorating a Christmas Tree!

Exchanges this week!

KFC

Fidel wanted a selfie!

Slugger Museum!

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I was bawling, I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a long time 12-05-2016

¡Hola Familia!

¿Cómo están? La semana pasada fue bien y difícil. I hope everyone has
had a great week. I know I say it every week but what a tough week.
Just like the Brother of Jared I have never had to cross so many great
deeps in my life before, but I have truly learned to be grateful for
these hard weeks. I am learning so much more than I ever thought I
would and I am grateful for that. Heavenly Father has really given us
some blessings this week though, I know that's what He does for His
children as they endure their trials.

We were tracting one day and we found this little boy walking home
from school and decided we would talk to him. It seemed like he was
having a bad day and so we showed him the #LightTheWorld video and
his mouth hung open and he continued to say, "¡Que Bonita!" (How
Beautiful). I just had so much love for him fill my heart! He then
told us we needed to go to his house to show the rest of his family.
His aunt Silvia was the only one home and we were able to have a
lesson with her and she loved it! And we have another appointment with
her tonight.

Another miracle, we found this man named Jaydien on the streets and he
wasn't very kind and had no interest but we had the strongest
impression to share the Mormon message "Earthly Father, Heavenly
Father". We asked to show it to him but he said no. Well the prompting
wouldn't leave so we found him on Facebook and shared the video with
him. After a couple days of messaging and bugging him to watch it, he
did. And he messaged us back and said, "Wow I really needed this. I
just got custody of my two kids and I really feel like I needed to
hear this. Can I come to your church?" So we set up a church tour for
the next day! It was incredible! He speaks English though so the other
missionaries get him!

We went on splits one day with the sisters in our ward and I got to go
out with Sister Endemann, she's incredible! We went looking for some
less actives in our ward and we found a cute lady who let us in to
talk to her. At the end of the lesson she gave us two big bags of
food. We had lots of raisins, apple sauce, and peaches! We had a long
walk back to the car so we knocked on some doors on the way. We
knocked on this one door, he was a grandpa who just got custody of his
two granddaughters (their mother had just passed away). We could tell
he didn't have much and without hesitating Sister Endemann said,
"We're here to bring you some food." We gave him our two big bags of
food and his eyes swelled up with tears. It is incredible how amazing
Heavenly Father is.

Yesterday we had an incredible day! We left the apartment at 9:00 am
to go to church and didn't get back to our apartment until 9:30 pm. We
had the busiest day and it was great! After church we had a couple
appointments. We went to this Hispanic store and sat to have a lesson
with Fidel, he is incredible! We talked a lot about the Book of Mormon
and during this lesson we had 6 other Hispanics who overheard us come
up and ask some questions! We set appointments with two of them! Fidel
loved it and we gave him a Book of Mormon, Restoration Pamphlet, and
Plan of Salvation Pamphlet and he was so excited and he couldn't
believe it was actually all his to keep and when we told him it was he
made us write Para el Hermano Fidel on every single one (For brother
Fidel). He made us laugh, it was like a kid at Christmas time!

Then we went tracting at this apartment complex and someone came up to
us and said, "My girlfriend is a Mormon, please come upstairs and talk
with us." So we went upstairs and met with James and Yamonica and she
really was a member! We had a great lesson with them and even set a
return appointment. They speak English as well so the other
missionaries will get them too.

Yesterday night the sisters had an appointment with their investigator
Komi but they didn't have a member who was able to go with them so
they asked us to because they weren't allowed to enter the house
without a woman. Holy cow, it was the most incredible lesson. We
watched the Joseph Smith video and we all bore out testimonies. I was
bawling, I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a long time. The
sisters have been trying to help him accept baptism for quite some
time but he kept saying, "I want to be certain." Well we asked him
last night if he had the faith sufficient to kneel with us and ask God
for an answer and we promised if he would pray with real intent he
would be certain. And so we did just that. And after the prayer he
said, "I'll get baptized, I'm certain."

But I do want to bear my testimony to all of you. Just like Nephi, I
don't know everything but I do know that God loves his children. And I
know that I am a daughter of God. And I want nothing more than to
return to live with God forever one day. And I know He wants the same.
And I am so eternally grateful for my Savior because without Him there
would be no way for me to return to my Father. I will never be able to
thank Him enough. But I also know it's impossible to return without
doing the things God asks of us and one of those things being baptism.
I am so grateful to Joseph Smith for restoring the gospel of Jesus
Christ to the earth once again. I am so grateful for all that he did
and all of the sacrifices that he made so that I can return to live
with my Father in Heaven forever. I know with all of my heart that
Joseph Smith truly was a prophet of God. I know that he truly saw God
the Father and Jesus Christ and I know that because of him the one
true church of Christ is on the earth today. I am so grateful for
Joseph Smith and all that he did so I could have a chance at eternal
life.

Well I love you all so very much and I am so grateful for all of the
prayers and love that are sent my way! I hope you all have a fabulous
week and know that someone in Kentucky loves you all very much! Be
happy, life is too short to be anything else.

Con amor,
Hermana Swapp

PS: "For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to
separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
-Romans 8:38-39

How we started #LightTheWorld

Sister Endemann!

10:24 AM
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Pages

Happy New Year!! 12-28-2016

FELIZ NAVIDAD!!!!!!! 12-19-2016

We got 11 new investigators this week 12-12-2016

I was bawling, I haven't felt the spirit that strong in a long time 12-05-2016

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