¡Hola Familia!

I'm so sorry but this is going to be another lame email! This last
week was so crazy and busy, we had so much to do and we only actually
worked in our area like two days this week. I wore my body out this
week and I'm feeling a little under the weather. We got our transfer
news, I am leaving Shelbyville. My new area is Lexington Oeste and
Hermana Corona will be my new companion! I'm excited, I've worked with
Hermana Corona a lot and I absolutely adore her, and it'll be my first
native companion! She found me before my mission and we always said we
would be companions and now it's finally happening. We are kinda white
washing kinda not. Our area covers Versailles and the west end of
Lexington. I guess President figured if I could handle the west end of
Louisville I could handle the west end of Lexington haha! Hermana
Corona has been working in Frankfort and Versailles so we won't be
white washing Versailles but we're white washing the part of Lexington
we'll be working in so that will be fun. And the best part is I get to
go to the Spanish branch! My first time on my mission and guess what
that means! I don't have to translate ever again, I'm so happy! This
will probably be where I finish my mission and I'm super excited.

This week was crazy. Monday we went to Kentucky Kingdom for P-day and
it was a total blast. Yes, we got to ride the roller coasters. And
yes, I did buy dippin' dots. It was the coolest thing though because
Monday night we were about to get in our car and I saw a couple
walking down the street. I knew I needed to talk to them but I was so
scared. I had never been so scared before to talk to someone. I was
hoping my companion would talk to them but I noticed she wasn't going
to either so I finally decided to walk up to them. We got talking and
they we're amazing! They had so many questions and even asked for a
copy of the Book of Mormon. They're newly weds and they're looking for
a church. They were so prepared. When Hermana Wilkinson and I got in
the car we were in awe. She told me that she was terrified to talk to
them too and we realized how strong Satan is working. He knew that
they were so ready to hear this message and he was doing all he could
to stop them from hearing it. I am so grateful we didn't give into
Satan and we talked to them.

Tuesday was like the only normal day we had. We rode our bikes and got
a lot done!

Wednesday we had zone Conference, it was our last one with the
Broughs. We get our new mission President on June 30. Zone Conference
was so good but I think everybody was pretty sad to say bye to
President and Sister Brough. We had exchanges after zone Conference
(it was my last one as an STL) and I think it was the best exchange I
had all 4 transfers I was here in Shelbyville. Sister Allred came here
to Shelbyville with me and we had a blast. She came out in the mission
the same time as I did and we've had a lot of similar struggles on the
mission so it was so comforting just to talk to each other. I love
Sister Allred.

So we had a blitz in LaGrange this week and we spent all day Friday
there. It was really good, I got to spend the whole day with Hermana
Espinoza and I absolutely love her. And like always she helped me so
much with my Spanish!

Crazy story of the week: we were at our ward mission leaders house,
and he lives on this huge property in the middle of nowhere and he has
just cleared like three miles of trails on his land. So he has these
little go cart things that are made for wilderness and so him and his
kids wanted to take us out to show us the trails. The one Hermana
Wilkinson was in was the gator and his 14 yr old son was driving it up
and during dinner it had downpoured but had cleared up by the time we
finished so naturally we thought this was all a good idea. We borrowed
some clothes and headed out! Long story short, the kid driving the
gator figured he could make it up a crazy muddy hill and when he got
stuck decided to put it in reverse and then he backed into a tree and
we spent like an hour and a half trying to get it out! Everyone just
ended up throwing mud at each other and we never made any progress. We
finally got out of there and
had to shower ourselves off in the hose. So what was supposed to be a
quick 30 min excursion turned into a huge mudslide mess!

This week was so much fun, not a lot of work here in Shelbyville got
done because we spent so much time in other people's areas but it was
definitely a fun one. Andres didn't get baptized on Sunday but he
should make it this weekend or the one after. Maria's husband is still
threatening to leave her if she joins the church so we are praying
lots for her.

It's always so bitter sweet leaving an area. I am going to miss
Shelbyville so very much and I am going to miss working with so many
other sister missionaries. I am so grateful for the time I had here
and all of the many things I learned. I am so lucky and I am so
grateful for the experiences I had. I am so excited to go to Lexington
Oeste and learn more.

I love you all so very much and I hope you had a Happy Father's Day
dad. I hope y'all have the best week ever and be happy. Because life
is too short to be anything else.

Con amor,
Hermana Swapp

PS: "And I said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?" -1 Nephi 15:8

¡Hola Familia!

I'm sorry but this is going to be way short! We're going to Kentucky
Kingdom (an amusement park here) and so I have like zero time to write
today. So I probably won't really be writing any other emails today
either, sorry!

This week was great! Maria didn't come to church again so we'll
probably bump her baptism to July, stinking agency. Andres is still
doing great! We're going to try to have his baptism this Sunday but we
may have to push his back too.

We had a way cool experience this week. We had it in our schedule to
go looking for Misty (she's a potential). We went to her street and
decided to talk with everyone outside on the street before we knocked
on her door. We started talking to this one lady and she immediately
told us she's Pentecostal and doesn't want to talk with us. Before we
walked away we felt prompted to ask her her name. It was Misty! We
asked her how she has seen her faith bless her life and she brought up
her family. So of course we talked about eternal families, temples,
and authority and her heart was softened! She told us she used to meet
with the elders and it was the highlight of her week and she would
love to meet with us again. So we set up another appointment with her.
Okay so here is the miracle... she doesn't live in that house anymore.
She doesn't even live in Shelbyville, she lives in Bagdad (also part
of our area) and they only happened to be on that street because they
were visiting friends. It was a miracle we found her. I was so
grateful that Heavenly Father guided us to her and prompted us on what
to say and do.

Soccer was another miracle. We had 30 people show up! It was
incredible and of the 30 only 4 were members. My heart was so full of
gratitude as we got to share the gospel with so many of God's
children. And then it was so cool to be able to watch and play with a
bunch of Latinos playing their favorite sport!

Also, Sister Dickerson has her temple recommend!!! We'll probably be
able to go to the temple with her in the near future!

A friend sent me an email this week talking about the talk "Then Jesus
Beholding Him Loved Him" from this last conference. I've been studying
it a lot and it has made a huge difference just the past couple days
with the work here. I've tried changing my heart and asking the
question, "How can I be filled with Christlike love so an investigator
can feel the love of God through me and desire to change?” I'm so
grateful that as sons and daughters of God we have the ability to
change and improve. We can develop Christlike attributes and be full
of this love.

I love you all so very much and I hope you have a great week! And be
happy, because life is too short to be anything else.

Con amor,
Hermana Swapp

PS: "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing
thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and ​​​give​ to
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up
the cross, and ​​​follow​ me." -Mark 10:21