December 17, 2012,

From: Jade Swayne <jade.swayne@myldsmail.net>
Subject: Re: Christmas just around the corner!
To: "Penny Paxman" <paxmanp@yahoo.com>
Date: Monday, December 17, 2012, 12:41 PM

Please do not send anything to the DeeAnn adress. As of Tueday I wont live there anymore :) send all letters and other shinanagins to the Mission Office address. Thanks!

On Mon, Dec 17, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Jade Swayne <jade.swayne@myldsmail.net> wrote:

Hey Ma :):)

 

Sooooo, I have some news fur ya! I am being transferred to Kirtland, New Mexico this Tuesday aka tomorrow! My new companions name is Sister Real and we will be over 3 different wards in that area. Sister Stewart tells me that Kirtland is one of the most profitable areas in our mission. There is a lot of work and a lot of baptisms that go down over there! So I am super duper excited to head out there! The transfer bus will come to pick me up at our church building tomorrow at 4 :D

 

With this news, yesterday was my last day at Gallup 2nd ward. It was really strange to think that it was my last Sunday....that ward, Sister Stewart and all the people that we interact with in Gallup are the only people that this lil Sister (me) has ever known in my short missionary life. It was starting to feel like Gallup was going to be where I served my whole mission because I didn't know any different. But I am very very verrrrrry super excited to go there!!!! I told my companion that I wasn't going to tell Kylie my new address because I was scared that she would come and track me down lol seeing as Kirtland is right next to Farmington! hahaha I know she has been planning a "sneak attack" for awhile now ;)

 

But anywho! All the news about the missionaries gave me chills....I just...wow! I hope Satan has got his Nikes on because the increasing missionary force is really gunna have him on zee run! Naw whata mean? And my mind is exploding over here just thinking about the girls that my mom taught in Primary are now old enough to go on missions...I bet you are so proud, huh mama? I am so happy for them. They are truly in for the adventure of a lifetime. And my Kenzie...my dear sweet Indie. How is she feeling after getting her teeth yanked? I hope somebody recorded her after the surgery!!!!? Please tell me that somebody did...Just so you know Kenz, what you're doing is the best decision you could be making right now. Satan is gunna try to stop you and all of you friends that are trying to go. But if you stick close to your good friends, family and most importantly the Lord, you will make it :) You will be the worlds greatest missionary...I can see it now!

 

Side note: I will get back to you on our Skype date. I knew how it would all work out here in Gallup. But now that I'm being transferred I'm not sure who's house we will Skype at. But I will let you know when I talk to Sister Real about it.

 

In other news: We have committed two more people to be baptized on January 8th 2013. Yay!! It would have been great be here in Gallup for Preston and Natalia's baptism, but I know that the Lord has work for me to do else where. But a little background on these two. Well firstly, they are both soo ready to walk into the waters of baptism...they just radiate this desire for righteousness. It's amazing. They really want to be good with God and feel of the happiness that the Gospel brings. Preston is Natalia's father. He was being taught by the misisonaries about 3 years ago. He and Natalia ( who was 10 at the time) wanted to be baptized but was not able to be because he was not living the Law of Chasity. He was living with his baby's mama without being married. But he was determined to tie the knot with his women so that they could be baptized. But in the end she didn't want to work things out...so they spilt up. Preston stopped taking the discussions after the break up because he was going through such a hard time. But now 3 years later he is back in the game. He has been coming back to church and asked us to come over to have a lesson with him and his two daughters, Natalia ( who is now 13) and Kira (who is 7). We went over there the other day and BOOM! committed him and his oldest daughter to baptism :) It was such a special day.

 

Another person that we teach named Derick Smith is not having the best of luck. He is a less-active member and has not been to church in years. He is a helpless alcoholic who has gotten resorted to drinking hand sanitizer and other cleaning products in order to get his fix. He lives with his parents, Norma and Phillip. And the other day I guess they found about 3 Costco sized bottles of Vodka under his bed and he recently lost his job because he was going to work drunk. I can't help but feel for this poor man....He truly has a heart of gold. But he just can't seem to kick the habit :( We have a missionary couple here in Gallup that specialize in addiction and family relations, we took them to a lesson with us. Derick wasn't there...but we were able to talk to his family about all that was going on. They are so devastated to see their son going through this. And while we were visiting with them we found out that Derick's sister, Kayla, has also been battling a weed and booze addiction. They are all so wonderful...The Hayne's, the Senior couple that I was talking about, can help them through the church addiction recovery program. The sad part is that Derick keeps neglecting to call the Haney's to schedule an appointment. Sometimes I wish I could just twist their arms and force them to get help or to accept the Gospel....but there is nothing we can do. They have to want to help themselves first...I love this family and just want to see them get the help that they need :( This area makes me dislike Satan so much more than I ever did before. He is so....ugh...

 

Buuuuut on a brighter note. I received that wonderful little package of Christmas notes from my dear familia. They really made me laugh, giggle, smile, and they just made me all around happy! Especially Jeff's...lol I wish you could have seen my companions face when I showed it to her. She just gets all big eyed and asks "Is he a member of the church?" hahaha! All of them were perfect. As soon as I get to Kirtland, I'm going to tape them up by my bed. I might have to edit Jeff's a little though ;) hehehe.

 

If you think time is going by too fast please raise your hand!..(Hand figuratively raised) It's hard to believe that once February comes around I will have only 1 year left on my mission...

 

But until next time...This is Sister Swayne reporting from the Farmington New Mexico Mission. The land of enchantment. Over and out!! This is KD7ASD over!