Biking for dayzzzzzzzz

Hello my wonderful family!!

     This week was so long but also so short at the same time! Andrew got baptized on Saturday!! Yay! He was so excited, and he said that it was AWESOME. So, YAY mission accomplished! The next phase begins..... Haha, It's always bittersweet when we have a baptism because they're baptized and they've become a member of the church, but they're not a progressing investigator anymore, and then we have to find someone else who is ready for the gospel. :D It's a good day though.

     We did sooooo much service this week. We did the usual stuff, at the JOY center and Harvest Ministries, but also this week we cleaned this little old lady's house so that she could move back home from a senior care center, and we also weeded a RIVER. ;) I kid, I kid. It was a cement causeway or somethin' that the water goes into before it goes into the actual river. Because, did I mention, ROSWELL HAS NO DRAINING SYSTEM. Apparently because we're in the desert, no one thought it necessary to create a way for water to NOT create lakes and rivers in the streets. XD It's been an adventure this week to say the least. Also, we served at the Episcopal Church Community Breakfast that they do once a month. Needless to say, we are BUSHED.

        We had an unscheduled trip into Lubbock this transfer for an extra MLC (Elder Lynn G. Robbins came!) and so last Wednesday we ran out of miles :( My companions and I want to be as exactly obedient as possible and so we've been biking ever since! We've still got four more days to go before we get more miles (they're refilled every month) ROCK SOLID LEGS HERE I COME!! ;) This week has been physically exhausting. I've felt like crying a few times simply because I was so tired. But, something that my mission is teaching me is that I can do hard things and that something is only impossible until it's done :) (thanks Mom). 

I love you all sooosoosoosoosoosoo much!! Have an awesome week!!

Andrew's baptism!

Zone Training!!!

Love, Hermana Tycksen :D xoxo <333

A Lion's Roar

Hello my wonderful family!!

     Wow! Okay, first thing I want to say is that I am soo so sorry that so many of y'all got hurt/sick these past few weeks!!! I'm in shock about it! :3 Please know that my prayers are with you, and I think about all of you ALL THE TIME. :) <33

     Okay, to start off with, this week was the best week of my life. (Again, sorry that it probably wasn't for all of y'all!!) On Tuesday we had district meeting, and something that our district leader said was "When you go to bed, your thoughts shouldn't be I'll do better tomorrow,  they should be  This was the BEST day of my life!! So, that day we had exchanges with the Portales sisters, and I decided on the way there that I was going to make that day the best day of my life! I had no idea how that was going to happen, but I made that decision. :) Sister Turner and I stayed in Roswell with Sister Nicholson (Who actually trained Sister Russell, my MTC comp!) and we only had two lessons that day, but they were the most powerful lessons that I have ever taught or been present at. The Spirit was so strong, and I have never felt so alive! That was a moment when I realized that I really LOVE being a missionary! Afterwards, Sister Turner told me that what was different about me was that I had been fearless in opening my mouth and following the spirit--which is something that I have been working on since last transfer. :D Yay! Something else that Sister Affleck said is that because I made that conscious decision, I started exercising my faith, unconsciously. Your attitude directly influences your faith! If you feel like a day is going to be awesome, then nothing is going to get you down! Because there were quite a few things that went wrong that day,  but they didn't affect me like they usually do!

      I came across a scripture in Proverbs 28:1 that describes how I felt this week: The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion. I have learned so much from being here, and it amazes me that I still have a whole LOT to learn because I still have a loooooooooong way to go! :3

Update on Andrew, he is progressing so well! He is a new and different person than when we first met him. His baptismal date is set for this Saturday, and he is stoked! :D 

       We met a woman named Tina  in my first transfer, and started teaching her, but then stuff and drama happened, and we could never catch her. HOWEVER, we caught her at home a couple weeks ago and SHE'S STILL INTERESTED!!!! She went out of town this weekend with her husband, but her FOUR KIDS CAME TO CHURCH!!! and they LOVED IT!!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! We are so excited!! We love teaching families!!

        Okay, I guess that's all for now :D Oh, and one more thing: I met a member in Hobbs, New Mexico (we were on exchanges) who grew up in Green River, Wyoming!! She said that she knows all  the Harmons! Her maiden name is Krystle Kramer. What a small world!!

I LOVE Y'ALL DIS MUCH (---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------)

Kristina said these three all have about the same color eyes.  So fun!!

;D LOVE, 

Road trip for exchanges--caught a little of guard. :)

Hermana Tycksen

Dare to Stand Alone

Hello my dear family!!

       Well, another week has come and gone, and I swear, they get busier and go by faster every time! I can't believe that this transfer is already half over! :Z Scary! 

      We have made a lot of progress with our investigator, Andrew, but we've decided to push back his baptismal date a week, just so that he can know some things for himself. But, he came to both sessions of Stake Conference this weekend! He even brought his daughter with him (she's two and he only gets her every other Sunday) and that seemed like it made him a lot more comfortable to be there. He even reminded us about our lesson with him this Tuesday--before we said anything :D We have contacted so many Spanish-speaking people this week! I didn't even think of this until last night, but at the beginning of the transfer I prayed that although I was staying in an English area, that I would be able to improve my Spanish. Well, guess what?? The Lord is blessing me with opportunities to do that! I have had more than one experience this past week where I felt the gift of tongues working. It's real! 

      Okay, funny story time--we hit a skunk this week :P We were driving and it was kind of dark, and we saw it right before we hit it, but we're pretty sure that it sprayed our car :P and it STUNK for three days! Yuck! The smell filled the whole car.

      So, I think I told y'all about the Institute class at NMMI last week? Well, yesterday we went again, and the guy who was doing the lesson was a returned missionary (he was called to be a YSA rep or something) and he gave a lesson on Helaman 5:12 and "Dare to Stand Alone" from President Monson. We watched a video as part of the lesson and it was so cool because it was talking about when President Monson was in the Navy, and we were at NMMI, the New Mexico Military Institute, with all of these young cadets, some of whom were away from home for the first time, and the message really sunk in a lot deeper than it ever has before. In the video, President Monson shared an old primary song:

"Dare to be a Mormon, Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to make it known."

I just loved that. It filled me with the spirit and with courage to keep moving forward in this work. I know that Thomas S. Monson is a prophet of God, and that he continually receives revelation for not only us in the Church, but for the entire world. I know that not only is it possible to stand strong for our beliefs and religion, but it is something that we covenanted to do when we were baptized. To "stand as witnesses at all times, in all things, and in all places." 

       I love you all, and I want you to know that I know that this gospel is true. It has influenced my life more than anything else in the world, and it is changing me from who I was before to what God knows I can be. I promise all of you that as you keep hold of the iron rod, and stay on the strait and narrow path, you WILL find everlasting joy and peace. Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, and he died to save US. The least we can do every day is to wear his name proudly.

Love,

Sister Tycksen

Sister Villondo and Hermana Tycksen

Born again

Hello my dear family!!

     Wow! This week went by so fast, but also so slow! Hmm..how does that work?? I was able to go to Lubbock to MLC with my companions, and it was absolutely AMAZING!! I had had some questions/things I was thinking about and wanting to improve last week, and they were ALL answered! Our mission president is incredible, and so is his wife. I am so grateful that they are here at this time, and I am too. :) Plus, I got to see Sister Villondo! :D

     On Sunday, we taught an "LDS scripture study" class at NMMI (the New Mexico Military INstitute) and I WAS TEACHING!!! They have this weird rule where there can only be one person "teaching" and it can't be the same person every time. I was so nervous! I kept stumbling over my words, and kind of repeating myself at the beginning, but then I started writing on the board, and I was fine ;) It's funny, because I joke that I want to become a teacher just so that I can write on whiteboards all the time, but it's really a lot more helpful than just lecturing!! Right before I went up, I had a TON of butterflies in my stomach, and a scripture in 2 Timothy 1:7 came to mind. It says: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. That gave me the confidence I needed to get up there and open my mouth!!

      Speaking of opening my mouth, that's something that I've been having a really hard time with--especially in door approaches. BUT I'm starting to gain some courage :) On Sunday we contacted a referral from a member, and it started out with the usual questions "Have you ever seen missionaries before","Do you attend a church here in town", etc. She told us that she was a "born-again Christian" (I still don't know what that means) and that she had found Jesus. She was trying to get us off her porch, and she was trying to end our conversation, but at one point she said that she knew a couple of her neighbors were members and that they were really wonderful people, but the church wasn't for her. I had a prompting to say something, and usually I either don't because I'm too nervous, or I just don't hear any promptings at all, but this time I followed that prompting! This led into a deeper conversation about the gospel and about Christ, and by the end of the conversation, we gave her our card with our number and she gave us each a hug! I think I may be finally getting the hang of things! ;)

       One of our investigators, Andrew, is progressing so well. He has changed so much from when we started teaching him, and we finally got down to why he wasn't keeping commitments. It was such a powerful lesson, and definitely guided by the Spirit! It didn't go anywhere near where we planned for it to go, but it was really good!

         I hope y'all are doing swell! ;) I sure love and miss you guys a whole lot!

LOVE YOUS!!!!

Love,

Hermana Tycksen