Luck ain't got nothin' to do with it

Hello my dear family!!

        How are y'all adjusting to the time change? I just love that the daylight lasts longer. It's such a good feeling when it's 6 and the sun isn't even going down yet, and even more so in missionary work. Tracting in the dark is scary! :Z I'm grateful for longer days :)

       Let's see, this week I ate chorizo for the first time. It was good! Sister Russell and I actually bought some today at the store :) Also, we had interviews with President Heap. I had a concern that I wanted to talk about with him, but I didn't know how to introduce it into the conversation, and (I don't know how he does it) he started talking about the very thing I had trouble with! Interviews with the mission president are a little strange, because there are so many things that you want to talk about, (questions, concerns, etc. ) but his time is limited and the Spirit lets you know what is most important and needs to be addressed. I always leave interviews feeling like I didn't cover everything, but I feel like everything's okay. I guess that goes along with "Put the Lord first and everything will either fall into place or fall out of your life."

          We've been working with an investigator in the Spanish branch named Lizeth, and this week, she accepted the invitation to be baptized! Before the lesson on Friday (when this happened) we weren't too sure about how she was feeling about the Book of Mormon and the gospel and all that, but then during the lesson, she asked us to help her find a scripture that she had read earlier, and she told us about her experience with prayer. She is amazing! She has a new light in her eyes. Her mom sat in on the last half of the lesson too and Lizeth was kind of helping us teach! We are so excited for her :)

            I read something once that said "Missions are 98% hard work, tears, stress, anxiety, and all those things that we don't like, but 2%, 2% is pure joy. And somehow, that 2% makes it all worth it." I know that's true! And it can be applied to almost anything else in life too. Somehow, that 2% makes up all the difference. It reminds me of a scripture that talks about all of our losses and sufferings will be made up a hundred-fold, all we have to do is to endure faithfully to the end. This is hard, I'm learning that now more than ever, but it is possible. It's a whole lot more than just coincidence or luck. We are foreordained to succeed in life, and we've got the best coach and team backing us up. :) As children of a loving Heavenly Father, we have been blessed with so many things to help us, and there are so much more to come!

I love you all soo sooo much!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! and have a great week y'all! ;)
Love, Sister Tycksen

Note from mom:  I am so thankful for the amazing members of Carlsbad, New Mexico.  We have had members bring packages from Kristina and take a package back and others send pictures of them spending their pday with them.  Such a tender mercy!!  Thank you Carlsbad members!!

Spending p-day at the McCutcheon Ranch

Pday haircuts

Celebrating Sister Russells birthday with Sister McCutcheon

Releiving stress :) *last two photos thanks to the Russell's :)

A whole lot of nothing ;)

Hello my dear family!

       So, not a lot happened this week...but at the same time, EVERYTHING happened. We had exchanges and Zone training in Roswell on Tuesday and Wednesday. It was so good to be back there and to see everyone, or at least the scenery :) I have so many wonderful memories from my time there. We were able to stop by and see Paula and Larry. So great! They showed us their new "resident": a roadrunner that roosts on the side-view mirror of their truck! So funny! He's been doing it for a few weeks now, so it looks like he's there to stay. 

       After we got back from Roswell, I got sick :( So we were pretty much inside for Thursday and Friday. But, we had a lesson on Thursday that we really couldn't miss, so we went on splits with some members: I went to the Stewarts' house for a couple hours, just chillin on the couch ;) and Sister Russell went with Sister Standiford to the lesson. It went well! But it was so weird to be in a member's home without my companion. I had a sneak preview of what it will be like after the mission. Yikes! I don't think I'm ready for that!

       We had an investigator drop us yesterday :( He's done that to the missionaries before, and it's really frustrating because he is SO CLOSE but he can't see it himself. Liseth came to church yesterday! She's a Spanish investigator that we've been working with. She is so awesome!

We were able to go to the temple this week as well and I got to see Sister Harvey and Sister Matheson! That was really cool--it was exactly what I needed.

Really sorry y'all, but I'm running out of time! I hope you have a great week!

Love, Sister Tycksen

Road runner

Big Buddah

Our zone

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Preach Repentance and Baptize Converts

Hello my dear family!

     This week was a tough one, with more downs than ups. But the ups were really good! We taught our new investigators, Silvia and Liset, (who speak Spanish!) and they are super cool! We talked about prophets and how they guide and lead the people and Liset asked "Is there a prophet today?" :D We answered "Yes!" and she was blown away. It was so cool to see. The Spanish is slowly getting better--so slow that I don't think I can even see my progress ;)

     The members here are so awesome. Yesterday we stopped by a member's house just for a bit and then they asked if we had dinner plans--we didn't-- and so they invited us to stay for dinner! Hotdogs and french fries :) Yum. :) Brother Stewart told us about his mission too. He served in New Jersey during 9/11! He saw the second tower fall--he was pretty far away, but he saw it disappear from the New York skyline. 

     One thing that happened this week was that I got a blessing from a member and in it he mentioned that my Heavenly Father misses me. And that made me think... All of us here on earth are here serving "missions" of a sort. We're not from here and we won't stay here--we're only here for a short time. Heavenly Father can see us and He knows what's going on in our lives right now, but He can't physically comfort us or give us a hug or anything like that. So, I think that Heavenly Father feels a lot like most mission parents do: He knows that this is a good experience for us and that we're learning a lot, but He can't wait until He can have us with Him in person again. I'm excited for that day too :)

        Carlsbad is an interesting place. Today when we were out running errands, there was this woman who asked if we smoked ( I think she wanted a cigarrette). We said "no, sorry" and she said "That's okay, that's good!" and then she walked away, and then she turned around and came back and asked us to pray for her. She  recently moved here from Michigan and is looking for a church to go to. We were able to get her address and her phone number, so we'll get her baptized! ;)

          We have zone training tomorrow, and then exchanges with the sister training leaders right after--in Roswell! I am so excited to see the people there. 

Hope y'all have a fantabulous week!

Love, Sister Tycksen

This is a business in town :) same name!

One of our investigators gave us lightbulbs because we found him a large print Book of Mormon XD so funny!

Burros and Giraffes

Hello my dear family!

     Okay, so second week in Carlsbad--I'm doing much better than I was last Monday! The adjustment was rough, but things are going well. We had Stake Conference this weekend and I was praying the whole week that it would be an uplifting and enlightening experience, and it was! Before the meeting on Sunday, we had a missionary meeting with President Heap. He told us a story about burros and giraffes (which I think I've shared before?) I'll share it anyways :) Burros and giraffes are different as night and day. From their physical structure to their eating habits, they are opposites. Everyone sees the giraffes. They're tall, elegant, seem like they have life all together, the works ;) And then there's the burros: short little donkeys that aren't the prettiest to look at, but are tougher than nails. God made them the way they are for a reason, and those reasons are different. A giraffe doesn't make a good "beast of burden"--if you load it up, it will just sit there and refuse to budge and inch. But, you can put a pack, multiple packs even, on a burro and that little guy will just dig in his heels and push forward. President Heap related this to the mission: some missionaries are giraffes and some are burros. I've learned that I am a burro :) And one of my goals this week is to be the best little burro I can be--By digging deep and trusting in the Lord. 

       Stake Conference was held in Roswell, and so I was able to reconnect with some of the members there :) That made me so happy. It's funny because when you leave an area, you wonder if your being there made a difference, or if the members there will remember you at all. It gave me so much joy to not only see the members that I have known and loved and missed, but to also see that they missed me too :) You never know the difference you make until it's gone. It's kind of like the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". George Bailey never knew the difference he made until he saw what the world would be like if he had never been born. We each make a difference. And that difference is monumental and extraordinary. 

Carlsbad is good, the gospel is true, and Sister Tycksen is a happy little burro :)

I hope you all have a fantastic week full of tender mercies and good memories. 

Love y'all! 

Love, Sister Tycksen

P.S. Oh, and I forgot, today marks TEN MONTHS (300 days) in the mission :D

Somehow, Sister Russell and I always end up matching... don't quite know how. :D

We did service with a member in cleaning out a shed that got burned :)

Guten Tag from Carlsbad :D

Hello my dear family!

      Did you know that there are people in New Mexico and Texas that only speak German? They come from a German colony in Mexico and they ended up moving to the states! I have met a whole kaleidoscope of people this last week. I've also spoken more Spanish in the past six days than I did in all of my time in Lubbock! Yay! Exciting! Carlsbad is so different from both Roswell and Lubbock. I can't explain it. It's a pretty small town (pop.~3500) and it's pretty spread out so it feels nothing like Lubbock. It's an oil field boom town, so a whole bunch of people work in the oil business--which makes it difficult to keep consistent teaching appointments with them (grrr) but that's okay because there are some really solid and special people here! We actually talked to a man at Walmart today about the gospel. His name was Manuel and he spoke Spanish to us and was asking about our name tags. We talked about the Bible and I asked if he had heard about the Book of Mormon. He said no, so Sister Russell pulled one out of her bag and I briefly explained/introduced it. He was quiet, but then he asked "Can I have one?" And he was super excited about it! We invited him to church too, and the thing is, that he asked for all of the information, so it's kind of like he invited himself!

       I was asked to speak in sacrament meeting yesterday, being the new missionary and all, and I talked a little about the Atonement and related it to Alma 22 when Aaron is teaching King Lamoni's father. He was willing to give up everything he had, his riches, his kingdom, even his sins, so that he could come to know God. And that made me think, how much is it worth to me to know God? And so I want to ask y'all that as well: How much is it worth to YOU to know God? And what does it even mean to know God?

       One thing that never ceases to amaze me is how much the Lord is teaching me while I'm serving this mission. I keep thinking that I'm here to teach, but I'm figuring out that I am here to be taught. Sometimes it's gentle, and sometimes it feels like I've been hit by a train, but I always learn something every day. 

I love you all dearly and I hope you have a splendid week! :D

Love, Sister Tycksen

Here's that picture of us with Jessica! 

Crabs in a Bucket

Hello my dear family! 

      So, update: Jessica was baptized on Saturday and confirmed a member of the Church of Sunday! She is absolutely amazing. Right after Bishop opened up the meeting for bearing testimonies, she was the first one up there! She has such a sweet spirit, and everyone in the room could feel the power of her conversion. Already she's changed so much from having the spirit with her 24/7. 

       Saturday was a pretty eventful day. We borrowed a cello from a member and Sister Matheson and I did a musical number for Jessica's baptism. Sister Matheson is an amazing cellist! After we were done planning for the day, we were just waiting for the assistants to call us and tell us about transfers. Usually this is a pretty stressful time, and I'm usually a nervous wreck: I can't focus, I pace, and I just stare at the phone. But this time, I asked Sister Matheson to teach me how to play the cello while we waited. It's a whole lot harder than I thought! But, I learned how to play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star by the time we got our call! :) I have been called to serve in the Carlsbad Spanish area with Sister Russell! :D So, not only am I going to a SPANISH area, but I'm going to be with my MTC companion! And back in New Mexico too! I love New Mexico. :) I'm really sad to leave all of the members here in YSA, I've grown to love them. But, I'm also grateful to get away from the stress of proselyting on a college campus! It's something else, let me tell you. 

        So, to explain my subject line, yesterday in Relief Society we had a lesson on the purpose of Relief Society. Part of that is to seek out and help those in need, and I thought about crabs. :)

If you put one crab in a bucket, by itself, it will just scamper out. But the second you put another crab in, they'll keep each other in the bucket. The more crabs you have, the more that rings true. And so we came up with Relief Society (and by extension, the Church) is a bucket of crabs. We all keep each other in. :) That's the purpose of this life. We're all running a race, but it's not a matter of who can cross the finish line first--the only way we'll win is if we all cross it together. 

         I love this gospel! I love this Church and all of the good things it has taught me. I am so grateful to be a missionary and to have this opportunity to learn and grow for 18 (now 9) months. Time goes by so fast. Part of me wants it to speed up and the other part wants it to slow down! Find Joy in the Journey! Carpe Diem! #YOSAMO (youonlyserveamissiononce) ;)

I love y'all a bushel and a peck :)

Love, Sister Tycksen

p.s. sorry I don't have a picture with Jessica right now! We're going to get one tonight and I'll send it next week! 

Elder and sister Jorgensen on transfer day

Jesus Loves Me