Thanksgiving

Hello Hello!!

I hope you all had a wonderful thanksgiving! :) We definitely did! We spent it at multiple different members homes, eating here and there as we went :) But that wasn't the beginning of my week, so let's start with

Monday....

Best. P-day. Ever. We didn't do a thing but email, sleep, and get groceries. It was quite the delight! Our evening was pretty neat because we checked on a referral from the bishop's wife and it's the
cutest family from Norway! They have an Asian nanny who is Buddhist and asked about what we believe about life after death. Our original plan was to teach the restoration, but switched gears to meet their needs :) It was wonderful! They want us to come back as soon as our schedules line up :) We love them!

District meeting on Tuesday was super cool! Elder Jones, our zone and district leader, had us try a neat way to receive revelation. He asked us ahead of time to think of a serious question that we wanted Heavenly Father to answer, missionary related or not, and bring a paper to write on to the meeting. When we got there he gave us a few steps to receive an answer to the question we brought.

1. Go to a quiet place, spread out, be as alone as you can be without being out of sight and sound of your companion. 

2. Pray (on your knees) for inspiration as you seek an answer to your question.

3. Read any chapter in the Book of Mormon, one you feel guided to

4. Write down any thoughts or feelings you have while reading
5. When finished with the chapter, kneel and pray again. Explain to
God what you've written and ask if you missed anything.
6. Read the chapter again, writing any new thoughts or feelings you may have.
7. Kneel and pray, asking if the things you've written are true.

It was SUCH a cool experience!! I received multiple different answers to my question, and highly recommend trying this method when seeking answers from Heaven :) 

The purpose of this exercise was to help us see how important the Book of Mormon is not only to us, but to the people we teach. It was saved for our day for a reason! I was grateful for that experience; it really strengthened my testimony on prayer, the Book of Mormon, and the reality of a Heavenly Father who truly cares. In the afternoon we did service at a recent convert's home, and in the

evening I went to get my MRI! It was the coolest thing. I'd never done anything like it before, so I was pretty excited :) They put me on a table with a pillow to lay my head on, and the machine slid me into a tube (half way; my whole body didn't need to go in). It was super loud! They gave us ear plugs and in total it took about 40 minutes. I slept like a rock the whole time :) the loud noise reminded me of a washing machine, or a dryer; the repetitive humming/clicking sound made me sleepy! 

When it was all over we went to correlation with our ward missionaries, which is always a good time.

On Wednesday I got a phone call from our good friend Pa, who was the doctor at the MRI place, and said the radiologist wanted to get a couple more pictures of my leg. So, we had to go back.

It only took about 20 minutes total that time though :)

We taught a lesson to Du and Ju that evening on prayer, revelation, and prophets. This lesson was the most spiritually guided lesson I've had in a very long time! The spirit is the coolest! 

Sister Williams and I pray and read the scriptures together more than I've ever prayed and read with any other companion. Seriously we pray ALL the time! Because of this, I've also never been lead by the spirit as much as I have been this transfer :) I LOVE this companionship! We agreed at the end of the day that this is the best companionship we've ever had because of its uniqueness. It's darn hard, but it's wonderful!! :) we have grown in our own ways leaps and bounds! I am incredibly grateful for Sister Williams :)

Thanksgiving was so fun! We had dinner with our favorite family ever! We have a lot of favorites actually, but this one is particularly MY favorite family :)

Afterwards we went to see the family who's son just left on a mission, and the dad isn't a member. We learned all about church in Kentucky because that's where their family that was there

was from. It's so different! In the little tiny town they live in 14 out of 46 primary children are active, most people in their ward wear jeans and t-shirts to church (whereas we typically wear our best out
of respect to God), and other odd/uncomfortable things about their ward. I felt for their missionaries and thought about the work over there! I bet they're busy :) All in all thanksgiving was a super good
day, and it was extra good because I got to spend it with my companion who happened to be a good friend of mine 3 months prior to this transfer :) so it was like spending a holiday with a best friend, and that was a tender mercy :)

Cool things happened on Friday! We had our leadership meeting and then went to choir practice with the rest of the mission who wants to sing at the Temple Visitors Center on Christmas Eve :) We have been invited to perform a 30 minute program and it will be so much fun! 

To make the day better, we (the sisters in my mission) received an email from President Huntsman informing us that the Temple visitors Center has invited all of our sisters to help out during the Holiday season, so we are each assigned an evening to go, pair up with a TVC sister, and BE a TVC sister all night! What an experience!! :) our day is next Wednesday, the 9th :)

All of our appointments canceled that night, but... that's the life of a missionary! Always keeping us on our toes :)

Sister Jensen needed help on her farm again! So on Saturday our zone got together and helped her out from 9am-3pm. That's always a good time :) It was super funny because sister Williams and I were sent to a swamp to clear out wooden pallets and anything else that trashed what was once known as a "kiddie pond"... Ya know... For children to swim in. When we got there we found a remote control for a tv sitting on a pallet. Then as we got closer to the area, we found a torn up couch sitting in the water, along with a toilet and a sink! It looked like someone dumped their house in a swamp, and we pulled it all out. It was fun :)

We had one of the most spiritually led lessons with the Cl's that night! :)We asked the 15 year old son why he wanted to be baptized and he expressed his desire to receive the constant companionship of
the Holy Ghost. Then we asked the dad the same question and he expressed his desire to not only be clean and have a fresh start, but to be an eternal family :) I literally covered my face with my hands
and smiled so big because I was bursting with love, gratitude, and joy :) They get to be an eternal family!!!! Like, hello!? Is that not THE coolest thing?!? :) Ah. It was such a good night :)

Sunday was the best day of the week, though :) I can't even express my gratitude for church and the spirit that I feel every time I go. Go to church, people!! :)

Dinner last night was amazing! The family we ate with had friends over who are inactive. The daughter of the inactive family was writing a paper for her religion class on the LDS faith, and wanted to interview us to better understand the religion. It was the coolest :) We ate dinner and played a game called "Big Booty" which isn't as odd as it sounds haha :) it's super fun and we cried from laughing so hard; much needed :)

The spirit was so strong as we taught a lesson about prayer! Oh it was so strong!! :) I love the Holy Ghost. It truly does testify of truth. I feel it every time I teach and bear testimony :)

This was a kind of slow but good week! Christmas is in 26 days!!!! :))) I love and miss you bunches. Thanks for all you do :)  ~ Sister Kailey

PS: Bad news. Apparently I had 3 stress fractures and have to walk around on one of those scooters with my knee up for 6 weeks. They were going to put me in a full leg cast for 4-6 months, but.... No thank you :) I'm not allowed to exercise anything from the waste down, so no cardio, for 4-6 months and I think I'm going to die. That's all. 

The Turning Point

Okay. So I had this email all written down ready to send by the end of the day yesterday, and then the spirit overwhelmed my entire being while pondering the events that took place this week. So, I erased it and started over! This one will be directed by the spirit, and I hope you gain something from it. I have never been so on fire as I am right now, and have been since Saturday :)

I thought missionaries were like people with super powers and never faced trials or temptations. When I heard people say that missions were hard, I always wondered what on earth could be hard about a mission; I can handle rejection, but I guess some people struggle in that area.

After being on a mission for 14 months, I came to the realization that overcoming the natural man, and all of your weaknesses is HARD. You live on a higher plane than the rest of the world when you're set apart as a missionary! We don't watch TV, the only social media we are connected to is Facebook and even then we aren't on it very much. We only listen to music that is uplifting and invites the spirit, our language is advanced in comparison to high school and worldly lingo, we pray before we go/think/do/eat anything, we feast upon the words of the prophets- ancient and modern- every single day for 2 hours minimum! Adjusting to this higher level of spirituality and life in general is a struggle! At least for me it was. Eventually it becomes your way of life and feels like the only kind of lifestyle you know how to live. What even is life like when you're not a missionary?? What did I do before my mission??

So as time goes on, you get the hang of things! As you get stronger and your testimony grows, the Lord sees that you're ready for more growth! In other words, you're ready for a trial. Now, I know that we won't be tempted above that which we can bear, and I know that our trials won't be harder than we can handle, but in the middle of the dark tunnel it's so hard to see the light. Before my mission I was in that dark tunnel of growth, and when it went away, the Lord saw fit to strengthen me further!

I've been facing an ongoing trial for the past 14 months and it's been a roller coaster of trying and failing and trying and failing to overcome it. On top of that, Sister Williams and I have been facing loads of opposition for the past 3 weeks that hinder our effectiveness when it comes to the work. My temporal, spiritual, mental, and physical self was exhausted. I felt weak in all of those areas and... Melancholy. Saturday afternoon I finally broke. I was so incredibly fed up with feeling the way I've been feeling my entire mission off and on. I said the longest prayer I've ever said in my life! You know in the Book of Mormon when Enos prays all day and wrestles with God? I totally had an Enos moment! I was filled with frustration and irritation, and then the thought came to me... "You're the idiot trying to do this by yourself". I realized in that moment that I hadn't been applying the atonement in my daily life; I haven't been holding the hand that has been continuously outstretched in my direction for so long. I don't have to do this life alone! I've always known that, but when you actually realize it and let it sink in, you truly understand and feel the truthfulness of it.

 

My whole life my parents have been my best friends. Best. Friends. I used to come home almost every night and stay up for hours talking to my dad about everything from pointless to important. My parents have always been my number one fans in ALL that I've done. I know that I can do anything I set my mind to if I try and do my part because Heavenly Father will do His part - they taught me this principle at a young age and I've always believed it whole heatedly. I do not give up until I master whatever it may be that I'm trying to accomplish, because I KNOW that I can do it! On my mission I can't turn to my parents the way I could if I was home, or able to call them on the phone. I can't have late night chats with my dad anymore, or hear the pep talks I need to move forward. I have learned, especially last Saturday, that I need to turn to Heavenly Father for late night chats. I need to hear and feel HIS pep talks, hold HIS hand, and develop the relationship that I have with my parents, with HIM. I'm close to the savior and my Heavenly Father, but not as close as I know I could/need to be.

 

Since my wrestle with God, I've imagined every single day literally holding the savior's hand through all things. Tightly. I've also learned through multiple experiences throughout the past 3 weeks, that Satan does NOT want me to learn these things. My spiritual eyes have been in a fog that I've been trying to push through, and finally it's all clear again! I can see the hand of the Lord in all the details of this transfer. I can see why Satan is working so hard to create that fog and hold us back. Together, Sister Williams and I are bomb. I've never had a companionship like this before, and when we are both having a good, healthy day, we sprint. We do work, and the devil does not want that! We literally feel it every day! This area is booming. If we are down and sick and foggy, we can't be as effective as the Lord needs us to be. For some reason it's taken us 3 weeks to realize how real the adversary is, and how real Heavenly Father is. Finally we are both back on our feet, ready more than ever to take off. We are on fire. I don't know if any of that made sense, but it does in my head :)

I could tell you about the details of every day this week, but I don't feel the need to today. The Clark family is so ready to be baptized, and they're progressing every single day :) We have a potential investigator who wants SO badly to take the lessons and get baptized but her grandmother (who is her guardian) isn't on the same page. Prayers to soften the grandma's heart would be great! The work is hastening like mad over in Gainesville. We have like, 7 referrals from the members and each referral is prepared. I pray that I get to stay here for one more transfer. The likely hood of that happening is 50-50, and I'll do whatever the Lord needs me to do.... but I'm throwin' a request His way to keep me here for 9 more weeks instead of 3 ;)

 ~

We had a service project with our district raking leaves in a massive yard this week! It was raining the whole time so we were soaked and muddy; that being said, we decided it would be fine to build huge piles of leaves to jump in. It was so much fun :) 

Also, when we went to the zoo last week, we got on the steepest escalator I've ever been on!

I love you! This was a wonderful week and I know there are more like it ahead :) I am so happy! :) Speaking of which... Happy Thanksgiving!!! 

Eat tons and remember to be grateful even when it's not thanksgiving :)

Sister Kailey

PS. I get my MRI tomorrow evening, and it also happens to be the day that marks 14 months from the MTC! Where has time gone?!

So good I can't believe it!

Hey :)

Does anyone want to explain to me how it's suddenly the third week in
November?? I'm pretty sure tomorrow it will be April ;)
Today I'm going to the zoo in DC so I'm sending this a little early
because I'm not sure when we will get back :)

I had SUCH a good week!! My words can not do it justice, but I'll do my best :)

It started off with the best. news. ever. Remember Ka? The girl who
just got baptized, and her mom Jumana, who is a returning member? Well
we are teaching ca, Ka's little sister, and little by little
the whole family has started coming to church and making friends in
the ward. When sister Donato was here, we hardly ever saw ka's dad,
but he came to church a couple weeks ago and had a good time!
I think he felt the spirit at Ka's baptism, and at church, too
because we received a text from Ju saying her husband wanted to
take the discussions and be baptized!? WHAT!?! We were SO excited!!
Not just because of his desire to follow the savior, but because this
means a year from around this time, their whole family can be sealed
together for eternity. That's the ultimate goal; baptism is just the
first step to get there :) It's also super cool because NOBODY saw
this coming! Not even Ju! Heavenly Father is blessing us right and
left and we couldn't be more grateful :)

That was Tuesday :) nothing else super exciting happened other than
planning for zone training and college stuff for sister Williams.

Oh.

And I went to the doctor for my shin splints to get an x-ray because
it's been a month and a half and I STILL have them. The doctor there
said she thought she saw a stress fracture, so she sent me to a sports
medicine doctor on Friday.

Sister Williams and I were in charge of the activity for the zone
training that we had on Wednesday morning. It was SO much fun! There
were 5 different "stations" and each had an activity
representing different topics that we would be discussing that day.

• One activity consisted of 2 people racing from point A to point B with a balloon between their legs, singing a primary song at the top of their lungs. When they got to point B, they were to sit on the balloon to pop it because inside was a paper with a scenario of a person who you might teach. Whoever popped the balloon first got to use that scenario and they were to practice teach to the person they raced. The purpose of this event was to practice "Teaching people, not lessons".
• Another activity involved an obstacle course, one person blind folded holding a hard boiled egg on a spoon, and someone leading them through the course by whispering amongst all the noise in the gym to practice, "Following the spirit". We let the elders set up the obstacle course and it was super cool :)
• The other 3 activities were just as creative and fun and we all had a really good time :) when everything was quickly cleaned up we went to the relief society room where the spirit was invited by a musical number. Sister Williams and I taught a lesson on church attendance, which went super well! We work so great together! :)

Then we got to come home and study before we went to the women's
shelter for a bit :)

After dinner we taught Ju and her family! :) it was such a
wonderful experience!! I absolutely love finding people who sincerely
want to learn more and have real intent. It makes things so much
easier :) haha Thats the best part! They want it! :) I can't even
express my joy and gratitude for the opportunity that I have to be a
tool in the Lords hands to help bring this whole family the restored
gospel, and all of the blessings that it entails. We put them on date
to be baptized on December 19th, and invited them (the dad and two
kids that we are teaching) to pray about it as well. They rock :) I am
bursting over here :)

We asked the dad how he liked church when he went and he said it
wasn't what he was expecting; he said he really liked it because he
didn't feel preached to. He didn't feel preached at, but felt like
everyone had great discussions about gospel topics together. He loved
the friendly, warm feel of the ward and mentioned his appreciation for
how family friendly church is :) he liked how everyone understood that
kids are kids and crying babies or Cheerios on the floor didn't phase
anyone :) I had to agree. I also love those things about church :) it
was a really good day :)

Thursday was the best because we had exchanges and I went to Warrenton
to be with Sister Jones!! :) What a tender mercy that she is in my
stewardship :) We spent the afternoon doing service for a sister in
her ward who just moved in and her home looks like a hoarder's home :(
she hates it. We ended up taking a long walk down an empty country
road for a while, listening to her vent. It was much needed, and we
loved being able to listen! She has a ton on her plate; it's one of
those situations where you wonder why bad things happen to good
people, and have to exercise some serious faith in order to maintain a
positive outlook. My heart bursted with love for this sweet sister and
I just wanted to hug her. So I did :) 

The cool thing about being set
apart as a literal representative of Jesus Christ, is that we can be
there for others when he physically can't. Missionary hugs are not
normal hugs-- there is definitely an extra spirit about them :)

Dinner was some super yummy soup with members of her ward, and then we
went to see an investigator out in the sticks :) Warrenton is the most
country part of Virginia I've ever been to. I haven't seen so many
stars since I drove out in the middle of nowhere in Rexburg, Idaho! I
loved it :) sister jones took a super pretty picture of the area
recently; I'll attach it :)

I absolutely LOVED spending time with sister jones :) I needed her
when I trained her, and I needed her on Thursday. She is so full of
love and meekness! You can't not love sister jones! It's impossible!
She is such a good missionary! It was fun to see her growth and just
to be able to spend a day with her was a tender mercy :) I love her :)

We exchanged back Friday morning because sister Williams and I had our
zone leadership meeting, and then we met with our relief society
president to talk about sisters in our ward that we don't know yet and
could use some uplifting. I've mentioned it before, and I'll say it
again... Our relief society president is the bomb! I love her :) I
love a lot of people ;) haha

Right after that we went to the sports medicine Doctor to figure out
what the heck is up with my leg. He pushed on the part that hurt and
then he pushed on my ankle asking, "Does this hurt?" Holy heck! Yes!
So then he said, "Yeah, come look at your x-rays with me". Apparently
I have a possible stress fracture in TWO places of my leg. My shin,
and right above my ankle. Oddly enough, the ankle one appeared worse
than my shin in the x-Ray (which would explain why it swelled so much
in my last area). So he told me to get an MRI before we make any final
decisions.

Oh my gosh, and then sister Williams told me the coolest news ever.
While I was in warrenton with sister jones, sister Williams and sister
Alcantara went and taught another lesson to Ju and her family! The
sisters asked them if they had been praying about baptism and Ca,
the 9 year old said, "can I get baptized sooner than December 19th?"
Um. Yes! :) and then the dad and brother said, "Yeah, we just want to
get baptized as soon as we can".

Do you feel the bucket of blessings raining down?!? We do!!!

So they picked December 4th for Ca because she wants it to be her
own thing, while her dad and brother picked the 5th of December. AND
THEY ARE SO HAPPY!! I cannot contain my excitement for this family.
They are so united and full of love because of the gospel :) I've
literally seen a change in each member of the family since they've
been applying gospel principals and keeping commitments. I could talk
about this forever :) Heavenly Father is SO GOOD!!! :)

Saturday we weekly planned because we didn't have time on Friday, and
had a pretty successful night! We saw a lot of people and contacted a
good chunk of potentials :)

Sunday was great! We went to church where a youth whom we adore gave
his farewell, and ju's whole family came :) Sister Williams and I
both felt the need for a spiritual recharge, and have never been so
excited to take the sacrament :) 

Dinner was with our stake president
and his family; we love them! That was neat because the spirit in the
home was.... homey. Comfortable, light, pleasant, familiar... as if I
were with my own family. It was good :) 

We spent some time with the
youth who spoke in sacrament meeting and gave his farewell; he had an
open house/goodbye party in the evening so we went :) It was fun
because he is terrified! He's only going to California, speaking
Spanish, but the unknown is what scares him. So we dug back into our
memory and explained what happens from the moment you pull up to the
curb at the MTC, to the time you enter the field. Everyone's
experience is different, especially once you get in the field, but for
the most part the MTC is the same. We helped calm some nerves and gave
him advice, so we had a good time :)

To end our evening we stopped by sister Jensen's because she had just
gotten back in town from burying her husband in Utah. This woman is
the most optimistic woman I know. She is an amazing individual! We
talked with her daughter, too to set up a time to have her friend come
over to take the discussions!

I have the biggest testimony of hard work and endurance. Through
trials, when life is good... any time! Remember to always reach up,
then out :)

Have a good one!!
Sister Chandler

Hard work= miracles

Oh Hello Again :)

We just had P-day 4 days ago, but because I went to the temple and we were stuck in traffic forever. Thursday did not feel like P-day. I'm grateful to have another one so soon after! Tender mercy :) That being said, this might not be very long!

Being able to go to the temple was such a blessing. I never know how much I truly need/miss it until I go and soak up the spirit. While sitting in the celestial room pondering and conversing with the Lord, I thought to myself, "Wow. I have never felt so close to the lord as I do right now". I felt like there was literally a thin, invisible wall between me and my maker as I sat there in prayer. Then I remembered where I was, and it immediately made sense :) I love the temple. I'm grateful for the many blessings I receive from attending as often as I can, and for the spirit that I feel when I go. Talk about a spiritual recharge! It's wonderful :) If you haven't been within the past two weeks, I invite you to do what you can, and go :)

Sister Williams and I are SO similar yet SO different that our companionship is really fun, but really hard at the same time. If we weren't already friends, and didn't have charity for one another, this companionship would not work. We make it work. Thursday nigh,t right before we had to go to a lesson, we had a conversation that included tears, negotiating, serious communication, listening, and love. Neither of us felt like we could go teach with the spirit at that point; we both felt in a rut and almost forced ourselves to let our pride go and hug it out. We decided to say a prayer, read a scripture, and go to work. Tension ceased quite immediately, and as we drove to our appointment sister Williams was like, "Are you as amazed as I am that that actually worked?"

"Praying and reading the scriptures?", I asked. Then reminded her that Heavenly Father helps us according to our faith, and even when our faith is slim to nonexistent, we acted on whatever faith we did have and he blessed us accordingly. We were able to work in unity and love for the rest of the evening and it was so neat to experience :) I'm going to learn so much about myself and how to be my best self throughout the next 5 weeks! Though it's a challenge, I'm truly grateful :) And we do get along! We really are good friends :) The rest of the week was great!

The morning schedule is tough on Sister Williams. She has a hard time waking up whereas I am definitely a morning person and up out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off. I end up working out in our apartment for half an hour before she is up and ready to go to the gym, but it's okay. We all have weaknesses, myself included, and she helps me with mine :) I do love her :)

After studies we had our weekly leadership meeting which went well! We weekly planned for a while before we went to brother Jensen's funeral. I have only been to a couple funerals in my life, and this one was amazing! Every speaker testified of and explained the plan of salvation. Invitations to learn more and see for themselves were extended by everyone, and afterwards a girl brought her friend up to us and said, "This is my friend Hannah! She wants to learn more about what we believe!" :) Hannah described her feelings during the service and acknowledged that it was the spirit. She said her church fell apart and her family is looking for a new one to go to, she loved the warm feelings of love and family, and said her eyes were opened so much that night! We are so excited to begin teaching her :) The lord is so good to us :)

My poor companion woke up pretty sick Saturday morning. So I worked out in the living room again and did what I could to help. We had a lot of really good conversations and finished weekly planning, too! I was going stir crazy from being  inside all day, and she wanted to tough out our dinner appointment, so we went to the bishops home for dinner. I love that family! Seriously I could just write an entire email on my ward and how much I love them alone :)

Sunday was the coolest day of the week! Finally Sister Williams and I are working in harmony together, thus allowing the spirit to work more effectively with us and lead us to where we need to be. After a great day at church and dinner with a member, we had a list of people we were planning to see, but on the way to one of them my companion said, "I feel like there is a member who needs us tonight, but I don't know the members well enough yet to know who it is..." So I opened the ward directory after saying a prayer together, and 3 names stuck out to Sister Williams, while only one of those names stuck out to me. So we went to that family :) IT WAS SO PERFECT!!

Remember when I first got to Gainesville and we checked on a part member family who's son had just received his mission call in the mail literally 60 seconds before we knocked on their door? Well, that son just left for the Philippines the other day, and this is the family we felt prompted to see. When we got there, the non member dad's parents were just about to leave. We started small talk and then the words, "Here, let's sit down!" were music to my ears as the dad motioned for everyone to go to the living room. Because this was a spontaneous
visit, we didn't really have a lesson planned, but before getting out of the car we really felt impressed to talk about the Holy Ghost and prayer, and then a personal story came to mind that I could share regarding those topics. While talking with the family, calming their nerves of the unknown for safety and generally how missionary life is, we found ourselves naturally discussing the Holy Ghost, and I shared my personal experience as if we had planned and practiced it! Everything fell perfectly into place that evening, and we know it was the hand of the lord :)

Seriously, I LOVE being a missionary. It's the coolest thing ever :)

I'm so grateful for the opportunity I have to dedicate 18 months of my life to my Heavenly Father. There is no way I would be this close to Him, or be at this level of understanding of the gospel right now, if I didn't serve a mission. It's shaped me, and continues to shape me, into the person God knows I can become. I feel much more prepared to be a good wife and mother when the time comes, and overall I simply have a better understanding of who I am and my individual worth as a daughter of God.

My testimony of church attendance, daily scripture study and sincere prayer, following promptings from the spirit, magnifying church callings, watching general conference, and sooooo many other things pertaining to the gospel has grown exponentially. Big word, huh? ;) Well I mean it! Missionary work rocks. If you have any missionary moments, I'd love to hear them :) Have a wonderful week!! :)

Stay safe, choose the right, be happy :)
Sister Chandler

Ps. We haven't taken any new pictures so, sorry for the lack today

Ten Days of Laughter!

Happy Thursday!! :)

Oh. My. Gosh.
A week and a half really isn't that long... but when you're a missionary

 and it means P-day isn't Monday, it feels like a century long! 
Not even exaggerating ;)

This is our mail box, and I can barely see inside

However!! It was full of exciting, hilarious, bittersweet moments and

I'm excited for you to read about them :)

Because this email will cover more than the usual weeks worth of
events, I'll make sure it doesn't turn into a novel and only share the important things :)

A LOT happened over the past 10 days!

We'll start with MONDAY:) so, two Mondays ago...

In the morning we drove up Bull Run Mountain, the only [ hill ] in Virginia, and it was gorgeous!

 I will never be able to compare Fall to any other Fall anywhere else; its breathtakingly beautiful. 

That's where the pictures I sent last week came from :) We had minimal time to email because

 we went shopping and Sister Donato got her hair cut at 4pm,so our P-day was cut short. It's fine :)

The evening was spent saying goodbye to members. Pretty simple but so much fun. 

I say it all the time, but I truly adore this ward! The members are family, and I love it :)

 I don't ever want to live on the east coast after my mission; I personally like the west much better,

but if I ever did have to live in Virginia again I would make every effort I could to be in Gainesville :) 

The members are wonderful :)

TUESDAY was crazy productive! After district meeting we (by that I mean Sister Donato)
spent part of the afternoon packing until we went to a lesson with K--. Get this. Something about that entire house
has changed dramatically, I know what that is of course; they're living the gospel now, and K's mom is happier than I've ever seen her! There is a pleasant difference every time we are with them now, and Ju--, the mom, is having the rest of her kids take the discussions so they can be baptized! Ca-- is 9 and said that after watching K (her older sister) get baptized, she wants to as well! So now we are teaching Ca the lessons, while teaching her recent convert sister and returning mother at the same time. It's so awesome  :)

We said goodbye to a lot of families that night, and ended the day with a lesson with Tr-- and his mom (the insanely busy sister who can't ever find time to come to church). We taught them the word of
wisdom and they said they would be able to come to the ward trunk-or-treat party on Friday!! :)
To make the day even better, around 9:30 pm we got the email that told us who our new companions are and where we will go for the following Thursday.

Good news!

I'm staying in Gainesville through November :) 

We knew that would happen, but guess who my new companion is?? ----->  SISTER WILLIAMS!!!
I lived with her when I was serving in the singles ward! :) I don't know if you remember me talking about adventures with her or not, but I LOVE this sister!! ALSO!! She has a sucrose intolerance!! Is Heavenly Father not the greatest?! Now there will be absolutely no sugar temptation in the house because neither of us can eat it :) This is the biggest tender mercy. My heart was and still is so stinking full :)

AB-- GOT BAPTIZED on WEDNESDAY!! That was the highlight of the day :) It was an hour and a half drive with rain and traffic, but we have awesome members who are so willing to help us out and drive us there.
It was such a beautiful baptism! There were so many people there to support, and the spirit was incredible.
She received the gift of the Holy Ghost that night, too and it was amazing. The spirit filled the room the entire night! We took pictures at the end; every sister who taught her, minus elders that have already gone home.
 This is the fruit of planting seeds :)

All the Sister who have been a part of AB--'s conversion!

During the rest of the day we just cleaned the house and packed, as well as a couple last minute things for
Sister Donato. It was so weird and sad when we got ready for bed, realizing that was our last night together, and her last night as a full-time missionary. In the beginning of my mission I would be so stumped as to why people were so sad to leave! I thought they would be super excited to go home and see their families. But even with 5
months left, I see the sadness. I never want to go home! Just kidding, I do, but I don't at the same time.
Good thing I don't have to worry about it for a while :)

Transfers were Thursday last week. So many mixed emotions flowed through my heart that day. 

I was so sad to see Sister Donato go; We said goodbye like 10 times and cried and hugged and eventually said
goodbye for real :) haha. She left me with the sweetest note ever, too! You gain life-long friends on a mission, and they're friendships in Christ, so they're even better than any other friendship! 

I sincerely cherish the sisters I've been blessed to serve with.

Goodbye #8 with Sister Donato :) I miss her SO incredibly much!!

On a happy note, Sister Williams is here!! :) 

 Sister Williams and I when we found out we were companions

All day Thursday we cackled at the many memories we have of living at the Aspen, and our
adventures together. We are STOKED to work so hard and see so many miracles!
Sister Williams and I are a lot alike! We are both working on specific Christ-like qualities, and feel as though we are starting from ground zero with our weaknesses. We have so much motivation and
determination to lift and build one another up throughout the next 6 weeks :) I am so excited!!
She's awesome! This is going to be a blast :)

Our evening plans canceled... all of them... so we tracted! We met people who want us to come back, and one of them even came to the trunk-or-treat Friday :)

Okay. Want to hear the coolest miracle ever?? 

So, Sister Williams was trained in Haymarket, which is the area that neighbors Gainesville;
the Haymarket sisters live in the same building as us. While sister Williams was there, a year ago, she taught and developed a strong bond with a lady whom we will call KH. KH moved into the Gainesville ward
and completely went off the radar for the past year, so she is less active and we can never get a hold of her.
Well....
Randomly, Sister Williams asked if KH was in our ward, because she emailed Sister Williams saying something along the lines of, "Where are you?? We need to get together! I'll drive to you if I have to!"
And then Heavenly Father sends Sister Williams to the same town that KH lives in.
Is that not the coolest thing??? So cool :)

ALSO!!! I just need to throw this in here. Sister Jones, my baby, is in my zone now.  

That means I'm her sister training leader and get to go on exchanges with her :)

 I really don't know what else Heavenly Father could do for me; I'm on cloud 9 :)



FRIDAY came around, which Sister Williams and I were both so excited for because that's weekly planning day!! New transfer, new goals, new companionship, new motivation, new start :) It was awesome :)
With that in mind, our zone leadership meeting was really good, too!
We came to a conclusion after debating a transfer zone goal:
The vision is, "Charity- learn it, do it, love it" and we came up with a couple plans for how to go about those 3 things. It's going to be such a good transfer! Within both my companionship and my zone;
 "I can feel it in my toes" as Sister Liu (my second companion as a missionary) would say :)

Our ward Halloween trunk-or-treat/party was that night! It was a perfect opportunity for Sister Williams to meet people :) During weekly planning we made flash cards to help her memorize the members
and their callings, so at the party she was able to put faces to names
she was already familiar with :) It was so fun! We had a handful of investigators and less actives there, so that was awesome!

On SATURDAY we weren't allowed to go out and work after 5pm, but we were
allowed to watch a movie! Sister Huntsman picked it this year for everyone.
First we had our Halloween party with the zone at our stake president's home.
We played reversed charades, and then watched "Cokesville Miracle", which was so good!
 It was a really fun night :)

{ F U N N Y. S T O R Y }
I know I'm fairly little, being 5'2 and all, but I have never felt like anyone really towers over me except for people who are 6' or taller. That being said, I always thought Sister Williams was only a little taller than me... until we looked in the mirror standing side by side. I'M TINY!!! It was so funny :) We laughed so hard!
I have always felt that most people were sort of close to my height...
But I'm just now realizing that is most definitely not the case :P

All week Sister Williams and I have been talking about how inspired this companionship truly is, and how we strengthen each other so well when it comes to our weaknesses. I am so grateful for her! She is such
a powerful, bold, charitable missionary. I have already learned so much from her :)

SUNDAY night is a good example! We followed every prompting we felt, which lead us away from one home where we thought we should go, to a less active whom we witnessed the spirit touch in
more ways than one! In preach my gospel chapter 11 one of the bullet points says that people are not likely to change until they are invited to do so. We witnessed the truthfulness of this statement as
we extended the simple invitation to this sweet sister to read and pray every night.
Knowing her, and observing her reaction made for a neat and humbling experience :)
She agreed to do it, and accepted our offer to hold her accountable by calling her every day to remind her.
Her daughter came down soon after, so we extended the invitation to her as well.
Then her son came in the room with his super sweet hover board, and we learned that he doesn't really know if there is a God. He wasn't asking questions, but we testified and bore our witness of the power of prayer, and the reality of a living God who loves us dearly. It was a really good night. I have the best companion :)

Elder Perkins from the Seventy came to work with us all day MONDAY. It was
such a revelatory meeting, and we talked about that specifically; having revelatory meetings.
No meeting in the church, sacrament meeting, our a meeting for your calling, etc. should be a drag.
It should be a revelatory experience, but it's up to you to make it that way. He had us write down 2 different questions regarding 2 different topics, and invited us to seek answers throughout the meeting. Both of
mine were answered, and that was the case for most everyone in the room :) We practice taught the restoration with him as well, and it was so much fun! I needed those 8 hours more than I realized.

In the evening we had FHE with a less active family and acted out Lehi's vision of the tree of life
(1 Nephi chapter 8). It was super fun and a great way to hold the kids attention :)
Also, sad news. We received a phone call that day that Sister Jensen (the lady with the farm whom we adore)... her husband unexpectedly passed away in his sleep Sunday night :(  Then literally seconds after
that, an elder approached me asking if I served in Centreville and knew a Mary Rose. I did! I taught her a year ago! He then informed me that she was passing away as we spoke! Dear goodness! All these people
I love....within the same 60 seconds! I'm grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation and the comfort that it brings. My eyes started to water as soon as I heard about brother Jensen because that
family is the most Christ-like family I've ever met, and they do so much for so many people;
my heart broke for Sister Jensen. Why can't we all just die at the same time?!? :P 

That would prevent a lot of heart break!

 TUESDAY morning we helped a sister in our ward clean her house because she is physically limited. I love service so much. Whenever you're having a bad day, go do something for someone else because it makes a
world of difference on the rest of your day :) In the evening we checked on people and knocked on some doors before we went to correlation with our ward missionaries.
One door we knocked, a man opened and said the lords name in vain, "Oh J****! What's up??" 

The first thing that came to my kind was, "Jesus! That's what's up! We are missionaries! :)" 

Haha, we all laughed about it and then learned that this man had just returned home from the hospital
with his little girl because she got an x-Ray. Something is wrong with her chest :( We said a prayer with them right then and there, after teaching them how to pray :) It was awesome! Sweetest experience :)

MLC with Elder Perkins was on WEDNESDAY! That was yet again, another revelatory experience. 

We learned so much and found ways we could strengthen the missionaries in our mission. I'm grateful to have the
opportunity to serve as an STL. It's such a rewarding time for growth and service :)
I'm not sure if I'll be serving in this position for the rest of my mission or not; I'll never know in advance,
but I'm grateful for the time I do get to be an STL :)

The rest of the day was awesome! We met the kindest people, had wonderful gospel conversations, gave away all of our copies of the Book of Mormon, bore testimony all night, and ended the evening with sister Jensen :)
We are working our tails off and it is a blast :)

Today I get to go to the temple, that's why I'm sending this super early,
but I'll be back on to email later in the day :)
Also, can we all throw our hands up in the air and shout for joy that
TODAY IS P-DAY???!!! :) Woo-hoo!! We. Are. Stoked. I love P-days :)

Have a fabulous week :) I hope you scored on candy.
Pray for my shin splints; they're still very much here, and read the Book of Mormon :)
It's a DARN GOOD BOOK!:)