What
– A – Week!
Oh my, gosh! This week started out...
Adventurous :) and ended better than I could have ever hoped.
For the past 6 weeks I've been pretty sick, and stressed, and broken. My
body has been falling apart while my mind is like, "I'm fine! Let's
go!" When is the stopping point? I’m not sure, but my companion drew the
line Monday night and refused to go anywhere. I felt like she was my mother
making me stay home from going out to do what I wanted to do, but I am truly so
grateful for it because my body needed a break.
And I had no idea what was coming the next day.
To be frank, Tuesday was awful. We went to
zone training in the morning and I ended up spending the majority of the time
curled up in the bathroom. My stomach wasn't happy, but we had to be there
because we presented, and by “we”, I mean my companion. I wasn't much help.
- Right after that we went to urgent care to get my blood drawn. I told Sister Williams ahead of time that it was very likely that I'd pass out, so I told her to ask me questions and keep my mind busy while they drew my blood. I was doing pretty good until about 30 seconds in when I suddenly felt very sick and heavy. With the last breath I could muster I said, "I'm going to pass out". Then, out of nowhere, I felt awesome! I wasn't sick, I was happy, life was good! I had the best dreams!
- Eventually I came back to real life and felt more nauseous than I've ever felt in my life. I was no longer in the chair; they, like... 6 nurses... had me on my side on the floor saying, "Sister Chandler" over and over again. I did this (passed out while my blood was drawn) in 7th grade, so as soon as I heard my name 27 times I knew exactly what had happened and I felt so bad! "I’m so sorry" were the first weak words I spoke. Opening my eyes made me much more dizzy, so I laid there with them closed and they asked me lots of questions. My mind was fine, my body was not. As if the butterfly needle wasn't enough, as I laid there sick as a dog, they pricked my finger to check my blood sugar! Rude!
- Eventually I could sit up, but I stayed in a bed nauseous as heck for a solid 7 hours after that. Sister Williams fed me gold fish :) Even by then though I wasn't able to stand by myself, and I was still sick to my stomach, so they put me in a wheel chair and pushed me to the car. Later I found out I had been unconscious for roughly 10 minutes. I'm giving you details because this does not happen every day! And I think it's a pretty cool story :) It wasn't at the time, but it is for an email home :)
We didn't go anywhere that night. In fact, I was supposed to be packing
for transfers all afternoon but that didn't happen. So when we got home the
sisters that live below us came up and packed my entire wardrobe for me while I
was in bed. We received multiple texts and calls from sisters in our
stewardship simply checking to see how I was doing since zone training that
morning. It was the sweetest experience to see the sisters I've been looking after,
look after me. That's only one of the reasons why I love being a Latter Day
Saint :) We genuinely care and look after one another!
Brother Ricks, my ward mission leader, and brother Eagan, a ward member,
came to give me a blessing in the evening. Trust God, and let go. That's the
gist of the blessing, and I'm not exactly sure what, "let go" means,
but I'll figure it out :)
My testimony of the priesthood grew exponentially! I appreciate so much
those two brethren! The spirit was incredibly strong in the room and I was so
grateful for them! I know for a fact that the power to act in God's name is on
the earth today. I've been blessed by it more times than I can count and I will
forever be grateful for worthy men who hold and honor it. I also gained a
massive testimony of how aware God is of each and every one of us. I have felt
the prayers and the power thereof on my behalf every day this week. It's
incredible! My body was so weak, but I felt carried every day and I know
without a doubt that it was because of your prayers. I can't thank you enough.
I testify that the power of prayer is REAL. I feel it, and I'm beyond grateful.
Not only that, but then we got our transfer outlines and I learned that
I would be with Sister Palmer! One of the sisters whom I ADORE that had lived
below me in the same building since I got to Gainesville! :) We are in a trio
with Sister Eaton who goes home next month :) This is really good for me, and
my heart is truly full of gratitude. Heavenly Father has been taking amazing
care of me all transfer through other people. He knows me, He knows my needs,
and I know the same applies to you, too.
Wednesday was a blast!! We had lunch at Cafe Rio,
courtesy of my favorite relief society president :) I miss her tons. Then we
went to the Temple Visitors Center for the night to be TVC sisters!! We got a little
American flag to tape to the bottom of our name tags, and stood on the main
floor by the model of the temple! When people walked in we would talk to them
and teach them about the temple, or anything that met their needs. It was the
best experience ever. I didn't realize how many spiritual experiences you can
have, though surrounded by so much noise and so many other people. Being on
crutches was the best thing that's ever happened to me because people came up
to ME instead of me going to them, asking what happened. From there I was able
to start a gospel related conversation :) We got tons of referrals! We were
there from 4:30-9pm and didn't get home until 10. It was a super long day, and
we were completely exhausted, but it was the best feeling ever :) we took lots
of pictures that day!
One of my favorite families in the ward, the family that fed us thanksgiving
dinner, fed us breakfast Thursday morning before transfers. I LOVE them so much
and I'm crushed that I had to leave :( but excited for the adventures I'll have
in Herndon) :)
Transfers were in the afternoon where Sisters
Eaton, Palmer, and I went to our tiny little apartment! It's itty bitty :) Our
beds are squished together so we can all fit in one room, and there isn't enough
closet space, so I'm living out of my
suitcase for the next 6 weeks :) We were only there long enough to drop our
things off because we needed to go check on a couple referrals, one of which
was Kim. Kim is the sweetest lady who used to have faith in God but stopped believing
when her father passed after praying and praying that he wouldn't. She was a
child then, and is now in her 30's. We taught the plan of salvation; she had
met with missionaries before but they only did service for her and shared some
Mormon messages, which isn't bad at all! She is so ready for the gospel and
invited us back this week.:) I love her!
We had a super busy night, and in between our finding/appointments we were
calling around to see if anyone in the ward had crutches :) I had to leave mine
in Gainesville because I was only borrowing them from a member, so we called
around. Nobody had any, so the relief society president put a notice on
Facebook and throughout the rest of the night we got like 20 phone calls :) I
felt so loved!! :) I have the scooter, but there are so many stairs/cracks in
the sidewalks/grassy areas that it's super inconvenient for missionary work.
Crutches are much better.
***Feel
free to send your email to me now!!***
Kailey.Chandler@myldsmail.net
Weekly planning on Friday was so
good! The whole day was super productive and in the evening we went to a
pot luck at a member's home. That was awesome because Sister Palmer and I got
to meet tons of people in the ward, and eat good food ;) This is a good, sweet,
missionary minded ward. I'm probably going to finish my mission here, and I'm
grateful :) It's similar to Gainesville!
Saturday was beautiful! It was roughly 70 degrees and sunny. They
say it won't snow until February! Anyway, in the morning we helped a sister in
our ward who is in a wheelchair decorate for Christmas! She took us out to lunch and then we went home to make treats. Goodies are fabulous
additions to invitations/reminders for people we work with :)
Stake conference was in the evening. I love stake conference, and any other
revelatory experience, really :) it was good! The topic was how we, as members,
could work with our ward council. Stake conference continued Sunday morning,
where we were filled with inspiration once more :) I learned some cool things!
One, being that God works according to our diligence. When we are diligent, He
is diligent. The second, being the importance of temple worship; frequent temple
worship at that. We had a 70 with us and he spoke about taking our families to
the temple! Not just dropping your kids off to do baptisms for the dead, but to
go in with them and participate!
As a missionary I am only able to go once every 6 months, and I miss being
able to go whenever! I definitely have a goal to attend the temple as often as
I can when I get home :) We had some time to kill afterward council and before
dinner, so we went to a potential's home and taught the restoration. We focused
a lot on the Holy Ghost because that's what he needed, and it was so fun! We
were a little persistent with him when we invited him to pray; he even pointed
to me with the, "oh she's sneaky" face and said, "She's
persistent." haha it was funny :) We see him again this coming week!
Right after that, we saw a woman sitting on her porch, so we talked to her.
Turns out she's met missionaries before! Her name was Linda :) She talked about
wanting to know her purpose in life, and you could tell she was searching for
true, genuine happiness because she expressed some hardships life has brought
her. It was one of those moments where my entire being overwhelmed with love
for a complete stranger. We can help!! Let us help!! I love being a missionary
:) so incredibly much! AND I have been blessed with the best companions in the
history of ever. We have a blast, and laugh, and work our tails off every day!
I LOVE IT!! :)
My heart is full of gratitude this week! For the power of prayer, revelation,
the priesthood, my family, and my father in heaven. He is taking good care of
me, and I am truly beyond blessed :)
Have a fabulous week!!! 11 days until Christmas!! Woohoo!!! :) Who's excited??
I'm excited :)
Sister Chandler
Haymarket sisters who lived below us (sis.
Palmer is in the black dress)
A Lucy look-a-like!
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