I'm Home!

Good morning!

If you haven't already read/heard/or seen by now, I have returned home from my beloved mission just a short 3 months early on December 21, 2015.

Erica is with us on the phone via Skype.

Caden grew 6 or more inches while Kailey was gone.

Parker missed Kailey greatly.

The best hug ever!

Throughout my mission I'd been struggling with my health, and in October it significantly declined. I was a hurt more than a help to not only my companions, the work, and the area that I served in, but also to myself. I received the confirmation that I should go home in October/November, which brought me to resistant tears. I only had 3 months left! No way was I going home! I've pushed through illnesses before and recovered just fine. Well, to my dismay, this was and is not your average illness. I needed help beyond what I could receive as a missionary.

After loads of prayer, humility, and submissiveness, I met with my mission president who agreed wholeheartedly that I needed to return home. He settled my second thoughts when he said, "My job is to help you see all the reasons for why you need to stay, but sister Chandler, that is not the case with you. I strongly feel comforted with the decision to send you home". Everything in that interview was perfect; every word softened my heart and opened my eyes to see that this is God's plan for me. As soon as I accepted this plan, I felt stronger than I've ever felt that God is my Father. He IS aware of me, and he DOES love me. Me! I literally felt His love. I received confirmation from the Holy Ghost that I had done what I needed to do in Northern Virginia, and felt confident that I had completed the mission my maker sent me to accomplish. I still feel that way. I have no doubts.


That interview took place on Saturday, and I flew home the following Monday morning.Since returning home, I've been able to rest and attempt to recover. It's only been a week, so not a ton has improved, but I know that with time I will be fine :) My dad gave me a powerful priesthood blessing soon after I got home, and I know that will help as well.

My heart is full. I know that the exact same church that Jesus Christ himself organized when He was on the earth, is restored in its fullness today. I know that we have a modern day prophet by the name of Thomas S. Monson, and 12 living apostles who sustain and help Him. I know that the Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus Christ, and you can know of its truthfulness for yourself if you read it with real intent, and an open heart. My mission has shaped me to become the person/wife/mother that I know God intends me to be, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to serve when I did. I LOVED my mission. It was the best thing I've ever done, despite the trials and struggles I faced along the way. I would do it 20 more times in a heartbeat :)

Thank you for your love, support, emails, letters, prayers, and encouragement. Keep to the basics; go to church every Sunday read your scriptures every day, and pray multiple times throughout the day. I know that if we do these things, we will be able to get through any question, concern, or trial we may come upon. God is real. I know that. I know he loves me just as much as he loves you.
Don't worry. Be happy. The church is true :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

We have approximately 4 more days until my favorite day of the year, and I may or may not be super excited about it :))

I had a good week! It started wonderfully at the TVC Monday evening! I had the opportunity to talk to a gentleman from Nigeria who served a mission in Ghana and he told me some amazing stories from his mission! Two of which, I'd love to share… :)

•  He and his companion taught a pastor, and when the priesthood came up the pastor recognized that if what the elders were teaching was true, then he didn't have the authority from God that he needed/wanted. He brought the elders to his church service and told them to teach his congregation, so they spent 3 hours, and then some, teaching 200 people. Slowly, people who weren't interested left, but 85 children of God were touched by the spirit and baptized a few days later, on the same day. 
• Another story he shared was about a woman they met after walking in the pouring rain for a while. She committed to be baptized, but didn't show up to her baptism. About two hours had passed from when she was supposed to be baptized, and the elders were going to go home. It was pouring rain that day, and as they were about to leave they saw her walking in the rain to the church. She told them something along the lines of, "Rain didn't stop you from coming to teach me, so rain, hail, snow, etc. won't stop me from being baptized!" :) I thought that was so neat :) I LOVED listening to his stories and experiences. It was the neatest thing to see him light up as he traveled deep in his mind, back to a few years ago when he served. I met and taught some really fun people that night :) 

Have I mentioned that I love being a missionary yet?? Because I do ;)

District meeting was Tuesday morning, and it was so effective! We looked at our key indicators as a zone; our zone has the highest key indicators in our mission, but somehow we have the lowest number of baptisms. We set goals and made plans for how we are going to fix that, and are so excited to see the fruits of our labors! :) Our evening rocked. We contacted so many people and by the end of the night people were commenting on how tired we looked haha :) We slept super good that night :) I love my companions :)

Wednesday was a little rough; after pushing through for a week, my body needed a break. We went out and talked to tons of people in the afternoon for a few hours, but in the evening we stayed home to rest.  It's so annoying- not being able to be as effective as I'd like to be- but I'm grateful that I'm able to do what I can each day! When we were contacting in the afternoon, there was a potential that owned a ton of cats. Right in front of her front door there was a row of bowls full of cat food! We knocked and when the lady answered the door, she was wearing a doctor’s mask and gloves. "This isn't a good time, I'm in the middle of the cat operation".... and shut the door. What just happened?? hahah too funny :)

Thursday was pretty rough, too. My body is just not havin' it. :/ I refused to stay inside all day, though, so we went out and worked until I couldn't push it anymore, so, about dinner time. We passed a black man selling water while street contacting, and when he saw my crutches he said, "Oh no! Buy some water and I'll give you my leg, then you can have a white one and a black one!" :) hahaha It was so funny :)

The mission Christmas party was on Friday! It consisted of an uplifting message, mission talent show (not as good as last year, but descent), lunch, and another uplifting message to finish. Choir practice for the TVC on Christmas Eve was right after that for an hour. We were at the church for a solid 9 hours, and then went straight to our ward Christmas party afterwards.

I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity I have to be here. I continue to grow exponentially in various ways and I know that if I hadn't served a mission I wouldn't be able to do grow so much so fast. If you're considering it, just choose to go :) It's the best decision I've ever made. Even through the trials I've faced :)

Sorry this is so short; I don't have a ton of time today! Thanks again for every prayer, support, and massive amounts of love on my behalf. I can't tell you how grateful I am :)

 Have a very merry Christmas!! :)

Sister Chandler

                                                                                    The prettiest painting of a real place in Russia

  

          On our way to the Christmas party!

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! 

The Ck Family

Hello beautiful faces! :)

**SHOUT OUT to my best friend in the whole wide world, Katy, who is
leaving to the MTC this week!!! You're going to be a phenomenal
missionary and I am SO excited for you :) Also, we are going to be 8
hours apart driving distance, and just the simple thought of that
makes me even more excited :) Even though that doesn't really mean
anything :P you're going to be amazing :) go kill it :)

I had quite the busy week! It began with my doctors appointment early
Monday morning where I learned of the 3 stress fractures in my leg,
and crutches/a scooter became my new best friends for the next 7
weeks. Hopefully not longer :) 

We went to a zone activity but it was
outside, and it was raining, and it's freezing, and I couldn't
participate in any of the games, so I stood by a fire :) Our evening
was beautiful! 

We had a lesson with the Cks :) The spirit is
incredibly strong each time we teach them, and every word is
definitely guided by it. I burst with love and gratitude every time I
even THINK about this family! I love being a missionary :)

District meeting on Tuesday was yet another revelatory experience! We
had 15 minutes to study a Christ-like attribute; I chose faith and
hope. It was awesome! 

Afterwards we had exchanges and I went to
warrenton with sister lemmons! Remember when it poured rain that one
day, and I sent pictures of us soaked?? That was with sister lemmons
:) she was having a really hard time, and not feeling well, so it was
a slow night. We did a lot of mini exchanging throughout the night
because she and her companion had to go to an appointment in the
middle of the exchange, so really I spent most of the night with my
companion :) which rocked :) but then went back and stayed the night
with sister lemmons. It was so complicated, but beneficial for both
parties! A lot of the things that were bothering her were things I had
just gotten over 3 days prior, so it was super neat to see how the
lord prepared me to help her :)

This whole, not being able to do cardio in the mornings thing, is killer!
I'm dying. 1 week down, 6 minimum to go!

Wednesday was fun! :) I had the opportunity to go to district meeting
with sister lemmons. We exchanged back afterward and had our last
lesson with the Ck family before their interviews! Once again, it
was amazing. Afterward we went to see a less active whom we haven't
seen since sister Donato left! This is the insanely busy sister who
has zero time to do anything but eat, sleep, and work. Finally we saw
her, watched the new Christmas video with her, and she said she was
going to come to church on Sunday! Whoop whoop! :) it was a good day
:)

Thursday was the BEST DAY EVER!! Really it just got the ball rolling
because every day from there on out was amazing :) We began the day
with the leadership of the mission and a couple brethren from salt
lake. We had a training with them from 9-4; so, most of our day. You
know the mission videos, "The district"? Well the mission president of
the missionaries in "The District 2" was one of the brethren that
spent the day with us! It was the most revelatory experience I've had
in a very long time. We talked a lot about effective planning, and

teaching simply. I loved it!

Right after that we had dinner with a part member family who invited
us back on Saturday for dinner and to help them decorate their
Christmas tree!!!! Oh I cannot tell you how excited I was to decorate
a tree. That's my favorite part of Christmas :) 

when we got done at their home, we went straight to the church where the Cks were being
interviewed for baptism! It went SO good!! :) THEN we had correlation
where we talk about who we are working with and how we can involve the
ward. It was so cool because instead of that, the only ward missionary
that showed up ended up really needing us that night. He expressed his
desire and sincere need of help to overcome his natural man. He's
questioning a lot, and recognizes something isn't right, so he
expressed his feelings to us and the whole time we were just guided by
the spirit in every response. The trick is to listen. To the person we
are talking to, and to the spirit. We helped him remember to focus on
what he DOES know, and we will help him through his concerns. It was
such a wonderful experience. As we sat there I thought, "This is why I
am on a mission". I can't get over it. I LOVE BEING A MISSIONARY!!!!
:)

**Funny story of the week::

Our apartment complex sent out a letter earlier in the week informing
everyone that there had been a leak in the water system, and the water
throughout the entire building would be turned off at 9pm Thursday
night. Knowing this, we filled our sink with water right before we
left for dinner so that we had some to use to like... Wash our face,
brush our teeth, wash our hands, etc. well, when we got home we joked
about how funny it would be if the water had drained.
It was even more hilarious when we looked and it actually was drained.
Luckily, I have a billion water bottles.... But all of them were
empty. Except for one! Which happened to be the biggest one! It was
so. hard. to wash my face/hands with a water bottle! I thought of the
people way back when who didn't ever grow up with running water, and
felt like they would get a good laugh at how pathetic I probably
looked as I tried to figure out how to go about my nightly routine :)

Friday was one of the busiest days of the week! We had so much to do
to prepare for the baptism. Our ward mission leader had been in
Thailand for a couple weeks for work, and helped with what he could,
but he didn't get home until the baptism was actually happening so we
did most of it :) we were a little stressed, but it went well! It
takes two hours to fill the font, so we had to do that and stay at the
church while it filled :) it was fun! The water wasn't warming up
though and it was almost full, so we said a prayer, and when we went
to check it again it was super warm! God is real :)

Ce was SO cute!! She was so excited :) I'm really glad we did
hers on a different day. I can't pin point an exact reason why, but it
felt right :)

When that was over we went to dinner with a Cambodian family. Sister
Williams ate a lot and won their hearts over :) haha it was so funny!
Also, we can never understand their English, so before we went inside
we prayed hard to be able to understand them in order to hold a
descent conversation. We understood every single word the entire night! It was the coolest

thing! They're pretty hilarious people when you understand what
they're saying :) haha

Dn and Ty were baptized Saturday morning :)
Oh. My. Gosh. Sister Williams and I just wanted to cry the entire
time. The spirit was the strongest I've ever felt it on my mission,
especially as Dn (the dad) was immersed into the water. Three non
members attended, and one woman stayed for 45 minutes after talking to
us and the stake president, as well as Dn and Ty because she is
investigating and seriously wanting to find the true church of God. It
was the coolest experience!! Also, Ty brought a friend who isn't a
member and was also interested in taking the discussions. My heart is
incredibly full :) that whole day was so amazing :)

We spent the rest of the day, until dinner, weekly planning. It was so
productive!! Dinner was with the part member family, and we helped
them decorate their Christmas tree!! It was so fun!! :)

We know that baptism isn't complete until we receive the gift of the
Holy Ghost, so that's what happened on Sunday :) during Sunday school,
Dn turned to his wife with the biggest grin on his face and said,
"I am SO excited to be in this ward!!" :) it was adorable hahah :)

I had a meeting with my mission president right after church, so we had
to leave a little early. After that, we went to dinner with the Ck
family! I should just title this email, "The Cks".... I probably
will :) The grandma is married to a man from the Middle East, so we
had middle eastern food and it was pretty good!

When I was talking with my mission president, he informed me that I am
going to be transferred :( SAD. DAY. Especially considering its right
before Christmas. So hold on to your letters and packages until
Thursday :)

Also.

Can we take a moment to ponder in awe that I only have 3 transfers
left. That's like, 18 weeks. What. Except probably 19 because my last
transfer is a 7 week transfer. But still, what the even heck??

Life as a missionary is kind of insane. Your body does weird things,
stress levels move like a roller coaster, and you grow an incredible
amount in such a short period of time. Missions are hard, but I love
it so much. Every day I'm full of gratitude for this experience and
for the opportunity that I have to be here at this time of my life.

Just as I am sent here because certain people need me, I definitely
need the people I've met; My companion being one of them. There is NO
way I would have been able to do the past 6 weeks without her! Sister
Williams is a wonderful, hard working, charitable individual and I am
beyond bummed that we won't be together for 6 more weeks. I know;
however, that wherever I go and whoever I'm going to be with next is
exactly what the Lord would have happen so that I can be happy and
progress :)

I know that my father in heaven is so aware of each one of His
children. That means you. I know that Jesus Christ was born, and
lived, and died, so that we could return to live with our God again.
He is the prime example of charity, service, gratitude, and patience;
everything this Christmas season is about! I love my maker :)

Have a great week!! Thank you for your prayers and support! I feel it.
I love you. Fractures can't stop this girl ;)

Sister Chandler

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