Service, miracles, and bliss

Hello Hello!! :)

Good morning! :) I hope you had a wonderful week! Mine was pretty wonderfully amazing :)

Nothing super special happened on Monday; 

just the usual zone BBQ/volleyball game in the afternoon. 

Tuesday, however, was so good!

• After studies we went to the post office to grab a big box (that I could throw my winter things in) to send home. I'm pretty sure I'll have too much to pack for transfers, so sending things home for a bit will be MUCH helpful! 

This is how the box arrived at home. Unbelievable!
It looks like the UPS truck ran over it.

• After lunch Sister Jones and I went to a homeless shelter to see what we could do to help! We called beforehand and were told they needed help in the garden that they have! So we threw on some grubs and pulled weeds/watered the garden all afternoon! That place was L O A D E D with weeds! I couldn't help but think about the parable of the wheat and tares :) we didn't get them all, but we cleaned up over half of the garden, and it was looking good! Mosquitos were everywhere and I was sure I would have a million mosquito bites later, but I walked away with one! How?! I don't even know. Heavenly Father has my back ;) There was a lady there who has a green thumb, and gave us a lesson on male and female tomatoes! Did you know there was such thing?? We didn't! 
• Afterwards we definitely went home to shower and get ready to go out with a member! Traffic was super bad! It's amazing what rain does to the traffic over here; nobody knows how to drive in it. 
• So we checked on two people before we went to institute with A! :) guess who else was there?! C! Our inactive atheist friend :) During the class, we studied a talk by President Uchtdorf entitled, "On Being Genuine". There was one particular paragraph that stood out to me more than anything. The spirit was overwhelming when I read it, and when the teacher asked for thoughts/comments, C shot his hand up!? The paragraph talked about how if the Savior sat down with us, he wouldn't focus on our statistics or programs, but more-so the condition of our hearts. He would, "want to know how we love and minister to those in our care". When C shared his thoughts, he explained his situation; a former member of the church who is now atheist and hasn't stepped foot into a church building since he was 14, and mentioned how when he left the church, nobody in his ward seemed to notice. Nobody reached out, no one seemed to care. Then when he came here and met us, along with everyone in both our ward and the other sister's ward, he felt welcomed/accepted/cared about. He said it makes a huge difference; the way we genuinely care. I loved that! He is so right! It makes a massive difference!! Whether we know it or not. Whether we see it or not! It's so incredibly important to be genuine with everyone around us. That whole talk was so good! We also learned that C is praying and is in the book of alma in the Book of Mormon. I didn't even know he was reading it!? God is so good :) 

Wednesday and Thursday 

• were supposed to be the most humid days of the year, but they weren't bad at all! we have been super lucky thus far when it comes to humidity; I feel like this summer has been beautiful! #blessing :) 
• In the afternoon Sister Jones and I went to help at AFAC, the food bank over here in Arlington, and it was so fun! We organized all different sorts of breads and pastries. We didn't think we would be able to fit everything on the shelves, but somehow we did and it looked good! :) 
• Our evening was pretty uneventful. We checked on a lot of people, and while we did that we received a text from a member asking if we had a Portuguese Book of Mormon to give to her roommate! So we grabbed one from our zone leaders and headed over to her house. The roommate wasn't home, but her brother was! He spoke super little English and really didn't understand us at all. So he pulled out his phone, spoke Portuguese in it, and the phone translated in English out loud for us to understand what he was saying :) smart guy ;) hahah it was funny :)
• Eventually it was time to go home. We really hadn't talked to anyone, and I always feel unaccomplished when that happens. I was downloading my feelings and thoughts in a silent prayer to my Heavenly Father, when suddenly the phone rang! It was our district leaders who said, "We have 2 solid investigators for you. Both of them are seeking truth and are willing to do whatever we ask them to do in order for them to find out for themselves. Please don't say you have an appointment on Friday at 8...". Ah. We do! But that's the beauty of splits with members :) we decided since sister Jones will be here longer, she should go to that lesson, and I went to a different one with another investigator and a member. 

Heavenly Father sees our efforts. Not only missionary efforts, but YOUR efforts in whatever you're doing. Blessings... Even miracles... come, we just need to be diligent and patient :) So just because we haven't met anyone ourselves who is prepared for the gospel, we have been doing all we can do each and every day, and because of that Heavenly Father blesses us with prepared people that we can teach :) even if it happened through other missionaries. Answers to prayers come in all different kinds of ways :) He is always looking out for us.

• District meeting was on Thursday this week because our district leader had a departing meeting on Tuesday. It was so good! I loved district meeting this week; we played a game where we had random note cards with a situation and background. Whoever grabbed the card first was the investigator and the other person was the missionary. We had to act the whole situation out, but the teaching was all on the missionary. It was a fun practice teach :)
• Later in the afternoon, the sisters we live with came with us to an assisted living center where we painted old lady's nails! :) There was a sweet, younger lady from Brazil; I painted her nails :) she kept saying that she liked to shake her bum, but reassured me multiple times that she wasn't a prostitute, and then she said she was 28! Later in the conversation she mentioned that she was born in 1984, so this was our conversation :) 

Me: Wait, I thought you said you were 28? But you were born in 1984?
Her: ... How old am I?
Me: you're 31 :)
Her: I'm 31?! I'm old!
Me: that's not old! You're still young and beautiful :)
(Not even a full 60 seconds later)
Me: how old do you think is old?
Her: umm I don't know, but I'm not old. I'm 28!
Me: but we just figured out you're 31! :)
Her: oh yeah, I forgot. 31, 31, 31, 31... How am I going to remember that??

It was so cute :) haha I loved it :)

Dinner was at a members home and went so well! There were a few people from another ward there, too and we talked a lot about missionary work. I love the singles!! I'm secretly begging Heavenly Father to let me stay one more transfer :) Then we went to pick a member up to come out with us. After prayer and pondering, everyone we thought of to check on felt wrong. After driving around and listening to our sweet member download, it was clear that we needed to be with her that night :) it was good :)

Good ol' weekly planning happened on Friday! 

• We went to the church so we weren't stuck in the apartment all day. It was good! It went quick because we already had a ton planned, so that was nice :) Every companion I've had (except sister Lewis) for comp inventory on our last weekly planning, we write each other letters! I have LOVED this! It's so nice to go back on a hard day and read about how cool you actually are to someone else ;) haha seriously though! It helps! And I love love love complimenting/uplifting others, so writing a letter like that for someone else brings my soul an enormous amount of genuine joy :) 
• Anyway, later in the evening we went on splits with members! Sister Jones went to the lesson with a member to meet some new investigators; the elders are passing them to us, while I went to a different side of town to a lesson with another member and investigator! It was so fun! The lesson I taught went super well. Ch, whom we met with last week, had a rough week. We talked about how if he would have read from the Book of Mormon he would have had a better week, and we also talked about prayer! He feels like the majority of his prayers are never really answered, so he doesn't see the point in praying; therefore, he hasn't prayed in a long time. We invited him to pray and read 2 pages of the Book of Mormon before bed. He has a lot of questions! We explained that through prayer, the Book of Mormon, and meeting with us, he would find the answers. It was good :) 
• We didn't get home til like, 10:00... Whoops! And then when we started talking to the sisters we live with, we ended up climbing in bed around 11:50! I don't think I've ever gone to bed that late on my mission, and we woke up at 6. I decided the conversations we had needed to happen though; I mostly just listened, and Heavenly Father blessed me with the energy that I needed in the morning! I didn't even feel the lack of sleep affect me :) #blessingsagain

Saturday was an adventure! 

• Right after studies sister jones and I went through a list of members in our ward and she took notes on all of them from my memory :P 
• My stomach has been having some serious issues for the past month, so we called the mission doctor to see where to go to be tested for food allergies. She gave us a couple addresses, and so we went! The first place was 20 minutes away and when we got there, they said they didn't test for allergies. The second place was 10 minutes further and when we got there, they were closed. Lame! 
• So we drove to a lesson with T, but 10 minutes before we were supposed to meet with her she texted us saying she wasn't home because she forgot. Sweet. So then we see if D is home; we tried to call him, but no answer. Suddenly we remember L, the sweet old woman who is like my grandma out here. We went to see her, and she WAS home! She's the cutest. I love her :) she invited us over for dinner tomorrow night because I told her I was most likely leaving the area, but also said that I would come see her again before I go home to Idaho. She was SO sad! 
• Eventually it was time to go to dinner with a less active. She taught us how to make fried chicken because we told her we'd never had it home made. It tasted just like KFC :) super easy! Also I felt like my insides were going to deteriorate just looking at the oil they are soaked in. Why is yummy food so bad for you?! Oh well. It was fun :) we invited her to a fireside Sunday evening and she said she would go :) 
• When dinner was over we headed to a lesson with one of the investigators that sister jones met on Friday. He isn't currently practicing any religion, and is seriously seeking for truth. So much that his questions are SO good and SO hard to answer! That was probably the hardest lesson I've ever taught. We tried to answer his questions the best we could, and he is reading the Book of Mormon. We see him again on Wednesday and we are bringing someone who knows their religious history :) I haven't felt so inadequate in a long time! It was hard, and frustrating, but we kept calm and patient; as did he, and it ended on a good note :) he asked if he was hard, and we explained that his questions were hard to answer because we aren't perfect teachers, and we don't know everything, but they were good questions and we will do our best to help him find answers. Ah. Keep him in your prayers! And us :) haha 
• Before the night ended we received a phone call from D! He said he was coming to church and he already arranged a ride with a member of our ward. What?! Okay. That's cool :) also incredibly confusing because of how unresponsive and flakey he has been lately, but we aren't complaining :) 

Sunday was miraculous!! Sunday's are always so good :)

• D never showed; we aren't sure what happened, A is still sick :( she was on her way to church but turned around because she wasn't feeling well. We called her on Friday and she sounded super congested :( but C (atheist friend) came! He even stayed for the second hour, and because we are anticipating my departure from the area this week, he said he had something he wanted to tell me that he hasn't told anyone else yet. The suspense! So right after class he had to go, but wrote something on his hand to show me. "Thank you. God is real". That's what our dear friend had to tell me. How did he find God? He prayed, and he read the Book of Mormon. How does anyone draw closer to God? By praying and reading the scriptures!! It was so cool :) I was at a loss for words, so I just smiled and nodded my head :) he went to a fireside that we also attended later that night. 
• Our ward mission leader rocks my world. I appreciate him so much! I'm so sad I've only had a couple weeks serving with him, but also grateful for that short time :) He is so ambitious about missionary work and getting on top of things! It's great :) 
• After church we had a couple voice mails to listen to from a sister at the temple visitors center who gave us a solid referral! So we called the referral and set up an appointment for Wednesday morning! Heavenly Father is taking such good care of us :) 
• To top off the evening, our ward mission leader took us to a fireside that a less active met us at. It was for new and returning members to bear their testimonies and tell their stories. AND it was in Centreville!! :) my first area! We walked in a little late, and when we sat down I looked over to find SISTER LEWIS mouthing words at me like, "I love you" and , "Marry me" ;) hahah I haven't seen her in what feels like forever! It was such a tender mercy :) a ton of people I feel like I haven't seen forever were there! It was so nice :) 

• The spirit was strong as new members told their stories and bore testimony. 

Lately I have been hearing a ton of people say that a huge part of the reason they joined the church was because of the genuine fellowshipping they experienced. I testify that what you say and do inside and outside of church MATTERS. People are watching! It pleases me, and I know it pleases God, to know that members of the church live what they believe and keep their baptismal covenants. I love this gospel. 

I don't know what I would do if the fullness of the gospel wasn't on the earth or in my life. I'm grateful to have been raised in the gospel, and to be able to partake of the precious blessings that will lead me to eternal life. It's true people :)

I know it.
I live it.
I love it. 

Sister Kailey :)

Ps. Sister Williams had this brilliant idea of borrowing bikes from some elders to bike to DC! It's only 5 miles there and 5 back; it'll be an adventure!! :) so I'll send this email off now, but respond to individual ones later :) stay safe and have a good week!!

A select few captures of our adventure today! I don't think my butt

has ever been so sore. 10 whole miles, and then some because we biked

around DC. SO fun!!! :) also, SO burnt! We are exhausted! That's what

the picture at the end is trying to demonstrate :)

Sunburns & Miracles

Hey hey family and friends :)

Everyone raves about the cherry blossoms every year. Apparently they're gorgeous and a MUST see. So we decided we MUST see them! As did the rest of the missionary world! I even got to see sister Lewis and spend some time with her and her companion for a bit :) Also, turns out the cherry blossoms aren't always pink!? They were pink last year, but this year they're 100% white! It definitely depends on where you go to see them; some places are a lot prettier than others :) 

Right around the Jefferson Memorial is a huge pond, and the trees line the entire thing, so that's where we went! 'Twas beautiful :) 

In the evening we had a lesson with a member which went SO GOOD! We asked if there was anyone she hadn't seen in a while and she gave us a list of people to see, then she told us to tell her when we go see them so she can come. I love the singles ward. We brought a member with us to check on people after that, and finally got to see a less active whom we have been trying to see for months! #membermiracles 

When we came home we walked in the door to a surprise! The sisters we live with bought a cake and a card with homemade streamers and sang happy birthday to sister Morris :) so we had a tiny bit of cake! And I had the weirdest dreams that night. Note to self: Sugar before bed is a bad idea.

Tuesday morning sister Morris and I had AWESOME studies!! Very spiritually filling/uplifting/motivating :) 

and THEN I got a package from my mama! Best day ever! { Thanks so much for those clothes!! I totally forgot I even had them :) The lotion smells SO. GOOD. it's my new favorite :) }

Also that morning our new bishop emailed us setting up a time to meet with all the ward missionaries (including ourselves) to see where we are at and see what he can do to help. He's the best! We are so excited :) We tried to go to a retirement home to do service in the afternoon, but the traffic was so bad because it was raining and Virginia doesn't know how to drive in weather other than sunny :) so we ended up having to go home to make it to dinner on time. 

In the evening we taught a lesson to a recent convert's friend!! He is from Bolivia and speaks Spanish. We taught the restoration. He doesn't believe in prophets but he believes Christ was one, and he doesn't pray! :( we taught the importance of prayer to him and he seemed soooo not interested. After we ended with a prayer I asked if he wanted to come to another lesson and he said yes!? He said he wants to come to every lesson we have with his recent convert friend! Miracles people! He was going to stay for institute but the language would be a barrier, so he left. That meant we couldn't stay for institute either, except for our awesome member who started texting like 10 non member friends to come so we could go haha :) and one did come! It was fun :) 

We had our first district meeting with our new district on Wednesday! We have a new district leader as well; he seems to have the "go get 'em" type personality which is so great! That meeting was so good. 

Then we came home for lunch and sister Morris had a fever!! She didn't want to not work though, so after I made her rest for at least half an hour, we went to AFAC to do service. It was so fun! :) There was a big bin filled with beans that we had to fill a small bag with, and then we had to stick that bag under a hot machine that sealed it shut! When we came home from that, I noticed my ctr ring was no longer on my finger :( After a thorough search, I came to the conclusion that it probably fell into the bean bin and is now on its way to someone in need with some beans... :( I'm super sad about it :(

When you're a missionary, people think it's pretty cool to experiment with dinners and make something they've never tried before when you come! Sometimes it turns out great! Sometimes it's alright, and sometimes it's a really bad idea. Luckily this time it was pretty good, and extremely filling :) 

We spent the evening following the guidance of the spirit whole heartedly so that we could be in the right place at the right time :) I strongly felt impressed to check on people down a certain street, so after a sincere, kneeling prayer, we went! The first person we checked on was in the middle of dinner and seemed a little irritated at first, but after we explained who we were and why we were there, she said kindly, "come back another day :) we'll talk :)". That could mean, 'come back so I can tell you why I think you're wrong' or a genuine 'come back because I want to hear what you have to say'. Either way, we'll take the gamble :) 

On our way to the car there was a gentleman across the street who seemed happy to see us. We walked over to talk to him; turns out sister Morris has actually met his mother once, and a couple family members (including himself) suffered from cancer. He has sat in on lessons before, from a distance, and explained that he wanted to "know who God is". He asked, "How do we know who He is??". The spirit was strong as we bore witness that we do know who He is, and that he can, too! He said, "Ya I know you know Him, I can tell!" :) we taught him a little before we gave him our number and a Book of Mormon, and he said he wants to come to church as well!

The spirit never leads you astray :)

Guess what happened on Thursday? I threw my neck out, so I couldn't turn my head to the right at all! I've only done this twice in my life, but I've had my wonderful chiropractor father at home to help me out! Not this time... So I borrowed my roommates massage pillow (yeah she totally has one) and spent a good amount of time on that thing trying to get the knots out. Then my knotted neck gave me a migraine, which then made me nauseous, so the afternoon was pretty slow. I think I was on that pillow for a good 2 hours; it helped a little! 

There was no way I was going to stay home all night though; I'd go nuts! So we went to check on a forever investigator with a member. Remember how miracles always happen when members are present?? Well this investigator's cousin was there! He was interested in coming to church and hearing our message! So we taught him a little bit on the doorstep and gave him our contact info :) 

Afterwards we dropped our member off at the church and headed to NOVA, a university that has multiple different campuses throughout northern Virginia, to contact people. It was SO FUN!! :)
Sister Morris and I started walking in the direction of a crowd of students that had just got off the bus. We had the option of walking straight into the group, or going to talk to a man off to the side standing alone. Sister Morris asked, "the group, or the guy?" Secretly preferring to talk to the less intimidating option, my feet kept walking towards the group, so with a lot of mustered up faith I said, "the group". Best. Decision. EVER. 

The closest person to us was an African American girl with the cutest afro I've ever seen! So I complimented her on it :) she said thank you and looked at our tags. Apparently she's met elders before and they said they were going to come teach her but never did! She was even going to come to church but they never told her where!! What?! Therefore, of course we gave her a card with all the information she needs, and she said she would call us the next day :) 

We talked to a couple other people after that but then it was time to go. Why have we never contacted at NOVA before?! We plan to make it a weekly thing :) it's so great because more often than not we contact into people who are either A) not in our area. B) not in the right age range for our ward. C) are married and/or have a family, or D) don't speak English. Here at NOVA most everyone we run into is single, within the right age range, speaks English, and is in our area. Heavenly Father is too good to us :) 

Friday was beautiful!! It was way too nice outside to stay inside while we planned! So after studies, sister Morris and I decided to go grab a smoothie and head to a gorgeous park for weekly planning :) That was probably the best weekly planning we've ever had! It was very productive and thorough. When we went home we realized that I was as red as a lobster! :( The sun must be a lot stronger here because I am burning like no other! Sister Morris pretty much bathed in sunscreen before we left because she burns super easy, but I don't, so I didn't bother. Bad idea. I'll attach the results of my agency :) To be fair, the other sisters burned pretty bad, too and we all lathered Aloe Vera almost every hour :) 

So while I just suffered the sting of my burning skin all day, we were going non stop from one thing to another! It was so great! We had a lesson with a member and then went to check on a less active. She kind of lives far away, but we both felt like it was a good idea so we went. She wasn't home, but there were a couple people outside smoking that we talked to and shared a message with! They said to come back :) so we will :) 

We also got a text saying that we would have an emergency zone meeting the next morning. Our roommates asked if there would be food provided, so then our apartment got that assignment. Cinnamon rolls and fruit :) 

The meeting was held for the purpose of introducing a huge plan for Father's Day. Our zone has come up with an idea to have all of our wards help with a massive BBQ in which ward members will invite friends and family to. It's a huge event that we plan on making annual and will be so great for finding, as well as member missionary work :) Our zone leaders are anticipating 600 people give or take, so it will be so fun :) 

The rest of our Saturday was pretty busy! We were doing one thing after another; went to lunch with our ward mission leader, brought a member out and got a new investigator (1 of 5 this week), taught a recent convert, met with a less active who wants us to text her a scripture every day, etc. it was so good!! :) Heavenly Father has placed SO MANY miracles at our feet the second we decided to do His will with 150% faith and a whole lot of diligence. We are so blessed. I love this work! :) I am happy :) 

Sunday morning began with a ward council meeting! Two words. SO. GOOD. Our new bishopric is the bomb! The whole ward suddenly has a new motivating vibe to get people back to church/missionary minded. It's the greatest blessing! Church was so good!! Dear goodness I love serving in a singles ward :) we ate dinner with a member which was basically a buffet. I can't even express how much food she made for the 3 of us, and she kept bringing out more food when I was pretty sure there wasn't anything else that she could make! But we were grateful to be overly full vs. starving :)

Our entire week was filled with miracles. We got 5 new investigators this week which is the first time that has happened since I've been a missionary. The work is hard in DC, but not impossible when you do ALL a you can do with ALL of your effort because the Lord will provide the rest. 

I have a truck load of faith in simply having faith! Does that make sense? I KNOW that when we have faith we truly CAN and will do all things if it be righteous and the Lords will. 

I am overwhelmed with love and gratitude for this gospel in my life. I know that if we are listening with an open heart and an open mind, the spirit does speak to us and leads us exactly where we need to be when we need to be there. We have our agency though; its up to us to choose whether or not we are going to listen. I recommend listening ;) because I've seen the miracles unfold out of the blue from doing so.

 love being a missionary.
Sister Chandler

Week 16: Sight-seeing and Courage-building

I'm pointing to the Smithsonian in the background

Family!! Friends! Hello! :)

This will be quite short because today I went to DC which takes up...All of my day.

This week we had so much faith to find!! We knocked so many doors, contacted everyone we passed, chased down those we didn't, and found a new investigator! Woohoo!!

Funny story. One door we knocked on, I asked the guy what his name was and clearly he didn't want to tell us. I promised I wouldn't remember it anyway, and he tried to be subtle but SO obviously made up a name hahah he had the look on his face like, "yeah, that's my name, Brian...". I wanted to bust up laughing but that would be rude, so I contained myself :)

We knocked some MASSIVE houses this week!! I kept pacing back and forth in the driveways because I was trying to muster up the courage to walk the long, gorgeous, perfect driveway. But sister Liu would just laugh and walk up to the door, so I followed and then pretended that I was way confident when the door opened :)

Oh!! IMPORTANT!!>> I'm moving in with the Spanish sisters because our lease is up so I have a new address for like 3 weeks.

This week I made cooked oatmeal, French toast, and crepes all by myself for breakfast!! {pat myself on the back because I feel like I deserve it}

Oh my! Also, one morning before we left the house to run to the gym, we were looking for the keys. Couldn't find them anywhere, until sister Liu opened the door and they were OUTSIDE stuck IN the door! Ya. Totally could have gotten kidnapped/robbed/killed that night, but God protects his missionaries so no big deal, right? :P hahah whoops!! :)

It snowed this week! But then it melted by dinner time so it didn't look like it ever did.

I hit my 4 month mark this week!! Time is going by so fast, and yet so slow!! But I honestly love my experience here and wouldn't trade it for the world :)

Today we went to the national gallery of art with our sister training leaders and SISTER LEWIS!!!! Oh how I love that woman!! Such a great day!! :)) I also went on the metro for the first time, that was fun :)

The Washington Monument. I'm doing a thumbs up, but you can't tell. 

A pretty picture

My good friend George

My even better friend, Sister Lewis

I'm so grateful to know that I am a daughter of God. I know that Heavenly Father really does love His daughters like any good father would, and he wants the best for us. I know that when we are obedient to His commandments, and endure to the end, we won't be able to count the blessings that pour into our lives :) 

Again, sorry this was so short!! Next week will be better :) if I don't get around to emailing

you this week, I will next week!!

Love you :)
Sister Chandler

Ps. I just want to mention that I ran 3.58 miles a couple different times this week :) that's big for me :)