Exchanges and Chickens

Hey Hey Everyone :) 

How goes it? I hope you had a great first week of school!! I am in awe that summer is already over. Where is time going?! 

Monday
Sister Donato and I had a pretty good week! After Pday came to an end, we spent our evening at dinner with a member and then we had FHE (Family Home Evening) with a less active and her daughters (who are investigators) at our bishop's home. 

While we were at dinner with the Hansen family, I learned that we have a ton in common! The parents names are Chad and Kathi, they have a daughter named Evelyn (but she goes by Evie) and a daughter named Kailey (just not spelled that way). It was super funny! Great family :) 

Family home evening at the bishop's was great! We taught the 10 commandments, as well as a couple other commandments, and the bishop took over for a game and treats. At first you could tell that nobody really knew each other, and the family that we teach is really shy, but once the ice broke it was awesome! :) I am so thankful for members of the ward (in this case, the bishop) who genuinely reach out and develop friendships with people at church. Nobody is a stranger in the church; you will always have a friend, and you will always be aware of because that's what we do! :)
When that was over, we checked on a few people and went home.

Tuesday was busy! 

After studies we went to get our car washed/vacuumed for zone conference the following day, and baked cookies to give away to a few people. 

One of them being P! The inactive who we visited last week, who was stand-offish for a bit, but then became our friend :) He has his own business working with those inflatable jump house things for parties. He owns a ton, and every day he has to clean X amount of them, so when we pulled up to deliver cookies, that's what he was doing. He was super excited! I really think the poor guy just needs friends. He isn't from Virginia, and he doesn't get out.... Ever... so he is always pretty bored. So whenever we hear of an activity, we shoot him a text to let him know :) we had a good conversation! He gave us some things to take to the D.I. 

And then we went to dinner with a part member family! This is the family that just got their son's mission call right before we knocked on the door last week :) guess where he is going?? The Philippines! Where my companion is from! So guess who is going to help him learn the language?? My companion! Cool, huh? :) we played a game with the restoration after dinner and it was awesome! To show C, the soon to be missionary, how easy teaching the gospel is, we would give a topic such as, "God is our loving Heavenly Father", or, "Prophets", or, "the Book of Mormon", etc. and slid a water bottle across the table. Whoever had it would say something they know about that topic. It was fun because the dad isn't a member, but has had the lessons a lot :) They also had a non member friend over, so it was fun to hear some of the things they came up with :) 

When we came home we prepared for a lesson we were asked to teach at zone conference. Our given topic was on member present lessons.

So we woke up early Wednesday morning and drove to zone conference! 

This is where our whole zone meets with President Huntsman and his wife for about 4ish hours. We receive some training from both President and Sister Huntsman, the A.P's, the zone leaders, the sister training leaders (us), and a couple senior missionaries :) each for about 15-25 minutes. 

it's a revelatory experience every time, but for some reason it was the best zone conference I've ever been to! And it wasn't because we presented ;) the spirit was just super strong the whole day, and it was obvious that everyone else felt it, too! I am so thankful for my zone! Being surrounded by such wonderful missionaries is truly a blessing :) I was also able to get to know the sisters that I have stewardship over a lot better! So that was nice! 

We came home and had studies when that was over, and then went to the women's shelter to help organize again! First she gave us a project to move food storage into a different area, but the place where she wanted it was chaos! So I asked if we could organize and fix that first. She loves us :) haha it was super fun though! and now we will be able to do what she originally asked us to do, so much easier! Thank you, mother, for teaching me how to be tidy :) 

As soon as that was over we headed straight to Centreville because guess who we had dinner with?? C!! :)) she is moving to Texas next week, and Centreville just happens to be within my zone boundaries, so we were able to see her :) it was so great! We had a really good discussion on testimonies and how to develop them. She's a rock star :) the spirit speaks to her in the coolest, most clear ways! Im excited for her and her husband to be sealed next year :)

On Thursday we went to a FARM!! :) 

It was SO fun! I held a chicken :) They're actually quite cuddly once you catch one ;) 

We went with some sisters that live below us because we were going to exchange right after! There is a sister in our ward who owns over 100 acres of farm land, and she has a massive project that our zone is going to help with in a couple weeks, but on Thursday we just helped collect and store the eggs from the chicken coops, feed the chickens, and clean up around the farm. We had a blast :) 

Afterwards we went and had lunch at our members home, and then went home to take a nap because we were wiped! When we woke up we exchanged :) I went to a different area with sister Orr, while sister Palmer went to gainesville with sister Donato. It was awesome! We went to the women's shelter to help there; apparently the lady we organized for has bragged about our organization skills, so the other women working there already have a list of projects for us :) then we went to dinner at Chili's with a member. When we walked outside it started POURING. We haven't had a thunder storm for a long time, so it was fun :) Our evening finished off with one of the most memorable moments of my mission. 

**There is a family that has been less active for 10 years, and had to move across the country for the fathers job. When they got here, they found the bishops number and asked for help to move in! I guess that started their journey back to the gospel because now they have an 8 year old preparing for baptism in a couple weeks :) it was a beautifully humbling experience! We taught about prophets, and how Heavenly Father doesn't leave us alone. The dad- a big, burly guy- just wept, and wept, and wept because of the spirit. He mentioned multiple times that every time the sisters come, the spirit is so overwhelming :) Sister Orr asked them to bear their testimonies, and throughout the lesson, the wife seemed to dodge the questions we asked her. She would say, "dad said it all", or "he said what I was going to say". I asked if she had a testimony of any small part of the gospel such as prayer, scripture reading, the Holy Ghost, etc. and she started to cry out of sorrow. She shook her head and said, "I don't. I don't have a testimony. It's been so long". What a tender mercy and such a humbling experience it is to be a tool in the lords hands, to help others develop that testimony! On our way out the door they said, "We feel like we have known you our whole lives!" And I had only met them an hour before :) Charity is REAL! Heavenly Father's love is REAL! The spirit is REAL! I am so grateful for this gospel :) 

While working with sister Orr, I was able to help her with struggles she is facing as a trainer. It's nice because I was just in her shoes! Although, I'm pretty sure sister jones came pre-trained so I didn't have a rough time :) nonetheless, I was able to share some thoughts and ideas and experiences that helped her. I also helped her figure out how to work with her ward members better! Apparently they don't go out with the sisters, they aren't very fond of having the missionaries in their home to share a message, etc. This drives me nuts. Absolutely nuts! I don't know the reasoning behind why this ward is being weird, but I do know that having the missionaries in your home is a blessing! Not just to feed them, but have them over to help strengthen your testimony/conversion. Without food! So what if you know everything! (You don't) let them in. Work with them. It's a team effort, people! I may or may not feel very passionate about this topic ;) I could write a novel about members and missionaries, but I'll stop now before I get carried away :) Bottom line, I hope with every ounce of my being that you have missionaries in your home, sharing messages with you and your family. I hope you're offering to go to lessons or check on people with them, I hope you make time if they want to get to know you better, and I hope you're showing them your love and appreciation for them. Missions are hard! Remind them how awesome they are when you get a chance :) okay. Rant over, I promise!

We exchanged back Friday morning so that sister Donato and I could go to our weekly zone leadership meeting. It was awesome! We are planning a zone "Finding Fury" where the entire zone will get together at noon, explain the outline of what's happening to everyone, and then get together with a companion that's not your own and go tracting/street contacting for 2 1/2 hours. Then switch with a different companion, and do the same thing for another 2 1/2 hours. We will all meet together for dinner and bear testimonies/share miracles before we split up again and continue that pattern for the rest of the night. This is going to be on the 29th, and we are super excited :) it will be a spiritual, motivating adventure :) We planned other events as well. Our zone leadership rocks! Our meetings are timely, effective, productive, and focused. Not to mention super fun :) 

Sister Donato had to go to lunch with a recent convert of hers from another area, and she took sister Orr with her to meet his parents (non members who happen to be in sister Orr's ward boundaries). I feel like that sounded like we are setting sister Orr up with a recent convert... No. haha we wanted her to meet them to start teaching them if they're interested :) while they did that, sister Palmer stayed with me for lunch! It was like another mini exchange :) she has only been out for 2 weeks now and it was SO cool to see her in this phase of the mission. The phase where you're still stuck in your ways, but trying to change, but it's hard, but you want to be your best self... the adjustment is a process :) I remember being there! A year ago! I remember facing the same challenges that she is facing, and not knowing how to find a balance between normal life and missionary life. I loved being able to talk with her and help her find comfort/peace/reassurance that in time she will figure it out :) it was so great! I love being a sister training leader! :) 

We ended up falling asleep until the sisters came back. Then sister Donato and I did some weekly planning before we went to dinner with a member. Our evening was spent checking on people with an 18 year old sister in our ward. We had a couple lessons and then went to a less active's home for a lesson! Her son is not baptized and turning 9 next week. He is preparing for baptism though, so we are teaching them :) we taught the restoration and he knew a lot! We also gave him a picture Book of Mormon and they loved it! Have you ever seen those?? They're GENIUS!! Whoever came up with that idea deserves a pat on the back; even our adult investigators love it because it helps them understand the Book of Mormon better :) 

The sky was extremely clear that night! Sister Donato and I like to stand still and look up for a good 5 minutes when they sky is like that :) The stars and the moon were gorgeous!! it's not my Idaho sky, but it's better than it was in the city :) speaking of the stars and the moon, when the 8 year old said the closing prayer he thanked Heavenly Father for literally everything. The good bugs, the bad bugs, food and shelter, water... and then we heard him whisper to his mom, "Did he give us the moon?" :) He proceeded to thank Heavenly Father for all of the planets, the moon, sun, and stars :) it was a sweet prayer and reminded me to be grateful for the little things :)

We had our usual Saturday breakfast at our Bishop's house for correlation with him. Pumpkin chocolate chip pancakes :) It was good to update him on our week, and see who he wanted us to check on. The rest of the afternoon was spent weekly planning, and then we went to a recent converts home for dinner! We were stuffed! :) 

Afterwards we met a member at the church and went to see F, an investigator. He's an old guy from Ghana :) we taught the restoration (again; he was taught it once and the sisters gave him a Book of Mormon) to refresh his memory. He said he had been reading the Book of Mormon so we asked him to show us where he was. He's half way through Alma! He loves that book! :) we invited him to be baptized once he knew these things were true, but we didn't give him a day because we want to make sure he really understands what we are talking about before he makes that commitment. He's great :) 

Then sister Donato and I went to check on a less active who is the only member in her family, her dad answered the door and said she was at work, so we taught him the restoration and invited him to read the Book of Mormon. He mentioned that he could only read Spanish; good thing the book comes in a billion different languages! ;) he was pretty welcoming to the idea of us coming back to teach him! So we have a return appointment for tonight :)

Church on Sunday was good. 

We only had one investigator there. What?? We don't know what happened, but we have appointments with all of them this week so we will see :) in second hour we taught 13-14 yr. olds about eternal families and how we use that while teaching people we meet. The rest of the day was good! We had dinner with a member family and learned a lot about the FBI because the dad is an agent; it was pretty cool :) we also learned that sister Donato might be allergic to gluten because she keeps breaking out in hives after she eats, so we are keeping a food log and avoiding gluten starting today to see if that's what it is. If she is allergic to gluten, Heavenly Father is seriously answering my prayers! We already cut sugar out of our diet, and now gluten! My body is on its way to healthy again :) I feel good! 

After dinner we went to take a thank you card and cookies to a member in the ward who does a lot for us, but no answer. On the way to the car we stopped to talk to a man who had just finished doing yard work all day :) as we began, I felt impressed to talk about how the gospel blesses families, including the fact that they can be together forever, and he loved it! He said he wants to talk to his wife about it because they discuss everything together and he'd give us a call :) we got his number, too, and we will stop by again this week. It was awesome :) you could really see that he really wanted that for his family! 

As we continued to let the spirit lead us to where we needed to be, we ended up at a less active's home and were warmly welcomed inside :) we got to know her, found out her husband isn't a member, and shared a message. We have a return appointment for later in the week :)

I'm so grateful for the gospel! I know with my whole being that it's true :)

Today we are going to the Holocaust Museum with sisters that live in our building :) we are so excited! It'll be sad, but it will be good :) I promise to take lots of pictures! 

Have such a wonderful week!! Make good choices. Ponder on your priorities. Be happy :)


Sister Chandler


Pictures:
.dinner with cynthia!! :) 

Speechless

This week was incredible.

A lot has happened within the past 7 days!

• We found 2 solid new investigators, totaling our teaching pool with a whopping 8 people coming closer to Christ. 
• We had transfers, which means there is a new sister in the apartment and sister Kennedy is deeply missed, I saw sister Lewis :) 26 missionaries departed the mission life, and 
• We heard from President Riggs and his wife for the last time. 
• Oh, also, I hit my 9 month mark on Wednesday. Minor details ;) 

already!?!?!

Holy cow!! Where do I even begin?! 

Monday. We will start with Monday :)

• DC was a blast!! The weather was beautiful, we ran into a lot of people that would say, "Hi sisters! :)" which always warms our hearts, and we saw a lot of cool things :) Because we have a car we don't walk a ton, so after a full day of being on my feet, I was pretty sure they were going to fall off. Don't worry, it got better :) 

• In the evening we went to see Terry! She is the greatest. She always texts us and asks when we can come over next, and keeps us in the loop with her day :) I love that woman! We had a lesson planned but when we got there, something else felt better and then ended up being exactly what she needed. I'm grateful for the ability to discern what the spirit says :)

Tuesday

• In the morning was our last district meeting before the new transfer, and it was super good! We talked about motivation. How are we motivated? How do we help our investigators/potentials/ less active members/ members become motivated? It all boils down to an understanding. When I understand why something is important, or why I need something in my life, then I figure out how I can get it! Because I understand the why behind it. 

• Afterwards we finished studies and watched an hour of "The District" videos for part of sister Jones' training. 

• Dinner was home made tacos with a member, and then another massive Virginia rain storm occurred :) we had a lesson with another member and when we were leaving, we opened the door to find a flood outside! That's normal. 

• L, the member we were with, insisted that she run right next to us holding an umbrella over our heads as we jump puddles to the car :) she is so funny :) at one point there was a massive river (not really, it was just the gutter on the side of the road that was pretty much like a river) and L was worried about my shoes getting wet. I told her it was fine and that I could jump over it (hoping my leaps are still as powerful as they were a year ago) in a skirt, and I totally did :) if you were there you'd be impressed ;) 

• In the midst of the rain, we called a less active to see if we could come over. She said yes :) so we shared a message with her and her roommate, who is also in our ward, before we headed home. The Lord is blessing our efforts and we are so grateful :)

On Wednesday

• we received a text from a member who needed some spiritual uplifting, so we went to her house for lunch as she unloaded and we lent a listening ear. We were there for 2 whole hours and it was so good! The food and the spirit ;) 

• After that we had a lesson with a recent convert on tithing and fast offerings. He didn't know a whole lot, so it was fun to teach! :) 

• Dinner was with one of our favorite members, and then we had some time to kill before we went to a lesson with a member of the bishopric. We went to check on a less active, but he wasn't home; however, his mother answered the door! I didn't know who she was, so we asked and then asked if we could share a 2 minute video about Christ with her. She said yes and opened the door for us to come inside. We asked if she sat in on the lessons while her children were being taught the gospel and she said no, so we then asked if she wanted to learn what they did. She said yes! Here is where it gets good :) We called the zone leaders because she is in their ward, and they were shocked because apparently missionaries in the past have been trying to get in contact with her and have been waiting for her to be interested, but haven't had any success. All we did was ask and boom! She's ready :) I LOVE being a tool in the lords hands :) we had an appointment with her two days later but she had to work later than she thought, so it didn't happen. We will see her again this week though :) 

• The rest of the evening was spent with the second counselor of our ward and his wife who are awesome! It was so fun :) I love love love my ward!!

Aaannnnddd then we have the biggest day of my mission.

Thursday.

• Transfers.

The last one with President Riggs.  

Dramatic?  

Maybe, but it was a big day!  

The entire mission was there, and it was a normal transfer meeting with a different spirit to it. There was so much love and appreciation in the room! All 26ish departing missionaries shared their testimonies which brought a spirit that lasted the rest of the day. During the closing song sister Riggs was trying to keep composed but not very well, which made the rest of the sisters lose composure :) it was a sweet, tender, amazing meeting :) I know that President Riggs was my mission president for my first 9 months for a reason. That family has helped me become the person I know Heavenly Father wants me to be, and I am so grateful for all that he has done! I love my mission president, and I'm excited to see what president Huntsman does with the mission for the rest of my time here! 

Also, sweet Sister Kennedy was transferred to a different area :( but guess who Sister Williams' new companion is??? SISTER LIU!! Ya. What?! Blessing!! It is so fun to be able to live with that amazing sister again :) I love her! 

• We didn't get out of the meeting until 4:30, and we had to cancel our dinner because traffic wouldn't allow us to make it on time, so we ate Panda before we went to go see D, one of our investigators. D is engaged to T, the sister of C who is another investigator of ours. T is always inside with her baby when we teach the guys outside on their porch, and we have only met her once. D wasn't home, but T was sitting outside! So we started talking to her while we waited for him. Eventually we asked if we could share with her what we were going to share with him, and she said yes. We shared the plan of salvation with her and she beamed :) She said, "I wish I would have come out here earlier when you were teaching the guys! I feel like I've been missing out on something my whole life!" She said she was glad we came and wants to learn more :) I LOVE HER!! 

• Every once in a while (quite often recently) Heavenly Father will give me a taste of his love for His children when I talk to them. I could feel the overwhelming amount of love that He has for her, which made me burst with that love so much to the point where I just told her! I was like, "T I love you! You're an incredible daughter of God who I know loves you. I can feel it, and I know that the messages that we have to share with you will bless your life more than you can even comprehend. I am so glad we met you!:)" it was like this precious moment of joy between everyone involved because the spirit was there :) she even said she felt super good while we taught her, and we pointed out that she was feeling the spirit, which testifies of truth :) AH!! I LOVE being a missionary!! I love T! I love this gospel!! God is SO good to us :) 

Friday was just as good, if not better! 

• I am just mind. blown. at the miracles that took place over the past few days. I literally don't even have words to express my joy/shock at the blessings Heavenly Father is laying at our feet. I shouldn't be surprised, but I am! 

• Weekly planning was SO GOOD! Sister Jones and I are going to rock it this transfer. I can feel it :) Time flew by like crazy and before we knew it we only had half an hour to eat dinner before we needed to be at a lesson. 

• This is the lesson where the lady had to work longer than she thought, so we went to check on a less active. She wasn't home either, but we decided to go street contacting around her house before we had another lesson with T and D. I looked in my bag to see how many pass along cards I had left, and I only had one. So we grabbed more from the trunk and sat in the car for a minute to write on a few. I hadn't even finished writing on the first card when the less active drove up and parked next to us. About 2 months ago, sister Morris and I came to see her and she was not interested in coming back to church at all. She wasn't ready, but she was extremely kind! So sister Jones and I started talking to her for a minute and asked if she had 10 minutes. She did :) 

• We didn't really have a lesson prepared or planned for her, so we were definitely relying on the spirit to tell us what she needed to hear! We asked what she was doing for the 4th of July and she unloaded about her family. We were able to discuss how the gospel blesses families, and suddenly she brought up baptism! We asked if she remembered why she was baptized and she couldn't remember, but said that she wanted to do it again. She kept talking about the things she did with the church when she was active, and how much she loved it. Then she said she wanted to come back to church!? So she voluntarily put it in her calendar for the month of July to come to church, and invited us over to teach her a few times before the Sunday that she comes to church. I'm pretty sure my jaw hit the floor the entire time. She kept saying how she felt super good while we were talking with her, so we reminded her that was the spirit :) she is a rock star! I was and I am incredibly overwhelmed with the spirit! What just happened?! She even asked us to send scriptures to her every day! Sister Jones was ecstatic :) haha it was so funny :) MIRACLES people!! They're so real!! 

• T and D had to go to the hospital to see her mom because she isn't doing well (please keep her in your prayers) but her grandma was home! So guess what we did? Taught her :) because that's what we do :) it was amazing. Again! I'm in awe. SUCH a good day :)

Guess what happened on Saturday?? 

• MORE miracles! 

• We had a lesson with a convert to the church of about 2 years, but it was a guy so we needed a female to come with us. We only remembered that minor detail 2 hours prior to the appointment, so we started to ask around. The only person that could was N, (which is awesome) and turned out to be the perfect person for this guy! They have the same life I swear, and it was super neat to see how God's hand was in the entire thing. 

• Lately I've felt like a name or a place will pop into my head when making decisions, and I immediately, without hesitation, choose to go with my first thought. Not because I feel like it's coming from God; I just do. Every single time I've done that, things end up working out so perfectly that my jaw hits the floor 24/7 and I'm speechless!! I feel like Heavenly Father is planning everything for us and we are just there to witness it all happen. I keep thinking, "thanks, pal! :)" 

• It rained aaaallll day which was fine because sister Jones needed to write her talk for sacrament meeting. That meant more time for me to soak up the scriptures! :) also nap, because I need naps. 

• For dinner we went to "Big Buns", a hamburger place, to celebrate with a member of our ward because she received her endowments earlier that day :) 

• After our bellies were full we went to check on a couple referrals. One of them being R! He is from Africa and very interested in learning. We have a return appointment with him on Saturday! 

After studies on Sunday morning 

• we went to a lesson with A where we put her on date! A will enter the waters of baptism on Saturday, July 11th :) she is so excited! Please keep her in all of your prayers!! :) also, cool story real quick! Turns out A speaks Portuguese, English, and Amharic, and we happened to have copies of the Book of Mormon in all of those languages in our trunk! So she took them and asked if she could give them to people! How ridiculously awesome is that?! So cool :) 

• After giving those to her, she had to leave so we went back inside where we met a non member who was at church for the second time in her life. She is atheist dating a Mormon and has looked for happiness all her life in every place the world offers it, but she said she feels like she is missing something. She asked her boyfriend if he was genuinely happy most of the time, because she wasn't, and he said yes. His reasoning was because he has God in his life, so she got in her car Sunday morning and drove to the ward she thought she'd be in. The way she told her experience was funny :) 

she said she got in her car thinking, "what am I doing?!" And almost didn't come, but for some reason she did! When she walked in she asked the first person she saw where to go but that person was new too, which made her feel better knowing she wasn't the only new one :) When sacrament meeting was over she was going to go home, but asked her new friend if she was staying and she was, so she stayed too! 

We come into the picture after the second hour, and taught her about our Heavenly Father, the Book of Mormon, lasting happiness, faith, and the atonement for the entire third hour. We didn't even go to Relief Society :) My favorite was that nothing was forced. It was a relaxed but powerful conversation that was unplanned. That's one reason why it's immensely important to always be in tune with the spirit! Unfortunately we don't get to teach this sister because she isn't in our ward boundaries; she is in the other singles ward. BUT we all teach the same thing, and it doesn't really bother me because as long as SOMEONE is helping her find her Father in Heaven, that's what matters :) 

• The rest of our day was good! We had dinner with a member and checked on a couple referrals after that :) OH! And we had a lesson with a recent convert of about 3 months! She is a trooper :) her parents don't support her whatsoever, and they always bash on the church, but she endures and sticks to what she knows to be true :) people like that inspire me. It was a good day :) 

And today is P-Day!!! Again!?!? Already!!? This week flew. My heart is full of gratitude :)
Thanks for your prayers and all you do for me. I can feel and see the blessings unfold from the prayers of all those on behalf of the missionaries. We truly appreciate it :) 

Have a good week! Remember who you are and who you represent :)


Sister Kailey :)

Week 25: Another Week in Alexandria

Friends and family,

Sharing the gospel without saying a thing to anyone by putting a Book of Mormon (or 5) in our apartment complex library :) 

P-Day was busy! 

We went grocery shopping with the sisters we live with because we were still without a car, and then after emailing we went bowling with our zone. Let's just say I'm basically a pro at holding a consistent score ;) 

Right after we got home, sister Morris and I grabbed our jackets and walked to dinner with a member! Then we walked to another member lesson. By the time that was over we needed to head home so we street contacted on the way.

Tuesday morning after studies I wasn't feeling good at all, so I slept for an hour and a half before we went to pick up our car! It looks so good! :) 

Then we made brownies to take to our members because the sisters in our apartment helped eat the cookies... haha :) Thank-you-goodies are a hit! Who doesn't love brownies?! Crazy people. That's who. And even though we had our car back, we walked because we like it that much :) 

After dinner we had a lesson with a recent convert, and then checked on potentials! 'Twas a decent day :) 

On Wednesday we had a lesson on prayer during district meeting. It was cool to see how prayer works with every aspect of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For example, we discussed how prayer works with faith, how prayer and repentance work together, prayer and baptism, prayer and the Holy Ghost, as well as prayer and enduring to the end. We also got the new Easter video, "Because He Lives" so we were showing people during lessons before it officially came out on Saturday :) 

We did a lot of phone calls to formers and potentials and even set up a couple lessons! Our evening was busy. 

We had dinner with a member, then taught 8-11 yr. old girls all about missionary life :) it was fun. They wrote us letters at the end, and during the lesson we asked why they thought we taught about temples. One girl said, "Because missionaries get married sometimes!" :) haha 

Afterward we got a text from a member saying she was free to come out with us if we needed her, and we did! So we picked her up and went to a lesson with K from Ghana :) he is a former, and was really glad we came, so that lesson went swell :) 

Thursday morning I ran 3 miles and it felt sooo good! I'm determined to be skinny again by Mother's Day ;) For lunch we went to Chipotle with a member and shared the new video, then went to a lesson with a recent convert. We talked about temples because he hasn't been to do baptisms for the dead yet! 

**For those of you who don't know what, "Baptisms for the dead" are, I'm happy to explain :) 

Some people think we baptize dead human beings. This is false. And disgusting. We believe that baptism by immersion, by someone holding the proper authority from God, is an essential act in returning to live with our Father in Heaven again. Some people, however, have passed on without being baptized by this authority (the priesthood) so we perform the baptism in proxy for that person. We believe they have the agency (choice) to accept or decline the ordinance in their behalf. But this way they at least have the opportunity.** 

 So K wants to go! :) 

After dinner we decided to go street contacting because it was in the 70's, and people were everywhere outside! It was fun :) and humid. But it's supposed to be cold and rainy for the rest of the month :/ where is spring?!? 

On Friday after studies we began planning for the week! We had such a good weekly planning session! It was super productive, and we are so sad the transfer is coming to an end :( we have a week and a half left together, and are going to work extra hard to top off the successes we've had all transfer :) Sister Morris is my tender mercy transfer. It has been so easy, and so fun working with her. She has taught me so many things! Our companionship inventory was loaded with compliments and goals :) 

Our evening was so much fun! We had an appointment with an investigator and even brought a member, but when we got there we found an alcohol party instead... So we decided not to attend ;) we street contacted and checked on potentials the rest of the night with that member we brought. It was a blast :) 

On Saturday sister Morris and I helped our new neighbors across the hall move in!! That was unplanned but super fun :) then we did a survey that takes forever but is required. And spiritually uplifting :) In the afternoon we had a lesson with a recent convert, and this coming conference will be his first!!! We are so excited :) 

In the evening we went to the stake center for a light dinner and such a wonderful broadcast of the General Woman's Conference! I received so much revelation I don't even know what to do with myself! God is so good :) 

Church on Sunday was super great! We had a combined third hour and we talked about some of our favorite conference talks and why. It was really good! I love the ward I'm in :) we finished the night with member lessons. 

I know that this work is hastening, and I'm honored to be apart of it. 

I know I have a loving Father in Heaven who wants the best for me, so He sent His son. 

I know that families can be sealed together forever!! I love my family! 

Gods plan truly IS happiness :) I know that we have the gift of agency and repentance is real! We bring condemnation upon ourselves; we are given the opportunity to repent an endless amount of times because of Jesus Christ, and as we read the scriptures we can see how often we truly are warned. 

The church is true folks! I will stand as a witness of that forever. 

Have a fantastically stupendous week! Enjoy the weather over there; its crummy where I am :( 

Love,
Sister Kailey :)

Week 8: Turkeys, Snow, & Yarn

Happy (late) Thanksgiving. I had such a good week!

Last Monday we walked past a man who was sitting in his car with the window rolled down, so we said hi and asked how he was doing. We started talking, and then he asked if we had a card! He said we'd be hearing from him after Thanksgiving week so cross your fingers that that means this week! :) 

Later that night we taught a family home evening lesson with a family of 8 kids. We taught being thankful during trials and based it off of the story when Nephi's older brothers tie him to the boat. He was tied up for 4 days straight, and when they let him go his wrists and ankles were swollen! BUT Nephi is such a good example. He didn't complain or murmur even a little bit the entire time; he just thanked God for his blessings and praised Him all the day long. Anyway, while teaching this, we had the kids act it out and it was so fun :)

When serving a mission in the states, it's easy to get fat :( so you really have to watch how much you eat, and how much you exercise. I kept limiting myself to running a mile every morning, but Sister Lewis had the brilliant idea of using my jacket to cover up the numbers on the treadmill so that I couldn't see how far I'd gone. I did just that and had to stop because it was time to go home, so when I took my jacket off of the numbers, I found that I easily ran over a mile and a half- almost 2 miles! So now that's how I run :) We can apply this to a lot of things in life; limiting ourselves. We can all reach so much further if we stop putting limits on the things we do! This includes missionary work.

I had a proud moment in District meeting on Tuesday. In elementary school I would always win when we played limbo in music class, and this week we did an object lesson for district meeting. We split the zone up in districts and needed one person per task to perform. I chose the limbo (which represented reaching/stretching/growing) and am happy to report that I kicked butt :)

Wednesday was fun! We helped a sister organize her house after she moved in, and then IT SNOWED!!! My FIRST snow away from home and it was.... pathetic. It was wet and only stuck to the grass, which we counted as a blessing because when it snows here people just stop their cars, get out, and walk. (that's what we hear anyway) But I love snow! It was gone the next day, and today it's like 73 degrees. Oh well.

Thursday was Thanksgiving! Funny story. As missionaries, we have to be awake by 6:30. Sister Lewis naturally woke up around 6:05 and thought to herself, "Heavenly Father. I am not feelin' it today. Im going to need some help waking up this morning". Then the next thing she knows, I'm shooting up out of bed saying, "Sister Lewis! We forgot to set an alarm!!" Luckily it was only 6:45, but still. Her response after processing what was happening, "Whoops! Happy Thanksgiving!" hahah then we sat there and laughed for a good 3 minutes before we got up. After studies we went to a members home and made pies, as well as veggie trays that looked like turkeys! That was so fun! :) 

For dinner we went to an investigators home. We talked about the plan of salvation (because it just came up in conversation) and ate a wonderful dinner with them! It was so great :) EXCEPT!! NO rolls!! WHAT?! Ya. Lame. Thanksgiving is not Thanksgiving for me without rolls. I thought of Grandpa and how he would be just as devastated as I was. But don't worry, we had another dinner right after that with a member family and they had rolls :) We also shared a message with both families... As always :) We also took some dinner over to an older lady. She's sweet :) It was such a great Thanksgiving! I hope yours was just as good :)

Sister Lewis and I were dropped a couple weeks ago by an investigator, but we thought it would be nice to make him cookies for the Holiday, so we texted him and asked if we could bring them by. It was snowing that day, so he replied with, "You don't need to bring me a plate of cookies in this weather. How about I get them from you at church on Sunday?" ..... um.... YES!? So he came! Along with 4 investigators and 1 less active! Sister Lewis and I were shocked! There were also a few members who happened to bring non member friends to church on the same day so we were so busy! It was such a good day!!

Sister Lewis also taught me how to crochet, so I totally made an infinity scarf and now I'm slightly addicted. I feel like an old lady in my spare time but its fine ;)

Random fun fact: Every so often I will have a dream where I come home for the weekend and see my family or friends, and then go back out on my mission? haha

Happy Holidays!! :))) This is my favorite time of year!! God is good and I love Christmas :)

Sister Chandler