Thank(goodnessitsover)sgiving

What a week. Let me give you a play by play, starting with Thanksgiving day.

6:00 am we're at the Tacoma Narrows bridge, ready for our zone Turkey Trot. 1 mile each way, it was pretty freezing, but we needed to pre-work off all the food we were going to eat that day. 8:00 am Turkey Bowl with one of the wards, except this was wayyyy more intense than we were expecting, so the sisters mostly ended up in a huddle all trying to get warm with one blanket. 12:00 pm the madness begins, Dinner 1. Not bad, tons of food, but we weren't expected to eat a ton, which was nice. 2:00 pm, Dinner 2. Definitely the best one. I went all out on this one, even getting seconds on some things. Totally worth it. 3:00, Dinner 3. I barely made it through. At one point my stomach started going crazy and making noises (which it does frequently anyways) but that was awkward haaaaa. I thought I was going to explode. Then at 5:00 we had a dessert appointment and by the time we were finished I never wanted to see food ever again. And if I ever see a turkey again..........I'm going to let him run away. By the time we made it to the mission home at 7:00 I was done. I just sat on the floor and watched everyone play games and tried not to throw up everywhere. I think I ate a lot of lactose-filled foods between potatoes and pies and it did a number on me. Crazy that last Thanksgiving I was in the MTC. How different those two holidays were and how different I was. I can't believe how fast that went.

Friday was a ridiculously slow day, so we just won't really talk about it.

Saturday. Oh Saturday, didn't go at all like I thought it would. One of my favorite families from Steilacoom, the Agor's (Mike and Wilma and two of their kids, Kalei and Hoku) were going to the temple to be sealed. I didn't baptize them, so I didn't think that I would be able to go, but the missionary who did baptize them is in my zone so President Weaver agreed to let me go on an exchange with her so that I could go to their sealing. It was so amazing. I went to a sealing last month for someone that my companion saw baptized, but it was so much more powerful when it was people that I know and love. I felt so much peace and love there. Driving through Steilacoom was like going home. I was so grateful that I got to go. The day took a twist though when we called our companions to let them know we were on our way back to find out that they were both sick and in bed at our house! We stopped and got them Gatorade, then went to an appointment they had in their area. They weren't home, so we headed back and my temporary comp started to not feel so good. We had to pull over at one point cause she thought she was going to hurl everywhere (pause: we got a new car this week! Brand-new Chevy Cruze that had 19 miles on it when we picked it up-there was no way I was going to let her puke all over that brand-new car haha) but she held it in until we got back to our house. By then my companion was fine but the other two weren't, so they laid in our beds while we went to a dinner appointment where we played a rigorous game of "Armor of God" and then hurried back to take care of our sick ones. They stayed there until they could get enough energy to get into the cars, and Robinson and I drove them home. Once we got there, the wave of sick hit me, and Robinson had to drive home fast so I could promptly plop down on my bed and pass out for the night-skirt still on (that's how you know it was bad).

Sunday morning, meetings at 7:00 am. Love it........can't wait for the time change at the new year. I was exhausted. But we had to keep it up cause we were singing in sacrament meeting. Shaky, would be the best way to describe that performance. Literally. I was shaking in my boots. I barely made it through church and then I had to go home and sleep. I made it to a dinner with a member, but afterward I just curled up in a little ball in the front seat and couldn't move. Needless to say we were out for the night. So, not the most productive week of my life, but that is what Advil, saltine crackers, and repentance are for.

The highlight was definitely the temple. It was amazing to see those people that I love so much dressed in white and sealed together as a family for time and all eternity. There is nothing better than that, and to be with so many people who understood how important that moment was. The missionary who found them, who is home now, the missionary that baptized them, and the missionary who helped finish preparing them all got to go and see. I was blinking back tears, that's for sure.

I hope your Thanksgiving was nowhere near as close to filling as mine was, but I hope that you enjoyed it and your turkey nonetheless. Have a great week. Write me a letter. Love you.

Sister Chronister

P Day Surprises

We woke up this morning to a lovely surprise in our bedroom....WATER!!!! It was pouring all night and we live in a basement so all of the water is leaking through the house into our room. Cold Washington rain water. Nothing better. Actually, pretty much anything is better than that. So we'll see how it pans out with the heavy showers this whole week.

 

Pretty cool week. I hit my year mark. That was weird. I can't believe it's been that long. I only have so much time left........ahakdfhasfjhagjkaghaweuioghghiqeugvagh. It's hard to email today. My brain is all over the place. Sounds about right....

 

We had a baptism on Saturday!! Little Jalynn Garcia who is 9. She was so excited. They had to do it again though cause her hair didn't go all the way under so I had to go and tie her hair back for her. Poor little girl is so skinny she was shivering while I was helping her even though the font water was warm.

 

We found a way legit lady name Tanisha who wants to come to church and kept saying that it was interesting that we knocked on her door that day cause she was just thinking about church. As we kept talking she got emotional and said she knew it wasn't a coincidence that we knocked on her door. Agreed.

 

Sunday morning we got a call from this guy Donald that we had met the day before who said he was thinking about becoming a Mormon. He was trying to find the church and needed a ride so we got some men to go pick him up. Interesting guy. He told me he's addicted to a lot of different things right now, his life is a mess, and he doesn't really know why he came to church, but he did. In the middle of sacrament meeting he jumped backward over the pew and ran out the door. We thought he was done, just decided to leave. Nope. Later he comes walking down the hall, he'd been talking to his friend who was a member and said that his friend told him to ask for a blessing. The elders were right there so we went in a room, explained what blessings are for, and they gave him one. Then he left again. Then he came back and said his friend told him to go to priesthood, so we walked him into priesthood. Come to find out, his friend is in the YSA ward, which is covered by the elders that gave him the blessing at the church. So we promptly turned him over to them and now it's a fun story in my journal and a cool referral for them. I hope Donald figures everything out. I'll definitely be going to his baptism if he does.

 

This week is Thanksgiving. As opposed to the general consensus, instead of Christmas, it is my favorite holiday. It's all about good food, family time, and gratitude. Also, I love pumpkin pie.

 

I am grateful for Jesus Christ.

 

I am grateful to be a missionary.

 

I am grateful for Christmas lights (they make tracting more fun).

 

I am grateful for the Book of Mormon.

 

I am grateful for a good family that loves me.

 

I am grateful to be alive.

I am grateful for a car.

 

I am grateful for my life.

 

Best way to say thanks? Go out and share what you know. Share the things that make you so happy. That's all God asks us to do. Go out and live the things you have received from Him.

 

Do any of you still read these emails? If you don't you should, and if you do you should write me a letter. I would be very grateful.

4007-D Bridgeport Way W.

University Place, WA 98466

 

Love you.

 

Sister Chronister

Oh to be green again!

Last week we had the opportunity to take the newest sister in our mission out tracting for her first time. It was legit. I have never been more excited to go knocking on doors in my life. I was stressing about where to take her, making sure she had a good experience, maybe throwing in a few jokes/pranks just to keep things fresh (as if everything wasn't "fresh" to her to begin with....) and it was AWESOME. Haha I tried to get her to take the first door, just to see if she would. She didn't. But she did take the second one and when we got bashed by someone she held her own and was bearing testimony and handing out the Book of Mormon like it was candy. Oh wait, it is candy, of the spiritual variety. Then we took her to a "former's" house (aka a member who knew we had her for the night) and she very realistically chewed us out and slammed the door in our faces before inviting us in and feeding us treats. I just wanted to make sure she had a good experience..... Anyways, I want to be green again. That's the best time to be a missionary. You don't know any different so you just go out and do the work and trust in God because you don't know what else to do. It's great.

 

We are getting ready this week to have our first baptism here! Jalynn is getting baptized on Saturday. We are so excited. I've never seen a young girl (she's 9) so ready and so prepared. She is soaking everything in like SpongeBob and the best part is seeing her mom's reaction to all of the things that she learns. Yesterday we were teaching her the commandments and we asked her how her scripture reading was going. We had given her a Book of Mormon Stories book to read from every day. She proceeded to give us a detailed account of Nephi, Sam, Laman, and Lemuel going to get the plates from Laban and how Laman and Lemuel were scared to go back but Nephi went back anyways. Never, ever underestimate children. They know so much more than we think they do and I hope to be able to become like them. After all, that's what we're told we need to become like in order to enter into the kingdom of heaven.

 

I accomplished something big this week: I finished reading Jesus the Christ. All 793 pages. I. Love. Jesus. Christ. Reading about Him and coming closer to Him makes me want to shout from the rooftops about the great plan He has for us--it's free and it makes us free. I want to be a missionary forever. Watching a bunch of missionaries I know and love either go home or get ready to go home, I realize that I don't want to face that. I just want to stay here forever and share the gospel with random strangers and represent the Redeemer of us all. It's a really good anti-trunky medication to have your friends go home.

 

Don't fear. That's going to be our theme this week. Fear is the opposite of faith, so just go out and trust that God will protect you and back you up. He already promised that He would, so just go and do. Love you all.

 

Sister Chronister

Deliverance

For six weeks Sister Robinson and I have been working our buns off, doing everything we can to make things happen. I have a callous on my right, middle finger knuckle from knocking doors. My knees have bruises from the amount of time I have spent pleading to be led to those who are prepared. My brain is almost mush from gears constantly turning, trying to think of where people are, how to best cross their paths, what to say to grab their attention and help them feel the Spirit. Friday morning I had a fiery fury in me. As we were out knocking doors at 11:00 in the morning I had the strongest desire I have ever had to go out and shout from the rooftops that the true, restored gospel of Jesus Christ is on the earth today. There is no more need to sit and wait in darkness. There is hope. There is Light. Why do you think I come and knock on your doors over and over again? For fun? Because I have nothing better to do? You have no life so I might as well see what you're up to? To be annoying? Maybe, just maybe, what I have to share will make you happier than you can ever imagine and will change your life. That is what I am trying to share with you. Would please sit down and listen?

 

Sunday morning we arrived at church, hopeful that our investigators would come. Tracy was supposed to come to a baptism Saturday night, but didn't show. Didn't answer our phone calls. Didn't open the door to our incessant knocking. Didn't come to church. It's hard to progress when you don't do anything. So we're looking around, and most of our people are there.

 

Makayla finally made it again. Her mom won't sign her baptism record, so she has to wait til March to be baptized, but she will drop her off at church. okkkk....

 

The Julian's are there, looking all trendy and with it.

 

Jaylyn, our new investigator who is the 9 year old daughter of a fairly recent convert in the ward, was sitting with her mom. She is getting baptized on November 16th. (Tangent: I love teaching little children. The gospel just makes sense to them. They just get it. She told us the Book of Mormon must be true and he must have seen the Father and the Son because Joseph Smith wouldn't lie. When we asked her when she wanted to be baptized (which is a great tactic, by the way, having them put themselves on date) and her response was, "Ummmm not too soon. Maybe tomorrow?" Her mom wants her to wait a few weeks, just 2, to make sure she gets all the lessons and comes to church. Fair enough.)

 

Look around again, Katelyn, who we haven't seen in forever, shows up with her member friend.

 

Then during the fast and testimony meeting, Anthony Julian, who has only been active in church for about 6 months, got up and bore his testimony for the first time in his life. There was POWER in that. I had the chills. He talked about how his wife was a great example to him, how he was supposed to give a talk but bailed and the sister missionaries (that's me) had to last-minute take the slot and how tithing and prayer have changed his life. He knows God lives. That was incredible. His two oldest sons are just waiting for him to be ready to baptize them. Baby steps. We are almost there.

 

At the end of the meeting, we look 2 rows behind us and there is a guy who just moved into the ward and his nonmember girlfriend are there. She came to Sunday School, had tons of questions, and we're meeting with her on Wednesday.

 

After church the elders in the other ward greet us with a lovely, "We have a referral for you. It's a sweet family." This family, a husband who is a less-active member, and his nonmember wife and 5 of their 6 kids showed up in their ward wanting to come to church to spiritually get themselves in order and to bring their family together. They would love it if missionaries came by their house and met with them!

 

Then we went and visited Debbie, who is a psychotherapist that we tracted into a few weeks ago and have had a hard time meeting with because of her schedule. The lesson was amazing. She read through the whole Book of Mormon intro and soaked it all in. She was telling us how it was no coincidence that we showed up shortly after the death of her mother, how she was needing to find more spirituality in her life, and when we shared that the gospel is for everyone and that everyone ever will have a chance to hear it, her face changed. She loved it. You could see the light come over her.

 

Then we met with our miracle family. They want to be baptized. They want the dad to do it. They are so golden.

 

We ended our night on a spiritual high. An elder in our zone got some bad news from home on Saturday night. His brother-in-law passed away unexpectedly in an accident and because this was going to be his last transfer he made the decision and got it approved to go home early and be with his family during this hard time. He left this morning. We met as a zone at the mission home to have a testimony meeting and to send him off. It was great to hear the testimonies of so many missionaries and President and Sister Weaver. It put a lot of things into perspective for me about life and how great our missions really are. When we met with Debbie she told us about when she saw a missionary going home in the airport and she said he had a glow about him. You could see it and could tell that he had been doing to Lord's work. That was amazing to hear, and I hope that all of us have that glow when we come home.

 

Earlier in the week I got pretty sick. A weird stomach thing hit me and I was down and out for a while. I finally decided to have some elders give me a blessing. God answers prayers. Not only was I much much better after the blessing, I got specific answers that I needed and I realized that I think God was just waiting for me to ask. He wanted to see if I would use what was available to me for help. I'm glad I did.

 

There are so many things I am looking forward to. This is going to be a great week. I'm going to learn a lot. Hope you all are learning what you need to. Life is great. So is God. Love you. God speed.

 

Sister Chronister