Boots n cats n boots n pizza

If you say "boots and cats" really fast or "boots and pizza" really fast, then it sounds like you're beat boxing. We did a lot of that this week. And service. Lots of service. We weeded some gardens and helped out at a soup kitchen. The soup kitchen was extra fun cause we got to wear the yellow "Mormon Helping Hands" shirts and serve lunch to people who needed it. We couldn't proselyte cause it was at a different church, but it was cool to go, and it was our ward that was providing the meal that day. Good ward bonding time.

 

We got to give a training at Zone Meeting this week on ward relations and it was really fun. We started by showing the clip from "The Testaments" where they're overthrowing the government and pulling the towers down and stuff, pretending that was like sacrament meeting and Helam was the bishop, looking for his less-active recent converts...........you probably had to be there but it was really funny. Trust me. Also, that was the day I ate my first, freshly-picked-off-the-bush blackberry in Washington. It was really good.

 

We gave a lesson yesterday about the Atonement that was way cool. It helped me understand it more, so I thought I would share my thoughts on it.

 

1) What is the Atonement?

The sacrifice of Christ for all of us to overcome physical and spiritual death. It consisted of His suffering in the garden, His death on the cross, and His resurrection 3 days later. It was the most pivotal event in human history.

 

2) Why do we need it?

Because we all fall short of the glory of God. None of us are ever perfect, and no matter what we do, we can never become like God or live in His kingdom without grace, which is the divine power and help we can have through the Atonement. The catch is, it can only be applied after we have done all we can do.

 

3) How do we use it?

We do all we can do!! We do the little things every day like read scriptures and pray, we go to church, we repent and change so that we can become like Him. He promises us that He will help us with our burdens. He won't necessarily take them away, but He will make it so that we have the strength to bear them. Christ has already overcome the world, so we can rely on Him, but we should never leave Him alone. We must do our part.

 

I love the gospel. It's the all-encompassing, all-inclusive, overarching answer to life. It solves any and every problem, we just have to be willing to work to find the solution. I love sharing this message with people and seeing them come closer to Christ and developing that relationship with Him. There really isn't anything cooler. Really. Fo realz.

 

Hope you are all having a great week. Love you lots. Talk to you soon!!

 

Sister Sara Chronister

Take good care of her!

Well, well, well. What to say about this last week. Pretty fun, I think. You know, when I keep up with my journal it's a lot easier to remember what happened this week so I can write about it without having to look at my planner. I'll be better this week, I promise dear journal....

 

I got to see the one nad only Katee Balmforth!!!! It was a glorious, frozen yogurt and pancake-filled reunion (on separate occassions, those two things would have been pretty weird together.....). I'm sure everyone already knows because of Facebook, but she is doing great. And she kept warning me that coming home from a mission is not fun. Good thing I don't have to worry about that for another 10 months. Ha!

 

We had another amazing miracle with someone we haven't heard from in a while.....Jane. I had been avoiding calling her because the last few times we talked to her she was super non-committal and it's hard to pour so much into someone who is not ready or willing to make committments. So I called her one more time, on Tuesday, just to see if she would answer. She did and we talked for a few minutes. I was in the middle of challenging her to come to church and explaining why it's so important when call disconnected. I don't reallyknow what happened, but we had to go anyways so I figured if she wanted to call back, she would. A few hours later, the phone started ringing. We were out finding, so nothing too exciting was happening, but I looked at the caller ID and it was Jane. She said that she had been at work, doing some house-cleaning and these words suddenly came to her: "My name is Jane Wainina. I'm from Kenya, East Africa, and I'm a Mormon." She asked if she could come to the church. Heck yeah!! We met her at the bus stop when she got off work and waled up to the building. We had an incredible church tour with her and she kept asking what she needed to do in order to be baptized. We told her to come to church on Sunday and to meet with us so we could teach her the gospel. She asked to meet us one more time againm before Sunday so she could feel ready for it.

 

Saturday we found a member to pick her up and bring her to the church since she has no money for a bus pass. She looked sooo good! She was dressed in a nice shirt and dress slacks. It was a very different looking Jane from the one I had sat with on the bus a few weeks ago. We had a great lesson on the gospel, she said a great prayer at the end, and she looked so happy.

 

Sunday, she came to church!!! She looked so happy and peaceful. Then we found out that there was a relative of someone in the previous ward that was visiting, who happened to be the area authority over West Africa. Hmmmm....After Sacrament meeting Jane went and met the bishop and a random man came over and kind of interrupted and introduced himself. He was the general authority. He talked to Jane, told her that his counselor was Elder Sitati, from Nairobi, Kenya. Crazy!! He said he would have him write her a letter. I was standing right next to Jane and he looked at me and said, "Are you teaching her?" "Yes, I am/" "Take good care of her." "I will."

 

So there it is, a charge from a general authority to take good care of Jane. She loved church and is ready to be baptized, as soon as we can get her taught and help her quit smoking. She is ready!!!

 

Huge miracle. I love that God is so good at timing. He always gets everything right. We should just trust Him. So many great things are happening. We have a lot of really solid people we are teaching, and if I had more time I would tell you more about them, but trust me, they are awesome. Hope you all have a great week. I love you!!!

 

Sister Chronister

All nations, of their own nation and tongue . . .

Well, it's hard for me to put into words everything that happened weekend.

I have talked a little bit about Pohai in past emails, but everything finally came together this weekend. We have also been teaching another girl, who is a close family friend of theirs, her name is Lisa. Pohai and Lisa were both baptized Saturday afternoon and confirmed on Sunday. I cannot describe what it was like to witness that event, or even to explain how significant those baptisms are.

Pohai is a member of the Pacheco family in the Agor clan. Missionaries had been trying to teach them for years, but to no avail. The timing was never right. Just about a year and a half ago the sisters were finally able to get in to get to know them. Slowly at first, but then all at once, individual members of the family (in-laws and grandkids) decided to be baptized and the ones that were members already started coming back to church. When I first got to Steilacoom there were only 2 kids left in the Pacheco family who have not been baptized. Now they are down to one. The struggle to teach Pohai, however, was extra significant because she is deaf. How do two English-speaking, non-signing missionaries teach a deaf girl about who her Heavenly Father is and the great plan that He has for her?

They don't.

We found the solution in Jamie and Ann Wilson, a deaf couple in the stake. They are the most amazing people I have ever met. They had been praying for a missionary experience and we heard about them from a member in our ward and when we met with them, we all knew that this was the answer to so many prayers. They have been teaching Pohai for just about 2 months, starting from the basics, teaching her who God is, how much He loves her, and how she can live with Him and with her family forever.

Lisa is the youngest of 6 in her family. Her parents and 2 oldest siblings are members, but they have been less-active most of their lives. They recently reconnected with some distant family, who happen to be members in our ward, and they started coming to church, grudgingly at first, but more and more willing over time. Lisa was the most prepared, and led the way. She constantly tells her siblings that Jesus loves them and they need to rely on her.

The two of them were both ready and waiting to be baptized, so we were able to organize everything, get all the logistics worked out (becuase Lisa lives in Lacey, definitely not in our area) and they were baptized on Saturday. It was an amazing day. Hands down my favorite part was when Pohai came up out of the water and looked at everyone standing in the room watching her (standing room only, we had to have the meeting part int he chapel because so many people came) and she smiled and everyone did the sign for applause (bringing your hands up and waving them). It was so happy and so special. They did the same thing for Lisa when she came up out of the water.

I had the great opportunity to bear my testimony while they were changing and I was speechless. I stood up and didn't have any words to say for a minute. This scripture, however, has come to have so much meaning to me, and this is the one that I shared:

"For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in wisdom, according to that which is just and true." (Alma 29:8)

This gospel is so important that the Lord will prepare a way for ALL of his children, no matter where they are or what language they speak, to hear and learn of the gospel that will being them back to His presence forever. When I got my mission call I was disappointed that I would be speaking English and staying in the US. The Lord showed me over the last few months, and I finaly realized it on Saturday, that He always has a greater purpose in mind and that He will make anything possible for us. Anything.

I am amazed at how blessed I am to be here, to witness these great miracles, and to be so loved by my Heavenly Father. The words to "I Stand All Amazed" sum it up pretty well:

"I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify."

We are so blessed. I love you all and I hope you have a great week. What miracle will you see today?

Love,

Sister Sara Chronister

There is a hell

That is one of the tactics discussed at our last district meeting. Only to be used after the whole "what are you willing to do and you won't see the results until you try it" approach. We'll see how it goes this week. Elders are so special.

 

Alright, so I have a new companion. Her name is Sis. Grenfell. She has lots of energy and smiles and talks all the time. She looks like Natalie Dance, reminds me a little of Taylor when she's talking to people (and especially when she practices speaking Spanish to people) and was roommates with Lara Thorpe (now Leber, haha) up at BYU. So that's cool. She is a way hard worker and I can tell it's going to be a really jam packed transfer with lots of miracles and lots of crazy stories.

 

The biggest thing happening this week is....Pohai is getting baptized!!! We worked out all the details with her mom on Sunday and it's happening this Saturday. This is a BIG FAT HUGE MIRACLE. Know why? Becuase this family has been a part member family forever, they have two kids left that aren't baptized, and Pohai is deaf. Hopefully you remember the story, but there is a couple that are deaf and they have been teaching her and she is getting baptized this weekend. Sisters have been trying to figure out how to get her on track for ever a year and it is finally happening.

 

I realized something the other day. God loves me. A lot. Otherwise, why would He send me to such a great mission where I meet such amazing people and get to be a witness to so many MIRACLES. I may have already mentioned this, but I keep a journal and I write a miracle in it every day. So I've been on my mission a while now but there is a miracle for every single day that I have been here. Now I get to look back on some of those days and I am amazed at how often miracles occur, whether it's big ones like someone getting baptized or a little one like the sun coming out. The reason that God does all of this is so we know how much He loves us and wants to bless us and wants us to return to Him.

 

So, to tie this back in with the title (grasping at straws here) while there is a hell, there must be opposition in all things, so that means there is a heaven too. BUT. Heaven is not a place, it's a condition (cool quote from church yesterday). We want to be in a condition that will allow us to dwell with God, to be with our families forever, and to have joy. Cause that's why we're here. Thanks, 2:25.

 

So I hope you have a great week and that you remember to look for the things that let you know that God loves you. Cause He does. And if you doubt it, ask. I promise He'll answer. Love you!!

 

Sister Chronister

Steilacoom is the Celestial Kingdom

Direct quote from my new companion, who called us this morning and will be here on Wednesday. I would have to agree.

 

We had an amazing miracle this week. We have been teaching a girl named Ariana all transfer. Her parents were baptized just over a year ago and Ariana recently turned 9. Her dad approached me about 6 weeks ago and said that we needed to come over and teach her about baptism because she wants to be baptized and she needs to understand a little more about it. We were happy to oblige. Ariana, however, has some disabilities. She has autism and cerebral palsy, but is very high functioning. That's why her parents waited to baptize her. They wanted to make sure she would understand it. So we spent the next 5 weeks teaching her, coming up with creative ways to help her remember, and seeing her really learn and grasp it and grow. The first lesson we had with her we asked her why she wanted to be baptized. She said, "To get the Holy Ghost." We planned, with her mom that day, to have her baptized on June 29th. We didn't tell Ariana the exact day just in case things came up, we didn't want her to have that day stuck in her mind and have it become a problem. As things progressed, we didn't get much support from the parents on her baptism date. They were pretty iffy about it. They said she could get baptized when we said she was ready, and she was (when we went over the gospel she did great, then her sister wanted to try it too and she was correcting her sister on it), but they kept needing more and more confirmations that she actually was. The whole time, however, we never changed the day she was getting baptized on our board. It always stayed the same.

 

So then Monday night we had dinner with them. We knew it was crunch time and that she needed to be baptized this weekend. I almost got her dad to agree to a day, but then the opportunity slipped away. The next day we decided that we needed to go over there and just tell them that we had thoughtfully prayed about it and that she was ready to be baptized-this weekend. The only catch was to do it without her in the room in case her parents didn't want to do it. We stood there is their apartment, making small talk and finalizing plans for her interview, when it hit me that I had to bring it up. I was terrified. I said a quick prayer asking God to help me be able to say the words I needed to and for Ariana to be able to be out of the room so I could talk to her parents. As soon as I finished, the panic in my chest melted away. Ariana all of a sudden got up, put on her jacket, and went and played outside. I turned to her parents and said, "We've been thinking a lot about her baptism and we know she is ready. She should get baptized this weekend." Her parents hesitated and decided to hear Ariana's side. She came back in and said, "Saturday! At 8:00!" That was amazing. Two night later she was interviewed, we practiced her being baptized in the font, Friday everyone and their dog tried to push it back another week, but we knew and Airana knew that she needed to be baptized this weekend. It felt like the 3 of us fighting against the adversary, all together.

 

Saturday she was baptized and it was the sweetest thing ever. She looked so happy and loved the warm water haha. We meticulouly watched the temperature to make sure it wasn't too cold for her. Sis. Eichenmiller shared a great scripture in 1 Nephi where Nephi says, "And I said unto him: I know that he loveth his children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things." Ariana doesn't know everything, but she doesn't need to. She knew that she needed the Holy Ghost and that was all that mattered. It was such a huge testimony to me of the Savior's charge to all of us to become as a little child. Afterward we had treats and Ariana, Sis. Eichenmiller, and me sat out on the stairs by the gym just talking. Ariana was going to go to the movies that night with her family. She was eating all of the sweets she could and looked so pure and happy. I couldn't help but feel so honored to see her baptized and to learn from her. She'll be one of the ones teaching me how to make it to the Celestial Kingdom.

 

So then we got our transfer calls. Sis. Eichenmiller is leaving, and I will be here another 6 weeks at least, with Sis. Grenfell. In the bishop's wife's words, "Why can't we get any easy names here?" Oh well. It was a great end to a great week, and I am so grateful for it. Love you all so much. Stay strong, be happy. SMILE.

 

Love,

 

Sara

Do you know what a $500 million flashlight is?

It's a lighthouse.

 

Heyyy errbody.

 

This week was pretty good. More like a slow and steady wins the race kind of good, but it's still good.

 

I have felt a lot lately like we plan good, full days, but everything falls through and then we're left with nothing to do and it kinda sucks. So one morning when I woke up I prayed that we could see lots of people that day and be busy. It was a pretty simple request, I wasn't asking for huge miracles, I just wanted people to be home that we went to visit. Ask and ye shall receive. Heavenly Father was looking out for his lil Sis. Chronic missionary that day.

 

We had a park day on Thursday where the whole mission was either biking, walking, or getting rides from members. Funnnnnnnn stuff, let me tell you. It actually was a pretty good day. We didn't have a dinner but at one of the houses we stopped by they invited us to stay then drove us to our next appt. Such kind people. And they have a cute little baby that's 3 weeks old. That I can't hold even though I reallllllly want to.

 

I realized this week that I need to know the scriptures a lot better. I don't use them very much in lessons because I don't know them, and it doesn't help the people that I teach to love the scriptures and to study them on their own. So I have already begun a quest to memorize references, verses, and identify specific passages that will be useful in teaching others about the gospel. In sacrament meeting on Sunday it was pounded into my brain. They were speaking on spiritual self-reliance and both speakers really emphasized reading the scriptures. The scriptures are our foundation and our fundamentals. That is where we will find the answers we need, feel the Spirit, and come to know the gospel and the Savior. Of course we need to study them more. One of the speakers taught seminary for a year and he talked about the difference between a lot of the students, the ones who read and studied and the ones who didn't He asked a good question: Are you learning from the scriptures? Or just losing sleep? The other speaker talked about how we need to master the fundamentals in any part of our lives. He compared it to baseball. When you read and study the scriptures, you don't need a home run. You just need a base hit. Something that will help you to keep going. You won't have some big spiritual experience or revelation every time you read, you can find something that will help you if you want it.

 

That's what the gospel is about. You do everything you can and the Lord will make up the rest. Grace is a very amazing thing. It is the divine help and strength we receive through the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel is simple: faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, lather, rinse, repeat. BUT, the hard part is figuring out what we have to do before Christ will make up the difference. It may be that we have to read tons of scriptures, talk to the bishop, pray mightily, get professional help, apologize to someone, do a random act of kindness, etc. but we have to do it in order for us to turn it over to Christ and have Him finish it for us. We can't do it on our own, but Christ, who overcame the world, is offering us a hand of help. Why would we not take it? This probably all sounds pretty jumbled and sporadic, but it makes sense in my head. Promise.

 

We haven't heard much from Jane this week, she kind of fell off the face of the planet, but we talked to her on Saturday. Still trying to get her to church so we can help her figure out how she can make it back to God. A lot of things have been going wrong for her and she said that she feels like she is literally under attack. I have no doubt that she is. Satan is working very hard to keep her from getting on the right path. Good thing missionaries are super stubborn and diligent.

 

Love you all so much. Write me a letter or somethin if you get a chance. Talk to you next week!! Doubt not, fear not.

 

Love,

 

Sara

The worth of souls is great in the sight of the Lord

This is the craziest thing that has happened to me on my mission so far. Remember Jane, the African lady we met on the street? We saw her last Friday (over a week ago) and she was doing good, reading the Book of Mormon like crazy. She started in 3 Nephi and finished that and now she's reading Ether and she has read parts of Moroni. She had to hurry to the bus and we had to go to an appt so we didn't talk for long, but she seemed happy. Then this happened on Tuesday:

 

Our morning started out typically slow, and the afternoon started out like that as well. We were dragging our feet, taking our time getting from one appointment to the next, or from one drop-by to the next. We decided to go see a part-member family and see if the daughter wanted to go to mutual. Sis. Eichenmiller is still learning the area and I wasn't really paying attention and she ended up taking a wrong turn. It wasn't that big of a deal, we just went the long way to the family's house. She asked me if I had called Jane yet. I hadn't, and it had been a couple days since we heard from her. I decided to wait until after we saw the family just in case the phone call took a long time. Suddenly we looked and who was walking down the side of the road to the bus stop? That's right, Jane. We pulled into the gas station that was right there and jumped out of the car with our scriptures in hand and went to talk to her. As soon as we approached her, something seemed off. She was staggering a little and she seemed happy to see us, but also a little confused and out of it.  We asked her if she was ok. She told us no. She found out on Monday that she has cancer, a brain tumor. She started to cry and we walked with her, helping her down the road and trying to calm her down. We got her across the intersection, her bus wasn't there yet, and Eichenmiller looked at me and said, "We should get on the bus with her." My immediate response was, "We don't have any money."

 

As the words were coming out of my mouth, I remembered that when I was at the store a week earlier I had randomly decided to use my card and get cash, which I hadn't had any for a while. There was a $5 bill sitting in my wallet in the car. I handed Eichenmiller my scriptures and she gave me the keys. She stayed with Jane while I turned back to the busy intersection. I knew I only had a few minutes, maybe to get over there and back. I couldn't wait for the light, so as soon as the cars cleared, I sprinted across the intersection, opened the car, grabbed my wallet, and sprinted back to the light, probably flashing everyone and their dog on my way, cause running in a skirt is hard, but salvation is worth it, my friends. Again, the intersection was busy, but this time the bus was there. It turned the corner and started letting passengers on. I was still across the street. Eichenmiller told me after that she saw the bus come and was panicking, making Jane promise to call us and wondering how we would ever find her and help her if we didn't get on the bus with her. We didn't feel like she should make that trip home alone. By the grace of God the intersection cleared and I booked it across the street as Eichenmiller was putting Jane on the bus, standing helpless on the curb. Suddenly I was at her side, pushing her on. I paid for the two of us and the driver asked if we needed any transfer tickets. I said no, but she looked at us and gave me two anyways. There wasn't enough room for all of us to sit by each other, so Eichenmiller sat with Jane and had her arm around her while Jane cried, and I watched from a few rows back. I was able to make it up to them, but then we had to get off and switch buses at the transit center.

 

The whole time this was happening, I never felt panicked or in any kind of danger. I could pinpoint which areas we were in and I was texting the Elders of those areas to be on standby in case we needed them. Sitting at the transit center, waiting for the next bus, I pulled out my scriptures. I was about to open them when the next bus came. It was a little early but the driver let us on and we sat with just a few other people on the bus, in relative quiet. I opened my scriptures and turned to somewhere in the Book of Mormon. Jane asked me to read something from Nephi ( she says it "nefee"). I read 3 Nephi 11:14-15. Then she asked for the book of Ether. I read Ether 12:4. She asked for the book of Moroni, so I read Moroni 7:41. Then she asked for Nephi again. I read 3 Nephi 17:8-9. Every scripture that I turned to jumped off the page or instantly came to my mind as she asked for it, and as I read I was amazed at how they were flowing together and making perfect sense.

 

She said that her concern was not to die. She was just afraid of what would happen to her in the next life. She did not want to go to hell forever. She said she had been thinking about eternity for a while, long before she found out about her cancer. She had made a lot of mistakes in her life and she wanted to be able to go to heaven with God. We told her she could. Then I taught her the Plan of Salvation. We had to get off at her stop, so we just kept teaching it to her, telling her that she could live with God and her family forever, and that the first thing she would have to do in order to make that happen, to open the door to heaven for her, was to be baptized. She told us that she wanted baptism more than anything. We told her we would get her baptized as soon as possible. She was so happy and relieved, she was singing and laughing. Then one more concern came up: how could Christ find her, the one? Just one simple African woman? And why would he want anything to do with her when she has made so many mistakes in her life. We told her baptism would help clean away her sins, that it would make her clean and ready to go and see God.

 

We kept talking and she brought up a friend that she gave her Book of Mormon to. I pulled out my planner. It was made for me by Sis. Balmforth. She gave it to me before she went home. Each day in it, there is a scripture or a thought written on the to do list. I opened my planner to write down the name of her friend and saw the scripture written, over a month ago on a random day by a missioanry who was going home soon, and saw D+C 18:10-16. "Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God." I read the whole section to Jane, she was drinking it all in and couldn't get enough. We told her God knows her, and loves her, because He sent us to find her and teach her. We walked her to her aparment and left. The Elders came and got us and we dropped off another copy of the Book of Mormon for her with a Plan of Salvation pamphlet inside.

 

That was the big part of the miracle. We were in total shock the rest of the day at what we had done and the way that it was brought about. If you ever doubt that God works miracles, DON'T. He does. And He loves His children and wants them to have happiness and eternal life. He will bring about the means to do it, through any means and at any time.

 

The rest of the story is that Jane fell that night, hit her head, went to the hospital, got some stitches and an MRI, we tried to go see her and get her a blessing, went on a wild goose chase at the hospital only to discover that she was already home and resting. She called us a little while later, needing some help, so we took the elders again and met her at the bus stop and gave her a blessing. It was a pretty incredible blessing. She is going to be baptized asap, probably in about 2 weeks. We wanted sooner, but dang stake policy is blocking us from doing that......So that's where we're at with Jane. It's going to take lots of prayers to make this happen, but I have no doubt that it will. Jane is too important, and God knows she needs this.

 

Sorry this was so long, skim it if it's boring. It was an incredible miracle, one that I never thought anything like would happen to me. I am so grateful for it because it taught me so much about faith, hope, miracles, and God's infinite love for His children.

 

Another great miracle is that Pohai, the deaf girl we have been working with for a long time, is finally back on date to be baptized!! This time she understands everything that has been taught to her, she is so excited about it, and her parents are on board! They finally see that she is learning and is prepared. July 7th is the day :)

 

That's all I have for this week. I'm learning a lot about myself and how the Atonement is playing such a big role in my life. Baylon told me once to not count the cost of a mission. I realized that you shouldn't count the cost because you can't. The cost is everything. We give everything we have and are so that God will give us all He has and is. It's worth it. Love you all!! Have a great week!

 

Love,

 

Sister Chronister