First Letter of February

Dearest Family and Friends,

 

I love being a missionary! I love being a servant of the Lord! I love laboring in the Lord's vineyard and being a part of His army! I don't think I could have always said those things on my mission, but I feel this way so much right now. I woke up this morning so happy, and so excited for this new day. I couldn't wait for what it would bring and I didn't mind that it was 6 in the morning (which I know is late for some of your wake-up calls!).

 

A mission is truly a refiner's fire as is this life! It is so hard sometimes but so wonderful too! It has stretched me and helped me to grow like nothing else has.

 

I prayed and fasted this week to feel rejuvenated and excited again about being a missionary and Heavenly Father has already begun to answer my prayers! I was studying yesterday and this really hit me like it never had: that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to live in our Heavenly Father's presence forever, in never ending happiness. I have always known this, but I really felt it this week. I want to give everyone the opportunity to accept the gift of this gospel and to be freed!!! I don't think we realize what we have. I don't think we realize that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the only way to fully access the Atonement of Jesus Christ. When I have this perspective, talking with everyone is no longer scary for me!! It is exciting and fun, no matter their response. This gospel even makes the experiences of life so much richer! It makes me truly happy and it is my strength and my anchor. Shall we not go on in such a cause as this!

 

I am currently loving the story of Alma the Younger!! I have always loved this story, but it has been on my mind all week. This story shows how the gospel truly can change our lives. It can change the vilest of sinners to steadfast and powerful, servants of the Lord. I have shared this story a lot with people this week because a lot of people we are working with, have been deceived by the lie that they cannot change. That it's either too late for them or that they have sinned too much, or that Heavenly Father doesn't even care about them enough to help them change. These are all such lies and they make me so upset (not upset at the people!). God would never tell us that we can't change or that it is too late for us to change! He and His Son Jesus Christ love us, even when we have sinned against them. Do we truly have faith that they love us no matter what, and that we can change? That They want us to change? That everything is in our favor to change!?

 

Something else that I struggle with on my mission that I would take any advice on is tracting!! I don't struggle with the act of it, and it is actually fun, but I struggle with the talking part once they do open the door. I feel like I gear myself up every time for what I am going to say, but as soon as they answer, I just start rambling and telling them everything! I don't know why this is so hard for me, but I will keep working on it!!

 

So many fun and exciting things are happening and many wonderful things happened this week:

 

*Dinner with Sunay on Monday! He is from Armenia and we are convinced that he is an Armenian mob boss! :) We ate at a Turkish restaurant and I can report that I love Turkish food! We talked about a little of the restoration and plan of salvation (he originally thought we were Catholic haha) and it was wonderful! He wants to be happier and he says he knows there is a God. He went to an atheist school growing up, but he said that atheism only relies on one of your senses. He has felt that God is there and he cannot deny it. I love this!

 

*Exchanges with Sister Kraemer on Tuesday! This was so wonderful and so needed. She is an amazing Sister and I love her so much! She taught me so much and she taught me how to be in a moment, love and have fun with the people we are with. I think I struggle with looking too far ahead and focusing on what is next that day or week. I am working and praying for help to be with each person I am with and to love them! This exchange was fantastic and a blessing for so many more reasons, and I am so grateful that I got to have it!

*During the exchange, we had a lesson with Bettina (our investigator) and Rose (a recent convert). Bettina expressed that she doesn't feel like she prays right, and she was really upset about this. Rose immediately responded and said, "Oh Bettina, there is no wrong way to pray (true for the most part!). Sometimes I pray to God, sometimes I pray to Jesus Christ (what!?). It's just whoever I feel like talking to that day." Rose is such a sincere person and she is so close to her Heavenly Father and Savior, but she showed us something we need to go back and teach her again! We read 3 Nephi 18 in response that talks about always praying to the Father in Christ' name. It all turned out great, but it was a fun little experience!

 

*We had dinner that same night with the relief society president in our ward. She shared a lot of really great things with us, and talked about how she has accessed the Atonement in her life. She says that a lot of us get into holes and we get stuck there. She felt this way after her divorce, and she felt so dark and depressed. She said that people tried to force  her out of the hole, but she just jumped right back in. She said that she felt Christ reach His hand into the hole, and she slowly started to come out of it. Eventually she was back into the light and she felt healed, but it was a long process for her. A lot of people who we work with are in similar situations, and I feel like we are Christ' hands, helping them to get out of these holes. I just really liked this!

 

*We had dinner with Jenny, a less active that we are working with. She is a sweet sweet lady, but she is missing out on so much, because she is a cafeteria style, member of the church. She picks and chooses some things that she likes about it, but still lives her life the way she wants. This makes me so sad for her and we love her so much. She doesn't seem happy, but she doesn't admit this.

 

*Sister G. and I had an awesome visit with a member that night! They reminded me of our family and it was so rejuvenating to talk to them!

 

*Thursday was a sick day! Sister G. had a really bad sinus infection and the flu so we stayed in all day! It was actually a really good bonding today, and we talked about our lives all day! It was a tender mercy in many ways and much needed!

 

*We saw Jenny again, and we helped her sort through some papers! She fed us truffles, which is always her payment for our service :)

 

*Tea Party with Bettina and Rose (herbal tea that is!) Bettina is amazing and she has stopped drinking coffee and regular tea and has switched completely to herbal tea! We had tea in cute little tea cups, and talked about tea party things (I had to ask them what you talk about at a tea party and they said you talk about your families and friends). We told about our families and ended with a short lesson on Alma the Younger. It was so wonderful and I felt so classy. Btw, have you tried herbal tea? It is so gross!! I want so much to love it but it is awful! We mixed it with milk and A LOT of sugar at the tea party and it was more bearable!

 

*Church was incredible! I love church!!!

 

*Visit with Ilana yesterday! Hard! Heavenly Father carried us through it and we were very blunt with her. She is not willing to change or humbly accept that she needs to change so she is stuck. She did come to sacrament meeting yesterday however!

 

And finally, the last bit of news...

 

*Transfers are this week and it looks like one of us is getting transferred. I got a call last night that I have been called to train a new missionary, which I am actually really excited about. I love training! I think it is just so great! I feel so blessed and I want to truly be an instrument in the Lord's hands as I get to train my new companion!

 

We are so blessed! I am so blessed to have you all!

 

I hope you all have a great first week of February!!!!

 

Much love!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Akin

January 27th Letter-7 month mark!

Dearest Family and Friends,

 

That's right!!! 7 months ago yesterday, I hugged Mom, Dad and Cody for the last time in 18 months, in front of the MTC. Time has flown by since then and I can't believe that I have been a missionary for 7 months!!! I love being a missionary and I am so grateful that Heavenly Father called me to this work!!!

 

How are you all doing?! How is the weather in all of your areas? It sounds like the weather was pretty crazy all around the country this week, but I hope you are all safe and happy!!!

 

I would describe this week as a refining week!! Heavenly Father is refining and changing me, and I sometimes feel like the currant bush that Elder Christofferson talked about. I am grateful that He is helping me to become like Him though and that He is preparing me for the rest of my life and for eternity! 

 

Here are the highlights and lowlights from this week!

 

*BEAUTIFUL fall-like weather on Monday. We went on a walk by our apt on prep. day, on this path that goes around a lake. It was beautiful and we got to walk out on the dock and enjoy the sun and warm temps. It was so wonderful! 

*Tanya had a lot of struggles this week, and it was a very emotionally difficult week. She read a lot of anti-Mormon material and started questioning everything. She also read about things like Kolob and other things that were unimportant, and she said that she was upset that we didn't tell her about these things. She felt like she had been deceived into being baptized and that we hadn't told her the whole truth. We talked to her for 5 hourson Monday and she felt a lot more at peace about things, but then Tuesday and Wednesday were really difficult. She was questioning leaving the church altogether, but then her husband (who is an atheist btw) talked to her about what she loves about the church). There are certain things she loves and knows to be true, and he told her to hold onto those things and move forward in the church, so that is what she is doing. She continues to do better and is pressing forward, even though she doesn't have all the answers to her questions. We watched "Lord, I Believe," with her and it was perfect for her. I am so grateful for latter-day Prophets and Apostles!

*We were so blessed to see so many members who are less active this week! They are so wonderful and I love them so much. I have realized that a lot of them are hurting and they need the gospel so much!  I want to love them and help them feel important and needed!

*Kelly Akin celebrated his 30th birthday!!! Woot-woot!!

*We got to cook food at the Pinewood derby on Friday night and it was so much fun! The man in charge of it is actually not a member, but he has been investigating the church for 13 years! His wife and kids are members and he consistently comes to church with them. It was so fun to be in this environment and to interact with everyone. Tanya and all her family came too, so we got to spend some time with them as well!

*Snow Days!!! This was so much fun!! I can't even describe! We got to trek in the snow and cold because we weren't allowed to drive and I felt like a missionary from one of the old church movies!

*Elder Gifford Nielson of the seventy came and spoke to us in a mission conference on Saturday!!! It was incredible! He was the speaker at the last conference who spoke about the Lord's Game Plan and who used "exclamation point." He also talked really fast! He was exactly the same at this conference and it was so wonderful!!! His address was so inspirational and exactly what I needed!!

 

That is all for this week but know how much I love you!!!! You all make me so happy!!!

 

Love you!!!

 

Sister Akin

January 20th Letter

Dearest family and friends,

How are you all!? How is your Martin Luther King Day going? I hope you are all doing great and that you are happy! I decided that I would send my long e-mail first this week, since last weeks e-mail was dramatically shorter than usual :)

Happy 30th Birthday to Kelly tomorrow!!! That is so exciting that you are turning 30 Kel! I hope you have a great day and birthday week!

Here is a quick recap of last week's baptism and confirmation because it was just so wonderful. Tanya was an atheist for the majority of her life, after being turned away from religion when she was in her teens. She had a college professor that she connected with really well, and he became her "Dad," since her dad was out of the picture.  They stayed in touch throughout the years, and eventually she found out he was a Mormon. She was shocked! She always respected him so much, and she didn't see how someone that intelligent would believe in these things. They continued to maintain a good friendship though, and a year ago, he gave her a Book of Mormon. At first, she read it with a really negative attitude, trying to prove it wrong the whole time. In talking with him, he said to just read it as if it were true. When she did that, everything changed. She fell in love with it, and the Holy Ghost testified to her that it was true! She told him she wanted to get baptized, and he said that she needed to meet with the missionaries first. That's where we come in. They taught her for about 3 months before I came to this area, and I got to teach her the lessons for the last month, prior to her baptism. Her college professor came and performed the baptism and confirmation and it was an incredible experience. She was so prepared and the Spirit was so strong at both of these ordinances. Another miracle - her husband, who is still an atheist, came to both the baptism and confirmation! When the missionaries first started teaching her, he wouldn't even go into the church building.  Also, her apparently cried at the baptism, and he has been asking us a lot of questions about it since. It is truly so wonderful!

This week was a very blessed and peaceful week. Here is a quick recap of each day:
MONDAY - Family Home Evening with Tanya and her family and quick member visit!
TUESDAY - Breakfast with that same member at a place called Bagel Cafe. It was cute and hipster like. This member needs to feel loved and needed. I am realizing that a lot of people don't feel loved or needed, and that is the root of a lot of things they struggle with. I just want to love everyone with all my heart - love is a powerful thing!
We then had interviews with our mission president, which were fantastic. He is the greatest person and I am so grateful for him. I love him so much and I am grateful that Heavenly Father sent me here at this time, so that I can be his missionary. He is truly so great!!
A recent convert from Sri Lanka named Kumare then fed us a multicultural lunch and it was delicious! She fed us curry, basmati rice, fried chicken, yucca (has the texture of a potato), salad and some other things. I have realized that I love curry so much! She is the sweetest woman and she is so happy! The gospel has truly changed her life and her joy just continues to increase. She also has such amazing trust in her Heavenly Father which I look up to so much. She has had a lot of hard things happen to her since her baptism but she always says that God is in control and He is making her life better.
We also had a lesson with Bettina and she is still doing great! She is nervous about getting baptized because she is paralyzed on the right side. We are going to take her to the church that has the baptismal font, to show her how it will go and to help her feel more at ease about it. She won't be getting baptized this Saturday anymore, but at the beginning of February instead. She is so wonderful!
We had dinner with a member family that night and the family reminded me of Michelle and Greg's family. It was so wonderful and I felt so at home there!
We then visited a less active woman, who has been less active for about 20 years since her divorce. Since then, she has gone to multiple churches and read so many books about how to be happy and feel a connection with God, but she still feels so far away from Him. She admitted that she knows what she needs to do to feel close to Him again, but she doesn't want to change right now. For some reason, I feel like I connected really well with her, and it was really easy to talk to her. She is training for a half marathon, so we talked about that a lot which was so fun! It is weird to think and talk about my former life where I used to run half marathons, and I feel like that was so long ago. Sometimes I feel like I am forgetting everything about my life before the mission, but that's okay. I know all will work out, and that I need to be here now with all my heart, might, mind and soul! I love this woman so much already and I am grateful that Heavenly Father led us to visit her.
We also tracted into a man who is less active, and that was so fun! We taught him a lesson at his door since he was the only one home, and the Spirit was so strong as we stood there. He also came to church on Sunday which was fantastic!
Heavenly Father gave me a strong impression that night that we need to work more with those who are less active in our area and work on rescuing. I love this work and I love working with these individuals. I want them to taste the fruit of the gospel again and feel the exceeding joy that comes from living the gospel and having a remission of sins (see Mosiah 3 - it is amazing!).
WEDNESDAY - District Meeting today!! Always a fun day! We then tried to see Kumare's roommate who wants to meet with us, but she randomly left and didn't come back before our next appointment (don't worry-you'll hear about her again!). We then did some tracting and then had dinner with a member family and we ate split pea soup. They are a really great family, and they have three daughters who are so adorable! The oldest one that is 5, told us that she just thinks the gospel is so amazing and she is so excited to get baptized. She asked us a lot of questions about it, and shared some things she had written about how she loves her parents even when they are mad at her. It was actually very sophisticated and deep writing, especially for a 5 year old!
We then had a lesson with Bettina at a member's home and had another lesson with Tanya and her family!
THURSDAY - We helped a woman who is less active, put away all her Christmas decorations in the morning. The woman's name is Jenny and she is from Bolivia. She is so sweet and nice, and she paid us for our work in chocolate truffles :) (even though I promise we didn't ask for any type of pay!)
We then visited Ilana and that was very interesting. She is still coming to church, but she feels very distant right now. I don't know how to explain it, but I just feel so far away from her right now. We have been praying a lot about how to help her, and we keep just feeling that we need to love her (which is what Mom and Dad said too!). I love her so much, and I am just doing all I can to show it.
We came home for a late lunch that afternoon, to find a letter and package of hot tamales from Mom!!! I loved it so so much!!! I love Hot Tamales so much and I might have eaten a lot of them already! It was such a wonderful surprise and it made me so happy!
We did some tracting and then went to a dinner appointment at a member's home. She is recently married and her husband leaves for 3 months at a time to a country in the middle east. He is currently gone, so we just had a nice cozy dinner with her.
We then had another lesson with Bettina, and then we went to Kumare's to have a lesson with her roommate, and her roommate was there!! Her name is Flor, and she is 20 years old. She has two little girls, one that is 5 and the other is 2. She is so great and we had a really good conversation/lesson with her. We love her so much and we are so excited to teach her!!
That night after planning, we made a cake for Tanya since it was her birthday the next day! We made a three tiered cake, with a layer of brownie on the bottom, cake next, and another layer of brownie and cake mixed together. We then covered it with white frosting and black decorative frosting, so it was a classy black and white cake! (You probably all are really concerned about what kind of cake we made her and how we decorated it, so there you go! :)
FRIDAY - We helped Jenny finish putting her Christmas decorations away and then she insisted that she take us out to breakfast. She took us to a place called Virginia Kitchen and it was a cute little diner! As you can see, a big theme of my e-mails seems to be that we teach people and we eat!
We then had another lesson with Bettina and gave her the Book of Mormon on CD to listen to since she can't read very well. She was so excited and she loved it!
We then did some weekly planning and finished decorating Tanya's cake! Afterwards, we went out to dinner with Tanya and her family and had a really great dinner at this place called Sweetwater in Sterling. Afterwards, we had her birthday cake, played a game and that was our night!
SATURDAY - The stake had a breakfast for all the missonaries at the stake center, and it was great!
We then finished our weekly planning, had dinner with another less active member named Margaret and visited a member family. Margaret had a lot of family over and it was fun to talk to all of them. It is so fun to hear peoples' stories and we were so happy after our visit with them!
SUNDAY - We visited Ilana, had church which was honestly so fantastic. We felt like we were truly prepared for church and the Sacrament and it was a revelatory experience!
We then had dinner with a member, and the woman we visited earlier that week who has been less active for 20 years, came to the dinner too! The woman who made the dinner is the one that fed us Christmas brunch, and she is the cutest and sweetest woman. She went all out and decorated the table and made it a "lovely ladies dinner."
We had another lesson with Flor and it was so great! She is so wonderful!
Congratulations if you made it this far! I am sorry that this was so long!! I hope that you all have a great, happy week!!
Love you all so much!
Sister Chelsea Akin

January 13th Letter

Dearest family and friends,

 

I love you all.

 

I hope you have a great week!!!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Chelsea Akin

January 6th Letter

Dearest family and friends,

It is 11:35 a.m. on January 6, 2014 in little Reston Virginia. I sit on computer 15 in the Reston Regional library amongst all my library friends - the boy who wastes his life away playing computer games, the man with dreadlocks that always sits on the same computer and miraculously never gets kicked off (we have a 45 min time limit), the young man who speaks little English and who watches Spanish soap operas, and the older man who spends his time at the library, catching up on celebrity gossip, and the man who sits next to me, mumbling to himself and making hand gestures at the computer. I feel at home :) I love my life and I love being here. I love these people I get to be amongst and I just love all of it. The Lord is so good to us.

This week was a glorious week!!! Here are the highlights:

Monday - Car accident! We just got rear ended and it was really minor. We had to get it taken in for them to do an estimate, and found out that we desperately needed new tires. It felt like we spent all day doing car stuff and getting everything figured out, but we got to meet some great people in the process!

Tuesday - Temple Day and the last day of 2013!!! We had dinner at a member's home and then had a Russian new year with Ilana. She fed us cabbage rolls, a carrot, garlic and mayo salad, and apples. I never wanted to see food again after this night. It was such a good night though and the perfect way to end the year! 

Wednesday - Happy 2014!! I am so excited for this year! I just feel like it is going to be fantastic! We started by having a lesson with Ilana, a lesson with a member family, and a then a lesson with Tanya. It really was wonderful. Heavenly Father changed my outlook and attitude this day, and I suddenly felt truly happy again. I am so grateful for this!

Thursday - Ilana's baptism day!!!! It was the perfect day and her baptism was perfect. It snowed quite a bit (for this area) that day, and we were a little worried about everyone getting to the baptism. It all worked out though, and the snow was perfect for her baptismal day and very symbolic. I can't describe how incredible it is to see the Atonement work in people's lives. The Atonement is real and it truly changes people. It works miracles in people's lives, if they let it. I am so grateful that I get to see this transformation happen. 

Friday - I just felt so overwhelmed with Heavenly Father's love on this day. It hit me again that I know there is a God, and I know He is our Heavenly Father. This is something I cannot deny. I love this knowledge and I love Him with all my heart. I want everyone to know and feel this. It truly is the sweetest thing you can ever experience.  

We went out to eat at a rotisserie chicken and tex-mex restaurant with Ilana which was great! We then had a lesson with Bettina, who is on date for baptism on the 25th. She is so ready and so faithful. She is giving up coffee, tea and wine, willingly for she says she knows and feels it is true. 

Saturday - We had lessons with Tanya, Bettina and Ilana and they were all wonderful. They are just fantastic people!

We then had dinner with a member family and it was very interesting. The husband dropped some food on the floor at one point, and the wife started yelling at him and she wouldn't stop. It was so awkward!!! I was relieved to leave the dinner when the time came.

Sunday - We now have church at 2 in the afternoon and we are still trying to figure out how to make Sunday mornings productive, because not many people want to talk to you at 10 on a Sunday morning. We saw Bettina and when we first got there, she instantly said, "Where is your makeup?" Apparently she doesn't think we wear enough makeup, so she put blush, lip liner and lipstick on us. She also fixed our hair and gave us really high ponytails.It was kind of fun and it made her happy which was good! She is a lonely woman who suffered from a stroke 13 years ago, and we think she really liked helping us get dolled up!

And that is a quick summary of the week! Tanya is getting baptized this Saturday so we get to plan another baptism!!! The work is truly hastening!!! It is just amazing!!!

I hope you are all doing well!! I love you all!!!

Love,

Sister Akin

Last letter of 2013!

Hello to all my dear family and friends!!

 

How are you all?! It was so fun talking to you all on Christmas! It felt so familiar and I felt like no time had passed at all! I loved hearing all of your voices and just being on the phone with you - I felt so close to all of you at that moment!

 

Are you all excited for 2014!!! I feel like it is going to be such a great year, and I am excited for this new beginning! Our mission president talked to us at transfers, about what will be written in our book for 2014, or something of that nature. I just love this fresh start and this time of changes! I want to make it an incredible 2014 and I feel so good about it!

 

Also, I am so excited to make New Years Resolutions. I feel like I have been in a missionary slump recently, and I don't like that! I want to change and I know I can change! I am going to resolve to give the Lord my whole heart and surrender everything to Him. I am not going to fight against Him anymore, but I am going to let Him make of me what He will. I don't want to just go on a mission, but I want the mission to go through me, and to be changed by it!

 

This week was a good/trying week, and for many different reasons. I honestly had the thought this weekend that if I were to write an e-mail then, I would tell you all that being a missionary is hard sometimes. I have felt a multitude of emotions, and all in the course of a week, or even a day. I guess that is really how life goes though, and there are always hard things going on. There are also joyous and happy times too though.

 

I think I get frustrated with myself a lot, because I have this vision of who I want to be and what I want to do, and then I keep falling short of that. I feel like Nephi sometimes, who lamented over the wretched man that he was. I just don't like failing, and I don't like falling short of my potential, but I feel like I do it often. This has been on my mind a lot this week, and I realized that I wasn't showing faith in Jesus Christ or in His Atonement. I wasn't trusting that He wants to forgive me and He wants me to be healed. I can come back to Him and change, even if I have messed up and keep messing up. Denying myself of that, is not letting myself use the Atonement. I am so grateful for the gift of the Atonement and for the love of our Savior and our Heavenly Father.

 

Here are the details for the week!

 

MONDAY - Best preparation day I have ever had! It was so chill, yet we got everything done and then some! We went to Trader Joes, had aloe vera water, ate at Chipotle, etc. It was just fantastic! We also had a lesson with Ilana that night and it was great, as far as I remember!

 

TUESDAY (Christmas Eve!) - A woman in our ward made us a banana power smoothie in her new vitamix blender! We then saw a recent convert in our ward who is from Sri Lanka! Then, we went to another members' home and they are amazing! They have 8 kids, and really take care of the missionaries! They are the same family that took us to the temple today. They acted out the Nativity this night, and all got dressed in towels and such. It was so cute!

 

WEDNESDAY - Christmas Day!!!! We woke up at 6:30, and opened our presents!! I woke up feeling very happy and at peace, and I didn't feel lonely or sad at all! We then showered and got ready, and it felt kind of weird doing that so early in the morning on Christmas day! We then did our studies, which were all focused on Christ. I loved it so much and I just felt so great and so at peace!

 

We then went to a family's home and had a Christmas morning brunch! She is the cutest woman in the world, and she went all out! The table was set perfectly, and we had cute little nametags at our places. She made egg casserole, homemade cinnamon rolls, had a fruit salad and asparagus. She called our drinks "drinkies" and was just so sweet and nice! She is a flight attendant for United Airlines and I bet she is phenomenal at it! She also gave us Christmas presents, including a head lamp, in case we have a natural disaster (that's what she said). I hope that wasn't a sign or something that a natural disaster is coming, but all will be well, regardless. That's the same place where I got to call all of you and it was great!

 

We then went to our recent convert's home and did a Christmas lesson with the kids staying at her home. We did the Nativity story and wrote cards of what we want to give to Christ. They were so cute, and their cards were so cute and funny!

 

We then went and saw a woman who is less active and she made us eat a lot of sweet things! She loves to feed us, but she knew that we were going to dinner right after. She was so sweet and nice and we had a good visit with her!

 

We then went to the Larsens again and had a ham dinner with them. Afterwards, we played the game "Headbandz" with them instead of watching a movie, and I felt like I was at home! It was seriously so great, and I'm not even pretending!

 

THURSDAY - I think this is one of the saddest days of the year, but we tried to make it as good as we could! Sister Gordon was really sick all day, so we stayed home, except for going to a dinner with a woman who is less active. I called a lot of people, studied, cleaned, etc. - it was actually pretty good!

 

FRIDAY - We visited Ilana and had a very interesting visit. We then saw Tanya and had a really long lesson with her. Afterwards, we went to the temple visitors center with Ilana and saw the Trifecta Jazz Trio. It was a fun night and day all in all!

 

SATURDAY - ROBERT FROM MY LAST AREA GOT BAPTIZED!!! This was such a glorious day!!!! He always said all along that he was not in a rush to get baptized, and he was going to wait a year, even 2, to get baptized! I wish so much that you could all meet him! He is such a cute man and he has such a strong and sincere testimony! I was so happy to see him, Sister McBride and Keren there!

 

Afterwards, we came home and finished our weekly planning, went to a lesson with a man who is very lonely, and who seems to just want company, and then saw our other investigator, Bettina!

 

SUNDAY - Rain Day!!! We did our studies, and then went to church in the pouring rain! They had a potluck during the 3rd hour, which I thought was very odd. I don't care much for big events of people standing around and it just felt off. We got to talk to a lot of people though which was good!!

 

We saw Ilana afterwards and she is getting baptized this Thursday! We didn't think she was ready, but we talked to her about this for a long time, went over the questions with her, and felt very at peace about her getting baptized. We had the interview last night with a member of the missionary presidency, and he said she was ready for baptism. I feel very at peace now, about it all, and we are now getting a baptism ready, really quickly for Thursday! It is somewhat exciting and really stressful, but I know it will all work out!

 

Afterwards, we had dinner with an older couple of our ward and they made us salmon! I struggled so much to eat it, and I prayed so hard that Heavenly Father would help me eat it. I know it could be so much worse, and people could be feeding me chicken feet and such, so I'm grateful I got my Omega 3's in for the day!

 

We then visited a less active family, and had a really good visit with the mom. The dad didn't seem to happy to see us, but she was a sweetheart!

 

Afterwards, we saw Amanda and Darian, 2 investigators that we saw the week prior. They had a lot of people over and we talked to all of them and it was really great!

 

I have to get off now, but I will talk to you all very soon!!! I love you all so much!! I won't have time to e-mail any of you today personally, but I love you so much and I'm sorry!!

 

Love,

 

Sister Akin

Christmas Letter

Hello all my sweet family and friends!!!

 

Merry Christmas!!! I hope you all have a great Christmas and a great holiday week!!! Thank you so much for all your e-mail and your Christmas surprises. I am so grateful for all of you.

 

In light of Christmas, the theme of this e-mail is gifts, gifts I have received throughout my life and especially this week!

 

• The gift of my Savior Jesus Christ (and YOUR Savior Jesus Christ). I was really sad this weekend and focusing on myself way too much. As I was being dumb and moping about my woes in life, I had the thought that I already have the greatest gift I could ever want or ask for. I have a way to return to live with my Heavenly Father forever, in never ending happiness, and that is through Jesus Christ. I got so happy when the Spirit told me this, and I know it's true. I am so grateful for my Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ. There is no gift that could ever, nor will ever trump this. He wants to heal us. He wants us to be happy. He wants us to have peace. All we have to do is accept this gift! How incredible!!! Just thinking and writing about it makes me happy! I can't even express how I feel about my Savior and Heavenly Father in words!! They are perfect and are truly my everything!!
• The gift of you all!! I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for the gift of every single one of you!!! I am so blessed to have you all in my life!
• The gift of Herndon. It truly is a beautiful place! I love it here and it is just so cozy and nice! I am so blessed to be here and I am so excited to spend Christmas here. The people are so great and the ward is amazing. They welcomed me right in and love me so much. I already love all of them so much!!
• Don't hate me for saying this, but the gift of warm weather. It is crazy that it has been in the 60's and 70's here, but I won't complain!
• The gift of Sister Gordon. She is from Arizona and Delaware and she came out when Sister McBride came out. She is so hard working and we accomplish so much in one day. Heavenly Father is blessing us so much here. I feel like this area is about to explode with the gospel. I am so excited for this transfer! She doesn't like to talk about feelings like my other companions did, but I get to talk to Heavenly Father about my feelings instead which is even better!
• The gift of talking to all of you in 2 days!!! How crazy!! I am honestly slightly nervous but more excited than nervous. Just don't expect me to say anything witty or funny. Remember that for the last 6 months, I have really only thought, talked about, dreamed about (that is not an exaggeration) the gospel. I might be an awkward person now but I don't really know! I am so so excited though! The plan is to talk at 1:00 pm my time!!!
• The gift of not having bed bugs! Apparently, there used to be a bed bug problem in my apartment, so my bed has a nice plastic cover on it that crunches whenever I move. I didn't sleep the first night, because I was so worried about waking my companion up with all the crunching. All is well now though, and I don't have a ton of bed bug bites. They might be living in my bed frame but they aren't getting to me. Wahoo!!!
• The gift of three fantastic new investigators! Bettina (in her 60's, from Australia, sweet and onry/grouchy older woman but so nice, I love her so much!!), iLana (from Latvia, really skinny and tall, in her 40's, calls me "fluff" in a sweet endearing way, so nice) and Tanya (in her late 30's, from U.S.A, doesn't seem to like me much but she is great!).
• The gift of having two amazing ward Christmas parties this year! Herndon had a Christmas breakfast on Saturday morning and it was so great! Tons of people came and we had waffles and ham!!! It was so much fun!!
• The gift of the Lord helping me grow to become like Him! This transition hasn't honestly been emotionally and spiritually difficult in a lot of ways, but the Lord is teaching me so much through this. I needed this challenge and I am grateful for it.
• The gift of Christmas in 2 days. This should have been a lot earlier in the list, but I am so excited for this. We are seeing almost all of our investigators and a lot of members. They are taking such good care of us and we should be really busy!!! I am excited and feeling very blessed!
• The gift of having a Trader Joe's across the street from our apt!!!
• The gift of this gospel!! This also should have been much sooner! I am so so grateful for this. It is my anchor and I just love it with all my heart!!!

I love you all dearly and I hope you always know this!!! Merry Merry Christmas!!!!!

 

Love always,

 

Sister Chelsea Marie Akin