Sunday, December 8, 2013
December 2nd Letter
Dearest Family and Friends!!
I hope this letter finds you happy and well!! I also hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!!
This week was fantastic!! Here is a day by day update of all that happened:
MONDAY - Washington D.C. day!!! This was the second time we have been to D.C. and I feel like we really used the D.C. trip to it's fullest this time! First of all, I love riding the Metro. I feel so independent and city-like when I do. It does make me a little motion sick at times and claustrophobic at times but it is still great and easy!
We first went to the Smithsoniaon Museum of Natural History and it was really cool!! I really like the dinosaur and mammal part of it. Sister Mc was in heaven because she loves animals. She studied wildlife science before she came out here and she is an animal expert. It was cool to be there with her because she was so excited about it and so happy.
Afterwards, we booked it to the Lincoln Memorial and we saw a lot of monuments on the way. I have always been fascinated by the Lincoln Memorial and that is what I've always wanted to see the most in D.C. I loved it so much and it was just a really great day! We were so tired by the end of the night but it was worth it!!
That night, a member took us out to dinner at Chilis, and we had family home evening with another member. She is out here on her own doing something for work, while all her family is back in Idaho still. We are see her pretty regularly and I feel really comfortable with her, so it was a really great night.
TUESDAY - We had district meeting and a lesson with Joan, our investigator that lives in the nursing home. She is a really sweet lady and it has been fun teaching her. Going to the nursing home is always an adventure and you never know what's going to happen! The other day, we had a lady screaming at us saying, "you get outta here. you all get outta here." We also had a woman tell us that she knew for a fact that I didn't have any sisters and she got angry if I told her I did. We've had a lot of other stuff like this, but the nursing home always makes our day!
We also had a couple of member visits, a lesson with Jan some more member visits and then an amazing lesson with Keren and Bobby at a family's home in our ward. We talked more about the Atonement and the Spirit was so strong! It was just perfect, and completely directed by the Spirit!
It also poured all day on Tuesday which was fun! I am grateful that we didn't get any snow or ice though because I'm really afraid to drive in it here!
WEDNESDAY - We visited sweet Alma at the nursing home, another member and her mother, tried to visit a lot of LA's, and then we celebrated the first night of Hannukah with Keren. It was so great! It was kind of funny because there were more Mormons there than Jewish people there because Keren had invited us and a lot of her friends from the ward. She lit the first candle and had another Jewish man say the associated prayers. We then ate donuts and chatted. It was very relaxed but such a cool experience.
THURSDAY - I woke up feeling exceptionally happy on this day because I knew it was Thanksgiving! We did our morning studies and then did some weekly planning while I made pies! I made Mom's lemon meringue pie and an apple pie, which I have concluded is my favorite pie!
We saw Keren around noon and had a quick visit with her. Then we ran to Jan and Jack's and had Thanksgiving dinner at Finn and Porter, a restaurant at the Marks Center in Alexandria. It was actually really good, and although it was different, I liked it. Afterwards, we went back to their home and ate pie and talked for another hour about jewelry and other fun things like that!
We then ran to the Potomac center to visit our friends there. Afterwards, we realized that our car was super low on oil so we went to the gas station to buy and fill our car with more. We didn't know what kind to buy and we were really stressed becuase we thought our car was going to blow up. It all worked out in the end though!
We then visited with Robert at a member's home. It was so much fun and we had a really good lesson with him. We ended the night by seeing Bobby and Keren again and lighting the second Hannukah candle with them.
FRIDAY - Bishop and his wife invited us over for pancakes and eggs, which was really good and really fun. Their cooking and home reminded me of how our home is, and it all just felt very cozy and familiar. We then had another launching leaders class and then we went on exchanges! I went with Sister Stones, and she is absolutely amazing! I want so much to be a missionary like her! I had so much fun with her, and laughed my real laugh, which I realized that I haven't done for a while.
While on exchange, we had a lesson with Keren, and dinner with an amazing family in our ward. They have four kids who are really crazy sometimes but the parents don't yell or ever get impatient with them. You can tell that they love them so much, and I was just so impressed by them.
We then spent the rest of the evening caroling at the Pentagon City Metro station and it was probably one of my favorite things I've done on my mission! It was so much fun and people were so much more willing to stop and talk to us!
SATURDAY - We exchanged back, had a lesson with Joan and then went to a baptism with Robert. We had dinner with a man who is less active that evening and we had a really good conversation with him. We saw Keren again that night, and then visited another woman in our ward who is less active. It was such a good day!!
SUNDAY - Our mission fasted for all of our investigators and fasted that we can reach our goal of 166 baptisms by the end of the year. We had a lesson with Jan on the phone afterwards, because she and her husband are quarantined in their house becuase they're really sick right now. She said that she is going to read the whole Book of Mormon during this time. We agreed that this would be a really good idea :)
We then visited some members in our ward, who are very newlyweddish. Afterward, we visited Sandra and Ignacio and had a really sad visit with them. His father unexpectedly passed away and he is struggling a lot. My heart ached for him, and it made me cry to see him hurting so much.
We then saw Rob and that concluded our night.
I am grateful for all of you and I love you so much!! I hope you have a great first week of December!!!
Love,
Sister Akin
Thanksgiving Letter
Dearest Family and Friends,
I love you all so much!! I am so grateful for all of you and I love you more than I can express!
This week, I found out that the Jewish religion believes in reincarnation, which was very interesting. We asked our investigator, Keren, what happens with the family you have now, when you go to your next life and she says that you just forget them and get a new family. How sad! I want to be with all of my family forever, and I am so grateful knowing that this is God's plan for us. The Plan of Salvation is a perfect plan that enables us to live together forever. I love you all so much and I would never forget, nor want to ever forget you. I want you to be my family forever, and I know that this is possible, and everything is in our favor for this to happen!
I had a thought this week that I wanted to quickly share with you. I am currently reading in Helaman in the Book of Mormon, and Helaman is giving counsel to his sons, Nephi and Lehi. He tells them that he gave them their names, so that they might remember what was written and said of their fathers, and that they might remain firm in the faith, as they were also firm in the faith. This made me think, "what do I want to be written and said of my name?" I thought about this a lot this week, and I think that ultimately, I want to be remembered for my love for my Heavenly Father and my Savior and for all those around me. I want everything I do to be governed by this. I am far from this, but this is where I want to be and what I am working towards!
I hope you all enjoyed the first edition of what Sister Akin is grateful for last week because here comes round two:
I am grateful for/that..
1. All the e-mails and letters I received from all of you this week!
2. That tomorrow is the 5 month mark of my mission! Time has flown by, yet it seems like forever since I last saw all of you.
3. The strength that Heavenly Father has given me for these 5 months and the changes He has helped me to make. I have missed you all on my mission, but Heavenly Father has blessed me to never feel homesick. I truly feel that this is my home right now. This is such a blessing. He also continually reassures me that He is taking care of you, and I know that's true.
4. Thanksgiving dinner that we are having this week with our investigator Jan and her husband Jack. We are going to a Thanksgiving buffet, and then coming back to their home for pie! That evening we are also visiting a lot of people who invited us over and are taking a lot of pie to them! I am so excited for Thanksgiving and excited about the prospect of a snowy Thanksgiving!
5. A member in our ward that willingly offered to let us borrow some of her kitchen utensils so that we can make our pie. We are either planning to make our pies with her or to make them with our investigator, Keren, since she has never celebrated a Thanksgiving before!
6. Chanukah (apparently the correct way to spell it is with a C, which I just learned this week) starting on Wednesday evening! Keren invited us over on this night, to light the first candle of chanukah with her and to eat donuts! I didn't know this, but during Chanukah, it is part of the holiday to eat anything fried in oil! What a great holiday! We are going to go over another night and make her scones since she has never had them.
7. Christmas Caroling on Black Friday! Doesn't that sound so great! Our district is going to carol by the mall this Friday morning, and pass out candy canes with little Christmas thoughts on them. I am so excited for this!
8. People feeding us in abundance!! I have realized on my mission even more, that food is a common way that people show their love for you. Yesterday was one such day, as well as the rest of this week seems like it will be. I am grateful that everyone is so willing to feed us, for we have had to buy dramatically less at the grocery store lately.
9. Robert came to church again yesterday! Everyone always asks us why he isn't baptized yet, for he has already become a part of the ward and you can tell that he is so ready and prepared! He came up to us after church to say good bye and he said, "Yes I am praying everyday, yes I am reading the Book of Mormon everyday, yes I am still thinking about baptism, and yes I plan to come to church next week. Anything else?" He said it in such a nice way, and then he told us to plan our next lesson and tell him where to go and be for it. He is so great and you all would love them!
10. Great (for the most part) lessons with Keren! We had a lesson on Tuesday at a member's home and on Friday, and they both were really good lessons. I feel like she is really coming to understand the need for a Redeemer and the role of the Savior. We then went over on Saturday to read the Book of Mormon with her, which actually never happened. We started talking more about the need for a Redeemer and some thoughts we had in our studies that morning, and it was a really powerful lesson. Then her husband started talking about reincarnation and all of these other things, and I feel like we almost got too contentious. You could tell that the Spirit was no longer there, so we left, but we don't think soon enough. I was so frustrated that we made that mistake, but it was a really good learning experience. I am grateful to know that we can't mess this work up, and their salvation doesn't hinge on our mistakes. I just felt so bad afterwards, but it is something that will always stick with me.
11. We saw Jan again on Friday night! She took a break this week, for she was really stressed about making the decision of baptism. We feel like she is stuck, for she won't act. She is just sitting and waiting for an answer. We are seeing her again tonight, and of course on Thursday, and I pray that we will be able to help her act!
12. I am continually how much I need the Spirit in order to teach and do this work. He knows the hearts of these people and He knows what they need. I am continually reminded of my constant need for His strength and help, and He is continually helping me to be more humble. I am so grateful for Him. I am so grateful for a prophet who reassures us, "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Sometimes I feel farther from my Heavenly Father, and I can't figure out why. I continue to act and strive to give Him my all and repent, knowing that He has not forgotten or forsaken me. I just yearn to be close to Him and to feel His love, and I don't want to let anything to separate me from Him. Life is so much less fulfilling and joyous when I can't feel His love as much.
13. Dinner with the Chambers this week! They are the cute family, who used to investigate the church but who now just feeds the missionaries once a month. They fed us chicken wrapped in bacon :) They are so cute and good to us, and they are letting us come serve them! We are going to their home on December 6th to help them get all their Christmas decorations out and decorate for Christmas. I continue to pray that their hearts will be softened and they will have a desire to learn more again. Until then, I want to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ ( I always want to do this, but I want to continue to do better at it) and help them feel God's love for them.
14. The members are getting excited about the work and are introducing their friends to us!! We had dinner at a member's home yesterday, and they had a friend over who was not a member. He agreed to take the lessons from us, so we will be starting those after the holiday. Another sister in our ward, invited her friend over for their traditional dinner group. They made dinner and a cheesecake together and she invited us over to come eat with them. We were only able to make it to the dessert portion, but it actually worked out perfectly. We shared a thought from President Monson's last talk, and the Spirit was really strong. I am so grateful for the Spirit. I am so inadequate and I could not do this or accomplish anything without the Spirit.
15. An amazing mission conference with Elder Teh from the first quorum of the seventy. This was truly incredible and it was a revelatory experience! I learned so many things that I need to change and was also strengthened and uplifted. He talked about levels at which missionaries serve, and talked about how there is the bottom level of disobedience and coasting through their missions, the top level of excellence and then this big middle area where many missionaries fall. He described it as a "convenience obedience" attitude, as staying in our comfort zones, working, but not with our hearts, etc. He described this middle section as a current that many of us get stuck in, but how God wants us to be at the excellence level. Although he was talking about us as missionaries, I think that this applies to all of us. It is so easy to get caught in the current in the middle section, and to never get to the level of excellence, where Heavenly Father wants us to be and where He knows we will be truly happy. He also talked about a lot of other things, but this really struck me.
16. Christmas is in exactly a month!!
17. That mom is getting to play in the Nutcracker this year!
18. Cody went to his first winter formal this weekend!!
19. I have a warm coat!
20. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ
I love you all and I hope you all have a safe and happy week!! You are all so great and I love you so much!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Love,
Sister Chelsea Marie Akin
November 18th Letter
Dearest Family and Friends,
How are you all!? I love you all so much! I loved your letters and e-mails so much this week and I am so grateful for all of you! I will continue to pray for you in all of the individual things you are going through.
I was feeling really discouraged and down at one point this past week, and feeling like I had failed my investigators. It was at a point where one investigator had dropped us and the rest weren't contacting us back and just a lot of things were all happening at once. When I said my prayer that night, I poured my heart out to my Heavenly Father and expressed everything I was feeling to Him. When I ended my prayer, I felt prompted to open the Book of Mormon, so I did, and I opened immediately to the scripture in Mormon 5:23 that says:
"Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God? Know ye not that He hath all power, and at His great command the earth shall be rolled together as a scroll?"
It was just very comforting to me know that we are all in the hands of God and that He has all power. I am so grateful for this, and grateful to know that I can't mess this work up. The salvation of these people and their happiness is not dependent on me being perfect. I know that this is true for all of us, for He loves us. Lately, it has struck me that God commands us to pray. He wants and commands us to speak with Him daily because He loves us. How amazing is that!? That the most powerful Being in the universe wants us to talk to Him everyday. We don't have to hold all of the things in that we are struggling with, and we don't have to carry the burden alone. He is so aware of us and He has never forgotten us. I know this, because I felt it so much this week, and throughout my life.
In honor of Thanksgiving happening in less than two weeks, I am going to theme my e-mail as a "things-I-am-grateful-for-
1. Jan AND her husband Jack came to church yesterday!!! We walked into sacrament meeting yesterday at 7:50 (it starts at 8:00) and the chapel was almost empty. However, all of our investigators that said they were coming, were already there! They are all so great! It was kind of surreal, and it almost didn't feel like real life. It was a great sacrament meeting for all of them too. BTW, church on a mission has turned into a very stressful thing at times. The whole time, I am always stressed about what's getting said and how our investigators are going to take it. I need to trust in the Lord though more and stop worrying. That has been a common theme of my mission thus far.
2. Jan came to a baptism on Saturday!! It was so great! This cute little Chinese man named Tony got baptized, and the Spirit was so strong. She kept saying over and over how much she liked it! Also, we found out at the baptism that at Jan's baptism, she was annointed with oil by the priest and that was it. This is very odd to me, for she is very concerned about following the example of Jesus Christ, yet she was never baptized by immersion, which was His example and this is the way He showed for us to be baptized. Regardless, it was fantastic and a really good experience for her!
3. Jan tried to drop us, but didn't! We went to her house on Wednesday and she was telling us her thoughts about baptism, and how she just didn't feel like she could be baptized again. She talked for about 30 minutes telling all the reasons why she didn't think she could be baptized, but how she still sees us as friends and wants it to remain that way. After talking her way through it, she concluded that she still wanted to come to church on Sunday and go to a baptismal service. She also said she would keep praying about being baptized, and she felt that she would know by Sunday.
4. Keren read the Book of Mormon!! We had a lesson with her on Thursday night at a member's home and she reported that she had read it! She is progressing again and seems much more excited and willing to keep her commitments!
5. Sandra dropped us, but her husband's testimony is burning strong! Also she wants us to continue to teach her daughter Lizedth all the lessons, and let her decide if she wants to be baptized again. On Tuesday, we went over to teach Lizedth and Sandra came in and started asking us all these questions about our church, in a very contentious way. Her biggest concern was the Word of Wisdom, and specifically in why we have been commanded to not drink coffee and tea. She got upset about how it only says "hot drinks" in the Doctrine and Covenants and she started talking about all of her family members who drank coffee and tea and lived to be 100 years old. The Spirit was not there at all, and she was not willing to listen to anything we had to say. We left as soon as we could and then I wrote a lettter, that we delivered to her on Friday. When we saw her Friday, we asked if she wanted us to continue to teach her. She asked if she could be baptized and still drink coffee, we said no, and she said okay, and that was it. It makes me so sad that she is letting this one little thing keeping her come the joy of this gospel and all the blessings that come from it. Her husband Ignacio is really doing amazing though, and I have seen him progress so much as we have been teaching her.
6. Robert is still Robert. He is doing so great! We had two lessons with him this past week and he came to church again! We are teaching him the commandments tomorrow!
7. People feed us all the time! I have found that it is a universal sign of love - people always send us out of their homes with goodies which is really really sweet. If we ate all of them though, we would probably gain 5 or more pounds a week. Maybe this is bad, but we have been able to bless other people's lives by giving them some of the food we receive. For example, the other night we came home with a bunch of fresh chocolate chip cookies that a member had given us. When we got out of our car, there was a man getting into his car and we asked him if he liked chocolate chip cookies. He said that he loved them, so we gave him the cookies and he just seemed so happy! Maybe we were supposed to have the cookies so we could give them to him? Anyway, we have just seen so many little instances like that this week and we have been so blessed!
8. We found two new investigators this week! One of them is named Meng Tian, and he referred himself onmormon.org. He came from China just a little bit ago and he wants to learn about God and religion. We gave him a Chinese Book of Mormon the first time we saw him, and gave him the commitment to read the introduction. We saw him this last Friday for the second time and he had read it! We taught him the Plan of Salvation and he loved it! He is still trying to figure out if there is a God, and we told him by reading and praying everyday, he is coming closer to God and he will know that there is a God. He got so excited when we told him this! He is just so great! I wish you could all meet these people and be best friends with them!
Our other new investigator is named Joan West and we met her at the Potomac Nursing Home, that we visit Alma at. We have taught her the first two lessons, and she always prays about what we teach her and is progressing so much. She is blind, so we are working on getting her a Book of Mormon that she can listen to.
9. The Priesthood and Priesthood blessings
10. Moroni, Helaman and the stripling warriors. I love them so much! They are so amazing and I want so much to be like them!
11. The ward members! I wish they could see how much we love them, and we don't come over just to get referrals. I feel so much love for them, and I wish all these people could see how great and amazing they are!
12. Rob, the less active we are working with, found a ride to church by hitchhiking on the corner yesterday! Whenever we offer to get him a ride, he always tells us that he'll just go stand on this busy corner with his thumb up and wait for someone to pick him up. This usually turns into an excuse to sleep in. So yesterday, his home teacher was planning to pick him up for church, but the home teacher slept in and Rob's phone stopped working that morning! Obvisouly, the adversary did not want him at church that day! However, Rob still chose to walk down to the corner and wait for a ride, when lo and behold, a ward member drove by and picked him up. I just felt so proud of Rob for not sleeping in and for still trying to get a ride, and I am so grateful that the Lord provided a ride for him.
13. The weather is amazing here!! It was so cold for a little bit, but it has been beautiful the past couple of days!
14. Hot chocolate stand! Our zone decided to do hot chocolate stands at two metro stations this past Wednesday and it was so great! We passed our hot chocolate, sang hymns, gave out pass along cards, festival of light fliers and copies of the Book of Mormon. It was so much fun and I felt like such a missionary!
15. We are all facebook friends again! Woo-hoo!!
Much love to you all!!! I am so grateful for you! Have a safe, happy and blessed week!
Until next Monday,
Sister Chelsea Marie Akin
November 11th Letter
Dearest Family and Friends,
How are you all? How is life? I love you all so much and am so happy to know all of you!! Thank you all so much for your letters and e-mails. They are such a blessing!
I hope you are all having a great Veteran's Day wherever you are at. To celebrate Veteran's Day, my companion and I sang "My Country Tis of Thee" before companion study and I'm wearing red, white and blue! Veterans Day takes on a new meaning out here, and I love being here at this time. In light of Veteran's Day, the President of the United States will be in my area today!!! He will be in Arlington Cemetery, which is literally 2 miles away (we know because we accidentally went there and turned around last night, to avoid going into Washington D.C. - it's so crazy how you can make one wrong turn here or take a wrong exit, and suddenly your about to go over the bridge to D.C!) Anyway, I just thought that was really exciting and something that doesn't happen everyday!
Our AP's text us last night, and said that there are still 65 missionaries unaccounted for in the Philippines. We heard about the typhoon yesterday, but we didn't know the details or how destructive it was. That makes me so sad for all the missionaries and their families, and all the individuals in the Philippines. We are praying for all those affected by it.
We are seeing miracles happen in the lives of our investigators, and seeing it change their lives. I am so grateful to have this gospel, and to have a knowledge of the truth - to have a firm foundation in the knowledge of Jesus Christ as our Savior. I know that Heavenly Father lives and loves all of His children. I know that it is only through Jesus Christ that we can return to Him. The Atonement is also for now though - for our daily lives, and I have felt the enabling and healing power of the Atonement. I just wish so much that all of the individuals that we teach could see how much this can truly change their lives - how much Heavenly Father wants them back and He wants them to come unto His Son. He wants so much to bless us.
We had a launching leaders class this week (an amazing class given by a senior couple, Elder and Sister Ritchie) and it was absolutely incredible! They first told a story about a trip their ward went on, where they traveling in a bus down a mountain. On one turn, the bus driver got stuck on a switchback, and the front of the bus was over the side of the cliff. He talked about how everyone got off the bus, but one of the leaders asked the bus driver if he would like him to drive the bus. The bus driver happily agreed, and the man was able to get the bus back onto the road. Elder Ritchie later found out that 20 years earlier, the man had worked in driving big riggs and had a lot of experience. He then talked about Peter and how he "stood up" in Acts 2, and the miracles that came from doing so. They talked about what things keep us from "standing up" in life, and what it usually comes down to is fear. He talked about how as missionaries, it is time to "stand up and drive the bus," and the time for mediocrity and settling for being average has passed. While he was relating this to missionaries, I think this applies to all of us. While we don't have to do everything and suddenly be perfect, it is time for all of us to "stand up", and the miracles will follow! I don't know if I communicated the idea of the lesson very well, but it was just incredible!
Here is a quick update of our investigators and then an update of the week:
Robert - He is still coming to church and reading the Book of Mormon! We had a lesson about the Atonement, and he didn't quite understand it. In his mind, he doesn't know why God can't just change the law and why Christ had to suffer for all of us. We talked about the laws of justice and mercy, but we are going to read Alma 34 and 42 with him. I also need to study and ponder more on this!
Jan - Amazing!!! We committed her to read the Word of Wisdom on Saturday, and she is already seeing the blessings. We fasted on Sunday for her, and for her efforts in keeping the Word of Wisdom. She is weening off of it, and is drinking half a cup for three days and then stopping (MUCH less than she normally has). She said that she doesn't have a headache, even with only drinking much less than normal. Sister McBride drew a picture of her cat that passed away on July 5th of this year, and we gave it to her last night. She loved it so much and started crying when she saw it. She is always doing so much for us and taking care of us, so we were grateful to give her something that was meaningful to her. We talked to her neighbor about this, and she said that the best gift we could ever give her is the gospel, which is so true! She feels that she is going to know in 7 days if she should be baptized. She wants to be baptized into our church, but she feels very strongly that God accepted her first baptism, and she is afraid of offending the Holy Ghost by being baptized again. We are teaching her about prophets and the priesthood tonight, and are continuing to prepare her for baptism!
Sandra...is on date for baptism on January 11th!!! Last week, we asked her to be baptized on December 14thand she said she would pray about it. We had a lesson with her yesterday, and she said that she wanted to be baptized the second week of January. Their whole family is progressing so much and we love them so much!!! Their daughter, Lizedth, is eight and the bishop would like us to teach her all the lessons before she gets baptized, so we are starting to teach her on Tuesday. When we first asked her if she would like to be baptized, she looked really scared, and said she didn't want, and then she started acting like she was getting a shot in her arm. Somehow this whole time, she thought that a baptism meant getting a shot! It will be really good to start teaching her and have the lessons focused on her! The father in the family, Ignacio, has received the priesthood but is less active. Now he is preparing to baptize them though, and it's changing his life! They are amazing!
Quick Story about them - we were teaching them yesterday, when all of a sudden Sandra laid down and started nursing their 2 year old son. It was so out of the blue, and she has never done that before. I have no problem with people nursing their children, but usually they use a blanket. That's all I'm going to say. I just kept thinking, "something to write home about, something to write home about." Latin culture?
Keren - She is doing well, but not keeping her commitments! We have been wondering if she really wants to learn about the gospel or if she just likes to hang out with us. We will see..
Quick highlights of the week:
Monday - Coat shopping day!!! Jan took us to the store to buy me a coat because she felt very strongly that God wanted her to buy it for me. She is just incredible! I kept saying thank you but she just kept telling me to thank my Father. I got a beautiful cardinal red coat, and now I want it to be cold, just so I can wear it! We also had a lesson with her that night which was great!
Tuesday - Interviews with President Day! I love interviews with President, and I love our mission president so much! Later that day, we had lunch at Costco with Keren (it reminded me of the time Dad and I stopped at Costco and ate chicken caesar salads before flying to florida to get Ashley) and then a lesson. We then visited a lot of members that night and had a lesson with Rob (a less active we're working with). He doesn't understand why God's laws can't change, and he thinks our church is too rigid. We said that God's laws change for no man, and why we have commandments. She is just stuck right now, and can't decide if he wants to be a "full fledged mormon."
Wednesday - District meeting day! We then visited a member in our ward, did some street contacting, visited sweet Alma, and visited a lot more members. We are working with the members a lot more and it has been so great! I feel like we are coming together so much more and building this ward army of missionaries!! It reminds me of when all the Nephites came together in the war chapters of the Book of Mormon to fight for their homes, their chidren, their liberties and their God. We are in this same battle today and we need to unite! I just love this!
Thursday - We had return and report, where the trainers and their trainees talk about what they wish the other one had done differently. It was a good and fun meeting! I love Sister McBride so much and am so grateful to be her companion! She is truly an incredible missionary!
We then visited an older couple in our ward whom I have felt drawn to the whole time I've been here and it was great! They gave us some church clothes to take over to a recent convert, and he loved them. He is a really cute chinese man, who takes care of his daughters while his wife goes to school. The gospel has made him so happy, and he told us that he is now telling his friends and family about it in China. China is already getting prepared for missionaries!!
We then visited some more members and it was a crazy stressful night! One of the members we visited liked to talk a lot and we had a lesson with Robert right after. We kept trying to leave the member's home, but it wasn't happening. We were 15 minutes late for the apt by the time we got out of there, and I felt so awful! We hurried and called Robert and told him we were on our way. He could tell we were freaking out, and he just kept telling us to calm down, it's not the end of the world, etc. It's amazing how much our investigators take care of and help US! We got to the place we were meeting at, called him and he was at a different place! Suddenly all the stress came back! In the end it all worked out though, and we rescheduled for Saturday. Being imperfect is just so hard sometimes, and I feel so sad when we mess up or don't do everything just right! We/I am learning though to calm down and relax, but that night was crazy.
Friday - Weekly Planning Day!! We also had a lesson with Keren, we met a new referral, also from China, and had a 45 minute lesson with him. We gave him a Bible and Book of Mormon, and he said that he loved talking to us. He asked so many questions, and said that everything we said made sense. Hopefully he wasn't just trying to make us feel good, but he did seem genuinely excited to learn more!
We then used the Subway giftcard that Ashley gave me, and ran into Keren at Subway! The man working there loves missionaries so he gave us tons of free food without letting us pay more money or give a tip. His name was Jaman :)
That night we visited Sandra and Ignacios and had a lesson with a member!
Saturday - Probably my favorite workout of my life! So we have a lot of regulars at our gym, and we have given them all names. There is a man who is at the gym every Saturday morning, and he is super intense! He has a really big grey beard, and he is always on the elliptical. We gave him the name of Rambo because it seemed fiitting. So I got on the elliptical by him and Sister MC got on the one next to me, and I just felt so happy during the workout! It just felt so quaint, and I loved life so much at that moment.
We had launching leaders that day, then a lesson with Jan, a lesson with Abraham (a man Sis. O and I met 3 months ago street contacting, who called us back this week and said he read the whole Book of Mormon that we gave him and he wanted to talk to us!). We are going to have to pass him off, but that was a miracle! We then had a lesson with Robert that night and then visited a lady in our ward!
Sunday - Robert came to church! The sacrament talks were full of deep doctrine, and I felt so uncomfrotable and nervous the whole time. Robert didn't seem too phased by it though, so that was a blessing! A man in our ward also brought his friend from work, Michelle, and she loved church. She said she was so excited to talk to us again and learn more about it all!
We had a lesson with Sandra and Ignacio that day, dinner with a family in our ward and a lesson with Jan that night! She and her husband Jack invited us to have Thanksgiving with them, and we offered to make the pies for it! His favorite is lemon meringue, so I want to make Mom's famous recipe!
Transfers are this week, and I am hoping so much that I don't get transferred. I just don't feel like my work here is done yet. I will do whatever God wants me to do though, and whatever His will is for me! It's just harder to think of leaving these people, than I ever thought it would be!
We are so so blessed - I am just in awe of how blessed we are!!! I love you all!!! You are fantastic!
Until next week!
Love always,
Sister Chelsea Marie Akin
November 4th Letter
Dearest Family and Friends!
I hope you are all happy and doing well!!
Quick shoutout-Happy Birthday Alexa (on Friday) and happy almost birthday to your new baby! I am so happy and excited for you!!!
Life is just so great! I can't fully describe it, but it is just fantastic! I don't feel like going through everyday, but I'll tell you the highlights and fun little tidbits.
*Dinner with the Chambers! They made us stuffed mushrooms, which are actually really good! They are so cute, and certain things are always exactly the same everytime we go. We always have the same salad with beets (you would love it Mom!), tomatoes, and boiled eggs cut in half on this cute little plate. They also always feed us the same bread, and we always end with vanilla ice cream over berries. They are just the cutest people. I keep praying that they will one day be interested in learning about the church again.
*Lesson with Sandra and Ignacio about grace (on Tuesday). It was a really powerful lesson, and I felt like the Spirit truly spoke through us. Heavenly Father is helping me to be more bold with people, and saying things the way they are. They haven't been keeping their commitment, and they tell us they are going to come to church every Sunday, but they don't. If they do the things that Heavenly Father asks them to do, they will be blessed. Every commandment He gives us is for our benefit! He wants to bless us and strengthen us, but He also won't infringe on our agency. I am so grateful that the Spirit taught them in this lesson, and He helped us know what to say. And guess what, they came to church on Sunday and she is praying about being baptized on December 14th. God truly works miracles!!!
*Lesson with Nate (pronounced Not-eh, as in the Canadian "eh"). She is a fabulous person in our ward, and such a blessing to us. We are teaching members a lot more lessons, and we have seen a lot of blessing and powerful things come from it.
*A family that moved this week, gave us tons of food and they literally stocked our fridge. Tender mercy!!! A lot of food they gave is all natural an organic too, so I feel very hip when I eat it!
*Great lesson with Jan! She is slowing coming to understand the Atonement better, and had less concerns about it!
*Lesson with the Ensign family - they are a new family in our ward and they are so great!!
*Halloween!!! All of our zone got together at the church and watched Monsters University (so good!) and rise of the guardians (I tried to fall asleep during it...). It was so much fun and it felt a little weird too! I am not used to hanging out, and I much prefer doing missionary work at this moment in time. It was a fun break though and a fun way to celebrate Halloween!! I just really feel like I am turning into such an awkward individual, but it's not about me anyway, so it's all okay!!
*Lesson with Keren!!!! That's right!! Keren is back!!! It was so great seeing her. The lesson was humbling and didn't go great, but she still wants to meet with us again!
*Dinner with Robert at Noodles and Company! He is so great and is progressing really well! He is still faithfully reading! It was also really cute - when he got there he was so excited to show us pictures of this project that he is currently working on at work (he works for the army). He told us all about Hum-v's and stuff in that genre, so if you happen to have any questions about this subject matter, let me know! It is so great to see his progress in the gospel!
*We met a nice woman named Doris who we are having a lesson with today!
*We went to the temple visitors center with Jan and Robert this weekend!! It was so great!!
*Yesterday was one of the best days I have ever had on my mission! Miracles are happening!!!
I love you all!!! You are great! Remember who you are and how much Heavenly Father loves you!!!!
Love,
Sister Akin
October 21st Letter
Dearest Family and Friends,
I hope this letter finds you all happy and well!! I know it finds two of you in the same time zone as me, which makes me feel so close to you!
Fun little things that happened this week and then onto the really good stuff:
*I bought Super Chill at the new grocery store, Shoppers, that we shop at. It's the really cheap brand of pop that IGA in Powell sells! It instantly made me think of you, Kelli!
*Fall is here! There is officially frost on the cars in the mornings and I can see my breath walking to the gym!
*Our ward had their primary program yesterday which was so great and so fun! It brought back so many good memories!!
*SATURDAY'S WARRIOR - I don't know why this one isn't first. A couple of missionaries were asked to usher at the show, and we were blessed to be one of them! We were only able to watch the first act, which ends at the point that Todd and Julie are both in angst. It was so great and it made me so happy. I am so excited to watch that movie again someday!
There is so much more, but I will detail it all throughout the rest of the letter!
This week Heavenly Father reminded me that this work will be done His way and not my way, since it is not my work. He is continually teaching me patience and humility. I need to more fully rely on Him, and also have more confidence in Him. I was studying Alma 5 this morning and I love that chapter so much! It led me to study humility in PMG, which gives a really good explanation of humility. It said that humility is trusting that you can do whatever God requires of you, if you rely on Him. It also talked about how keeping the commandments is an act of humility because it is trusting in God's power and knowledge. There are so many people we meet and talk with, who think the commandments are a burden or something forced upon us. In reality, they are for our benefit and our growth! I think I forget this sometimes, and I get nervous that people won't want to join the church because of all the commandments. I think that if we really understood them though, and why we have them, we would all willingly follow them! We had a class this week where we talked about how if everyone really understood the gospel and the church, they would all want to join it. Satan just gives man distractions, that cause them to settle for fake trinkets rather than true, eternal happiness!! By the way, the talk, "You Can Do it Now" by President Utchdorf was amazing!!!
In talking about commandments though, I have been thinking about this and exact obedience this week. I think it is so easy to get overly concerned about the letter of the law, and to forget about the spirit of the law. I love exact obedience. It is exhilarating and it is something I can be perfect at. I realized this week, that my relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ has not been as meaningful recently though, for I am so focused on the letter of the law. Exact obedience is important, but I feel like the way I do it, has actually made me move farther away from Him. I can see a little bit of where the Pharisees and Saducees went wrong, and how they got to that point. Those little things like getting up at 6:30 and going to bed by 10:30 are measurable and it's easy to see if you are succeeding at them or not. When being so focused on them though, it is easy to forget to truly love and serve people. I don't know if any of this makes sense, and I feel like I am just rambling. I am just trying to figure out how to balance all of this. I am grateful that Heavenly Father gave me many experiences this week though that helped me focus on the one.
Lunes - Robert took us to dinner on Monday night and we had an amazing lesson with him, sitting at California Pizza Kitchen. He came with a lot of questions, and he answered most of them himself. We gave him a short answer to his questions, and he then talked through what we said and his question until he resolved it. We focused a lot on Jesus Christ and His Atonement, the Priesthood and baptism. We felt like his faith and understanding of each of these grew so much. For the past lessons, he hasn't understood why baptism is so important - he simply saw it as just getting really wet one day. We explained it more, and read scriptures about it with him, and the Spirit taught truly taught him. We gave him Alma 7 to read, and during the week he sent us a text saying that he had read it and he wanted another chapter to read. We are having a lesson with him again tonight!
We also went street contacting that night, and talked to a girl who was putting up the letters on the sign of the movie theater. We had a really good visit with her, and we are planning to swing by there again this week!
Martes - We were prompted to visit a young couple in our ward, so we texted them and asked if we could come over that night. The husband was out of town, but he said that she had been really lonely, so it would be great if we could visit her. We saw her that evening and had such a good visit with her! She is 5 months pregnant, and he travels a lot for work, and she was feeling really down. I am so grateful for the Spirit that prompted us to see her!
We also visited our ward mission leader that night, and talked about what we can do to move the work forward! We are trying to figure out how we can work more with the members, and help them get passionate about the work! He was just called a couple of weeks ago, and he is incredible! We had a meeting with him and bishop yesterday, and I'm excited to see what comes of it. He wants both the elders and sisters in this ward to teach 20 lessons with week and get 16 referrals! What are your wards doing to move the work forward, and how are the members getting involved?
Miercoles - A long, patience-teaching day! We were blessed to have a lesson with Sandra and Ignacio that evening, and Ignacio bore powerful testimony to Sandra that the Book of Mormon is true and how he knows it true! It is amazing to see him progress, as he bears testimony to her and participate in the lessons with her.
We also saw a woman in our ward named Mary Bell, who has been really sick. I love her so much, and she has been so great to us! We talked about the talk, "Drawing Closer to God," from the last conference, which is also an amazing talk!
Hueves (Thursday?) - Exchange day! We got to go on exchange with the sister training leaders, Sister Roper and Stones. I went with Sister Roper to Fort Belvoir! It was so great and she is such an incredible missionary. I saw a lot of the ghetto on my exchange, and it was a whole new experience from Crystal City! It was really fun and I learned so much! She helped me to feel passionate about the work again! This truly is the most important message one can ever hear, and it can and will change their life, if they let it! On this exchange, I learned that I need to be more bold, and to not shy away from the message or from the truths! She talked a lot about how she realized that she was living a life of mediocrity before her mission. She was doing good things, but putting so much in front of God and her divine destiny! I don't ever want to live a life of mediocrity or be a mediocre missionary. I want to give my Heavenly Father everything!
Viernes - We exchanged back, had launching leaders (an amazing class taught by a senior couple), and had the best weekly planning I have ever had. We were sitting in our apartment with 20 minutes left of lunch, when we decided to go get frozen yogurt! We have a frozen yogurt shop, Sweet Frog, that is literally 2 minutes away, so we hurried and drove over there and brought fro yo back. Weekly Planning was also just so great, and I felt like it was very productive and we accomplished so much! That night, we quickly saw Alma and then went to Saturdays Warrior!
Sabado - Such a great day!! It started with a neighborhood service project at the local park. The neighbord gets together biannually to trim away the invasive species and pick up trash. We got to meet so many people and do physical labor! It was so much fun! Our job was picking up trash and then hauling all the branches that the men cut, to the trash bin. It felt so amazing, and then we got to stay for lunch afterwards and meet a lot of people in the neighborhood! One observation that one of the elders made afterwards, is that no one knows anyone's name, but they know everyones dog's name. It is so true here. They were all great people though and they have great dogs! Sidenote, my companion is a dog expert, and she has helped me decide what dog I want when I get home from my mission. I am still deciding, but I think I want a Rodician Ridgeback! They are beautiful!
That day we tried to visit a lot of people and find new investigators, with no success. However, we had a really good visit with a member in our ward that night and a lesson with a girl who works at the front desk of the nursing home that we go to all the time! The Lord puts people in your path in ways that you don't expect!
Domingo - Church day and as you know, primary program day! We had a meeting with the bishop afterwards and then drove to have lunch with a new couple in our ward. Driving there was so stressful and our GPS couldn't find their address, so we were really late, which I felt awful about. Driving is fun and exhilarating here but also really stressful sometimes! They were so nice about it though, and they are such a good couple! We then had a lesson with Sandra and Ignacio, and the Lord truly directed it! We brought a member, and she and Sandra hit it off instantly! Sandra is currently praying about baptism! We then saw a recent convert, Wu Biao, and then visited the Chamber (former investigators who still like us to visit occasionally). We then had dinner with the Lopez family and Rob, a less active we are working with, and then we saw sweet Alma!
Our Heavenly Father loves His Children so much, and He never leaves us. I know that, and I am so grateful to be a missionary, and for all the people I get to love! I am striving always and still trying to figure out how to fully "forget myself and get to work."
I love you all! I hope you all have a great week!!!
Love,
Sister Chelsea Akin
October 14th Letter
Dearest Family and Friends,
How are you all doing!?
This was an amazing week! The Lord is blessing us and the people here so much. He is always, but I think I sometimes slow to realize this, or I don't recognize the blessings because they are not the way or at the time I want them. It is true what every missionary says, about how all the hard times are made up by the good times. There are a lot of disappointing times and times that are not fun, but there also times that are absolutely incredible! That's the way it was for us this week. I feel like the Lord is truly molding me into the person and missionary He wants me to be. I am so grateful for Him, and grateful for the hard times that He does give me. I'm grateful that He doesn't tell me exaclty how to do everything, but that He lets me work and act. I know that He never leaves us, but He has to let us learn and grow becuase He loves us.
This week, a member told us about how in the scriptures, Christ almost always came to the people in the 4th watch. I am not going to explain this poorly, but she described how in Israel, there are 4 watches, or sections of time. Christ always came to render aid and succor the people, but it was normally in the 4th watch. I have seen this in my own life and in this work. The past two weeks were really hard at times, and we felt like we were working so hard but not seeing any results. Almost all of our investigators dropped us, and it felt like we weren't accomplishing anything. I was wondering what I was doing wrong and feeling frustrated and discouraged. We continued to work though, and we have already seen so many tender mercies.
Also, I know that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live. We met with a man twice this week who is still trying to figure out if there is a God and if Jesus Christ was His Son. He feels stuck and is trying to figure out how to have a relationship with God and know if He is there. As we met with him, I realized that I know without a doubt that They live. It is one of those things that I have always known, but for someone it really hit me this week. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus Christ is His Son. That just makes me so happy and I want to tell it everyone. I want to say it over and over again. I love the scripture in Romans 8:16 how the Spirit bears witness with our Spirits that we are the children of God. While I have not seen God in this life, my Spirit knows that He is there and that I am His daughter. So many people don't have that knowledge, and they are seeking it. I feel so blessed, and I want to give my Heavenly Father my everything and tell this to everyone! I want you all to know and feel that too!
Here are some quick highlights from this past week:
*Robert - I mentioned Robert last week, but we had another lesson with him on Saturday night at a member's home. He is keeping his commitments, and doing everything he can to know if this is true. He was mugged in January and the people who did so, hit him with a metal rod. He suffered a brain injury, and now struggles with retention and processing. He is so sweet though and so good! He is an older man who has devoted his whole life to the military, so he has never had a wife or children. He still doesn't understand why baptism is so important, but we are meeting with him again tonight and are planning to teach about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
*Sandra - We had a lesson with Sandra yesterday, and it was good! She loves to talk a lot and sometimes it is still hard to teach anything, but the Spirit was really strong during the lesson and I feel like she is progressing a lot!
*Rob - He is a less active that the missionaries have been working with for a while. He just seems stuck and doesn't know if he wants to become a full fledged Mormon. Last night we all decided that we are going to read the Book of Mormon with him, from start to finish, because he feels like he really needs to start doing this. He also is making a lot of progress, and our lesson last night helped us greatly in understanding his needs.
*Jan - We are teaching Jan again!! She still has the shingles but is not contagious! She is doing so great, and we also saw a lot of progress with her this week. The only thing holding her back form baptism is that she is afraid of offending God, since she was already baptized with her husband and she felt like He was pleased with her for being baptized. We love her so much!
*Rain - It poured off and on almost every day this week and it was so much fun! The rain gear you sent while I was in the MTC was a tender mercy Mom!! It was crazy, but so great!!
Love you all so much!!!
Love,
Sister Akin
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